Nobody can say no to a flower world in the real life. That’s why more and more people come to the Huazhao Festival to enjoy the beautiful and busy party in spring.
The Huazhao Festival is the birthday of all flowers and it happens on the 2nd, 12th or 15th day of February of the Chinese lunar calendar (农历). People started to celebrate the birthday of flowers before the Qin Dynasty and it became a festival during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, it was one of the three important celebrations all over China.
The Huazhao Festival is rich in customs (习俗). Young people wear Hanfu, a kind of traditional Chinese clothes and have outings. The festival is in early spring, so it’s such a great time to have an outing to enjoy the spring time. Girls put colorful paper-cuts on the flower stems (花茎). They hope they can be as young and beautiful as flowers. Also, people in different places of China plant flowers. They think that flowers planted on that day can grow well. At the festival, the flower fair (集市) is the most popular. There are lots of fun activities in the fair, such as making flower cakes and playing music.
The Huazhao Festival is an exciting party to see the beautiful spring and it also helps people learn more about Chinese traditions. It’s really a wonderful celebration that you can’t miss.
1. What can we learn about the Huazhao Festival from the passage?| A．It started in the Qin Dynasty. | B．It’s on the same day every year. |
| C．It’s a celebration for flowers. | D．It becomes important in the world. |
| A．They cut flower stems. | B．They make traditional clothes Hanfu. |
| C．They put paper-cuts on flower cakes. | D．They join in activities of the flower fair. |
| A．To tell the long history of the festival. | B．To show a special Chinese festival in spring. |
| C．To show different flowers at the festival. | D．To tell the meaning of celebrating the festival. |
2 . If you visit Wuppertal, Germany, make sure you take the Schwebebahn. It’s a railway that runs for 13 kilometres and carries over 80, 000 passengers (乘客) every day.
The Schwebebahn travels in a very different way. Its 24-metre-long train doesn’t run on the track (轨道), but under it. The track is 12 metres above the river, so as the train goes over the city. Passengers can enjoy the exciting sights freely.
The Schwebebahn didn’t come easy. In the 1880s, the traffic in Wuppertal was so busy that the government had to develop a new way of travelling. At that time, a man named Eugen Langen was trying a railway under the track to carry products for his company. It was successful so later Eugen put this idea into the Schwebebahn. In that way, the space above the River Wupper got fully used. It turned out to be a very good choice. The Schwebebahn gives special travel experiences to passengers. Its stations are as beautiful as art museums, so passengers won’t be bored while waiting in the stations. A classical train also offers all kinds of services, such as food and drinks. What’s more, people can book this train to have parties or even get married in the air! They will never forget this one-hour journey in the air.
Now the Schwebebahn is more than a railway for Wuppertal. It is a symbol of the city.
1. How does the Schwebebahn travel according to the passage?A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Making products for a company. | B．Using the space above the river. |
| C．Building a railway under the track. | D．Carrying things for the government. |
| A．They can enjoy a party on the train. |
| B．They can visit the art museums on the train. |
| C．They can take a two-hour journey in the air. |
| D．They can cook food when waiting in the station. |
| A．To show the important stations of Wuppertal. |
| B．To introduce the facts about the Schwebebahn. |
| C．To share a riding experience in the Schwebebahn. |
| D．To tell why Wuppertal needed a new way of travelling. |
3 . Nowadays, mobile phones take up most of our time. We look at our mobile phones as we’re walking, play with them as we’re studying, and don’t want to put them down as we go to bed.
The China Security Perception Report (2021) by the Internet Development Research Institution of Peking University says over half of internet users say they want to get away from the internet and stay away from mobile phones. However, it is a very tall order especially now in China because we use our phones to pay for everything we bought every day.
There’s a new app which has a function to help users manage the time. For example, users can see how many times they’ve unlocked their phone, how many times they’ve checked their social media apps, and how much time they spend on each app every day. After seeing this information, the users will make some changes.
With the App Timer function, users can set a time limit for how long they can use each app for every day. After they’ve reached the limit, they won’t be able to use the app until the next day. And with another function, the app gets incoming calls silent when the user puts the phone face down.
But if people truly want to make full use of their free time instead of losing hours on their phones, it will not need to depend on any apps.
After all, who needs to use an app to stop you from using other apps? The easiest answer would be just to use your willpower.
1. According to the China Security Perception Report, how many internet users want to stop using their mobile phones?| A．60% or so. | B．Less than 50%. | C．About 36%. | D．30% or so. |
| A．长的订单 | B．长的命令 | C．困难的事情 | D．等待解决的问题 |
| A．It stops the users from using willpower. |
| B．It checks how much time the users spend on apps. |
| C．It lists the times the users have unlocked the phone. |
| D．It shows the times the users have checked social media apps. |
| A．Its functions are perfect. | B．It may be helpful to some people. |
| C．It needs more functions. | D．It has too many functions. |
4 . “Are we alone? What’s out there?” Looking up at the stars, people have always wanted to learn more about space, and scientists have been working hard to find the secrets of the universe. Here we’re going to go through a timeline of the important moments of space exploration.
The Big Bang Theory is an idea about how our universe began. Many scientists believe that everything in the universe was pressed together and then it separated into smaller pieces very quickly about 14 billion years ago to create the universe. The Big Bang is thought to be the beginning of everything in the universe.
What is the Hubble Space Telescope?The Hubble Space Telescope was put into space in 1990. Hubble is as long as a large school bus and it weighs as much as two elephants. In order to stay above the atmosphere, it travels around the earth at about 5 miles a second. Hubble is able to get clear pictures of faraway stars. A picture called “Hubble Ultra Deep Field” shows some of the farthest galaxies. Pictures from Hubble help scientists learn more about the universe.
What is FAST?China’s Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope is better known as FAST. It is in Guizhou, China, and it has been used since September 25th, 2016. Its 500-metre dish is the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope. Scientists can use it to search for signals of communication that are not coming from the earth. If scientists find such things, maybe there is life somewhere else in the universe!
What is Shenzhou-16?Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship was sent into space from Jiuquan on May 30th, 2023. Shenzhou-16 connected with Tianhe Core Module 6.5 hours later, with three astronauts inside it. Surprisingly, one of the three astronauts is a university teacher. In the next months, the three astronauts will do some scientific tests and carry out several spacewalks outside China’s Space Station. Besides, they will give science lessons to students on the earth from the faraway space.
1. When did Georges Lemaître suggest the idea of the Big Bang Theory?| A．In 1927. | B．In 1990. | C．In 2016. | D．In 2023. |
| A．It is long and heavy enough. | B．It takes clear photos of space. |
| C．It can move 5 miles a second. | D．It travels far away from some galaxies. |
| A．FAST can send signals into the universe to help find life. |
| B．FAST is a dish-like radio telescope travelling in the universe. |
| C．The astronauts in Shenzhou-16 will work in space for several months. |
| D．The three astronauts are university teachers and good at giving lessons. |
| A．Space Exploration: Searching for Life in Space |
| B．Space Exploration: Exciting Moments of China |
| C．Space Exploration: A Better Future for Scientists |
| D．Space Exploration: Great Progress Humans Made |
5 . 
The Adventures of Tintin was created by the cartoonist Herge. Tintin, a journalist for a newspaper, has been popular with people of all ages. But do you know how Herge created Tintin and his around the world adventures?
In fact, Tintin appeared as a young man of age 15 to 19, with a round face and short red hair just like Herge’s younger brother Paul. Herge grew up together with him. As a result, Paul’s image stayed in his mind and he created a cartoon hero according to Paul.
It’s also believed that a French journalist, Robert Sexe prompted the creation of Tintin. Robert travelled with his best friend Milhoux while Tintin’s small white dog, Snowy, had a similar French name Milou. What’s more, Robert toured the same countries as Tintin did in the first few of Tintin’s adventures.
There is another real-life person in Tintin’s adventures. That’s “Chang”, a friend of Tintin’s. In 1934, Herge started to write about Tintin’s journey to China, but Hergé hadn’t been to the country yet. To know about China, he made friends with Zhang Chongren, a young Chinese student in an art college. With the help of Zhang, Tintin’s adventure The Blue Lotus came out. In this book, Zhang became “Chang” under the pen of Herge, introducing real China to Tintin as well as readers in Europe.
Herge’s works got ideas from his own life. No other stories may cover so much information from the real world like Tintin!
1. According to the passage, who did Tintin look like?| A．Milhoux. | B．Herge. | C．Robert. | D．Paul. |
| A．Cause. | B．Notice. | C．Avoid. | D．Celebrate. |
| A．He wrote The Blue Lotus for Herge. |
| B．He worked as a journalist for a newspaper. |
| C．He provided information about China for Herge. |
| D．He appeared in Tintin’s stories with his real name. |
| A．what Tintin’s stories talk about |
| B．where Tintin’s stories happened |
| C．who helped create Tintin’s stories |
| D．why Tintin’s stories are so popular |
Space junk is a danger to the satellites and may hurt astronauts. There are tens of millions of pieces of rubbish in space. Some of the pieces are from passing comets, but most of them are from large broken satellites and rockets after they stopped working.
Though satellite technology offers some advantages to people, the increasing use of it could make large areas of Earth’s orbit into bad condition. The space closely around our planet is becoming increasingly crowded with over 9,000 satellites in orbit today, and the Eastern Southern Observatory (ESO) shows that this number may grow to 75,000 by 2030.
As Space.com reported in October 2022, the International Space Station (ISS) had to think about how to keep clear of a piece of space junk from a broken Russian satellite in 2021. In November 2021, astronauts in the ISS had to stay inside their spaceship when the space station passed close to space junk.
NASA scientists have called for an agreement to make sure “space junk” doesn’t make the activities in Earth’s orbit into trouble and they are working on it. “Satellites are important to the people and Earth itself. However, using too much space will put our planet into a dangerous situation,” said Melissa Quinn, Head of Space port Cornwall. “I hope all countries need to pay attention, to understand the importance of the next step, and to work together, to keep the problem under control.”
1. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.| A．space | B．Earth | C．rubbish | D．satellite technology |
| A．the Russian satellite has just badly broken |
| B．a piece of space rubbish can be very dangerous |
| C．the main job of the ISS is to collect the space junk |
| D．space rubbish is everywhere around the space station |
| A．Most of space junk are pieces from passing comets. |
| B．There may be 75, 000 satellites in the earth orbit by 2030. |
| C．NASA has already kept the “space junk” problem in control. |
| D．Scientists think the space junk won’t hurt astronauts any more. |
| A．it’s time to do with space junk problem | B．it is dangerous to work in space |
| C．broken satellites may become space junk | D．there is much space rubbish in space |
7 . 
The way people see movies may soon change completely, as the age of VR movies is coming. When you go to a cinema, the 3D glasses may not be clean. The people behind you may keep talking. But with VR, you don’t need to suffer all of these things. Movies will become more exciting and interesting. The “watch-it-alone”experience is also much better. Of course, the VR headset is what you need.
In big cities like Shanghai, you can already find lots of VR experience centres. People can watch VR movies or play VR games there. Online video sites are entering the age of VR too.
There are plenty of VR movies to enjoy. Now your home is the entertainment place for you. The VR headset can also help you keep your attention fully on what you are watching. That habit of checking your social media as you watch will be a thing of the past. Now you will not miss any part of a movie.
Some Chinese companies believe VR will pull viewers away from cinemas soon. China is home to a large number of smartphone users. Many of them are used to watching videos on their phones. This means it will be easy for them to accept VR movies.
Western companies think so too. A Canadian producer, has expressed his worries. “VR may not take place of traditional movies,” he says. “But it will really cause a big change.”
The producer, however, thinks that the movie industry needs more great stories. “The technology is already there,” he says. “What we still need more is good content.”
1. As the age of VR movies is coming, ________.| A．movies will be full of good contents. |
| B．people will go to cinemas more often. |
| C．movies will be more exciting and interesting. |
| D．people will have “watch-it-together”experience. |
| A．VR experience is wonderful. |
| B．VR is on the rising use in big cities. |
| C．VR apps are necessary in people’s life. |
| D．VR games are popular among young people. |
| A．there is much noise in the cinemas. |
| B．traditional movies are not so good. |
| C．3D glasses in the cinema are too dirty. |
| D．they are used to watching videos on phones. |
| A．There will be no traditional movies in the future. |
| B．VR movies will be as popular as traditional movies. |
| C．VR technology improves people’s attention to one thing. |
| D．With good stories, movies industry will have a better future. |
Space tour is not all about rockets—large space balloons can do it too! The company HALO Space in Spain completed the first test flight of its balloon in December, 2022. This means another company joined the competition of making space tour a reality.
During the test flight, the balloon reached an altitude of 37 kilometers where passengers would be able to look at the Earth from the blackness of space, according to Daily Mail. When the flights are available, the company aims to carry 3,000 passengers on 400 trips every year.
How does a space balloon work? The balloon is usually filled with helium or hydrogen, which are both much lighter than air, and it flies up.
According to NASA, the balloon is filled with the amount of gas that will give it enough lift to get off the ground and rise. As it rises, the gas inside the balloon grows larger.
The balloon stops when the density of the gas inside and the air outside is about the same, it begins to fall down as gas goes out slowly.
So the whole trip is not intense. The Space Perspective in US says that the trips are about relaxation. The balloon rises slowly at 12 miles (about 18.3 kilometers) an hour, and it takes about two hours to get to the 37 km altitude. It also takes another two hours to go back to the land.
Since its successful test flight in June 2022, Space Perspective Company started selling tickets for spaceflights in 2024—and it has already sold out. The company now buys ships to turn them into “floating spaceports”, reported Daily Mail. By lifting the balloon from ships on the sea, there will be more chances to enjoy the tour, such as flights at sunrise and sunset.
1. The word “This” in Para. 1 refers to ________.| A．Spain made space tour a reality |
| B．the balloon reached an altitude of 37 km |
| C．HALO Space Company completed the test flight of its balloon |
| D．the company in space in Spain joined the competition of making space tour |
| A．The gas inside the balloon is lighter than the air outside. |
| B．The balloon is usually filled with a little heavier gas. |
| C．The gas inside the balloons always grows smaller. |
| D．The density of the gas inside and the air outside is the same. |
| A．About two hours. | B．About four hours. |
| C．About twelve hours. | D．About eighteen hours. |
| A．Daily Mail plans to carry 3,000 passengers on a trip in the future. |
| B．The company buy ships to offer people more chances to enjoy the sea. |
| C．All tickets to travel in space in 2024 have been sold out. |
| D．Space Perspective thinks the tour by balloon is slow but relaxing. |
If eating more healthily is one of your New Year’s decisions, maybe you should try the Mediterranean diet. In January, US News&World Report regarded the Mediterranean diet as the best diet of 2023. This is the fourth year the diet has been thought to be the top one.
According to USA Today, the Mediterranean diet is based on the eating habits in areas of southern Italy, parts of Greece, Spain and Morocco. It mainly includes plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grain: and seeds, and even puts more extra virgin olive oil. Fish and chicken are more common than red meat in this diet. That means the diet is rich in tastes but low in fat. In addition to helping people keep weight off, experts believe that the diet can make people take less risks of heart trouble and high blood pressure.
Besides, the Mediterranean diet is not only a diet, but also a kind of lifestyle. Living the Mediterranean way also means being active and sharing meals with loved ones. “Compared with others, the Mediterranean diet pays much attention to the value of friendliness and neighborliness,” said the UNESCO. “Eating together has become a very common cultural activity around the Mediterranean areas.” In Mediterranean tradition, it is natural for family and friends to eat at big tables, talking about their lives and experiences while eating together. Usually the meals can last for several hours. It’s a good time for them to be with each other as well as the enjoyable food.
If you are interested in trying the Mediterranean diet, you can start with these tips:
·Build meals around vegetables, beans and whole grains.
·Eat fish at least twice a week.
·Use olive oil instead of butter in preparing food.
·Serve fresh fruit for dessert.
1. The Mediterranean diet has been the top one since ________.| A．2020 | B．2021 | C．2022 | D．2023 |
| A．may cause some illnesses | B．includes a lot of red meat |
| C．can help people lose weight | D．is rich in both tastes and fat |
| A．are friendly to strangers |
| B．like eating in silence and very fast |
| C．enjoy eating together with friends and family |
| D．believe eating with each other is more important than food |
| A．Come and visit the Mediterranean Sea |
| B．How delicious the Mediterranean food is |
| C．The Mediterranean diet and its advantages |
| D．The Mediterranean diet is a kind of lifestyle |
Ever feel sleepy when it’s time to get up for school? If you think school shouldn’t start so early, you’re not alone. Lots of scientists and doctors agree. That’s why some groups are pushing for later start times.
There’s good news for some students who like to snooze*. California passed a new law. It sets rules. High schools will start at 8:30 am or later. Middle schools will start at 8 am or later. So students might get more minutes of California dreaming.
Research shows that most adolescents need about nine hours of sleep a night. They usually get their best sleep between 11 pm and 8 am. So if students get up at 5 or 6 am, they miss some good sleeping time. Students who don’t get enough sleep can have health problems. They have trouble learning, too. It’s hard to learn when you’re nodding off at your desk!
But some people think starting schools later isn’t so smart. They argue there’s no way to be sure students will get more sleep. After all, the law can’t make students go to bed! And schools that start later finish later. That leaves students with less free time. Like what? Sports, jobs, chores, and homework. And let’s not forget fun!
Maybe another problem is buses! If all schools start near the same time, a district* has to pay for more buses and drivers. That’s one reason so many high schools start very early.
In fact, several schools outside California have a ready set later start times. Seattle Public Schools is an example. High schools there start no earlier than 8:45 am. A new law may soon be passed in Ohio. It would push back start times in that state.
How about you? Like to start school bright and early? Or would you rather snooze till the sun is high in the sky?
1. According to the new law, California high schools may start at__________.| A．6 am | B．7 am | C．8 am | D．9 am |
| A．1 to 5 | B．13 to 18 | C．30 to 40 | D．60 to 70 |
| A．Adolescents sleep best between 11 pm and 6 am. |
| B．The new law can make the students go to bed early. |
| C．Enough sleep helps students learn well and stay healthy. |
| D．Schools in Seattle don’t have a law for later starting time. |
| A．Should students go to school later? | B．Should students go to bed early? |
| C．Should students leave school later? | D．Should students do homework early? |
