1 . The 24 solar terms (二十四节气) were first used in China and now are followed in many other parts of the world. Rain Water, the second solar term, signals (预示) the increase in rainfall and rise in temperature. Spring is in the air and it’s a great time to go hiking. Many of our foreign readers are interested in knowing more about Rain Water. If you are one of them, now read on.

   Spring bamboo shoots

Rain Water is the best time of the year to eat fresh bamboo shoots. It’s said that one can only know the taste of spring after enjoying the spring bamboo shoots. The cooking of bamboo shoots in China dates back to over 2,000 years ago.

The cold spell (寒潮)

The cold spell is a period when the weather is colder than usual. During Rain Water, rainfall can result in lower temperature and wet weather. It is strongly advised not to take off the thick coats too early and to keep warm.

Visits to in-laws (岳父母)

One of the main customs during Rain Water is husbands’visiting their in-laws and giving gifts. A typical gift is a pot of cooked food that includes trotters —the feet of pigs. This is a way for the sons-in-law to express their thanks.

Nutritious (有营养的) porridge

The wet weather during Rain Water is considered harmful to people’s health, so a bowl of nutritious porridge is the best choice to nourish (滋养) the body. People in some places have porridge cooked with dihuang (地黄) to resist cold and wet weather. It is also good for people with problems like headaches.

1. Who is probably interested in the passage?

A．A woman who has just got married.	B．A student who likes reading books.
C．A foreigner who is studying in China.	D．A cook who wants to create new dishes.

2. What is advised during Rain Water?
a. going on an outing                                                              b. enjoying bamboo shoots
c. having nutritious porridge                                           d. taking off the thick coats early

A．b, c, d

B．a, b, c

C．a, b, d

D．a, c, d

3. Which part is a trotter according to the passage?

A．A

B．B

C．C

D．D

4. What does the underlined word “resist “mean in English?

A．Shut.

B．Prevent.

C．Mark.

D．Fit.

5. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Knowing more about Rain Water	B．Food that is popular during Rain Water
C．Ways to keep healthy during Rain Water	D．Traditional customs about the 24 solar terms

2 . 根据短文内容，完成图表中所缺信息。

The game of Go was one of the four greatest artistic types in Chinese culture. It is not only a competitive event of the mind, but also a board game amusing ourselves.

Created in China more than four thousand years ago. Go was introduced to Korea and Japan over 1,000 years ago, and has become a favorite activity of many people there. Today, Go still serves as a way of cultural exchange among the people in many Eastern and Western countries, as players in these countries take part in many international games every year.

A game of Go has many implications (含义) for real life. It represents a square world of round pieces in black and white. There are 181 black pieces and 180 white ones in total. While the board is fixed, the pieces can be placed in millions upon millions of different ways, just as life in the real world may take many turns. The proper placement of each tiny Go piece is similar to how one might solve a difficult problem in life.

Go pays much attention to peaceful competition and coexistence (共存). In a game of Go, the players do not wipe out (消灭) each other’s pieces. Instead, they simply try to win a larger share of space while allowing the other side some space. However, in chess and Chinese chess, the players try to wipe out as many of the other side’s pieces as possible. The one who forces the other side’s commander (主帅) into a dead corner then wins the game. Besides, Go carries deeper cultural and philosophical connotations (哲学内涵).

Wu Qingyuan (1914-2014), a modern Go talent, believed that instead of fighting as enemies, the two players work together to play an excellent game and try to achieve peace finally.

Title: A Game of Wisdom and     1
Introduction	The game of Go is known as one of Chinese greatest artistic types, which is a test of the mind and full of     2    .
Development	● Go was created over 4,000 years ago in China and has spread around the world ever since. ● Today, Go still plays an important role in     3    .
Implications for life	● Go pieces can be placed in millions upon millions of different ways.     4    , people may meet with lots of difficult problems in life and need to learn hew to solve them properly.
Value	● Compared with chess, Go has deeper connotations since peace and     5     coexist in a game of Go while killing the enemy’s commander is the only purpose in chess. ● Players of both sides try to achieve peace instead of fighting as enemies.

3 . Some experts say that robots will take away human jobs with the rapid development of AI. A March 2023 report from Goldman Sachs showed that AI could do a quarter of the work done by humans. Across the European Union and the US, the report further notes that 300 million jobs could be lost to automation (自动化).

Thankfully, it’s not all bad news. The experts also add that there are still things AI cannot do. These tasks have clear human qualities, like emotional intelligence and creative thinking.

“I think there are generally three kinds of jobs that are going to be safe,” says Martin Ford, writer of Rule of the Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything. “The first would be jobs that are creative enough to come up with new ideas and build something new.”

The second is jobs that require complicated (复杂的) interpersonal relationships. Ford points to nurses, businessmen and reporters. “These are jobs,” he says, “where you need a very deep understanding of people. I think it’ll be a long time before AI has the ability to interact (交流) in the kinds of ways that really build relationships.”

“The third safe one,” says Ford, “is jobs that really require lots of mobility (机动性) and dexterity (灵活性) and problem-solving ability in unpredictable environments. These are the kinds of jobs where you’re dealing with a new situation all the time, so they are probably the hardest of anything to automate.”

“It’s important to note,” says Ford, “that a higher education or a high-paying position is not a protection against AI takeover. In short, looking for roles in changing environments that include unpredictable tasks is a good way to stop jobs from being taken by AI. At least, for a while.”

1. According to the Goldman Sachs, what percentage of jobs done by humans will AI do?

A．25

B．75

C．50

2. What does the underlined phrase “These tasks” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The jobs AI cannot do.

B．Some pieces of bad news.

C．The jobs taken by AI.

3. Which of the following is a good way to stop human jobs from being replaced by AI?

A．Getting a higher education.

B．Repeating a task many times.

C．Dealing with different tasks well.

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Martin Ford?

A．AI can have a deep understanding of humans.

B．Being a businessman is one of the hardest jobs.

C．Jobs with creative thinking are less at risk of being replaced.

5. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Some good ways to get jobs.

B．The jobs that won’t be taken by AI.

C．Different opinions about jobs.

4 . Everyone wants to own the friendship, because without a friend, the world is like a desert. The friendship is thought very important. Too many people want others to be their friends, but they don’t give friendship back. That is one of the causes why some friendships don’t last very long. To have a friend, you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning the following rules.

Being honest is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you don’t tell the truth, people usually find out, and you may lose your friend’s trust. Good friends always trust in one another to speak and do things honestly.

Being generous means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You don’t have to give your lunch money or your clothes, of course. Instead you share your ideas and feelings. These can be valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them, you help your friends know you better.

Being helpful is necessary to be a good friend. Sooner or later everyone needs friends to help with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend’s shoes, so you can understand the problem better.

     No two friendships are ever exactly alike. But all true friendships have three things in common. In fact, friendships will just not easily last. That is to say, you must give as much as you take, or friendship will die away.

1. Why don’t some friendship last long?

A．Because some people don’t have friends.

B．Because some people don’t want to own the friendship.

C．Because some people don’t think friendship is important.

D．Because some people just want friends but not give friendship back.

2. How many rules to be friends can be found in the passage?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

3. According to paragraph 3, what is worth sharing with a friend?

A．Money.

B．Clothes.

C．Problems.

D．Ideas and feelings.

4. Which sentence is similar to the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?

A．To be a friend you must listen and understand.

B．You can help your friend solve the problem after listening to it.

C．If you stand at the same place with your friend, you can solve the problem for him.

D．Only can you help solve the problem for your friend when you think it in the same situation of him.

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A．How to Make New Friends	B．How to Help Our Friends
C．How to Keep a Friendship Longer	D．How to Solve Problems for Our Friends

5 . You must have read or heard of the sad love story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. But can you imagine the two singing opera in English instead of speaking poetic Chinese?

Jia and Lin are two characters from the classic Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions (《红楼梦》), written by Cao Xueqin (1715-1763). Now the book has been made into an English-language opera. After being performed in San Francisco, US, the performance came to Beijing, Changsha and Wuhan in 2017.

Many of the opera’s creators have backgrounds in both Chinese and American cultures, including the director and playwrights (剧作家). Their understanding of both cultures helped them change a Chinese classic into a foreign-language opera.

The book, which covers the rise and fall of the Jia family, has 120 chapters and hundreds of characters. But opera writer David Henry Hwang cut down the number of characters to just seven. Hwang, a Chinese-American, focused on the love story between Jia and Lin and tried to write a heartbreaking tragedy that everyone would understand.

The art director Timmy Yip, from Hong Kong, tried to help foreign people understand the characters using costumes and stage settings. He compared Lin to water and gave her a light green costume. When Lin showed up on stage, there was usually water around her on the stage.

The creators considered it to be a meaningful job to introduce a Chinese classic to Westen audiences. Hwang told China Daily he was happy to “have made a contribution to the land where my parents were born.”

1. Where was the opera first performed?

A．In Beijing.	B．In Changsha.
C．In San Francisco, US.	D．In Wuhan.

2. What do we know about A Dream of Red Mansions from Paragraph 4?

A．It is mainly about the rise and greatness of the Qing Dynasty.

B．It tells the happy-ending love story between Jia and Lin.

C．The book has seven characters in total.

D．The book is long and rich in characters.

3. Why did the art director use water around Lin?

A．To help the audience better understand Lin’s character.

B．To make the stage more beautiful and attractive.

C．To show the importance of water in Chinese culture.

D．To suggest the sad ending of Lin and Jia.

4. What do creators of the opera think of their job?

A．Difficult and unbelievable.	B．Stressful and tough.
C．Painful and challenging.	D．Meaningful and satisfying.

5. What is the best title of this passage?

A．The Classic Chinese Novel A Dream of Red Mansions

B．Change a Chinese Classic into a Foreign-language Novel

C．Chinese Classic Made into an English-language Opera

D．A Famous Love Story Introduced to China

6 . What makes you fall asleep? The main cause is your body clock, a time-keeper inside your body. But how to control and use your body clock? Scientists suggested having a shower before bed. Jumping into the shower around an hour before bed could mean you sleep better.

A warm shower helps you relax, and then after it warms you up, your core (核心) body temperature drops. This encourages you to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly.

A study in 2019 said that a water temperature of 40℃ to 42.4℃ produces the best-quality sleep. After people lie down, most of them take about 20 minutes to fall asleep. However, if you have a shower one to two hours before going to bed, you will fall asleep 10 minutes earlier.

Core body temperature drops naturally before you sleep, then drops further during the night. It rises again as you wake up. It is thought that taking a warm shower will speed up the drop in temperature before bed, as it brings blood to the surface of the body, and then the heat is given off.

1. What did scientist suggest people do before bed to sleep better?

A．Sleep an hour earlier.	B．Jump into bed.
C．Have a warm shower.	D．Set a time clock.

2. What does the underlined word “soundly” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Deeply.

B．Poorly.

C．Kindly.

D．Slowly.

3. What water temperature produces the best-quality sleep according to the study?

A．44.2℃.

B．41.5℃.

C．36.4℃.

D．32.4℃.

4. In which part of a newspaper can you find the text?

A．Art.

B．Weather.

C．History.

D．Health.

7 . Do you know the reason why we feel tired in the middle of a class? Maybe you would say it is because the teacher’s class is boring.     1     Perhaps this is something you have not paid enough attention to or not yet noticed.

Purpose of sleep.

    2     Sleep helps our body heal (修复), grow, and stay healthy. It also gives us energy, so we can be active all day. Doctors and health scientists say: When you close your eyes and need to rest, sleep is just the very best! This is more than advice.

Sleep time.

Enough sleep is important to us. How much sleep do we need? New-born babies sleep most of the time. They can sleep 20—22 hours a day. Children need 10—12 hours of sleep a day. Teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep a day because they need lots of energy to grow into their adult (成人的) bodies. Grown-ups usually need 6-8 hours of sleep to keep active.     3     That is why old people sleep less than young people.

Interesting facts.

Almost everyone has their dreams while they sleep, but not all of them can tell their dreams clearly when they wake up.     4     More surprisingly, some may even get up in their dreams and walk around. This is called “sleepwalking”. Are you a sleepwalker? Or, is there a sleepwalker around you?

    5    

It’s not just people that love to snooze (打盹). In fact, many animals have unusual or surprising sleeping habits. Some animals, such as bears and hedgehogs, sleep all through winter. The swift is a very fast bird that can sleep while it flies! Cute koalas sleep around 18 hours a day. Giraffes don’t need much sleep at all. They usually sleep standing up.

A．Sleepy animals.

B．Why do we need sleep?

C．Some people talk in their dreams.

D．However, the real reason is probably that we don’t have enough sleep.

E．The older you get, the less sleep you will need.

F．How to sleep well.

9 . You are walking down the street in the middle of the day and you see someone wearing a green hat. Some people may think it’s fashionable while others don’t care at all. Do you wonder what wearing a green hat means in Chinese culture? Here are four colors and their meanings in Chinese culture.

Green

In most cultures, green represents (代表) nature and is a calm color. However, in modern Chinese culture, green has a negative meaning. For example, when you say “His face looks green.”, it means he doesn’t look well. When you say someone is wearing a green hat, it mans the person’s partner is cheating on him or her.

Yellow

In ancient China, yellow represented power. Only the emperor could wear this color. Yellow was also considered as a natural color. The Yellow River, the second longest river in China, got its name from he yellowish soil (土壤) in it. Now, when yellow is used in a sentence, it mans someone fails and that something doesn’t go as planed. For example, when you ask people how their relationship is going, they might say “huáng le”, which means they’ve broken up.

Red

Red is considered as one of the luckiest colors in Chinese culture. In ancient China, the royal (皇室的) family wore bright red. In modern China, red is often seen at celebrations like weddings and festivals. Red also describes someone who is very popular, like a star. You will say “He is red.”

White

In ancient China, white was considered as common people’s color. Back then, only the rich could afford to make colorful clothes. Common people couldn’t afford that, so most of their clothes were white. Now people still enjoy white clothes, but they sometimes connect white with bad things. It is connected with scary things like death.

1. What’s the purpose of the example in Paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To make a comparison.
C．To express an opinion.	D．To show the result.

2. Which word has the similar meaning to the word “negative”?

A．Wrong.

B．Deep.

C．Clear.

D．Bad.

3. Which color best describes a popular person?

A．White.

B．Red.

C．Green.

D．Yellow.

4. What can we know about “white” according to the passage?

A．It is general and natural.	B．It is popular but harmful sometimes.
C．It is common but unlucky sometimes.	D．It is unusual and expensive.

5. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Four colors in different cultures.

B．Four colors and their meanings in Chinese culture.

C．The development of four colors.

D．How to use colors in Chinese culture.