1 . We usually think that garbage is useless and dirty. However, an art exhibition in 2019 proves that “useless” things can actually be helpful.
Dear Pretty Rubbish, an art event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN) and digital media art company Blackbow, was held in Beijing. It looked at wasteful garbage and asked questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage.
“We hope that everyone who visited the show can think about how ‘useless things’, are produced, why they are tossed out, and whether ‘useless things’ are really useless”, said Cao Yujia, the design director at Blackbow.
Artists Zhou Yuxuan and Liu Yifan collected nylon cable ties (尼龙扎带), LED lights and plastic bottles from designers’ workshops to create a work where plastics, in the shape of cells, “grow” in a comer (有望成功的事). There, the lights blink (闪烁) regularly just like “breathing”. When people walk near it, the work responds by showing light patterns, as if communicating with the visitors.
Speaking about the work, Zhou said: “It’s like some kind of communication between humans and plastics.”
Plastic has a life longer than almost any creature, taking centuries to break down. Though people think plastics damage the environment, they are a big part of our daily lives. “So we want to ask the question: Although the damage continues, is there a way for humans to reconcile (和解) with plastics?” said Zhou.
1. What is purpose of the art exhibition?| A．To make the art company, Blackbow, popular. |
| B．To make people believe garbage is useless and dirty. |
| C．To ask questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage. |
| D．To make people enjoy works produced with wasteful garbage. |
| A．worked out | B．used up | C．thrown away | D．put off |
| A．Useless things are really useless. |
| B．Artists should make works from garbage. |
| C．Plastics should be left to break down on their own. |
| D．Humans should find a better way to deal with plastics. |
| A．Creative. | B．Wasteful. | C．Meaningless. | D．Awful. |
| A．In a storybook. | B．In a newspaper. | C．In a cook book. | D．In a guide book. |
2 . Are you an “E person” or an “I person”? These two personality labels (个性标签) are widely discussed online. They are part of a popular personality test called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI. There are 16 results in total of the test.
Usually, an “I person” is quiet, while an “E person” is outgoing. But an “I person” can still act outgoing sometimes. For example, when an “I person” is with a group of “I” friends, they might want to change and become more social like an “E person”.
According to psychologists (心理家), this idea of personality changing is called “masking” (伪装). That is hiding your true personality in certain situations. “Humans want to be welcomed, and they might change their personalities within a short time,” wrote the Master Class website.
Using the MBTI result to describe someone’s personality seems fun. However, I realized I was deeply influenced by the result once. My sister was excitedly making a travel plan. But I remembered from an article that a “P person” doesn’t like to make or follow plans. So I said to her, “You don’t seem like a ‘P person’.” “Why?” She asked back. “Because the personality test tells a ‘P person’ doesn’t like to make plans!” At that moment, I realized I’d taken the result too seriously.
The MBTI personality test may show something you don’t know about yourself. And it can even be a fun way to start a conversation when meeting new friends. And that’s all for fun. Knowing someone’s MBTI result doesn’t mean you really know this person. And those results of yours don’t define (定义) who you are.
1. An “I person” is usually _______ than an “E person”.| A．quieter | B．more popular |
| C．more outgoing | D．more typical |
| A．be welcomed | B．make new friends |
| C．be a psychologist | D．laugh at others |
| A．A “P person” doesn’t like to make plans. |
| B．The writer’s sister may take a trip soon. |
| C．The writer’s sister was influenced by the test result. |
| D．It’s not fun to use the MBTI result to describe someone. |
| A．can’t see it as a fun game | B．may still not know this person well |
| C．can’t find an interesting way to communicate | D．won’t feel happy to stay with this person |
| A．In a diary. | B．In a novel. | C．In a magazine. | D．In a dictionary. |
3 . 
China is one of the biggest tea production countries in the world. Tea has a history of 5,000 years in China. It is said Shen Nong was good at farming and he discovered tea by accident. An ancient road makes tea popular around China. It is the Ancient Tea Horse Road.
The Ancient Tea Horse Road can date back to the Han Dynasty. It then continued developing in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. There were two main roads. One began in Sichuan province. The other began in Yunnan province. Each one ended in Tibet (西藏).
People in Tibet have a tea history of about 1,000 years. The weather in Tibet is dry and cold. People there need to eat a lot and keep warm. Tea can help them digest (消化). But tea can’t grow in Tibet. They used to sell their horses for tea. So tea and horses were traded through the Ancient Tea Horse Road.
In the past, horses carried bags of tea from Yunnan to Tibet. The trip took more than two months. In Sichuan, the road was very difficult for horses. So only people carried bags of tea. And each young worker carried 15 bags of tea. Each bag weighed 10 kg.
The Ancient Tea Horse Road not only served as a trading road, but also a bridge connecting different nationalities (民族)—such as Han and Tibetan people.
1. Shen Nong was good at ________.| A．tea making | B．farming | C．carrying | D．trading |
| A．The Yuan Dynasty. | B．The Qing Dynasty. |
| C．The Han Dynasty. | D．The Tang Dynasty. |
| A．Yunnan | B．Guizhou | C．Sichuan | D．Tibet |
| A．Different kinds of tea were grown in Tibet. |
| B．Both tea and horses were traded through the road. |
| C．Horses were used in Yunnan and Sichuan to carry tea. |
| D．The trip from Sichuan to Tibet took over two months in the past. |
| A．Different Nationalities in China | B．Horse Trading in Tibet |
| C．The Ancient Tea Horse Road | D．Chinese Tea Production |
4 . As children return to schools in Sweden, many of their teachers are paying more attention to some traditional skills. These include reading paper books, quiet reading time and handwriting practice. Teachers are spending less time on digital devices (数码设备), online research and typing skills.
The return to traditional ways of learning might be the answer to the question raised by experts. They have questioned the country’s dependence on electronic technology in education.
Lotta Edholm is the Swedish Minister for Schools. “Swedish students need more textbooks,” Edholm said in March. “Paper books are important to their learning.” Edholm said that the government planned to stop digital learning for children under the age of six.
Swedish students’ reading ability scores were higher than the European average (平均水平). But an international test on fourth-grade reading levels showed that the reading ability of Swedish children had decreased (降低) between 2016 and 2021.
The use of digital learning tools in schools also has drawn concern of the United Nations’ education and culture agency. In a report published last month, UNESCO encouraged countries to speed up the Internet connections at schools. But it also said that technology in education should be used in a proper way.
Online teaching is a highly debated (有争议的) subject across Europe and in other parts of the world. Poland, for example, just had a program to give a laptop (笔记本电脑) paid for by the government to each student starting from the fourth grade.
To improve Swedish students’ reading ability, the Swedish government will spend $64.7 million buying books for the country’s schools this year. Another $45.3 million will be spent yearly in 2024 and 2025 to speed up the return of textbooks to schools.
1. What are many teachers in Sweden paying more attention to?| A．Typing skills. | B．Handwriting practice. | C．Digital devices. | D．Online research. |
| A．The traditional ways of learning. |
| B．The advantages of online teaching. |
| C．The dependence on electronic technology in education. |
| D．The importance of paper books to children’s learning. |
| A．Poland. | B．Britain. | C．America. | D．Sweden. |
| A．What the Swedish government will do to improve students’ reading ability. |
| B．What schools in Sweden will do to to make students learn better. |
| C．When the Swedish government will provide free textbooks for students. |
| D．How much money the Swedish government has spent on education. |
| A．The government planned to stop digital learning for children. |
| B．Swedish students’ reading ability had decreased between 2016 and 2021. |
| C．Countries should speed up the Internet connections at schools. |
| D．Sweden brings books and handwriting practice back to school. |
5 . There is no doubt that you’d like to talk to a person who is polite. However, it’s not so easy to be polite all the time. And quite a few people may be impolite to others easily. What should we do to be polite? Here are some tips.
Why do we sometimes forget to smile at others? You won’t get smaller or weaker if you smile first when meeting someone. A sweet smile is the best way to show your kindness and politeness.
“Sorry”, “Please” and “Thank you” are ignored easily. Whenever you need help from someone, say “Please” to him or her. If someone helps you, don’t forget to say “Thank you”; if you do something wrong, say “Sorry”. Just because of these simple but polite words, others would be glad to help you.
When you disagree with others, speak softly instead of getting into arguments. Listen to them and try to understand what they want to say. If someone gets rude (粗鲁的), keep quiet for a minute. Then he or she will understand that you are not interested in arguments. When he or she calms down, express your opinions with a smile on your face.
There are many tips for being polite to others. But even if you follow all these tips, it’s not enough. You should practice being polite all the time by yourself.
1. What does the writer think of being polite to others all the time?| A．Funny. | B．Boring. | C．Difficult. | D．Impossible. |
| A．Smiling at others. | B．Saying “Sorry” and “Please”. |
| C．Saying “Thank you” | D．Avoiding arguing. |
| A．赞扬 | B．忽视 | C．阻挠 | D．妨碍 |
| A．When you smile at others, you might get smaller. |
| B．It’s polite to say “Thanks” when you are wrong. |
| C．Being polite and calm can stop others from arguing with you. |
| D．It’s enough to follow the writer’s advice to be a polite person. |
| A．When to be polite to others. | B．Why being polite is important. |
| C．Learn to smile at others. | D．How to be polite to others. |
6 . Teens will finally grow up some day, leaving their parents and facing the challenges in life alone, so they should learn basic life skills and form good working habits.
The government has been trying to pay attention to the importance of hardworking spirit education (劳动教育). But this has been overlooked in recent years. Many teens do not value (看重) the importance of working hard. There is a teenage girl named Nancy. She never helps out around the house. Once her mother was on vacation for a week, leaving her alone at home. When her mother came home from vacation, she could not find a clean dish or a clean shirt.
Schools play an important role in teaching students about the value of working hard. Primary and middle schools should provide students with hardworking spirit courses every week. To our joy (开心), some schools have provided each class with a piece of field to plant their favorite vegetables. For example, No. 38 Middle School in Hefei, sets up a 500-square-meter farm on an open platform (露天平台) of their teaching building. Each class is asked to grow and pick vegetables there.
Parents should also encourage children to learn how to do chores at home. Teens should master (掌握) one or two life skills every year. These skills can include cooking, washing their own clothes and tidying their rooms. The basic skills may help teens to solve the problems they will meet in the future.
1. What does the underlined word “overlooked” mean in Chinese?| A．强调 | B．忽视 | C．俯视 | D．眺望 |
| A．Nancy is too busy to help out around the house |
| B．many teens do not value the importance of working hard |
| C．Nancy’s parents are glad that she doesn’t help with chores at home |
| D．teens don’t need to value the importance of working hard |
| A．Cooking. | B．Washing clothes. | C．Tidying rooms. | D．Playing computer games. |
| A．Schools should teach students the value of working hard. |
| B．Parents should encourage their children to do chores at home. |
| C．The government never pays attention to hardworking spirit education. |
| D．The basic skills may help teens to solve some problems. |
| A．Family Education | B．School Education |
| C．Hardworking Spirit Education | D．Self-education |
7 . The word “day” has two meanings. When we talk about the number of days in a year, we are using “day” to mean 24 hours. But when we talk about day and night, we are using “day” to mean the time between sunrise and sunset. Because the earth looks like a ball, the sun can shine on only half of it at time. Always one half of the earth is having day and the other half night.
At the equator（赤道）, day and night are sometimes the same long. They arc each twelve hours long. The sun rises at 6 o’clock in the morning and sets at 6 o’clock in the evening. For six months the North Pole（北极）is tilted（倾斜的）towards the sun. In those months the Northern Hemisphere gets more hours of sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere. Days are longer than nights. South of the equator nights are longer than days. For the other six months the North Pole is tilted away from the sun. Then the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight. Days are longer than nights. North of the equator nights are longer than days. Winter is the season of long nights. Summer is the season of long days.
1. According to the passage, the “day” mean ________.| A．24 hours | B．sunrise | C．both A and D | D．the time between sunrise and sunset |
| A．day | B．night | C．both day and night | D．neither day nor night |
| A．usually | B．always | C．never | D．sometimes |
| A．极地 | B．地壳 | C．半球 | D．地轴 |
| A．When the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight, days are longer than nights. |
| B．Winter is the season of long days. |
| C．Summer is the season of short days. |
| D．When the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight, days are shorter than the night. |
8 . The Chinese people say “qin”, “chess”, “book” and “painting”, among which “chess” refers to Weiqi. As a traditional and meaningful board game, Weiqi was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago and it is still played today.
As we know, the playing pieces are divided into black and white, it is the basis of Chinese culture, yin and yang. There are 181 black pieces and 180 white pieces. One player uses the white pieces and the other uses the black ones. Black pieces go first. The players take turns to play the pieces on the chessboard. The board surface has 361 cross points, they are said the lunar calendar 361 days.
Weiqi is also called Go by westerners. Learning it can not only improve people’s logical thinking ability, but it can also develop their calm character. That’s why it is more and more popular with modern people.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Weiqi traveled to Japan, and then to Europe in the 19th century. Now it has grown into an international competition event. So far, people from over 40 countries have played it. Among them, players from China, Japan and South Korea have the highest level of Weiqi.
The pieces that made in Yunnan are famous all over the world, they are called Yunzi. The history of making Weiqi in Yunnan can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty, in which the verified history was more than 1,200 years.
On February 19, 2021, Chinese-English Dictionary of Weiqi Term (术语) came out in Beijing. It’s the first professional dictionary about Weiqi in China. As a symbol of Chinese culture, Weiqi has its special language. It also has its own way of thinking and the method of communicating. The dictionary will serve as a necessary tool and bridge for spreading Weiqi culture.
1. When was Weiqi invented in China?| A．About BC (公元前) 800. | B．About BC 480. |
| C．About AD (公元) 480. | D．About AD 500. |
| A．碎片 | B．棋子 | C．零件 | D．张；片；块 |
| A．logical thinking ability | B．language ability | C．physical ability | D．writing ability |
| A．Weiqi’s board surface has 360 cross points. |
| B．Weiqi traveled to Japan and Europe in Qing Dynasty. |
| C．Chinese-English Dictionary of Weiqi is the only professional dictionary. |
| D．Weiqi is a symbol of Chinese culture. |
| A．The History of Weiqi | B．The Development of Weiqi |
| C．An Introduction of Weiqi | D．The Methods of Playing Weiqi |
9 . You must have read or heard of the love story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu from the classic Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions (《红楼梦》). But can you imagine the singing opera (歌剧) in English?
Recently, the novel has been made into an English-language opera. After being performed in San Francisco, US, the performances came to Beijing, Changsha and Wuhan. It is welcomed both at home and abroad. Many of the opera’s creators have backgrounds in both Chinese and American culture. Their understanding of both cultures helped them to change a Chinese classic into a foreign-language opera. The opera writer David Henry Huang cut down the number of characters to just seven. Huang, a Chinese-American, focused on the love story between Jia and Lin instead of the rise and fall of the Jia family so that everyone would understand. The art director Timmy Yip tried to help foreign people understand the characters using costumes and stage settings (布景). He compared Lin to water and gave her a light green costume. When Lin shows up on stage, there is usually water around her on the stage.
It isn’t the first time that they have made an opera adapted from Chinese literature (文学). The creators consider it to be a meaningful job to introduce a Chinese classic to western audiences, spreading Chinese culture to the world. They are happy to have made a contribution to the land where their parents were born.
1. The opera was ________.| A．sung in Japanese | B．first performed in San Francisco |
| C．written by Timmy Yip | D．performed in many languages |
| A．Because Chinese traditional classics show us how ancient people express their love. |
| B．Because foreign-language opera is welcomed both at home and abroad. |
| C．Because they have a better understanding of Chinese and American cultures. |
| D．Because only Chinese culture is the best culture in the world. |
| A．改编 | B．创作 | C．宣传 | D．测试 |
| A．it’s easy for the creators to make the opera |
| B．there may be more operas adapted from western literature |
| C．the creators feel proud to introduce Chinese culture to westerners |
| D．the creators made an opera adapted from Chinese literature only once |
| A．The Rise and Fall of the Jia Family |
| B．An English-language Opera of A Dream of Red Mansions |
| C．Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu Sing Foreign Opera |
| D．The Love Story Between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu |
10 . From National Treasure to The Chinese Poetry Competition and then Everlasting Classics (《经典咏流传》), there are a growing number of TV shows about traditional Chinese culture and they’ve caught much attention. Now a new music show about traditional folk music, Flowers Bloom in Spring, has won praise since it first met the public last March.
This popular show was in the form of a singing competition and finally chose four best singers through its 12 episodes (集). A total of 28 groups of young artists took part in the show, and three well-known musicians played the role of Bole.
An Desheng, the producer of the show, said the artists performed over 140 folk music works. The show gave folk songs many modern elements (元素), making young people love to listen and sing. It also combined (使结合) traditional and classic folk songs with popular songs, allowing people to experience the folk songs in a fresh way.
“Now lots of traditional songs, which were created in the countryside, are nearly disappearing. We can’t admire the folk songs sung by the working people while taking a walk in the busy streets full of high buildings,” said Lei Jia, one of the three musicians, adding that she was touched by what the show had done to help young people develop an interest in folk music.
Flowers will bloom in spring, and folk songs will return to life with a brighter future. The new age has added wings to folk songs, and by singing, we’ll welcome the future together.
1. What do the four shows mentioned in Paragraph 1 have in common?| A．They all came out this year. | B．They invited the same musicians. |
| C．They weren’t popular in the beginning. | D．They’re all about traditional Chinese culture. |
| A．12. | B．28. | C．80. | D．140. |
| A．get young people interested in folk music |
| B．encourage people to create folk music works |
| C．raise people’s attention to young artists |
| D．bring young people closer to nature |
| A．It made her busy. | B．It moved her a lot. |
| C．It taught her to try her best. | D．It helped her make new friends. |
| A．the future of folk music | B．different kinds of folk music |
| C．a folk music show | D．three well-known musicians |
