What will the house of the future look like? Could it have gardens on its walls, or a pool with fish for dinner? Architects believe that they are all possibilities. The only thing for sure is that the houses will be as green as possible.
The tree house
Many architects in the world would like to build a “tree house”. Like a leaf, the surface of the house collects sunlight during the day. The energy can be used to heat water, produce electricity, and even create fresh air for the home. The “root” of the house is deep under the ground. It uses the soil (土壤) to control the home’s temperature.
The Lizard house
Like a lizard (蜥蜴), changing colour with the weather is the most important design of a lizard house. When it’s in the bright sun, the cover of the house will turn dark to protect it from strong heat. During dark days, it turns white and takes in as much light and heat as possible to produce energy.
Meals at home
The future of food production (生产) will be one part of the house design. Gardens may appear on the outside walls of the house. People can plant tomatoes, carrots and green tea on them. So every day in the morning, you just need to walk outside and collect your meals.
Learning from the past
Looking to the future isn’t the only way to be green. Sometimes, ancient techniques can also help cut down energy use. For example, a chimney (烟囱) in the future house can be a useful air-conditioner because it is easier for hot air to go out at the chimney.
1. How many kinds of future houses are mentioned in the passage?2. What can we use the energy to do for the tree house?
3. What is the colour of the lizard house on sunny days?
4. Where can people plant tomatoes, carrots or green tea in the future house according to the passage?
5. According to the last paragraph, how can we make future houses green?
2 . Cooking should be considered as art just like any other activity which requires skills and knowledge. It is often said that students are supposed to learn scientific facts as well as how to prepare meals. The following will explain why cooking should be taught in schools.
Cooking is an important skill in life.
Schools are supposed to teach knowledge to the students so that they can lead successful independent lives when they are out of school. Also, they can step into the world knowing how to make a living.
Cooking helps discover future career.
When schools offer cooking lessons, students will show an interest in it and might take cooking as a career. This will give them the chance to perfect their basic skills and be creative in the kitchen.
Cooking avoids wasting money.
One of the main reasons why cooking should be taught in schools is that the students always use a lot of money to buy ready-made food, while in the real sense they could prepare a nice meal with less cost by buying the required ingredients.
Cooking betters math learning.
Schools do not just teach how to prepare delicious meals. Students are also taught to follow the instructions in a standard when mixing ingredients. If it is “add 1/4 spoon of salt”, students should only add that amount. So there is no more or less.
Cooking Should Be Taught in Schools. | ||
| Opinion | Students should learn scientific | |
An important skill in life | ●Students can lead independent lives successfully when at home ●Students can depend on themselves for basic living after graduation. | |
Discovering future career | ●Students might take cooking as a career. ●Students can | |
Avoiding waste money | Students can prepare nice dishes with less money to buy the required ingredients. | |
Bettering math learning | Students are taught to follow the instructions in a | |
3 . Since early 2020, the use of mask (口罩) has increased greatly. Sadly, lots of used masks ended up in our ocean.
Single-used masks are mainly made of plastic. When they enter the ocean as litter, they will take as long as 450 years to break down. Straps (带子) of masks pose an entanglement (缠绕) risk for wildlife. In addition, masks can easily be mistaken for food and eaten by wildlife.
What can be done to help? Since most masks are made of several materials, it’s difficult to recycle them. Therefore, many people are calling for masks made of a single material. Degradable (可降解的) or reusable masks are also good choices. More importantly, the straps of masks should be cut off to prevent entanglement risks for wildlife.
Government policy is also important. Creating an effective disposal (处理) system is as important as letting the public know the importance of proper disposal of used masks. What’s more, it would be helpful to encourage technological development in producing reusable or degradable masks.
1. How long will it take for a single-used mask to break down in the ocean?2. Why might some animals eat masks?
3. What should we do with mask straps?
4. How many suggestions for the government are mentioned?
5. What does the passage mainly talk about?
It’s very popular to travel in modern life. As travelers, we should try our best to protect the environment. Here is some advice on how to be a green traveler.
◆Make smarter flight choices
Air travel is not an environmentally-friendly way to travel because it uses a lot of energy. If you must fly, be sure to pack light to cut down the plane’s load. And try to book a non-stop fight(预订直达航班). Connecting fights(转机航班) usually require longer periods of flying and planes will use more energy.
◆Respect(尊重) natural environment
Marked hiking tails(有指示标识的游览步道) are there usually to protect the natural environment and keep wild plants safe. In beach areas, don’t use products that are harmful to the sea water and try to protect the ocean’s ecosystem.
◆Support locals directly
Buying handmade products and art pieces created by local people can help hand down cultural tradition and create jobs. Food that is grown locally and things that are sold by local families are often better and cheaper, all while helping keep money in local pockets.
◆Find ways to give back
Consider the ways that you can help the local community and give back while traveling. This can be as simple as picking up litter in a park or volunteering to clean up a beach. If you’re planning a trip where volunteering is your main goal, make sure you won’t take jobs away from local people.
Some advice on how to be a green traveler | |
| Make | ●You can pack light and book a non-stop flight in order to save time and energy. |
| Respect natural environment | ●The natural environment and wild plants are ●Use products |
| ●Buy local products and food to help hand down cultural tradition and keep money in local pockets. | |
| Find ways to give back | ●You can pick up litter in a park or ●You can’t take jobs away from local people. |
These days, short videos and live streaming （网络直播）have gotten millions of views online. More and more people create and share short videos on popular apps like Douyin and Kuaishou to show parts of their lives.
Using live streaming is popular among the people aged 18 to 35. Even the teachers give lessons by live streaming. Besides leaving reviews on the screen, viewers can also communicate directly with the hosts by buying virtual（虚拟的）gifts such as flowers, toys and cars for them online. The most recent famous example was the Olympic swimmer Fu Yuanhui. She did one-hour live streaming which reached more than 11 million viewers.
What’s more, live streaming allows users to communicate with strangers and express themselves. A 19-year-old college student called Nic Li says she spends three to four hours each week chatting and singing with viewers through one app called Ingkee. “Sometimes I feel lonely and want to talk to people,” she says, “I feel nice when viewers are paying attention to me.”
However, as there are more than 80 apps and 300 websites for live streaming in China, the Internet regulator（监管机构）almost can’t monitor the content（内容）all the time.
“We support the use of live streaming. But people should be aware of the two sides of it,” one of the officials said.
1. What do more and more people show by sharing videos on apps?2. How do viewers communicate with hosts?
3. Why is Nic Li’s example mentioned?
4. It isn’t difficult for the Internet regulator to monitor the content all the time, is it?
5. What should people be aware of when using live streaming?
Active listening is needed when communicating with others. It has an effect on your relationships and your work. How to be an active listener? The following suggestions may help you.
It’s impolite to break in when someone is speaking. Don’t express your thoughts immediately. Wait for a second, so that the other person can finish his sentences.
Make sure that you listen with your eyes, heart and ears. To hear what other people are really saying, you also need to listen to what they’re not saying.
Ask questions. To be an active listener, you can also show your interest in what he is saying, and you want to know more. By doing this, you can develop friendship with the speaker.
Active listening can help you truly understand what people are saying in conversations.
How to be an active listener | |
| Importance | Active listening has an |
| Suggestions | Wait Listen with your eyes, Show that you are |
| Active listening can help you truly | |
Every April, there is a special day when people remember and honor their ancestors. It is called Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival. This year, the day falls on April 4th.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival. It began over 2000 years ago. A well-known poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu describes the day, “(1) Rains fall heavily as Qingming comes, and passersby with lowered spirits go.”
Tomb-Sweeping Day (2)_______ a public holiday on the Chinese mainland since 2008. On this day, families bring flowers, food and wine to their ancestors’ tombs. They put food like cakes and fruits in front of the tombs. After that, they sweep the dirt off the tombs and remember their dead family members.
Why do Chinese people do this? That’s because people think that visiting tombs during Qingming Festival is to show respect to their dead family members.
However, Tomb-Sweeping Day is not only about this. During that time, the weather is getting warmer. So Tomb-Sweeping Day also means finally being able to garden and enjoying outdoor activities in China. Families often get together for outings or to fly kites at this time.
1. When did Tomb-Sweeping Day begin?2. 翻译(1)处画线句。
3. 请在(2)处空格处填入一个适当的词让句意完整。
4. Why do people visit tombs during Qingming Festival?
5. What do your family often do during Qingming Festival besides visiting tombs?
8 . Most people drink tea in the world. But tea does not mean the same thing to different people. In different countries, people have different ideas about drinking tea.
In China, for example, tea is often offered when people get together. Chinese people drink it at home or in tea houses at any time of the day. They often use hot water to boil（煮沸）tea leaves.
Tea is also important in other Asian countries. People in these countries have a special way of offering tea. They hold a tea ceremony（仪式）in their houses when important guests come. It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done in a special way in the ceremony. There is even a special room for it in their houses.
In the United States,people usually drink tea at breakfast or they drink it after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make tea. This way is faster and easier than the way of making tea in the teapots. In summer, most Americans drink iced tea. They like to put some ice in their tea.
1. What do Chinese people often use to boil tea leaves?（根据短文内容，简要回答问题）
2. Chinese people drink it at home
（根据短文内容，填入恰当的词）
3. In the United States, people have a special way of offering tea.(判断正误T/F)
4. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.（请把文中画线句子译成汉语）
5. Give a proper title to the passage.（请给短文拟一个恰当的标题）
Reading books is a good hobby for all kinds of reasons. First, reading books is fun. You can always keep pleased if you like reading. It is a relaxing (放松) hobby too. You can really become lost in a book.
Next, you can read a book anywhere: in a car, in a waiting-room, on a plane, in bed—even in the bath.
All you need is a book! Reading is an easy hobby because you can stop and then start again.
Another good reason for reading books is that it is useful. If you read as a hobby you will get better and better at it. This means that you will read faster and will become better at understanding what you read. As your reading becomes better, you will probably find your schoolwork becomes much easier.
Some people say that reading is out of date. This is not true. You have to be able to read on the Internet.
The better you read, the better your computer skills will be.
Good readers are most likely to be good writers, too. They are usually good at spelling as well, and have more things to write about. Reading books is a wonderful hobby. What else could be more enjoyable!
Reading is good
| Fun | Because reading can make you feel |
| Easy | Because you can read at any |
| Because if you read better, you will do better in understanding. Reading can help you do the homework | |
| Reading on the Internet can make our computer skills become better. | |
| Reading is good for |
10 . The topic of China’s “slash youth”(斜杠青年) has become hot on social media recently, drawing attention to the different pursuits(追求) of the younger generation.
The slash youth means those who refuse to be accepted by just one personal identity(身份). They like to present themselves as different identities, such as a nurse and model, a teacher and excellent singer, and an engineer and band player. Rather than comfortable life, they pursue meaningful achievement.
A different career can make them develop new experiences and talents. What’s more, they can get other people’s recognition(承认) and they can have a sense of satisfaction themselves.
A study on “slash youth” published in the China Youth Research magazine talks about the background of this phenomenon(现象): with part of modern society’s usual organization and stability norms(稳定的规范) are broken, flexible labor(灵活的劳动力) markets has appeared. Young people also face the difficult time of self-development, including the sense of powerlessness, lost sense of value in the job, which forces them to re-find the meaning of work.
“The slash life shows that our society is changing better and better in some ways, and it welcomes everyone’s self-development,” said Shi Yanrong, an associate researcher from Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. “Young people no longer have to depend on work and money for their sense of self-development. They would like to create their own identities.” The researcher added that against the background that people have different interests and are willing to pay for these interests nowadays, the slash life of the youth would drive the growth of a new economy(经济) and its development.
| Slash Youth | |
| Definition （定义） | The slash youth have more than one personal identity and hope to make meaningful achievement instead of living |
| Different careers can make them develop new experiences and talents. Different careers can make other people recognize them. Different careers can make them feel | |
| Background | Part of modern society’s usual organization and stability norms are broken, flexible labor markets has appeared. Young people have no |
| Influence | As our society changes better and better, it welcomes everyone’s self-development. Young people would like to create their own identities because they no longer have to depend on work and money for their sense of self-development. The slash life of the youth would get a new economy to |
