Have you heard of the air taxi? An air taxi can carry people from place to place by air. It looks like a helicopter (直升机). It doesn’t need a long runway to take off or land. It can go straight up. and down.
On February 27, an air taxi finished its first test flight (飞行) in Guangdong. The flight started from the Shekou Cruise Homeport in Shenzhen to Jiuzhou Port in Zhuhai. The 60-kilometer trip took about 20 minutes. By car, the same trip takes two or three hours.
The air taxi is powered (驱动) by electricity (电). It has a top speed of 200 kilometers per hour and can carry up to five people. On one charge (充电), it can travel 250 kilometers. If everything goes well, it hopes to start carrying passengers in 2026.
1. What does an air taxi look like?2. How long did the air taxi fly for its first test flight?
3. What's the top speed of an air taxi?
4. How many people can an air taxi carry up to?
5. How far can an air taxi travel on one charge?
Honesty is valuable in the world. There are five qualities (特征) of honest people.
Honest people have no interest in competition for popularity. They don’t pay too much attention to what others think of them.
Honest people don’t go looking for fights, but they aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Honest people will express their opinions bravely even when their beliefs (信念) are against other people. While sometimes this may cause some trouble, most people respect honesty and admire those who stick to their beliefs.
Honest people don’t get angry easily. It requires a thick skin (不计较面子) to stay honest. Not all people love to hear the truth. When honest people tell the truth, other people may get angry. Honest people may be hurt by them so that they need to have thick skin.
Honest people often have long, deep friendships. Their friends know that they won’t discuss them behind their back, and will instead deal with problems in a direct way. This allows for deeper, healthier relationships.
We can ask honest people for help and advice. They will not tell us the story that we want to hear. Although it may help avoid bad feelings, sometimes the difficult truth is the only thing we really need to know.
| Five qualities of honest people | |
| Honest people don’t compete in order to be | They don’t care too much about others’ opinions of them. |
| Honest people stick to their beliefs. | Although honest people don’t ask for trouble, they are brave enough to tell others their opinions. They are respected and |
| Honest people don’t get angry easily. | They need to have thick skin to protect them from being hurt by people who are not happy about hearing the |
| Honest people have close friends. | Their friends understand that they deal with problems |
| Honest people are always helpful. | Honest people can offer help and advice to us, |
A Lesson on Happiness
What is “happiness”? Many of you ask yourselves this question, but the answer isn’t always clear. However, people in Finland might have a better idea than most.
In the 2023 World Happiness Report, Finland won the title (称号) of “the happiest country in the world” once again (再一次). It is the sixth year that the country has got this title.
So, what’s Finland’s secret to happiness?
Heli Jimenez, a worker at Business Finland, thinks Finnish people’s happiness may come from their relationship (关系) with nature and a “down-to-earth” lifestyle. “Everyone can learn to be happy,” she said. “And our country wants to help people do that.”
This June, Business Finland paid for 10 people to have a special lesson “Masterclass of Happiness”. It was a four-day lesson. The lesson started on June 12, at the Kuru Resort in the Finnish countryside.
During the lesson, experts from different fields helped the “students” understand more about what it means to be happy. The lesson was mainly on four different areas: nature and lifestyle, health and balance (平衡), design (设计) and “every day”, and food and well-being.
All of this was free. And don’t worry if you didn’t go to take the special lesson—you will see it online later in 2023.
1. How many times did Finland win “the happiest country in the world” title?2. What do the underlined words “do that” in Paragraph 4 mean?
3. When did the special lesson finish?
4. How much did the “Masterclass of Happiness” lesson cost?
5. What do you think “happiness” is?
Koala bears (考拉熊) and kangaroos (袋鼠) are two kinds of animals in Australia. They are both national treasures (国宝) of Australia. They are also very famous around the world.
The koala bear is a kind of little, short and fat animal. It has two big ears on its head. It is very cute and looks like a toy bear. A baby koala is very small when it is born. It has no hair and it cannot see anything either. It lives in its mother’s pouch (育儿袋) around a year. The koala sleeps during the day and eats at night. It feeds on a kind of leaves. It gets water from those leaves, so it doesn’t need water. The koala seldom swims, although it can swim well. Koalas once were in danger because some people killed them. Now they are protected better than before. Their number now is about 40,000.
However, the kangaroo is another kind of animal in Australia. It has short front legs, long and strong back legs, so it can jump very high. It looks like a big mouse. The kangaroo’s favorite food is grass. Most of them like to eat outside. It likes to live in groups. It is the national symbol of Australia. There are more kangaroos than people in Australia.
National Treasures of Australia | ||
Items (项目) |
Koala Bear |
Kangaroo |
Appereance (外貌) | little, short and fat | short front legs, long and back legs |
Food | grass | |
Habit | live in | |
about 40,000 | more than people in Australia | |
Our school is beautiful all around the year.
In spring, plants turn green and the grass comes out. Some students often fly kites on the playground. While I like playing football with my friends on the grassland.
In summer, it is hot. All sorts of flowers can be seen everywhere. There is a spring (喷泉) behind the teaching building. My classmates sit around it and chat with each other.
In autumn, my friend Mary always takes photos of leaves. They are of different colors. The road with leaves looks like a colorful blanket. All kinds of fruit trees are my favorite.
In winter, when our school is covered (覆盖) by snow and it is white here and there, it looks attractive. Although it is cold, we all like playing with snow outside.
| Four | |
| Spring | Plants turn green and the grass Students often fly kites on the playground but I like playing football. |
| Summer | We can see all kinds of Classmates sit around the spring , chatting with each other. |
| Autumn | My friend Mary always takes photos of I like all kinds of fruits . |
| Winter | Our school is covered by white snow. It is white We like playing with snow outside. |
6 . 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?
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 | |
8 . 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 |
9 . Count your blessings（祝福）, we’re told, but it’s just not in our nature. We’d rather count our problems. We’re so used to focusing on bad news that we tend to pay no attention to what’s going well. As soon as we solve one problem, we take the progress for granted and find a new cause for alarm. Every now and again it doesn’t hurt to think how good we have it. Start counting:
Free time
As much as we complain about being busy, the typical American has more free time than ever—more than five hours per day. If you feel too busy, it’s probably only because you’re doing so many other things than work. Experts say there’ll be even more free time in the future.
Peace
Wars and terrorist attacks will always make headlines, but it’s remarkable how many of the world’s 6.7 billion people now live in peace. In recent decades, though the population has been growing, the number of wars around the world has declined. In some earlier generations, a quarter of the male population died violent deaths. Over the past century, even counting the world wars, a person’s chance of dying from war was less than 2 percent.
American dream
While some people are struggling to keep their homes, the vast majority of Americans still have plenty to be thankful for when they walk through the front door. In 1950 the typical new American house had one floor with 1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, and one bathroom—and even that bungalow was beyond many people’s means. Today, more than two thirds of Americans own their homes, and the typical new house has two floors, at least three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and more than 2,200 square feet of space for the family.
The reader’s revolution
In 1970 barely half the people in the world were literate, and many of them could afford only a few books. Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s people can read, and 22 percent have access to the greatest library in history. The Web provides classic books and reference works free of charge.
More wilderness
Once you travel beyond the cities, you’ll find plenty of open space and peaceful forests. Many of the woodlands cleared by settlers have returned now that the land is no longer needed for agriculture.
The modern cars
Cars give off greenhouse gases and create maddening traffic jams, but consider what else they do. Compared with the models on the road in 1970, today’s cars burn less gasoline per mile and emit 98 percent fewer pollutants. That’s why, despite the doubling of the number of cars, there’s much less smog in the air. The basic car today offers more comforts and safety than the luxury（豪华）cars of old.
阅读短文，填表格，每空一词。
| Title | Six reasons to be thankful |
| Problems | We tend to focus on our problems and ignore what’s going well. Even with problems solved immediately, we still |
| The blessings we should count | Today Americans have more free time than ever. |
| The number of people dying of wars has declined despite the | |
| Owing a two-floor house with at least 3 bedrooms has been within the | |
| More reading materials are available to readers and more than 80% can read. | |
| More land for agriculture has made | |
| The basic cars are much |
Have you ever heard that a road goes through our building? In fact, there’s such a special light railway track in the city of Chongqing. It has been built through a hole in a 19-storey building.
Chongqing is a city in the southwest of China. (A)它是中国西南部四大城市之一。It lies along the banks of the Yangtze River. It’s 31,000 square miles in size but its population is up to 49 million.
The city is called the Mountain City because it lies around forests and hills. So we can know Chongqing is such a crowded city. It’s a great challenge for the city planners to make room for roads and railway lines. To avoid accidents they came up with the creative method.
A special railway station was built into the block of houses and set into the sixth to eighth floors. People can take Chongqing Rail Transit No.2 at their own Liziba Station.(B)You may think the noise from the station trouble the people living there. In fact, even though they live in rooms closest to the busy train station, they just can hear the sound like the noise from a dishwasher. It’s (C)_______ that the large noise from trains has been muffled（使降低）a lot.
Thanks to the way, the people don’t have to move. And the whole building didn’t have to be taken down to make way for the train tracks.
1. 根据短文内容，回答下面的问题。Why is the light railway track special in Chongqing?
2. 请将（A）处画线句子译成英语。
3. 将（B）处画线句子译成汉语。
4. 在（C）处填入一个恰当的词，使句意完整。
5. What’s the best title of the passage?（不超过7个词）
