Her life looks like one out of a fairytale, Li Ziqi impressed the world with her videos, where she makes everything almost by hand, from dying(染色) a dress with fresh grape juice to making traditional lipsticks(口红) from roses in her garden. She even rides a horse to get ingredients(材料) for the meals. She has about 50 million fans in China, and another 8 million overseas(在海外). Behind her fame at home and abroad, her experience is like a motivational(励志的) book.
Li grew up with her grandparents in the countryside of Sichuan Province. When she was 14, she went to work in the city. In 2012, she returned to the countryside to take care of her grandmother. Four years later, she started filming her life there. Whatever she makes, she leaves no stone unturned. For example, in one video, she uses flowers to make pies. In order to get the fresh dew(露水), she got up early to gather the early morning dew. Besides food, she is also known for her videos introducing traditional crafts(工艺), like building bamboo furniture sets. Three years after she first picked up the camera, Li is one of China’s most successful online video makers now.
CCTV praised(赞扬) that “She did not praise China with a single word, but she did a good job of showing Chinese culture and Chinese stories”. Many interviewers say Li creates(创造) a beautiful lifestyle and her videos help them find inner peace and get a break from their stressful(有压力的) and busy lives.
Li says, “I hope I can show how amazing the Chinese culture is!”
1. Li Ziqi has about ________ fans from all over the world.| A．8 million | B．42 million | C．50 million | D．58 million |
| A．making western food | B．making up the camera |
| C．looking after her parents | D．filming her life |
| A．举重若轻 | B．竭尽全力 | C．沉着冷静 | D．漫不经心 |
| A．showing the beauty of China. | B．helping the viewers relax |
| C．inventing modern crafts | D．making things with her hands |
| A．What Li Ziqi can or can’t do. | B．How to live a life like a fairy tale. |
| C．Why Li Ziqi becomes popular. | D．Whether to live in the countryside. |
2 . Researchers said they had found out that there was once an ancient fresh water lake on Mars that might have been able to support life.
A team of researchers from the US Curiosity Rover Mission, analyzed (分析) some mudstone and fine-grained sediment (细粒沉积物) which can tell us that there was at least one lake around 3.6 billion years ago.
The team said their analysis showed that the lake was calm and likely had fresh water, including key biological elements, such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur (硫磺). Theoretically, such a lake would provide perfect conditions for simple living things.
The findings were published in the US Journal Science and presented at the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting in San Francisco. “It is important to note that we have not found signs of ancient life on Mars. What we have found is that there once existed a lake on its surface which might make it possible for some simple living things to live billions of years ago,” Professor Sanjeev Gupta said in a statement. Gupta described the new research as “a huge positive step” for the exploration of Mars.
In previous studies, scientists found evidence of water on Mars’ surface in other rocks. However, the new research provides the strongest evidence yet that Mars could have been habitable enough for life to continue.
1. Researchers have found evidence that an ancient fresh water lake probably existed on ________.| A．the Earth | B．Venus | C．Mars | D．the Moon |
| A．oxygen | B．nitrogen | C．hydrogen | D．carbon dioxide |
| A．可居住的 | B．无法生存的 | C．习惯的 | D．不可能的 |
| A．The researchers thought it impossible for a fresh water lake to exist on Mars. |
| B．Gupta thought of the new research as “a huge positive step” for the exploration of Mars. |
| C．Researchers have taken great efforts to find signs of ancient life on Mars. |
| D．The findings about the fresh water lake haven’t been published in the US Journal Science. |
| A．Science. | B．Travelling. | C．Life. | D．Education. |
| A．How did the fresh water lake disappear on Mars? | B．Ancient life signs found on Mars. |
| C．An ancient fresh water lake on Mars. | D．The importance of water. |
As you are reading this story, there are a lot of things flying through space. These things are called space junk (太空垃圾).
Space junk comes from many different kinds of things such as old spaceships. These things travel very fast in space.
According to NASA, there are about 500,000 pieces of junk in outer space. Some of these pieces of junk are traveling as fast as about 28,163 kilometers per hour. This can be even faster than a spaceship. Even a small piece of junk can destroy(毁坏) a spacecraft or satellite.
Luckily, NASA has found a way to solve this problem. It made a special satellite called Nano Racks-Remove Debris. The satellite looks like a cube(立方体). It works by collecting small pieces of space junk. There is a 3-D camera on the satellite. It can find where the space junk is, how big it is and how fast it is moving. When it gets close to the space junk, it uses a net to catch it. Later, the satellite burns the space junk in Earth’s atmosphere (大气层).
1. Where does space junk come from?| A．Outer space. | B．Things like old spaceships. |
| C．Nano Racks-Romove Debris. | D．Earth’s atmosphere. |
| A．500,000 | B．28,163 | C．13,00000 | D．28268 |
a. It collects small pieces of space junk.
b. It uses 3-D camera to find the space junk.
c. It burns the space junk in a spaceship.
d. It uses a net to catch the space junk.
| A．bcd | B．acd | C．abd | D．abcd |
| A．The location of the space junk. | B．The size of the space junk. |
| C．The color of the space junk. | D．The speed of the space junk. |
| A．Some space junk may travel faster than a spaceship. |
| B．There isn’t much rubbish in space. |
| C．It’s impossible for a small piece of junk to destroy a satellite. |
| D．The special satellite made by NASA works by collecting large pieces of space junk. |
4 . Some of you may play Ant Forest. It is a game on Alipay. Users collect “energy” to make their “trees” grow. When the “energy” reaches a certain level, some organizations and companies will plant a real tree in a desert area of China. And now it seems that the nation’s efforts as a whole to make a greener world have paid off.
According to a study by NASA and published in the journal Nature Sustainability in February, China and India are mainly responsible for making the Earth greener over the past two decades. The study has found that since 2000 the Earth’s green leaf area has increased by 5 percent, or over 5 million square kilometers. That’s an area equivalent to the total area of the Amazon rainforest. It is mainly the result of big tree planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries, according to NASA. “China and India account for one third of the increased greening but contain only 9 percent of the planets land area covered in vegetation.” Chi Chen, the study’s lead author and a researcher at Boston University, US, told CNN. China was the major contributor, adding 25 percent to this increase, while India added 6.8 percent.
Over the past decades, China has made great efforts to green the land. In 1978, China began a national-level forestation project—the Three North Shelterbelt Forest Program, also known as the “Great Green Wall”. The program has seen many trees planted in 13 provinces and autonomous regions in northern China to act as windbreaks, according to China Daily. By the end of 2017, the forest coverage rate among the regions of the project had reached 13.57 percent, compared to 5.05 percent 40 years ago.
For example, Kubuqi Desert, which is near the Yellow River in Inner Mongolia, is the seventh largest in the country. It was once the source of sandstorms in Beijing. But thanks to forestation efforts, about one third of the Kubuqi Desert is now covered with trees and shrubs, and sandstorms are less common, reported Xinhua News Agency.
In the light of China’s success in dealing with desertification, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) believes China is a good example for others to follow. “China is one of the most successful countries in greening the desert and has lessons to share with the world.” UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim told Xinhua.
1. When the users of Ant Forest collect enough “energy”, ________.| A．a tree can be planted in the game |
| B．they can go to the desert and plant a tree |
| C．a tree in the desert will be named after them |
| D．an organization or a company will plant a tree in a desert |
| A．China contributes more to the increased greening than India |
| B．the area covered in vegetation contains 9 percent of the planets land |
| C．the increase in greening is the result of big tree-planting programs in India |
| D．China and India helped the Amazon rainforest become greener |
| A．The area is equivalent to the total area of the Amazon rainforest. |
| B．Since 2000 the Earth’s green leaf area has increased by 5 percent, or over 5 million square kilometers. |
| C．China and India are mainly responsible for making the Earth greener one the past two decades. |
| D．Big tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries. |
| A．It was a project led by the 13 provincial governments. |
| B．This project started in 1978 and completed in 2017. |
| C．Trees were planted to provide protection from the wind. |
| D．The forest coverage rate of China increased about 8.5%. |
| A．To suggest that other countries learn from China’s actions. |
| B．To call for more efforts to make the Earth greener. |
| C．To state that China has been playing a leading role to increase green land. |
| D．To prove that the green leaf area on the Earth has been decreasing rapidly in recent years. |
5 . You can see all these things at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Some technologies make the Games stand out and help people stay safe during COVID-19.
Driverless helpers
Walking inside Shougang Industrial Park, you can see different kinds of driverless cars. When you feel tired, you can get in a driverless minibus. When you feel hungry, you can buy food from a “driverless car store”. Some driverless cars can even send things to you just like a delivery man (快递员).
Body temperature check
People can wear a thermometer (体温计) on their skin. It looks like a bandage (创可贴). One charge (充电) can work for about ten days. Users can check their body temperature through an app on their smart phones. If someone gets a fever, the thermometer will report it.
Remote interview
Usually after each event, reporters will interview players face to face. To stay safe, the Beijing Winter Olympics will do remote interviews. The reporters can’t meet the players. But they can talk with each other by video.
1. How many kinds of driverless cars are mentioned in the text?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．about eight | B．about nine | C．about ten | D．about eleven |
| A．can call people | B．is small in size |
| C．can be worn on the clothes | D．is as cheap as a bandage |
| A．远程的 | B．原始的 | C．虚假的 | D．隐秘的 |
| A．A new kind of bandage. | B．How the driverless cars are made. |
| C．Cool technologies at the Olympics. | D．What we should do during COVID-19. |
| A．are a toy car collector | B．want to be a reporter in the future |
| C．are a lover of science and technology | D．want to work at Shougang Industrial Park |
6 . Chinese shoppers have spent big over the Singles’ Day shopping festival. This year, sales on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Tmall exceeded 372.3 billion yuan. Every year this time, the high of shopping may feel like a drug and few Chinese will sit out this remarkable carnival.
And the retailers may be onto something.All year round, festival shopping never seems to disappear. Chinese companies are trying to expand Double Eleven’s shopping mindset to other holidays. These days, it’s commonplace for holidays in China to be commercialized. You can now buy Starbucks-branded treats for the Dragon Boat Festival, floral arrangements for any of the three Valentine’s Days celebrated in China — Qixi Festival, May 20, and Western Valentine’s Day — or elegantly packaged moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. Children’s Day is now as targeted at nostalgic millennials as it is children, and retailers have even tried turning International Women’s Day into “Queens’ Day” and “Goddesses’ Day” with discounts targeting the so-called “she” economy. It’s as if conveying something. Want to tell someone you love them? Buy them something. Going through a rough breakup? Buy yourself something. Unhappy with your life? Buy a new one.
The siren call of consumerism is hard to resist, even —or perhaps especially — in difficult economic times. Economists like to talk about what’s called the lipstick effect: When the economy declines, lipstick sales often increase. In times such as these, when we don’t have enough disposable income for the kind of major purchases that can have material impacts on our lives, sometimes it’s still nice to buy something small — like a tube of lipstick. Relatively inexpensive commodities such as these can satisfy our innate desire to consume, thereby giving us an emotional boost.
Double Eleven may be a shopping holiday, but the effects are more than just economic: The day has become a psychological crutch. Buying something on Double Eleven is our way of saying “Everything’s OK,” even when it’s not. As long as that’s the case, retailers can rest easy, at least for one day.
1. What festival is not mentioned in the passage?| A．The Dragon Boat Festival. | B．The Qingming Festival. |
| C．The Mid-Autumn Festival. | D．The Qixi Festival. |
| A．The retailers realize Double 11 is a good opportunity to earn money. |
| B．The retailers get to know shoppers like to buy goods with discounts. |
| C．The retailers find out other festivals are also suitable for commercial promoting. |
| D．The retailers are interested in making money during festivals. |
| A．Linda has just broken up with her boyfriend. She buys herself a Tiffany necklace to feel better even though she has little money. |
| B．Maggie decided to buy a Rolex watch as a Christmas gift for her husband even though she lost her job. She couldn’t wait to see her husband’s surprised and happy look. |
| C．Mary wants to decorate her room. She decides to paint the wall green instead of buying expensive furniture because she doesn’t have enough money. Although it is cheap, she still feels happy. |
| D．Dan decided to buy a lipstick for his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day and he’s got two choices. The most popular lipstick “Dior 999” is more expensive than “Mac see sheer”. But Mac suits his girlfriend better. So he bought the Mac and he is happy that his girl loves it. |
| A．Warning device. | B．Strong desire. |
| C．Harmful feeling. | D．Dangerous demand. |
| A．The Singles’ Day shopping festival |
| B．The siren call of consumerism |
| C．The economic and psychological impacts of Double 11 shopping |
| D．Double Eleven’s shopping mindset |
7 . These days, more and more people are getting the latest news from a screen rather than a paper. Yet many people still find it exciting to open a freshly printed newspaper to discover what’s in it. Scanning through a copy of the morning paper has become an irreplaceable part of their day. One of the most popular dailies in the United States is The New York Times. Every night, the paper gets printed at 26 plants across the country. College Point, built in 1997, is the biggest among them. It prints 1.7 million copies of The New York Times every week.
If you ever have a chance to visit College Point, you will be impressed by many things. The first among them is perhaps the paper rolls. Each of them is half as heavy as a car (that is, about 900 kilograms). They are moved from the storage to the printing presses with the help of three robotic arms. There are also 30,000 liters (升) of black ink and 9,500 liters of colored ink. Trucks deliver ink to the plant every week.
Finished newspaper pages are sent digitally from the newsroom to the plant. They are then burned (刻) with lasers onto thin aluminum (铝制的) sheets called plates. There are seven printing presses at College Point. Each of them is several stories tall. During a print run, they can print as many as 80,000 newspapers per hour. Pressmen would carefully adjust the presses before they place the plates on the machines. Electricians and machinists are also on hand during this setup to solve any problems that may occur. The noise of the running presses is awful. Each press is shut down for one shift (轮班) each week. Press staff will then climb inside to maintain (保养) the machine’s key parts.
Sometimes, news breaks during a press run. If it’s important enough, the newsroom will call to “Stop the presses!” Often, the copies that have already been printed won’t be thrown away, but the rest of the night’s run will be based on the updated version.
Usually, all print runs of The New York Times are completed by 3 a.m. Maintenance and electrical teams will then make preparations for the next shift. The plant is so large that they have to ride bicycles in order to get around!
1. What is the main idea of the article?| A．How The New York Times is edited. | B．How The New York Times is printed. |
| C．Where The New York Times can be bought. | D．How often The New York Times is published. |
| A．at noon | B．at night | C．in the afternoon | D．in the early morning |
| A．an editor | B．a pressman | C．an electrician | D．a postal worker |
① Adjusting the printing presses. ② Burning newspaper pages onto plates.
③ Putting plates on the printing presses. ④ Receiving newspaper pages from the newsroom.
| A．④②③① | B．①④②③ | C．④②①③ | D．④①②③ |
| A．Every day. | B．Every other day. | C．Once a week. | D．Twice a month. |
| A．ask the newsroom whether the pages will be updated |
| B．throw away the printed papers and print the updated version |
| C．reburn the plates before printing the rest of the shift’s papers |
| D．print a page about the updates and put it into the printed papers |
8 . Where in the world can you take an hour’s train ride, and pass a forest, a London street, a scene from the Wild West, and a burning building that never burns down? There’s only one place, and that’s Hollywood, in California. The scenes you see from the tourist train are film sets(布景) in the Universal Studios, one of the oldest and largest movie companies in the USA.
A visit to Universal Studios brings back memories of great days of Hollywood, the films and the stars. But they are only memories, Hollywood isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Costs have gone up and confidence has gone down. Movie-makers are afraid to spend their money on expensive new ideas. Instead, they repeat old ones.
The film industry is changing fast. Teenagers still go out to the movies. The theatre is a good place to meet friends away from home. But older people mostly stay home to watch series, like Dynasty, which have become as important to Hollywood as expensive movies. These “soap opera”, as they are called, show rich, powerful families living in beautiful homes and wearing beautiful clothes. But the actors and actresses are nearly all middle-aged, like many of the people who watch them.
Though it is soap operas that are keeping the film-makers of Hollywood in Business, big films are still being made in America. But more and more of them are made outside Hollywood. New York is the most important new center, but there are many others as well. Movie-makers have realized that they don’t need Hollywood any more. Modern cameras and real houses instead of expensively made copies in a studio. Other states, especially Florida and Texas, are working hard to take the film business away from California. They are offering better working conditions and lower cost.
But Hollywood is fighting back. The state of California is trying hard to keep its best-known industry.
1. From the passage, we know Universal Studios is _________.| A．a very large park | B．a busy London street |
| C．a famous movie company | D．an old Hollywood movie |
| A．confidence | B．costs | C．ideas | D．confidence, costs and ideas |
| A．Young people don’t go to movie theatres any more |
| B．There is strong competition from other states |
| C．The movie companies are in need of young stars |
| D．The state hasn’t put a development plan into action |
| A．The use of modern cameras and other equipment |
| B．The interest of middle-aged film stars |
| C．The making of TV series like Dynasty |
| D．The expensively made copies of scenes |
| A．Florida | B．Texas | C．New York | D．Washington |
| A．They are teenagers’ favourites. | B．They are much more expensive. |
| C．They are less attractive. | D．They are cheaper and easier to make. |
Recently, a show called Child Genius (《天才儿童》) gets popular in Britain. The show invites a group of children competing a series of tasks to get the title of child genius. The tasks included subjects such as science, memory and spelling with a twist: the words were from Olds English.
But most of viewers are surprised at a parent who is strict with their 11-year-old son in preparing for Child Genius.
Maths wizz Gar Jun, 11, from Birmingham, successfully qualified to the next round of the show and amazed judges by his outstanding performance in the competition.
However, his mum Faye who owns a Chinese restaurant, said he could do better and told him to cut out the silly mistakes. Gar told people that sometimes his mum let him have a rest for only three minutes when he studied. His mum thought Child Genius was really a test to prove the Chinese education system could work very well. Fans were also shocked by Gar Jun’s father, who warned the son that his“only”choice was to come first.
While other children are addicted to computer games and football, Gar Jun likes nothing better than solving a meaty equation or studying his favorite subject–DNA. After spending two of the first three years of his life in China, Gar Jun came to Birmingham unable to speak English. But after three months, he could speak it fluently. Soon he could read and write very well. At the age of eight, Gar Jun passed his Grade Five music exam for the piano and the violin (the highest level is eight). Gar Jun enjoys rugby and hopes to become a doctor in the future.
His parents encourage Gar Jun and taught him themselves before he was old enough for school. Faye said, “Every single child has potential (潜力). I think we have to put some pressure. If a child has the talent, parents need to play their part in bringing out that talent.”
While she won some praise, other people blasted her strict regime. One tweeted said, “Gar Jun’s mum is beyond! Let your children have fun! It’s terrible to see him pushed so hard!!!”
1. According to the passage, which task of the show isn’t mentioned?| A．Memory. | B．English. | C．Science. | D．DNA. |
| A．Both Gar’s mum and dad put pressure on him. |
| B．Gar’s mum believes the Chinese education system is helpful to Gar. |
| C．Gar prefers studying DNA to solving a meaty equation. |
| D．Gar was three years old when he came to Birmingham from China. |
| A．包容 | B．赞扬 | C．批评 | D．怨恨 |
| A．the differences between Gar and other children | B．how long Gar has studied |
| C．Gar’s talent and achievements | D．Gar likes nothing but working hard |
| A．The writer agrees with them. | B．The writer disagrees with them. |
| C．The writer has no idea. | D．We have no idea. |
10 . Will the corona virus bike boom lead to greener cities?
The corona virus pandemic has led to an explosion of interest in bikes and biking. As the pandemic was continuing to spread, people began looking for ways of getting around that didn’t involve crowded forms of public transportation. Because biking happens in the open air, and the chance of catching the corona virus while riding is very low, biking is seen as a safe way to travel.
In many places, governments are encouraging bike use. In Italy, for example, the government is offering up to $575 for people to buy new bikes, while France will chip in (补助) $55 to help riders with their bike repair costs.
Biking has also grown more popular because it’s one of the few forms of exercise that has been allowed during many lockdowns. With gyms and fitness centers shut down, biking fills a need for many active people.
Families appreciate biking, too. With schools closed, and kids unable to hang out with their friends, biking is a welcome activity. For many people, that’s the main point-biking is fun.
But bikes are also practical. Experts say that for people in some cities, roughly 60% of their trips can be made by bike. Many cities are seeing this as an opportunity to make their streets safer and greener. Cities around the world are adding miles and miles of bike lanes to their streets to encourage biking.
New York says it will close off up to loo miles of roads so they can be used by bikers and walkers. Oakland, California plans to close 74 miles to traffic-that’s almost 10% of the streets in the city.
Paris has set up over 400 miles of new bike lanes. Cars and trucks have been banned from 75 miles of streets in Bogota, Colombia. In Milan Italy, 22 miles of its roads have been converted (转变).
Though many of these bike lanes are only being added for the time being, if changes in biking habits become permanent, they could seriously cut down car traffic and help make cities a lot greener.
1. According to the passage, biking has grown popular because _________.①biking is a safe way to travel during the pandemic
②biking is much cheaper than public transportation
③governments are encouraging people to use bikes
④riding is a way to get exercise during lockdowns
⑤riding is both fun and practical
A．    | B． | C． | D． |
2. We can learn from paragraphs 2&3 that ________.
| A．biking is not allowed because of the lockdowns |
| B．people who want to get exercise and keep fit can ride a bike |
| C．the Italian government is giving more than $575 for people to buy new bikes |
| D．the French government is offering $55 to encourage people to buy new bikes |
| A．New York. | B．Oakland. | C．Paris. | D．Milan |
| A．become real | B．last forever | C．don’t happen | D．stay for a while |
| A．objective | B．questioning | C．pessimistic | D．optimistic |
