1 . What comes to mind when you think of kung fu? If your mind is filled with images of Shaolin monks, Bruce Lee, or Kung Fu Panda, you wouldn't be wrong. But for Laurence J. Brahm, an American documentary filmmaker, the first thing that springs to mind is the concept of non-violence.
As Brahm explained, if you break down the character "wu" it consists of two characters: one is "ge" meaning dagger-axe; the other is"zhi" meaning to stop. So, the meaning of martial arts in Chinese is not the art of fighting, a concept that many people take for granted. On the contrary, he said, kung fu is the art of stopping fighting.
Brahm's relationship with kung fu dates back to the 1970s when he was a karate student in Hawaii. "My master always told me that if you want to fully understand karate, you have to go to Shaolin in China. That's where the origin is, "Brahm said. In 1981,he managed to visit the Shaolin Temple, situated at the foot of the Songshan Mountain in Central China, for the very first time. He left the mountain, a little disappointed at not finding the martial-arts spirit he expected. But his passion for kung fu and his desire to find out more were stronger than ever before.
Over the years he trained in many different styles, such as tai chi, Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do to understand all of them. "Martial arts can help us connect our body, connect our neural system, connect our blood flow, and also help connect us into our environment to increase our awareness. Martial arts is moving meditation (冥想)," Brahm said, his eyes bright and intense.
But to him, kung fu's charm and values are far more than that. He combined the knowledge from many masters and scholars with his own experience as a practitioner and tutor to extract 12 key principles and values of the martial arts: perseverance, roots, loyalty, respect, harmony, change, balance, centering, emptiness, flow, pragmatism, non-violence.
"Kung fu, in my eves, is a mirror of Chinese culture.” Brahm said “The traditional values of kung fu, actually, are in the minds of all Chinese people.”
1. What does Paragraph 2 really want to tell us?| A．The character “ge” means “to stop”. |
| B．Kung fu is the “art of non-violence”. |
| C．The character “wu” consists of two characters. |
| D．Martial arts in Chinese means the “art of fighting”. |
| A．He visited the Shaolin Temple in 1981. |
| B．He trained in many different styles over the years. |
| C．His master told him about it when he was in Hawaii. |
| D．He joined his knowledge and his experience together. |
| A．Determined. | B．Energetic. | C．Confident. | D．Friendly. |
2 . Our electronic devices today store an awful lot of personal information. We use the devices to read and send e-mails, check bank balances, and even pay our bills over the internet. We want to be assured that if our devices are stolen. our personal information stored inside them will remain safe from the thief who physically possesses the device.
To deal with this problem. Apple has come out with a new iPhone that uses biometric(生物识别的)information to lock itself up. The phone has a fingerprint scanner that will lock or unlock the phone. Your fingerprint becomes the key, and this makes it nearly impossible for others to use your phone without your immediate permission- or does it?
At first look, one would think that this type of security would be welcome in the high-tech community where privacy is valued. Instead, some people are even more worried about their privacy. According to revealed documents, the US National Security Agency is able to slip into smartphones, while the agency can also legally force companies to turn over customers' personal information. If this is true, the fingerprint scanner on your smartphone might become a tool for the authorities to collect your fingerprint data.
Another problem with using biometrics to secure devices is that people don't know how secure the systems actually are. Germany's Chaos Computer Club claimed to have slipped into a biometrically secured iPhone within days of the device's release to the public. If this is the case, people who are using this type of security are much more vulnerable than they are led to believe. Although most security systems are hacked by someone eventually, the speed at which biometric security was hacked was very upset to some.
Regardless of how a device is secured, the debate is still attributes to the trade-off between privacy and security. Governments sometimes need to look at large amounts of information in order to defeat terrorist secret plans, and necessarily, some of the data come from you and me. When we use iPhones and other devices, we lose the ability to safeguard information that we would rather keep private, and we are forced to put trust in others.
It will always be difficult to strike a balance between privacy and security with growing changing technology. Nevertheless, one thing is crystal clear: we all have to sacrifice some of our privacy in order to have security for the public.
1. Why do people want to be assured that their electronic devices won’t be stolen?| A．Because people depend too much on it . |
| B．Because electronic devices are necessary in the workplace . |
| C．Because electronic devices are getting more and more expensive. |
| D．Because there is too much personal information in their electronic devices. |
| A．The biometric devices are fully safe. |
| B．Companies keep users’ personal information safe. |
| C．The biometric devices will be the popular way to ensure our privacy. |
| D．The authorities may drive companies to turn in users’ fingerprint data. |
| A．stable. | B．insecure. | C．reliable. | D．difficult. |
| A．the government will eventually know everything about us. |
| B．It is impossible to know who can be trusted in this technological world. |
| C．It is necessary to give up a certain amount of privacy for the sake of security. |
| D．Very few people are willing to use fingerprint security on their new phones. |
3 . The spa town of Cheltenham sits on the edge of the Cotswolds, in the county of Gloucester. Below is a look at four fabulous attractions that make Cheltenham such a terrific place to visit.
Cheltenham Festival
The festival is an annual, four-day feast of racing and, on the last day, features the famous Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeplechase. It's a dramatic race of around 3 miles and 2.5 furlongs. and the horses have to clear 22 fences. Anything can happen. In 2020,this last day of the festival drew in a crowd of 68,859.
Pittville Park
If you visit Pitville Park, you'll find it divided into two main parts by the Evesham Road. The eastern side is home to the children's play area and is where people can view wildlife. Meanwhile, on the western side of the road, you'll find the larger area of the park and small areas of woodland. There's also a lower lake at which you can fish during fishing season. That's not the only activity, however. There's a skate park, tennis courts and a small children's play area.
Holst Birthplace Museum
Cheltenham was the birthplace of the 19"century English composer Gustav Holst, and visitors can visit the home in which he was born. You'll receive a taste of what Victorian life was like, as the home boasts a working Victorian kitchen, scullery, and nursery. The museum also allows you to discover the composer's life and times by allowing you into his music room. Here is where he composed The Planets.
Sudeley Castle
This private castle, which is surrounded by views of the Cotswolds, holds the claim to fame of being the only castle in England to have a queen buried in the grounds. The castle has witnessed all sorts of drama throughout its history and is one of the most interesting Tudor castles you'll ever visit.
If you would like more information on Cheltenham Town, please visit the website: www.ctladiesyouth.co.uk.
1. Pitville Park is unique in its_______| A．game areas. | B．horse racing. | C．beautiful views. | D．children's performances. |
| A．Pitville Park. | B．Sudeley Castle. | C．Cheltenham Festival. | D．Holst Birthplace Museum. |
| A．A diary. | B．A novel. | C．A website. | D．A magazine. |
4 . A US government study has found that facial recognition technology is getting better at identifying people wearing masks. The study is part of an ongoing research by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The agency has examined the effectiveness of more than 150 facial recognition systems on people wearing face coverings . The systems are powered by machine learning algorithms (算法).
The first results of the study were announced in July, as health officials across the world urged people to wear masks to limit the spread of COVID-19. New findings were released this week . Police agencies have long used facial recognition technology to search for and help catch criminals. It can also be used to unlock phones or other electronic devices. Some robots use facial recognition technology to recognize the people they are communicating with. However, the wide use of masks in public has created major difficulties for such systems.
The study looked at facial recognition systems already in use before the pandemic. It also looked at systems specially developed to work on masked faces. The NIST said it processed a total of 6. 2 million images for the experiment People in the images were not actually wearing masks. So, the researchers digitally added different mask shapes to faces in the pictures for use in the study. In some cases, up to 70 percent of a person’s face was covered in the images. Overall, the research shows the top-performing facial recognition systems fail to correctly identify unmasked individuals about 0. 3 percent of the time and the failure rate rose to about 5 percent with masked images. Many of the lower performing algorithms, however, had much higher error rates with masked images — as high as 20 to 50 percent.
In the latest findings, researchers included results from 65 new facial recognition systems that have been developed since the start of the pandemic. “Some of these systems performed “significantly better” than the earlier ones，” Mei Ngan, a lead researcher on the project, said in a statement. The study also found round-shaped masks — which cover only the mouth and nose — led to fewer errors than wider ones that stretch across the cheeks. The new study also ran tests to see whether different colored masks would affect error rates. The team used red, white, black and light blue. The research findings suggested that generally, the red and black masks led to higher failure rates than the other colors.
1. How does the author mainly present the study finding?| A．By giving definitions and examples. |
| B．By giving examples and a brief description. |
| C．By presenting data and making a comparison. |
| D．By giving definitions and presenting data. |
| A．The speed of the machine learning algorithms. |
| B．The operators’skill in performing algorithms. |
| C．The number of the tested people. |
| D．The diversity of face coverings. |
| A．A girl wearing a white round-shaped mask. |
| B．A lady with a red mask stretching across her cheeks. |
| C．A man wearing a light blue mask covering his mouth and nose. |
| D．A man wearing a black mask with his nose and mouth covered up . |
| A．Objective | B．Negative |
| C．Uncaring. | D．Doubtful. |
5 . Shortage of Primary Care Threatens Health Care System
Increasing health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the support of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries. The surprising finding was that the average Medicate patient saw a total of seven doctors - two primary care physicians and five specialists - in a given year.
Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you doesn't guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we take little care of primary care? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed. Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures.
A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to randomly cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students aren't blind to this action. They know how heavily the reimbursement is against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We’re at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them?
1. The author’s chief concern about the current U.S. health care system is _________.| A．the ever-rising health care costs | B．the declining number of doctors |
| C．the inadequate training of physicians | D．the shrinking primary care resources |
| A．the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better |
| B．visiting doctors on a regular basis ensures good health |
| C．seeing more doctors may result in more diagnostic errors |
| D．the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cure. |
| A．make various deals with specialists | B．improve their expertise and service |
| C．see more patients at the expense of quality | D．increase their income by working overtime |
| A．Extend primary care to patients with chronic diseases. |
| B．Recruit more medical students by offering them loans. |
| C．Reduce the tuition of students who choose primary care as their major. |
| D．Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians. |
6 . Many people want to travel around the world and enjoy new cultures, especially the different festivals. There are festivals going on somewhere in the world every day of the year. These range from very large events which involve whole cities to local celebrations in tiny villages or neighborhoods of towns or cities. We have selected a few of the more unusual, colorful festivals from around the world. You can choose anyone you like best!
The Million Ringgit Charity Duck Race: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Thirteen years ago, Eric Schechter and his friends were brainstorming to find new ways of raising money for local charities when they came up with the idea of rubber duck races. The event, crazy as it may sound, involves racing "cool" rubber ducks down a local waterway and having members of the community "adopt" the ducks for a chance to win valuable donated prizes, possibly even $1 million bucks.
La Tomatina: Bunol, Spain
"The tomato battle is in honor of Saint Luis Beltran, the patron saint of Bunol. Residents and visitors take part in a tomato-throwing battle that decimates more than 88,000 pounds of tomatoes. This crazy event began with a serious aim as a symbolic protest against Franco. But the Tomatina is now celebrated as an amusing way to end the summer."
Mighty Mud Mania: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
"Children's dreams really do come true in the City of Scottsdale. Children aged 1 to 13, get to participate in a mud race to end all mud races. During the running of the Mighty Mud Obstacle(泥坑) course, several mud pits strategically placed, provide wet and really dirty obstacles as kids compete for the fastest time in each heat. There are also mud puddle pools for the tiny tots, and a mini mud course for those six and younger. In addition, Mighty Mudway features water and mud games. There are also water slides, sandcastle buildings and fun for all ages. Moms and dads, remember to send your kids out with old clothes and shoes. And have no fear, Rural Metro Fire Department is on hand to offer plenty of water for the muddy children."
Canberra Sled Dog Classic: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Dog sledding is one of the fastest growing sports on the east coast of Australia. As there's no snow (the trail is earth and sand and is smooth and wide with a few hills and turns), the sleds have wheels instead of runners, but the excitement is the same.
1. Which of the following means the summer is over?| A．Mighty Mud Mania. | B．La Tomatina. |
| C．Canberra Sled Dog Classic. | D．The Million Ringgit Charity Duck Race. |
| A．Fantastic activities. | B．Beautiful beaches. |
| C．Delicious food. | D．Amazing sceneries. |
| A．share personal experiences | B．compare cultures in different countries |
| C．introduce favorable festivals | D．offer practical tips on choosing activities |
7 . A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat frustrated, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man’s name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words… “PAID IN FULL”.
How many times do we miss blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
Sometimes we don’t realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect “the packaging” to be different. What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened.
1. What’s the best title for this passage?| A．A Kind Father. | B．A Key of a Car. |
| C．A leather-bound Bible. | D．An Unforgettable Graduation Ceremony. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Puzzled. | D．Bored. |
| A．There is no fence for ill fortune. |
| B．Good fortune favors the brave and courageous. |
| C．We must not look only at the surface of things. |
| D．A strong man will struggle with the storms of fate. |
| A．the young man accepted the gift at first |
| B．the young man regretted what he’d done to his father |
| C．the young man accompanied his father for a long time |
| D．the young man was successful in business with the help of his father |
8 . On Friday afternoon Class Seven had an Art lesson. It was their favourite lesson of the week. Everyone
When Trudy came into the classroom, Rob Mason said, “Look out, here comes Trouble!” All the kids
That day, they were going to paint animals. Again, Trudy knocked over the jam jar. Dirty water spread in a pool across the table and
“I hate Art,” Trudy thought as she went home on the bus, wishing never to go to school again.
As soon as she got home, Mum asked her to take a
Trudy knocked on the door and the door opened. There stood an old lady, so tall and elegant, like her house, which was full of
“My mum’s your home help. She won’t be able to come tomorrow. She’s got a cold.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. What she needs is my special cold
Keeping her arms pressed to her sides, Trudy stood
“Why?”
“I am the clumsiest person in our school! I know something will get broken when I’m
“I used to be clumsy too, a real ugly little duck,” Mrs. Willow smiled. “But I grew up to be a swan(白天鹅).”
“But I don't think I shall,” Trudy doubted. “I’ll just grow up to be an ugly
“Not if you do as I did. You have to keep telling yourself that inside, where it matters, you’re really a swan.”
“I’m a swan,” Trudy
Next morning Mum’s cold was much better. “If Mrs. Willow’s cold cure is a kind of
In the school playground some children stood looking up into the chestnut tree. Lisa was in tears.
“What’s the matter?” asked Trudy.
“It’s my kite,” Lisa said, wiping her eyes. “Rob let go and it’s got
“I’ll get it down for you,” Trudy said kindly.
“No, you’ll tear it!” Lisa looked
For a moment Trudy felt like her old
She jumped up and grabbed the lowest
“Thanks, Trudy.” Lisa showed it to the others. “Look, it’s all right!”
Trudy felt very, very proud and different. Smiling at everyone, she walked swan-like across the playground and into school, so tall and
| A．except | B．besides | C．including | D．behind |
| A．danced | B．sang | C．laughed | D．jumped |
| A．took | B．turned | C．rolled | D．tripped |
| A．drew | B．drowned | C．marked | D．colored |
| A．success | B．masterpiece | C．failure | D．disaster |
| A．gift | B．textbook | C．message | D．letter |
| A．delicate | B．ugly | C．cheap | D．messy |
| A．care | B．leave | C．concern | D．cure |
| A．straight | B．still | C．by | D．tall |
| A．around | B．apart | C．ahead | D．away |
| A．dragon | B．swan | C．tiger | D．duck |
| A．touched | B．cleaned | C．cleared | D．wiped |
| A．imagination | B．magic | C．cheating | D．creation |
| A．stuck | B．crashed | C．torn | D．damped |
| A．satisfied | B．disappointed | C．frightened | D．delighted |
| A．beautiful | B．clumsy | C．dishonest | D．smart |
| A．root | B．trunk | C．branch | D．leaf |
| A．fly | B．design | C．make | D．free |
| A．carefully | B．doubtfully | C．confidently | D．anxiously |
| A．eager | B．elegant | C．enthusiastic | D．energetic |
9 . More than half the young children and teenagers in China are nearsighted, according to a survey by top government agencies, which called for intensified efforts to prevent and control the condition.
The survey, which was conducted last year, found that eight of 10 senior middle school students were nearsighted, compared with 71.6 percent in junior middle school, 36 percent in primary school and 14 percent of 6-year-olds in kindergarten. Overall, 53.6 percent were nearsighted. The prevalence (流行程度) of a high degree of myopia also became alarming as the percentage of senior students in high school, who wear glasses stronger than six diopters, has mounted to 21.9 percent. Up to 80 percent of the country’s young adults suffer from nearsightedness, according to a report in the medical journal Lancet. In contrast, the overall rate of myopia in the UK is about 20-30 percent. If you walk the streets of China today, you’ll quickly notice that most young people wear glasses. In Shanghai, for instance, 86 percent of high school students suffer from myopia, or nearsightedness, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The growing prevalence of myopia is not only a Chinese problem, but it is an especially East Asian one. According to a study published in The Lancet medical journal in 2012, by Ian Morgan, of the Australian National University, South Korea leads the pack, with 96 percent of young adults (below the age 20) having myopia; and the rate for Seoul is even higher. In Singapore, the figure is 82 percent. To say that Asia is having an eye problem is an understatement.
Several factors are associated with the high rate of nearsightedness in China's children and teenagers, including lack of outdoor physical activity, lack of adequate sleep due to heavy work and excessive use of electronics products. And some biologists compared Singaporeans living in Singapore to those living in Australia. They found that 29 percent of the Singaporean students had myopia compared with just 3 percent in Sydney. The main correlation was once again, time spent outside.
“The big difference was the Chinese children in Australia were outdoors a lot more than their matched peers in Singapore,” says Ian Morgan, a retired biologist at Australian National University, who coauthored the 2008 study. “This was the only thing that fit with the huge difference in prevalence.”
1. From paragraph 2, according to the survey we can know that ____________.| A．the rate of myopia in Shanghai is the highest |
| B．the rate of myopia in the UK is higher than that in China |
| C．the rate of junior middle school students who suffer from myopia is the highest |
| D．the rate of senior middle school students who suffer from myopia is the highest |
| A．Time of reading books. | B．Lack of adequate sleep. |
| C．Lack of outdoor physical activity. | D．Excessive use of electronics products. |
| A．introduce some methods to protect our eyes |
| B．tell us why so many people have an eye problem |
| C．compare the myopia figures of different countries |
| D．call on everyone to pay attention to the myopia among the young people |
| A．A literary essay. | B．A historical novel. |
| C．A science report. | D．A travel magazine. |
10 . I'm Robin Woods. I'm always the first to make a good joke and
“This year our play will be the story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men,” our teacher, Miss Goody,
“
“You’ll be a little baby bush…,” Bradley
I
On Monday I did some brilliant acting and I remembered all my
We had three weeks to learn our parts. Becky offered to
At home, Granddad came to help me. He could play the guitar and even made up a minstrel dance. He was really getting into the minstrel’s
In the final dress rehearsal that afternoon, Bradley was really getting carried away in that fighting-to-get-across-the-river
It was I that put forward a
The performance that night was a great success. I felt like a
| A．tidy | B．throw | C．push | D．drag |
| A．sometimes | B．frequently | C．always | D．never |
| A．unattended | B．unassisted | C．unwanted | D．unmoved |
| A．taught | B．gathered | C．dismissed | D．lectured |
| A．seized | B．trembled | C．shot | D．shook |
| A．Look out | B．Try out | C．Stand out | D．Speak out |
| A．blamed | B．threatened | C．teased | D．cheated |
| A．admired | B．abused | C．respected | D．ignored |
| A．stories | B．texts | C．passages | D．lines |
| A．tale | B．truth | C．result | D．difference |
| A．dance | B．sing | C．perform | D．practice |
| A．knives | B．tips | C．guns | D．signals |
| A．nervous | B．disappointed | C．important | D．honored |
| A．part | B．team | C．band | D．house |
| A．accident | B．incident | C．scene | D．event |
| A．sword | B．stick | C．position | D．balance |
| A．cancel | B．give | C．improve | D．evaluate |
| A．dawn | B．dusk | C．midday | D．midnight |
| A．theory | B．solution | C．budget | D．principle |
| A．director | B．composer | C．hero | D．teacher |
