1 . What a day! I started my new school this morning and had the best time. I made lots of new friends and really liked my teachers. I was nervous the night before, but I had no reason to be. Everyone was so friendly and polite. They made me feel at ease. It was like I’d been at the school for a hundred years!
The day started very early at 7:00 am. I had my breakfast downstairs with my mom. She could tell that I was very nervous. Mom kept asking me what was wrong. She told me I had nothing to worry about and that everyone was going to love me. If they didn’t love me, mom said to have a good talk with them. I couldn’t stop laughing.
My mom dropped me off at the school gate about five minutes before the bell rang. A little blonde girl got dropped off at the same time and started waving (招手) at me. She ran over and told me her name was Abigail. She was very nice and we became close straight away. We spent all morning together and began to talk to another girl called Stacey. The three of us sat together in class all day and we even made our way home together! It went so quickly. Our teacher told us that tomorrow we would really start learning and developing new skills.
I cannot wait until tomorrow and feel as though I am really going to enjoy my time at my new school. I only hope that my new friends feel the same way, too.
1. How did the author feel the night before her new school?| A．Tired. | B．Excited. | C．Happy. | D．Worried. |
| A．Clear. | B．Funny. | C．Reasonable. | D．Excellent. |
| A．She met many nice people. | B．She had a hurried breakfast. |
| C．She learned some new skills. | D．She arrived at school very early. |
| A．She disliked Stacey. | B．She was shy and quiet. |
| C．She got on well with the author. | D．She was an old friend of the author. |
2 . School News
Welcome back to school! Have you signed up for an after-school activity yet? Here are some of the activities you can try.
SPORTS TEAMS
Do you like sports? How about joining the football team? It has try-outs next Tuesday at 3:00. Many of our best players have moved up to college. So now the team needs new players. For more information, meet our sports advisors, Ms. Matte or Mr.Stergis.
GOOD AT ART?
This year, your classmates in the school art club plan to paint a mural(壁画)on the wall by the office. So they need new members to help create it! Are you interested in drawing, painting or taking photographs? This club is for you. The first meeting of the school year is next Wednesday at 3:15 in Room 221. Please see Ms. Greenway for more information.
NEW THIS YEAR
There are some new activities you can have a try. Try the new after-school science club! It has plans to enter the national Senior Robotics competition this year. So if you want to try building a robot, this club is for you. See Mr. Larson in Room 105 for more details. The club meets every Thursday at 3:30.
Do you like acting? Are you good at singing? The school play this year is a musical—The Sound of Music. Come and try out next Monday at 3:10 in Room 125.
For a list of all the after-school activities this year, click here. Or pick up a membership form from the advisor’s office, Room 107.
1. When are the try-outs for the football team?| A．Next Monday at 3:10. | B．Next Wednesday at 3:15. |
| C．Next Tuesday at 3:00. | D．Next Thursday at 3:30. |
| A．To paint a mural. | B．To put on a musical. |
| C．To offer photography courses. | D．To enter a national competition. |
| A．In Room 221. | B．In Room 125. |
| C．In Room 107. | D．In Room 105. |
3 . You know that classics like Little Women and To Kill a Mockingbird started as novels. But you probably didn’t know that these other famous movies also came from books.
Hidden Figures
This film told the story of real-life Katherine Johnson and other female African-American mathematicians who helped drive the United States into space in the 1960s. It was actually based on a 2016 non-fiction book and the movie did boost sales of the book.
Forrest Gump
The 1994 movie which was based on the book by Winston Groom won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for the star Tom Hanks. Although the movie’s critical and box-office success gave the book a huge boost, it’s the film that made its mark on pop culture history.
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkin’s psychological thriller, about a woman on a train who thinks she sees something strange out of the window, was a huge success. But unlike the fast—paced, can’t-be-put-down quality of the novel, the movie was boring.
Field of Dreams
It’s hard to describe the plot of this movie: Ray Kinsella hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in his Iowa cornfield, and what happens next explores the themes of lost dreams, childhood heroes, and healing the pain of the past. The 1989 movie is based on W. P. Kinsella’s 1982 original, Shoeless Joe, but cuts out some extra characters.
1. Which is the best choice for a person who loves math?| A．Hidden Figures. | B．Forrest Gump. |
| C．The Girl on the Train. | D．Field of Dreams. |
| A．Tom Hanks. | B．Winston Groom. |
| C．Paula Hawkin. | D．W. P. Kinsella. |
| A．It is a romantic comedy. | B．It presents several themes. |
| C．It shows all the figures in Shoeless Joe. | D．It was released in 1982 for the first time. |
4 . According to a research, more than 130 billion pounds of uneaten food go to waste in Laura’s county each year. That is about 30% of the yearly food supply (供应). It is a sad fact, especially when you consider how many families and homeless people are in hunger.
When Laura saw her school dining hall throw away food that was not eaten at all every day, she came up with an idea. She started a project to help her school dining hall to give away uneaten food to homeless shelters (避难所) in her community. In the past three years, the same protect has spread to other schools and some fast food restaurants throughout the city. The project is called Feed & Find, which has already fed thousands of people in her city.
How does it work? Through an app, Feed & Find matches local homeless shelters with school dining halls and restaurants that have uneaten food to provide. When dining halls or restaurants have uneaten food left, they can use the app to share the information about the food. A truck driver working for the project is then sent to pick it up and take it to a shelter.
Pretty cool, right? It’s not surprising that people in other cities have got in touch with Laura, to hoping that she could help develop similar projects for their communities.
Some people, however, dread the safety of the uneaten food. They think such food may not be clean enough. Still, this project is a clever way to help solve the problem of food waste and it helps those in need.
1. The numbers in Paragraph 1 tell us ________.| A．some people are poor | B．food waste is serious |
| C．the population is large | D．the research is interesting |
| A．her school dining hall | B．her family |
| C．a fast food restaurant | D．a homeless shelter |
| A．find a truck driver | B．visit their communities |
| C．give away food to them | D．help develop projects like hers |
| A．ways | B．secrets | C．worries | D．decisions |
5 . Cai Lei, former vice-president of JD Group, reveals how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis (诊断) set him on the path to find a cure.
Born to a farmer’s family in 1978, Cai has been deeply influenced by his father’s idea that “one has to fight for himself”. Since primary school, he has been getting up before 5 am to run and study English. At 29, Cai became chief tax manager in Vanke Co. In 2011, he joined JD Group, where he led his team to develop the first electronic invoice (发票) in China. Wherever he worked, he always tried his best to create new value.
Diagnosed with ALS in 2019, he would have only two to five years to live. ALS is usually caused by the gradual death of motor neurons(神经元), which makes normally easy movements like drinking water, eating, going to the bathroom, and speaking impossible. Finally, patients will completely rely on machines and others’ help to survive. So far, only two medicines are available to treat ALS, but they can at most extend patients’ life for several months without improving their living quality.
To develop effective drugs is the only way to save ALS patients. However, the intense effort required, which is unprofitable for so rare an illness, makes it a mission almost impossible. It usually takes 10-15 years to complete the research cycle for a new drug and the cost is $1-3billion. Take Alzheimer’s disease for example. Between 2000 and 2017, investment in new drugs for this more common disease was over $600 billion, and 99.6% of the research on more than 300 drugs failed.
Cai decided to take matters into his own hands. He started his own medical technology company, built his own research team, and volunteered to try more than 30 new medicines which all failed. However, he has decided that even if all efforts prove fruitless, he will continue. To shoot the last bullet, he has decided to donate his brain and spinal cord for scientific research. He will not die for nothing.
1. What kind of person is Cai Lei?| A．Extremely gifted and ambitious. |
| B．Hard-working and warm-hearted. |
| C．Quite responsible and dependable. |
| D．Highly motivated and strong-willed. |
| A．Losing the ability to think and speak normally. |
| B．Maintaining a normal life by taking medicines. |
| C．Dying within months of a confirmed diagnosis. |
| D．Needing external assistance to survive in the end. |
| A．To talk about the severity of Alzheimer. |
| B．To prove Alzheimer to be a common disease. |
| C．To explain the difficulty of finding a cure for ALS. |
| D．To ask for more investment in the research on ALS. |
| A．Joint efforts to fight ALS | B．A man who never gives in |
| C．ASL, a rare deadly disease | D．Suffering of a man with ALS |
6 . All human languages use vowels and consonants to express ideas. Most primates (灵长类) communicate almost using vowel-like calls, but non-human great apes, like chimpanzees, produce consonant-like sounds to varying degrees, This raises the question of where consonants came from, says Adriano Lameira at the University of Warwick. To find it out, he studied existing literature to see how common consonants are among the great apes.
He found that orangutans (猩猩), which spend most of their time in the trees: produce a greater number and variety of consonant sounds than gorillas and chimpanzees living. on the ground. “Orangutans have rich sounds like kiss sounds, scrapes and clicks.” says Lameira. hey typically use these sounds while building nests or commencing with their young.
Lameira thinks that living in the trees may explain that Great apes are experts at processing protected foods. Like nuts, which often requires tools. While living in trees however, orangutans must always use at least one arm to maintain stability. They have therefore developed more complex control of their lips, tongues and jaws, allowing them to use their mouths as a “fifth limb” orangutans can peel oranges just with lips, for example.
This advanced motor skill enables orangutans make consonant-like sounds, argues Lameira. This could mean, that our early ancestors developed consonant sounds while hanging around in the trees, too. “ There’s a growing sense that our dependency on trees was much larger and deeper than we think,” says Lameira.
The link between feeding and sounds doesn’t apply to smaller tree-living primates like monkeys, argues Lameira, because their size and tails make them more stable on branches and they eat differently
“This is an interesting assumption worth testing,” says Chris Petkov at Newcastle University, though he questions some aspects. As humans aren’t tree living, there must be other reasons why consonants remain, which could be tested by characterising consonant-like sounds more systematically across species, he says.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Why vowels and consonants are used |
| B．What ideas the consonants express. |
| C．How common the consonants are. |
| D．Where the consonants came from |
| A．They build nests with their young. |
| B．They are skillful in employing tools |
| C．They gain advanced motor skill of mouths |
| D．They show stability in controlling arms. |
| A．Monkeys differ from orangutans in eating habits. |
| B．Our ancestors depended more on trees than believed. |
| C．Consonant sounds were made by our earliest, ancestors. |
| D．The link between feeding and sounds applies to monkeys |
| A．Confident | B．Cautious | C．Opposed | D．Puzzled |
7 . If you want to learn a new language, the very first thing to think about is why. Do you need it for a
Most people learn best by using a variety of
Many people start learning a language and soon give up. “I’m too
Learning a new language is never easy. But with some work and devotion, you’ll make progress. And you’ll be
| A．mental | B．political | C．practical | D．physical |
| A．literature | B．transport | C．nature | D．medicine |
| A．view | B．knowledge | C．form | D．feeling |
| A．paintings | B．rules | C．methods | D．computers |
| A．protect | B．change | C．respect | D．provide |
| A．control | B．discussion | C．guidance | D．pressure |
| A．courage | B．time | C．energy | D．responsibility |
| A．theory | B．business | C．routine | D．project |
| A．old | B．nervous | C．weak | D．tired |
| A．closely | B．quickly | C．privately | D．quietly |
| A．age | B．speed | C．distance | D．place |
| A．argue | B．talk | C．think | D．worry |
| A．if | B．and | C．but | D．before |
| A．hurt | B．confused | C．thanked | D．amazed |
| A．their | B．his | C．our | D．your |
8 . My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I tried incredibly hard to focus on the words that I spent hours putting down on paper. I tried to conquer my fear of speaking in public on numerous occasions throughout my life. During college and at my first few jobs, I would get ridiculously nervous when I had to give a presentation or lead a meeting. Public speaking had been my nightmare for as long as I could remember.
Then in my mid-thirties, I decided to join the public speaking group Toastmasters. At every meeting, we were rated and forced to compete with other speakers for an award. You would think that I would walk away from these experiences as a polished speaker, but nothing seemed to work.
It wasn’t until recently, when science and scientific institutions were being attacked for unfair reasons during the pandemic, that I decided I must speak out. Science has made this country a place where dreams come true— this is why we all need to protect science. In addition, ‘as a science writer, I try to get readers to understand how science is related to their daily lives.
So I ended up on that frightening stage on that sunny Saturday in April— Earth Day. Despite the body shakes and fear, I persevered. That day, I looked out into the crowd of like-minded science supporters and I felt comfort.
Reaching that milestone goal of getting through a speech truly changed me. At almost forty, I learned that passion can set off a flame in-my heart to do things I never dreamed possible. The darkness that led to my speech is sure to lead to new opportunities and adventures.
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “conquer” in Para. 1?| A．Face. | B．Control. | C．Forget. | D．Develop. |
| A．He began to feel less worried. | B．He became a polished speaker. |
| C．He remained a shy speaker. | D．Things became worse for him. |
| A．It was a good chance to learn science. | B．He must rise up to protect his profession. |
| C．It was a project organized by Toastmasters. | D．He couldn’t have people attacking science. |
| A．Passion can encourage us to achieve the unachievable. |
| B．Any difficulty can be overcome with great effort. |
| C．Science can lead us to make wonderful changes. |
| D．Failure can be stepping stones to success. |
9 . My 7-year-old daughter Leeny always has her nose in a book. She even took to reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, which was where she lost the book. This is the first lost library book in my life. My family has always been over-educated, but we were poor. I didn’t own books. I borrowed books. However, my daughters have more books now than I owned my whole childhood, and I knowingly contribute to it by adding to the stacks (堆). So it’s probably my fault that when Leeny realized she had lost the book, she shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t find it,” she said. “It’s only $20, right? What’s the big deal?”
I felt the need to make her feel responsible for the book. She agreed to help me clean the chicken coop (笼子) in trade for my paying the library fine. I thought this idea was very clever because cleaning the coop is some work I had been avoiding for months. It was summertime and dust floated in the air. But my girl, my animal-loving mini-me, thought shoveling chicken poop (铲鸡粪) was the most fun she’d had on a Saturday morning in a long time. She didn’t feel any of the emotions that punishment is supposed to introduce. In fact, she looked as if she might lose another on purpose in order to clean the coop again. I stood, somewhat dumbfounded (目瞪口呆的), watching her.
It took me a while to realize what had happened, why my punishment had failed so completely and why I didn’t care. The fact is that I had Leeny help me clean the chicken coop. I was there, too, shoveling chicken poop, fetching the clean straw and feed. Leen’s little sister, Vicki, was inside watching a cartoon while my husband paid bills. Only Leeny and I were outside. She had me all to herself for the first time since Vicki was born, and she was enjoying all the attention for once. I don’t know what she learned about responsibility, but I found that I didn’t care about the book any more. We bonded over that unpleasant job and spent quality time together: mother, daughter, and chicken poop.
1. How did Leeny find reading?| A．It was very challenging. | B．It was of great value. |
| C．It was full of enjoyment. | D．It cost a large fortune. |
| A．The author didn’t own many books. |
| B．Leeny feel irresponsible for the lost book. |
| C．The author’s daughters own too many books. |
| D．The author could never have enough books to read. |
| A．Ashamed. | B．Astonished. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Upset. |
| A．What I owe to Leeny is more attention. |
| B．My punishment failed, but I didn’t care. |
| C．My daughter drove me crazy, but I felt grateful. |
| D．What my daughter loves is cleaning chicken coops. |
10 . Scotland is packed with beautiful places to visit and you could honestly spend months and months exploring everything this wonderful country has to offer! Next I’m going to take you through some of the best place to visit in Scotland, based on where we have personally visited so far!
Glen Coe
If you asked me where my favourite place to visit in all of Scotland is... I would say, Glen Coe. The whole area of Glen Coe constantly had my face in shock due to the beauty that I was witnessing1 was witnessing (亲眼看见). It’s just a stream of dramatic mountains, lakes, rugged (崎岖的) beauty and more.
Fort William
Fort William is probably one of the most well-known places to visit in Scotland. It’s a popular tourist destination thanks to being home to the UK’s tallest mountain: Ben Nevis. Fort William is also the starting point for one of the world’s most famous train rides: The Jacobite. Harry Potter fans will recognize it as the Hogwarts Express, and this train ride will take you through the beautiful countryside, crossing some iconic Harry Potter filming locations such as the Dumbledore’s Grave and the Glenfinnan Viaduct!
Isle Of Skye
This island feels totally different from other parts of Scotland and is truly rugged and ready! There are many hot spots to explore including the Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Glen. I even stayed on a private island with its very own lighthouse, which was one of the coolest places I’ve ever visited and one of the most romantic places stay in Scotland.
Cairngorms National Park
This is the largest national park in the UK so it’s another popular place to visit in Scotland and it’s no surprise why. It’s absolutely beautiful and there’s so much happening at the Cairngorms National Park! From skiing or meeting local reindeers, you’ll not go bored and you’ll be surrounded by beauty the entire time.
1. Which place probably attracts Harry Potter fans most?| A．Glen Coe. | B．Isle Of Skye. |
| C．Cairngorms National Park. | D．Fort William. |
| A．The Jacobite. | B．Local reindeers. |
| C．The UK’s tallest mountain. | D．A cool lighthouse. |
| A．A geography textbook | B．A science journal. |
| C．A travel blog. | D．A diary. |
