1 . Years ago, if a teenager had some problems in his life, he might go home and write in his diary; now, a teenager with
The biggest difference is that a blog is much more
It’s interesting that someone who writes in a blog
I have a little sister, and sometimes I go online to read her
The biggest
There are also
| A．the same | B．interesting | C．difficult | D．daily |
| A．simple | B．special | C．similar | D．different |
| A．personal | B．ordinary | C．meaningful | D．traditional |
| A．attractive | B．public | C．exciting | D．quick |
| A．thoughts | B．puzzles | C．ideas | D．secrets |
| A．tell | B．share | C．publish | D．solve |
| A．instead of | B．as well as | C．except for | D．besides |
| A．blog | B．diary | C．report | D．web |
| A．Although | B．Since | C．When | D．Because |
| A．only | B．already | C．still | D．never |
| A．angry | B．sad | C．glad | D．worried |
| A．problem | B．doubt | C．question | D．mistake |
| A．boring | B．wrong | C．bad | D．funny |
| A．So | B．However | C．Therefore | D．Then |
| A．steal | B．break | C．write | D．read |
| A．reasons | B．wishes | C．shortcomings | D．advantages |
| A．care | B．know | C．think | D．ask |
| A．prepare | B．begin | C．respond | D．feel |
| A．like | B．miss | C．need | D．stand |
| A．lose | B．stay | C．leave | D．find |
2 . Bill Gates and the president of General Motors have met for lunch, and Gates is going on and on about computer technology. “If automotive technology had kept pace with computer technology over the past few decades, you would now be driving a V-32 instead of a V-8, and it would have a top speed of 10,000 miles per hour,” says Gates. “Or, you could have an economy car that weighs 30 pounds and gets a thousand miles to a gallon of gas. In either case, the sticker price of a new car would be less than $50. Why haven’t you guys kept up?”
The president of GM smiles and says, “Because the federal government won't let us build cars that crash four times a day.”
Why is that funny (or not funny, as the case may be)? Human beings love to laugh, and the average adult laughs 17 times a day. Humans love to laugh so much that there are actually industries built around laughter. Jokes, sitcoms and comedians are all designed to get us laughing, because laughing feels good. For us it seems so natural, but the funny thing is that humans are one of the only species that laughs. Laughter is actually a complex response that involves many of the same skills used in solving problems.
Laughter is a great thing — that’s why we’ve all heard the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” There is strong evidence that laughter can actually improve health and help fight disease. In this article, we’ll look at laughter — what it is, what happens in our brains when we laugh, what makes us laugh and how it can make us healthier and happier. You’ll also learn that there’s a tremendous amount that no one understands yet.
1. What’s the best title of the passage?| A．Laughter |
| B．The joke between Gates and the president of General Motors |
| C．Why do we laugh? |
| D．Laughter and health |
| A．Computer technology has developed quickly during the past few decades. |
| B．Automotive technology has developed as fast as computer technology according to Bill Gates. |
| C．The president of GM thinks it is impossible to build cars worth less than 50 dollars. |
| D．If cars were less than 50 dollars, a large number of accidents would happen per day. |
| A．situation comedies | B．tragedies | C．body language | D．fictions |
| A．introduction of an article about Microsoft |
| B．introduction of an article about laughter |
| C．article about health |
| D．introduction of an article about General Motors |
3 . With a relatively small population, pandas are not out of the woods or the bamboo forest just yet. The biggest threat to the wild panda population is habitat loss. And while around 34%0f its wild habitat is protected, these areas are still vulnerable to natural disasters, such as wildfires. To protect panda habitat, the Digital Panda System, developed by the Sichuan Forest and Grassland Administration and Chinese technology giant Huawei, was used effectively across forest and grasslands in Sichuan Province
The instant reporting system helps to detect wildfires in hard-to-reach areas, alerting fire departments so they can react quickly, as well as monitoring wildlife. Meanwhile, another smart technology-facial recognition could help identify individual pandas more accurately. Each panda has a unique facial structure and hair pattern. To the human eye, their fur-covered faces all look the same, but computer programs are able to distinguish the differences.
The system collects data from over 600 cameras, drones (无人机) and satellites, which it stores in the cloud. Researchers use this data to monitor, track and study wildlife as well as detect wildfire hotspots. Because the cameras are used in remote areas where there is little or no electricity, the system is solar-powered and uses microwave transmission (传送), which doesn’t require cables (电缆).
The system assists 140,000 forest rangers, grassland managers, conservationists and researchers in Sichuan. In its first five months of operations, it detected 651 wildfire hotspots, reducing forest fires by 71.6% compared to the same period the previous year.
Despite its name, the Digital Panda System offers protection to more than just pandas. The system covers the Sichuan section of the newly established Giant Panda National Park. The park is home to most of China’s 1800 wild pandas along with a further 8,000 animal and plant species. In the future, the digital panda system could be extended across the sections of the national park that lie in Shanxi and Gansu provinces, creating more success stories for other endangered species.
1. Why was the Digital Panda System built?| A．To record wildlife population. |
| B．To protect wild pandas from losing habitat. |
| C．To increase forest and grassland coverage. |
| D．To provide pandas with more bamboos as food. |
| A．Computer programs identify pandas by size. |
| B．The data collected is mainly stored in cameras. |
| C．Smart technology plays an important role in its operation. |
| D．The system fails to collect data in areas without access to electricity. |
| A．To prove the effectiveness of the system. |
| B．To show the various functions of system. |
| C．To illustrate the data collection process of the program. |
| D．To compare the advantages and disadvantages of the system. |
| A．The system aims at saving pandas only. |
| B．The system has already gone into service nationwide. |
| C．The system is likely to benefit other animals facing extinction. |
| D．The system offers protection to all the species in Sichuan Province. |
4 . If you are looking for something to kill time, these events may be your choices.
Susan at Tango
Susan learned keyboard, guitar and dance from an early age and never stopped practicing singing. Since graduating with a degree in journalism, her work experience in the documentary industry has given her a unique perspective on the art of music. She sings English, Portuguese, Spanish, French and other multilingual songs, the pursuit of authentic music expression. She won’t let you down.
Morandi Prints Authentic Exhibition
It will be held at the Raffles City Beijing for two months. This exhibition will feature Italy. There are 80 prints by the famous artist Morandi. This exhibition presents the excellent works of international art masters in a fashionable and trendy way of exhibiting, bringing fashionable visual impact and a comfortable and relaxing viewing experience to the visitors.
Roundabout Book Fairs
All books at Roundabout Book Fairs are donated. Thanks to all the volunteers for sorting and pricing the books. Bring your unwanted books with you on the day to donate if you would like to help. You may see them in the next book fair. And the proceeds will help the children with blood diseases.
Walking Line
EGG Gallery is proud to announce that during this year’s Beijing Gallery Week, it will present artist Zhu Lan’s solo exhibition “Walking Line”. This exhibition will introduce her new works in recent years. When looking at Zhu Lan’s works, aside from the fascination of the paintings themselves, the viewers are able to feel the process of creation. These are pictures that run through the artist’s life: every hour, every minute, slowly moving as the ink and lines stretch out.
1. Which event offers you the chance to enjoy music?| A．Roundabout Book Fairs. | B．Walking Line. |
| C．Susan at Tango. | D．Morandi Prints Authentic Exhibition. |
| A．A fair of donated books. | B．A book reading activity. |
| C．An art exhibition. | D．A concert of foreign singers. |
| A．Her love for reading. | B．Her life experiences. |
| C．Her creation in music. | D．Her future expectations. |
5 . From releasing my talented and amazing conservation friends, hundreds of harmless Zebra Sharks, into the Pacific Ocean to racing against the fastest two-legged animal in the world, the ostrich, there was no shortage of extraordinary photography opportunities and plenty of laughs along the way.
In the past, I've focused on the outcomes, but this year I want to focus a little bit on the people who made it all happen. This time of year is not only about celebrating success, but saying thanks to all of those who helped make these episodes possible. When something looks easy, it usually means there are a bunch of talented people behind the scenes making it happen.
Although our shows feature me and my photography, the episodes were produced by my company. Every shoot had at least one camera operator and an all-round field operation person. Otherwise, I'd have been bumbled(笨手笨脚)around, trying to film myself while also taking photos. Dante Fernandes has been in the field with me for six years, putting up with every possible weather situation and countless seasickness situations than you can imagine.
Depending on the shoot, we were also supported by a lot of other people, such as drone(无人机)pilot, Daina Buchner, who flew drones to capture beautiful shots for the Shark Week episode, and the people who were on camera with me, like Mermaid Linden. I was so lucky to have so many biologists, field guides, camera operators and sound operators. The entire team at Discovery helped me a lot, especially our executive producer Christina Bavetta, who watched every single rough shot and helped us be even better at what we did with her incredible insights and production notes.
So as you watch the show this year, don't just enjoy the beauty and humor of these adventures, but also give a thought to all the people behind the scenes who made it happen.
1. What is the author?| A．A host. | B．A guide. | C．A biologist. | D．A photographer. |
| A．To attract more audiences. |
| B．To recall the process of work. |
| C．To thank the people involved. |
| D．To show how to make the episodes. |
| A．Relaxing. | B．Challenging. | C．Well-paid. | D．Regular. |
| A．By offering some useful advice. |
| B．By teaching how to write notes. |
| C．By flying drones to take pictures. |
| D．By telling stories on camera. |
6 . Despite Ecoador’s tough protection, there have been many giant tortoises(陆龟)killed recently, probably for their meat for financial gains made by wildlife hunters.
For a century, Ecuador’s beautiful and endangered giant tortoises have been protected. Hunting the tortoise is illegal under Ecuador’s laws. These species, living on the Galápagos Islands, are one of the largest living reptiles(爬行动物) with the longest life span of all vertebrates. The oldest tortoise on record was 175 years old.
“This isn’t a solitary incident,” the Galápagos Conservancy, a US-based conservation organization said. “In September 2021, the remains of 15 other endangered giant tortoises were found on Isabela. The reptiles had likely been hunted for consumption.”
The islands are located around 600 miles off the shore of Ecuador’s coast, in the Pacific Ocean. The archipelago(群岛) is considered one of the world’s best places to see wildlife, and it is home to animal and plant species that are found nowhere else in the world.
Their famously fearless wildlife is believed to have been a source of inspiration for Darwin’s theory of evolution, following his visit to the islands in 1835. The islands were actually discovered by accident in 1535 when a Spanish ship was blown off course while sailing from Panama to Peru. Ironically enough, the ship’s captain was unimpressed by the islands, writing to the king that they were “worthless”. That view, of course, changed over time. Now about 25,000 people live in the four inhabited islands of Santa Cruz, Isabela. San Cristóbal, and Floreana.
There were once at least 250,000 giant tortoises on the islands; there are fewer than 15,000 in the wild today—and two subspecies are already extinct. “Evidence from the 2021investigation showed that the reptiles bad likely been hunted for consumption,” Galápagos Conservancy continued. “Many are worried the population will continue to decrease if serious action isn’t taken soon. We must safeguard giant tortoises and the ecosystems they depend on.”
1. What made Ecuador’s giant tortoises endangered according to the text?| A．Illegal hunting. |
| B．Natural disasters. |
| C．Environmental pollution. |
| D．The decrease in shelters. |
| A．Serious. | B．Demanding. |
| C．Single. | D．Disturbing. |
| A．Darwin’s theory of evolution. |
| B．People living on the archipelago. |
| C．The sailing from Panama to Peru. |
| D．The discovery of the archipelago. |
| A．The way to safeguard the tortoises. |
| B．The further research on the tortoises. |
| C．The long history of the tortoises. |
| D．The urgency of protecting the tortoises. |
7 . One day before the last Christmas, my wife, Charlotte, was busy decorating our Christmas tree. I reached for my
Several months before, my daughter, Sophie, bad gone to New York. She was not there to give me
“I think I did things differently this year.” Charlotte looked at me and added, “I think the tree looks great.” But I didn’t. I wanted a
The morning after that day, I got up a little earlier. I plugged in the
At that time, I realized I was
| A．lamp | B．coat | C．document | D．camera |
| A．potential | B．property | C．settings | D．schedules |
| A．presents | B．suggestions | C．surprises | D．excuses |
| A．waited | B．hesitated | C．adjusted | D．laughed |
| A．highlights | B．platforms | C．exposures | D．standards |
| A．fall behind | B．stand out | C．give up | D．check in |
| A．healthy | B．useful | C．attractive | D．fundamental |
| A．cheerful | B．strange | C．common | D．remaining |
| A．competed | B．corresponded | C．reunited | D．equipped |
| A．televisions | B．computers | C．printers | D．lights |
| A．shining | B．flying | C．growing | D．working |
| A．proud | B．fortunate | C．wrong | D．different |
| A．quickly | B．beautifully | C．frequently | D．randomly |
| A．true | B．prepared | C．alone | D．alive |
| A．hiding | B．disappearing | C．shaking | D．wondering |
8 . Raising livestock (牲畜) is a big part of the carbon emission from agriculture. But it is hard to change people’s habits and get them to give up their hamburgers, especially since more than one-third of Americans eat fast food every day. We previously called for carbon labels on everything from buildings to burgers. Now, a new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that labels on fast food affected people's choices.
The study said shifting current dietary patterns to more sustainable diets with less red meat could reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 55% and have health benefits.
The 5,000 participants in the study were shown fake menus. One group got menus with high climate impact labels on red meat items and another had low climate impact labels on fish or plant-based burgers. Both menus were effective in reducing the orders for red meat. But interestingly, the high-impact labels were far more effective, with 23% of the participants choosing a more environmentally sustainable selection, while menus listing low-impact choices encouraged only 10% participants to change.
“We found that labeling red meat items with high-climate impact labels was more effective in increasing sustainable selections than labeling non-red meat items with low-climate impact labels,” wrote the authors of the study.
Lead author, Julia Wolfson, said, “These results suggest that menu labeling, particularly labels warning that an item has high climate impact, can be an effective strategy for encouraging more sustainable food choices in a fast food setting.”
The study points out negative labels might be unpopular: “It is unlikely that the industry would voluntarily adopt a negative label approach; such an approach needs to be carried out via law. However, high climate impact labels may easily be adopted in settings like universities and hospitals.”
They have a point that this label is aggressively negative, more like a cigarette warning than a food label. In the study, the authors note that future research should test more label designs using qualitative and quantitative research on how people understand different climate impact labels.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The impact of carbon emission. |
| B．The background of the new study. |
| C．The request of giving up carbon labels. |
| D．The difficulty in changing people's habits. |
| A．They liked them very much. |
| B．They stuck to their preferences. |
| C．Some of them stopped eating fast food. |
| D．Some of them changed their food choices. |
| A．It will be banned by law. |
| B．It will face some resistance. |
| C．It will produce bad results. |
| D．It will be accepted by all industries. |
| A．Raising livestock causes carbon emission |
| B．Fast food has a negative effect on climate |
| C．Researchers are focusing on climate impact |
| D．Labels on fast food help protect the environment |
9 . As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
1. How did Toumi’s holiday trips to Tunisia influence her?| A．They made her decide to leave the country. |
| B．They helped her better understand her father. |
| C．They aroused her enthusiasm for helping others. |
| D．They destroyed her dream of being a teacher. |
| A．Low rainfall. | B．Soil pollution. | C．Cold weather. | D．Forest damage. |
| A．To create job opportunities for young people. |
| B．To help the children obtain a basic education. |
| C．To persuade the farmers not to use fertilizers. |
| D．To promote the protection of their farmland. |
| A．Saving Water in Tunisia | B．Holding back the Sahara |
| C．Planting Trees of Native Species | D．Fighting Poverty in North Africa |
10 . Keeping kids busy with various activities provides them with a well-rounded social life. Growing up, I knew many teenagers who were actively involved in both sports and student government. Those teenagers all ended up going to college and graduating. This may not be the situation in all cases, but from what I have noticed, teens who stay active and do good in the community are typically the ones who deal with anxiety and depression(抑郁) better.
A 2015 study published by professor of biology Theodore Garland concluded, “If kids exercise regularly through the school years, they may be more likely to exercise as adults, which could have far-reaching positive effects on human health and well-being. Our results suggest that any positive effects of early-life exercise on adult exercise tendencies will require reinforcement(强化) and maintenance if they are to be long-lasting.” This study found that along with physical activity, having a spirit of adventure would also help improve children’s physical and mental health.
Some parents disagree. They feel that pushing a child to stay active and involved causes unnecessary stress and can have the opposite effect, making him/her hate being involved or being active. Parents also fear their children will experience failure, which they believe could lead to low self-confidence.
The key to helping the youth stay motivated is not pressuring them too hard. People who have strict parents typically rebel(反抗) or feel they will never be good enough. Keep in mind that encouraging the youth to be competitive isn’t the best thing. Some of the unhappiest people I have met are competitive. Positive reinforcement is the best way to keep people motivated.
An active and involved youth will show personal qualities that will become useful in the future. Some of these include leadership, teamwork, a healthy lifestyle, educational benefits, respect and trust, which will lead to success in the future.
1. According to the author, active teens _________.| A．get much better education | B．concentrate more on self-improvement |
| C．do well in both sports and management | D．deal with some mental problems better than others |
| A．the positive effect of early-life exercise is not necessarily lasting |
| B．physical activity helps children become more confident |
| C．early-life exercise has positive effects on relationships |
| D．school life experience has a long-lasting influence |
| A．They believe it may take a lot of time. | B．They think it is unnecessary to push kids. |
| C．They are worried about the opposite effect. | D．They are afraid it makes their children feel depressed. |
| A．The importance of trusting the youth. | B．The key to keeping the youth motivated. |
| C．The possible problem faced by the youth. | D．The reasons for helping the youth stay positive. |
