1 . The ebike has become an essential item, and even the King has been spotted riding one. According to the market research company Mintel, sales have almost tripled over the past five years. While ebikes have become increasingly commonplace, they are still undeniably expensive. You can pick up a perfectly adequate push bike for £300, but most ebikes cost nearly £2,000. Now, Cycling Electric, designed to help consumers choose an ebike, offers the following recommendations.
Best folding bike
Carbo Model X
Price: £2, 799 | Weight: 13.3kg
Range: up to 34 miles
This is one of the most convenient bikes, from a little-known label. The lightweight Carbo X is the perfect example of convenience thanks to its carbon frame and belt drive, instead of a metal bike chain. This makes it lighter and less likely to get messy than an electric Brompton, with its more traditional, oily chain.
Most stylish
Temple Cycles Classic
Price: from £2, 995 | Weight: 19kg
Range: up to 74 miles
This Bristol-based brand is known for its elegant pushbikes, which are hand-built in the city. This is its electric version. It’s a very sleek and functional commuter option and not too heavy. Temples have fewer proprietary (品牌专卖的) parts and so are serviceable in any bike shop. Stylish as they may be, the VanMoofs and the Cowboys can be a bit more complex to get back-up and service.
The money-no-object option
Riese & Müller Nevo4 GT Vario GX
Price: £5, 380 | Weight: 28.4kg
Range: up to 93 miles
This is a prime example of the attention to detail delivering a high-quality experience in functionality, comfort and practicality — if you can afford it. It has the capacity to handle 25kg of luggage in a pannier, powerful road lights and a beautifully smooth motor.
1. What is the advantage of the Temples over other stylish ebike brands?| A．They are more lightweight. | B．They have more functions. |
| C．They have easier access to service. | D．They are more comfortable. |
| A．Carbo Model X. | B．The VanMoofs and the Cowboys. |
| C．Temple Cycles Classic. | D．Riese & Müller Nevo4 GT Vario GX. |
| A．An online post. | B．A magazine column. |
| C．A market research report. | D．An official document. |
2 . I first met Paul Newman in 1968, when George Roy Hill, the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, introduced us in New York City. When the studio didn’t want me for the film - it wanted somebody as well known as Paul — he stood up for me. I don’t know how many people would have done that; they would have listened to their agents or the studio powers.
The friendship that grew out of the experience of making that film and The Sting four years later had its root in the fact that although there was an age difference, we both came from a tradition of theater and live TV. We were respectful of craft(技艺) and focused on digging into the characters we were going to play. Both of us had the qualities and virtues that are typical of American actors: humorous, aggressive, and making fun of each other — but always with an underlying affection. Those were also at the core(核心) of our relationship off the screen.
We shared the belief that if you’re fortunate enough to have success, you should put something back — he with his Newman’s Own food and his Hole in the Wall camps for kids who are seriously ill, and me with Sundance and the institute and the festival. Paul and I didn’t see each other all that regularly, but sharing that brought us together. We supported each other financially and by showing up at events.
I last saw him a few months ago. He’d been in and out of the hospital. He and I both knew what the deal was, and we didn’t talk about it. Ours was a relationship that didn’t need a lot of words.
1. Why was the studio unwilling to give the role to author at first?| A．Paul Newman wanted it. |
| B．The studio powers didn’t like his agent. |
| C．He wasn’t famous enough. |
| D．The director recommended someone else. |
| A．They were of the same age. |
| B．They worked in the same theater. |
| C．They were both good actors. |
| D．They han similar charactertics. |
| A．Their belief. |
| B．Their care for children. |
| C．Their success. |
| D．Their support for each other. |
| A．To show his love of films. |
| B．To remember a friend. |
| C．To introduce a new movie. |
| D．To share his acting experience. |
3 . Li Jianguo, a 49-year-old teacher at the Tianjin Vocational Institute, is set to be named as one of the “2022 most beautiful teachers”—an annual public award sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Ministry of Education.
Li has stood out by taking the lead in the training of students in vocational skills, gaining a number of honors including being named as a national role model teacher. He has mentored(指导) seven national-level technique experts and a team of 14 technique masters. One of his students, Guo Jinpeng, who graduated from the institute in 2007, became a college teacher at the Chengdu Auto Vocational and Technical School and was named as a national role model teacher in 2019.
Li’s nomination as one of the “2022 most beautiful teachers” reflects that China is focusing on the importance of vocational education and aims to foster(培养) more leading personnel with the spirit of craftsmanship in the manufacturing industry.
At an international vocational and technical education conference in Tianjin last month, Li noted that there is no difference between vocational education and ordinary education, and vocational education is not secondary nor should it ever be treated as less than ordinary education. “Vocational education has the mission of fostering a quality workforce and technical experts for the country. The hardworking spirit is the key to building any ordinary people into leading personnel,” he said.
Li joined the institute in 1993 and later founded a machinery engineering practice center, providing free training t0 7,500 people a week. In 2015, he led a team of teachers to work for 40 days to repair 124 machine tools in the center. Li has devoted himself to building the country’s first additive manufacturing technique and application center at the institute to satisfy the thirst for the country’s human resources in 3D printing.
1. Why does the author mention Guo Jinpeng in paragraph 2?| A．To make a comparison with Li Jianguo. |
| B．To show the achievements of Li Jianguo. |
| C．To praise national-level technique experts. |
| D．To publicize national role model teachers. |
| A．It is a good way of winning awards. |
| B．It is not as good as ordinary education. |
| C．It should develop qualified and skilled talents. |
| D．It has nothing to do with hardworking spirit. |
| A．Boring. | B．Well-paid. | C．Difficult. | D．Creative. |
| A．China Sponsoring Annual Award for Teachers |
| B．China Aiming to Develop More Leading Personnel |
| C．Different Education Training Different Kinds of Students |
| D．A Vocational Teacher to Be Awarded as One of the “Most Beautiful Teachers” |
4 . Parents, teachers and caregivers have long suspected the magic of storytelling to calm kids. Researchers have now quantified the biological and emotional benefits of a well-told tale.
“We know that narrative has the power to transport us to another world,” says Guilherme Brockington from Brazil’s Federal University. “Earlier research suggested that stories help children process and regulate their emotions — but this was mostly conducted in a laboratory, with subjects answering questions while lying inside functional MRI machines. There are few studies on biological and psychological effects of storytelling in a more commonplace hospital setting.”
So investigators working in several Brazilian hospitals split a total of 81 patients aged 4 to 11 into two groups, matching them with storytellers who had a decade of hospital experience. In one group, the storyteller led each child in playing a riddle game. In the other, youngsters chose books and listened as the storyteller read them aloud. Before and after these sessions, the researchers took spit samples from each child, then asked them to report their pain levels and conducted a free-association word quiz.
Children in both groups benefited measurably from the interactions; they showed lower levels of cortisol — the stress-related hormone and higher levels of oxytocin, which is often described as a feel-good hormone. Yet kids in the storytelling group benefited significantly more: their cortisol levels were a quarter of those in the riddle group, and their oxytocin levels were nearly twice as high. Those who heard stories also reported pain levels dropping almost twice as much as those in the riddle group, and they used more positive words to describe their hospital stay.
The study demonstrates that playing games or simply interacting with someone can relax kids and improve their outlook but that hearing stories has an especially dramatic effect. The researchers “really tried to control the social interaction component of the storyteller, which I think was the key,” says Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University who was not involved in the new research.
Next, the investigators plan to study how long these effects last, along with storytelling’s potential benefits to kids with particular illnesses such as cancer. For now Brockington says the results indicate storytelling is a low-cost and extremely efficient way to help improve health outcomes in a variety of settings. Mar agrees. “It’s very promising and scalable,” he says, “and possibly generalizable.”
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The effects of story-telling on children. |
| B．The limitations of the earlier research. |
| C．The methods used in earlier studies. |
| D．The major breakthroughs achieved so far. |
| A．accessible | B．comparable | C．adjustable | D．readable |
| A．It measured participants’ blood levels. |
| B．It divided subjects into groups of 81. |
| C．It quantified the benefits of story-telling. |
| D．It compared impact of two types of story-telling. |
| A．listening to stories reduces pain and stress in hospitalized kids |
| B．interacting with others improves sick kids’ mental sharpness |
| C．story telling has potential benefits for kids with cancers |
| D．riddle guessing is as effective as storytelling in helping sick kids |
5 . Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields.
Country music usually talks of farmers’ everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit (精神) of America, easy to understand, slow and simple.
Country music developed in the Southern United States.It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death.
The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad.At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.
When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.
John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song "Take Me home, Country Roads" is well-known and people still play it today.
1. Country music is usually about _______.| A．farmers’ everyday life and feelings | B．the people in cities |
| C．the lives of workers | D．workers' feelings |
| A．in John Denver's city | B．in the Southern United States |
| C．in the Northern United States | D．in the Western United States |
| A．in the 1920s | B．in 1920 | C．in the 1970s | D．in 1970 |
| A．A farmer in the countryside. | B．A person who moved to towns |
| C．John Denver | D．Denver John |
6 . Accompanied by her father, using a combination of aid and free climbing and taking advantage of some special equipment and ropes for protection, 10-year-old Selah made it to the top of El Capitan on June 12 after five days of big wall climbing.
Climbing the challenging and adventurous Nose route of El Capitan was a labor of love for Selah in more than one way. Her parents , Mike and Joy Schneiter, fell in love on this 3,000- plus-foot huge rock and she has always wanted to feel the way that her parents felt when they were up there together. Selah showed great interest in rock climbing at an early age. She wore her first rock-climbing equipment shortly after she learned to walk. She first dreamed of climbing El Capitan when she was 6 or 7.
El Capitan is a famous mountain-sized rock in Yosemite National Park. Getting to its top is no easy task. It's taller, as reported, than the tallest building in the world-Dubai’s Buri Khalifa. El Capitan and its difficult Nose route, which runs more than 3,000 feet high up the center of the rock's face, is considered one of the world's hardest big wall climbs and has attracted the best climbers over time. But never before had a youngster accomplished it.
Selah's achievement caught national attention. Outside Magazine called her the youngest documented person to climb the Nose. Ken Yager, president of the Yosemite Climbing Association, said he also couldn't think of anyone younger who has done it.
Selah is humble about her El Capitan accomplishment. "I'm not necessarily a special kid or anything like that, she said. "There were a few times when I would be so worn that it would kind of discourage me from holding on. But overall, it was just great to keep plugging away.”
Selah shared this advice for other young climbers dreaming of big walls, "It doesn't take necessarily a super special person to do something like that. You just have to put your mind to it.”
1. What do we learn about Selah climbing El Capitan?| A．She began her climbing on June 5. |
| B．She got inspired by her family history. |
| C．She managed without any external help. |
| D．She was the first female to reach the top. |
| A．To state El Capitan's height. |
| B．To prove El Capitan's popularity. |
| C．To introduce El Capitan's location. |
| D．To stress the challenge of climbing El Capitan. |
| A．Determined. | B．Generous. |
| C．Warm-hearted. | D．Fortunate. |
| A．Dream big and aim high. |
| B．Be committed to your ambition. |
| C．Chance favors the prepared mind. |
| D．Nothing is impossible for a genius. |
7 . Kala has deep ties to her Hawaiian roots. Her ancestors navigated (航行) the oceans for centuries using their knowledge of the stars, the sun, the currents and the wind. It’s not that she does it in a canoe without technology, but rather uses the natural technology around her. It’s called Way finding, and was taught to her by her father.
“My father was my foundation, my rock.” she says of her first voyage with him from Oahu to Lahaina in a traditional canoe. He taught her how to read the stars, the ocean swells and how to use them to hold the course. “Over 200 stars have specific names and purposes when you are Way finding. You have to look at each and determine if they are rising or setting. You know this star and the direction it represents. If you can do that, you can use it as a tool to orient (确定方向).” Kala added.
Kala Tanaka sailed the canoe in the ocean for up to three weeks. During the day, Kala used the sun until it hit a certain height. When she got closer to land, she looked for certain species of land birds and clouds that indicated there was land below. When Kala sailed she felt “I feel very connected to the crew and the canoe. We’re a family.” The longer voyage required Kala to spend hours studying the day and the night skies. It was demanding physical work. But it also had its moments of awe. For Kala, the beauty was in tying together the past and the present to enjoy the moment. So when she was not sailing, she was teaching Way finding skills to school-aged children in hopes of preserving the skills her ancestors relied on.
It’s easy to be lost in the immediacy of the technology of our day, to be consumed by screens and miss the nature that unfolds around us. But if we will take the time to look up, to see the stars and the sun, the way the clouds move, the miracle of life beneath and above us, we will discover something deep inside us, something that will always lead to happiness.
1. How does Kala navigate the ocean in a canoe?| A．By observing the natural elements around. |
| B．By following the course of ocean currents. |
| C．By using hi-technology navigation devices. |
| D．By recalling the first voyage with her father. |
| A．It was a heroic adventure. | B．It brought great joy to her life. |
| C．It was school children’s favorite. | D．It represented a kind of innovation. |
| A．Enjoy the screens. | B．Explore the universe. |
| C．Get close to nature. | D．Keep the earth clean. |
| A．Finding Our Way | B．Navigating the Ocean |
| C．The Wisdom from Ancestors | D．An Unforgettable Journey |
8 . Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching one has been the inevitable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage.
It is difficult to the point of impossibility for the average reader under the age of forty to imagine a time when high-quality arts criticism could be found in most big-city newspapers. Yet a considerable number of the most significant collections of criticism published in the 20th century consisted in large part of newspaper reviews. To read such books today is to marvel at the fact that their learned contents were once considered suitable for publication in general-circulation dailies.
We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20th century and the eve of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament (装饰) to the publications in which it appeared. In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about. These men believed in journalism as a calling, and were proud to be published in the daily press. “So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism,” Newman wrote, “that I am tempted to define ‘journalism’ as ‘a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are’.”
Unfortunately, these critics are virtually forgotten. Neville Cardus, who wrote for the Manchester Guardian from 1917 until shortly before his death in 1975, is now known solely as a writer of essays on the game of cricket. During his lifetime, though, he was also one of England’s foremost classical-music critics, a stylist so widely admired that his Autobiography (1947) became a best-seller. He was knighted in 1967, the first music critic to be so honored. Yet only one of his books is now in print, and his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists.
Is there any chance that Cardus’s criticism will enjoy a revival? The prospect seems remote. Journalistic tastes had changed long before his death, and postmodern readers have little use for the richly upholstered Vicwardian prose in which he specialized. Moreover, the amateur tradition in music criticism has been in headlong retreat.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first two paragraphs?| A．English-language newspapers with more arts coverage sell well. |
| B．Young readers nowadays enjoy reading high-quality arts criticism. |
| C．The criticism published in the 20th century lacked learned contents. |
| D．There were more arts reviews in English-language newspapers in the past. |
| A．The newsprint was too cheap to make profits. |
| B．Not all writers were capable of journalistic writing. |
| C．Arts criticism was removed from the print newspapers. |
| D．Writers are likely to be tempted into journalism. |
| A．Because he mainly wrote essays on the game of cricket. |
| B．Because people cast doubt on his reputation as a knight. |
| C．Because his music criticism failed to appeal to readers nowadays. |
| D．Because his works were quite amateur rather than professional. |
| A．The Distinguished Critics in Memory | B．The Lost Horizon in Newspapers |
| C．The Shortage of Literary Geniuses | D．The Newspapers of the Good Old Days |
9 . The word paradigm comes from the Greek. It was originally a scientific term, and is more commonly used today to mean a model or theory. In the more general sense, it’s the way we “see” the world — not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting.
A simple way to understand paradigms is to see them as maps. We all know that “the map is not the territory.” A map is simply an explanation of certain aspects of the territory. That’s exactly what a paradigm is. It is a theory, an explanation, or model of something else. You can never arrive at a specific location in a new city with a wrong map.
Each of us has many maps in our head, which can be divided into two main categories: maps of the way things are, or realities, and maps of the way things should be, or values. We interpret everything we experience through these mental maps. We seldom question their accuracy; we’re usually even unaware that we have them. We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are or the way they should be. And our attitudes and behaviors grow out of those assumptions. The way we see things is the source of the way we think and the way we act.
We see the world, not as it is, but as we are or, as we are conditioned to see it. Clearheaded people see things differently, each looking through the unique lens of experience. But this does not mean that there are no facts. Instead, each person’s interpretation of these facts represents prior experiences.
The more aware we are of our basic paradigms, maps, or assumptions, and the extent to which we have been influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view.
1. How does the author illustrate the concept of “paradigm”?| A．By comparing it to an everyday object. | B．By sorting it into different categories. |
| C．By presenting personal examples. | D．By highlighting a sharp contrast. |
| A．They fail to escape our attention. | B．They may be lacking in accuracy. |
| C．They prove wrong and unreliable. | D．They have little influence on behavior. |
| A．Great minds think alike. | B．All men have opinions, but few think. |
| C．Where we stand depends on where we sit. | D．The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinions. |
| A．A better understanding of our paradigms. | B．A stronger sense of responsibility for others. |
| C．A more objective view of others’ perceptions. | D．A more positive attitude toward life experience. |
10 . On a Friday evening in December, two weeks before Christmas, I lost my job. When my daughter, Kristil, then 12, and I planned to get our Christmas tree, I listened to my voicemail: “We’re sorry but your work
The next day as we searched for the tree, I
“Is everything OK? ” Kristil asked. ”You seem worried. ”
“I got some bad news yesterday,” I told her. ”I lost my job.”
I eagerly
One afternoon, I dropped Kristil in a wealthy community for a birthday party. I watched as she went in,
“Well, I called last week but couldn’t get through.
I made her a cup of tea, and we talked. Being in Sister Esther’s
On Christmas Eve, I
| A．achievement | B．assignment | C．announcement | D．attachment |
| A．existed | B．gathered | C．exploded | D．grew |
| A．claimed | B．intended | C．struggled | D．tended |
| A．applied for | B．signed up for | C．accounted for | D．made up for |
| A．filled | B．surrounded | C．covered | D．decorated |
| A．defeated | B．puzzled | C．scared | D．inspired |
| A．up and down | B．on and off | C．here and there | D．in and out |
| A．beneath | B．beyond | C．alongside | D．against |
| A．flexible | B．respectable | C．understanding | D．intelligent |
| A．take | B．bring | C．fetch | D．show |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Besides | D．Otherwise |
| A．presence | B．charge | C．favor | D．absence |
| A．faded away | B．broke away | C．pulled away | D．put away |
| A．in regret | B．in amazement | C．in despair | D．in comfort |
| A．expectantly | B．hesitantly | C．joyfully | D．nervously |
