1 . One evening, Paul O’Sullivan felt bored in his Baltimore apartment. So he got on to Facebook to find out just how many others on the social network ___________ his name. Moments later, dozens of Paul O’Sullivans from around the world filled his ___________. The then-27-year-old employee sent friend requests to them all.

Many of his fellow Paul O’Sullivans ___________ him, but a few felt too curious to ___________ his invitation. Paul O’Sullivan from Rotterdam in the Netherlands says, “My first ___________ was ‘Who is this guy and what does he want from me?’ So I thought about it for a while.” Ultimately, he couldn’t resist the___________ friend request. As Baltimore Paul scrolled through the profiles of the Paul O’Sullivans who accepted his invitation, he noticed something four of them have in common: They were all ___________ . Wouldn’t it be funny if they ___________a band called The Paul O’Sullivans? The other Pauls all ___________ and they created a sort of musical assembly line. They managed to ____________ its first original song, “Namesake,” in March. It’s a passionate track about long-distance relationships. Not romantic ones, of course, but like the friendships they had____________developed.

But just months later, Baltimore Paul began experiencing health issues that ______________ him to take time off from making music. The other Pauls didn’t ______________their friendship. To make sure Baltimore Paul never felt alone, the other Pauls chatted live on Instagram, and checked in on Baltimore Paul and on one another.

“What are the odds (机率)” says Baltimore Paul, “that a random Facebook ______________ would lead not only to new music but to ______________ as well? Some things are just meant to be.”

1.

A．shared

B．called

C．mentioned

D．liked

2.

A．mind

B．screen

C．apartment

D．time

3.

A．ignored

B．tricked

C．greeted

D．praised

4.

A．make out

B．turn down

C．ask for

D．apply for

5.

A．measure

B．innovation

C．reaction

D．emotion

6.

A．ordinary

B．unusual

C．precious

D．formal

7.

A．writers

B．employees

C．musicians

D．workers

8.

A．observed

B．maintained

C．explored

D．formed

9.

A．reflected

B．aided

C．agreed

D．gathered

10.

A．release

B．imagine

C．exhibit

D．detect

11.

A．suddenly

B．generally

C．frequently

D．eventually

12.

A．reminded

B．forced

C．taught

D．allowed

13.

A．get involved in

B．take advantage of

C．think highly of

D．press pause on

14.

A．request

B．page

C．account

D．user

15.

A．business

B．success

C．fame

D．friendship

4 . Snowboarding genius Su Yiming made a name for himself by winning China’s first Olympic gold in the sport on Tuesday. By cleanly stomping back-to-back 1800 tricks, the teenager landed the biggest prize so far in his young career—gold in the men’s Big Air at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The notable achievement realized a childhood dream to reach the peak of the sport, which he began to learn at the age of 4.

Now with two shinning medals hung around his neck, the 17-year-old described his superb Olympic debut ( 首秀) as an unbelievable experience that has made all his sacrifices worthwhile. “This feels so surreal that I’ve finally accomplished what I’ve dreamed of since I was little,” said an emotional Su.

Over the past four years, Su has combined his talent with hard work to produce one of the swiftest rises to prominence the sport has ever seen. When the Shougang Big Air venue hosted its first international event, Su was an unknown qualifier, who didn’t even make the final runs. Just over two years later, Su is the name on everyone’s lips at the venue’s Olympic debut—drawing the whole nation’s attention to the sport he loves.

“The biggest motivation (动力) for me is my love for snowboarding,” Su said, when asked about the secret to his success. “In snowboarding, I feel like I can show my own style and creativity. Every time I ride my board, it’s always a joyful moment. I hope through my experience, I can inspire more young people to get interested in the sport.”

Su, a former child actor who featured in action movies, said the Olympic gold will encourage him to seek for more breakthroughs—even beyond his athletic career. “I enjoy snowboarding just as much as I enjoy acting,” said Su, who turns 18 on Friday. “I think I still have a lot of possibilities to explore in my future career either in snowboarding or in acting. But now I just want to enjoy the moment and celebrate it as the best possible birthday gift.”

1. What does the underlined word “landed” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Arrived.

B．Gained.

C．Created.

D．Dreamed.

2. According to Su himself, what is his secret to his success?

A．His acting experience.	B．His talent and hard work.
C．His being fond of snowboarding.	D．His life dream of achieving success.

3. Which of the following words can best describe Su?

A．Talented and thoughtful.	B．Lovely and famous.
C．Creative and kind-hearted.	D．Hard-working and devoted.

4. What’s Su’s attitude toward his future?

A．Upset.

B．Hopeful.

C．Anxious.

D．Satisfied.

5 . Located among the forests where eagles fly overhead, Jabal Sawda has long been one of Saudi Arabia’s best places for mountaineers. At 2,999m, Jabal Sawda had been considered the kingdom’s highest peak until twin mountaineers, Matthew and Eric Gilbertson, climbed it in 2018, finding it to be about three metres shy of Jabal Ferwa.

For more than a decade, the twins have traveled to one country after another around the world, rewriting the mountain record books about places across the Middle East and West Africa. So far, they have reached the peaks of more than 100 countries and newly identified the highest points in Togo, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast.

Matthew, a research scientist at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, California, and Eric, an instructor in mechanical engineering at Seattle University, said their work was motivated by a need for accuracy and love for mountaineering. “If we’re going to go through all the effort to visit a country and visit the highest mountain, we want to be sure that we have indeed visited the highest mountain,” Matthew said. “We consider it assistance to future mountaineers to have an accurate survey done so that they can focus their efforts on getting to whichever peak they want to get to.”

The twins’ love of mountaineering began when they were children with family trips to the Great Smoky Mountains in the southeastern United States. When they were students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), they started climbing as many mountains as possible. In 2012, after achieving their goal of reaching the highest point of each US state, they turned their attention to the rest of the world.

1. What can we learn about Jabal Sawda?

A．It’s Saudi Arabia’s best place.	B．It’s better-known than Jabal Ferwa.
C．It’s Saudi Arabia’s highest peak	D．It’s lower than Jabal Ferwa.

2. Why have the twins traveled to different countries in the past years?

A．To write books about mountains.	B．To rename the peaks of mountains.
C．To measure their highest mountain.	D．To admire good views of the mountain.

3. What do Matthew’s words indicate about their work in paragraph 3?

A．It satisfies their need for accuracy.	B．It helps climbers choose their destination.
C．It makes them focus their efforts on life.	D．It deepens their love for climbing.

4. What might the following paragraph talk about?

A．The twins’ other goals in their life.

B．The twins’ achievements in finding peaks.

C．The twins’ influence on other mountaineers.

D．The twins’ experiences in other countries.

7 . When I mentioned to some friends that we all have accents (口音), most of them proudly replied, “Well, I speak perfect English/Chinese/etc.” But this kind of misses the point.

More often than not, what we mean when we say someone “has an accent” is that their accent is different from the local one, or that pronunciations are different from our own. But this definition (定义) of accents is limiting and could give rise to prejudice. Funnily enough, in terms of the language study, every person speaks with an accent. It is the regular differences in how we produce sounds that define our accents. Even if you don’t hear it yourself, you speak with some sort of accent. In this sense, it’s pointless to point out that someone “has an accent”. We all do!

Every person speaks a dialect (方言), too. In the field of language study, a dialect is a changed form of a language that is featured by its variations (变化) of structure, phrases and words. For instance, “You got eat or not?” (meaning “Have you eaten?”) is an acceptable and understood question in Singapore Oral English. The fact that this expression would cause a standard American English speaker to take pause doesn’t mean that Singapore Oral English is “wrong” or “ungrammatical”. The sentence is well-formed and clearly communicative, according to native Singapore English speakers’ solid system of grammar. Why should it be wrong just because it’s different?

We need to move beyond a narrow idea of accents and dialects — for the benefit of everyone.

Language differences like these provide insights into people’s cultural experiences and backgrounds. In a global age, the way one speaks is a distinct part of one’s identity (身份). Most people would be happy to talk about the cultures behind their speech. We’d learn more about the world we live in and make friends along the way.

1. What does the author think of his/ her friends’ response in paragraph 1?

A．It reflects their self confidence.

B．It reflects their language levels.

C．It misses the point of communication.

D．It misses the real meaning of accents.

2. Why does the author use the example of Singapore Oral English?

A．To support the use of dialects.

B．To show the importance of dialects.

C．To correct a grammatical mistake.

D．To highlight a traditional method.

3. What does the author recommend us to do in the last paragraph?

A．Learn to speak with your local dialect.

B．Look for an official definition of accents.

C．Appreciate the value of accents and dialects.

D．Separate our local languages from others’.

4. What can be a suitable title for this passage?

A．Everyone Has an Accent

B．Accents Improve Our Identities

C．Dialects Lead to Misunderstanding

D．Standard English Is at Risk

9 . Both Roberto and Keith have a 45-minute commute (通勤) time from their homes to their workplace. When Roberto drives, he has realistic expectations of how others drive and how long the trip should take. Overall, he is able to adapt to any unexpected challenges he may face on the road. He rarely becomes angry. By contrast, Keith drives with a tendency for becoming angry easily, partly due to unrealistic expectations of other drivers, his quickness to personalize and feel threatened by the actions of others, and his inability to calm his anger.

The difference between how Roberto and Keith experience their drive to work, especially with regard to getting angry, is influenced very much by their emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is crucial for helping individuals choose constructive over destructive anger. A key aspect of healthy anger is being able to pause and reflect on, rather than react to, our thoughts, feelings, and senses associated with getting angry.

Self-regulation and empathy (同理心) are two important components of emotional intelligence, which can be a buffer (缓冲) against destructive anger. Self-regulation helps us to control our moods. Empathy helps us to recognize the humanity in others and ourselves.

Studies suggest that training in emotional intelligence can powerfully impact how anger is managed. This was supported by a three-year study of 476 young adults who showed reduced tendency of becoming angry after training. Children and adults can learn skills to boost their emotional intelligence and, by doing so, develop adaptability for dealing with various negative affect, including anger. Many workbooks offer skills in emotional intelligence to promote empathy and self-awareness regarding emotions and how they impact our beliefs and behavior.

Clearly, through training, Keith would experience greater emotional flexibility that could support a more peaceful commute to work. I firmly believe that learning skills in emotional intelligence should be the focus in helping individuals more constructively manage this highly challenging and complex emotion.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To tell a true story.	B．To make a comparison.
C．To introduce the main topic.	D．To present an important finding.

2. Which of the following is the main point of healthy anger?

A．Thinking over the annoying situation.

B．Taking action to deal with the awful situation.

C．Turning a blind eye to the unwelcome situation.

D．Expressing feelings about the disturbing situation.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards training in emotional intelligence?

A．Indifferent.

B．Doubtful.

C．Negative.

D．Supportive.

4. What is the suitable title of the text?

A．Friends Should Enjoy Peaceful Commute

B．Drivers Need to Boost Their Emotional Intelligence

C．Emotional Intelligence Is a Buffer Against Destructive Anger

D．Emotional Intelligence Has a Powerful Impact on People’s Life

10 . Public Health England (PHE) is targeting pizzas, ready meals, ready meat and takeaways. The government has also required the food industry to start using healthier foods and encourage the public to choose lower-calorie foods.

It is all part of an effort to decrease calorie intake by 20% by 2024. The aim will point to 13 different food groups. If action is not taken, PHE said, it would be prepared to ask the government to pass laws.

PHE would be strictly monitoring progress by looking at which products people were buying and would be prepared to punish companies which do not take their duties. The government is also organizing a program encouraging adults to consume (消耗) 400 calories at breakfast and 600 calories each at lunch and dinner. At present, adults consume between 200 and 300 calories more than they should each day. PHE chief nutritionist Dr. Alison Tedstone said the 400－600－600 tip would make it easier for people to make healthier choices.

How many calories should we eat? It is suggested that women eat no more than 2,000 calories a day, while men should limit their intake to 2,500 calories. For children, it depends on age. A four-year-old should consume no more than 1,300 calories, while for teens aged 17 and 18, it is about 3,000 calories, but overweight children are eating up to 500 calories more than that.

Prof Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said it was a necessary move. He said, “Over the past 40 years, there has been a slow growth in food sizes, with pizzas and hamburgers simply much bigger than they were in our parents’ time.” The convenience of fast food at pocket money prices and the advertisement of unhealthy foods and drinks to children add to the problem.

1. What does the underlined word “decrease” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Encourage

B．Cut

C．Contain

D．Balance

2. What will happen to a company producing high-calorie foods?

A．It will be punished by PHE.

B．It will have to pay extra money.

C．It will be forced to stop producing foods.

D．It will be asked to throw away all the foods.

3. Who should take in the most calories according to Paragraph 4?

A．Adult men

B．Adult women

C．Children aged 4

D．Teens aged 18

4. What can be learned from Prof Russell Viner’s words?

A．The calorie intake needs to be controlled.

B．The growth of food sizes meets people’s need.

C．The fast food should be chosen for its convenience.

D．The problem about higher-calorie foods will be solved.