1 . The tech industry created many wonders. However, when it comes to how they are used by kids, they usually bring a
My kids
Things were good for a few years
After seeing how my kids got lost in YouTube, I
| A．slight | B．personal | C．negative | D．beneficial |
| A．had control over | B．got exposed to | C．caught sight of | D．got rid of |
| A．treasured | B．repaired | C．researched | D．quitted |
| A．amused | B．frightened | C．disappointed | D．confused |
| A．abnormal | B．private | C．educational | D．expensive |
| A．because | B．if | C．unless | D．until |
| A．shocked | B．curious | C．relaxed | D．proud |
| A．meaningful | B．appealing | C．familiar | D．essential |
| A．hopeful | B．stupid | C．costly | D．powerful |
| A．ignore | B．stop | C．improve | D．monitor |
| A．analyze | B．leave | C．advertise | D．notice |
| A．children | B．neighbors | C．teachers | D．parents |
| A．want | B．forget | C．fail | D．manage |
| A．adopted | B．changed | C．discussed | D．refused |
| A．efficient | B．latest | C．useful | D．addictive |
2 . The days of the bedroom fitting room are numbered. Online retail giant (零售巨头) Boohoo has become the latest in a string of retailers to start charging shoppers for returns.
By offering free returns in the first place, companies, such as Boohoo, created entirely new behaviour around shopping. A 2018 study found that 9% of UK consumers buy clothes to post on social media, only to return them straight after. Almost one in five 35-to 44-year-olds admit to doing it, and men, apparently, do it more than women.
However, when clothes are returned, they’re likely to be thrown away rather than resold. This is because processing returns is time-consuming and costly. Buttons need to be rebuttoned, labels need to be reattached, products need refolding and rebagging, and then they must be put back into the system for sale. So it is clearly a cheaper and easier solution for businesses to send the whole lot to landfills (垃圾填埋场). It’s really a great waste of resources, not to mention an insult (冒 犯) to the skilled people who put their time into making each product, but it’s the reality of modern fashion.
When clothes don’t become rubbish, there’s still the impact of the extra shipping to consider, as well as the packaging waste. About 180bn plastic bags are produced every year to store, protect and transport clothes, and less than 15% of them are collected for recycling.
The impact of returns is a fairly well-kept secret, likely to keep people shopping guilt-free (没有负罪感地). But even if it was widely known, it wouldn’t guarantee people would stop treating returns thoughtlessly. After all, other environmental and human impacts of fast fashion are out there for all to see and yet the industry continues to thrive.
Hopefully, charging for returns is expected to change people’s behavior. Without free returns on the table, shoppers may think twice about buying 10 items when they know they’ll only keep five or buying clothes purely for social media content. And with the arrival of return charges, the clothes we already have might also start to look a little more appealing.
1. Why do retailers tend to throw away returned clothes?| A．To keep up with the latest fashion. | B．To avoid a huge waste of resources. |
| C．To let the skilled people feel honored. | D．To save the trouble of processing returns. |
| A．They will feel guilty about shopping. | B．They will continue their shopping behavior. |
| C．They will consider their shopping carefully. | D．They will keep their shopping behavior secret. |
| A．It puts great pressure on customers. | B．It can influence social media content. |
| C．It can do little to help reduce returns. | D．It will turn out to be an effective measure. |
| A．It is necessary to charge shoppers for returns. | B．It is difficult to control the number of returns. |
| C．Many retailers are struggling to process returns. | D．People have different opinions on the end of free returns. |
3 . Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin was working in his garden in Gaza when he noticed that some of the new trees he’d planted on his land did not root properly. Curious about what might be causing the issue, al-Nabahin asked his son to help him start digging.
His son’s ax (斧子) struck something hard. When the two men began to clear away the dirt, they discovered an item they did not recognize. A little Internet searching provided the answer to their mystery: They’d come across a Byzantine-era floor mosaic (拜占庭时期马赛克地画) featuring birds and other animals.
This happened six months ago. Now, archaeologists (考古学家) are hard at work studying the flooring to learn more about its secrets and civilization values.
The mosaic features 17 images of birds and other animals presented in bright colors. Archaeologists believe artists created the flooring sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries, though they don’t know whether the mosaic had religious (宗教的) origins. In total, the land covering the entire mosaic is about 500 square meters, and the mosaic itself measures about 23 square meters. Some parts of the mosaic appear to be damaged, likely from the roots of an old tree.
“These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the vivid representation and the complexity of the pattern,” says René Elter, an archaeologist in Jerusalem. “Never have mosaic floors of this precision in the patterns and richness of the colors been discovered in the Gaza Strip.”
The Gaza Strip, which is located between Israel and Egypt and was a busy trade route throughout history, is home to many ancient civilizations. The farmer and his son discovered the mosaic about a kilometer from the border with Israel. Archaeologists and other experts are concerned about the mosaic’s future because of the ongoing conflict there and a lack of funding for historical protection.
1. What led Salman al-Nabahin to the unexpected discovery?| A．His son’s constant digging work. | B．His decision to remove some new trees. |
| C．The improper growth of some new trees. | D．The appearance of some birds and other animals. |
| A．Its origin has something to do with religion. | B．The time of its creation can be figured out. |
| C．It has been seriously damaged by digging work. | D．It reflects relationships between humans and animals. |
| A．The history of the mosaic floors. | B．The great value of the mosaic floors. |
| C．The secrets hidden in the mosaic floors. | D．The difficulty in creating the mosaic floors. |
| A．It may not be well -protected. | B．It may be too large to carry. |
| C．It may cause regional conflicts. | D．It may lose its historical meaning |
4 . March 12 was my last typical day in the classroom before COVID-19 changed everything. When my district closed the following day, I assumed, as many did, that this was a temporary move. However, the closure did not end as quickly as we expected. As the closure continued, while I was glad that none of my students was infected with the virus, I began to worry that the growth of reading ability my first-graders and I worked so hard for would gradually disappear.
It is reported that only one-third of students in the US achieved reading proficiency at grade level in 2019. As the years go by, the gaps become larger, and students who are reading below grade level seldom catch up with their peers. These students often encounter significant social and emotional challenges as they become increasingly aware of their differences from their classmates. And school closures caused by COVID-19 have made the situation even worse.
So when my district reopened in the fall, we were faced with difficult decisions about how to best deliver instruction. At our school, all students have to take a series of short screening tests to assess reading ability at the beginning of the school year. Considering that one size cannot fit all, I adjusted my teaching plans in time throughout the year. If a student received a low score in a particular area, I’d conduct a follow-up assessment to learn about the real cause of the difficulty.
I also conducted exercises to help students practice reading skills. Using other online platforms, I created interactive
lessons with other teachers, in which students practiced reading and writing specific words, reading full sentences and answering corresponding comprehension questions. The platforms enabled us to see all students’ screens at once and gauge which students were on target and needed additional support. They also provided information for planning subsequent lessons.
As a teacher, I know I cannot make all children reach proficiency in literacy (读写能力) myself, but I believe what I am doing can really make a difference to their lives, and I will go on with it.
1. What did the author worry about during the closure?| A．The health condition of her students. |
| B．The decline in her enthusiasm for work. |
| C．The uncertainty about the duration of the closure. |
| D．The influence of closure on students’ reading ability. |
| A．She motivated students to analyze their own problems. |
| B．She adapted teaching strategies to suit her students’ needs. |
| C．She used technology to make reading exercises more interesting. |
| D．She instructed students to take screening tests before each class. |
| A．Judge. | B．Explain. | C．Control. | D．Change. |
| A．Strict and wise. | B．Responsible and flexible. |
| C．Sensitive and optimistic. | D．Humorous and considerate. |
5 . Have you ever imagined being able to communicate with your pet at home and have it understand everything you say? It sounds too good to be true, but scientists have started using artificial intelligence (AI) to help communicate with animals.
Professor Karen Bakker—who is the author of a book called The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants—said that AI is already helping humans communicate with bats and honeybees and this could change what we know about nature and our non-human relationships.
Scientists have worked out how bats speak to each other to argue over food and how mother bats communicate with their young.
Professor Bakker explained how researcher Yossi Yovel had used recordings and AI to understand bats.
“Bats argue over food; they actually distinguish between genders when they communicate with one another; they have individual names, or ‘signature calls’,” she said.
“Mother bats speak to their babies in a kind of ‘motherese’.
Bats learn to ‘speak’ with signals from their mothers.
But while human mothers raise the pitch(音高) of their voices when talking to babies，mother bats lower the pitch.
She said it was a great example of how animal patterns could be revealed using sensors and microphones that would otherwise never be heard with the human ear.
AI makes this possible because a computer can be trained to listen like a bat.
With honeybees, the computer combines listening with vision of the bees’ body movements to understand what they are communicating. Researchers now know how be essay things such as “hush” or “stop”.
Researcher Tim Landgraf even created a robot honeybee that entered a hive(蜂房) and was able to communicate with other bees when it wanted them to stop doing something or fly.
1. What is the role of AI in communicating with animals?| A．Allowing humans to speak to animals. |
| B．Translating human language into animal language. |
| C．Transforming human thoughts into animal language. |
| D．Helping humans understand what animals are saying. |
| A．They use unique names given by human. |
| B．They live together like early human groups. |
| C．They share their food with each other without arguing. |
| D．They can distinguish between genders when communicating. |
| A．By using a kind of “motherese”. |
| B．By raising the pitch of their voices. |
| C．By using sensors and microphones. |
| D．By making body movements. |
| A．It can speak with other bats. |
| B．It can build a hive with bees. |
| C．It can communicate with other bees. |
| D．It can teach other bee show to fly and stop. |
6 . My son Timmy was born with several rare developmental disabilities. By age 13, he had had at least 10 surgeries on his legs and feet. Balancing and walking was very
Meeting Janice, who
Larry has changed Timmy, s life so much for the better. Not only does Larry give my son
Larry slows to Timmy’s pace and watches every
| A．suitable | B．difficult | C．easy | D．perfect |
| A．used to | B．seemed to | C．had to | D．failed to |
| A．motivated | B．pushed | C．anticipated | D．formed |
| A．disappointed | B．strict | C．careful | D．familiar |
| A．judgement | B．day | C．match | D．task |
| A．dressed | B．stuck | C．pulled | D．invited |
| A．support | B．message | C．highlight | D．news |
| A．bleeding | B．falling | C．following | D．screaming |
| A．take | B．come | C．leave | D．see |
| A．sad | B．excited | C．angry | D．well |
| A．eat | B．drive | C．read | D．laugh |
| A．plan | B．decision | C．move | D．conclusion |
| A．amazing | B．shocking | C．boring | D．annoying |
| A．exercise | B．security | C．account | D．tension |
| A．doctor | B．journey | C．school | D．friend |
7 . 2 Days Xi’an-Luoyang Tour by Bullet Train
Tour Overview
Xi’an and Luoyang are two of the four most famous ancient capital cities in China. Taking a bullet train from Xi’an, one will arrive in Luoyang in about 2.5 hours.
Day 1: Xi’an-Luoyang by Bullet Train
AM: At around 7:00, a local driver will pick you up from the hotel. Then you’ll transfer to North Xi’an Railway Station for the bullet train to Luoyang. Upon your arrival in Luoyang, you’ll meet a local guide holding a name board.
The guide will lead you to visit the Longmen Grottoes, which is a treasure house of ancient stone-carving artworks. There are over 100 thousand stone statues along the two banks of the Yi River.
PM: After lunch. you will pay a visit to the Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty is the last slavery dynasty in Chinese history. The last stop is Luoyang Museum which is a historical museum of China and houses over 1,700 cultural and historical relics in 5 showrooms.
Accommodation: Hotel booked by your own
Day 2: Luoyang-Xi’an by Bullet Train
AM: After breakfast on your own, please meet your driver and guide in the hotel at 9:00 and then drive for about 1 hour 20 minutes to Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Martial Arts. Here you will see the Kungfu show performed by Shaolin monks.
PM: Finish the sightseeing, you will take the bullet train back to Xi’ an. Your 2 days Xi’ an-Luoyang tour ends here.
Tour Price Per Person
Travelers | 1 Person | 2 Person | 3 Person | 4 Person | 5 Person |
Tour Price | $512 | $317 | $255 | $223 | $220 |
Travelers | 6 Person | 7 Person | 8 Person | 9 Person | 10+ Person |
Tour Price | $205 | $192 | $185 | $178 | Contact us |
| A．Xi’an. | B．Luoyang. | C．Beijing. | D．Shanghai. |
| A．Shaolin Temple. | B．Luoyang Museum. | C．Longmen Grottoes. | D．Yi River. |
| A．$317. | B．$510. | C．$512. | D．$634. |
8 . Art and science may seem like opposite things. One means the creative flow of ideas, and the other means cold, hard data-some people believe. In fact, the two have much in common. Now, a study finds art can help students remember better what they have learned in the science class.
Mariale Hardiman, an education specialist at Johns Hopkins University, noticed that students who used art in the classroom listened more carefully. They might ask more questions. They might volunteer more ideas. What’s more, students seemed to remember more of what they had been taught when their science lessons had involved(涉及) art. To prove that, Hardiman teamed up with some researchers and six local schools.
In the experiment, the researchers worked with teachers in 16 fifth-grade classrooms. They provided traditional science lessons and art-focused ones. In a traditional science class, for example, students might read aloud from a book. In the art-focused one, they might sing the information instead.
The team randomly assigned(随机分配) each of the 350 students to either a traditional science classroom or an art-focused one. Students then learned science using that way for the whole unit-about three weeks. When they changed to a new topic, they also changed to the other type of class. This way, each student had both an art-focused class and a traditional one. Every unit was taught in both ways, to different groups of students. This enabled the researchers to see how students did in both types of classes.
The team found that students who started off in a traditional class performed better after they moved into an art-focused class. But those who started off in an art-focused class did well even when they went back to a traditional science class. These students appeared to use some of the art techniques(技巧) after going back to a traditional class. Classroom teachers reported that many students continued to sing the songs that they learned after finishing the unit. “The more we hear something, the more we retain it,” Hardiman says. “It suggests that the arts may help students apply creative ways of learning on their own.”
1. Why did Mariale Hardiman do the study?| A．To prove the importance of art at school. |
| B．To see if art might improve science learning |
| C．To find a way to help her students learn better. |
| D．To know how to encourage students to ask questions. |
| A．Take two types of classes. | B．Learn three units in total. |
| C．Learn two topics for three weeks. | D．Choose what they’d like to learn. |
| A．Finish. | B．Express. | C．Improve. | D．Memorize. |
| A．Art helps students develop creativity. |
| B．Art-focused classes interest students a lot. |
| C．Art can make science easier to remember. |
| D．Art has something in common with science. |
9 . A 70-year-old Chinese woman has been called “Super Grannie” after it was reported that she is
Most people
“This lady is as old as my grandmother, how can she run so fast? That’s
So
Wang Guilan
| A．crazy | B．angry | C．nervous | D．sorry |
| A．refuse | B．promise | C．choose | D．remember |
| A．normally | B．certainly | C．especially | D．partly |
| A．task | B．rule | C．lesson | D．way |
| A．progressed | B．stopped | C．succeeded | D．cheered |
| A．prettiest | B．healthiest | C．oldest | D．cleverest |
| A．lucky | B．surprising | C．important | D．funny |
| A．in | B．for | C．with | D．against |
| A．husband | B．neighbor | C．teacher | D．friend |
| A．even if | B．because | C．so that | D．unless |
| A．herself | B．itself | C．myself | D．yourself |
| A．how | B．when | C．why | D．where |
| A．height | B．age | C．weight | D．size |
| A．loves | B．imagines | C．suggests | D．avoids |
| A．hardly | B．easily | C．seriously | D．strongly |
10 . Do Yao Ming, Liu Xiang or Guo Jingjing have anything in common with people like us? You will probably answer “NO!” It seems that top athletes live in a world that is totally different from ours. They don’t have to worry about homework or exams. There are fans everywhere they go, constantly cheering them on. However, if we could see into their minds, it would be clear that they are actually just like us.
We may not all be sports stars, but we have to face similar problems. We set goals and seek self- development. We have to manage our fears before important exams. We worry about our relationships with classmates... Like sportspeople, we try to be mentally strong and do our best on a daily basis.
However, how an athlete becomes a success teaches all of us a lesson. To achieve their goals, sportspeople not only have to prepare physically, but also mentally. They have to get to know themselves, highlight their strong points, manage stresses and develop their powers of concentration. Here is some advice on how to achieve success from China’s top athletes.
China’s top woman badminton player Zhang Ning shows us the importance of motivation. It’s the first step to success. It is her love of badminton and sense of responsibility that contribute to her success.
Teng Haibin’s experience shows that “planning” exactly what should be done in your mind is as important as physical preparation. Give yourself a few minutes before a speech contest, for example. Close your eyes and picture things like your posture. It helps a lot!
How important is concentration? Hurdling star Liu Xiang knows. Focus is not only important for Liu Xiang, but for you too. If you can’t focus in class, you won’t get good grades.
A clear objective encourages a person to pursue their dream. Diving star Xiong Ni won a silver and a bronze in two Olympics. But his goal of winning an Olympic gold medal drove him on.
Top athletes show us that success isn’t simply down to chance and that all people can steer their life’s journey.
1. According to the passage, to achieve their goals, sportspeople should do the following EXCEPT________.| A．get to know themselves well | B．manage stresses |
| C．develop powers of concentration | D．stop being tough with themselves |
| A．success of top athletes largely depends on chance |
| B．ordinary people don’t need to become strong-minded |
| C．one needs to be physically and mentally prepared to achieve success |
| D．sportspeople have similar fears before important exams |
| A．medal | B．goal | C．dream | D．decision |
| A．Top athletes’ stories of success. |
| B．Problems that ordinary people have in common with top athletes. |
| C．The importance of physical and mental health. |
| D．Lessons drawn from top athletes’ success. |
