1 . I decided to write the article on British Sign Language (BSL) being taught in school. This is because both of my parents are completely deaf which means they can’t hear at all and another reason I decided to do this topic is because I have realised how much of a problem it has become.
It might come to a surprise to learn that nearly all communication is non-verbal (非语言的) and only a little bit is verbal. Over half of the non-verbal communication is body language. Deaf pupils often struggle (挣扎) in school because they can’t get proper help from their teachers as they might not understand each other.
Sign Language is a language that uses hand gestures and body language. These are different ways of communication that deaf or hard of hearing people use to communicate with people. Some deaf people are what you might call “mute”, which means they use Sign Language but don’t use speech. Other deaf people may use speech, most of whom either use hearing aids or have a cochlear implant (人工耳蜗) which can help them hear.
By teaching BSL it would open doors for the deaf community and it would reduce a lot of language barriers (障碍) between deaf and hearing people. The more people learning BSL through education means that it would give deaf people more options for further education and good jobs. By teaching Sign Language in school it can help deaf awareness (意识). With young people growing up and learning it together there wouldn’t be a problem with getting jobs.
I think that deaf awareness is better than it used to be but it still isn’t good enough. In the end teaching Sign Language will be the best for everyone. There would be less language barriers, which means communication will be easier between hearing people and deaf people.
1. What made the author write the text?| A．His own hearing problem. | B．The difficulty of the deaf. |
| C．The school’s sincere invitation. | D．His parents’ encouragement. |
| A．They are too shy to ask for help. |
| B．Their classmates use body language. |
| C．Their teachers are unwilling to help them. |
| D．They have difficulty communicating with others. |
| A．We should offer deaf people good jobs. |
| B．Schools should teach British Sign Language. |
| C．Schools should provide further education for the deaf. |
| D．Young people should learn more about Sign Language. |
| A．It is nearly close to success. | B．It still needs to be improved. |
| C．It isn’t understood by hearing people. | D．It’s bad for breaking language barriers. |
2 .
| Morocco Family Journey | |
Discover the magic of Morocco on a seven-day journey that takes your family group from markets to the desert. Meet musicians and storytellers absorbed in Amazigh heritage (遗产), and try your hand at cooking up colourful local dishes. Hike past amazing rock formations, walk windswept sands, and uncover ancient secrets. | |
| WHAT’S INCLUDED ● Accommodations: Hotels (8 nights); 8 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 4 dinners ● Transport: Private air-con coach, 4×4 vehicle ● Journey Highlights: Sahara trips and cultural explorations in Merzouga, the tour of Atlas FilmStudios in Ouarzazate ● Five-star travel directors ● Walk in Jemaa el-Fna Square ● Free time to explore Marrakech ● All transport to and from included activities | WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED ● Visas ● Flights to and from Morocco ● Basic medical and emergency insurance (You will not be permitted to travel with our agency until you have provided evidence of adequate travel insurance.) ● Trip cancellation insurance or any other travel insurance ● Meals on your own ● Any activity not described in WHAT’S INCLUDED |
| Emergency Fund Please make sure you have access to at least an additional USD $200 or the equivalent (等价物) as an emergency fund, to be used when circumstances outside our control require a change in our planned route. This is a rare occurrence! | |
| Requirements Family journeys are designed for groups traveling with kids between the ages of 7 and 17. Your group must include a kid to book, and anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. | |
| A．In Marrakech. | B．In Ouarzazate. |
| C．In Merzouga. | D．In Jemaa el-Fna Square. |
| A．Breakfast. | B．Round-trip flight tickets. |
| C．Accommodation. | D．Guide services. |
| A．Having at least a child and an adult. | B．Paying money for emergencies. |
| C．Being in good physical condition. | D．Buying insurance through the agency. |
3 . “Bye and good luck!” my receptionist (接待员) called to me as I headed down the stairs of the large office. I had just closed my law office and
Anyway, here I was today. My parents had both passed, and my children had grown and moved away from home. It was
A few years earlier, I’d
It’s been three years since I
Recently, I met a nice lady. “What do you do?” she asked.
“I’m a full-time
“Really?” She had a look of
I’ve had similar
| A．given up | B．shown off | C．picked out | D．thought about |
| A．met | B．understood | C．become | D．helped |
| A．careful | B．confident | C．excited | D．worried |
| A．satisfied | B．promised | C．saved | D．encouraged |
| A．sure | B．proud | C．afraid | D．angry |
| A．tradition | B．time | C．responsibility | D．luck |
| A．suggested | B．imagined | C．begun | D．admitted |
| A．wanted | B．agreed | C．hesitated | D．regretted |
| A．different | B．hard-working | C．open-minded | D．successful |
| A．learned | B．continued | C．asked | D．decided |
| A．author | B．mom | C．student | D．lawyer |
| A．nervousness | B．concern | C．disbelief | D．fear |
| A．conversations | B．trips | C．game | D．friendships |
| A．right | B．honest | C．fair | D．polite |
| A．accept | B．advise | C．remember | D．love |
4 . Standing at 4 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 85 pounds, ARTEMIS is a first-of-its-kind robot that University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) mechanical engineers developed, and it is ready for the international soccer competition in France in July.
Using cutting-edge technology, ARTEMIS, which stands for Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability, can maintain its balance against heavy kicks and pushes, withstand objects being thrown at it and is capable of running. But what sets ARTEMIS apart on top of that is its ability to kick a ball.
“If your robot cannot even play a game of soccer, how would you be able to use these robots for more important things, such as saving people’s lives?” said Dennis Hong, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at UCLA, “The technologies used for soccer playing robots are also being used for other applications like firefighting and disaster relief.”
While ARTEMIS may not be at the next FIFA World Cup, Hong’s team will be showing its full soccer capabilities at RoboCup in Bordeaux, France, in July.
The robot’s major innovation (创新) is that the engineers custom-designed its actuators (执行器) — devices that produce motion from energy — to behave like human muscles. They are springy and force-controlled, rather than the inflexible, position-controlled actuators that most robots have.
ARTEMIS’ actuators are also unique in that they are electrically driven, rather than controlled by hydraulics (液压系统). The developers said this makes the robot quieter and cleaner running.
RoMeLa student Justin Quan said his personal goal is to engineer robots that improve people’s lives. “Seeing these robots helping push the robot technology to that next level is really rewarding because you’re like, oh, the dream, it gets closer,” he said.
1. What will ARTEMIS do in France in July?| A．Chat with engineers. | B．Take a college exam. |
| C．Take part in a soccer match. | D．Save people in a fire. |
| A．They can design a ball. | B．They are driven by electricity. |
| C．They behave like a human. | D．They are position-controlled. |
| A．To create robots that benefit humans. | B．To find a rewarding job after graduation. |
| C．To win a prize in the next FIFA World Cup. | D．To gain recognition from professors at UCLA. |
| A．Education. | B．Environment. | C．Health. | D．Technology. |
5 . When you think of insects (昆虫), the first word that comes to mind probably won’t be “edible (可食用的)”. Surprisingly, what you may consider an insect may sound like a great meal to another. In Africa and the Middle East, insects such as grasshoppers and mealworms are a common dish. Many Asians also like eating insect dishes.
The idea of replacing (代替) pork, chicken, or beef with insects might sound unpleasant, but eating these small insects can be beneficial to both yourself and the environment.
There are over 2,100 types of edible insects in the world. Many of the insects that are eaten by humans are quite nutritious (有营养的). And they can be eaten in different ways: roasted over an open fire, freeze-dried, or cooked. In fact, insects can be added to various foods, and we likely won’t even notice the difference.
The biggest advantage is that the cost of raising insects is very small. Compared to cows, insects produce eight times fewer carbon emissions (碳排放物) and need six times less water to keep.
To add to that, insects can be fed with waste products. Insect waste can also be repurposed into soil fertilizer (土肥). And unlike traditional farms which take up about 80% of all farming land, insect farms are relatively small and can save space for other uses.
All this makes insect farms more profitable, with little wastage of money and resources.
As our world’s population increases towards 9 billion by 2050, traditional farming will not be enough to meet its growing food needs.
Some companies have already begun experimenting with insects in their food products. Mealworm burger patties, protein powder, and gummy sweets are just a few of the new food creations. And a few months ago, the European Union (EU) said yes to insects for human consumption (食用)!
1. What can we learn about insect eating?| A．It’s popular in Africa. | B．It’s liked by the author. |
| C．It’s unpleasant for Asians. | D．It’s accepted by few people. |
| A．It is simpler. | B．It costs less. |
| C．It requires no skills. | D．It needs no manpower. |
| A．Insects will replace beef in hamburgers by 2050. |
| B．Insects will be humans’ major food choices by 2050. |
| C．Insects will help meet the growing food needs of humans. |
| D．Insects will become more nutritious with modern farming. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Thankful. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Doubtful. |
6 . A loving wife saved her husband’s life after she insisted on a second opinion for his sudden illness. The man, who was suffering from bacterial meningitis (细菌性脑膜炎) but was initially misdiagnosed (误诊) with an ear infection, might not have survived had they waited any longer.
Jason and Aleck Lang, from Ogden, Utah, have been married for nine years. They have made their home in Phoenix, Arizona, and are raising three young children together.
On the evening of March 17, 2021, Aleck received a text from Jason, who was at work, complaining of head and ear pain. The mother of three began to look for sitters for their kids in case Jason’s condition got worse or even remained the same.
Around 6:30 in the morning, Jason — who had no history of headaches — began begging his wife to take him to the emergency room. Close friends “dropped everything” to sit for the children, and Aleck drove Jason to the nearest ER and dropped him off.
“They had given him a couple of different medications (药) for his headache and the doctor diagnosed him with an ear infection,” Aleck said. The doctor dismissed Aleck’s concerns and Jason was discharged (出院) shortly before midday. Back at home, Jason’s condition got worse. Aleck’s instinct (直觉) guided her to drive him to a different hospital, where he received a second, accurate diagnosis: bacterial meningitis.
Jason stayed in the hospital for five days. “The doctor said Jason most likely wouldn’t be alive if we waited even a couple of hours more,” Aleck explained. “Jason was fighting for his life.” She was also busy and distracted caring for her three kids, who gave her joy while she missed Jason greatly. “It gave me a chance to see how strong they can be, and how strong I can be for them,” she said.
1. What did Aleck do first when she knew Jason was uncomfortable?| A．She didn’t think it seriously. | B．She looked for sitters for their kids. |
| C．She gave him some medications. | D．She took him to hospital immediately. |
| A．He had headaches before. | B．He stayed in the hospital for six days. |
| C．His wife drove him to the same hospital. | D．He might have died if they had waited longer. |
| A．Cautious and strong | B．Kind and passionate. |
| C．Easygoing and tolerant. | D．Reliable and generous. |
| A．True love is to accept all that is | B．A strong mother saved her family |
| C．A second diagnosis is necessary | D．Wife’s instinct saves husband’s life |
7 . In the US, tornadoes (龙卷风) are responsible for 80 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries each year. Although they happen quite frequently, tornadoes are difficult to predict. Why? Tornadoes develop from storms, but only some storms are likely to become tornadoes. Scientists don’t know where and when a storm will touch the ground and turn into a tornado. Today, the warning time for a tornado is usually just 13 minutes.
Time Samaras is a storm chaser. His job is to find tornadoes and follow them. When he gets close to a tornado, he puts a special tool called a turtle probe on the ground. This tool measures things like a tornado’s temperature, humidity (湿度), and wind speed. With this information, Samaras can learn what causes tornadoes to develop. If meteorologists (气象学家) understand this, they can warn people about tornadoes sooner and save lives.
How does Samaras hunt tornadoes? It’s not easy. First, he has to find one. Tornadoes are too small to see using weather satellites. So Samaras can’t rely on these tools to find a tornado. Instead, he waits for tornadoes to develop. Every May and June, Samaras drives about 40,000 kilometers across an area known as Tornado Alley, looking and hoping to spot a tornado.
Once Samaras sees a tornado, the chase begins. But a tornado is hard to follow. Some tornadoes change direction several times — for example, moving east and then west and then east again. When Samaras finally gets near a tornado, he puts the turtle probe on the ground. Being this close to a tornado is terrifying. Debris (碎片) is flying in the air. Then wind is blowing at high speed. He must get away quickly.
The work is risky, even for a skilled chaser like Samaras. But danger won’t stop his hunt for the perfect storm.
1. What do we know about tornadoes?| A．They can be predicted by satellites. | B．They usually come down in winter. |
| C．The warning time for them is very short. | D．They often develop into storms. |
| A．predict tornadoes | B．collect information about tornadoes |
| C．chase tornadoes | D．decrease the power of tornadoes |
| A．how tornadoes develop | B．how the turtle probe works |
| C．how powerful Tornado Alley is | D．how Samaras chases a tornado |
| A．difficult and dangerous | B．stressful and troublesome |
| C．mysterious and interesting | D．exciting and popular |
8 . We drove to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park — a very remote, dry, mountainous place in Utah. I went there when I was about 10 years old, but I can only recall certain things: how cold it got that night as we slept in the tent, the small insects that covered the mountain beside us, and having to use the bathroom in an outhouse.
Huge rocks are hanging dangerously on the jagged (嶙峋的) mountainside, and you know they have to fall eventually. We stopped at Newspaper Rock, a National Historic Site where prehistoric people sketched drawings onto sandstone from B.C. time to A.D.1300. With only a short fence surrounding it, it seems unavoidable that modern-day people would feel the urge to carve their names into this precious historic landmark.
The sky is the bluest I think I’ve ever seen; it’s a beautiful backdrop to the orangey-red cliffs lining the horizon. And the silence — I’ve never experienced a quieter place. When I first got out of the truck at our campsite, I stood still and held my breath, and all I could hear was the ringing in my ears.
In my opinion, only at night can you witness the true beauty of the Canyonlands: the stars. Since the Needles district is an extremely dry place about 80 miles away from any major city’s lights, it offers the clearest view I’ve ever seen of the night sky. It is incredible how many stars you can see out there. I climbed on top of a nearby rock formation and lay on my back just soaking (沉浸) it all in. It was like looking through a window straight into the universe.
I wanted to sleep outside beneath the stars, but then the temperature dropped to 40 degree and I discovered massive ants crawling on the ground, so I quitted that. The next morning, I discovered a nearby camper passed out on the rock formation in a sleeping bag. How he managed to brave the temperatures and the ants, I have no idea.
1. What was the environment of Needles district like to the author as a kid?| A．Confusing. | B．Difficult. | C．Dull. | D．Adventurous. |
| A．It’s a combination of old and new. | B．It’s a piece of prehistoric artwork. |
| C．It’s currently in need of protection. | D．It’s been in existence for 1300 years. |
| A．He was too tired to move. | B．He lost his hearing temporarily. |
| C．He was extremely out of breath. | D．He wanted to feel nature closely. |
| A．To encourage people to travel there. | B．To compare childhood experience. |
| C．To describe his journey in wild nature. | D．To raise awareness of natural protection. |
9 . A French company called SolarSoundSystem is celebrating its 24th year of hosting solar-and-bicycle-powered parties in Europe. Founder Cedric Carles says “it is necessary to perform in public spaces in order to increase the level of general knowledge and catch public concern about climate change.” The solar-powered sound systems started off in Lausanne, Switzerland, but have now taken off in France, Berlin, the Basque region of Spain and Tel Aviv.
The principle is simple, during the day batteries are charged by solar energy. These are attached to generators which allow the speakers to function and power the DJ turntables (唱机转盘) too. Impressively, the sound quality is so high that it can provide music for up to 500 people. In terms of how long the music can last, the team explains that even with partial sun clouds, the machines can operate for 5 hours without bicycles and 6 to 8 hours with bicycles. With plenty of sun in the sky, the party can go on until dark. Then at night, party-goers are encouraged to take turns donating pedal power, by riding the bikes to keep the music going.
To mark the 23rd anniversary of the parties last year, the eco-friendly sound system released a vinyl record (黑胶唱片) of the electronic artists that have been playing on their systems over the years. The chosen songs pay tribute to the eight international artists who have supported SolarSoundsystem in the past years, such as Jay Ka and Gregorythme.
1. Why are the solar-and-bicycle-powered parties hosted?| A．To raise the awareness of environmental protection. |
| B．To stress the importance of donating pedal power. |
| C．To explain the bad effects of climate change. |
| D．To mark the contributions of electronic artists. |
| A．The solar-and-bicycle-powered parties have been popular all over the world. |
| B．The vinyl record is released to mark the 23rd anniversary of the parties. |
| C．The music can last 1-3 hours longer with partial sun/clouds with the help of bicycles. |
| D．The batteries are simply charged by solar energy during the night. |
| A．Pay attention to. | B．Show respect to. |
| C．Attach importance to. | D．Make contributions to. |
| A．Solar-powered parties are on the rise in Europe. |
| B．SolarSoundSystem celebrates its 24th birthday. |
| C．An eco-friendly company released a vinyl record. |
| D．Humans should be concerned about climate change |
10 . Some people do live longer than others, and we are all curious to know why that is. In fact, scientists think that genes make up about 20-30 percent of our life expectancy (预期寿命). The remaining 70-80 percent is determined by other factors such as lifestyle and environment.
Bestselling author, Dan Buettner, set out to learn more about why some people lived longer than others. In 2005 he wrote an article about it called The Secrets of Living Longer. He had found, five places where people lived a longer life. He called them Blue Zones, because when he and his team found such places, they drew a blue line around them on the map. The locations were found in Italy, Japan, California, Costa Rica and Greece.
Each of the Blue Zones has common characteristics. Most of the people there eat a plant-based diet. They seldom eat meat more than five times a month. It is also a common factor that the Italians and Greeks often drink a glass of red wine with their meals, but no more than one.
They also found that most residents (居民) of the Blue Zones get seven hours’ sleep every day. Having a nap (打盹) in the afternoon is also popular. But before you head off to your bedroom for a post-lunch nap, researchers have found that napping for more than 30 minutes is not good for you.
As you would expect, exercise is important as well. For Blue Zone residents though, this does not mean heading off to the gym. Most of them are involved in some way with labor work. They are often farmers working in the fields.
One final area of interest about the people who live in the Blue Zones: many of them live in close-knit families, the older generations living with their younger children. Perhaps as they spend time together, the older Blue Zoners pass on tips for a long life to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
1. What did Dan Buettner hope to find out in 2005?| A．The reasons for a long life. | B．The trend in people’s lifestyles. |
| C．The situation of the global environment. | D．The development of human healthcare. |
| A．Eating habits. | B．Labor work. |
| C．Sleeping patterns. | D．Regular exercise |
| A．They eat meat quite often. | B．They often do labor work. |
| C．They have a one-hour nap every day. | D．They drink white wine with their meal. |
| A．Families with many children. | B．Families with few elderly members. |
| C．Families that share the same diets. | D．Families that have strong relationships. |
