1 . Yosemite National Park
Yosemite is all about restoration this year. This month the park’ s main corridor is being repaired. The park’ s gallery reopened to the public in April after being remodeled to allow full accessibility for the disabled. Even John Muir, known as the father of the national parks, is being revived(使复活)by the actor Lee Stetson, who will answer audience questions about the park and its history at the Yosemite Theater.
Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest National Park is now mapping self-guided hikes to its more remote destinations, in part to remind visitors that the parks are theirs to wander. In August, a new field institute will begin offering classes led by geologists, photographers and other experts. And next year, you will see electric vehicle charging stations at the north and south entrances of the park.
Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park is to begin managing a new campground on Maine’ s Schoodic Peninsula this fall. The site will offer almost 100 recreational vehicles and tent sites, as well as new hiking and biking trails connected to Gouldsboro Village and existing park trails leading to the peninsula’ s tip.
Mesa Verde National Park
Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park will have an extended season this year(through mid-October), giving cyclists much time to enjoy new access to the park’ s six-mile Long House Loop, a paved path formerly used for tram service, and the backcountry routes on the park’ s most popular hike. Naturally, plans are in the works to open an on-site bike rental operation within the year.
1. What do we know about Yosemite National Park?| A．Its gallery is accessible to the disabled. |
| B．It will be closed for repairs all the year. |
| C．Lee Stetson is well-known as its founder. |
| D．It will offer almost 100 recreational vehicles and tent sites. |
| A．Mesa Verde National Park. | B．Acadia National Park. |
| C．Yosemite National Park. | D．Petrified Forest National Park. |
| A．To appeal to people to preserve the national parks. | B．To observe the wildlife at the national parks. |
| C．To introduce something new at the national parks. | D．To describe the natural scenery of the national parks. |
2 . “More and more consumers across the country are using cashless payment methods. The rapid development of third⁃party mobile payment tools is helping to encourage cashless payment across the country,” said Dong Ximiao, a researcher at Renmin University of China.
Although there were 3.4 billion third⁃party payment accounts in total in China in 2016, China is not the first country to seek a cashless society. Developed countries like Sweden, Denmark and Singapore are also seeing that increase.
However, the rapid development of the cashless payment does not mean there are no challenges or criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema store has come under the spotlight (成为焦点) recently. The media said that consumers couldn’t buy goods in cash there, which would be considered illegal.
Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third⁃party mobile payment tools, also launched campaigns this month to encourage more people to use cashless payment methods, which caused concern over whether cash will soon disappear.
“Some offline sellers refuse to accept cash, which influences the natural circulation (流通) of cash,” said Dong. He stressed that a cashless society would not mean that cash would completely disappear. “Also it’s important to remember that nearly half of China’s population live in the country, and they are unable to enjoy innovation (革新) brought by the Internet,” said Dong. “And when it comes to China’s senior citizens, most of them prefer to use cash in their daily lives,” he added.
“It’s ridiculous (荒谬的) to question digital payment tools’ contribution to financial development. In the long term, various payment methods will be used by consumers, and merchants should respect consumers’ payment habits,” Dong noted.
1. What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?| A．The economic activity. | B．A large amount of payment. |
| C．The development of the economy. | D．The cashless payment. |
| A．It fights against illegal activities. |
| B．Customers are not permitted to use cash there. |
| C．It provides comprehensive services. |
| D．It starts campaigns to encourage mobile payment. |
| A．The cashless payment should be limited in the countryside. |
| B．The innovation from payment is ridiculous in fact. |
| C．Various payment methods should be supported. |
| D．The digital payment should replace cash completely. |
| A．Innovation on the Internet | B．Cash or cashless? |
| C．Payment online should replace cash | D．Is the circulation of cash dying? |
3 . Tired of standing in line? Wait a bit longer, and you may never have to again.
Amazon has opened 24 of its Amazon Go stores, which use cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to see what you’ve taken off shelves and charge you as you walk out. Some companies are closely copying Amazon’s approach to using AI-powered cameras fixed in ceilings. But others are trying an entirely different way to skip the checkout: smart shopping carts. These companies have added cameras and sensors (传感器) to the carts, and are using AI to tell what you’ve put in them. Customers pay by entering a credit card, or through an online payment system. When a customer exits the store a green light on the shopping cart shows that their order is complete, and they’re charged.
The companies behind the smart carts, including Caper and Veeve, say it’s much easier to add technology to the shopping cart than to an entire store. Amazon’s Go stores rely on hundreds of cameras in the ceiling. The shelves also include sensors to tell when an item is removed. Ahmed Beshry, co-founder of Caper, believes the technology to run Go is too expensive to use in a large-format grocery store. Neither Caper nor Veeve has said how much their smart shopping carts will cost, making it difficult to compare the different formats. Shariq Siddiqui, CEO of Veeve, said, “We’re always happy when Amazon is doing something. They force retailers (零售店) to get out of their old school thinking.”
Each time a business uses AI and cameras, it raises questions about customers’ privacy and the effect on jobs. Beshry notes that the cameras in his shopping cart point down into the cart, so only a customer’s hand and part of their arm will be captured (拍摄) on camera.
1. What do we know about the smart shopping carts?| A．They are able to recognize goods put in them. |
| B．They are linked to the cameras fixed in the ceilings. |
| C．They flash the green light when the order is canceled. |
| D．They can tell customers where to find what they want. |
| A．It is likely to help retailers to think differently. |
| B．It has attracted many more retailers than before. |
| C．It is far more expensive than their shopping carts. |
| D．It may reduce the cost of running a store greatly. |
| A．That they can only buy goods online. |
| B．That goods in the stores may be more expensive. |
| C．That they have to wait in a line for a longer time. |
| D．That somebody may know their privacy. |
| A．The new technology improves retail sale. |
| B．AI-powered cameras are used in retail stores. |
| C．Artificial intelligence affects the future of job market. |
| D．Smart shopping carts will let you skip the line. |
4 . The hustle and bustle(喧嚣)of life, walking back and forth from the ideal to reality, and the inner confusion hidden behind a social mask-these daily experiences are recorded by Chinese youths in lines of poetry online. Recently, 124 Bilibili internet users shared their works in a poem collection.
One blogger on Xiaohongshu who goes by the nickname Gehuaren is one such poetry lover. The twenty-something girl not only writes poems as a form of entertainment in her spare time, but also improvises(即兴创作)poems for others at night markets in Yunnan. As a street-stall poet, Gehuaren often writes pieces of poetry quickly based on themes from customers. Once the poem has been completed, she refuses to change her work because she feels her poems reflect her first reaction. For her, everything in the world, no matter trivial or significant, can serve as her poetic inspiration. “A glass, a tree in the dawn or a person who once talked with me…these all could become themes for my poems,” said Gehuaren.
With free writing with a regular rhythm and broad themes, her poems strike a chord with many young people online, helping her gain over 190, 000 followers. Many have made comments “I feel healed by your poems because I can find beauty from unnoticeable things and in turn, slow down to reflect on my life.”
Apart from poetry, various means such as vlogging and photosharing can be used to record moments of daily life. But young people consider poetry to be the best way to express them. “Taking photos or vlogging can just show the object or emotions in real life. Yet poetry, which can be used to excite the imagination, shows the beauty of daily life, ”an 18-year-old said. So when he is inspired by the beauty of daily life, the boy writes it down into lines of poetry and then shares them with his friends on his WeChat Moments.
No matter why young people write their unique brand of poems, they are attempting to take every moment in lives seriously, face their lives bravely and actively express themselves.
1. How does Gehuaren find inspiration for her poems?| A．By referring to traditional Chinese poems. |
| B．By attending various online poetry lectures. |
| C．By exploring great moments in life. |
| D．By observing everyday life. |
| A．They are original and full of imagination. |
| B．They have a strong sense of rhythm. |
| C．They record the beauty of small and ordinary things. |
| D．They reflect the differences between the ideal and reality. |
| A．Positive. | B．Neutral. | C．Cautious. | D．Objective. |
| A．They hope to avoid challenges. |
| B．They intend to impress their peers. |
| C．They try to escape from the busy life. |
| D．They make their thoughts known bravely. |
5 . Dreams of world peace are as old as wars. But as the women of Wales were recovering from World War I, they demanded peace in droves.
Still sorrowing the husbands, sons, and loved ones who fought in the war, in 1923 the Welsh League of Nations United (WLNU) drafted a petition (请愿书) at Aberystwyth University calling for a warless world.
The petition was signed by roughly three quarters of all the women in Wales and was said to be seven miles long. The document was then packed in a large oak chest and sent across the Atlantic.
It was the WLNU’s hope that America would join in their mission for peace, and so they toured with the petition across the country before President Calvin Coolidge gave it to the Smithsonian for preservation.
As the centennial anniversary of World War I approached, a plaque was found in the archives at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff mentioning the petition, but nobody knew what it was, says Mererid Hopwood, chair of the Women’s Peace Petition Partnership.
So in 2017, an email was sent to the Smithsonian inquiring about the status and location of the chest and its petition.
Having arrived at the National Library of Wales on March 29 this year, Hopwood received it along with other members of the Peace Petition Partnership and described opening the chest and finally getting to see its contents (内容) as an emotional moment.
Hopwood is hoping more Welsh citizens will have similar experiences now that the petition has returned to its original home. The petition will be digitized, along with all signatures and addresses, so the public can view it online and see if their grandmothers or previous tenants of their homes signed 100 years ago.
Clearly the world has not yet achieved the petition’s great goals, but Hopwood said the signatures gave her hope.
1. What was the petition meant for?| A．A thirst for peace. | B．An end to WWI. |
| C．A fight for Wales. | D．A call for apology. |
| A．Most Welsh signed on the petition. | B．Welsh asked for Americans’ help. |
| C．Welsh women wished for peace. | D．Welsh women honored the war. |
| A．She could lead the petition. | B．It would cause a big storm. |
| C．Welsh could be free of wars. | D．Her hope for peace is on fire. |
6 . Ten years after dropping out, Brian a Ma this, a 30- year-old mother of two, went back to Wallace Community College.
She was recruited(录取) back to the
Two-year community colleges, which
The
Cortez Rawlins, a college freshman, said he was
The goal is for advisers to stick with students until they get a job after
| A．family | B．company | C．stage | D．school |
| A．hardly | B．definitely | C．secretly | D．kindly |
| A．score | B．payment | C．dream | D．position |
| A．serve | B．praise | C．refuse | D．protect |
| A．replace able | B．common | C．relaxing | D．deciding |
| A．community | B．market | C．program | D．tradition |
| A．officials | B．advisers | C．winners | D．supporters |
| A．fail | B．beat | C．join | D．lose |
| A．solve | B．choose | C．pass | D．cause |
| A．advancing | B．struggling | C．regretting | D．smiling |
| A．give up | B．take back | C．work out | D．fight for |
| A．graduation | B．examination | C．dinner | D．speech |
| A．change | B．achieve | C．escape | D．respect |
| A．small | B．creative | C．difficult | D．joyous |
| A．amazing | B．public | C．scary | D．personal |
7 . World Cup soccer fans in Qatar cannot spend all of their time watching matches. So some of them
Ali Jaber AI Ali has been in Qatar for 15 years. He grew up loving camels and can
Before roads were built, camels were important to
| A．bring out | B．head for | C．turn up | D．come across |
| A．photographs | B．dishes | C．games | D．athletes |
| A．normal | B．great | C．tough | D．extra |
| A．Therefore | B．Besides | C．However | D．Instead |
| A．beautify | B．qualify | C．carry | D．identify |
| A．offer | B．increase | C．book | D．follow |
| A．frightening | B．flooding | C．flashing | D．failing |
| A．pressure | B．return | C．harvest | D．contribution |
| A．culture | B．translation | C．sculpture | D．transportation |
| A．extraordinarily | B．mainly | C．extremely | D．gently |
| A．guess | B．imagine | C．tell | D．say |
| A．recent | B．modem | C．rough | D．usual |
| A．rest | B．digest | C．part | D．tap |
| A．at the time | B．in a way | C．for a while | D．in a row |
| A．protecting | B．protesting | C．preparing | D．proposing |
8 . An embroidered (刺绣的) butterfly made by Liang Zhongmei is so lifelike that it could easily be mistaken for the real thing. It looks as if it could flap its colorful wings and fly free from its white cloth background.
This 55-year-old embroiderer from Guizhou Province was born in a closed and underdeveloped village deep in the mountains, where most residents live by farming or as migrant workers. Losing her left arm at a very young age meant she could not feed herself, but she refused to become downhearted, and learned embroidery from her mother diligently and determinedly.
After producing several works featuring butterflies and goldfish, she won many national professional skills awards in 2011 among people with disabilities. In 2012, she opened her workshop, with embroiderers putting their designs on the shelves to sell to locals, but business was poor.
However, Liang’s career prospered after an online commercial order. Now, clothes, ties, paintings and handicrafts produced by the workshop are sold to consumers worldwide via e-commerce platforms, with profit reaching from 300,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan annually.
As the number of orders rose, Liang employed more workers, offering jobs to more than 100 female embroiderers in the neighborhood. She has also organized training courses for jobless women. “Thanks to the online buyers, our products sell well, which has changed our lives and brought us income and dignity,” Liang said.
Wang Danqing, an online seller, has worked with Liang’s team since 2015. She said, “Many young consumers prefer products with cultural elements and personal appeal. Only by combining embroidered designs with modern life can cultural heritage be seen, loved, protected and passed down.”
1. What do we know about Liang Zhongmei?| A．She made a fortune when her business began. |
| B．She became world-famous after winning awards. |
| C．She was strong-willed while learning embroidery. |
| D．She was brought up in a well-off environment. |
| A．took off. | B．went wrong. |
| C．held steady. | D．broke down. |
| A．New designs need to be integrated into the products. |
| B．Expanding the range of product sales online is crucial. |
| C．It is Liang’s duty to pass on the embroidered technique. |
| D．Products with personal elements are favored by the youth. |
| A．Online shopping gains popularity in China. |
| B．Young people take a great interest in embroidery. |
| C．Liang became an expert in embroidery despite her disability. |
| D．Disabled Liang achieved success by trading embroidery online. |
9 . The Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon, an endurance race of 875 km, was considered the toughest in the world. It used to be a five-day race, with only the world-class athletes daring to attempt it. Most athletes who took part in this ultramarathon were under 30 years of age.
Cliff was a farmer from Australia with a dream of running a race. When he attended the race, he was 61 years old. He had no specialized sportswear. Instead, he wore galoshes overalls. When he appeared at the venue, the onlookers thought he was probably a spectator. To their surprise, Cliff picked up a race number.
Having grown up on a farm, Cliff had to go out to round up the sheep every time there was a storm, because his family could not afford horses or tractors. Two thousand sheep scattered across two thousand acres of land—it took him as long as three days of chasing the animals, but he always succeeded.
The race began, and the strong and young racers started leaving Cliff behind. The racers had a strategy. They would be running hours each for the five days of the race, and sleep for the remaining 6 hours. Nonetheless, Cliff had no such strategy! Being an amateur athlete, he was not familiar with any such game plan. So, he just ran on and on, and the next morning, when the other athletes woke up, they found that the old man had caught up with the others by jogging all night. By the final night of the race, he had surpassed the other competitors and became the champion.
The next time Cliff’ caught attention again when he was 76. He took up the challenge of running along Australia’s border, across a distance of 16,000 km with the aim of raising money for homeless children. Unfortunately, his crew member fell ill, and Cliff had to withdraw from the race, after running for 6520 km.
Cliff, a simple farmer, created a one-of-a-kind history. Instead of withering away, he started his new life, and showed the world that it’s never too late to start following the heart and pursuing dreams.
1. What’s the function of ‘under 30 years of age’?| A．To classify the group of the race. |
| B．To introduce the level of the race. |
| C．To emphasize the toughness of the race. |
| D．To demonstrate the popular age of the race. |
| A．He had life experience. |
| B．He used an advanced sportswear. |
| C．He trained hard at times. |
| D．He adopted a well-designed strategy. |
| A．Intelligent and generous. | B．Ambitious and optimistic. |
| C．Persevering and sympathetic. | D．Determined and insightful. |
| A．Cliff, the winner of many running races. |
| B．Cliff, a simple Melbourne ultramarathon runner. |
| C．Cliff, a kind charitarian keen on raising money. |
| D．Cliff, a senior farmer running after his dream. |
10 . Dreams of world peace are as old as wars. But as the women of Wales were recovering from World War I, they demanded peace in droves.
Still sorrowing the husbands, sons, and loved ones who fought in the war, in 1923 the Welsh League of Nations United (WLNU) drafted a petition (请愿书) at Aberystwyth University calling for a warless world.
The petition was signed by roughly three quarters of all the women in Wales and was said to be seven miles long. The document was then packed in a large oak chest and sent across the Atlantic.
It was the WLNU’s hope that America would join in their mission for peace, and so they toured with the petition across the country before President Calvin Coolidge gave it to the Smithsonian for preservation.
As the centennial anniversary of World War I approached, a plaque was found in the archives at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff mentioning the petition, but nobody knew what it was, says Mererid Hopwood, chair of the Women’s Peace Petition Partnership.
So in 2017, an email was sent to the Smithsonian inquiring about the status and location of the chest and its petition.
Having arrived at the National Library of Wales on March 29 this year, Hopwood received it along with other members of the Peace Petition Partnership and described opening the chest and finally getting to see its contents (内容) as an emotional moment.
Hopwood is hoping more Welsh citizens will have similar experiences now that the petition has returned to its original home. The petition will be digitized, along with all signatures and addresses, so the public can view it online and see if their grandmothers or previous tenants of their homes signed 100 years ago.
Clearly the world has not yet achieved the petition’s great goals, but Hopwood said the signatures gave her hope.
1. What was the petition meant for?| A．A thirst for peace. | B．An end to WWI. |
| C．A fight for Wales. | D．A call for apology. |
| A．Most Welsh signed on the petition. | B．Welsh asked for Americans’ help. |
| C．Welsh women wished for peace. | D．Welsh women honored the war. |
| A．She could lead the petition. | B．Her hope for peace is on fire. |
| C．Welsh could be free of wars. | D．It would cause a big storm. |
| A．To memorise World War I. | B．To remind to value peace. |
| C．To prove Welsh bravery. | D．To inform reappearance of a petition. |
