1 . Language is in a constant state of change. British English shows this clearly. Take the word “Cheerio!” for example. It has been a British way to say goodbye for more than a century, but it’s dying out as the English language evolves. These days, many young people simply say “laters”. Or take the word “marvelous”. At one time it was a common British word meaning “wonderful”, but over the last ten years it’s been overtaken by the American word “awesome”.
So how and why do words come into and fall out of fashion? The influence of US culture is only one explanation for why popular words in British English may change or even stop being used over time. “Awesome” is a good example, but also “fortnight”, a term not used in the US, is now falling out of fashion in British English, and in some cases has been replaced by “two weeks”.
New inventions also bring in new words. As old inventions are replaced by new ones, the words which described them also disappear and are replaced. So it’s out with the “Walkman” (a cassette player from the 80s) and in with MP4 players!
Then there’s the influence of social media. Text messages and emails have reduced words for convenience, with something like ICYMI (“in case you missed it”) becoming words in their own right. Where “friend” was once a noun, we now “friend someone on Facebook” and where we used to “love” something, now we’re “loving it”!
1. In what situation do the British use “Cheerio!”?| A．When they give thanks. | B．When they ask for help. |
| C．When they say goodbye. | D．When they meet new friends. |
| A．Returns. | B．Develops. | C．Follows. | D．Falls. |
| A．To show its importance. | B．To talk about its history. |
| C．To describe how it came into being. | D．To explain how some words are replaced. |
| A．It is changing the way that words are used. | B．It is making language difficult to learn. |
| C．It is bringing in many long words. | D．It is making meanings clearer. |
2 . The village super league, or “Cun Chao” in Chinese, is a soccer game among different villages in Rongjiang county, Guizhou Province, and it is so down-to-earth but popular that it has attracted not only the attention of football legend Michael Owen but also millions of Chinese netizens (网民), who are paying attention to this non-professional football league.
The players come from a variety of backgrounds. They are vendors, drivers, students, carpenters, tilers, former butchers, and brick factory workers. Their ages range from 15 to over 40 years old. At the game site, representatives wearing various traditional national costumes play national musical instruments and enter the field with the players, and perform songs and dances.
“This kind of football game is natural and with ‘pureness’ and it is driven by the love of the ordinary people not the economic benefits. The game is providing not only values of sports, but also a way of socializing with low costs,” an expert noted. This kind of atmosphere is very rarely seen and is treasured, especially for people in urban areas who are getting increasingly busy and under great work pressure, and when they look at the fun, relaxing and down-to-earth way of life in the countryside, they will naturally be interested, experts said. There is at least one good effect brought by the “Cun Chao” to Chinese soccer—to make more people see the pureness of joy and encourage them to play soccer.
Today, more and more grassroots sports events are held in the mountains and are using sports as a medium to showcase the unique charm of the local area, reflecting an energetic lifestyle filled with agricultural activities and rural fun.
1. Why does the author mention Michael Owen in Paragraph 1?| A．To show he is a household name in China. |
| B．To voice his view on modern soccer game. |
| C．To show the great popularity (流行) of “Cun Chao”. |
| D．To stress the importance of “Cun Chao”. |
| A．They are from all walks of life. |
| B．Seniors are welcome to join the team. |
| C．They are able to play national musical instruments. |
| D．They wear traditional costumes on the soccer field. |
| A．Slow-paced (慢节奏的). | B．Highly stressed. |
| C．High-cost. | D．Nonprofitable. |
| A．The village super league wins the hearts of Chinese. |
| B．The village super league: From nobody to somebody. |
| C．The village super league bridges the countryside and the city. |
| D．The village super league promises the future of Chinese soccer. |
3 . I played on the high school basketball team. I played the ball before the game started, and then sat on the bench (长凳) cheering for guys who were actually going to play in the game. When we won, I hugged (拥抱) my teammates.
I enjoyed that. But I didn’t know how my dad felt about my role. I imagined it was hard for him. Dad was a gifted athlete. And my older brothers were sports stars at college. I was not sure how he felt about going to games to watch his son SIT. Still, Dad was always there in his suit and tie. After the game, he’d come up to me, smile, shake my hand and say “Good game!”, even though I did nothing to make the game good. It changed until the last game of the season.
It was a great day for our team — we were up by about 20 with two minutes left. The coach suddenly looked towards me and said, “Walker! You’re in!” The next two minutes seemed not real to me. I remember running up and down the field a few times. When someone started counting down the last seconds, my teammate passed the ball to me. I heard guys on the bench shouting “Shoot (投篮)!” as I faced the basket and shot. We won. But then I didn’t know what to do. I was unprepared for a time when I had hit a last second shot. Naturally, I looked for Dad. He was there, smiling at me as he always did.
Whether good times or bad, Dad was always there to smile, to support and to love. Now I’m in my 50s with a teenage basketball player in my family. I keep trying to be there, no matter what, because I know what it can mean.
1. What was the author’s role?| A．He was a green hand. | B．He gave players suggestions. |
| C．He was a fan of the basketball team. | D．He replaced those who couldn’t play. |
| A．Lost. | B．Tired. | C．Calm. | D．Encouraged. |
| A．A Sports-Loving Family | B．A Successful Basketball Match |
| C．Dad Always Being There | D．Dad Helping Me Succeed |
4 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.
She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9yearold daughter Bailey.
He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.
Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”
After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.
1. Why did Burke thank J. K. Rowling according to the text?| A．She guided him how to write a good story. |
| B．She encouraged him when he was in trouble. |
| C．Her books helped him through times of confusion. |
| D．Her books helped him improve his bond with his daughter. |
| A．He has found it interesting to read the series. | B．He was too old to understand the series better. |
| C．He has chosen a better way of reading the series. | D．He hopes to play a role in the drama in the future. |
| A．Useless. | B．Normal. | C．Valuable. | D．Boring. |
| A．J. K. Rowling chooses to help improve kids’ health. |
| B．J. K. Rowling gives a magical gift to a single father. |
| C．J. K. Rowling has a deep influence on others’ growth. |
| D．Burke comes to know J. K. Rowling through her series. |
5 . An Urban Farmer’s Garden of Eden
Ivy Lawrence-Walls didn’t set out to choose farming. But it chose her. She grew up on a five-acre farm in Houston and credits many
She didn’t know then that many of those childhood lessons would be
The garden grows carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, peppers, and delivers for free to local residents. It also hosts various plant pop-up events at local schools to
“Starting the farm in the early stages of the pandemic was a leap of
Lawrence-Walls said her biggest challenge
| A．distinct | B．essential | C．internal | D．enormous |
| A．patience | B．obligation | C．devotion | D．passion |
| A．committed | B．exposed | C．employed | D．adapted |
| A．linked | B．persuaded | C．integrated | D．expanded |
| A．engaged in | B．comprised of | C．gifted in | D．combined with |
| A．tailor | B．motivate | C．pursue | D．encounter |
| A．intention | B．hesitation | C．resistance | D．security |
| A．operation | B．routine | C．exercise | D．supply |
| A．Therefore | B．Afterwards | C．Nevertheless | D．Otherwise |
| A．occupied | B．involved | C．permitted | D．stuck |
| A．tackle | B．detect | C．clarify | D．distinguish |
| A．ceasing | B．expanding | C．fleeing | D．switching |
| A．distracting | B．evaluating | C．breaking | D．citing |
| A．assumption | B．conclusion | C．forecast | D．assessment |
| A．amusing | B．secure | C．rewarding | D．intense |
6 . Do you think you are too old to do something? Just go online and
He
John loved swimming. He still tried to keep
John was born in Farnborough on 25 July, 1914. And his
“My parents
However, John didn’t start swimming
| A．change | B．watch | C．use | D．make |
| A．broke | B．held | C．quit | D．put |
| A．carefully | B．proudly | C．correctly | D．freely |
| A．interesting | B．brief | C．private | D．amazing |
| A．safe | B．close | C．fit | D．warm |
| A．simply | B．highly | C．openly | D．lightly |
| A．position | B．belief | C．start | D．success |
| A．humorously | B．angrily | C．finally | D．shortly |
| A．guessed | B．discovered | C．hoped | D．repeated |
| A．happy | B．curious | C．sad | D．mad |
| A．began | B．increased | C．disappeared | D．remained |
| A．taught | B．forced | C．advised | D．reminded |
| A．competitively | B．dramatically | C．comfortably | D．necessarily |
| A．work out | B．take up | C．depend on | D．go through |
| A．found | B．answered | C．supported | D．introduced |
7 . Germany’s top court (法院) has ruled that parts of the country’s 2019 climate action law must be changed because they don’t do a good job of protecting young people. Nine young people aged 15 to 24 took the government to court over the law. They said that the government’s failure to plan carefully was putting their future lives in danger.
The judges (法官) of Germany’s highest court said climate change will influence young people far more than adults. That’s because climate change will become more serious over time. As young people become adults, they’ll be left to deal with any problems that today’s adults don’t deal with.
In 2019, Germany passed a new law, promising that the country would be producing no more CO2 than the forest can take in by 2050. The law made a plan of action until 2030. But the law didn’t have any plans for climate actions that would be taken between 2031 and 2050.
The court has asked the German government to fix the law by the end of 2022. The climate law will now need to have a plan for the actions that will be taken after 2030.
The German government has said that it will quickly begin working to make the needed changes. One important part of high court decisions like this is that they act as guides or examples for future decisions. This means that in the future, Germany’s lawmakers will be more likely to think about the climate future of young people as they create their laws.
1. Why did the judges make such a decision?| A．They decided the new law made no sense. |
| B．They wanted to give the young more rights. |
| C．They focused more on the future of the young. |
| D．They thought it’s hard to solve climate change. |
| A．It failed to take action before 2030. |
| B．It was producing more and more CO2. |
| C．It refused to consider the young’s rights. |
| D．It didn’t plan the climate actions after 2030. |
| A．It will make more decisions on climate change. |
| B．It will ask the young to help make climate laws. |
| C．It will consider the young when making climate laws. |
| D．It will encourage the young to protect the environment. |
| A．They were brave and forward-looking enough. |
| B．They couldn’t bear the present climate change. |
| C．They wanted to take part in law-making. |
| D．They planned to work in the government. |
8 . In July 2021, kids from around the world watched the first appearance of skateboarding at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The four medal events for men and women in park and street boarding showed the gifts of 80 athletes from all over the world.
Bryce Wettstein is one of the top competitors from the United States in park skateboarding, which requires athletes to show skills that combine (使结合) art and athleticism in a bowl that looks like an empty swimming pool. At 17, Bryce shows her skills in a way that celebrates the skateboarding community.
Skateboarding began in the late 1940s and early 1950s in small Southern California beach towns. Born into this community, Bryce has won a place at the center of the sport. “Skateboarding just seems like it can be everything and anything all washed together in some washing machine of color,” she said.
Bryce shares her California hometown with international skateboard pioneer Tony Hawk. He was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as an ambassador (大使) in its “Stronger Together” competitive sport, which celebrates this year’s athletes. In an IOC video, Hawk summarized the unlikely rise of skateboarding. “We used to see ourselves as a family of misfits (不合群),” he said. “But now the world calls us Olympians.”
Skateboarders celebrate each other’s natural abilities and achievements, while working to help the sport develop. This is shown in the friendship between Bryce and top Australian competitor Poppy Starr Olsen. Both athletes have dreamed of acting for their own countries at the Olympic Games since they skateboarded together as kids.
“I think skateboarding is going to be really different from all the other sports,” Poppy said. “We’re all kind of like a family.” Bryce agreed. “That’s what makes skateboarding such a great sport,” she said.
1. Which of the following best describes Bryce Wettstein?| A．A skateboarder who likes everything colourful. |
| B．An excellent skateboarder easy to get on with. |
| C．An excellent skateboarder from the birthplace of skateboarding. |
| D．A skateboarder having a special understanding of skateboarding. |
| A．He does much to celebrate the athletes. | B．He made skateboarding rise in the world. |
| C．He is a skateboard pioneer all over the world. | D．He made an important speech in an IOC video. |
| A．It gets family members together. | B．It is the dream of many children. |
| C．It is a means to celebrate success. | D．It can bring people close together. |
| A．Top athletes at the Olympics. | B．A new Olympic sports event. |
| C．Some skateboarders’ success. | D．Opinions on an Olympic sports event. |
9 . “If that little girl is causing that much trouble within your group of friends, I would simply stop her,” I said as Abby was about to set off to school. Abby listened carefully, as I continued. “If she causes any more
By this time, Allyson, my then eight-year-old daughter, had joined us, listening to every word too. Neither of my daughters cut in as I finished my
Hmmm, I had become a
“Yes, that’s a good point,” I said, forcing a
| A．uncertainty | B．trouble | C．danger | D．harm |
| A．warn | B．order | C．ask | D．encourage |
| A．speech | B．job | C．class | D．discussion |
| A．honest | B．right | C．brave | D．impressive |
| A．friend | B．sister | C．adviser | D．teacher |
| A．partner | B．designer | C．teenager | D．student |
| A．imagined | B．remembered | C．realized | D．heard |
| A．sit | B．hide | C．stop | D．talk |
| A．smile | B．sale | C．conversation | D．question |
| A．take in | B．depend on | C．learn about | D．deal with |
| A．school | B．home | C．work | D．practice |
| A．watching | B．following | C．calling | D．pushing |
| A．asleep | B．alone | C．afraid | D．awake |
| A．curious | B．confused | C．nervous | D．proud |
| A．sign | B．need | C．listen | D．help |
10 . Francis Kere is the first African to win the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture. However, his
His early reputation came in helping
The result of their hard work was a welcoming structure with a “floating” roof that
In this process, local people learned
Adopted by architects in dozens of countries, his
| A．angle | B．welfare | C．journey | D．border |
| A．perceived | B．crowded | C．estimated | D．reacted |
| A．trick | B．infection | C．qualification | D．experience |
| A．integrate | B．chart | C．oppose | D．design |
| A．banned | B．encouraged | C．ordered | D．warned |
| A．firm | B．soil | C．draft | D．gesture |
| A．Moreover | B．Otherwise | C．Therefore | D．However |
| A．blocks | B．delays | C．refuses | D．allows |
| A．wind | B．fire | C．light | D．air |
| A．subscribe to | B．deal with | C．participate in | D．depend on |
| A．academic | B．urgent | C．severe | D．practical |
| A．challenged | B．declared | C．attracted | D．agreed |
| A．denied | B．suspected | C．imagined | D．demonstrated |
| A．ignore | B．generate | C．miss | D．lose |
| A．innovation | B．fantasy | C．patience | D．expense |
