1 . Kleon Papadimitriou, a Greek student, had been stuck in Scotland, where he studies, with no way to return to Athens while flights were shut down. So he decided to take a bike.

He began researching what it would take to make the trip on two wheels. He once competed in a race in 2019 and was briefly trained for several weeks — but that was about all the biking experience he carried with him.

Initially, he thought the idea was more of a “dream”— an absolutely hard long journey. But soon he began purchasing the equipment he'd need. He purchased a bike, and told the news to his parents and friends.

Papadimiriou travelled anywhere between 35 and 75 miles per day, crossing initially through England and then onto the Netherlands. He biked along the Rhine in Germany for several days, passed through Austria and cycled down along the eastern coast of Italy before he took a boat to the Greek port of Patras.

Throughout his trip, he set up camp in fields and forests. He spent the last few moments of each day writing down his progress, tracking the next day's path and checking in with family and friends.

“It's just now dawning on me how big of an achievement this was.” Papadimitriou says of his 48-day journey. “And I did learn a lot of things about myself, about my limits, my strengths and my weaknesses. I really hope that the trip can inspire at least one more person to go out of their comfort zone and try something new, something big.”

1. What can we infer about Kleon Papadimitriou?

A．He was forced to leave for Scotland on bike.	B．He had a few biking experience before.
C．He was a famous cyclist in his hometown.	D．He cycled to the Greek port of Patras.

2. Why did Kleon Papadimitriou consider his idea as a dream at first?

A．Because it seemed challenging to complete the journey.

B．Because he had no riding experience at all before.

C．Because his parents and friends didn't support his plan.

D．Because purchasing the equipment would cost too much.

3. According to the text, how many countries has Kleon Papadimiriou been to during the trip?

A．2.

B．4.

C．6.

D．8.

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．Kleon Papadimitriou hardly communicated with his friends during the trip.

B．It took Kleon Papadimitriou 48 days to return to Greece.

C．Kleon Papadimitriou learned a lot of things about nature from the trip.

D．Many people have been inspired by Kleon Papadimiriou's story.

2 . A 63-year-old Chinese carpenter’s traditional skills have become an unexpected Internet hit as he creates woodwork with a single piece of wood, without glue, screws or nails. Wang De wen, known as “Grandpa Amu” on YouTube, has been praised as the modern day Lu Ban, a well-known Chinese structural engineer during the Zhou Dynasty, thanks to his rich carpentry(木工手艺) knowledge.

Grandpa Amu’s most popular video, which shows him making a delicate wooden arch bridge, has gone viral on YouTube, gaining more than 40 million views. “If you do something, you have to love it, and you have to be interested in it; however, being interested doesn’t mean there’s only happiness and no pain.” Grandpa Amu shared when talking about his excellent carpentry skills.

His most popular works include a folding stool, a model of the China pavilion from the 2010 Shanghai Expo, and an apple-shaped interlocking puzzle, known as a Lu Ban lock. Grandpa Amu follows an ancient Chinese mortise and tenon(榫卯) technique, which means no nails or glue are involved in the entire process of building the arch bridge.

The master carpenter has also made several wooden toys for his grandson using the same technique. His young grandson’s favorites include a walking Peppa Pig and a bubble blowing machine. Attracting over 1.17 million fans on YouTube, Grandpa Amu’s videos so far have gained more than 200 million views.

His wonderful woodworking skills, using the same mortise and tenon joints found in the Forbidden City, were developed from the age of thirteen as a way of supporting his family in East China’s Shandong Province. “The grandson is so happy, as there have been so many fine and unique toys made by grandpa from an early age,” commented one netizen; while another said “It’s amazing. I hope these traditional crafts can be passed on!”

1. Why is Grandpa Amu regarded as the modern day Lu Ban?

A．For his simple words.	B．For his popular videos.
C．For his carpentry skills.	D．For his excellent arch bridge.

2. What do Grandpa Amu’s remarks mean in Paragraph 2?

A．Theory is from pracitce.	B．Success depends on love.
C．Excellent skills lie in hard work.	D．Happiness comes from interest.

3. What is the unique feature of Grandpa Amu’s craft works?

A．No nails or glue.	B．Delicate design.
C．The apple shape.	D．The wooden material.

4. What message does this text mainly convey?

A．Being popular means more fans.	B．Perfect skills earn more money.
C．Supporting family needs more skills.	D．Traditional crafts deserve passing on.

3 . Reducing plastic waste isn't easy because the cheap material is found in almost every household item. Now, a delicious and nutritious solution has come up to help reduce our dependence on this environmental hazard.

David Christian, the co-founder of Evoware, says the idea of creating the biodegradable (生物降解的) products came from concern at the country’s high pollution rate. Indonesia is home to four of the world's worst polluted rivers. Since single-use packaging is a large contributor to the problem, Evoware decided to deal with that first.

After investigating various materials, the company settled on seaweed. Unlike corn, commonly used for biodegradable containers, seaweed does not require resources like water or large amounts of space. Since Indonesian farmers already harvest more seaweed than they can sell, it's easy for the company to find the material.

Though they will not reveal their production process, Evoware says the seaweed packaging contains no chemicals and is safe to consume. The company has also invented single-use cups, which can break down 30 days after they're thrown away.

While replacing plastic with the seaweed products may seem appealing to most of us, it is a hard-sell in Indonesia. According to Christian, ''The awareness to reduce single-use plastic is still very low. This makes our bioplastic unnecessary.” Also a factor is the cost, which is higher than using plastic. Hopefully, Evoware will succeed in convincing Indonesians and people worldwide that switching to their products will be helpful to protecting our beautiful planet.

1. What problem did Evoware decide to deal with first?

A．Ways to clean the four worst polluted rivers.

B．What nutritious materials for people to use.

C．How to deal with single-use packaging.

D．Means to contribute to the country's economy.

2. Why did Evoware choose seaweed?

A．It didn't require much space and was easy to get.

B．It could be found everywhere in his country.

C．It was most commonly used for packaging.

D．It grew thickly in most of the polluted rivers.

3. What can we infer from Christian's words?

A．Their seaweed products have won government support.

B．Sometimes it's hard to get people to reduce the use of plastics.

C．Their new products have received worldwide popularity.

D．The cost of making seaweed products will be lowered soon.

4. What does the underlined word ''hard-sell'' in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Something lasting long.	B．Something hard to accept.
C．Something easy to get.	D．Something commonly seen.

4 . Life satisfaction is the way persons evaluate their lives and how they feel about their directions and options for the future. It's a measure of well-being and may be evaluated in terms of mood, satisfaction with relations with others and with achieved goals and self-concepts to cope with daily life. It's having a favorable attitude towards one's life as a whole rather than just an evaluation of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economy, education, experiences, and residence, as well as many other topics.

Life satisfaction can reflect experiences that have influenced a person in, a positive way. These experiences have the ability to motivate people to pursue and reach their goals. As a matter of fact, in these experiences there are two kinds of emotions that may positively influence how people understand their life. Hope and optimism both consist of emotional processes that are usually directed towards the reaching of goals. People who have higher life satisfaction are always full of hope for a better future; additionally, optimism is linked to higher life satisfaction, while pessimism is related to symptoms in depression.

The psychologist, Yuval Palgi, studied the old-old-people who were primarily in their nineties. This subject group was found to have thought highly of their past and present, but they thought lower of their future. A large factor that was talked about in life satisfaction was intelligence. The experiments talk of how life satisfaction grows as people become older because they become wiser and more knowledgeable, so they begin to see that life will be better as they grow older and understand the important things in life more. But when they step into their nineties, future becomes a luxury to them.

According to Seligman, the happier people are, the less they are focused on the negative. Happier people also have a greater tendency to like other people, which promotes a happier environment, which then correlates to a higher level of the persons' satisfaction with their life.

1. What can we learn about life satisfaction from Paragraph 1?

A．It can be easily measured through income and education.

B．It includes a positive attitude towards people's entire life.

C．It merely determines people's attitude towards the future.

D．It has nothing to do with the evaluation of current feelings.

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?

A．The wealthier a person is, the happier he will feel.

B．Happy people are more likely to get along well with others.

C．Happy people won’t be influenced by the negative items in life.

D．Intelligence plays a leading role in determining people’s happiness.

3. What was the attitude of most old-old towards their future?

A．They were less hopeful about it.	B．They thought highly of it.
C．They felt satisfied with it.	D．They were scared of it.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．Old People Have Much More Life Satisfaction

B．Life Satisfaction—the Key to a Happier Life

C．Optimism Ensures Life Satisfaction

D．Emotions Affect Life Satisfaction

5 . Wildfires were rapidly spreading through northern and southern California as powerful winds swept through the state, burning homes and forcing more than 200,000 people to leave their homes. Thousands of structures were destroyed in the massive fires. Firefighters and volunteers worked around the clock, risking their lives to save others, although thick clouds of wildfire smoke hung in the air.

But it's not just humans in danger’s path. A video of a horse running away from the rescue team to find his family of horses from CBS Los Angeles went viral. The public was touched by the horse's heroic act and shared their thoughts on the Internet.

Volunteers were rescuing several horses from the wildfire when one of the horses jumped away from the group. They were trying to help the horse, but he refused. They probably had no idea what was wrong with the horse, who just started running away from them. The horse raced back into danger to lead his family to safety, despite rescuers' best efforts to stop him. He knew he couldn't leave them behind. As the tension increased, several human strangers jumped in to help the animals — they went back to the burning barn where some of the horses remained.

You can watch the horse run back into the smoke-filled area, reconnect with the horses inside the fence, and quickly accompany them out of the fenced-off area. Though it's not clear from the video, CBS Los Angeles reported that all but one of the horses involved were saved. Disastrous as the California wildfires have been, the video and countless other rescue stories — humans and animals alike — are shining light on all acts of goodness taking place.

1. What does the author intend to show by telling the wildfires in detail in Para. 1?

A．What caused the big wildfires.	B．How serious the wildfires were.
C．What rescuers did in the wildfires.	D．How rapidly the wildfires spread.

2. What does the underlined phrases ''went viral'' mean?

A．Turned bad.	B．Got attacked.
C．Became interesting.	D．Grew popular.

3. Which words can best describe the horse?

A．Loyal but stubborn.	B．Caring and courageous.
C．Responsible and clever.	D．Flexible but aggressive.

4. What message does the author want to convey?

A．Fighting disasters needs joint efforts.	B．Animals are always friends of man.
C．All good deeds deserve to be praised.	D．Animals show goodness to each other.

6 . Fashion is a horrible thing. One day you are cool wearing your flared-out jeans and the next one you’re an idiot. You have nothing else to do, but put your favourite jeans in the shelf of out-dated shame. However, now scientists from the University of New South Wales say that your old, worn-out clothes could be turned into building materials-solid panels (嵌板) for floors or walls.

Old, unwanted clothes are actually a huge burden on the environment. They usually end up in a landfill, where they rot away without any use for us, at the same time polluting the environment. Cheap throwaway clothes produce 10 million tonnes of landfill in the US alone each year. However, shredding (撕裂) them we could create new materials. Scientists firstly removed zippers, buttons and other hard pieces, then shredded this old mess of clothing and then added some chemicals to bond these fibers together. The last step was heating and pressing this material to form solid panels. They are strong, water-resistant and not easy to catch fire. Their quality can be further tuned by adding some other materials, such as sawdust, old foam, paper and so on. Different mixtures result in different textures (质地) and colors, some resembling wood, ceramic or stone.

These panels are strong enough to be used on the floor, but their decorative qualities allow them to be used on walls as well. However, scientists still have challenges to overcome before it becomes commercially available. The challenge is consistency—you want your walls to be consistent in colour, which is difficult to achieve when the material is so diverse.

Actually, shredded material could also be used as a heat insulator for walls of the buildings, and it could become filling material for toys or some furniture as well. However, turning old clothing into construction materials could become a business, which would drive this recycling process into a new level.

1. What do we know about old clothes from Paragraph 1?

A．They are cool to wear again.	B．They cost a lot to be recycled.
C．They will be fashionable in time.	D．They can be construction materials.

2. Why should some chemicals be added in making panels?

A．To strengthen the fibers.	B．To make panels water-resistant.
C．To combine the shredded fabrics.	D．To form different texture and colors.

3. What’s the problem of solid panels made from clothes?

A．They can hardly be decorated on walls.

B．It is hard to produce them in the same color.

C．It is difficult for them to achieve different colors.

D．They are not easy to be promoted commercially.

4. What may drive people to improve the recycling of old clothing?

A．Its out-dated recycling process.	B．Its potential commercial value.
C．The curiosity to find more usage.	D．The urge to protect the environment.

7 . Some of the best cycling routes in the world pass through its most beautiful scenery. Here are some of world’s best bike routes for cyclists who either are up for breaking a good sweat or simply seeing the world without leaving an ugly carbon footprint behind.

The Great Windy Road, Victoria, Australia

If you like a challenge, take on this 243-kilometer windy road along Australia’s south-eastern coast. If a day is all you’ve got, take the 60-kilometer route from Torquay to Bells Beach. There you’ll cycle through rural farmland, enjoy the sweeping ocean views from cliff tops, and snake past the wetlands around Lake Connewarre.

Udaipur City Tour, Rajasthan, India

Biking is arguably the best way to explore Udaipur, Venice of the East.

Cyclists often need to cycle past herdsmen and their goats and camels, sharing narrow, old pavements in this romantic place. But surrounded by ancient castles, temples and grand palaces, Udaipur brings about one of the best biking experiences, allowing cyclists to truly discover rural India.

The Karakoram Highway, China-Pakistan

The Karakoram Highway is the highest international road in the world, reaching an altitude of 4,700 meters at the Khunjerab Pass. Starting in Kashgar, China, cyclists can travel up to 1,200 kilometers on mostly unpaved roads, but the views are as breathtaking as the riding.

Route of the Hiawatha, Idaho-Montana, United States

Take your family out to Montana this summer and cycle along the most scenic disused railroad in the country. The railroad turned bike trail turns into 24 kilometers of leisure biking that takes you over seven trestles(高架桥) and through 10 tunnels, with the longest one, the Taft Tunnel, stretching for 2.7 kilometers.

1. In which tour can you enjoy the seaside scenery?

A．The Great Windy Road.	B．Udaipr City Tour.
C．The Karakoram Highway.	D．Route of the Hiawatha.

2. What can you do on the Udaipur city tour?

A．Go to Venice.	B．Feed wild animals.
C．Visit cultural relics.	D．Enjoy modern architectures.

3. What’s special about the Karakoram Highway?

A．It is a totally undeveloped route.	B．It goes along an abandoned railway.
C．It owns the longest tunnel in the world.	D．It lies higher than other international roads.

8 . Deciding to get her money's worth out of the wedding dress on which she spent over $1,000, an Australian woman has been wearing her wedding dress, a year after her wedding.

43-year-old Tammy Hall adopted a new lifestyle-anti-consumerism (反消费主义) lifestyle in 2016, after a trip to India opened her eyes to how much we as a society consumed. She decided not to buy any new clothes or footwear for a whole year after she returned home to Adelaide, in Southern Australia, and she managed to make it.

But last year, as her wedding day approached, she faced a dilemma. She wanted to look good on the most important day of her life, but how could she spend a small fortune on the wedding dress she would only wear on that day?

"In the end I decided that if I was going to get a wedding dress, I'd make sure I could get my money's worth," Hall tells PA Real Life.

"The first time I wore it after the wedding was to vote in the Australian election in early 2019," the 43-year-old adds. "Since then, it's been to all sorts of places. Wearing it on a crowded train was especially funny, but I've worn it to do housework, to football games and to the gym."

Hall says that she has gotten some strange looks from people, but no irritating comments. It may have something to do with the fact that the dress is not the fanciest, but she believes people are just too reserved to say anything. Anyway, she doesn't really care, because she knows she has to hit the goal she has set and wearing the dress multiple times is the most reasonable way she could think of to make the most of her wedding dress.

Hall now plans to wear her wedding dress on a trip to Iceland that she and her partner will take next summer.

1. Why did Tammy Hall adopt a new lifestyle?

A．To adapt herself to Indian life.	B．To cut down her consumption.
C．To save money for her next trip.	D．To get prepared for her wedding.

2. What did Tammy Hall do to get her money's worth out of her wedding dress?

A．She brought fun to people with it.	B．She tried to wear it to earn money.
C．She wore it repeatedly in daily life.	D．She got it exchanged again and again.

3. Which of the following best explains the word "irritating" underlined in paragraph 6?

A．Thrilling.	B．Annoying.
C．Amusing.	D．Confusing.

4. What can we infer about Tammy Hall?

A．She is determined to turn her ideas into practice.

B．She values her wedding dress less than her trips.

C．She has been struggling to make the ends meet.

D．She has influenced people's lifestyle widely.

9 . One of my most beloved possessions is my black, spiral-bound journal. It is a thin, wide-ruled, simple journal with no lock or key that I found at the dollar store. The journal has no monetary (货币的) value but instead holds its value of capturing my daily moments of gratitude.

The concept of a gratitude journal originated when my little brother began his gratitude journal. Although he is only twelve, he has truly grasped the concept of gratitude. I remember one of his journal entries saying, “I am thankful for my dog because I love walking her in the park”. A simple walk in the park makes my video game enthusiastic brother grateful and joyful.

Seeing how my brother could practice gratitude daily, I was inspired to start my own gratitude journal. Initially, writing in my gratitude journal was such a struggle. On the most typical, dry days when I sat at my desk for hours studying for the SAT, what was there to be grateful for? At one point, I found my gratitude journal to be a pointless concept and I lost belief in my gratitude journal. In the time when I chose not to journal, I realized how plain my life was. I missed savoring every moment and taking delight in the little aspects of my life that made me smile.

I decided to continue writing in my gratitude journal once again. Even though I was not learning in a classroom over the summer, I still learned in a different manner. The journal has acted as a reflective, personal space for me to recall the past. The simplest moments of my life that were once overlooked are now the highlights of my day.

1. Why did the author mention his brother’s journal?

A．To praise his brother’s vivid works.	B．To express his gratitude to his brother.
C．To amuse the readers with a funny story.	D．To explain his decision for writing a journal.

2. What trouble did the author have in writing journals at the beginning?

A．He didn’t know what to write.	B．He was struggling with words.
C．He was too busy to write journals.	D．He couldn’t find the meaning of life.

3. What does the underlined word “savoring” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Expecting.

B．Fighting.

C．Enjoying.

D．Ruining.

4. What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．Learn from journals, and learn from life.

B．Be grateful for every moment of life.

C．Wherever you are, do remember to keep a journal.

D．The least important can be the highlight sometimes.

10 . Babies have the charm to melt anybody’s heart instantly; no one escapes the twinkling eyes or the innocent smile. Just their presence will cheer you up, make you forget your worries and tempt you to indulge into their world.     1     Though I don’t have any answer to the question, I wonder as to what makes their aura so desirable. And I think there is something we can learn from the young ones.

Forgive and Forget

Babies can laugh and giggle all day because they don’t keep hatred against anyone.     2    

Do you think they’ve constructed an evil plan against you because you refused them candy last time? Probably not, life moved on and so did they. So why do we hold on to our past and refuse to let go of the emotional baggage? Does it do us any good except prevent us from laughing to the fullest?

    3    

Endless questions of young kids can sometimes be enough to drain the adult mind. They are always busy wondering how things work or why things are the way they are, leaving no room for boredom. Their curiosity gives them an exponential learning curve; they pick up new things quickly and do not refuse to change.

Unconditional Love

    4     They don’t judge you before they come running into your knees and they don’t walk away if you don’t give them the same in return. They have no expectations from you and simply do what their heart desires. If you want a hug, they’ll give you a hug; if you want two, they’ll give you two. So how does the adult world become so materialistic that we decide what we give based on what we think we might receive?

Living life to the fullest is not a difficult task; you just need to have the right attitude and an open mind.     5    

A．Keep smile every day

B．Never-ending Curiosity

C．What can we do to free from these worries?

D．Why do we adore the young ones so much?

E．So don’t envy the peaceful life of a baby, start living it yourself!

F．Kids have a hug and a kiss for anyone and everyone who wants one.

G．Their heart is pure and their mind empty to laugh out loud and enjoy the moment.