2 . First, I must get settled into school. My classes begin today at the PRIVET! Russian Academy of Language Studies, where I will be attending class five days a week, four hours a day. I know I am such a shameless student. I laid my clothes out last night, just like I did before my first day of first grade, with my patent leather shoes and my new lunch box.

The last thing I want is to end up in a Level One class, which would be so humiliating for me. Given that I already took a whole entire semester of Russian at my Night School for Divorced Ladies in New York, and that I spent the summer memorizing flash cards. The thing is, I don’t even know how many levels this school has, but the me re mention of “level” sparks a resolve within me to aim for Level Two—at least.

It’s such a hard test! I can’t get through even a tenth of it!

In the end, it’s OK, though.

So it’s hammering down rain today, but I show up early, wander about the school and smugly walk past all those Level One students (who must be cookies, really) and enter my first class. Here I am with my peers. But it becomes swiftly evident that these are not my peers and that I have no business being here. I feel like I’m swimming, but barely. Like I’m taking in water with every breath. The teacher, a skinny guy (Why are the teachers so skinny here? I don’t trust skinny Russians.), is going way too fast, is skipping over whole chapters of the textbook, saying, “You already know this, you already know that…” and keeping up a rapid-fire conversation with my apparently fluent classmates. My stomach is gripped in horror and I’m gasping for air and praying he won’t call on me. Just as soon as the break comes, I run out of that classroom on wobbling legs and I scurry all the way over to the administrative office almost in tears, where I beg in very clear English if they could please move me down to a Level One class. And so they do. And now I am here.

1. What do we know about the writer from the first two paragraphs?

A．She is a newly-admitted student majoring in language teaching.

B．She has no knowledge of this foreign language and is put to shame.

C．She is full of anticipation and readiness for new educational pursuit.

D．She attends the same school to build upon prior academic achievements.

2. What does the underlined word smugly in paragraph 5 mean?

A．arrogantly

B．furiously

C．secretly

D．nobly

3. Why does the writer withdraw from Level Two class in the end?

A．The teacher singles her out for her inability to converse smoothly in foreign language.

B．The age and culture divide leads to an overwhelming sense of alienation with classmates.

C．The unexpected discomfort in her stomach prompts a pause in regular learning activities.

D．The unthinkable difficulty in catching up with the teaching rhythm destroys confidence.

4. What might be the best title of the passage?

A．Well Begun, Half Done.	B．An Idle Youth, A Needy Age.
C．More Haste, Less Speed.	D．No Pain, No Gain.

3 . A cancer diagnosis will force King Charles III out of the public eye for the foreseeable future. For a highly _________ royal family that has cultivated its public image through countless appearances a year — ribbon-cuttings, ship launchings, gala benefits and so on — the marginalization of Charles may finally force the royals to rethink how they _________ themselves in a social-media age.

The king’s illness is the latest _________ to the British royal family, which has seen its ranks thinning by death, scandal (Prince Andrew) and self-exile (流放) (Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan). Regardless of what is predicted, it appears that the king’s cancer presses the royal family into _________ territory.

The answer to it, royal watchers argue, may be _________. During the coronavirus pandemic, Elizabeth conducted meeting s via Zoo m calls,becoming _________ enough with it that she made jokes with the digitally distorted faces on her computer screen.

Social media can also be employed to enhance the _________ exposure of family members. The royal family’s Instagram account _________ more than 13 million followers. But for young people, who spend whole day following their favorite celebrities online, a royal turning up to dedicate a new primary school may not _________ as much as it did to their previous generations.

Prince Harry, the king’s younger son, fell out bitterly with his family after his __________ from royal duties and relocation to California in 2020. Undoubtedly, the greatest burden falls on the mere remaining 41-year-old heir (继承人), William, who has been recognized as a qualified successor for __________ a role on issues from climate change to homelessness. Meanwhile, he has jealously guarded his family’s __________, demanding his office release no photographs of three young children visiting their mother in the hospital. That approach stood __________ his father, who approve the disclosure of an unusual amount of detail about his recent cancer diagnosis. The scrutiny (审查) of William will __________ increase, experts said, as he occupies a more central place in the Windsor family hierarchy.

Queen Elizabeth viewed assuming kingly duties as so __________ that she steeled herself, two days before her death at 96, to meet with the outgoing prime minister in Scotland, masking her own condition. Charles, though, has departed from long family practice “in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”

1.

A．apparent

B．controversial

C．visible

D．generous

2.

A．project

B．market

C．illustrate

D．propose

3.

A．witness

B．blow

C．solution

D．disloyalty

4.

A．uncharted

B．unnoticed

C．indefensible

D．inexcusable

5.

A．human-initiated

B．strategy-focused

C．technology-driven

D．goal-oriented

6.

A．frustrated

B．preoccupied

C．content

D．comfortable

7.

A．in-depth

B．in-person

C．in-between

D．in-built

8.

A．claims

B．calculates

C．confirms

D．clarifies

9.

A．matter

B．contribute

C．relate

D．bring

10.

A．dismissal

B．survival

C．withdrawal

D．renewal

11.

A．carving out

B．applying for

C．identifying with

D．reflecting on

12.

A．connection

B．priority

C．presence

D．privacy

13.

A．in parallel to

B．as opposed to

C．on behalf of

D．in honor of

14.

A．scarcely

B．effortlessly

C．approximately

D．inevitably

15.

A．grave

B．distinct

C．exceptional

D．progressive

4 . The United Nations food agency is unable to feed most civilians in Rafah, its local director warned Friday, with most border crossings closed amid what he described as “apocalyptic (大灾难的) conditions” and the Israeli military pushing further into Gaza’s (加沙) southernmost city.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is currently serving only 27,000 people in Rafah, according to Matthew Hollingworth, the organization’s country director in Gaza. That’s a tiny proportion of the roughly one million Gazans who have been displaced from the area.

“The sounds, the smells, the everyday life are horrific and apocalyptic.” Hollingworth told journalists Friday after returning from a trip to Gaza. “People sleep to the sounds of bombing, they sleep to the sounds of drones, they sleep to the sounds of war, as now tanks roll into parts of central Rafah, which is only kilometers away.”

Rafah had previously been the central artery (干线) for aid to flow into Gaza, as the only border crossing not controlled by Israel. But since Israel seized control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing on May 7, aid has been blocked, with supplies piling up in Egypt and the critical path falling close to famine. “From the 7th of May to the 20th, not a single WFP truck crossed from the southern corridors of Egypt into Rafah,” he said.

Israel’s military has continued to push further into Rafah, defying international concern and anger over its operations in the city. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday that its troops were in central Rafah – confirming what eyewitnesses told earlier this week, when tanks were spotted there for the first time since it entered the city in May.

The IDF’s operations in Rafah have prompted a 67% drop in the amount of humanitarian aid getting through, according to the UN.

Gaza is now receiving a daily average of 58 aid trucks – down from the daily average of 176 trucks between April and May, which itself is far from the 500 trucks that used to enter Gaza each day before the war broke out in October.

Hollingworth added that the WFP’s warehouse in Rafah, which was once capable of storing 2,700 tons of food, is no longer operational.

“We do not have the supplies available to provide significant numbers of ready-to-eat ration boxes. We don’t have significant supplies of wheat flour to hand out to those families that have a stove to cook on,” Hollingworth said – but added they are providing around 400,000 hot meals to families in central Rafah.

1. What are the primary challenges faced by the World Food Programme (WFP) in providing aid to Rafah?

A．The tiny proportion of the roughly one million displaced Gazans.

B．Inaccessibility due to closed border crossings and military operations.

C．Insufficient food supplies and international attention.

D．Intense local conflict and transportation difficulties.

2. Which word is close to the underlined word “famine”?

A．Poverty.	B．Starvation.
C．Conflict.	D．Death.

3. What specific impact has the closure of the Rafah border crossing had on humanitarian aid delivery?

A．International concern and anger arise over Israel’s operations in the city.

B．It has solved the 67% drop in the amount of humanitarian aid getting through.

C．Aid supplies are accumulating in Egypt and cannot reach Gaza.

D．WFP is providing around 400,000 hot meals to families in central Rafah now.

4. What attitude and mood does Matthew Hollingworth possess?

A．Supportive and peaceful.	B．Objective and indifferent.
C．Critical and sorrowful.	D．Concerned and urgent

5 . Now aged 42, Chris is from Werder in northeast Germany, a town deeply rooted in tradition.

He wanted to be a designer from an early age. In 2009, while studying at the famous Domus Academy in Milan, he befriended his classmate Zhang Lei. “So when I met Zhang Lei in Milan, we became friends very fast. He taught me a lot about his vision in design and also about his cultural background. This was a very interesting experience for me.”

Zhang Lei, a native of China's city of Tianjin, furthered his studies in Milan after graduating from Zhejiang University. United by their shared passion for art and design, Chris and Zhang formed a lasting friendship.

“Zhang Lei influenced me quite a lot because he taught me about his culture. Before, I was never in touch with Asian culture, so he kind of taught me a lot about Asian and especially Chinese culture. So for me, when I saw the umbrella, it was clearly a traditional Chinese artwork.” Chris experimented with the idea of reshaping structure and form to create a chair by drawing from the technique used to craft umbrella frames, perfected by the paper mache (混凝纸浆) technique. 2012 saw the first public appearance of “Piao”, a paper chair, at the well-known Milan Design Week. It combined extraordinary stability with fine design, securing the top prize at the Salone Satellite of Milan Furniture Fair. “Piao pretty much means floating and lightness, so we used the material paper for our chair, which is a very light and weightless material. Also, the edge of our product keeps it very open and light. So Piao reflects this idea very well.”

Piao received global attention because of its material innovation. Its paper is comprised of tough fibers. Using this paper, which was originally used for Yuhang oilpaper umbrella canopies (伞面), to create a strong chair was a bold experiment.

1. What led to their long-lasting friendship?

A．Their similar personality.	B．Their different cultural backgrounds.
C．Their love for art and design.	D．Their common interesting experiences.

2. How did Chris create “Piao”?

A．He combined the technique of making umbrella frames with the paper.

B．He drew inspiration from the techniques of making paper.

C．He recycled some oil-paper umbrellas for the chair's frame.

D．He named the chair after the structure of a Chinese character.

3. Which of the following can best describe Chris?

A．Open and humorous.	B．Thoughtful and creative.
C．Considerate and confident.	D．Adventurous and innovative.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Chris' early life in Werder, Germany.

B．The friendship between Chris and Zhang Lei.

C．The design process and inspiration behind “Piao”.

D．The cultural exchange between Europe and Asia.

6 . I don’t know about you, but I have a deep-seated idea that taking 10,000 steps per day is the mark of an active lifestyle—which means it’s often pretty depressing to check the step tracker on my phone after an average day of writing while seated at my desk.

At least, it was depressing until I read the conclusion of a recent research review published in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The authors found that taking just 4,000 steps per day (the equivalent of walking around two miles) is enough to significantly reduce your risk of premature death and walking as few as 2,500 steps per day may meaningfully reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular-disease. That’s based on their analysis of 17 previously published studies on walking and health, which included more than 225,000 adults from multiple countries who were tracked for an average of seven years.

The findings are no reason to shorten your daily stroll; walking more is better, the researchers found. They concluded that each additional 1,000 steps per day is linked to a roughly 15% lower risk of dying early from any cause, and they did not find evidence of a point at which additional activity stops being beneficial. So if you were already logging 10,000 steps a day, there’s no need to stop.

But if, like me, you often fall short of that benchmark (基准), you can take comfort in the fact that even relatively small amounts of movement seem to measurably benefit health and longevity.

That may sound too good to be true for 10,000-step devotees, but a number of recent studies—and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans—have reached similar conclusions. Some research has shown that mild forms of movement not typically considered exercise, like housework, can have a meaningful impact on overall well-being, while other studies have argued that there are real benefits to getting even a few minutes of physical activity each day. Exercise, it seems, is a powerful tool for improving health—even in encouragingly small doses.

1. What is the author’s standard of an active lifestyle?

A．Remaining seated for a long time.	B．Writing at the desk.
C．Checking the step tracker frequently.	D．Taking 10,000 steps a day.

2. How did the author feel after reading the conclusion of the recent research review?

A．Relieved.

B．Depressed.

C．Motivated.

D．Confused.

3. Those having the habit of walking 10,000 steps a day are advised to ________

A．add 1,000 steps per day	B．follow their usual habits
C．reduce their walking by 15%	D．have some stops during every long walk

4. What does the underlined word “doses” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Steps.

B．Houses.

C．Amounts.

D．Studies.