1 . Why do we universally appreciate cartoons? Because they are visual — the humor unfolds right before our eyes. As writers, we have a unique challenge to craft worlds, including humorous ones, using only words.
At first glance, writers and cartoonists have vastly different toolboxes and skill sets. But if you look closely, you will notice similar devices, such as simplification, exaggeration (夸张), and contrast.
In many literary forms, decoration enriches a piece. That’s not true for humor writing — humor can get lost with too many details. Adding a bit of shading will give depth to an illustration, yet there’s usually no need to detail every feature. There’s a thin line between plain and funny, and the difference often lies in whether a writer adheres to the universal comedic principle, “less is funnier.” By simplifying complex situations, characters, plots, and reactions, your work becomes more digestible and humorous.
Exaggeration is one of the most straightforward and effective comedic tools. As a humor writer, don’t shy away from every chance to stretch the truth, whether by understatement or overstatement. However, effective humor is truth based. The relationship between exaggeration and realism in humor is like stretching a rubber band (橡皮筋). A little stretching, even repeated stretching, is no problem. However, overstretching the band will cause it to break, as well as the humor and the reader’s trust.
Contrasting is the juxtaposition (并列) of elements not usually coupled, a technique that cartoonists use to create humorous mismatches by placing significantly different elements side by side. As writers, we can use juxtaposition to brainstorm new humor angles and create funny mismatches.
Humor is at its funniest when it’s visual, and writers can craft more humorous material by employing the same techniques used by cartoonists. By thinking and writing visually, you can show the funny to readers.
1. What do writers and cartoonists have in common in expressing humor?| A．They craft worlds literally. | B．They focus closely on details. |
| C．They employ techniques alike. | D．They get through to readers easily. |
| A．Break. | B．Follow | C．Revise. | D．Challenge. |
| A．Overstating simple situations. | B．Shying away from the truth. |
| C．Reducing the number of characters. | D．Combining uncoupled elements. |
| A．A review of modern cartoons. | B．An essay on the art of writing. |
| C．An introduction to painting skills. | D．A guidebook for passionate readers. |
2 . Bumblebees are vanishing at a rate consistent with widespread extinction, and climate change is playing a big role. The analysis comes from a new study published in the journal Science today.
The authors found that the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place within North America and Europe has dropped by an average of 30 percent as temperatures have risen.
Pesticides, habitat loss, and pathogens(病原体) have already hit bumblebee populations hard. The new study, however, is able to isolate the effect that hotter temperatures are having on bumblebees. Sadly, bees are having a hard time adapting to a warming world. “If things continue along the path without any change, then we can really quickly start to see a lot of these species being lost forever,” lead author of the study Peter Soroye tells The Verge.
That’s not just a tragedy for the bees. It’s also bad news for all the plants that they pollinate and for humans who eat the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. “We also lose out on a lot of color on our plates,” Soroye says. “Tomatoes, squash, and berries are just some of the crops we can thank bees for pollinating. Animal pollinators like bees, birds, and butterflies could be responsible for up to 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat,” the US Department of Agriculture says.
For this study, Soroye and colleagues examined data from 1900 to 2015 on 66 species of bumblebees across North America and Europe. They mapped the places bees called home and how their distribution changed over time. They found that bees were vanishing in the areas that had heated up beyond the limit in which the bumblebees had historically been able to survive.
Some bee populations are colonizing new territories that were previously too cold. But those gains are overshadowed by losses in areas where the bees once thrived but are now too hot.
1. What is bumblebees’ main struggle?| A．Habitat loss | B．Climate change | C．Human activities | D．Virus treat |
| A．Humans can barely strive to save bumblebees from extinction. |
| B．Bumblebees will inevitably die out some day. |
| C．Bumblebees serve as a delicacy on our plates. |
| D．Human’s lives are tightly linked to bumblebees’. |
| A．Animal pollinators eat up 1 out of 3 of our food. |
| B．Peter Soroye’s study started from 1900 and lasted 25 years. |
| C．Bumblebees can not be accustomed to the places they used to live in. |
| D．Bumblebees are more used to colder weather. |
| A．The negative effects outweigh the positive ones. | B．No cold areas are left for Bumblebees. |
| C．The losses are beyond estimation. | D．Bumblebees will have a rather bright future. |
3 . Obese people experience discrimination (歧视) in many parts of their lives, and the workplace is no exception. Studies have long shown that obese workers, defined as those with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, earn significantly less than their slimmer co-workers.
Yet the costs of weight discrimination may be even greater than previously thought. “The overwhelming evidence,” wrote the Institute for employment Studies, “is that it is only women living with obesity who experience the obesity wage penalty (薪资损失).” They were expressing a view that is widely aired in academic papers. To test it, The Economist has analyzed data concerning 23,000 workers from the American Time Use Survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Our number-processing suggests that, in fact, being obese hurts the earnings of both women and men.
The data we analyzed cover men and women aged between 25 and 54 and in full-time employment. At a general level, it is true that men’s BMIs are unrelated to their wages. But that changes for men with university degrees. For them, obesity is associated with a wage penalty of nearly 8%, even after accounting for the separate effects of age, race, graduate education and marital status.
The conclusion — that well-educated workers in particular are penalized for their weight — holds for both sexes. Moreover, the higher your level of education, the greater the penalty. We found that obese men with a Bachelor’s degree (学士学位) earn 5% less than their thinner colleagues, while those with a Master’s degree earn 14% less. Obese women, it is true, still have it worse: for them, the equivalent figures are 12% and 19%, respectively (分别地).
Your line of work makes a difference, too. When we dealt with the numbers for individual occupations and industries, we found the greatest differences in high-skilled jobs. Obese workers in health care, for example, make 11% less than their slimmer colleagues; those in management roles make roughly 9% less, on average. In sectors such as construction and agriculture, meanwhile, obesity is actually associated with higher wages.
These results suggest that the total costs of wage discrimination borne by overweight workers in America are greater than expected. Now, it’s time for our governments to take it seriously.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in paragraph 2?| A．Obese men earn less salary. |
| B．Only obese women earn less salary. |
| C．Both obese men and women earn less salary. |
| D．Weight discrimination may be greater than previously thought. |
| A．A fat woman office director. |
| B．An obese construction worker. |
| C．An obese man with a bachelor’s degree. |
| D．A heavier female doctor with a Doctor’s degree. |
| A．Supportive | B．Objective | C．Subjective | D．indifferent |
| A．Overweight discrimination in other countries. |
| B．The reason of discriminating obese people in their lives. |
| C．American people’s attitude towards overweight discrimination. |
| D．Actions taken against overweight discrimination in workplaces. |
4 . A study by University of Michigan researchers found that about mine out of ten people in New York City were exposed to noises that were high enough to harm their hearing. Some of the risk comes from traffic and other environmental sounds, but we suffer a lot of punishment on our ears by simply attending sports events and concerts. Listening to music through earphones and turning up the volume also do damage.
Hearing aids may have seemed not comfortable to wear for some people. But today, you might not even realize that the person next to you is wearing a pair of earphones so small and thin that they’re mostly hidden inside the ears. You might be even more surprised to discover that the person can adjust those hearing aids on a phone app — to make it easier to hear what you’re saying in a crowded, noisy environment.
“There’s a cool factor for hearing aids,” explains Dr. Hope Lanter. “They’re significantly (显著地) better and smaller.” Lanter is the lead audiologist (听力学家) for hear. com, an online source for hearing aids from various producers, which also offers access to a nationwide network of audiologists who can provide in-person testing and help.
Hear. com has started its own product, which is named the Horizon, together with engineers from hearing aid maker Signia, according to a news report. In addition to producing clear speech, the Horizon is also designed to interact with phones and other tools, make phone calls, stream podcasts, read e-books and so on.
Throughout the United States, the number of hearing aids and earphones is on the rapid increase. Though they have brought much benefit for those who have difficulty in hearing, they really do great harm to people with normal hearing when they listen to music or talk with others.
1. Why did the author mention the study in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic of the text. | B．To show the number of deaf people. |
| C．To explain the importance of protecting hearing. | D．To tell us the wide use of earphones. |
| A．Many people feel it awkward to wear hearing aids. |
| B．More and more people are wearing hearing aids now. |
| C．Hearing aids are getting more and more advanced. |
| D．It’s easier to stay away from loud noises with hearing aids. |
| A．Unfavorable. | B．Supportive. | C．Confident. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．Loud noises in the United States. | B．Different earphones producers. |
| C．The advantages of hearing aids. | D．The wide use of hearing aids and earphones. |
5 . Facing change and disorder, most people either respond or react. Responding, a spin-off (派生物) of the word responsibility, is considerate and thoughtful. Reacting, on the other hand, literally means to meet one action with another. It is immediate and rash. Responding creates more space between an event and what you do, or don’t do, about it. In that space, you gain a better understanding of what is happening. So you rarely regret responding. But you often regret reacting.
Plenty has been written about what you can do internally to cultivate responsiveness. For instance, one study showed how your internal emotions helps create space between you and a difficult situation. Mindfulness meditation (冥想) is also beneficial. But the external matters, too. If you regularly inhabit reactive environments, it’s hard not to become a more reactive person.
I’ve experienced this firsthand. When I spend too much time on social media, I’m more likely to snap on my children, feel restless and frustrated, and my work — my ability to think deeply — suffers significantly. Yet I’m becoming increasingly concerned that it’s not just me and it’s not just social media, but our entire culture that is making us more reactive, essentially turning us into disturbed and worried at a time when we need our humanity more than ever.
Our modern economy increasingly relies on drawing people’s attention. It rewards speed, fashion, and anger. Reactivity is a feature not a bug. It aims to be first, to be extreme, and to capture as much gaze as possible. It’s why start-up companies pride themselves on “moving fast and breaking things.” It’s why the space for reasonable disagreement and discussion on college campuses seems to be shrinking by the day, giving way to hatred and attack instead.
There are no silver bullet solutions, but clearly naming and describing the problem is an important first step: Our culture and economy encourage reactivity; as a result, we’re becoming a more reactive people, precisely at a time when our most pressing challenges — war, pandemic, climate change — require our great capacity to respond.
1. How is responding different from reacting?| A．Responding results in more immediate emotions. |
| B．Responding brings us deeper understanding of things. |
| C．Responding harms the development of economy. |
| D．Responding needs mindfulness meditation. |
| A．Social media limits our ability to think deeply. |
| B．Being more reactive is a matter of personal preference. |
| C．Modern culture and economy aids responsive behavior. |
| D．War, pandemic and climate change require us to respond. |
| A．How our culture encourages reactivity. | B．How reactivity affects us. |
| C．How responsive behavior boosts economy. | D．How we can develop responsive behavior. |
| A．Name Emotions or Embrace Hatred | B．Avoid Social Media or You Suffer |
| C．Practice Responding or Regret Reacting | D．Inhabit Spacious Rooms or Harmony Shrinks |
6 . My father was a restaurant owner. My name is Vincent Lim. I’m a chef and restaurant owner. Running a Chinese restaurant is one of the hardest and most
When we first arrived in Australia, my dad
The first dish that I ever learned to cook was the fried rice, which is the easiest but also the
To lots of Chinese immigrants like us, the restaurant isn’t just a business. It’s a sense of
In 2017, my dad passed away. I realized that my love of cooking dishes was from my childhood. I
| A．worthless | B．valuable | C．necessary | D．unexpected |
| A．supported | B．found | C．operated | D．occupied |
| A．regular | B．solid | C．seldom | D．vital |
| A．strength | B．passion | C．talent | D．awareness |
| A．chef | B．owner | C．coach | D．master |
| A．toughest | B．worst | C．busiest | D．greatest |
| A．taste | B．achieve | C．tell | D．learn |
| A．career | B．urgency | C．purpose | D．affection |
| A．generates | B．delivers | C．accompanies | D．dismissed |
| A．came from | B．went over | C．wiped away | D．spread across |
| A．impossibly | B．straightly | C．deliberately | D．considerably |
| A．shut down | B．took over | C．opened up | D．dealt with |
| A．amusing | B．striking | C．connecting | D．inspiring |
| A．recall | B．complete | C．expect | D．alter |
| A．impresses | B．perceives | C．represents | D．devotes |
7 . The Cheongsam, also known as Qipao, evolved from the Manchu female’s changpao of the Qing Dynasty. The Manchu ethnic people were also called the Qi people by the Han people in the Qing Dynasty, hence the name. The history of this clothing reflects the rise of the modern Chinese women in the twentieth century.
In 1920s, the cheongsam flourished in Shanghai. Through the 1930s and 1940s it constantly changed, highlighting the femininity（女子气质） of Chinese women in metropolitan cities. The dress got more fitted and body-hugging, with some daring designs featuring side slits （开衩） that reached up to the thigh. It’s customary to pair the dress with high heels. Women tried different fastenings, pipings, and collars, as well as short sleeves, long sleeves, and sleeveless cheongsams. Traditional silks were replaced with cheaper, contemporary textiles. In terms of design, the traditional flower patterns remained widespread, but geometric and art deco patterns also gained popularity.
The cheongsam has heavily influenced designers in high fashion. The Metropolitan Museum of Art did a whole exhibit in 2015 on how Chinese culture influenced world fashion called “Through the Looking Glass”. Elements of cheongsam were even seen in the 2016 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Celebrities such as Anne Hathaway and Grace Kelly have been seen wearing a cheongsam.
Today Chinese people seldom wear a cheongsam in their daily life. It is used as a uniform at restaurants and hotels and on airplanes in Asia. Formal occasions such as weddings, parties or banquet dinners, and seasonal celebrations such as Lunar New Year are appropriate times to wear a cheongsam. And the dress is a frequent choice of wear during diplomatic visits.
In 2018, a white girl in a high school in Utah wore a cheongsam to her ball and posted photos online that caused an uproar in the US for cultural appropriation （文化挪用）, opening a huge debate on cultural appreciation versus appropriation. However, netizens in China had a different viewpoint. “I am very proud to have our culture recognized by people in other countries,” said a user on WeChat, “She looks beautiful in it!” they said.
1. What can we know about the cheongsam in the Qing Dynasty?| A．The traditional flower patterns were popular then. |
| B．There were different fastenings to go with it. |
| C．There were side slits reaching up to the thigh. |
| D．It was more body-hugging than today’s cheongsam. |
| A．It influences world fashion. | B．It is a symbol of Chinese culture. |
| C．It is popular with foreigners. | D．It is a regular outfit of urban women. |
| A．The case of the girl in Utah warned against wearing cheongsam in America. |
| B．The popularity of cheongsam shows the rise of modern Chinese women. |
| C．Cheongsam didn’t highlight femininity initially as much as it does now. |
| D．Grace Kelly was seen wearing cheongsam in the 2016 Victoria’s fashion show. |
| A．To display the cultural value of cheongsam. |
| B．To introduce the influence of cheongsam on fashion. |
| C．To review the history of cheongsam. |
| D．To present an overall introduction to cheongsam. |
8 . In the summer of 2021, an unseasonal event took place. More than 100 miles of Florida’s coast around Tampa Bay became an oxygen-depleted (缺氧的) zone containing dead fish along the nearby shoreline.
Much of the conversation around our climate crisis highlights the emission of greenhouse gases and their effect on warming, sea-level rise and ocean acidification (海洋酸化). We hear little about the effect of climate change on oxygen levels, particularly in oceans and lakes. But water without adequate oxygen cannot support life. For the three billion people who depend on coastal fisheries for income, declining ocean oxygen levels are devastating.
As ocean and atmospheric scientists focus on climate, we believe that oceanic oxygen levels are the next big victim of global warming. To stop the situation from worsening, we need to expand our attention to include the dangerous state of oceanic oxygen levels — the life-support system of our planet. We need to accelerate ocean-based climate solutions that boost oxygen. Examples include nature-based solutions such as those discussed at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow.
Enhanced monitoring of oxygen and the establishment of an oxygen-accounting system are a must. Putting oxygen into the climate story motivates us to do the work to understand the deep systemic changes happening in our complex atmospheric and oceanic systems. We celebrated the return of humpback whales in recent years to an increasingly clean New York Harbor and Hudson River. However, dead fish blocked the Hudson in the summer as warmer waters carried less oxygen.
Ecosystem changes connected to physical and chemical system-level data may point the way to new approaches to climate solutions. It includes an enhanced understanding of the life-support system of our planet. Roughly 40 percent of the world’s people depend on the ocean for their livelihoods. If we do not save marine life from oxygen starvation, we starve ourselves.
1. What is the result of less ocean oxygen according to the text?| A．A rise in the coastal fisheries. | B．The warming of the atmosphere. |
| C．The emission of greenhouse gases. | D．An increase in deaths of sea animals. |
| A．Attention to oceans is necessary. | B．Global warming effects are serious. |
| C．Oceanic oxygen levels are dangerous. | D．Ways to boost oceanic oxygen are urgent. |
| A．To bring in an oxygen-accounting system in climate. |
| B．To explain the urgency of oxygen levels in atmosphere. |
| C．To call for more attention to oxygen starvation in waters. |
| D．To show the achievements in reducing air pollution. |
| A．Save Marine Life. | B．Make Oceans Safe. |
| C．Let Oceans Breathe. | D．Keep Marine System. |
9 . Brady has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It has been
We truly
Last week, I bought a simple card, reading, “Healing thoughts and wishes are coming your way. We are all
He is still undergoing intense treatment, trying his best to stay
Despite being too sick to teach classes, my professor has managed to continue being a great teacher, introducing his last
| A．disappointing | B．challenging | C．heartbreaking | D．confusing |
| A．normal | B．responsible | C．ordinary | D．outstanding |
| A．collected | B．awarded | C．delivered | D．chosen |
| A．admit | B．admire | C．inspire | D．cure |
| A．hard | B．natural | C．practical | D．simple |
| A．seeking | B．searching | C．praying | D．competing |
| A．text | B．message | C．comment | D．wish |
| A．anxious | B．thoughtful | C．curious | D．optimistic |
| A．Therefore | B．Instead | C．Particularly | D．Besides |
| A．related | B．devoted | C．committed | D．applied |
| A．relief | B．power | C．pain | D．vain |
| A．motivated | B．frightened | C．interested | D．touched |
| A．added | B．considered | C．wandered | D．hesitated |
| A．personal | B．precious | C．professional | D．inaccurate |
| A．offer | B．convey | C．sacrifice | D．mean |
10 . Night owls may be prone to heart disease and diabetes (糖尿病) than early birds because their bodies are less able to burn fat for energy, U.S. researchers say. People who rise early rely more on fat as an energy source. They are often more active in the day than those who stay up later, meaning fat may build up more easily in night owls, the scientists found.
The findings may help explain why night owls are at greater risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They may also help doctors to identify patients early on who are more likely to develop the conditions.
The researchers divided 51 fat middle-aged adults into early birds and night owls, depending on their answers to a questionnaire on sleeping and activity habits. They monitored the volunteers’ activity pattern for a week and tested their bodies’ fuel preference at rest and while performing moderate or high-intensity exercise on a treadmill.
In Experimental Physiology, the team described how early birds were more sensitive to blood levels of the hormone insulin (胰岛素) and burned more fat than night owls while at rest and during exercise. The night owls were less sensitive to insulin and their bodies favored carbohydrates over fat as an energy source.
Prof Steven Malin, a senior author on the study and an expert in metabolism, said it was unclear why differences in metabolism were seen in night owls and early birds. But one possibility, he believes, is a mismatch between the time people go to bed and wake the next morning and the circadian rhythms (昼夜节奏) that govern their body clocks.
The findings could affect discussions around the health risks of night-shift work and even changing the clocks to suit daylight hours. “If we promote a timing pattern that is out of sync with nature, it could worsen health risks,” Malin said. “Whether dietary patterns or activity can help reduce these is an area we hope becomes clear in time.”
1. How do night owls differ from early birds according to the research?| A．They are more able to burn fat. |
| B．They are less active in the night. |
| C．They are more likely to have some conditions. |
| D．They are less likely to build up fat in their body. |
| A．By enquiring questions about their lives. | B．By recording their exercise levels. |
| C．By testing their bodies’ fuel preference. | D．By monitoring their activity pattern. |
| A．A brief introduction to the research method. | B．A detailed account of the research findings. |
| C．Supporting evidence for the research results. | D．Reasonable doubt about the research process. |
| A．Out of order. | B．Out of control. |
| C．Not in agreement. | D．Not in connection. |
