1 . A year back I received a full scholarship to attend the University of San Francisco. All of my hard work had paid off. My mom had spent a lot in my attending a private high school, so I made sure to push myself: I volunteered, joined different clubs, and graduated with honors.

I was so excited to start a new life. I had totally packed two weeks and wanted to go to college at once before it was time to leave.

Soon enough, the big day came, but it wasn’t like what I had thought. The first two weeks were the most difficult days of my entire life. Every night I would cry myself to sleep.

I was so homesick (想家) and I didn’t know how to deal with my broken heart. To distract myself, I threw myself into my studies and I applied for a lot of jobs. In any remaining free time, I started forcing myself to the gym. I wanted to keep every part of my day busy so I wouldn’t think how lonely I felt.

Soon after, I began to limit food, and then I became worse. Finally, I went to see a doctor. When the doctor weighed me, I was crazy about the number of my weight. So I continued to lower my goal, and convinced that controlling this number was the solution to my homesickness. But when I was told that I had no choice but to spend time on my studies. I quickly started recovery in my mind.

How could I do? I told myself that school was what I was best at. I decided to get rid of my homesickness and took exercise actively. My first term of college had passed by at last and I had gotten straight A’s. That’s why I want to share my story—to help other students feel less lonely.

1. How was the author during the two weeks before she left for the college?

A．She was as normal as before.

B．She couldn’t wait to leave for the college.

C．She was afraid to leave her home.

D．She didn’t enjoy her mother’s company.

2. What is the author’s problem at the beginning of studying in the university?

A．Her weight.	B．Her diet.
C．Her homesickness.	D．Her bad study habit.

3. Which can best replace the underlined phrase “distract myself” in paragraph 2?

A．achieve my dream	B．earn money by myself
C．improve my studies	D．take my attention away

4. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the text?

A．To look back at her past middle school life.

B．To help girls to lose weight.

C．To help lonely college students.

D．To increase her own confidence.

3 . Scientists have long known that a crow （乌鸦）native to New Caledonia is able to use tools. The birds use them to remove food from deep holes. Now, American researchers have discovered a second species of crow with the same ability. They reported on their experiments with Alala crows, which are from the Hawaiian Islands.

In the experiment, the researchers placed pieces of food in holes inside the wood. The holes were too deep for the crows to reach with their beaks(鸟喙). But, by using small pieces of wood held in their beaks, Alala crows quickly got the food. They used small objects as tools, sometimes changing them by shortening too-long sticks. They also made tools from plant materials.

“The crows use their beaks as people use thumbs on their hands. Tool use is rare in the animal kingdom. ” said Chritian Rutz of University of St. Andrews. “Current evidence strongly suggests that tool use is part of the species’ natural behavioral pattern(行为模式). These birds had no special training in the study, yet most of them were skilled at handling stick tools. ”

Bird experts claim finding out that the crows use tools is important discovery. “It makes us rethink how to look at the whole tool-use idea now and encourages us to go out and look for things that we may have ignored before. ”

All the Alala crows left in the world live in Hawaii. There were less than 20 Alalas left in the late 1990s when scientists decided to bring them into a protected area. Now, it is reported that there are over 100 birds living there. Scientists plan to release a small number of the birds back into the wild later.

1. What are the findings of American researchers?

A．Alala crows can also use tools.

B．It’s difficult for birds to look for food.

C．New Caledonia is home to some crows.

D．The Hawaiian Islands are full of rare birds.

2. What can we learn from the study?

A．The holes were very big and wide.

B．Alala crows could only use short sticks.

C．Alala crows got the food by working together.

D．Alala crows would deal with tools if necessary.

3. What do Chritian Rutz’s words mean?

A．Using tools comes naturally to Alala crows.

B．Using stick tools is not easy for Alala crows.

C．Alala crows’ beaks look like people’s hands.

D．Alala crows won’t use tools without being trained.

4. What do scientists plan to do with Alala crows?

A．Move all of them out of Hawaii.	B．Increase the population of them.
C．Set some of them free in nature.	D．Build more protected areas for them.

4 . I realized I would not see a real person named Sophie at Sophie’s Eatery because, like most new restaurants these days, Sophie’s is a robo-restaurant.

When I walked in, a cute little manager robot appeared, looking rather like a toaster with blinking (眨) blue eyes. It escorted me to a nice table in the back. The menu monitor popped out of my table and showed me pictures of my dining choices. I tapped my choices and clicked OK, and the screen slid back down.

I watched as full plates rode the conveyer belts that moved along each aisle (过道) of tables. In just a few minutes, my dish stopped at my table, and I took it from the belt. Later, I placed my empty plate back on the conveyer belt, and it was taken away into kitchen to be cleaned.

I watched the little toaster showing customers to tables while I ate my main dish. The food was delicious, but I was starting to feel extremely angry because dealing with robots always makes me feel inhuman. Pretty soon, I wanted to talk to someone real, even if it was just a few sentences.

So when my dessert arrived, I took action. I dropped my plate on the floor with a satisfying crash. I was so happy when I saw the manager toaster’s blinking red eyes—at last, a real live person would arrive!

But instead, a crew of two robots quickly appeared. A robot broom rushed over and started to sweep the piece of the broken plate into a robot garbage can. They finished and moved back into the kitchen.

My plan to get a little reality into Sophie’s Eatery failed. I hope the robo-restaurant trend ends soon. I want to deal with people again!

1. What does the underlined word “escorted” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Registered.	B．Guided.
C．Conducted.	D．Rushed

2. What is the purpose of the author crashing his plate?

A．To deal with a real human.	B．To catch attention from the robots.
C．To play jokes on the robots.	D．To complain about the bad service.

3. Which of the following best describes the author’s feeling at Sophie’s Eatery?

A．Satisfied.	B．Shocked.
C．Annoyed.	D．Curious.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The trend of dining with robots.

B．The advantage of robo-restaurants.

C．The food variety of a robo-restaurant.

D．The dining experience at a robo-restaurant.

5 . 七选五根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

How to find time for yourself? Do you ever find yourself longing for some time for yourself? Many of us are so busy with work, school, and home life that often there is no time left over to do something that you enjoy. What follows are some ways to carve out that necessary time you need to slow down, and enjoy life.

    1    This is a great one because you’re accomplishing many things at once. You’re getting exercise, you have time to think or enjoy music, and you’re helping to save the environment.

Arrive early.    2    Then use this time for yourself: reading, writing, relaxation, thinking, whatever.

Buy tickets in advance. Sports, theater, concerts, or any other event you would enjoy. Schedule the plans with a friend later.    3    

Evenings with yourself.    4    If others ask you to do things those nights, just tell them you have plans. Use the time for gardening, reading, exercise, or doing nothing!

    5    What are you interested in? Strike while the iron is hot. Look up a club in your area today and join! If you can’t find a club, consider starting one yourself!

A．Join a group.

B．Walk to work.

C．Take an education class.

D．Try to save certain weeknights just for you.

E．If you want more time for yourself, you can get it.

F．Any appointment that you have, plan to arrive 15-30 minutes early.

G．Having the tickets already in your hand will force you to make it happen!

6 . Just over 12 months ago I gave myself a challenge: give up spending on all but the essentials for a whole year. It hasn't always been easy, but a year on I am wealthier and wiser. Embarrassingly, I have also realised just how much money I've squandered down the pubs in restaurants and through mindless shopping.

Free of any financial worries, I was spending without thinking. Stuck in a cycle of consumerism, I was struggling in vain to spend my way to happiness. Giving up spending for a year was an extreme approach, but I wanted to taste extreme frugality, shake up my spending patterns and overpay my mortgage instead of shopping. I could continue to pay my bills, including mortgages, broadband(宽带), phone bill, charity donations, life insurances, money to help my family and basic groceries.

It was not easy, especially in the first few months. There were lows, such as when I missed my favourite jazz concerts and hit films. There have also been some awkward moments when I've turned up to a friend's house for dinner empty-handed. I did a lot of washing up at my friends' houses in return this year.

I did find new ways to live, however. Using sites such as Eventbrite I have been to film screenings, wine tasting evenings and theatre productions for free. Living in London I have a wealth of free cultural activities on my doorstep and I've been to more art exhibitions this year than ever before. I even managed a free holiday, cycling the

Suffolk and Norfolk coast and camping on beaches. It's something I'd never done before and probably wouldn't have, were it not for the challenge.

The last 12 months have taught me what things I really need. I can honestly say I' m happier now. I've gained confidence and skills, done things and met lovely people I wouldn't have otherwise done or met.

1. In the past the author wasted much money on the following EXCEPT .

A．purposeless shopping	B．basic groceries
C．restaurants	D．pubs

2. We can infer that the purpose of the author's no-spending challenge is to .

A．try to form a virtue of frugality	B．change her former spending habits
C．pay off her mortgage as soon as possible	D．reserve money for her everyday bills

3. What do we know about the author during her no-spending year?

A．She did a lot of washing and cooking in pubs.

B．She tried cycling and camping for the first time.

C．She explored more cultural activities in London.

D．She attended concerts and wine evenings for free.

4. How does the author eventually feel about her no spending year?

A．It's discouraging.	B．It's challenging.
C．It's beneficial.	D．It's embarrassing.

7 . Brisbane is an exciting city, voted as one of the most livable cities in Australia. Its fine food will make you hate to leave. Here are four famous restaurants.

Kingsleys Steak & Crab House

Located on the waterfront of the Brisbane River with views of the Story Bridge, Kingsleys Steak & Crab House supplies an incomparable ideal setting for lunch or dinner. With impressive views and a combination of both indoor and outdoor seating, it attracts a lot of tourists to have a unique dining experience here. It also offers fresh seafood, including Alaska king crabs, high-grade wine and friendly staff.

Rates per person: $35 — $45

Moo Moo The Wine Bar

Moo Moo The Wine Bar is an award-winning chain of lakeside dining sites. Originally, it was founded in 2005 by Steven Adams, a well-known chef. Moo Moo has since claimed many awards, including Queensland’s Best Steak Restaurant 2008, Gold Riverside Restaurant of the Year 2007, and Gold Coast’s Best Steak Restaurant.

Rates per person: $40－$45

Jellyfish Restaurant

The beautiful views over the Brisbane River are just a starter to come from Jellyfish Restaurant. Its aim is to source and serve fishes of 8 species daily, to learn and understand the texture and qualities of each species and recommend the best way to cook to its customers and serve for the fine experience.

Rates per person: $30－$45

Tibetian Kitchen

For a fine dining experience in Brisbane, it is hard to go past Tibetian Kitchen founded by the award-winning well-known chef Matt Moran. With a beautiful setting on the bank of the Brisbane River, Tibetian Kitchen is all about beautifully presented dishes which look like pieces of perfect artwork. This is what Tibetian Kitchen differs from other restaurants above.

Rates per person: $35－$45

1. What makes Kingsleys Steak & Crab House attractive to tourists?

A．Its great seafood.	B．Its friendly service.
C．Its high-grade wine.	D．Its beautiful dining surroundings.

2. Which will you choose if you intend to learn some cooking skills?

A．Kingsleys Steak & Crab House.	B．Moo Moo The Wine Bar.
C．Jellyfish Restaurant.	D．Tibetian Kitchen.

3. How is Tibetian Kitchen different from other restaurants mentioned in the text?

A．Its environment is elegant.	B．Its food rates are much lower.
C．Its chefs have won many awards.	D．Its food presentation is rather pleasing.

8 . When I grow up

In kindergarten, my class was asked to draw pictures, showing what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our drawings were expected to display our dream occupations. I remember pictures of ballerinas dancing, firefighters putting out a blaze, and astronauts leaping across the moon.

My picture showed a figure with brown hair holding a box of orange juice beside a counter. Underneath was my handwriting: “When I grow up, I want to work at Market Basket because it would be fun to swipe (刷) orange juice across the scanner.” Out of everything, my five-year-old self wished to work at the local grocery store.

When we are young, questions of what we want to be when we grow up are common. Yet we are not expected to respond with an answer that is likely to come true. However, when we become teens, we are asked the very same questions twice as often. The difference is, now we are supposed to answer with confidence.

Teens are expected to know exactly what we want to be and how we are going to achieve that goal. However, not all of us can be so sure. Even though I am in high school, I cannot answer with certainty. But I don’t consider that a bad thing. How am I supposed to know what I will want to spend my time doing at age 40?

When I think about the future, I definitely don’t see myself working at Market Basket, but in reality, if that was what would make me happy, I would do it. So, the next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I will simply say “happy”.

Happiness is a destination for everyone. We may want to walk different paths in life, but we all want to be happy wherever we end up. Choose your path, but don’t worry too much about choosing wisely. Make a mistake or two and try new things. But always remember, if you’re not happy, you’re not at the end of your journey yet.

1. What did the author want to be when he was in kindergarten?

A．An astronaut.

B．A firefighter.

C．A dancer.

D．A cashier.

2. We can learn from the passage that _____.

A．kindergartners are able to display their dream jobs with confidence

B．kindergartners have limited imagination of their dream occupations

C．teenagers are supposed to be clear about what they want to be

D．teenagers stick to the path they chose when they were young

3. The author would probably agree that _____.

A．the principle of growth lies in human choice

B．happiness is the meaning of existence

C．it is never too late to correct mistakes

D．your future depends on your dreams

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Different stages of life.	B．Career guidance.
C．The real goal of life.	D．Career paths.

9 . It is the stock response to a parent struggling with a crying baby or a bad-tempered teenager: “Treasure every moment because they grow up so fast.” Now researchers have found there may be something in the old saying. Watching children grow up really does seem to make time fly. Scientists have found that parents feel time passing more quickly than non-parents.

The findings could be due to the fact that children change fast. “Over ten years, children go through dramatic changes not only in their physical appearance, but also in their understanding abilities and their status, ” the researchers said. The results could also be a consequence of parents spending a large amount of their time on their children, they said, even though they found no difference in the time pressures recorded by parents compared with non-parents in the study.

For the study, published in the journal Timing & Time Perception (感知), the researchers asked 431 people aged from 20 to 59 to fill in a subjective time questionnaire, a tool used by psychologists to measure time perception. They were asked: “How fast did the last ten years pass for you?” An answer of very slowly gave a score of-2; slowly was-I; neither fast nor slow was 0; fast was I and very fast scored 2. So the higher the score, the faster they felt time had passed. The parents had an average score of I. 22, compared with 0. 76 for the non-parents.

Participants were also asked how quickly the last year, month and week had passed, but there were no differences between the groups for these shorter intervals (间隔). Previous studies have suggested that time also seems to speed up when we get older. Research published in 2019 by Duke University in North Carolina suggests this could be due to physical changes in our bodies, with a slowdown in image processing speeding up our perception of time passing.

Days that seemed to last forever in our youth were “not due to experiences being much deeper or meaningful”, the researcher Adrian Bejan said, “but due to the fact that they were being processed rapidly.”

1. What probably makes parents feel time passing more quickly than non-parents?

A．The pressure of raising children.	B．Devoting much time to children.
C．The slowdown in image processing.	D．Noticing children’s daily physical growth.

2. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Time seems to speed up for the young.

B．Parents responded differently to the old saying.

C．Non-parents have deeper experiences.

D．The older people are, the higher scores they may get.

3. What does the underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Experiences.

B．Researchers.

C．Days.

D．Youths.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．The perception of time passing.

B．Teenagers experience dramatic changes.

C．Time really flies when you are having children.

D．Comparison between parents and non-parents.

10 . A snowboarder was feeling lucky to be alive yesterday after a helicopter rescue(直升机营救).

Ben Akintola, 30, was snowboarding in the French Alps under a clear blue sky in the afternoon when a large amount of snow fell down the side of the mountain. He didn’t have time to escape(逃脱) and it hit him with full force and knocked him senseless.

He woke in the night in total darkness. He was lying on an icy rock. Amazingly, he still had a mobile phone signal(信号), so he called a friend a thousand kilometers away in Britain. His friend called the French rescue services.

“I was waiting for what seemed like hours on that rock. I was beginning to give up hope when I heard the sound of a helicopter. It was circling around in the darkness, looking for me. I was trying my best to wave my mobile around. Fortunately the helicopter pilot saw the light.”

“I was overjoyed when the helicopter headed my way. It stayed above me and began lowering a rope.”

Ben was in hospital last night but he was not being treated for any serious injuries. He’s looking forward to going home today.

The French rescue services said: “We were very pleased that we were able to save Ben. The risk of snow slide off-piste(非滑雪场地的) is much higher at this time of year. All snowboarders and skiers should stay on the ski runs and not go off-piste. Ben was very lucky.”

1. What happened to Ben?

A．He got lost in the French Alps.	B．He had a snowboarding accident.
C．He was separated from his friends.	D．He was knocked down by falling rocks.

2. The French rescue services learned about Ben’s difficulty ________.

A．from his friend	B．in the early afternoon
C．after receiving his call	D．when seeing his mobile

3. How did Ben feel about the wait?

A．It made him strong in the darkness.	B．It caused him to hope for the best.
C．It was shorter than he expected.	D．It was a little discouraging.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．A Lucky Escape	B．A Rocky Mountain
C．Risks of Snowboarding	D．French Rescue Services