1 . A music festival, which is often presented with a main idea, is a community event mainly about live performances of singing and instrument playing. On the list are the music festivals for fans around the world. Find your favorite now!
Field Day
January 1, 2022. Sydney
Field Day means New Year’s Day for young people in Sydney. Seen as the city’s original outdoor party, it’s a gathering of friends coming together for a great fun-filled first day of the year. There’s an air of hope and active energy on a perfect summer’s day.
Envision Festival
February 21 — 26, 2022, Uvita
The Envision Festival is an annual event in Costa Rica that wants to provide a chance for different cultures to work with one another to create a better community. The festival encourages people to practice art, music and dance performances. At the same time, our connection with nature is expected to be strengthened.
McDowell Mountain Music Festival
March 2 — 4, 2022, Phoenix
The McDowell Mountain Music Festival is Phoenix’s musical celebration of community culture. Since its founding in 2004, it is the only 100% nonprofit (非营利的) music festival designed to support, entertain and educate the community. The festival attracts thousands of visitors each year from around the country, and it is an opportunity to experience true culture.
Old Settler’s Music Festival
April 19 — 22, 2022, Tilmon
The Old Settler’s Music Festival is a nationally known music festival for American music. The festival is held in Tilmon, Texas at the height of the wild flower season. The Old Settler’s Music Festival offers great music and activities for the whole family.
1. Which city should you go to if you intend to participate in a music festival in January?| A．Sydney. | B．Uvita. | C．Phoenix. | D．Tilmon. |
| A．It encourages people to receive education. |
| B．It is not held to make money. |
| C．It provides a chance for friends to meet each other. |
| D．It focuses on culture spread. |
| A．Field Day and Envision Festival. |
| B．Envision Festival and McDowell Mountain Music Festıval. |
| C．Old Settler’s Music Festival and McDowell Mountain Music Festival. |
| D．Envision Festival and Old Settler’s Music Festival. |
2 . After skating, skiing or shoveling snow, nothing warms you up better than a cup of hot cocoa though today it will be topped with marshmallows (棉花软糖), you may not know that chocolate was first consumed in liquid form by the Olmec people of northwestern Central America around 1500 B. C.
However, the Olmec people didn’t serve their coco a hot. And since sugar had not yet arrived from Europe back then, the drink was often flavoured with peppers and spices. After the Spanish arrived in the Americas in the 1500s, liquid chocolate made its way across the pond, where wealthy Europeans added sugar and drank it warm. According to Chocolate: History, Culture and Heritage, hot chocolate became ‘the drink of the aristocracy (贵族)”, as sugar was still a luxury.
Soon enough, though, hot chocolate caught on with the masses. Chocolate houses started springing up around 17th-century Europe. However, by the end of the 18th century, chocolate houses had mostly died off, because the input of chocolate was much dearer than that of coffee or tea.
Marshmallows first came into the picture in 1917, when the company, Angelus Marshmallows, published a recipe for hot cocoa topped with their product. Instant coco a is another American invention, created in the late 1950s when dairy company owner, Charles Sanna, faced an oversupply of powered coffee creamer. His solution was mixing the creamer sugar and coco a powder together, thus creating a Formula (配方) favored by many.
Taking a tour of international cups of cocoa, you can try cioccolata calda, a thick, pudding-like version in Italy. In Colombia and Ecuador, chocolate is served with a teaspoon of soft farmer cheese, and Filipino hot chocolate, sikwate, is served with mango chunks.
However, you choose to jazz up your own cup, the simple pleasure of drinking a warm, chocolaty drink is one that hasn’t gotten old for thousands of years.
1. What was unlikely to happen in the 16th century?| A．Glen decorated his hot coco a with marshmallows. |
| B．Annie used sugar to add flavour to hot chocolate. |
| C．Nick couldn’t afford to put much sugar in the cocoa. |
| D．Miss Brown enjoyed drinking hot coco a during breakfast. |
| A．Lack of sugar. | B．Public health awareness. |
| C．High cost of material. | D．Popularity of instant cocoa. |
| A．A man can do no more he can. |
| B．Constant dripping wears away á stone. |
| C．Beauty without virtue is a rose without fragrance. |
| D．Innovation unlocks the door of success. |
| A．Hot Cocoa: An Accidental Invention |
| B．Hot Cocoa: A Journey To A Cup Of Comfort |
| C．Hot Cocoa: A Combination Of Global Cultures |
| D．Hot Cocoa: From The Aristocracy To The Public |
3 . What are pillows really stuffed with? Not physically, but symbolically? The question occurred to me with the photos of the international pillow fight in the news and social media from the 50 cities around the world. Armed with nothing more than bring-our-own pillows, strangers struck heavily each other from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Warsaw to Washington DC. But why? Is there anything more to this delightful celebration?
Actually, since at least the 16th century, the soft pillow has been given symbolic meanings. The Chinese playwright, Tang Xianzu, told a famous story in his work, Handan Notes. It was about a wise man who met a depressed young scholar at an inn and offered him a magic pillow. The scholar had a sweet afternoon nap on this pillow, dreaming that he had a more fulfilling life. When the young man awakened to discover that all was just a dream. The magic pillow’s power shifts from wonder to terror. What’s more, the 19th-century English novelist, Charlotte Bronte, poetically observed “a ruffled mind makes a restless pillow”. Perhaps Bronte learned this from the philosopher, Montaigne, who once insisted that “lack of thoughts in mind is the softest pillow on which a man can have a good rest”. On Montaigne’s thinking, intelligence and happiness compete against each other forever in a pillow fight that only one can win.
With the above information, we can perhaps more easily measure the attraction of the global pillow fight. Just like a ceremony of release, the annual international pillow fight amounts to a kind of cleansing, a brushing off of daily worries: an emptying of the world’s restless mind.
1. How did the writer lead into the topic of the passage?| A．By giving reasons. | B．By telling stories. |
| C．By using sayings. | D．By raising questions. |
| A．To state how pillows help people take a good rest. |
| B．To explain why pillows connect with people’s minds. |
| C．To claim that pillows can symbolically convey the meaning. |
| D．To describe that pillows always symbolize the good dreams. |
| A．A mind without any thoughts. | B．A mind with messy thoughts. |
| C．A mind that is peaceful. | D．A mind that is simple. |
| A．It mainly celebrates daily worries. |
| B．It contains a profound meaning of history. |
| C．People will feel relieved during the fight. |
| D．People will lose their inner peace during the fight. |
4 . In the live-streaming (直播) channel of Yang Weiyun, no singing or dancing is performed nor are products sold. Yang teaches pinyin, reading and writing, something that has been most familiar to her for the past 50 years. The difference is her students are mostly adults.
The 73-year-old comes from Huainan city of Anhui province and is an experienced educator. She had been a Chinese teacher in an elementary school for 50 years. In retirement, Yang also wanted to do something meaningful. The rise of short video platforms gave her the idea of continuing her education attempt through live-streaming online. The retiree opened her live-streaming account in May 2021 and offered free pinyin courses designed for kindergarten pupils about to attend primary schools. However, she gradually learned among her viewers there are a lot of illiterate (文盲) adults.
Yang said she found many illiterate adults develop a sense of lack of confidence. They are afraid to go to new places, worried that they couldn’t teach their children or read their boss’s instructions. So, she added targeted content to meet their needs. “Many illiterate adults didn’t have the chance to go to school when they were young. They are the ones in urgent need of becoming literate. I wanted to give them a new starting point,” Yang said.
According to the seventh national census (人口普查) carried out last year, there are 38 million illiterate adults in China. Yang’s live-streaming channel offers an easy and private way for those who want to overcome adult illiteracy.
Yang said students learning through her live-streaming channel each have their own demands. So she always prepares her classes carefully after concluding a live-streaming session. She has tried her best to figure out what ways the students can learn and remember better, and her biggest wish now is to see these students graduate from her classes.
1. What’s Yang’s original purpose when she attempted teaching online?| A．To teach retired adults Chinese. |
| B．To spread Chinese character culture. |
| C．To teach kids before primary school. |
| D．To sell products in her live-streaming channel. |
| A．She was an experienced and respectable teacher. |
| B．Many people believe her classes are beneficial for their children. |
| C．Her class is vivid and lively with singing or dancing performance. |
| D．Many illiterate adults can learn Chinese in an easy and private way in her class. |
| A．Devoted and helpful. | B．Caring and brave. |
| C．Warm-hearted and strict. | D．Persistent and honest. |
5 . Now is 6:15 a. m. Jocelyn Murzycki needs to get out the door in an hour. As the sky
First, the necessities for her “plog” are: a litter grabber and a reusable
The word “plogging” comes from “plogga”, a combination of two Swedish
Murzycki has
| A．escapes | B．seeks | C．begins | D．earns |
| A．pay for | B．hunt for | C．stand for | D．wait for |
| A．pot | B．umbrella | C．chain | D．bag |
| A．diversely | B．briefly | C．preciously | D．romantically |
| A．claim | B．fold | C．stop | D．contain |
| A．lower | B．smaller | C．less | D．more |
| A．words | B．phrases | C．sentences | D．sayings |
| A．created | B．challenged | C．controlled | D．joined |
| A．relaxed | B．amazed | C．comfortable | D．grateful |
| A．benefit | B．fear | C．danger | D．fortune |
| A．elect | B．scare | C．settle | D．encourage |
| A．pressed | B．hired | C．seen | D．complained |
| A．decorated | B．replaced | C．reflected | D．kept |
| A．Actually | B．Luckily | C．Finally | D．Extremely |
| A．flexible | B．passive | C．fun | D．horrible |
6 . Pullman is a superb writer and Seagull is a brilliant communicator. They had a debate after Seagull posted a question on his social media platform: “When you were trying to create an environment for learning, what were your best pieces of classical music to listen to?” He received hundreds of suggestions — and one negative reply, from Pullman: “That’s not what classical music is for. Treat it with respect!”
That did it! Professional musicians, students, teachers weighed into the argument, and the majority supported Seagull and were criticizing Pullman.
It’s easy to see why people are annoyed. We all want classical music to be as accessible as possible, especially to the young. If some of them are using Bach or Schubert as a tool to help them study, what’s the problem? They may also develop an attachment to classical music.
So is Pullman ridiculous and considerate by objecting to classical music being used as background music? At first sight, his idea’ seems stuffy and extreme. By suggesting that classical music should be “treated with respect” and not used as background music, Pullman seems to be closing classical music of to millions of people.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that he isn’t the first to express concerns about classical music being devalued by becoming too commonplace in today’s technologically shaped world. In Benjamin Britten’s 1964 speech, the composer expressed exactly the same worries as Pullman. Britten suggested, “The true musical experience demands some preparation, some effort, a journey to a special place, saving up for a ticket, some homework perhaps”. In short, it demands as much effort from listeners as from composers and performers.
I don’t agree with such an extreme viewpoint, but I do think it touches on a reality. You will never fully grasp the beauty of classical music if you half-hear it only in the background. That doesn’t necessarily matter. Music can be enjoyed on many levels. What Pullman and Britten are really saying is that, in a drive for “accessibility ”, we shouldn’t deny the emotional and intellectual complexity underpinning (构成) much classical music.
1. What did Seagull’s posting result in?| A．Great admiration for Seagull. |
| B．Public criticism of classical music. |
| C．A discussion about learning environments. |
| D．An argument between students and professional musicians. |
| A．To show his affection for classical music. |
| B．To introduce young people to classical music. |
| C．To demonstrate classical music is demanding. |
| D．To support Pullman’s idea over classical music. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Objective. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．In National Geographic. | B．In Musicology. |
| C．In The Economist. | D．In Chinese Translators Journal. |
7 . Sign up for the Online Volunteering!
Have you considered contributing your excellent skills and expertise virtually towards achieving sustainable human development efforts? Through the Online Volunteering service of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, you can connect with UN agencies, overnments, public institutions and civil society organizations—from any device, anywhere in the world. While extending your network, you can also get first-hand practical experience.
Requirements:
●To sign up on the Unified Volunteering Platform and apply for Online Volunteer assignments, you must be at least 18 years of age.
●There is no particular background required to become an Online Volunteer. Each Online Volunteer assignment is different and has its own requirements, set by the host organization.
●As an Online Volunteer, you can only support organizations remotely (远程地) in assignments up to 20 hours per week for a maximum of 12 weeks for each assignment.
Criteria and service rules:
●Online Volunteers are not under contract with the UNV programme or the engaging organization.
●Online Volunteers do not receive any kind of financial benefits.
●For each Online Volunteering assignment, a maximum of 25 Online Volunteers can be engaged.
Procedures:
●Volunteers find assignments of their interest and apply;
●Organizations select the volunteers they want to engage;
●Volunteers and organizations work together online;
●Volunteers and organizations provide feedback on their cooperation;
●Organizations issue an electronic certificate of appreciation to their volunteers.
1. What is a must for the applicants?| A．Being no less than 18 years old. |
| B．Having a medical science background. |
| C．Working at least 12 weeks for every task. |
| D．Being able to take business trips to UN agencies anytime. |
| A．Volunteers will be paid after the programme. |
| B．The excellent volunteers will get the paper certificates. |
| C．There is no need to sign a contract with the organizations. |
| D．The whole programme can have at most 25 online volunteers. |
| A．A social issue review. | B．A recruitment advertisement. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A course plan. |
8 . Music can really affect your well-being, learning, quality of life, and even happiness. The fact that music can make a difficult task more tolerable may be why students often choose to listen to it while doing their homework. But is listening to music the smart choice for students who want to improve their learning? A new study suggests that for some students, listening to music is a wise strategy, but for others, it isn’t. The effect of music on cognitive (认知的) function appears to depend partly on your personality — specifically, on your need for external stimulation (刺激).
Researchers not only assessed listeners’ personality but also changed the difficulty of the task and the complexity of the music. Participants first completed a personality test used to determine the need for external stimulation. Then, they engaged in an easy cognitive task (searching for the letter A in lists of words) and a more challenging one (remembering word pairs) in order. Participants finished both tasks under one of two sound conditions: (1) no music, (2) with music.
The data suggests that for those with a high need of external stimulation, on the simple task of finding A’s, the scores for the music condition were significantly worse than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, their performance was worse whenever music was played. For those with a low need of external stimulation, however, on the simple task, such participants’ scores for the music condition were much better than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, the participants showed a small but reliable benefit when listening to music.
According to the study, there are individual differences in the impact of music on cognitive function. Students who are easily bored and who seek out stimulation should be cautious of adding music to the mix. On the other hand, students with a low need for stimulation may benefit significantly from the presence of music.
With the right personality, the right music and the right task, the presence of music may significantly improve cognitive functioning. Given the benefits of music, subscription to Spotify will be rewarding!
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To explain what is stimulation. | B．To lead into the topic. |
| C．To make a prediction. | D．To offer some advice. |
| A．It is done under one and only sound condition. |
| B．Participants only need to complete a personality test. |
| C．The difficulty of the two tasks decreased in the experiment. |
| D．Participants were grouped by their needs for external stimulation. |
| A．The complexity of tasks might reduce the benefit of music. |
| B．Students should listen to music when performing complex tasks. |
| C．Students with less external stimulation perform badly with music. |
| D．The presence of music benefits students who seek for external stimulation. |
| A．A dictionary. |
| B．A psychology journal. |
| C．A music platform. |
| D．A personality test. |
9 . MUSICAL HERITAGES FROM ANCIENT CHINA
Since remote antiquity, Chinese people have used music to record their lives and describe the ideals in their hearts. Catchy tunes are not only played on precious instruments, but also visualized in carvings, paintings, and buildings. Feel free to explore here!
Han Dynasty (202 BC — AD 220)
This period marked the significant development of the manufacturing of guqin and its music. The example unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha, Hunan province, proves that guqin had developed into the form known today during that period.
Northern Wei Dynasty (386 — 534)
Buddhism (佛教) and its musical culture spread extensively during this period. Buddhist temples provided places for musical activities, which were recorded in many of the-existing stone carvings. Located in Gongyi, Henan province, the Grotto Temple is famous for its reliefs (浮雕) representing musical events. They are precious historical materials reflecting the music characteristics of the dynasty.
Song Dynasty (960 — 1279)
With economic development, a variety of musical cultures emerged to meet the entertainment needs of different social classes. Part of the painting “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” vividly reveals a storytelling performance. The painter adopted delicate techniques to truly record a street performer, whose superb skills are reflected by each listener’s show of appreciation.
Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644)
At this time, traditional Chinese operas developed rapidly, promoting the formation of many singing styles. People began to enjoy operas and drama stages were built. Covering a construction area of more than 160 square meters, the Fancun village drama stage in Shanxi province provides rich materials for the study of the local folk culture.
1. Which heritage would a fan of classical instruments explore?| A．The Ming Dynasty drama stage. | B．The Song Dynasty painting. |
| C．The Northern Wei Dynasty temple. | D．The Han Dynasty tomb. |
| A．Religion. | B．Economy. | C．Politics. | D．Technology. |
| A．Ming Dynasty witnessed the boom of traditional Chinese operas. |
| B．Most of the drama stages were built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. |
| C．The musical culture of Buddhism was developed during the Han Dynasty. |
| D．Buddhist temples were the main places for music al activities in the Song Dynasty. |
10 . It may seem as if Mother’s Day was invented by a company named Hallmark, but people have been giving a shout-out to Mom for a long time. A more recent tradition was Mothering Sunday, which developed in the British Isles during the 16th century. On the fourth Sunday in April, young men and women who were living and working apart from their families were advised to return to their mothers’ houses.
Mother’s Day as it is observed in the United States started in the 1850s with Ann Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who held “Mothers’ Work Days” to promote health and hygiene at home and in the workplace. During the Civil War, Jarvis organized women to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides, and after the war she became a peacemaker, bringing together mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers and promoting a Mother’s Day holiday.
Jarvis’s work inspired another 19th-century woman, Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, Howe published her “Mother’s Day Proclamation”, which envisioned the day not as appreciation of mothers by their children but as an opportunity for women to exercise their collective power for peace. Howe started holding annual Mother’s Day celebrations in Boston, her hometown, but after about a decade the tradition faded away.
It was Jarvis’s daughter, Anna, who succeeded in getting Mother’s Day recognized as a national holiday. After her mother died in 1905, Anna started holding yearly ceremony on the anniversary. In 1912, West Virginia and a few other states adopted Mother’s Day. Two years later, Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution naming the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, making it an official US holiday.
It wasn’t long before whatever ideals the day was supposed to celebrate were buried under an amount of greeting cards and candy. By the 1920s, Anna Jarvis was campaigning against the holiday she had created. “I wanted it to be a day of emotionalism, not profit,” she said.
1. Who plays the most important role in creating Mother’s Day?| A．Ann Jarvis. | B．Julia Ward Howe. | C．Woodrow Wilson. | D．Anna Jarvis. |
| A．In 1914. | B．In 1912. | C．In 1905. | D．In 1870. |
| A．Because the festival was not profitable. |
| B．Because the festival made her feel emotional. |
| C．Because the celebrations went against the original spirit. |
| D．Because she had no passion on holding celebration activities. |
| A．The Objection to Mother’s Day |
| B．The Argument on Celebrating Mother’s Day |
| C．The Story Behind the Creation of Mother’s Day |
| D．Different Forms of Celebrations on Mother’s Day |
