2 . Lindsay couldn’t go to her gym after Beijing shut down indoor sports facilities in May because of a coronavirus outbreak. So she started cycling and soon fell in love with the sport. “I realized a racing bicycle was quite different from a regular bike,” she said. “It’s very fast and exciting, and I couldn’t stop anymore.”

Bicycles have long been a means of transport in China and once outnumbered cars on city streets. Now cycling is also increasingly seen as a sport by the urban middle class that has benefited from China’s growth into the world’s second largest economy. Biking events organized by Beijing cycling club Qiyi totaled about 10,000 participants over the past year, with about 50% of them regulars. Nationwide, at least 20 million people are participating in the sport, according to the Chinese Cycling Association.

The pandemic has played a role, with authorities moving quickly to close non-essential businesses, including gyms, during outbreaks under a strict zero-COVID approach. Cycling, which can be done individually as well as in groups, has largely been free from restrictions that limit gathering. For cyclist Yang Lan, the reason why she loves cycling is that the sport provides an escape from the daily life in the coronavirus era. “With the pandemic, it seems to be the only way for us to run away from the terrible city life and pace,” she said.

People will have more choices for sports and entertainment when the pandemic is over. But Feng Baozhong, the vice president of the Chinese Cycling Association says that he expects cycling to remain popular. Because it’s driven by China’s growing economy, growth of the sports industry and increasing concern about health due to COVID-19. “The pursuit of health will not disappear,” he said, “and the popularity of cycling is also a sign of the public’s awareness of environmental protection and pursuit of a low-carbon lifestyle.”

1. How many people in the Qiyi club take part in cycling activities regularly?

A．More than 10,000.	B．Around 10,000.
C．Around 5,000.	D．Around 20,000,000.

2. Why does Yang Lan love cycling?

A．She enjoys cycling alone.

B．She likes participating in cycling activities.

C．She can get a break from the city life.

D．She saves money by riding to work.

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．People are paying more attention to health issues.

B．China’s economy is getting worse due to the pandemic.

C．The sports industry is in crisis during the lockdown.

D．Other sports will replace cycling when the pandemic is over.

4. What is the most suitable title for the passage?

A．Pandemic Harms Cycling	B．Pandemic Fuels Cycling
C．Cycling Boosts Sports Industry	D．Cycling Means a Low-carbon Lifestyle

3 . Despite the fact that there has never been so much wealth or so many wealthy people in the world, many of the world’s poor people still live in material and energy poverty. Could you and I cut back on our consumption (消耗) so as to make some space for others to increase theirs?

I am sure we could. But, unfortunately, everything about our economic systems is set up to make us believe and behave otherwise. The default (默认) mindset is that there is nothing wrong with wanting ever newer and more expensive things as long as we can afford them.

Look around you for a moment. No society anywhere before lived like this. Further, since our spending must necessarily be someone else’s income, we tell ourselves that we actually make the world a better place every time we buy another pair of shoes or trade in a car for the latest model. And that’s the tug (拉) of war that plays itself out cruelly in our lives, as one side of our age cries out “less”, and from the other side comes the answering cry “more”.

Of course, wanting to live a better life is deeply ingrained in human nature. Otherwise, we would never have generated the progress that has brought us to our present station.

But now we should think deeply about how and why we consume.

After all, even the earliest thinkers in the history of economic—including Adam Smith—thought, having more does not always translate into being happier. Evidence shows that many people in the developing world, despite being hard-up, report being just as happy as those in the materially rich societies of the West.

So what now? The answer, perhaps, is to try to be rich in the enjoyment of things, not in the accumulation (堆积) of them. A pair of good shoes, lightly creased (起皱) but also carefully polished (擦亮) once a month a meal cooked at home instead of a trip to McDonald’s—such as these lie our act of saving from the virus of compulsive (强迫性的) consumption.

1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?

A．People tend to buy things unreasonably.

B．People refuse to cut down on consumption.

C．People all face material and energy poverty.

D．People believe in political and economic systems.

2. What does the underlined word “ingrained” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Held.

B．Rooted.

C．Changed.

D．Possessed.

3. What does the author suggest?

A．Trying to be rich.	B．The more, the better.
C．Enjoying what we have.	D．Focusing on the compulsive consumption.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.

B．Health.

C．Education.

D．Economy.

4 . Hearing the notes coming from the other side of the wall, Giorgio was moved. This was our way of saying “I don't know who you are, but I'm here. You're not ____________.”

It turned out his neighbor's name was Emil and he was 78 years old, __________ from Poland. His wife had __________ in December from COVID-19 and the ___________ in which he was staying was a temporary accommodation until he would sell his house. The only comfort left to Emil was his __________. The reason he was playing at 2 p.m. every weekend and also duetting (二重奏) at that time with Giorgio was because of his ___________.

“When I wrote the song—Dear Emil, I started __________ Emil's life. A 78 widower that lost the love of his life because of this stupid ____________. Spending days alone at home due to lockdown, playing her favorite piano song every weekend, until a __________ appeared on his door, one which read you are __________, and not alone. And a new friendship started, two pianos between a wall. Although they didn't know who was playing, it didn't __________ . You can be the __________ to somebody else's darkness.” said Giorgio.

Giorgio shared on March 14th that he’d received __________ that Emil had left the world forever in his sleep: “And now he is __________ his wife.” “Dear Emil,” he wrote. “I knew little about you, but you __________ my life. You gave me back my passion, believing music can be powerful.”

1.

A．unique

B．awake

C．alone

D．accompanied

2.

A．originally

B．eventually

C．typically

D．regularly

3.

A．got sick

B．passed away

C．got injured

D．passed by

4.

A．hospital

B．store

C．firm

D．apartment

5.

A．piano

B．violin

C．photo

D．instrument

6.

A．wife

B．friend

C．mother

D．daughter

7.

A．describing

B．picturing

C．admiring

D．predicting

8.

A．hurt

B．challenge

C．virus

D．war

9.

A．tap

B．knock

C．call

D．note

10.

A．heard

B．seen

C．felt

D．smelled

11.

A．doubt

B．affect

C．matter

D．conflict

12.

A．object

B．light

C．trouble

D．worry

13.

A．order

B．instruction

C．promise

D．word

14.

A．harmonious with

B．similar to

C．equal to

D．reunited with

15.

A．bettered

B．disturbed

C．changed

D．confirmed

5 . For humans, adapting to climate change will mostly be a matter of technology. More air conditioning, better-designed houses and bigger flood defenses may help lessen the effects of a warmer world. Animals will have to rely on changing their bodies or their behaviour. In a paper published inTrends in Ecology & Evolution, a team led by Sara Ryding, a professor in Australia, shows that is already happening. In some species of Australian parrot, for instance beak (喙) size has increased by between 4% and 10%since 1871. Similar trends are seen in species of mice and bats growing bigger ears, tails, legs and wings.

All that fits nicely with evolutionary (进化的) theory. “Allen’s rule”, named after Joe Allen, who suggested it in 1877, holds that warm-blooded animals in hot places tend to have larger appendages (附加物) than those in mild areas. Such adaptations boost an animal’s surface area relative to its body volume, helping it to get rid of additional heal. Fennec foxes, meanwhile, which are native to the Sahara desert, have strikingly large ears, especially compared with their Arctic cousins.

Ryding’s team combined data from different species in different places. Now that they have little in common apart from living on a warming planet, climate change is the most reasonable explanation. Since any evolutionary adaptation comes with trade-offs, it is unclear how far the process might go. Bigger beaks might interfere with feeding, for instance. Larger wings are heavier, and bigger legs cost more energy to grow.

Honestly, studying a broader range of animals will help firm up exactly what is happening. For now, at least, the increase is small, never much more than 10%. That may change as warming accelerates. Every little bit of avoided future temperature increases results in less warming that would otherwise stay for essentially forever.

1. Why do some species grow bigger parts of their body?

A．They are following the new trends.

B．They have to adapt to warmer climate.

C．Scientists need them to do experiments.

D．Larger parts tend to help them feed well.

2. Where may warm-blooded animals have bigger body parts?

A．In mild areas.	B．In hot places.
C．In the Arctic.	D．In deserted regions.

3. What do we know about the change in animals from the last two paragraphs?

A．It comes at a cost.

B．Its cause is definite.

C．It happens in the same habitat.

D．Its process will end soon.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Living on a Warming Planet

B．Measures to Remove Heat

C．Pioneering Research on Animals

D．Evolution to Survive Heat