1 . Several days ago Spanish fashion brand Zara sparked a fierce debate after releasing its latest campaign featuring a Chinese model with freckles (雀斑). Actually, there are some different beauty standards between the East and the West.
In East Asia, freckles might be considered a “destructive weakness” for celebrities, especially actors or singers. Although normal people don’t care that much, subconsciously they might prefer a “clean” face. Generally speaking, freckles are more likely to appear if people are out in the sun frequently, and most East Asian women avoid the sun as best they can.
Having freckles, instead, is a trademark for unconventional beauty in the Western world, and some call freckles “angel kisses”. For most westerners, having freckles is no longer just something you have to live with; instead, it is something to be desired. After all, not everyone is lucky enough to have freckles.
When it comes to eye shapes, it seems Western and Chinese beauty standards don’t see eye-to-eye. Many Chinese think girls with big eyes are the most beautiful. If their eyes have a double-fold eyelid, that is considered perfect. However, most foreigners seem to prefer Chinese girls with slanted (斜的) and narrow eyes and eyebrows. Chinese known model Lyv Yan is often considered the country’s most beautiful by foreigners, while quite a few Chinese people think her appearance doesn’t fit with traditional beauty standards.
Young, girly feature or hot and mature feature? Zhao Liying from China, Aragaki Yui from Japan and Lim Yoon-A from South Korea enjoy high popularity in Asia, as they boast bright faces with warm smiles, which win them lots of male fans. The three young celebrities represent Asia’s beauty standards: women with cute, girly features. Most women in Asia try their best to stay young accordingly. Unlike Chinese girls, Western girls think a more mature look shows independence and uniqueness. The superhero Wonder Woman is an ideal type for most.
As ties continue to grow between China and the West, it is unavoidable that these beauty standards develop. But one thing’s for sure-no matter how you look, you are who you are, and that should be satisfaction enough.
1. What do most western people think of having freckles?| A．It is something unbearable. | B．It is a destructive weakness. |
| C．It is something to wish for. | D．It is a symbol of traditional beauty. |
| A．Have the same opinion. | B．Recognize their strengths. |
| C．Misunderstand each other. | D．Argue against one another. |
| A．They think this beauty standard is better. | B．They want to look independent and unique. |
| C．They hope to have high popularity in Asia. | D．They admire Wonder Woman very much. |
| A．What Zara’s beauty standard is. | B．Why Chinese people don’t like freckles. |
| C．What causes the different beauty standards. | D．How easterners and westerners think of beauty. |
2 . What is talent? Are you born with it? Or does it seem to develop over time? Before I start, I’d like to say that one thing everyone agrees on is that the most skilled musicians have worked hard to get there.
While it’s true that a few of us had enough “talent” to avoid extra practice to do just as well as those who did, those who worked hard easily beat us. It is, in fact, very likely that if some of us “talented ones” had actually been practicing and improving our skill, we would have achieved a whole different level.
Another aspect of talent seems to be heart and passion (酷爱). The people I see who are the most talented musicians are crazy about music. They eat, breathe, and live music and they make an extraordinary effort to make it part of their lives. As Remus Badea said, desire for the musician-to-be is significant for them to be successful. This desire is easily found in those considered to be talented. When you want and love something so bad, it drives you and your entire character can be shaped around it. Such determined passion seems to produce incredible skill and talent.
The third aspect (方面) of talent is having talent around you. When surrounded by talented musicians, it only seems natural that you start to catch up to their level Take a look at almost any group of musicians in history. The more talented people in the group the more talented the group is as a whole. A great example of this is the relationship between audio producer and artist. The artist turns up to the studio with their song, and as they work through recording it, the audio producer will often suggest various changes to the song to make it better.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Pride goes before a fall. |
| B．It’s never too old to learn. |
| C．Practice contributes to talent. |
| D．Talent determines achievements. |
| A．Passion. | B．Character . | C．Skill. | D．Talent. |
| A．To introduce what real talents are. |
| B．To explain how a song is composed. |
| C．To prove talents need team spirit. |
| D．To show the benefits of being with talents. |
| A．Music has no limits. |
| B．Musicians are born with talent. |
| C．Music favors the talented. |
| D．Musicians are created, not born. |
3 . While they can’t pick out precise numbers, animals can comprehend that more is, well, more. From birds to bees and wolves to frogs, animals use numbers to hunt, find a mate, return to their home, and more. Researchers believe that this ability, known as numerical competence, plays an important role in how animals make these decisions. Andreas Nieder, a biologist at the University of Tübingen, explores the current literature on how different animals comprehend numbers.
Honeybees, for instance, can remember the number of landmarks they pass when searching for food in order to find their way back home. This ability can also be seen in animals choosing a larger amount of food over a smaller amount or in animals forming hunting groups. Wolves are more likely to hunt successfully if they have the right number of wolves in their pack for their prey (猎物) with prey like elk (驼鹿), only around six to eight wolves are needed, while hunting wild pigs requires a pack of nine to thirteen. Their prey also uses this concept to protect themselves—elk tend to live in small groups, which rarely have encounters with wolves, or gather in large groups to reduce the chance of any individual becoming prey. “They are assessing the number of individuals in their groups for their everyday life situations,” Nieder says.
Furthermore, numerical competence also plays a role in attracting a mate. For example, male frogs sing “advertisement” calls to attract females. The females, listening to their complicated calls, choose the males that sing the most “chucks” in their calls.
Now researchers do have some sense of the rules that govern numerical competence in animals. For example, they count approximately (大概) rather than specifically and two numbers need to be more different for them to tell them apart as those numbers get bigger. However, Nieder argues that more research needs to be done. “I hope I can encourage behavioral ecologists to specifically explore numerical competence in the wild, and, in doing so, also open new research fields,” he says.
1. What do the examples of wolves and elk suggest about numerical competence?| A．It gives animals a reproduction benefit. | B．It affects animals’ chances of survival. |
| C．It is decided by animals’ hunting ability. | D．It develops well in social animals. |
| A．By listing figures. | B．By asking questions. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Its fundamental rules. | B．Its appeal to behavioral ecologists. |
| C．Researchers in new study fields. | D．Expectations for further studies. |
| A．Animals’ understanding of numbers gives them an advantage |
| B．Numerical competence research achieves a breakthrough |
| C．Animals develop numerical competence? Never |
| D．Can many animals count? Better than you |
4 . More than 140 sign languages are used today, primarily by deaf communities around the world. Like spoken languages, each sign language has its own grammar, vocabulary and other special features. For example, American Sign Language is unintelligible（无法了解的）to British Sign language. In fact, American Sign language has more in common with French Sign Language, largely because French educators played a key role in helping get deaf schools founded in the United States during the 19th century.
There haven’t been a lot of comparisons of sign languages. University of Texas, Austin linguist Justin Powers and his colleagues aim to address that information gap. In order to study the question of sign language evolution, they first collected a database of manual alphabets from dozens of different sign languages around the world. So a manual alpha-bet is kind of a subsystem within a sign language that is used to represent a written language. And there’s a hand shape that corresponds to each letter.
To uncover relationships between the alphabets% the researchers used the same methods that biologists use to figure out relationships between different species, based on their DNA. The methods grouped sign languages in this study into five main European lineages（谱系）. And those were Austrian origin, British origin, French origin, Spanish and Swedish. Power says manual alphabets from Austria, France and Spain could date back to one-handed manual alphabets from 16th- and 17th-century Spain. But each of those lineages evolved independently of each other.
The study also confirmed the French origins of American Sign Language and those of other countries, including Mexico, Brazil and the Netherlands. Surprisingly, the Austrian manual alphabet influenced sign languages as far away as Russia. But while this lineage has largely died out, remains of it live on in Icelandic Sign language today.
Power says future research comparing the vocabularies of different sign languages could provide even more clues about how they’ve changed over time. Understanding how sign languages evolve would tell us a lot about the way that language, in general, evolves.
1. What can we know about American Sign Language?| A．It was created by French educators. |
| B．It is less related to French Sign language. |
| C．It was further developed before the 19th century. |
| D．It has little in common with British Sign Language. |
| A．Every letter means a hand gesture. |
| B．It is used to replace the written language. |
| C．Every letter is the same as the normal alphabet. |
| D．It is used together with the shape of mouth. |
| A．Worrying. | B．Astonishing. |
| C．Moving. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．The changes of different sign languages. |
| B．The evolution of different sign languages. |
| C．The meaning of researching sign languages. |
| D．The vocabulary of different sign languages. |
5 . The handshake has existed in some form or another for thousands of years, but there are different ideas about its source. One popular theory is that the gesture began as a way of expressing peaceful purposes. By holding out their empty right hands, strangers could show that they were not holding knives and bore no ill-will toward one another. Yet another explanation iso that the handshake was a symbol of good faith when making a promise. When they held others’ hands, people showed that their word was a close relationship.
“An agreement could be expressed quickly and clearly in words,” the historian Walter Burkert once explained, “but was only made effective by a ritual gesture: open, empty hands reached out toward one another, catching each other in a handshake.”
One of the earliest descriptions of a handshake is found in the ninth century B.C. The Assyrian King Shalmaneser III pressed the flesh with a Babylonian ruler to form a union. Poet Homer described handshakes several times in his “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” most often in relation to expressions of trust. The gesture was also common in the fourth and fifth century B.C. Greek, funeral. Gravestones would often show the dead person shaking hands with a member of their family, meaning either a final goodbye or the lasting connection between the living and the dead. In ancient Rome, meanwhile, the handshake was often used as a symbol of friendship. Pairs of shaking hands even appeared on Roman coins.
1. What did people want to show with their empty right hands?| A．They were very poor. | B．They were healthy. |
| C．They meant no threat. | D．They had special customs. |
| A．An agreement must be accepted by empty hands. |
| B．An agreement came into effect after a handshake. |
| C．Spoken words were enough to confirm an agreement. |
| D．Shaking hands was polite while making an agreement. |
| A．Started an attack. | B．Shook hands. |
| C．Had a discussion. | D．Compared strength. |
| A．Ways of Greetings | B．Importance of Gestures |
| C．Benefits of Handshake | D．History of Handshake |
6 . Imagine an island untouched by humans and without any large mammals.Colorful and strange birds of all shapes and sizes fly over forests and seaside hills. The sky is painted with endless clouds. Flightless birds nest safely on the ground, and seabirds cover the beaches. The sound of the bird song is overwhelming. The Maori named this place “Aotearoa,” Land of the Long White Cloud. The world now knows it as New Zealand.
When the Maori sailed their canoes across the Pacific Ocean from their homeland, Hawaiki, at least 120 different species of birds lived in Aotearoa. Eleven species of moa , an ostrich-like bird, moved freely, and the largest stood 11 feet tall. The Haast’s eagle dominated the skies with its wing span of nearly 10 feet. Because bats were the only mammals, Aotearoa was an actual bird paradise.
Unfortunately, the Maori overhunted the moa for meat. As the moa disappeared, the Haast’s eagle lost its primary food source. By the time Europeans arrived in New Zealand, both birds were extinct.
When European settlers arrived, they brought animals that attacked birds. These non-native animals exploded in number because they had no predators. Birds also lost habitat as forests were cut down for wood and pastures.
Within a few hundred years of humans discovering and living in New Zealand, more than half the unique bird species were extinct. The whekau,found throughout New Zealand in the 1800s, was declared extinct in 1914. The piopio,considered the best songbird in Aotearoa, was last seen in the mid-1900s.
Thirty percent of the species now alive are in danger because of other animals and loss of habitat. Scientists estimate nature would take 50 million years to replace the birds lost over the last 1,000 years. New Zealand conservationists are working to save the threatened species.
1. What does the first paragraph tell us?| A．New Zealand is a paradise for birds. |
| B．Aotearoa does not really exist. |
| C．The Maori founded New Zealand. |
| D．No mammals lived on the island. |
| A．Partners. | B．Killers. | C．Friends. | D．Settlers. |
| A．Threats from man and other animals. |
| B．The arrival of Europeans. |
| C．The lack of food sources. |
| D．The increase in farmland. |
| A．Why local officials stop hunting. |
| B．What living conditions for natives are like. |
| C．How many animals have survived on the island. |
| D．What efforts conservationists take to guard bird species. |
7 . One young person, who was well educated, went for a job as a manager in a big company. The president did the final
He discovered the youth was
The president requested the youth to
“Go and clean your mother’s hands when you go back today, and then
The youth felt his chance of getting the job was high, so when he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell
The next
The president said, “You are
| A．election | B．test | C．interview | D．competition |
| A．strong | B．excellent | C．humorous | D．cute |
| A．maker | B．cleaner | C．mender | D．seller |
| A．wash | B．hide | C．show | D．dry |
| A．found | B．let | C．helped | D．watched |
| A．study | B．ignore | C．work | D．rest |
| A．move | B．see | C．recognize | D．answer |
| A．after | B．until | C．because | D．as |
| A．believed | B．sensed | C．noticed | D．expected |
| A．quietly | B．sadly | C．excitedly | D．angrily |
| A．morning | B．noon | C．afternoon | D．evening |
| A．worried | B．felt | C．brought | D．spoke |
| A．important | B．difficult | C．different | D．impossible |
| A．value | B．secret | C．type | D．change |
| A．educated | B．respected | C．trusted | D．hired |
8 . Many disaster-relief programs transport tons of supplies, such as food, water and heavy equipment, by road using large trucks. But some supplies may weigh just a few kilograms or less. For example, a package might contain a few doses of life-saving medicine.
The parachutes (降落伞) that carry these packages from planes are often made of nylon (尼龙). After one use, these parachutes are usually discarded. Because nylon is a polymer (聚合物), it does not decompose quickly. Therefore, Natalie looked for a greener alternative.
Nylon is strong, but a parachute used only once for light packages does not need to be that strong. Paper might be good enough, thought the teen. Plus, a paper parachute can be folded into a tiny package, just like a fabric parachute. Moreover, she notes there are many different ways to fold the unopened paper parachute.
Natalie came up with several folded designs and tested them. Her first models were small, so she could test them indoors. Two were triangular (三角形的). Two more were rectangular (长方形的). One of the rectangular ones opened most smoothly, she found. It also fell and landed most steadily as it dropped through the air. “Such features can be important when the goal is to deliver a package to the ground softly and accurately,” she says.
Natalie showcased her designs at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Natalie’s single-use paper parachutes are not harmful to the environment. They are also less expensive than parachutes made from more traditional materials. A nylon parachute of the same size as her design would cost about $31, she says. One made from silk, another common parachute fabric, would cost almost $16. But a parachute made from paper would likely cost less than $1, Natalie estimates.
1. Why are many relief supplies mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To list an example. | B．To answer a question. | C．To lead in the topic. | D．To make a comparison. |
| A．Go bad. | B．Break down. | C．Run away. | D．Bend down. |
| A．A small one. | B．A big one. | C．A rectangular one. | D．A triangular one. |
| A．Reducing Environmental Impact with Paper Parachutes |
| B．Eco-friendly Paper Parachutes for Disaster Relief |
| C．The High Cost of Traditional Parachutes |
| D．A Teen’s Quest for Better Disaster Relief |
9 . Rocky Mountain National Park Tour from Denver
Overview
See for yourself why Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most popular parks in the United States on a day trip from Denver. Let a guide handle the winding mountain roads while you enjoy views of mountain tops surrounded by alpine forests, lakes, and meadows. Cross the Great Divide on steep Trail Ridge Road, watch the plentiful Colorado wildlife, and get a sight of the legendary Stanley Hotel—the inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining.
●Visit Rocky Mountain National Park without renting a car
●Drive through the tourist town of Estes Park and the famous Stanley Hotel
● Go above tree line on Trail Ridge Road, one of the highest in North America
What’s Included
●Professional driver/guide
●Transportation
●Lunch
Meeting And Pickup
Denver Union Station 1701 Wynkoop St, Denver, CO 80202, USA
Start time: 09:30 AM; End point: This activity ends back at the meeting point.
Additional Info
●Not wheelchair accessible
● Lunch sandwich included
This tour comes with choice of a turkey or vegetarian sandwich. Please include your preference as well as any dietary restrictions in the Special Requirements field during checkout.
●This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
●A water refill will be available in the van, bring a reusable bottle.
1. What can you do if you join in the one-day trip?| A．You can visit the Stephen King’s hotel. |
| B．You can rent a car to visit the whole park. |
| C．You can get a good view of Colorado wildlife. |
| D．You can climb the highest mountain in North America. |
| A．Water refill. | B．Wheelchair. | C．Beef sandwich. | D．Professional cook. |
| A．A travel journal. | B．A travel brochure. | C．A travel blog. | D．A travel review. |
10 . Here is a great way for you to explore the beautiful countryside and colorful Chinese minority culture of southeast Guizhou during three days. With this 3-day Guizhou tour, you can appreciate the amazing wooden architecture of the Dong ethnic minority, discover a mysterious branch of the Miao ethnic minority, hike among the terraced fields, dress up in the traditional dress of the Dong people, and try their special tasty food. Here is a suggested plan of a journey.
DAY 1 Arrive in Zhaoxing Dong Village
Meet your personal guide at Congjiang train station. Drive to Zhaoxing Dong Village (about 10 minutes). Explore beautiful Zhaoxing Village in the afternoon. Your guide will walk around with you, explaining the style of the Dong wooden buildings, local customs, and the Dong people’s lifestyle. And the Dong people’s dancing and singing evening show is very enjoyable.
DAY 2 Zhaoxing Rice Terraced Fields Hike and Villages
Drive to Huanggang Dong Village in the morning. On the way, you will stop to hike around the terraced fields. Enjoy great views of the rice terraces and the villages on the mountain slopes (山坡).
Explore peaceful Huanggang Village and Zhanli Village, where you will see more of the authentic culture of the Dong.
Visit Biasha Miao village in the afternoon. Enjoy their traditional dancing and their ceremony with guns.
DAY 3 Zhaoxing Departure (离开)
Visit a batik (蜡染) workshop in the morning. Learn and experience making batik in the Dong style. Make a unique souvenir on your own (with guidance).
Transfer to Congjiang Train Station for your departure.
1. What can you do during the three-day tour?| A．Taste Dong people’s traditional drinks. |
| B．Try on Dong people’s traditional clothes. |
| C．Plant crops among the terraced fields. |
| D．Live Dong people’s traditional lives in the village. |
| A．Watching Dong people’s evening shows. |
| B．Hiking around the terraced fields. |
| C．Visiting Dong people’s villages. |
| D．Making your own batik in the Dong style. |
| A．In a travel journal. | B．In a geography textbook. |
| C．In a government report. | D．In a tour handout. |
