1 . Top Music Festivals in 2021
Coachella
Selling out fast every year, the Indio desert becomes a fashionable place where the coolest bands are watched by trendy people and celebrities. Near the top of everyone's bucket list of festivals, Coachella is a constant source of annual expectation and a hotbed for musical discussion.
When &. where: April 9-11 &. 16-18, 2021; Indio
Ultra Music Festival
Seen as the ultimate gathering for electronic music fans across the nation and globe, the streets of Miami turn into a bold and bumping party with popular DJs playing what will be the sounds of summer.
When & where: March 26-28, 2021; Miami
South By South West
Regarded as the ultimate trend-setter and launcher of careers, SXSW is an annual showcase of music, films and interactive highlights enjoyed through performances, showcases, talks, screenings and more. Virtually taking over the city of Austin, everyone in the world of music from fans to media flock here to discover the next big thing.
When &, where: March 16-20, 2021; Austin
The Governors Ball Music Festival
Another event which proves the music loving potential of Randall's Island Park is Governors Ball, an exciting and infectious mix of rock, hip-hop, electronic, pop and folk. Providing a variety of music and food tastes, whether you look to kick back and relax or dance to the beats, Governors Ball has what you want.
When & where: June 11-14, 2021; New York
1. Which music festival lasts the most days?| A．Coachella | B．Ultra Music Festival. |
| C．South By South West | D．The Governors Ball Music Festival. |
| A．It's held in a park. |
| B．It features electronic music |
| C．It's a gathering of popular DJs. |
| D．It's the most popular in the country. |
| A．Indio. | B．Miami. | C．Austin | D．New York. |
2 . The shadow play is a typical traditional entertainment that has survived and thrived over the centuries. It is taken as an earliest ancestor of modern cinema.
Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, Emperor Wu of Han was very depressed about the death of his favorite concubine (妃子). To help him get over his sadness, a minister made a puppet out of cotton and silk in the likeness of the concubine and projected its shadow on a curtain for the emperor to see. The show brought the emperor some comfort. He somehow believed the shadow was his lover's spirit. This is thought to be the beginning of the shadow play.
One mouth tells stories of thousands of years; a pair of hands operate millions of soldiers. This is how the shadow puppeteer works. Nicknamed “the business of the five”, a shadow play group is made up of five people. One operates the puppets, one plays a suona and a yueqin, one plays the banhu, one is in charge of percussion instruments (打击乐器), and one sings.
During performances, “actors” are held close to a white curtain with their colored shadows cast on it by a strong light from behind. The operator plays five puppets at the same time, each of which has three threads. Ten fingers handle fifteen threads. Moved by guiding sticks, the puppets play roles with musical accompaniment, The popularity of the shadow play in some way lies in the equipment being light and easy to carry, the small number of people needed for a performance, and the flexible requirements for performance places. The plays can be quite dramatic and, when it comes to myths or kung fu stories, the “actors” may be made to ride on clouds or perform unusual feats, to the great enjoyment of the audience, especially children. The audience can tell a figure's character by seeing his mask. Like the masks in Beijing opera, a red mask represents loyalty and bravery.
Nowadays, the shadow play has been industrialized and developed a series of tourist products for the promotion of Chinese culture and tourism.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．A love story of Emperor Wu of Han. | B．How to please an emperor. |
| C．The origin of the shadow play. | D．How to make a cotton puppet. |
| A．when roles are played without music |
| B．because the equipment is light to carry |
| C．when the puppets give lively performances |
| D．became the number of the operators is small |
| A．Dutiful. | B．Friendly. | C．Positive. | D．Ambitious. |
| A．To promote the shadow play. |
| B．To explain the art of shadow play. |
| C．To teach people to operate the shadow puppetry. |
| D．To enjoy the traditional characters and masks in Beijing Opera. |
3 . As an astronomer(天文学家)，I am accustomed to observing the universe in quiet places. I observe galaxies in the deep universe-places so far away that their light takes billions of years to reach our eyes.
Sometimes I wonder what our own galaxy looked like billions of years ago, before solar system was born. I often stare at the Hubble Deep Field(哈勃深空区)searching for clues∶galaxies colliding(碰撞)，stars exploding，and stellar nurseries. Can looking to the stars bring us closer together?
A couple of months ago，Betelgeuse，a bright star in the Orion constellation(猎户座) started to get dimmer and dimmer. Astronomers all over the world thought this might be a signal that the star was about to explode. Though it might not happen for another 1000 years or more, still I went outside every night to check it out. I was hoping that it would explode. Imagine seeing a star shining as bright as the full moon even during the day.
I started dreaming about using such an event to remind everyone that stars produce nearly all of the chemical elements in the universe, which came directly out of the Big Bang. Everything we breathe, touch and see was made inside of stars. The iron in our blood, calcium bones, and almost the entire periodic table are products of stellar evolution.
Betelgeuse did not explode, and more recent observations note that it is actually returning to normal. But nothing is normal here on Earth now. I am beginning to realize that we did not need a star to explode to unite us. All we needed was a common problem.
I am hoping that everyone on the planet is saving some time to contemplate（凝视，沉思)the universe and to realize we are not alone. No matter where we are or who we are, we are on this planet together. Since we are all made of stars, looking up at the night sky gives us a glimpse of our past and our future, and we can contemplate both together.
1. Why does the author write this article?| A．To advise others to stare at a potentially exploding star recently. |
| B．To research into the scientific mystery in the universe with readers. |
| C．To discuss the proper relationship between human and the universe. |
| D．To suggest us thinking about the way human beings live in this world. |
| A．is a star the author tracked for years |
| B．will produce chemical elements if it explodes |
| C．is a normal star which is disappearing |
| D．will explode in ten thousand years |
| A．Betelgeuse's potential explosion |
| B．Betelgeuse's getting dimmer and dimmer |
| C．the author's checking out every night |
| D．a star's shining as bright as the sun |
| A．What should an astronomer do? |
| B．Should we know more about the universe? |
| C．Looking to the stars can bring us closer together. |
| D．Getting united is a problem impossible to solve. |
4 . A few years ago, my father arranged to send me a mail-order fruitcake at Christmas time. Although I had a good job and apartment in Manhattan, he feared my cupboards might be bare. I had recently moved from California, where my parents still lived in their suburban bungalow (平房) of 50 years, the house I grew up in.
He wanted me to have a particular brand of fruitcake. A fruitcake, in his mind, was a perfect Christmas gift. Made in Texas, it was famous among fruitcake lovers — or at least, among people who gave fruitcake to those who were assumed to love them.
I knew there would be plenty to eat in California. For each Christmas, in addition to my mother’s cookies, fudge (乳脂软糖), and other treats, my father always gave my sister and me each a large bag of assorted foods he called, rather plainly, the “Food Bag”. One year, I secretly listed the contents of my Food Bag in a notebook for the day when I might not get a Food Bag for Christmas. That year, my bag contained a can of mixed nuts, a box of whole-wheat crackers, a Belgian chocolate bar, some English breakfast tea 9and many other items.
I was 44 when my father gave me that Food Bag, and he was 72.
That day before my flight to California, the fruitcake still hadn’t arrived. When my father called to wish me a safe trip and he said “Did you receive it?”
“Not yet,” I said. “Maybe it will be there today.” He regretted deeply about the lost fruitcake.
He remained hopefully the fruitcake would come by New Year’s Eve. But January, February and March came and went with no fruitcake. Though my father continued to ask about it. I never considered lying. Instead, I would say, “That cake is orbiting earth and sooner or later will land.”
As time went by, he would bring up the journey of his fruitcake. “I wonder where it is now.” he’d say.
Early last December, nearly a year after my father died, I got a call from a staffer of my apartment building, “You have a package.”
I went downstairs to pick it up. The brown box had a FedEx label with a return address in Texas.
1. What does the underlined word “bare” probably mean in Paragraph 1?| A．Plain. | B．Short. |
| C．Empty. | D．Abundant. |
| A．Treats from his parents. | B．A big Christmas dinner. |
| C．A food bag from his parents. | D．A Special fruitcake. |
| A．In Texas. | B．At Lost and Found. |
| C．In California. | D．In Manhattan. |
| A．Dad’s Mystery Package | B．Disturbing Delivery Service |
| C．My Favorite Food | D．Memorable Food Bags |
5 . Answering the Community Needs of Our City
The Siver City Council recognizes that citizens have certain needs. To better meet your needs, we have made several changes to community facilities in 2020. The followings shows how we have tried to make your life better.
Transport
☆Three stations for the suburbs have been added to the western train service.
☆20 new buses for the southern line were purchased in January.
☆50 per cent of city bus-stops have been upgraded.
Communication
☆Broadband cableis now available to ll parts of the city.
☆All of the new Government buildings are smart-wired for better computer service!
Medical Facilities
☆The new state-of-the-art Nightingale Hospital was opened in June.
☆To overcome a shortage of trained medical staff at Dover Hospital, 10 doctors have been employed from overseas.
☆Some facilities at Station Street Hospital have been upgraded.
Education
☆Textbooks will be free to all primary students in 2020!
☆Rental for private schools has been reduced.
Protection and Security
☆Extra police now patrol(巡逻)the tourist areas.
☆50 new police officers graduated in July and have taken up duties in the city area.
Entertainment/Recreation
☆The new Central Community Building opened in May.
☆5,000 new fiction books were bought for the Silver City Library.
1. What’s the notice mainly about?| A．The work carried out by the people of Silver City. |
| B．The facilities available in Silver City. |
| C．Some improvements in Silver City. |
| D．Information for interested tourists. |
| A．Travel books are provided in the new library. |
| B．More bus lines and stops are bought in Silver City. |
| C．Free medical treatment is available at Station Street Hospital. |
| D．There are more police officers on duty now. |
| A．the community | B．the local government |
| C．the Silver City Library | D．a travel agency |
6 . Welcome to Tropical North Queensland—the only place in the world where the Great Barrier Reef meets World-Heritage-listed rainforest. Home to two World Heritage-listed natural wonders—the grand Great Barrier Reef and the ancient Daintree Rainforest. Tropical (热带的) North Queensland is famous for having some of most specific natural attractions on earth.
Stretching 2000km and holding more than 3000 reefs (礁石) and corals (珊瑚), the Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations.
No matter your age or ability, you can easily explore the reef by taking a glass-bottom boat trip, scuba diving (水肺潜水), trying an ocean walk or flying overhead in a helicopter or plane.
There are also numerous ways to experience the beauty of the planet’s oldest tropical rainforest without having an impact on its clean environment, thanks to a huge range of eco-friendly options. While exploring these sites is on every visitor’s must-do list, there also are countless other exciting discoveries to be made in this wonderful sun-kissed corner of Australia.
Keep this important information on hand during your holiday.
Emergency
Police and fire services Ph: 000
Cairns Police Ph: +617 4030 7000
Cairns 24 Hour Medical Centre Ph: 617 4052 1119
Bank & shopping hours
Most banks are open from 9 am to 4 pm weekdays.
Major shopping centres are open 9 am-5 pm Monday to Saturday (with extended shopping until 9 pm on Thursday) and 10 am-4 pm Sunday.
Transportation
Sunbus, a local bus service, runs from the northern beaches to the southern suburbs through the Cairns CBD.
Visit www.sunbus.com.au or Ph: +617 4057 7411.
Cars, recreational vehicles, four-wheel drives, and bicycles are available for hire.
Visit www.transportation.com.au or Ph: +617 131 008.
1. What can you do in the Tropical North Queensland ?| A．Climb the Great Barrier Reef | B．Experience a desert walk |
| C．Take a wood-bottom boat trip | D．Explore the old rainforest |
| A．617 4052 1119 | B．617 4057 7411 |
| C．617 131 008 | D．617 4030 7000 |
| A．A scientific report | B．A tourist guidebook |
| C．A book review | D．A movie poster |
7 . Toys for the Techie In Your Life
BY NICOLE NGUYEN, JOANNA STERN AND WILSON ROTHMAN
Each fall, we look back at the year's best tech products, and list the ones we think are actually worth your money (and ours). So have at it!
Lexon Oblio Phone Sanitizer/Charger
This stylish nightstand vase is a Qi-compatible (兼容) wireless charger that powers up your phone while bathing it in ultraviolet light, which is known to reduce the spread of harmful bacteria and may also be effective in inactivating the new coronavirus, according to the FDA. $80; lexon-design.com
MaskFone
The MaskFone is really just a mask with a pouch (袋子) that holds a pair of Motorola wireless earbuds, but it does solve some highly annoying mask-headphone issues. The earbuds, attached to the belts, stay firmly in your ear when walking or running. No more flying AirPod when you remove the mask. Then, with the microphone shoved (推) inside, you don't sound like you're underwater every time you take a call. Just beware: since there's no phone in sight, people you pass will think you're talking to them under your mask. S50; maskfone.com
LuDela Real-Flame Smart Candles ,
Sure, our gift guide tends to include some curiosities, but this remote-controlled selflighting candle actually makes sense. It's not a wax burning candle, but a wax-cylinder lamp with refillable fuel canisters that each last about 100 hours, so it's always full size. Each one does cost... $99; ludela.com
iRobot Roomba i3+
Forget the past puppy. Get a latest robovac (robotic vacuum cleaner). The not-so-adorable, not-so-little autonomous vacuum is quick to navigate to the mess and impressively avoids obstacles. It even empties itself into its Clean Base station. Plus, with the improved app you can set its cleaning schedule, keep track of how much area it covered and remotely control it from anywhere in the house. $600; irobot.com
1. Where can we buy a wireless charger that can reduce the spread of harmful bacteria?| A．lexon-design.com. | B．maskfbne.com. | C．ludela.com. | D．irobot.com. |
| A．iRobot Roomba i3+ is a puppy. |
| B．iRobot Roomba i3+ has refillable fuel canisters that can last 100 hours. |
| C．iRobot Roomba i3+ is a self emptying robovac. |
| D．iRobot Roomba i3+ solves some highly annoying issues. |
| A．To encourage new technology. | B．To advertise several tech products. |
| C．To introduce toys for children. | D．To tell about new technology. |
8 . Today we communicate over the Internet all the time. In this blog post, I want to discuss how we keep our Internet communications well protected.
"How are the mobile apps safe?" I can hear you ask. It is a good question. They all use encryption（加密）to make sure no one else can eavesdrop on your messages with your friends, family, and business partners. Apple is one of the first to do this for its users; however, it started encrypting the message between iCloud users and the shortcoming is that the encryption only works between iCloud users.
Many of us are used to being able to take our computers down to the local coffee shop or with us when we travel, connect to any Wi-Fi, and then keep doing what we always do on the Internet. What you may not be aware of, however, is that public Wi-Fi is not encrypted. Anything done on those wireless networks can be known by some bad people. So how do you protect the wireless? It can be protected by using a Virtual Private Network（VPN）.
As with the encryption protection for E-Mail and messaging, there are a lot of VPN providers out there that don't cost a lot of money. Any person or organization can research and decide which one is best for their needs. Using a free VPN isn't suggested. Free VPN providers can be uncertain because they get much of their pay through pushing ads to their users. And they can follow and record what to do, which kind of fails the purpose of using a VPN in the first place.
Returning to how a VPN can protect your communications, we could go into a lot of details about what a VPN does, but we will keep it simple instead. Unlike the protection above, which is very specific, a VPN works by creating a passage between you and a distant server. This passage is encrypted, which means that everything you send through it is protected from being listened. This can be especially useful if you are working at a coffee shop or an airport.
1. Where does the text probably come from?| A．A website. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A personal diary. | D．A scientific magazine. |
| A．Care about. | B．Miss out on. |
| C．Get something by accident. | D．Listen secretly to something. |
| A．It works slowly. | B．It costs you too much. |
| C．It is unsafe sometimes. | D．It is limited to certain user. |
| A．requires extra fees for long-time usage |
| B．may cause risks to personal information |
| C．pushes ads according to your interest |
| D．fails to be encrypted sometimes |
9 . Our busy modern lives don't always make it easy for us to plan healthy meals. These books provide a guide to different types of healthy diets and plenty of recipes and hacks to keep your eating on track.
The Blue Zones Solution
Author Dan Buettner defines Blue Zones as places in the world where people have recorded as living the longest. The Blue Zones Solution explores diet and lifestyle techniques used in areas like Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy, and more. Buettner explains how you can apply these to your own daily life. There are recipes and checklists to help you create your own Blue Zone.
Food to Live By
Food to Live By takes things back to the basics. Myra Goodman, author and cofounder of Earthbound Farm, focuses on cooking simple dishes with organic ingredients. The recipes are easy to prepare and include important information about care and handling of ingredients. Goodman also includes full-colored photos of her dishes.
Wildly Affordable Organic
Eating organic is a healthier choice because the food is free of pesticides and antibiotics. Unfortunately, it can also be an expensive option. Wildly Affordable Organic gives you tricks to eat well without the high price. There are tips for how to make your family's lifestyle greener, save money on grocery runs, and cook easy seasonal meals.
The New Primal Blueprint
The New Primal Blueprint is an update on author Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint, released in 2009. It continues to focus on the benefits of eating the way our primal ancestors did and emphasizes Sisson's lifestyle laws for health and well-being. In addition to expanded and updated information, the new book comes with updated photos, graphics, and cartoons.
1. What does The Blue Zones Solution mainly feature?| A．Live longer with your own recipes. |
| B．Live your own life to the fullest. |
| C．Seek recipes from long-lived people. |
| D．Apply book knowledge to daily life. |
| A．They are about eating organic. |
| B．They are written by the same author. |
| C．They concerns ways of making dishes. |
| D．They offer full-colored photos of dishes. |
| A．It focuses on health. | B．It is an updated version. |
| C．It emphasizes lifestyles. | D．It contains good photos. |
10 . Poor sleep and junk food contributes to poor performance at school among primary school children, a leading nutritional expert has warned. Her speech comes after a report showing that one in five Irish teachers has reported their young pupils are suffering from a lack (缺乏) of sleep and basic nutrition.
Nutritional expert Dee Daly, who runs classes teaching healthy eating habits for the whole family, said: “If you haven’t slept well, it affects your appetite (胃口) and you are more likely to reach for sugary foods and carbohydrates (碳水化合物). Studies in the US and UK have shown that this in turn creates difficulties in terms of behavior, concentration and performance in the classroom.”
An international study recently found that in Irish 22% of primary teachers reported their pupils were suffering from a lack of basic nutrition and 4% said this was completely limiting their teaching. And the study also found that about 66% of 10-year-old pupils in Irish were suffering from a lack of enough sleep, which is almost 14% above the international average in 60 countries.
TVs and computers in children's bedrooms are being blamed for sleep disturbance (干扰), with 54% of 10-year-olds here reporting that they have both in their rooms.
She recommends a combination of "sleep hygiene” and proper nutrition.
“Your bedroom should be like a bet cave-cool, dark and quiet. Blue light from computers, iPads and TV screens keeps your brain awake for longer and children shouldn't be texting under the covers on their mobile phones.”
She stresses the importance of creating a sleep pattern where children calm down before they go to bed and eat a proper breakfast with a balance of proteins and complex carbohydrates to set them up for school.
1. When a pupil has a poor sleep, he will probably___________.| A．dislike any carbohydrate |
| B．behave much better at school |
| C．have poor concentration in class |
| D．have good performance in the classroom |
| A．22% | B．44% | C．52% | D．66% |
| A．It is better to put a computer or iPad in the bedroom. |
| B．Children should be prevented from texting at home. |
| C．We should let the pupil live in a cat cave. |
| D．We should keep the bedroom dark and quiet. |
| A．A combination of good sleep and proper breakfast is important for pupils. |
| B．Parents should buy enough sugary foods and carbohydrates for children. |
| C．It is better to contact with teachers regularly. |
| D．TV screens are not very suitable for pupils. |
