1 . WHEN KIM JI-UN lived in Seoul, she worried about finding a good job. Now, she is worried that drought may ruin her crop. The 23-year-old started a farm last year. Her first harvest was a success; she was surprised that her black beans did better than her strawberries.

Ms Kim is part of a phenomenon called kwichon, or returning to rural life. Created a millennium ago, kwichon appears during periods of economic hardship. This time, in the wake of the pandemic, many new farmers have never lived in the countryside before. By planting young farmers in rural areas, the government hopes to enjoy big rewards in future.

The plan is working. In 2021 nearly 380, 000 people moved to the countryside. Comfort with digital technology gives young farmers a leg up, says Cho Kyung-ik, the director of the Beginning Farmer’s Centre, an institution educating those who wish to kwichon at its downtown offices. They sell fresh produce on Naver, South Korea’s largest search engine.

The centre teaches techniques like how to use a tractor or select the best crops. It arranges a trial period during which ambitious farmers work under the guidance of an old hand, learning what it means to do back-breaking labour from dawn to dusk.

The most important lesson is how to get on with the locals. The villagers are also offered tips on how to act towards the newcomers. That part is not yet a total success. Ms Kim says her neighbors have a bad temper. “The old people come in here and give me unwanted advice, or say that I will never be able to grow anything,” she says. Her black beans beg to differ. She and the South Korean government will be hoping that her crops put the argument to rest for good.

1. Why does the writer tell Ms Kim’s story?

A．To explain a solution.	B．To introduce a topic.
C．To start a discussion.	D．To make a comparison.

2. What does the underlined “a leg up” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．A helping hand.	B．A new identity.
C．A big reward.	D．A different idea.

3. What is the challenge for the young farmers?

A．Farming techniques.	B．Hard work.
C．Communicative skills.	D．Unwanted advice.

4. What can we infer from kwichon in South Korea?

A．Farming makes huge profits.	B．Locals need technical training.
C．It helps to bring rural areas back to life.	D．Government should help farmers.

3 . A strong hit to the head will normally give you a concussion(脑震荡). Woodpeckers(啄木鸟), however, strike their beaks(喙) into trees thousands of times a day and are perfectly fine.

We used to think that a woodpecker’s skull(头骨) worked as a kind of safety helmet which absorbed the shocks. A new study by Sam Van Wassenbergh, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, proved that this “common sense” was in fact false.

Van Wassenbergh and his colleagues argued that, if a woodpecker’s head absorbed the force, it would not be able to strike the tree with enough force.

“If the beak absorbed much of its own impact, the unlucky bird would have to pound even harder,” they said in their paper. In other words, if the theory were true, the woodpecker would have to peck even harder to compensate for both the shock-absorbing qualities of the sponge-like bone inside its skull as well as the density(密度) of the wood.

The scientists recorded four different kinds of woodpeckers in zoos as they were pecking. The team used data from their high-speed recordings to build digital models of the woodpeckers. Van Wassenbergh described the woodpeckers motion as “a hammer(锤子) hitting wood” since their movement appeared rigid and focused.

The research suggested that woodpeckers don’t have any shock-absorbing device or the ability to reduce the amount of force. Although they are without “helmets”, the team claimed that the woodpeckers’ tiny size and weight protect them.

A woodpecker’s brain is about 700 times smaller than that of a human. “Smaller animals can withstand higher deceleration(减速). Think about a fly that hits a window and then just flies back again,” Van Wassenbergh said. “So that is why even the hardest hits we observed are not expected to cause any concussion.

1. What did people use to believe about woodpeckers when they peck trees?

A．Their beaks could spread the shocks they produce.

B．They could stand slight concussions.

C．Their bodies were soft enough to absorb the force.

D．Their heads were able to reduce the shocks.

2. What does the underlined word “impact” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Influence.

B．Shock.

C．Limit.

D．Benefit.

3. Which of the following statements about the experiment proves to be true?

A．Woodpeckers do not have special safety devices.

B．How woodpeckers peck depends on their type.

C．Density of the wood affects a woodpeckers pecking force.

D．The shock absorber theory is mostly correct.

4. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A guidebook.

B．A medical report.

C．A science magazine.

D．An advertisement.

4 . Did you watch the popular TV series Meet Yourself during your winter vacation? In the TV series, the heroine Xu Hongdou travels to a village in Yunnan province and volunteers at a local cafe. She gets free meals in return. As the show finds a growing audience, volunteer travel—an old-yet-modern form of travel similar to Xu’s type of work—has attracted more attention.

Volunteer travel refers to taking a trip where all or part of the purpose of the trip is to participate in an arranged service opportunity to help others. During the trip, volunteer travelers often provide services like teaching, cooking, animal caring and cultural activities. In exchange for their help, the volunteers may get free or discounted accommodation, meals and laundry, activities, or classes.

Traditionally, the volunteer activities take place in a foreign country. However, just as what Meet Yourself describes, more volunteer trips have taken place within the same countries or regions the volunteers originate from in recent years. Sanlian Lifeweek magazine commented that volunteer projects in rural (乡村的) areas are now attracting more urban (城市的) visitors as a break from the fast and stressful pace of urban living. Yang Yan, a founder of a volunteer platform, told the magazine that it has indeed been a growing trend for urban residents to volunteer in rural areas.

People try volunteer travel for several reasons. By working voluntarily while traveling, travelers may make a real, positive impact on the world. The services volunteers provide can be through charities with lower costs for the communities they serve. Another benefit of volunteer travel is that it helps urban residents to experience rural life. For those who are sick of urban pressure but can’t make up their minds whether to move permanently to the countryside, volunteer travel can be a solution. In this way, as Yang comments, travelers can catch some relief from their busy lives, while rural communities also benefit by receiving more customers for local tourism industries and temporary high-quality labor.

1. Why does the author mention Meet Yourself in the beginning of the text?

A．To raise readers’ interest in the TV series.	B．To encourage readers to visit Yunnan.
C．To show the popularity of this TV series.	D．To introduce the topic of the text.

2. What can we learn about volunteer travel from the text?

A．Its only purpose is to help others.

B．It requires travelers to be highly educated.

C．Its travelers can get something in return for their help.

D．It’s typically organized by those who want to make money.

3. Why are more urban residents attracted by volunteer projects in rural areas nowadays?

A．To give back to society.	B．To take a break from busy lives.
C．To provide high-quality labor.	D．To support the rural tourism industry.

4. Volunteer travel has all the following benefits EXCEPT________.

A．The communities can receive high-quality labor with no costs.

B．Urban travelers get a chance to experience country life.

C．It can relieve travelers from the urban pressure.

D．It creates a win-win situation for the volunteers and the communities they serve.

5 . As the foreign English teacher at my school in China, I have a weekly English music broadcast where I show different English songs. I try to get the students to recommend songs to me for the broadcast. At the broadcast, I usually announce who recommended the song and then play it for everyone to hear during lunch time.

I give everyone a chance to share themselves through their music, including one tough student of mine. This student constantly gets into fights with the other students, doesn’t study, and brings down the energy of the class. Most of the other teachers and students push him away. I knew though that he just needed a friend, or at least someone he can connect with.

I could tell he was warming up to me over the last year. I told him to think of a song he liked that has some English words in it and that I would play it on the broadcast for him. He eventually recommended a song. I actually really liked the song so I put it on the broadcast and made sure to announce his name, so everyone knew that he contributed and recommended such a great song. Needless to say, the boy was thrilled, and he’s been much happier and focused in English class ever since.

While everyone else misunderstood him and pushed him away, I saw right through and knew that he just needed someone who acknowledged him and gave him a chance. There’s still a language barrier between us, but words aren’t needed, you can always sense where you’re at with someone.

He recently walked by me and gave me the most genuine smile that I’ve ever seen. My coworker turned to me and said, “I’ve never seen him smile like that before. How did you get through to him?” “I gave him a chance,” I said, “through just one song.”

1. What’s the author’s purpose of running the English music broadcast?

A．To relieve students of learning pressure.	B．To help students have a great lunch time.
C．To encourage students to share their feelings.	D．To improve students’ listening skills.

2. What does the underlined word “thrilled” mean in Paragraph 2?

A．Excited.

B．Depressed.

C．Confused.

D．Satisfied.

3. What can we infer from the text?

A．Colleagues are jealous of my ability to educate tough students.

B．It’s important to give the tough student a chance to show himself.

C．The tough student can communicate freely with me.

D．Others tried to be friendly to the tough student but failed.

4. Which one can be the best title for the text?

A．The Teacher’s Responsibility	B．The English Music Broadcast
C．The Magic Power of Music	D．Others’ Impression on the Tough Student

8 . You might see loneliness as someone (usually an old person) sits alone, staring into the distance or out of a window. Such images are deceptive. Researchers have actually found that those who report experiencing loneliness the most are young people, and such images of solitude (孤独) don’t match the experience of loneliness during youth. Those years are typically spent surrounded by other people, at school or at work.

Loneliness during youth can be defined as a negative feeling about a difference between the relationships we have and those we want. This means we might feel lonely in the company of others if we don’t feel they understand us or share common interests with us. Although loneliness is often a difficult experience, it can help us to reconnect and to rethink our relationships so that we can build (or seek out) the ones that mean the most to us.

There are certain features of youth that tend to give rise to loneliness. In youth, our friendships are increasingly important in providing us with emotional support. Research shows that young people have higher expectations of their friendships than adults do; they show a preference for larger friend groups, more companionship and higher frequency of contact with friends. When we consider that loneliness serves the function of keeping us safe within our social world, it makes sense that the feeling like we do not “fit in”, as so many young people feel, gives rise to loneliness. Another reason is our developing sense of self-discovering who we are. That often means changes to values or beliefs. It can be challenging when your friends are going through the same process, but might not follow the same path as you. Young people often report feeling lonely at school, while home is a comfortable space. But when there are difficulties at home — such as arguments or tension with family members and the departure of supportive family members — these can make the feeling of loneliness worse.

If you find yourself feeling lonely and it seems like nothing is helping, do not give up hope. It is likely that you have not yet found the strategy that works for you. Here are some practical steps you can try, starting with what you can do on your own and moving on to ways to connect with others.

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “deceptive” in paragraph 1?

A．irrelevant

B．disgraceful

C．misleading

D．unfortunate

2. What does loneliness of young people usually refer to?

A．Not having a preference for dealing with tough things alone.

B．Not having friends or family for company when in trouble.

C．Not having interest in others’ school life within the social world.

D．Not having positive attitude to the present relationships with others.

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the reason of young people’s loneliness?

A．Discovery of self-identity.	B．Desire for more friends.
C．Difficulties at home.	D．Unfamiliar environments.

4. What will the text probably talk about next?

A．Suggestions on how to beat loneliness.

B．More reasons that cause the feeling of loneliness.

C．Strategies to deal with the arguments or tension in family.

D．Ways to face the departure of supportive family members.

9 . The idea of low material desire, low consumption and refusing to work, marry and have children, concluded as a “lying down” lifestyle, recently struck a chord with many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly-competitive society.

Many millennials (千禧一代) and generation Zs complained to the Global Times that burdens, including work stress, family disputes and financial strains, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution(内卷),” joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get trapped in an endless competition against peers.

“Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary lying down as catharsis (宣泄) and adjustment,” said a scholar. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”

Interestingly, the majority of millennials and Gen Zs reached by the Global Times, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, acknowledged that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel guilty about their constant loss of morale (士气) far beyond their reach.

“Young people on campus have both aspirations and confusion about their future, but most of us have rejected setting ourselves up in chains to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”

1. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Warned.

B．Punished.

C．Amused.

D．Touched.

2. What might have caused the “lying down” lifestyle among the young?

A．Improvements in living conditions.

B．Growing pressure from family and social life.

C．Increasing material possessions from families.

D．Temporary adjustment to failure in competitions.

3. What’s the scholar’s attitude toward the “lying down” group?

A．Understanding.

B．Intolerant.

C．Supportive.

D．Unclear.

4. What can be inferred about the young generation from the text?

A．They never really drop their responsibilities.

B．They really enjoy the “lying down” lifestyle.

C．They find their dreams far beyond their reach.

D．They would rather escape than take challenges.