1 . Being perfect is something many of us want and try to achieve. It makes us feel we’re correct and that our hard work has paid off. However, as much as perfection and being perfect is not all a perfect thing.
Perfection is all about being without mistakes and criticism. Wanting or trying to be perfect can make it hard to admit a mistake. Nevertheless, it is important to admit mistakes and work to fix them. Not being able to take criticism and fix mistakes is being proud, not perfection.
Perfection is a double-edged sword. In our lives, we want perfection. Perfection holds us responsible; it’s the mistakes and imperfection that keeps pushing us harder and further at what we do. It’s the perfect motivator. But it’s also the perfect killer. For example, the movie “Black Swan” showcased how perfection can kill us. Working and training and stress hurt our body, mind, and so much more that we can’t do it any more.
But perfection can also have the opposite effect. The movie “High Strung” showed that perfection doesn’t exist, but practicing and pushing ourselves can bring us great rewards. In “Black Swan,” the main character tried to be perfect but he also compared himself to someone else who he thought was better than him. This added more pressure and self-doubt, which can cause unhealthy ways of achieving perfection. The main character of “Black Swan” didn’t know when to stop, whereas the main character of “High Strung” did, or at least didn’t focus so much on the comparison, and instead focused on the competition and the ones she cared about.
Perfection is something we can’t live without and can’t live with. The only way to keep the sword from cutting us is if we know when to stop. Some days are going to be good days and others will be bad. We have to take whatever day it is — perfect or imperfect — and hope that’s enough.
1. What is the common belief about perfection according to Paragraph 1?| A．Being perfect makes us feel fulfilled. |
| B．Being perfect is what all of us long for. |
| C．Being perfect is not good at all. |
| D．Being perfect is out of reach. |
| A．To tell us “Black Swan ” is worth seeing. | B．To advise us to stop trying hard. |
| C．To show the benefits of perfection. | D．To warn us of the harm of perfection. |
| A．Try not to make mistakes. | B．Stop before going too far. |
| C．Push ourselves harder. | D．Prove our ability to others. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Objective. | D．Disapproving. |
2 . Parenting styles and choices are known to influence the way that children develop and grow. Researchers are now discovering more about a similar relationship between owners and their pets. How you “parent” your dog has an impact on the kind of dog it grows up to be.
The researchers studied 48 dog owners and their dogs, asking them to complete a pet parenting style survey before joining in three behavioral tests in the lab, assessing attachments and interactions between the dog and their human owners. Then researchers put the dog owners into three categories: authoritative (high expectations, high responsiveness), authoritarian (high expectations, low responsiveness), and permissive (low expectations, high responsiveness). The three behavioral tests covered attachment (how the dog responded to its owner during close interactions), sociability (how the dog responded when a stranger and its owner changed places with one another in the testing room), and problem-solving.
Dogs with authoritative owners had the highest rate of secure attachment and were highly social and sensitive to social context, compared to dogs with authoritarian or permissive owners. What’s more, the only dogs to solve the problem best came from the authoritative group. So researchers came with the conclusion that an owner who’s highly responsive to a dog’s behavior and needs tends to lead to a more social, secure, and smart dog.
The study matches up in some ways with previous research into parents and kids, specifically that children with authoritative parents are more likely to show secure attachment. It is thought to be because of the reliable support they get. “This research shows that the pet dog-human caretaker bond may be functionally and emotionally similar to the bond between a human parent and their child,” says behavioral scientist Lauren Brubaker.
For now, though the study is enough to show that there is some kind of relationship between the approach we take as dog owners and the way that those dogs then behave, there are even numerous other factors in play. “We still need to conduct more research in this area,” said the researchers in their published paper.
1. What can we know about the research?| A．Behavioral tests were conducted before a pet parenting style survey. |
| B．The authoritarian dog owners had lower expectations and responsiveness. |
| C．The behavioral tests included attachment, sociability and problem-solving. |
| D．The dogs were defined into 3 types: authoritative, authoritarian and permissive. |
| A．The purpose of the research. | B．The findings of the research. |
| C．The process of the research. | D．The participants of the research. |
| A．parents | B．pet masters | C．dog owners | D．children |
| A．To inform readers of a research finding. |
| B．To advertise some different pet parenting styles. |
| C．To instruct parents how to parent their kids. |
| D．To persuade dog owners to be authoritative. |
3 . Reading doesn’t come naturally to people, but most of us have learned how. Eighty-six percent of the world’s population is literate (有读写能力的), and this rate has been increasing for centuries. Literacy makes it possible to sail in a world filled with books, websites, text messages, road signs and more.
Could a growing number of people take part in today’s world without reading or writing at all? Technology makes it possible. Most of our devices now talk to us and take spoken commands. Smart cars ask for a destination and then give directions. Smart virtual assistants listen for requests to report the weather, play a song, set a timer, order groceries, and much more. Software can also read text aloud or turn speech into text. These interactions aren’t perfect — the software still makes silly mistakes. But it’s getting better and better. It’s possible to imagine a future world where all of our communication with our devices and each other is spoken.
But reading and writing are powerful tools. For one, most people read faster than they speak. A podcaster or audio book narrator (讲述者) speaks at around 150 to 160 words per minute, while a strong reader can go through a text at 300 to 400 words per minute. That’s twice as fast! Research has also found that people remember more information and stay more interested when they read compared with when they listen. Learning to read also creates new connections in the brain. In her book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Maryanne Wolf writes that with the invention of reading, human beings “rearranged the very organization of our brain, which in turn widened the ways we were able to think, which changed the intellectual evolution (进化) of our species.” Would we really choose to give up that progress? What do you think? Do you hope people keep on reading and writing, or will technology make literacy out of date?
1. What does the second paragraph focus on?| A．Technology makes up for illiteracy. | B．Many people have problems with literacy. |
| C．Technology is a double-edged sword. | D．Technology is changing fast. |
| A．Gather more information. | B．Remember less clearly. |
| C．Show less interest. | D．Learn more words. |
| A．To give an example of a book on reading. | B．To show the evolution of human beings. |
| C．To prove that reading is related to brain. | D．To stress the function of the brain. |
| A．A textbook. | B．An encyclopedia. |
| C．A book review. | D．A science magazine. |
4 . Last year I went to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, and it blew my mind. It had been my dream to attend the famous carnival for many years, so I was excited. However, the moment I arrived, I was a little bit nervous because there were so many people on the streets. They say that five or six million people come to Rio during carnival time and about two million of them are on the streets on any given day. Luckily, I had a local guide, my sisterˈs friend Ronnie. He said he would take care of me and show me all the highlights. He did not let me down.
The carnival is most definitely all about the samba. Itˈs a style of music and dance which has its roots in Africa. Lots of Africans were used as slave labor by the Portuguese when Brazil was being colonized (殖民), so this mixed culture of African, Latin and European styles is really strong here. Samba music is usually fast and exciting with a lot of drums and harmonic vocals (和声). Itˈs the kind of music that you canˈt help dancing to, and I was learning that as I followed Ronnie through the crowd, my hips and shoulders were swinging (摇摆) almost involuntarily.
Ronnie had got us tickets for the samba parade, the symbol of Brazilian culture, inside the Sambadrome where the top samba schools compete for the championship title, but we still had a long way to go through the street parties. He said most people enjoy the carnival by making their own parties in the street. About the samba parade, twelve main teams compete for the championship, and if they win, their performance will be talked about for years to come. So, you must be wondering how it was. Well, Iˈm afraid I canˈt tell you. Ronnie and I never made into the Sambadrome. We spent the day moving from one street party to another. There were more snacks, more drinks and lots of dancing. Do I regret missing the main parade? Not at all. I experienced the carnival like the locals, and it was truly amazing.
1. What made the author nervous in the beginning?| A．Busy schedule. | B．The big crowd. |
| C．No local guide. | D．Culture shock. |
| A．It has its origin in America. | B．It is not the taste of the author. |
| C．It has a long and mixed culture. | D．Its music is usually slow and soft. |
| A．she met some amazing local people |
| B．she didnˈt have the tickets for the parade |
| C．she celebrated the festival in a local way |
| D．she enjoyed herself by making her own parties |
| A．To recommend a helpful guide. |
| B．To tell a painful history of Rio de Janeiro. |
| C．To encourage people to learn samba. |
| D．To share an unforgettable experience. |
5 . Interest in sleep tourism is increasing, with a number of establishments focusing their attention on those suffering from sleep disorder.
Over the past 12 months, Park Hyatt New York has opened the Bryte Restorative Sleep Suite, a 900-square-foot suite filled with sleep-enhancing amenities (便利设施), while Rosewood Hotels Resorts recently launched a collection of retreats called the Alchemy of Sleep, which are designed to “promote rest”, and Swedish manufacturer Hastens established the world’s first Hastens Sleep Spa Hotel, a 15-room boutique hotel a year later.
Dr Rebecca Robbins, a sleep researcher and co-author of the book Sleep for Success! believes this shift has been around for a long time, particularly with regards to hotels. “When it comes down to it, travelers book hotels for a place to sleep,” she says, before pointing out that in the past the hotel industry has primarily been focused on things that actually detract from sleep. “People often associate travel with luxury meals, the attractions and the things they do while they’re traveling, really almost at the cost of sleep.” she adds.
According to Dr Robbins, travel experiences centering around “healthy sleep strategies” that aim to supply guests with the tools they need to improve their sleep can be hugely beneficial, if an excellent medical or scientific expert is involved in some way to help to determine whether there may be something else at play.
Mandarin Oriental in Geneva has taken things a step further by teaming up with CENAS, a private medical sleeping clinic in Switzerland, to create a three-day program that studies guests’ sleeping patterns in order to identify potential sleeping disorders, giving professional suggestions if necessary.
As sleep tourism continues to grow, Dr Robbins says she’s looking forward to seeing “who really continues to pioneer and think creatively about this space”, stressing that there are countless means that haven’t been fully explored yet when it comes to travel and the science of sleep.
1. What is the main purpose of paragraph 2?| A．To list the consequences of sleep disorder. |
| B．To provide evidence for the rise of sleep tourism. |
| C．To highlight the importance of quality sleep. |
| D．To prove the popularity of some hotels. |
| A．Reduce. | B．Benefit. | C．Measure. | D．Analyze. |
| A．It sets up a private medical sleeping clinic in its hotel. |
| B．It offers professionally medical help in sleeping problems. |
| C．It provides special tour route for people with sleeping disorders. |
| D．It suggests some good and scientific sleeping bedding. |
| A．It needs to be systematized. | B．It meets some doubts. |
| C．It is facing bottleneck. | D．It’s promising. |
6 . Every Sunday at 2 p.m., Marisela Godinez, the owner of El Mesón Tequilería, a Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas, used to fill a 12-gallon bucket, plus another half-bucket, with leftover food from the restaurant’s all-you-can-eat brunch buffet. “We threw out a lot of food,” she said.
But a few months ago Ms. Godinez signed up to use an app called Too Good To Go. Now, 10 customers pick up “surprise bags” of her leftovers for $5.99 each, and she sends far fewer leftovers to the landfill.
Too Good To Go has tried to gamify (游戏化) buying leftover food. In the United States, customers in 12 cities can browse restaurants and stores, then reserve “surprise bags” that typically cost about $4 to $6 and contain food that would have been originally priced at roughly three times that amount. The bags can be picked up at a certain time window.
Around the country, apps that connect customers to businesses with leftover food have begun to spread. The concept is simple: Restaurants and grocery stores throw away huge amounts of food every day. Rather than trash it, apps like Too Good To Go and Flashfood help businesses sell it at a reduced price. They claim that the businesses and buyers are helping the environment because the food would otherwise become food waste, a big contributor to climate change.
Food production itself is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for between a quarter and a third of global emissions. Each step of the process — growing, harvesting, moving, processing, packaging, storing and preparing food — releases carbon dioxide, methane(甲烷) and other planet-warming gases. When the food is wasted, so are all those emissions. In addition, once unused food reaches landfills, it breaks down and releases more methane.
According to interviews with several companies selling on Too Good To Go, at least a few items for sale there aren’t necessarily what buyers might think of as “food waste.” A beverage (饮料) company owner George White said he not only used the app to sell discontinued products, but also sold new flavors there in hopes of attracting new customers.
1. Why did Ms. Godinez use Too Good To Go?| A．To advertise her delicate dishes. | B．To reduce customers’ complaints. |
| C．To provide a range of recipes. | D．To avoid wasting leftover buffet. |
| A．They can watch the live stream. | B．They can order whatever they want. |
| C．They can pick a “surprise” food bargain. | D．They can deliver less trash to landfill. |
| A．The steps of processing food contribute much to the planet. |
| B．Food production is closely related to green gas emission. |
| C．Global warming will be worsened by using the app. |
| D．Unused food will take years to break down. |
| A．He is taking advantage of the app to make more profits. |
| B．He doesn’t think selling food waste on the app is necessary. |
| C．He thinks the app is an environmentally-friendly game. |
| D．He can’t help picking a lot of “surprise bags” himself. |
7 . When summer night falls and the streetlights go on, a dozen cars arrive at an open outdoor space. Drivers open their car trunks and set up stalls (摊位) outside their vehicles. They are selling handmade cakes, coffee and iced drinks, as well as other inexpensive goods out of trunk, while customers relax nearby in camping chairs, listening to live bands and enjoying the soft summer evening.
Car stall fairs emerged as trendy play last summer in cities across China. For the past six months, selling hand-brewed coffee at car stall fairs on the outskirts of Xi’an, Shaanxi province, has been Zhuang Shenyang’s main way of supporting his family, with a daily income ranging from 50 ($6.98) to 2,000 yuan.
The 40-year-old — who learned oil painting in college — had to find ways to support his family last year after he closed down his training school. “After staying at home for several months without income, I made up my mind to go out to earn money, even if it was running a stall on the streets,” he said. He was inspired by a conversation with a roadside food vendor (小贩) earlier this year and found that the business with little investment can make a living.
He sets up his mobile stall almost every day and has attracted many regular customers. “People don’t just come for coffee, they like to sit and talk, often staying into the night,” Zhuang said. “It’s a way young people like to socialize outdoors.”
He named his coffee stall “A Coffee Bar in Debt” with self-deprecating (自嘲的) humor. “I want to convey an attitude that even though I am in debt, I will never ‘let it rot’,” Zhuang said. “The popularity of the fairs shows that many people’s incomes have been affected by the epidemic, but they don’t want to ‘lie flat’ at home; instead, they work hard,” he said.
1. What do we know about car stall fairs?| A．It is organized by the government. |
| B．It provides oil painting classes. |
| C．It enhances the sales of cars. |
| D．It enriches people’s leisure lives. |
| A．He got it on the Tiktok. | B．He learned it in a training school. |
| C．He knew it from a stall keeper. | D．He heard it from his wife. |
| A．Skillful and warm-hearted. |
| B．Humorous and cautious. |
| C．Sincere and sensible. |
| D．Responsible and enterprising. |
| A．Night stall fairs are catching on. | B．A 40-year-old refuses to lie flat. |
| C．How can we start a mobile stall? | D．Young people favor handmade food. |
8 . Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher, once noted that boredom was the “dream bird that hatches the egg of experience”. However, the creative flights of fancy which often arise from having little to do are being killed off by social media, researchers argued. Viewing mindlessly through attention-grabbing posts and videos prevents “profound (深层的) boredom” that can drive people on to new passions or skills. Instead, people find themselves in a state of “superficial boredom”, which does not motivate creative thought.
Dr Timothy Hill, leader of the research team at the University of Bath, said, “The problem we observed was that social media can ease superficial boredom. But that also consumes time and energy, and may prevent people progressing to a state of profound boredom, where they might discover new passions. Profound boredom may sound like a negative concept but, in fact, it can be intensely positive if people are given the chance for undisturbed thinking and development.
Researchers interviewed 15 people during the pandemic (流行病), when boredom was more likely because of restrictions. Many described being trapped in regularly daily walks and watching television, with many turning to social media to pass the time. But although the participants said that social media provided a temporary escape from superficial boredom, it also appeared to exacerbate it, leaving them feeling they had wasted their time.
The pandemic was a painful and consuming experience for thousands of less fortunate people. But there are stories of those in lockdown who found new hobbies, careers or directions in life. Switching off devices could help people reach the state of boredom which pushes them on to new hobbies or achievements.
This research has given us a window to understand how the “always-on”, 24/7 culture and devices that promise an abundance of information and entertainment may be fixing our superficial boredom but are actually preventing us from finding more meaningful things.
1. Why are Walter Benjamin’s words mentioned?| A．To call for attention to the research on boredom. |
| B．To comment on the strategies to face loneliness. |
| C．To offer advice on developing creative thinking. |
| D．To clarify the problem caused by social media. |
| A．Profound boredom is of value. |
| B．Social media can fuel passions. |
| C．The research has some limitations. |
| D．Creative thought is easily disturbed. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Break. |
| C．Inspire. | D．Worsen. |
| A．Why people enjoy boredom |
| B．How boredom helps kill time |
| C．Why being bored may be good for you |
| D．How social media blocks creative ideas |
9 . It is very important to stay healthy. A lot of people aren’t aware of many benefits of daily exercise and only begin to do so when health complications (并发症) happen. Why then is it important to stay healthy?
Regular exercises will help you burn extra body fat and keep your body vigorous. There are many health complications related to having too much body fat. Heart diseases that are often very deadly are mostly a result of extra body fat.
Exercising keeps you sharp at all times. Keeping your body active also improves the functioning of the brain. Any kind of exercise is terrific. Most sports are excellent for keeping the body in good health, such as, basketball, swimming, bicycling, running and so on. Sports are not only good for your body, but they are enjoyable and interesting, too. There is a reason why most athletes are usually happy. Maybe the reason why you stay angry easily all the time is due to lack of exercise.
Fitness exercises are ideal for strength building. Regular daily exercise will build body muscles and improve your physical strength. They are also important in strengthening your back for good postures. People generally become less active as they grow older, especially when they have small kids that expect to play with them. Daily fitness will help you get the much needed strength and activity to keep up with the youthful energy of your children. Exercising also slows down the aging process by tightening your skin and increasing your body’s metabolic (新陈代谢的) rate.
Exercising is very important and some of the results of not joining in daily fitness are dangerous. Having fitness goals that actually mean something to you will help you develop a controlled daily fitness and achieve your desired result. These are just some of the benefits of having a strong fitness program. Many people ignore them and just begin to suffer from lifestyle diseases in their later lives. Exercise is very significant.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．Lots of people are too busy to exercise. |
| B．Lots of people are used to staying quiet. |
| C．Lots of people keep exercising when they are sick. |
| D．Lots of people don’t realize the advantages of daily exercise. |
| A．Fit. | B．Thin. | C．Young. | D．Graceful. |
| A．We can’t get ill. | B．We will eat more food, |
| C．We can become energetic. | D．We will become beautiful. |
| A．What do people think about keeping fit? | B．Why is exercise significant to keep fit? |
| C．What kind of exercise are good for health? | D．Why do people go to gymnasium to exercise? |
10 . Tugce Seren Gul’s aunt and grandmother were killed in Antakya in Turkey’s southeast. Every night, she waits until 4： 17 a. m. in the morning, the exact time that the disaster hit, to try to go to sleep. “I keep thinking another disaster will strike at that time and just wait for it to pass,” said the 28-year-old Gul.
Experts fear children will be hardest hit. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said many of the more than 5. 4 million children who live across the area affected by the earthquake were at risk of developing anxiety, depression and other disorders.
“We know how important learning and routine are for children and their recovery,UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan said after a visit to Turkey. “They need to be able to resume their education, and they urgently need psychological support to help deal with the trauma they have experienced.
Psychologist and professor at MEF University, Ayse Bilge Selcuk, said, “As rising poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic have hurt the country, the stress is chronic, meaning that the tension continues over time.” “For this nation to get back on its feet, we need to find that strength within us and that starts with our psychologyshe added. Anxiety, helplessness and depression are likely to be common and young people could feel anger. ” Rebuilding efforts should include mental health,“ Selcuk said. She urged the government to provide money for training psychologists to be sent to the earthquake areas to stay there. “We shouldn’t withdraw our attention three months later, ”she said.
1. What is Gul’s problem after the earthquake?| A．She is too sad about her relatives’ being killed. |
| B．She can’t fall asleep until another disaster passes every night. |
| C．She can not sleep all the night. |
| D．She is suffering mental health damage. |
| A．More than 5. 4 million children have mental health problems. |
| B．International aid is the main solution. |
| C．Focusing on mental relief should last. |
| D．Young people respond angrily to the government. |
| A．Permanent. | B．Destructive. | C．Poisonous. | D．Unbearable. |
| A．Experts5 Suggestions about Turkey5 Rebuilding after Quake |
| B．Mental Healthcare? an Important Part of Recovery from Turkey Quake |
| C．Healthcare Provided for Children in Turkey Urgently |
| D．Experts’ Concerns for Problems Caused by Turkey Quake |
