1 . Chinese cuisine is widely known and enjoyed all around the world. Who doesn’t long for a favorite Chinese dish? But there is one interesting concept concerning Chinese food which is almost unheard of in the West, and which is becoming increasingly ignored by the youth of the East—the ancient custom of “tonic food”.
Tonic food is food which is consumed to improve one’s well-being or avoid sickness. For instance, it was once the custom for new mothers to eat a sesame oil(麻油) chicken soup every day for the first month after giving birth. It was believed that this dish would benefit the muscles, reduce pain, improve circulation, stimulate sweating, and warm the body. Some foods, such as goat meat and spinach, are seen as “hot”, while others, such as Chinese cabbage and radishes, are seen as “cold”. One should be careful not to eat too much of either “hot” or “cold” food. However, how much “hot” or “cold” food one should eat depends on the time of the year, how the food is prepared and what it is prepared with, and the individual’s health.
The custom of employing tonic food for a healthier life also influences the catering industry. Chinese herbal medicines, such as wolfberry(枸杞子), can be found on many a restaurant menu, either added to fruit tea or as a beneficial addition to a dish. These herbs attract customers, such as overworked office staff, in need of a modest pick-me-up.
So, whether you need to boost your strength with a large helping of chicken soup, or increase your mental powers with a serving of fish soup, you may find that this ancient Chinese custom could be just the tonic you were looking for.
1. What is the present situation of tonic food?| A．It is catching less attention. | B．It is enjoyed by many young people. |
| C．It is well-known worldwide. | D．It is becoming increasingly popular. |
| A．Chinese cabbage. | B．Fruit tea. |
| C．Sesame oil chicken soup. | D．Fish soup. |
| A．Medicine. | B．Restaurant. | C．Manufacture. | D．Agriculture. |
| A．The Charm of Chinese Cuisine | B．The Popularity of Tonic Food |
| C．An Introduction of Chinese Tonic Food | D．Differences Between “Hot” Food and “Cold” Food |
2 . Walk into any waiting area and you will see people of all ages on the phone. It is rare to see people sitting and simply thinking while waiting for the next part of the day or night. We have also observed people playing with their mobile phones while having dinner with others or in the presence of their families. It seems that everyone is experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out) or a strong addiction to electronic devices.
Why do adults, middle school students, and even young children turn to electronics while waiting? A recent study by Hatano et al. (2022) found that in different cultures people underestimate how enjoyable and attractive simply thinking might be. In a series of studies on university students in both Japan and the United Kingdom, the participants rated their level of expected enjoyment and engagement in simply thinking and then rated their actual level of enjoyment and participation in thinking after the waiting period. During the waiting period, the participants only had the option to think. They were not allowed to take electronics into the waiting area. The participants were not necessarily happy about thinking. Instead, they underestimated the benefits related to thinking and thought that thinking was aversive before the waiting period, which only allowed thinking without electronic products. After this waiting period, they admitted that thinking was more interesting and easier than expected.
Thinking can include problem-solving, goal-setting, and a variety of other creative tasks. These outcomes can be extremely productive and satisfying. Perhaps it is time for parents and educators to teach children about the importance of paying attention to one’s thoughts. We need to be better role models and put down our own phones when there is an opportunity to simply wait and think. We need to provide these opportunities for both ourselves and our children.
1. What’s the purpose of the author describing the scene about people’s using electronics?| A．To introduce the importance of electronics. |
| B．To tell what bad influences electronics have. |
| C．To voice his views on thinking while waiting. |
| D．To explain why we should have better ways of communication. |
| A．Satisfactory. | B．Boring. | C．Worried. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．Provide opportunities for children. |
| B．Pick up the phones while waiting. |
| C．Underestimate the benefits of thinking. |
| D．Tell children about the significance of thinking. |
| A．Why should we put our phones down? |
| B．How can electronic products affect us? |
| C．How do we think freely by using phones? |
| D．Why does thinking while waiting make people smart? |
3 . Brody Ridder attends The Academy of Charter Schools in Westminster, Colorado. When he got his yearbook(学校年刊)，he went up to people and asked them to sign his yearbook but most of them refused. He collected only two or three names from classmates and two notes from his teachers. So, Brody wrote a yearbook note to himself, “Hope you make some more friends. ”
Reading that note broke his mother’s heart. She took a photo of the note and posted it to a Facebook group for parents at the school. The post made its way to three high schoolers: Simone Lightfoot, Logan South and Joanna Cooper. They spent hours discussing the problem and finding ways to help. “It’s so fun to have everyone sign the yearbook, but for this kid few people have signed their names in his yearbook. It’s just heartbreaking,” Lightfoot said. They all started planning that the next day they were going to sign this kid’s yearbook.
The three rounded up as many students as possible to sign Brody’s yearbook even though none of them had ever met the three high schoolers. According to the teens, people were lining up to fill the blanks in Brody’s book. Many of the more than 100 signatures included paragraphs with words of encouragement, advice and even phone numbers. And then right after that, everyone in the class started signing Brody’s yearbook.
The teens said they hope the small friendly act can encourage other kids to be kind. “It makes me feel better now. I don’t know how to explain it. It makes me feel better from the bottom of my heart,“ Brody said. ”It makes me feel like there’s hope for the school, there’s hope for humanity and there’re a lot of good kids in this world,“ his mother said.
1. Why did Brody write “Hope you make some more friends.” in his yearbook?| A．He hoped to know more about newcomers. |
| B．He planned to get another yearbook from others. |
| C．He decided to give up signing the yearbook. |
| D．He wished more people to sign his yearbook in the following days. |
| A．From their teachers. | B．From the Internet. |
| C．From the newspaper. | D．From their classmates. |
| A．People lined up to give yearbooks to Brody. |
| B．Almost 100 people signed Brody’s yearbook. |
| C．All of Brody’s classmates signed his yearbook. |
| D．Many students asked to meet the three high schoolers. |
| A．Warm-hearted. | B．Creative. | C．Generous. | D．Wise. |
The most important thing to keep in mind when going into high school is to be yourself. Besides, I don’t know what your middle school was like, but high school teachers will not care about things such as how much homework you already have for one night. It’s best to just learn to deal with things and manage your time wisely so you can achieve everything you need to do.
David, Aged 19
I’m not going to lie. The first day is kind of frightening. But you’ll get used to it. Don’t be afraid of anyone; Just take it easy. Making some friends and staying with them will greatly help you get used to high school quickly. After the first week it’s really not bad at all. Don’t worry.
Frank, Aged 21
I think almost every kid feels both anxious and excited before their first day. You will probably love it. I know I did. You should join in some sports or activities that will make your high school experience more enjoyable. Good luck!
Eddie, Aged 20
When I started high school I was really nervous and worried too, especially since I had been home schooled all through middle school and didn’t really know anyone. I suppose the best advice would be to just relax. The first couple of days can be a little bit hard, but things will become easier before you know it.
1. What can we infer from Sharon’s words about high school?| A．Teachers are quite strict. |
| B．Students often stay up at night. |
| C．Teachers provide little care for students. |
| D．Students should make good use of their time. |
| A．David. | B．Frank. | C．Sharon. | D．Eddie. |
| A．Excited. | B．Worried. | C．Bored. | D．Relaxed. |
5 . Breathing is something you do all day long, without even thinking about it. However, you might be doing it wrong. Research shows that the way you breathe affects the amount of oxygen (氧气) you take in，as well as how you think and feel.
So which is it? Do you breathe through your nose or your mouth? Some health experts recommend people breathe in through the nose and out through their mouth. Others say that people should just focus on breathing easily, paying no attention to their mouth or nose preference. But mouth breathing has also been connected with bad breath, high blood pressure and bad teeth.
Nose breathing may improve how memories are stabilized (稳定) in our brains, according to Swedish researchers. During the study, participants smelled 12 different smells and they were asked to breathe either through their nose or mouth for an hour afterwards. Then, they were presented with the original set of smells and a new set. Those who smelled with their nose remembered the smells better.
A research team recognized the differences in brain activity that happened when seven epilepsy (癫痫) patients breathed through the nose or through the mouth. The team found three areas of the brain where activity is connected with breathing. These areas showed more changes in brain activity only when volunteers breathed in through their noses.
So, should people breathing through the mouth change their breathing habits? If you’re happy with the way you breathe and you aren’t experiencing any health problems, be yourself and just keep your own way. But if you think it might be time for a change, focus on breathing through your nose until it becomes a habit. It might help you survive an emergency.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Your life style. | B．How you breathe. |
| C．How you think and feel. | D．The oxygen you take in. |
| A．Nose breathing may improve memory. |
| B．Mouth breathing causes health problems. |
| C．People breathing through the nose identify smells difficultly. |
| D．People breathing through the mouth have a good sense of taste. |
| A．It helps one to stay healthy. |
| B．It cures bad breath and snoring. |
| C．It makes one’s brain more active. |
| D．It improves one’s sense of smell. |
| A．It’s hard to get used to. |
| B．It’s suitable for everybody. |
| C．It’s what people have to do. |
| D．It’s what people can benefit from. |
6 . Millions of Americans began 2014 with the same resolution as they started 2013 with a goal of losing weight. However setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake.
To reach our goal of losing weight — the output, we need to control what we eat — the input. That is we tend to care about the output but not to control the input. This is a bad way to construct goals. The alternative is to focus your resolution on the input. Instead of resolving to lose weight, try an actionable resolution: “I’ll stop having desert for lunch” or “I’ll walk every day for 20 minutes.” Creating a goal that focuses on a well-specified input will likely be more effective than concentrating on the outcome.
Recently a new science behind incentives (激励) including in education has been discussed. For example researcher Roland Fryer wanted to see what works best in motivating children to do better in school. In some cases he gave students incentives based on input like reading certain books while in others the incentives were based on output like results on exams. His main finding was that incentives increased achievement when based on input but had no effect on output. Fryer’s conclusion was that the intensives for inputs might be more effective because students do not know how to do better on exam aside from general rules like “study harder.” Reading certain books on the other hand is a well-set task over which they have much more control.
As long as you have direct control over your goal you have a much higher chance of success. And it’s easier to start again if you fail because you know exactly what you need to do.
If you want to cut down on your spending, a good goal would be making morning coffee at home instead of going to a cafe for example. This is a well-specified action-based goal for which you can measure your success easily. Spending less money isn’t a goal because it’s too general. Similarly if you want to spend more time with your family don’t stop with this general wish. Think bout an actionable habit that you could adopt and stick to like a family movie night every Wednesday. In the long run these new goals could become a habit.
1. The writer thinks that setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake because _______ .| A．it is hard to achieve for most Americans | B．it is dependent on too many things |
| C．it is focused too much on the result | D．it is based on actionable decisions |
| A．they obeyed all the general rules |
| B．they paid more attention to exams |
| C．they were motivated by their classmates |
| D．they were rewarded for reading some books |
| A．“I’ll study harder.” | B．“I’ll give up desert.” |
| C．“I’ll cut down my expense.” | D．“I’ll spend more time with my family.” |
| A．develop good habits and focus on the outcome |
| B．be optimistic about final goals and stick to them |
| C．set ambitious goals that can balance the input and output |
| D．pick specific actions that can be turned into good habits |
7 . People think that pets are good and helpful companions. Some of them even go so far as to say that animals are as good as humans. Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but Dr. Jean-Loup Rault, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes new companions are coming: robot pets.
“Technology is moving very fast,” Rault told ABC News, “The Tamagotchi in the early 1990s was really the first robotic pet, and now Sony and other big companies have improved them a lot.”
This may not sit well with pet lovers. After all, who would choose a plastic toy over a lovely puppy? But Rault argues that the robotic kind has a lot going for it: “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on a holiday without feeling guilty.” The technology also benefits those who are allergic to pets, short on space, or fearful of real animals.
It’s not clear whether robot pets can replace real ones. But studies do suggest that we can bond with these smart machines. People give their cars names and kids give their toy animals life stories. It’s the same with robots. When Sony stopped its repair service for its robot dog Aibo in March 2014, owners in Japan held funerals.
As an animal welfare researcher, Rault is concerned about how robotic pets could affect our attitudes towards live animals. “If we become used to a robotic companion that doesn’t need food, water or exercises, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings,” he said.
So are dogs and cats a thing of the past, as Rault predicts? For those who grew up with living and breathing pets, the mechanical kind might not do. But for our next generation who are in constant touch with smart technology, a future in which lovely pets needn’t have a heartbeat might not be an unlikely dream.
1. What does the underlined phrase “sit well with” probably mean?| A．be refused by | B．be of benefit to |
| C．make a difference to | D．receive support from |
a. They are plastic and feel smooth.
b. Owners needn’t worry about them when going out.
c. They can help cure allergies.
d. They save space.
| A．ab | B．bc | C．bd | D．cd |
| A．Sony is the first company to produce robot pets Aibo. |
| B．People can develop strong bond with their robot pets. |
| C．Rault thinks robot pets still have a long way to go. |
| D．Robot toys may help people care more about living beings. |
8 . A monsoon(季风)refers to a seasonal shift in the atmospheric circulation because of irregular heating of the sea and the land. For the most part, the term is used to describe the rainy period of a season. However, there is also a dry period associated with the term. Half of the world’s population live in areas affected by Asian monsoons, but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions.
Every summer, moist(潮湿的)air masses, known as monsoon, produce large quantities of rainfall in India, East Asia, Indonesia, Northern Australia and East Africa, which are pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south.
According to Edward Cook, a weather expert at Columbia University in New York, the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area date back to 1950, too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years travelling across Asia searching for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings(年轮)or circles, inside the trunks of thousands of ancient trees at more than 300 sites.
Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document — a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas(地图集). It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s.
Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry conditions. “If the monsoon basically fails or is very weak one year, the trees affected by the monsoon at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the tree chronology(年表)that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability. ” Armed with such a sweeping set of data, researchers say they now can begin to refine(提炼)climate computer models for predicting the behavior of monsoons.
“There has been widespread starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive flooding,” said Eugene Wahl, a scientist who is with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s paleoclimate(古气候)branch studying weather patterns over the history of the Earth. “So, to get a knowledge of what the regional moisture patterns have been, dryness and wetness over such a long period of time in great detail, I would call it a kind of victory for climate science.”
1. What’s the passage mainly about?| A．The achievements of Edward Cook. | B．The necessity of weather forecast. |
| C．A breakthrough in monsoon prediction. | D．The effects of Asian monsoons. |
| A．it is hard to keep long-term climate records |
| B．they are formed under complex climate systems |
| C．they influence many nations |
| D．there is heavy rainfall in Asia |
| A．offer people information about the regional climate |
| B．have a great influence on the regional climate |
| C．determine the regional climate |
| D．reflect all kinds of regional climate information |
| A．It will help people prevent droughts and floods. |
| B．It should include information about human life in the past. |
| C．It has analyzed moisture models worldwide. |
| D．It is a great achievement in climate science. |
9 . When we are hunting for a job, the primary thing that we should consider is to get your resume impressive. The term “resume” means a document describing one’s educational qualifications and professional experience. However, guidelines for preparing a global resume are constantly changing. The best advice is to find out what is appropriate regarding the company culture, the country culture, and the culture of the person making the hiring decision. The following list is a good place to start.
* In many countries, it is a standard procedure to attach a photo or have your photo printed on your resume. Do not attach a photograph to your resume if you are sending it to the United States, though.
* Educational requirements differ from country to country. In most cases of “cross-border” job hunting, just stating the title of your degree will not be enough. Provide the reader with details about your studies and any related experience.
* Pay attention to the resume format you use — chronological (时间的) or reverse-chronological order. If you find no specific guidelines, the general preference is for the reverse-chronological format, which means listing your current or most recent experience first.
* The level of computer technology and accessibility to the Internet varies from country to country. Even if a company or individual lists an e-mail address, there is no guarantee that they will actually receive your email. Send a paper copy of your resume, as well as the emailed copy, just to make sure that it is received.
* If you are writing your resume in English, find out if the receiver uses British English or American English because there are variations between the two versions.
* Although English is widely accepted today as being the universal language of business, most multinational companies will expect you to speak the language of one of the countries in which they do business, in addition to English. Have your resume prepared in both languages, and be ready for your interview to be conducted in both languages. Most companies will want to see and hear proof of your language skills.
* Be aware that paper sizes are different in different countries. The United States standard is 8½ by 11 inches, while the European A4 standard is 21 by 29.7 centimeters. When you send your resume by email, reformat it to the receiver’s standard. Otherwise, when it is printed out, half of your material may be missing.
1. From the passage, we learn that ________.| A．concerning education, just state the title of your degree will be enough |
| B．Asian countries may have the same standard paper size |
| C．a resume can help us know about a person’s personality |
| D．a person’s educational background should be included in a resume |
| A．job hunters that seek careers abroad |
| B．companies that do international business |
| C．people that are employed by companies overseas |
| D．graduates that can speak over one foreign language |
| A．be highly professional | B．be especially informative |
| C．be culturally appropriate | D．be specifically bilingual |
10 . The recent few weeks have been the perfect time for a good book and here are some good ones that allow readers to get completely lost in another world.
Watch Me Disappear
If you like mysteries with the family drama, Janelle Brown’s bestselling thriller is for you. The story follows a wealthy wife and mom who goes on a hike and never returns. Her lonely husband and teenage daughter, Olive(who’s dealing with her own problems), are confused with sorrow while trying to find out what happens.
The Boy from the Woods
If you pick up one of Harlan Coben’s books, you won’t be able to put it down. His mystery stories keep readers fascinated. The Boy from the Woods is sure to satisfy fans by its twisty, heartracing plots filled with interesting and exciting atmosphere. This is the book to read if you love masterful surprises.
How to Walk Away
Katherine Center’s bestselling novel follows a young woman, Margaret, with her perfect fiancé， a pilot who takes her on an upsetting flight that changes her life forever. Readers adore Margaret’s wisdom and humor as she faces a changed world and figures out what love really looks like.
The Last One Left
This novel, first published in 1967, still attracts readers decades later. Novelist Dean Koontz wrote the introduction to the recent edition, where he describes reading each of John D. MacDonald’s novels “at least three times, some of them twice”, This is your next read if you want to be swept away by a masterpiece of the mystery and excitement.
1. What is Watch Me Disappear probably about?| A．Mysterious disappearance of a woman. |
| B．Sorrow at a dead mom. |
| C．Teenager problems. |
| D．A family outing. |
| A．Dean Koontz. | B．Harlan Coben. |
| C．Katherine Center. | D．John D. MacDonald. |
| A．Watch Me Disappear. | B．The Boy from the Woods. |
| C．How to Walk Away. | D．The Last One Left. |
