1 . Landslides and earthquakes are even more dangerous now than in the past because around half of the world’s population now live-in cities. Many people in cities and towns in South America and Asia are at risk from landslides. In April 2017,the city of Mocoa in Colombia was hit by a landslide, leaving many dead and injured. A great number of people live at risk from earthquakes too. These have claimed more than 1.6 million lives in the last hundred years.
Most disaster experts believe that things could get a lot worse. Professor Hou Ming of Peking University studies volcanoes. He warns that the world has not seen the worst yet. The worst eruption in human history was probably Mt Tambora in 1815,in Indonesia. Dust from the volcano rolled across the Earth’s skies. There was no summer in Europe and America the following year. But evidence shows that 73,000 years ago there was a much greater eruption. “It reduced temperatures by maybe 6°C in some places, and the whole planet was sent into winter for years. And there are about two of these events every 100,000 years...”
Why is Mt Tambora mentioned in the text?
| A．To demonstrate the world could get worse. |
| B．To show volcano eruptions have taken many lives. |
| C．To explain a natural disaster by showing an example. |
| D．To describe the worst volcano eruption in human history. |
A. But according to a new poll, Americans took more trips to the library than to the other leisure activities.
B. On the contrary, libraries are free, as are many of their available services like Wi-Fi, in addition to the endless supply of books.
C. Although it’s not the only reason, cost appears to play a part. Activities at the bottom of the list such as visiting theme parks and zoos are typically expensive.
D. Nowadays, we are given a wide range of available entertainment options. As a result, visits to the library may seem like an old-fashioned activity.
E. The poll surveyed 1,025 adults throughout the United States who were asked how many times they participated in nine different leisure activities, including visiting a library or attending a sporting event. Library visits came out on top as the favorite.
My favourite player was LeBron James. Paul’s favourite player was Tyrone Bogues, a guy who played for the Charlotte Hornets, although we actually agree that they are both champions. Bogues was only 1.6 metres tall, which made him the shortest player ever in the NBA. Guess what? Paul was only 1.6 metres tall, too! Paul knew that being shorter than other players meant that he had to practise more. During all those hours of doing jump shots on his own, he used Bogues as his inspiration. Paul once said, “If Bogues could make it, why not me?”
Our coach was not so sure. Paul had to try out many times just for making the team. He was still usually on the bench, being just a replacement, which was really tough on him. Everyone knew Paul had real skills, and was someone who worked really hard and had a strong desire to play for the team. However, Paul didn’t get a chance.
Which words best describe Paul?
| A．Smart and brave. | B．Inexperienced and shy. |
| C．Skilled and hard-working. | D．Strong-willed and independent. |
I love animals. So when Dr. Vannini said his vet hospital needed help, I was delighted. I volunteered to clean up and help in the operations. But the moment that would never slip my mind
A retriever (寻回犬) was in deep suffering. A check-up showed that she had a baby developing in her body but no heartbeat could be detected
| A．be doubted | B．be forgotten | C．be waited | D．be changed |
| A．heard | B．thought | C．tested | D．touched |
| A．homeless | B．lifeless | C．careless | D．faultless |
| A．ashamed | B．strange | C．bored | D．unbelievable |
| A．seen | B．experienced | C．come | D．known |
A. The main cause for animals and disappearing is often a disruption (扰乱) to die food chain due to hunting, habitat loss or even the introduction of invasive species.
B. With rising awareness of how we affect the natural environment, hopefully we can learn to protect these food chains and help them to thrive.
C. Nowadays, there are strict rules controlling the movement of animals and plants between countries but some parts of the world are still experiencing problems with invasive species introduced hundreds of years ago.
D. When people first explored the world, they took animal and plant species from their home countries to the places they settled in but they did not realize they were disrupting the natural food chains of the area they explored.
E. Many animals and plants are endangered in the world today, these endangered species are threatened with becoming extinct, meaning they will no longer exist on earth.
Zhang Tian graduated from university and got a teacher’s certificate last year. His parents, like most, hoped he would go to a big city to find a teaching job. Likewise, his friends all left his hometown for work in Shanghai or Beijing. Zhang Tian felt differently, however. He wanted to start a new lifestyle. He had met wonderful teachers from small villages during his early school years and he was inspired by them to go and teach where he was needed the most. For that reason he applied for and became a volunteer teacher in a village school. Bringing with him lots of books, clothes, and two pairs of trainers, Zhang Tian travelled to the village with an eager heart. He imagined all sorts of exciting things about living independently and teaching in a village.
However, not everything lived up to Zhang Tian’s hopes. The school was much smaller than he had expected, with only three classrooms. In front of the classrooms, there was a playground which got dusty on windy days and muddy on rainy days. Living in the village was more challenging than he had thought. The power and water supplies were unstable, so he could only shower every three or four days, and he had to learn how to cook. The thought of leaving once flashed through his mind, but he quickly gave up on the idea and found ways to deal with the challenges.
1. What do we know about Zhang Tian’s volunteering job?| A．He decided to leave after a second thought. |
| B．He was encouraged by his friends and parents. |
| C．He found it challenging after knowing the real situations. |
| D．He used to have high expectations for teaching in a village. |
| A．He had to cook by himself. |
| B．The school was poorly equipped. |
| C．The living condition was undesirable. |
| D．He couldn’t pay for the water and power. |
A. However, there are some young minds working to clean up and protect the sea for future generations. While diving in Greece, young Boyan Slat noticed there was more plastic waste than fish and decided right then to dedicate his life to solving this problem.
B. The problem gets worse as plastic breaks down into very small pieces, or “micro plastic”, which is eaten by fish and leads to massive species loss. Humans also eat these fish, and micro plastic has even been found in tap water around the world.
C. Boyan thought working with the currents and gyres (漩涡) would help collect the waste, so he started the Ocean Cleanup Project-placing very long floating barriers in the Pacific.
D. Then currents concentrate the waste naturally so the waste can be collected and recycled.
E. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, so all the plastic ever produced still exists somewhere, 95% of which are not recycled, and large amounts enter the sea.
A. At Art Central 2023, an annual international art fair in Hong Kong, the factory’s collection of Guangcai porcelain (瓷器) drew much attention. Joseph Tso, the third-generation successor of the factory, takes great pride in the skills of Guangcai.
B. Yuet Tung China Works, located in Hong Kong, has been making porcelain pieces for nearly a century.
C. The factory’s collection ranges from designs featuring the Grand View Garden in A Dream of Red Mansions to modern Hong Kong landmarks, each of which is a proof of these workers’ outstanding skill.
D. This traditional craft (工艺), born more than 300 years ago, involves painting and firing various colored paints on white porcelain vessels (器皿). After being fired at a temperature of 800 ℃, the pigment (颜料) can stay on the vessels forever, showing people an outstanding porcelain masterpiece.
E. As visitors step inside the factory, skilful workers can be seen painting or coloring on porcelain items, their hands steady and eyes focused.
9 . Ismael Esteban, in third place, was just ahead of his competitor, Agustin Navarro, with only 300 metres to the finishing line. Esteban had been cycling as hard as he could for hours and with the finishing line in sight all the cyclists began to speed up to cross it. Then, suddenly Esteban got a puncture. What should he do? Give up or continue? Esteban threw his bike over his shoulders and raced towards the finishing line.
Just a few seconds later, fourth-placed Navarro caught up with him. Surely, he could simply overtake Esteban and come third. But Navarro slowed down and let Esteban run ahead of him. The two cyclists reached the finishing line with Esteban ahead on foot, Navarro just behind him. Navarro had let Esteban finish in third place, while he came fourth. The audience was amazed at his show of sportsmanship and cheered and clapped for the cyclists. After the race, Navarro said, “I didn’t want to win that way.” Later, Esteban, who won the bronze medal, tried to give his medal to Navarro. However, Navarro refused and his response was: “Offering me the prize was worth more than what I did for him.”
1. What can show the cyclists’ sportsmanship?| A．Esteban offered Navarro his medal. | B．Navarro refused to overtake Esteban. |
| C．Esteban refused to accept the medal. | D．Navarro sped up to catch up with Esteban. |
| A．Support the teammates. | B．Respect the rules of the game. |
| C．Practice leads to perfect performance. | D．Don’t take advantage of others’ troubles. |
In the animal kingdom, killer whales (虎鲸) are social stars: they travel in different family groups, care for grandchildren, and even
| A．interrupt | B．copy | C．make | D．understand |
| A．rise to | B．be equal to | C．benefit from | D．depend on |
| A．instead of | B．as well as | C．in terms of | D．other than |
| A．keep | B．change | C．abandon | D．lose |
| A．research | B．evidence | C．information | D．image |
