1 . Food festivals are a common occurrence in the UK and take place in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times. Whatever your taste, there’s a food festival to match — no matter how specialized.
1. Meatopia
This three-day, London-based festival takes place at the end of August and is a meat lover’s paradise. In addition to a range of legally sourced meat products, from juicy burgers to tender steaks, attendees can listen to live music, watch butchery demonstrations, and attend informal meat-based workshops.
2. The National Honey Show
If you have a sweet tooth, then it could be that the National Honey Show, which started in 1921 and is the largest event of its kind, is the place for you to be. This three-day event attracts many local entries who showcase their sweet golden honey, some of which is sold globally.
3. The Orange Sauce Festival
Have you heard about a festival that is devoted only to orange sauce? Held in Cumbria, this sweet, fragrant festival has been running for 3 years. What attracts people most is a competition to find the best homemade orange sauce. There are thousands of participants from over 30 different countries across the globe, bringing their local snacks to share here.
4. The Ginger and Spice Festival
If you’d prefer something with a little more kick to it, then you could attend The Ginger (姜) and Spice Festival held in Market Drayton. Unlike other food festivals, it celebrates its town’s historic connection to Robert Clive, who returned from India with ginger. Because of this, they specialize in baking gingerbread, but also sell a range of traditional spices from mild to hot.
1. What do Meatopia and the National Honey Show have in common?| A．Both of them last for three days. | B．Both of them hold workshops. |
| C．Both of them originated from London. | D．Both of them have a long history. |
| A．The Meatopia. | B．The Ginger and Spice Festival. |
| C．The National Honey Show. | D．The Orange Sauce Festival. |
| A．It has something to do with a historic figure. |
| B．The ginger used in the festival is from India. |
| C．It sells spicy food. |
| D．The food is cooked by Robert Clive. |
2 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the Supreme Court of the United States. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 25 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott (抵制). It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.
1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?| A．Her social work. | B．Her teaching skills. |
| C．Her efforts to win a prize. | D．Her community background. |
| A．Her lack of proper training in law. |
| B．Her little work experience in court. |
| C．The discrimination against women. |
| D．The poor financial conditions. |
| A．They are highly educated. | B．They are truly creative. |
| C．They are pioneers. | D．They are peace-lovers. |
3 . When you are about to go to a boarding school (寄宿制学校) in England, there are many different questions that may come to mind. But once you look at them with some perspective (视角), you will certainly feel easy. Here is a normal boarding day.
Early Morning:
Usually boarders get up around 7:00 am and have around an hour to take a shower and put on their uniform before breakfast.
Lessons:
Classes start at 9: 00 am and every lesson lusts for 50 minutes. After two lessons, at 10: 40 am, you’ll have a short break. The next period of classics will include two more lessons.
Lunch:
Lunch is usually held around 12:30 pm at the dining hall, where you’ll join your friends to enjoy a hot dish. After an hour of lunch, you’ll have three or four more lessons to attend.
Dinner:
At 5:00 pm you will have finished your school lessons for the day. Most boarding schools in the UK offer their full boarders different kinds of hot meals to choose from.
Activities/ Sports:
All boarding schools in the UK provide many different kinds of activities for their boarders, such as football, swimming, golf or art.
Prep:
An important part of boarding school life is the supervised homework session known as “prop”. Although “prep” might sound stressful, it’s a great way for you to keep up with your studies.
Free time:
Once you have done all your classes and activities, it’s time to relax.
Bedtime:
In most boarding schools, the lights go out around 10:30 pm.
Being nervous just before you go to a boarding school is completely normal and understandable. Hopefully, knowing the usual routine (常规) can help you. Once you are there, you will also see how exciting life in a boarding school in England can be.
1. What can help you keep up with your studies in the boarding school?| A．Doing activitıes. | B．Having lessons. |
| C．Enjoying free time. | D．Supervised homework sessions. |
| A．Classes usually start at 8:30 am. | B．Students can have a short break after four lessons. |
| C．They don’t give students any free time. | D．They turn off the lights around 10:30 pm. |
| A．To help students know about boarders’ life. | B．To attract more students to boarding schools. |
| C．To introduce a new school life. | D．To advertise for boarding schools. |
4 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?| A．To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
| B．To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
| C．To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
| D．To bring out the topic of the passage. |
| A．To help people save money. | B．To cut the cost for daily life. |
| C．To prevent over-consumption. | D．To set up a new sales record. |
| A．Opposed (反对的). | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unknown. | D．Neutral (中立的). |
| A．Creating a New Lifestyle | B．Buy Nothing Day |
| C．Festivals Around the World | D．A Change in People’s Life |
5 . Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son. Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up (依偎) against me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is understanding which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their mind. “In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental (思想的) break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.
1. “The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son ________.| A．keeps himself away from his parents | B．begins to dislike his parents |
| C．is always busy with his study | D．doesn’t want to be ignored |
| A．Their daughter isn’t as lovely as before. |
| B．They can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly. |
| C．They don’t know what to say to their daughter. |
| D．Their daughter talks with them only when she needs help. |
| A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends. | B．Teenagers do not understand their parents. |
| C．Teenagers talk little about their own lives. | D．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents. |
| A．Parents shouldn’t be angry with teenagers. |
| B．Parents have to talk with children face to face. |
| C．Parents are unhappy with their growing children. |
| D．Parents should try to understand their teenagers. |
6 . On Saturday 24 August 1918, it was raining cats and dogs and thundering over a city called Sunderland on the northeast coast of England. The storm lasted for only about ten minutes. People were surprised to see that it was not just rainwater falling from the sky. There were fish falling down, too! People came out to find out what was happening. They could not believe their own eyes. There were thousands of fish—sand eels (沙鳗)—lying on the ground. They were about seven centimeters long, and all were frozen solid (冻成硬块).
Sand eels swim together in large groups, often in sandy water, and are often found in large numbers in the North Sea, which reaches out to the east of Sunderland. How was it possible for these sand eels to fall from the sky and land on Sunderland?
Scientists believed the heavy thunderstorm that afternoon may have caused a waterspout (水龙卷). Waterspouts can be formed when strong winds move quickly in a circle over water. They are so powerful that anything less than one meter in length can be taken into them and forced into the clouds. The clouds carry whatever has been taken into them for long distances —sometimes over 150 kilometers. It’s very cold up there and everything soon freezes solid.
For hundreds of years there have been reports of small animals being taken into the sky through waterspouts. In 2009, dead tadpoles rained down on the city of Nanao in Japan. In 2012, fifty kilos of prawns fell from the sky over Sri Lanka. In 2017, fish fell on the coastal city of Tampico in Mexico.
It must be a very strange experience to see fish raining down on you. It would probably hurt if one fell on your head! With climate (气候) change and many reports of terrible storms, will the time ever come when it may really begin to rain cats and dogs?
1. What do we know about the sand eels that landed on Sunderland?| A．They were few in number. | B．They came in different sizes. |
| C．They were still alive when landing. | D．They probably came from the North Sea. |
| A．Clouds. | B．Waterspouts. | C．Strong winds. | D．The waters of the sea. |
| A．raining sea animals is not new in history | B．the environment is not pleasant in Japan |
| C．waterspouts can reach as far as Japan | D．different animals can fall in different countries |
| A．Our health. | B．Our environment. | C．The wild animals. | D．The news reports. |
7 . A teenager needs to have a sense of independence in their life to feel secure (安全的). To some teenagers independence means a lot to them, and I think that some parents don’t allow their teenagers enough independence.
Independence has something to do with freedom. Some kids are not allowed to go anywhere alone, and the only thing their schedule includes is going to school, coming home, going to sleep, and repeating the process the next day. Parents tend to be afraid that their kids can get hurt if they go outside into the world. But if parents control their kids too much, they may never learn to live on their own. The best way for a teenager to learn lesson is through experience. I think it is beneficial for teenagers to have freedom.
Teenagers’ lack of freedom can also stop them from having good friendship at school. Some might say this is a good thing, because it helps them focus more on their school work. I argue that this can only discourage them not to do their school work. Some parents do not allow their children to be around their friends outside the school, thinking that this will get them into trouble. But I don’t think so. Instead, isn’t this a good reason for parents to get their children a cellphone? Cellphones allow teenagers to stay in touch with their parents, and communicate with friends.
Privacy is another issue between parents and their teenagers. Teenagers tend to enjoy relaxation by themselves in their own room. This also gives them a sense of independence. It often annoys teenagers when their parents enter their room when they are not home. I know that my mom always goes in my room when I’m not home, and this has brought me to the point where I have asked many times to get a lock on my door.
1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?| A．It benefits teenagers to have freedom. | B．Some parents allow their kids no freedom. |
| C．Kids know how to live independently. | D．Kids have a dull routine every day |
| A．it is unnecessary for a kid to have a cellphone |
| B．kids should focus on the school work |
| C．parents should make it easy for kids to communicate with their friends |
| D．good friendships between kids harm their school work |
| A．Angry | B．Lucky | C．Disappointed | D．Calm |
| A．keep her father from reading her dairy | B．stop thieves from going in |
| C．protect herself from any harm | D．prevent her mother entering her room |
8 . Have you ever received a gift that was so clearly, not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite “Why, thank you,” but you knew you had missed the mark. Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and bad) reflect about your personal qualities?
Choosing the right gift is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy—the ability to put yourself into someone else’s head and heart.We’re all able to do this; in fact, we’re born with a kind of natural empathy.After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be reinforced (加强) —by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn’t, we’re not able to understand other people’s feelings as sharply.This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional(情感的) qualities.
Think back to the presents you’ve given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package.Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world.(Of course, you may express yourself differently with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.)
We live in a society where exchanging presents is an important part of communication.Ignoring the tradition won’t make it go away.If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time.
1. The underlined expression “you had missed the mark” means you had failed to _______.| A．make her feel better | B．keep your friendship |
| C．get the expected effect | D．receive a present in return |
| A．Natural empathy needs to be reinforced. |
| B．Emotional changes influence one’s choice of gifts. |
| C．Selecting the right gift is an ability people are born with. |
| D．Choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers. |
| A．the choice of gifts reflects one’s emotional qualities |
| B．one learns from what he did in the past |
| C．attention should be paid to the receivers’ responses |
| D．one should spend more time choosing gifts |
| A．Ways of Choosing Gifts | B．An Important Tradition |
| C．Exchanging Presents | D．Message in a Gift |
9 . By now, most people know they should be eating more vegetables. But are there ways to get more from the vegetables you already eat? A research shows that when it comes to vegetables, it’s not only how much we eat, but also how we prepare them, that decides the vitamins and other nutrients that enter our body.
Many studies show that people who eat lots of vegetables have less heart disease, and eye problems and even cancer. But raw vegetables are not always best. The researchers found that 198 Germans who eat raw food were short of lycopene, the matter found in tomatoes and other red vegetables. “There is an idea that raw foods are always going to be better,” says Steven K. Clinton, a professor at Ohi o State University. “For fruits and vegetables, sometimes a little bit of cooking can be helpful.”
A number of factors decide how the vegetables do good to people’s health before they reach the table, including where and how they were grown and stored before being bought. No single cooking way is best. Some nutrients are easily lost in cooking if they are cooked in different ways.
Vitamins C and B are often lost. In January, another report said that boiling was better for carrots than frying or serving them raw. Frying was the worst way to cook.
What cooked with the vegetables can also be important? When the vegetables were cooked with fat, the diners can get more nutrients. Fat can also make the taste of vegetables better, meaning that people will eat more of them. Putting on some other things that make it taste better—a little salt—can make the food taste better.
1. The writer mainly wants to tell us that ________.| A．people should eat more vegetables |
| B．the way people eat vegetables is important |
| C．eating vegetables is good for us |
| D．how much vegetables one should eat |
| A．have the eyes problems | B．have heart disease |
| C．be in need of lycopene | D．hate eating tomatoes |
| A．the place where the vegetables are grown |
| B．the way how the vegetables are stored |
| C．the way how the vegetables are prepared |
| D．the price at which the vegetable are sold |
| A．It’s better to cook vegetables with fat |
| B．the more fat in the cooking, the fewer vegetables people will eat |
| C．It’s better to cook the vegetables without salt |
| D．the fat will increase the nutrition of the vegetables |
10 . In the 12th century, physician Ibn Zuhr conducted some animal research to assess the surgical procedures that could be applied to humans. Since then, animal testing has been considered the most efficient way to develop new drugs. New medical treatments and drugs are tested on animals first to determine their effectiveness or safety levels before they are finally tested on humans. However, it remains controversial whether it is morally right or wrong to use animals for experiments.
The use of animals for medical purposes is seen to be necessary by many scientists. Researchers usually begin their trials using rats. If the tests are successful, further tests are done on monkeys before using human beings. For testing, such tiered(分层的) rounds are important because they reduce the level of error and negative side effects. Some argue that animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments and there is no adequate alternative to testing on a living, whole-body system. Moreover, there are regulations for animal testing that limit the misuse of animals during research. They serve as evidence that animals are well taken care of and treated well instead of being intentionally harmed.
However, some other experts and animal welfare groups have opposed such practice, considering it as inhumane(不人道的) and claiming it should be banned. According to Humane Society International, animals used in experiments are commonly subjected to force-feeding, radiation exposure, operations to deliberately cause damage and frightening situations to create depression and anxiety. They also hold the view that animals are very different from human beings and therefore are poor test subjects. Drugs that pass animal tests are not necessarily safe. Animal tests on the arthritis (关节炎) drug Vioxx showed it would have a protective effect on the hearts of mice, yet the drug went on to cause about 27,000 heart attacks before being pulled back from the market.
It’s safe to say that using animals for tests will continue to be debated in many years to come. Despite the benefits of animal testing, some of the concerns need to be addressed with adequate regulations to ensure that animals are treated humanely.
1. Why is animal testing considered necessary?| A．Rats are more similar to humans than monkeys. |
| B．Other testing alternatives may not replace animals. |
| C．Animal testing can show every side effect of drugs. |
| D．Animal testing has been in practice since the 12th century. |
| A．Eating poisonous food. | B．Being killed deliberately. |
| C．Breathing in polluted air. | D．Having unnecessary operations. |
| A．animal testing helps find the cure for arthritis |
| B．some drugs need to be withdrawn from the market |
| C．animals cannot necessarily produce accurate results |
| D．a drug should be tested many more times before its release |
| A．Scientists should reduce the number of animals used in research. |
| B．Experts should try hard to determine whether animal tests are harmful. |
| C．Relevant organizations should show more concern about the animals’ welfare. |
| D．The authorities should issue new laws to guarantee animals’ rights during research. |
