1 . Christmas is a time for eating great food, giving and receiving presents, and most importantly spending time with your family watching some classic Christmas movies.
The Grinch (2000)
This is a Christmas must-watch and one of Jim Carrey’s best performances. It was also originally a nursery tale book written by Dr Seuss. It’s the story of a green monster who wants to ruin Christmas but in the end discovers the power of love and generosity. I promise it’s a great film with plenty of laughs along the way.
Love Actually (2003)
While this is not a personal favourite of mine, people in the UK absolutely love this film. It has many featuring actors and actresses. It might be a little difficult to follow as there are complex plots, so I recommend watching a translated version. However, the heart-warming elements of the film make it worth watching.
Home Alone (1990)
This amusing masterwork is one of my favourite films of all time. It tells the story of a boy, Kevin, who is left alone in his house when his large family forgets to take him on vacation with them. While other family members are away, burglars try to rob the house and Kevin must protect his home by setting traps. The trips, falls and traps will have you laughing out loud as you watch an 8-year-oldboy beat two grown men.
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
You can’t have Christmas in an English-speaking country without watching this movie. It’s not funny like Home Alone or The Grinch, but it is incredibly touching. It’s about a man who claims to be Santa, but nobody believes him except a lawyer and a little girl. The storyline may seem a little childish but you can enjoy it at any age.
1. Which film is adapted from a fairy tale?| A．The Grinch. | B．Home Alone. | C．Love Actually. | D．Miracle on 34th Street. |
| A．An unsuccessful family vacation. |
| B．A boy protecting his home by himself. |
| C．A terrible suffering of a little boy. |
| D．An 8-year-oldboy’s practical jokes. |
| A．Owing to its moving plot. |
| B．Because of its funny story. |
| C．Due to its childish storyline. |
| D．Because of its famous actors and actresses. |
2 . Today, we visit one of the most famous parks — Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. This huge park in the southeastern part of the state covers more than 10 thousand square kilometers of the Alaskan wilderness. It includes mountains, glaciers, fjords (峡湾), and even rain forests. Glacier Bay supports hundreds of kinds of animals, including many species of birds, fish, bears, whales and sea lions.
As its name suggests much of Glacier Bay is covered by glaciers. A glacier is a large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley, or over a wide area of land. Glaciers cover a large area of the park.
The glaciers found in the park today are what remain from an ice development known as the Little Ice Age. That period began about 4,000 years ago. During the Little Ice Age, the cold weather caused the ice to grow and develop. That growth continued until the 1700s, when the climate began to warm. The hotter temperatures caused the ice to start melting (融化). That melting led the huge glacier to divide into more than 1,000 different glaciers.
The extremely tall mountains seen in Glacier Bay were formed by the ice developing and then melting over time. The melting of the ice also created water that filled in and created the many fjords within the park. Fjords are narrow parts of the ocean that sit between cliffs or mountains.
Glacier Bay is a popular place for people searching for adventure. Some visitors choose to explore the park by kayak. The small, narrow boats offer visitors a chance to experience the park’s many fjords and its hundreds of kilometers of coastline.
1. If you pay a visit to Glacier Bay, you will find ________.| A．it almost covers the whole Alaskan wilderness |
| B．the rain forests are rare in such conditions |
| C．there live numbers of kinds of animals |
| D．there are more birds than other species |
| A．Some glaciers existed there long long ago. |
| B．Greenhouse effect has affected the glaciers. |
| C．The glaciers will disappear in the soon future. |
| D．Only 1,000 large glaciers are left at present. |
| A．They are formed on the top of mountains. | B．The melting of the ice is also called fjords. |
| C．Water is the source of creating many fjords. | D．Fjords move as the oceans flow around. |
| A．To do a research about Glacier Bay. | B．To warn visitors there are too many dangers. |
| C．To show Glacier Bay has a long history. | D．To introduce Glacier Bay to readers. |
3 . Some students get so nervous before a test. They do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when they worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources (资源).
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of 5%. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
“What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention (干预), all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. They were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these tests.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What may the students start worrying about before an exam?| A．Whether they can pass the exams. |
| B．What other students do during the test. |
| C．Whether they have remembered the materials. |
| D．What kind of problems they will meet on the test paper. |
| A．Asking the students to think nothing of the test. |
| B．Asking the students to focus on the test. |
| C．Asking the students to sit quietly before the test. |
| D．Asking the students to write about their worries before the test. |
| A．became less nervous before the test. |
| B．were better at controlling their feelings. |
| C．did worse than those who wrote about their feelings. |
| D．did better than those who took two tests. |
| A．Writing about worries before an exam can work a bit. |
| B．Studying in the library can improve students’ performance. |
| C．Students can only write about worries right before an exam. |
| D．It doesn’t matter where to write about worries before an exam. |
4 . China Small Group Tours
◆Tour Route 1: 11 Days Private Beijing - Lhasa - Xi’an - Shanghai
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors
Follow us on a Buddhist pilgrimage to Tibet & appreciate the profound culture
Have a leisurely walk or an exciting bicycle ride on the time-honored City Wall of Xi’an
View the soaring city skylines and feel the pulse of modern Shanghai
From $ 2, 459 per person
◆Tour Route 2: 11 Days Private Bejing - Xi’an - Chonqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Yichang - Shanghai
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Wariors
Try biking on the Ming Dynasty City Wall of Xi’ an, or tour by electric car
Enjoy the Three Gorges (三峡) scenery on Yangtze River & feel totally relaxed
From $ 1, 879 per person
◆Tour Route 3: 12 Days Private Bejing - Shanghai - Xi’an - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Hong
Kong
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors
Experience the Bund, classical garden, modern and old in contrast in Shanghai
Feel the lively atmosphere & explore busy markets freely in Hong Kong
Walk into a local family, learn to cook Chinese food & dine with the hosts in their home
From $ 2, 499 per person
◆Tour Route 4: 12 Days Private Bejing - Xi’an - Chengdu - Guilin - Shanghai
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors, Giant Pandas
Come to Chengdu, the hometown of giant pandas to visit and observe the cute creature
Cruise on the meandering Li River & admire Guilin landscape
Walk into a local Chinese family, interact & dine with the hosts in their home
From $2, 079 per person
1. What do Tour Route 1 and Tour Route 2 have in common?| A．They have cycling activities. |
| B．They include a visit to Tibet. |
| C．Visitors enjoy the Three Gorges scenery. |
| D．Visitors pay the same amount of money. |
| A．Tourists can travel by bike. |
| B．Tourists can visit a huge dam. |
| C．Tourists can dine with a family. |
| D．It is the most expensive of the four. |
| A．Tour Route 1. |
| B．Tour Route 2. |
| C．Tour Route 3. |
| D．Tour Route 4. |
5 . The sun is going to expand into the orbit of Mercury according to scientific calculations, which will result in the entire Earth catching on fire. Who will save the world?
This imaginative tale is at the heart of the latest Chinese sci-fi movie The Wandering Earth. Unlike many American space-themed films where the solution to a disaster Earth faces is always fleeing (逃离) the planet in spaceships, this time we’re taking the Earth with us. The film, which has become the country’s most successful film of all time, has offered a different and more ambitious idea.
The “ambition” didn’t come from nowhere. For thousands of years, “homeland” has had a soft spot in the hearts and minds of Chinese people. One old idiom that shows a strong feeling that Chinese people have had for their homeland is “luoyeguigen”, which means returning to one’s homeland in old age, like fallen leaves returning to the roots of their tree.
“What is Chinese sci-fi?” Guo Fan, the film’s director, said in an interview. “A vehicle that really expresses our cultural and spiritual core (核心) can be called Chinese sci-fi. Otherwise, we’re just following others and telling the same Hollywood stories.”
And the makers of The Wandering Earth may have chosen the best time to tell its Chinese sci-fi story. The film was released on Feb. 5, the first day of Chinese New Year. It was a time when many people had just made the hard journey back to their hometowns. So to them, there is only one possible way to tell the story: Earth goes wherever humans go, because it’s our home.
1. The main purpose of the opening paragraph is to __________.| A．give a brief account of the film |
| B．warn people of the coming threat |
| C．explore ways to avoid the disaster |
| D．introduce the topic of the passage |
| A．fleeing the Earth in spaceships |
| B．bringing in huge success |
| C．filling the gap in Chinese sci-fi movies |
| D．helping Earth make its escape |
| A．The rich imagination of the story. |
| B．Hollywood-style space stories. |
| C．The special cultural background. |
| D．The time chosen to release the film. |
| A．Chinese Sci-Fi Catches Up |
| B．The Most Successful Chinese Sci-Fi |
| C．Chinese Sci-Fi Sets a New Path |
| D．Chinese Sci-Fi Challenges Hollywood |
6 . When I was a kid,I was the girl who kept the training wheels on my bike as long as possible.Even my younger sister had got rid of them much earlier than me.But as I began to grow older,this changed.
All this happened on the Bike Safety Day.It is supposed to be a fun day at school when all of us kids bring our bikes to school and the school provides us with the opportunity to ride outside and learn proper bike safety.Sounds like fun,right?No.In fact,it caused me to panic.What was I going to say when my friends asked me about my training wheels?
With the pressure of everyone seeing my training wheels,I determined to let them go.This was the first big change I’d ever made on my own.
I went to my parents and told them all about my dilemma.They were more than happy to help.We went outside and got my bike.Instead of running away and hiding behind,I stood in front of my bike and took great pride in my decision as my dad removed the training wheels.
I got on and steadied myself.My heart raced but my feet and hands were calm.My dad started to push before my feet even moved and suddenly I was off.The fear faded away and a relaxed mind came into its place.It was crazy to think how quickly I learned something that took so long for me to even try!
My confidence soared (高涨).This was going to be the start of a brand new world for me.My accomplishment would carry me forth to new goals and wins.I realized that if I set my mind on doing something,I could achieve it.
1. What does the school expect the students to do on Bike Safety Day?| A．Have their bikes checked. |
| B．Ride outside for fun. |
| C．Acquire bike safety skills. |
| D．Remove the training wheels. |
| A．The author’s friends. | B．The author’s parents. |
| C．The safety problems. | D．The training wheels. |
| A．She felt extremely embarrassed. |
| B．Everything turned out to be easy. |
| C．She ended up falling down. |
| D．Her sisters followed her example. |
| A．Patience. | B．Determination. |
| C．Pressure. | D．Concentration. |
7 . The arts, especially music, should be part of every school’s lessons at every grade level. Students would be much smarter if they had some musical experience. They could improve their classroom skills, like paying attention and following directions. People develop all these skills when they learn music. Making music also lets children use their imagination. It provides students with a chance to try out their own ideas.
Music not only makes children better students, but also gives them something positive to do. In a music programme, children can be part of a band instead of joining a gang (团伙). Parents can enjoy listening to their children’s music instead of seeing them glued to a computer or TV screen. In a school band, students get to be part of a team. They can get along well with old friends and make new friends through music.
Music builds self-confidence, too. It gives children a sense of achievement and success. Making music is something for them to be proud of, and it lets kids practise performing in front of the audience. Music gives children an opportunity for self-expression, and that helps develop their self-confidence.
Once again, music is important because it can make children better students, give them something positive to do, and build their character. That is why music lessons should be offered in every single grade in every school.
1. According to the passage, music could make students smarter by________.| A．improving their classroom skills and paying attention |
| B．improving their classroom skills and imagination |
| C．improving their attention and imagination |
| D．letting them make music and try out their own ideas |
| A．Unwilling to turn on. |
| B．Always looking at. |
| C．Unwilling to move. |
| D．Always playing with. |
| A．make children express themselves |
| B．bring children success |
| C．give children something to be proud of |
| D．develop children’s self-confidence |
| A．Music Is a Must as a Course at School |
| B．Music Builds Children’s Self-confidence |
| C．Music Makes Students Much Smarter |
| D．Learning Music and Making Music Build Children’s Character |
8 . Researchers in Australia, who studied 1,500 people and their lifestyles, have found that having good friends can help you live longer. An American study of 10,000 students, over a period of 35 years, also found that if you make more friends than the average (普通的) person at school, you’ll receive a higher salary (工资) in later life. People need good social skills at work to manage people and work in a team successfully. These are the same skills we use to make friends at school.
On average, teenagers aged between 15 and 17 have 500 “friends” on their favourite social networking site. Adults (成年人) have 130. So if you believe this research, you might live for a long time and be very rich.
However, according to Professor Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford, it probably won’t make any difference. Dunbar studied the number of messages between users of a popular social networking website, each of whom had between 200 and 2,000 friends. He found that they always communicate with a maximum (最大量) of 150 people.
Among these 150, Dunbar believes that around five people are close friends. You’ve most likely known them for a long time; they are probably old friends and you share all your good and bad experiences with them. Then there are ten more friends. Although they’re close to you, you may not keep in touch with them every week. Next there are 35 people who you might spend time with because of a shared interest. You aren’t close. And finally, there’s a large group of 100. You see or speak to these people at least once a year, but you don’t know them well. Beyond (超过) this number, Dunbar says, it’s impossible to make any relationship meaningful.
If you have a lot of online “friends”, try this experiment: First take away anyone you haven’t been in touch with for a year. Then remove people you can’t remember and, finally, take away friends who you wouldn’t mind losing touch with. How many do you have left? How many of these people are actually good friends? According to the research, these are the only people that really matter.
1. What are the studies mentioned in the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The number of friends you should have. |
| B．The advantages of having a lot of friends. |
| C．Some social skills you may need at work. |
| D．Some useful advice on how to make friends. |
| A．are likely to spend more money |
| B．may not be as popular at work |
| C．seem to get betterpaid jobs |
| D．will work harder in later years |
| A．10. | B．35. |
| C．100. | D．150. |
| A．You need to spend more time with your friends. |
| B．There is a lot of research on the influence of friends. |
| C．Friends are sometimes more important than family. |
| D．It’s more important to have good friends than lots of friends. |
9 . Fantastic Fall Festivals You Won’t Want to Miss
Seymour Apple FestivalAdmission to the Seymour Apple Festival is free and so is the entertainment! More than 15,000 people from all over the region come out to take part in the activities, ranging from drawings, vendor booths, food, apple contests, bike decorating contests, and more.
Marionville Apple FestivalThe popular Marionville Apple Festival is home to countless activities and events. The carnival, pony rides, and games will keep the kids busy, while adults will enjoy watching the pie-eating contest and browsing dozens of craft vendor booths.
Humansville Fall FestivalThe Humansville Fall Festival may be hosted by a small town, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking big fun. Perfect for all ages, this fall festival is celebrating its 70th year and will provide three full days of fun. This year’s festival will feature live music from fantastic local musicians, which will definitely make it different from the ones in other years. You’ll also find fun carnival rides, talented artisans selling their goods, and an amazing parade to wrap up the event on Saturday.
Southside Fall FestivalThe Southside Fall Festival is perfect for family celebrations, with an alcohol-free environment and free admission. Enjoy a colorful parade and float contest, delicious food vendors, live music, karaoke, and more.
Fall Into Arts FestivalMake sure to bring the kids along for this festival that celebrates all things creative. The Fall Into Arts Festival features a host of kid-friendly activities like a lego build, sand art, bubble stations, chalk the sidewalk, a jump house, and more. Parents will have plenty to do as well, with an excellent variety of artists, festival food, a mini film festival, and much more.
1. Which festivals are free of charge?| A．Seymour Apple Festival and Southside Fall Festival. |
| B．Southside Fall Festival and Fall Into Arts Festival. |
| C．Humansville Fall Festival and Fall Into Arts Festival. |
| D．Seymour Apple Festival and Marionville Apple Festival. |
| A．Fun activities on Saturday. |
| B．The duration of the festival, |
| C．The area of the hosting town. |
| D．Musicians’ live performance. |
| A．families with kids | B．modern artists |
| C．visitors of all ages | D．Movie lovers |
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. |
