1 . I’m a seventeen-year-old boy preparing for my A Level exams at the end of the year. In the society where my peers (同龄人) and I live, we tend to accept the rat race values. As students, we want to get good grades so that we can get good jobs. I enjoy studying and have consistently received A’s in my classes. There was a year when I finished first in my class in the final exams. It was a great accomplishment.
Another one I am pleased with is that I managed to improve the relationship between Mum and Dad. Dad was a successful businessman who was rarely at home. Mum was a housewife who always felt bored and constantly nagged (唠叨) him to let her go to work. Their constant arguing bothered me, so I advised Dad that Mum would be better off with a part-time job. He agreed, and their relationship has improved since then.
My most proud achievement, however, is my successful work in the local old folks’ home. My grandparents had raised me since I was a child. I wept (哭泣) bitterly when they died. Unlike many of my classmates, I do not take part in my school’s community service to earn points. I enjoy my voluntary work and believe I’m contributing to a worthwhile cause. This is where I can help. I talk to the elderly, assist them with their daily life, and listen to their problems, glory days and the hardships they experienced.
Last year, I hosted a successful New Year party for the elderly and they enjoyed a great time. Many expressed a desire to attend another party the following year. When I reflect on my accomplishments, I’m especially proud of my service at the old folks’ home, so I hope to study social work at university and work as a social worker in the future. I wish to be more skilled in attending to the less fortunate and find great satisfaction in it, after all.
1. What can be inferred about the author from the first paragraph?| A．He is content with his learning achievements. | B．His good grades got him a good job. |
| C．He refuses to compete with his peers fiercely. | D．His views on social values are well known. |
| A．A bystander (旁观者). | B．A judge. | C．A helper. | D．A destroyer. |
| A．The contribution to volunteering. | B．The success in exams. |
| C．The recovery of confidence in life. | D．The work in school’s service. |
| A．To gain a well-paid job. | B．To give his life a purpose. |
| C．To better help the disadvantaged. | D．To meet his grandparents’ expectations. |
2 . Finally came Wednesday! I walked onto campus feeling nervous even though I had walked on these same grounds for two years because my junior high school is next door. Everything looked and felt different now that I was in senior high.
I looked at my schedule. First period-German. Our German teacher was very friendly and I liked her from the beginning. What I didn’t like, though, was that I was surrounded by students from other grades, with only five familiar faces.
Then I had to walk all the way across campus and up three flights of stairs to get to my second period-biology. Our biology teacher is Ms Campeau, and I think that she will teach us a lot this year because she is very to the point. She also has her unique way of saying be quiet; she says“alligator”. She explained that she is the king, or should I say queen, of the class because alligators are the “king of the swamps (沼泽)”.
My third class was English. After surviving two periods without too much of a challenge, I began to feel good. However, the third period changed everything. Mr Valassidis, my English teacher, told us that we would have to write 40 essays (文章) and read AP-level books such as The 0dyssey this year. I love reading and writing, but 40ESSA YS?AP-level books? Now I was scared. He also talked about how important it was to be focused. Last year was not a very “focused” year for me. While doing homework, I was often talking on the phone, or busy with a conversation online. I planned on stepping it up this year because I wanted to stay an honours student.
1. What did the author mainly write about in this passage?| A．Her new teachers. |
| B．Her plan for the new year. |
| C．Her first day of senior high. |
| D．Her schedule for Wednesday. |
| A．Sit still. | B．Stop talking. |
| C．Look at the blackboard. | D．Listen carefully. |
| A．Unattractive. | B．Informative. |
| C．Very tiring. | D．Pretty easy. |
| A．She couldn’t focus on her work. |
| B．She found the class demanding. |
| C．She didn’t like the teacher. |
| D．She did poorly at school. |
3 . Poaching (偷猎) and habitat loss have threatened Africa’s two species of elephants, taking them closer toward the edge of disappearance, according to a new report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) .
Before this update, Africa’s elephants were grouped together and were evaluated as vulnerable (易受伤害的) by the IUCN. This is the first time the two species have been sorted separately. In the past, elephants were mostly considered as either Asian elephants or African elephants. Forest and savanna elephants (稀树草原象) were typically classified as subspecies of African elephants.
The African forest elephant is now listed as critically endangered and the African savanna elephant as endangered. The number of African forest elephants fell by more than 86% over a 31-year assessment period. The population of African savanna elephants dropped by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to the IUCN, which tracks the assessment risk of the world’s animals. Africa currently has an estimated 415, 000 elephants, counting the two species together.
Both elephant species experienced significant population decreases because of poaching. Although it peaked in 2011, illegal hunting still happens and continues to threaten elephant populations. African elephants also face continued habitat loss as their land is transformed for agriculture or other uses.
There is some good conservation news, the IUCN points out. Anti-poaching measures, combined with better land use planning to support better human-wildlife relationships, have helped conservation efforts. Some forest elephant population figures have stabilized in well-managed areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo and savanna population figures have remained stable or have been growing, particularly in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in southern Africa.
But with constant demand for ivory and increasing human pressures on Africa’s wild lands concern for Africa’s elephants is high, and the need to creatively conserve and wisely manage these animals and their habitats is more severe than ever.
1. What can be inferred from the new report about African elephants?| A．They are dying out. | B．They are divided into three kinds. |
| C．Their threat is only from poaching. | D．Their population has grown in Africa. |
| A．The detailed number of African elephants. | B．The similarities of African elephants. |
| C．The different types of African elephants. | D．The present situation of African elephants. |
| A．Hopeless. | B．Optimistic. | C．Worried. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．a general nature text | B．a chemistry textbook |
| C．a travel journal | D．a book review |
4 . Dogs can’t speak, but their brains respond to spoken words. Every dog owner knows that saying “Good dog!” in a happy, high voice will make their pet joyfully wag its tail. That made scientists curious: What exactly happens in your dog’s brain when it hears praise, and is it similar to the way our own brain processes such information?
When a person gets others’ compliments, the more primitive, subcortical auditory regions (皮层下听觉区) first react to the intonation — the emotional force of spoken words. Next, the brain taps the more recently evolved auditory cortex (听觉皮层) to figure out the meaning of the words, which is learned.
In 2016, a team of scientists discovered that dogs’ brains, like those of humans, compute the intonation and meaning of a word separately — although dogs use their right brain to do so, whereas we use our left one. Still, a puzzle remained: Do their brains go through the same steps to process approval?
It’s an important question, because dogs are a speechless species, yet they respond correctly to our words. For instance, some dogs are capable of recognizing thousands of names of individual objects, and can link each name to a specific object.
When the scientists studied scans of the brains of pet dogs, they found that theirs, like ours, process the sounds of spoken words in this manner — analyzing first the emotional component with the older region of the brain, the subcortical regions, and then the words’ meaning with the newer part, the cortex.
See why dogs are so successful in partnering us? Dogs and humans last shared a common ancestor some 100 million years ago, so it’s likely that our brains respond to sounds in a similar way. As domesticated animals that have evolved alongside humans in our homes for the past 10,000 years, dogs make special use of it to process human emotions. You know, what we say really matters to dogs!
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “domesticated”?| A．Abroad. | B．Home. | C．Gentle. | D．Intelligent. |
| A．Linking it to an object. | B．Analyzing the emotion. |
| C．Working out its meaning. | D．Tapping the auditory cortex. |
| A．By comparing opinions. | B．By raising examples. |
| C．By providing answers to questions. | D．By analyzing causes and effects. |
| A．Dogs — Good Listeners |
| B．Dogs — Perfect Partners |
| C．Dogs and Humans Share a Common Ancestor Actually |
| D．Dogs Understand Spoken Words the Same Way We Do |
5 . A case highlights a little-known fact about a poor diet. In addition to being tied to obesity, heart disease and cancer, they can also permanently damage the nervous system, particularly vision according to a report published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
A teen who ate nothing but fries, chips and other junk food for years slowly went blind. The teen’s problems began at the age of 14, when he went to the doctor’s office complaining of tiredness. The teen was reportedly a picky eater, and blood tests showed he had anemia and low levels of vitamin B12. He was treated with injections of vitamin B12 along with advice on how to improve his diet.
However, by age 15, he developed hearing loss and vision problems, but doctors couldn’t seem to find the cause— results from an MRI and eye exam were normal. Over the next two years, the teen’s vision got progressively worse. When the boy was 17, an eye test showed that his vision was 20/200 in both eyes, the threshold (起始点) for being “legally blind” in the United States.
Further tests showed the teen a developed damage to the optic nerve (视神经). In addition, the ten still had low levels of vitamin B1, along with low levels of selenium (硒) and vitamin D. These deficiencies caused doctors to ask the teen about the foods he ate. “The patient admitted that since elementary school, the only things he ate had been fries, chips, white bread, processed ham slices and sausage,” the authors from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom wrote in the report.
“This kind of vision loss is potentially reversible (可逆的) if caught early. However, by the time the teen was diagnosed, his vision loss was permanent. What’s more, wearing glasses would not help the teen’s vision, because damage to the optic nerve cannot be corrected with lenses,” said the study lead author Dr. Denize Atan.
1. Why did the teen’s condition get worse?| A．Because his illness couldn’t be treated. | B．Because he kept having a poor diet. |
| C．Because vitamin B12 didn’t work on him. | D．Because he developed damage to his nerves. |
| A．Barriers. | B．Materials. | C．Reasons. | D．Shortages. |
| A．His optic nerve will not be recovered. | B．His problems will be solved well. |
| C．He is advised to take in more vitamins. | D．Wearing glasses can improve his vision. |
| A．A Poor Diet Can Cause Poor Vision | B．Vitamin B12 Is Important to Vision |
| C．Unhealthy Food Causes Cancer | D．Doctors’ Advice Is Helpful to People |
6 . As a boy, I was a little ashamed of my hometown. Visitors almost always made unfriendly: remarks about the distinct smell as they approached the town. However, since I am now working in the tourism industry, I have realized the significance of that smell to the town and even to the world. This is where the Canadian oil industry originated, growing from oil springs to a local miracle in Petrolia.
The “black gold” those first pioneer drillers pumped (用泵输送) out of the ground in the 1860s was the foundation on which our little town was built. In the 1880s, with a population of 5, 000, Petrolia was one of the richest towns in Canada, all because of the foul-smelling substance extracted (提取) from the ground.
Many amazing stories about these great people have been written. Those adventurous individuals brought their hard-earned industry skills to the far corners of the globe, and assisted in the development of major oil fields around the world. Past richness can be seen through out the town There is a story hidden behind each street.
A few historical industrial buildings also remain complete, as they’ve been preserved for a century. Fairbank Heavy Hardware and the Oil Well Supply Company continue to provide the tools and materials required to serve many oil wells in the area that are still pumping and producing the: precious goods. These are just a few of the amazing structures built in a time of wealth and glory.
The present atmosphere of the town is inviting and enthusiastic. Walking tours, a variety of restaurants, unique stores and professional summer theatres and special events throughout the year make it a popular destination for many people.
No longer ashamed, I now smile with pride when I think of my hometown. As our new slogan states, “You’ll Be Surprised!”
1. What does the author probably do?| A．A teacher. | B．A guide. | C．An engineer | D．A policeman. |
| A．There are oil fields in it. | B．There is a famous spring in it. |
| C．Its smell attracts visitors. | D．It is hated by many people. |
| A．To prove the two companies’ richness. |
| B．To show the contribution of the oilmen. |
| C．To tell us the adventurous stories of the drillers. |
| D．To introduce the historical evolution of the town. |
| A．His love for work. | B．Local people’s help. |
| C．The town’s development. | D．The world’s change. |
7 . The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 closed on February 20. Let’s take a look at these Chinese elements through the designs and the ingenious ideas behind them.
Medals
The front side of the Winter Olympic medals was based on the ancient Chinese jade concentric circle pendants, with five rings representing “the unity of heaven and earth and the unity of people’s hearts”. The reverse side of the medals was inspired from a piece of Chinese jadeware called “Bi”, a double jade disc with a circular hole in the center. There are 24 dots and arcs engraved on the rings of the back side, which carries the wish that athletes achieve excellence and shine like stars at the Games.
Emblem
The Beijing 2022 emblem combines traditional and modern elements of Chinese culture, and embodies the passion and vitality of winter sports. Inspired by the Chinese character “Dong (冬)” for “winter”, the upper part of the emblem resembles a skater and its lower part a skier. It also indicates that the Games coincide with the celebrations of the Chinese New Year. The blue color in the emblem represents dreams, the future and the purity of ice and snow, while red and yellow— the colors of China’s national flag-present passion, youth and vitality.
Mascots
Bing Dwen Dwen (冰墩墩) the cute mascot of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, captures attention with the panda’s full-body “shell” made out of ice. The inspiration came from traditional Chinese snack “ice-sugar gourd” (tanghulu) , while the shell also resembles a space suit— embracing new technologies for a future of infinite possibilities, “Bing” is the Chinese character for ice, which symbolizes purity and toughness, in line with the spirit of the Olympics. Dwen Dwen is a common nickname in China for children that suggests health and ingenuity.
Uniforms
The Chinese delegation wore a set of long cashmere coats with beige for the male team and the traditional red for the female team, with woolen hats that matched their coats. Some athletes also wore red caps with beige coats. They all wore white boots. Their scarves’ were in the color of China’s national flag, with the Chinese character for “China” woven in yellow on the red background. The color red highlights the warm and festive atmosphere and shows the hospitality of the Chinese people.
1. Where was the inspiration of the reverse side of the medals from?| A．From traditional Chinese snacks. | B．From a piece of Chinese jadeware. |
| C．From a bronze lamp. | D．From Chinese characters. |
| A．It represents health and ingenuity. |
| B．It represents passion, youth and vitality. |
| C．It represents dreams, the future and the purity of ice and snow. |
| D．It represents the unity of heaven and earth and the unity of people’s hearts |
| A．Medals. | B．Emblem. | C．Mascots. | D．Uniforms |
8 . I grew up with a four-year gap between myself and my younger brother. It was a distance (距离) in age to keep us close as we got older, but also an age gap to make sure we lived our own lives in completely different ways. Having a younger brother while I was a girl was a lot of work, for there was a lot of fighting.
However, as we’ve got older, we’ve become closer, and I’ve learned several things in life from my younger brother that I didn’t realize I needed before.
My younger brother is one of the most talented and creative souls (灵魂) I’ve known. He’s continually feeding his creativity with new art forms and new instruments. He always seeks to understand and learn more about the world around him. He’s helped remind me through his actions and words that giving up on creativity is something a person should never do.
My younger brother has also been through hard times, but he’s able to focus on learning from the hard times, unlike me, who tends to hold on to every little thing from my life. It’s always been difficult for me to let things go and move on, but my younger brother has been an inspiration (灵感来源) for me to try harder at letting go.
My younger brother has always been a more introverted type, and if you speak to him, you’re lucky to get over three words out of him at a time. Because of this, he’s certainly learned the whole “actions speak louder than words” thing. But, I’ve realized from my brother that I needn’t speak to fill the silence. Sometimes, it’s necessary to spend some of your time in silence and reflect in it.
1. What does the author think of growing up as the older sister?| A．Boring but warm. | B．Peaceful and easy. |
| C．Troubling but inspiring. | D．Enjoyable and exciting. |
| A．Trying to learn new instruments. |
| B．Focusing on little details of everything. |
| C．Moving on with the past kept in mind. |
| D．Keeping feeding her creativity. |
| A．They are talented. | B．They are quiet. |
| C．They are positive. | D．They are friendly. |
| A．It talks about the relationship between his brother and the author. |
| B．It introduces the great spirits of the author’s brother. |
| C．It is about lessons learned from the author’s brother. |
| D．Tell some advice provided by the author’s brother. |
9 . September usually marks the start of a new season—but what you call that season depends on where you are and whom you ask.
In the UK, people will tell you it’s “autumn”. However, cross the Atlantic and you'll find that people use both “fall” and “autumn” interchangeably (可互换地) when talking about this time of year. In the English language, the season has two widely accepted names. However, many people don’t understand why there are two words. Why does it have to be bewildering?
According to Dictionary. com, “fall” isn’t a modern nickname that followed the more traditional “autumn”. The two terms were actually first recorded within a few hundred years of each other.
Before either word appeared in the word list of English, the seasons separating the cold and warm months didn’t have common names. The main thing people did during the pre-winter period was collect crops, so it was called “harvest” in Old English.
Then, in the 1600s, more and more people left their farmland and moved into cities. Without farming, the term “harvest” became less useful to city dwellers (居民). Some English speakers needed another name for the season. They knew leaves fell from trees during that season, so people called the season “the fall of the leaf”, or “fall” for short. But at the end of the 1600s, “autumn”, from the French word “autompne” and the Latin “autumnus”, was introduced into England and overtook “fall” as the standard term for the harvesting season.
At the same time, British settlers were making their first long journey to North America. They brought the words “fall” and “autumn” with them. Today, using both words to describe the season is a uniquely American behavior.
1. What does the underlined word in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Confusing. | B．Interesting. | C．Shocking. | D．Inspiring. |
| A．To better describe crops. |
| B．To replace the term “harvest”. |
| C．To mark the move into cities. |
| D．To celebrate the harvesting season. |
| A．It is a French word. | B．It is preferred by farmers. |
| C．It means harvesting crops. | D．It appears later than “fall”. |
| A．Harvest and Weather | B．Fall and Autumn |
| C．The Season of September | D．The Origin of Autumn |
10 . A quick walk onto a frozen pond (池塘) could have been a disaster for these two boys.
Cruz Genet, 11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn’t agree more. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? There was only one way to find out. So on a cold January evening last year, the two friends walked onto the frozen pond near their homes to get a better look.
First, they threw a rock onto the ice to test it. Believing the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, and then he crashed through the seemingly frozen surface. “There was no sound and no crack”, he told the reporter. “I just fell through immediately.”
Cruz rushed to help his frightened friend. And he fell in the pond, too. Cruz managed to lift himself out of the water and onto a harder part. He then carefully worked his way toward Anthony, but he fell in the pond again. This time, he couldn’t get out.
The two boys were in icy cold water and quickly losing feeling in their limbs (四肢). Cruz was sure that he was going to die.
Anthony’s older sister had seen the boys fall through the ice and started shouting for help. John Lavin, a neighbor driving nearby on his way to the store, heard her. He quickly pulled over. Seeing the boys, he took a nearby buoy (浮标), kicked off his shoes, and ran into the water. Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and drew them back to land. They were taken to hospital, where doctors discovered that their five-minute stay in the water had lowered their body temperature nearly ten degrees.
Luckily, the boys have fully recovered, though they are still a little awestruck (敬畏的) by their fearless neighbor. “Just to think,” says Cruz, “if he hadn’t been there, I could have died.”
1. Why did the boys go to the frozen pond?| A．They had planned to go skating on the ice for a medal. |
| B．They wondered whether the ice could hold their weight. |
| C．They wanted to have a better understanding at the pond. |
| D．They were curious about what birds there were on the ice. |
| A．they threw a rock to test if the ice was strong enough |
| B．they caught a nearby buoy and kicked off their shoes |
| C．they asked their neighbor who should be the first to go |
| D．they asked Anthony’s older sister to protect them nearby |
| A．He went to find a buoy nearby. | B．He went to his neighbor for help. |
| C．He rushed in to help his friend. | D．He went to ask for his sister’s help. |
| A．A stranger passing by rescued the two boys at last. |
| B．The two boys were very thankful to their neighbor. |
| C．Cruz fell into the pond with Anthony at the same time. |
| D．Anthony’s older sister invited the two boys to the pond. |
