1 . We drove to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park — a very remote, dry, mountainous place in Utah. I went there when I was about 10 years old, but I can only recall certain things: how cold it got that night as we slept in the tent, the small insects that covered the mountain beside us, and having to use the bathroom in an outhouse.
Huge rocks are hanging dangerously on the jagged (嶙峋的) mountainside, and you know they have to fall eventually. We stopped at Newspaper Rock, a National Historic Site where prehistoric people sketched drawings onto sandstone from B.C. time to A.D.1300. With only a short fence surrounding it, it seems unavoidable that modern-day people would feel the urge to carve their names into this precious historic landmark.
The sky is the bluest I think I’ve ever seen; it’s a beautiful backdrop to the orangey-red cliffs lining the horizon. And the silence — I’ve never experienced a quieter place. When I first got out of the truck at our campsite, I stood still and held my breath, and all I could hear was the ringing in my ears.
In my opinion, only at night can you witness the true beauty of the Canyonlands: the stars. Since the Needles district is an extremely dry place about 80 miles away from any major city’s lights, it offers the clearest view I’ve ever seen of the night sky. It is incredible how many stars you can see out there. I climbed on top of a nearby rock formation and lay on my back just soaking (沉浸) it all in. It was like looking through a window straight into the universe.
I wanted to sleep outside beneath the stars, but then the temperature dropped to 40 degree and I discovered massive ants crawling on the ground, so I quitted that. The next morning, I discovered a nearby camper passed out on the rock formation in a sleeping bag. How he managed to brave the temperatures and the ants, I have no idea.
1. What was the environment of Needles district like to the author as a kid?| A．Confusing. | B．Difficult. | C．Dull. | D．Adventurous. |
| A．It’s a combination of old and new. | B．It’s a piece of prehistoric artwork. |
| C．It’s currently in need of protection. | D．It’s been in existence for 1300 years. |
| A．He was too tired to move. | B．He lost his hearing temporarily. |
| C．He was extremely out of breath. | D．He wanted to feel nature closely. |
| A．To encourage people to travel there. | B．To compare childhood experience. |
| C．To describe his journey in wild nature. | D．To raise awareness of natural protection. |
2 . Bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers. But now that information is being spread and monitored in different ways, researchers are discovering new rules. By tracking people’s e-mails and online posts, scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.
“The ‘if it bleeds’ rule works for mass media,” says Jonah Berger, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. “They want your eyeballs and don’t care how you're feeling. But when you share a story with your friends, you care a lot more how they react. You don’t want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer.”
Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication — e-mails, Web posts and reviews, face-to-face conversations — found that it tended to be more positive than negative, but that didn't necessarily mean people preferred positive news. Was positive news shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things? To test for that possibility, Dr. Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories: thousands of articles on The New York Times’ website. He and a Penn colleague analyzed the “most e-mailed” list for six months. One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles. He found that science amazed Times’ readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.
Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny, or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused one way or the other, and they preferred good to bad. The more positive an article, the more likely it was to be shared, as Dr. Berger explains in his new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
1. How does the author bring out the new rules of media?| A．By giving a definition. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By presenting an argument. | D．By introducing the background. |
| A．attentive to their own story making | B．eager for frequent eye contact |
| C．particular about their physical contact | D．careful about others’ response |
| A．A technological breakthrough. | B．A solution to poverty. |
| C．An individual’s life of unemployment. | D．A historical short story. |
| A．Sad Stories Actually Travel Far and Wide | B．Online News Attracts More People |
| C．Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks | D．Reading Habits Change with the Times |
3 . As with every World Cup, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar the players will be using a new ball. The last thing competitors want is for the most important piece of equipment to behave in unexpected ways in the most important tournament of the world’s most popular sport, so a lot of work goes into making sure that every new World Cup ball feels familiar to players.
Between shots on goal, free kicks and long passes, many important moments of a soccer game happen when the ball is in the air. So one of the most important characteristics of a soccer ball is how it travels through air.
As a ball moves through air, a thin layer of mostly still air called the boundary layer (边界层)surrounds some part of the ball. At low speeds this boundary layer will only cover the front half of the ball before flowing air peels (划过) away from the surface. In this case, the wake of air behind the ball is somewhat regular and is called laminar flow. When a ball is moving quickly, though, the boundary layer wraps much farther around the ball. When the flow air does eventually separate from the ball’s surface, it does so in a series of chaotic swirls (不规则气旋). This process is called turbulent flow.
When calculating how much force moving air imparts on a moving object — called drag — physicists use a term called the drag coefficient (系数). For a given speed, the higher the drag coefficient is, the more drag an object feels.
It turns out that a soccer ball’s drag coefficient is approximately 2.5 times larger for laminar flow than for turbulent flow. Though it may seem counterintuitive, roughening a ball’s surface delays the separation of the boundary layer and keeps a ball in turbulent flow longer. This fact of physics that — rougher balls feel less drag — is the reason why dimpled (坑坑洼洼的) golf balls fly much farther than they would if the balls were smooth.
1. What can be inferred from the passage about footballs in the World Cup?| A．Unexpected ways of playing them will come into view. |
| B．They make sure of long passes to be performed by players. |
| C．They’ll be judged by their quality when kicked off in the air. |
| D．Their importance explains why the World Cup is famous globally. |
| A．Changes of the football surface. | B．A wide variety of airflows. |
| C．Formation of the boundary layers. | D．A broad range of football's speed. |
| A．the result seems unlikely at first sight | B．the prediction lacks explanation |
| C．the research requires further investigation | D．the method of study isn’t proper enough |
| A．To compare the speed of different golf balls. |
| B．To encourage more footballs to be made as such. |
| C．To apply the research result to explain another phenomenon. |
| D．To explain clearer the function of separating boundary layers. |
4 . My wife Lynn was beginning her third day on an oxygen mask (氧气面罩). “She must
Suddenly, a(n)
The next morning, Lynn awoke. I couldn’t help
| A．sleep | B．suffer | C．focus | D．wake |
| A．sad | B．impolite | C．angry | D．moving |
| A．look back | B．slow down | C．give up | D．show up |
| A．dream | B．idea | C．pain | D．chance |
| A．Otherwise | B．Besides | C．Therefore | D．However |
| A．injury | B．failure | C．trouble | D．improvement |
| A．cleaner | B．doctor | C．nurse | D．patient |
| A．calmly | B．gently | C．coldly | D．rudely |
| A．share | B．leave | C．speak | D．hide |
| A．picture | B．map | C．sign | D．medal |
| A．worry | B．mind | C．care | D．escape |
| A．shouting | B．sweating | C．crying | D．complaining |
| A．reply | B．explain | C．pretend | D．learn |
| A．concerned | B．grateful | C．proud | D．upset |
| A．lose | B．offer | C．bring | D．send |
5 . There are people for whom the motivation lies in their family’s or companions’ duties. For some people, the purpose lies in a soul’s spiritual awakening. Brent Clayton, a firefighter by profession, is such an individual who found his purpose early in life and kept working to fulfill it.
Born on March 3, 1984, Clayton hugely felt the need to serve others. He followed his mission in life and acquired his diploma in Public Safety. He gradually realized the importance of securing people’s lives, which strengthened his faith in his mission. Clayton further pursued his bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne and master’s degree from Federation University. Then, Clayton worked in the military for a period before moving into a role with the prison service as a prison guard, the youngest person to ever be employed by the service at the time.
After spending a decade in the fire service including training and recruitment, he gained enough experience to become Australian most prominent fire service recruitment expert. Clayton devoted many years of his life to the firefighter recruitment process and fire service industry. He wanted people to realize the true value of this profession by establishing its significance. To communicate his perspective, Clayton established Fire Recruitment Australia in 2009. He aimed to train the next generation and prepare them for the future. Clayton used his experience and years-long training to prepare candidates who were as enthusiastic about the well-being of the world as him.
Keeping the point in mind, Clayton wrote the book Fire Service Recruitment-The Process to Success. His idea was to join his learning into an accessible medium so others didn’t have to waste years wondering what to do when applying to become a firefighter. After the success of the book, Clayton introduced candidates to a comprehensive test preparation and learning suite to facilitate success throughout each stage of the selection process. This platform helped him as well as his candidates to work together for the betterment of themselves and society at large.
1. What made Clayton’s belief stronger?| A．The need of serving other people. |
| B．The significance of securing people’s safety. |
| C．The diploma he received from Public Safety. |
| D．The knowledge he learned from college. |
| A．Stubborn. | B．Fearless. | C．Distinguished. | D．Elegant. |
| A．Because he was enthusiastic about the well-being of the world. |
| B．Because he wanted to carry out academic research. |
| C．Because he wanted to realize his dream of being a leader. |
| D．Because he hoped to get young people ready for future career. |
| A．A book for career success | B．A man with great purpose |
| C．An organization for well-being | D．A standard for firefighters |
6 . Located about 10 km northeast of the city center, the Chengdu Panda Base is a popular place to see lots of pandas of different ages in what’s close to their natural habitat.
Highlights and Travel Tips
The Chengdu Panda Base is a nonprofit research and breeding (繁殖) facility for giant pandas that was originally founded in 1987 and opened to the public in 1993. The center began with a population of just six giant pandas and has since grown to more than 100 pandas.
For visitors, it is more like a nice park than a traditional zoo. The base is large and nice to walk around, since much of it is in a bamboo forest. There are also shops selling panda-related souvenirs, but the prices are usually higher than markets or shops outside the base.
Accessibility Information
While the main road is flat, the base is large, so it is better for visitors with mobility issues to ride the shuttle (往返) bus. Visitors who completely rely on wheelchairs may need help from others to guide. Most restrooms within the base are wheelchair accessible.
Opening Hours and Ticket Prices
| Opening hours | 7:30 am - 6:00 pm |
| Entrance fee | 55 CNY |
| Shuttle bus fee | 10 CNY |
| Average time for this activity | 2-3 hours |
How to Get There
It takes about a half hour and costs around 30 CNY to get to the Chengdu Panda Base from the city center by taxi. You can also get there by public bus or subway, although these routes require a few transfers.
1. What is special about the Chengdu Panda Base?| A．It offers tourists panda souvenirs. | B．It is a zoo with the features of a park. |
| C．It is the largest panda research base. | D．It has more pandas than anywhere else. |
| A．110 CNY. | B．75 CNY. | C．55 CNY. | D．45 CNY. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A news report. |
| C．An announcement. | D．An exhibition guide. |
7 . The first and only emergency hiking shelter in Golden Ears Provincial Park celebrated its 20th anniversary (周年纪念日) this summer, after helping countless people over the past two decades when they’ve found themselves in trouble near the peak.
At a height of over l,500 meters, Golden Ears is home to some unpredictable weather. According to a 2020 global study, more than 20 percent of hiking accidents happen partially due to poor weather conditions.
The weather became such a problem that Ron Paley, former trail-master for Golden Ears Trail Preservation and Restoration Club, was personally involved in multiple rescues while preparing the future construction site.
“One involved a couple of guys hiking, one of whom hurt his ankle. His friend tried carrying him down the mountain, but it’s hard enough hiking that mountain alone, so there was no way he would have made it while giving a piggyback ride to someone else,” Paley said.
Since the structure was completed on Oct. 1, 2002, many people have visited it — whether for emergency or personal use.
Rick Laing, spokesperson for the Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue, emphasizes that this long-standing shelter is designed to be used in only extreme cases.
“But, a lot of people seem to use it as a destination instead of for emergencies,” Laing said.
The tough conditions of Golden Ears make it likely that many more of the nearly 1 million people who visit the park each year will need to seek out this shelter in the future.
“I’ve done the Grand Canyon and it’s easier than Golden Ears,” Paley said.
It’s because of this challenging terrain (地形) that completing the emergency shelter took more than two weeks and $50,000. But according to Paley, he looks back on the challenge fondly.
“If this shelter has saved even one life, it’s worth it.”
1. What led to the construction of the shelter in Golden Ears?| A．Its great height. | B．Hikers’ requests. |
| C．Sudden weather changes there. | D．Frequent hiking accidents there. |
| A．He lost his life in the park. | B．He was saved by Ron Paley. |
| C．He had hiked that mountain alone. | D．He was carried down the mountain by his friend. |
| A．Unfavorable. | B．Tolerant. | C．Uncaring. | D．Approving. |
| A．To imply the importance of Golden Ears. |
| B．To reveal Golden Ears’ remote location. |
| C．To show the tough conditions of Golden Ears. |
| D．To suggest Golden Ears’ growing popularity. |
8 . Do you still remember the scene in the famous movie Titanic, directed by Cameron, where Jack was frozen to death in the icy cold water so that Rose could survive on the floating door alone? It broke many people’s heart.
Two decades later, people are still asking the question, “wasn’t there enough room on the door for both of them?”
Cameron once responded by saying it wasn’t a question of room, but buoyancy (浮力) — if both of them had tried to stay on the door, he argued, the whole thing would sink.
But several guys from “Mythbusters”, an Australian-American science entertainment television program, decided to test the theory themselves. They discovered that if Rose had took off her life jacket to the bottom of the door, there would have been enough buoyancy to keep both of them afloat.
“It was an artistic choice, the thing was just big enough to hold her, and not big enough to hold him,” Cameron said. “I think it’s all kind of silly, really, that we’re having this discussion 20 years later. But it does show that the film was effective in making Jack so attractive to the audience that it hurts them to see him die. The film is about death and separation; he had to die.”
Since Jack was doomed to die, Cameron said, it could have happened in a variety of different ways. It’s not about the door not being big enough: that’s just a practical method for his death. “Whether it was that, or whether a chimney (烟囱) fell on him, he was going down,” Cameron said. “It’s called art: things happen for artistic reasons, not for physics reasons.”
1. What do we know about the character Jack according to the text?| A．He intended to kill himself. | B．He sacrificed himself to save Rose. |
| C．He didn’t have money to buy ticket. | D．He lacked basic knowledge of physics. |
| A．They are artistic people. | B．They like the movie. |
| C．They love the character Jack. | D．They are eager for truth. |
| A．Jack in Titanic Had to Die. | B．Big Enough for Both. |
| C．Cameron Is Wrong. | D．Jack Could Survive. |
| A．A movie poster. | B．A notice board. |
| C．A government report. | D．A popular magazine. |
9 . James Warren rides the public bus a lot in his hometown of Denver. Then in January, Warren spotted a woman waiting for a bus. There was no seating at the stop—and no sidewalk—so she sat in the dirt. So he decided to build a bench.
“I just took some scrap wood and went to town,” Warren said. He then realized that one bench was far from enough. There are more than 9,000 bus stops in the Denver metro area, many of them without seating or shelter. Warren carves “Be kind” on each one—each made from scrap wood he finds in construction waste containers.
“I met some ladies the other day who were talking about how they used the benches every day,” Warren added. “It fills me up. It’s air in my tires.”
Warren said many people have hopped on his bench—making bandwagon, which has motivated him to build more. “I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me on Twitter,” he said. “Some people have wanted to come and help me.” Others saw Warren’s work in the local news and decided to take out their tools, too. People also started donating supplies. “That puts me over the moon,” Warren said.
Nica Cave, 26, a Denver mobility advocate, said, “The lack of infrastructure, shelter and seating at transit stops marginalizes(边缘化) those who rely on public transit. People like Warren are really encouraging me to see how people are willing to use their own time and resources to provide these much-needed services.” Cave added that she hopes the local government will see Warren’s benches and get involved.
That is precisely Warren’s goal. Warren—who is planning to organize a bench-building workshop—said his hope is that his benches make a difference in his community and even beyond. “My goal is to make people’s lives just a little bit better.” Warren said.
1. What do we know about Warren’s benches?| A．They are carved with his name. | B．They can be found at any bus stop. |
| C．They are specially designed for women. | D．They are made of recycled materials. |
| A．It is the source of my effort. | B．My tires are almost flat. |
| C．I need to fill air into my tires. | D．Praise is the best reward for me. |
| A．The good sales of the benches. | B．The assistance from other people. |
| C．The comments on Twitter. | D．The awards from the local government. |
| A．To earn more money to live a better life. |
| B．To set up his own bench-building workshop. |
| C．To encourage people to use more public transit. |
| D．To make people live a little bit better. |
10 . It was a snowy day during the spring break when I walked into a great restaurant. In this blizzard weather, it was the only restaurant that remained open.
The restaurant has a long history in Hong Kong. Its owners, the couple, Peter and Michelle, have been running the restaurant since 2007.
“Things have changed a lot in the past 30 years,” Peter said. “Chinese students 20 years ago thought that a 70-cent bowl of rice was too expensive, but now a $20 meal is acceptable”. He also said that the new generation of Chinese students engaged with other students, bringing all their non-Chinese friends to visit the restaurant.
Peter takes great pride in his own cooking. He was curious about how the food was made and why particular foods or sauces had specific tastes. He chose to serve mainly Guangdong and Sichuan food at the restaurant, featuring the family-style Chinese dim sum or hot pot.
When I asked whether he would modify the taste of the dishes to suit the taste of most Americans, Peter said, “We are not like those American Chinese restaurants. We provide the genuine Chinese taste to our customers, and they will love it because it is delicious, and their taste will suit the taste of our dishes, not the other way around.”
“If I hear complaints from my customers, I will be so upset that I can’t fall asleep at night”, he said. “Luckily most of my favorite dishes received wide acclaim from my customers and it takes more than one person’s effort.”
He compares himself with the craftsmen in China who are proud of preserving ancient Chinese art and whose motivation is only on people’s enjoyment of their work and thought.
Such a spirit of craftsmanship has been remarkable and greatly valued in the past. The craftsman’s spirit with perfection, precision, concentration, and patience remains in Peter and his cooking.
1. How long have the couple been running the restaurant?| A．16 years | B．20 years | C．30 years | D．70 years |
| A．Its customers are mainly Chinese. |
| B．It sticks to its original taste of the dishes. |
| C．It adjusts the taste according to the customers. |
| D．Its menu merely contains Guangdong and Sichuan food. |
| A．Generous and patient. | B．Ambitious and economical. |
| C．Thoughtful and humorous. | D．Precise and devoted. |
| A．He believes that cooking just needs one person’s effort. |
| B．He shows an interest in preserving ancient Chinese art. |
| C．He takes pride in cooking the best typical Chinese cuisine. |
| D．He cares about the taste of the dishes rather than customers’ complaints. |
