1 . In 2005, Rachel O’Neill, of Rockwood, Michigan, was working full-time as an assistant in an engineering company. While _______ in a local charity, she’d never done any global volunteering. But after a travel in Africa for her fiftieth birthday, followed by a trip to Malawi, she said, “I felt I had to do something more.”

She was struck by the heavy work done by girls to _______ their families. “I wanted a way to honor them,” she says. She _______ a few women at her local church to make 1,000 simple _______, which were _______ to girls in Malawi.

Rachel _______ her goal that first year. As word spread, donations _______ in. “Dresses started coming every day from all over the country!” Rachel says. In 2008, without any _______ , she started a nonprofit organization called Little Dresses for Africa, with a goal of getting simple homemade dresses for girls(and pants for boys)in _______ communities, where people hardly change their ________ for a year.

So far, more than 10 million dresses have been donated to children in 97 countries, including the United States, though Africa remains a focus. The nonprofit runs a distribution center in Malawi and works ________ with community leaders there to distribute donated dresses and pants, which have proven the key to keeping girls in school.

“Nearly half of Malawi’s population is under age 14,” Rachel says, “We are ________ meeting their needs. For dress designs and donating information, go to littledressesforafrica.org. We only ask people to make high-quality, colorful clothes. ” She also asks for money to ________ shipping costs, estimated at $2 a dress. ________ donations have allowed Little Dresses for Africa to address other needs, including building more than 85 wells and two primary schools. “I couldn’t have done any of this on my own,” Rachel says, “But when you step out in ________ , miracles(奇迹)may happen.”

1.

A．active

B．internal

C．elegant

D．primitive

2.

A．load

B．preserve

C．support

D．form

3.

A．interrupted

B．prevented

C．persuaded

D．warned

4.

A．dresses

B．cakes

C．books

D．trousers

5.

A．led

B．donated

C．floated

D．leaked

6.

A．set

B．achieved

C．lost

D．had

7.

A．flooded

B．froze

C．dived

D．took

8.

A．experiment

B．exposure

C．evidence

D．experience

9.

A．simple

B．harmonious

C．royal

D．poor

10.

A．customs

B．hairstyles

C．clothes

D．possessions

11.

A．violently

B．directly

C．severely

D．hurriedly

12.

A．apart from

B．far from

C．absent from

D．tired from

13.

A．cover

B．charge

C．shelter

D．remove

14.

A．Urgent

B．Distinct

C．Generous

D．General

15.

A．trouble

B．danger

C．faith

D．silence

2 . The Internet’s carbon footprint is as bad as air travel. While it is difficult to measure precisely, estimates place it at over two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions(排放)—the same as the air travel.

Information may appear to spread around the world unseen to our eyes, but it actually passes through enormous data centers placed strategically about the globe, which store, organize and deliver everyone’s data. These centers are extremely energy intensive. In the EU, they consume close to three percent of its total energy usage and also require lots of water to prevent their computers from overheating. In the US, about a fifth of data centers draw water from already stressed water sources.

A typical spam email(垃圾邮件)emits around 0.03g of CO₂ emissions, though longer messages read on a laptop can go all the way up to 26g. Now multiply that by 333 billion(roughly the number of emails that get sent every day in 2022). That puts all those work emails into perspective. One study found if every British adult sent one less “thank you” email a day, it would save 16, 433 tons of carbon a year. It even predicted that the ICT industry could account for up to a fifth of the world’s energy consumption by 2025.

However, there are measures that we can take to reduce our digital carbon footprint. For instance, you can unsubscribe from marketing and other spam emails and only subscribe to newsletters that you still regularly read. Have regular data checks where you delete old contact lists and other documents that no longer have any use. Keep a clean inbox and delete emails you no longer need.

1. Why does the author make a comparison in the beginning?

A．To present the digital carbon footprint.

B．To emphasize the importance of air travel.

C．To advise people not to travel by airplane.

D．To inform the disadvantages of the Internet.

2. What can we infer about data centers?

A．It enjoys a wide popularity.

B．It has various kinds of functions.

C．It causes large energy consumption.

D．It has quite a complex mode of operation.

3. What’s the purpose of mentioning the figures in Paragraph 3?

A．To draw the readers’ attention.

B．To illustrate a certain information.

C．To highlight the change of CO2 emission.

D．To stress the importance of reducing CO2 emission.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards reducing digital carbon footprint?

A．Neutral.	B．Optimistic.
C．Unfavorable.	D．Concerned.

3 . No matter how many times Sandy has rescued an animal, she never gets over the casual cruelty some people display toward unwanted pets. When she lost her own “angel” dog, she started Logan’s Legacy to help other pets in need.

Sandy recently received a phone call about a small dog, possibly a puppy, that had been abandoned on a street. Since she was too far to help on, she called a friend who lives nearby to get there as soon as possible. When her friend Tom arrived, he found a tiny dog curled(蜷缩)in a tight ball with the chain firmly tied to a tree. Someone had left food and water for her, but the puppy was too frightened to eat or drink. Once gathered up in a blanket and placed into the back seat of the car, she began to get weak quickly from dehydration(脱水)and exhaustion.

The moment she got some water and food, the puppy made a rapid recovery, and her lovely and sweet personality could finally shine! “We have named her CiCi,” Sandy added, “She is feeling so much better. She has been observed at my place and she is doing great. This sweet baby girl will never feel fearful again, and won’t ever be abandoned again.” After winning hearts at Sandy’s office, CiCi has been approved for adopting and will soon leave for her new life. Sandy and her fellow rescuers are trying their best to find her the perfect family to love her and treat her with the respect all living creatures deserve!

1. What did Sandy feel it hard to overcome?

A．The casual humanity.	B．The cruelty of humanity.
C．The kind human nature.	D．The weakness of kindness.

2. How was the dog’s condition when first found?

A．She suffered a serious illness.

B．She had nothing to eat or drink.

C．She got lost far away from home.

D．She was scared and in poor health.

3. What will be CiCi’s probable future life?

A．She will stop taking medicine.

B．She will continue further treatment.

C．She will have a perfect match for home.

D．She will get on well with Sandy forever.

4. What can be the best title of this passage?

A．A Warm Home for CiCi

B．Dog Saved Heart Fulfilled

C．A Terrible Experience of CiCi

D．Saving Dogs Saving Themselves

4 . The tea that has delighted and fascinated the world for thousands of years has finally received top-level global recognition as a shared cultural treasure of mankind. China’s traditional tea-making was added on Tuesday to the intangible cultural heritage list of UNESCO.

The traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China consist of knowledge, skills and practices concerning the management of tea plantations, picking of tea leaves, manual(手工的)processing, drinking and sharing of tea. Since ancient times, Chinese people have been planting, picking, making and drinking tea. Tea producers have developed six categories of tea: green, yellow, dark, white, oolong and black teas. Together with reprocessed teas, such as flower-scented teas, there are over 2, 000 tea products in China.

Tea-related customs are not only found across the country, but also influence the rest of the world through the ancient Silk Road and trade routes. Tea is ubiquitous in Chinese people’s daily life, as steeped(浸泡)or boiled tea is served in families, workplaces, tea houses, restaurants and temples, etc. It is also an important part of socialization and ceremonies such as weddings and sacrifices. The practice of greeting guests and building relationships within families and among neighbors through tea- related activities is common to multiple ethnic groups, providing a sense of shared identity and continuity for the communities.

In China, 44 registered national-level intangible cultural heritage entries are related to tea. There are over 40 vocational colleges and 80 universities that have set up majors in tea science or tea culture, resulting in over 3,000 graduates specializing in tea production and art every year, according to the ministry.

China now has 43 items on the intangible cultural heritage list, continuing to be the most enlisted country in the world.

1. What can be learnt from the passage?

A．Chinese producers developed 44 categories of tea.

B．Tea is quite popular with people all over the country.

C．More than 2,000 tea products could be found in China.

D．There’ re about 300 graduates specializing in tea production every year.

2. What does the underlined word “ubiquitous” probably mean?

A．rare

B．common

C．temporary

D．available

3. How does the author emphasize the promotion of tea culture in Paragraph 4?

A．By listing figures.	B．By making definitions.
C．By giving examples.	D．By making comparisons.

4. In which kind of book may this text appear?

A．A textbook.	B．A travel journal.
C．A story book.	D．A cultural magazine.

7 . Many famous singers have long sung about the power of a smile — how it picks you up, changes your mind and generally makes you feel better. But is it all smoke and mirrors, or is there a scientific support for this?

Research from the University of South Australia proves that the act of smiling can make your mind be more positive, simply by moving your facial muscles. The study, published in Experimental Psychology, looked at the influence of a smile on perception (感知) of facial and body expressions. In the study, a smile was created by volunteers holding a pen between their teeth, forcing their facial muscles to make the movement of a smile. The research found that facial muscular activity changes the recognition of not only facial expressions but also body expressions, with both producing more positive feelings.

Lead researcher Dr. Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos says the findings are important for spiritual health. “When your muscles say you’re happy, you’re more likely to see the world around you in a positive way,” he says. “In our research we found that when you forcefully practiced smiling, the part of the brain controlling feelings became active, which encouraged a more positive state. If we can make the brain view stimuli (刺激) as ‘happy’, then we can possibly use this way to help improve spiritual health.”

The study was done in the same way as an old smile experiment by examining how people understood a group of facial expressions using the pen-in-teeth method; however, it also used special videos(from sad walking videos to happy walking videos)as the stimuli. Dr. Marmolejo-Ramos says there is a strong connection between action and perception. “The ‘fake (假装) it until you make it’ method could be more useful than we expect,” he says.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To tell us the benefits of a smile.

B．To show us some famous singers.

C．To introduce the topic of the text.

D．To inform us of a finding of a study.

2. What were the volunteers asked to do in the study?

A．Laugh aloud from the heart.

B．Just perform the act of smiling.

C．Respond to different feelings.

D．Think of happy things in the past.

3. What does Dr. Marmolejo-Ramos mean by saying the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A．We should practice smiling a lot.

B．Practicing smiling is quite normal.

C．Pretending to smile actually works.

D．Forced smiles work better than real ones.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．How to feel positive

B．How to force a smile

C．Forced smiles can hide unhappy feelings

D．Forced smiles can produce positive feelings

8 . It’s just past 7 a. m. on a February morning in Maya Bay, several weeks after authorities reopened what is one of Thailand’s most popular tourist attractions to the world for the first time since June 2018 following a massive restoration program.

In the hours to follow, a slow but steady flow of tourists becomes in great numbers as dozens of tourists make their way to the white-sand beach, phones at the ready as they take photos. Swimming is not allowed, though visitors can take a few steps in. It’s disappointing, but a huge improvement over what visitors once experienced here.

Maya Bay is located in a Thailand’s national park. The destination was made famous by the 2000 film The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. As the film’s popularity grew, so did tourists’ desire to visit the location where much of it was shot —Maya Bay.

“Around 40 years ago, Maya Bay was already a tourism destination, but mainly for Thai tourists because you didn’t have speedboats at that time,” says Thon, a marine biologist and professor who requested authorities to close the bay four years ago. Over the years, the number of tourists rose from less than 1, 000 to as many as 7, 000 or 8, 000 visitors a day at its peak. On average, around 5, 000 people entered the bay each day.

In 2018, the Thai government closed the bay and began to restore the damaged ecosystem. Since then, Thon and a team of fellow marine experts and volunteers have replanted over 30, 000 pieces of coral, much of it grown off the coast of a nearby island. Meanwhile, the wildlife also returned and has been growing. “Only three months after we closed the bay, the blacktip sharks came back and gave birth… so there are a lot of things happening in Maya Bay.”

1. What do the first two paragraphs mainly tell us about Maya Bay?

A．Its reopening.	B．Its rebuilding.
C．Its business hours.	D．Its reduced tourists.

2. What led to the growing popularity of Maya Bay?

A．A film shot there.

B．The easier access than before.

C．The better tourism equipment.

D．Peopled growing desire to travel.

3. What do the numbers in paragraph 4 try to show?

A．The profit from tourism.

B．The sharp increase in tourists.

C．The long history of Maya Bay.

D．The reason for the film’s popularity.

4. What can we infer about the protection efforts for Maya Bay?

A．It was a little late.

B．It has been effective.

C．It remains to be seen whether it’s useful.

D．It has no support from the government.

10 . Dear Mr. Smith,

I’d like to bring to your attention the events of the past few weeks concerning a washing machine that I bought on September 14th from your store.

The machine was delivered and installed(安装)several days later, but since then it has failed to work. A label on the back of the machine listed a phone number to call in case of problems. I called and spoke to a technician, who gave me step-by-step instructions on how to turn on the machine. But the whole process was a waste of time. The machine still wouldn’t work. Several days later, another technician actually came to my home to try to figure out what was wrong. I hoped it could run well by the time he left, but he could not get the machine to work, either. He told me I had two options: either to have the machine repaired or replace it with a new one. Since this machine was brand new and had never worked, I felt I deserved a new one.

I called your store and was told that the normal procedure was to write a letter to the department manager to explain the problem. I did this several weeks ago, but my letter appears to have been ignored.

Mr. Smith, by the time you get this letter, an out-of-order washing machine will have been sitting in my house for nearly six weeks. This whole thing has been a pain for me and the machine needs to be replaced immediately. If it is not, my lawyer will be getting in touch with you. Please consider this a final warning.

Sincerely,

Joseph Wilson

1. What was the problem with the washing machine?

A．It wouldn’t start

B．It wasn’t delivered on time.

C．It was installed incorrectly.

D．It had a complex instruction book.

2. How did the second worker deal with the author’s problem?

A．By having the machine replaced.

B．By informing the department manager of the problem.

C．By instructing her how to use the machine over the phone.

D．By checking out the machine on site and offering some advice.

3. Why did the author write the letter?

A．To ask for technical instructions.

B．To get a new washing machine.

C．To explain the case to her lawyer.

D．To complain about the technicians.