1 . Who needs friends? According to most psychologists we all do, especially nowadays when so many other aspects of modern life are changing. It seems that having friends keeps us both healthy and happy.
The number of TV series about groups of friends shows just how important friendship is to us. Psychologist Dorothy Rowe says that many of us now turn to our friends, instead of our families, for advice and comfort. One woman named Rebecca she interviewed even told her that if she had got to choose between her husband and her friend, she would choose her friend.
Since our friends mean so much to us, it is not surprising that the happiest marriages are also friendships. “Once the romantic stage of a relationship has passed, it is friendship that holds people together,” says Rowe. If the couple do not make some changes. They will either get tired of each other and break up or stay together and look for friendship with others.
For men, friendship is usually based on doing things together rather than the private conversations that are typical of women friends. Men share time building a business or playing football together, but they don’t often share their feeling. Although many women find their relationship with a husband or boyfriend is not enough, many men say that their partner is their best friend. Even women who are very happily married are likely to become very unhappy without a close friend and can even find the break-up of a close friendship as painful as the end of a marriage.
Lasting friendships can provide a lot of the same support that families provided in the past, but the perfect situation is to have your family there for you as well. Friendships and family relationships can both change, but a friend will not consider you when making really important decisions in the same way that a family member will.
1. The example of Rebecca in paragraph 2 shows that some people think ________.| A．one friend is more than enough. | B．friends are just like their family. |
| C．friends matter more than family. | D．friends make them more comfortable. |
| A．Couples tend to be friends in a good marriage. |
| B．Couples will have new friendship after they get married. |
| C．Friendship help couples build healthy relationships. |
| D．Friendship hold couples together when romance has passed. |
| A．Women often do things together with friends. |
| B．Men seldom talk to their friends about their feelings. |
| C．Women often talk about business with friends. |
| D．Men often talk to their friends about work and family. |
| A．Friendship cannot replace family relationships. |
| B．Friendship can last longer than family relationships. |
| C．Friendship and family relationships are both changeable. |
| D．Family members help you make better decisions than friends do. |
2 . “Her Education, Our Future” is a documentary film produced by CGTN in partnership with UNESCO. It tells the story of four girls on three continents. All the girls have been involved in UNESCO programmes aimed at widening their access to education, enhancing their skills for life and work, and expanding their educational and career opportunities.
Anee is from Gilgit-Baltistan, a remote area in the north of Pakistan. She dropped out of school as her parents couldn’t afford her education — only that of her brothers. Her father also didn’t believe that girls should be educated but rather stay home and help their mothers. Anee was reached out to through UNESCO’s Girls’Right to Education programme, originally funded by the Government of Pakistan with additional support from Italy, Korea, Norway and the Qatar Foundation, which is UNESCO’s largest programme on girls’ education, and has covered 19 of Pakistan’s most isolated districts. UNESCO assisted Anee’s family to overcome the financial barriers to her education. Her parents have re-enrolled her in school, and are supporting her to continue her education.
Mkasi is from Pemba, a Tanzanian island. Mkasi is the sixth of eleven children. She left school in 2014, as she didn’t score well enough on her exams to continue to high school. Mkasi was connected by a District Social Welfare Officer to a UNESCO program, funded by Korea. She enrolled into a community-based entrepreneurship (企业家职能) and alternative (可供选择的) education programme supported by UNESCO that enabled her to gain new vocational (职业的) skills. She now works as a seamstress (裁缝), and makes handicrafts and soap which she sells at the market. Economically independent now, She wants to become a designer and to open a clothing store — the first in her area — and sell her soap locally and abroad.
Fabiana and Taina are from Brazil. They both have a keen interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education but have faced different barriers to pursuing (追求) studies in these fields. Fabiana must rise at four every morning to go to school on a road which is bothered with robberies targeting students and passengers. Taina has faced racism and discrimination, and went through a rebellious phase (叛逆阶段) in her teenage years which took her away from her studies and down a harmful path before finding her way back. Both have been engaged in UNESCO’s EDUCASTEM2030 programme, which aims to close gender gaps in STEM education. Through this initiative (倡议), Fabiana and Taina have expanded their skills and gained confidence in their abilities. Fabiana has a full scholarship to study production engineering in the Fall — the same studies that Taina is currently pursuing. Tania is also a student leader now, sharing her own story and building more pathways for girls in STEM in Brazil.
1. What is the purpose of UNESCO’s EDUCASTEM2030 programme?| A．build more pathways for girls in STEM in Brazil |
| B．enlarge gender gaps in STEM education |
| C．fight against racism in STEM education |
| D．widen girls’ access to STEM education |
| A．reminded | B．re-registered | C．recalled | D．reopened |
| A．Anee dropped out of school for financial reasons |
| B．Mkasi enhanced her skills for work with the help of UNESCO |
| C．Fabiana and Taina faced similar barriers to pursuing studies in STEM fields |
| D．Tania is making efforts to help girls in STEM in her motherland. |
| A．The future of girls’ education | B．The transformative power of education |
| C．The shooting of a documentary film | D．The course of UNESCO programmes |
3 . Dogs are man’s best friends, and they may be the heart’s best friends as well.
A group of heart disease experts from the American Heart Association (AHA) reviewed research connecting heart health with owning a dog and found that owning a dog has a likely nexus with a lower risk of heart disease for those without a history of heart problems, and with greater survival rates among heart disease patients.
The group, chaired by Dr. Glenn Levine, a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, released a scientific statement in favor of having a dog to lower the risk of heart disease by helping people to be more physically active as well as reduce blood pressure and minimize the effects of stress. Previous studies showed that the companionship and close relationship that owners build with their dogs can boost levels of anti-stress hormones (抗应激激素) that can increase resilience (适应力) and help people to cope with stressful situations. One of the studies found, for example, that those who adopted dogs enjoyed a drop in blood pressure, while another revealed that among 5,200 adults, those who owned dogs were 54% more likely to get recommended levels of exercise and be active than non-dog owners. That trend is supported by other studies that found people who owned dogs were less likely to be overweight.
According to a report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), dogs aren’t a panacea (灵丹妙药) against heart disease, and it’s likely that taking care of them requires their owners to get more exercise, which can reduce stress, weight and blood pressure and thus benefit the heart. “If someone adopts a pet, but still sits on the couch and smokes and eats whatever he wants and doesn’t control his blood pressure,” Levine told the Nero York Times, “that’s not a wise strategy to decrease the risk”.
1. What does the underlined word “nexus” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Comparison. | B．Similarity. | C．Combination. | D．Link. |
| A．Stress is the cause of heart attack. |
| B．People raising pets can be slimmer. |
| C．Dogs’ companion holds back hormone functions. |
| D．Anti-stress hormone levels are low in dog owners. |
| A．Dog owners work out more by walking the dog. |
| B．Dogs can be trained to detect high blood pressure. |
| C．Dogs can prevent owners from smoking on the couch. |
| D．Dog owners attach importance to monitoring heart health. |
| A．How dogs promote owners’ mental health. |
| B．Raising dogs can help reduce heart attack. |
| C．What are the advantages of raising dogs. |
| D．Having a dog may lower heart disease risk. |
4 . It all began in Everett, Washington, where my project team was in the process of conducting one of our business systems. So tough was the project that we often stayed up completing the tasks assigned. All of us were worn out. One night, as I walked through the parking lot with one of my employees. I found a cent and picked it up. Glancing at my exhausted employee. I suddenly had an idea to delight him. Playfully, I presented the cent to the employee and said, “This is an informal award for your efforts.” He put the cent in his pocket. “Thank you,” he said, a wave of joy sweeping across his face.
About six months later, I was walking with the same employee、this time in Los Alamitos, California, when I again found a cent and gave it to him with the same words.
Later, I got into his office and there, taped on a piece of paper were the two cents, which made me surprised. He said he was displaying them as his recognition for a job well done.
Other employees noticed the cents proudly displayed and began asking why they hadn’t received any. They were also longing for the “reward”. It was then that I started handing out cents, explaining that they were for recognition, not for reward. Soon, so many people wanted them that I designed a cent holder. The front features a place for a cent and beside it the phrase, “Your work is recognized!” The back has room for 30 more cents and the phrase, “Your achievements count!”
One time, I spotted an employee, Mia, doing something right and wanted to recognize her, but I didn’t have a cent, so I gave her a quarter. Later the same day she stopped by and returned 24 cents.
That’s how the “One Cent Award” was born. It’s become a significant source of recognition in our organization.
1. Why did the author give a cent to the employee initially?| A．To praise him. | B．To amuse him. |
| C．To reward him. | D．To surprise him. |
| A．The design of a cent holder. | B．The shared beliefs in his team. |
| C．The eagerness of fellow employees. | D．The expectation for better achievements. |
| A．One cent stood for recognition. | B．She was advised to do so. |
| C．The author was mean with money. | D．It is the company’s strict regulation. |
| A．Greedy. | B．Motivated. | C．Aggressive. | D．Talented. |
5 . One morning, Bill McDonald read in the paper that a local man, Joe Day, was sick with lung cancer. That meant it would be Christmas without Joe’s
33 Christmases ago, when Day came home in the afternoon, he found his five-year-old grandson, Nicholas,
However, Day’s cancer had spread to his liver now. He was too
“I want to
On the evening of December 12, with crowds of volunteers cheering him on, Day
Day is
| A．plays | B．jokes | C．toys | D．lights |
| A．something | B．anything | C．everything | D．nothing |
| A．sleeping | B．waiting | C．running | D．drawing |
| A．find | B．buy | C．build | D．raise |
| A．holidays | B．ceremony | C．meeting | D．conference |
| A．dream | B．idea | C．plan | D．work |
| A．removing | B．winding | C．changing | D．throwing |
| A．tree | B．bed | C．house | D．path |
| A．tired | B．bored | C．seared | D．excited |
| A．see | B．make | C．help | D．hear |
| A．look at | B．set up | C．put down | D．turn to |
| A．showed | B．discussed | C．discovered | D．represented |
| A．fixed | B．decorated | C．repaired | D．pressed |
| A．afraid | B．confident | C．worried | D．confused |
| A．though | B．because | C．unless | D．so that |
6 . Whether it be a person, an animal, or even an insect, a mother’s instincts (本能) are never wrong. This idea rings true for a mother cat who acted fast and sought out help when her kittens were in trouble. This mother cat’s quick thinking may have just saved her babies.
In the urban district of Izmir in western Turkey, a cat walked into a regular hospital holding a kitten in her mouth. As the mother cat moved through the hospital, people were surprised to see such a sight, but let her pass. The mother cat asked for help, crying for a long time. She was familiar to the hospital staff, who had been leaving her food and water outside, but they were unaware that she had given birth to kittens.
The mother cat was concerned for her young because they weren’t able to open their eyes. After the doctors looked at the kittens, they noticed that they were suffering from eye infections, one of the doctors recalled, “We consulted with vets (兽医) and gave medicine as described. When the kittens opened their eyes a short time later, we were excited.” Later, they were sent to an animal hospital for further care. The cats are now up for adoption and will hopefully find loving forever homes.
When it comes to mother cats and kittens, kittens completely depend on mothers for the first few months of their lives. Because they are blind and almost deaf until about two or three weeks old, the mother cat must protect them from any threat or danger. Without the mother cat’s help, the kittens may not make it to adulthood.
As shown by the mother cat in Turkey, a mother’s love and protection knows no bounds. Whether the mum is a human or a cat, mothers will always look out for their babies and make sure they are safe and healthy.
1. Why did the mother cat show up in the hospital?| A．To beg for food. | B．To get her babies treated. |
| C．To ask the patients for help. | D．To give birth to her babies. |
| A．They built them a home. | B．They adopted all of them. |
| C．They operated on them immediately. | D．They gave them the right medicine. |
| A．Their physical state. | B．Their eating habit. |
| C．Their appearance. | D．Their behavior. |
| A．Cat has nine lives. | B．One good turn deserves another. |
| C．Love makes a difference. | D．Mothers know their kindness only when they raise their children |
7 . Here are four underground attractions, which will certainly take your breath away.
UnderUnder, a restaurant, is five and a half metres, below the surface. Diners eat their meals as icy North Sea currents swirl (旋动) outside the windows. Despite the storminess of the surrounding seas, there’s stillness in Under.
Kristiansand, Norway || https://live.under.no/
Derinkuyu Underground CityThe underground city dates back thousands of years. It’s the largest of its kind in the region, with winding passages over eight levels, reaching a depth of around 85 underground allowed its citizens to avoid extreme temperatures and more easily defend against enemies. Though no one lives there today, the site features the remains of schools and shops.
Cappadocia, Turkey || uchisarcappadocia.org
Ajanta CavesConsidering that they’re cut deep into a rock face, the 30 or so caves of Ajanta are surprisingly well lit. All that light makes it much easier to admire this remarkable series of Buddhist temples that date from the first and second centuries BC. They contain some of the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian wall painting.
Aurangabad, India || ajanta-caves.com
ThrihnukagigurSometimes viewing a volcano from far away just isn’t enough. Some people need to go that step further and explore inside a volcano. It sounds crazy, but you can do exactly that at Thrihnukagigur. A lift takes visitors about 200 metres down into the volcano’s magma chamber (岩浆库). Thrihnukagigur is a dormant (休眠的) volcano, but it still takes a lot of courage to get close to it.
Near Reykjavik, Iceland || visitreykjavik.is/thrihnukagigur
For more information, please click here.
1. What can we do in Under?| A．Dive to the depth of 55 metres. |
| B．Have dinner in revolving chairs. |
| C．Listen to the sound of the waves. |
| D．See the undersea view through the windows. |
| A．Thrihnukagigur. | B．Ajanta Caves. |
| C．Derinkuyu Underground City. | D．Under. |
| A．Travel brochure. | B．Newspaper. | C．Website. | D．Novel. |
8 . Many primitive people believed that by eating an animal they could get some of the good qualities of that animal for themselves. They thought, for example, that eating deer would make them run as fast as the deer. Some tribes (部落) even ate enemies that had shown bravery in battles.
Among civilized people it was once thought that ginger roots could improve the memory. Eggs were thought to make the voice pretty. Tomatoes also were believed to have magical powers. They were called love apples and were supposed to make people who ate them fall in love.
Even today there are a great many wrong ideas about food, some of which are very widespread.
One such idea is that fish is the best brain food. Fish is good brain food just as it is good muscle food and skin food and bone food. But no scientist has been able to prove that fish is any better for the brain than many other kinds of food.
Another such idea is that you should not drink water with meals. Scientists tell us that washing food down with water as a substitute for chewing is not a good idea, but some water with meals has been found to be helpful. It makes the digestive juices flow more freely and helps to digest the food.
Many of the ideas that have to do with mixtures of foods have no scientific foundation. A few years ago, the belief became general that orange juice and milk should never be drunk at the same meal. The reason given was that the acid in the orange juice would make the milk curdle (结团) and become indigestible. As a matter of fact, experts confirm milk always meets in the stomach a digestive juice which curdle it; in fact, the curdling of the milk is the first step in its digestion. A similar wrong idea is that fish and ice cream when eaten at the same meal form a poisonous combination.
1. Why did some tribes eat brave enemies?| A．They were eager to be courageous. | B．They hated brave enemies bitterly. |
| C．They had to follow the local custom. | D．They were extremely lacking in food. |
| A．Consuming eggs could strengthen the bones. |
| B．Singers were supposed to consume fish frequently. |
| C．Apples could make people lose their heart to others. |
| D．Those suffering memory loss should eat ginger roots. |
| A．The curdling of milk can harm people’s stomach. |
| B．Milk will be poisonous by adding orange juice in. |
| C．Drinking water with meals is beneficial to digesting. |
| D．Eating fish and ice cream together will sicken people. |
| A．Civilized People’s Table Manners | B．Good Recipes Popular with People |
| C．Wrong Widespread Ideas about Food | D．Practical Thoughts in Favor of Health |
9 . Along with a rising number of space missions by government agencies and private industries, comes a fresh set of problems for Earth: potentially dangerous space junk (太空垃圾).
A recent study published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy concluded “that current space practices have a 10 percent chance of one or more deaths over a decade”. In other words, according to researchers from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia, there’s roughly a one-in-ten chance that the next decade will witness falling space junk kill someone.
The space junk orbiting the earth is an unfortunate by-product of our desire to explore and document space. According to 2021 figures from NASA and the Department of Defense’s Space Surveillance Data, the agencies were actively tracking more than 27,000 pieces of space junk, most of which are larger than a softball and that casually orbit the planet. The floating space junk is certainly a problem, but not all the objects must come down, and, in fact, a number of pieces simply burn up in the atmosphere. Sometimes those objects, particularly large ones like used rocket attachments, give in to gravity and fall back down to Earth to be dealt with once again by their human makers. But typically, people don’t die or even get injured by this phenomenon — because many of the falling pieces crash into the ocean.
They also have to deal with the unsettling feeling of knowing that large rocket pieces can just fall from the sky and that it might affect people in certain parts of the world more than others.
This poses an obvious safety risk to people on the ground. “When some large parts of space junk return to Earth, the parts of their mass survive the heat of atmosphere. Many of the surviving pieces are potentially dangerous, giving serious risks on land, at sea, and to people in airplanes,” the study explains.
1. What is the conclusion of the study published in Nature Astronomy?| A．People will see space junk easily in the future. |
| B．Some people may be hit to death by objects from the space. |
| C．Government agencies and private industries will develop fast. |
| D．There will be a 10 percent chance for human to die in 10 years. |
| A．Normally we should not worry about space junk. |
| B．All the space junk will get burnt in the sky. |
| C．The large space junk will destroy the ocean. |
| D．The floating space junk will come down finally. |
| A．How to find space junk. | B．How to deal with space junk. |
| C．How to check the space junk. | D．How to inform people of the danger. |
| A．Space Junk Causes Pollution |
| B．How to Take Back Space Junk |
| C．Space Junk Puts People at Risk |
| D．Exploring Space Takes in Unfortunate Results |
10 . Shaping, drying, glazing and firing... in less than 5 minutes, a mini vase only millimeters in size starts to take shape as viewers watch on. As the founder of a miniature ceramics (微型陶瓷) studio, Wang Wenhua never expected that his works would surprise viewers in China, let alone those abroad, and that his short videos would earn over 45 million views and 4.2 million likes on a video application.
Having worked in China’s “Porcelain Capital (瓷都)” Jingdezhen in East China’s Jiangxi Province for 14 years, Wang said he had once seen the world’s biggest ceramic here but he had never seen the smallest, so he decided one day to try something different — making micro porcelain.
Things were not easy in the beginning, and many people doubted him. “They called me crazy and mocked me when I went to factories and asked them to help make miniature tools for me to create micro pottery. Even my wife did not support me,” Wang said.
However, Wang did not give up and after about half a year of experimentation, Wang finally made miniature tools on his own and was able to complete his first miniature porcelain — a vase.
According to Wang, the key to making a miniature ceramic work is concentration and a pair of steady hands. After numerous attempts, Wang found that the smallest works he could get were about 2 millimeters in size. “It would probably miss my original intention if I made micro pottery using a microscope, so I have focused more attention on making the smaller pieces more beautiful and complex,” said Wang.
The smallest vase that Wang has made is a bowl only 2 millimeters tall, 3 millimeters wide and 1 millimeter thick. Wang says he plans to apply for the Guinness World Records for the world’s smallest pottery work.
1. What inspired Wang Wenhua to make micro porcelain?| A．The high expectations of the viewers. |
| B．The popularity of his videos on a video application. |
| C．His decision to make something different. |
| D．The responsibility of the founder of the studio. |
| A．Generous and wise. | B．Brilliant and wealthy. |
| C．Talented and selfish. | D．Determined and focused. |
| A．Using a microscope in his work. | B．Advanced tools made by himself. |
| C．Carrying out numerous experiments. | D．Attention on a thing and steady hands. |
| A．Fashion. | B．Art. | C．Education. | D．Psychology. |
