1 . When 76-year-old Antoinette-Marie Williams played 17-year-old Emmett Daniels in chess for the first time, she gave Daniels a run for his money. Paired through DOROT, a New York organization which was launched in 1976, they are a perfect match. “I was a good opponent for him. I don’t think he expected it.” Williams told the CVS Health blog Fortune Well. Their weekly games have led Daniels and Williams to a cross-generational relationship that they both enjoy. Williams and Daniels’ relationship disproves the idea that people of different generations have little in common.
Since its founding, DOROT has achieved a reputation of excellence and innovation in the fields of aging services. Volunteers of young ages offer critical resources to older adults, in services specific to the person’s needs and interests, with the ultimate goal of lessening loneliness of the old.
Loneliness has been recognized as a significant social issue for many years, but the classification of loneliness as an epidemic(流行病) has emerged only in recent years. In 2018, the UK government appointed a Minister for Loneliness, highlighting the increasing concern around the issue. This followed the publication of the 2017 report by the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission, which found that loneliness was a growing social epidemic and called for a national strategy to address the issue.
Fortunately, there are ways to battle loneliness, including the intervention in the lives of isolated seniors by organizations like DOROT. It advocates building a support network by reaching out to family and friends, joining a community or social group, or volunteering to connect with like-minded people. The connection between Williams and Daniels shows that these inter-generational relationships play an important role in reducing loneliness and adding joy to the lives of all the participants, young and old.
Another way to battle loneliness is to use technology to stay connected with loved ones which fosters meaning and purpose through online activities and conversations. Practicing self-care is also encouraged, as is being patient because strong relationships take time and effort to create.
1. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph l probably mean?| A．She had a running race with Daniels. |
| B．Daniels felt disappointed. |
| C．Daniels had a tough win. |
| D．She gave Daniels money as a gift of greeting. |
| A．To make technological innovation. |
| B．To enhance the living standards of the elderly. |
| C．To offer job opportunities for people of all ages. |
| D．To provide seniors with inter-generational connection. |
| A．The solution to loneliness. |
| B．The root cause of loneliness. |
| C．The classification of loneliness. |
| D．The growing attention to loneliness. |
| A．Society Watch. | B．News Express. |
| C．Page Turner. | D．Science Study. |
2 . 
When senior leaders at toymaker Lego first learned that adults were buying large quantities of their plastic bricks and getting together to build Lego creations of their own, “they thought it was very strange,” says Smith-Meyer.
“Before the late 1990s, the company didn’t think their adult fans had value,” says Smith-Meyer. “Leadership actually thought adults were having a negative impact on the brand.” Thanks to a handful of employees who worked to change attitudes inside the company, gone are the days when labels on Lego boxes stated that the contents were appropriate only for children ages 7 to 12. Lego’s newest marketing motto is “Adults Welcome.”
Today Lego is the world’s largest and most profitable toymaker. The enthusiasm and buying power of adult fans of Lego played a major role in the company’s rise to the top. But insiders say the road from “kids only” to “adults welcome” was a long, uphill climb.
Lego founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen always knew he wanted to market his products completely to kids. When Kristiansen started The Lego Group in 1932, he made wooden toys that were intended for children. In 1946, he began making plastic toys. In 1958, he and his son developed the first coupling bricks, the basic design of which hasn’t changed much over the years. They’re even used together with bricks made today.
As the company grew over its first six decades, few imagined that its products could attract as many adults as children. Then attitudes began to shift in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Lego posted its first-ever loss in 1998. By 2003, when it reported a $238 million loss, the company was looking seriously at bankruptcy (破产). “Those were Lego’s dark days,” McKee says.
In the wake of the crisis, “Everyone suddenly wanted to see what designs I’d been working on with adult fans,” McKee says. In August 2005, when Lego CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp attended a fan meeting, he saw for himself the sea of adult supporters. “I see a future where we will be working more closely together,” he recalls. The booming partnership would eventually produce some of the company’s most popular and profitable themes, including Lego Creator and Lego’s Ambassador Network, and the company’s first-ever official fan conference: 2021’s Lego Con.
“Lego used to treat their adult customers like goods; today, they treat them like partners,” McKee says.
1. What did Ole Kirk Kristiansen do in 1932?| A．He developed the first coupling bricks. | B．He and his son invented wooden toys. |
| C．He began making plastic toys. | D．He set up his toy company. |
| A．was faced with a business crisis | B．started treating them like goods |
| C．got financial support from them | D．found its products less attractive to kids |
| A．Lego was forced to replace wooden toys with plastic ones. |
| B．Lego’s basic design of the first coupling bricks are still in use. |
| C．Lego’s partnership with gifted kids produced popular themes. |
| D．Lego has targeted adults as potential customers since it was founded. |
| A．The world’s largest and most profitable toymaker. |
| B．Lego’s shift from “kids only” to “adults welcome”. |
| C．Lego’s dark days of the creation of plastic toys. |
| D．The brief but awesome history of Lego. |
If you are given the opportunity
The virtual choir was created by award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre,
4 . Bird pattern carved on Yubi in Chinese, comes alive and circles around, while an audio guide introduces the cultural relic and the bird’s connotation (寓意). Such is the experience of watching a cultural relic through a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses at the Liangzhu Museum.
The museum displays various burial objects found in the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City in Hangzhou, showcasing the civilization of prehistoric rice agriculture and a state-level society between 3,300 B.C. and 2,300 B.C. The site was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2019, providing profound and compelling evidence that Chinese civilization started 5,000 years ago.
Using AR to tell Liangzhu’s ancient story and let the young people sense and feel close to cultural relics through modern technology is an important task at the museum, making it a pioneer in using modern technology and a hot place for tourists.
“I found that most students were very curious about it, and it could inspire students to have the desire to learn more,” said Chen Xi, the AR glasses provider. “I’ve never seen this before. The illustration of the ancient wild birds above is not that clear. But with the AR glasses, I know what the ancient wild bird exactly looks like and how it is different from what we see on TV,” said Rong Mei, a visitor in her twenties. “Compared with traditional ways of appreciating a cultural relic, AR glasses guide has virtual images which help people visually understand the information behind the relic, such as in which life scenarios was the relic used, its function and its cultural connotation,” said Zhou Liming, director of the Liangzhu Museum.
From digitalization to intelligentization (智能化), the Liangzhu Museum took more than five years. It started to collect the digital information of the ruins and relics since 2015. It paves the way for the museum to deliver Liangzhu’s story through multimedia approaches to attract more people, especially the youth, as modern technology bridges the gap between young people and cultural relics.
1. What is the crucial significance of Liangzhu cultural relics?| A．Unearthing various prehistoric burial objects. |
| B．Representing the world’s earliest rice culture. |
| C．Enriching the UNESCO World Heritage List. |
| D．Confirming China’s 5,000-year-old civilization. |
| A．To inspire the curiosity of students. |
| B．To show the aim and effects of using AR glasses. |
| C．To highlight hi-tech brings people close to cultural relics. |
| D．To present opinions of appreciating cultural relics vary. |
| A．The discovery of the cultural relics. |
| B．The restoration of the ruins and relics. |
| C．The process of forming intelligentization. |
| D．The reconstruction of the Liangzhu Museum. |
| A．Stories behind the AR Glasses |
| B．Adventures in Liangzhu Museum |
| C．A New Chapter for Liangzhu Museum |
| D．An Encounter with the Prehistoric China |
Starbucks began in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. The company
In 2001, Starbucks opened the 300th store in Japan. It had shops in seventeen countries
6 . Gone are the days when big businesses were looked upon by environmentalists as enemies in the fight against global warming.
Just two weeks after U. S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Paris Climate Agreement, more than 900 American firms put their
More recently, this enthusiasm for environmental protection has
According to the WWF, in the United States alone, nearly two dozen of the biggest firms have committed themselves to becoming 100 percent renewable in the near future. Hervé Touati of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a clean-energy research firm, explains the
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer (啤酒公司), has lots of young people among its many
| A．posters | B．innovations | C．names | D．donations |
| A．for fear of | B．by means of | C．in line with | D．on account of |
| A．In fact | B．On average | C．By contrast | D．In addition |
| A．assessment | B．commitment | C．argument | D．attachment |
| A．predictors | B．features | C．cases | D．forces |
| A．changes | B．profits | C．mistakes | D．differences |
| A．transferred | B．ranged | C．processed | D．extended |
| A．food | B．store | C．supply | D．data |
| A．opposite | B．equivalent | C．accustomed | D．second |
| A．criticized | B．issued | C．welcomed | D．underlined |
| A．content | B．accounts | C．activities | D．production |
| A．inspirations | B．motivations | C．destinations | D．functions |
| A．manufacturers | B．investors | C．customers | D．administrators |
| A．considerably | B．skillfully | C．economically | D．occasionally |
| A．heat | B．wind | C．water | D．power |
7 . Every experience makes us grow — nowhere is this more true than at North Country School (NCS). The NCS experience includes both classroom and experiential learning. Their courses help every child unlock their hidden potential and passions.
NCS was eye-opening for Sam Shi. He discovered his passion for biology as he learned about the wildlife and ecosystems (生态系统) within the Adirondacks. “The hands-on, placed-based teaching styles were extremely interesting,” he says. “A whole new type of appreciation occurs when you learn about living things while actually being surrounded by it.”
NCS students grow and learn effectively thanks to the direct experience they get. Led by talented teachers, they aren’t just learning by doing — they’re knowing by doing.
Shi got a taste of this as early as his first day in the Design and Build class with Larry Robjent. “No NCS class works like your standard, textbook classes,” he says. “Larry laid out our year-long project of deconstructing an on-campus bridge and plans to build a new one. A year-long project, where we actually got to work outside, with our hands, and build something practical. No chance you’d find that anywhere else.”
Shi described everything about that class as “special”. He got to be creative. Most importantly, he studied physics and engineering in practical ways. “At the end I got to stand alongside my classmates and admire the product of our efforts, something that would remain a piece of NCS for many years to come,” he shares.
Such breakthroughs happen daily at NCS. “The journey of discovering how to trust my abilities is a life lesson that has remained with me and likely always will,” says Shi. “The teachers always encouraged me to try new things and to trust myself.”
With such courses, it is no wonder NCS students gain confidence, creativity and knowledge. As Shi says, “I had no idea how cool this place would be, and certainly didn’t expect my study there to impact my life as obviously as it did and continues to do.”
1. What are courses like at North Country School according to the passage?| A．They only focus on experiential learning. |
| B．They can help inspire students’ personal growth. |
| C．They are mainly for gifted students. |
| D．They attract many talented teachers. |
| A．Repairing. | B．Creating. | C．Taking apart. | D．Blowing up. |
| A．A passion for biology. |
| B．A knowledge of building a bridge. |
| C．A curiosity about new things. |
| D．A sense of self-confidence. |
| A．He feels gratitude to his school. |
| B．He wouldn’t have become what he is now without being educated at NCS. |
| C．What he has learned at NCS will affect him all through his life. |
| D．The time he spent at NCS is worth remembering. |
8 . Canada is home to many of the world’s top universities. Here are some scholarships in Canada that will help reduce some of the financial burden for students.
University de Montreal (UdeM) International Student Scholarship Program
The UdeM scholarship program aims to support international candidates in their university studies. They offer graduate scholarships for students. The scholarship is valued at CA $9,420 per year or CA $3,140 per session. Deadline to apply is March 1st, 2023.
China Scholarship Council—University of Saskatchewan Joint Funding Program
The China Scholarship Council (CSC), partnering with the University of Saskatchewan (USask), is offering outstanding Chinese graduate students the opportunity to pursue PhD and post-doctor studies through the CSC-USask Joint Funding Program. To be qualified, you must be a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. Applicants should not be older than 35 years old at the time of the application. Deadline is February 10th, 2023 (China time).
University of Saskatchewan Graduate Scholarship
If you are not a Chinese citizen but want to pursue your postgraduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, you can choose this scholarship. Their PhD scholarships are valued at CA $20,000 each; alternatively, their Master’s thesis(论文)is valued at CA$16,000. Deadline to apply is February 22nd, 2023.
Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchange for Development (SEED)
If you are keen to engage in a short-term exchange opportunity for study or research in Canadian post-secondary(中学后)institutions at the college, undergraduate and graduate levels, this scholarship is for you. Do note that only Canadian institutions can submit applications on behalf of candidates. If you are interested in this scholarship program, contact your institution to make your interest known and to request information about the application process. Deadline is March 4th, 2023.
1. When should you apply for the UdeM International Student Scholarship Program?| A．Before February 10th, 2023. | B．Before March 4th, 2023. |
| C．Before March 1st. 2023. | D．Before February 22nd, 2023. |
| A．Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchange for Development. |
| B．University of Saskatchewan Graduate Scholarship. |
| C．UdeM International Student Scholarship Program. |
| D．CSC-USask Joint Funding Program. |
| A．Applications can only be submitted by Canadian institutions. |
| B．Each applicant can get CA$16,000 from it. |
| C．There is an age limit for the applicants. |
| D．Students of any level can apply for it. |
9 . The legend of the potential third runway at Heathrow, Britain’s largest airport, has been called the longest take-off in history. A commission in 1993 recommended expansion, and the government first favored the plan in 2003. But it was not until 2018 that the transport secretary finally gave the project the go ahead. A court of Appeal ruling in February 2020 that the runway was not compatible with Britain’s obligations under the Paris climate agreement of 2015 appeared to have finally spoiled the plans. But on December 16h the Supreme Court overturned that judgment and once more green-lit the project.
The initial Court of Appeal judgment found that the government’s decision to allow the expansion to go ahead was unlawful because Chris Grayling, then transport secretary, had failed to take the Paris agreement into account. While that was a blow to Heathrow, it helped get Boris Johnson’s government out of trouble. Mr. Johnson, whose own constituency (选民) is near the airport, has been a fierce critic of the expansion plans, famously pledging to protesters that he would “lie down with you in front of those bulldozers (推土机) and ... stop the construction.” The government chose not to appeal, but Heathrow did; and the Supreme Court decided that the government had taken Paris into account, and the Court of Appeal was therefore wrong.
Even so, the expansion may not go ahead. While the airline industry has long championed a third runway, much has changed since February 2020. British Airways, Heathrow’s largest customer, has become skeptical about the plans. Earlier this year Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA’s parent company, argued that “it was a Herculean task (艰巨的任务) before COVID and I think it’s impossible now”. Although air travel will almost certainly rebound as social-distancing restrictions are eased in 2021, the industry is not expecting a quick recovery. The International Air Travel Association, a lobby group, expects that global spending on air travel will be about half of 2019 levels in 2021. Short-haul flights from Britain are expected to rise sharply as the vaccine is rolled out and consumers dash off to sunnier climes, but the outlook for longer-haul flights remains highly uncertain.
Analysts reckon the big unknown is the future of business travel. Firms that have grown accustomed to Zoom meetings may well be less keen to splash out on high-priced tickets from London to New York. Although business flyers account for only around 10% of transatlantic customer they pay ten to 12 times as much per ticket as economy passengers. A substantial fall in their numbers would mean large rises in ticket prices for the rest, which in turn would dent demand. If long-haul flight volumes remain depressed, then the business case for a third runway at Heathrow starts to look ropy. Boris Johnson is unlikely to have to prostrate (卧倒) himself in front of those bulldozers soon, if ever.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true about the potential third runway at Heathrow?| A．It didn’t get support from the government in 2003. |
| B．It failed to meet the Paris climate agreement of 2015. |
| C．The transport secretary then in 2018 didn’t think highly of the project. |
| D．The Supreme Court gave the permission to construct the runway at the end of 2020. |
| A．Boris Johnson’s government |
| B．Heathrow airport |
| C．the airline industry |
| D．the International Air Travel Association |
| A．The airline industry is expected to recover soon after the vaccine is popularized. |
| B．Zoom meetings make possible more frequent high-priced business travels across the Atlantic Ocean. |
| C．Business flyers have a limited influence on the sales and prices of air tickets. |
| D．Heathrow is allowed to build a third runway, but may no longer need one. |
| A．Heathrow expansion: cleared for take-off? |
| B．An unknown future for the airline industry |
| C．A dilemma for the government: to expand or not? |
| D．British Airways are hungry for travelers |
The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize went to the UN World Food Program (WFP) on Friday, 9th October, 2020. The agency was recognized for its efforts to fight hunger, for its contribution
David Beasley, WFP Executive Director, said the announcement made by the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Mr. Beasley also noted that the Nobel Peace Prize was not simply WFP’s. He said, “WFP works closely with governments, organizations and individuals
