1 . Growers are finding new ways to extend the British asparagus (芦笋) season and meet demand for this tasty and healthy crop.

Asparagus is believed to have been enjoyed as long ago as the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires. It promotes healthy bacteria in the large intestine (肠) and can help reduce bloating (胀气). A source of vitamins K and C, it also has numerous benefits to the immune system generally.

Fans of asparagus will be delighted to know that nowadays there’s more opportunity than ever to get hold of homegrow n product. One of the country’s leading asparagus growers and pioneers of extending the British season is the Chinn family. The family grows Wye Valley-branded asparagus and sells into supermarkets, local restaurants, wholesale markets and processors.

The company has been growing asparagus since 2004 and has developed a reputation for innovation, using modern production and packing techniques to lock in the freshness immediately after harvesting. The traditional British asparagus season runs from 23 April to 21 June, but Chris Chinn says by using new varieties and polytunnels to protect the crop, his farm has massively extended that from February to late June.

Called “the Usain Bolt of vegetables”, British asparagus can actually grow up to 10cm in a single day. It thrives in free-draining sandy soils, and, as Chris puts it, “does not like wet feet”. That has made the past few months a big challenge for growers with the amount of rain that’s fallen so far this year.

In spite of that, this season, the Chinns pushed the envelope once again, harvesting the first commercial volumes for sale in a local Food store in early February — the earliest it’s ever been available. “This especially early crop is the product of innovative methods, and environmental sustainability is a key concern with us using only the sun’s heat, and on-farm compost,” says Chris. “We are absolutely delighted to be first to market with British asparagus once again.”

Chris says that with all asparagus spears picked and packed by hand, getting enough seasonal labour onto the farm is a constant headache for growers. There is hope, though, that technology will ultimately be able to help.

1. According to the passage, what can we know about the British asparagus?

A．It is a forgiving plant in low-lying areas.

B．It grows fast and can’t tolerate light shade.

C．It is good for immunity and physical well-being.

D．It grows in winter and likes growing in wet fields.

2. What does the underlined phrase “pushed the envelope” most likely mean?

A．Boosted the volume.	B．Unfolded the letter.
C．Reduced the pollution.	D．Stretched the boundaries.

3. What might be talked about in the paragraph that follows?

A．How to extend the asparagus season.

B．The reason for seasonal labor shortage.

C．Some technology to solve the labor shortage.

D．The constant headache for asparagus growers.

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

A．New Ways to Harvest the Asparagus

B．Asparagus, the Usain Bolt of Vegetables

C．Innovations to Extend the Asparagus Season

D．The Chinns, the Innovator of Growing Asparagus

2 . Unlike most of her peers who left their rural hometowns, 34-year-old Ning Fenfang left her job in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in 2017 and worked as a village official in her hometown— a mountainous village in Cili county in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Now she farms over 66.7 hectares of land.

Seeing much of the farmland had been deserted, Ning resigned from her post in 2020 and became a full-time farmer, renting the farmland and hiring villagers to work it. She founded a centre for housewives in the village to work her farmland during busy hours.

“It’s never easy,” said Ning. It is very rare for young people to become farmers in rural areas, as farming is labor-intensive and requires constant work in the mud. What’s more, farming is often seen as a job “unsuitable” for both the post-90s generation and women in general. Her decision to become a farmer confused many of her fellow villagers and farming was much more difficult than she had imagined. She experienced tremendous pain due to the intensive labour. At first, she didn’t farm much through lack of farming knowledge, so she didn’t feel pressured to succeed. Later, she decided to expand the scale and spent millions of yuan. “Most of the money is borrowed from banks, families and relatives, so there is no turning back,” she said. Weighing up the pros and cons, her husband ultimately gave up his business to work with her.

She has tried to turn farming into a “trendy” job. Instead of traditional farming methods which rely on human labor, Ning promotes mechanized farming, such as using harvesters, cultivators and drones. She also plans to explore the agricultural tourism resources in Zhangjiajie for children living in urban areas to experience farming.

Being elected to the 14th National People’s Congress has motivated Ning to feel responsible for fellow farmers. “NPC deputies from the grassroots need to consider rural farmers’ needs and bring their voices to the two sessions,” Ning said.

1. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Ning facilitated the development of local agriculture.

B．Ning was once elected to the 14th National People’s Congress.

C．Ning was pessimistic about her work and her future in Hangzhou.

D．The locals found her decision to become a farmer realistic at first.

2. What’s Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Ning gradually expanded the scale of her business.

B．Ning lacked adequate knowledge about agriculture.

C．Ning did what it took to invest heavily in her business.

D．Ning faced more challenges in farming than she had figured.

3. What sets Ning’s farming apart from traditional farming?

A．The expansion of agricultural dimensions.

B．The restriction of agricultural implements.

C．The employment of agricultural machinery.

D．The exploration of agricultural tourism resources.

4. Which of the following can best describe Ning Fenfang?

A．Desperate and considerate.	B．Humble and dynamic.
C．Persevering and innovative.	D．Sensitive and aggressive.

3 . In 2009, when Qatar (卡塔尔) bid to host the 2022 Football World Cup, it promised a carbon-neutral (碳中和) event. Even back then, the prospect of neutralizing the carbon-dioxide emissions (排放) generated by hosting hundreds of thousands of fans in newly constructed stadiums, in a desert state, seemed fanciful. So it is proving. In their greenhouse-gas accounting report, published last year, FIFA (国际足联) and the Qatari organizers estimated that the World Cup would generate 3.6 million tons of CO2 emissions. Estimating emissions for big sporting events is a relatively new practice and methods can vary, but that figure is higher than any recent World Cup or Olympics.

It is also likely to be a significant underestimate. A report in May 2022 by Carbon Market Watch (CMW), a climate watchdog (监督者), found that the official forecast failed to account accurately for the emissions generated from stadiums. FIFA, which insists its method is “best in practice”, reckons that the majority of the emissions (52%) will come from fans and players travelling to Qatar, while less than 25% are from stadium construction. That is because organizers expect these stadiums to be used for years after the World Cup, spreading their carbon footprint way into the future.

CMW believes such an excuse is far from reasonable. Before the World Cup, Qataris were able to get by with only one stadium, it points out. Consequently, it estimates that the emissions from stadium construction for the World Cup are undercounted by a factor of eight. It puts the real figure at 5 million tons. Though it amounts to less than 0.02% of the world’s annual emissions, sports teams and organizations should have set a positive example in this.

To remove the doubt from outside, Qatar has established the Global Carbon Council (GCC), a dedicated environmental agency. Beyond adjusting for World Cup emissions, the GCC will promote a path to “a low-carbon future”, a great step for a country with the world’s highest emissions per person. Yet the agency is still at its early stage. Only six projects, saving less than 600,000 tons, have been approved so far.

1. What is the main problem Qatar and FIFA are faced with at present?

A．The 2022 World Cup isn’t as successful as it should be.

B．They may fail to keep the promise to hold a green event.

C．The figure they published is higher than that of other events

D．They are unfamiliar with the new practice of the World Cup.

2. How does Qatar and FIFA cut down the carbon footprint of the World Cup?

A．By insisting on its way of environmental protection.

B．By promising to use the new stadiums for more years.

C．By blaming the greenhouse-gas emissions on travelers.

D．By cooperating with Carbon Market Watch for instructions.

3. Why does the CMW refuse to accept the explanation given by Qatar and FIFA?

A．5 million tons accounts for a little of the annual emissions.

B．The stadium construction for the World Cup sets a bad example.

C．The method they employed in estimating the emissions is unscientific.

D．There will be more stadiums than Qatar actually needs after the World Cup.

4. What can be learned from the last paragraph?

A．The GCC is an agency specially established for the World Cup

B．The Qataris attach great importance to environmental protection.

C．The Qataris need to make more efforts to hold a carbon-neutral event.

D．The GCC has achieved a lot in cutting down greenhouse-gas emissions.

4 . When we are desperately searching for our glasses, wallet or keys, we might wish to have a photo-graphic memory, but the truth is we are designed to forget.

In fact, the majority of what we experience in a given day is likely to be forgotten in less than 24 hours. And that is a good thing. Think of all the passing encounters with people you will never see again and the times you spend waiting in a queue at the supermarket. If our brains hoarded (贮藏) every moment of every experience, we would never be able to find the information we need among an ever-increasing pile of information.

So, if memory is not supposed to be a comprehensive collection of the past, what is the point of remembering at all?To answer this question, it helps to think about what it means to remember in the first place. For more than 25 years, I have studied how we are able to recall past events, an ability known as “episodic memory”. It is described as the uniquely human capability for “mental time travel, roaming at will over what has happened as readily as over what might happen, independently of the physical laws that govern the universe”. I first read this description of mental time travel when I was a graduate student, and I was deeply sceptical. Now, with the wisdom of age, I understand what it meant.

When you recall a rich episodic memory, there is a noticeable feeling of being transported back to a point in your past, a specific time and place. For instance, the smell of freshly baked pastries might remind you of having breakfast with your grandmother. Findings from my lab and others have shown that, at the moment of remembering, the brain appears to return a bit to the state that it was in at the time, enabling us to relive these past experiences.

This is why, if you have misplaced your keys, it can be helpful to put yourself, mentally into the context where you last saw them. Getting in touch with the sights, sounds and thoughts from an earlier time period can be an effective way of accessing those memories.

1. Why does the author think forgetfulness is a good thing?

A．We are born to forget the past events.

B．It helps to find the needed information.

C．All the encounters are not that pleasant.

D．Our brains fail to hoard important moments.

2. What do we know about “episodic memory”?

A．It partly depends on the physical laws.

B．It explains our ability to remember the past.

C．It becomes obvious with the wisdom of age.

D．It focuses on purposeful mental time travel.

3. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning freshly baked pastries?

A．To express love for grandmother.	B．To share a feeling of time travel.
C．To illustrate a vivid episodic memory.	D．To forget precious past experiences.

4. What can we do to find the misplaced keys?

A．Recall the situation where we saw them.

B．Search the labs where we do experiments.

C．Think in our mind what they looked like.

D．Write our real thoughts related to them.

5 . Trained goldfish demonstrated a remarkable ability to accurately estimate the distance. Spatial navigation (空间导航) in mammals, birds, and reptiles is well understood, but it was unknown whether similar structures existed in fish. This knowledge would allow us to better understand how spatial navigation systems evolved.

Researchers from the University of Oxford tested whether goldfish could perform a task central to spatial mapping-distance estimation — to see if they have similar spatial navigation systems to land species. The study, led by Dr. Adelaide Sibeaux, trained nine goldfish to travel 70 cm within a narrow tank covered with a repeating pattern of vertical stripes (竖条纹) every 2 cm. When the fish reached the predetermined distance, they were prompted by an external cue to turn around and swim back to the starting point. The researchers then tested whether the fish would swim the same distance if the external cue was removed and the starting position was changed. They also tested whether goldfish would swim the same distance when the background pattern was changed.

According to the researchers, the results indicate that goldfish estimate distances by visually streaming the apparent motion patterns of objects in the environment (called “optic flow”). Many land species are known to use optic flow to estimate distance, but goldfish appear to process the information differently. Land animals, including humans, ants, wolf-spiders, and honey bees, estimate distances by measuring how the angle between their eye and surrounding objects changes as they travel. Goldfish, on the other hand, appear to use the number of contrast changes experienced on the way.

“We present strong evidence that goldfish can accurately estimate distance and show that they use optic flow to do so,” says lead author Dr. Adelaide Sibeaux. “These findings support the use of goldfish as a model system for studying the evolution of the mechanisms in vertebrates (脊椎动物).”

1. What does the word “prompted” underlined in the second paragraph refer to?

A．Punished.

B．Reminded.

C．Forgotten.

D．Cheated.

2. Why was the external cue was taken away from the tank?

A．To make it easy for the goldfish to turn around.

B．To demonstrate the goldfish’s swimming ability.

C．To research into the goldfish’s sense of distance.

D．To help the goldfish reach the learned distance.

3. According to the results, goldfish estimate distances by ________.

A．copying land animals	B．processing information
C．experiencing changes	D．applying optic flow

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Goldfish Have an Excellent Sense of Distance

B．The Use of Optic Flow Among Land Animals

C．A Study Is Being Carried Out on Trained Goldfish

D．The Evolution of Spatial Navigation in Vertebrates

6 . When Zhou Longshan started filming birds 10 years ago at Baiyangdian Lake, a major wetland in northern China, he just wanted to record his favorite species—egrets. Then, things snowballed. In the following years, the teacher became a bird-watcher, a volunteer ranger at the lake, a photographer documenting over 110 bird species and an educator popularizing bird-related information among students.” Sharing bird-protection knowledge with children can make them feel the beauty of their hometown and the importance of birds, and help them cultivate the habit of protecting birds from an early age,” he says.

Over time, Zhou’s interest in birds continued to grow. In 2021, he was appointed as a bird observer by the natural resources bureau (自然资源局) of Anxin county, responsible for conducting regular patrols (巡逻) and popularizing bird-related knowledge. To monitor birds, Zhou would ride a bike to Baiyangdian almost every day before dawn, whatever the weather. He would record the birds appearing at the lake, along with their locations, where they fed and when they migrated, thus providing reference data for staff members of the natural resources bureau of Anxin county.

Although Zhou takes delight in the role, there are still many challenges. Sometimes, he has to navigate earth embankments on his bike. One summer day in 2021, he fell into a ditch with water more than a meter deep, resulting in water damage to his cellphone.

However, these difficult episodes have not undermined Zhou’s love of birds. Over the years, he has taken more than 100,000 pictures of the birds at Baiyangdian. During his spare time, he reads books on China’s birds, talks with other enthusiasts and university professors, and updates his WeChat official account to introduce Baiyangdian to a wider audience.

These days, Zhou’s schedule is growing busier. In addition to his regular patrols near the lake, he is sometimes invited to local schools to give lectures, keeping students informed about birds and how to protect them. Zhou will retire next month. “I will continue patrolling the lake and photographing the birds to contribute to the protection of birds in my hometown,” he says.

1. Why did Zhou start taking photos of birds at first?

A．To share bird-protection knowledge with children.

B．To cultivate the habit of protecting birds.

C．To keep track of his favorite species.

D．To become a volunteer ranger at the lake.

2. What did Zhou do to track birds?

A．He rode a bike to Baiyangdian every day before dawn.

B．He went to Baiyangdian in all weathers.

C．He recorded all the birds along with their locations.

D．He provided reference data for natural resources bureau.

3. What can we infer about Zhou’s job as a bird observer?

A．He didn’t meet any challenges while doing the job.

B．He reads books about birds all over the world in his free time.

C．He is invited to local schools to give lectures every day.

D．He uses social media to introduce Baiyangdian to more people.

4. Which of the following best describes Zhou?

A．Enthusiastic and controlling.	B．Knowledgeable and persistent.
C．Farsighted and reserved.	D．Considerate and stubborn.

7 . Biar Kon grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, after his parents were forced to flee the war in neighboring Sudan. When he was 17, he moved to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to ________ school.

Once he arrived, he needed to get some ________ from the Sudanese embassy. But when he went looking for the embassy, he couldn’t find it. Then an older woman ________ him on the back, “Hey, my son, how are you doing?” The woman told Kon that she had seen him asking questions of ________ people as they passed, and she wondered if he needed some help. The woman’s ________ left a deep impression on Kon. And it inspired him to pay it ________, five years later, when he moved to Boston, Massachusetts.

One day, outside a coffee shop, he ________ an interaction between a young woman and a(n) ________ man that troubled her. Kon went up to the man, to see what he could do. “He told me why he was on the street — because he made a mistake when he was in high school, and he couldn’t get a ________ now,” Kon recalled.

Kon bought the man some breakfast, and gave him a little bit of money. Today, it’s an encounter he ________ on often. For him, it was a reminder that you never know what people are ________ unless you make a point to talk to them.

“She kind of sowed a seed of ________ in me. And every time I see somebody who’s in trouble, I always try to ________,” Kon said.

Kon is now a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He hopes to provide housing and social support for people ________ on the streets — an idea partly inspired by his unsung ________.

1.

A．enjoy

B．attend

C．quit

D．teach

2.

A．books

B．documents

C．patents

D．tests

3.

A．blamed

B．seized

C．tapped

D．kicked

4.

A．multiple

B．busy

C．exhausted

D．anxious

5.

A．comfort

B．patience

C．generosity

D．name

6.

A．back

B．forward

C．off

D．up

7.

A．observed

B．created

C．admired

D．ignored

8.

A．evil

B．friendly

C．careful

D．homeless

9.

A．degree

B．hand

C．clue

D．job

10.

A．reflects

B．depends

C．concentrates

D．researches

11.

A．putting out

B．talking about

C．going through

D．holding up

12.

A．wonder

B．passion

C．curiosity

D．kindness

13.

A．cheer

B．figure

C．help

D．tell

14.

A．assisting

B．interacting

C．working

D．living

15.

A．hero

B．man

C．teacher

D．organizer

8 . In recent months, the U. S. media and politicians have launched fierce attacks on China’s new energy industry, claiming that China has flooded the world with too many clean products, including solar power, new energy vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, which have lowered market prices and hurt American workers and factories. However, experts’ data and analysis overturned the Western argument about overcapacity (产能过剩).

Exports do not mean overcapacity. In a global economy with a high division of labor and specialization, it is normal for a country’s productive capacity to go beyond its domestic demand. For example, about 80% of the cars produced in Germany are exported. Commercial aircraft giants Airbus and Boeing export most of their planes to other countries. While Chinese clean technology accounts for only a small fraction of China’s exports, about 4.5 percent last year, far less than Germany. In fact, the Global Electric Vehicle Outlook, released last year, claimed that the global demand for new electric vehicles will reach 45 million units, which China’s new energy products do not go beyond.

America’s new energy industry falls behind due to underinvestment in green technology and infrastructure (基础设施). Take wind energy for example. A recent report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) shows that the United States is struggling in its development of wind energy. Building a wind farm requires huge turbine blades (涡轮叶片) and a lot of custom engineering to produce huge towers and foundations, which makes wind energy difficult to trade between countries, so the supply chain needed to run a wind farm smoothly faces great trouble.

China is the only country with enough supply chains to keep wind energy growing without difficulties. Chinese Vice Finance Minister Liao Min said green technology products in China will help the country meet its carbon emission targets and contribute to the global response to climate change and green development.

1. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．China’s new energy industry hurt American factories.

B．China’s new energy products will bring down market prices.

C．Expert’s data and analysis turned over the U. S. media and politicians.

D．The argument of China’s new energy industry’s overcapacity is baseless.

2. What can we learn from paragraph 2 and 3?

A．America’s new energy industry falls behind for lacking supply chain.

B．To export, China’s new energy industry’s capacity has gone beyond its demand.

C．America’s new energy industry falls behind for lacking enough related investment.

D．The great global demand for new electric vehicles doesn’t reach China’s capacity.

3. What is Liao Min’s attitude toward China’s green industry?

A．Negative.

B．Positive.

C．Objective.

D．Indifferent.

4. Where might be the passage taken from?

A．A research paper.	B．A online conference.
C．An official report.	D．A newspaper.

9 . Robert van Gulik was born on August 9, 1910 in the Netherlands. His mother came from a family of musicians and piano makers, a fact that greatly influenced Robert’s life. His father was a physician in army, a position which required frequent foreign postings (派驻). The family lived in various areas of the East Indies for most of Robert’s youth. This experience contributed to his appreciation for cultures and mastery of several languages.

He was an eager academic, collector of art and manuscripts (手稿), and translator of ancient writings. He studied and trained to become a master musician on the Chinese guqin and eventually wrote two books on the instrument. Similarly, his skills as an artist in the traditional Chinese style and knowledge of calligraphy were extraordinary. He wrote and published a number of non-fiction, scholarly articles and books on Chinese music, art, and literature, as well as Chinese culture and traditions.

Although he also wrote essays and short stories, Robert remained best known for his Chinese mysteries. In 1940, Robert came across an 18th-century Chinese novel that would take his career down an unplanned pathway and result in the public fame he never expected. The novel, titled Four GreatStrange Cases of Empress Wu’s Reign, was a fictional account of the deeds of Judge Dee, one of the heroes of traditional Chinese detective fiction, and was set during the 7th-century Tang Dynasty. Interested, Robert not only translated the novel into English, but he explored the history of Chinese Penal Code (刑法) and other legal literature of the period. It was not until 1949 that Robert was able to publish his translation Dee Goong An (狄公案): Three Murder Cases Solved by Judge Dee. Robert’s Chinese mysteries include over 10 novels and short-story volumes, recording the career of Chinese detective called Di Renjie. Interestingly, the tales first found fame in oriental (东方的) editions, before being translated into English in 1957.

1. What helped Robert develop the ability in several languages?

A．His eagerness for art and ancient writing.

B．His mother’s good family background.

C．His appreciation for cultures and languages.

D．His living in different parts of the East Indies.

2. What does paragraph 2 tell us about Robert?

A．His hobbies.

B．His skills.

C．His books.

D．His achievements.

3. Why does the author mention the 18th-century Chinese novel?

A．To recommend a Chinese mystery fiction to us.

B．To show the factor leading to Robert’s great fame.

C．To help us learn about the 7th-century Tang Dynasty.

D．To value the development of Chinese detective fictions.

4. Which proverb can best describe Robert’s translation of Dee Goong An: Three Murder Cases Solved by Judge Dee?

A．Better late than never.	B．Attitude is everything.
C．Practice makes perfect.	D．Rome was not built in a day.

10 . I’m in a coffee shop in Manhattan and I’m about to become the most disliked person in the room. First, I’m going to interrupt the man reading quietly near the window and ask for a drink of his latte. Next, I’m going to ask the line of people waiting to pay if I can cut to the front of the queue. This is how I chose to spend my last vacation. Here’s why.

Growing up, all I ever heard about was “EQ.” It was the mid-1990s, and psychologist Daniel Goleman had just popularized the concept of emotional intelligence. Unlike IQ, which tracked conventional measures of intelligence like reasoning and recall, EQ measured the ability to understand other people — to listen, to empathize (共情), and to appreciate.

My mother, an elementary school principal, prized brains and hard work, but she placed a special emphasis on Goleman’s new idea. To her, EQ was the elixir (万能药) that separated the good students from the great after they left school. She was determined to send me into the adult world with as much of this elixir as possible.

But when I finally began my first job, I noticed a second elixir in the pockets of some of my colleagues. It gave their opinions extra weight and their decisions added impact. Strangest of all, it seemed like the anti-EQ: Instead of knowing how to make others feel good, this elixir gave people the courage to do the opposite — to say things others didn’t want to hear.

This was assertiveness (魄力). It boiled down to the command of a single skill: the ability to have uncomfortable conversations. Assertive people — those with high “AQ”— ask for things they want, decline things they don’t, provide constructive feedback, and engage in direct confrontation (对峙) and debate.

A lifetime improving my EQ helped me empathize with others, but it also left me overly sensitive to situations where I had to say or do things that might make others unhappy. While I didn’t avoid conflict, I was always frustrated by my powerlessness when I had to say or do something that could upset someone. This is my problem and I’m working on it.

1. Why did the author act that way in the coffee shop?

A．To improve a skill.	B．To test a concept.
C．To advocate a new idea.	D．To have a unique vacation.

2. What do we know about the author’s mother?

A．She thought little of IQ.

B．She popularized Goleman’s idea.

C．She was a strict mother and principal.

D．She valued EQ as the key to greatness.

3. What does the word “it” underlined in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A．EQ.

B．AQ.

C．Empathy.

D．Courage.

4. According to the passage, those with high EQ but low AQ are likely to be ______.

A．successful leaders	B．people pleasers
C．terrible complainers	D．pleasure seekers