1 . While some customs like setting off fireworks and counting down the last few seconds seem universal, many countries have their own unique New Year’s Eve traditions.
Denmark: Break plates
A Danish tradition is to throw plates and dishes against friend’s and neighbor’s front doors. It’s a bit of a popularity contest as the bigger the pile of broken china is the next morning, the more friends and good luck you’ll have in the coming year.
Germany: Pouring lead
In Germany, people melt small pieces of lead in a spoon over a candle, then pour the liquid into cold water. The shapes from the lead pouring are supposed to reveal what the year ahead will bring. If the lead forms a ball, luck will roll one’s way, while the shape of a crown means wealth; a cross means death and a star will bring happiness.
Spain: Twelve grapes of luck
In Spain, one New Year’s tradition is to eat 12 grapes, one for each month of the coming year, to secure prosperity (繁荣). You need to eat one grape with each bell strike at midnight. The tradition dates from 1909 when farmers in Alicante came up with this idea to sell more grapes after an exceptional harvest.
Philippines: Round food, round clothes, round everything
In the Philippines, the start of the new year is all about the money. The locals believe that surrounding themselves with round things (to represent coins) will bring money or fortune. As a result, clothes with dots are worn and round food is eaten.
1. What is believed to bring good luck for the coming new year in Denmark?| A．A red candle. | B．Round food. | C．Broken china. | D．A lead cross. |
| A．A way to make coins. | B．An act to keep power. |
| C．A desire to be popular. | D．An idea to gain profit. |
| A．Fashion. | B．Travel. | C．Culture. | D．Entertainment. |
2 . When I was in my first year of high school, I had a terrible time when every area of my life was a disaster. I felt so hopeless and alone that I thought everything was impossible.
On one such day, I was walking from class across the school to catch the school bus home, with my head down, fighting tears of total hopelessness, when a young man came down the sidewalk toward me. Though I had never seen him before, I did not want him to see that I was in such low spirits, so I turned my head away and hoped to hurry past. I thought he'd walk on by, but he moved until he was directly in front of me, waited until I looked up, and then smiled.
Looking into my eyes, this stranger spoke in a quiet voice："Whatever is wrong will pass. You're going to be OK, just hang on." He then smiled again and walked away.
I can't explain the effect of that man's unexpected kindness and caring! He gave me the one thing that I'd lost completely—hope. I looked for him in our school to thank him, but never saw him again.
That was thirty years ago. And I've never forgotten that moment. Over the years, whenever I see someone who is in trouble, I will always think of that young man and try to give a flash of hope in the dark wherever I can. I carry things for people when they are too heavy for them, sit with naughty babies in the waiting room while their mothers are busy, or talk to tired couples at the checkout line or it could be anything.
If you keep your head up, your heart will show you the place that needs hope.
1. Where did the writer meet with the young man？
| A．In the school. | B．In the school bus. | C．In the classroom. | D．In the library. |
| A．had known the young man for a long time |
| B．made friends with the young man afterwards |
| C．was grateful to that young man very much |
| D．avoided meeting the young man since then |
| A．show his sympathy to those who are badly ill |
| B．give others hope of life when they are in trouble |
| C．realize his promise made to the young man |
| D．get respect from those who were helped by him |
| A．the young man always tried his best to help those who were in trouble |
| B．it was the young man's smile and words that made the author feel hopeful |
| C．the author had never been praised by others before he met with the young man |
| D．the author traveled to a lot of places to look for the young man but failed |
3 . The Boy Made It!
One Sunday, Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost, all alone! He didn’t have food, water, a phone, or other supplies. He was getting colder by the minute.
Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic. He thought about all of the survival shows he had watched on TV. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.
He decided to stop skiing. There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to find shelter from the freezing wind and snow. If he didn’t, his body temperature would get very low, which could quickly kill him.
Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could.
By that evening, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn’t lose too much water. Not knowing how much longer he could last, Nicholas did the only thing he could he huddled (蜷缩) in his cave and slept.
The next day, Nicholas went out to look for help, but he couldn’t find anyone. He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave, because without shelter, he could die that night. On Tuesday, Nicholas went out again to find help. He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him. After two days stuck in the snow, Nicholas was saved.
Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV. He had often watched Grylls’ survival show Man vs. Wild. That’s where he learned the tips that saved his life. In each episode (一期节目) of Man vs. Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out.
When Gxrylls heard about Nicholas’ amazing deeds, he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive.
1. What happened to Nicholas one Sunday afternoon?| A．He got lost. | B．He broke his skis. |
| C．He hurt his eyes. | D．He caught a cold. |
| A．He found a shelter. | B．He lighted some branches. |
| C．He kept on skiing. | D．He built a snow cave. |
| A．returned to his shelter safely | B．was saved by a searcher |
| C．got stuck in the snow | D．stayed where he was |
| A．did the right things in the dangerous situation |
| B．watched Grylls’ TV program regularly |
| C．created some tips for survival |
| D．was very hard-working |
4 . I was 16 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: Both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived on weekdays, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!
And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza (狂欢)?
Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was thrilled and transported by a book—it was Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises—and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in a classroom taking another biology exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatriates (异乡客).
I spent that day lost in words. Time fell away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role—as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student—in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.
Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway’s language was quietly braiding itself into my imagination. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.
1. Why did the author skip school on that day?| A．Because her parents left home early. | B．Because it was a cold winter morning. |
| C．Because she was fascinated by a novel. | D．Because she hated to take the biology exam. |
| A．Reading by the fire. | B．Travelling in Spain. |
| C．Breaking the regulations. | D．Being occupied by one’s passion. |
| A．Entering. | B．Destroying. |
| C．Mending. | D．Blocking. |
| A．I was tired of my real-life roles. |
| B．I learnt how to write on the internet. |
| C．Hemingway skipped school when he was young. |
| D．Becoming a writer was my childhood dream. |
5 . Vaccines(疫苗) may soon make their first film appearance. Led by expert Maria A. Croyle, researchers have developed a thin sheet that preserves vaccines for long periods without refrigeration. This means the carefully cooled small bottles now used to ship vaccines could potentially be replaced by lightweight films that can be mailed in an envelope and stored on a shelf.
Croyle’s laboratory began developing the technology in 2007. Inspired by amber’s ability to preserve the DNA of insects, the researchers set out to create their own version of the substance by mixing “a lot of sugar and a little bit of salt, much like hard candy,” Croyle explains. The vaccine-containing film is administered by mouth—sweet news for many who dislike needles.
The film is tailored to suit each specific vaccine candidate and provide a protective coating. “We’ve learned over time that the key to really stabilizing whatever the film holds is to have it intermixed with all the components,” Croyle says, adding that the process is quick and uses affordable, standard equipment. “We really wanted to come up with something that would be transferable to developing countries.”
Immunization(免疫) programs depend heavily on keeping vaccines cold(2℃-8℃) as they are transported, sometimes over thousands of kilometers to far-away locations. Delivery can be difficult and costly, and transport disruptions can cause the vaccines to be ineffective.
But this new product can store live viruses, bacteria and antibodies for several months at 20℃. In a paper published in Science Advances, the scientists show that the live viruses in one vaccine were preserved in the film even after 36 months. They also find that a flu vaccine suspended in their film compares favourably with a traditional flu shot(流感预防针). “The study demonstrates early proof of concept for an exciting platform for vaccine product development,” says Lisa Rohan, a pharmacologist, who was not involved in the study. She also notes that each vaccine type would need a custom formulation(配方) for future stages of development.
Finding partners to mass-produce for clinical trials is the researchers’ most pressing problem, Croyle says. They are also exploring packaging methods to keep their films stable up to 40℃.
Size is a major advantage—a letter-sized sheet of the film can carry more than 500 doses(剂) of vaccine, about 1⁄900 the weight of the same amount of traditional doses. By making it easier and cheaper to ship and preserve vaccines efficiently, Croyle says, the technology could vastly improve immunization rates the world over, particularly in middle- to low- income countries.
1. What can we learn about the film?| A．It contains animal’s DNA. | B．It will replace vaccines. |
| C．It comes in different flavours. | D．It can hold bio-products. |
| A．key component | B．development schedule |
| C．possible advantages | D．transportation requirements |
| A．advise personalizing vaccines |
| B．suggest the product is promising |
| C．prove the study is supported widely |
| D．stress the functions of a new platform |
| A．Advertising the film worldwide. | B．Improving the film’s capacity. |
| C．Reducing the shipping cost. | D．Seeking ideal manufacturers. |
6 . Most kids can walk into a library or bookstore and find hundreds of books to read. But it’s not that simple for kids who are blind. They read in a different way. Jenny Lee and other braille (盲文) transcribers take the printed words of a book and change them into a code of raised dots. Blind people can read these dots with their fingers. To know what braille feels like, take a ballpoint pen and press hard onto a piece of paper. Now turn the paper over and touch the raised dot made by the pen point.
When Lee first saw the dots of the braille alphabet, she wondered if she’d ever be able to read and write them easily. She took a class and practised hard for about six months before she passed the final exam: she had to convert 35 pages of a book into braille. Today, Lee works for a publisher. One of her jobs is to change children’s books into braille.
To do this, Lee first types the story into a computer and then uses a computer program to translate it into the braille code. Next, she looks over the translation several times to make sure it’s mistake-free. After that, a copy of the braille story is printed with a special printer. Then Lee and a proofreader work together to find and correct any mistakes. When a book is ready, many copies of it are printed. Afterwards, some are sold through websites and others are sent to libraries.
Sometimes, going over a story again and again gets tiring. That’s when Lee takes a break. Several of Jenny Lee’s co-workers, who are blind, use guide dogs. When the animals aren’t working, Lee likes spending a few minutes with them. To her, playing with dogs “is always a pick-me-up in the middle of the day”.
“I love this mission,” Lee says. “Through my brain power and my fingers, I am putting the dots into some kid’s hands.”
1. How does the writer explain what braille feels like?| A．By explaining what braille words look like. |
| B．By describing how blind people read books. |
| C．By asking readers to experience it themselves. |
| D．By giving examples of different braille words. |
| A．She was excited to get a new skill. |
| B．She was amazed at the clever idea. |
| C．She realized she could teach it herself. |
| D．She believed it would be difficult to learn. |
| A．A discussion to release work stress. |
| B．Something to improve one’s appetite. |
| C．Something to help restore one’s spirit. |
| D．A free ride accompanied with a guide dog. |
| A．Profitable and hopeful. | B．Tiring but meaningful. |
| C．Relaxing and helpful. | D．Boring but challenging. |
7 . If you are planning on travelling, there are a few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey.
First of all, always check and double－check departure (启程) time. It is amazing how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at the airport a few minutes after ten, my secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10：50. When I arrived at the airport, the clerk at the departure desk told me that my flight was closed. Therefore, I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.
The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards, it is still important to have some local cash with you when you arrive in a country. Once I arrived at a place at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi and because I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead. “Listen! I only take real money！” the driver said angrily. Luckily I was able to borrow a few dollars from a clerk at the hotel, but it was embarrassing.
The third and last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination before you leave. I feel sorry for some of my workmates who travel in heavy suits and raincoats in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome or Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day.
1. According to the passage, the driver was angry because the writer ________.| A．did not give him the local money |
| B．gave him false money |
| C．offered to pay by credit card |
| D．had no enough change |
| A．warm and dry | B．cold and dry |
| C．hot and wet | D．cool and rainy |
| A．how to plan our trip |
| B．how to enjoy ourselves on trip |
| C．how to make life easier |
| D．how to be well prepared for a trip |
8 . “I have cancer.”Mom said and held me in a tight hug.I could feel her chest shaking as she tried not to cry but failed.
For all of my twenty-four years,my mom had been supportive.Strength and protection had always flowed from her to me.Now I knew it would have to flow the other way.
Mom didn’t stay down for long.After the shock of breast-cancer,she armed herself with a notebook and a pen and a thousand questions for the doctors.She took notes on white blood cell counts and medications(药物)with long names as though she were studying for entrance exams into medical school.”The not-knowing is the worst.”she said.
The operation was successful.The chemo(化疗)was the harder part.I went with Mom to every chemo treatment.She rarely complained,though her hair was gone and her toenails and fingernails fell out one by one.She joked that she could save money on nail polish and put it toward the doctor bills,even though she never wore nail polish.”Cancer can take my hair,my nails,my health,my very life. But it can’t take my smile.”Mom said.
Mom learned to share her fears with me,and it formed an even deeper bond between us.Yet I am certain there were fears she didn’t share because she was still protecting me-worries she only shared with Dad.Even in the darkest hours,she would just joke about the cancer. Mom always said,”When you look your greatest fear in the eye and laugh at it,you take away some of its power.”
Mom was one of the lucky ones.She did beat her cancer,though not without scars.From her,I’ve learned I may not get to choose what I face,but I do get to choose how I face it.
1. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．There were other ways to treat cancer. |
| B．Knowledge of cancer would be helpful. |
| C．Mom had to stay stronger to beat cancer. |
| D．I should be the one being there for Mom. |
| A．Humorous and generous. |
| B．Considerate and ambitious. |
| C．Optimistic and determined. |
| D．Caring and knowledgeable. |
| A．The fear Mom shared with me. |
| B．The ways Mom faced fear. |
| C．The jokes Mom told me. |
| D．The bond Mom and I formed. |
| A．Luck counts in beating diseases. |
| B．Complaint does no good to one’s health. |
| C．Positive attitudes get one through hardship for |
| D．Sharing feelings helps reduce sufferings a lot. |
9 . Our Teen Summer Spanish Program is two weeks of fun, educational excitement that helps students learn Spanish fast. Our Spanish summer program allows our students to learn from highly trained, certified teachers and be absorbed in the language and the culture of Costa Rica.
Features include:
* Intensive(强化的) daily Spanish classes
* Extracurricular classes in dance, cooking, music, and handiwork
* Outdoor activities including hiking, camping, rafting, and ziplining(高空滑索)
* Homestay with a local Costa Rican family
* Volunteer work in needy neighborhoods
Our Teaching Methods:
We are proud to use TPRS---Total Physical Response Storytelling---in our curriculum. This innovative method uses strange and amusing stories to teach new vocabulary, increase fluency, and get students involved by giving them the opportunity to alter the details themselves. Because of the silliness, creativity, and repetition involved, TPRS allows students to learn easily and remember information effortlessly
Memorizing vocabulary and listening to lectures on grammar are slow, inefficient ways to learn a new language. The best way to truly learn and commit new material to memory is through conversation. In our Spanish classes, students can expect to speak up to 80% of each class. By speaking in the new language freely and consistently, students can see progress faster because they are using the new grammar and vocabulary that they have learned at the same time. This helps the brain remember the new words and grammar structures for future use, making it much easier to progress.
1. What does the program do?| A．It offers weekly Spanish classes |
| B．It focuses more on outdoor activities |
| C．It gives teachers a chance to receive training |
| D．It provides activities about the Spanish culture |
| A．Memorizing a larger vocabulary |
| B．Speaking more in the new language. |
| C．Mastering more grammar structures |
| D．Writing stories to share with others |
| A．To employ experienced Spanish teacher |
| B．To hire foreign volunteers for a program |
| C．To attract teen foreigners to a program |
| D．To introduce language learning methods |
10 . It's good to share, right? Growing up as kids we are told to share our toys and not be selfish. We also live in an age where discussing our feelings is encouraged. But when does it all become too much? With new fashion trending all the time, such as dance challenges and wearing a pillow as a dress, the question is: when can sharing become oversharing on social media?
What is oversharing? The term has become associated with social media, but it doesn't only belong to this platform. Imagine you head to a party and you meet someone. Within five minutes they have given away details about their personal life. While some of us may try to escape these people, according to marriage therapist Carolyn Cole, this form of oversharing could come from a strong desire to connect with someone. But how does this translate to social media?
Dr. Christopher Hand, a lecturer in internet psychology, says the more details people disclose, the less sympathy we express when things go wrong. This could be due to a belief that we attract our own negative experiences the more we share them. It seems that the idea of searching for sympathy by oversharing, is generally viewed as negative rather than the cry for help it could actually be.
However, Dr Hand's research also seems to suggest that the more positive posts we share on a platform, the more socially attractive we become. Even back in 2015, Gwendolyn Seidman PhD, said that we should avoid complaining and being negative online. We are supposed not to show off, as it's now known—especially about our love lives. It makes sense—if your date is going 'that well', would you really have time to share a photo with text?
So, how can you know if you are oversharing? Well, why not ask your friends in real life. They would probably be more than happy to tell you if your posts about your breakfast or your complaint about your lack of money really are too much.
1. Why do some people try to overshare at parties?| A．Because they want to catch others' attention. |
| B．Because they just want to show off something. |
| C．Because they have a strong desire to pour out their emotions. |
| D．Because they may expect to make a connection with someone. |
| A．explore | B．expose | C．display | D．discuss |
| A．We will become more socially attractive if we post more on a platform. |
| B．We tend to show sympathy when things go wrong. |
| C．We may be considered negative when seeking for sympathy by oversharing. |
| D．We can show off something positive especially about our love lives. |
| A．To inform. | B．To inspire. | C．To advertise. | D．To condemn. |
