1 . During the summer of 2021, I flew to Greece to learn more about the wildfires there. I wanted to hear people’s stories, to understand what it meant to be displaced by environmental disaster.

In a cafe for people surviving the fire, I met brave children who now have to live with terrible scars, physical and emotional. I met a man who could not even speak to me, his eyes filling with tears.

I was expecting to hear a lot about loss; I was not expecting to learn so much about the attribution (归因) of blame. I came to understand how desperately people needed to blame a tangible entity (实体) –a person, a group of people, the government. Indeed, this was understandable and reasonable. The outbreak and mishandling of the fire needed to be explored, looked into and dealt with.

What surprised me, however, was that the survivors were completely silent over any mention of the climate crisis and global heating. It was made clear to me that this subject was unacceptable. Survivors felt that these issues had nothing to do with what they had suffered, and that the people actually responsible needed to pay.

But when it comes to climate breakdown, blame did not come to just one person, one corporation, one country. In Greece, the fire didn’t rage so hard because someone had set off a spark—— it raged so hard because years of global heating had dried up the land, part of a set of unsustainable (不能持续的) practices and inaction that had set our planet on fire. And now the fires are even worse.

The more I spoke to people, including climate scientists, the more I came to see that there is often a gap that separates science from public awareness. In her book “Engaging With Climate Change” Sally Weintrobe says that “many people who accept global warming continue to regard it as a problem of the future”. To my astonishment, this seemed to apply even to people who had themselves been affected directly by wildfires.

1. What did the author hardly expect to learn in Greece?

A．Kids’ scars.	B．Economic loss.
C．Survivors’ blame.	D．Duration of the fire.

2. What did the survivors think of the fire?

A．It was closely related to global heating.

B．They couldn’t accept its massive destruction.

C．The government should be responsible for it.

D．It resulted from someone’s setting fire to the forest.

3. What does Sally Weintrobe say about global warming?

A．Much attention has been given to it.

B．People don’t consider it serious now.

C．Scientists are urged to apply efficient way to it.

D．People should make their opinions about it heard.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To inform readers of wildfires in Greece.

B．To encourage readers to donate to survivors.

C．To equip people with surviving skills in wildfires.

D．To raise people’s awareness about the climate crisis.

2 . Looking out from my desk is a note. It’s a card from my mother, containing only four sentences, but _______ enough to change my life. In it, she _______ my abilities as a writer without qualification. Each sentence is filled with _______, offering specific examples of what my pursuit has meant to her and my father. The word “but” never _______, however, “and” is there many times.

Every time I read it, I’m _______ to ask myself if I’m doing the same thing for my daughter. Although she usually got all A’s on her report card, her teachers always suggested she _______ too much in class. I _______ forgot to ask them if she was making improvement in controlling her behavior. Instead, I would greet her with, “Congratulations! Your Dad and I are proud of your _______, but could you try to tone (调整语调) it down in class?”

The fact is that “but” feels bad “and” feels good. When children feel good about themselves, they do more of it, building their self-confidence and their harmonious _______ to others.

This is not to say that children won’t ________ to their parents’ expectations. They will ________ whether those expectations are good or bad. Amazing things ________ when those expectations are ________ positive, “I see you made a ________. And I know you are intelligent enough to ________ what you did wrong and make a better decision next time.”

1.

A．potential

B．sincere

C．influential

D．realistic

2.

A．enhances

B．praises

C．recommends

D．considers

3.

A．love

B．insight

C．wisdom

D．beauty

4.

A．appears

B．escapes

C．differs

D．occurs

5.

A．evaluated

B．approved

C．pretended

D．reminded

6.

A．demanded

B．talked

C．interacted

D．communicated

7.

A．never

B．nearly

C．barely

D．always

8.

A．accomplishment

B．expectation

C．participation

D．adaptation

9.

A．restrictions

B．definition

C．connections

D．reputation

10.

A．refer

B．adapt

C．respond

D．apply

11.

A．in terms of

B．regardless of

C．owing to

D．according to

12.

A．happen

B．collapse

C．exist

D．expand

13.

A．constantly

B．accidentally

C．consistently

D．eventually

14.

A．choice

B．breakthrough

C．decision

D．mistake

15.

A．put forward

B．figure out

C．benefit from

D．make sure

3 . What no one ever tells college students is how little they’ll be prepared for the real world. Many graduates will not get the ______ they wanted and the one they do get will be different from what they dreamed about.

After graduating, I packed my bags and headed ______ to the big city for a well-paying job with good potential. I hoped this would be my ______ to expand my professional experience and figure out what I was supposed to do with my life.

But I was ______. Before I knew it, I was swept into the entry-level job world: long hours before a ______, service calls from rude customers and repetitive work I wasn’t ______ in. Having studied Psychology, English, and Sociology, I was supposed to be working in a job that ______ me to use my enthusiasm, not to ______ it. This was not at all what I had ______ for.

So I decided to turn in my ______.

Two weeks later I ______ again and moved back to my college town. I found a full-time job working with kids with special needs and began a part-time ______ career. And I found out special needs kids are the greatest and that writing is ______ and easy.

The key to ______ may very well be doing what you love. Sometimes all it takes is a spontaneous (自发的) life ______ to bring back your joy.

1.

A．honor

B．job

C．qualification

D．reward

2.

A．eagerly

B．secretly

C．discouragedly

D．unwillingly

3.

A．wish

B．experiment

C．opportunity

D．right

4.

A．realistic

B．responsible

C．incorrect

D．sensitive

5.

A．picture

B．mirror

C．house

D．screen

6.

A．engaged

B．stuck

C．experienced

D．interested

7.

A．forced

B．allowed

C．reminded

D．convinced

8.

A．appreciate

B．ignore

C．share

D．tolerate

9.

A．signed up

B．turned away

C．stood out

D．come back

10.

A．notice

B．offer

C．suggestion

D．conclusion

11.

A．hesitated

B．escaped

C．packed

D．graduated

12.

A．educating

B．marketing

C．drawing

D．writing

13.

A．cheap

B．smooth

C．original

D．identical

14.

A．wealth

B．friendship

C．happiness

D．teamwork

15.

A．decision

B．review

C．challenge

D．style

4 . “Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” This ______ has stuck with me since the first time I read it. And it just makes so much ______ .

Just the other day I caught a cold, the flu made me feel so ______ and sleepy. How I wished it was a ______ already. But it was Monday. I had to go to work.

We have a care taker at work. Her name was Lucy, who usually prepares some nice lunch for us. She asked me with ______ if I was ill. After realizing that I was not okay, she was ______ me.

As this serious illness made me ______ , Lucy hurriedly went to the hospital to fetch some medicine to ______ my headache. Her kind gesture and ______ melted my heart. I mean, she didn’t have to do that but she went out of her way to make it for me. I felt so good, I felt loved, I felt visible and it was a huge ______ .

Life is made up of the little things. These little things go ______ most of the time so that we might ignore them. But they’re the biggest things and ______ the best things. If you can collect these little things, you’ll never feel alone. These little things give hope and strength for doing more and doing better.

Therefore, if something ______ makes your soul smile, note it and let it ______ on your mind and be remembered during dull days that life may ______ .

1.

A．quote

B．routine

C．privilege

D．service

2.

A．trouble

B．believe

C．sense

D．fun

3.

A．proud

B．weak

C．active

D．ambitious

4.

A．balance

B．breath

C．pause

D．weekend

5.

A．concern

B．delight

C．certainty

D．caution

6.

A．displeased with

B．interested in

C．ashamed of

D．sympathetic to

7.

A．eye-catching

B．head-spinning

C．heartbreaking

D．breathtaking

8.

A．observe

B．examine

C．treat

D．urge

9.

A．gratitude

B．thankfulness

C．thoughtfulness

D．display

10.

A．relief

B．promise

C．wish

D．direction

11.

A．unhurt

B．unnoticed

C．unfortunate

D．unafraid

12.

A．temporarily

B．doubtfully

C．casually

D．definitely

13.

A．tiny

B．different

C．meaningless

D．precise

14.

A．feed

B．strike

C．stick

D．hang

15.

A．make a decision

B．block your way

C．keep your word

D．have a point

5 . Just about 50 years ago, needing money to support my family—my novels weren’t bestsellers—I had the idea of taking the longest train trip imaginable and writing a travel book about it. The trip was improvisational (即兴的). I didn’t have a credit card. I had no idea where I’d be staying nor how long this trip would take. And I’d never written a travel book before. I hoped my trip wouldn’t suffer a lot, though it was obviously a leap in the dark.

I set off with one small bag containing clothes, a map of Asia, a travel guidebook and some travelers’ cheques. I was often inconvenienced, sometimes threatened, now and then disturbed for bribes, occasionally laid up with food poisoning—all this vivid detail for my narrative.

What I repeated in the more than four-month trip was the pleasure of the sleeping car. Writing on board the Khyber Mail to Lahore in Pakistan, “The romance associated with the sleeping car comes from the fact that it is extremely private, combining the best features of a cupboard with forward movement. Whatever drama is being shown in this moving bedroom is heightened by the landscape passing the window...” A train is a carrier that allows residence.

I wrote The Great Railway Bazaar on my return in 1974, and it appeared to good reviews and quick sales. That’s the past. Nothing is the same. All travel is time-related. All such trips are singular and unrepeatable. It’s not just that the steam trains of Asia are gone, but much of the peace and order is gone. Who’d risk an Iranian train now or take a bus through Afghanistan?

But I’ve been surprised by some of the more recent developments in travel. I rode on Chinese trains for a year and wrote Riding the Iron Rooster, but now China has much cleaner and swifter trains and modernized destinations. A traveler today could take the same trip I took in 1986—1987 and produce a completely different book.

All travel books are dated. That’s their fault that they’re outdated, and it’s their virtue that they preserve something of the past that would otherwise be lost.

1. What happened at the beginning of the author’s trip to Asia?

A．He made full preparations for the trip.

B．He had expected the journey to be rough.

C．He organized the trip with his family’s support.

D．He started the trip out of his passion for traveling.

2. Why did the author repeatedly recall the sleeping car?

A．For its romantic scenery.	B．For its reassuring privacy.
C．For its full equipment.	D．For its long distance.

3. What did the author try to convey by saying “Nothing is the same”?

A．The landscape in Asia was gone.	B．Train trip was no longer popular.
C．He couldn’t write another bestseller.	D．Transportation and travel had changed a lot.

4. Which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?

A．Practice makes perfect.	B．Sharp tools make good work.
C．Travel, truth is not the arrival card.	D．The journey, not the arrival matters.

6 . It seems obvious now how we acquire knowledge and understanding. To start with, we need questions. Then, to find answers, we observe the world around us and study the facts. After that, we consider possible answers and test each to find the right ones. Although today we are more used to typing a few key words into a search engine and waiting for the Internet to give us an answer, modern scientists and thinkers are still solving the world’s problems with this type of analysis—luckily for us.

However, in the 17th century when Francis Bacon (1561-1626) suggested that this type of thinking was the way to gain knowledge, he was going against the views of the day. Although Bacon held an important rank in King James’ royal court of England, his true interest was not the day-to-day, slow and inefficient working style of the government, but the worthy search for knowledge. This was certainly not the interest of most people in his days. At that time, people believed more in the church than in facts, and people like Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who proved the idea that “the Earth is not the centre of the universe”, were often punished by the church with no one coming to their defence. The church and many people tended to ignore the facts and didn’t want to challenge what they had always comfortably believed. In fact, when Galilei proved that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, instead of believing him, people chose to believe views that were almost 2,000 years old!

It is not surprising that people wanted to believe these primitive ideas as they had been put forward by the great philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE). He said that the Earth must be the centre of the universe because it felt like the Earth was standing still. Galilei disagreed. At first, people approved of his studies and urged him to continue, but later when he proved Aristotle wrong, they grew angry and put him in prison. They didn’t want to abandon what they’d always thought as true. And this is still often true today. People make the assumption that if someone important and respected says that something is right, then it must be so. But even though Aristotle was a great man who inspired many great scientists and philosophers after him, he was wrong at times. And Galilei also made mistakes. He is now known as the father of astronomy but he believed that the Earth moved round the sun in a perfect circle. He was wrong.

Therefore, our understanding of the world around us is constantly growing and changing. In other words, we learn more every day and none of us can ever sit back and say, “We know it all.” We need to thank the great men of the past for their wisdom. They understood that we don’t know everything and probably never will, as this would mean a world with questions.

We owe so much of our knowledge and understanding of the world to people like Bacon and Galilei, who were brave enough to step out from the shadows of conventional thought in order to find the kingdom of knowledge that today’s civilization is built upon. These men knew that knowledge and understanding are things to fight for; more vital to a man, and more beneficial to mankind, some might say, than all the money in the world.

1. How are we used to finding answers of questions today?

A．we observe the world around us and study the facts.

B．we consider possible answers and test each to find the right ones.

C．we type a few key words into a search engine and wait for the Internet to give us an answer.

D．First of all, we need questions.

2. The author used the stories of Aristotle and Galilei in order to tell us what?

A．many people tended to ignore the facts and didn’t want to challenge what they had always comfortably believed.

B．No one is perfect and our understanding of the world around us is constantly growing and changing.

C．Even great men like Aristotle and Galileo Galilei can make mistakes.

D．People make the assumption that if someone important and respected says that something is right, then it must be so.

3. What does the underlined words“sit back”in paragragh 4 mean？

A．stop study

B．relax in a chair

C．wait for success to come

D．stop work

4. What is the author’s attitude toward people like Bacon and Galilei？

A．feel sorry

B．sympathize

C．feel grateful

D．in memory of

7 . This morning I was reading a book outside my favorite beachside coffee shop when an 18-year-old boy sat down next to me and said, “The ______   in your hands is great, isn’t it?” I closed the book and we started ______ .

He told me he was getting ready to ______   high school next week and then started his college life in the fall. But he had no ______ what he wanted to do with his life.

He asked me many questions, and I ______ them as well as I could, trying to give ______ advice with the time I had. And after a half-hour conversation, he thanked me and we parted ways.

But on my way home I realized the ______ I had with that 18-year-old boy was ______ quite nostalgic (令人怀念的) . He made me ______ the time when I was his age, more than twenty years ago. I had so many ______ back then. So, I started thinking about his questions again, and I began remembering all the helpful little things someone told me ______ I was 18.

The ______ is that you’d better do your best, one ______ , not all at once. And above all, laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t ______ when everything develops. Life is short, yet ______ . Enjoy the ride!

1.

A．book

B．magazine

C．radio

D．newspaper

2.

A．reading

B．dancing

C．chatting

D．singing

3.

A．graduate from

B．give up

C．get to

D．look for

4.

A．right

B．idea

C．excuse

D．money

5.

A．avoided

B．refused

C．doubted

D．answered

6.

A．proper

B．strict

C．humorous

D．wrong

7.

A．competition

B．experiment

C．argument

D．conversation

8.

A．angrily

B．sadly

C．actually

D．bravely

9.

A．forget

B．remember

C．waste

D．discuss

10.

A．chances

B．choices

C．questions

D．challenges

11.

A．when

B．until

C．how

D．though

12.

A．reason

B．truth

C．silence

D．cause

13.

A．on time

B．at a time

C．in time

D．from time to time

14.

A．volunteer

B．imagine

C．change

D．cheat

15.

A．similar

B．strange

C．difficult

D．amazing

9 . My phone rang after I boarded a plane. It was my former PhD adviser calling to tell me an article had just been posted that identified errors in a paper we’d published in Nature. My stomach dropped when I knew many critics were demanding a retraction (撤回). The plane soon took off. I spent the 16-hour flight processing a mix of emotions — disbelief, embarrassment, frustration — and wondering what this would mean for my career.

After the plane landed, I took out my laptop and logged on the airport WiFi so I could read the critique myself. It was harsh and thorough, pointing out several fundamental flaws in our methods and in the basic data, which we’d gathered from other studies.

The fallout was swift and intense. I received a flood of emails and messages. Some were from supportive colleagues, but many were harshly critical of our work. I felt deeply embarrassed by the criticism.

When it became clear that the retraction was unavoidable, I formally offered my resignation to my department head. He didn’t accept it, saying a resignation wasn’t needed considering the errors in the paper were honest mistakes.

The experience helped me grow as a scientist. I learned that it is better to be open and responsible, even if it means admitting mistakes. I can’t expect myself to know everything as a scientist and my work will be stronger if I seek out diverse expertise and opinions.

In the end, the reality is that the retractions are a necessary part of the science process—and one that shouldn’t be viewed only through a negative lens (透镜). Retractions can also be an opportunity to learn and improve. Honest mistakes happen, and researchers should be encouraged, not punished, for doing the right thing and retracting flawed work.

1. What news did the author get after boarding the plane?

A．Some mistakes were found in his published paper.

B．His research paper would be published.

C．His adviser demanded that he should retract his paper.

D．His career might be influenced by his paper.

2. What does the underlined word “fallout” mean?

A．Answer.

B．Pain.

C．Result.

D．Shame.

3. Why was the author’s resignation refused?

A．He corrected his mistakes in the paper.

B．He made the mistakes unintentionally.

C．He had a very good reputation of honesty.

D．He was believed to publish sound science.

4. What lesson did the author learn from his experience?

A．Honest mistakes are necessary in science.

B．Scientists had better know everything.

C．Admitting mistakes is really embarrassing.

D．Mistakes can be a good chance to learn.