1 . I’m Andrew Siegel and this is my garden. This is where my family and I grow a lot of different vegetables and flowers. Gardening has been really important to my family because it gives us a chance to spend time outside together, away from all the electronics.

Especially for my five-year-old, it really gives her a chance to be in touch with nature-all the little animals, insects and things that come out here.

We find that a lot of the things that we plan for in the garden don’t always go the way that we’d like them to, and some of the things that we don’t plan for become what we enjoy the most that year. So it’s something that my family and I have learned: To appreciate (欣赏) all of it.

My advice for gardening beginners is to just start. Get a pot, get a little bit of dirt, get a tomato plant or whatever plant you want and just get started. I think sometimes it seems challenging. Trust me, it does not need to be perfect. You will enjoy every little thing you get out of it.

Gardening has taught me patience, something I don’t naturally have a lot of. It takes weeks, takes months for you to put into your work and the patience comes out in the end. You learn not only to be patient in that end product, but you’ve also learned that, after years of gardening, the end product is just part of it.

The journey of growing has become much more important to me than the actual product that we get in the end. Nothing has been so valuable as the time I spend out here. I’m by no means in a farmland, but I do have my own little piece of what I consider heaven, and I’ve really learned to appreciate every little moment — every insect, every plant, every flower — and when you can appreciate it in that way, there’s nothing better.

1. Who does the underlined word “five-year-old” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The writer.

B．The writer’s daughter.

C．The insect.

D．The flower.

2. How would gardening beginners feel?

A．Quite easy.

B．Comfortable.

C．Perfect.

D．Very difficult.

3. What is the most important for Andrew Siegel in gardening?

A．Planting different vegetables and flowers.

B．Staying at home together with her family.

C．Enjoying the whole process of growing.

D．Harvesting what the family planted.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The pleasure of gardening.

B．The advice on gardening.

C．Being in touch with nature.

D．Being perfect in life.

2 . I never imagined that an interstate trip could be so exciting. But when your world has become smaller since the pandemic hit two-and-a-bit years ago, and then slowly ______, the most ordinary experience gives new ______ to life. And so it was with me when I was ______ given the chance to take my first flight in more than two years.

I’d forgotten how it felt to be among the people coming and going I got to the airport two hours before boarding. Time for the bar and, of course, ______.

That group of young Arab women laughing and posing for photographs by the expansive windows, aircraft in the ______, lighting up the place with their happiness.

The man in the corner drinking alone. Just another one of the 70, 000 or so stories that would pass through the airport ______.

I couldn’t be calmer as a flyer. But when the plane took off I was ______, in that moment of weightlessness as the wheels ______ Earth, leaning towards the window to watch everything below becoming smaller and smaller.

Is it possible that the denial of so much during the pandemic lockdown had added new ______ to what was the ordinary? I think so. The plane ride, the hotel stay, and the social occasion all now gave me a sense of ______ that might have previously only aroused in me nothing more than a certain nonchalance (若无其事) or even ______.

Last June, just ahead of the long Sydney lockdown, a friend ______ a birthday party. That experience for me would continue happily through some of the ______ months of the lockdown that would follow. ______ the repeated fear that the pandemic holds over us, the memory of that celebration still keeps its bright, warm light in my mind. That’s what happens when everything old is new again, when ______ is rediscovered as a virtue.

1.

A．expands

B．disappears

C．escapes

D．emerges

2.

A．outcome

B．panic

C．change

D．meaning

3.

A．frequently

B．finally

C．originally

D．merely

4.

A．book-reading

B．story-telling

C．people-watching

D．stranger-chatting

5.

A．situation

B．background

C．circumstance

D．maintenance

6.

A．in a special way

B．on a daily basis

C．once in a while

D．all of a sudden

7.

A．elegant

B．excited

C．anxious

D．energetic

8.

A．slid

B．attached

C．departed

D．floated

9.

A．liberation

B．company

C．struggle

D．appeal

10.

A．joy

B．chaos

C．regret

D．fear

11.

A．kindness

B．happiness

C．tiredness

D．brightness

12.

A．forgot

B．cancelled

C．attended

D．held

13.

A．difficult

B．permanent

C．harmonious

D．dramatic

14.

A．Without

B．Despite

C．Similar to

D．Apart from

15.

A．opportunity

B．adaptation

C．simplicity

D．exposure

3 . Some of us regret that we no longer have parents to serve after their passing away (去世). Then why not pay more attention to them when they were _________ and with us?

A few days ago, when I went to a park for my evening walk, I came across an old couple sitting on a bench and talking to each other. Feeling a bit tired after a long way, I’m _________ to know about their _________ of discussion. So I went over and sat on the bench next to them. After a few moments, from their conversation I could _________ that their only son had moved to America. And they were _________ alone here.

Every sentence they said to each other conveyed to me their desire, their loneliness and their selfless _________ for their son. My eyes were filled with tears and I realized just how _________ we have become as children.

To achieve our goals and purposes we tend to care _________ about the two most important persons of our lives: our parents, who _________ us when we were young, raised us heart and soul and guided us patiently on each step of our lives.

What has the life of these parents become now? Most of them are staying in old houses and leading a __________ life. Most of them even couldn’t be taken care of when they fall ill. Why do we always __________ that we are what we are now just because of these two special people who brought us into this __________?

Finally, I would like to use a few words written by a wise man which say, “When you were __________ and just a little way off, I __________ you with blankets (毯子) against the cool night air, but now you are tall and out of __________, I hold out my hands and cover you with my best wishes.”

1.

A．asleep

B．alone

C．awake

D．alive

2.

A．scared

B．curious

C．excited

D．afraid

3.

A．place

B．time

C．goal

D．topic

4.

A．remember

B．feel

C．learn

D．explain

5.

A．gained

B．left

C．reminded

D．limited

6.

A．hope

B．praise

C．friendship

D．love

7.

A．independent

B．responsible

C．selfish

D．obvious

8.

A．little

B．much

C．greatly

D．more

9.

A．missed

B．denied

C．promised

D．protected

10.

A．practical

B．modern

C．peaceful

D．lonely

11.

A．suggest

B．believe

C．forget

D．hear

12.

A．world

B．organization

C．team

D．class

13.

A．honest

B．old

C．small

D．brave

14.

A．filled

B．covered

C．supported

D．compared

15.

A．work

B．date

C．order

D．reach

4 . I had reached the age of twenty-eight. Still, I _________ whether the letter from my past would make it to me, all these years later. It sounded ridiculous, but it was a _______ writing task when I was eighteen. The teacher collected our letters to our future selves in self-addressed envelopes with stamps and promised to _______ them ten years later. But since so much time had passed, would he even _________?

Thinking back on the _______ I recalled giving my future self some advice. When you’re eighteen years old, twenty-eight seems like a   _______ age, but I wasn’t feeling as mature as I believed my younger self had _______ me to be.

When the letter finally reached me, I opened it _______ . It began, How much do you bet this letter will never get to you? It continued to greet me casually as if we were having an IM (instant messaging) chat. As a senior in high school, facing the _______important exams and college application, my eighteen-year-old self was so ________! She was apparently not quite happy and hoped I wouldn’t worry so much in the future, and that I would live in the present and __________ my life!

________ to my belief, my eighteen-year-old self did not have any demands on me, expectations I might have failed to meet. Instead, she wrote, “I’ll ________ whatever you do. Even if you are not the one I’m imagining now, I’ll support you, because maybe who I’m imagining is someone else, but you’re not someone else — you’re me.”

I was touched, and tears came to my eyes at this ________ time. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best version of myself that I could be. ________, I came to realize what I would have accomplished in ten years would pale in comparison to how feel and who I’d be.

1.

A．bet

B．believed

C．considered

D．doubted

2.

A．hopeless

B．happy

C．tough

D．creative

3.

A．write

B．correct

C．mail

D．answer

4.

A．calculate

B．remember

C．understand

D．explode

5.

A．letter

B．comment

C．study

D．application

6.

A．promising

B．grown-up

C．made-up

D．happy

7.

A．told

B．convinced

C．encouraged

D．expected

8.

A．calmly

B．cautiously

C．eagerly

D．naturally

9.

A．appearing

B．arising

C．approaching

D．approving

10.

A．depressed

B．stressed

C．carefree

D．ambitious

11.

A．start

B．value

C．enjoy

D．earn

12.

A．Strange

B．Contrary

C．Surprised

D．Superior

13.

A．stand by

B．stand with

C．stand for

D．stand against

14.

A．self-acceptance

B．self-defense

C．self-confidence

D．self-concern

15.

A．Besides

B．Therefore

C．However

D．Then

5 . I first realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet during my travel in Western Australia. One day about 12 years ago, I stopped at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast ta buy some groceries. But the lady at the counter told me that the supermarket didn’t sell any shopping bags to prevent plastic in the ocean and help preserve the endangered turtles(海龟) living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, I gathered all purchases in my arms and left, reflecting on what I had been told.

The experience in that trip made me more conscious about my impact and pushed me to adopt various habits to travel and live more sustainably. For example, I always carried a cotton bag when I went shopping.

My travel to Indonesia was another life-changing experience that strengthened my determination to turn to a zero-waste lifestyle. In Indonesia, finding safe drinkable water was always a challenge, so I traveled with my water bottle, managing to avoid almost entirely the use of plastic during my trip.

However, I was seriously struck by my stay on the Libaran Island, where a sustainable and turtle conservation project was launched 10 years ago. Despite the big efforts by the project staff and the community in cleaning up the beaches and creatively reusing plastic, the shore was washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides. Walking on a carpet of plastic that almost prevented me from seeing the beach underneath was quite shocking.

Facing this global issue in person, I felt a sense of sadness and anger that soon turned into determination: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in my life. Sometimes we might feel helpless in front of big problems, but we should be aware that small changes could actually make a difference step by step!

1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?

A．By reflecting on the present life.

B．By looking into the future environment.

C．By introducing the previous achievements.

D．By recalling the past shopping experience.

2. What did the author decide to do after the trip about 12 years ago?

A．Cut back on travel.	B．Shop less frequently.
C．Lead a green life.	D．Rurify drinking water

3. What do we know about the project in paragraph 4?

A．It had no clear goal.	B．It didn’t work out very well.
C．It met the islanders’ needs.	D．It was aimed to prevent turtle attacks.

4. What does the author think of the plastic problem?

A．It is demanding	B．It is manageable.
C．It is easy to solve.	D．It’s lacking in attention.

10 . I have grown up in a football-loving family. My dad played until injury _________ him out. My elder sister Stevie _________ with Crewe Alexandra Girls for a year or two as a left back (后卫), just like our hero Jamie Carragher.

I remember the exact moment when I told my dad I was _________ in doing what my big sister did. I was watching the game with him in the living room and it just came out: “It makes me _________ that I can’t be a footballer.” He asked why not, and I answered, “Because I’m not a boy.”

He _________ responded by telling me that women’s football was “great” and that I could play if I wanted to. “Yeah, I suppose so,” I responded, “but no one _________ women’s football.” Looking back, I can see exactly why I felt like that.

At school, there was an unwritten _________ that sports like rugby and football were for the boys. I’d never seen a women’s football match on TV and the only _________ athletes I’d heard of were in the Olympics.

Today, the England Lionesses (母狮队) will _________ Scotland in the World Cup, and people across the world will watch it. __________ women’s football has turned out to be one of FIFA’s investments, the majority of female players in top tiers are earning under what anyone would consider a fair __________, and only £24 million prize money was awarded to the women’s World Cup victors in __________ with £315 million to the men’s. That’s a vast __________.

Maybe, the truth is: Investment is needed for female football to become more visible and become a(n) __________ respected game. It’ll mean talented, skillful female footballers being __________ by millions of homes and maybe, just maybe, a little girl believing that she can also be a Lioness one day.

1.

A．allowed

B．admitted

C．followed

D．forced

2.

A．talked

B．trained

C．lived

D．stood

3.

A．tough

B．rich

C．interested

D．concerned

4.

A．sad

B．surprised

C．scared

D．satisfied

5.

A．apparently

B．completely

C．immediately

D．temporarily

6.

A．plays

B．knows

C．likes

D．watches

7.

A．plot

B．word

C．tale

D．rule

8.

A．foreign

B．female

C．young

D．top

9.

A．take on

B．turn on

C．pick up

D．hold up

10.

A．As

B．Although

C．Once

D．Until

11.

A．deal

B．charge

C．share

D．income

12.

A．comparison

B．line

C．cooperation

D．competition

13.

A．difficulty

B．difference

C．variety

D．category

14.

A．equally

B．merely

C．potentially

D．financially

15.

A．explored

B．transported

C．recognized

D．permitted