1 . The London Eye remains temporarily closed but in line with the Government's roadmap out of lockdown we plan to reopen from 17th May.You can pre-book now. Further information can be found here.
What to Expect
The London Eye soars 443 fee into the sky and views stretching25 miles every direction.Since opening in 2000,it has been used as a backdrop in countless films and is loved by Britons and visitors alike.This is the UK's most popular visitor attraction,visited by over 3.5 million people a year.
Each London Eye capsule holds up to 25 passengers comfortably. All capsules are fully air-conditioned and rotate (旋转)on a special device designed to keep everyone upright as the wheel makes a slow but progressive rotation.The full rotation lasts 30 minutes of an ever changing view of this dynamic city.
Opening Times
■September to May 10:00am—8:00pm daily
■June 10:00am—9:00pm daily
■July 10:00am—9:30pm daily
■August 10:00am—-8:30pm daily
■Not open on Christmas Day or during maintenance period.
Ticket Prices
| Adult: January to March ₤15.00 April to December ₤15.50 |
| Child (5-15 years): January to March ₤7.50 April to December ₤7.75 |
| Child under 5 years: free |
| Senior (60 plus): ₤12.00 |
Booking line
■9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Sunday
■Telephone: 0870 5000 600
1. Which of the following does the London Eye ride offer?| A．A 30-minute fast rotation. |
| B．An insight into its long history. |
| C．A 360°moving view of the city. |
| D．A non-chargeable admission. |
| A．10:00am—-8:00pm. |
| B．100am-9:00pm. |
| C．10:00am-—9:30pm. |
| D．10:00am—8:30pm. |
| A．₤30 | B．₤31 | C．₤37.5 | D．₤38.75 |
2 . One of the tallest wooden buildings in Europe, a 98m timber (木材)mixture skyscraper, is to rise in Berlin.
The 29-storey WoHo tower, to be designed by a firm of Norwegian architects, is intended to be a “light-house project” for low-carbon construction, towering over Potsdamer Platz and the Landwehr Canal.
Its core, including lifts and a staircase, is to be built around concrete structure but the rest of the building, including flats, offices, cafes and a kindergarten, will be fashioned down wooden beams (横梁)and panels.
“As Norwegians, we are used to working a lot with timber,” Nicolai Riise, CEO of the Mad Architects' Practice said.
“The thing about timber is that its carbon footprint is close to zero and that it's a fantastic material to build with. If you look at this in a broader way, it's one of the ways we are going to be able to beat the climate crisis.”
Wooden skyscrapers, once regarded as a pipe dream, have become realistic with the coming of cross-laminated (交叉叠合)building techniques and more flexible planning laws. Because these structures' parts are fit with care, they can be far lighter than their concrete equivalents (同等物)and are thought to be relatively resistant to fire. A cubic meter of wood can also take an estimated ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Larger wooden structures are planned elsewhere. London is examining blueprints for a 300-meter Oakwood Tower. A project in Tokyo could rise to 350m.
1. What is special about the WoHo Tower?| A．It will serve as a light house. |
| B．Its core is to be built with timber. |
| C．It is designed for a Norwegian firm. |
| D．It will be a tall timber mixture building. |
| A．It is a flexible material. | B．It is easy to collect. |
| C．It is environmentally-friendly. | D．It can be cut into pieces. |
| A．A nightmare. | B．Something practical. |
| C．A piece of cake. | D．Something impossible |
| A．Flexible ideas. | B．The concrete equivalents. |
| C．Fire resistant materials. | D．New building techniques. |
3 . Unique and Weird New Year's Eve Traditions
German
In some parts of Germany, they do lead （铅）pouring. Pour a dollop （团）of lead into cold water and the shape it dorms may be telling you about the year to come. A heart shape, naturally, means love will come your way. A crown predicts wealth and fortune. A star indicates happiness. But if you see a cross, you're almost dead!
Latin America
If you are in Latin America, make sure you have some colourful underpants to ring in the New Year. End — of — the — year partiers put on colourful underwear to ensure certain types of outcomes of the following year, red for love and yellow for success.
Naples, Italy
Neapolitans like throwing things out of the windows, at least on New Year's Eve. Furniture, kitchen machines, grandma.. Well, maybe not the last one. Let's hope not, anyway. This tradition is meant to symbolize an out — with — the — old gesture and get a new beginning of the new year. These days people are a bit more mindful of what they throw into the street below.
Spain
In 1909, winegrowers in the Alicante region of Spain had a brilliant idea: Start and promote an annual tradition that would involve people in having to buy and eat more grapes. Everyone must eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve to pray for wealth of the coming year. Now, it's a popular custom in Spain. But the problem is that people have to eat a grape for each bell striking at midnight.
1. Germans would like to see the following shapes of lead Except ________.| A．a heart | B．a cross |
| C．a star | D．a crown |
| A．They hate cooking at home. |
| B．They are more careful about what to throw now. |
| C．They throw their grandma out of the window. |
| D．They like making gestures in front of the windows. |
| A．They buy lots of wine. |
| B．They pray with 12 grapes. |
| C．They eat as many grapes as possible. |
| D．They eat a grape for each bell striking, |
4 . Half of the world's beaches could disappear by 2100, a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests.
Michalis Vousdoukas, of the European Union's Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy, was the lead researchist. "Tourist areas which have sandy beaches as their main selling point will probably face strong consequences," he said. Aside from economic value, beaches play an important environmental role. "Sandy beaches are important habitats supporting a wide range of species. They also protect the coast from the effects of storms, so without sandy beaches other inland environments can be affected by the effects of waves and saltwater entering," Vousdoukas added.
The main causes are rising sea-level and erosion (侵蚀)from storms, the study says, which warned of the near-disappearance of almost half of the world's sandy beaches by the end of the century. Beaches in the United States will be “greatly affected”，as will shorelines in Canada, Mexico, China and Chile. In the U. S. , beaches along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast will experience the most erosion.
Michalis Vousdoukas and other researchers used satellite images to track the way beaches have changed over the past 30 years and patterned how global warming might affect them in the future. They found that West Africa will see some of the worst losses, where more than 60% of sandy coastline may be lost in countries such as The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Australia will also take a hit:when the total length of sandy beach projected to be lost is analyzed, Australia would be hit the hardest, with more than 7,000 miles at risk.
1. What mainly caused the disappearance of half of the world's beaches?| A．Over population and more tourism. | B．Severe erosion and coastline losses. |
| C．Global warming and climate change. | D．Sea-level rise and storm destruction. |
| A．Chile. | B．The Gambia. | C．Australia. | D．The United States. |
| A．They can provide habitats for species. |
| B．They can block out waves and storms. |
| C．They can be popular tourist attractions. |
| D．They can stop erosion from happening. |
| A．To introduce beaches. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To protect environment. | D．To explain a study. |
5 . Children's Books That Teach Empathy and Kindness
Little Blue Truck
By Alice Schertle
Little ones are introduced to Blue, a little pickup truck that gets stuck pushing a dump truck out of the mud in this board book. Thankfully, Blue made a group of animal friends along the way that are happy to do whatever they can to help him get back on the road. The main themes are kindness and the benefits of helping others.
Most People
By Michael Leannah
The book is an amazing lesson for kids that want to do good in the world and that there are plenty of good people out there. Told in the third person, the book tells the story of two pairs of siblings (兄弟姐妹) and the people they meet.
If You Plant a Seed
By Kadir Nelson
A mouse and a rabbit teach children how to plant and grow food, while also passing along some valuable lessons. After learning that a carrot seed will grow a carrot, and a cabbage seed will result in a cabbage, children also learn the value of thoughtfulness and how a seed of kindness can bear sweet fruit.
Save Me a Seat
By Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Joe lived in the same town all his life and felt perfectly pleased until his best friend moved away. Ravi's family recently moved from India to the US and he's struggling to find where he belongs. Even though Joe and Ravi at first believe that they don't have much in common, they both realize they have a common enemy-the biggest bully (仗势欺人者) in their class. Save Me a Seat is a story about the true meaning of friendship and understanding.
1. What can children get from reading Little Blue Truck?| A．Happiness of helping others. | B．Importance of protecting animals. |
| C．Ways of dealing with trouble in mud. | D．Being friendly to strangers around you. |
| A．Little Blue Truck. | B．Most People. |
| C．If You Plant a Seed. | D．Save Me a Seat. |
| A．Joe was regarded as a bully by Ravi. | B．Ravi was used to living in India soon. |
| C．Ravi and Joe had nothing in common. | D．Ravi and Joe became friends at last. |
6 . Video calls are a common occurrence but have you imagined being able to touch the person on the other end of the line? Scientists are making this a reality.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have invented a soft skin stretch device(SSD), haptic(触觉的) device that can recreate the sense of touch. Haptic technology can copy the experience of touch by stimulating(刺激) the skin through force, vibration(震动) or motion.
Vibration is the most common haptic technology today and has been built into many electronic devices, such as one attached to the back of trackpad (触控板) in laptops. However haptic feedback with vibration becomes less sensitive when the trackpad is used continuously. The existing technology also has great difficulty recreating the sense of touch with objects in virtual environments or located remotely.
The new technology overcomes issues with existing haptic devices. The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”.
It works like this:imagine you call a friend in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with 3D force sensors. If your friend picks up an object, it will physically press against your friend's fingers. And the glove with 3D force sensors will measure these interactions. The force signals can be sent to your glove so your device will generate the same 3D forces, making you experience the same sense of touch as your friend.
The haptic devices could be used in various fields, allowing users to feel objects inside a virtual world or at a distance. This could be especially beneficial during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people rely on video calls to stay connected with loved ones. Or it could be used in medical practices. Doctors could feel a patient's organ tissues without touching them.
1. According to the text, SSD can .| A．improve skin health | B．recall earlier experiences |
| C．recreate the sense of touch | D．be used as the trackpad in laptops |
| A．how SSD works | B．what advantages SSD has |
| C．how vibration can be used | D．what problems the current technology has |
| A．Tasting a dish on the video call. |
| B．Enjoying classical music at home. |
| C．Admiring beautiful scenery online |
| D．Performing a distant medical operation. |
| A．Science. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Education. | D．Health |
7 . Having worked for more than a decade in finance in the oil industry in Canada, Tori Fahey found herself wanting more from life. But it wasn't through desperation that her circumstances changed: “I didn't get fed up and storm off, nothing like that; it was curiosity about other interests and wanting to experience something new.”
Fahey left her job and completed an MBA before setting up a move to New York to begin a degree. However, the opportunity of an open year between the MBA and the degree came up, and as a keen touring cyclist, Fahey realised that a much dreamed-about adventure was now becoming a possibility: "The ride in Africa had been on my fantasy list. It was a moment when I realised that I could do anything, so I should."
Fahey rode across Africa, a 7,500-mile trip that took four months. The whole experience had a life-changing impact. Fahey said: “Bicycles provide a literal freedom. You don't allow yourself to feel like that in everyday life because there are so many distractions. But when you' re out on the bike and there's nothing else, you' re really free to experience what life is.”
Post-degree, Fahey worked on projects with the UNDP(United Nations Development Project) in Montenegro with the aim of bringing investment to rural communities.
It was while working on these projects that the seeds were sown for the next new investment. “It was through my trip across Africa that I discovered pannier and rack systems inconvenient and I was never going to use them again.” Little did she know this would lead her to start up her own company.
In 2013, Apidura was born, producing storage solutions for people looking to travel the world by bike, race across continents and carry all they need to do so. It's now a successful global brand, but Fahey remains reflective about what else the company can do for people.
1. Why did Fahey leave her job in Canada?| A．She was bored with the job. | B．She was disappointed with life. |
| C．She wanted to add new dimensions to her life. | D．She found it hard to adjust to the circumstances. |
| A．Demanding. | B．Liberating. | C．Eventful. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．To encourage bicycle traveling. | B．To make her investment profitable. |
| C．To help cyclists carry traveling stuff. | D．To increase the pleasure of riding bikes. |
| A．A tough path to fame. | B．An adventure across Africa. |
| C．The benefits of green travelling. | D．The story behind the birth of Apidura. |
8 . A woman held her phone tightly to her heart the way a church-goer might hold a Bible. She was anxious to take a picture of an impressive bunch of flowers that sat not so far away, but first she had to get through a crowd of others pushing their way to do the same. The cause of this was Bouquets to Art, one of the most popular events at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
Flower sellers were asked to create flower arrangements that respond to pieces of art on display, from ancient carvings to contemporary sculptures. It’s extremely attractive and also memorable, to the point that it has become a problem.
In recent years, the de Young received more than a thousand complaints from people who felt that cell phones had spoiled their experience of the exhibit. Institutions of fine art around the world face similar problems as the desire to take photographs becomes a huge attraction for museums, as well as something that upsets some of their patrons (资助人). So the de Young responded with a kind of compromise:carving out “photo free” hours during the exhibition’s six-day run.
One common complaint about the effect of social media on museum culture is that people seem to be missing out on experiences because they are so busy collecting evidence of them. A study recently published in the journal Psychological Science suggests there is some truth to this. It finds that people who keep taking photos of an exhibit and posting them on social media rather than simply observing it, have a hard time remembering what they see. But the issue is complex for the professionals running museums. Linda Butler, the de Young’s head of marketing and visitor experience, acknowledges that not everyone wants a museum to be“a photo-taking playland”. Yet a lot of people do and she believes that the de Young is in no position to judge one reason for buying a $ 28 ticket to be more valid than another. “If we removed social media and photography,” she says. “We would risk becoming irrelevant.”
1. What was the woman eager to do according to Paragraph 1?| A．To get her phone. | B．To escape the crowd. |
| C．To take a photo. | D．To push ahead. |
| A．By setting periods without photo-taking. |
| B．By making the exhibition free of charge. |
| C．By compromising with the government. |
| D．By extending the free exhibition hours. |
| A．uncover the truth | B．cause irrelevancy |
| C．bring more pleasure | D．play a negative role |
| A．Reducing admission prices. |
| B．Catering to visitors. |
| C．Reserving judgement in public. |
| D．Banning social media and photography. |
9 . 1. Scenic landscapes on stamps: A nine-day tour in the cities of Xuzhou,Suqian and Huai'an in northern Jiangsu province.
This route is associated with local culture, characteristics, and creativity. It offers a taste of the famous canal cities.
2.Life on the Grand Canal: A seven-day Jiangsu tour through the cities of Nanjing, Suqian, Huai'an,Yangzhou and Suzhou.
This route presents the most authentic, economic, cultural and entertainment-focused activities along the canal from both ancient and modern times.I allows visitors to ride in boats and observe local fishermen fishing.
3.Food,culture,leisure and health;Seven-day experience of local life in Zhenjiang Changzhou,Wuxi and Suzhou
To increase tourists’ interest in the traditional culture and crafts of Jiangsu, the route will include pottery,embroidery(刺绣), paper-cutting, cooking and other hands-on experiences. It includes scenic spots along the Beijing-Hangzhou Gran Canal, ancient water towns, historical streets and ancient fishing villages.Visitors can join in the recreational farmhouse experience and pick up both fruits and vegetables
4．A walk into history: Six-day tour in Xuzhou, Suqian,Huai’an,Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou and Wuxi
The Beiing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the entire province and has been a part of Jiangsu's culture for thousands of years. Inspired by the canal, the route includes historical cities Xuzhou, Suqian, Huai'an,Yangzhou along with Zheniang Changzhou and Wuxi.
1. Which of the following do the four travel routes share?| A．A time duration of less than a week. |
| B．Ancient towns in southern Jiangsu. |
| C．The Grand Canal. |
| D．The city of Suqian. |
| A．Route 1 | B．Route 2 | C．Route 3 | D．Route 4. |
| A．Rowing a boat. | B．Trying on paper-cutting. |
| C．Growing vegetables. | D．Fishing with local villagers. |
10 . Imagine reading a story titled “Pursuing Success.” That would be an inspiring story, wouldn’t it? Maybe—but maybe not. It might well be the story of someone whose never-ending chase for more and more success leaves them unsatisfied and incapable of happiness.
Though it isn’t a conventional medical addiction, for many people success has addictive properties. Obviously, success goes with praise. To a certain extent, praise stimulates the neurotransmitter dopamine, which contributes to all addictive behaviors.
The desire for success may be in humans’ nature, but specialness doesn’t come cheap. Success is tough work, and it requires bearing the cost of losing. In the 1980s, the physician Robert Goldman famously found that more than half of ambitious athletes would be willing to take a drug that would kill them in five years in exchange for winning every competition they entered.
Unfortunately, success is endless. The goal can’t be satisfied; most people never feel “successful enough.” The high only lasts a day or two, and then it’s on to the next goal. Psychologists call this the hedonic treadmill, in which satisfaction wears off almost immediately and we must run on to the next reward to avoid the feeling of falling behind.
People should get off the treadmill. But quitting isn’t easy for addicts. For people hooked on substances, withdrawal can be a painful experience, both physically and psychologically, research finds that depression and anxiety are common among outstanding athletes after their careers end. Olympic athletes, in particular, suffer from the “post-Olympic blues.”
Just like wine, success in and of itself is not a bad thing. Both can bring fun and sweetness to life. But both become bossy when they are a substitute for—instead of a complement to — the relationships and love that should be at the center of our lives.
1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?| A．Success doesn’t always bring positive results. |
| B．A traditional medical addiction leads to success. |
| C．The passion for constant success is rarely praised. |
| D．Success addiction has already drawn wide attention. |
| A．To argue that athletes deserve more rewards. |
| B．To illustrate success is a tough and cruel job. |
| C．To describe the routine training of an ordinary athlete. |
| D．To express his opinion on success: no pains, no gains. |
| A．Satisfaction and a sense of pride | B．Confidence and lifelong happiness |
| C．Anxiety and short-lived happiness | D．Relaxation and endless motivation |
| A．Stop chasing success | B．Give up love and relationships |
| C．Chase success at any cost | D．Reflect on what matters in life. |
