1 . Narasimha Das is on his way to feed 169,379 hungry children. Das is in charge of a kitchen in Vrindaban. The town is about a three-hour drive from India’s capital, New Delhi. Das gets to work at 3:00 a.m. Thirty workers are already working to make tens of thousands of rounds of bread. It will be brought to 1,516 schools in and around Vrindaban.
A Growing Problem
Going to school is difficult for more than 13 million children in India. They must go to work instead, or go hungry. That’s why India began the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the largest school-lunch program in the world. A free lunch encourages children to come to school and gives them the energy they need for learning. The program began in the 1960s.
The kitchen in Vrindaban is run by the Akshaya Patra Foundation. It is one of the lunch program’s biggest partners. “Just $11.50 can feed one child for an entire year,” said Madhu Sridhar, president of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Lunch Is Served!
The Akshaya Patra food truck arrives at Gopalgarh Primary School. Since the program started, the number of underweight children has gone down. The children get foods they need — as long as they finish what’s on their plates.
1. What does Narasimha Das do？| A．A waiter. | B．A salesman. | C．A cook. | D．A shopkeeper. |
| A．the poor | B．school children | C．college students | D．the old |
| A．Because they have to work to make money. |
| B．Because there are not enough schools. |
| C．Because there are not enough teachers. |
| D．Because their parents refuse to send them to school. |
| A．It is to encourage children to go to school. |
| B．It has been carried out for about 50 years. |
| C．It is run by Narasimha Das. |
| D．It is the largest school-lunch program in the world. |
2 . Tabloids (小报) are newspapers that usually report news about people. However, the stories often leave readers wondering, “Could this really be true?” Read the following stories from the hottest tabloids in town.
Brasilia, Brazil. After Gilberto Carvalho — a million-dollar lottery (彩票) winner — told reporters that his luck had come from a particular fish in a park pond, more than 200 other Brazilians spoke up with similar stories. They had touched this fish and soon after had won a prize! Although this “magic fish” is being studied and off-limits to the public, many people have won money simply by touching its picture.
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. Bruce Zalmer, 32, is fireproof. His skin can withstand (禁得住) flames without pain or damage. And his lungs can take in oxygen from smoky air. Medical scientists are amazed that a human could have either of these qualities, let alone both. Although Zalmer sees himself as “just a regular guy”, he once saved a family of four from a burning building after firefighters had given up hope.
Nakuru, Kenya. As tourists in a bus looked on in amazement, a spaceship caught 11 elephants from a wildlife park. The bus driver had stopped at a watering hole and the tourists were watching the elephants when a huge spaceship appeared. The ship shot down a powerful beam of orange light that sucked up (吸走) the elephants and then flew off. Park officials confirmed that 11 full-grown elephants had disappeared.
Monterrey, Mexico. Doctors say that hundreds of people who had been old and sick became young and healthy again by drinking from a water fountain in a public park. Park officials removed the fountain because crowds were becoming a danger. Yet the people who had drunk its water remained young and healthy — and made others young and healthy, too, simply by hugging them!
1. In Brasilia, it’s said that there is a magic fish that ________.| A．brings people good luck |
| B．knows how to win prizes |
| C．can communicate with humans |
| D．can recognize different types of money |
| A．Smart. | B．Brave. |
| C．Dangerous. | D．Far-sighted. |
| A．reasonable | B．frightening |
| C．encouraging | D．unbelievable |
3 . What do you think of 80s pop music? Do the names George Michael, Madonna and Michael Jackson sound familiar? Well, these are just some of the names that were well-known in the music scene of the 80s and early 90s. The 80s pop music scene was an important step to the popularity (普及) of present-day music. A new wave in the music scene was introduced, which made such music styles as punk rock, rap music and the MTV popular. Although it was an end to the old 60s and 70s styles, it was also the beginning of something big. The popularity of music videos meant that artists now replaced their guitar-based music with visual displays. A new wave of artists came on the scene and the entire industry developed quickly.
The most famous 80s pop music video is Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Introduced in 1982, few people can forget the video not only because of its never-be-foreseen images, but also because of the popularity it received. Think of how 80s pop music changed the lives of people who grew up in the 80s. Ask a young man today to tell you the names of the “New Kids on the Block” and he will start talking about the neighbor kids who just moved in. These are not the answers you might have heard in the 80s. Though today’s young men do not recognize how cool 80s pop music was, most people will always remember it for what it was and these are happy memories they will always love.
Some of the 80s pop music legends (传奇人物) include Madonna, U2, AeroSmith and of course the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Let’s not forget Prince, Tina Turner, Phil Collins and Motown’s Lionel Ritchie. Some of these musicians played music that has stood the test of time. Undoubtedly, the 80s pop music scene will live on for many more years to come.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．The characters of 80s pop music. | B．What made 80s pop music popular. |
| C．80s pop music’s steps to popularity. | D．The effects of 80s pop music. |
| A．guitar-based music | B．the MTV | C．rap music | D．punk rock |
| A．it changed the lives of people | B．he sang it in a special style |
| C．it was made into a music video | D．it left people with happy memories |
| A．80s pop music is and will remain popular | B．80s pop music has many faults |
| C．80s pop music is now out of date | D．we shouldn’t forget the great musicians of the 80s |
4 . As more and more people speak the global language of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will be likely to die out by the next century, according the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations — UNESCO and National Geographic among them — have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center, Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, working, and raising a family in a village in Nepal.
Documenting the Thangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayan reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials —including photographs, films, tape recordings, and field notes — which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection. Now, through the two organizations that he has founded — the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project — Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, found in libraries and stores around the world, available not just to schools but to the younger generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet, Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.
1. Many scholars are making efforts to ________.| A．promote global languages | B．rescue disappearing languages |
| C．search for languages communities | D．set up language research organizations |
| A．having detailed records of the languages | B．writing books on language users |
| C．telling stories about language speakers | D．living with the native speakers |
| A．The cultural studies in India. | B．The documents available at Yale. |
| C．His language research in Bhutan. | D．His personal experience in Nepal. |
| A．Write, sell and donate. | B．Record, repair and reward. |
| C．Collect, protect and reconnect. | D．Design, experiment and report. |
5 . Chinese audiences on average spent more time watching entertainment content online in this uncommon year when the battle against COVID-19 is still being fought.
An average consumer has spent 133.9 minutes each day watching TV dramas, a 10 percent increase compared to last year, according to the report. Interestingly, TV romantic dramas make up 36 percent of all 131 new television series this year, ranking the first.
In the overseas market, Chinese dramas are seeing a rise in popularity, such as hit costume dramas Three Lives Three Worlds, The Pillow Book, and The Romance of Tiger and Rose. The report shows that subscribers (订阅者) of WeTV, the overseas version of Tencent Video in more than 110 countries and regions, have risen 175 percent over last year, with time spent watching these programs up 300 percent year-on-year.
Shows with strong female roles are more popular, like the hit series Nothing but Thirty, I Will Find You a Better Home and A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower, the report said. It also found that a quality trailer (预告片) played an important role in drawing an audience, as about 90 percent of consumers pick their choices from trailers.
As a result of the six-month shutting down of Chinese cinemas, a number of people have chosen watching films online.
Through Nov. 30, a total of 15 online films have earned more than 10 million yuan, propelling the annual box office income on Tencent Video to nearly 500 million yuan this year. While TV series are almost "dominated" by female audiences, men are favored online movies more. Nearly 70 percent of online film viewers are men, whose favorite themes center on fantasy, comedy and adventure.
1. The shows with strong female roles are mentioned except .| A．Nothing but Thirty |
| B．I Will Find Your a Better Home |
| C．The Romance of Tiger and Rose |
| D．A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower |
| A．protecting | B．pushing | C．stopping | D．beating |
| A．Chinese audiences spent more time online due to the COVID-19. |
| B．Chinese dramas have made success in the overseas market. |
| C．A quality trailer plays an important role in consumers’ choices. |
| D．Compared with males, females have a more preference for online film. |
6 . The National Gallery
Description:
The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th- to 15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci , Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titian and Veronese.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van de Dyck, Velázquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th- to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours:
The Gallery is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm (Fridays 10 am to 9 pm ) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There:
Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).
1. In which wing can you see religious paintings?| A．In the West Wing | B．In the North Wing |
| C．In the East Wing | D．In the Sainsbury Wing |
| A．The National Gallery is the biggest British national art museum. |
| B．The Gallery is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm. |
| C．The Gallery is completely free. |
| D．There are four exhibition areas in the National Gallery. |
| A．A museum guide. | B．An artist magazine. |
| C．A news report. | D．A tourist map. |
7 . The grocery store might not be your favorite place to visit when you're at home, but is it ever fun when you're in another country? Honestly speaking, they're one of those strange little destinations that I like to sniff out everywhere I go, much as other travelers head toward clothing stores, libraries, coffee shops or galleries.
The greatest beauty of the grocery store –– whether it's a supermarket or a tiny shop –– is that it gives you a glimpse into what local people buy to cook their own meals. This offers clues into their lifestyles and preferences, and into the agricultural and cooking practices of the country. I stare at the strange fruits and vegetables, the seafood, the cheese, the spices, the bread, and oh, the chocolate...always the chocolate!
Being the environmental nerd（呆子）I am, I like paying attention to packaging, which can reflect people's attitudes towards environmental protection. Italy, for example, has a habit of requiring customers to bag their fruits and vegetables in plastic for weighing, while Sri Lanka leaves everything loose in bins. In Brazil, everything is prepackaged in a layer of plastic.
People in grocery stores tend to be friendlier. They smile, say hello, and sometimes ask questions, which can lead to great conversations. I had a further discussion with a teenaged cashier in Sri Lanka, over which bag of crunchy（松脆的）mix to buy. He insisted that the one labeled “spicy” would be too hot for me, but I told him I was willing to risk it. He laughed and we ended up talking about my favorite Sri Lankan foods for ten minutes.
It's interesting then to come home and look at one's own local grocery store through new eyes. What would a visitor think? What stands out, and what do the food displays say about us as a culture? You might be surprised by what you realize.
1. According to the author, what is the key benefit of visiting foreign grocery stores?| A．Learning to cook foreign dishes. | B．Making friends with local people. |
| C．Buying cheaper food and souvenirs. | D．Knowing local people and the country. |
| A．People's special lifestyles. | B．People's shopping habits. |
| C．People's environmental awareness. | D．People's packaging methods. |
| A．Sri Lankans know a lot about food. |
| B．Grocery stores are good social places. |
| C．Grocery stores vary in different countries. |
| D．Sri Lankans like to give strangers suggestions. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
8 . 90-Second Newbery Film Festival
The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is a yearly video contest in which young filmmakers create short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery award-winning books in about a minute and a half.
Who can make movies for this film festival? It's a big range：elementary school kids, junior high school students, high school students, even college students.
We show the best movies we receive at special-event screenings in many cities.
Here are the rules:
Your video should be about 90 seconds.
Your video has to be about the story in a Newbery award-winning book.
We're looking for full-on movies with mostly child actors, who manage to tell the entire story of the book in 90 seconds.
Upload your videos to any video website and send us the link.
Sending the link to us gives us the right to post it on our blog and to other websites where we sometimes post content.
The general deadline for the tenth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is January 15, 2021.
Don't know where to start? Check out our Video Resources page here for a step-by-step primer on how to make a 90-Second Newbery video, plus lots of other tips, tricks, and tutorials（教程）.
1. Who can take part in the contest?
| A．Anyone. | B．Only adults | C．Students. | D．Professionals. |
| A．The film is starred by child actors. | B．The film is sent on December 31, 2020. |
| C．The film is about the history of Newbery Award. | D．The copy of the film is sent to a small video website. |
| A．On a website. | B．On the school board | C．In a magazine. | D．In a newspaper. |
9 . Three French students，using the name “Obvious”， have produced the first artwork created mainly by a computer program to be sold at auction (拍卖). Using artificial intelligence (AI)，Obvious created 11 portraits (肖像画) of an imaginary family they called Belamy.
Obvious used 15,000 real portraits to train an AI program which has two parts.One part tries to create pictures that look real.The other part judges the work.If the portrait doesn’t look real enough，the first part goes back and changes its decisions until it comes up with a better picture.These decisions are controlled by an algorithm (计算程序). The students made many choices，helping guide the AI’s decisions.But even so，the painting is “signed”by the algorithm，instead of the students.
On October 25，Obvious’s picture，Edmond de Belamy，was sold at auction at Christie’s in New York.The final price for Edmond de Belamy was $432,500—about ten times more than Christie’s expected.
This is not the first AI artwork，just the first one sold at auction.In fact，many people are not impressed with the portrait.“The work isn’t interesting，or original，”says 19yearold Robbie Barrat.He should know.He wrote much of the program that created the pictures.
But he doesn’t like the idea of Obvious selling the picture.He thinks it’s too simple and gives a bad idea of what real AI artists are doing.He points out that he created many pictures like these over a year ago.
Obvious doesn’t hide the fact that it used Mr.Barrat’s work，or even that its portrait is not the best AI artwork ever.Pierre Fautrel of Obvious said，“...the goal of our project was to do something that was simple enough for...my mother or brother to understand.”
Obvious got the attention of Christie’s by selling another work，Le Comte de Belamy，for over $11,000 in February. One reason Christie’s chose to auction Obvious’s work is because AI art is unusual now.In the future it will be much more common.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly explain?| A．How Obvious made its decisions. |
| B．How Obvious named its AI artwork. |
| C．How Obvious’s AI program did paintings. |
| D．How Obvious got the idea to become AI artists. |
| A．It’s Obvious’s first AI artwork. |
| B．It’s Obvious’s best AI artwork ever. |
| C．It’s the first AI artwork highly praised. |
| D．It’s the first AI artwork sold at auction. |
| A．It is of little artistic value. |
| B．It is worth more than the price paid. |
| C．It is a good example of real AI artwork. |
| D．It is hard for common people to understand. |
| A．Worrying. | B．Enjoyable. |
| C．Meaningless. | D．Moneymaking. |
10 . For years, Hainan, China's southernmost island province, has been an attractive tourist destination for people around the world because of its pleasant environment. Beginning this year, the beautiful island will have a new identity — an open and distinctive free trade port.
The Hainan Free Trade Port will serve as a special functional economic area and its level of openness will be better than any other port in the world. Products and funds from abroad will have free access to the port, and most goods will be duty-free. The decision shows China's willingness to further open up to the world.
The province of Hainan was founded in 1988. Later it became an appointed special economic (SEZ) to attract foreign investment. In 1992, the Yangpu Economic Development Zone, which was the first area in China to be comprehensively developed by foreign investors, was established. After eight years, in 2000, Hainan took the lead in carrying out a policy of visa on arrival. In the following years, a series of similar initiatives have been implemented for Hainan's continuous development, including a pilot zone for free trade founded in 2018.
Apart from an attractive landscape, Hainan's industrial structure features tourism and modern services. Not only will they become the highlights of the free trade port, but also they are in line with the rapid trade growth in global services as well as the development of many ports toward the service sector. In addition, as a free trade zone and port at provincial level, Hainan has a satisfying scale and full experience. All these advantages will enable Hainan to become a global trade center.
From SEZ to free trade pilot zone, and now today's free trade port, Hainan's development and its determination to build an open economy are evident to all. It's hoped that it will seize the chance of free trade and attract more business and experienced professionals from around the world to come to the island.
1. What's Hainan's future plan?| A．To construct a free trade port. |
| B．To boost Hainan's tourism and services. |
| C．To remove the tax on all imports and exports. |
| D．To strengthen environmental protection. |
| A．By analyzing causes. | B．By giving descriptions. |
| C．By following time order. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Its slow trade growth. | B．Its traditional services. |
| C．Its development of IT industry. | D．Its distinctive service industry. |
| A．Hainan: A Push for Global Economy |
| B．Hainan: A Witness to China's Opening-Up |
| C．Hainan: An Island Full of Ups and Downs |
| D．Hainan: An Unforgettable Tourist Destination |
