1 . Bringing goods into the UK
You are allowed to bring some goods for personal use without paying tax or duty.
Arrivals from EU countries
You can bring goods from EU countries without being charged tax or duty if they are:
● transported by yourself; ● a gift or for personal use; ● bought with tax and duty included.
You can bring alcohol and tobacco from EU countries without restriction but an inquiry(调查) might be required depending on the amount of your goods.
Arrivals from outside the EU
You will be free of duty or tax on certain amounts of goods brought from outside the EU, as long as they are for your own use. Any goods that are beyond your allowance should be declared.
Alcohol & tobacco allowance:
| Type of goods | Cigarettes | Cigars | Tobacco | Beer | Wine(not sparkling wine) | Spirits | Alcoholic drinks |
| Amount | 200 | 50 | 250 grams | 16 litres | 4 litres | 1 litre | 2 litres |
Allowance for other goods:
The maximum value of other goods you can bring is £390. Any single item that is worth more than the allowance will be charged duty or tax on its full value.
The rate of duty or tax on items above the allowance is:
● 2.5% for goods worth up to £630;
● decided by the type of goods worth above £630 — check by calling the VAT, Customs.
Banned and restricted goods
Goods banned include:
● illegal drugs; ● offensive weapons; ● endangered animal and plant species;
● meat and dairy(乳制的) products from most non-EU countries.
Food and plant products restricted include:
● products containing pests and diseases; ● products grown outside the EU;
● products not for your own use.
1. Which of the following products from outside the EU has the largest duty-free allowance?| A．Beer. |
| B．Wine (not sparkling wine). |
| C．Spirits. |
| D．Alcoholic drinks. |
| A．£ 2.75 | B．£ 12.5 | C．£ 110 | D．£ 130 |
| A．A set of Russian dolls. |
| B．A bottle of French wine. |
| C．A brick of Japanese cheese. |
| D．A package of Spanish cigarettes. |
2 . Do you use Facebook, MySpace or Twitter? If so, then you are part of a social network. Social networking sites allow us to see our social connections.
When you create a profile (a description of somebody that gives useful information) on a social networking site, you open up a number of possible social connections. You can look up old friends, make new friends, and share music, photos and videos with them. You can also join groups according to your interests or hobbies, favorite TV shows or music.
Setting up a social networking account is simple. You just create and post a personal profile. For this you need a login name, password, and an e-mail account. Then you add some personal information such as name, age, sex, location, interests, etc. You can also add a photo of yourself. You can control who sees your profile. The next step is to look for new ones, and add them to your network. Then you can search your friends’ connections for anyone else you’d like to add to your network.
Different social networking sites allow people to communicate in different ways. There are sites that allow you to enlarge your personal community such as Facebook. Then there are ones that include media sharing, such as YouTube, where members upload and look at other people’s pictures and videos. There are also ones that specialize in sharing music, such as Last FM, and finally, ones that allow bloggers to form online communities, such as Live Journal. The latest trend (趋势) in social networking is to create your own independent social network. Companies do this to make their products sell well and people do it to create their own communities.
1. What’s the writer’s purpose in writing Paragraph 1?| A．To lead to the topic. |
| B．To raise a question. |
| C．To introduce some sites. |
| D．To advertise a social network. |
| A．It’s easy to search your friends’ connections. |
| B．It’s easy to build a social networking account. |
| C．It’s possible to add a photo of yourself. |
| D．It’s simple to control a social network. |
| A．You can upload videos. | B．Bloggers can form online communities. |
| C．Sharing music is specialized. | D．You have the largest personal community. |
| A．Social Networks | B．Personal Profiles |
| C．Networking Trends | D．Networking Accounts |
3 . About 12 million tons of plastic wastes are entering the oceans every year. This garbage pollutes the water, kills wildlife and breaks down into small pieces that fish and other creatures eat.
Now a group of Spanish fishermen will receive economic support to catch plastics. It is part of a new project. Carlos Martin is one of the fishermen taking part in the project. He and his partners collect the plastic in the ocean and bring it back to land every week. Martin thinks rivers carry a lot of plastics to the sea. He says his most concern is no more than that the plastics often get caught in the nets, which makes nets not work properly. They take on mud（泥）, causing the nets to break because they weigh so much.
Under the new programs, one million pounds will support ocean cleanup efforts for fishermen like Martin. The money is coming from the European Union and the Catalan government. Sergi Tudela, the General Director of Catalonia Fisheries, is responsible for the cleanup project. He said, "We are hopeful that if we are successful in this project, we can apply it to other areas in the Mediterranean（地中海）."
Government reports show that the amount of plastic wastes washing up along the Spanish coastline has grown by 65 percent in just six years. Fishing equipment makes up a large part of the about 8 to 12 million tons of plastics left in the world's oceans every year.
Martin says the fishing community now understands how big the problem is. He says, "In the past we didn't see it that way. We took the plastic garbage and threw it back into the water. I think that after a few year here we have realized the problem. Nothing is thrown into the water; we collect everything and bring it to shore.
1. What worries Martin most about plastic wastes at the beginning?| A．They pollute the sea environment. |
| B．They affect the quality and taste of fish. |
| C．They prevent the fishing nets from working well. |
| D．They kill wildlife and reduce his fishing amount. |
| A．Getting more money to support the project. |
| B．Getting help from other European countries. |
| C．Spreading the cleanup project to more places. |
| D．Praising the European Union for their helping to the oceans. |
| A．Its members do a lot of work for free. |
| B．It has stopped using plastic fishing equipment. |
| C．It has made positive changes to fight plastic wastes. |
| D．Its members find people sill throw the garbage carelessly. |
| A．New programs are changing fishermen's life |
| B．Money is given to Spanish fishermen to clean up oceans |
| C．Traditional fishing equipment causes a lot of plastic wastes |
| D．Spanish fishermen are encouraging people to clean up oceans |
4 . Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge, the double-deck suspension (悬浮) bridge with the longest span in the world, opened to traffic on Tuesday after five years’ construction, according to a statement from the constructor.
It is reported that the bridge is 4. 13 kilometers long, with 12 lanes in both directions on the main I bridge. It is a long-span suspension bridge with the largest volume in the world, China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group said. The bridge connects the Hanyang and Wuchang and its opening will ameliorate the urban expressway system, relieve traffic pressure across the river, and drive development in the area, according to the company.
On both sides of the upper deck of the bridge, there is a two-meter-wide footpath, with eight rest and sightseeing areas, where people can enjoy the river scenery. The lower level is designed with two non-motorized lanes, each 2. 5 meters wide. A 1. 5-meter wide walkway is also a feature of each side of the floor so pedestrians (行人) can walk on the lower level without getting caught in the rain.
Chief designer of the bridge, Xu Gongyi, said, “Considering navigation and traffic volume, the main span of the bridge is 1, 700 meters, which is the second-largest in the world and also the largest in bridges of double-deck structure.”
According to Luo Ruihua, project manager of the bridge, the Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge has set several records in the process of its construction. The designed tension of each of the two main cables (钢索) is 65, 000 tons.
From 2014 to 2019, builders have shown the world the speed of China. The bridge not only enhances Wuhan’s reputation as a “bridge museum”, but also represents a super project of a new era.
1. What does the underlined word “ameliorate” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Keep. | B．Start. | C．Improve. | D．Show. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By describing its principles. | D．By using data. |
| A．It will attract many foreigners to Wuhan. |
| B．It is friendly to pedestrians. |
| C．The cost of its construction is low. |
| D．It is the longest bridge of the world. |
| A．Negative. | B．Admiring. | C．Uncertain. | D．Grateful. |
5 . Access to green spaces has been found to have many benefits for both physical and mental health and wellbeing. As is reported recently, nearby green areas have been shown to improve children’s respiratory（呼吸的）health and greatly improve the quality of life in large cities.
Researchers from the University of Illinois College conducted a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology to examine any potential（潜在的）links between greenness and academic achievement for schools with mostly low income students. Therefore, 318 public elementary schools in Chicago were included in the study.
“The goal was to see if the greenness-academic achievement relationship holds for poor, urban schools because that’s where it matters,” said Ming Kuo, the leader of the research. “That’s where educators and policymakers are desperately trying to find ways to help kids reach their potential.”
High-resolution aerial imagery technology was used to quantify（量化）tree and grass cover for each School. The researchers then compared greenness to the academic performance for the schools using standardized test scores for math and reading.
The researchers found that tree cover was a reliable predictor of academic performance, both for reading and math. The more trees there were, the better the standardized test scores were. Other things like the number of students in each classroom, gender ratios（性别比），and the number of bilingual（双语的）students had no influence on test scores or academic performance.
The results showed that having trees outside of a school affected academic performance and that schools considered the most disadvantaged had half the number of trees as the least disadvantaged schools. While the study does not prove any cause and effect between tree cover and academic performance, it does suggest that simply planting more trees in schoolyards across disadvantaged districts may improve academic performance.
“Early math skills are one of the best predictors of later success, not just in math, but in school,” said Kuo. “So what we have here is a very exciting clue that maybe simply greening—planting trees in schoolyards—could potentially have a significant effect on math achievement and school success down the line for these kids.”
1. Why were the schools in Chicago chosen for the study?| A．They were mostly located in remote areas. |
| B．Their students had no access to green spaces. |
| C．They had students with physical or mental problems. |
| D．The majority of their students were from poor families. |
| A．The area of green spaces. | B．Their math skills. |
| C．Their native language. | D．The size of the class. |
| A．It’s urgent to reduce the number of students in a class. |
| B．It’s unwise to connect greenness with academic success. |
| C．Kids with better math scores enjoy greater success at school. |
| D．Schools in Chicago should increase their green cover by half. |
| A．Many factors can affect students’ test scores. |
| B．Trees help improve students’ school performance. |
| C．More greenness at school benefits children’s health. |
| D．It’s possible to predict students’ success in later life. |
6 . Children are now more likely to want to work in social media or gaming than traditiona Careers. According to a new survey, many from seven to 11 -year-olds are looking at modern technology when they think about future jobs, rather than professions such as police officer or doctor.
The survey involved 13.000 UK primary school children. They were asked to draw pictures of the job they wanted to do when they grow up and then tell the reasons. It concluded that children's career aspirations (志向)are often based on factors such as gender stereotypes (性别角色定型)or what they've seen in the media, TV and film.
"For more and more children and young people, online celebrities and You Tube gaming videobloggers' have taken the place of TV and movie stars, "the report said. "It could be argued that this is due to the growing fame and attraction of YouTube and video blogging stars, who are especially popular among younger audiences. Also, this may also speak to children's present worlds.
Many from seven to 11-year-olds will spend their time gaming and perhaps at the same time watching celebrity gaming bloggers instructing them how to do it."
The survey found that 5% of children wanted to be in the police, with the same percentage on becoming doctors. A gender breakdown shows the top job choice for girls was teacher (19%). follow ed by vet (11%) and sportsman (9%) and police (8%).
This highlights the pressing need for closer ties between employers and schools, to ensure that all children can have role models in a wide range of fields to help them develop an awareness of career choices at an early age. "This is vital to ensure that all children—regardless of gender and backgrounds—can fulfill their full potential. "
1. What is the traditional career choice, according to the passage?| A．Police officer. | B．Online celebrity. |
| C．Professional game-player. | D．Video blogger. |
| A．Play games and watch popular TV series. |
| B．Participate in various sports in order to be sportsmen or women. |
| C．Study hard and make great efforts to become teachers and police officers. |
| D．Play games and watch celebrity gaming bloggers instructing them how to do it. |
| A．To strengthen the importance of studying hard. |
| B．To give children more advice to choose future careers. |
| C．To give parents some suggestions to educate their children. |
| D．To stress the importance of ties between employers and schools. |
| A．Science. | B．Education. | C．Sports. | D．Culture. |
7 . Now, it is winter and as you have probably noticed, virus are everywhere—runny noses, sore throats, nothing quite like the common cold to make you feel so uncomfortable. But experts believe that there is no link between cold weather and catching colds. So why are we particularly easy to catch colds this season?
Internal Medicine expert, Dr Meenakshi Jain of Max Hospital says, “One reason could be that people are likely to stay indoors, so the virus can spread easily. Also the virus grows strong and healthy under wet conditions.”
The common cold can be caused by any of up to 250 kinds of virus. The most common group of them is the kind of virus that hits the nose, which is called rhinovirus. Rhinoviruses cause a third and a half of all common colds.
“This kind of virus is spread through the nose and respiratory passages (呼吸道)，by touch, and by contact with particles (微粒) in the air that are created by sneezing or coughing,” says Dr Jain.
There is no way to treat the common cold. However, there are some tips that can help. Wash your hands regularly, so that germs get killed. Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth, which can limit your chances of infection (传染). Don’t share drinking glasses with anyone as this will prevent the spread of the virus. Drink lots of water. Make sure to eat enough fruits to boost your immune system (免疫系统). Get enough sleep and you’ll certainly become stronger.
1. What does the writer think will make you suffer most?| A．The common cold. | B．The winter. |
| C．Sore throats. | D．Runny noses. |
| A．the cold weather in the winter | B．the condition of the human body |
| C．the virus that hits people’s nose | D．the warm temperature in the room |
| A．damage | B．treat | C．change | D．improve |
| A．some ways for the virus to spread |
| B．the common cold can not be treated |
| C．exercise is important to people’s health |
| D．some tips on how to keep the cold away |
8 . Taylor Pollard remembers when her younger sister, Kheris Rogers, was in first grade she once asked to stay in the bathroom longer---she hoped it would make her skin lighter. Kids were making fun of Rogers’ dark complexion. So Erika Pollard, the girls’ mom, moved Rogers to another school. Kids still made fun of her, but this time the kids bullying（霸凌）her were black.
Taylor Pollard wanted to help her sister feel good about herself. In 2017, she took a picture of Kheris. She posted it online. She wrote Kheris was “flexing in her complexion”. That is an expression their grandmother used often to encourage the girls to feel beautiful. Complexion means skin color. Flexing is a term for “showing off” or “showing pride”.
Then the sisters received many messages supporting Rogers and decided they wanted to direct that energy. Together, they came up with the idea of putting the message on a T-shirt Their business, Flexin’ In My Complexion, started shortly after that in April 2017. Erika gave the sisters about $100. Then their project got off the ground. They used some of the money to build a website. They also learned how to screen print T-shirts. The sisters set up shop in the garage behind their mom’s house in LA.
The sisters are co-CEOs. So far the sisters have sold more than 10,000 T-shirts. Flexin’ in My Complexion has done more than make money for the sisters. It has also helped Rogers become confident. When she was being bullied, Rogers says she would come home from school upset.
“I would always come home crying; I would just have tears coming down my face,” she says. “My confidence is probably 10 million times higher right now. You have no way of knowing but my confidence back then was probably as low as it could be.”
1. What made Rogers’ classmates laugh at her?| A．Her skin color. | B．Her behavior. |
| C．Her schoolwork. | D．Her family background. |
| A．By visiting their grandmother and asking her for help. |
| B．By choosing a new school for her. |
| C．By introducing her to kids with similar experiences. |
| D．By sharing her picture online. |
| A．To remember their grandmother. | B．To advertise their T-shirts. |
| C．To encourage others. | D．To support their family. |
| A．Honest and polite. | B．Brave and confident. |
| C．Popular but unhappy. | D．Hard-working but impatient. |
9 . In October, 2019, Beijing Daily warned the youth that they shouldn't let Internet slang （俚语） deepen the generation gap（代沟），after People Daily started a discussion on Chinese microblog Weibo on how to "explain" the youth's Internet slang terms to parents. The post got 40,000 likes. People were commenting that they couldn't keep up with the rapidly developing Internet lingo （术语）in China.
People also fear that Chinese Internet slang will negatively influence broader linguistic （语言的） trends of Mandarin Chinese, in particular, the gradual taking over of pinyin, the romanization of traditional Chinese characters using the Western alphabet. As pinyin gets widely used when people text or write on mobile phones or computers, while less and less people write characters by hand, people gradually forget how to write them, which is called "character amnesia" in China.
2019’s latest slang terms add a further simplification: the use of pinyin acronyms. "Awsl" in pinyin, for instance, means Ah, wo si le (Oh, I'm gonna die), and is used if something is too cute or adorable. "Nsdd" stands for ni shuo de dui (you're right).
Certainly, as an age-old written language, Chinese has been evolving and developing over the years. But the Chinese Internet lingo is unlikely to replace the existing use of Mandarin Chinese, but will rather be enriching it by adding another layer.
Acronyms aren't new. They have appeared with the limited space available in early-generation cell phone messaging. Some of them have become a part of the English language, such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud), while others had a rather short lifetime. That's likely to be what's going to happen with China's Internet slang terms. Some are going to be old in a few weeks, while others might make it into mainstream use, and as they do, young net users are coming up with new slang words to differentiate themselves.
In China, using Internet slang means belonging to a certain generation that likes to watch the same talk shows, play the same games, etc., and therefore, creates unity. Older generations don't have to feel left out, and certainly don't have to fear a degradation (没落)of the Chinese language. While language development is unavoidable, Internet slang is not going to let 6,000 years of Chinese written language completely change overnight.
1. The public are worried about Chinese Internet slang abuse because| A．It's used by children to keep secrets from parents. |
| B．It can cause confusion even among young people. |
| C．It was invented in response to the limited messaging space. |
| D．It will rarely have a positive effect on linguistic trends of Chinese. |
| A．They add variety to the language. |
| B．They are replacing its traditional vocabulary. |
| C．They make the language more global. |
| D．They only have temporary effects on Chinese. |
| A．a sense of purpose |
| B．a sense of group identity |
| C．a sense of cultural pride |
| D．a sense of safety |
| A．Is Media Helping Older Generation Understand Internet Slang? |
| B．Is Chinese Language Too Powerful to Be Largely Affected? |
| C．Is Mandarin Chinese Useful to Bridge the Generation Gap? |
| D．Is Internet Slang Deepening the Generation Gap, Ruining Chinese? |
10 . The ice around Alaska is not just melting. It's gotten so low that the situation is endangering some people's food and jobs.
“The seas are extraordinary warm. It is affecting the ability for Americans in the area to put food on the table right now,” said University of Alaska climate expert Rick Thoman.
Ocean temperatures in the Chukchi and North Bering seas are nearly 5°C above normal, satellite data shows.
“The northern Bering and southern Chukchi Seas are baking. And there are immediate local and economic influences along the state's western and northern coastlines. Birds and sea animals are showing up dead and sea temperatures are warm enough to support algae (藻类) to grow rapidly, robbing sea animals of oxygen and sunshine.” he said.
Many coastal Alaska towns are facing dire situation since they depend on fishing to support their economy and feed people who live there.
“Much of what the people eat there comes from food they harvest themselves,” said Brian Brettschneider at the International Arctic Research Center. “If people can't get out on the ice to hunt seals or whales, that affects their food security. It is a human crisis (危机) of survival.”
The warming is a sure signal of a warming planet, according to Brettschneider.
“This event is unquestionably a reflection of our changing climate. And this year's conditions will have a lasting effect. These extraordinary warm waters will take a while to cool off as winter approaches, and later and thinner ice is expected in the coming winter.” he said.
“What is happening in coastal Alaska is what is coming in one sense for everybody else,” he said. “Most people are feeling the effects of climate change even if they don't know it. Changes are happening, and changes will be more obvious. ”
1. Why is the food for people in Alaska at risk according to Rick Thoman?| A．The sea water is too warm for creatures in the sea. |
| B．Climate change causes the increasing death of sea creatures. |
| C．Fishers are forced to quit their jobs because of climate change. |
| D．Higher temperature produces poisonous plants that can't be eaten. |
| A．Inconvenient | B．Familiar. | C．Sudden. | D．Awful |
| A．Positive. | B．Curious. | C．Concerned. | D．Unclear. |
| A．People can do nothing to deal with climate change. |
| B．Climate change makes people in Alaska live a hard life. |
| C．More efforts should be made to protect the sea life in Alaska. |
| D．There are many reasons why the ocean in Alaska is warming. |
