1 . There’s a little restaurant in a small Alabama town where there’s no cash register and no prices, just a whole lot of soul ... and soul food.

At Drexell & Honeybee’s in downtown Brewton near the Florida border, the menu changes daily, but there’s always a hearty selection of Southern dishes to enjoy: fried chicken and cornbread often show up at lunchtime from Tuesday to Thursday.

What makes this place special? No matter how down on their luck a person is, they never have to worry about having no money for their lunch. Once you’ve finished your dessert — a blueberry cobbler, perhaps? — you just leave whatever you can in a private booth near the restaurant entrance, even if that’s just a handful of coins or a little thank-you note.

The owners, a husband and wife team—Freddie and Lisa Thomas-McMillan—make no profit from their restaurant. Lisa once told GNN, “Whatever needs people have, if we can help them... we will. It’s our chief mission.”

100% of the donations go back into serving people food. “It’s a feeling of great happiness when knowing that their customers leave “with a full stomach, a full heart, and the understanding that you’re loved and worthy of love.” Through the years, she’s run a food bank. She’s opened her home to the needy. She says it may have started in the second grade when she learned a powerful lesson about sharing from a little girl who always had a better sandwich, but shared it happily with Lisa in a daily trade. Of course, the pandemic(流行病) has made running a restaurant a little more tricky in recent months. “But we figured out a way to do to — go orders and keep everyone safe …It is working out very well. We feel proud to be able to do what we do, with CO VID-19 affecting so many people.”

1. Which characteristic does the restaurant in a small Alabama town have?

A．It has no menu or waiters.	B．It has an outstanding cook.
C．It has the best dessert in Alabama.	D．It’s a sweet family-style restaurant.

2. What is the major target of their restaurant according to Lisa?

A．To advertise the restaurant.	B．To feed the needy.
C．To win them fame.	D．To encourage donations.

3. What do they want to get most from their deeds?

A．The money.	B．The reputation.
C．The joy.	D．The recognition.

4. What can we infer about Lisa from the text?

A．She always has a very big heart.	B．She is a victim of COVID-19.
C．She has made a name for her donations.	D．She is an overnight successful person.

2 . “GOING,GOING, GONE, for $3 to bidder No. 43, the lady in the last row, white hat.” The auctioneer (拍卖师） called out my auction number and location. Delighted at my victory, I took the box and gave it a shake. The contents rattled. Inside were dozens -- maybe even hundreds --of buttons, pins, and other items, all glittering in the sunlight. It reminded me of my mom's button box. As a girl, I'd always enjoyed digging through it, just as my own daughters enjoyed looking through mine.

Then I caught sight of an old woman on a swing, watching the happenings in the yard. I went to chat with her. She told me she was selling almost all her possessions because she was moving to a nursing home in town. Her eyes fell to the button box, and when she looked up, they were glistening with tears. Her fist closed around a delicate pearl button, now yellow with age. She smiled as she told me about the birth of her first child and the special pearl-buttoned outfit that would be worn by five more babies before time wore it thin.

I noticed a large, dark brass   military button and asked her about it. “From my first husband's uniform,” she said. “It's one of the few things I had to remind me of him when he didn't return home alive." As we went through the box together, I pulled a small key from the box, I heard the sharp intake of her breath. It was the key to a music box that played a special love song, she said. She'd lost it years ago. From my hand to hers, I passed the key to her memories.

Hairpins, wooden nickels, and ruby buttons took her further down memory lane. I knew that when I reached my own home, my heart would pull me to my sewing room, where I would rediscover my own lifetime of memories in my own button box.

1. What do we know about the old woman?

A．She was in need of money.

B．She was leaving her house.

C．She was wearing a white hat.

D．She was selling her mum's button box.

2. Which of the following words best describes my talk with the old woman?

A．Discouraging.

B．Amusing.

C．Touching.

D．Shocking.

3. What might be the best title for this passage?

A．A Life in a Button Box

B．Memories of My Life

C．An Old Lady at a Yard Sale

D．My Purchase at an Auction

3 . Located at a depth of 20 feet below the surface, the sand of the ocean floor off the coast of the Florida Keys might be an unlikely spot to host a music festival, but that hasn’t stopped music enthusiasts from diving underwater to rock out.

For the past 35 years, the Underwater Music Festival, an event that pairs music with conservation, has been hosted. Equipped with guitars, drums and other musical instruments, divers go down to the depths and play along to a playlist of water-inspired songs that are piped underwater via speakers. Over the years the event has gone from being a small grassroots effort put together by few locals, with the idea that once people see what’s going on beneath the surface, the more likely they would be to protect it, to a two-day festival that draws dozens of divers, boaters, and musicians to the Keys from around the world.

“Thirty-five years ago a few Keys locals sat down and wanted to figure out a way to bring awareness to our coral reefs （珊瑚礁）that would preserve, rebuild and restore them in any way,” says Dave Turner, executive director of the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce. “They came up with this idea of playing music underwater and invited people to listen while also enjoying the local sea life.”

“The preservation of the reef is our main purpose,” Turner says. “To avoid any further damage, the festival takes place in a nearby sandy area so that the musicians don’t disturb the coral when they’re performing.”

Although holding a music festival underwater may seem a bit out there, Turner is quick to point out that it is actually achievable. “The music is obviously not as clear as when you’re sitting in room with stereo （立体音响）but you can still hear it and understand the lyrics and music,” he says. “If you were to go underwater you would recognize the song and it would sound the same. It just has little different tone to it. Plus, sound travels faster and farther underwater.”

1. What is special about the festival?

A．It hardly has any live music.

B．It takes place completely underwater.

C．It hardly wins support at grassroots level.

D．It exhibits all kinds of musical instruments.

2. What is the purpose of the festival?

A．To draw attention to coral reef conservation.

B．To raise money for local divers.

C．To improve the locals’ life.

D．To promote local tourism.

3. What does Turner intend to show in the last paragraph?

A．Attending the festival is an important experience.

B．Holding the festival makes some sense.

C．The future of the festival is uncertain.

D．It is challenging to hold the festival.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Environment.

B．Health.

C．Education.

D．Science.

4 . A shocking 53.6 million tons of electronic waste were discarded（丢弃）last year, a new UN-backed report has revealed. The report shows that e-waste is up 21%from five years ago. This isn't surprising, considering how many more people are adopting new technology and updating devices regularly to have the latest versions, but the report also shows that national collection and recycling strategies are nowhere close to matching consumption rates.

E-waste contains materials including copper（铜）, iron, gold and silver, which the report gives a conservative value of $ 57 billion. But most are thrown away or burned rather than being collected for recycling. Precious metals in waste are estimated to be worth $ 14 billion, but only $4 billion-worth is recovered at the moment.

While the number of countries with national e-waste policies has grown from 61 to 78 since 2014, there is little encouragement to obey and a mere 17% of collected items are recycled. If recycling does occur, it's often under dangerous conditions, such as burning circuit boards to recover copper, which "releases highly poisonous metals" and harms the health of workers.

The report found that Asia has the highest amounts of waste overall, producing 24.9 million metric tons (MMT), followed by Europe at 12 MMT, Africa at 2.9 MMT, and Oceania at 0.7 MMT.

But whose responsibility is it? Are governments in charge of setting up collection and recycling points, or should companies be responsible for recycling the goods they produce? It goes both ways. Companies do need to be held accountable by government regulations and have incentives to design products that are easily repaired. At the same time, governments need to make it easy for citizens to access collection points and deal with their broken electronics in a convenient way. Otherwise, they may turn to the easiest option-the landfill.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．What e-waste refers to.

B．Where e-waste is collected.

C．Why e-waste is increasing rapidly.

D．How many kinds e-waste includes.

2. What do the statistics in paragraph 2 show?

A．The functions of policies.

B．The great damage to environment.

C．The change of consumption rates.

D．The urgency of recovering e-waste.

3. What is the problem with recycling e-waste at present?

A．It does harm to the workers' health.

B．It lacks national policy support.

C．It hardly makes profits.

D．It takes too much time.

4. How should the problem be solved according to the passage?

A．New technology should be used to update old devices.

B．Governments and companies should take responsibilities.

C．Non-poisonous metals had better be used in e-device.

D．Citizens must play a key role in recycling e-waste.

5 . Today’s young people frequently deal with multiple streams of information and entertainment media while doing schoolwork, a trend that researchers call distracted learning. While numerous researchers found that simultaneous (同时的) use of electronic devices has a harmful impact on learning, a researcher, professor Shelly J. Schmidt of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said many students dismiss warnings about the negative consequences because they consider themselves such good multitaskers.

While the faculty (全体教员) restrict or ban students’ unapproved use of cellphones and other devices in the classroom, these policies can be difficult for instructors to enforce and cast technology as “the enemy”. “Banning technology use in the classroom suggests to our students that they are children who can’t learn to appropriately handle it, rather than young adults we are helping to grow into professionals,” Schmidt said.

While it’s virtually impossible to make students limit all distractions in class or out, Schmidt said teachers and parents can encourage youths to develop an internal locus of control (内控点).

Researchers found that media multitasking during schoolwork disturbs students’ attention and working memory. Students may understand less and have difficulty recalling what they have learned and applying it in new contexts. Their reading comprehension, note-taking ability, test performance and grade point averages all decrease, according to the studies Schmidt reviewed.

Some researchers suggest that mobile devices can worsen a form of social anxiety called the “fear of missing out” that forces people to interrupt their studies and work projects constantly to read and respond to social media posts and messages, negatively affecting their performance. When working on the projects that require lasting concentration, Schmidt said intentionally removing irrelevant devices from their workspaces can help people limit distractions and resist the urge to respond to every buzz or ping sent by their phone.

1. What does Schmidt find in the recent research?

A．Students are good at multitasking while studying.

B．Students are not affected by the use of electronic media.

C．Students attach great importance to using electronic media.

D．Students don’t care about the expert opinion on distracted learning.

2. What does Schmidt think of the restrictions on electrics in class?

A．They bring in better learning conditions.

B．They produce inequality among students.

C．They may make students doubt their self-control.

D．They disturb the friendly learning atmosphere in the school.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A．The negative effects of distracted learning.

B．How can students fight with distracted learning?

C．Why some students perform badly in learning.

D．The role the brain plays in learning.

4. What can be inferred about “fear of missing out” in the last paragraph?

A．It is caused by social media use.

B．It requires long-term focus on media.

C．It makes many people suffering stress.

D．It can be overcome by powering off phones.

6 . Sledding in the Forest Preserves

One of the benefits of winter in Cook County is zooming down the gently sloping hills in the forest. Another benefit? Four locations have lights on the hill, so you can keep the sledding fun going despite the early sunsets. The four forest hills are open until 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. and, of course, if there's enough snow. Please note you cannot bring your own sled. Sledding rentals are $15 for a half day, $25 for the full day. There is no additional charge for use of the sloping hills. Check site for contact numbers and snow conditions. fpdcc. com/things-to-do/sledding

Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink

The area near West Community has one of the biggest wintertime draws for families who want to hit the ice. Cicero's outdoor rink offers a range of frozen fun, including skating lessons, open skates and the chance to practice skills. Visit the rink's Facebook page for schedule details. Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink, 3400S. 53rd Ave, Cicero. $12 for open skates, S3 skate rental; cash only. http://facebook. com/bobbyhullcommunityicerink

Mount Hoy Snow Tubing

The trip down Mount Hoy is a lively one: 800 feet from top to bottom. And as long as it's covered in three or more inches of snow, you' re welcome to rent a tube and zoom down. The hill is open 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. weekends and holidays through Feb. 23; tube rentals end at 3:30 p.m. At Blackwell Forest Preserve, Butterfield Road between Winfield Road and Route 59, Warrenville. Admission is free, but personal tubes are not allowed. $ 10 rental per tube. https://tinvurl.com/y9nox4et

Winter Wonderland and Ice Rink

Haven't gotten your fill of the brisk cold hitting your face as you practice your double salchows and triple lutzes on the ice? Don't worry! The Village of Orland Park's rink is open seven days a week, starting at 4 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends. The rink offers free helmet rentals, plus a warming house for those who prefer to cheer from the sidelines. Winter Wonderland Ice Rink, 15600 West Avenue and Fun Drive, Orland Park. Admission: $20 Adult, $15 Student 5-17; S3 for skate rental. http://orlandpark. org/services/parks/ice-rink

1. If you want to take ice skating lessons, visit _____________________ for more information.

A．https://tinyurl.com/y9nox4et

B．http://fpdcc.com things to-do/sledding

C．http://orlandpark. org/services/parks/ice –rink

D．http://facebook.com/bobbyhullcommunityicerink

2. If you had $10, you could choose_____________________.

A．Mount Hoy Snow Tubing	B．Sledding in the Forest Preserves
C．Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink	D．Winter Wonderland and Ice Rink

3. Which of the following statements is True?

A．The opening hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day till Feb.23 at Mount Hoy.

B．Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink is an attraction near West Community.

C．No warming house is available at the Village of Orland Park's rink.

D．There is always enough snow for sledding in the forest preserves.

7 . Mohanan, a tractor driver from Ambalavayal, a town in India's Kerala state, has been carrying a stick and an umbrella to work every day, for over a year. It's not that he fears getting attacked by dogs or that he hates rain, but that he needs to defend himself against the crows that always attack him whenever he approaches a bus station where he once picked up two crow hatchlings (刚出壳的雏鸟) from under his tractor and placed them on the side of the road.

The tractor driver recently said that crows nesting in the trees around the bus station always attack him when he drives by. He said he even tried staying away from that place for over a week, but it didn't matter. The crows were waiting for him when he came back. Now he just uses his umbrella and stick for protection, and throws the crows some food to distract them. "I give a share from my lunch to the crows. Once they finish eating it, they will start attacking me again," Mohanan laughingly said, adding that changing his clothes and trying to disguise (伪装) himself didn't work either.

The crows' animosity toward Mohanan had become well known among the local people, and while most find it funny, the tractor driver says the birds can be pretty unkind, so much so in fact that a few months ago they caused severe damage to his new umbrella during an attack.

Interestingly, we featured a similar story just last month. One day, Shiva Kewat, a worker from Madhya Pradesh, claims that he has been attacked by a group of crows for the last three years, ever since he picked up a crow chick on the street.

1. Why does Mohanan always cany an umbrella with him?

A．Because he fears to get attacked by dogs.

B．Because he doesn't want to get caught in the rain.

C．Because he would like to protect himself from the sun.

D．Because he wants to defend himself against crows.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．Crows have great memory.

B．The tractor driver is an unkind man.

C．The crows finally forgive the tractor driver.

D．The tractor driver has to give up his job.

3. What does the underlined word “animosity” probably mean?

A．Fear.	B．Unkindness.
C．Curiosity.	D．Understanding,

4. What is the author's purpose in telling Shiva Kewat's story?

A．To warn people to be careful next time they see crows.

B．To show Mohanan is not alone in being remembered by crows.

C．To remind people to live in harmony with animals.

D．To suggest Mohanan draw a lesson from Shiva Kewat's experience.

8 . For Stevens Point locals in the US, the city is flooded with delicious fried fish. Here are four top choices for the community to have a try.

Hilltop Pub&Grill

Hilltop Pub&Grill first opened in the 1980s and took the Stevens Point community by storm with its delicious food and unique decoration style. Its fried fish are beloved due to the use of “high-quality North Atlantic fish, with a light beer batter (面糊)”.

The Final Score Bar&Grill

The Final Score Bar&Grill aimed to become a local hot spot in 2001 when Jim Billings, the owner, took charge of the business. Billings feels that their five batter choices set them apart from their neighboring bars. Besides, various wines are available.

Point After Pub&Grill

Point After Pub&Grill started serving delicious food and cold beers in a welcoming environment in 2009. But its history runs much longer. “Before it was Point After Pub&Grill, it had been Northside Bar for 30 plus years,” explained Molski, the owner. Molski feels that the pub’s four special batter choices and other fish specials are what help make it an area landmark.

Two Harps Pub

This Irish pub opened its doors to the public in 2017 and has been drawing fans and locals ever since. “I had done my career for a long time and was kind of bored with it,” said Nick Moore, the owner. “And this opportunity fell into my lap, so I went with it. It really made sense to open up an Irish bar.” The growing pub advises guests to try a cold beer with their Friday fried fish.

1. What makes Hilltop Pub&Grill popular with customers?

A．The convenient location.	B．The special food.
C．The high-quality service.	D．The unique wine.

2. What do The Final Score Bar&Grill and Point After Pub&Grill have in common?

A．They are both run by the same company.	B．They are both famous for great wines.
C．They both feature some particular batter.	D．They were both founded ten years ago.

3. What is special about Two Harps Pub?

A．It is the newest among the four pubs.	B．It offers free cold beers to customers.
C．It only provides fried fish on Fridays.	D．It has a unique decoration style.

9 . Two men walk to the edge of the sea. They drop their heavy loads on the sand. They forget how hot and tired they are and run into the sea. They play in the water.

These tired men are happy because one of them has just become the first person to walk from the start of the Amazon River to the ocean. His name is Ed Stafford. The other man’s name is Cho Sanchez. Cho has been with Ed for the final two years of the walk. He helped Ed to find a way through the dense forests of three South American countries: Peru, Columbia and Brazil.

The Amazon is about 6, 500 kilometres long. Ed’s walk started in April 2008 at the beginning of the river-high in the mountains of Peru. It ended two and a half years later in August 2010 in Brazil where the river flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Along the way Ed Stafford faced cold snow and high mountain paths. But most of the walk was through hot, wet forests. They faced many dangers from wild animals. But the big danger for ED and Cho came from people. Most of the people they met on their long walk were friendly. They gave Ed and Cho food and shelter. But some people were afraid of Ed because he has a white skin. They had heard stories that white people would eat their babies or steal their heads and other parts of their bodies.

Ed understood the people’s fear. He says, “They only wanted to protect their land and the way they live. When they know there is no danger they are very kind.”

On his walk Ed saw that many trees had been cut down. This made him very sad. Too many trees are being destroyed, and this is changing the climate of the world.

Ed Stafford did something no one else has achieved. Now he wants to tell people all around the world about the dangers we face from destroying the forests of Peru and Brazil.

1. Why were the local people afraid of Ed?

A．Ed was a danger to them.

B．Ed looked strange to them.

C．They saw white people do cruel things.

D．They had misunderstanding of white people.

2. What is Ed’s attitude towards the people’s fear?

A．Surprised.	B．Puzzled.
C．Concerned.	D．Reasonable.

3. What could be Ed’s purpose of walking down the Amazon?

A．To help the local people.

B．To find a way to pass the Amazon.

C．To help protect the environment of the Amazon.

D．To learn about the cultures of the local people.

4. What could be the best title for the text?

A．Two Brave Explorers

B．The Amazon Walk

C．Protection of the Amazon

D．The Importance of the Amazon

10 . Do you always agree to do things that you are unwilling to do? Are you the type of person who always says "yes"? I've come to learn that it is very important to learn to say NO! It's okay. People are still going to like you. They may even respect you more because they know you are honest.

I'm not saying to say "no" to someone who really needs your help. I'm talking about refusing that meeting that you really do not want to attend or that birthday party that you don't want to be a guest at.

Think for a moment how you feel when you say YES to something that you really don't want to do. If you're like I once was，you can't sleep at night and you think about it too much. It weighs on your mind. You try to find ways out. Whatever you're saying to yourself，if you really wanted to go，you wouldn't have all of these thoughts.

So，why not just say NO from the beginning? Maybe you feel like if you don't show up at the meeting (by the way，it is not the one you must attend) your boss isn't going to like you or your co-workers won't respect you. Maybe you feel as if your mom，dad or sisters won't love you as much if you don't do everything for them that they ask every occasion.

If these people are your true friends，family members，or a good boss，they will like or love you the same no matter what. People treat you the way you teach them to, and if you're someone who always says "yes", then that's what they're expecting.

You need to do what is right for you. Of course we do have real obligations in life to fulfill，but we do not have to do everything others want us to do.

1. Which of the following statements would the writer agree with?

A．We should try to do what our friends ask us to do.

B．We should help others in need.

C．Always saying "no" means you are brave.

D．Always saying "yes" means you are dishonest.

2. What does the underlined word '' It" in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Saying "yes".

B．A friend's birthday party.

C．Something you're unwilling to do.

D．Something you think difficult to do.

3. The writer believes that if you say "no" to your family members，you'll ______.

A．upset them

B．disappoint them

C．have a loose relationship with them

D．have the same relationship with them as before

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Learn to Make a Right Choice

B．To Be Yourself

C．Learn to Say No

D．Do What You Want to Do