1 . After almost an entire year of not going shopping and vacationing, you find the numbers reflected by your bank account meet your heart’ s desire.
Now the most important question comes, what to do with the earnings? Should you fulfill dreams of the present, invest in preserving the future or perhaps keep saving it for a rainy day?
Our elders always try to teach us the value of money and its moral weakness. One may be on a winning streak (连续成功) now, but it will not always be so. One will have days when there will be no sunshine but only rain, and their luck will hide behind those thick grey clouds. Save for those rainy days, they say. Do not spend too much, live within a budget, refrain from credit no matter how small and save for the future.
Since the very first time we earn our own money from a summer job or earning our first salary, the lessons start. In fact, the pocket money that we receive when we are children begins the process of learning how to best manage one’ s money.
People often think like this — one day when I have enough money, I will travel the world. Then, once we do earn enough money, tomorrow’ s plans start shadowing our present ones. However, is it wise to keep living for that future? Will we still enjoy or even be able to backpack in our 50s? How will we ever enjoy our present if we are constantly living for the future?
Good questions, aren’ t they? I say travel but don’ t let yourself run dry, treat yourself to some luxuries but also keep enough for your necessities, and enjoy your present but with a plan for the foreseeable future. Life is for the living, so live it sensibly.
1. Why do elders teach us to save money?| A．Because there are more rainy days in life. |
| B．Because no one can win streak. |
| C．Because good days may end. |
| D．Because money can’t buy everything. |
| A．select from | B．hold back |
| C．rely on | D．prefer to |
| A．To enjoy yourself in the right time. |
| B．To wait to travel until we have enough money. |
| C．To go backpacking in our 50s. |
| D．To live for the future. |
| A．We should save all for rainy days. |
| B．We should fulfill our dreams. |
| C．We should entertain ourselves. |
| D．We should live the present wisely. |
2 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms (节气). The Spring Equinox (春分), as the fourth term of the year, starts on March 20 and ends on April 3 this year. Here are things you may not know about the Spring Equinox.
Swallows flying north
The ancient Chinese people divided the fifteen days of the Spring Equinox into three “hou’s”, or five-day parts. As the old saying goes, swallows fly back to the North in the first hou; thunder cracks the sky in the second hou; lightning occurs frequently in the third hou. It vividly reveals the climate feature during the Spring Equinox.
Egg-standing games
Standing an egg upright is a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox. It is an old custom that dates back to 4,000 years ago. It is believed that if someone can make the egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.
Flying kites
The Spring Equinox is a good time to fly kites. In ancient times, people did not have good medical resources. To pray for health, they wrote their medical issues on a paper kite. When the kite was in the air, people would cut off the string to let the paper kite float away, symbolizing the flying away of diseases.
Eating spring vegetables
Eating spring vegetables during the Spring Equinox is a commonly practiced custom in many regions of China. Spring vegetables refer to seasonal vegetables that differ from place to place. The ancient teachings in the Chinese classic, Huangdi Neijing, suggest that people eat seasonal foods to help preserve health and bring good luck.
1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the Spring Equinox?| A．Time division. | B．Climate feature. |
| C．Customary activities. | D．Historical stories. |
| A．Stand eggs. | B．Fly kites. |
| C．Eat spring vegetables. | D．Observe the immigration of birds. |
| A．The general public. | B．Chinese farmers. |
| C．Culture researchers. | D．Weather reporters. |
3 . It was a cold winter. The wind blew all night and the snow was blinding. When morning came, my three children and I got up and made our way to the windows. As we looked out the window, we saw that the henhouse was gone. Our three hens had been blown away.
I looked at the emptiness outside. Then I saw all three chickens sat around the edge of a white bucket. How was this violent wind not blowing them into the field beyond? I quickly pulled on long snow pants and heavy winter coat, wrapped a scarf and stuck my feet into very large boots.
I shouted at the wind as it blew. I was alone, save for my children. They stared out the window into the vast white sea of snow, their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Outside I heard the sound of my boots as I walked against the wind.
The snow circling around me, I steadily made my way to the soft cluck-cluck-cluck sound my hens always made. When I reached them, I saw that their little feet were holding on to the edge of the bucket, heads bent forward and away from the wind. I gently lifted each hen and put it carefully into the warm inside. Then I began the freezing walk back to the small shed directly behind our house. One by one I laid my chickens on the cold floor, and they began to cluck softly.
As I shut the shed doors, my eyes went directly to the window where my children were watching. They jumped up and down cheering, and so did I! I wasn’t some dragon slayer (屠龙者) from a fairy tale. I was simply a mom, but the look on my children’s faces told me that they thought I was a hero mom.
1. What was the author’s feeling when seeing all three chickens sitting around the bucket?| A．incredible | B．worried |
| C．shy | D．confident |
| A．By searching for the white bucket. |
| B．By wearing protective clothes. |
| C．By following the sound of the hens. |
| D．By shouting at the henhouse. |
| A．The author’s children liked dragon slayers. |
| B．The children watched their mother all the way. |
| C．The author struggled to be a hero. |
| D．The author enjoyed herself in the snow. |
| A．Weather in extreme. | B．Hens in trouble. |
| C．Kindness in need. | D．Hero in the snow. |
4 . Urban rewilding projects are attracting nature back into our cities, from creating city butterfly grasslands to building unlikely homes for deadly birds. The middle of London’s busy West End doesn't seem like the likeliest location for one of the UK’s rarest birds. There are only approximately 20-40 breeding pairs of black redstarts in the country. But in recent years, without being artificially introduced into the area, this rare bird has started to make a home in this crowded part of Central London.
The black redstart isn’t the only unexpected species of wildlife to start living in urban landscapes. Moths, butterflies, woodpeckers and even serotine bats, more commonly found in the countryside, have also been on the rise in this part of London. These changes are the result of increasing efforts to transform urban areas from wildlife dead-spots into attractive, practical homes for nature alongside citizens. One new initiative is even trying to get offices to keep bees.
Urban rewilding initiatives often have multiple levels of benefit—greener spaces not only make people happier, but they also help solve water drainage (排水) problems and prevent flooding, as well as providing a home for bees and other animals. But perhaps one of their most valuable features is to make us feel more connected with nature and be more aware of our relationship with the environment.
The long game is not just to build green compromises into existing city areas, but to shift what development looks like in a city. Until recent years, urbanisation has meant turning green areas grey with the concrete, asphalt and glass of traditional buildings. That transformation has unsurprisingly ended up being bad for our mental well-being, physical health, environment, ecosystems and wildlife. Rewilding is one way to completely change that process: prioritizing (按重要性排列) plants and animals first, and paving the way for the benefits to our health, well-being and the urban environment that follow.
1. Why are black redstarts referred to in Paragraph 1?| A．To stress the importance of rare birds. |
| B．To show urban rewilding has paid off. |
| C．To suggest their love for living downtown. |
| D．To prove man lives in harmony with nature. |
| A．Their homes have completely changed. |
| B．People build more homes for them. |
| C．Their population is increasing in cities. |
| D．They are uncommon in urban areas. |
| A．Critical. | B．Approving. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Objective. |
| A．Wildlife Is Coming Back to Cities. |
| B．Urban Rewilding Benefits Both Man and Wildlife. |
| C．Man Is Making Efforts to Project Wild Animals. |
| D．We Need More Urban Rewilding Projects for Nature. |
5 . When you hear the word "birthmark", you probably think of one of those black or brown spots that you have on your body. For me, it's different -I have them on my lips and inside my mouth. I'm used to being asked, "What are those black marks on your lips?" When I tell people they're birthmarks, they usually say, "That's strange." I used to consider them ugly. However, my mom calls them beauty marks
In pictures, I used to hide my birthmarks by pursing（噘起）my lips so I wouldn't have to deal with people's questions. As I was growing up, people wore me out with them. Some people would ask me the same questions even before knowing my name. In society I feel like we judge people by their looks before their personality.
My birthmarks are caused by a genetic condition from my mom's side of the family. My mom's mom has birthmarks on her lips, and my mom's uncle and my uncle have some on their bodies. Every year I plan to have a procedure to remove them. But when imagining the process, I always get nervous and give up.
My cousin faces a similar challenge. She has a huge birthmark that takes up her whole arm. She's never tried to hide it or change her appearance. Once, her grandmother told her that the birthmark looked extremely prominent and suggested that she should wear long sleeves more often. If my cousin had actually taken that suggestion, she wouldn't be such a person as she is.
Inspired by my cousin, I am finally accepting who I am and now I don't hesitate when someone asks me about them either. I say, "They`re beauty marks" and smile without pursing my lips.
1. How did the author feel when asked about the birthmarks?| A．She was bored to be faced with the question. |
| B．She felt annoyed to give others an answer. |
| C．She was scared to be made fun of by people. |
| D．She felt excited to show her difference. |
| A．Her mother. | B．Her grandmother. |
| C．Her cousin | D．Her uncle. |
| A．She dislikes talking about her birthmark. |
| B．She is more confident than the author. |
| C．She never judges others by their looks. |
| D．She has taken her grandma's suggestion. |
| A．Brilliant. | B．Harmful |
| C．Obvious. | D．Impressive |
6 . Kids spend a lot of time looking at screens. And some parents worry. But a new study argues against the anxiety parents may feel.
“Parents are hearing a message that social media, digital technology use is causing very serious and harmful problems like depression, like suicide-related behaviors,” Candice Odgers, professor of psychological science at the University of California said. “But the idea is that if you shut off social media, you could in fact be making a situation worse. Parents are really being sent a message that is not supported by anything scientifically.”
Odgers and her colleagues looked at the screen-related behavior of 400 public school students in North Carolina aged 10 to 14. The researchers found that the kids spent between almost five hours to seven hours per day on their devices. That’s a lot of hours but the researchers didn't find connection between the amount of time that young people spent online using digital technologies and mental health signs like depression, or anxiety. They found that young people who sent more text messages actually reported better mental health.
This was a small association, but it reflects what other people have found: the people who are very connected offline, who use technology in the positive ways to stay connected, often are more connected online as well and experiencing better mental health.
So why the fears about screen time? Odgers argues that the methods for previous studies may have led to false conclusions. When given a survey, the kids were often asked to recall, over the past six months, “How often are you online?” and “Have you ever felt depressed”. And the relation between those two things has been used to spread a lot of fear around the connection between social media use and things like depression, yet 99.5% of the reasons that kids differ in their depression is due to something other than the time they spend online.
1. The new study is mainly about the relation between ________.| A．kids, screen time and their eyesight | B．kids’ screen time and their depression |
| C．social media use and kids’ mental health | D．Internet environment and kids' mental health |
| A．It misleads people. | B．It makes much sense. |
| C．It was confirmed by science. | D．It reveals parents, ignorance. |
| A．Kids spending less time online. | B．Kids staying unconnected offline. |
| C．Kids shutting off social media. | D．Kids positively using digital technology. |
| A．To present a social phenomenon. | B．To challenge a common belief. |
| C．To draw attention to kids, health. | D．To encourage more screen time. |
7 . I’m a talker. I am keen on debating, gossiping and teasing when I have people to talk to. Under lockdown, however, I’ve only had my partner, Peter.
We not only lived, worked and travelled together, we mostly socialized together, too. Under the first UK lockdown, our already closeness began to feel uncomfortable. While talking to Peter, I could see his attention drift.
For the first time in our 10 years together, we needed to be alone. I tried to manufacture this by going on walks on my own, but a short walk wasn’t doing the job. I had hiked in remote spaces all over the world but always in a pair or group — for safety reasons. I considered my options and hit upon an idea: the semi-solo hike.
Could we do a circular hike but walk in different directions? This would give us the space and peace of a solo hike — done by a person alone. It felt like a promising way out, and he agreed to give it a try.
We started with a four-mile loop (环路) from Reeth. At the start, we parted ways. At first, I was aware of how close we were, which lessened the appeal. As I gained ground, however, I found myself very much alone. I set my own pace, and I decided to take my time.
I sat on a rock and breathed out. That moment — with the weak sun through the clouds and the breeze blowing — felt extraordinary to me. I was born and raised in London and had never imagined leaving until I met an outdoorsman. Now, my former life as a city girl felt crazy. In remembering what I had gained, I felt the tension leave me. There, in the chilly air, I no longer needed to talk. The semi-solo hike gave us a shared experience with added room to breathe.
I didn’t see Peter on the way but reunited back where we started, both pleased.
The semi-solo hike is admittedly silly in theory, but for me it has been a lifeline. It has given me the gift of time alone and, in a year of constant closeness, the joy of reuniting.
1. What motivated the author to adopt the semi-solo hike?| A．Peter’s disinterest in her words. |
| B．Her habit of venturing into the wild. |
| C．The lack of privacy under lockdown. |
| D．Her desire to engage in outdoor exercise. |
| A．Their routes coincide sometimes during the hike. |
| B．They depart in a separate way to different destinations. |
| C．They hike in each other’s company throughout the journey. |
| D．They start and return to the same place by a different route. |
| A．Fearless and refreshed. | B．Free and relaxed. |
| C．Tense and depressed. | D．Upset and embarrassed. |
| A．An appropriate distance creates beauty. |
| B．There are more solutions than difficulties. |
| C．Access to nature is better than social circles. |
| D．Hiking helps improve interpersonal relationships. |
8 . In a cafe in south London, two construction workers are talking cheerfully. They sometimes break into loud laughter. They are discussing something, and their conversation looks fun and interesting. But I don’t speak their language. Out of curiosity, I interrupt them.
With friendly smiles, they both change easily to English, explaining that they are South Africans and were speaking Xhosa. In Johannesburg, where they are from, most people speak at least five languages, says one of them, Theo Morris. “My mother’s language is Sotho. My father’s is Zulu. I learned Xhosa and Ndebele from my friends and neighbors, and English and Afrikaans from school. I can speak well all of the languages mentioned above. I went to Germany before I came here, so I also speak a little German,” he adds.
“Is it easy to learn so many languages?” “Yes, it’s normal,” he laughs. He’s right. Around the world, more than half of the people speak at least two languages. Many countries have more than one official language — South Africa has 11. People, young or old, are increasingly expected to speak, read and write in at least one of a handful of “super” languages, such as English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish and Arabic.
Multilingualism (多语言) has many social psychological and lifestyle advantages. Moreover, many health benefits from speaking more than one language have been found, including faster stroke (中风) recovery.
Could it be that the human brain evolves (进化；演变) to be multilingual — that those who speak only one language are not realizing their full potential (潜能)? And in a world that is losing languages faster than ever — one every two weeks, half our languages will disappear hopelessly by the end of the century. What would happen if the rich diversity (多样性) of languages disappeared and most of us ended up speaking only one? That’s a serious problem we are facing.
1. Why does the author interrupt the two workers?| A．To join them in the conversation. |
| B．To stop them from laughing loudly. |
| C．To find out what language they’re speaking. |
| D．To learn the language that is spoken by them. |
| A．He speaks all of his languages well. | B．He can speak seven languages. |
| C．He is from a single-language family. | D．He is confident of learning super languages. |
| A．It is physically and mentally beneficial. | B．It is culture-specific. |
| C．It is a challenging task. | D．It is preferred by the young. |
| A．Objective. | B．Optimistic. | C．Concerned. | D．Doubtful. |
9 . Is there anybody out there? For centuries humans have wondered although the ways in which we have gone about this have varied. As we have gained a greater understanding of the universe, our searches have taken on more concrete(具体的) forms. Questions about aliens(外星人) have become a subject for science rather than science fiction.
Now new cooperation between the Very Large Array (VLA) observatory in New Mexico and the SETI Institute in California means that our curiosity about whether aliens exist can be closer than ever before to being satisfied. Data from the VLA’S 28 radio telescopes, used to scan a vast area of sky, will be fed through a special supercomputer that will search for distant signals.
How likely it is that a signal will be found, and what this might mean, are hard questions to answer. SETI’s existing projects have not discovered any signals from other planets so far. But recent discoveries in space and Earth sciences have provided some encouragement for those who are enthusiastic about the possibility, however remote, of detecting other civilizations.
Once it was thought that our solar system could be unique. Since the discovery of the first exoplanet (a planet beyond the solar system) in the 1990s, thousands more have been located. Around one in five stars is now thought to have a planet in their orbit(运行轨道) in a so-called “habitable(适合居住的) zone”—that is, at a distance from the star where the temperature means that life is theoretically possible.
Are Earth’s 7.5 billion humans, along with billions of other animals and plants they share their home with, on their own in the universe? If there is another life form somewhere, could it be as intelligent as humans? Or could it threaten them? I think all of these need further exploration. As explorations of Mars continue, and a new set of observations from the James Webb Space Telescope are set to begin, our interest in the possibility of alien life appears as much as before.
1. Why does the VLA work with SETI?| A．To develop new radio telescopes | B．To find evidence of aliens’ existence |
| C．To build a special supercomputer | D．To search for distant signals |
| A．Life does indeed exist on exoplanets |
| B．New technologies are employed to find aliens |
| C．Some exoplanets may have habitable zones |
| D．Signals have been discovered from other planets |
| A．Uncertain | B．Positive | C．Unacceptable | D．Worried |
| A．Space: the unknown place | B．Finding aliens: possible or not? |
| C．Receiving signals: aliens appear again? | D．Exoplanets: home of aliens |
10 . Three days earlier, a super typhoon attacked a coastal country, cutting off all communication with the outside. Thousands of people died in the storm.
Whether the destruction (破坏) caused by extreme weather events can be related to human emissions (排放物) of greenhouse gases is most discussed in climate science. If this relation is established, extreme weather can be the severest result of climate change that threatens a range of human rights, including the rights to life, food, health, housing, development and self-determination.
Felix Pretis of the University of Victoria has shown even 1. 5℃ of global warming will reduce economic growth in some regions, and that the tropics (热带) will feel this impact more than other areas. Some studies predict that the number of heat-related deaths in many parts, South-East Asia among them, will be far more than the number of cold-related deaths.
And then there’re negative effects of extreme weather events, which have the potential to kill thousands. Myles Allen, a climate modeler at the University of Oxford, has led research into whether specific weather events can be owed to broader climate trends (趋势). He used climate models to model the super typhoon with and without greenhouse gas emissions. The former accurately reproduced the actual events, in terms of the weather patterns (模式), wind speeds and so on. In 15 out of 16 times without industrial emissions, the storm was weaker.
The study shows human emissions are likely to increase wind speeds, which results in a storm move that is 20% higher than it might be in the absence of climate change. It is this move that proves particularly destructive, “It’s not true that without human influence this event could never have happened,” Dr Allen said. “But through this study you can see this impact.”
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To show the mass destruction of super typhoons. |
| B．To give an example of the extreme weather event. |
| C．To introduce discussion on such events and human emissions. |
| D．To warn people about possible results of climate change. |
| A．Studies on harm of climate change are needed. |
| B．Global warming will damage human rights. |
| C．Both high and low temperatures are dangerous. |
| D．Some areas are affected by global warming. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By analyzing examples. |
| C．By collecting data. | D．By analyzing causes and results. |
| A．The storm resulted from greenhouse gas emissions. |
| B．Human behavior increases the frequency of storms. |
| C．Wind speeds are determined by industrial emissions. |
| D．Human influence worsens extreme weather events. |
