1 . Children's Books That Teach Empathy and Kindness
Little Blue Truck
By Alice Schertle
Little ones are introduced to Blue, a little pickup truck that gets stuck pushing a dump truck out of the mud in this board book. Thankfully, Blue made a group of animal friends along the way that are happy to do whatever they can to help him get back on the road. The main themes are kindness and the benefits of helping others.
Most People
By Michael Leannah
The book is an amazing lesson for kids that want to do good in the world and that there are plenty of good people out there. Told in the third person, the book tells the story of two pairs of siblings (兄弟姐妹) and the people they meet.
If You Plant a Seed
By Kadir Nelson
A mouse and a rabbit teach children how to plant and grow food, while also passing along some valuable lessons. After learning that a carrot seed will grow a carrot, and a cabbage seed will result in a cabbage, children also learn the value of thoughtfulness and how a seed of kindness can bear sweet fruit.
Save Me a Seat
By Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Joe lived in the same town all his life and felt perfectly pleased until his best friend moved away. Ravi's family recently moved from India to the US and he's struggling to find where he belongs. Even though Joe and Ravi at first believe that they don't have much in common, they both realize they have a common enemy-the biggest bully (仗势欺人者) in their class. Save Me a Seat is a story about the true meaning of friendship and understanding.
1. What can children get from reading Little Blue Truck?| A．Happiness of helping others. | B．Importance of protecting animals. |
| C．Ways of dealing with trouble in mud. | D．Being friendly to strangers around you. |
| A．Little Blue Truck. | B．Most People. |
| C．If You Plant a Seed. | D．Save Me a Seat. |
| A．Joe was regarded as a bully by Ravi. | B．Ravi was used to living in India soon. |
| C．Ravi and Joe had nothing in common. | D．Ravi and Joe became friends at last. |
2 . Beijing Opera, as one of Chinese traditional opera forms, is regarded as the national opera of China and well received all over the world.
Beijing Opera arose in the late 18th century with a history of more than 200 years whose origin can date back to some old local operas, especially the Anhui Opera. It became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. Now it's the biggest kind of opera in China, whose popularity spread all over the country, becoming the most popular dramatic (戏剧的) form on Chinese stage.
There are four basic methods employed in a Beijing Opera performance: chang, nian, zuo, da. Generally speaking, chang means singing, and nian recitation (背诵) and oral communication, while zuo means the facial and body expressions and acting and da is Chinese Kungfu. Beijing Opera also has four main types of performers namely Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. Sheng and Dan mean the main roles in the opera. The painted face, in Chinese called 'jing', is a name for the role of the man that has some special characteristic or appearance. Chou is easily understood from the role's name as a clown with an ugly appearance, who is to provide light relief and comedy.
In recent years, Beijing Opera has tried to make some changes, including improving the performance quality. Widely spreading all over China with great influence, Beijing Opera contains the spirit of Chinese national culture, but the shortage of funding has become a big problem as the form enters the 21st century. There is no doubt that it is a treasure of Chinese culture!
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us?| A．The history of Beijing Opera. |
| B．The great influence Beijing Opera has on us. |
| C．Beijing Opera is popular in China. |
| D．The relationship between the Anhui Opera and Beijing Opera. |
| A．Chang | B．Nian | C．Zuo | D．Da |
| A．Sheng | B．Dan | C．Jing | D．Chou |
| A．Very bright. | B．Certainly dark. |
| C．More popular. | D．Much uncertain. |
3 . The terraced rapeseed(油菜)flower hills of Jiangling, Wuyuan is well-known as one of the four “seas of flowers” in China, attracting thousands of plant-loving tourists to come and appreciate and photograph the vast and endless rapeseed flower fields.
“Rapeseed flowers are the messenger of spring,” said Bin Zhan, manager of Jiangxi Wuyuan Tourism, “Jiangling is the best place for a relaxing spring trip to enjoy the most visually impressive views of golden seas of rapeseed blossoms covering layered terrace fields”.
The rapeseed blossom in the terraced fields of Jiangling, located 45 kilometres to the northeast of Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province, reached full bloom in the second week of March.
This year. Wuyuan restores ancient farming traditions and practices to give visitors an idea or the history ，culture and folk customs of the county by adding scarecrows(稻草人) in the rapeseed flower fields. The creative scarecrows of Wuyuan County are designed in the shapes of popular cartoon characters, Hui-style architecture and folk customs. They are placed in the rapeseed fields to provide more fun and interactions for visitors on flower viewing tours.
“As flower viewing is becoming more popular in recent years, Jiangling is seeing a growing number of returning visitors, especially professional photograph who come back every year for the dramatic rapeseed blossoms,” Zhan said. “The blossoms only last one to two months. April is the last chance to catch a flower-viewing tour this year.”
In addition to flower viewing, Wuyuan County is also home to the most well-protected ancient Hui-style architecture in China. As one of the most beautiful countryside villages in China, it attracts photographers from around the world every year to document not only the natural scenery, but also the unique farming culture and folk traditions.
1. Which is NOT one of the features of the rapeseed blossoms of Jiangling？| A．The rapeseed fields cover a limited area. |
| B．The rapeseed is planted on layered terraces. |
| C．Rapeseed flowers blossom, at the beginning of spring. |
| D．When the flowers blossom, the fields are like a golden sea. |
| A．Folk customs. | B．Hui-style buildings. |
| C．Creative scarecrows. | D．Models of popular cartoon characters. |
| A．Returning visitors get discount when entering Jiangling. |
| B．Visitors could catch the last flower viewing tour in May. |
| C．It is in March and April that Jiangling has the most visitors. |
| D．Not many professional photographers will go to see the blossoms. |
| A．To introduce Wuyuan County as a tourist destination. |
| B．To report how many people visited Jiangling this year. |
| C．To introduce the history of rapeseed farming in Jiangling. |
| D．To remind visitors the best viewing time for rapeseed blossoms. |
4 . I love snakes. My mom definitely does not. When she was a kid, snakes used to hide in warm spots under the furniture. So she grew up afraid she’d step on a snake. I grew up hoping I’d see one... outside! Lots of people who are afraid of snakes have never even seen one. So where does our fear come from?
Scientists wonder about this too. Their experiments with adults, kids, and even babies show that it’s complicated. People may not be born afraid of snakes, but we are born able to see them quickly. In tests with pictures, people picked out snakes faster than they could find flowers, frogs, and caterpillars. It wasn’t just snakes, though. People also found spiders and angry faces faster than “safe” things like flowers. It seems like we find things that might be dangerous to us faster than things that aren’t
People also learn to fear snakes faster than we learn to fear many other things. We take our hints from other people’s scared voices and faces. Some scientists think we’ve evolved this way—faster to see snakes and faster to learn to fear them. After all, if we had to be bitten by a snake to learn that it’s dangerous, we might learn our lesson too late.
So why does it matter if we’re afraid of snakes? It may not matter much to us, but it matters to snakes. People protect animals they like, not animals they fear. Snakes may not be as cute as dolphins, but they’re just as important to the environment. Snakes eat insects that are pests to humans. Snakes are also food for other animals, so when we kill snakes, we’re hurting other creatures too.
How do we get past our fears to give snakes a chance? Scientists did a study recently where students of your age went on a field trip, Guides helped them find and capture snakes in the forest. Everyone could safely touch and hold a snake. It turns out that snakes aren’t so bad when you get to know them. Most people who were afraid of snakes before the field trip weren’t afraid afterward. In fact, snakes even became some students’ favorite animal. Hmm, maybe I should take my mom on the next field trip.
Remember：Always respect snakes, whether you’re afraid of them or not.
1. We learn from Paragraph 1 that her mom’s fear of snakes is______.| A．unreasonable | B．questionable | C．acceptable | D．incredible |
| A．school education | B．others’ influence |
| C．self-experience | D．scientific researches |
| A．Paragraph 2. | B．Paragraph 3. |
| C．Paragraph 4. | D．Paragraph 5. |
| A．Snakes are not dangerous at all. |
| B．People’s fear matters little to snakes. |
| C．Snakes are well protected by humans. |
| D．People should make peace with snakes. |
5 . Alexa is Amazon’s cloud-based voice service available on hundreds of millions of devices from Amazon and third-party device manufacturers. With Alexa, you can build natural voice experiences that offer customers a way to interact with the technology they use every day.
Alexa is always eavesdropping (窃听). (So are Siri, Google Assistant, and any other virtual assistant you invite into your home.) This is and isn’t as horrible as it sounds. Although it’s true that the device can hear everything you say within range of its microphones, it is listening for its wake word before it starts recording.Once it hears that —“Alexa” is the default (默认), but there are other options — everything in the following few seconds is considered to be a command or a request and is sent to (and stored on) servers in the cloud, where the correct response is triggered. Think of a smart speaker like a dog: It’s always listening, but it understands only “cookie,” “walk,” or “Buddy.” Everything else goes right over its head.
Every time Alexa hears a command, Amazon — its parent company — has just learned something about you. Maybe the company learned only that you like to listen to the Police, or that you like funny jokes, or that you turn your lights off at 11 p.m. every night. If you were to say “Alexa, where should I bury the body?” you’re not going to have the police showing up at your door. (I know because I’ve tried it.)
Alexa does make mistakes.Sometimes this can be funny, such as when Alexa hears its wake word in a TV show.Other times it’s more serious, including an instance in 2018 when Alexa mistakenly sent an entire private conversation to a random person’s Echo device. Occasionally there are even humans listening to your request for weather reports or trying to figure out what you meant when you added “mangosteens” to your shopping list. Sound disturbing? You likely already agreed to it in the app’s terms of use when you installed the device.
What bits of privacy are you willing to sacrifice for the convenience provided by a smart speaker? If you trust that Amazon’s intentions are no more immoral than getting a better idea of what you want to buy on Prime Day, then you have your answer. If you worry about your private information falling into the hands of the wrong people, then you have another answer.
1. Why does the author compare smart speakers to dogs?| A．To show smart speakers are life companions like dogs. |
| B．To show smart speakers are sensitive to users’ commands. |
| C．To show smart speakers are woken by specific words. |
| D．To show wake words for smart speakers are different. |
| A．The tech company knows less than users imagine. |
| B．The tech company is spying on users’ everyday life.. |
| C．The tech company turns a blind eye to some crimes. |
| D．The tech company is interested in users’ music taste. |
| A．All-round. |
| B．Imperfect. |
| C．Funny. |
| D．Immoral. |
| A．It is a matter of opinion. |
| B．Privacy is a high price to pay. |
| C．It is part and parcel of life. |
| D．Convenience always comes first. |
6 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
7 . Twenty-five years ago, most young Britons wanted a career in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.
According to a survey by Tesco Mobile, a UK company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger, or “vlogger” (视频博主). The survey, carried out among 1,002 people, found that as much as 40 percent of them put vlogger as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers.
This change is undoubtedly as a result of the Internet and social media. They have made it so much easier to reach audience of the world, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.
In the past, the biggest stars were trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become a star. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting with their fans about everyday life.
However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they fail to notice the fact that only those who are successful earn fame and fortune. For every success there are hundreds of others who never get off the starting line. There are the dreams that come true and the dreams that remain dreams forever.
Although being vloggers is popular, some young people choose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the Internet to share their hobbies. Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club. It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races. His job allows him to express his enthusiasm, and is always a learning experience. And that's enough for him.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Most young Britons choose to be vloggers as their job. |
| B．The Internet is influencing young Britons’career choice. |
| C．The Internet is taking the place of traditional studios. |
| D．Young Britons can not find jobs without the Internet. |
| A．Vloggers can earn greater fame and more money on the Internet. |
| B．There is too much competition in the traditional show business. |
| C．The Internet makes it convenient to enter show business. |
| D．Anyone with a computer will surely become a star. |
| A．Only a few vloggers can be famous and wealthy. |
| B．A vlogger can not earn fame and fortune. |
| C．People often see the bright side of being a vlogger. |
| D．Dreams will always remain dreams. |
| A．Learn from others. | B．Become an online hit. |
| C．Hold running races. | D．Combine jobs with hobbies. |
8 . When Rachel Ratelle saw a news video of a burned koala trying to climb a tree to safety in fire-ravaged（火灾肆虐的）Australia, she decided to do something about it.
She looked up wildlife rescue and relief agencies in Australia to find out what they needed most. Besides donations, many organizations asked for hand-sewn and knitted pouches（袋子）and wraps for koalas and other animals that were burned or had lost their homes and parents in the fires.
This idea attracted Ratelle, but there was just one problem.
"I'd never sewn in my life," said Ratelle, 17, a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, US. "Giving money seemed like something too simple. But I wanted to directly help these animals by doing something myself, so I decided to learn how to sew."
Over the next few months, Ratelle bought her own sewing machine and taught herself how to sew via videos online. Then she bought 18 yards of fabric and sewed 25 pouches of different sizes and shipped them off to Fir Australian Wildlife Needing Aid (FAWNA), one of several relief organizations that have rushed to rescue koalas, kangaroos and other species suffering from bums. A week later, she received a photo from FAWNA with a baby kangaroo in one of her larger pouches. "It made me feel like I contributed to the world and it showed how a simple act of kindness can go a long way," said Ratelle, who hopes to study biology for a future career as a nurse practitioner.
"I plan to use my new sewing skills to help animals and people devastated by natural disaster," she said.
Several craft union websites around the world have called for Australian relief by making the animal pouches. Karen Newberry and her two daughters Madison, 12 and Rochelle, 8, from San Diego also offered their help in such a way. For Newberry, "It was a big push that made us crafters, sewers realize there's something more we can do than just make things for ourselves," she said.
1. What do the first two paragraphs mainly talk about?| A．What inspired Ratelle to learn to sew. |
| B．What is needed to save koalas and other species. |
| C．The poor living conditions of wild animals in Australia. |
| D．Different ways to help koalas and other animals in Australia. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Calm. | C．Proud. | D．Moved. |
| A．Ruined | B．Challenged | C．Reduced | D．Abandoned |
| A．People should stay united through difficult times. |
| B．Life is not easy for crafters and sewers in Australia. |
| C．It is challenging for crafters and sewers to do relief work. |
| D．Crafters and sewers can do more to help animals. |
9 . Moonlight Rainbow Fountain
Location: South Korea
The Moonlight Rainbow Fountain is the world's longest bridge fountain. In order to be eco-friendly, it repeatedly gets water from the Han River below. When water comes out with music, 10, 000 LED lights switch on, and a rainbow effect appears.
The Giant
Location: Austria
The Giant is designed by Austrian artist Andre Heller. It has a huge face with bright eyes and a watering mouth. The outside is covered with green grass. Its inside has a wonderful structure(结构).
Metalmorphosis
Location: USA
It is a fountain, a sculpture and also a performing work of art. The high- tech artistic work attracts people from all over the world. The fountain is made of more than 20 stainless steel plates(不锈钢板). They can form a huge head when turned to a certain angle. Whenever the head appears, it shoots water.
Nacka Fountain
Location: Sweden
Nacka Fountain is designed as a peace monument(纪念碑) for the founding of the United Nations. The main structure of Nacka Fountain is made of bronze. There are two sculptures on it. The fountain shoots water into the sea.
71 Fountain
Location: USA
The great fountain is on Highway 71 in Ohio. It looks like a huge wheel surrounded by a green environment. The major part is a huge ring.
1. Which fountain is built on a bridge?| A．The Giant. | B．71 Fountain. |
| C．Nacka Fountain. | D．Moonlight Rainbow Fountain. |
| A．They sit in America. | B．They are made of bronze. |
| C．They appear as a big head. | D．They are designed by the same artist. |
| A．It is in honor of peace. | B．It is surrounded by sea. |
| C．It is environment-friendly. | D．It is named after a highway. |
10 . I am a mother of three children and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was social study. The last class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
Soon after we were given the project, my husband, my youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one cold March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back way. I turned around and found there standing behind me were two poor homeless men with a horrible “dirty body” smell. The short gentleman, close to me, was “smiling”. His beautiful sky-blue eyes were full of light as he searched for acceptance. The second man played with his hands uneasily as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation(救赎). The short man just asked for a coffee because that was all they could afford.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray(餐盘).I then walked around the corner to the men’s table. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said “Thank you”.
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down, my husband smiled at me and said, “That’s why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.”
On the last evening of class, I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and we all knew that we need to heal people and to be healed.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE. “LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS--NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.”
1. Why did the people around the author back away?| A．Because the second man stood playing with his hands. |
| B．Because the two homeless men were also waiting in line, with a bad smell. |
| C．Because the short gentleman was smiling to everyone around. |
| D．Because both men were poorly dressed and mentally ill. |
| A．regretted and cried | B．turned in her project |
| C．went back to her husband and son | D．talked with them for a while |
| A．Lovely. | B．Mature. |
| C．Over-curious. | D．Caring. |
| A．Poor as the homeless men were, they had their dignity. |
| B．The author felt we should know how to heal people. |
| C．The author’s husband was very proud of her. |
| D．What the author did to the men touched many people. |
