1 . The 15-day Spring Festival is the biggest holiday of the year for many Chinese to leave from their jobs to travel home and see their loved ones. But along with gathering come a lot of traditions aimed at making sure the year ahead is lucky and happy.

Here are some key dos and don’ts that many Chinese follow before and after the Lunar New Year.

DOs
Set off fireworks

The more fireworks or firecrackers you set off, the better.

Not only do you light up the night sky with a symphony of color, but the loud banging sounds are thought to scare off evil spirits.

Eat dumplings

Eating dumplings is a popular tradition in northern China because dumplings not only taste good but also look like pieces of gold.

Clean your home

Sweep, mop, vacuum, steam-do anything and everything to make sure your home is clean before the midnight on Lunar New Year eve. The aim here is to free your home from any bad luck that’s accumulated over the past year.

DON’Ts
Wash or cut your hair

Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year.

The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosperity(发达).

This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away.

Clean post-New Year

Cleaning of any kind on the first day is strictly forbidden.

You clean your home to avoid any bad luck before the New Year - now you want to be sure not to wipe, sweep or wash away any of the good luck that arrives after midnight.

Buy books

It’s bad luck to buy them during the 15-day Spring Festival.

The Chinese word for "book" (shū) sounds exactly the same as the word for "lose’"-so buying a book is considered an invitation to bad luck.

Also, avoid giving books as gifts to anyone, because it’d be like wishing bad luck upon them.

1. Why is the Spring Festival the best time for many Chinese people according to the text?

A．They can enjoy a lor of delicious dishes.

B．They can get together with their family members.

C．It’s time for them to say good-bye to the past year.

D．The festival will bring them good luck and happiness.

2. You are expected to do the following on the first day of the New Year EXCEPT        .

A．setting off fireworks	B．enjoying tasty dumplings
C．cleaning your home	D．leaving your books untouched

3. In which section of a newspaper can we see the passage?

A．Advertisement.	B．Literature.
C．Culture.	D．Travel.

2 . Friendship is an important part of human life. Friends can share our joys and sadnesses. We aren't alone. Many different animals also make friends.

Recently, a British research team finished an eight-year study of Indo-Pacific dolphins off the coast of Western Australia. These dolphins can use different tools to search for food. The researchers found that these dolphins are more willing to hang out with partners that like the same tool. Other factors, like family closeness or sex, have no impact on this relationship. It suggests that dolphins form social bonds based on shared interests.

Apart from dolphins, elephants and horses are also known to form friendships. Are friendships only limited to the same species?

Of course not, The Atlantic reported. In 2015,Timur, a goat, was left in the enclosure（围场） of a tiger, Amur, as a meal. But instead of eating Timur, Amur liked to play with him and got angry when others were close to his friend. That's because in captivity(圈养）, animals don't need to spend much time and energy marking their land or looking for mates the way they would in the wild. They are actually more likely to feel bored.

More interestingly, animals not only make friends but also try to keep lasting friendships. Take bats for example. In 2011, scientists found bats often hang out with a few particular friends, keeping loose ties to the rest of their group. Humans are different. "We do not work, play and live together with the same friends all the time," Swiss zoologist Gerald Kerth explained. "But nevertheless, we are able to maintain long-term despite our often highly dynamic（充满活力的）social lives."

1. What do dolphins pay more attention to when making friends?

A．The same interests.	B．Family closeness.
C．Hunting behavior.	D．The special sounds.

2. How can we understand Amur's action?

A．Amur wants to show Timur his land.

B．Amur longs for animals to play with him.

C．Amur has more friends than other tigers.

D．Amur pretends to be friendly to eat Timur.

3. In terms of friendship, what is the difference between humans and bats?

A．Bats usually play with certain friends.

B．Humans keep their friendship longer.

C．Bats like to live together with friends.

D．Humans make friends in social activities.

4. How is the text mainly developed?

A．By listing data.	B．By taking examples.
C．By asking questions.	D．By giving advice.

3 . Teenagers who start the school day really early are likely to weigh slightly more than those who start later. That's the finding of a new study of nearly 30,000 Canadians between the ages of 10 and 18.

Getting too little sleep can put kids at risk for a number of problems. Sleepy teens are more likely to be overweight, to have trouble concentrating and to struggle in school. Genevieve Gariepy, who works at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, wanted to know how earlier school start times night be connected with weight.

"Overweight in teenagers is a big problem in North America," she says. The number of overweight kids has grown over the past 30 years. About one in three American and Canadian teens are now overweight. Kids who don't sleep enough may be at higher risk. So Gariepy decided to focus on the impact of school start times.

Her team collected start times for 362 Canadian schools. Then they asked students at those schools to give their height and weight. In all, they collected data from nearly 30,000 10-to 18-year-olds. Among 6th-to 10th-graders, those who started school earlier were likely to be slightly heavier for their height. Every 10-minute delay in school start time was connected, on average, with a slightly lower weight among students who were the same sex, age and height. However, the difference is slight. Healthy eating and getting enough exercise will play a bigger role in keeping a healthy weight.

Because the study compared kids who already started school at different times of day, it's not clear that changing school start time would help heavier kids lose weight. To know for sure, researchers would want to compare the same kids before and after changing to a later school start time.

Still, the study is a good start, says Cora Collette Bruener, a doctor at Seattle Children's Hospital in Washington. The findings add to a growing pile of evidence that later school start times might be better for teen health, she says.

1. What is the finding of the new study?

A．More and more teens are growing overweight.

B．Healthy diets and enough exercise help reduce weight.

C．Teens who start school earlier are a little overweight.

D．Teens who start school earlier do not perform well.

2. To keep a healthy weight, teenagers need______________.

A．much sleep	B．earlier school start time
C．less sleep	D．a balanced diet and enough exercise

3. How did Gariepy's team get their findings?

A．By recording the teens' weight.

B．By checking the teens' physical health.

C．By comparing different sets of data.

D．By measuring the teens' height.

4. What does Cora Collette Bruener think of the study?

A．It has inspiring value.	B．It lacks further support.
C．It needs improving	D．It is well designed.

4 . Online eating shows, or Mukbang(直播吃饭), originated in South Korea and have gained popularity globally.

Many hosts of such shows have become popular for their ability to eat large amounts of food. But these shows have also received criticism for their waste of food. While some hosts actually do consume the amount of food shown, others may be faking it.

On Aug 12, CCTV exposed several Chinese hosts who were pretending to eat large amounts of food while on camera, but actually later threw it away.

To discourage this practice, many video and livestreaming platforms, including Douyin, Kuaishow and Bilibili, have removed videos that show food waste, and have promoted messages to “stop food waste and eat reasonably.”

In June 2020, the United Nations warned that the world is on the verge of the worst food crisis in 50 years.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about a third of the world’s food-1.3 billion tons- is wasted every year. In China alone, 50 million tons of food ends up in landfills every year, according to Beijing News.

Recently, campaigns against food waste have been further promoted. In August, President Xi Jinping stressed the need for safeguarding food security and stopping food waste.

According to China Daily, restaurants and catering associations in more than 18 provinces and all 4 municipal cities have issued guidelines to control food waste.

In Shanxi province, local restaurants have been asked to serve half portions to avoid waste. The Wuhan Catering Association proposed that restaurants adopt the “N-1 mode”. For example, a group of 10 diners should only order enough for nine people first. More food is only brought to the table if required.

In addition, a nationwide “Clear Your Plate” campaign has been launched online. Users of Sina Weibo are encouraged to share photos or videos of empty plates after finishing their meals.

Meanwhile, new laws are also being considered, according to China daily. “We will make new laws that give clear instructions on avoiding food waste,” said Zhang Guilong from the legislative Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress. The instructions will be detailed in every year of food production, purchasing storage, transportation, processing and consumption, according to Zhang.

1. What is CCTV’s attitude toward online eating shows?

A．Supportive.

B．Critical.

C．Objective.

D．Unclear.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Most video media are contributing to stopping food waste.

B．We should eat up all the food on the table.

C．It’s hard to carry out "Clear Your Plate campaign.

D．All the videos that show food waste have been removed.

3. What can we do to avoid food waste?

A．We can adopt the “N+1 mode”.

B．We can eat more food than we need.

C．We can choose not to watch online eating shows.

D．We can ask the restaurants to serve us half portions.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Online eating shows should be banned.

B．New laws should be made to avoid food waste.

C．Measures are being taken to stop food waste.

D．We should share photos or videos of empty plates.

5 . Whenever I hear a recording of John Denver singing “Sunshine on My Shoulders”， I find myself smiling, drawn to a love of the sun and the outdoors I’ve had for years as a Michigan native. Walking barefoot to the lake, playing without shirts in the sunlight, and breathing fresh air feel good. As a doctor I can tell you they are also good for your heart.

Studies have found higher rates of high blood pressure among people with the lowest sun exposure. One reason may be due to nitric oxide (一氧化氮), a gas whose function is activated when your skin is exposed to the sun’s rays. It reduces both heart attack and stroke risks. Vitamin D, which sunlight helps your body produce, is also linked to better health. So walk outdoors for 15 to 30 minutes daily.

In Japan, walking through forests to keep healthy has become a popular practice. Apparently they want to enjoy the fresh air. But research on 280 volunteers found that people had a reduced heart rate, and lower blood pressure when they walked through a forest than when they spent time in an urban area.

One of the consequences of modern society is that rarely is our body in direct contact with the ground. The earth has an electrical current. Direct contact with it may be stabilizing force for good health. Although “earthing” or “grounding” is considered alternative by mainstream medicine, research shows that the practice seems to be able to reduce heart disease risks.

So, walk around barefoot wherever possible, let your backyard grass tickle your feet, and dig your toes into sandy beaches.

1. The first paragraph is meant to ________.

A．show the author likes the song very much

B．put forward the argument of the passage

C．suggest that the author loves nature crazily

D．indicate the author is a Michigan native

2. Sunbathing is good for heart because _______.

A．the sun’s rays make nitric oxide work

B．sunlight can help people keep warm

C．the sun’s rays can help replace vitamin D

D．vitamin D reduces blood circulation

3. It’s believed that walking through forests can ________.

A．make people popular	B．help breathe in fresh air
C．reduce blood pressure	D．help escape noisy cities

4. The best title of the passage should be ________.

A．Nitric Oxide Has Magic Functions

B．Walking Barefoot Builds the Body

C．Sunbathing is Good for Health

D．Outdoor Activities Benefit the Heart

6 . My name is Matthew. I'm not someone who has many secrets，because I'm a terrible liar. But there is one huge secret that I kept for years- -I failed my driving test. I had never failed a test before, and had never even come close. Driving made me anxious , but my parents told me I had to. They signed me up for driving lessons. I had gotten a perfect score for my written permit exam , but getting behind the wheel was a different story.

But when October 30th rolled around ,my pride set in. I wanted to be like everyone else at my school , showing off the brand new license they'd gotten. Looking back on that special day,I can't remember if I was nervous. What I do remember is starting the test , pausing at a stop sign after a few seconds , and being asked by the instructor to pull over. I had received an auto-fail since my pause was indeed a pause and not a real stop. I wasn't upset that I was leaving without a license, but I was scared everyone would know that I had failed. So when I got to class, I told everyone I didn't want to take the test on my birthday.

One Friday a month later, I went to the test spot again and passed. Later that night I drove for the first time by myself, which brought to me an amazing feeling I've never experienced——but sill, I couldn't imagine ever telling anyone the truth. So I didn't. It wasn't until midway through college that I came clean. It turned out plenty of my college friends had failed too! And I gathered enough courage to speak the fact out. Yes ,I had also failed.

Now I realize failure and imperfection are two things everyone has to experience , without which one couldn't make a true man.

1. What can we learn about Matthew?

A．He was a slow learner of driving.	B．He relied heavily on his parents.
C．He was afraid of taking exams.	D．He was bored with telling lies.

2. Why did the instructor ask Matthew to pull over?

A．To put an end to his lest.	B．To check his parking skills.
C．To give him a second chance,	D．To show him a better way of driving.

3. W hat made Matthew feel extremely worried after his first attempt?

A．Failing to get a driving license.	B．Missing his birthday celebration.
C．Making his parents disappointed.	D．Losing face before his classmates.

4. W hat did Matthew learn from his own experience?

A．Honesty is the best policy.	B．Failure is a way to grow up.
C．Truth stands the test of time.	D．Imperfection is another form of perfection.

7 . Cruz Genet, 11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn’t agree. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? So on a cold January evening last year, the two friends ventured (冒险) onto the frozen pond near their homes in Frankfort, Illinois, to get a better look. First, they threw a rock onto the ice to test it, Cruz told NBC 5 Chicago. “Then we stepped on it.” Convinced the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, but then he fell through the seemingly frozen surface.

Cruz rushed to help his panicked friend. However, the pond swallowed him, too. Cruz managed to lift himself out of the extremely cold water and onto a more solid section. He then gingerly worked his way toward Anthony. But the ice didn’t hold, and he fell in again. This ime, he couldn’t get out.

The boys were up to their necks in icy water and quickly losing feeling. Any chance of their freeing themselves was slipping away. Cruz was sure that he was going to die.

Anthony’s older sister had seen the boys fall through the ice and started screaming, wishing someone to save them.

John Lavin, a neighbor driving nearby on his way to the grocery store, heard her. He quickly pulled over. Seeing the boys, he grabbed (抓住) a nearby buoy (救生圈), kicked off his shoes, and ran into the cold water, struggling his way through the ice. Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and pulled them back to land.

The boys were taken to the hospital, where doctors discovered that their five- minute stay in the water had lowered their body temperature nearly ten degrees. Fortunately, they have fully recovered, though they are still a little amazed by their fearless neighbor. “Just to think,” says Cruz, “if he hadn’t been there, I could have died.”

1. Why did the boys venture onto the frozen pond?

A．To have a better look at the frozen pond.

B．To catch the birds in the pond with rocks.

C．To find out what the birds on the ice were.

D．To test the thickness of the ice in the pond.

2. What does the underlined word “gingerly” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Casually.	B．Proudly.
C．Firmly.	D．Cautiously.

3. What drew John Lavin’s attention to the boys?

A．Anthony’s older sister’s cry for help.	B．Cruz’s loud and frightening scream.
C．Their shoes along the nearby pond.	D．Their neighbors’ pulling them back.

4. Which of the following words can best describe John Lavin?

A．Hard-working and helpful.	B．Warm-hearted and courageous.
C．Curious and selfless.	D．Active and generous.

8 . It is quite natural for all of us to want to preserve and protect the foods we purchase. With that in mind,   we often think that the best way to do that is by putting them in our refrigerators. However, that is not always the case.

Bread

Nothing dries out bread faster than your refrigerator. In the event that you have made sandwiches with the bread, then you can place them in the fridge. The cold temperature will make the bread tough and chewy.

Tomato

We all love tomatoes for their taste. But putting them in the refrigerator will cause them to lose all of their flavor (口味). Plus, the cold air in the cooler stops the ripening process as well. And as we all know, ripening is what gives every tomato more taste and flavor. For best results, keep tomatoes out, and inside a basket or a bowl on your counter.

Salad

Oil or vinegar based salad can be stored for a long period of time without refrigeration. Moreover, refrigeration of salad dressings brings bad smell. Keep in mind that some salads that are mayo (蛋黄酱) or yogurt based should be refrigerated in order to keep them fine. So if you have some salads that have been already dressed, you can keep them away from your fridge without any hesitation.

Egg

It is a long debate whether you should keep eggs inside your refrigerator or not. One study suggests that keeping eggs whether in a refrigerator or not does not change their normal qualities, so it can be said that if you keep eggs at room temperature, there should not be any problem. There is another study that shows that keeping eggs inside the refrigerators has a bad effect on the natural taste and flavor of eggs, so it is wise to keep eggs outside of your fridge.

1. Which of the following lose(s) water quickest in the cooler?

A．Bread	B．Tomatoes.
C．Salad.	D．Eggs.

2. What should we do with tomatoes to get the best taste?

A．Put them in the cooler.	B．Cook them at once.
C．Make them ripen faster.	D．Leave them in the shade.

3. What will go bad easily without refrigeration?

A．Dressed salad.	B．Mayo and yogurt.
C．Oil and vinegar.	D．Salad dressings.

9 . When you’re sitting in class or behind your desk waiting for the clock to strike a time when you can go home, it is natural that your mind should wander (走神) a bit. It is common for your mind to wander to a vacation and even travel around the world. What if there is a way that you can travel around the world without having to pay any money?

A person that managed to make it around the world without spending much was Shantanu Starick. How did he trade off his service? Starick realized that as a photographer he had a service that people would usually be willing to pay money for, but he would instead offer his photography service to anyone who could provide him with food, shelter (住处) and transportation. Starick has been traveling for a surprising 30 months and has visited countries ranging from the United States to Ecuador.

In English-speaking countries, trading off services and communicating aren’t difficult for Starick. However, in farther areas where there isn’t an English- speaking person in sight it can be quite difficult. More than anything, the locals appreciate (欣赏) the effort behind trying to speak their language, even if you don’t exactly sound like a native speaker.

You can do it too!

Honestly, with a bit of confidence, drive and a skill you can trade, you’ll be able to do exactly the same as Starick.

Start thinking about what you can do to get around the world without paying money. With our social networks and the connectivity our world has, you can easily connect with and market yourself to people across the world without any effort.

1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.

B．To describe students in class.

C．To give an example for the text.

D．To show people’s state of mind.

2. What does the underlined phrase “trade off” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Join.	B．Exchange.
C．Stop.	D．Improve.

3. In the locals’ opinion, what is the key to travelers in non-English-speaking countries?

A．The skills.

B．The confidence to succeed.

C．The bravery to travel.

D．The effort to speak the local language.

4. What do we know about Shantanu Starick?

A．His job is only traveling around the world.

B．He is too poor to afford the travels.

C．He has a skill to travel without paying much money.

D．He doesn’t hear of other languages except English.

10 . Who is smarter? A human being or artificial intelligence(人工智能)?

The question swept the world when a Google－developed program called AlphaGo defeated the world top player，South Korean Lee Se－del，4－1.

So，what comes next?

Some people have been arguing that artificial intelligence，or AI in short，will be a bad thing for humans. In an interview with the BBC in 2014，UK scientist Stephen Hawking warned that “the development of full artificial intelligence could mean the end of the human race.”

So are we really about to live in the world shown in the Terminator movies?

“Not quite，” answered The Economist. After all，it's not hard to get a computer program to remember and produce facts. What is hard is getting computers to use their knowledge in everyday situations.

“We think that，for the human being，things like sight and balance(视觉平衡)，are natural and ordinary in our life.” Thomas Edison，founder of Motion Figures，a company that is bringing AI to boys，told the newspaper. “But for a robot，to walk up and down just like human beings requires various decisions to be made every second，and it's really difficult to do.”

As The Economist put it，“We have a long way to go before AI can truly begin to be similar to the human brain，even though the technology can be great.”

Meanwhile，John Markoff of The New York Times said that researchers should build artificial intelligence to make people more effective.

“Our_fate_is_in_our_own_hands，” he wrote.“Since technology depends on the values of its creators，we can make human choices that use technology to improve the world.”

1. What was the result of the match?

A．Lee Se－del won AlphaGo 4－1.	B．Lee Se－del was defeated.
C．Google program beat AlphaGo.	D．Neither side won the match.

2. What does Thomas Edison possibly mean in his remarks?

A．It's very hard for AI to beat the human brain.

B．AI would take the place of human beings.

C．AI can make various decisions quickly.

D．AI does better than humans in sight and balance.

3. Who believes much has to be done to improve AI?

A．Stephen Hawking.	B．John Markoff.
C．The New York Times.	D．The Economist.

4. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph imply?

A．AI will improve the world completely.

B．AI is in the control of human beings.

C．AI may bring disasters to human beings.

D．AI will make our future out of control.