1 . While some customs like setting off fireworks and counting down the last few seconds seem universal, many countries have their own unique New Year’s Eve traditions.
Denmark: Break plates
A Danish tradition is to throw plates and dishes against friend’s and neighbor’s front doors. It’s a bit of a popularity contest as the bigger the pile of broken china is the next morning, the more friends and good luck you’ll have in the coming year.
Germany: Pouring lead
In Germany, people melt small pieces of lead in a spoon over a candle, then pour the liquid into cold water. The shapes from the lead pouring are supposed to reveal what the year ahead will bring. If the lead forms a ball, luck will roll one’s way, while the shape of a crown means wealth; a cross means death and a star will bring happiness.
Spain: Twelve grapes of luck
In Spain, one New Year’s tradition is to eat 12 grapes, one for each month of the coming year, to secure prosperity (繁荣). You need to eat one grape with each bell strike at midnight. The tradition dates from 1909 when farmers in Alicante came up with this idea to sell more grapes after an exceptional harvest.
Philippines: Round food, round clothes, round everything
In the Philippines, the start of the new year is all about the money. The locals believe that surrounding themselves with round things (to represent coins) will bring money or fortune. As a result, clothes with dots are worn and round food is eaten.
1. What is believed to bring good luck for the coming new year in Denmark?| A．A red candle. | B．Round food. | C．Broken china. | D．A lead cross. |
| A．A way to make coins. | B．An act to keep power. |
| C．A desire to be popular. | D．An idea to gain profit. |
| A．Fashion. | B．Travel. | C．Culture. | D．Entertainment. |
2 . If you live near a park, you’ve probably observed this unique squirrel behavior. As winter approaches, these creatures begin what looks like preparation for a wide scavenger（觅食）hunt. In great numbers, these squirrels begin to bury nuts! This kind of behavior raises a lot of questions for squirrel enthusiasts—the most pressing being how the squirrels find their nuts again. Eastern gray squirrels, in particular, bury their nuts far and wide. Scientists themselves aren’t even quite sure of everything that goes into this hiding behavior, but they have some ideas.
For one, scientists have observed gray squirrels frequently burying and reburying their nuts. The scientists assumed that this behavior was to help always keep a fresh memory of the nuts! locations. However, it’s not only memory that the squirrels need to combat（战斗）in order to find their nuts! The gray squirrel community is rampant(猖獗的)with nut stealing. The squirrels can lose up to 25% of their hidden nuts to such thieves! Luckily, the squirrels have developed some clever methods to protect their nuts. Scientists have observed the squirrels creating false caches（储藏）in order to trick thieves. If the squirrels are worried about thieves, they will also start to hide their nuts in difficult-to-reach places（like under bushes or in muddy areas）.
While it might be frustrating for squirrels to lose their carefully hidden nuts, it can be beneficial for other organisms. In particular, it can help the forest itself! A study done at the University of Richmond reports that squirrels fail to recover up to 74% of the nuts they bury. This misplacing of so many acorns (the seeds of oak trees), the study says, is likely responsible for oak forest regeneration. When squirrels misplace these buried acorns, they allow for these seeds to eventually grow into full oak trees! The squirrels’ habit of widespread caching is also important to the growth of the forest, as it allows the genetic（基因的）information to spread far.
What seemed like a harmless scavenger hunt is actually part of an endless complex ecosystem in our forests!
1. In what aspect do squirrels puzzle people most?| A．The way they search for food. | B．The places they hide in winter. |
| C．The location of their hidden food. | D．The way they recover hidden nuts |
| A．They often fight with each other for food. |
| B．They tend to feel more secure in bushy places. |
| C．They are cautious about storing food for winter. |
| D．They survive largely thanks to their team spirit. |
| A．Squirrels can starve due to lack of food. |
| B．It can be beneficial that squirrels lose their nuts. |
| C．It’s easy to get squirrels’ genetic information. |
| D．Squirrels always misplace their nuts deliberately. |
| A．Why do squirrels steal nuts? |
| B．How do squirrels survive the winter? |
| C．The secrets behind squirrels’ burying nuts. |
| D．The ecosystem in the forest. |
3 . Jakarta, Indonesia (AP)—When a garbage collector came to Ghina Ghaliya’s house in the Indonesian capital and asked if she had an old mobile phone that his children could use to access the Internet, it sparked (引发) an idea for a broader campaign to help students stuck at home by COVID-19.
“He said it does not matter if it is an ugly one, as long as his children can use it for learning from home,” said Ghaliya, a journalist at a national newspaper.
Shortly after COVID-19 hit Indonesia, Ghaliya and 11 other journalists in Jakarta organized a group to provide food and money for people in need. They stared hearing from parents who wanted their children to be able to study online but lacked a way to access the Internet.
Ghaliya and the other journalists decided to shift（转移）their focus to providing mobile phones for underprivileged students, many of whom were still not allowed to do face-to-face learning when the new school year started in July.
They announced their campaign through social media and the response was strong, with some people donating(捐赠)second-hand units and others giving cash. So far, nearly 300 phones have been distributed to Indonesian students around Jakarta as well as to remote regions like Papua, the country’s most eastern province.
Khaissyah Levi, 16, is a high school student in Depok, who attends online classes in the morning. His father Deny Sayuti had been lending his mobile phone to him for his studies, but that meant Sayuti could only do his work as a motorcycle taxi driver for part of the day, missing out on peak times like the morning rush hour.
Sayuti worte to Ghaliya’s group in August, and his family received a mobile phone a month later. Sayuti believes that his son can now do better with his online studies. “Now I see him more comfortable, and he can directly reach out to his friends and teacher,” Sayuti said.
1. Why did the garbage collector ask Ghaliya for a mobile phone?| A．To play online games. | B．To send a text message. |
| C．To call police for help. | D．To help his son study online. |
| A．Dependent. | B．Desperate. |
| C．Unfortunate. | D．Unhealthy. |
| A．People reacted coldly to Ghaliya’s campaign. |
| B．Papua is a less developed district in Indonesia. |
| C．Ghaliya’s group advertised a mobile phone brand. |
| D．Social media was not accepted by the Indonesians. |
| A．He depends on it for online learning. |
| B．It helps him much in making a living. |
| C．He contacts his son at school with it. |
| D．It guides him when traveling abroad. |
4 . One of the most important creations of science is the invention of the lighthouses. Lighthouses help in a number of activities such as marking of the dangerous coastlines and directing safe entries to the harbours. The following are some famous lighthouses.
The Jeddah Light
It is located in Saudi Arabia. This lighthouse has been constructed very beautifully and adorns a beautiful structure. The Jeddah Light was built in 1990. This lighthouse is considered as the tallest of the world reaching a fine height of around 436 feet.
The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse
It is addressed as the “lighthouse at the end of the world”. The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse is located on a small island east of Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world. This lighthouse was built in 1920 and today it has become a very famous tourist attraction in Argentina. However, visits to this lighthouse can be made only by boat.
The Peggys Point Lighthouse
Lit in 1915, it is an icon and a popular monument of Canada. The Peggys Point Lighthouse has become a major tourist sight and is considered as one of the busiest attractions in the area of Nova Scotia. This lighthouse also fetches you a wonderful scenic drive and visiting here, you can indulge yourself in the beauty of nature.
The Slettnes Lighthouse
It is the northernmost lighthouse that is located on the mainland of Europe and is considered as one of the most famous lighthouses of the world. This lighthouse is mostly considered as the North Cape Light and is the top lighthouse of Europe. The Slettnes Lighthouse firstly began to light in 1905. Though it was highly damaged during the World War Ⅱ by the Germans, yet it was restored and lit again. This lighthouse is very classic as to its looks.
1. Which lighthouse is only accessible by sea?| A．The Peggys Point Lighthouse. | B．The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. |
| C．The Jeddah Light. | D．The Slettnes Lighthouse. |
| A．The lighthouse has a very classic appearance. | B．It was lit again after the restoration in 1905. |
| C．It is the best-known lighthouse in the world. | D．Visiting the lighthouse draws you close to nature. |
| A．A scientific journal. | B．A history textbook. | C．A travel magazine. | D．A design handbook. |
5 . Access to green spaces has been found to have many benefits for both physical and mental health and wellbeing. As is reported recently, nearby green areas have been shown to improve children’s respiratory（呼吸的）health and greatly improve the quality of life in large cities.
Researchers from the University of Illinois College conducted a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology to examine any potential（潜在的）links between greenness and academic achievement for schools with mostly low income students. Therefore, 318 public elementary schools in Chicago were included in the study.
“The goal was to see if the greenness-academic achievement relationship holds for poor, urban schools because that’s where it matters,” said Ming Kuo, the leader of the research. “That’s where educators and policymakers are desperately trying to find ways to help kids reach their potential.”
High-resolution aerial imagery technology was used to quantify（量化）tree and grass cover for each School. The researchers then compared greenness to the academic performance for the schools using standardized test scores for math and reading.
The researchers found that tree cover was a reliable predictor of academic performance, both for reading and math. The more trees there were, the better the standardized test scores were. Other things like the number of students in each classroom, gender ratios（性别比），and the number of bilingual（双语的）students had no influence on test scores or academic performance.
The results showed that having trees outside of a school affected academic performance and that schools considered the most disadvantaged had half the number of trees as the least disadvantaged schools. While the study does not prove any cause and effect between tree cover and academic performance, it does suggest that simply planting more trees in schoolyards across disadvantaged districts may improve academic performance.
“Early math skills are one of the best predictors of later success, not just in math, but in school,” said Kuo. “So what we have here is a very exciting clue that maybe simply greening—planting trees in schoolyards—could potentially have a significant effect on math achievement and school success down the line for these kids.”
1. Why were the schools in Chicago chosen for the study?| A．They were mostly located in remote areas. |
| B．Their students had no access to green spaces. |
| C．They had students with physical or mental problems. |
| D．The majority of their students were from poor families. |
| A．The area of green spaces. | B．Their math skills. |
| C．Their native language. | D．The size of the class. |
| A．It’s urgent to reduce the number of students in a class. |
| B．It’s unwise to connect greenness with academic success. |
| C．Kids with better math scores enjoy greater success at school. |
| D．Schools in Chicago should increase their green cover by half. |
| A．Many factors can affect students’ test scores. |
| B．Trees help improve students’ school performance. |
| C．More greenness at school benefits children’s health. |
| D．It’s possible to predict students’ success in later life. |
6 . One of the most recognizable symbols of Scotland is the kilt (百褶裙). Resembling knee-length skirts, kilts originated in the 16th century as a common form of clothing for men and boys living in an area of northern Scotland known as the Scottish Highlands. A special feature of kilts, even to this day, is the plaid (格子呢) patterns. These patterns were historically related to specific clans, which are family groups that share a relationship through ancestry or some other connections. Known as tartans (方格花纹), the plaid patterns are of various colors. Because of their popularity in the Scottish Highlands, the wearing of kilts and any tartan pattern in general was banned from 1746 to 1782 to try to control clans from that region that were opposed to the king at the time. After clans were no longer considered a threat to the king, the clothing ban was removed.
Although the removal of the ban meant people could once again wear kilts with their clan’s tartan, they did not become the regular dress of males there. Instead, they came to represent a traditional form of clothing, and be symbolic of national pride. Tartans of all types can be seen on show all over the world on April 6, Tartan Day, when people of Scottish ancestry celebrate their cultural treasure. Tartan Day originated in Canada in the mid-1980s. It spread to other communities of the Scottish diaspora in the 1990s.
Nowadays, tartans have been specifically created for individuals, families, institutions, and companies. Perhaps the best-known example of a tartan used by a company is that of the British company Burberry. Burberry has used tartans on a variety of products, including scarves, handbags, clothing, and other accessories. Although in 2019, Burberry announced it would reduce the number of products it produced to focus more on handbags as a way to increase profits, their iconic tartan continues to be a symbol of high fashion.
1. In which aspect are kilts special?| A．People show respect for the king by wearing them. | B．They are of the same color in Scotland. |
| C．Plaid patterns are used in the kilts. | D．They are designed for adult men. |
| A．To celebrate a tradition. | B．To spread this culture to the world. |
| C．To honor the end of the ban on tartans. | D．To express tartans shouldn’t be ignored. |
| A．To prove the popularity of tartans. |
| B．To stress tartans’ wide range of daily uses. |
| C．To show the reduced number of tartan products. |
| D．To explain reasons for Burberry’s favoring tartans. |
| A．Popularity of Scottish Kilts | B．Special Scottish Clothing |
| C．History of Scottish Kilts | D．The Kilt and the Tartan |
7 . Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.
Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses （球场） in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.
There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.
Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.
1. Which of the following is the author most probably in favor of?| A．Cycling around a lake. |
| B．Motor racing in the desert. |
| C．Playing basketball in a gym. |
| D．Swimming in a sports center. |
| A．It is popular in Portugal and Spain. |
| B．It causes water shortages around the world. |
| C．It pollutes the earth with chemicals and wastes. |
| D．It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green. |
| A．it is an outdoor sport |
| B．it improves our health |
| C．it uses fewer resources |
| D．it is recommended by experts |
| A．show us the function of major sports |
| B．encourage us to go in for green sports |
| C．discuss the major influence of popular sports |
| D．introduce different types of environment-friendly sports |
