1 . Once there was a famine in the town. A rich and kind baker sent some bread to twenty of the poorest children. He said to them, “In this basket there is some bread for you. Each of you can have one loaf every day until the hard days end.”
The impatient children couldn’t wait to gather around the basket. They shouted and fought for the bread because each wished to have the largest loaf. At last they went away without even thanking the good gentleman. But Shirley, a poorly-dressed little girl, did not join them. Instead, she remained standing modestly in the distance. When the other children had left, she took the smallest left in the basket, kissed the gentleman’s hand and went home.
The next day the children were as rude as before. Poor shy Shirley still took the smallest loaf . When she got home, her mother cut the bread open. Many new shining pieces of silver fell out of it. Her mother was very surprised and said, “Take the money back to the good gentleman at once, for it must have got into the loaf by accident. Be quick, Shirley! Be quick!”
But when the little girl gave the rich man her mother’s message, he said, “No, no, my child. It was no mistake. I put silver pieces into the smallest loaf to reward you because you are a kind and honest girl. Go home and the money is yours now.”
1. From the story, we know the twenty children lived a ________ life.| A．happy | B．rich | C．poor | D．comfortable |
| A．shouted at them | B．stood modestly |
| C．joined them | D．laughed at them |
| A．buy some food | B．give it back to the rich man |
| C．hide it quickly | D．tell her father the news |
| A．it’s not important to say thanks to others | B．fighting with others can help us get more |
| C．a kind and honest person will be rewarded | D．Shirley’s mother doesn’t like silver |
2 . This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. As I searched the name, I found that there were two famous people having the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts(花生), while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; let the coin decide. I flipped(掷) a coin and Ah! Tails (背面)! My report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.
Weeks later, I stood in front of the classroom and proudly read my homework. But things started to get strange. I looked around the room, only to find my classmates with big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes and my stone-faced teacher. I was completely lost. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Oh well, I dropped the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American War of Independence.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that my teacher meant that George Washington?
Of course, my subject result was awful. Sad but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to the headmaster Miss Lancelot, but she said firmly: No re-dos; no new score. I felt that it was not fair, and I believed I deserved a second chance. So I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, I sat in the headmaster’s office again, but this time a completely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the terrible moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster told me I was good enough to skip(跳过) the 6th grade and started the 7th grade next term.
1. The task I received was to find information about ________.| A．uses for peanuts |
| B．American War of Independence |
| C．George Washington |
| D．my headmaster Miss Lancelot |
| A．I was too proud of my homework |
| B．I mistook what the homework was about |
| C．the whole world suddenly became quiet |
| D．the teacher’s face turned to a stone |
| A．the headmaster didn’t like the writer at all |
| B．the writer’s classmates felt sad at his mistake |
| C．the writer knew little about American history |
| D．the writer’s grandpa was a very wise man |
| A．Seeing is believing. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．One is never too old to learn. |
| D．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
3 . This year, new technologies will enable more drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel （方向盘）while on the road. But that doesn’t mean their cars will be fully self-driving --- that day still remains far in the future.
Automakers like General Motors （GM）, Ford and Stellantis are introducing, or upgrading existing technologies. But in the words of Kay Stepper, an automated driving expert, these systems are "feet off’ and "hands off’, but they will not be "eyes off" or “mind off’.
For the time being, these systems will only be used on limited-access highways, where there are no pedestrians or bicyclists. Vehicles with this technology will be able to drive at relatively high speeds, but only in simple traffic situations.
Bryan Reimer, a researcher with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab, said it will be decades before people can buy truly self-driving cars in which humans ride as passengers.
Still, the technology that will be rolled out by the major automakers this year will do more than most so-called Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, do now.
GM’s Super Cruise system allows drivers to completely let go of the steering wheel while driving on selected highways. It was introduced in 2017 on the Cadillac CT6 sedan, which was discontinued last year. An improved version is coming this year on the Cadillac Escalade SUV and the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans.
Super Cruise only works on highways that have been previously laser-mapped in three dimensions. GPS positioning and the vehicles, radar sensors （传感器）and cameras are used to enable drivers to unhand -- and unfoot — all the controls.
Drivers still need to pay attention, however. A camera in the car makes sure the driver is looking at the road at all times. If the driver looks away from the road for more than a few seconds, the system will stop working.
1. At present, what can the self-driving cars do?| A．They can drive freely on city streets. |
| B．They can run without human drivers. |
| C．They handle complex road conditions on their own. |
| D．They allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel. |
| A．GM’s Super Cruise system. | B．GM’s latest car models. |
| C．GM’s development plan. | D．GM’s close competitors. |
| A．People need to trust new technology. |
| B．People still need to pay attention. |
| C．People can look away from the road. |
| D．People can’t unhand all the controls. |
| A．It’s High Time to Get a New Car |
| B．The Industrial Revolution Is Underway |
| C．Super Cruise Does More than Most ADAS |
| D．The Real Self-driving Remains Far Away |
4 . “Serena, don’t forget your promise to me that you will mow (割) Mrs Matin’s yard this weekend,” said Dad, “Don’t let me down.” Serena was the oldest child in the family, and one of her chores was to mow their yard. Mrs Martin, their elderly neighbor, was unable to take care of her yard, so Serena’s dad had volunteered Serena for this job. Since Mrs Martin’s yard was not very big, Serena knew the job would go quickly.
However, she still resented her dad’s promise.
“Why didn’t you ask me first?” Serena had complained.
“Did you ask me first when you volunteered me to be in the school festival last fall?” asked Serena’s father.
“Well, no, I didn’t ask you first, but you would have done those things anyway. You’re always willing to help.”
“I try when I can,” Dad answered.
“Serena, we have known Mrs Martin for a very long time. She has often helped our family. Now we can do something for her. Besides, the feeling you get from helping someone makes you wonder who is really helping whom.”
“I don’t know, Dad,” said Serena. “The only feeling I get from mowing our yard is tired.”
“Just you wait and see,” said Dad.
After breakfast, Serena made her way to Mrs Martin’s yard. She was good at her job and soon had Mrs Martin’s yard looking tidy. Mrs Martin came outside with a big glass of orange juice and offered it to her. Serena stopped her work and gratefully enjoyed the drink, while Mrs.Martin talked to her about all of the flowers in her yard. Seeing the joy in Mrs Martin’s eyes, Serena began to understand how much the yard meant to Mrs. Martin.
After finishing her drink, Serena returned to work with a new attitude. A warm feeling began to spread through her body. Her dad was right. It was hard to tell who was helping whom!
1. The underlined word “resented” (Paragraph 2) means___________.| A．understood | B．welcomed |
| C．broke | D．disliked |
| A．Through Dad’s words. | B．Through Serena’s actions. |
| C．Through Mrs Martin’s behaviour. | D．Through the author’s statement. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Guilty. | D．Pleased. |
| A．Serena likes the job of mowing her family’s yard. |
| B．Mrs. Martin and Serena did the work together. |
| C．Mrs Martin shared her love for the yard with Serena. |
| D．Dad volunteered himself to take part in the school festival. |
5 . Feel like a family day trip outside London? Here are some of the best choices.
Harry Potter Studio
The Harry Potter Studio tour is one of the easiest day trips from London. Just read the directions on the website where you buy tickets and follow the crowds from the train to the bus. It is a unique experience. A walk through the studio allows families to appreciate every little detail that was put into the production of the Harry Potter movies from the costumes to the sets. Visitors can view the Potions Classroom, board the Hogwarts’ Express, and walk through the Dursley’s house.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle is one of the most beautiful castles in the UK. It is surrounded by a river and gardens, making it a relaxing and peaceful place. Leeds Castle is open for self-guided tours, and there are kid-friendly shows. Leeds Castle has a wonderfully-designed maze (迷宫), which has a surprise at the center that will appeal to all ages, not just children looking for a place to play. Leeds Castle also has a big playground, one part of which is set aside for small kids while the other inspires teenagers in an old game of hide-and-seek.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is used by the current British royal family. This makes it the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Afraid that your young children might feel dull? Don’t worry. There is a kids’ audio tour available as well as an activity that features crafts (手工艺), coloring and dress-up for little ones. And in the summer months, parents will be happy to know that there is a place to get an ice cream for their kids centrally located in the castle complex (建筑群).
1. What can visitors do on the Harry Potter Studio tour?| A．Buy some costumes. |
| B．Ride on a special train. |
| C．See Harry Potter movies. |
| D．Study in the Potions Classroom. |
| A．Visitors must go on a tour with a guide. |
| B．The gardens are meant for hide-and-seek. |
| C．Kids can have a fun time on the playground. |
| D．The maze is especially popular among grown-ups. |
| A．Tiresome. | B．Comfortable. |
| C．Adventurous. | D．Interesting. |
6 . I've lived in big cities. And I was often woken at night and frequently concerned by the almost constant sounds of car and truck engines. I now live in the middle of the woods.
So I was excited when hearing about the Spanish city that has prevented cars from running. It seemingly means I could have everything that a city offers museums and culture, walking to get groceries or delicious coffee, a quick subway or bus ride to work —and peace and quiet. It sounds like that's what people in Pontevedra got after this city carried out its leader Lores' order of changing 75 acres of this city's historic center into a pedestrian-only place.
Formerly, the area had been filled with cars. People tried to get in and out of the area as quickly as they could. Cars would get stuck in the area when they tried to cross the city, while others circled endlessly looking for a parking space, which led to upset for drivers and plenty of noise for pedestrians and residents.
Later the area was rebuilt with beautiful stones and returned to pedestrians. Nearly three-quarters of what were car journeys are now made on foot or by bicycle. Air becomes much cleaner. As a result, the population of central Pontevedra is obviously increasing after it has attracted 12.000 new residents from nearby towns to live there.
Considering the negative health effects of pollution, it makes sense to get rid of cars from at least some parts of urban areas. The good news is that Pontevedra isn't the only one to expand car-free areas. Dublin, Santa Monica and Burlington have pedestrian-only areas, too. These cities' great changes will probably positively shape many other leaders' decisions on city planning.
1. What do we know about the author's past life in cities?| A．She preferred to keep to herself. | B．She visited museums constantly. |
| C．She didn't live quite joyfully there. | D．She didn't like working during the day. |
| A．Tourists being less interested in the city. | B．More museums and factories being built. |
| C．Transportation becoming a little inconvenient. | D．People better enjoying services offered by the city |
| A．It had fantastic scenery. | B．It was troubled by traffic. |
| C．It was crowded with bicycles. | D．It had fewer parking lots. |
| A．It needs to be improved. | B．It may be adopted by more cities. |
| C．It differs from the Santa Monica's. | D．It harms the rights of many drivers. |
7 . In the 1940s, Lena Horne was the first AfricanAmerican in Hollywood to sign a longterm contract with a major movie studio. Her deal with MGM stated that she would never play the role of a servant. During this period, AfricanAmerican actors were mostly limited to playing servants or African natives.
But this refusal also limited her movie career. Horne was generally only offered the role of a nightclub singer. Her characters did not interact with white characters in these movies. This way, her part could be cut from the version of the movie that played in Southern States.
Lena Horne later wrote that the movie producers did not make her into a servant, but they did not make her into anything else, either. Lena Horne once said that World War Two helped make her a star. She was popular with both black and white servicemen. She sang on army radio programs and traveled to perform for the troops. During one event, she noted that German prisoners of war were permitted to sit closer to the stage than black soldiers. These experiences led to Lena Horne's work in the Civil Rights Movement.
She protested racial separation at the hotels where she performed. She took action so that she and her musicians would be permitted to stay in those hotels. Black musicians at the time generally stayed in black neighborhoods. Lena Horne also sang at civil rights gatherings. She took part in the March on Washington protest in 1963. It was during this event that Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
Lena Horne performed in a strong and expressive way. One expert said she was not warm and amiable like white female singers at the time. Instead, she was a fierce black woman.
1. Lena Horne refused to play the role of a servant probably because she thought playing such a role ________.| A．would make her homesick | B．wouldn't make her famous |
| C．meant she wasn't treated fairly | D．wouldn't help her make money |
| A．Angry. | B．Satisfied. | C．Interested. | D．Moved. |
| A．hope for a bright future | B．effort she put into music |
| C．effort against racial separation | D．relationship with Martin Luther King |
| A．Ugly. | B．Boring. | C．Brave. | D．Friendly. |
8 . Some people think going to the gym takes time and effort. It often hurts, and it can be extremely boring. Most weight-related exercises are a combination of sets and reps(几次几组). In order to see any significant change from any exercise, it will probably need to be repeated six to eight times for a minimum of three sets for about three months. Then there's aerobics( 有氧运动). For some, there's nothing more boring than endless miles spent running on a treadmill(跑步机).
But what if there is a way to reduce the boredom of exercise while still getting a good workout?
Luckily for us, there's virtual reality(VR).
“In the past, playing video games was a sedentary( 久坐不动的) experience ， ” says Jo Stauffer of the VR Health Institute, “but VR changes all of that.” Many VR games are played while standing. In order to play properly, the players are forced to move around swinging their arms or using their legs. After an hour of this on a regular enough basis, it's not surprising that many people unexpectedly find themselves a little fitter. There are already a number of virtual reality games which, deliberately or not, result in their player “getting a good sweat on” if played for enough time. For example, there's a music game which forces players to shadow-box(做空拳攻防练习) in order to hit the notes—that's an upper-body workout.
The benefit of VR has been noticed by one company. They want to take the whole experience into the gym. They are making a resistance machine, designed to be used in combination with a VR headset. Players challenge a virtual competitor in a series of games, which results in a 30-minute full-body workout. “However, the cost of the equipment is expensive and there are safety concerns to be worked out,”says J. P. Gownder from the consultancy Forrester.
Although it's early days for those of us who struggle to overcome the boredom of exercise, a new solution could be coming. And a world where a person can exercise and have fun at the same time might be something that many people would want—virtual or not. So don't give up exercising.
1. What conclusion can we draw from the first paragraph?| A．Most weight-related exercises nearly have no effect. |
| B．You'd better not go to the gym because of the risk of injury. |
| C．Running on a treadmill won't bring any significant change. |
| D．Some people think exercising in the gym is difficult and tiring. |
| A．bring more fun to play |
| B．take people less free time |
| C．are more popular in the gym nowadays |
| D．are more likely to bring players health benefits |
| A．It has been widely used in the gym. |
| B．There are some disadvantages of it. |
| C．It can result in a 40-minute full-body workout. |
| D．When using it, people need to have a partner. |
| A．The Boredom of Exercise | B．Keep Going to the Gym |
| C．Virtual Exercise in the Gym | D．The Popularity of VR Games |
9 . We all need to eat, and when we go to buy food at the supermarket, we’re offered many choice. But we often buy food that’s been produced in huge amounts and that’s traveled many miles before it ends up on our plate. So for some, growing their own food is a better choice – and it tastes good too!
From growing vegetables in little pots on your balcony to taking care of a small plot of land, there are many ways to produce home-grown food. It can be backbreaking work digging, weeding and watering the soil, but the result is fresh, home-grown fruits and vegetables, helping us keep a ‘five-a-day’ diet.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic lock-down means demand for homegrown food has seen a comeback in the UK. Miriam Dobson from the University of Sheffield, told the BBC that some people have been spending a lot of their time on their plots, growing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables – which, at times, have been challenging to buy in supermarkets. She says “Coronavirus has reminded people of the weakness within our global food system. In such a difficult time, interest in self-support rises.”
But for those with limited space, a solution to grow your own vegetables lies closer to home – using pots. Sheila Brand lives in a third-floor flat in Rotterdam. She has managed to grow tomatoes and eggplants and is already harvesting raspberries. She told the BBC watching the plants grow “is very exciting: 'Oh it's got a new leaf!' ”
As well as the benefits of saving money and enjoying tasty food, growing your own from a balcony or window ledge not only improves your well-being and immediate environment, you can actually grow a lot of vegetables. So, maybe it’s time for us all to get planting and develop our green fingers!
1. A “five-a-day” diet (Para. 2) probably refers to a diet that include__________ every day.| A．Five meals | B．Enough fruits and vegetables |
| C．Five kinds of rice | D．Plenty of water |
| A．It’s more interesting, cheap and delicious. |
| B．our global food system is doing harm to us. |
| C．It saves the time and money on transportation. |
| D．it can be hard to buy fresh food during the pandemic. |
| A．In a pot. | B．On a plate. | C．In a garden. | D．On the roof. |
| A．Growing your own food can do good to your health. |
| B．Growing your own food can make your fingers green. |
| C．Growing your own food can improve your gardening skills. |
| D．Growing your own food can bring your family more happiness. |
10 . In May 1987 the Golden Gate Bridge had a 50th birthday party. The bridge was closed to motor traffic so people could enjoy a walk across it. Organizers expected perhaps 50,000 people to show up. Instead, as many as 800, 000 crowded the roads to the bridge. By the time 250,000 were on the bridge, engineers noticed something terrible：the roadway was flattening under what turned out to be the heaviest load it had ever been asked to carry. Worse, it was beginning to sway（晃动）. The authorities closed access to the bridge and tens of thousands of people made their way back to land. A disaster was avoided.
The story is one of scores in To Forgive Design：Understanding Failure, a book that is at once a love letter to engineering and a paean（赞歌）to its breakdowns. Its author, Dr. Henry Petroski, has long been writing about disasters. In this book, he includes the loss of the space shuttles（航天飞机）Challenger and Columbia, and the sinking of the Titanic.
Though he acknowledges that engineering works can fail because the person who thought them up or engineered them simply got things wrong, in this book Dr. Petroski widens his view to consider the larger context in which such failures occur. Sometimes devices fail because a good design is constructed with low quality materials incompetently applied. Or perhaps a design works so well it is adopted elsewhere again and again, with seemingly harmless improvements, until, suddenly, it does not work at all anymore.
Readers will encounter not only stories they have heard before, but some new stories and a moving discussion of the responsibility of the engineer to the public and the ways young engineers can be helped to grasp them.
"Success is success but that is all that it is," Dr. Petroski writes. It is failure that brings improvement.
1. What happened to the Golden Gate Bridge on its 50th birthday?| A．It carried more weight than it could. |
| B．It swayed violently in a strong wind |
| C．Its roadway was damaged by vehicles |
| D．Its access was blocked by many people. |
| A．No design is well received everywhere |
| B．Construction is more important than design. |
| C．Not all disasters are caused by engineering design |
| D．Improvements on engineering works are necessary. |
| A．Failure can lead to progress. | B．Success results in overconfidence |
| C．Failure should be avoided. | D．Success comes from joint efforts. |
| A．A news report | B．A short story. |
| C．A book review | D．A research article. |
