1 . I was at the hardware store the other day and overhear（偶尔听到）a woman tell Ed, the manager, that fall was her favorite time of year. Ed, because he likes to keep his customers happy, agreed that fall was a wonderful season, but I could tell he was lying.
I was going through my mind recently, trying to find sweet memories of fall. I failed. I met my wife in the summer and married her two summers later. My sons were born in the winter and summer, my granddaughter in the winter. I’ve been fired twice in my life, both in fall. One October, a truck carrying tofu ran a red light and hit me, destroying my favorite car, combining（使结合） the three things I most hate — trucks, tofu, and October.
I’m not saying fall is without its attractions. The leaves are beautiful. But fall’s vacillation （立场摇摆）is troubling, its effort to please everyone, its continuous search for the middle ground, to be all things to all people. Say what you will about summer and winter, at least they have the courage to keep their opinions strong, even if they kill us with extreme heat or cold.
I recently read a story of a man coming out of a three-month coma（昏迷）. It started in early fall and ended just as winter came. I hope if I’m ever in a coma I would be just as lucky as the man.
Upon my awakening, one of my families who stood around my bed would ask , “Don’t you remember anything from the past three months?”
“Not the first thing,” I would happily report. If I ever have enough money, I’m going to buy a second home in Australia, so that when fall starts here, I can move there for three months, just when spring is starting.
1. What did Ed think of the customer’s words?| A．He understood them and supported her. | B．He held a different opinion on the topic. |
| C．He believed she wasn’t telling the truth. | D．He thought they stood for most people’s opinion. |
| A．The author has a big and loving family. |
| B．The author is having a hard time at work. |
| C．It is important to follow the rules of the road. |
| D．Nothing good has happened to the author in fall. |
| A．Because he slept fall away. |
| B．Because he has sweet memories of fall. |
| C．Because he finally came out of the coma. |
| D．Because he was met by his family when waking up. |
| A．Drive trucks. | B．Eat tofu dishes. |
| C．Watch leaves falling in fall. | D．Move to Australia in October. |
2 . What is the greatest threat to mankind? Maybe different people come up with different answers. However, there is no denying the fact that the only threat to humankind, apart from humankind itself, is, without any doubt, the nature. Natural disasters are the result of natural environmental processes that have a damaging effect on people. Natural disasters can come in many forms: such as geological events like earthquakes, tsunamis or mud-rock flows, climatic events like storms, hurricanes or tornadoes and fire events like forest fires and wildfires.
The damage done by natural disasters is mainly as a result of our inability to predict exactly when they will happen. Although great progress has been made in designing and developing forecasting models for some natural disaster, complete certainty is still impossible. Even to be pessimistic there is a possibility that human beings will never achieve accurate prediction of the happening of all natural disasters.
What's more, even though we were able to predict these disasters from nature, preventing them is equally impossible. So we only have two ways to both prevent injuries or deaths and reduce economic losses to the least. These two methods are to prepare before a natural disaster comes to hit, and to manage the necessary resources and public services after a natural disaster strikes.
These two things have always been at the leading position of the projects of both national governments and international organizations. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for the "preparedness, response and recovery planning" of both man-made and natural disasters.
Most natural disasters cannot be prevented, and both emergency preparation and good disaster management are the best ways to deal with them. Although natural events may appear to serve no purpose but simply to punish and destroy, natural disasters, a perfect symbol of the great power of the nature, are display of our planet's evolution and its state of change.
1. Which can't be regarded as a similarity between tornadoes and earthquakes?| A．They can not be prevented. |
| B．They are both geological events. |
| C．They cause damage to people. |
| D．They are both the result of natural environmental processes. |
| A．it is very difficult to predict when exactly they will happen |
| B．our forecasting equipment is too old for many natural disasters |
| C．we don't do enough preparation before natural disasters strike |
| D．we don't have the necessary public services to use after natural disasters strike |
| A．natural disasters can not be predicted at all |
| B．human beings are pessimistic to the future |
| C．being well-prepared can avoid economic losses |
| D．good preparation and disaster management are advisable. |
| A．a symbol of the power of nature | B．the greatest threat to mankind |
| C．Natural disasters and mankind | D．reduce losses to the least |
3 . Veena’s teacher had told her to collect the notebooks in the classroom and bring them to the office. Veena collected the homework notebooks and rushed into the office without knocking on the door. The teacher said, “Veena, you have no manners; you have entered the office without knocking on the door.” Veena was a top student but was too proud of herself. Without saying sorry, she came out of the office.
In the evening, she complained to her father about what happened to her. Veena’s father decided to teach her what good manners mean. He asked her to go with him.
Before leaving, he told Veena’s mother where he was going and asked whether she wanted something from the market. After coming out of the house, Veena’s father softly closed the door behind him. Then both of them went to the reservation(预订) office. Veena’s father was to collect the ticket that he had reserved. He stopped in front of the door of the office and asked if he could come inside. Before entering the office, he wiped his feet on the mat. Then he politely asked the clerk, “Can I have my ticket, please?” The clerk smiled and gave him the ticket at once.
After taking the ticket, Veena’s father thanked the clerk and then they went to the market. It was very crowded there. Her father waited for his turn to buy vegetables. When an old man came, he allowed him to pick up the vegetables first. After taking the vegetables, they came to a bus stop. They took their place in the queue.
On the bus they each got a seat. But when an old woman got on, the father gave her his seat. After entering the house, her father talked nicely to her mother. Then they sat down to have dinner.
After that, Veena understood what good manners mean.
1. After leaving the teacher’s office, Veena most probably________.| A．felt angry at what the teacher had said to her | B．felt terribly sorry for her behavior |
| C．thought the teacher was right | D．decided to make a change |
| A．teaching her a good lesson at home |
| B．behaving well in front of her |
| C．asking her to follow her teacher’s advice |
| D．asking her to watch other people’s manners |
| A．Not everyone can behave as well as he does. |
| B．One should always have good manners. |
| C．People with good manners are more popular. |
| D．It is not easy to have good manners sometimes. |
| A．knew how to behave well in the future |
| B．found she had been behaving well all the time |
| C．had a better understanding of the people around her |
| D．didn’t think her teacher knew what good manners really mean |
4 . Raelene Heldt, a friend of my grandmother, if she were alive today, would never be able to deal with a visit to the modern supermarket, especially endless kinds of milk. It would be too much for her. She’d feel cheated. Because back in her day, in India, she was known among the vendors(商贩) who went selling their wares from door-to-door.
You had to bring her the genuine article(真货), or you simply would not receive her custom(惠顾). In the 60s, custom was a huge thing. “She had a way with people,” my granny used to say. “If you mess with her, you get told off and never ever again enjoy her custom.’
The freshest fish, the best meat, the juiciest … they all went to Raelene first and only after she’d had her pick was the rest taken to be sold to others. How did this all come about? Well, it began with the milkman.
The milkman made his rounds around the colony with a huge can of milk on his bicycle. Raelene’s house happened to be at the milkman’s run. Once he got there, he’d take the bowl placed outside the Raelene’s door and measure a litre of milk. In most cases, it was just a routine business exchange.
However, one day, Raelene happened to be drinking tea at her friend Jill’s place. The milk in the cup was so thick it gave the tea such a rich taste. “Show me your milk, Jill,” said Raelene. Jill let her have a look. And something things in her mind.
Jill happened to live at the very head of the village so she got the first delivery(递送) of milk, which was very good, pure, thick. But by the time the milk reached Raelene’s door, it had water added.
This Raelene found out about. And once “the cat was out of the bag”, Raelene said to the milkman, “If you want to keep my custom, you’ll bring your cow with you to my door and milk it right before my eyes. Otherwise, I’m not interested.”
And you know what? The milkman agreed. Those were, indeed, different times.
1. What can be learned from Paragraph2?| A．Raelene got on well with people. |
| B．Customers got on well with vendors. |
| C．Raelene was good at dealing with vendors. |
| D．Vendors were looked down upon in the 60s. |
| A．The milkman cheated her. | B．Jill added water to her milk. |
| C．Jill was skilled at preparing tea. | D．The milkman added waler to Jill's milk. |
| A．He gave her a cow. | B．He tried to avoid her. |
| C．He refused to sell milk to her. | D．He provided her with good milk. |
| A．She is smart. | B．She is horrible. |
| C．She is shallow. | D．She is well -meaning. |
5 . Most of us learned what we know about eye color from a chart in grade-school biology. You know two blue-eyed parents are going to have blue-eyed kids. But the story of how eye color is passed down is more complicated（复杂的) than we’re taught.
Humans get their eye color from melanin（黑色素）, which also determines skin and hair shades. Melanin is good at absorbing light, which is especially important for the iris（虹膜）, the function of which is to control how much brightness can enter the eyes. Once it passes through the irises, the majority of the visible light goes to the retina（视网膜）, where it’s translated into images by the brain. The little that isn’t absorbed by the iris is reflected back, producing what we see as eye color. That color depends on the kind and amount of melanin a person is born with.
Though we used to think eye color just came from a simple pattern of inheritance （遗传）, in recent years scientists have found that it’s also shaped by many genes acting together. What’s more, tiny changes, or mutations（突变）, in a gene can result in different shades in the iris.
The two genes currently thought to be most strongly linked with human eye color are OCA2 and HERC2. OCA2, the gene we used to think was the only player in eye color, controls the production of the P-protein and the organelles that make and transport melanin. Different mutations in the OCA2 gene increase or decrease the amount of protein that’s produced in the body, changing how much melanin is sent to the irises. The HERC2 gene, meanwhile, acts like a helicopter parent （直升机父母） for OCA2. Different mutations in this gene act as a switch that turns OCA2 on and off and determines how much P-protein it produces.
Those are just the two genes we know about in detail so far. Newer studies have linked as many as 16 genes to eye color, all of which pair with OCA2 and HERC2 to generate different iris colors and patterns. With all these genes and their structural changes, it’s hard to say for sure what a child’s eye color will be based on their parents’.
1. Which of the following shows how light reaches the brain?| A．The irises→ melanin→ the brain. |
| B．The retina→ melanin→ the brain. |
| C．The irises→ the retina→ the brain. |
| D．The retina- the irises -the brain. |
| A．OCA2 is controlled by HERC2. |
| B．OCA2 can be changed into HERC2 |
| C．Both can make and transport melanin |
| D．Both are the cause of mutations in genes. |
| A．Different colors received by the retina. |
| B．A lot of genes as well as their mutations |
| C．The amount of protein the person has in his or her body. |
| D．OCA2 and how much melanin it produces and transports. |
| A．Whether the melanin plays a key role in mutations. |
| B．Whether oCA2 and HERC2 can influence each other. |
| C．Whether melanin results in different shades in the iris. |
| D．Whether your eye color just comes from your parents. |
6 . When Simon Cane was in the second grade, he began learning about all the ways humans have an impact on the environment and really took those classroom lessons to heart in a way that set him apart from his schoolmates at his elementary school, P. S. 81, in the Bronx. “He told me we drove too much and made too much pollution,” his dad, Jonathan Cane, told Runner’s World. So Simon convinced his parents to start hanging their clothes to dry, taking the stairs instead of elevators, and other “green” measures.
“For much of kindergarten and first grade I rode my bike to Simon’s school with him on the back,” Jonathan said. “We had a lot of fun being outdoors. We’d stop to give our dog treats and generally enjoyed it.” As Simon got bigger, though, it wasn’t practical for him to ride on his father’s back, but it also didn’t make sense to ride together — both because of safety concerns and because there was no place to put away Simon’s bike. So, most of the time they drove the 1. 5 miles to school.
But in 2019, when Simon was going into third grade, the 8-year-old came up with a new way to help the planet: running the 1. 5 miles to P. S. 81. And Jonathan promised his son he’d join him for as long as he wanted.
“We did a test run one day in August, and decided to give it a go. To be honest, I thought he’d blink (眨眼)after it got really cold or rainy, but he never did,” Jonathan said. He recalled one day when the weather was particularly bad. “It’s really raining out there today,” he told Simon. “And Simon said, ‘Well then we’re going to get wet!’ He took pride in toughing it out, and it became a really fun family routine.”
Since the start, Simon has run with his dad and their black dog, Lola, and has even inspired his mom, Nicole Sin Quee, to join in. They soon became known as “the family that runs to school”.
1. What makes Simon different from his classmates?| A．Washing his clothes by himself. | B．Taking many classes after school. |
| C．Raising strange questions in class. | D．Taking green measures to protect the environment. |
| A．By car. | B．By cycling. | C．By running. | D．By school bus. |
| A．Simon has trouble with his eyesight. | B．Simon is really stubborn and inflexible. |
| C．Simon is much tougher than expected. | D．Simon didn’t get support from his father. |
| A．The Best Way to Go to School |
| B．Father and Son Run for the Environment |
| C．A Teenager Keeps Running to Inspire Father |
| D．Three Inspiring Running Athletes to Protect the Environment |
7 . A big eating show, or mukbang in Korean, is an online audiovisual show in which a vlogger consumes large quantities of food while interacting with the audience. These shows originated in South Korea and have become a worldwide trend.
This eating performance has rapidly spread its influence to some Asign countries such as Japan and China where it became popular. In China, mukbang is' called “chibo”, in which mukbangers make their content into short videos and vlogs and upload them onto huge social media platforms like Weibo.
Many hosts of such shows become popular for their ability to eat large amounts of food, But these shows have also received criticism for their waste of food. 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.
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, as it was once reported that the amount of food wasted in China was enough to feed 200 million people a year.
In June 2020，the United Nations warned that the world is on the road of the worst food crisis in 50 years.
To discourage this practice, many video and live- streaming platforms, including Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili, have removed videos that show food waste.
People in China have realized the need for safeguarding food security and halting 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 at 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.
1. Why do many hosts of mukbang become popular?| A．It has been a worldwide trend. | B．They are expert at attracting audience. |
| C．They are able to eat large amounts of food. | D．They can pretend to eat a lot in a vivid way. |
| A．The food waste has been shocking. |
| B．China is to blame for wasting food. |
| C．Food waste in the world is increasing annually. |
| D．The United Nations is preparing for the future food crisis. |
| A．defending | B．quitting | C．encouraging | D．criticizing |
| A．The“N-1 mode" is created to reduce cost on food. |
| B．Videos, about food should be, strictly banned online. |
| C．Chinese people are taking pains to fight against food wasting. |
| D．Only users of Sina Weibo participate in “Clear Your Plate"” campaign. |
8 . TRAVEL PERU
Amazon Rainforest Tour
A short flight takes you from the Andes into the Amazon rainforest. From there, you’ll spend one day travelling by boat to your accommodation in the middle of the forest. You can then spend three days exploring the rainforest with a local guide and enjoying the plants and animals unique to the rainforest.
Machu Picchu Tour
This four-day walking tour will take you on amazing paths through the Andes Mountains on the way to the city of Machu Picchu. Then, you will have a day to explore and be amazed by this ancient city. Especially amazing is the Incas’ dry stone method of building. Inca builders cut stones to exact sizes so that nothing was needed to hold walls together other than the prefect fit of the stones.
Cusco Tour
Spend four days enjoying the unique Spanish and local Indian culture high in the Andes at Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th until the 16th century. Stay in a local hotel, visit the museums, admire the architecture, enjoy the excellent local food, and go shopping at the local markets.
Lake Titicaca Tour
Enjoy the beautiful scenery as you spend a day driving to Lake Titicaca. There, a boat will take you to stay with a local Uros family on an island for three days. Both the island and the Uros homes are made of water plants from the lake.
So come and experience what Peru has to offer. For more brochures about Peru, contact us at tourinfo@travelperu.org.
1. If Jack is a lover of Inca culture, which tours would you like to recommend?| A．Amazon Rainforest and Machu Picchu | B．Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca |
| C．Cusco and Lake Titicaca | D．Machu Picchu and Cusco |
| A．All the four tours last for four days. |
| B．All the places can be reached by boat. |
| C．All the destinations are remote and poor places. |
| D．Visitors have to stay with the locals all the way. |
| A．To sell more brochures to visitors. |
| B．To try to attract more visitors to Peru. |
| C．To invite more people to visit a website. |
| D．To introduce readers the tourism of Peru. |
9 . To this day, I remember my mum's letters. It all started in December, 1941. Every night she wrote to my brother Johnny, who had joined the army that summer. We had not heard from him since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
I didn't understand why my mum kept writing to Johnny when he never wrote back.
＂Wait and see—we'll get a letter from him one day,” she claimed.
Mum said that there was a direct link from the brain to the written word that was just as strong as the light God has given us. She trusted that this light would find Johnny.
I don't know if she said that to calm herself, dad or all of us down. But I do know that it helped us stick together, and one day a letter really did arrive. Johnny was alive on an island in the Pacific.
I had always been amused by the fact that mum signed her letters, Cecilia Capuzzi, and I made fun of her about that. “Why don't you just write “Mom”?” I said.
Around next spring mum had got two more sons to write to. Every evening she wrote three letters which she gave me and dad afterwards so we could add our greetings.
By and by, the rumor about mum's letters spread.
One day, a small woman knocked at our door. Her voice trembled as she asked: "Is it true you write letters?”
＂I write to my sons."
“And you can read too?” whispered the woman.
“Sure.”
The woman opened her bag and pulled out a pile of airmail letters. Read...please read them aloud to me.
The letters were from the woman's son, a soldier in Europe.
Mum had no difficulty reading the letters one by one and translated them from English to Italian. The woman's eyes welled up with tears.
“＂Now I have to write to him," she said. But how was she going to do it?
＂Make some coffee, Octavia," mum yelled to me. She seated the woman and started to write. When she had finished, she read the letter aloud to the woman.
＂How did you know that was exactly what I wanted to say?”
＂I often say and look at my boys' letters, just like you, without a clue about what to write.”
A few days later, more and more people in our town asked mum to write letters for them. Sometimes she would write letters all day long. Even after the war, many people turned to mum. On one occasion, mum admitted that she had always had a secret dream of writing a novel.
“Why didn't you?” I asked.
“All people in this world are here with one particular purpose,” she said. “Obviously, mine is to write letters. A letter unites people like nothing else. It can make them cry and laugh.”
Today, all mum's letters are lost. But those who got them still talk about her and cherish the memory of her letters in their hearts.
1. Who wrote the story?| A．Cecilia |
| B．Octavia |
| C．Johnny |
| D．A neighbor |
| A．helpful and considerate |
| B．selfish and aggressive |
| C．confident and modest |
| D．courageous and understandable |
| A．Johnny was killed during the war. |
| B．Cecilia realized her dream of writing a novel. |
| C．Cecilia was admired by many people. |
| D．All mum's letters are lost. |
| A．Mom's love |
| B．Mom's letters |
| C．War and Peace |
| D．A Cruel War |
10 . Vacation Camps
Lake Idaho Camp
When: 2 weeks in July
Join our fun-filled camp on the banks of lake Idaho! You can take part in exciting water sports, including canoeing and swimming. All equipment is provided. Our highly qualified instructors lead groups for all levels, including beginners. In the evenings, we organize campfire activities for children with singing, drama, and storytelling, while adults can explore the nearby town of St. A lbans.
Cost; $400, including all your delicious healthy meals.
Everwell Forest Camp
When: 1 week in August
Teachers Mat and Alice Branson run our camp in the Everwell Forest. Open to children 8-12 years of age, the camp also offers participants the chance to try various arts and crafts, including painting, pottery, and woodwork. Places are limited to 20, so early booking is advised.
Cost: $150, including all meals.
Happy Shells Camp
When: 3 weeks in August
Happy Shells volunteer organization is looking for young people aged 15-20 to join our camp on the Florida coast. Participants will help to build protective fences around the nests of sea turtles which come to the beaches during the summer to lay their eggs. At the end of the camp, participants receive a certificate(证书) that can be used for credit on high school and a college courses.
Cost: $120 per week to cover food and hotel.
Powerhouse Boot Camp
When: 2 weeks in July or August
The name of the event could give some people the wrong idea. Participants actually stay in a hotel, not an outdoor camp. But it definitely is an intensive (集中的) course of physical training. If you want to get into shape fast, Powerhouse Boot Camp is for you.
Cost: $520 for two weeks.
1. Which camp provides a good chance to learn arts?| A．Lake Idaho Camp. | B．Everwell Forest Camp. |
| C．Happy Shells Camp. | D．Powerhouse Boot Camp. |
| A．$150. | B．$260. | C．$360. | D．$400. |
| A．Camp outside the city. | B．Take exercise in a hotel. |
| C．Sail and swim in the lake. | D．Enjoy the sun on the beach. |
