1 . The idea of using a public bathroom with see through walls may sound like the stuff of nightmares. But a famous Japanese is hoping to change that view, using new technology to make restrooms in Tokyo parks more inviting.
“There are two things we worry about when entering a public restroom, especially those cated at a park,” according to architect Shigeru Ban’s firm. “The first is cleanliness, and the second is whether anyone is inside.”
The newly-invented transparent walls can turn off both of those worries, Ban says, by showing people what awaits them inside. After users enter the restroom and lock the door, the room’s walls turn a powdery paste) shade and are no longer see-through.
Ban’s are sure to make for great conversation among visitors to the park-and they’ll stand out even more after dark. “At night, the facility lights up the park like a beautiful lantern,” the architect’s website says.
The group is behind the Tokyo Toilet project, world-famous architects to create toilets “like you’ve never seen. The project’s eye catching toilets are part of a plan to put people ar ease when isiting a public bathroom. The project may seem silly, but the 16 architects who are reimagining public toilets are some of the brightest names in Japanese architecture. The list includes four Pritzker Prize winners-Ban, Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando and Fumihiko Maki-along with international stars such as Kengo Kuma and Sou Fujimoto. The fashion designer Nigo is also contributing.
Ban’s colorful public bathrooms opened to the public this month in two parks: Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park and Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park. Other bespoke commodes will be opening in coming months.
1. Why are people often worried before entering a public restroom?| A．Its lock is usually useless. |
| B．It’s usually at a huge distance. |
| C．It’s not always clean. |
| D．It’s always occupied. |
| A．Easy to see through. |
| B．Not easy to see through. |
| C．Full of bright colors. |
| D．Thick and strong. |
| A．It’s and silly. |
| B．It’s rewarding and. |
| C．It has won the Pritzker Prize. |
| D．It’s the fruit of colleqtive wisdom |
| A．Should the public restrooms be upgraded? |
| B．The new high-tech walls of public restrooms are coming. |
| C．How do we live with see-through public facilities? |
| D．Some famous architects designed a silly project. |
2 . Traveling to a foreign country can make you frightened if you don't know the local language.Mr.Thibault has a number of tips to help travelers manage in a destination when they don't speak the native tongue, based on his own experience.Here are a few of them.
Download a Language Translation App
Mr.Thibault tends to rely on Google Translate and suggests that travelers find an app that works for them.Ideally, find one that specializes in the language you need to translate especially if the language uses a character set you’re not familiar with, or have difficulty pronouncing.
Speak with Your Hands and Head
Pointing with your hands and nodding or shaking your head, Mr.Thibault said, are easy ways to communicate with locals in the country you’re in.“Gestures are all universally understood，” he said.
Learn a Few Key Words
Knowing basic words and phrases like "hello""thank you” and “I’m sorry，I don’t speak your language.Do you speak English?” is a must, Mr.Thibault said.Showing that you care enough to learn some of the language before you go, and at least enough to acknowledge that you don’t know more, is a form of respect and will make you go a long way to be liked by locals.
Work with a Local Travel Agent
If you feel particularly uncomfortable in the country you’re heading to, and you have to go anyway, relying on a local travel agent who knows both your and your destination's languages can be incredibly useful.
Hire a Local Tour Guide
A tour guide can help you get a better grasp of the local language and is a good person to practice words and phrases with.Whenever Mr.Thibault visits a new country, he books a sightseeing tour with a guide on the first day of his trip.“I use this day to learn about my destination and get familiar with the language,”he said.
1. In what situation should a language translation app be applied while traveling abroad?| A．When you have trouble pronouncing the words. |
| B．When you want to acknowledge your ignorance. |
| C．When you want to practice the local language. |
| D．When you feel uncomfortable in the country. |
| A．Downloading a language translation app. |
| B．Learning a few key words. |
| C．Using body language. |
| D．Working with a guide. |
| A．By speaking with your hands and head. |
| B．By learning a few key words. |
| C．By downloading a language translation app. |
| D．By hiring a local tour guide. |
3 . Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee. In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.
Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.
But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.
In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.
1. What can we learn about the Character Hero?| A．It’s open to people of all ages and all walks. |
| B．It’s the most-viewed TV programs in China. |
| C．It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world. |
| D．It draws great public attention across the country. |
| A．Chinese people don’t refer to dictionaries very often. |
| B．Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practice calligraphy. |
| C．Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters. |
| D．Chinese people needn’t write by hand as often with the help of technology. |
| A．necessary for adults to survive in China |
| B．a requirement made by the Education Ministry |
| C．helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive |
| D．an ability to be developed only when you are students |
| A．A news report. | B．A science report. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．Children’s literature. |
4 . We moved to Elmont in 1956. I was 4 years old. Elmont was a wonderful place to grow up. There were lots of kids，great schools and we had a big yard. Having grown up a city kid, my father, Nicholas Denaro, believed that grass was not just to look at, but that children were meant to play on it. We played games and badminton there. A white fence separated our backyard from a small wood. My friends and I jumped the fence and climbed trees.
My father had the most amazing hands. He could fix anything. He gave those amazing hands to his son, my younger brother, Frank, who also became handy around the house. But my father saved his green fingers for me. He grew flowers, tomatoes, strawberries and figs and he shared his love of gardening with me.
Fourteen years ago, I went to a local nursery and purchased a fig tree for Dad for Father’s Day. My mother, Bridget Denaro, called it the best gift I could have given him. He planted it exactly in the middle of the front yard.
He loved that tree and enjoyed delicious figs every year, except just after Sandy hit in 2012. He was so disappointed when cold weather just after the superstorm froze all the remaining figs.
In 2015，my father died of aspirating pneumonia (呼吸性肺炎) at 97. We sold our family home of 61years last year. We left behind Dad's tree, full of figs waiting to ripen. We briefly-considered taking it with us, but decided that his Father's Day fig tree belonged in Elmont. The new owners generously allowed me to take some branches so that I could have a precious reminder of my much-loved father and the Elmont home.
1. What can we learn about the author from the first paragraph?| A．She grew up in a city. | B．She only liked climbing trees. |
| C．She had a happy childhood. | D．She was naughty and stubborn. |
| A．How to garden well. | B．How to play games. |
| C．How to color fingers. | D．How to fix everything. |
| A．He was ill in hospital. | B．The cold hit the fig tree. |
| C．The tree didn’t bear figs. | D．He moved to another city. |
| A．To show her love of figs. | B．To share her childhood. |
| C．To remember her father. | D．To introduce her experience. |
5 . There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health, wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into n habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize it had effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position, or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start, step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
1. People who are unhappy .| A．always consider things differently from others |
| B．usually are affected by the results of certain things |
| C．usually misunderstand what others think or say |
| D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things |
| A．have a good taste with social life |
| B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend to scold others openly |
| D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
| A．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| D．unhappy people cannot understand happy persons |
| A．prevent any communication with them |
| B．show no respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
| A．describes two types of people in our 1ife who have negative effect on others |
| B．give some examples to laugh at the unhappy people in our society |
| C．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness |
| D．tells people get away from unhappy people and how to be happy in life |
6 . Scientists from Imperial College London have found that using virtual reality(VR)headsets can reduce sensitivity to pain, by immersing(沉浸)people in icy Arctic scenery. In a study published in Pain Reports, a team from Imperial used VR video to reduce people’s sensitivity to ongoing pain and sharp shooting pain.
According to the researchers, the findings add to the growing evidence for the potential of VR technology to help patients with long-term pain. Beyond the distracting effect, they think VR may actually cause the body’s own inbuilt pain-fighting systems to start working.
Dr Sam Hughes, the first author on the paper, said "Our work suggests that VR may be getting involved in processes in the key parts of our inbuilt pain-fighting systems and are helpful in regulating the spread of increased sensitivity to pain.
To test their theory, researchers applied a cream containing capsaicin(辣椒素)-the chemical that makes your mouth bum-to 15 healthy volunteers. The capsaicin makes the skin more sensitive to painful stimuli(刺激)like a very small electric shock.
In the first trial, participants were then asked to rate the pain caused by the capsaicin cream on a scale of 0-100 (from 'no pain' to 'worst pain possible' )while either watching a VR scene of Arctic exploration through a headset, or looking at a still image of an Arctic scene on a monitor. Under the same conditions, they were also asked to say when a stimulus applied directly to the skin area is considered as painful.
The team found that ongoing pain was reduced following VR immersion, and that sensitivity to painful stimuli was also reduced. However, the same effect was not seen in people who looked at still images of the polar environment.
They explain that while the findings made at the beginning are encouraging, the study is limited by the small number of healthy participants, without long-term pain. However, the researchers believe VR could hold a bright future to treat patients with long-term pain who have poor inbuilt pain fighting systems.
1. How can VR possibly help long-term pain sufferers?| A．By making their pain-fighting systems function. |
| B．By drawing their attention to fighting pain. |
| C．By controlling the spread of pain sensitivity. |
| D．By slowing down their brains' reaction to pain. |
| A．Making a capsaicin cream. |
| B．Putting on virtual reality headsets. |
| C．Applying capsaicin cream to the skin. |
| D．Looking at pictures on a computer screen. |
| A．Still images helped to ease people's pain. |
| B．VR immersion was the key factor in pain reduction. |
| C．Healthy people were less sensitive to VR than pain sufferers. |
| D．Capsaicin cream brought people more pain than electronic stimulus. |
| A．The team feels confident about future VR treatment. |
| B．The researchers will work on the side effect of VR. |
| C．VR treatment can be applied in other medical fields. |
| D．The trial only has an effect on short-term pain patients. |
7 . Last Monday, I decided to go into a superstore to prepare a picnic. It was a huge one, spread onto 2 stories. After 45 minutes of shopping to just get some tomatoes, cheese and 3 toothpicks-yes, the ratio time/articles is ridiculous-I arrived to the cashier line, thoughtful and a bit frustrated by the time I spent to get 3 articles. I wondered why I did not go to a small local store.
After 15 minutes of waiting in the line, the woman in front of me called me, "Hey you only have 3 articles? Pass before me. I have more articles than you!" It wasn’t the first time it had happened to me. She did not wear any mask, so I could see her smile. Not knowing what else to do, I accepted her offering. We chatted a bit waiting for the customers ahead of us to finish-she was incredibly pleasant. Then I thanked her, giving her back my brightest smile (although I was wearing a mask).
Getting back in my car, I rethought about that good moment, and realized that she made my day. In the meantime, I wondered how to give it back to her. No doubt it was quite impossible, so I considered how to pay-it-forward to someone else. While driving, I realized that she saved me 10 minutes. And while I was driving at 70mph, I reduced my speed to 55mph. My fuel consumption(消耗)strongly dropped down by 35%.
Admittedly, I re-lost part of the 10 minutes that the woman offered me, but it was a way to repay her and do a small thing for the environment.
1. Which can best describes the author’s shopping experience based on Paragraph 1?| A．Tiring. | B．Challenging. |
| C．Interesting. | D．Annoying. |
| A．She bought 5 articles. | B．She knew the store well. |
| C．She wanted to buy a mask. | D．She saved the author’s time. |
| A．To kill time. | B．To get home safely. |
| C．To repay the kindness. | D．To make way for others. |
| A．The Good Moment I Gain | B．A Special Superstore I Visit |
| C．A Delighted Talk with Strangers | D．Ways of Protecting the Environment |
8 . In this semester, Professor Van Rijnsoever of Utrecht University of the Netherlands is to teach “Dutch Culture in the World”, in English.
The language is the university’s choice. Actually sixty percent of masters’ programs at Utrecht University are in English. At higher degrees' level, no courses are taught in Dutch at all.
Utrecht is not alone.
The University of Eindhoven has even completely kicked the Dutch language out of its campus. Even the sandwiches in the stores there are sold as cheese rather than with the Dutch word “kaas”.
As a result, the Netherlands has one of the world’s highest levels of English proficiency （流利）among non-native speaking countries, second only to Sweden.
But not everyone is happy with that .
“I don't mind. Most of the literature is in English,” says Professor Van Rijnsoever. “As a teacher it’s not that much of a problem because we also do research in English. For the students, you see they are struggling to express themselves properly.”
He added “We aren’t as good at English as they think we are. We shouldn’t use a weaker language in education. If we use just English in higher education, Dutch will get worse. We add a bit of English and we lose a bit of Dutch. We cannot master Dutch and English at the same time.”
Actually, English is so widely used in Dutch universities that a group of lecturers are worried about a possible “linguicide” and demanded that the universities stop creating more courses in English until an official research has been carried out.
“Dutch is our mother tongue. Our culture is based on Dutch,” says Annette de Groot, a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. “What would happen to our identity（身份）if our mother tongue is no longer the main language of higher education?”
“It is high time for an honest debate.” said a teacher from the University of Erasmus.
1. Which university teaches all its courses in English?| A．Utrecht. | B．Eindhoven. | C．Amsterdam. | D．Erasmus. |
| A．The highest level of English proficiency in the Netherlands. |
| B．The teaching of “Dutch Culture in the World" in English. |
| C．The kick out of the Dutch language from all schools. |
| D．The widespread use of English in the Dutch universities. |
| A．The all- English courses might weaken the mastery of Dutch. |
| B．Students can learn two languages equally well at the same time. |
| C．The stress on English can help the spread of Dutch culture. |
| D．The students of Utrecht are happy with the all-English courses. |
| A．The birth of a language. | B．The loss of one’s cultural identity. |
| C．The war between cultures. | D．The popularity of a language. |
9 . "Ni Hao! Lao Tie! I am your foreign friend. Just have a bite of our organic apples and place your orders here!" Erik Nilsson, a Swedish traveler, greeted through TikTok livestreams in a village of Jiangxi Province. His appearance online increased that day's sale greatly. After experiencing a special day in the rural area, Erik said jokingly, "I wish I could change my job."
This village is not alone. Nowadays, China' s e-commerce platforms have helped open up the market for Chinese farmers produce, bringing an increasing number of sales online. This new trend has made livestreaming a new way to rid farmers of poverty, with mobile phones becoming new farm tools".
Everyone has brought their own agricultural products. How can you make the audiences believe that they' re delicious through the screen in front of you? Now, let 's feel the look on your face during the livestreaming!" The Farmers' Education Training Center (FETC) in Hainan Province invites professionals such as directors and makeup stylists to teach farmers a variety ofskills ranging from short video editing to livestreaming sales sills. However, at first, only a few villagers had a strong desire. We helped them get training in livestreaming, short video marketing,and other courses. It wasn't fancy, but simple, practical, and effective.''
"Everybody, please take a look. This is the best coconut. Taste it." said Pei Yanqin, 59,speaking Mandarin with a strong local accent and communicating smoothly with netizens through her livestreaming software. Just over a year ago, she was one of those villagers with the least intention to get training.
In 2018, the demonstration project of national e-commerce for rural areas was launched.Today, the village has developed eight e-commerce livestreaming courtyards. Some presenters work alone, while others are husband and wife teams.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To lead in the topic. |
| B．To add to the atmosphere. |
| C．To introduce culture contrast. |
| D．To give background knowledge. |
| A．Thrilled. | B．Doubtful. | C．Disappointed. | D．Impressed. |
| A．Erik wants to seek for a new job. |
| B．E-commerce is a family business. |
| C．Livestreaming is the best way to remove poverty. |
| D．Government helps farmers become skilled in marketing online. |
| A．A travel log. |
| B．A government report. |
| C．A research paper. |
| D．A frontpage article. |
10 . The COVID-19 lockdown worried me. I worried about what the weeks and months ahead might look like. I decided to take the idea of "love the neighbour" seriously, though I had only On a Saturday morning, I made a sign that said, "Have a nice day, "and stuck it on my met them from the kitchen window.
On a Saturday morning, I made a sign that said, “Have a nice day,” and stuck it on my kitchen window, with a smiley face. A while later that day, the neighbour living across from me, taped up a sign on the window with a message for us. "Thank you. You too! "We went on like this for a few days , back and forth, like an echo, and I thought of how this would be a nice story for us all: move from strangers in the beginning to good friends in the end.
Somewhere around Day 5, I positioned"Beaker the Muppet"in the window, and they responded with a cute stuffed dog. Then I put a note of a Mary Oliver poem about spring to raise the bar. Maybe I was showing off. Sure enough, no"echo this time.
The next day, Dewey was barking at their dog in the backyard. I saw one of the guys when I went out to stop my dog. “Sorry, we didn’t find a poem,” he said. “We meant to,” he added, And then we never did." “That’s okay, I replied. And we both went back inside.
During the following days, I also ran into the neighbour in the driveway some times as we walked our dogs, and found the note already started to feel a little silly. What if my notes were a chore to them, and not a charm?
For months, I had avoided my favourite blocks sidewalk that cut through my neighbourhood. Going for walks these days made me sad, or mad, because the story had no good ending.
I kept thinking, "How do I love you, my neighbour, like I'm supposed to? I have decided after this is all over, I will finally have all my neighbours over for dinner. I will write this invitation on a piece of paper and stick it on my kitchen window for them to read, for old, bad times’ sake. Maybe we can have a little laugh together about how we tried to be kind. We’ll say even during the hard time, nothing can lock us.
1. Which of the following can explain the underlined expression "raise the bar" in paragraph 3?| A．Have more fun. | B．Make it more difficult. |
| C．Remove the barrier. | D．Invite them out for a drink. |
| A．She became annoyed. | B．She felt relieved. |
| C．She became uneasy. | D．She felt closer to the neighbour. |
| A．The idea of"Love the neighbour” kept the author positive. |
| B．Communication cannot last long without meeting face to face. |
| C．The author changed the walk routes in order to take a shortcut. |
| D．A social gathering can solve all the problems of neighbourhood. |
| A．Trust the Next-door Strangers |
| B．Get"Unlocked" at the Lockdown |
| C．Unsuccessful Ice Breaking Between Neighbours |
| D．Strangers in the Beginning, Good Friends in the End |
