1 . While tea may have originated in Asia, now there are many countries all around the world that have tea woven into their food culture and traditions. This is one of the very special parts of tea as it has a way of connecting people all over the world in different ways and ceremonies that finally all results in a group of people sitting together and enjoying a cup of tea.
Chinese tea culture
Since China is viewed as the birthplace of tea, it is no wonder that Chinese tea culture is rich with history and tradition. Today, Chinese tea continues to be used in Chinese medicine and is commonly consumed on both casual and formal occasions both for personal enjoyment and to represent Chinese cultural traditions.
Japanese tea culture
Japan also has a long history with tea, especially Japanese Matcha, which is a kind of ground green tea that is commonly used in Japanese tea ceremonies and only in recent years became popular in western culture.
British tea culture
When many people think about tea, British tea culture is what comes to mind. A hot cup of English Breakfast or Earl Grey tea serves with a little milk and a biscuit in the afternoon as a pick-me-up for the day. Even though tea may not be native to England, this British tea tradition is still going strong today.
Moroccan tea culture
When you visit Morocco, it is hard to miss the outstanding tea culture that is such a large part of Moroccan hospitality. Before any gathering, negotiation, or sale of a product, a pot of mint tea is always prepared and served among the host and guests. This is an expression of Moroccan tradition and hospitality, which should always be accepted by guests as a sign of appreciation and respect to the host.
1. Why can tea find its way into various food cultures?| A．It originates in Asia. | B．It forms different ceremonies. |
| C．It gets people connected easily. | D．It allows people to sit together. |
| A．They have a long history. | B．They are used in medicine. |
| C．They are famous for ground green tea. | D．They’ve long gained worldwide recognition. |
| A．To get new energy. | B．To bring out respect. |
| C．To show hospitality. | D．To observe a tradition. |
| A．China. | B．Japan. | C．Britain. | D．Morocco. |
| A．Healthy You. | B．Social Insight. | C．Cultural Corner. | D．Itchy Feet Travel. |
2 . Shuikou village, in East China's Zhejiang province, is home to 10,000 residents, and about 30 percent of them are engaged in the homestay business. The village has developed into one of the major rural tourism destinations in the Yangtze River Delta(三角洲)region over the years.
As cross-provincial tourism has resumed nationwide, locals in Shuikou are back in business and looking forward to a full recovery of the local tourism industry.
Homestay owner Zheng Yunfang has been busy answering customers' calls, taking down their information, while checking the booking status of her hostelry(旅馆)since early August. "Our 18 guest rooms were fully booked over the past few weeks, and we've received bookings up to November," says Zheng, who runs Ziming Mountain Villa(别墅)in Shuikou. Most of her guests have been to her place before, and they often bring in new guests during their visits. "By the look of things, business shouldn't be a problem in the second half of the year."
Just walking distance away from Zheng's villa, another local homestay owner, Song Chaofeng, has begun receiving visitors as well. He is starting to harvest the reward of an earlier promotion of his homestay on the short-video app Douyin, also known as TikTok.
As an experiment, Song made a video featuring local food and landscapes earlier this year and uploaded it online after a bit of simple editing. "It was a total surprise that several thousand people watched it the next day."
Tourist Qi Jia, from Shanghai, recently visited Song's place with her family after flipping(翻转)through Song's Douyin account. "My child loves playing table tennis here, and my parents love the distinctive rural-style breakfast; with fresh and nutritious food that is picked right from the field. It feels right to come here.
At the moment, Song says he will focus on maintaining the quality of his homestay operations and updating his fans online on the latest developments. "Hopefully, they can all come. here and experience what we have to offer."
1. What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?| A．To show us the homestay tourism recovery. |
| B．To tell guests how to book homestay guest rooms. |
| C．To know about Shuikou village in Zhejiang province. |
| D．To introduce the successful homestay examples. |
| A．a science magazine. | B．a travel website |
| C．a history book | D．a daily newspaper |
| A．Complex. | B．Uneasy. |
| C．Rewarding. | D．Ordinary. |
| A．No place like homestay as rural approach pays off |
| B．Douyin: The basic method of homestay operations |
| C．Two great successes in homestay business |
| D．Shuikou: The major rural tourism destination |
3 . I have always found the Chinese to be a very polite people. In particular, Chinese frequently compliment (称赞) foreign friends on their language skills, knowledge of Chinese culture, professional accomplishments, and personal health. Curiously, however, Chinese are as loath to accept a compliment as they are eager to give one. As many of my Chinese friends have explained, this is a sign of the Chinese virtue of modesty.
I have noticed a difference, though, in the degree to which modesty is emphasized in the United States and China. In the US, we tend to place more emphasis on “seeking the truth from fact”, thus, Americans tend to accept a compliment with gratitude.
Chinese, on the other hand, tend to reject the compliment, even when they know they deserve the credit or recognition which has been awarded them. I can imagine a Chinese basketball fan meeting Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He might say, “Mr. Jordan, I am so happy to meet you. I just want to tell you, you are the best basketball player in the world; you’re the greatest!” to which Jordan would probably respond, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate it! I just to try to do my best every time I step on the court.” If an American met Deng Yaping, China’s premier pingpong player, he might say much the same thing: “Ms. Deng, you’re the best!” but as a Chinese, Deng would probably say, “No, I really don’t play all that well. You’re too much kind.”
Plainly, Americans and Chinese have different ways of responding to praise. Ironically, many Americans might consider Ms. Deng’s response the less modest, because it is less truthful—and therefore less sincere. Americans generally place sincerity above manners; genuine gratitude for the praise serves as a substitute for protestations of modesty. After all, in the words of one of my closest Chinese friends, modesty taken to the extreme is pride.
1. What does the underlined word “loath” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Polite. | B．Uncertain. | C．Curious. | D．Unwilling. |
| A．To note they do as much as they can each time they play against others. |
| B．To remind readers they are the best players in basketball and table tennis. |
| C．To explain they deserve the credit or recognition for their great contributions. |
| D．To show they as Chinese and Americans are different in accepting praise. |
| A．They think sincerity matters the most. | B．They think her reply is against the fact. |
| C．They think she is too modest to believe. | D．They think manners is more important. |
| A．Education. | B．Sports. | C．Culture. | D．People. |
4 . Children are now more likely to want to work in social media or gaming than traditiona Careers. According to a new survey, many from seven to 11 -year-olds are looking at modern technology when they think about future jobs, rather than professions such as police officer or doctor.
The survey involved 13.000 UK primary school children. They were asked to draw pictures of the job they wanted to do when they grow up and then tell the reasons. It concluded that children's career aspirations (志向)are often based on factors such as gender stereotypes (性别角色定型)or what they've seen in the media, TV and film.
"For more and more children and young people, online celebrities and You Tube gaming videobloggers' have taken the place of TV and movie stars, "the report said. "It could be argued that this is due to the growing fame and attraction of YouTube and video blogging stars, who are especially popular among younger audiences. Also, this may also speak to children's present worlds.
Many from seven to 11-year-olds will spend their time gaming and perhaps at the same time watching celebrity gaming bloggers instructing them how to do it."
The survey found that 5% of children wanted to be in the police, with the same percentage on becoming doctors. A gender breakdown shows the top job choice for girls was teacher (19%). follow ed by vet (11%) and sportsman (9%) and police (8%).
This highlights the pressing need for closer ties between employers and schools, to ensure that all children can have role models in a wide range of fields to help them develop an awareness of career choices at an early age. "This is vital to ensure that all children—regardless of gender and backgrounds—can fulfill their full potential. "
1. What is the traditional career choice, according to the passage?| A．Police officer. | B．Online celebrity. |
| C．Professional game-player. | D．Video blogger. |
| A．Play games and watch popular TV series. |
| B．Participate in various sports in order to be sportsmen or women. |
| C．Study hard and make great efforts to become teachers and police officers. |
| D．Play games and watch celebrity gaming bloggers instructing them how to do it. |
| A．To strengthen the importance of studying hard. |
| B．To give children more advice to choose future careers. |
| C．To give parents some suggestions to educate their children. |
| D．To stress the importance of ties between employers and schools. |
| A．Science. | B．Education. | C．Sports. | D．Culture. |
5 . If there were an app on your phone that could improve your memory, would you try it? Who wouldn't want a better memory? After all, our memory can be easily damaged by diseases, injuries, mental health conditions and, most particularly for all of us, aging.
Nowadays, there are a large number of apps that provide memory training on our phones. Can they help you remember to take medicine, do better on a school exam, remember the name of the person whom you met yesterday? Some scientists question whether this is possible. Undoubtedly, many of the brain training companies today exaggerate the potential benefits of using their apps.
Scientists have provided evidence that brain training does not benefit everyone in the same way. It is suggested that little consideration has been given to who would benefit most from those brain training apps. Will it only be those who have some form of memory impairment（缺陷），or can it also help those eager for self-improvement even though they are already functioning very well?
To overcome these limitations, our team has started a new study aiming to find 30,000 volunteers to help us determine which form of training may be best for individuals. Our goal is to avoid a one — size — fits — all approach. Instead of focusing on the simple question of whether brain training works, we are looking to engage the whole population in a new challenge to test for whom brain training works, and under which conditions.
1. What can affect our memory in particular?| A．Getting ill. | B．Getting old. | C．Being upset. | D．Being injured. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Neutral. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．To test whether brain training works. |
| B．To develop a training that suits all the people. |
| C．To compete with other memory training organizations. |
| D．To find the best form of training for different people. |
| A．A fashion magazine. | B．A tour guide. |
| C．A science website. | D．A personal blog. |
6 . It is in human nature to explore new things. To that end, many countries have been exploring space for many decades, particularly the US, Russia, and countries in Europe.
President Xi Jinping praised the success of the Chang’e 5 mission (使命) in bringing back the country’s first samples (样本) collected from the moon. The whole country is proud of this breakthrough. The Chang’e 5 mission has achieved many significant breakthroughs, including China’s first lunar (月球的) surface sampling, first liftoff from the moon and the first spacecraft with the ability to gather and meet in lunar orbit with samples to re-enter the Earth s atmosphere.
The success of the Chang’e 5 mission marks a conclusion of China’s current lunar exploration project. The successful re-entry and landing of the Chang’e 5 capsule (太空舱) have enabled China to obtain its first lunar samples, marking a new start for lunar and planetary research. With this achievement, China sets a new milestone in space exploration.
No matter how far China goes into space, it always stays true to its original mission-uncovering the secrets of the universe and contributing to human’s peaceful use of space. China is a peace-loving country and will use its achievements for promoting peace around the globe.
China views these efforts as part of the world’s lunar exploration. It chose a different landing site and is promising to share its samples to enrich the planet’s knowledge. Some foreign scientists have shown particular interest. The exploration is not for commercial purposes, but international scientific research. Human beings shall explore the moon together, as it will finally need large projects requiring international cooperation. China will play a leadership role in the international scientific community.
1. What made Chinese people feel proud according to the passage?| A．Landing on the moon successfully. | B．Gaining admission to exploring the moon. |
| C．Strengthening the ability to promote the peace. | D．Bringing back first samples collected from the moon. |
| A．Horrible but romantic. | B．Fearful but successful. |
| C．Challenging but rewarding. | D．Dangerous but peaceful. |
| A．The original mission remains unchanged. | B．Countries join together to explore the moon. |
| C．China takes pride in the achievements in space. | D．China sets a new milestone in space exploration. |
| A．A poster. | B．A leaflet. | C．A newspaper. | D．A guidebook. |
7 . It'll be Easter soon, and time to think of how to spend a few days' holiday. Let's look at three of the best.
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. It's actually made up of the twin cities of Buda and Pest, which are separated by the mighty River Danube. The city is famous for its cafes. There are several good ones to choose from, but you must try either Gerbeaud, or the famous New York Cafe. Order a “somloi galuska", a very rich chocolate dessert. Finally, you can' t leave the city without visiting one of its amazing Turkish baths. Some of them date back to the 16th century.
Bucharest
A fourteen hours train ride east will take you through Transylvania to Bucharest, capital of Romania. Once there, you should visit Mamie's Inn, which is a 19th century caravanserai (an inn built around a large courtyard, which is big enough for caravans). It's located in the Lipscani district (the heart of the city), and it's also a great place to have lunch and a drink.
Sofia
From Bucharest it's only 300 kilometres to Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. The city sits below the massive Vitosha Mountain. Sofia is an ancient place, and parts of the city walls date back to the 7th century BC and can still be seen. It' s also a holy city, and two of its major tourist attractions are churches. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is well worth a visit, but you should find time for the Boyana Church, a small medieval Bulgarian Orthodox chapel. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has incredible wall paintings dating back to 1259.
So, we hope we've given you a few ideas of places to spend your Easter. Wherever you go, have fun and send us a postcard!
1. If you want to enjoy a chocolate dessert, you can go .| A．Sofia | B．Bucharest | C．Vitosha | D．Budapest |
| A．It is located in the heart of the city. | B．It is an ancient place and a holy city. |
| C．It is famous for its cafes. | D．It is made up of the twin cities. |
| A．Travel. | B．Sports. | C．Health. | D．Business. |
8 . Faced with a declining population and workforce, Japan has been increasingly turning to robots for help. Over the years, the robots have carried out a large number of human tasks, including building products and providing care for the elderly.
However, the robots currently being used by companies, like Walmart and Amazon, are only able to perform single, repetitive tasks, such as stacking boxes. Model-T, on the other hand, has a wider range of movement and is able to hold, pick and place objects of several different shapes and sizes into different locations, making it ideal for convenience and grocery stores, which sell a large variety of items.
Model-T robots are operated from a distant location by human “pilots” wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset and special gloves, which allow them to feel the product the robot is holding in their hands and guide it to the right shelf.
The VR-controlled robots are ten times cheaper than automated robots, because they don’t require advanced programming and are easier to develop and maintain. And their easy-to-use controls require little training. Tomohiro Kano, a general manager in charge of development at FamilyMart, believes this will enable the chain to recruit workers who would typically not work in stores.
Though Model-T appears to be getting rapidly through the experiments, it is not quite ready to enter the workforce. Besides being a lot slower than humans, it is also only able to lift packaged items, and cannot get hold of things such as fruits and vegetables. The company is working to improve the weaknesses and hopes to introduce a faster, more skillful Model-T within the next two years. They believe that in addition to the stores, the robots could also be useful in hospitals, allowing doctors to do operations from remote locations.
1. What is one of the features of Model-T according to the text?| A．It works much faster than humans. | B．It can easily hold all kinds of objects. |
| C．It can be operated from a distance away. | D．It is harder to produce than an automated robot. |
| A．The low price of Model-T. | B．The easiness to operate Model-T. |
| C．The low-level programming of Model-T. | D．The strict training for maintaining Model-T. |
| A．Model-T is now being massively produced. |
| B．Japan’s workforce will be reduced by Model-T. |
| C．The weaknesses of Model-T have been overcome. |
| D．Model-T may be used in wider fields in the future. |
| A．Technology. | B．Economy. | C．Lifestyle. | D．Environment. |
9 . It may sound a bit “Dr. Doolittle,” but it turns out kangaroos can communicate with humans. Researchers found that kangaroos communicated with humans “on purpose”--a behavior that was thought to only belong to domesticated(驯养的)animals, like dogs, horses or goats.
Experts from London's University of Roehampton and the University of Sydney set up a task. This task was known as “the unsolvable problem task”・ During the task, they presented kangaroos with food trapped inside a plastic container.
After trying, and failing, to open the boxes, the kangaroos turned their gaze(注视)on a nearby human - and sometimes even pushed or scratched(抓) them to ask for help, researchers said.
“Their gaze was pretty powerful, co-author Alexandra Green said. "We've previously thought only domesticated animals try to ask for help with a problem. But kangaroos do it too. If they can't open the box, they look at the human and back to the container. Some of them use their nose to push the human and some get close to the human and start scratching at him asking for assistance.,,
Based on these new findings, the team believe kangaroos - considered social animals, like dogs and goats --may be able to change their behavior to interact with humans.
“Through this study, we are able to see that communication between animals can be learnt and that the behaviour of gazing at humans to get food is not related to domestication lead author Alan McElligott said.
“Indeed, kangaroos showed a very similar pattern of behaviour we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats when put to the same test,“ McElligott added.
1. What have the researchers found about kangaroos?| A．Kangaroos can become domestic animals. |
| B．Kangaroos can communicate with humans. |
| C．Kangaroos can learn from domestic animals. |
| D．Kangaroos have the same habits as domestic animals. |
| A．Removed. | B．Hidden. | C．Kept. | D．Saved. |
| A．Observations. | B．Previous data. |
| C．Making comparison. | D．Making a survey. |
| A．Travel. | B．Education. | C．Technology. | D．Science. |
10 . Shenzhen is an ideal shopping place for visitors. The following is a list of the most popular shopping areas in the city.
North Huaqiang Area
The most prosperous shopping area in Shenzhen, it is home to dozens of market places for electronic products, clothing and jewelry. Some market places each house hundreds of shops, from flagship stores selling big brands to small shops where you can bargain.
It is also a great place to dine, with plenty of restaurants offering various Chinese dishes and foreign brands like Pizza Hut, Hagen Dazs and AijiSen.
Dongmen Area
One of the oldest commercial centers in Shenzhen, this area highlights a walking street flanked by humming stores. It is a good place to buy clothes, handbags, fashion accessories, jewelry, handicrafts, toys and small electronic gadgets.
MixC Shopping Mall
It is the city’s largest shopping mall and one of the most luxurious, selling clothes, cosmetics and fashion accessories. There is a large indoor ice skating rink, a movie theater and a supermarket selling many imported goods. You can also find quite a few foreign restaurant brands here, including Pizza Hut, Starbucks and a Japanese noodle house.
Shekou
Sitting by a beautiful cove in Western Nanshan District, this quiet place is frequented by many expatriates living in Shenzhen. There are stores selling antiques, collectibles, handicrafts and souvenirs, as well as bars and restaurants offering western food.
1. What can you do at North Huaqiang Area？| A．Skate. | B．Enjoy Chinese food. |
| C．Watch a film. | D．Buy antiques. |
| A．In North Huaqiang Area. | B．In Dongmen Area. |
| C．In MixC Shopping Mall. | D．In Shekou. |
| A．A text book. | B．A museum guide. |
| C．A news report. | D．A travel magazine. |
