1 . Chinese Dragon Head-raising Festival is a traditional Chinese festival held on the second day of the second month of the Chinese calendar. It marks the start of spring and farming. Ancient people believed that after this day, rainfall increases because the rain-bringing Dragon King has woken up from his winter sleep. In ancient times, farming highly depended on the weather. Proper rainfall and plenty of sunlight were necessary for a good harvest at the end of the year. The Chinese dragon, besides a symbol of good luck and great power, is also the god managing weather and water. So Dragon Head-raising Day is about honoring the Chinese dragon and praying for good weather in spring.
The festival celebrates ancient agrarian(农耕的) Chinese culture, and while some of traditional ways to celebrate it are no longer practiced, others persist.
The most famous tradition is getting a haircut. A saying warns that cutting your hair in the first month will cause your uncle to die. Although today few pay attention to it, it was once a tradition for people to line up outside barber shops this day after they avoided haircuts for the preceding(前面的)month.
Today Chinese Dragon Head-raising Day is celebrated in many different ways, most of which are still similar to those practiced in the ancient times, including eating spring pancakes and noodles. People eat tofu balls in East China’s Fujian Province during the festival while fried beans are the traditional festival food for people in parts of Shandong Province. Food eaten on this day also gets a lucky name. For example, noodles are “dragon’s beard” and dumplings are “dragon’s ears”.
1. In fact ancient Chinese held Dragon Head-raising Day .| A．to get as much rain as possible. |
| B．to celebrate the Dragon King's birthday. |
| C．to wake up the sleeping Dragon King. |
| D．to wish for good weather for better farming. |
| A．消亡 | B．持续 | C．改变 | D．完善 |
| A．Foreigners interested in Chinese traditional culture. |
| B．Foreigners learning about agrarian culture. |
| C．Chinese farmers in need of good weather conditions. |
| D．Chinese students proud of the long history of our country. |
| A．The history of Dragon Head-raising Day. |
| B．The development of Dragon Head-raising Day. |
| C．The celebration of Dragon Head-raising Day. |
| D．The introduction of Dragon Head-raising Day. |
2 . Bangladesh's floating gardens, built to grow food during flood seasons, could offer a continuous solution for parts of the world which are likely to suffer from flooding because of climate change, a new study has found.
Bangladesh's floating gardens began hundreds of years ago. The gardens are made from native plants that float in the rivers and operate almost like rafts (筏), rising and filling with the waters. Historically, they were used to continue growing food during rainy seasons when rivers were filled with water.
The farmers layer the plants about three feet deep, creating a version of raised-bed gardens that float in the water. Then, they plant vegetables inside those rafts. As the raft-plants rot away, they release nutrients, which help feed the vegetable plants.
But as climate change affected the volume of water in those rivers, the researchers wanted to understand whether Bangladesh's floating gardens could be a continuous farming practice. They interviewed farming families and found strong evidence that floating gardens provide stability, both in the amount of food available to feed rural populations and in a farming family's income.
They found that farmers typically use hybrid (杂交) seeds, which must be repurchased each year, to grow a diverse range of vegetables in the floating gardens. The gardens are also sensitive to pests, so farmers end up spending some money on both pesticides and fertilizers. But even with those expenses, they found, benefits outweighed costs. One farmer told the research team that he earns up to four times as much money from the gardens as from traditional rice fields.
However, before gaining profits, farmers often take out high-interest loans (贷款) to cover the investment costs of filling the beds and stocking them with plants. Luckily; there are also lower-interest loans from responsible government or non-governmental organizations, which could ease that burden.
1. How do vegetable plants grow according to the text?| A．By absorbing nutrition from raft-plants. | B．By taking shelter from climate change. |
| C．By living together with hybrid seeds. | D．By moving up and down with raised beds. |
| A．“Our life becomes tough when rivers flood.” | B．“Fewer vegetables are planted when water rises.” |
| C．“We harvest much more food during rainy seasons.” | D．“Climate change has little influence on our income.” |
| A．Affected. | B．Brought. | C．Beat. | D．Equaled. |
| A．A solution to climate problem has been found. | B．The gardens are built with rotted native plants. |
| C．Farmers earn more from traditional rice fields. | D．Low-interest loans lighten the stress of farmers. |
3 . Yoga originated in ancient India some 5,000 years ago. It has since spread across the world to many cultures. In the last few years, yoga has been offering classes aiming at the hearing impaired(听障者).
Most yoga classes are based on a model in which students learn by listening to their teacher's statements. As many yoga positions limit the ability to see the teacher, hearing-impaired participants who rely on lipreading (唇读) or sign language are left on their own during a class.
Recognizing the hearing -impaired are eager to attend yoga classes, one British yoga studio determined to fill the lack. Bethaney Mouzer, a yoga instructor launched Sign Yoga in 2019, with the goal of bringing yoga to people for whom the practice may have previously been forbidden.
Mouzer, who was born to non-hearing parents, is used to existing two worlds. After becoming a yoga teacher in 2015, she fielded requests from many people who were interested in yoga, but struggled to find teachers to accommodate their needs.
At first Mouzer started out small, holding single-day workshops at local studios in Birmingham and Worcester, where she signed continuously throughout the classes. The sessions were an immediate hit, and Mouzer began posting classes online via a Facebook page called Sign Yoga. Finally, once there was enough demand, Mouzer also started teaching in London.
Today, Sign Yoga is a mostly online company, with live Zoom classes and pre - recorded lessons accessible to students, as well as occasional in-person classes held in local parks. Mouzer ran a Deaf Accessible Yoga Teacher Training workshop in May.
1. How are most yoga classes carried out?| A．By following teachers' instructions. |
| B．By adjusting yoga positions frequently. |
| C．By encouraging students to participate. |
| D．By ignoring the needs of disabled learners. |
| A．To satisfy the needs of sign language. |
| B．To make a fortune by teaching Yoga. |
| C．To compensate for her suffering while learning Yoga. |
| D．To make Yoga accessible to the hearing-impaired. |
| A．Refused. | B．Answered. | C．Presented. | D．Repeated. |
| A．Kind. | B．Romantic. | C．Grateful. | D．Good-tempered. |
4 . The sudden death of the 23-year-old female emplovee of Pinduoduo has sparked a heated debate, with many criticizing the overwork culture. Three experis share their views. Excerpis (节选) follow:
Labor laws compatible (兼容的) with digital era needed
This case should inspire society to reflect on how to better protect employees’ rights in the digital era. The relevant clauses in the Labor Law cannot be specifically applied to charge internet companies suspected of violating laborers' rights and interests.
The blurring (模糊) of the line between social and economic activities in the digital era makes it difficult to define fixed working hours.
Lawmakers should find out the new factors affecting labor relations due to the rapid development of internet and communications technology. This can pave the way for law-making on working hours in the digital era. “996” working schedule is against labor laws.
More than one year ago, it was shocking to hear e-commerce tycoons (巨头) Liu Qiangdong and Jack Ma publicly support the "996" working schedule to push their employees to work harder. A growing number of companies have been using different methods to exercise ever-increasing control over their employees.
To correct the situation, it is vital that the country bring in specific law on internet enterprises, especially in terms of labor contracts and work schedules, and make it clear that the “996” working schedule is illegal.
Death due to overwork needs legally definition
Work pressure and long working hours can seriously affect workers' physical and mental health, making. them more easily hurt by occupational and stress-related diseases.
But it is difficult to prove that a person dies of overwork. Only a person who dies at the workplace or of a sudden illness within 48 hours of getting off work is considered a victim of work.
China should issue guidelines explaining in detail what leads to death due to overwork.
1. What do the three experts agree on?| A．The Labor Law in China is non-effective. |
| B．It is difficult to define fixed working hours. |
| C．Supervision on companies should be tightened. |
| D．Improvement should be made to the current laws. |
| A．To highlight the models of e-commerce. |
| B．To introduce tycoons' attitudes to overwork. |
| C．To confirm their efforts to protect employees. |
| D．To express disagreement on “996” working schedule. |
| A．To make somebody anxious. | B．To do sports or other physical activities. |
| C．To use your power to achieve something. | D．To test or make experimental use of something. |
| A．Someone dies on his way to office. | B．Someone dies of a heart attack in his office. |
| C．Someone dies three days after work. | D．Someone dies after work without symptoms. |
5 . The over 48,000 orange trees that are distributed at all corners of Seville, Spain, not only fill the city's air with the pleasant smell of their flowers in spring, they also produce over 16, 500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that makes the city Europe's top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh. While some of the produce is used to make orange juice, most of it ends up in Seville's landfills. However, that may change soon thanks to a creative idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.
In the pilot program, juice from 38. 6 tons of oranges will be left to ferment (发酵)in an existing biogas facility. The juice is fructose (果糖)made up of very short carbon chains, and the energetic performance of these carbon chains during the fermentation process is particularly high. The gas released from the fermented liquid will be used to drive a generator to produce clean power. The officials estimate the test run will generate about 1,500 kWh of energy—enough to run a water purification plant. "It's not just about saving money. The oranges are a problem for the city, and we're producing added value from waste,M said Benigno Lopez, the head of Emasesa's environmental department.
If successful, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity generated back to its grid (电网). In trial runs, 1,000 kilos (2,200 pounds) of oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy一enough to meet the daily electricity needs of five homes. The project team estimates that if all the fruit is recycled, it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000 residences.
The latest effort is among the many programs implemented in Spain to achieve the country's goal of switching its electricity system to renewable sources by 2050—and if everything goes according to plan, fully decarbonizing its economy shortly after that.
1. What problem does Seville face?| A．It is short of energy. | B．Most oranges are wasted. |
| C．Fruit production is falling. | D．Trees take up much space. |
| A．Fructose. | B．Carbon chains. | C．Clean power. | D．Gas. |
| A．Conducted. | B．Assumed. | C．Popularized. | D．Completed. |
| A．To prove a theory. | B．To raise a problem. |
| C．To introduce a project. | D．To comment on an idea. |
