1 . Last Monday, to prepare a picnic, I decided to go into a superstore which was on my way home.
I parked my car in the big parking lot and went into the superstore. It was a huge one, spread onto 2 stories and 200, 000+sq-ft. After 45 minutes of shopping(which looked like a real escape game)to just get some tomatoes, cheese and 3 toothpicks, I arrived at the cashier line, thoughtful and a bit upset by the time I spent to get 5 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: "Heyyou only have 5 articles? Pass before me; I have many more articles than you!"
It wasn’t the first time it had happened to me. But her initiative(提议)was disarming, as well as was her smile. She did not wear any mask, so I could see it. 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 very 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 55 mph. The amount of fuel used dropped down by 35%.
As a result, 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. Why did the author regret shopping in the superstore?| A．She found the parking lot was full. |
| B．She thought the superstore was too crowded. |
| C．She spent too much time buying too few things. |
| D．She thought the articles there were too expensive. |
| A．15 minutes. | B．70 minutes. |
| C．60 minutes. | D．25 minutes. |
| A．A little too late. | B．Hard to accept. |
| C．Making people lose ability. | D．Making people feel less angry. |
| A．By wasting 10 minutes. |
| B．By driving a little slower. |
| C．By paying it forward to someone else. |
| D．By asking others to protect the environment. |
2 . Dressed in a dark blue waterproof (防水) jacket, outdoor shoes and a small backpack, 25-year-old Ye Tian tries to get in an abandoned coking plant in Beijing.
An intern (实习生) for a German company in Beijing, Ye is among thousands of youth interested in city adventures, which they call urban exploration-4urbex' for short.
The aim of this trending (流行) hobby is to explore structures — usually abandoned ruins or hidden areas of the manmade environment. Urban explorers are interested in these sites because they can understand cities from a different angle. Ye, for example, said he enjoyed the contrast between Beijing's two sides.
Widely known scenic spots and historical sites can only reflect the bright side of the city, or what the city wants you to see, Ye said. “But abandoned places show you the past (that is) hidden deep in people's memories."
In the eyes of Pan Ran, who is in her early 30s and works in Canada, an abandoned building can also evoke (引起，唤起) the spirits of those who lived and worked there.
“There are diaries and letters recording the owner's lives,” she said. “And one time, I found a whole box of 8-millimeter videotapes of a family?
Pan couldn't watch the tapes at the site, as the power supply had been cut. She didn't take them away with her either, as there is a very important rule of urbex that you can't remove any souvenirs from a site", Pan said.
While urban exploration can get people to extraordinary places that few have visited, it's sometimes dangerous. Climbing up tall buildings and tip-toeing through abandoned structures can sometimes be a life-threatening affair.
Injuries and even death are not unheard of within the urbex community.
"In the beginning, I was pretty audacious and believed the riskier the places you go, the better photos you get," said Du Tianyu, 22. "But that is not necessarily the case. After doing my calculations, I learned to stop when I reach the limit."
1. According to the text, why do urban explorers like to visit abandoned places?| A．To escape the crowdedness of cities. |
| B．To take breathtaking pictures. |
| C．To appreciate different aspects of a city. |
| D．To know about the lives of the people who left. |
| A．Don't take things from a site. |
| B．Don't buy souvenirs when exploring structures. |
| C．Only explore abandoned sites with long histories. |
| D．Share travel diaries or journals within the urbex community. |
| A．cautious | B．adventurous |
| C．passionate | D．curious |
| A．Travel in Big Cities | B．Visit a City's Historical Sites |
| C．Experience a City's Life | D．See a City's Secrets |
