1 . I have always been creative since I was a little girl. My childhood was filled with arts, crafts and music, and every day was an exciting adventure of creation.
Somewhere along the way, however, I lost touch with my creative self. At 21, I landed a job at a big insurance firm out of my business degree. I would go to the office, sit at my desk and repeat the same work five days a week, 9 to 5. The days were long and tedious. Working this way for one year was painful enough, let alone a lifetime. Before long I decided to make a change.
One thing I had developed an interest in was sewing, so I took a sewing course at a community college. It was only a five-week course but it awakened my interest and got my confidence up.
As I dreamed bigger, I began looking into college courses for Fashion Design and three months later I signed up for a part-time design course. I attended classes two nights a week. Although exhausting, it gave me energy, enthusiasm and happiness.
As it became more evident that fashion was what I wanted to do full time, the reality of my day-to-day work at the insurance firm became harder. I felt bored. No energy, no motivation and zero fulfillment.
I knew I needed to make a big change. After struggling for quite a while, I made a tough decision— leaving my job and studying my design course full time. Two years later I got my diploma.
The last few years have been exciting because I have been following my heart to do what I love. Today I'm living a creative life as the designer of my own fashion brand.
1. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Flexible. | B．Boring. | C．Pleasant. | D．Endless. |
| A．She quit her job and took the fashion design course full time. |
| B．She got a job and attended a part-time sewing course. |
| C．She successfully built up her own fashion brand. |
| D．She took sewing and fashion design courses full time. |
| A．To share her great achievement with us. |
| B．To appeal to us to live a creative life and make changes. |
| C．To inspire us to follow our heart and do what we really like. |
| D．To convince us of the vital importance of creativity and enthusiasm. |
2 . I woke up with drool (口水) on my pillow this morning. The alarm clock rang, and I reached over to turn it off. As I laid my face back down on the pillow, I felt the wet drool on my pillow case. I opened my eyes and saw a smiling, panting (喘气的), furry face gazing down at me. I tried to get up, but she was too fast. My face was suddenly covered in kisses with one going straight up my nose and another right in my ear. I laughed, reached out and picked up the eight-pound love machine and held her away from my wet face. It was just another morning in a life with dogs.
Why do we welcome them into our homes and our hearts? We know that most likely we are going to outlive them and have our hearts broken when they age quickly and pass away after ten to fifteen years. We know that there will be vet bills, flea baths and enough fur to make a vacuum cleaner cry. We know that our ears will ring from the barking, that we will be picking up the animal waste every single day and that we will never get to finish a full sandwich again.
Yet, when we are feeling down or blue, there will always be a soft head on our lap needing to be pet. When we get home after a long day’s work, there will be a happy face at the door waiting for us. Our lives will be full of balls to throw, bellies to scratch, and love and loyalty that will warm our hearts and uplift our souls.
For thousands of years, dogs have been our best friends. They remain one of the greatest gifts life has ever given us. Even if they can’t love us for the rest of our lives, they will always love us for all of theirs.
1. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “outlive” in Paragraph 2?| A．Hate. | B．Survive. | C．Donate. | D．Kill. |
| A．The dog slept in the writer’s bed last night. |
| B．The dog wakes up the writer every morning. |
| C．The writer will keep the dog company for about 50 years. |
| D．The writer enjoys the dog’s company despite the trouble. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Negative. | C．Favourable. | D．Indifferent. |
3 . Experts are warning about the risks of extremely picky(挑剔的)eating after a teenager living on a diet of chips and crisps developed lasting sight loss. Eye doctors in Bristol cared for the 17-year-old after his sight had gone to the point of blindness. Tests showed he had serious vitamin deficiency(缺乏). Dr. Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said, “His diet was basically a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps and sometimes white bread and ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”
The teenager saw his doctor at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he suffered from vitamin B12 deficiency, but he did not stick with the treatment or improve his poor diet. Three years later, he was taken to the Bristol Eye Hospital because of progressive sight loss.
He was not overweight or underweight, but he had lost minerals from his bones, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age. In terms of his sight loss, he met the standards of being blind. “He had blind spots right in the middle of his sight,” said Dr Denize Atan, “That means he can’t drive and would find it really arduous to read, watch TV or recognize faces.”
Dr Denize Atan said that parents should learn about the harm that can be caused by picky eating, and turn to experts for help. For those who are concerned , she advised, “It’s best not to be anxious about picky eating , and instead calmly introduce one or two new foods with every meal.” She said multivitamin tablets can supplement(补充) a diet, but cannot take the place of eating healthily. “It’s much better to take in vitamins through a varied and balanced diet,” she said, adding that too many certain vitamins , including vitamin A, can be harmful ,“so you don’t want to overdo it.”
1. What does Dr Denize Atan imply in paragraph 1?| A．The diet of the boy is not balanced. |
| B．Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins. |
| C．Picky eating is common among teenagers. |
| D．The cause of the boy’s disease is unknown. |
| A．To improve his poor diet. |
| B．To get some help to lose weight. |
| C．To be treated for his discomfort. |
| D．To slow down his progressive sight loss. |
| A．Important. | B．Easy. | C．Necessary. | D．Difficult. |
| A．Reasons why the boy is seriously ill. |
| B．Suggestions for the boy’s family to care for him. |
| C．Advice for parents worried about picky eating. |
| D．Ways of taking in enough vitamins and minerals. |
4 . Everyone has a phone in their pocket nowadays, but how often do we really use them for their original purpose—to make a call? Telephone culture is disappearing. What brought us to this moment, and what are its effects?
“No one picks up the phone anymore,” wrote Alex C. Madrigal on The Atlantic. “Telephone culture is gone.”
The change is of course due to more communication choices: Texting with photos, videos, emojis, reaction gifs, links and even voice messages can be a more attractive choice.
Texting is light and fun, not nearly as demanding of your attention as a phone call. It can also be done with some people at the same time. Social media, email and video calls have also eaten away at traditional phone calls.
In recent years, another reason has caused people to ignore phone calls completely: robocalls. Robocalls are automate messages from organizations verifying your phone number or telemarketers trying to sell something. Americans received 22.8 billion robocalls halfway through 2020, equaling an annual rate of 45.6 billion, slightly below 2018 numbers, according to YouMail, a robocall protection service and blocking app.
As telephone culture disappears, what is the loss of a traditional family phone doing to the family unit? Early landline phones join family members together, whereas mobile phones separate them.
“The shared family phone served as an anchor (支柱) for home,” said Luke Fernandez, a Weber State University computer-science professor and co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Feelings About Technology, From the Telegraph to Twitter. “With smartphones we have gained mobility and privacy. But the value of the home has been diminished, which has its ability to guide and monitor family behavior and perhaps connect families more closely,” Fernandez said.
Of course, as technology progresses, lives always change for better or for worse. With the loss of telephone culture, families will need to find other ways to unite.
1. What is the main idea of the passage?| A．To point out the disadvantages of the traditional phone call. |
| B．To call for the traditional phone to advance with the times. |
| C．To encourage people to make more phone calls and be closer to family. |
| D．To introduce the causes and effects of the disappearing telephone culture. |
| A．changed | B．continued | C．strengthened | D．decreased |
| A．The telephone culture disappeared just because of too many robocalls. |
| B．Some communication choices are more attractive than the traditional phone calls. |
| C．Early landline phones are inconvenient and they separate family members. |
| D．Texting with some people at the same time takes up our attention too much. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Objective. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Skeptical. |
5 . Today’s students have a problem. They were born into a world where technology, smartphones, and immediate access to the Internet are hurting their ability to focus and changing the way they think.
Now teachers have a problem too. They find it particularly exhausting to ask students to read complex or long texts without taking regular breaks. Smartphones have clearly affected the younger generation, but how education should evolve for digital-native students?
A common idea among teachers is that short is good. When students can’t seem to pay attention to long lectures, many teachers simply break lessons into smaller patterns. In fact, students need time to engage with a topic once the teacher introduces it before moving on. Switching between small lessons too quickly could rob them of valuable comprehension.
There are also teachers who begin classes with meditation (深思) exercises to help their students focus. However, it turns out that any sort of “tech breaks” could counteract strong desires to multi task.
A 2018 study found that students aged between 10 and 24 tend to stay away from physical books. They prefer video as a source of information second only to teachers. Therefore, some tech-forward teachers choose platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. Asha Choksi, vice-president of global research at Pearson, gives the example of a teacher who films himself performing a science experiment and posts it to YouTube. When it is time for class, he uses the video to illustrate material in the textbook, which can seem boring to students.
Still, while those educators are embracing technology in the classroom to meet student’s needs, they also find value in traditional methods, and so suggest a “blended (混合的) learning” approach. Direct instruction from them will never be replaced in their classes. Technology will be favored only when it improves a lesson in ways that are impossible offline.
Digital natives will continue to eagerly adopt new media. Teachers have no choice but to evolve. They are making an effort not only to ensure that students can take advantage of new technologies, but to teach students valuable skills that can help them think in a world constantly trying to distract them. Think of the Zuckerbergs, the Gates, the Jobs and all those pioneers in the tech world. They became successful not because they could code (编程); it was because they could think.
1. What does the underlined word “counteract” in paragraph 4 probably mean?| A．Motivate. | B．Reduce. | C．Compensate. | D．Influence. |
| A．Teachers adopt short lectures, small lessons, which could be hard to understand sometimes. |
| B．Teachers employ meditation exercises to help students concentrate on class, which is of little effect. |
| C．Students aged between 10 and 24 don’t prefer physical books, so YouTube and Instagram may be a good choice. |
| D．Students aged between 10 and 24 prefer videos to teachers, so using videos to explain textbooks is a popular way. |
(1). the conventional way of teaching remains unchallenged
(2). technology is a useful supplement to textbooks
(3). material in the textbook is too boring to most students
(4). teachers want to change their traditional teaching methods
| A．(1)(2) | B．(2)(3) | C．(3)(4) | D．(1)(4) |
| A．to share as much knowledge with students as possible |
| B．to encourage students to make full use of new technologies |
| C．to help students develop their ability to think critically and creatively |
| D．to instruct students to limit their use of smart phones and social media |
6 . Scientists have been trying to figure out how to alter the genes of humans for many years, and it looks like they’ve finally cracked (破解) the code. But while this may seem like a great step forward in science, some also believe that it’s one step back when it comes to ethics (道德准则). In August, a group of scientists from the USA and South Korea worked together to successfully edit a human embryo (胚胎) and remove a genetic mutation (突变) that would have led to heart disease, reported The Guardian. This was done with the help of CRISPR, a gene-editing tool that allows scientists to “cut and paste” human DNA.
Although this was the first example of an embryo’s genes being changed successfully, the advantages of gene editing have already been tested in living patients. In 2015, a five-month-old girl from the UK was saved after doctors used edited cells to fight off her cancer. As of today, she’s alive and well. And in the USA last year, scientists managed to remove HIV cells from several patients by editing the genes inside their bodies.
Some people hope that in the future, diseases or birth defects could simply be "edited out”. However, others believe this could lead to so-called designer babies, giving parents the option to choose everything from eye color to intelligence. “You could find wealthy parents buying the latest “upgrades” for their children, leading to even greater inequality than we already live with,” Marcy Camovsky, director of the San Francisco Center for Genetics, told BBC News.
In spite of these ethical concerns, experts say it’s not possible to create the “perfect” human being. Despite the progress scientists have made, we don’t understand human genes enough to give all unborn children great brainpower or amazing singing abilities. “Right now, we know nothing about genetic enhancement,” Hank Greely, a director at Stanford University, USA, told The New York Times. “We’re never going to be able to say, honestly, this embryo looks like it would score high on the two-part SAT.”
So it looks like if we want good exam results, or to impress people with our piano skills, we’ll have to stick with the old fashioned method of plain hard work---at least for now.
1. The underlined word “alter” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.| A．record | B．change | C．remove | D．increase |
| A．A genetic mutation related to heart disease was removed by scientists. |
| B．A newborn baby with cancer was saved by edited cells. |
| C．HIV cells were removed from patients9 bodies. |
| D．Some birth defects were simply edited out. |
| A．They don’t think it is an effective way to fight diseases. |
| B．They are concerned that it could lead to genetic mutations. |
| C．They think it could lead to designer babies and increased inequality. |
| D．They worry that it could make parents abandon children with birth defects. |
| A．Gene editing is regarded as the perfect way to treat birth defects. |
| B．There is still a long way to go to fully understand human genes. |
| C．Gene editing could help enhance human intelligence in the near future. |
| D．Scientists are pessimistic (悲观的) about the future of gene editing. |
7 . In 2000, when I was around seven years old, my parents, sister, brother, and I were coming back from a T-ball game. There, in our driveway, we spotted two adult geese and a small gosling. The adults were startled by our return and flew away, but their baby was still too young to fly. We are no strangers to wildlife, so we avoided physical contact with the small gosling out of fear that it would keep us in its mind and be lost to its family forever. Hours passed, and night fell. The tiny little thing was wandering around our yard, unaware of what could happen.
And then another morning. And still another. Each morning, we would try to drive the goose over to his parents, who kept coming back to our yard. He wouldn’t go to them, though, and they wouldn’t come close enough to collect him. My sister Joanna decided to call the little guy Peeper, because he would follow us around the yard making a peeping noise, nonstop.
Almost a year passed. My family filled our days with feathery hugs and my dad would throw Peeper up into the air so he could fly a circle around the house.
One evening, my uncle came, and my dad wanted to show him Peeper’s circle. He threw him up in the air, but this time, Peeper just flew off. Everyone was very, very sad. We looked for him for days, calling his name, but he didn’t come back. Twenty years passed, and Peeper became a fond memory for my family.
Geese are very loyal, never forgetting their first home. Even so, it came as a total shock to me when, in 2020,an aging adult goose appeared at my home. At first, I assumed it was just another goose. After two weeks of the goose coming back repeatedly, it became clear to me that this wasn’t a random goose. He did all of the same things Peeper used to and responded to the name Peeper. My old best friend returned, 20 years later.
People desire connection with the natural world. Through Peeper, I have learned so much about myself and about the nature of love.
1. What does the underlined word “startled” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Moved. | B．Frightened. | C．Confused. | D．Attracted. |
| A．They were worried about its health. | B．They didn’t know what to do with it. |
| C．They didn’t want it to take them as its family. | D．They feared being attacked by its parents. |
| A．Pitiful. | B．Entertaining. | C．Discouraging. | D．Rewarding. |
| A．My Goose Returned Home | B．Dad Trained Goose |
| C．The Love for Nature | D．A friendly Goose |
8 . In honor of National Writing Day in the UK, actor Benedict Cumberbatch sat down at a desk and with the wisdom of his 39 years, he penned a letter to Santa Claus. You can read the letter in full—including the one gift the actor still really wants—below.
"Dear Father Christmas,
Like most adults I feel embarrassed asking anything of you because our time with you is surely gone. Now we get our own presents, take responsibility for our own actions, and live in the world we have created. So it's not for us to turn around and ask for your help with the environment, education, food banks, human rights and wars. Though we need all the help we can get with all these man-made problems.
And it's not that you're not kind-hearted. You're great because you are for the children who need some magic in a world where playful imagination and innocence(纯真)are decreasing.
This is what I'd like to ask you to help with. A little more time for children to be children. Lengthening the moment of magic and playfulness. Keep them away from the realities of a world that's gone mad, especially those suffering illness or hunger or shaking with fear or cold because of environmental disasters or wars. Please help to light up their worlds with a moment of joy and hope.
You do inspire wonder among those who write you letters and go to sleep hoping there might be a new object in their possession coming down. You inspire good behavior.
I feel a little sorry. And I guess I've done exactly what I said I wouldn't... Asked you to help with adult problems and solve some of the greatest worries we have for our children. I promise to leave some delicious pies for you!"
1. Cumberbatch wrote this letter to ________.| A．Inspire children to take up writing. |
| B．Seek help from Father Christmas. |
| C．Show his belief in Father Christmas. |
| D．Look back upon his happy childhood. |
| A．Shortening | B．Reducing |
| C．Increasing | D．Doubling |
| A．Children are full of imagination. |
| B．Everyone has the right to get a gift. |
| C．Father Christmas doesn't exist on earth. |
| D．Cumberbatch is concerned about children. |
9 . Chinese audiences on average spent more time watching entertainment content online in this uncommon year when the battle against COVID-19 is still being fought.
An average consumer has spent 133.9 minutes each day watching TV dramas, a 10 percent increase compared to last year, according to the report. Interestingly, TV romantic dramas make up 36 percent of all 131 new television series this year, ranking the first.
In the overseas market, Chinese dramas are seeing a rise in popularity, such as hit costume dramas Three Lives Three Worlds, The Pillow Book, and The Romance of Tiger and Rose. The report shows that subscribers (订阅者) of WeTV, the overseas version of Tencent Video in more than 110 countries and regions, have risen 175 percent over last year, with time spent watching these programs up 300 percent year-on-year.
Shows with strong female roles are more popular, like the hit series Nothing but Thirty, I Will Find You a Better Home and A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower, the report said. It also found that a quality trailer (预告片) played an important role in drawing an audience, as about 90 percent of consumers pick their choices from trailers.
As a result of the six-month shutting down of Chinese cinemas, a number of people have chosen watching films online.
Through Nov. 30, a total of 15 online films have earned more than 10 million yuan, propelling the annual box office income on Tencent Video to nearly 500 million yuan this year. While TV series are almost "dominated" by female audiences, men are favored online movies more. Nearly 70 percent of online film viewers are men, whose favorite themes center on fantasy, comedy and adventure.
1. The shows with strong female roles are mentioned except .| A．Nothing but Thirty |
| B．I Will Find Your a Better Home |
| C．The Romance of Tiger and Rose |
| D．A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower |
| A．protecting | B．pushing | C．stopping | D．beating |
| A．Chinese audiences spent more time online due to the COVID-19. |
| B．Chinese dramas have made success in the overseas market. |
| C．A quality trailer plays an important role in consumers’ choices. |
| D．Compared with males, females have a more preference for online film. |
10 . A road running through Accra, Ghana's capital, looks like any other blacktop（柏油路）. Yet what most drivers don't realize is that it is made from plastics—melted bags, bottles, and snack wraps--that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill.
In a developing nation, “it's difficult to recycle plastic,” noted Heather Troutman, program manager of the Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership. “It's expensive, and much easier just to burn it. But if you could put value on recycled plastic, it won't get buried or burned.”
First appearing two decades ago, plastic roads are being tested and built in more and more countries as the world's plastic pollution problem becomes more serious. India has built over 60,000 miles of these roads. The technology, meanwhile, is gaining ground in Britain, Europe, and Asia. Several countries—South Africa, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States, among them—have built plastic roads recently. Roads containing waste plastic have the potential to perform as well or better than traditional roads. They can last longer, are stronger and more durable（更耐用的）in respect to loads, car tolerate wide temperature changes, and are more resistant to water damage and cracking.
Troutman views plastic roads as “a promising advance,” especially in a country like Ghana with more road projects in the future. And yet, with the prediction that by 2050 the world will produce over three times as much plastic waste as it ever has, she stresses it is vital to curtail Ghana's all unnecessary use of plastics. “This is the first step,” she noted. “If we keep pumping out more and more plastic, we'll never be able to manage it in a sustainable way.”
1. Why it's hard to recycle plastics in Ghana?| A．The plastics are hard to break down. |
| B．The country lacks related technology. |
| C．The whole recycling process costs much. |
| D．The government advocates burning plastics. |
| A．They are mainly promoted by India. |
| B．They are able to stand extreme weather. |
| C．They are being tested for better functioning. |
| D．They are becoming popular in some countries |
| A．Reduce. | B．Cover. | C．Reward. | D．Delay. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Flexible. | C．Hopeful. | D．Pessimistic. |
