1 . According to statistics published by the BPI (Buying Power Index) a couple of months ago, digital streaming (流媒体) now accounts for 80 percent of the music consumption in the UK. Despite the incredible growth of online streaming platforms like iTunes, Apple Music and Tidal over the past 15 years, a more traditional medium has also seen a return of interest and sales in the music industry. In 2020, almost one in five of all albums purchased in the UK is vinyl (黑胶唱片), and it has once again become the most popular physical musical medium.
With digital streaming so easy and convenient, why are so many people drawn to traditional records? Some experts claim that vinyl is a physical medium for experiencing music, something tangible (有形的) to hold and own. For most people, having something tangible and interacting with it gives depth to the experience of music. Listening to an album and touching it the way the artist intended can make them feel more connected to the music and the artist. Records are physical products that can be not only displayed but also gifted, shared, traded and passed down through generations.
Sound quality is another hot topic. A lot of music lovers feel that the analogue sound (模拟声音) vinyl offers is superior to modern digital audio, particularly with regards to the compressed formats streaming platforms use. There’s a common belief that old-school analogue audio has a warmer, fuller sound than digitised music. For vinyl followers, the very defect traditional recorders often have, such as the familiar crackle (劈啪作响) when the record starts, bring the music to life in a different way.
There’s a ritualistic aspect to vinyl that a lot of people are drawn to, too. The act of putting a record on—carefully removing the record from the sleeve, placing it on the record player and gently dropping the needle on the right groove (凹槽)—is a more assiduous (一丝不苟的), mindful way of engaging with music. When you’re listening to vinyl, you can’t tap a button and go about your day while the streaming service provides hours of music. You need to stay close to the record player to move the needle and flip the record over.
It’s clear that the vinyl interest is well underway, and vinyl records are truly making a comeback. In an increasingly digital society, there’s something to be said for analogue experiences. Perhaps one of the great things about being alive in the 21st century is our ability to have the best of both worlds—the timeless appeal of physical records alongside the easy access to vast music libraries that streaming offers.
1. What are the statistics published by the BPI used to show?| A．An increase in music consumption. |
| B．The recovery of music industry. |
| C．A comeback of a physical medium. |
| D．The acceptance of online streaming. |
| A．It attracts people by its realistic feel. |
| B．It offers simple access to different music. |
| C．It shares a new way to enjoy music. |
| D．It provides people with perfect sound effect. |
| A．Overlooked by society. |
| B．Updated very frequently. |
| C．Performed as part of a ceremony. |
| D．Kept for a long time without changing. |
| A．Traditional records will get underway. |
| B．The analogue experiences may matter more. |
| C．Vinyl sales will boom with technological advance. |
| D．There should be a good mix of old and new. |
2 . A group of swans (天鹅) flew down to a beach where a crow (乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain (鄙视).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and he began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”
“No,” said the crow. He knew that he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life…”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
1. What does the underlined word “exhausted” in Paragraph 4 mean?| A．Tired. | B．Angry. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Regretful. |
| A．It was showing another flying skill. |
| B．It was struggling to keep itself from falling into the water. |
| C．It was thirsty and wanted to drink some water. |
| D．It was enjoying itself by doing so. |
| A．The crow didn’t know flying. |
| B．Flying skills were useless. |
| C．The swan saved the crow because they were good friends. |
| D．The swan was better at long-distance flying than the crow |
| A．No pains, no gains. | B．The early bird catches the worm (虫子). |
| C．Pride goes before a fall. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
3 . 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. |
4 . When writing a complaint letter, you should keep it short and to the point to help ensure that your letter will be read in its entirety. If you write a seven-page complaint letter, it’s highly unlikely that someone will sit down and read all seven pages.
The complaint letter should be addressed to the customer service department. The address and contact information of the customer service department should be available on the company’s products or website.
A printed complaint letter should be written in the business letter format, while an e-mail should be sent in the same format but without the heading (your return address, their address, and the date).
In the first paragraph you should make clear what the issue is. Be sure to include the following information: the time of the issue, location, the name of the person on duty, the name of the product, what the problem is, your account number, model number, price and warranty(保修单) information. Be sure to stick with the facts and avoid putting emotions into your letter.
The next paragraph should state what outcome you would like of the problem, if you received poor service, you could request an apology or a coupon (优惠券). If a product malfunctioned, you could request that you could exchange the product for a new one or request a refund.
The last paragraph should thank the reader for the time. You can also politely express appreciation over something you like about their company’s product or service.
Be sure to keep a copy of the letter for yourself and include photocopies of all documents and envelop them with your letter. You should include your telephone number or e-mail address after your printed name so that they can get in touch with you as soon as possible if necessary.
1. Why should you keep the complaint letter short and to the point?| A．Because the longer it is, the more detailed it will be. |
| B．Because it can make sure that the letter is taken seriously. |
| C．Because longer letters can show my emotions. |
| D．Because short letters are more formal business letters. |
| A．In the heading. | B．In the first paragraph. |
| C．In the second paragraph. | D．After the printed name. |
| A．Failed to function well. | B．Met one’s need. |
| C．Was well produced. | D．Was wrongly delivered |
| A．By analyzing causes. | B．By showing differences. |
| C．By describing a process. | D．By following time order. |
5 . Think of Japan in the spring, and the image that comes to mind is likely the country’s famous cherry blossoms, which experience a “peak bloom (开花)” that only lasts a few days and have been honored in Japan for more than a thousand years. But this year, the cherry blossom season has come and gone in the blink of an eye, in one of the earliest blossoms on record -- and scientists warn it’s a symptom of the larger climate crisis threatening ecosystems everywhere.
Yasuyuki Aono, a researcher at Osaka Prefecture University, has gathered records from Kyoto back to 812 AD from historical documents and diaries. In the central city of Kyoto, cherry blossoms peaked on March 26, the earliest in more than 1,200 years, Aono said. And in the capital Tokyo, cherry blossoms reached full bloom on March 22, the second-earliest date on record.
The peak bloom dates shift every year, depending on numerous factors including weather and rainfall, but have shown a general trend of moving earlier and earlier. “Cherry blooms are very temperature sensitive,” said Aono. “Flowering and full bloom could be earlier or later depending on the temperature alone,” he said. This year’s seasons in particular influenced the blossom dates, he added. The winter was very cold, but the spring came fast and unusually warm, so “the buds are completely awake after enough rest.”
Their early bloom, however, is just the tip of the iceberg of a worldwide phenomenon that could make natural systems and countries’ economies unstable, said Amos Tai, assistant professor of earth science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. There are two sources of increased heat, which is the main factor making the flowers bloom earlier: urbanization（城市化）and climate change. With increased urbanization, cities tend to get warmer than the surrounding rural area, in what is called the heat island effect. But a bigger reason is climate change, which has caused rising temperatures across the region and the world.
These earlier dates aren’t just a matter of tourists scrambling to catch peak bloom before the petals all fall-- it could have a lasting impact on entire ecosystems, and threaten the survival of many species.
1. What is the purpose of mentioning the dates and figures in paragraph 2?| A．To present “peak bloom” in Tokyo came earlier than in Kyoto. |
| B．To suggest when cherry blossoms will bloom next year. |
| C．To report the dates of “peak bloom” in different Japanese cities. |
| D．To show cherry blossoms came out earlier this year than in the past. |
| A．The blossom season this year is a sign of a larger global crisis. |
| B．The weather will be too cold for the blossoms to last long enough. |
| C．The earlier peak bloom will threaten the survival of many species. |
| D．The earlier bloom could affect natural systems and countries’ economy. |
| A．Deciding. | B．Managing. | C．Rushing. | D．Marching. |
| A．The Japanese Climate Crisis |
| B．Sooner’s Not Always Better Than Later |
| C．Cherry blossoms and Their Impact |
| D．The Early Blooming of Cherry Blossoms |
6 . Everyone has unique personalities, which makes life more interesting.
Over the last 25 years, doctors have classified personalities into five basic traits(特性), called the Big Five. Everyone can be described as having varying levels of agreeableness(随和), conscientiousness(认真)，emotional stability(情绪稳定)，extroversion(外向)and openness to experience.
Contrary to common knowledge, people aren't confined to certain personality types. Usually, no one is entirely an extrovert or an introvert. While a minority may be at the extreme ends of a trait, most people are somewhere in the middle. “Every personality trait is a continuous dimension. You can be very high or very low, and most people fall somewhere in between,” said Christopher Soto, a doctor at Colby College.
Personality isn’t limited to humans, either. Research finds that all animals have personalities. Both the personality of animals and humans has an evolutionary origin. Evolution can a so explain why personalities vary so much. Depending on the situation, each of the Big Five can be advantageous. For example, agreeableness is great for relationships. But if a lion were charging at you, you'd be better off with a less agreeable and more aggressive personality leaning. Because the world is so unpredictable, every aspect of each personality trait could be useful at different times, so instead of evolving a single type of personality that s first-rank for every situation, we're left with a wide variety.
An evolutionary root of personality means traits must be inherited(继承). So whether you’d like to admit it or not, much of your personality comes from your parents. In fact, for humans, about half of the differences in personality are genetic. The rest of the variability in personality comes from your environment.
Not only does your environment shape who you are, but you can, to an extent, adjust your personality to the circumstance. You can be more outgoing at a party and more agreeable at home with your family. But you can also be introverted if you need to focus on work, or aggressive when playing a competitive sport. Humans, after all, have evolved to learn from our environments.
1. Which of the following best explains the underlined word “confined” in Paragraph 3?| A．Forced. | B．Composed. | C．Devoted. | D．Limited. |
| A．A personality difference. |
| B．An environmental condition. |
| C．An evolutionary origin. |
| D．Human's relationship with animals. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Stubborn. | C．Considerate. | D．Aggressive. |
| A．Personalities can change over time. |
| B．Your environment shapes your personality. |
| C．Your genetic starting point stays you forever. |
| D．Humans have born abilities to learn from environments. |
7 . Children's average daily time spent watching television or using mobile device increased from 53 minutes at 12 months old to more than 150 minutes at 3 years old, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Children aged 7 were more likely to spend the highest amount of screen time if they had been in bad home-based childcare or were born to first-time mothers.
“Our results indicate that screen habits begin early,” said Edwina Yeung, an investigator in National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), “This finding suggests that interventions to reduce screen time could have a better chance of success if introduced early.”
In the research, mothers of 4,000 children responded to questions on their kids' media habits when they were 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding digital media exposure for children under 18 months of age, introducing children 18 to 24 months of age to screen media slowly, and limiting screen time to an hour a day for children from 2 to 5 years of age. In the current study, researchers found that 87% of the children had screen time exceeding these recommendations. However, while screen time increased throughout infancy, after 8 years of age, screen time fell to under 1. 5 hours per day. The researchers believe this decrease relates to time consumed by school-related activities.
The study authors classified the children into two groups based on how much their aver- age daily screen time increased from age 1 to age 3. The first group, 73% of the total, had the lower increase, from an average of nearly 51 minutes a day to nearly an hour and 47 minutes a day. The second group, 27% of the total, had the higher increase, from nearly 37 minutes of screen time a day to about 4 hours a day. Higher levels of parental education were associated with the lower odds of inclusion in the second group.
1. Which of the following is a reason for children's addiction to the media?| A．Low economic level. | B．Poor family education |
| C．The media's attraction. | D．The shortage of parents' love. |
| A．To stop children using the media. | B．To help parents care for children well |
| C．To reduce children's screen time earlier | D．To increase intervention to children |
| A．By giving some examples. | B．By showing some data. |
| C．By analyzing some reasons. | D．By concluding some results. |
| A．Probability. | B．Price. | C．Cost. | D．Income. |
8 . If scientists could create a pill that let you live twice as long while remaining free of diseases, would you take it?
If one considers only the personal benefits that longer life would bring, the answer might seem like a no-brainer: People could spend more time with loved ones; watch future generations grow up; learn new languages or try different careers.
But what about society as a whole? Would it be better off if life span were doubled? The question is of growing importance, and serious debate about it goes back a few years to the Kronos Conference on Longevity Health Sciences in Arizona. Gregory Stock, director of the Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society at UCLA5s School of Public Health, answered the question with a firm “Yes”. A doubled lifespan, Stock said, would “give us a chance to recover from our mistakes, lead us towards longer-term thinking and delay the start of expensive diseases of aging. It would also raise productivity through adding to our prime years.”
Callahan, a co-founder of the Hastings Center in New York, didn’t share Stocks enthusiasm. For one thing, he said, doubling life spans won’t solve any of our current social problems. ‘‘We have war, poverty, all sorts of issues around, and I don’t think any of them would be at all helped if people lived longer, Callahan said in a telephone interview, “The question is, ‘What will we get as a society?’ I suspect it won’t be a better society?”
Others point out that a doubling of the human lifespan will affect society at every level. Ideas about marriage and work will change in fundamental ways, they say, as will attitudes toward the young and the old.
1. In Paragraph 2, “a no-brainer” most probably refers to ________.| A．something coming to mind naturally | B．someone unwilling to think |
| C．something difficult to bear in mind | D．someone having a low IQ |
| A．thinking less frequently | B．having fewer diseases of aging |
| C．making more mistakes | D．working productively longer |
| A．Aging: Burden or Treasure | B．Base of Society: the Old or the Young |
| C．Longer Lives: For or Again | D．A Doubled Lifespan: Possible or Not |
9 . It was a ruling that had consumers seething with anger and many a free trader crying foul. On November 20th the European Court of Justice decided that Tesco, a British supermarket chain, should not be allowed to import jeans made by America’s Levi Strauss from outside the European Union and sell them at cut-rate prices without getting permission first from the jeans maker. Ironically, the ruling is based on an EU trademark directive that was designed to protect local, not American, manufacturers from price dumping. The idea is that any brand-owning firm should be allowed to position its goods and segment its markets as it sees fit: Levi’s jeans, just like Gucci handbags, must be allowed to be expensive.
Levi Strauss persuaded the court that, by selling its jeans cheaply alongside soap powder and bananas, Tesco was destroying the image and so the value of its brands-which could only lead to less innovation and, in the long run, would reduce consumer choice. Consumer groups and Tesco say that Levi’s case is specious. The supermarket argues that it was just arbitraging the price differential between Levi’s jeans sold in America and Europe-a service performed a million times a day in financial markets, and one that has led to real benefits for consumers. Tesco has been selling some 15,000 pairs of Levi’s jeans a week, for about half the price they command in specialist stores approved by Levi Strauss. Christine Cross, Tesco’s head of global non-food sourcing, says the ruling risks “creating a Fortress Europe with a vengeance”.
The debate will rage on, and has implications well beyond casual clothes (Levi Strauss was joined in its lawsuit by Zino Davidoff, a perfume maker). The question at its heart is not whether brands need to control how they are sold to protect their image, but whether it is the job of the courts to help them do this. Gucci, an Italian clothes label whose image was being destroyed by loose licensing and over-exposure in discount stores, saved itself not by resorting to the courts but by ending contracts with third-party suppliers, controlling its distribution better and opening its own stores. It is now hard to find cut-price Gucci anywhere.
Brand experts argue that Levi Strauss, which has been losing market share to hipper rivals such as Diesel, is no longer strong enough to command premium prices. Left to market forces, so-so brands such as Levi’s might well lade away and be replaced by fresher labels. With the courts protecting its prices, Levi Strauss may hang on for longer. But no court can help to make it a great brand again.
1. Which of the following is not true according to Paragraph 1?| A．Consumers and free traders were very angry. |
| B．Only the Levi’s maker can decide the prices of the jeans. |
| C．The ruling has protected Levi’s from price dumping. |
| D．Levi’s jeans should be sold at a high price. |
| A．responsible for oneself | B．having too many doubts |
| C．not as it seems to be | D．raising misunderstanding |
| A．Gucci has successfully saved its own image. |
| B．It has changed its fate with its own effort. |
| C．Opening its own stores is the key to success. |
| D．It should be the court’s duty to save its image. |
| A．Hie rivals are competitive |
| B．it fails to command premium prices |
| C．market forces have their own rules |
| D．the court fails to give some help |
| A．biased | B．indifferent |
| C．puzzling | D．objective |
10 . In recent years, Ethiopia has become a regional leader in solid waste management. Last year, the country transformed the landfill (垃圾填埋场) in Addis Ababa into a new waste-to-energy plant, the first such project on the continent. The plant incinerates up to 1, 400 tonnes of waste every day, about 80 percent of the city's rubbish, supplying the capital with 25 percent of its household electricity needs.
However, despite these important steps, challenges remain in Ethiopia. Although the country has permitted the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions, laws and policies for environmentally sound management of hazardous (有害的) wastes are still not effective in pre- venting littering waste illegally.
To help Ethiopia meet these challenges, the Chemicals and Waste Management Program is supporting the country with a three-year project to enhance its capacity for sound management of hazardous wastes.
In the initial stages, a project management unit will be formed, made up of many representatives from government departments and private organizations. This unit will be responsible for reviewing and assessing Ethiopia's current legal system, which, despite numerous advances in recent years, does not specifically target the recycling of hazardous waste. Once legal gaps are identified, the project will seek to update existing policies and strategies.
Many people in Ethiopia are not aware of the possible effect of environmental damage and the need to report such crimes to the police. To resolve this pressing issue, Ethiopia will be conducting a series of capacity-building activities, including creating awareness-raising programs, training trainers and providing equipment.
Ethiopia will also work to establish a national mechanism for chemicals and waste management by engaging government departments and civil society groups. Authorities will also make budgetary provisions (预算拨款) in national, regional and institutional planning to ensure funding for these activities is sustainable even after the project's completion.
1. Which can replace the underlined word “incinerates” in paragraph 1?| A．Produces. | B．Burns. | C．Gathers. | D．Absorbs. |
| A．The relevant laws are not sound. | B．The shortage of workers is severe. |
| C．The pollution level is too high. | D．The funds are not sufficient. |
| A．Restrict their environmental movement. | B．Call on them to start some programs. |
| C．Reward them with budgetary provisions. | D．Raise their environmental awareness. |
| A．Ethiopia is facing serious environmental problems. |
| B．Ethiopia has achieved success in waste management. |
| C．Ethiopia is putting efforts into waste management. |
| D．Ethiopia has reduced environmental pollution levels. |
