1 . When I’m travelling, someone always asks me, “Doesn’t Australia have a holiday for a horse race?” It's just one of those things that flash across the mind when people hear the word“Australia”.
I never quite know how to respond. I mean, Australia indeed has such a public holiday. There’s the race that stops the nation.
I mean that we should give sporting events their own day. Sport in itself is an event that is shared by people. It bridges differences and unites us on a primitive level—the cheers of the crowd, the desire for victory and the creation of the community.
However, it is difficult to neglect the advertising promotion of these public holidays. Big businesses use these days to develop our bad habits, such as large bets and alcoho1. As these public holidays roll around, our screens are filled with ads telling us to place bets with money-back guarantees.
I really believe that we can have public holidays that consider our human need for community. But it requires a change from sport to culture. And here’s my case study: Singapore. Singapore has a long list of public holidays, and the list is long for a very specific reason—to acknowledge the cultural holidays of its diverse population.
The effectiveness of its public holidays is obvious：they expose the entire population to difference. I remember growing up in Singapore and celebrating Hari Raya with my friends, learning about Islamic culture and the reasons behind certain traditions. Isn’t that what public holidays are about, a day off to reconnect with yourself, your family and the wider community?
1. Why does the author not know how to respond to the question about the horse race holiday?| A．The author thinks there is no need to explain it. |
| B．The author doesn’t really know about this holiday. |
| C．The author can’t give away too many things about it. |
| D．The author considers such a holiday quite embarrassing. |
| A．Ignore. | B．Ban. | C．Seek. | D．Understand. |
| A．They encourage people to purchase things. | B．They have a negative effect on the public. |
| C．They don’t unite people on a primitive level. | D．They’re completely controlled by businesses. |
| A．Australia doesn’t have a very rich culture. | B．Sporting events should have their own day. |
| C．There should be various holidays in Australia. | D．Holidays should meet human need for community. |
2 . More than a billion people around the world have smart phones, almost all of which come with navigation (导航) apps such as Google or Apple Maps. This raises the questions we meet with any technology: what skills are we losing? What abilities are we gaining?
Talking with people who’re good at finding their way around or using paper maps, I often hear lots of frustration with digital maps. North/South direction gets messed up, and you can see only a small sections at a time.
But consider what digital navigation aids have meant for someone like me. Despite being a frequent traveler, I’m so terrible at finding my way that I still use Google Maps every day in the small town where I have lived for many years. What looks like an imperfect product to some has been a significant expansion of my own abilities.
Part of the problem is that reading paper maps requires specific skills. There is nothing natural about them. In many developed nations, including the U.S., one expects street names and house numbers to be meaningful references, and instructions such as “go north for three blocks and then west ” make sense. In Istanbul, in contrast, where I grew up, none of those hold true. For one thing, the locals rarely use street names. Why bother when a government or a military group might change them again? Besides, the city is full of winding, ancient alleys that meet newer avenues at many angles. Instructions as simple as “go north”would require a helicopter or a bulldozer.
Let’s come back to my original questions. While we often lose some skills after leaving the work to technology, it may also allow us to expand our abilities. Consider the calculator: I don’t doubt our arithmetic skills might have dropped a bit as the little machines became common, but calculations that once boring and tricky are now much more straightforward and one can certainly do more complex calculations more confidently.
1. What does the underlined word “frustration” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Convenience. | B．Annoyance. | C．Excitement. | D．Explanation. |
| A．Travelling friend. | B．An imperfect product. |
| C．A good helper. | D．A learning tool. |
| A．The skills of reading maps are important. |
| B．How Americans name street. |
| C．America and Istanbul are different in many ways. |
| D．It is necessary to use navigation maps in Istanbul. |
| A．Two paper maps are better than a digital one. |
| B．Calculations become boring due to the use of calculators. |
| C．Technology reduces our abilities. |
| D．When technology closes a door, it opens one as well. |
3 . Growing up, we are constantly reminded that young people are heavily affected by technology. We are the “antisocial club”, those who prefer to text our friends in the same room rather than make eye contact with them. And even though never-ending studies reveal to us the extent of our social media addiction, we should at least consider that it’s not only our young people’s problem any more.
There’s the rise of the Instagram mums, who like to post an abundance of cute baby pictures, share their mom feelings along the way and show their wonderful lifestyles. They are the so-called “Facebook mum generation”, a growing group of parents that like to overshare.
While all of this might be fine, and even a little humorous, new research suggests that parents’ technology addiction is negatively affecting their children’s behavior. According to the study, 40% of mothers and 32% of fathers have admitted having some sort of phone addiction. This has led to a significant fall in verbal interactions within families and even a decline in mothers’ encouraging their children.
There is no denying that I get annoyed when receiving the words “I’ll be with you soon” from a parent, when all I want to do is ask one question. But, at the same time, every day leaving the room to wait until my father is finished with his “serious business” (Farmville), has now become the norm. Whether you want to escape your disturbing children for a bit, or want to stay up late flicking through Twitter, know that wanting to do all of these is normal. We, your children, know how addictive it can be and how difficult it is to switch off. But before telling us to put our phones away at the table or even worse, listing statistics of how damaging social media can be for us, maybe lead by example, considering how much time you spend on the phone and how this is impacting your children and your relationship with us. Maybe in this way we can work on our addiction together.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can know that teenagers nowadays ________.| A．enjoy socializing with their friends | B．send messages to their friends every day |
| C．hate to make eye contact with their friends | D．are heavily addicted to their mobile phones |
| A．Boring. | B．Selfish. | C．Funny. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．security | B．standard | C．routine | D．custom |
| A．To share the author’s own experience with the readers. |
| B．To call on parents to get rid of their own media addiction. |
| C．To reveal that parents are always addicted to mobile phones. |
| D．To show the author’s dissatisfaction with parents’ phone use. |
4 . Like any new ninth-grader on the first day of school, Joemar Class had ninth-grader feeling. He’s not used to school in Hartford. He’s used to going to school in his home town of Florida, used to seeing his friends, used to having class in Spanish.
“Nervioso,” he said in Spanish.
We first met Joemar in mid-October in the San Juan Airport. His father, Guillermo Class, had sold his car to buy plane tickets to get his kids and fly them up from Puerto Rico. The island was almost destroyed by the deadly storm—Hurricane Maria.
Now, they are settling into their new home in Hartford’s South End. A week later, and, using his wife’s car, Class drove 16-year-old Joemar to his first day at Bulkeley High School. After a short ride, he got out in front of his new school. Inside, he met Gretchen Levitz—the school’s program director.
“I see you have new uniform,” Levitz said. “You look great. Are you ready for a good first day?”
Then he met couple of teachers.
“Hello,” they each said in Spanish. They asked where he’s from, and told him they were happy to see him. Then Levitz took him on a quick tour of the school before classes began—to her office, the school store, the library, and the dining hall.
A total of 19 languages are spoken in Bulkeley High School. “We have so many new students coming here from other countries every single day,” Levitz said. “So it’s not like he’s the only one who has that feeling.”
“You could tell he’s little worried,” Guillermo said as we left. “But, at the same time, he’s looking forward to it.”
1. What does the underlined word “Nervioso” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Frightened. | B．Excited. | C．Relaxed. | D．Nervous. |
| A．His old school closed down. | B．His town was hit by a terrible storm. |
| C．He wanted to see his mother. | D．He expected to have a new life. |
| A．He had a short look around his new school. | B．He learned some simple Spanish words. |
| C．He said hello to some of his classmates. | D．He had a long talk with his father. |
| A．It has no library. | B．It plans to open Spanish classes. |
| C．It is an international school. | D．It requires all students to wear uniforms. |
5 . Nelson Mandela, once said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart.” Mandela understood our mother language is very personal thing to us.
After all, it’s the language we first hear and the language we first learn to speak. We can communicate in a nuanced(微妙的) way through our mother language, expressing our emotions and moods more fluently. We make friends in our mother language. We fall in love in it. When we die, we know people will mourn for us in our mother language.
For people who speak an ancient tongue as their mother language, their language is their main link with their ancestors. And it is also how they imagine the future. So it’s a serious thing that a language disappears. Over the last century, more than 400 languages have died. Some languages are now spoken only by a few dozen people, like Yagan in Chile. Africa and South America are also places where many languages are imperiled.
Why are humans speaking fewer languages than we once did? The answer has to do with globalization(全球化). With greater trade and communication, the planet has become smaller. Some people aren’t prepared to accept a planet with fewer and fewer languages.
Through efforts both large and small, they are getting people to speak and read in certain languages, and to pass them on. The United Nations has set Feb 21st as International Mother Language Day to raise awareness of dying languages. This work is very important. As US writer Rita Mac Brown wrote, “Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells where its people come from and where they are going”.
1. The author uses Nelson Mandela’s words in order to _________.| A．show great respect for Mandela |
| B．stress the importance of mother language |
| C．show Mandela’s contribution to language |
| D．draw our attention to language learning |
| A．The friendship. | B．The mother language. |
| C．The emotion. | D．The ancient tongue. |
| A．Endangered. | B．Developed. | C．Protected. | D．Changed. |
| A．The roadmap of a culture. | B．Efforts to save the dying languages. |
| C．A planet with fewer languages. | D．International Mother Language Day. |
| A．Our Languages Tell Us More |
| B．Why Languages are Disappearing |
| C．The Rise and Fall of a Language |
| D．International Mother Language Day |
6 . A day in the clouds
The air is thin and we have to rest several times on the short hike(徒步旅行)from camp. To our left, snow-covered mountains disappear into clouds that seem almost close enough to touch. On the plain(平原) in front of us, we can just make out a herd of graceful animals. This is why we stay here.
Tibetan antelopes live mainly on the plains of Tibet. Watching them move slowly across the green grass, I'm struck by their beauty. I'm also reminded of the danger they are in. They are being hunted, illegally, for their valuable fur.
My guide is Zhaxi, a villager from Changtang. He works at the Changtang Nationa Nature Reserve(保护区) . The reserve is a safe place for the animals and plants of northwestern Tibet. To Zhaxi, protecting(保护)the wildlife is a way of life. "We're not trying to save the animals." he says. "Actually, we're trying to save ourselves."
In the 1980s and 1990s the population of Tibetan antelopes dropped by more than 50 Percent. Hunters were shooting antelopes to make money. Their Living places were becoming smaller as new roads and railways were built.
In order to save Tibetan antelopes, the Chinese government placed them under national protection. Zhaxi and Volunteers watched over the antelopes day and night to keep them safe from attacks. Bridges and gates were added to let the antelopes move easily and keep them safe from cars and trains.
The measures were effective. The antelope population has recovered and in June 2015, the Tibetan antelope was removed from the endangered species list(濒危物种名单). The government, however, does not intend to stop the protection programmes, since the threats(威胁) to the Tibetan antelope have not yet disappeared. Only when we learn to exist in harmony with nature can we stop being a threat to wildlife and to our planet.
1. Why does the author stay “here” according to the passage?| A．To experience hike with thin air. | B．To observe Tibetan antelopes. |
| C．To picture clouds on the plain. | D．To admire snow-covered mountains. |
| A．Protecting the animals can make money. |
| B．Protecting the animals is saving ourselves. |
| C．He is not fond of protecting the animals. |
| D．The reserve is only safe for wild animals. |
| A．Why hunters hunt Tibetan antelopes. |
| B．Why antelopes’ living places changed. |
| C．Why antelopes’ number dropped greatly. |
| D．Why the 1980s and the 1990s are unusual. |
| A．Deleted. | B．changed. | C．migrated. | D．recognized. |
| A．They will be over-populated. |
| B．They will be a threat to man and other wildlife. |
| C．They will be on the endangered species list again. |
| D．They will be in harmony with nature and humans. |
7 . My problems started after I went to a boarding school. I was only 14, and at first I missed my family a lot. I often called them and cried on the phone. But after two weeks, I found I enjoyed being with my classmates at school.
I had many friends who were boys. I thought of them as my best friends—but only friends. I never guessed my friendships with boys would become a problem.
Then, three months later, my friends told me that some teachers and girls said I was hanging out with boys all day long in order to get attention from them. Seven months after that, the head teacher Mr. Wang asked the class to choose some students to join the Student Union. I thought I could win for I was doing well in school. I’d already won prizes for the best math and English exams. A week later, the list came out and it didn’t include me. I was sad.
Mr. Wang came to me and said, “Don’t be sad. I know you’re excellent! Maybe you’re a little distant from the girls in our class. They don’t know much about you, so some of them didn’t choose you. It doesn’t matter. Do your best to get along well with everyone and I think you’ll make it next time.”
1. What was the writer’s problem when she first entered the boarding school?| A．She didn’t like her new school. |
| B．She didn’t get along well with her classmates. |
| C．She missed her family very much. |
| D．She didn’t like her new teacher. |
| A．Her teachers didn’t like her. |
| B．She was a poor student. |
| C．Some girls didn’t choose her |
| D．She likes showing off herself. |
| A．strange | B．unfriendly | C．enthusiastic | D．rude |
| A．The teacher thought she was an excellent student. |
| B．The writer didn’t realize that her friendships with boys would cause problems. |
| C．The writer was sad because she failed to join the Student Union. |
| D．The writer won prizes for the best science and English exams |
8 . Slowly but surely, we’re moving closer and closer to 5G world. From smart-home security to self-driving cars, all the internet-connected devices in our life will be able to talk to each other at lightning-fast speeds with reduced delay. Objectively speaking, the fastest 4G download speeds in the US top out at an average of 19.42Mbps. But by comparison 5G promises gigabit (千兆) speeds.
“5G is one of those heralds (使者),along with artificial intelligence, of this coming data age.” said Steve Koenig, senior director of market research for the Consumer Technology Association. The self-driving vehicle is a great emblem of this data age, and that is to say, it is a sign of time, because with one single task, driving, you have massive amounts of data coming from the vehicle itself, and a variety of sensors are collecting a lot of information to model its environment as it moves. It’s pulling in data from other vehicles about road conditions down the lane. It could be weather information, and also connected infrastructure (基础设施) construction. There’s lots of data behind that task, which is why we need the high speed.
And virtual reality glasses and headsets haven’t yet broken the mainstream, but tech companies are joyfully betting that these devices will eventually replace our smartphones. With 5G, that could actually happen. This is notable because companies such as Apple are reportedly developing AR glasses to assist — or even replace — smartphones.
Ericsson stated at February's Mobile World Congress how smart glasses could become faster and lighter with a 5G connection, because instead of being weighed down with components, the glasses could rely on hardware for processing power.
But don’t get too excited. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the meantime, including various trials to make sure the radios play nicely with hardware and infrastructure construction so 5G isn’t concentrated only in big cities.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The security of 5G. | B．The present world of 5G. |
| C．The future of 5G. | D．The super speed of 5G. |
| A．exhibition | B．symbol | C．sponsor | D．explanation |
| A．They will be heavier than present ones. | B．They will process power on their own. |
| C．They will bring a big fortune to tech companies. | D．They will take the place of smartphones. |
| A．How to fully expand 5G coverage. | B．How to effectively reduce 5G trials. |
| C．How to nicely operate 5G hardware. | D．How to widely construct 5G big cities. |
9 . Recently I read Nineteen Eighty-Four, a novel by George Orwell set in a state where even the language they use is controlled. Adjectives are forbidden and instead they use phrases such as ‘ungood’, ‘plus good’ and ‘double plus good’ to express emotions. As I first read this I thought how impossible it would be in our society to have such vocabulary. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised in its own way it’s already happening. I type messages to my friends and alongside each is the emoji. I often use them to emphasise something, or to not seem too serious, or because this specific GIF conveys my emotions much better than I ever could using just words. And I wonder, with our excessive use of emojis, are we losing the beauty and diversity of our vocabulary?
English has the largest vocabulary in the world, with over one million words, but who’s to say what it’ll be like in the future? Perhaps we will have a shorter language, full of saying ‘cry face’ if something sad happens or using abbreviations (缩写) like LOL (laugh out loud) or BRB (be right back) instead of saying the full phrase. So does this mean our vocabulary will shrink? Is it the start of an exciting new era? Will they look back on us in the future and say this is where it all began – the new language? Or is this a classic case of the older generations saying, ‘Things weren’t like that when I was younger. We didn’t use emoticons to show our emotions’?
Yet when you look back over time, the power of image has always been there. Even in the prehistoric era they used imagery to communicate, and what’s even more incredible is that we are able to analyse those drawings and understand the meaning of them thousands of years later. Pictures have the ability to transcend time and language. Images, be it cave paintings or emojis, allow us to convey a message that’s not restrictive but rather universal.
1. Why does the author mention Nineteen Eight Four?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To show an example. |
| C．To give the reason. |
| D．To describe a phenomenon. |
| A．To reduce the use of words |
| B．To save time of typing |
| C．To express naturally and casually |
| D．To make fun of friends |
| A．Disappear. | B．Reduce. |
| C．Lower. | D．Change. |
| A．Emojis will destroy the variety of our vocabulary. |
| B．Emojis will replace English as the most popular language. |
| C．Emojis are useless and meaningless in modern life. |
| D．Emojis will not restrict our communication. |
10 . I am a person who has always loved reading. For me, it is easy to get lost in a book and return to the world a couple of hours later having been on an adventure. As a 6-year-old, I could be found reading Harry Potter, a difficult book for a 6-year-old but I enjoyed it all the same. Now, as a student, it is harder to find the time to read books for pleasure; however, I relish the summers where I have the time to read to satisfy myself. Growing up, it soon became clear that spelling for me was not difficult and I had a wide vocabulary. This is because I began reading from such a young age.
My advice for you as English learners would be to read the books that you have often read in your own language in English. Reading, stories especially, is a great way of improving your vocabulary and spelling without noticing as you are lost in the story. For me, I have read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in French and am currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in Spanish. This is a really useful way of being able to read in another language because I know the story so well in English, it is easy to follow the story in the foreign language even if I do not understand every word.
This is another important point: it is not necessary to understand every word. If you understand the meaning of the sentence, each word is not necessarily important. Sometimes it is impossible to translate directly from one language to another. Quite often, if a word is used several times in a text, you can gain your own meaning from it and it makes much more sense than if you tried to translate it in the first place.
Give it a try. If you like reading you could be opening up a whole new world of literature.
1. What can we learn from the author’s reading experiences?| A．He often spent hours taking an adventure. |
| B．He didn’t like Harry Potter any more with age. |
| C．He could spare enough time reading for fun as a student. |
| D．Reading helped him a lot since his early age. |
| A．Spend. | B．Lose. | C．Enjoy. | D．Hate. |
| A．Reading English stories you’re familiar with in your own language. |
| B．Reading Harry Potter in different languages. |
| C．Improving your vocabulary and spelling by design. |
| D．Understanding the story in your own language. |
| A．Better Ways to Read stories. | B．The Benefits of Reading. |
| C．How to Improve Spelling and Vocabulary. | D．Is It Necessary to Know Each Word? |
