1 . Japanese businessman Katsuo Inoue chose Italy for his summer vacation this year. He enjoyed the views of Florence and Rome-without ever leaving Japan.
Inoue and his wife “flew” to Italy on First Airlines, a company known for entertainment （娱乐），not transportation. The Tokyo-based new company entered the fast growing online tourism early this year as many countries have stopped accepting foreign tourists.
“I often go to other countries on business, but I haven't been to Italy,” Inoue said. "My impression was really good because I got a sense of actually seeing things there. First Airlines even gave us life jackets and oxygen masks（氧气罩）！”
The “passengers” on First Airlines sit in the first — or business-class areas of an airplane model. Workers serve meals and drinks as large screens show passing clouds and other views outside the airplane. The “travelers“ then receive glasses that provide virtual reality（虚拟现实 的）tours of places like Paris, New York, Hawaii and Rome.
The country's biggest airline, ANA Holdings, said that the numbers of passengers flying to foreign countries fell by 96 percent since June when Japan has stopped most travel in and out of the country. The International Air Transport Association （lAIA ） and The International Tourism Association （ITA） said last month that international travels wouldn't be able to recover until 2024. But they said the online travels have been growing very fast.
The president, Hiroaki Abe, said, “Since we started our online tour this year, our business has been increasing by 50 percent each month. Most of our customers usually travel to other countries every year and they can now experience some of that here when they are unable to go to the real attractions.”
1. What can we learn about First Airlines?| A．It provides transportation to tourists. |
| B．It is an Italy-based company. |
| C．It has been in business for many years. |
| D．It is a new online tourism company. |
| A．It is very cool. | B．It is boring. |
| C．It is dangerous. | D．It is frightening. |
| A．Customers can have more choices. |
| B．It is able to provide much better services. |
| C．It is much cheaper than the traditional travels. |
| D．People cannot actually travel around this year. |
| A．IATA. | B．ITA. |
| C．First Airlines. | D．ANA Holdings. |
2 . A study has warned that seafood supplies from the world's oceans could be almost gone by the middle of the century. The researchers say there has already been a breakdown in wild populations of almost one third of currently fished sea-foods. The study says that means their catch has fallen by ninety percent from their highest level. Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia Canada led the intentional team that did the study. Professor Worm says species have recently been disappearing from oceans at an increasing speed. At this rate he says all seafood species could collapse by 2048.
Other studies have also warned about the dangers of overfishing and the effects on ocean environments. But not everyone thinks the oceans are likely to be empty, in, fifty years.Some scientists said parts of the world do have problems but others are doing a good job of protecting fish populations. Government officials in several countries with large fishing industries also questioned the research.
The study appeared earlier this month in Science magazine.
The researchers say damage to oceans affects not only fish populations but also the productivity of ecosystems. These complex systems help control water quality. The scientists say the loss of different kinds of sea life appears to increase the risk of fish kills and beach closures from harmful algae growth.
The scientists examined the results of thirty-two experiments and observed forty-eight protected areas. They also looked at records of catches worldwide. They studied records from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization from 1950 to 2003. And they examined archaeological information and other historical records for twelve coastal areas. That research reached back over a thousand years.
Boris Worm says the findings are, in his words, “beyond anything we suspected.”But he also said the situation is not too late to core. He said that with good fisheries management, some species could completely recover in three to ten years.
1. The two underlined words “their” in the first paragraph most probably mean .| A．researchers' | B．fisherman's |
| C．sea foods' | D．the oceans' |
| A．All the scientists don't believe that all seafood species will disappearing very soon |
| B．Most government officials disagree to the seafood-disappearing research |
| C．Some scientists are doing a good job of protecting fish populations |
| D．It's too late to take any action to improve the situation. |
| A．Some people are doing a good job of protecting fish populations |
| B．Overfishing is one of the causes for the loss of seafood species |
| C．things are getting worse though efforts can be made |
| D．some more species will come into being with right measures |
| A．To call on people to protect the ocean environment |
| B．To introduce a study about the disappearing of sea foods |
| C．To report different opinions about the seafood research |
| D．To criticize the present fisheries management |
3 . British parents encourage their children to play musical instruments as part of a family tradition(传统) rather than raise their children’s competitiveness as the American parents do.
Dr. Aaron Reeves from Oxford University found that the UK parents did not see musical practice as character building or useful in getting university places or jobs for their children. Instead, they usually encouraged their children to follow their interests.
This is different from what the other researchers had found in America. Middle-class parents in the US appear to associate(与……相联系) these cultural practices with other worldly benefits and often center these music activities around the school subjects.
Researchers think that it may be due to(由于) the fact that the US parents have become increasingly worried about providing their children with skills and abilities enabling them to stand out from their competitors.
However, for British parents, no such direct connection was made with future educational or job advantages. The parents interviewed here did not connect music with usefulness but rather they just paid attention to the value of music as a family tradition and, to some degree, as something valuable in its own right.
One Scottish parent said during an interview, “We’ve got two learning musical instruments. If they think it is fun, we try and encourage them, but we wouldn’t force them.” Another housewife said, “My son has just turned five and I want him to play the guitar because his uncle is good at it, but it’s up to my son.”
“Lots of UK parents don’t think music practice could be very helpful for the children’s confidence or school success. They say that it takes time and some talent for the children to gain a competing advantage,” said Dr. Reeves. “I think they are right.”
1. What does the underlined word “their” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The US parents’. | B．The UK children’s. |
| C．The UK parents’. | D．The US children’s. |
| A．It is useful for their children to get better jobs. |
| B．It can be helpful to build their children’s confidence. |
| C．It helps their children to succeed in their schoolwork. |
| D．It would be better to take it as a hobby for the children. |
| A．Both the US and UK parents are right. |
| B．The other researchers’ findings are misleading. |
| C．Dr. Reeves agrees more with the UK parents. |
| D．Only the talented children can benefit from music learning. |
| A．The benefits of extra music learning for children. |
| B．The American parents’ attitude towards music learning. |
| C．Differences in the British and American parenting styles. |
| D．Different attitudes towards music learning in the UK and USA. |
4 . No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo. But a new study suggests they used a little rock ‘n’ roll. Long- ago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled them across the sand, the scientists say.
"Technically, I think what they’re proposing is possible," physicist Daniel Bonn said.
People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks. And there’s no obvious answer. On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck. The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.
The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths. Many scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds (滑板). Then they would have dragged them along paths. To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet day or with the fat from cattle. Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.
Evidence from the sand supports this idea. Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount of stone and the remains of paths.
However, physicist Joseph West thinks there might have been a simpler way, who led the new study. West said, "I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction. I thought, ‘Why don’t they just try rolling the things?’" A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized. That, he notes, should make a block of stone "a lot easier to roll than a square".
So he tried it.
He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block. That action turned the block into somewhat a wheel. Then they placed the block on the ground.
They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled. The researchers found they could easily roll the block along different kinds of paths. They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery (滑的) path.
West hasn’t tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding. At least, workers wouldn’t have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.
1. It’s widely believed that the stone blocks were moved to the pyramid site by .| A．rolling them on roads | B．pushing them over the sand |
| C．sliding them on smooth paths | D．dragging them on some poles |
| A．made the paths wet | B．made the paths hard |
| C．made the paths wide | D．made the paths slippery |
| A．Rolling the blocks with poles attached. |
| B．Rolling the blocks on wooden wheels. |
| C．Rolling poles to move the blocks. |
| D．Rolling the blocks with fat. |
| A．Because more force is needed for sliding. |
| B．Because rolling work can be done by fewer cattle. |
| C．Because sliding on smooth roads is more dangerous. |
| D．Because less preparation on paths is needed for rolling. |
Known as the ‘Elphi’ by the locals, the Elbphilharmonie is a beautiful tower of glittering glass sitting atop an old warehouse by the banks of the river Elbe. The plaza(露天广场)is open to the public an from the middle of the city’s tallest building, you can gaze across the harbour, miles of rooftops and passing ships below.
The main concert hall seats over 2000 people and is one of the most advanced music venues in the world. Two smaller concert halls are used for jazz, world and contemporary music. In addition, if you’re unbelievably rich, you can buy one of the 45 luxurious apartments lying within the building.
Construction began in 2007 with a budget of €241 million and a two-year period. Fast forward ten years, the building eventually opened with a final price tag of over 800 million!
I consider myself very lucky that the Elbphilharmonie opened during my time living in Hamburg, but unfortunately I haven’t yet been able to attend a concert. Everything is sold out for six months! For now, I’m content to visit the plaza to enjoy the impressive view over the docks and see the innovative architecture up close. Hopefully one day soon, I’ll be lucky enough to grab a last-minute concert ticket!
1. What does “it” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Germany | B．Hamburg |
| C．A new concert hall | D．Its celebration of classical music |
| A．A hall | B．A river |
| C．A tower | D．A warehouse |
| A．The new concert hall can hold 3000 people at least |
| B．The construction of the new concert hall is perfect |
| C．It took a longer time and more money to build the concert hall |
| D．The majority of audience are likely to pay for the luxurious apartments |
| A．I was invited to visit it |
| B．Few concerts have been held |
| C．The performance was well received |
| D．People find it easy to get concert tickets |
As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague's words no longer existed．When I came across naughty students, I have had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher．It obviously isn't the money．Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change．He was working at Nintendo Corporation．His salary was higher than my current one, though I have more education and have worked for over a decade．With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired．I thanked him, but declined his kind offer．
A few days before this current graduation, while working on final grades, I found a note a student had slipped in with her homework．She thanked me for being her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class—not about math, but about life—would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away．As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher．
Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of
1. Hearing his colleague's description of graduation for the first time, the author __________．
| A．quite agreed with his colleague |
| B．was very puzzled |
| C．thought it very funny |
| D．was very sad |
| A．wanted to inform the author of his present job |
| B．tried to persuade the author to work with him |
| C．wanted the author to share his joy and satisfaction |
| D．thought the author wasn't fit to be a teacher |
| A．university colleagues | B．graduates' clothes |
| C．life memories | D．decorations in the hall |
| A．express his devotion to being a teacher |
| B．compare two different graduation ceremonies |
| C．talk about the meaning of graduation |
| D．give advice on how to be a good teacher |
