1 . Students at West Side Elementary School in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline to offer cheerful advice during difficult times. In just days, the hotline began getting thousands of calls an hour. The hotline, available in English and Spanish, offers the happy voices of children of different ages sharing positive messages.

Most people agree that with concerns like Covid-19, extreme weather, and the climate crisis, the last years have been stressful.

“To hear the pure joy from kids is extremely comforting in these difficult times,” art teacher Jessica Martin says.

Ms. Martin called the project “Pep Talk”, which later changed to “PepToc” to draw an ad for the hotline. The project had two parts, one the hotline, and the other creating encouraging posters. Along with artist Asherah, she worked with students from kindergarten to sixth grade. Students working on the hotline thought of what they would like to say. When they were ready, Ms. Martin recorded each one. Later, she sorted out the recordings into the different parts of the telephone hotline. For example, pressing 2 results in words of encouragement and life advice. This includes messages like: “The world is a better place with you in it.” and “You are okay!” Pressing 4, you hear the sounds of children laughing — a sound certain to bring a smile to anyone’s face. Other students took part in making encouraging posters to hang up around the town. Many posters had strips of paper that people passing by could tear off and take with them.

Ms. Martin thought the project would attract interest from people near the school. But word of the hotline spread quickly on social media. The hotline has become popular with stressed adults, patients in hospitals, older people in homes, and others to beat stress by hearing the happy voices of children.

1. What’s the purpose of the telephone hotline?

A．To get people to express themselves.

B．To provide a way for people to cheer up.

C．To inspire children to face difficulties.

D．To have children learn foreign cultures.

2. Why was the name changed to “PepToc”?

A．To satisfy the need of an advertisement.

B．To make it attractive to people of all ages.

C．To add to the humorous effect of the hotline.

D．To show the work value of Ms. Martin.

3. What did Ms. Martin do after making the recordings?

A．She sorted out the most cheerful information.

B．She advertised them in the local radio station.

C．She put them into different parts for the hotline.

D．She added children’s laughter as the background.

4. What can we infer about the hotline from the last paragraph?

A．It will grow popular all over the city.

B．It greatly reduces people’s loneliness.

C．It puts ads in media for its existence.

D．It can help people deal with stress.

2 . For decades, I was a hard drinker who could drink anyone under the table. This lasted from the age of 27 until after 50, a golden time during which I felt very sorry for ex-drinkers and people who couldn’t or wouldn’t drink. How did they make it through social situations, especially parties? What did they do at the end of a workday to celebrate and relax?     1    

When I first tried to quit drinking myself in my early 50s, I wasn’t sure at first how it would work for me. But I did it anyway.    2     I was getting older. I had to concede that I wasn’t as tough as I used to be. Nights of drinking too much showed in my face, and I could feel it in my bones. I wanted to take care of myself. So for the next few years, I bounced between not drinking at all for months at a time, then slowly starting again until I had to quit again.

During these years, I didn’t love not drinking. But I had to admit that when I was off booze, I looked and felt better physically: I slept more deeply, had more energy, exercised more. My mind was clearer. My moods were brighter. Parties were hard, and so was cooking at the end of a day of writing without a glass of wine at my elbow.    3    

I finally quit drinking for real almost four years ago, on 12 July 2019, when a writer friend stayed with my husband and me after his wife kicked him out. After my husband had gone upstairs to bed, my friend sat on our sofa drinking an entire bottle of gin, complaining about his fate, until he passed out next to our dog, whose bed that sofa was.    4     I didn’t have a drink the next night, or ever again since.

I’m not going to lie: being sober is not a hot-air balloon ride.    5     Having to feel my damn feelings without filters compels me to face and change the things in my life that keep me stuck. Hard work all around, but as my reward, I connect more deeply with the people I care about. I think of not drinking as a kindness I’ve given myself. And to my surprise, it’s rewarded me with true, hard-won happiness.

A．My body demanded it.

B．My health started improving rapidly.

C．It’s more like a hike in the mountains.

D．How did they quit drinking?

E．It was a wake-up call.

F．But the pluses seemed to outweigh the minuses.

G．How did they get through life?

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个恰当的单词或者括号内单词的正确形式。

Zibo, the origin of Shandong cuisine and the hometown of Qi culture, keeps its taste of thousands of years ago intact (完整的). If Shandong cuisine is the profound foundation of Zibo culture, the barbecue is an    1    (extend) of cooking cultures, more back to nature of the soul. In the past few decades and on China’s vast barbecue landscape, Zibo    2    (establish) its own kingdom of eating. She integrates culture with her food,     3    is unique and outstanding. Simple to complex, the soul of Zibo Barbecue is half in the pie andhalf in the meat itself.

Once the mutton skewers begin to sizzle on the barbecue, people gather around, eyeing the fat, juicy,     4    (slight) burnt mutton to be slid onto their plates. Zibo barbecue is    5    essential aspect of the city’s cuisine with its unique flavoring techniques and the benefit of broadening people’s social circles. Chinese barbecue    6    (serve) inindividual portions, which we think is more healthy, compared with a majority of others placed on plates at the center of a table for people to share.    7    (afford), easy to prepare, safe to eat, and good for social interaction, the barbecue has emerged     8    a topchoice for dining during holidays ‘or any time. It’s fun when several friends and families gather around and chat while    9    (put) meat on the barbecue skewers. A recent report showed that in the whole country, the barbecue is    10    (two) only to hot pot amonglate-night dining options.

4 . I’m a mother of three and a psychologist. Recently, I come to understand what makes childhood valuable in its own right.

One day, when I went to get my 7-year-old son from soccer ________, the kid ________ me with a downcast face. The coach had ________ him for not focusing on his soccer drills. He walked out of the school with his head and shoulders ________ down. He seemed wrapped in ________. But just before he reached the car door, he suddenly stopped, crouching (蹲伏) down to ________ something on the sidewalk. His ________ went down lower and lower, and then, with complete joy he called out, “Mum. Come here. This is the ________ bug (虫子) I’ve ever seen. It has, like a million ________. It’s amazing.” He looked up at me, his features overflowing with energy and ________. “Can’t we ________ here for just a minute? I want to find out what he does with all those legs.”

The traditional view of such a moment is that it is ________, or a waste of valuable time. Yet at that moment it suddenly dawned on me that what sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance (无知) but their ________ for joy. Children’s ability to become deeply ________ in something and get great pleasure is what adults spend the rest of their lives ________.

1.

A．appointment

B．display

C．practice

D．experience

2.

A．served

B．greeted

C．witnessed

D．treated

3.

A．envied

B．criticized

C．promoted

D．forgiven

4.

A．hanging

B．settling

C．putting

D．turning

5.

A．shyness

B．weakness

C．loneliness

D．sadness

6.

A．pick up

B．look for

C．stare at

D．bring out

7.

A．ears

B．hands

C．mouth

D．face

8.

A．biggest

B．simplest

C．strangest

D．dullest

9.

A．eyes

B．arms

C．legs

D．feet

10.

A．entertainment

B．delight

C．satisfaction

D．confusion

11.

A．gather

B．play

C．sit

D．stay

12.

A．practical

B．impossible

C．accessible

D．unnecessary

13.

A．capacity

B．respect

C．effort

D．responsibility

14.

A．experienced

B．absorbed

C．rich

D．skillful

15.

A．seeking

B．studying

C．missing

D．denying

5 . As is known to all, true beauty comes from within, but sometimes it’s not easy to know how to explain it.     1    .

Inner beauty is in the everyday choices you make.

When we are faced with small, daily choices such as whether to tell a white lie to avoid trouble, our inner beauty or lack thereof comes out.     2    . Honesty is real inner beauty. While no one is perfect, inner beauty will show itself in the repeated choices a person makes.

    3    .

I’ve known several people who were pretty on the outside, but when they said unkind words, they suddenly looked so ugly! True beauty comes from within and often comes out through your words.

Inner beauty is in how you respond to (应对) mistakes.

When someone makes a mistake and it annoys you, how do you respond? True beauty comes from within when someone is understanding. Someone without inner beauty will be angry. And when you are the one who made a mistake, how do you respond? Do you accept it and move on, giving yourself room to grow? A person with inner beauty doesn’t see mistakes as threats.     4    .

Inner beauty is on the outside.

If you look closely enough, you can see inner beauty from the outside.     5    . And the truth is that when people get to know you, inner beauty is all there really is. The opposite is true if you have ugliness on the inside—it will come out in your expression. The truth comes out, and it really does, whether you like it or not.

A．Inner beauty is in your words

B．Words may speak louder than actions

C．Good choices are based on an honest heart

D．It will lead you to avoid the challenge in your life

E．Here are four things that help you understand inner beauty

F．When you are full of good things on the inside, it shows in your smile

G．Instead, he sees them as an important part of life and a chance to learn