4 . Have you heard of these four monuments?

Carhenge. Floralis Genérica. Traffic Light Tree. Hand of the Desert — these are four unusual monuments from around the world you might like to visit.

• Carhenge

Carhenge is in Alliance, Nebraska (USA). As the name suggests, it has a lot in common with Stonehenge, the famous stone circle on Salisbury Plain. But while Stonehenge was built with stones, Carhenge was created with cars. The monument was made in 1987 by a local artist Jim Reinders and his family. He used old cars and even an ambulance. At first, the people of Alliance didn’t like it, but they soon changed their minds after it became popular with tourists, who brought lots of money to the town.

• Floralis Genérica

Floralis Genérica is a massive statue of a flower. It stands in a pool of water in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eduardo Catalano, a native of Argentina, gave the statue as a gift to the city in 2002. Every morning, the flower opens. Ask anyone who has seen it and they’ll tell you that watching it open is an unforgettable sight. In fact, many people believe it is one of the most beautiful statues in the world.

• Traffic Light Tree

The Traffic Light Tree is situated at Heron Quay, in one of London’s financial districts. The tree has 75 sets of traffic lights. It was created by French artist, Pierre Vivant, and was installed in 1998. A computer controls the lights, which are turned on and off randomly. The roundabout where the tree is was voted the most popular roundabout in the UK in a recent survey.

• Mano del Desierto (Hand of the Desert)

The Hand of the Desert is in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The sculpture was designed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal. From a distance, it looks as if there’s a giant in the sand who has stuck his hand out of the ground.

If you’re looking for something new to see, you know where to go!

1. Why did the people of Alliance change their attitude toward Carhenge?

A．It reminded them of Stonehenge.	B．It brought them financial benefits.
C．It added beauty to their community.	D．It displayed the creativity of the designer.

2. Which of the four monuments was designed by a foreign artist?

A．Carhenge.	B．Floralis Genérica.
C．Traffic Light Tree.	D．Mano del Desierto.

3. Where is the text probably from?

A．A guide book.	B．A news report.
C．A science magazine.	D．An architecture advertisement.

5 . For over a decade, Zubin Kanga, a pianist, composer and technologist, has changed the limits of the forms of musical performances. He has both organized and performed shows that have pushed barriers, with motion sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), live-generated 3D visuals and virtual reality among the technological advancements used to unlock new possibilities of music and performances.

Kanga’s approach to employing cutting-edge technology was first informed by the relative limitations of his chosen instrument. “The piano is a very accurate technology,” he says. “From the early 20th century till now it hasn’t really changed at all. It’s an amazing instrument, but it does have certain limitations in terms of the types of sound you can create.”

One of the early works is Steel on Bone, composed by Kanga himself. He performs the piece using MiMU multi-sensor gloves. “I can put up one finger, and that’ll produce a particular sound,” Kanga explains. “And then I can control that sound just by moving my wrist through the air — I can do that with lots of different gestures.”

“For Steel on Bone, I’m actually playing inside the piano with these steel knitting (编织) needles, and getting all these interesting effects on the strings. Then I’m using samples of them. Sometimes I’m using live delays and operating them. The sound can change depending on how my hands are moving. It allows me to make a very theatrical piece, and people can see this immediate connection between how I’m moving — these very big, almost conductor-like gestures through the air — and the way the sound is changing,” said Kanga.

This is just the start, and Kanga goes on to be enthused with the use of motion sensors to make music, the possibilities that AI offers composers as a tool, and how virtual reality could transform performances and more.

1. What do technological advancements do for music and performances?

A．Remove music barriers.

B．Bring new performance forms.

C．Popularize musical performances.

D．Make performances professional.

2. Why does Kanga talk about the piano in paragraph 2?

A．To indicate its stability.

B．To prove its rare accuracy.

C．To show it has a long history.

D．To clarify why he uses technology.

3. How does Kanga perform Steel on Bone?

A．By moving his hands in the air.	B．By pressing the piano keys.
C．By beating the steel knitting needles.	D．By making very small gestures.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．Technology: When It Replaces Music

B．Virtual Reality: Future of Performances

C．Zubin Kanga: When Music Meets Technology

D．AI Music: From Composing to Performing

6 . What makes a word real? Who has the power to make those kinds of official decisions about words? Those are the questions many people have in mind. When most people say a word isn’t real, what they mean is that it doesn’t appear in a dictionary. That, of course, raises some other questions, including, who writes dictionaries?

Now, dictionaries are good resources, but they are changeable. If you ask dictionary editors, what they’ll tell you is that they’re just trying to keep up with people as people change the language. They’re watching what people say and what people write and trying to figure out what’s going to stick and what’s not going to stick.

Every January, dictionary editors go to the American Dialect Society Meeting every year, where among other things, they decide on the word of the year. There are about 200 or 300 people who come. Some of them are the best known linguists(语言学家) in the United States. In the past, some of the winners have been “staycation” to describe a vacation spent at home and “tweet” to describe a post made on the social networking service Twitter.

So how does a word get into a dictionary? It gets in because people use it and people keep using it, and dictionary editors are paying attention to people. If a community of speakers is using a word and knows what it means, it’s real. That word might be informal and that word might be a word that you think is illogical(不合逻辑的) or unnecessary, but as long as people are using the word, it is real. I hope that what you can do is to find language change not annoying but fun and interesting, just the way dictionary editors do. I hope you can enjoy being part of the creativity that is continually remaking our language and keeping it alive.

1. Why do dictionaries change over time?

A．Speakers keep changing language.

B．Linguists often make up new words.

C．Dictionary editors change every year.

D．Words in the dictionary are out of date.

2. Who has the right to decide the word of the year?

A．New words inventors.	B．American Officials.
C．Dictionary editors.	D．Famous linguists.

3. What does the underlined word “staycation” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Taking a holiday while working.	B．Working online at home.
C．Staying at home for the moment.	D．Going on a vacation at home.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards language changing?

A．Worried.

B．Positive.

C．Uninterested.

D．Confused.

7 . A Maryland couple stranded (滞留) without food in the freezing cold on a Virginia highway. They were getting ________ and more discouraged by the minute.

After almost 21 hours of being ________ on 95 South, Casey and her husband John slept there overnight and not ________ access to food or water. At that time, they ________ a Schmidt Baking Co. truck ahead of them in the standstill. “People around us were very much ________. Many of them had small children, some were elderly and hadn’t eaten in almost a whole day. ” In a desperate bid for a ________, they decided to call the Schmidt Bakery and see if it could help ________ some much-needed food for them, as well as their fellow highway captives.

“I didn’t think it would ________ work,” said Casey, who left a message with customer service. But to their ________, 20 minutes later, they actually got a ________ from Chuck Paterakis, the owner of the bakery. He told them to walk over to the truck driver, Ron, who was given the go-ahead to start handing out ________ to 50 motorists. Then, the couple joined the driver in making ________. Soon, others joined the effort, in which some 300 loaves were ________.

“It felt incredible just hearing people say thank you and hearing them so ________ to finally have food in their car. This was one of the ________ moments I have ever witnessed.” recalled Casey.

1.

A．farther

B．hungrier

C．poorer

D．angrier

2.

A．hit

B．rescued

C．stuck

D．fined

3.

A．seeking

B．having

C．limiting

D．allowing

4.

A．spotted

B．rented

C．searched

D．repaired

5.

A．cheering

B．begging

C．joking

D．struggling

6.

A．job

B．shelter

C．gift

D．bite

7.

A．provide

B．prepare

C．store

D．select

8.

A．occasionally

B．suddenly

C．actually

D．routinely

9.

A．credit

B．amusement

C．surprise

D．honor

10.

A．loan

B．call

C．request

D．visit

11.

A．bread

B．cash

C．flyers

D．permits

12.

A．bookings

B．comments

C．schedules

D．deliveries

13.

A．put away

B．given out

C．cut up

D．hunted for

14.

A．honored

B．concerned

C．generous

D．relieved

15.

A．hardest

B．kindest

C．proudest

D．longest

8 . The secret to stress relief: Why rest isn’t a waste of time

Stress is a modern epidemic, but among all the stress management strategies we are forgetting one essential remedy (疗法) — taking time for rest. For a long time, psychologists focused almost exclusively on what went on between our ears.     1     That was the field of medical doctors, physiotherapists and gym instructors. Recently, however, there has been a growing realization that the body and mind are deeply connected with each other.

The most recent insights have revealed that our mental health is determined to a large extent by our physical condition. Studies have shown that our brain processes “psychological” pain — such as the kind that arises out of social exclusion — the same way it does physical pain.     2    

It’s apparent that there is no clear division between body and mind in the case of stress. You suffer more from stress when you are suffering from a flu. If you have a bad night’s sleep, everything is more stressful the next day. But good news is that you can combat it by looking after your body.     3     A healthy sleeping pattern also offers protection agains all kinds of psychological disorders, and a healthy diet is known to reduce stress.

When you decide to do something about your stress levels, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to turn your whole life upside down — quit your job, move to another country and so forth.     4     Moments of rest and relaxation ought to occupy a more significant place in our lives. These important moments should not be regarded as a kind of “breather” in between jobs but as a natural and fundamental part of our way of life.

    5     We need to see it as crucial time that we use to build up our reserves. It is only when we fully embrace rest that we will be able to take a stand against stress and burnout.

A．The body was not their responsibility.

B．The first step is to take better care of your body, instead.

C．In fact, you can even take an aspirin for that kind of pain.

D．For example, physical exercise helps to relieve depression.

E．You should ask if the health problems are caused by stress.

F．They all concentrate only on anxiety, depression and as such.

G．Getting enough rest is not just something we should do when we are exhausted.

9 . Emily Bhatnagar has always loved reading. “Growing up, I was really shy, so I always turned to books,” she said. “They became my best friends when I didn’t have one.”

In 2019, when Emily was in her second year of high school, her dad suffered from cancer. The news was difficult for the family. Books became an even bigger comfort, and she started thinking about families in similar situations. When her father recovered, she came up with a plan to help others. “The idea came from the fact that there were kids who were facing the same problem,” she said.

Then, Emily started the book drive in her hometown, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The goal was to collect books and give them to kids being treated for cancer in local hospitals. Her father was not surprised by this plan. “She always wants to do things for the neighborhood,” he said. Since the start of the book drive, which she calls For Love & Buttercup, Emily has collected more than 10,000 books.

Emily had no idea how much attention her work would get. She started by posting on social media, asking people in her area to donate. “I was expecting maybe two or three neighbors to do it,” she said. “But it ended up blowing up,” especially when newspapers began reporting it.

The Children’s Inn is one of the places where Emily has donated books. “Donations like Emily’s share a piece of the world with kids and families that they may not experience,” said its director, Aisha Campbell. Emily continues to run the book drive with her parents’ help. She hopes to one day make it reach more kids. The memory of the first time she visited children who’d received her books sticks with her. “It was the best day of my life,” she said. “I realized I wanted to do this type of work forever.”

1. What made Emily come up with the book drive?

A．Her father’s illness.	B．Her care for others.
C．Her habit of reading.	D．Her own shyness.

2. What did Emily’s For Love & Buttercup want to do?

A．Help her father defeat cancer.	B．Give her father a surprise.
C．Comfort other kids in need.	D．Collect books for hospitals.

3. How did Emily feel about the book drive at first?

A．Uncertain.

B．Surprised.

C．Proud.

D．Disappointed.

4. What is Emily’s future plan?

A．Getting more help from her parents.	B．Starting another book drive very soon.
C．Making her program benefit more kids.	D．Writing books about her experiences.

10 . Qin Yueyu has managed to fulfill a dream that initially seemed unusual. Her reproduction (仿制品) based on the murals (壁画) at the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang gains online popularity and sees her fame grow, as technique and attention to detail wins many admirers.

Qin’s creation that was brought to public attention was meant to be displayed for her graduation. It runs 2.1 meters high and is her re-creation of part of the mural in Cave 159 of the Mogao Grottoes, a piece from Tang Dynasty. Qin restored every vivid detail of the mural and made sure its size was the same as the original. Her work made its way to the list of trending topics on social media platform Sina Weibo at the end of May. She has also attracted more than 10,000 followers to her personal account on Xiaohongshu, another social media platform.

Qin developed an interest in painting at 6. Then, the cartoon Nine-Colored Deer produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio introduced her to the charm of Dunhuang. The strong elements of Dunhuang scenery in the cartoon left a deep impression on her. “I became curious about Dunhuang and more interested in art,” she recalls.

In the beginning, Qin struggled with every step of mural reproduction. “The only way is to practice over and again,and learn from your mistakes,” she says. Through trial and error, Qin continued perfecting her skills and has reproduced dozens of well-known murals in Mogao Grottoes.

Qin feels very lucky that she can now make a living by doing something she likes. She is glad that her efforts have helped popularize the murals. “I hope I can tap into more stories about Dunhuang and present them in my future works.”

1. What can we learn about Qin’s creation from paragraph 2?

A．It was created based on a piece from Song Dynasty.

B．It is smaller than the original mural in Mogao Grottoes.

C．It was originally designed to be on show for her graduation.

D．It has attracted 1,000 followers to her account on Xiaohongshu.

2. Which of the following is NOT a reason for Qin’s success?

A．Making a living by painting.	B．Sticking to her dream.
C．Paying attention to detail.	D．Learning through trial and error.

3. What can be inferred according to the passage?

A．Qin has made a big fortune through her work.

B．Qin will pay a visit to Dunhuang in the future.

C．Qin enjoys making money by popularizing murals.

D．Qin will continue to create mural reproduction of Dunhuang.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Artist Becomes Curious about Dunhuang	B．Murals of Cave 159 Wins Admirers
C．Artist Paints a Career from Grottoes	D．Mogao Grottoes Gains Online Popularity