1 . Did you know that the color of uniforms can influence the performance of an athlete? It may sound strange, but a study suggests this might be true.

Two British scientists studied the results of four sports in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where the athletes had been given either a red or a blue uniform. They discovered that when there was a big difference in the score, color had no influence on the result. But if it was a close match, the athlete in a red uniform was more likely to win. Then they looked at the uniforms of the soccer teams at the Euro 2004 tournament. Again, teams wearing red won more games.

The two scientists got their idea from earlier studies of wild animals. It had been discovered that when a male show red on its body, it sends a signal of its power and strength. For example, in many kinds of monkey, the more the male shows off its red scars, the more females it can attract.

Based on this fact, the British scientists thought that the idea might work for humans, too. According to them, when an athlete sees a competitor in a red uniform, he gets a feeling that his competitor could be stronger than him. And that kind of feeling may have a bad influence on the player’s performance in the actual game.

Although the idea is Interesting, most people don’t accept that color signals in the animals world can really be useful to humans in sports. They think that it is unreasonable to develop an idea based on such a small number of examples. Much more research has to be done to prove the influence of uniform colors on the performance of athletes.

1. What did the scientists find out about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games?

A．Athletes played equally well in four sports.

B．Game results had a big influence on the athletes.

C．Athletes dressed in red scored more in a close match.

D．There was a big difference in red and blue team’s scores.

2. What may the red scars of a male animal suggest?

A．It is quite strong.	B．It is a failure.
C．It has power over other males.	D．It has attracted a lot of females.

3. The underlined part “that kind of feeling” in the text refers to a feeling of ________.

A．weakness

B．pride

C．danger

D．shame

4. What is most people’s opinion to the scientists’ idea?

A．Interested.

B．Satisfied.

C．Doubtful.

D．Thankful.

2 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a _______on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she _______it.

For most people, that would be the _______ of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell found the letter. He had just_______ his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the _______ on the ground outside of a hardware store in Manvel. “I _______ it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I opened it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really _______ me.” Carrell thought the letter would _______ someone’s day and that maybe he could find the owner, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people, _______ one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s ________,” said Carrell.

The comments included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t ________ you found my baby’s letter.” Carrell reached Alvarado to ________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally met on Thursday night.

“Eventually the letter made it home,” said Alvarado. “We are ________ for what James Carrell did.” We often forget the power of ________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a ________impression.

1.

A．bird

B．card

C．cake

D．flower

2.

A．received

B．destroyed

C．lost

D．posted

3.

A．end

B．part

C．influence

D．cause

4.

A．promised

B．invited

C．seen

D．called

5.

A．paper

B．cash

C．bag

D．tool

6.

A．proved

B．explained

C．realised

D．admitted

7.

A．satisfied

B．frightened

C．shocked

D．touched

8.

A．start

B．continue

C．brighten

D．ruin

9.

A．obviously

B．extremely

C．especially

D．probably

10.

A．photograph

B．arrival

C．conclusion

D．reply

11.

A．forget

B．believe

C．understand

D．pretend

12.

A．read

B．present

C．return

D．publish

13.

A．ready

B．grateful

C．responsible

D．anxious

14.

A．little

B．certain

C．useless

D．extra

15.

A．general

B．beneficial

C．lasting

D．reasonable

4 . Wearing ties (领带) was originally the mark of Britain’s most powerful classes. That made the tie itself a symbol of power and respect. And this led the tie to be adopted by a much larger tribe (群体) — the business tribe.

You cannot wear a tie if you work with machinery. So wearing a tie became a sign that you were a man who used his brain to make a living, rather than his hands. It showed you were serious. It showed you were a professional. It meant that everyone who wanted a job in business had to wear one. It was just impossible to take seriously a man who didn’t wear a piece of coloured silk around his neck. This is how millions of people came to be wearing ties across the world. They are part of the uniform of business.

“Ties offer a point of difference,” says John Milne, head of the British Guide of Tie Makers. “They give a chance to say something about their owner’s personality.”

So if you happen to meet a man with a very brightly coloured tie, there’s a good chance that he is the office joker. There’s also a good chance that he will be wearing brightly coloured socks.

Is there a future for ties? The signs are not promising. Tie wearing seems to be rare among the new breed of entrepreneurs(企业家) in the Internet and new technology industries. Many political leaders now go without ties. This shows they are men of the people — but not the people wearing ties.

Up until around 1960, it was common for men across the Western world to wear hats as part of their business uniform. That changed with the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency of the United States. Kennedy never wore a hat — in fact his nickname was “hatless Jack”. Seeing that the most powerful man in the world did not have to wear a hat, millions of other men decided that they did not have to either. Hats simply vanished across the Western world. Perhaps “tieless Tony” will have the same effect on ties as “hatless Jack”.

1. In Britain, ties were first used as a sign to show a person’s ________.

A．personality

B．social position

C．wearing style

D．favourite hobby

2. In the business world, wearing a tie was necessary because ________.

A．it showed you used your brain	B．it showed you got a good salary
C．it showed you were an employer	D．it showed you were well-trained

3. The author holds the opinion that ________.

A．Blair is the best leader in the world	B．Kennedy is the best leader in the world
C．more people will go to work without ties	D．people will wear hats instead of ties

4. The underlined word “vanished” in this passage means ________.

A．disappeared

B．washed

C．expanded

D．sold

6 . In the world of digital health, Silicon Valley-based Mindstrong stands out. It has a remarkable team and tens of millions of funding. It also has a fascinating idea-its app, based on mental functioning research, can help detect troubling mental health patterns by collecting data on person’s smartphone usage-how quickly they type, for instance.

The company’s app collects information about how people are typing and runs it through a machine learning algorithm (计算程序) to determine which data can predict their emotional state. The idea is to use that data to establish a “normal” pattern-so it can be compared with someone’s typing habits on any given day. If the habits change, slower or more anxious than normal, the app can warn a health care provider.

The promise of this technology has made Mindstrong incredibly popular since it was launched last year; already more than a dozen counties in California have agreed to apply the company’s app to patients. Does the app live up to its promise? There’s no way to tell. Almost no one outside the company has any idea whether it works, leading some experts to wonder if the technology is ready for the real world. “I wouldn’t waste all that time and money in the wild until they get sure that some of those things are as specific as they hope they are,” said Rosalind Picard, a researcher at MIT Media Lab, who is familiar with Mindstrongs work.

“It has passed the gold-standard clinical tests for depression and anxiety,” said Dr. Paul Dagum, the company’s founder. “We’re confident, and we’re already seeing some really exciting results.” Mindstrong officials said that among their most encouraging results is that its app can even predict how a person will feel next week, kind of like a weather app for your mood. “For a clinician(临床医生) or someone looking after a patient, they know that it could be very, very powerful,” Dagum said.

1. What can Mindstrong’s app do?

A．Improve its users’ mental health.	B．Get its users to type more quickly.
C．Discover its users’ mental state.	D．Work out the causes of its users’ trouble.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The ways of collecting data.	B．The app’s working principle.
C．The analysis of typing habits.	D．The development of the app.

3. What is Rosalind Picard’s attitude towards the app?

A．Doubtful.

B．Positive.

C．Uncaring.

D．Defensive.

4. What can we infer about Dagum’s opinion on the app?

A．The app has a powerful effect on anxiety.

B．The app can also predict weather conditions.

C．Care providers could be supporters of the app.

D．Doctors benefit more from the app than their patients.

7 . “Time flies. Youth fades; treasure each moment of your life,” accompanied by guitar and drums, the Band for One, made up of five people, sang the lyrics soulfully during a performance in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on November 7.

Behind the band, there was a picture of a young man named Philip Hancock shown on the screen. And he is the reason they were all there. Hancock was a 27-year-old Australian who taught English in Chongqing. When he died in 2018 due to complications from diabetes, his parents followed his wishes and donated his organs with the help of the Red Cross Society of China’s Chongqing branch.

“I’m Philip’s liver”; “I’m Philip’s kidney”; “I’m Philip’s eyes.” The five people — a real estate salesperson, a famer, a former truck driver and two doctors introduced themselves onstage. They are the ones who received Philip’s organs.

Last year, Chen Xianjun, former truck driver, knew from Red Cross officials that Philip loved music and dreamed of having his own band one day. Chen and the other four recipients instantly decided to form a band in memory of Philip.

Since they had no music experience, they had to start from scratch. From learning the guitar to mastering the maracas and taking on the drums, they took time out of their busy lives to rehearse over the past year, even during the pandemic.

“Picking up a new instrument is certainly difficult at my age, but we managed to achieve it,” said Mo Li, the 36-year- old real estate salesman. “I think Philip not only gave me a renewed life, but also some ‘musical cells’ that enable me to appreciate beautiful melodies.”

Organ donation is not only the best way to memorialize a loved one, but also a remarkable way to save the lives of others. But according to Xinhua, China faces a serious shortage of organs, with about 300,000 people waiting for organ transplant surgeries each year. But the good news is that more and more people are joining Philip.

1. Band for One was formed to         .

A．remember Philip

B．celebrate their renewed life

C．raise money for Philip’s parents

D．raise public awareness of organ donation

2. Which of the following best describes the members of the band?

A．Successful.

B．Skillful.

C．Grateful.

D．Helpful.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The pandemic once stopped their rehearsal.

B．Mo Li was 36 years old when he joined the band.

C．The recipients are from different walks of life.

D．About 300,000 people have organ transplant surgeries each year.

4. What’s the writing purpose of the last paragraph?

A．To call on more organ donations.

B．To let more people know what Philip did.

C．To make the severe shortage of organs known to the public.

D．To inform the public the importance of organ transplant surgeries.

9 . During the five-day International Labor Day holiday that began on April 30, tourist attractions that offered ancient Chinese, or guofeng, experiences attracted large crowds, some members of whom wore traditional clothing and makeup to enhance the authenticity (真实性) of their experiences.

Qujiang New District in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, charmed tourists with a new attraction on the theme of a TV serial The Longest Day in Chang’an. It offered visitors a chance to “travel back in time” and experience a day in the life of people living in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Xi’an, known as Chang’an back then, was the capital.

The World Rural Tourism Town in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, held a cultural festival with a silk and Song Dynasty (960-1279) theme. During the first three days of the holiday, the place received nearly 30,000 visits, putting it into an online list of the 10 most popular Huzhou attractions.

The Jizhou Kiln scenic area in Jiangxi province held a tourism festival with a Song Dynasty theme. Tourists, wearing period costumes and makeup, tried their hand at the ancient Chinese game of touhu — throwing arrows into a distant pot — and tasted yonghe tofu, one of the top 10 Jiangxi dishes.

COVID-19 has accelerated changes in the needs of consumers, who are increasingly pursuing comfortable and safe tourism products that benefit both the environment and people’s health. For tourism businesses, it’s important to highlight the cultural elements of tourism products by drawing inspiration from China’s traditional culture.

Hotels also took advantage of the guofeng craze to feed the growing passion for traditional Chinese culture. A guofeng hotel provided replica (仿制品) costumes from online games based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West, which the guests could try on for photos.

1. What does the underlined word “enhance” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Increase.	B．Explore.
C．Seek.	D．Examine.

2. For what did Qujiang New District attract so many tourists?

A．Its delicious food.

B．Its beautiful scenery.

C．Its themed tourist attraction.

D．Its geographical location.

3. What did the World Rural Tourism Town and the Jizhou Kiln scenic area have in common?

A．They featured local snacks.

B．They were popular online.

C．They offered traditional costumes.

D．They shared the Song Dynasty theme.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Guofeng Varies from Place to Place

B．The Traditional Culture Brings Changes

C．COVID-19 Affects China’s Tourism

D．The Ancient Culture Adds to Holiday Attraction

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或括号内所给词的正确形式。

Chinese opera is one of the oldest dramatic art forms in the world. During the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor Xuanzong set up an opera school with the poetic name Liyuan (Pear Garden). From that time on, performers of Chinese opera were referred to     1     “Disciples(弟子) of the Pear Garden”. Since the Yuan Dynasty it has been encouraged by officials and emperors and has become a     2    (tradition) art form. During the Qing Dynasty, it became fashionable among ordinary people and was watched in tearooms and     3    (restaurant).

It developed from folk songs, dances, talking and especially distinctive dialectical music, and     4    (gradual) combined music, art and literature into one     5    (perform) on the stage.     6    (accompany) by Chinese musical instruments like the erhu and the suona, actors present unique melodies and dialogues which are beautifully written. For Chinese, especially older folks, to listen to this kind of opera is a real pleasure.

    7     appeals to foreigners most might be the different styles of facial make-up, which requires distinctive techniques of painting. Always, exaggerated designs     8    (paint) on each performer’s face to symbolize a character’s personality and role. Audiences     9     are familiar with opera can know the character by     10    (observe) the facial painting as well as the costumes.

Chinese opera has developed into many different regional varieties. Today, there are over 300 amazing regional opera styles.