1 . Almost everyone who has studied English has been warned about the way Brits love their manners. It is part of our national identity, as much as fish and chips or complaining about the weather. Recently I have been wondering where this comes from and I read online that we say sorry up to eight times a day. Probably the same amount of times that any other person says “hello” or “how are you”. It is almost like greetings to us! It was only when I was explaining how there are five steps of saying thank you when you buy something from a shop to a Mexican friend of mine that I realised how mad it sounded.
After some research online I have not been able to find any specific reasons why we are the way we are. I suppose for centuries manners and how we eat at the table and talk to other people have been the barriers between the lower and upper classes and represent your social status. Britain has traditionally been a quite conservative country. There are many articles suggesting that this seemingly polite attitude of always saying please and thank you is quite false because it is impossible to always feel that you want to thank someone or say please.
Maybe it is for this reason that people are going one of two ways: they are incredibly polite and hold back on their feelings or not polite at all, and express their true feelings. Some Brits are fed up of pretending that they are always content and having to please people. Sometimes because we feel we have to be polite, we are prevented from saying what we truly think. Do you think it is better to not hurt people’s feelings and be polite or to let people know the truth? In your country what is the custom? I know in some countries if someone is considered to be doing their job, the clients think that they do not need to be thanked.
1. What does the author think of the British way of saying “Thank you”?| A．Normal. | B．Surprising. | C．Exciting. | D．Pleasing. |
| A．Why the British like to complain about the weather. |
| B．Why the British love their way of showing manners. |
| C．Why the British are fond of fish and chips so much. |
| D．Why the British have five steps of saying thank you. |
| A．Wealth and health. | B．Social status. | C．Politeness. | D．Attitudes. |
| A．They want to express their true feelings. |
| B．They want to let people know the truth. |
| C．They are kept from saying what they think. |
| D．They want to represent their social status. |
2 . This Way to Dreamland Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers have a bad reputation for being unaware of what’s happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy.
But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history.
Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slip into daydreams.
It’s also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concentrate. “Mindfulness”, being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep.
| A．Having interesting things to think about also helps. |
| B．They stare off into space and wander by themselves. |
| C．Without wandering minds, we wouldn’t have relativity , Coke or Post-it notes. |
| D．At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses. |
| E．It involves slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive. |
| F．Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand. |
| G．Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep a notebook or voice recorder nearby when you’re in the daydream zone. |
3 . Masks that helped save lives are proving a deadly danger for wildlife, with birds and sea creatures trapped in the shocking number of thrown-away facial coverings. Single-use masks have been found around pavements, waterways and beaches worldwide. Worn once, the thin protective materials can take hundreds of years to decompose. “Face masks aren't going away any time soon—but when we throw them away, these items can harm the environment and the animals,” Ashley Fruno of animal rights group PETA said.
In Britain, a gull was rescued by the RSPCA after its legs became tangled in the straps of a mask for up to a week. The animal welfare charity took it to a wildlife hospital for treatment before its release.
The biggest impact may be in the water. More than 1.5 billion masks made their way into the world's oceans last year, accounting for around 6,200 extra tonnes of ocean plastic pollution, according to environmental group Oceans Asia.
Conservationists in Brazil found one mask inside the stomach of a penguin after its body was washed up on a beach, while a dead pufferfish was discovered caught inside another off the coast of Miami. French campaigners found a dead crab trapped in a mask near the Mediterranean. Masks and gloves are “particularly problematic” for sea creatures, says George Leonard, chief scientist from NGO Ocean Conservancy. “When those plastics break down in the environment, they then enter the food chain and impact entire ecosystems.” he added.
There has been a shift towards greater use of reusable cloth masks as the pandemic has worn on, but many are still using the lighter single-use varieties. Campaigners have urged people to bin them properly and cut the straps to reduce the risk of animals becoming trapped. Oceans Asia has also called on governments to increase fines for littering and encourage the use of washable masks.
1. What's Paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The problem of littering masks. | B．The long time to break down masks. |
| C．The threat of masks to wildlife. | D．The protective use of masks to people. |
| A．They gave first aid to the bird. | B．They released the bird at once. |
| C．They kept the bird for about a week. | D．They sent the bird to hospital. |
| A．By providing examples. | B．By giving explanations. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By analyzing causes. |
| A．Forbidding the use of single-use masks. | B．Wearing reusable cloth masks. |
| C．Cutting the masks up before throwing. | D．Increasing fines for binning masks. |
4 . My first visit to Angkor Wat (吴哥窟) was in 1980. The country had been at war for many years and the temple was deserted and falling to pieces. Plants were growing out of the roofs, and trees were growing in the yards.
Today, the temple is the scene of a busy repair program. A team of 15 Indian experts are organizing a workforce of 400 Cambodians, most of them women, who are cleaning, repairing and rebuilding parts of this temple.
As I walked through the yards, I noticed the Cambodian women devote hours to cleaning carefully a tiny area of stone. Boards are laid down to protect the precious painted stones while the repair work is going on. There are very few machines and little heavy equipment. Workers carry building materials in buckets at the end of long poles. Piles of stones lie in a corner of the yard, waiting to be replaced.
The work of cleaning the stones is watched over by three Indian chemists. It is a very slow task. First they clean the stones with brushes using buckets of a weak chemical. Then gaps between the stones are filled in. Finally another material is painted onto the stones which will protect them from water forever.
Work starts every day at 7 am and goes on until late afternoon six days a week, with a break at midday.
Evening is the best time to visit the temple, after the tour groups have left. As the sun sinks lower, shadows spread across the yard. After sunset, the sky turns pink. The grey stone towers take on a golden color before turning pink. Nowhere else in the world can there be such a quiet, beautiful place.
1. According to the author, which of the following plays the LEAST important role in the repair work?| A．The women workers. |
| B．The Indian workers. |
| C．Machines. |
| D．Skilled workers. |
| A．there was no one in the temple and it was in a poor state |
| B．the temple was built on a desert and nobody noticed it |
| C．the temple was very old with a long history |
| D．the temple was repaired by the Cambodians, most of whom were women |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．To get rid of certain types of plants. |
| B．To carry the building materials. |
| C．To replace the stones. |
| D．To clean the stones. |
5 . After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two qualities make a difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance — curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man who had both.
Together, these deep human urges (驱策力) count for much more than ambition. Galileo was not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked in discontent, “Why? Why? Why?”
Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need only to recapture them. “The great man,” said Mencius, “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires only the calm and restful average.
Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake.
How should you start? Modestly, so as not to become discouraged. I think of one friend who couldn’t arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it.
The way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven’t any special ability? Most people don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom’s Cabin while cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.
However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be more alive than you are at this moment.
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to ________.| A．present an argument | B．make a comparison | C．reach a conclusion | D．propose a definition |
| A．Scientists tend to have varied ambitions. | B．Trial and error leads to the finding of truth. |
| C．Creativity results from challenging authority. | D．Greatness comes from a lasting desire to explore. |
| A．Observe the unknown around you. | B．Develop a questioning mind. |
| C．Lead a life of adventure. | D．Follow the fashion. |
| A．Gaining success helps you become an expert. |
| B．The genius tends to get things done creatively. |
| C．Lack of talent and time is no reason for taking no action. |
| D．You should remain modest when approaching perfection. |
Not so very long ago, people contacted their friends faraway only by writing letters. With
However, there is one disadvantage of making friends online. People tend
Although technology
7 . When everything is going wrong, there's nothing like listening to a few bars of your favorite sad song. But why do we find pleasure in sad music? This puzzled two researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany who set out to explore our strong feeling for sad songs in a world where entire industries exist to help us remove sadness from our lives.
Their study — based on a survey of more than 770 people around the world and published this month in the journal, PLOS ONE — discovered sad music can create positive emotions, like peacefulness and kindness, and that choosing the tearful ballad on your music player offers three benefits.
The biggest turned out to be that sad songs allow you to feel sadness without any of its “real-life contexts.” In other words, you can safely explore what it's like to be a little blue without experiencing the great pain of losing a loved one, for example.
“Emotion control” was another important benefit. Many of those surveyed said that when they were in a bad mood (情绪), experiencing sadness through music made them feel better afterwards and provided an emotional improvement. That may be because the songs help them to express and let go of their emotions, researchers noted. “Sad music promotes and creates a space for reflection and reexamination of personal experiences, thoughts and feelings,” one of the researchers added
The benefit of “empathy” (同理心) made the listener feel good by allowing him to share the sadness of another human being through the song. When we're having social problems, like when we're feeling lonely, homesick or missing someone, the sad songs can offer comfort by showing someone else shares our state of mind, the study found.
So it turns out that Elton John was right: Sad songs do say so much.
1. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．When things go wrong. | B．What to explore in sad songs. |
| C．Why sad music brings us joy. | D．How to remove sadness from life. |
| A．Benefits of sad music. |
| B．Strong feelings in sad music. |
| C．Real-life contexts of sad music. |
| D．Empathetic comforts from sad music. |
| A．By freeing us from bad moods. | B．By bringing great pain to us. |
| C．By helping us reflect on exams. | D．By providing a space for us. |
| A．To prove Elton John was right. | B．To show Elton John wrote songs. |
| C．To make the readers think deeply. | D．To stress the point of the passage. |
8 . The Great Wall in China is one of the greatest wonders of the world and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Different sections of the Great Wall have distinctive landscapes, and in this flower-blooming season, which one would you prefer to take a tour of?
Badaling Great Wall
The Badaling Great Wall is located in the northwest suburb of Beijing. It extends in all directions and therefore got its name as Badaling. Due to the strategic importance of Badaling, it was the place where the military fought in the past.
Mutianyu Great Wall
The Mutianyu Great Wall, 70 kilometers from urban Beijing, is known as the best part of the Great Wall. With a unique architectural style, it expresses the essence of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644). The ancient architecture and the beauty of nature is blended into one harmonious whole, giving rise to Mutianyu’s reputation as having the most unique beauty anywhere along the ten-thousand-mile-long Great Wall.
Simatai Great Wall
For anyone intent on experiencing a section of the Great Wall that keeps a more antiquated air, the Great Wall at Simatai remains one of the best options. It is also the only section of the Great Wall that provides a night tour for tourists. It is said that since the Ming Dynasty, there has been a tradition that people holding palace lanterns visit this section.
Jiankou Great Wall
The Jiankou section is one of the most dangerous parts and mountain hikers usually call it “the wild Great Wall”. With a total length of 7,952 meters, the Jiankou Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty and was neglected, becoming damaged over time. It is much preferred by photographers due to its primitive appearance.
1. Which section of the Great Wall is the best option for architecture lovers?| A．Badaling Great Wall. | B．Mutianyu Great Wall. |
| C．Simatai Great Wall. | D．Jiankou Great Wall. |
| A．The Badaling got its name due to its strategic importance. |
| B．The Mutianyu Great Wall covers a distance of 70 kilometers. |
| C．Tourists must hold palace lanterns to visit the Simatai Great Wall. |
| D．The Jiankou Great Wall’s original features have attracted photographers. |
| A．A history textbook. | B．A research paper. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．An architecture magazine. |
9 . Thru hiking (徒步旅行) for long distances with your equipment on your back
The first kindness is the Trail Angels who
Trail Magic can
One Saturday morning in the San Gabriel mountains, as we crossed a highway, trail runners in their vehicle pulled over to
Now I am preparing for the next section hike to the Mojave desert. Thank you God for those who show a
| A．risks | B．means | C．suggests | D．enjoys |
| A．inspiring | B．confusing | C．surprising | D．annoying |
| A．passers-by | B．passengers | C．strangers | D．friends |
| A．adjust | B．open | C．fix | D．change |
| A．provide | B．receive | C．prove | D．count |
| A．anxiously | B．eagerly | C．sincerely | D．randomly |
| A．occur | B．work | C．guess | D．arise |
| A．looked | B．warned | C．approached | D．backed |
| A．meaningful | B．wonderful | C．hopeful | D．helpful |
| A．lend | B．show | C．sell | D．offer |
| A．drink | B．food | C．luggage | D．cigarette |
| A．came about | B．got down | C．came across | D．torn down |
| A．amazing | B．shocking | C．disappointing | D．interesting |
| A．hard | B．broken | C．calm | D．warm |
| A．hope | B．honesty | C．bravery | D．kindness |
10 . Four ideas for the best Easter holidays
When the kids breakup from school it can be difficult to choose what to do. With the Easter holidays just around the comer, here are four different ideas to inspire you to make the most of the break, whatever your age.
York
Bursting with museums, attractions, and events for everyone, York is the perfect Easter holiday destination. Going with grandparents? They’ll love walking the cobbled streets for sweet treats or stopping for an afternoon tea at one of the many historic hotels. Or learn about the diverse history of this amazing city at one of the museums. There really is something for everyone in this attractive city.
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a great spot to spend a day relaxing and playing on the sands. Located in Kent and with lifeguards on duty, it’s a great spot for surfing, exploring the rockpools, and hunting for fossils. For a longer stay, why not hire a car for the Easter holiday and take a road trip along the Kentish coast British seaside break?
Bristol
Travel to the southwest to explore bustling (熙熙攘攘的) Bristol. Bristol is full of amazing restaurants housed in warehouses that remind you of the city’s maritime history. There are also wonderful museums, amazing parks for picnics and games, and even a surf centre nearby. Shop. eat, play — whatever you fancy doing, Bristol has it all.
Snowdonla
Head to North Wales if you’re after some wild adventures. There are plenty of hills, lakes, rivers, and benches to explore, but if your kids have a lot of energy to burn, then Mount Snowdon should be your choice. Standing 1,085 metres tall, it’s sure to provide an exciting adventure for the whole family. Local guides are available to lead you to the top, if you wish.
1. Where will a family with grandparents choose to go?| A．York | B．Botany Bay. | C．Bristol. | D．Snowdonia. |
| A．Parks. | B．Restaurants . | C．Fossil museums. | D．Surf spots. |
| A．Have a picnic. | B．Play games. | C．Look for fossils. | D．Climb mountains. |
