1 . Teenagers who travel around the world alone have been making headlines quite often. A young person alone in a dangerous situation attracts attention and sponsors. Young sailors also attract various views. For example, Jessica Watson was asked by the government to cancel her voyage, yet the Prime Minister called her “a hero for young Australians” when she returned. It seemed there is confusion about the competence and independence of young people.
The popular psychologists tell us that teenage brains are likely to make wrong judgments. But such ideas often do not apply to specific individuals. Between the ages of 14 and 18, teenagers vary greatly in their abilities. The amount of independence that each is allowed should be determined not simply by their age but by discussion with the related, responsible adults. Some teens are certainly inexperienced and capable of childish mistakes, but the ones who attempt dangerous journeys normally do so by winning the confidence of hard-headed and well-qualified adult supporters.
But it’s also wrong to think that any 16-year-old can desire to get achievements as unusual as Jessica Watson’s. Watson calls herself “an ordinary girl who had a dream”. Her intention is to encourage teenagers but this idea can have the opposite effect of making them feel not good enough because great achievements are beyond them. Should all teens have such dreams? Actually, individuals face varying circumstances that restrict their dreams.
Teenagers who travel around the world alone should not be judged by preconceived (事先形成的) views about young people. Nor should young “ordinary” teenagers feel pressure to long for extraordinary personal goals. In fact, I believe the example of solo sailing overstresses individualism. The teenage years are when most of us “ordinary” people learn that we can achieve great things in cooperation with others.
1. What can we learn about Jessica Watson?| A．She was criticized by the government. |
| B．She eventually canceled her voyage. |
| C．She has traveled around the world. |
| D．She made a successful voyage. |
| A．They have similar abilities. |
| B．They make decisions on their own. |
| C．They always make wrong judgments. |
| D．They need supports of responsible adults. |
| A．Parents. | B．Teenagers. |
| C．Psychologists. | D．Adults. |
| A．Divided Opinions on Young Adventurers |
| B．Problems Faced by Adventurous Teens |
| C．Various Ways to Become Independent |
| D．Pressure to Achieve Personal Goals |
Decorating with Plants, Fruits and Flowers for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is a
These are some of the most popular in many parts of the country:
Oranges: Orange trees are more
Bamboo: Chinese love their “Lucky Bamboo” plants and you will see them often in their homes and office.
Branches of Plum Blossoms (梅花): The
3 . For the last eight years, Jo Meade rode her bike each Sunday on a 16-mile round trip to her job washing dishes. It took more than an hour each way. Other days of the week she would spend two hours on three buses from her apartment to get to the other work, for a four-hour round trip.
That was the “before” part of her life. The “after” part of her life was started by the community Police Officer Trevor Arnold, who delivered a used car to her with the help of a car dealer and other donors.
Arnold, who spotted Meade, red and sweaty, riding her bike in the worst heat this summer, decided he would get her a car. He intended to quietly buy her a used car out of his own pocket so he turned to his friend Kody Slaght, a car salesman, to ask about a car priced $ 1,000. That wasn’t enough for a reliable ride, Slaght said, but the dealership said they would find a good car for her at a good price. Soon others were donating. Slaght and Arnold wouldn’t say how much the car cost, but the value is about $ 4,000.
Arnold said he was motivated by Meade’s work ethic (职业道德) to help. “I see a lot of hardworking people but that’s when they are at work. Can you imagine spending four hours of your day getting to and from work?” he said.
Meade’s boss said she was awesome and really reliable when she worked and she got along with others. “She’s willing to ride the three buses to get in here on her day off if we need her to.”
Meade said she was planning to buy a car, “but I haven’t been able to afford it,” she said. “Trevor, he is a very good guy. I did not expect this.”
1. What can we learn about Jo Meade’s work?| A．It’s free but low-paid. | B．It’s time-consuming on the road. |
| C．It’s competitive and high-paid. | D．It’s not worth her devotion. |
| A．The car was not in good condition of driving. |
| B．The car was too expensive for Meade. |
| C．The car was beyond Arnold’s affordability. |
| D．The car had been donated to another person. |
| A．Her devotion to work. | B．His duty as a policeman. |
| C．His sympathy for Meade. | D．Her desire for a better life. |
| A．Normal. | B．Embarrassed. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Surprised. |
4 . Attractive lakeside cottages and cabins
Lafitte’s Landing Guest Quarters, Uncertain, Texas
There are five cottages featuring high ceilings and spacious bedrooms. Lafitte’s is a certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat, so you don’t have to go far for bird-watching. Explore the lake on a steamboat, or head to Caddo Lake State Park for night adventures such as Owl Nights and Bat Watches.
Rates: Summer nightly rates range from $559 to $1,899
Lake Placid Lodge, Lake Placid, New York
With 17 cabins sitting along the shores of Lake Placid, the arts-and-crafts-style Lake Placid Lodge offers an exciting summer lake experience. Lakefront cabins come outfitted with hand-built beds and stone fireplaces. Go for a hike, or hit the lake for swimming, fishing, or boating.
Rates: Rates are $120 per night for double occupancy; each additional person is $20 per night.
Lake Crescent Lodge, Olympic National Park, Washington
Its cottages and cabins are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Choose between one-and two-bedroom Singer Tavern Cottages, or stay in the always favored (and often booked) Roosevelt Fireplace Cabins. Spend your days hiking in the surrounding Olympic National Park, or exploring Lake Crescent by boat.
Rates: Nightly rates for cottages and cabins range between $317 and $398.
Tamarack Lodge Resort, Mammoth Lakes, California
It is on the peaceful shores of the Twin Lakes. Choose between recently built Deluxe Cabins and old wood-and-stone cabins. Swimming, fishing, boating, biking, and hiking are popular pastimes.
Rates: Summer cabin rates range from $369 to $999 per night.
1. Where can you observe bats at night?| A．At Caddo Lake State Park | B．At Lake Placid |
| C．At Olympic National Park | D．At the Twin Lakes |
| A．$60 | B．$120 | C．$140 | D．$360 |
| A．Cottages at Lafitte’s Landing Guest Quarters | B．Cabins at Lake Placid Lodge |
| C．Deluxe Cabins | D．Roosevelt Fireplace Cabins |
5 . Being the world’s most trusted volunteer abroad organization, IVHQ （International Volunteer Headquarters）offers volunteer programs in more than 50 destinations. Here are a few of them.
Marine Conservation Program
Volunteers of this program work in Queensland, Australia. You will join conservation efforts like collecting sea rubbish.
Requirements: Volunteers need to be 18 years or over. Able to swim. Speak fluent English. Present a police check. Have travel insurance. Complete our free pre-departure training.
Fees: 1 week $1,010, 2 weeks $2,020, 3 weeks $2,980
Shriners Hospitals for Children Program
Volunteers in Shriners Hospitals for Children in Honolulu, Hawaii need to pick up patients, deliver supplies and tutor patients.
Requirements: Volunteers must be at least 16 years old. Available to volunteer two hours per week for at least five months. Agree to a police check and a drug test. We offer free training upon your arrival.
Fees: No fees are needed.
Youth Support Program
Volunteers are placed in community centers of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA to provide tutoring and positive activities for the youth. You can also help organizations by beautifying spaces, re-organizing classrooms and preparing materials.
Requirements: Volunteers need to be 18 years or over. Have travel insurance and provide a police check. The training fee is included in the program fee.
Fees: 1 week $520, 2 weeks $825, 3 weeks $1,125
Pre-School English Program
Volunteers working in Cusco, Peru will teach English in pre-schools with younger children of 4 to 5 years old.
Requirements: 18 years and over. No previous teaching experience is required, but a basic understanding of Spanish is. Emergency contact, police check and resume （简历）are required. Training will be conducted online for free.
Fees: 1 week, $320,2 weeks $550, 3 weeks $735
1. Which program suits a 17-year-old volunteer?| A．Marine Conservation Program. | B．Shriners Hospitals for Children Program |
| C．Youth Support Program. | D．Pre-School English Program. |
| A．Collect sea rubbish. | B．Pick up and tutor patients. |
| C．Re-organize classrooms. | D．Teach the English language. |
| A．Police check. | B．Travel insurance. |
| C．Drug test. | D．Emergency contact. |
6 . Most heroes are not super. They don’t appear in comic books, on television, or in movies. They just do what they believe needs to be done to make their world a better place. Bike Batman is one of them. Bike Batman is a 30-year-old married engineer who lives in Seattle, Washington. He’s a cyclist who also buys and sells bikes as a hobby.
About three years ago, he was looking for a bike for his wife. He found one on Craigslist, a website where people list things they want to sell. As he often does, he also looked at Bike Index, a popular website that allows users to register (登记) their bikes and post reports when they’re taken. The bike, which he was considering buying, clearly matched one reported stolen on Bike Index. Then he called the person who claimed (声称) to be the bike’s owner and arranged (安排) to meet him — supposedly to complete the sale. When the two men met, Bike Batman told the thief, “You’ve got two options. You can wait until a police officer gets here, or you can just get out of here.” You can imagine what the thief did.
After that first success, Bike Batman developed safer steps. When he sees questionable bike ads on Craigslist, he compares the bikes with those reported on Bike Index. Once he has made sure about it with the owner, he arranges a meet-up with the thief and will call the Seattle police department so that officers can take part in the action. In more than half of the 22 cases in which he has got back and returned bikes, the thieves have been arrested (逮捕).
His nickname came from a discussion with a police officer who suggested he be called “Robin Hood”. Since he wasn’t exactly stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, “Batman” seemed a better fit. The idea of a superhero punishing criminals feels pretty silly to him, but the main reason he continues his work is to keep up Seattle’s reputation (名誉) as a friendly city.
1. What’s the author’s purpose of writing the text?| A．To explain what is a superhero. |
| B．To introduce a hero in Seattle. |
| C．To encourage citizens to catch bike thieves. |
| D．To show how badly the police perform their duties. |
| A．Bike Batman began his good deeds by accident. |
| B．The thief refused to return the bike. |
| C．The police failed to catch the thief. |
| D．Bike Batman doesn’t like online shopping. |
| A．To contact the owner of the stolen bike. |
| B．To surf the net for more information of the bike. |
| C．To call the police department immediately. |
| D．To arrange to meet the thief at once. |
| A．A superhero who always punishes criminals. |
| B．A clever person who is good at buying and selling bikes. |
| C．Someone who hates the rich and is friendly to the poor. |
| D．A heroic person who likes robbing the rich to help the poor. |
7 . Lake Tahoe offers some amazing lodging (住宿) options that will fit what you’re looking for.
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Resort & Casino
It offers convenient (方便的) location, comfortable rooms, and a lot of health clubs to make for an enjoyable vacation. The resort is just a few minutes’ walk from Tahoe’s main ski gondola, and Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course is a short walk. All of the resort’s rooms offer two bathrooms, desks, WiFi availability, coffeemakers, and TVs.
Marriott’s Timber Lodge
Located in South Lake Tahoe, CA, it is just miles from Heavenly Village where guests can enjoy shopping and local area restaurants. The Heavenly Gondola is right outside waiting to take guests for a day of skiing. The lodge features an activity center, restaurant, sauna, whirlpools, fitness center and heated outdoor pool. Guests rooms are villas (别墅) that include a kitchen, high speed internet, coffee maker, sofa and hairdryers in all bathrooms.
Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort — Ski Run Boulevard
It is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of South Lake Tahoe, California. The hotel is only minutes from a variety of dining options, and local attractions such as Tahoe Axe Throwing, Wyland Galleries, Van Sickle State Park, and Heavenly Gondola. The shores of Lake Tahoe are just steps away. Hotel facilities (设施) include a sauna, indoor and outdoor pools, and a fitness center.
Resort at Squaw Creek
In 1960 the Winter Olympics was held at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley, CA. Since this time, Squaw Creek has become a family-friendly resort town. The resort at Squaw Creek is a AAA Four Diamond resort with activities for every age. Young children age 4-12 can take part in rock climbing, board games, snowball fights, or swimming.
1. What can you do only at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Resort & Casino?| A．Having an enjoyable vacation. |
| B．Going skiing conveniently. |
| C．Having coffee without going out. |
| D．Playing Golf nearby. |
| A．At Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Resort & Casino. |
| B．At Marriott’s Timber Lodge. |
| C．At Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort -Ski Run Boulevard. |
| D．At Resort at Squaw Creek. |
| A．Because a Winter Olympics was once held at Squaw Creek. |
| B．Because it is a famous AAA Four Diamond resort. |
| C．Because travelers can play board games and go rock-climbing here. |
| D．Because there are various activities for people of all ages. |
8 . Curiosity is what drives us to keep learning, keep trying, keep pushing forward. But how does one generate (产生) curiosity, in oneself or others? George Loewenstein, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, offered an answer in the classic1994 paper, “The Psychology of Curiosity.”
Curiosity arises, Loewenstein wrote, “when attention becomes focused on a gap in one's knowledge. Such information gaps produce the feeling of deprivation (匮乏) labeled curiosity. The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce the feeling of deprivation.” Loewenstein's theory helps explain why curiosity is such a force: it's not only a mental state but also an emotion, a powerful feeling that drives us forward.
Scientist Daniel Willingham notes that teachers are often “so eager to get to the answer that we do not devote enough time to developing the question.” Yet it's the question that stimulates (刺激) curiosity; being told an answer stops curiosity before it can even get going.
In his 1994 paper, George Loewenstein noted that curiosity requires some basic knowledge. We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about. But as soon as we know even a little bit, our curiosity is aroused and we want to learn more. In fact, research shows that curiosity increases with knowledge: the more we know, the more we want to know. To get this process started, Loewenstein suggests, take steps with some interesting but incomplete information.
Language teachers have long used communication in exercises that open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it. For example, one student might be given a series of pictures for the beginning of the story, while the student's partner is given a series of pictures showing how that same story ends. Only by speaking with each other (in the foreign language they are learning, of course) can the students fill in each others' information gaps.
1. When one notices a gap in his knowledge, he .| A．desires to fill it |
| B．tends to be afraid |
| C．might get tired and sad |
| D．will become focused on his learning |
| A．Answers are more important than questions. |
| B．Teachers should be eager to get to the answer. |
| C．Teachers know how to stimulate students’ curiosity. |
| D．Teachers are partly to blame for students’ hating school. |
| A．have read a lot of books | B．know little about something |
| C．have some related information | D．are given incomplete information |
| A．Why students hate school. |
| B．Why curiosity is important. |
| C．How to stimulate curiosity. |
| D．What makes people hungry for knowledge. |
9 . Last year a group of friends and I began a project called The World Needs You. Its aim is to show how
“Do the children need anything else?” I asked the coordinator(协调人) when we sent our
“Umbrellas!” she said. “Most of our
Of course! I thought. It doesn’t snow much here,
| A．lucky | B．easy | C．wealthy | D．quick |
| A．glasses | B．needles | C．gloves | D．bowls |
| A．rewards | B．pleasure | C．tips | D．love |
| A．common | B．scientific | C．simple | D．good |
| A．own | B．use | C．accept | D．afford |
| A．donations | B．screens | C．luggage | D．staffs |
| A．customers | B．kids | C．teachers | D．employees |
| A．concerned | B．angry | C．wet | D．nervous |
| A．but | B．so | C．and | D．or |
| A．candles | B．umbrellas | C．tickets | D．houses |
| A．weep | B．recover | C．work | D．understand |
| A．suffered from | B．made out | C．talked up | D．looked into |
| A．response | B．level | C．pay | D．height |
| A．in need of | B．in favor of | C．for lack of | D．in time for |
| A．Surprisingly | B．Hopefully | C．Interestingly | D．Luckily |
10 . South Africa is the water-lovers' paradise. Whether you want to be by the sea, on the sea or even under it, there are countless ways to get your ocean experience. Almost all of them are located on South Africa's east coast, where the Indian Ocean keeps water warm.
Thompson's Bay, Ballito
Drive 40 minutes north of Durban to reach the unique coastal town of Ballito. Popular with holidaymakers, Ballito has a choice of pretty beaches—and the best for swimming is Thompson's Bay. This scenic cove （小海湾）is sheltered from the wind and characterized by its calm waters, interesting rocky outcrops and a fascinating geological hole-in-the-wall. There's a walled tidal pool for those who are nervous to swim in the open ocean, making this spot a particularly good choice for families.
Umhlanga Rocks, Durban
Located a 20-minute drive from central Durban, the resort town of Umhlanga is a proper getaway for people
with good incomes and visitors in the know(知内情的). The main Umhlanga Rocks beach boasts safe swimming waters and endless golden sands, again protected by lifeguards and shark nets. A paved walkway provides direct access to the town's beachfront shops, restaurants and bars.
Gonubie Beach, East London
The coastal town of Gonubie is seen by many as a suburb of East London, one of the largest cities of the Eastern Cape. Its picture-perfect beach offers great swimming areas in the open sea. The Gonubie River reaches the sea at this point, too, and offers another bathing spot on days when the surf in the sea is bigger than usual. All along the river's green banks, you'll find a series of shaded spots perfect for summer picnics and barbecues.
Kelly’s Beach, Port Alfred
Further south on the Sunshine Coast, the laid-back town of Port Alfred is home to Kelly’s Beach, which was awarded Blue Flag status for 2017-2018. A 400-meter stretch of pale brown sand, the beach and its waters are exceptionally clean. Two viewing decks come in handy during whale-watching season, or for admiring spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
1. If you are planning a family trip to South Africa, which beach suits you best?| A．Thompson's Bay, Ballito. | B．Umhlanga Rocks, Durban. |
| C．Gonubie Beach. East London | D．Kelly's Beach, Port Alfred. |
| A．It is free for children. | B．Its target crowd is the rich. |
| C．It has a walled tidal pool. | D．It has pale brown sand. |
| A．Go swimming in the open sea. | B．Go bathing at another bathing spot. |
| C．Go surfing in the open sea. | D．Go camping by the riverside. |
