1. What did David do on his most recent holiday?
| A．He had a boat trip. |
| B．He took a balloon flight. |
| C．He climbed a mountain. |
| A．Gifts he needed to buy. |
| B．Things he wished to do. |
| C．Dates he had to remember. |
| A．Australia. | B．California. | C．The Amazon. |
Recently, The Paris Review’s “Interview” section has unveiled an exclusive dialogue featuring the exceptional writer Yu Hua, the first Chinese writer in this distinguished segment of the publication.
Yu Hua’s interview was featured in the 261st issue
Michael’s
Michael revealed this interview took place earlier this year via Zoom, stating, “I saw glimpses of the same quick humor, biting sarcasm (讽刺), and honesty as before.”
At the end of the interview, Yu responded he often travelled abroad,
3 . Think of a city you know, and try to picture it five years from now. Will its streets be full of electric cars. some of them self-driving? If so, then the current problem facing electric vehicles (EVs) will be a minor problem. However, US sales have slowed well below the government’s target, EVs’ share of the British market has stopped growing and only 1. 2 percent of European passenger cars in 2022 were battery-powered. My bet is that, in cities at least, the c-car won’t gain the upper hand in the years to come.
EVs emit more carbon over their life cycle than any form of urban transport except petrol cars. They are still worthwhile for people in suburbs, who drive long distances every day and who will earn back the emissions and the financial expenses by never buying gas again.
EVs face many other obstacles. Cities are claiming back space from cars. Paris, where I live, is having a vote on February 4 on a special parking tax for heavier SUVs. In a few years, mayors might start handling self-driving cars. These are so convenient that if they ever became affordable for the mass market. almost everyone would buy one, and they would clog up (阻塞) cities.
Then there’s the problem of charging EVs. Suburbanites with home garages can install chargers, but the lack of public chargers on city streets hasn’t become a major issue yet only because so few people own EVs. Even if you find an urban charger that works, charging can take hours.
Crucially, most of the world’s EVs with high quality are made in China, so there won’t be an aggressive western lobby (游说团) casing their way. On the contrary, governments may well raise taxes to block them rather than let China outperform yet another western industry.
For a city-resident getting rid of a petrol car, the calculation then becomes: instead of an EV, can I buy a much cheaper, health-giving e-bike that I can charge in my flat, and supplement that with the odd taxi ride? That is the trend. Looking back in five years, we may conclude that electric cars were made for American suburbia and for almost nowhere else.
1. Paris is having a vote on a special parking tax. in order to ________.| A．increase taxes | B．spare some space |
| C．expand urban areas | D．reduce traffic jams |
| A．Because the governments needed to protect their domestic industries. A. Because the governments needed to protect their domestic industries. |
| B．Because EVs made in China didn’t reach the standard required. |
| C．Because the western lobby promoted EVs made in China. |
| D．Because China was desperate to export its goods. |
| A．EVs are eco-friendly. | B．EVs are costly for average people. |
| C．EVs will be in huge demand. | D．EV chargers are readily available. |
| A．EVs are not the future. | B．EVs are being replaced. |
| C．EVs affect the environment. | D．EVs have alarming problems. |
4 . On a foggy day, I was listening to the radio on my drive when suddenly something caught my eye out the driver’s side window. I turned to look but it wasn’t clear because of the thick fog. Then I didn’t know how long I was knocked out.
It didn’t take me long to realize I couldn’t move either arm and my face was bleeding heavily. Over the next few days in the hospital, I began to get a clearer picture of what had happened. A local high school student, rushing to class, had crossed the center line and hit me head-on. I heard through friends of mine who knew his family that he was very, very upset by what had happened. I felt bad that he had such a burden to bear at such a young age.
Fourteen months after the accident. I was grocery shopping when a woman I didn’t know approached me and asked if I was Suzanne. She introduced herself, and I realized it was the young man’s mother. I appreciated learning how he was doing. He avoided severe injury but needed advice to help with the emotional trauma (创伤) of causing the accident. I could certainly understand the difficulty of getting back behind the wheel of a car. Secretly, I wished I could talk to him myself.
Seven months later, it was time for my daughter’s Christmas band concert at the high school. The first adult I recognized upon entering the auditorium was the mother who approached me in the grocery store. I wondered why she was there. One young man in a white hoodie and ball cap ran up. Suddenly, I realized that it was him, the driver, as he resembled that mother.
I edged my way through the crowd. “Hi, I’m Suzanne,” I greeted. “I just wanted to say that I’m okay, and I was never mad at you. I know this was hard on you.” He apparently knew who I was. “You do?” came a slightly muffled (模糊不清的) answer. “I’m really okay,” I added, patting him on the shoulder and feeling like I was the only person who could let him forgive himself. I was the only person who could give him that gift if he could see me and hear from me that all was well.
1. What might cause the author’s accident?| A．Her temporary blindness. | B．Her physical burden. |
| C．The boy’s distraction. | D．The boy’s violating the traffic rule. |
| A．wanted to ease the boy’s mind | B．wanted the boy to make up for the loss |
| C．wanted the boy to make an apology | D．wanted the boy to bear a heavy burden |
| A．He was terribly injured physically. | B．He didn’t feel guilty at all. |
| C．He needed psychological advice. | D．He rejected the author’s kindness. |
| A．Generous and relieved. | B．Forgiving and straightforward. |
| C．Sympathetic and caring. | D．Light-hearted and supportive. |
1. When is the talk probably given?
| A．In early July. | B．In the middle of August. | C．In early September. |
| A．To report his travel plan to the UK. |
| B．To share his good memories about Jamaica. |
| C．To recommend a travel destination in the English class. |
| A．The weather. | B．The tropical fruits. | C．The music. |
| A．By living in a different city. | B．By adjusting his attitude. | C．By looking out for himself. |
1. What does the news say about big online spenders in the US?
| A．The number of them grows slowly. |
| B．There are more men than women. |
| C．They make up half of all shoppers. |
| A．$453 billion. | B．$990 billion. | C．$1,500 billion. |
| A．An adventure novel. | B．A software package. | C．A note by Mark Twain. |
Delivery drones, as the name suggests,
1. 活动目的；
2. 介绍你参赛的生活技能（烹饪或手工等）；
3. 个人感受。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Life Skills Show
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . As new data from Famileo reveals the loneliness issue in the UK, its founder looks at the reality of social isolation in today’s digital age.
A consumer survey conducted by Famileo has revealed that nearly half of British adults feel disconnected from their loved ones nowadays. The past few years have been unquestionably tough. The isolation of the pandemic has led to many of us experiencing prolonged feelings of loneliness and seclusion (隐居), even long after any restrictions were lifted. Pair this with the ongoing cost of living crisis, and people are socializing with others far less than before. The way we interact with others has become dominated by digital channels, social media exactly. While social media have proven an incredibly useful tool, most of Brits believe that our growing reliance on technology to interact has impacted the frequency of in-person social interaction, leading to increased isolation.
Another contributing factor to social isolation is physical distance. Combined with the demands of our increasingly busy lives, the physical distance between family members often prevents us from keeping in contact with our loved ones as often as we would like.
Talking of social isolation, our minds often spring straight to the older generations who regularly find themselves left out, owing to their declining physical capacity and a gap in digital literacy. Interestingly though, despite effortlessly navigating the digital landscape, it is younger generations who report feeling the most isolated, 41 per cent of people aged from 16 to 24 feeling the rise of social media causing increased isolation.
While digital platforms like Facebook serve as a means to send photos and life updates quickly and easily, the majority of Brits still love the tangible (可触摸的、可感知的) experience of receiving personal post. Considered a dying art, it is clear snail mail, still has its place. Whether it be a letter, birthday card, or family newsletter, I have seen how enriching the touchable experience of sending and receiving personal post can be, to people of all ages. Nurturing relationships and fostering a profound sense of being loved and better connected to loved ones, it is a vital tool that we should employ as a means to not only relieve the effects of social isolation, but simply brighten someone else’s day.
1. What does the word “lifted” underlined in the second paragraph refer to?| A．Removed. | B．Placed. | C．Ignored. | D．Raised. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Indifferent. | C．Favorable. | D．Critical. |
| A．Make someone else’s day. | B．Turn to snail mail in the digital age. |
| C．Bridge the gap in digital literacy. | D．Foster a: sense of loving and being loved. |
| A．The Hardship of the Past Few Years | B．Exchanging Touchable Personal Post |
| C．Social Isolation in the Digital Age | D．Older Generations’ Gap in Digital Landscape |
10 . On January 14, 2006, Ben Keene received an email that changed his life. He had just taken a sip of hot tea when the message popped up, and Keene did a double-take at the subject line: “A TRIBE IS WANTED”.
From there, Ben co-founded Tribewanted, an eco-friendly sustainable community existing in the virtual world of the internet and on an actual desert island at the same time.
With huge media interest, the courageous and bold idea could have had enormous consequences for tourism. The idea behind Tribewanted was to recruit (招募) a group of similar people online before heading to the Fijian Island of Vorovoro to build a sustainable community alongside the local native tribe.
The idea was swept along with a flood of interest, with the island lease (租约) was secured, the virtual community sprung to life. All major decisions on the island were voted on by an online tribe that anyone around the world could join. The idea was so exciting that the journey was turned into a 5 part BBC series “Paradise or Bust” and a book, Tribewanted.
Ben spent 10 years building and expanding Tribewanted beyond the crowdfunded sustainable-tourism villages on an island in Fiji, to a beach in Sierra Leone and a farm in Umbria. He faced challenges including a fire sweeping through the island in the first week of the project, a military coup (政变), and a hurricane that threatened to destroy the emerging village. Online disagreements also made decision making hard and pushed the project to the edge.
The project survived, and for a while, thrived. From there Ben joined Escape the City, a global community with the mission to help one million people to do work that matters to them and the world, inspiring thousands of talented career changers and ambitious businessmen to take the leap and launch their ideas into the world. Ben led the Escape school team for 5 years, and became a business advisor and guider at Virgin Startup, and Zinc. Ben has supported and guided thousands of people to set up impactful businesses on a limited budget.
1. What is Tribewanted?| A．A voting software. | B．An island adventure project. |
| C．An employment plan. | D．An eco-community in virtual and real worlds. |
| A．passed on. | B．came into being. |
| C．got involved. | D．struggled to survive. |
| A．To seek funds for his Tribewanted. |
| B．To call for investment in remote islands. |
| C．To support people to launch influential businesses. |
| D．To help ambitious businessmen to change careers. |
| A．Inspiring people. | B．Connected lives. |
| C．Inventive solutions. | D．Global business. |
