1 . One by one, prejudices are disappearing in the West. People may harbor private suspicions that other people’s race or sex makes them inferior—but to say so openly is totally taboo. One old prejudice remains respectable, though. Just ask a childless person.
They are not charged to special taxes, as they were in Soviet Russia; nor are they driven from their homes, as they still are in some poor countries. The childless nonetheless come in for a lot of criticism. Some point out that non-parents are failing to produce the future workers who will pay for their pensions. Childless politicians are charged with not having a proper stake in society. “He talks to us about the future, but he doesn’t have children!” complained Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the National Front party, of Emmanuel Macron, who went on to win the French presidency. Similar attacks on Theresa May and Angela Merkel also failed but researchers find that many voters quietly agree.
The charges against the childless should be thrown out, along with other social prejudice. In many rich countries, between 15% and 20% of women, and a slightly higher proportion of men, will not have children. The share is rising. Some have medical problems; others do not meet the right person in time; still others decide they do not want them. Whatever the cause, the attacks on the childless are baseless.
If non-breeders are selfish, they have a strange way of showing it. They are more likely to set up charitable foundations than people with children, and much more likely to donate money to good causes. According to one American estimate, the mere fact of not having children raises the amount a person leaves to charity by a little over $10,000. The childless are thus a small but useful counterweight to the world’s parents, who stop social immobility by passing on their social and economic advantages to their children.
The fact that so many senior politicians lack offspring ought to put to rest the idea that they do not care for society. Five of the G7 countries are led by childless men and women. Mr. Macron, Mrs. May, Mrs. Merkel, Shinzo Abe and Paolo Gentiloni have their faults, but they are not notably less able than Justin Trudeau (who has three children) let alone Donald Trump (who has five). Their opportunities for nepotism are limited. And they spare their countries dynastic politics.
The charge that childless people fail to pull their weight in population is correct, but is less serious than it appears. Those who do not have children do put pressure on public pension systems. Governments have to do unpopular things like making pensions less generous, as Japan has done, or accepting more immigrants, as some Western countries have done. But to sustain public pensions in the long term, countries do not actually need more parents. What they need instead is more babies. It is possible to combine a high rate of childlessness with a high birth rate, provided people who become parents have more than one or two children. That was the pattern in many Western countries a century ago. Ireland, yet another country with a childless leader, still manages it today.
The childless also do everyone else a favour by creating wonderful works of art. British novelists have been especially likely to have no offspring: think of Hilary Mantel, P.G Wodehouse and the Bronte sisters. In September last year Britain put Jane Austen on its ten-pound note. That decision was controversial, though it was hard to see why. Few people have written as shrewdly about money or about families even though Austen did not marry, and had no children.
1. What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?| A．The childless often get punished in society. | B．The childless often come under sharp criticism. |
| C．Most successful politicians have no children | D．Childlessness affects the result of an election. |
| A．have a strange way to show selfishness | B．set a bad example for young people |
| C．are not as able as those with children | D．are the government’s financial burden |
| A．Accepting more immigrants. | B．Reducing the pensions for the aged. |
| C．Encouraging parents to have more children. | D．Supporting the political leaders with no children. |
| A．Understanding | B．Skeptical | C．Disappointed | D．Reserved |
| A．In defence of the childless. | B．In hope of having a child or not. |
| C．Reasons for not having children. | D．Measures to address aging problems. |
2 . Going against the tide of flocking to well-known tourist destinations on vacation, a growing number of holidaymakers in China tend to spend their leisure time at lesser-known attractions. Reverse tourism (逆向旅游) has appeared as a new trend among young holidaymakers in China.
According to data from an online travel agency, the number of rooms booked at hotels in less-traveled cities during the holiday was up 30 percent year-on-year. Bookings for four-star or five-star hotels in less-traveled places all increased ten times at a minimum. Some lesser-known scenic spots posted double-digit (两位数的) growth during the holiday. Baimaiquan Park in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, received 52,100 visits in the seven days, up to 15.78 percent year-over-year.
Besides crowds, some vacationers chose less-traveled places to save on the cost of trips to popular destinations. In addition, lesser-known attractions are not as “commercial” as developed ones and are able to offer more actual experiences and natural encounters.
Essentially speaking, total relaxation is becoming a real expectation for many people when they travel. Changes in demand may be the fundamental reason for the popularity of reverse tourism. COVID-19 is another key factor fueling reverse tourism. As preventive measures continue, traveling has an unpredictable quality. Travelers have thus become more cautious and tend to choose local attractions or places with fewer tourists.
“The rise of reverse tourism is not a bad thing,” said Zhengzhou Daily. It means that vacationers now have more options, which brings more possibilities to the tourism market. More importantly, it noted, the trend is set to force popular destinations to improve themselves instead of resting on their past honor.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher, said that reverse tourism will become one of the future directions for the market. To give a real boost to the tourism market, Jiang suggested that more efforts be made to tap the potential of underestimated, lesser-known destinations. It is necessary to dig deeper into the local customs and highlight the local characteristics to improve the quality of local tourism.
1. What do the statistics in paragraph 2 tell us?| A．The popularity of travel agency in China. |
| B．The high income of hotels during holidays. |
| C．The contributions of tourism to the economy. |
| D．The increasing trend of reverse tourism in China. |
| A．The impact of COVID-19. |
| B．Holidaymakers’ changing needs for travel. |
| C．The lower cost of heading to less-traveled places. |
| D．The lack of innovative improvements in famous attractions. |
| A．It will drop with the recovery of economy. |
| B．It benefits both tourists and the tourism market. |
| C．It is beneficial to spread local culture to tourists. |
| D．It blocks the development of some popular resorts. |
| A．Upgrading the supporting facilities in tourist areas. |
| B．Improving the management rules of tourist attractions further. |
| C．Exploring the potential and features of lesser-known attractions. |
| D．Promoting the local characteristics of China through online media. |
3 . Is it true that our brain alone is responsible for human cognition(认知)? What about our body? Is it possible for thought and behaviour to originate from somewhere other than our brain? Psychologists who study Embodied Cognition(EC)ask similar questions. The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for thinking or problem-solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal measure.
If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense. When you smell something good or hear amusing sounds, certain emotions are awakened. Think about how newborns use their senses to understand the world around them. They don’t have emotions so much as needs – they don’t feel sad, they’re just hungry and need food. Even unborn babies can feel their mothers’ heartbeats, and this has a calming effect. In the real world, they cry when they’re cold and then get hugged. That way, they start to associate being warm with being loved.
Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction. In one experiment, test subjects were asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness. And it works the other way too. In another study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being “included” in or “rejected” from a group task. Those who were included felt physically warmer.
For further proof, we can look at the metaphors(比喻)that we use without even thinking. A kind and sympathetic person is frequently referred to as one with a soft heart and someone who is very strong and calm in difficult situations is often described as solid as a rock. And this kind of metaphorical use is common across languages.
Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it? If you’re having a bad day, a warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any interpersonal decisions.
1. According to the author, what is the significance of EC?| A．It brings us closer to the truth in human cognition. |
| B．It offers a clearer picture of the shape of human brain. |
| C．It reveals the major role of the mind in human cognition. |
| D．It facilitates our understanding of the origin of psychology. |
| A．Their personal looks. | B．Their mental needs. |
| C．Their inner emotions. | D．Their physical feelings. |
| A．Human speech is alive with metaphors. |
| B．Human senses have effects on thinking. |
| C．Human language is shaped by visual images. |
| D．Human emotions are often compared to natural materials. |
| A．To deepen the readers’ understanding of EC. |
| B．To encourage the reader to put EC into practice. |
| C．To guide the reader onto the path to career success. |
| D．To share with the reader ways to release their emotions. |
4 . Bruno went into the kitchen and got the biggest surprise of his life. He could barely believe his eyes. “Shmuel!” he said. “What are you doing here in my kitchen?”
Shmuel looked up and his terrified face
He held his hand out and Bruno noticed that it was like the hand of the pretend skeleton. In reply, Bruno held his own hand out, which appeared
“Shmuel! Here!” said Bruno, stepping forward and putting some slices of chicken in his friend’s hand. “Just eat them.” The boy stared at the food in his hand for a moment and then looked up at Bruno with wide and
“Thank you, Bruno.” said Shmuel, giving a faint smile.
Bruno smiled back and was about to offer him more food, but just at that moment Lieutenant Kotler reappeared. Bruno stared at him, feeling the
“Answer me!” shouted Lieutenant Kotler.
“No, sir. He gave it to me,” said Shmuel, tears welling up in his eyes. “He’s my friend,” he added.
“Do you know this boy, Bruno?” he asked in a loud voice.
Bruno’s mouth
“Tell me, Bruno!” shouted Kotler, his face growing red. “I won’t ask you a third time.”
“I’ve
Hearing that, Shmuel wasn’t crying any more, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he was trying to
| A．searched for | B．broke into | C．wiped out | D．held back |
| A．mouths | B．wrists | C．figures | D．fingers |
| A．healthy | B．flexible | C．rough | D．slim |
| A．adventurous | B．straightforward | C．inspiring | D．different |
| A．sharp | B．curious | C．grateful | D．regretful |
| A．slice | B．glance | C．shadow | D．glass |
| A．atmosphere | B．breathing | C．responsibility | D．schedule |
| A．Comforting | B．Introducing | C．Ignoring | D．Avoiding |
| A．collect | B．steal | C．clean | D．remove |
| A．explanation | B．help | C．mercy | D．apology |
| A．dropped open | B．shut up | C．felt dry | D．worked fast |
| A．thrilled | B．guilty | C．awkward | D．terrified |
| A．frequently | B．rarely | C．never | D．occasionally |
| A．forbid | B．convince | C．warn | D．permit |
| A．pull | B．pass | C．fell | D．escape |
Living in a competitive and dishonest community was not always easy. People kept walking in and out, wearing artificial smiles. All selfish souls! Finally, my parents decided to have a breath of fresh air. We were on vacation, having driven to New Hampshire. We wouldn’t see friends on family—it would be just me, my parents, and my little brother, Wyatt, out for a nice, socially distanced week away.
We had hiked about half a mile to a popular spot called Dianna’s Baths, where the water falls of a series of flat stones on the mountainside. The baths were full of families, so we made our way to one of the upper levels of rock to keep our distance.
Both where we sat and down below, the water poured and fell into small pools, where kids in swimsuits were splashing around. We couldn’t help rushing to join them. Some parents nervously drove their kids away from the rocks’ edges, while my parents were grateful that they were out of that stage, so we two, at sixteen and eight, could keep our physical space with more confidence. Don’t get me wrong: Mom was sill terrified as she saw us jump between the slippery rocks, “No running,” she said again and again. “Stay away from all those edges.”
But she soon relaxed, and we were all having fun, splashing in the pools. Then, seconds later, things changed.
I turned and saw my Wyatt sitting down between two stones in a fast-moving stream. I yelled at him to get out. He yelled back something that I couldn’t hear, and then he disappeared over the edge.
it was about 12 feet from the top of the waterfall to the pool below, where there were many huge rocks. All I remember from the moment is mother’s screaming, over and over, like a prayer, “Somebody helps my son!” My father was already dashing down the rocks, when I heard another woman scream. “That child just went over the waterfall!” she shouted at her husband. “Hurry up! Let’s give them a helping hand!”
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
While everyone else looked on from a distance. this young woman didn’t hesitate.
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Paragraph 2:
The ambulance came, taking Wyatt out of the park on a stretcher.
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6 . I was cleaning out a cupboard the other day when I made an amazing discovery. Inside I
Yet there it was, resting under a lot of paper to be recycled. I might have
I’m in the middle of reading another book
I find it fascinating to think that this could happen; that after more than fifty years my father could
| A．locked | B．found | C．placed | D．hid |
| A．notes | B．reviews | C．chapters | D．references |
| A．regret | B．relief | C．satisfaction | D．amazement |
| A．long | B．fun | C．popular | D．romantic |
| A．support | B．knowledge | C．approval | D．reach |
| A．life | B．writing | C．reflection | D．education |
| A．cleared away | B．passed down | C．counted on | D．handed out |
| A．bothered | B．caught | C．shaken | D．disturbed |
| A．or | B．so | C．but | D．for |
| A．easy | B．quick | C．rough | D．clear |
| A．briefly | B．closely | C．happily | D．calmly |
| A．honor | B．comment | C．reward | D．attention |
| A．design | B．anticipate | C．evaluate | D．record |
| A．touch | B．raise | C．help | D．protect |
| A．peaceful | B．successful | C．interesting | D．smooth |
7 . Plastic fishing nets, the so-called ghost nets, abandoned yearly in the sea—about 1 million tons—are more than just rubbish; they’re a killer. Fish, sea birds, and turtles get caught in the netting and die, with more species at risk.
Much shocked at this, Pranveer Singh Rathore, a materials-science engineer and materials R&D manager at Samsung, and his team set themselves the task of giving new life to the deadly nets. Last month, Samsung revealed a new line of Galaxy products made in part from recycled plastic fishing nets for the first time. The company estimates this year alone it can recycle over 50 tons of ocean-bound plastic into the key components that will go into its smartphones, tablets, and computers, thus taking a bite out of the global ghost nets problem.
It’s no small task to give waste fishing nets a second act. The nets are typically made of a substance called nylon which tends to dramatically degrade (降解) the longer it sits in the ocean and is exposed to the sun. “This makes it nearly impossible to use abandoned fishing nets directly,” Rathore explains. Besides, high-performance smartphone, tablet, or PC has to be waterproof and can survive severe weather. The nylon in the fishing nets falls far short of that level of durability (耐用).
To deal with that problem, Samsung last summer teamed up with two partners: one to collect and transform the nets into tiny nylon pellets (颗粒) while the other to strengthen their toughness and durability. The end result: The partners hit upon an eco-friendly and high-performance plastic material that’s being used to build the component parts for its latest line of products. For example, two parts of the Galaxy S22 mobile phone—the key bracket and the inner cover—are made of these fishing-net plastic materials. Samsung aims to use even more upcycled materials in future product lines.
“That’s the hope for the globe and our mission,” Rathore smiles.
1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Rubbish in the sea. | B．Recycling the deadly nets. |
| C．Ocean species’ extinction. | D．Ghost nets’ threat to sea life. |
| A．The low level of durability of nylon. | B．The second act of waste fishing nets. |
| C．The great difficulty in reusing ghost nets. | D．The positive comment on Samsung’s products. |
| A．They are made from tiny nylon pellets. | B．They put an end to the problem of fishing nets. |
| C．They can stand up to water and severe weather. | D．They contain materials recycled from ghost nets. |
| A．It makes plastic easier to break down. | B．It marks the shift of Samsung’s mission. |
| C．It protects the planet from choking on plastic. | D．It raises public awareness of ocean exploration. |
Every girl dreamed when she was young and Cindy was no exception. Her favorite ballet was Swan and Lake and she had read dozens of books from the library or in the bookstore on how to become a ballerina. She anxiously hoped that one day her dream would come true. She had taken ballet lessons and all her teachers confirmed that she was a good student and full of potential, which made her look forward to the future.
One day she saw an advertisement that a famous ballerina troupe (剧团) would be performing in her hometown. Her thoughts ran wild, “I must meet up with the leader of the troupe and show him my skills,” she murmured to herself. She dressed herself in her ballerina costume and managed to avoid the guards and hid in the dressing room to wait, with her heart pounding. It was uncertain whether she could see the leader.
Luckily, the leader entered and she timidly knocked at the door.
She bravely approached him and handed him a bunch of red roses. And in her excitement, she pricked (刺) her finger on the thorns but she did not make a big thing about the pain. The leader observed her action, nodding his head slightly, as she told him her dream. “All right, you dance and I will give you my judgment.”
But half way through the dance he stopped her and said with an impish (恶作剧的) smile Cindy didn’t notice, “I’m sorry you’re not good enough!” On hearing this, Cindy was too ashamed to ask the leader the reason and ran crying away, as fast as her legs could carry her without a brief stay. Shaking his head in disappointment, the leader said to himself, “Persistence matters more than talent.”
Three years passing, she was still chasing her dream. Then one day she heard that the same ballet troupe was performing in her town again. Bitter memories of the leader’s harsh words came flooding back to her. This time she was determined to find out why the leader had told her she was not good enough when all her teachers thought otherwise.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The leader glanced at Cindy in peace, “I remember how you had pricked yourself but you carried on bravely.”
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At the thought, she ran after the leader immediately.
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9 . Online debates, conducted on virtual platforms on the Internet, have somehow taken over in being beneficial, as compared to real life debates, for many reasons. For example, they favor more in-depth analysis—This one is especially for the main participants in the debate. They put forward their views from a place where they’re comfortably seated.
Online debates leave a lasting impression. The debates and the comments on them are archived (存档) by the debate website and anyone who wants to get back to the discussion can do so at any time.
Also, if there are some developments on the issue, then a comment on the issue will tell all the participants to get back to the debate.
| A．Online debates are much quicker to organize. |
| B．The ability to comment allows people to share their views. |
| C．There is no chance of a point discussed slipping from the mind. |
| D．In other words, the good topics for a debate will never be out of date. |
| E．On an online debating platform, a citizen shares the space with leading thinkers. |
| F．Besides, they have time and means to explore further before sharing their thoughts. |
| G．All that’s needed is a topic and experts who can take out time to write some words on the topic. |
10 . On the day he almost died, Kimbal Musk had food on the brain. The Internet startup talent and restaurateur had just arrived in Jackson Hole from a conference where chef Jamie Oliver had spoken about the benefits of healthy eating. This made Musk think a lot—how he might make a difference to the food industry—but beyond expanding his farm-to-table movement along with his restaurant, Musk hadn’t yet broken the code. Then he went sailing down a snowy slope (坡) and fell over, breaking his neck.
Musk eventually made a full recovery, but it involved spending two months on his back, which gave him plenty of time to come up with a plan. Since then, he has launched an initiative to put “learning gardens” in public schools across America; attracted Generation Z to the farming profession by changing shipping containers into high-tech, data-driven, year-round farms; and this year, is kicking off a new campaign to create one million at-home gardens.
Aimed at reaching low-income families, the Million Gardens Movement was inspired by the pandemic, as both a desire to feel more connected to nature and food insecurity have been at the forefront of so many people’s lives. “We were getting a lot of inquiries about gardening from people that had never gardened before,” says Musk. “People were looking to garden for a bunch of reasons: to save money on groceries, to improve the nutritional quality of their diets, or just to cure the boredom that came with the lockdown.”
The program offers free garden kits that can be grown indoors or outdoors, and will be distributed through schools that Musk’s non-profit, Big Green, has already partnered with. It also offers free courses on how to get the garden growing and fresh seeds and materials for the changing growing seasons. “It’s not difficult. Anyone can do this, no matter where you come from, no matter where you live. We are all able to grow something,” says Musk.
1. What inspired Musk to make a difference to food industry?| A．The pandemic. | B．A skiing accident. |
| C．Jamie Oliver’s speech. | D．The farm-to-table movement. |
| A．To get access to healthy food. |
| B．To make their house beautiful. |
| C．To make money by selling garden produce. |
| D．To build up their strength during the pandemic. |
| A．Encouraging people to preserve nature. |
| B．Providing free food for low-income families. |
| C．Promoting “learning gardens” across schools. |
| D．Educating new gardeners to grow their own food. |
| A．Charity-minded. | B．Stubborn. | C．Easy-going. | D．Scholarly. |
