1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, choose the best answers from the six statements according to what you have just read.

The price of a piece of history

A fresh lemon can be purchased for less than $1. But in 2008, Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati sold a lemon blackened with age for $2,350.

What was so special about this lemon?     1     According to a handwritten note in ink attached to a partly sealed bottle containing the lemon, the fruit was picked in May 1842 by Washington's "old gardener" some 43 years after the first president's death

Two thousand dollars is a lot to pay for produce, even from the estate of a founding father. This sale, however, just might be considered a bargain compared with prices paid for other historical collectibles in recent years.     2    

Collecting a piece of history, or an object associated with a famous person, is not brand new. Ordinary objects with extraordinary stories have increasingly been coming to auction and achieving high prices, says Thomas Venning, director of Christie's department of books and manuscripts in London. Prices are being driven up, he says, by collectors in the U.S. and, increasingly, in Asia. The Hawking wheelchair, for example, was purchased by a private museum in China.

    3     For one thing, their history of ownership is both crucial and sometimes difficult to prove. Photographs of the famous person with the object, as well as documentation (such as letters, diaries or recollections by acquaintances referring to the object) can also help.       4     To evaluate the value of a Picasso painting, one can look at recent prices paid for other Picasso paintings of the same period, similar size or style. Finding another recent sale of a lemon planted by George Washington is a different matter.

Katie Horstman, head of Cowan's American History department, says she could find no comparable items for the lemon as she prepared the piece for its auction. Ms. Horstman nevertheless eventually arrived at the estimated value at $3,000 to $4,000, she says, by researching auction records for objects somehow associated with Washington that had appeared on the market.

Cowans ended up estimating the value of the lemon at $3,000 to $4,000, according to description on its website. Objects associated with Washington these days, Ms. Horstman says, can sell for anywhere from 1,000 up to tens of thousands of dollars.

A．Stephen Hawking’s wheelchair fetched 296, 750 at a sale at Christie's in London last November.

B．Yet determining potential values of such objects isn't easy.

C．It was said to be from a tree planted by George Washington at Mount Vernon.

D．The auction result surely drew the attention from both the business and economics worlds.

E．The uniqueness of many of these objects further complicates efforts to put a value on them.

F．Therefore the unique value of many objects proved the worth of collection.

2 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.

Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sights on our “consumer culture”. Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day are growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.

We clearly have a growing resource problem. The produces we make, buy, and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live. But to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.

While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. For most, Christmas isn’t an add-on to an already heavy shopping year. In fact, it is likely the only time of year many have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.

This is particularly, true for Boxing Day, often the target of the strongest derision(嘲弄) by anti-consumerists. While we may laugh at the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the one chance to buy items they’ve needed all year. As Leigh Phillips argues, “this is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”

Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account that those shopping on Boxing Day are only a small part of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring such people as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own￡1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?

Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choices, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problems. It is no wonder one is changing their behaviours—or that environmental destruction continues without any reduction in intensity.

1. It is indicated in the 1st   paragraph that during the holiday season, many consumers .

A．ignore resource problems

B．are fascinated with presents

C．are encouraged to spend less

D．show great interest in the movement.

2. It can be inferred from Paragraphs 2 and 3 that the environmentalist movement .

A．has targeted the wrong persons

B．has achieved its intended purposes

C．has taken environment-friendly measures

D．has benefited both consumers and producers

3. The example of Roman Abramovich is used to show environmentalists’ .

A．madness about life choices

B．discontent with rich lifestyle

C．ignorance about the real cause

D．disrespect for holiday shoppers

4. It can be concluded from the text that telling people not to shop at Christmas is .

A．anything less than a responsibility	B．nothing more than a bias
C．indicative of environmental awareness	D．unacceptable to ordinary people

3 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Online “friends” – a threat to development

The impact of technology on the nature of our friendships has been a much - debated topic since the dramatic rise of social networks. Advances in mobile technology and social networking websites mean we spend more time online than ever before. It is therefore not surprising that so many psychologists, sociologists, and others are eager to give their thoughts on how this is impacting negatively on our society.

There is one element of social networking that is deeply worrying. We find ourselves in a hyper - connected world where people access social media day and night, excited to make announcements about the tiniest details of their lives. Research is starting to show that this culture is negatively affecting not our friendships but our character. Professor Larry D. Rosen says that young people who overuse social networking sites can become ineffective, and display anti -social behavior in their offline lives. But perhaps an even more disturbing effect is that one of our most basic emotions seems to be disappearing --empathy. This is the emotion that allows us to see the world from our friends’ points of view. Without it, we are far less able to connect and form meaningful adult relationships.

Professor Sherry Turkle suggests that people are no longer comfortable being alone. This is something confirmed by a study where 200 university students were asked to go without social media for 24 hours. Many admitted an addiction to their online social network; most complained that they felt cut off from family and friends. And yet being alone is a time when we self-reflect and get in touch with who we really are. It is only when we do this that we can make meaningful friendships with others.

These potential changes in our characters are rather alarming, so it is clear that we can’t neglect those negative impacts of social networks.

4 . Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
最近一本在线杂志发表了一篇文章，文中询问，在公众眼中，什么样的人是适合做年轻人的榜样（role model）。请你写封信给该杂志，推荐一位你认为适合做榜样的名人（celebrity）。你的文章须包括：
简单介绍这位名人；
为何这位名人适合做年轻人的榜样。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . As the world changes, our language changes with it. That's why Merriam-Webster recently added more than 250 new words to its online dictionary, ___________ changes in fields from lifestyle to politics and from business to technology.

“These new words have been added to the dictionary because they have___________ themselves in the English language, and are part of the current, active vocabulary of America.” Merriam- Webster associate editor Emily Brewster said in a press___________ .

Here our newspaper has chosen three of the dictionary’s new entries. Let’s take a look.

Froyo(冻酸奶)

While ice cream has been around for more than 100 years, froyo or frozen yogurt--is comparatively new. Even though it was first invented back in the 1970s, it only started to gain___________recently, which is why the shorter version"froyo"is entering people’s daily vocabulary.

Compared to ice cream, the main___________ point of froyo is that it's healthier. It takes away people's___________while still allowing them to have the satisfaction of eating something sweet. As The Huffington Post put it, froyo is"starting a___________ in the healthier dessert industry".

Word salad(文字沙拉)

It was first used to refer to a series of words said by people with mental illness. Just like the vegetables in a salad bowl, each word makes perfect sense by itself, but when put together, they become hard to ____"Dogs moon purple monkey dishwasher," for example.

Now the phrase is more often used to refer to the words of a politician, although this refers to the speaker's logic rather than their mental state. US President Donald Trump,'s interviews are often referred to as word salad.__________ , he told an AP reporter in April:"But he said, will be the greatest president but I would also accept the other. In other words, if you do your job, but I accept that.

Troll (网络喷子)

The __________meaning of "troll" (巨魔) is a mythical __________ that is huge, ugly and angry and lives in places like caves. Now it's also used to refer to the kind of Internet user who __________posts comments, some of which seem___________to hurt other people.

Other phrases and usage have also been__________from"troll" , including "Internet trolling" --the act of unleashing(发泄) unfriendly remarks online, and"being trolled"--which means to fall__________to a troll.

1.

A．overtaking

B．covering

C．engaging

D．experiencing

2.

A．enjoyed

B．polished

C．established

D．trapped

3.

A．release

B．congress

C．negotiation

D．demonstration

4.

A．permission

B．package

C．popularity

D．patent

5.

A．turning

B．cooling

C．starting

D．selling

6.

A．guilt

B．taste

C．appetite

D．diet

7.

A．resolution

B．revolution

C．recommendation

D．reservation

8.

A．interrupt

B．indicate

C．interact

D．interpret

9.

A．in a word

B．For instance

C．All in all

D．As a result

10.

A．cultural

B．obvious

C．original

D．hidden

11.

A．creature

B．giant

C．worm

D．ghost

12.

A．dramatically

B．delicately

C．disorderly

D．deliberately

13.

A．offensive

B．objective

C．progressive

D．productive

14.

A．evolved

B．invented

C．expanded

D．transformed

15.

A．civilian

B．fairy

C．victim

D．pedestrian

6 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Where do you think the world’s happiest people live? Somewhere hot with sandy beaches? A country with a tradition of the fine food and culture? Not according to a recent study by the university of Leicester. Who are the happiest people on Earth?     1     Surprised? Well you’ll be more surprised when you hear that the Danes pay some of the highest taxes in the world. So what is the secret of their success?

Let’s start with all that tax they pay. The Danish government provides its people with one of the finest education and health systems in the world. It spends more on children and elderly people per capital than other country.

And there’s another advantage to those high taxes. Because a shop assistant’s final salary is not that much less than someone who works in a bank, for example, Danes don’t choose their careers based on money or status as people in other countries do. They choose the job they want to do. There’s a philosophy in Denmark known as “Jante-lov”, which translates as “you’re no better than anybody else.”     2     But workers in other countries are not used to looking at life in this way.

Money doesn’t seem as important in Denmark. It has been called a “post consumerist” society.     3     What is more important is the sense of society and it’s no surprise that Danes are very used to socializing. 92% of Danes belong to some kind of social club and these clubs are even paid for by the government.

    4     They also show an amazing amount of trust in each other and their government. You can see sighs of this all over the country. You’ll find vegetable stalls with no assistant. You take what you want and leave the money in a basket. perhaps the bike is a good symbol for Denmark. The Danes can afford cars but they choose bikes—simple, economical, non-polluting machines that show no status and help keep people fit.

A．In a list ranking countries by the happiness of their citizens, it pm tropical Fiji 50 places below freezing Iceland.

B．The street sweeper can hold his head up high as he proudly does his job.

C．Danish people aren’t as suspicious as many other nations.

D．Most Danes are used to seeing between 50-70% of their salary going to the government!

E．Those 5.5 million people who call Denmark their home.

F．People have nice things in their houses, but they’re not mad about shopping and spending.

7 . Directions: Complete the passage with the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Most people get sweaty palms just staring at EI Capitan, a breathtaking rock formation i Yosemite National Park, California. Alex Honnold’s stayed dry. And this June, he managed to climb the 900-meter vertical wall, pulling on edges barely big enough for     1    .

Honnold could not     2     any slips. That’s because he carried nothing other than a bag of gymnasts’ chalk, to keep his fingers free of moisture. There was no rope to     3    him if he fell. After a four-hour     4     of power and precision, the 31-year-old safely challenged himself.

EI Capitan had been climbed     5     before, including by Honnold, but never in the way he has. In 2011, an American TV show about his earlier “free solos” drew seventeen million viewers. In climbing, “free” means using nothing but rocks for support.   “ Solo” means free of protection. It is the sport at its       6    . In Yosemite, the birthplace of American climbing, Hannold has reached its peak. Praise from fellow climbers was     7     only by relief at his safe return.

The achievement marks the latest in a series of milestones for sport climbing (竞技攀岩). In 2015, two other American Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, established a route up the Dawn Wall, EI Capitan’s     8    part, after years of attempts. They made the front page of the New York Times and got congratulations from Barack Obama for the achievement. Last year, sport climbing was       9     accepted into the Olympic program for Tokyo 2020.

These have strengthened climbing’s position in the sporting circle in America and elsewhere. Google has invited Jorgeson to give a motivational talk to its employees. Climbing gyms have appeared around the globe over the past decade, making the event safer and more     10    to ordinary people. The gyms have been popular among youngsters, who pay more attentions to exercises than to belongings.

8 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Does City Living Hurt Mental Health?

People often move to cities    1    better jobs and more cultural activities. But are they putting    2    at risk? Maybe.

Experts at the American Psychiatry Association say that “natural environments or green spaces” do much for good our mental health and    3    (experience) nature helps people recover from the mental tiredness that comes from day-to-day work.

On the other hand,    4    they cannot say exactly why, mental health experts say some research suggests that city living might hurt our mental health.

Andrea Mechelli is a doctor with the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London. “There have been studies    5    people weretaken out of an urban environment into a rural environment, and theirsymptomswould improve. And we also see that the greater the city the greater the risk.”

Kings College researchers, along with city planners and land and building designers hoped    6    (learn) more about city living and mental illness. So, they created asmartphone appcalled Urban Mind. They say they wanted to understand    7    different parts of the urban environment affect mental wellbeing.

The Urban Mind app    8    your experience of city living in the moment. Researchers collected real time information from 108 people, who answered just over 3,000 questions during a one-week period.

The researchers found that being outdoors, seeing trees, hearing birdsong, seeing the sky, and feeling in contact with nature    9    (associate)with higher levels of mental well-being.They also found that these seeming effects of nature were especially strong in those individuals at greater risk of mental health problems.

The Urban Mind Project team says it hopes “the results will inform future urban planning and social policy    10    (intend) to improve design and health.”

9 . Villa d’Este, Tivoli (Italy) --- Official Site Useful Information

Call Center 199766166

Number to dial from all of Italy for pre-sales and reservations for: tickets, guided tours, school groups, instructional visits.

Bookings from abroad:

email: villadestetivoli@teleart.org fax: 0039 0412770747

Visiting Hours:

Opening 8.30 – closed one hour before sunset.

The ticket office closes one hour before the closing of the monument.

The hydraulic organ of the Organ Fountain is active daily, from 10.30 am, every two hours.

The Fontana della Civetta functions daily, from 10.00 am, every two hours.

Ticket Prices:

(from May 17 to October 20, 2015)

Full ticket (exhibition + villa and gardens, not divisible): €11.

Reduced ticket: €7.

These prices will be valid during the daytime openings of the Villa until the closure of the exhibition, due on the 20^th of October, 2015 (From the 22^nd of October, 2015)

Full ticket: €8 Reduced ticket €4

These fares may vary in conjunction with exhibitions set inside the Villa. The right to purchase reduced price tickets belongs to all citizens of the European Union between the ages of 18 and 24 as well as permanent teachers of state schools (upon presentation of identity documents).

School Visits:

Reservations are required. The management of Villa d’Este, in the aim of preserving the monument and better distributing the flow of students, has limited the number of students allowed into the Villa to 100 students per hour. Should any school group arrive at the Villa without having made a reservation, it will be admitted to the Villa according to space availability at a particular time and asked to wait until such space becomes available. Right of reservation cost: €1,00.

Notices:

Certain areas of the villa may be closed for restoration: for information inquire at the ticket office. Please pay particular attention to the areas marked with signs indicating danger (in Italian: pericolo).

1. How can a visiting Chinese professor of architecture in Rome make a booking?

A．By dialing 199766166.

B．By writing an email to villadestetivili@teleart.org.

C．By calling 0039 04127 19036.

D．By sending a fax to 0039 0412 770747

2. The receptionist at the ticket office may recommend you to see ______first, if you arrive at 10.25 am.

A．the exhibition inside the villa	B．the Organ Fountain
C．the gardens	D．the Fontana della Civetta

3. Why are reservations essential for school visits?

A．Reservations are more economical.

B．Reservations enable as many students as possible to visit the monument.

C．Reservations ensure a pleasant visit for students and a manageable one of the Villa.

D．Reservation fees can help preserve the site.