It was reported
| A．In Spain. | B．In France. | C．In Italy. |
3 . Whether it is the flu or any of the other cold-like viruses rising in winter, it seems that stuffy noses and sore throats are common symptoms. You may have noticed, however, that your cold seems to get better or worse depending on the time of day. Most commonly, you wake up with worse symptoms. Then, they partially clear up throughout the day, only to get worse once more as you get to bed.
Currently, the leading idea is that symptom severity is linked to our circadian rhythm (昼夜节律). The circadian rhythm is very important for daily cellular processes.
This, therefore, explains why our cold symptoms get worse as we settle down for a night’s sleep. Cells infected by viruses are attracted to the local area and killed, causing soreness in the affected tissues, and mucus (鼻涕) floods the nose to join the fight.
There are other reasons why you might feel worse at night. The first is simply gravity. When you lie down, your mucus builds up in the nose, causing pressure and headaches.
| A．Why does this happen? |
| B．Others are reporting the same thing. |
| C．As you stand up, you start to feel better. |
| D．It’s a good thing, but it really doesn’t feel like it. |
| E．Gravity helps out a lot more when you are upright. |
| F．While resting, the body uses the downtime to recover. |
| G．And it can be affected by the amount of sleep and light we get each day. |
Hangzhou is recognized as the “City of Well-Being” in China. Hangzhou made its name known to the world in 2016 by
The lifestyle, however, was laid down by two
5 . Xu Hai’ou has spent most of her life promoting environmental protection work in Beihai, a coastal city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, by cleaning beaches, protecting mi-grant birds and recycling kitchen waste.
Though her family originally comes from the eastern province of Shandong, the 60-year-old was raised in Guangxi and moved to Beihai for work at age 23, directly after graduating from college. Before she retired, she worked as a reporter for the Guangxi Daily Media Group, a news outlet in the region. In her free time, she became involved in voluntary work.
“In initially, in the 1990s, I helped impoverished children in Guangxi’s rural areas obtain financial aid from donors in Hong Kong, and set up my own NGO in 2004. At the time, it was Beihai’s only nonprofit social organization involved in volunteer work,” she said, “It’s very enjoyable to do this charity work and I have made many friends through it.”
She said her NGO focuses on environmental protection work and organizes a range of voluntary activities, including cleaning up beaches, and protecting mangrove forests and migratory birds.
In 2008, the organization joined a marine life protection event supported by the central government, the UN Environment Programme and the Global Environmental Facility.
Xu and her colleagues at the association arranged a number of voluntary events such as raising awareness of marine biodiversity among local residents and students, and beach-cleaning activities to help promote understanding of the need to protect marine animals and plants.
“Undertaking voluntary activities or charitable work has become my mission, and I want to contribute my own efforts to the nation’s environmental protection work, even if they only produce a small improvement. However, protecting the environment is very hard work. which can’t be done by a single person. I sometimes feel like my ability falls short of my wishes.”
According to Xu, her NGO is currently promoting the classification of waste in Beihai and recycling kitchen waste into compost. “We have mature technologies, but still face difficulties in promoting the program because many residents lack awareness of environmental protection. We hope the government can figure out better ways of managing the garbage after we classify it to make full use of this ‘waste’.”
1. What can we learn about Xu Hai’ou from the first two paragraphs?| A．She grew up in Shandong Province. |
| B．She graduated in Beihai at the age of 23. |
| C．She works as a journalist for a newspaper at present. |
| D．She is a retired reporter volunteering to protect the environment. |
| A．Rewarding. | B．Exhausting. | C．Amazing. | D．Embarrassing. |
| A．To clean beaches and recycle kitchen waste. |
| B．To get support from the central government. |
| C．To raise people’s awareness of marine biodiversity. |
| D．To help people understand the necessity of protecting marine life. |
| A．She wants to win a good reputation. |
| B．She wants to do what others don’t want to do. |
| C．She wants to do her part to protect the environment. |
| D．She wants to make the most of kitchen waste on her own. |
I love stories of kindness, and one of my personal favorites from my travels happened in Morocco. My husband John and I got to experience their kindness and generosity first-hand during a 10-day trip across the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. On our second-to-last day in Morocco, we took a trip to Essaouira, a quiet seaside town on the Atlantic. During the journey there, we stopped at a restaurant, where we got to taste local special oil and honey.
After a long time, we reached our small hotel in Essaouira at around dinner time, and on our way to a local restaurant, my husband started to feel unwell. He went back to the hotel. while I had dinner alone. When I got back to our hotel, I found my husband sitting on the bathroom floor. His face almost had no color. He had been sick about six times in an hour. And he spent a lot of time in the bathroom. We guessed that local special oil and honey probably didn’t agree with him, which caused him to feel so uncomfortable. At about 1 am, my husband finally managed to leave the bathroom and climb into bed. He was very weak and dehydrated (脱水的), so I went down to the hotel’s reception (接待处) to buy a bottle of water.
I found a young man behind the desk—he didn’t look older than 18. Knowing little of the native language, I explained to him in English that my husband was sick and that I needed to buy some bottled water for him. Our hotel was very small and basic, and didn’t have a restaurant or cafe inside. Gladly, the receptionist was good at English. He understood me. He introduced himself as Pierre and said they didn’t sell any water, so I asked him where the nearest shop was. I looked out the window and my heart started to race. I didn’t have the courage to go into the unfamiliar streets in the dark, all by myself. Pierre noticed my fear. In-stead of giving me directions to the nearest shop, he asked me to wait for him for a while.
Paragraph 1:Before I nodded, he had rushed out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Then, Pierre called a taxi and we went to the hospital together with him.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . Damon Carson calls himself a matchmaker (媒人) of the never-ending waste of American society, trying not to pair people with people, but things with people.
In the late 1990s, Carson was on break from business school in Vail, Colorado, when he
For nearly ten years, his company, Repurposed Materials, has not been looking to
Carson, a husband and father of three adult children, is far from
“Why break something down, why melt something down, if it still has
American industrial facilities create and
| A．created | B．consumed | C．discovered | D．used |
| A．thinking about | B．protesting against | C．objecting to | D．complaining of |
| A．animals | B．materials | C．wine | D．antiques |
| A．eaten | B．killed | C．wasted | D．drunk |
| A．boomed | B．broke | C．failed | D．appeared |
| A．sell | B．donate | C．abandon | D．recycle |
| A．areas | B．forms | C．factories | D．ways |
| A．young | B．wealthy | C．generous | D．wasteful |
| A．charity | B．online | C．brand | D．chain |
| A．cost | B．strength | C．value | D．shape |
| A．power | B．water | C．courage | D．time |
| A．wood | B．plastics | C．bamboo | D．fence |
| A．purchase | B．transport | C．design | D．manufacture |
| A．destroy | B．distribute | C．throw | D．replace |
| A．lives | B．colors | C．companions | D．surfaces |
8 . Pickleball. It’s got nothing to do with pickles — it’s a sport. It has been described as a combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis. Picture a small plastic ball soaring through the air that you need to bat back to your partner, or partners.
Many Brits are listening to their inner athlete and picking up this racket game. In the UK, there are currently around 7,000 players, according to Pickleball England. But the association aims to have more than 25,000 players by 2025and is even attempting to get the sport played as part of promotion for the 2028 Olympics.
How exactly do you play this game? Well, it can be played indoors or outdoors and it can be played as a singles or doubles game. There are a few easy-to-understand rules. The ball is served underhand and should be batted diagonally across the court. On the first two hits, the ball has to bounce, but after that, players are free to volley. To win a point, the defending side must miss the ball.
So, why is it popular? Firstly, it appears to be a game for all ages. The ball is lightweight because it’s full of holes. This means that, when batting, there is much less impact on the body than when hitting a tennis ball, for example. Elaine Brown, who is in her 50s and a regular pickleball player, told news organisation, The Guardian why she loves the sport. “It’s good exercise, it’s strategic, it can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be, and most of the time it’s just good fun.”
And the social aspect and low-impact nature of the game has been attracting players worldwide, creating a blossoming community of pickleball enthusiasts, such as celebrities Bill Gates and Leonardo DiCaprio. So, if you fancy picking it up, find your local pickleball court and give it a go!
1. What is Paragraph 2 of the text mainly talk about?| A．A new event in the Olympics. | B．The favorite sport of the British. |
| C．The promising future of pickleball. | D．The number of people playing pickleball. |
| A．It can be played like a volleyball. |
| B．You don’t have to follow any game rules. |
| C．Defeating the defending side is very easy. |
| D．The game must be played with at least one partner. |
| A．Because it is lightweight. | B．Because it is full of holes. |
| C．Because it is easy to play. | D．Because it is just good fun. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Doubtful. |
9 . Family-Friendly Events in January
ZooLights: Glow Wild Jan.1-19
The Phoenix Zoo’s yearly holiday light show is on until Jan.19, allowing families one or more opportunities to enjoy the city’s zoo, with millions of lights giving an added dimension to the festivities.
Glow Wild, 455N. Galvin Pkwy., Phoenix, phoenixzoo. org, $11. 95 members, $13. 95 general admission.
Downtown Mesa Festival of the Arts Jan.4-18
The Downtown Mesa Festival of the Arts features the work of established and emerging artists, including those who create woodwork, metal crafts, food items, art, photography and gifts.
On Macdonald, off of Main Street in Downtown Mesa, dtmesa fest. com, free admission.
Family Fun Winterfest Jan.4
Ody Sea Aquarium in the Desert is hosting the third annual Family Fun Winter fest in its Desert Courtyard, featuring real snow for the kids to play in. This free event features everything from bounce houses to rides, games, snowflake crafts and face painting to go with various stands set up by local sellers, with food and other offerings for sale at the event.
9500 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale, od yseainthedesert. com, free.
Youth Fine Arts Course Jan.18-Mar.7
Mesa Arts Center is hosting an eight-week youth arts course on Saturdays to teach artistic skills and knowledge through fun and challenging art classes in a wide variety of art materials, including painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture, ensuring mentally stimulating sessions for all.
Mesa Art Center. 1 E. Main St. Mess, mesaartscenter. com. $93.
1. What is an advantage of becoming a member of Phoenix Zoo?| A．Free admission. | B．Hosting the light show. |
| C．Getting a discounted ticket. | D．Being allowed to enjoy the zoo. |
| A．$93. | B．$186. | C．$744. | D．Free of charge. |
| A．The Phoenixzoo. | B．Downtown Mesa. |
| C．Desert Courtyard. | D．Mesa Arts Center. |
