1 . Have you ever paid attention to the color of the airplane seats? They’re almost always blue and there are very few exceptions to this rule. Some people think it reminds us of the sky. But the explanation isn’t that simple!

It is calming.

Color psychology plays an important role in selecting the fabric for airplane seats. “The idea is to help passengers feel at home, with relaxing colors and restful designs,” explained Shelly Zundell in a Boeing press release.     1     Blue is a calming color that suggests peace, calmness, and relaxation.

    2    

In a study reported by Popular Science, 48 percent of participants thought soda in a blue glass was more thirst-quenching (解渴的) than that served in glasses of other colors, probably because they connected blue with cold. Colors such as red and orange can make people feel warmer. Although it’s not unheard of, red is a less common color for airplane seats.     3    

It is a universally well-liked color.

    4     It’s a universal color that’s appealing to most. This is also the same reason why many brands have blue logos. People universally connect the color with positive things — such as clean water and blue skies — so they tend to like it. Across ages and across cultures, it’s the world’s favorite color.

The right shade hides stains (污渍) well.

Dark blue seats are also just practical. Imagine how many people sit in them per day.     5    

Darker shades are better at hiding stains and don’t show their wear as easily. Those dark blue seats will look fresher and newer for longer.

A．It physically feels cooler.

B．It reflects a cool professionalism.

C．But is there any other explanation?

D．And who knows what gets spilled on them?

E．People often connect certain colors with certain feelings.

F．Feeling hot when you board an airplane is good for no one.

G．It’s hard to find someone who has strong feelings against the color blue.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Over the summer break, a wave of young people went to Kaifeng to explore the ancient capital of eight dynasties through a trendy “Citywalk”. They eagerly shared their experience on     1    (vary) social media platforms.

“Citywalk” means the act of walking     2     (free) along city streets unburdened by plans and heavy bags. Such a form of travel is popular among young people in China, offering them a chance to experience urban culture and local traditions.

“Kaifeng is one of China’s first historical and cultural cities, which is       3     ideal destination for unhurried     4    (explore),” said Wei Peishi, one of the city officials.“

During the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng reached a high point, leading to the rapid growth of bookstores,” said Zhou Bing,     5       runs the bookstore “ A Beam of Light” on Shengchanhou Street. “Our aim behind     6     (select) this location is to offer customers a glimpse of history,” Zhou added. The Fuxingfang Block, where Shengchanhou Street     7    (locate), is home to more than 10 streets, 163 courtyards, six cultural relics protection units and over 30 historical buildings.

As evening comes, Kaifeng’s streets transform into a snack market, with numerous trucks orderly     8     (park). Among lively vendor (摊贩) calls, you can see many visitors tasting delicious snacks.

“The essence of Kaifeng’s cultural tourism lies     9    the rich culture of the Song Dynasty. Through cultural tourism products with different themes, we aim     10     (help) visitors gain a deeper appreciation of Kaifeng’s history and heritage,” Wei said.

4 . As we know, queues (队列) have always been related to the theme park experience. Disliked by many, attractions do their best to stop them from having a bad influence on the guest experience. However, queues remain a necessity for gated attractions with popular rides.

The most obvious problem with queues is that they waste time, and for guests, wasting their limited time during their visit leads to a poor experience. For attraction operators, queues can be a letdown too. Even though long queues might be a sign that business is good, the more time guests spend tied up in long lines, the less opportunity they have to spend money on on-site retail and food offerings.

Thankfully, technology is developing to meet changing guest expectations. Many theme parks are taking guests out of physical queues and putting them into virtual queues through an app or wearable device.

Free from queues, guests are likely to spend their time and money far more freely around the attraction. Even though no one has to wait in line, attractions can still offer queue upgrades within a virtual queue system. According to a recent survey done by Attractions.io, over 84% of theme park visitors said they would rather use virtual queuing.

But queuing isn’t all bad, either. Making a queue part of the experience can also create an opportunity for better guest management. For example, Disney observes queues on many of their rides to give worried kids a space to relax. For smaller attractions, physical queues can be useful for judging how busy different rides are likely to be.

So to queue or not to queue? We say, why not both. In an ideal world, every attraction will have both virtual and physical queues. While virtual queuing can ensure that no one has to stand in line for hours, not every ride will need one. Short physical queues may still work for smaller or less popular rides, which guests can even enjoy while they wait in line virtually for another ride.

1. What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Guests.	B．Queues.
C．Attractions.	D．Experiences.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The disadvantages of physical queuing.

B．The changing ways of queuing in theme parks.

C．The influence of physical queuing on attractions.

D．Guest expectations for theme park queue systems.

3. What did the Attractions.io survey find?

A．Virtual queuing actually saves people’s money.

B．Most attractions find virtual queue systems helpful.

C．A majority of theme park visitors prefer to wait online.

D．Virtual queuing allows people to make the most of their time.

4. What does the author think of virtual queuing?

A．It will replace physical queuing.

B．It isn’t good for guest management.

C．It isn’t useful for less popular rides.

D．It should coexist with physical queuing.

6 . 假定你是李华，你的美国朋友John来信询问你的家乡——银川，并打算暑期来这儿旅游。现请你回信对你的家乡进行简单介绍。
主要内容：
1.简况：也被称作“凤凰城”，人口290万，面积9025平方公里；
2.有着2000多年的历史，是古丝绸之路的重要节点（node）；
3.其他特色。
参考词汇：古丝绸之路 the ancient Silk Road；凤凰城the Phoenix city；
西夏王陵Western Xia imperial tombs；岩画 rock paintings；
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8 . 假定你是学校英语社团的负责人，最近社团要组织一次主题为“中国文化特色校园建设”(Campus Construction With Chinese Cultural Characteristics)的征文比赛，请用英语写一则书面通知，内容包括：
1、征文的内容和参赛要求；2、征文的截止日期和投稿邮箱；3、参加比赛的意义。
要求：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Notice

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9 . Teaching children in a way that encourages them to empathize (产生共鸣) with others is of great significance to children’s creativity, new research suggests.

Pupils at two inner London schools were involved in the study. Pupils at one school spent the year following curriculum-prescribed lessons, while the other group’s lessons used a set of engineering design thinking tools which aim to develop students’ ability to think creatively and to cause empathy, while solving real-world problems.

Pupils at the intervention school were asked to design an asthma-treatment “pack” for children aged six and under. Pupils were given various creative and empathetic “tools” in order to do so: for example, they were shown data about the number of childhood asthma deaths in the U.K., and a video which describes a young child having an attack. They also explored the problem and tested their design ideas by role-playing various stakeholder (参与方) — patients, family members and medical staff.

Both sets of pupils were assessed for creativity at both the start and end of the school year. The results showed a statistically significant increase in creativity among pupils at the intervention school, where the thinking tools were used. At the start of the year, the creativity scores of pupils in the control school, which followed the standard curriculum, were 11% higher than those at the intervention school. By the end, however, the situation had completely changed: creativity scores among the intervention group were 78% higher than the control group.

Nicholl, the leading researcher of the study, said, “Teaching for empathy has been problematic despite being part of the National Curriculum for over two decades. This evidence suggests that it is a missing link in the creative process, and vital if we want education to encourage the designers and engineers of tomorrow.”

1. What were pupils at the intervention school asked to do?

A．Watch the process of an asthma attack.

B．Gather data about asthma deaths in children.

C．Show sympathy for the young asthma sufferers.

D．Test their asthma-treatment “pack” on patients.

2. What does the research find about the pupils in the control school?

A．They preferred to study the standard curriculum.

B．They were smarter at the beginning of the school year.

C．They had little empathy for the young children with asthma.

D．There were less creative than those at the intervention school in the end.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Empathy education and creativity go hand in hand.

B．Empathy education was neglected in the creative process.

C．Empathy education is a must for future designers and engineers.

D．Empathy education hasn’t been included in the National Curriculum.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．The standard curriculum limits pupils’ creativity.

B．Teaching pupils empathy improves their creative abilities.

C．Solving real-world problems promotes pupils’ all-round development.

D．An asthma-treatment “pack” was created by pupils at a London school.