A man who recently made his 27th attempt al passing the gaokao, China’s national college entrance examination, has ended up falling short of his goal.
Liang Shi, 56, scored 424 points out of a total of 750, which was 34 points
Liang
The Sichuan native first took the gaokao in 1983. After the first few failed
Some netizens have been critical of Liang’s “unremitting” attitude,
THE CHINESE WRITING SYSTEM:
CONNECTING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
China is
Today, the Chinese writing system
1. What are the speakers doing now?
| A．Having an English class． |
| B．Having an English party． |
| C．Performing an English drama． |
| A．In 1654． | B．In 1564． | C．In 1456． |
4 . “Do you need a vase for your purple carnations (康乃馨)?” a gentle voice
“Yes, these are from a special friend,” I
I asked her if she likes flowers. Her eyes lit up and she spoke in an excited
I told her that I’ve been
She left, came back and said, “I will be thinking of you whenever I see purple.” I
| A．awoke | B．interrupted | C．bothered | D．surprised |
| A．important | B．moving | C．rare | D．painful |
| A．cleaners | B．doctors | C．nurses | D．patients |
| A．happened | B．managed | C．pretended | D．refused |
| A．gave in | B．chanced upon | C．swept away | D．held back |
| A．specifically | B．fluently | C．willingly | D．bravely |
| A．dance | B．shout | C．whisper | D．voice |
| A．shower | B．feed | C．bye | D．greeting |
| A．buying | B．receiving | C．requesting | D．borrowing |
| A．imagination | B．struggle | C．craziness | D．opinion |
| A．delight | B．panic | C．shock | D．need |
| A．remind | B．inspire | C．prepare | D．persuade |
| A．organize | B．plant | C．communicate | D．share |
| A．cried | B．slept | C．laughed | D．hesitated |
| A．small | B．strange | C．kind | D．unbelievable |
5 . Having a teenager at home can be a real headache. Many teenagers smoke, drink and even fight. They often do something dangerous.
Earlier studies have shown that teenagers are more likely to make irrational decisions than people from any other age group, including children and adults. Is it that teenagers are too young to tell right from wrong? Not really. So what’s the reason?
According to Laurence, a teacher from a US university, the reason is that teenagers care a lot about how their peers (同龄人) view them—that is “peer influence”.
As children enter their teenage years, they spend more time with their friends and classmates, and also they care more about what they think of them. This makes teenagers make decisions without thinking about the costs.
In a test, a group of teenagers were asked to play a video driving game. When they played with their friends watching around them, they took more chances and drove more carelessly because that would increase their possibility of winning. But when they played alone, they drove more safely.
Why do peers have such a big influence on teens’ behavior?
As Laurence sees it, a teenager’s brain is like a car with a good accelerator (油门) but a weak brake (刹车). The “accelerator” is fully developed by teenage years while the “brake” is still not fully developed. When teenagers are watched by their peers, they usually push hard on the accelerator. With their weak brake, it is likely that they are going to end up in an accident.
But the good news is that a violent (暴力) teenager doesn’t necessarily become a violent adult. About two-third to three-quarters of violent youth grow out of it. “They get more self-controlled. ”
1. What does the underlined word“irrational”in the 2nd paragraph mean?| A．Quick. | B．Crazy. | C．Careful. | D．Correct. |
| A．They like difficult tasks. | B．They don’t care about costs. |
| C．They are too young to tell right from wrong. | D．They care a lot about what their peers think of them. |
| A．By comparing it with how a car works. | B．By comparing it with an accident. |
| C．By showing research findings. | D．By giving examples. |
| A．A pupil. | B．A high school student. | C．A home schooling child. | D．An adult. |
For a book lover, stepping into a bookstore is always exciting, but a new bookstore in China makes the experience really amazing.
It looks like the books spreading out from the floor to the ceiling. But actually the books placed on the highest levels are not real. The store already has a
Visitors walking through the store will find areas designed
In a word, it really
7 . Most people don’t lie very much. It makes sense. By being honest with people, you not only build up goodwill, but also save a lot of brain power since your brain doesn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary when you tell the truth. You just think of what you want to say, and you say it.
Actually, lying takes much more work. Imagine you’re late to class and the teacher asks why. If you decide to lie, you have to make up a story on the spot, think about the various directions the conversation might take and figure out what you need to say to keep this whole lie from falling apart. You might not be aware of it, but you just give your brain a lot of extra work. “A lot of that brain work is done in a region called the prefrontal cortex. It’s the part in charge of working memory,” explains Jennifer Vendemia, a scientist from the University of South Carolina.
Working memory keeps something in mind just for a little while, such as remembering instructions for how to play a game or some other specific tasks. It stores things for only a short while as you’re using them, and it doesn’t put them in long-term storage. Besides working memory, the prefrontal cortex also takes care of tasks such as planning, problem-solving and self-control. Scientists describe these as executive function tasks. Executive function lets you think a step or two ahead to make sure the lie you’ re telling will likely hold up to questioning. “Spending so much brainpower trying to keep a story straight means there’s less available for other things,” says Vendemia. “Lying is especially harmful for young people as the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed until around age 25. When the prefrontal cortex is busy with tasks related to lying, younger people have a harder time doing other tasks.”
Lying has social costs, too. People generally value honesty and don’t like liars. So if people view you as untrustworthy, it can be bad for your relationships.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The costs of lying to people. |
| B．The true meaning of honesty. |
| C．The benefits of being truthful. |
| D．The difficulty of being a good liar. |
| A．To prove a concept | B．To introduce a topic. |
| C．To provide the background. | D．To give an example. |
| A．Remembering a life-long lesson. |
| B．Storing information for a short time. |
| C．Pushing oneself to face difficulties. |
| D．Processing information in the brain. |
| A．The reasons why people lie. |
| B．The harmful effects of lying. |
| C．The part of brain in charge of lying. |
| D．The ways to avoid being caught lying. |
8 . Some of my earliest memories involve sitting with my dad in his study every night when he came home from the office, I’d watch as he put his personal items away; his watch, wallet, comb and car keys They would always occupy the same spot on the table every time.
Dad’s comb was jade green. I heard he bought it when he married Mum. Every night, he would smile, hand me the comb and say, “Be a good girl and help Daddy clean it, OK?”
I was more than happy to do it. At age five, this kind of task brought me such joy. I would excitedly turn the tap on, and then brush the comb with a used toothbrush as hard as I could. Satisfied that I’d done a good job, I would proudly return the comb to Dad. He would smile at me, and place the comb on top of his wallet.
About two years later, Dad left his sales job and started his own wholesale business. I started primary school. That was when things started to change. Dad’s business wasn’t doing so well, and our stable life started getting shaky. He didn’t come home as much as he used to. And when he did come home, it was always late and I’d already be in bed. 1 started to get mad. Why didn’t he listen to Mum and just stick to his old job? Why did he take the risk and place the whole family in trouble? Over the years, I stopped waiting for him to come home, and stopped going downstairs to check on him.
Now 28, I’ve graduated from college and got a job. Dad’s business has also started to get back on track. Yet the uncomfortable silence between Dad and me went on.
Two days before my birthday last year, Dad came home early. On that evening, I helped him carry his bags into his study as usual. When I turned to leave, he asked me to clean his comb. I looked at him for a while, then took the comb and headed to the sink.
It was the same comb. After cleaning it, I passed it back to Dad. He looked at it and smiled. But this time, I noticed something different. My dad had aged. He had wrinkles next to his eyes when he smiled, yet his smile was still as heartwarming as before.
1. From the first three paragraphs, we can learn___________.| A．the author would study with Dad every evening |
| B．the precious green comb of Dad was made of jade |
| C．the earliest memories with Dad were full of joy |
| D．the author was unwilling to clean the comb for Dad |
| A．He was eager to get everything on track. |
| B．He wanted to keep his family life stable. |
| C．He was laid off and had to make a living. |
| D．He hoped to earn a better life for the family. |
| A．Cheerful→mad→warm. |
| B．Mad→satisfied→warm. |
| C．Satisfied→worried→angry |
| D．Warm→concerned→uncomfortable. |
| A．My Dad’s Comb |
| B．Dad’s Wholesale Business |
| C．Changes of My Dad |
| D．My Earliest Memories with Dad |
9 . Last Friday, Britain’s Prince William announced the winners of this year’s Earthshot Prize. The prize is meant to encourage new ideas and rapid action to help protect the planet. Below are parts of this year’s prize-winning projects in each category.
Protect and Restore Nature
Kheyti won the prize for protecting and restoring nature with its “Greenhouse-in-a-box” idea. Kheyti is already working with 1, 000 farmers across India, which is one of the most climate-affected countries in the world. The company says the greenhouses allow farmers to use 90% less water and produce seven times as much food. Kheyti hopes to get its greenhouses to 50,000 farmers by 2027.
Clean Our Air
Charlot Magayi won the prize for cleaning the air. Ms. Magayi developed a stove (炉子) that uses a fuel that’s cheaper and pollutes far less than charcoal stoves. Currently, over 200,000 of her Clean Stoves are being used in Kenya.
Build a Waste-Free World
A London-based company called Notpla(for “Not Plastic”)won the prize for building a waste-free world. They’ve created a plastic substitute(替代品)from plants found in the ocean. Unlike most plastic, their products break down naturally with no microplastics. Notpla believes their products can help end the plastic pollution that’s filling landfills and polluting oceans.
Fix Our Climate
The Earthshot Prize for working toward fixing our climate went to a company called 44.01 from Oman. 44.01 has come up with a way to turn polluting carbon dioxide(CO2)into a rock called peridotite. Once the CO2 has been turned into rock, it can no longer be released into the atmosphere again. The method that 44.01 uses is fast, cheap and permanent.
1. What is the aim of the Earthshot Prize?| A．To offer practical advice on global warming. |
| B．To find solutions to the environmental problems. |
| C．To develop a strategic partnership with all parties. |
| D．To encourage literary creations of the British people. |
| A．In India. | B．In Kenya. | C．In the UK. | D．In Oman. |
| A．They want to build a waste-free world. |
| B．Their projects are directly good for farmers. |
| C．Their achievements benefit the air cleaning. |
| D．They use plants from the ocean in their products. |
10 . A lunar crystal (水晶) was found in lunar basalt particles (玄武岩颗粒) collected from the moon in 2020 when the Chinese moon mission landed in Oceanus Procellarum, returning with more than 1.7 kg of lunar samples delivered safely to the Earth.
The crystal found on the near side of the moon is giving scientists hope of providing limitless power for the world forever. It is made of material previously unknown to the scientific community and contains a key ingredient for the nuclear fusion (核聚变) process, a form of power generation that uses the same forces that fuel the sun and other stars. It is transparent and roughly the width of a single human hair, and it formed in a region of the moon where volcanoes were active around 1.2 billion years ago.
One of the primary ingredients found in this crystal is helium-3 (氦-3) , which scientists believe may provide a stable fuel source for nuclear fusion reactors. The element is incredibly rare on the Earth, but it seems to be fairly common on the moon. China’s next moon mission is expected to be carried out by Chang’e 6 in 2024, which will attempt to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon, which never faces the Earth.
Although it is too early for scientists to have made financial estimates on such a fuel source, it will undoubtedly be extremely costly. There is, of course, the matter of bringing the crystals back from the moon, especially in large amounts that are needed to fuel fusion reactors.
Helium-3 produces significantly less radiation and nuclear waste than other elements. The current nuclear fusion process has raised serious safety concerns, and as a result, scientists have been searching for a way to create nuclear power from nuclear fusion. During the fusion process, radioactive waste is not produced, potentially making a securer and more efficient fuel source.
Around 25 tons of helium-3 could power the US for a year. Multiple private companies and countries with space agencies have signaled their intentions to mine the moon for helium-3, and this latest discovery could kick start the race.
1. What can we learn about the crystal?| A．It is 1.7 centimeters wide. |
| B．It is expected to power the Earth. |
| C．It is commonly found on the Earth. |
| D．It is made of previously familiar material. |
| A．Collect up nuclear waste. |
| B．Find out the elements of helium-3. |
| C．Set up lunar nuclear fusion reactors. |
| D．Take back the samples of lunar crystals. |
| A．It is low in cost. | B．It is clean and safe. |
| C．It absorbs radiation. | D．It produces no waste. |
| A．A Struggling Race to Make Crystals |
| B．An Undoubted Discovery Powering the US |
| C．An Efficient Way to Collect Crystals from the Moon |
| D．A Rare Moon Crystal Discovered by Chinese Scientists |
