1 . Bike Rental & Guided Tours

Welcome to Amsterdam, welcome to MacBike. You see much more from the seat of a bike! Cycling is the most economical, sustainable and fun way to explore the city, with its beautiful canals, parks, squares and countless lights. You can also bike along lovely landscapes outside of Amsterdam.

Why MacBike

MacBike has been around for almost 30 years and is the biggest bicycle rental company in Amsterdam. With over 2,500 bikes stored in our five rental shops at strategic locations, we make sure there is always a bike available for you. We offer the newest bicycles in a wide variety, including basic bikes with foot brake (刹车), bikes with hand brake and gears (排挡), bikes with child seats, and children’s bikes.

Prices

	Hand Brake, Three Gears	Foot Brake, No Gears
1 hour	€7.50	€5.00
3 hours	€11.00	€7.50
1 day (24 hours)	€14.75	€9.75
Each additional day	€8.00	€6.00

Guided City Tours

The 2.5-hour tour covers the Gooyer Windmill, the Skinny Bridge, the Rijksmuseum, Heineken Brewery and much more. The tour departs from Dam Square every hour on the hour, starting at 1:00 pm every day. You can buy your ticket in a MacBike shop or book online.

1. What is an advantage of MacBike?

A．It gives children a discount.	B．It offers many types of bikes.
C．It organizes free cycle tours.	D．It has over 2,500 rental shops.

2. How much do you pay for renting a bike with hand brake and three gears for two days?

A．€15.75.

B．€19.50.

C．€22.75.

D．€29.50.

3. Where does the guided city tour start?

A．The Gooyer, Windmill.	B．The Skinny Bridge.
C．Heineken Brewery.	D．Dam Square.

2 . In April last year, I saw a post on the PNP (Pilots N Paws) website from a family in Topeka. They had to move to Virginia but they were on a very tight _______. They could not afford to pay for _______ for their dog, Tiffy, and _______ wanted to take her with them.

It just _______ that I was planning another PNP flight with another pilot, Karen, who _______ to take Tiffy from Kansas City to Virginia. What I was to do was fly to Topeka to _______ Tiffy.

When I met Tiffy’s owners, they seemed very _______. George, the husband, was trying to be calm, but I could tell this was _______ for him, having to leave his dog to a _______ and trust that everything would __________.

After some goodbyes, I asked George and his wife to help me __________ Tiffy into the plane. I promised to take care of Tiffy and __________ them as soon as we got to Kansas City.

The flight was __________, and Tiffy was a great passenger. The next day, she __________ with Karen and made it back to George in Virginia within a few days. He was so __________ and sent me a nice e-mail with pictures. It felt great to know that I had helped bring this family together again.

1.

A．turn

B．budget

C．schedule

D．connection

2.

A．food

B．shelter

C．medicine

D．transportation

3.

A．desperately

B．temporarily

C．secretly

D．originally

4.

A．appeared

B．proved

C．happened

D．showed

5.

A．waited

B．offered

C．hurried

D．failed

6.

A．see off

B．look for

C．hand over

D．pick up

7.

A．confused

B．nervous

C．annoyed

D．curious

8.

A．hard

B．fine

C．common

D．lucky

9.

A．coworker

B．passenger

C．stranger

D．neighbor

10.

A．speed up

B．work out

C．come back

D．take off

11.

A．feed

B．follow

C．change

D．load

12.

A．call

B．join

C．leave

D．serve

13.

A．unnecessary

B．unexpected

C．unavoidable

D．uneventful

14.

A．returned

B．fought

C．flew

D．agreed

15.

A．thankful

B．generous

C．proud

D．sympathetic

3 . For lots of kids, toddlerhood (幼儿期) is an important time for friendship. Studies show that the earlier kids learn to form positive relationships, the better they are at relating to others as teenagers and adults. Playing together also helps these kids practice social behaviors, such as kindness, sharing, and cooperation.

Even so, how quickly your child develops into a social creature may also depend on his temperament(性格). Some toddler s are very social, but others are shy. In addition, the way that toddlers demonstrate that they like other children is markedly different from what adults think of as expressions of friendship. Research at Ohio State University in Columbus found that a toddler’s way of saying “I like you” during play is likely to come in the form of copying a friend’s behavior.

This seemingly unusual way of demonstrating fondness can result in unpleasant behavior. Regardless of how much they like a playmate, they may still grab his toys, refuse to share, and get bossy. But experts say that this is a normal and necessary part of friendship for kids this age. Through play experiences, toddlers learn social rules. That’s why it’s so important to take an active role in your toddler’s social encounters by setting limits and offering frequent reminders of what they are. When you establish these guidelines, explain the reasons behind them.

Begin by helping your child learn sympathy (“Ben is crying. What’s making him so sad?”), then suggest how he could resolve the problem (“Maybe he would feel better if you let him play the ball.”). When your child shares or shows empathy(同理心) toward a friend, praise him (“Ben stopped crying! You made him feel better.”).

Another way to encourage healthy social interaction is by encouraging kids to use words- not fists-to express how they feel. It’s also important to be mindful of how your child’s personality affects playtime. Kids are easy to get angry when they’re sleepy or hungry, so schedule playtime when they’re refreshed.

1. What does it indicate when toddlers copy their playmates’ behavior?

A．They are interested in acting.	B．They are shy with the strangers.
C．They are fond of their playmates.	D．They are tired of playing games.

2. What does the author suggest parents do for their kids?

A．Design games for them.	B．Find them suitable playmates.
C．Play together with them.	D．Help them understand social rules.

3. What is the function of the quoted statements in paragraph 4?

A．Giving examples.	B．Explaining concepts.
C．Providing evidence.	D．Making comparisons.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．How Children Adapt to Changes	B．How to Be a Role Model for Children
C．How Your Baby Learns to Love	D．How to Communicate with Your Kid

4 . 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。

Consisting of a bamboo frame and a     1     (delicate) painted paper surface, Chinese oil-paper umbrellas have long been viewed as a symbol of China’s tradition of cultural craftsmanship and poetic beauty. Not just are they an instrument to keep off rain or sunlight, but also works of art     2    (possess)rich cultural significance and aesthetic(美的)value.

The first oil-paper umbrellas appeared during Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).Later,they    3     (bring) overseas to Japan and ancient Korea during the Tang Dynasty (618-907),which is     4     they were known as “Tang umbrellas”.

It takes quite a lot of time and effort to make a traditional Chinese oil-paper umbrella     5     hand. For example,in Fenshui township in Luzhou, Sichuan Province,craftsmenmust complete more than 90 steps and use over 100 different tools    6     (create) a single handmade oil-paper umbrella.

Since the appearance of modern mechanical umbrellas, traditional oil-paper umbrellas    7     (suffer) from declining sales, while     8     number of craftsmen has been on thedecrcase. Fortunately, with the    9     (include) of Fenshui oil-paper umbrellas as one ofChina’s national intangible cultural heritages in 2008, things have been improving. These greatitems appear in many fashion shows and media publications due to the positive publicity     10     they have received.

5 . I've always loved mountaineering (登山) and the mental and physical challenges that go with it. This time the peak (山峰) of Mt. Whitney is my ______. There are quite a few ways up to the big mountain, but we ______ the traditional one at last, almost 12 miles to the top.

I decided to make this trip less about ______ and more about the climb and my personal journey with a friend. Thinking about it this way, I decided to carry only one camera to ______ the course, but it still added 3.2 pounds to my backpack, which ______ 2.8 pounds without the camera equipment. Fortunately, climbing with a friend ______ sharing the weight, keeping our packs a little lighter. Therefore, we ______ reached the top just two days later. This particular trip was prepared for a personal trip on purpose to get to the peak and enjoy the breathtaking ______.

Climbing such tall peaks ______ every aspect of you, as a nature photographer. It can test both your physical strength and photographic ______. Can you imagine being 14,000 feet up, ______ the thin air of the high-altitude (海拔) environment while also trying to be ______ with your compositions (作品)? That’s what we were doing! And that’s the joy that comes with climbing Mt. Whitney as well.

Like any other ______ in nature, there are risks in mountaineering, though, Extreme altitude and the unpredictable (无法预测的) weather will test even the most ______ climber. Despite the fact, mountaineering for me is all about the experiences, which makes me live to the ______.

1.

A．imagination

B．impression

C．destination

D．kingdom

2.

A．chose

B．repaired

C．missed

D．covered

3.

A．shelters

B．photos

C．clothes

D．foods

4.

A．discover

B．draw

C．guess

D．document

5.

A．weighed

B．lifted

C．balanced

D．cut

6.

A．looked for

B．resulted from

C．contributed to

D．focused on

7.

A．suddenly

B．legally

C．obviously

D．quickly

8.

A．painting

B．scenery

C．performance

D．movement

9.

A．attracts

B．pays

C．tests

D．brings

10.

A．skills

B．attitudes

C．times

D．dreams

11.

A．identifying

B．improving

C．collecting

D．breathing

12.

A．confident

B．patient

C．familiar

D．creative

13.

A．secrets

B．adventures

C．rules

D．species

14.

A．excited

B．devoted

C．experienced

D．frightened

15.

A．longest

B．fullest

C．highest

D．farthest

6 . 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。

This year, August 15th marked China’s first National Ecology Day,    1    aims to raise awareness of environmental protection and address unlawful activities and safeguard the development of forestry and grassland resource    2    law.

The establishment of National Ecology Day will enhance ecological understanding among the public and help the nation    3    (well) participate in global environment and climate governance.

The move     4    (see) as part of China’s efforts to build an ecological civilization, a concept that glorifies balanced and sustainable development and harmonious coexistence between    5    (human) and nature    6    promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

China’s laws and administrative regulations    7    (involve) the environment and ecology,    8    (base) on what environmental difficulties villagers are eager to solve and what ecological measures should be taken urgently from their opinions, have laid a solid legislative (立法的) foundation for the ecological civilization.

    9    makes Aug. 15 special is that on that day in 2005, the concept of “lucid waters and lush mountains” was first put forward, being    10    (value) assets.

7 . General Art Contests

THE SUNNY ART PRIZE

Prize       A total cash fund of £6,000 plus an individual exhibition in London.

Entry Fee       £25 for one artwork, up to £45 for four artworks.

Requirements       Open to artists worldwide aged 18 and over.

Closing Date       June 30, 2024

One of the most diverse art competitions in the UK, the Sunny Art Prize offers unique exposure for both emerging and established artists.

BEAUTIFUL BIZARRE ART PRIZE

Prize       Over $50,000 in cash and prizes to be won. Plus, global exposure through Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. Winners will also participate in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine’s group exhibition at Haven Gallery in New York later this year.

Entry Fee       $40 per entry

Requirements       Open to artists worldwide working in the representational visual arts.

Closing Date       July 17, 2024

The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, now in its 5th year, is an annual international art prize that celebrates diversity and excellence in the representational visual arts.

MADE IN CALIFORNIA COMPETITION

Prize       $750 first prize, $500 second prize.

Entry Fee       $20 per entry

Requirements       Open to artists based in California.

Closing Date       February 16, 2024

Hosted by the Brea Gallery, the Made in California Competition provides a promotional opportunity for all artists based in the state of California.

ARTISTS MAGAZINE ANNUAL ART COMPETITION

Prize       Over $29,000 in cash prizes and publication in Artists Magazine.

Entry Fee       $40 ($35 if submitted before April 3)

Requirements       Open to artists over 18 worldwide working in a traditional medium.

Closing Date       May 30, 2024

Artists Magazine’s Annual Art Competition celebrates traditional 2D artistic mediums such as painting, digital art, and much more. All winners’ works will be featured in the January/February 2025 issue of Artists Magazine.

1. Which art contest offers the opportunity for a group exhibition?

A．THE SUNNY ART PRIZE.

B．BEAUTIFUL BIZARRE ART PRIZE.

C．MADE IN CALIFORNIA COMPETITION.

D．ARTISTS MAGAZINE ANNUAL ART COMPETITION.

2. How much should a contestant pay for a January submission to Brea Gallery?

A．$20.

B．$25.

C．$35.

D．$40.

3. What do these general art contests have in common?

A．They are held every year.	B．They are open to emerging artists only.
C．They provide winners with added bonus.	D．They celebrate excellence in traditional arts.

8 . Pretending sickness may get harder. Slipping a day off work by nervously coughing down the phone to your boss might not work. Very soon your company might be able to tell whether your symptoms are real, just from your voice.

An Indian research team tried to tell a “cold voice” from a healthy voice. Their research makes use of the fact that human speech, like any musical instrument, does not produce single frequencies of sounds. Even the best trained singers cannot hit pure notes like those from tuning forks. The dominant notes in the human voice are instead accompanied by a series of higher pitch (音高) tones.

Together these sets of notes fit into mathematical patterns called harmonics (和声), with tones having frequencies that are multiples of the original note. For example, the pitch of the second harmonic note is twice the frequency of the main note and so on. The loudness of these harmonics in speech tends to fade as they proceed up the frequency scale. The team reasoned that infection with a cold might change how this decline happened.

To find out, the scientists made use of an unusual resource: recordings of the voices of 630 people in Germany, 111 of whom were suffering from a cold. Each was asked to count from one to 40 and describe what they did at the weekend. They also read aloud a fable The North Wind and the Sun, which has been a popular text for speech research since 1949. By breaking down each person’s speech into its spectrum (声谱) of component wavelengths, the researchers could identify the dominant frequency and the harmonics in each case. They then used machine-learning to analyse the relationships between the loudness of these harmonics and found patterns that could distinguish the cold voices from the healthy voices.

The team’s diagnosis of cold voice shows a 70% accuracy. Faced with another dull Monday at the office, would you take the risk?

1. On what basis is the research performed?

A．Human speeches vary in frequencies.

B．Training has no effect on human notes.

C．Humans speak like musical instruments.

D．Higher pitch notes dominate human voices.

2. What may reduce the volume of human harmonics?

A．The pitch of harmonics.	B．A pretended cold voice.
C．The sets of human notes.	D．Higher sound frequencies.

3. Why are the participants required to read the fable?

A．It is easy to understand.	B．It is valuable in literature.
C．It is popular with speakers.	D．It is suitable for the research.

4. What does the author want to tell us?

A．Human speech reflects health	B．Pretending sickness is a trend.
C．Voice changes with conditions.	D．Changing voice is of great risk.

9 . Every year, as the surface water temperature off the United States mid-Atlantic coast rises steadily from late spring through the summer, a pocket of uncharacteristically cool and crisp water gets trapped at the bottom of the ocean. Packed with nutrients this thick band of cold water, known as the mid-Atlantic cold pool, is a vital home for shellfish species. Extending at its seasonal peak from Nantucket, Massachusetts, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the cold poll creates a diverse ecosystem ranging from algae(海藻)to fish — and some of the most valuable shellfish fisheries in the United States.

Now, however, two pressures have scientists worrying about whether the cold pool will last. The first is no surprise: climate change. Over the past five decades, climates change has destabilized the cold pool, causing it to warm and shrink. Compared with 1968, the cold pool is now 13℃ warmer and has lost more than one-third of its area.

The second concern is 1ess certain. In 2023, the US federal government approved plans to install(安装)98 wind turbines(涡轮机)off the New Jersey coast, covering an area of more than 300 square kilometers. Yet putting so many turbines to the seafloor could have unexpected consequences for the cold pool. That’s why Travis Miles, a researcher at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, and his colleagues are investigating. So far, Miles and his colleagues can’t definitively say what will happen to the cold pool, saying more research is needed to assess how climate change and offshore wind, together, could affect the cold pool. However, their initial analyses suggest the cold pool should be fine — at least in normal conditions.

New Jersey’s offshore wind plans are strongly opposed mainly by fossil fuel-industry funded efforts. Miles worries that an overabundance of caution or fear of potential impacts, including on the cold pool, might slow down the development of renewable energy. “...it’s quite clear that climate change is far more damaging than installing wind farms,” he says. “I don’t think any scientist would argue with that.”

1. What do we know about the mid-Atlantic cold pool?

A．It forms in early spring.	B．It’s a band of cold near-bottom water.
C．It serves as a habitat of most sea species.	D．It extends from Nantucket to New Jersey.

2. What does the underlined word “shrink” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Break down.

B．Get polluted.

C．Dry up.

D．Become smaller.

3. Miles’ attitude toward installing wind farms can be described as ______.

A．supportive

B．dismissive

C．overcautious

D．skeptical

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Cold Pool Plays a Role on species

B．Opinions Divide on Offshore Wind Farms

C．Scientists Eye Potential Risks to the Cold Pool

D．Renewable Energy Helps to Race Against Climate Change

10 . Last summer, my grandma took our large family on a vacation to Tanzania for a few weeks. While we did spend a large amount of time _________ wildlife in the Serengeti national park, the most memorable part of the trip for me was _________ the local culture. I was moved by how friendly and _________ everybody there was.

Whenever we rode somewhere in the ‘safari trucks’, the local children would, at the sight of the trucks, rush to the side of the road to _________ and shout “hello”. I could tell by their huge smiles that they were really _________ at the sight of us, not just doing what they’d been told to do in front of tourists. We were happy to _________ a wave or a high five, too. At one point when our guide was showing us around a local village, a woman came over and started talking to us in the local language, which our guide _________ for us. The woman wanted to show us the baby rabbits that she was _________. She welcomed us into her house. I was very _________ by this. I would never think of inviting a stranger off the street into my house back in the United States.

After we saw the super-cute newborn rabbits, we continued through the village. At the next house, there was a family __________ fish over a fire for dinner. Our guide asked if he could buy some. While he ate his fish, the family invited us into their yard. Everybody’s attitude was so __________ from that of people back home, who now seemed boring and __________ . Things that seemed so unusual to me, like letting strangers into one’s house, are completely __________ to these people.

When the trip ended and we got back to the United States, I almost felt a __________ connection to the people I met in Tanzania than to the people at home. The time that I spent in Tanzania was the time in my life when I felt the most __________.

1.

A．observing

B．watching

C．researching

D．protecting

2.

A．seeking for

B．learning about

C．coming across

D．breaking into

3.

A．flexible

B．responsible

C．sensible

D．hospitable

4.

A．skate

B．play

C．jump

D．wave

5.

A．shy

B．sad

C．afraid

D．happy

6.

A．return

B．pay

C．reward

D．praise

7.

A．decorated

B．translated

C．described

D．employed

8.

A．trapping

B．hunting

C．raising

D．painting

9.

A．embarrassed

B．frightened

C．ashamed

D．surprised

10.

A．cutting

B．killing

C．cooking

D．washing

11.

A．free

B．absent

C．safe

D．different

12.

A．distant

B．friendly

C．humorous

D．generous

13.

A．formal

B．precious

C．special

D．normal

14.

A．closer

B．faster

C．longer

D．clearer

15.

A．hopeful

B．welcome

C．capable

D．grateful