It’s common to see a barista (咖啡师) create coffee art, but it’s a whole different ball game doing the same thing with tea. Han Zheming,
It’s also his intention to bring the old ritual back to modern life and have more people appreciate
Chinese tea culture started to enjoy
2 . When reading, my mother likes to slice a paragraph or a sentence out and attach it to the wall of her kitchen. She picks boring sentences that puzzle me. But I prefer copying favorite bright lines into a journal in soft, gray No. 2 pencil, word by word.
She doesn’t know any of this. There's nothing shocking: for our chatting. we seldom begin certain conversations though we talk on the phone weekly, sometimes making each other laugh so hard that I choke and she cries. But what we don't say could fill up rooms. Fights with my father. Small failures in school. Anything that really upsets us.
My mother has never told me “I love you, Lisa.”—as if the four-word absence explains who I am—so I carry it with me, like a label on me. The last time she almost spoke the words was two years ago, when she called to tell me a friend had been in hospital. I said, “I love you, Mom.” She stopped for a while and then said, “Thank you.” I haven't said it since, but I've wondered why my mother doesn't until I've found a poem that supplies words for the blank spaces I try to understand in our conversations:
Don’t fill up on bread. I say absent-mindedly. The servings here are huge.
My son, middle-aged, says: Did you really just say that to me?
What he doesn’t know is that when we’re walking together, I desire to reach for his hand.
It's humble, yet heartbreaking. After copying it down in my journal, I emailed it to mom, adding “This poem makes me think of you.” My mother doesn’t read poetry—or at least, she doesn’t tell me, and I felt nervous clicking “Send”.
She never mentioned the poem. But the next time I went home for vacation, I noticed something new in the kitchen fixed to an antique board: the poem. The board hung above the heater, the warmest spot in the kitchen. The poem still hangs there. Neither my mother nor I have ever spoken about it.
1. What's the function of paragraph 1?| A．To stress the theme. | B．To establish the setting. |
| C．To represent the characters. | D．To create the atmosphere. |
| A．Shaky. | B．Distant. | C．Reserved. | D．Intense. |
| A．It reminded her of mom's love. |
| B．She wanted to apologize to mom. |
| C．It suited mom's taste of literature. |
| D．She needed an interpretation from mom. |
| A．A memory of golden days. |
| B．Daughter’s gratefulness to her. |
| C．A decoration in the plain kitchen. |
| D．Daughter's understanding of her. |
3 . In southeastern Brazil, local fishers walk into dark waters in search of mullet (鲻鱼) On their own, it would be tricky to find the silvery fish. But the humans get help from an unusual partner: wild bottlenose dolphins.
With nets in hand, the fishers patiently wait as their cetacean (鲸类的) partners drive the fish toward the shore. A signal from the dolphins—usually a deep dive—indicates when they should cast their nets. This fishing partnership has passed down through the generations, lasting for more than a century.
While researchers knew humans profited from this pairing, they couldn't confirm whether it benefited the dolphins. Now, in a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers suggest cetaceans that hunt with humans have more chances to live than those that don't.
“Human-wildlife cooperation in general is a rare phenomenon at a global scale.” says Mauricio Cantor, a biologist at Oregon State University and leader of the study. “Usually humans gain the benefit, and nature pays the cost. But this interaction has been happening for over 150 years.”
Fishers were more successful when they worked with the dolphins. When dolphins were present, the fishers were 17 times more likely to catch prey (猎物) and netted nearly four times more mullet when they timed their casting with the cetaceans' signals. Eighty-six percent of all 4.955 mullet caught during the study period came from “synchronous (同时的) interactions”—when the allies organized their actions perfectly with one another.
The study also revealed dolphins hunting with humans had a 13 percent increase in survival rate over other dolphins. These cooperative dolphins are more likely to stay near the shore, reducing their chance of entanglement (缠绕) in illegal fishing equipment. Besides, the dolphins can take some fish directly from the fishers’ harvest.
1. What do the first two paragraphs talk about concerning Brazilian fishers?| A．They trick dolphins into fishing for them. |
| B．They harvest more fish with dolphins' help. |
| C．They have been training dolphins over a century. |
| D．They cast the fishing nets when dolphins surface. |
| A．Nature favors human beings at a huge cost. |
| B．Fishers benefit from cooperating with cetaceans. |
| C．Human-wildlife interaction is a new global trend. |
| D．Dolphins working with man have higher survival rate. |
| A．Prey. | B．Mullet. | C．Partners. | D．Researchers. |
| A．To appeal for the protection of sea creatures. |
| B．To show a unique human-dolphin relationship. |
| C．To applaud for development in fishing research. |
| D．To encourage fishers to better draw on dolphins. |
4 . Every 40 days a language dies. This “catastrophic” loss is being intensified by the climate crisis; according to linguists. If nothing is done, conservative estimates suggest that half of all the 7000 languages currently spoken will be extinct by the end of the century.
Speakers of minority languages have experienced a long history of persecution (迫害) , with the result that by the 1920s half of all indigenous (土著的) languages in Australia, the US, South Africa and Argentina were extinct. The climate crisis is now considered the “final nail in the coffin” for many indigenous languages and the knowledge they represent.
“Languages are already endangered,” says Anastasia Richl, director of the Strathy language unit at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Huge factors are globalization and migration, as communities move to regions where their language is not spoken or valued, according to Richl. “It seems particularly cruel,” she says, “that most of the world’s languages are in parts of the world that are growing unpleasant to people.” Vanuatu, a South Pacific island nation measuring 12,189km2, has 110 languages, the highest density (密度) of languages on the planet. It is also one of the countries most at risk of sea level rise, she says. “Many small language communities are on islands and coastlines easily subject to hurricanes and sea level rise.” Others live on lands where rising temperature threatens traditional farming and fishing practices, leading to migration.
In response to the crisis, the UN launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages in 2022. Promoting and conserving languages of indigenous communities is “not only important for them, but for all humanity”, said Csaba Korosi, the UN general assembly president, urging countries to allow access to education in indigenous languages.
1. What is the writer mainly concerned about?| A．The disappearance of languages. | B．The challenge of climate change. |
| C．The reaction to the language crisis. | D．The trend of the speedy globalization. |
| A．To explain the main reason for language density. |
| B．To show the common features of endangered languages. |
| C．To stress the impact of geographical position on migration. |
| D．To illustrate the situation of minority language communities. |
| A．Support migrants to access local education. |
| B．Discourage people from massive migration. |
| C．Improve the living conditions of minority groups. |
| D．Preserve the languages of indigenous communities. |
| A．Faced with Disasters: Communities Have to Leave |
| B．Lost for Words: Rising Seas Bring Threat of Catastrophe |
| C．Upset at Extinction: UN Urges International Cooperation |
| D．Involved in Action: Experts Seek Solutions to Climate Crisis |
5 . Limiting your child’s candy this Halloween might be more of a trick than a treat, experts say. Once you’re a grown-up raising kids, that bag full of candy might be the scariest part of Halloween — whether it’s concern about a potential sugar rush, worries of parenting perfectionism or diet culture anxiety.
“It makes sense to be scared, because we’ve been taught to be scared,” said Oona Hanson, a parent coach based in Los Angeles. “Sugar is sort of the boogeyman in our current cultural conversation.”
But micromanaging your child’s candy supply can backfire (适得其反)，leading to an overvaluing of sweets，binge (暴食) behavior or unhealthy restriction in your child，said Natalie Mokari, a registered dietitian-nutritionist in Charlotte, North Carolina.
As stressful as it may be to see your child faced with more candy in one night than they would eat in an entire year, the best approach may be to lean into the joy, she added. “They are only in that age where they want to trick or treat for just a small glimpse of time — it’s so short-lived,” Mokari said. “Let them enjoy that day.”
Experts aren’t suggesting kids have sugar all day every day. The American Heart Association and the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee — groups charged with providing science-based recommendations every live years — have recommended lower daily levels of sugar. Too much added sugar has been associated with cardiovascular disease and lack of essential nutrients.
But a healthy relationship with food has balance, and you can keep your kids’ diets full of nutrients while allowing them lo eat sweets, Mokari said.
1. Why are the grown-ups raising kids scared at Halloween?| A．Because they don’t look perfect enough. |
| B．Because their children faced too much candy. |
| C．Because they’ve been taught to be. |
| D．Because they don’t know the diet culture. |
| A．Sugar can make us scared. |
| B．Sugar is a sort of healthy food. |
| C．Sugar is harmful to our health. |
| D．Sugar is a sort of essential nutrient. |
| A．Kids should have sugar all day every day. |
| B．It makes sense to be scared with that bag full of candy. |
| C．It’s a good idea to micromanage your child’s candy supply. |
| D．Kids would have much joy when treated to candy at Halloween. |
| A．Diseases associated with sugar. |
| B．The right attitude towards sugar. |
| C．Allowing your kids to eat sweets. |
| D．Keeping your kids’ diets full of nutrients. |
6 . How to Give an Opinion
Giving an opinion is a common way of interacting with other people in formal and informal settings. You can give your opinion on almost anything! If you are wondering how to give an opinion in an effective way, make sure that giving an opinion is appropriate for the situation.
•Say what you think in a detailed, straightforward manner. Provide as many relevant specifics as possible when you give an opinion.
•Provide the reasons for your point of view.
•Give at least one example to back up each of your reasons.
•
| A．Restate your reasons to remind. |
| B．Restate your opinion to conclude. |
| C．It’s easy to give an example to support your opinion. |
| D．You should try to explain why you hold the opinion that you do. |
| E．Then express your opinion in parts to ensure that you are thorough. |
| F．This will help to ensure that people fully understand your point of view. |
| G．An example is a specific piece of evidence that supports what you are saying. |
7 . In 2006, Jackie Briggs was working 60 hours a week at a high-pressure IT job. One Saturday afternoon, she decided to take some time for herself and go to a women’s health conference. As she was walking around looking at different stands, someone approached her.
“This lovely dark-haired woman came up to me, ‘Excuse me, but I can’t help but notice your arm,’ and she said,” Briggs remembers. That day, Briggs had uncharacteristically decided to wear a sleeveless dress, leaving a rose-shaped birthmark on her upper arm exposed. The woman asked Briggs if she had seen a doctor about the birthmark, and when Briggs assured her that she had, the stranger persisted. “She pressed me and said, ‘When?’ I had to stop to think. I counted back…and it had been over three years.”
When the woman heard how long it had been, she urged Briggs to call her doctor. After explaining that she was a nurse at a plastic surgeon’s office, she gently reached out and touched Briggs’ arm. “Really, don’t wait,” she said.
When Briggs followed up with her doctor, she learned that the woman had saved her life. It turned out that the birthmark was actually a melanoma—one of the fastest-moving and deadliest types of skin cancers. “If I hadn’t listened to her, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Briggs said. Briggs underwent surgery and had the melanoma removed. She’s now happily retired and just finished writing her first novel. Her unsung hero, she said, saved her life. “My six-inch ragged scar that travels almost from the top of my shoulder down my arm is my everyday reminder of her…my guardian angel,” she said.
1. What made Briggs go to see her doctor?| A．The high-pressure IT job. | B．The deadly melanoma. |
| C．The nurse’s words. | D．Her doctor’s advice. |
| A．Generous and helpful. | B．Professional and kind. |
| C．Outgoing and enthusiastic. | D．Determined and brave. |
| A．Birthmarks sometimes can be deadly. |
| B．A sleeveless dress is good for a lady. |
| C．A stranger’s advice is always important. |
| D．Working 60 hours a week can cause melanoma. |
| A．The Lovely Dark-haired Woman | B．The Rose-shaped Birthmark |
| C．The Unsung Hero | D．The Six-inch Ragged Scar |
8 . China Books for Children
China (DK Eyewitness Book)
Ages: 9 and up. DK Eyewitness Books are some of our favorites. This is one of their first “Country Books” and they do a remarkable job at highlighting topics that take you from traditional China to a modern day-to-day.
China: language, family life, festivals, religion, food, etc. With the wonderful color photos, clip art CD and poster included, this book is a keeper. “Eye-popping …It’s a text, but also a trip educators, students and parents can enjoy taking together.”—Minnesota Educator magazine
►Buy From Amazon.com
Ancient China (DK Eyewitness Book)
Ages: 9 and up. Learning Chinese History has never been more fun! The First Emperor, the Silk Road, the teachings of Confucius, and more…we enjoyed the section on Chinese inventions that came from China.
This book is one of a series on Ancient Civilizations. Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece are also wonderful.
...a mini museum between the covers of a book. [Eyewitness series]—The New York Times
►Buy From Amazon.com
My China Travel Journal
Ages: 4-8. My China Travel Journal is the story of Emma and Joe and their adventures in China, flying kites with their new Chinese friends, spotting strange vegetables at the market, eating candied crab apples from the street vendors...Lots of fun pictures make the book come to life. This is NOT a travel journal for kids to record their travel experience, it is about Emma and Joe’s experience in China!
The e-book is FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
►Buy From Amazon.com
Kids’ Travel Guide (Kids’ Travel Guide series)
Ages: 6-12. Leonardo will be your guide! Together you will discover Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and so on.
And along the way you will learn not only about the places, but all about Chinese life, customs, festivals, food and history through games and quizzes that will keep the kids engaged. This is part of a very popular series for little travelers, or travelers from home that give you a glimpse of some really fantastic places!
►Buy From Amazon.com
1. What can the kids learn from Ancient China?| A．Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. |
| B．The Four Great Inventions of ancient China. |
| C．Chinese festivals and religion. |
| D．The Belt and Road Initiative. |
| A．China. | B．Ancient China. |
| C．My China Travel Journal. | D．Kids’ Travel Guide. |
| A．They are all available on line. | B．They are kids’ favorite books. |
| C．They were written by Chinese. | D．They have comments from magazines. |
9 . “The silence is killing me,” I thought as I locked my phone, hoping a new message would light up the screen. After 27 messages, two phone calls and a voicemail, I’d just sent my final text to the person who
We met in our freshman year and, since we
Over the past few years, the concept of “drawing boundaries” has
The
Sometimes it can feel
| A．tried | B．used | C．happened | D．promised |
| A．signed up for | B．looked forward to | C．took advantage of | D．kept up with |
| A．gradually | B．barely | C．routinely | D．finally |
| A．suggested | B．regretted | C．delayed | D．stopped |
| A．unforgettable | B．special | C．boring | D．painful |
| A．fragile | B．romantic | C．close | D．formal |
| A．comment | B．explanation | C．apology | D．complaint |
| A．Otherwise | B．Instead | C．Meanwhile | D．Therefore |
| A．letter | B．excuse | C．experience | D．silence |
| A．exploded | B．disappeared | C．survived | D．changed |
| A．hardly | B．permanently | C．accidentally | D．consistently |
| A．harmony | B．change | C．separation | D．competition |
| A．caused | B．required | C．persuaded | D．expected |
| A．effects | B．benefits | C．origins | D．characteristics |
| A．reduce | B．express | C．create | D．share |
| A．open-minded | B．objective | C．optimistic | D．twisted |
| A．disturb | B．impress | C．hurt | D．support |
| A．easier | B．stronger | C．calmer | D．warmer |
| A．cooperation | B．guidance | C．self-care | D．friendship |
| A．reminds | B．robs | C．convinces | D．warns |
10 . Besides getting out into nature yourself, the next best thing is to take it all in through the pages of a book. But where to start? Check out our natural history book recommendations.
Living as a NaturalistBy Liu Huajie, China
Have you ever wanted to get down to the level of plants and see the world through their “eyes”? Living as a Naturalist invites you into this world. This book makes natural history accessible and attractive. It interprets ancient Chinese educational and philosophical ideas of knowing about nature from a natural history perspective. It also introduces key figures in the West’s approach to the subject. This is all done with a humorous and engaging writing style while featuring beautiful images of plants and animals.
My First Summer in the SierraBy John Muir, US/UK
In the summer of 1869, John Muir, a 31-year-old Scottish immigrant, joined a group of shepherds in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range for an adventure that proved life-changing for him. During those four months, he kept a diary while following a flock of sheep, painting a glorious picture of idyllic forests and majestic mountain peaks. This diary was titled My First Summer in the Sierra, which inspired thousands of Americans to visit the area. It later became the well-known Yosemite National Park.
The PeregrineBy J. A. Baker, UK
In 1965, John A.Baker gave up his work and lived on his earnings, devoting all his time to observing the peregrine falcon(游隼). From autumn to spring, Baker tracked the comings and goings of a pair of peregrine falcons in eastern England by bicycle and on foot, documenting their lives and the environment they live in. Like the bird itself, Baker has a keen eye for detail. The bird’s most exciting moments, like fast flying and hunting prey, are brought to life by Baker. In his eyes, the most important aspects of natural history and its documentation are patience, passion and observation.
1. What is included in Living as a Naturalist?| A．Stories about shepherds. | B．Drawings of western figures. |
| C．Pictures of creatures. | D．Theories about natural science. |
| A．Immigrants’ pursuit of an independent life. | B．The popularity of natural history books. |
| C．John’s dedication to animal protection. | D．People’s affection for the region. |
| A．Great patience and subtle observation. |
| B．The humorous and engaging writing style. |
| C．The concept of “wilderness” rooted in Baker’s heart. |
| D．Practical examples of living harmoniously with the bird. |
