1 . When looking for some vacation ideas to spread out and get some time and space to yourself, check out these great resorts (度假胜地) options.
Hyatt Ziva Cap CanaLocated in Punta Cana, this family-friendly vacation at an all-inclusive resort offers something for everyone in your party. Parents can enjoy relaxing by one of the resort’s swim-up bars in an infinity pool or head out for some deep-sea fishing. Kids, meanwhile, can head over to the kids’ club for a number of activities. Plus, all of the drinks and food across the 14 restaurants and bars is included.
Beaches Turks & CaicosThis resort has become the Caribbean’s popular go-to when it comes to all-inclusive family vacations that provide great value since there’s so much to do for guests of all ages. There’s a 45,000-square-foot water park, 24 restaurants, unlimited PADI-certified scuba diving and water sports, a 12-mile beach, a spa, 10 pools—whew!
The Alisal Guest RanchIf you live in the city and want to get back to nature, this luxury farm over nearly 11,000 acres in California’s Santa Ynez Valley is a perfect fit for a family. All that wide-open space means activities like horseback riding, scenic cycling, hiking, fishing, kayaking and, for the body-and-spirit-minded traveler in your group, yoga.
Montage Palmetto BluffThe 20,000-acre community includes a nature preserve with walking trails, but the real stars of the show here are the over 300 species of birds. The resort’s resident naturalist takes families on walks to Bird Island, sharing a history of the area. Plus, kids will love the kayak tours that get up close to the dolphins that live there year-round.
1. Which attracts those interested in horseback-riding?| A．Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana. | B．Beaches Turks & Caicos. |
| C．Montage Palmetto Bluff. | D．The Alisal Guest Ranch. |
| A．They promise good food services. | B．They include various kids’ clubs. |
| C．They provide parent-child activities. | D．They have large historic buildings. |
| A．To organize some family parties. | B．To highlight some tourist resorts. |
| C．To introduce some nature reserves. | D．To stimulate some domestic needs. |
2 . In an ideal world, we would be able to devote as much time to sports as we feel we need. But in reality, with growing demands in both work and family, we can only jump at the chance for our physical exercise when we can. Making the most of that time to practice Yin Yang yoga, which mixes the dynamic and slow-paced elements of yoga, helps keep you active and relaxed.
Yin and Yang are the Taoist concepts representing a balance of opposite forces which are also interconnected. Yin is inactive, cooling, and negative, associated with the female force. Yang is active, warming, and positive, associated with action and movement. They are complementary to one another, as one cannot exist without the other.
Yin Yang yoga is a combination of high-energy movement which builds energy, increases strength and promotes stamina (耐力), followed by the more restful practice of Yin to give us a deeper stretch (拉伸) and calm the nervous system.
If you have a busy and active life you may feel more in Yang, so taking some cooler, slower Yin yoga practice into your routine may help you feel calmer and more balanced.
If you are practicing for an hour, divide the time in half, Warm up with sun salutations (拜日式瑜伽), continue into a dynamic flow and then move on to some standing postures. After half an hour your heart will be pumping, muscles tighten up and you are hopefully feeling energetic, but ready for a rest. Then pick five Yin postures to hold for 3-5 minutes, or even longer if you are enjoying them!
As ever with yoga, if you are a beginner or have health issues, always attend a class with a trained instructor first to guide you safely through the yoga practice and avoid injury.
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 1?| A．Most of our sports time should be spent on Yin Yang yoga. |
| B．We’d better devote as much time to physical exercise as we can. |
| C．Busy schedule makes it impossible for us to do any form of sports. |
| D．Yin Yang yoga can be a choice of physical exercise when time is tight. |
| A．Independent from one another. |
| B．Competitive against one another. |
| C．Similar to each other but unable to work together as a whole. |
| D．Different from each other but together making a good combination. |
| A．Relaxing muscles. | B．Building stamina. |
| C．Strengthening the body. | D．Quickening the heartbeat. |
| A．Hold each Yin posture for longer than 5 minutes. |
| B．Do not practice yoga when you are not in good health. |
| C．Start your yoga practice under the guidance of a trainer. |
| D．Spare half an hour for five Yin postures in every yoga practice. |
3 . Are you happy with your appearance?
“Almost all the girls with single-fold eyelids (单眼皮) in our class have had double eyelid operations,” Zeng, a Senior 2 student from Chengdu, told Xinhua. Zeng had the same surgery done this summer.
From popular photo-editing apps to plastic surgery (整形手术), it seems that large eyes, pale skin and a skinny body are the only standard for beauty these days. But can following this standard really make us feel good about ourselves?
“Many teenagers are upset about their appearance because they believe in unrealistic standards of beauty,” experts say.
However, trying to live up to strict standards can make us feel anxious. What troubles us is not just our “imperfect” looks, but the fact that we criticize ourselves too much.
| A．Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. |
| B．Body image anxiety is common among teenagers. |
| C．Guys care just as much as girls do about their body image. |
| D．Some teenagers might feel negative about their appearance. |
| E．It’s common for teenagers to feel confident about their appearance. |
| F．She and many of her classmates believe bigger eyes look more beautiful. |
| G．Perfect faces and bodies are everywhere in advertising, TV shows and social media. |
4 . Cultural heritage sites are a nonrenewable resource. Today architectural heritage sites are being destroyed at an alarming rate. They’re threatened by rising seas, pollution, overtourism, conflicts and so on. Recently, Notre Dame Cathedral has attracted international attention.
Since its main construction from 1163 to 1350, Notre Dame Cathedral repeatedly has been damaged and repaired. On April 15, 2019, the landmark’s roof caught fire, causing the collapse of its spire (尖顶) and upper walls severely damaged. Work on the site began quickly. Through the work of photographer Tomas van Houtryve, writer Robert Kunzig, and artist Fernando Baptista, people will see restoring scenes where ruins are cleared and statues saved. Even the COVID-19 pandemic caused only a two-month delay. Architects have said the expensive project is on track to be completed in 2024.
And thorny questions arise. What duty do we owe the creations of our ancestors? What lesson can we draw from their presence?
Humankind has answered that differently. In Dresden, Germany, the Frauenkirche, an 18th-century baroque church, was famous for its bell-shaped dome (穹顶). In February 1945, one of the most destructive bombing attacks of World War II reduced the city to ruins. After German reunion, the church was reconstructed using many of its original stones, as a symbol of peace and harmony. Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church also fell to bombing but had a different story. Its spire has been left a ruin on purpose to be a “warning monument” against war and destruction.
Like the Frauenkirche, Notre Dame is being rebuilt as close as possible to how it was before, including using the original, toxic metal — lead (铅) — for the roof, causing the debate about how to restore and maintain historic buildings. Actually, no one claims to have the “right” answers on preservation; there may not even be right answers. What people could do is to continuously monitor the global care of cultural heritage sites, as a matter of significance to humanity’s past, present, and future.
1. What do we know about Notre Dame Cathedral?| A．It was once threatened by conflicts. |
| B．It collapsed totally during a fire decade ago. |
| C．It has undergone repeated repairs since 1163. |
| D．It was not influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| A．Simple. | B．Tough. | C．Accurate. | D．Attractive. |
| A．To remind people the value of peace and harmony. |
| B．To warn people the influence of war and destruction. |
| C．To demonstrate different solutions to heritage site preservation. |
| D．To introduce reconstruction methods such as using original materials. |
| A．Cultural heritage sites are nonrenewable so that they are worth protecting. |
| B．Notre Dame Cathedral has been the most attractive heritage site globally. |
| C．The reconstruction of cultural heritage sites seldom causes disagreements. |
| D．The reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral after fire has been completed. |
5 . An American company has developed a new technique (技术) to make bread stay fresh for 60 days.
Scientists found that a kind of mould (霉菌) caused bread to go bad. The new technique kills the mould and keeps the food for longer time. This means there will be less waste of food in the world in future.
Food waste is a big problem in most developed countries. In the US, an average (普通的) family throws away 40% of the food they buy, which adds up to $165bn every year, about 330 million tons in weight. Bread takes a larger part. In the UK, 32% of the bread they buy is thrown away as waste when they can still be eaten.
The bread usually goes mouldy (发的) in around 10 days, but the American company says the new technique will keep the bread free from mould for two months.
”We treated a piece of bread in a special machine. At 60 days it had the same amount of mould as it was first made,“ says Mr. Stull, the leader of the company.
Although there are a lot of bread makers interested in the new technique, few customers like the idea. They say they don’t think a piece of bread which lasts for 60 days tastes good.
”We’ll have to make our customers accept the idea. But it will take some time,“ says Mr. Stull.
1. What is the key point of the new technique?| A．It can prevent the world from wasting food. |
| B．It kills the mould and keeps bread fresh for longer time. |
| C．It keeps the same amount of mould. |
| D．It makes bread taste good. |
| A．Nearly half. | B．A quarter. | C．More than half. | D．About one-third. |
| A．Food waste can be reduced immediately (立刻) with the new technique. |
| B．We will buy bread that can last longer. |
| C．Few customers are sure about the technique. |
| D．Poor countries are in great need of food. |
| A．A new technique has been invented to keep bread fresh longer. |
| B．There is great waste of food in developed countries. |
| C．There is a kind of mould that causes food to go bad. |
| D．Customers don’t like food that lasts for two months. |
6 . Could you manage without the internet for four and a half years? That’s exactly what the actress Selena Gomez has done in a bid to improve her mental health.
She has spoken extensively about the relationship between her social media usage and mental well-being, recalling feeling like “an addict” as to becoming Instagram’s most followed user in 2016. “Indeed, I regret quitting from social media that late”, says she. “The unnecessary hate and comparisons went away once I put my phone down.”
However, the increasing digitization (数字化) means that everything from paying a bill to even making a phone call is at the mercy of the internet. Actively opting (选择) out of the internet becomes a matter of privilege. Ms Gomez’s multi-millionaire status has allowed her to take the “social” out of social media. The fact that she’s still the second most-followed woman on Instagram suggests it’s entirely possible to maintain a significant web profile to promote various projects by way of a dedicated team — without being exposed to the cruel comments.
It goes without saying that this is fundamentally different from how the rest of us without beauty deals and films to publicize use the likes of Instagram and Twitter, but even the concept of a digital detox (戒瘾) requires having a device and connectivity to choose to disconnect from.
The UK’s digital divide has worsened over the past two years, leaving poorer families without broadband connections in their homes. Digital exclusion (数字隔绝) is a major threat to wider societal equality in the UK.
Consequently, it’s worth bearing in mind that while deleting all social media accounts will undoubtedly make some feel infinitely better, many other people benefit from the strong sense of community that sharing platforms can develop. Greater resources and initiatives are needed to provide the underprivileged with the connectivity they desperately need to learn, work and live. It’s crucial that people feeling social media is harmful to their mental health are allowed to switch off and for those living in digital exclusion to be able to switch on primarily.
1. What do we learn about the actress Selena Gomez in the past four and a half years?| A．She has withdrawn from social media. |
| B．She has won Instagram’s most followers. |
| C．She has had worsening mental problems. |
| D．She has succeeded in a bid on the internet. |
| A．Most people think that digital exclusion promotes societal equality in the UK. |
| B．Most people can hardly abandon the web while avoiding hate and comparisons. |
| C．Most people can hardly get by without the internet due to growing digitization. |
| D．Most people have been seriously addicted to the web without being aware of it. |
| A．They are beneficial to people’s mental health. |
| B．They create a virtual community on the internet. |
| C．They help many people feel connected with others. |
| D．They provide a necessary device for a digital detox. |
| A．Subjective. | B．Objective. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Favorable. |
7 . Coming into the town of Santa Catarina Palopó, in the highlands of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, the first thing you notice is the bright colors. Most of the buildings along the main street are eye-catching, deep blues and greens, dotted with red and yellow to form diverse patterns and designs.
Santa Catarina Palopó was once a sleepy town of 5, 000 people, most of them dependent on agricultural work. But as agriculture began to dry up here, poverty came. To deal with poverty and promote econ on growth through tourism, a small but creative group of laborers, artisans, domestic workers and stay-at-home moms created the Pintando Santa Catarina Palopó project.
The project aimed to paint all 850 homes and buildings in bright colors to change the hillside town into a work of art. “We wanted to paint the houses with colors and figures that represent the community” says the project’s executive director Stephany Blanco. “Families can choose designs for their house that are representative of the family.”
One of the most representative characteristics of the region is the blue huipil, a traditional blouse which has been worn commonly by local women since the 16th century. That deep sky blue was chosen the primary color-for the Pintando project, with secondary colors found in the sunsets and the nearby lake to make the design more attractive. Inspiration was also found in local culture, symbols such as volcanoes, flowers, and the national bird of Guatemala.
Each week, local artists, community members and tourists pick up paintbrushes to make buildings colorful. “At first, the idea of the project was uncertain, but now you can see a considerable difference in the town,” Melissa Whitbeck said. “The color of the buildings is believed to improve the quality-of life of the people. It uplifts the people’s mood and encourages them to be proud of their hometown.”
1. Why was the Pintando Santa Catarina project started?| A．Because of a workforce shortage. | B．Due to the poor economic conditions. |
| C．Thanks to the increase in population. | D．For the old-fashioned farming ways. |
| A．Building family art galleries in Guatemala. | B．Creating job opportunities for local artists. |
| C．Developing local tourism by selling artworks. | D．Changing the town into a cultural destination. |
| A．The surrounding volcanoes. | B．Mayan-styled butterflies. |
| C．A type of traditional clothing. | D．The national bird of Guatemala. |
| A．Positive. | B．Reserved. | C．Concerned. | D．Negative. |
8 . Two very different movies were released on July 21 this summer in the West, bringing record numbers of people into cinemas as the “Barbenheimer (芭比海默)” trend took over social media.
Barbie and Oppenheimer have been huge hits around the world, with Barbie alone making over 1 billion US dollars just 17 days after release. This makes it Wamer Bros studio’s fastest movie to reach $1 billion and the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, the first-ever solo female filmmaker with a billion-dollar film.
Barbie and Oppenheimer are an interesting pair because of how different they are from one another. Barbie is about a famous toy coming to life and facing issues of sexism and finding her own identity. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer is a serious male-driven historical film about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. The release of these two huge, wildly different movies on the same day led to the creation of countless memes (表情包) under the Barbenheimer hashtag. Filmgoers have even gone to see both movies one right after the other, with some dressing up in pink for Barbie going on to see Oppenheimer as well.
Meanwhile, people have found some of the “Barbenheimer” memes disturbing. Atomic bombs killed many people and they think the memes made light of a very dark time in history. But the films have brought a healthy boost to cinema ticket sales around the world, helping an industry that has faced many challenges in recent years. The increasing popularity of streaming services and the COVID-19 pandemic have kept people out of cinemas. Now, the strikes from writers and actors over concerns of pay and about the use of artificial intelligence by film studios are also having an impact. Add to that a public tired of yearly big movies about superheroes and fast cars, as declining ticket sales suggest.
Described as a historic moment for the movie industry. “‘Barbenheimer’ will go down as one of the biggest and unexpected milestones in the history of cinema,” Paul Dergarabedian at Comscore told CNN.
1. What made Barbie a significant achievement for Wamer Bros?| A．Representing male-driven films. | B．Reaching $1 billion in record time. |
| C．Addressing issues about identity. | D．Greta Gerwig becoming the director. |
| A．They both feature female characters. | B．They were released on the same day. |
| C．They have opposite disturbing memes. | D．They explore completely different themes. |
| A．They have caused a decrease in streaming service. |
| B．They have stimulated cinema ticket sales globally. |
| C．They have motivated people to avoid the cinemas. |
| D．They have sparked controversy regarding sexism. |
| A．Increasing costs of film production. |
| B．Conflicts with social media platforms. |
| C．Filmgoers’ preference for superhero movies. |
| D．Disapproval from writers and actors over Al use. |
9 . Working for a big company in London on a salary (薪水)of over £100,000, you might expect Grayden Reece-Smith to have a luxurious (奢侈)lifestyle, going on expensive holidays or driving a sports car around south London, where he lives. In fact, the 28-year-old lives a very different existence from his colleagues. He gives away everything he earns over £42,000–a figure that he thought he could comfortably live on.
Over the past five years, Reece-Smith has handed over more than £250,000 to organizations such as International Care Ministries, which helps poor families in the Philippines, and the Against Malaria Foundation. He is part of a growing number of young professionals described as “effective altruists”. Effective altruists typically donate regularly to a charity which they think will have a great impact (影响). Some change careers to make more money, which can then be given away.
Reece-Smith considered working in the charity sector after graduating from university, but thought that he could make a bigger difference by donating a large part of his salary. He had volunteered as a teacher at a school in Tanzania, but then realized that earning and giving would be more effective. “The cost of my flights there could have paid the salaries of two teachers for an entire year,” he says. Instead, he could “stay at home, living a nice life and still make a huge difference in the world”.
He is not mean with money-last year he went to Cuba on holiday, and spent several thousand pounds on a new sofa. But his lifestyle isn’t as luxurious as some of the people he works with. “I usually don’t buy supermarket-branded food products, but I don’t own a car. Other people on my salary might have a bigger house. Some of my colleagues have four-bedroom houses, but we only bought what we needed-a two-bedroom flat.£42,000 is more than enough to live on and still save,” he says.
1. How much money does Grayden spend on donation every year?| A．Less than £42,000. | B．Over £100.000. |
| C．£50,000. | D．Any income over £42,000. |
| A．Donate to impactful charities. | B．Make more money to enjoy lives. |
| C．Create a good public image. | D．Enter a teaching profession. |
| A．To access his inner life. | B．To create a stronger effect. |
| C．To give away all of his salary. | D．To be a teacher at a school. |
| A．He leads an expensive lifestyle. | B．He buys food produced by supermarkets. |
| C．He lives in a four-bedroom house. | D．He balances his life and donation. |
10 . An Austrian company Tec-Innovation recently showed smart shoes that use ultrasonic sensors (超声波传感器) to help people suffering from vision impairment to discover obstacles(障碍) up to four meters away.
Known as InnoMake, the smart shoe aims to replace the decades-old walking stick that millions of people around the world depend on to get around as safely as possible. The currently available model relies on sensors to detect obstacles and warns the wearer through shaking and a loud alert sounded on a bluetooth-linked smartphone. That sounds impressive enough, but the company is already working on a much more advanced version that incorporates cameras and artificial intelligence to not only detect obstacles but also their nature.
“Not only is the warning that I am facing an obstacle relevant, but also the information about what kind of obstacle I am facing. Because it makes a big difference whether it’s a wall, a car or a staircase.” Markus Raffer, one of the founders of Tec-Innovation, told TechXplore.
”Ultrasonic sensors on the toe of the shoe detect obstacles up to four meters away. The wearer is then warned by vibration and/or acoustic signals. This works very well and is already a great help to me personally.” Raffer, himself visually impaired, added.
The current version of the InnoMake shoe is already available for purchase on the Tec-Innovation website, for €3,200 per pair.
The advanced system is integrated in the front of the shoes, in a waterproof and dustproof case. It is powered by a heavy-duty battery that can last for up to one week, depending on use. The battery can be charged in just three hours, using a USB cable.
The next step for Tec-Innovation is to use the data collected by its system to create a kind of street view navigation map for visually impaired people.
“As it currently stands, only the wearer benefits in each case from the data the shoe collects as he or she walks. It would be much more sustainable if this data could also be made available to other people as a navigation aid,” computer scientist Friedrich Fraundorfer explained.
1. Who are interested in the smart shoes?| A．The deaf people. | B．The injured people. |
| C．The blind or sight-impaired. | D．The sick people. |
| A．Combined. | B．Separated. | C．Benefited. | D．Allowed. |
| A．Why the smart shoes are developed. | B．What the smart shoes can do. |
| C．How the smart shoes work. | D．How the data are collected. |
| A．A science report. | B．A fashion magazine. |
| C．An educational column. | D．A news report. |
