1 . One year, a college in the United States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold (金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.
One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It was an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it, but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root (根) in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year; the field was covered by pure white marigold.
Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.
The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her eight children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics (遗传学) couldn’t complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.
Still, the old woman didn’t change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest (最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose...Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman’s husband died, her children flew far, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.
Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.
A problem even experts couldn’t deal with was solved by an old woman who didn’t understand genetics. Was it a miracle (奇迹)?
To take root in the heart, even the most common seed can grow into a miracle!
1. According to the passage,________ marigold is unusual.| A．white | B．purple |
| C．brown | D．golden |
| A．the children didn’t agree on their mother’s decision |
| B．the woman needed the great reward for her big family |
| C．the experts also succeeded in growing the white marigold |
| D．the woman took good care of the flowers instead of her family |
| A．was luckier than experts |
| B．put her heart into flowers |
| C．got support from her family |
| D．studied the seed genetics well |
| A．the difficulties of getting the white marigold |
| B．the possibility of going beyond experts |
| C．the unforgettable development of marigolds |
| D．the importance of holding on to dreams |
2 . When you think about people who have made the world a better place, you probably think of famous scientists or great leaders. That is not all the truth.
●Give away your money.
●Help a stranger. Your small actions can brighten the day of others. Hold the door for someone whose hands are full. Help the blind cross the street.
●Care about those you know. Show the people close to you how much you care about them. Tell them they mean a lot to you. Make a beautiful gift for a friend. Take your husband to his favourite fun place if he has had a hard week.
●Be grateful to others. Have you had good service in a restaurant? Thank the waiter. Do you have a very good neighbour who is always there when you need her? Tell her how much you appreciate her being in your life.
●
| A．Keep walking forward. |
| B．Share your knowledge. |
| C．Small steps, not big ones. |
| D．Give your seat on the bus to an old man. |
| E．Tell your children how much they mean to you. |
| F．Ordinary people like you and me can also help a lot. |
| G．Choose a charity (慈善机构) that has meaning for you. |
3 . How important has Internet become in our lives? The Pew Research Center conducted a survey to celebrate the Web’s 25th birthday. The researchers were greatly heartened by what they found.
“In 2006, only 14 percent of American adults used Internet. Today, it’s 87 percent,” said Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project. “It is what has impressed us the most.”
The survey also showed that 70 percent of the Internet users have been treated kindly or generously online, while 25 percent of respondents said they have been treated unkindly. More than half—56 percent—of users said they’ve seen an online community come together to help someone solve a problem. 25 percent said they’ve left an online group because members were too unpleasant.
When Pew asked questions about whether being online has enriched people’s relationships—or not—the results were very positive: 67 percent of Internet users said their online communication with family and friends has generally strengthened those relationships. Only 18 percent said it has generally weakened those relationships.
According to the survey, 53 percent of Internet users said Internet has become the hardest tech tool to give up. It is 15 percent higher than the result of a similar survey conducted in 2006. In fact, more people said they would have a harder time stopping using Internet than giving up TV. (These days, so much great television streams across the Internet that it makes sense.)
“In our survey, we have found that the Web makes a few people very unhappy. There’s strong evidence pointing to the fact that Internet users tend to compare their daily lives with the ‘highlight moments’ of their friends’ lives,” said Lee Rainie. “It’s really silly.”
1. Which is the most impressive result of the latest survey?| A．Users’ dependence on Internet. | B．The fast growth of Internet users. |
| C．The kindness of online communities. | D．The strengthened family relationships. |
| A．15%. | B．38%. | C．53%. | D．68%. |
| A．Online depression cannot be avoided. | B．Don’t show off in online communities. |
| C．Don’t make unnecessary comparison. | D．Copy your friends’ wonderful lifestyles. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Doubtful. |
4 . Air Travel Guidelines for Children
We’re here to help you prepare to fly with your children. Here’s how it works.
Booking a child’s ticket
You’ll need to buy a separate ticket if:
· You book an international flight.
· Your child is 2 years old or older at takeoff.
· Your child is a baby sitting in his or her own seat.
In some cases, children can fly for free. If everything below is true, you won’t need to buy your child a separate ticket:
· You book a domestic(国内) flight.
· Your child is a baby(less than 2 years old), at takeoff.
· Your baby sits on the legs of a traveler over the age of 12.
· No more than 1 baby is seated on the legs of a traveler.
Now for the rules, each traveler over the age of 12 may accompany(陪伴) up to 2 babies, each seated in their own seat.
Documents a child will need
The airlines determine what documents you’ll need to travel. In short, if you’re flying domestically, each child might need a photo ID. If you’re flying intemationally, each child will need a passport. Additionally, children under 18 traveling to Mexico need to provide proved documentation and letters of permission. For more information, please visit the US Embassy(大使馆) website.
Unaccompanied children on flights
· Some airlines may charge a fee for unaccompanied child service.
· Children under 5 and over 17 might be unfit for unaccompanied child service.
· Both the adult dropping the child off at the airport and the adult picking the child up are required to show identification.
Contact your airline to ask about more information.
1. Under which condition do you have to buy a ticket for your baby girl?| A．She sits on your legs. | B．She needs a domestic flight. |
| C．She requires a separate seat. | D．She is under the age of 2 at takeoff. |
| A．A photo ID. | B．A passport. |
| C．Proved documentation. | D．A letter of permission. |
| A．A 4-year-old boy. | B．A 10-year-old boy. |
| C．An 18-year-old boy. | D．A 19-year-old boy. |
5 . 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. |
| A．€15.75. | B．€19.50. | C．€22.75. | D．€29.50. |
| A．The Gooyer, Windmill. | B．The Skinny Bridge. |
| C．Heineken Brewery. | D．Dam Square. |
6 . Teaching is a difficult job. The ultimate reward is knowing that you have the opportunity to have an impact on a young person’s life. However, not every student is created equal. The truth is that there are students who own certain characteristics that make them good pupils.
They ask questions
Most teachers want students to ask questions when they do not understand. It is truly the only way a teacher knows whether you really understand something.
They are involved
Being involved in extra-curricular activities can help a student gain confidence, which can improve academic success. Most good students get involved in some activity whether it is athletics, or student council.
They seize opportunities.
Teachers will tell you that classes full of students who follow the rules have more chances of maximizing their learning potential. Students who are well behaved are likely to learn more than their counterparts who are trouble makers. Teachers will try to move mountains for students who are polite, respectful and follow the rules.
| A．They are perfect leaders. |
| B．They are solid citizens. |
| C．It is true that every student must attend school for some period of time. |
| D．If no questions are asked, then the teacher has to think that you have understood the concept. |
| E．Chances are that if you have that question, there are other students who have that same question. |
| F．These activities provide so many leaning opportunities that a traditional classroom simply can’t. |
| G．Whole classes have their own unique personalities and often those classes with good leaders are good students. |
7 . Scientists in Switzerland have used lasers (激光) to change the path of a lightning strike. The experiment was carried out on Santis mountain in Switzerland, near a radio and TV tower hit by lightning about 100 times a year. Using a special laser, the researchers were able to guide the lightning strike.
Scientists have been trying to find a way to protect buildings from lightning for a long time. At present, the best way to protect buildings from lightning is by putting metal rods (杆) on the buildings. These rods are connected to the ground. The lightning is attracted to the rods, which safely guide the electricity into the ground. But lightning rods can only protect a small area. If a building is very large, it needs a lot of lightning rods. But some buildings-such as airports-are so large that it’s difficult to protect the whole building using lightning rods.
Another idea is to use lasers to guide lightning. The idea of using lasers to guide lightning isn’1new. Scientists have been working on the idea for over 20 years. They’ve successfully guided lightning with lasers inside a laboratory. But until 2021, scientists guided lightning with lasers outside. Using a powerful laser that can fire about 1, 000 times a second, scientists in Switzerland were able to guide lightning bolts for 164 feet (50 meters).
The heat from the laser creates a path of air that is less thick than the air around it. The path also has a special charge. The lightning can follow this path almost as if it were a lightning rod. In the past, experiments with lasers that fired more slowly didn’t work.
Managing to guide the lightning in an outdoor environment is a very big step. But despite the progress, the laser still isn’t a good choice when it comes to protecting large buildings.
1. To stop a building from being stricken by lightning, it is best to .| A．equip it with metal rods | B．position it away from airports |
| C．build it on low-lying open ground | D．keep it away from any kind of metal |
| A．Its color. | B．Its brightness. | C．Its speed. | D．Its concentration. |
| A．How the laser should be improved to protect large buildings. |
| B．When the laser will be widely used to protect large buildings. |
| C．Why it is unnecessary to use the laser to protect large buildings. |
| D．What prevents the laser from being used to protect large buildings. |
| A．Scientists Find a New Use of the Laser |
| B．Scientists Guide Lightning with the Laser |
| C．A New Idea Has Been Tested to Guide Lightning |
| D．A New Way to Protect Buildings Has Been Found |
8 . Genetic information is important because it stores, processes and transmits biological data from generation to generation. Some scientists even assume that knowing genetic information itself matters.
For example, in quantum mechanics (量子力学), there is a popular theory known as the “observer effect”, which states that the act of observing a phenomenon (usually by making some kind of measurement) necessarily changes that phenomenon. In other words, just by being there and having an interest in the outcome, we affect that outcome.
While the explanations behind the observer’s influence in quantum mechanics come down to the measuring instrument and not the observer’s conscious mind, we also see strong evidence for the “placebo effect” in medicine: a patient’s condition can improve if they just believe they are receiving an effective treatment. And those beneficial effects can happen even if the patient is not actually receiving that treatment or if the treatment doesn’t actually work.
If our minds truly do have power over our surroundings and our bodies, what does having the genetic information do to us? Does simply knowing more about our own physiology (生理机能) change it? A recent study on exercise and obesity suggests that the answer is yes.
Those who were told they were at low genetic risk for obesity produced 2.5 times more of the fullness hormone and claimed to feel fuller despite eating the same meal as they had one week prior. Those who were told they had lower endurance because of their genes did worse on their physical test than they had before receiving that information: they showed lower lung capacity and quit sooner.
Thus, having information about our genetic risk can lead to improvements in our physiology (as was true for the eaters of the study), but it can also put us at a disadvantage (as with the poor exercise performers). So we certainly need to be cautious of incorrect genetic information. But as the Stanford study shows, even if the genetic information we receive is correct, how we receive it is also important.
1. How does the “placebo effect” in medicine work?| A．The patient recovers with the timely treatment. |
| B．The patient’s condition worsens due to a lack of treatment. |
| C．The patient’s condition remains unchanged despite their belief. |
| D．The patient’s condition improves with the belief in the treatment. |
| A．They showed lower lung capacity. |
| B．They quit their physical test sooner. |
| C．They needed more food to satisfy their appetite. |
| D．They felt fuller with more fullness hormone released. |
| A．Positive. | B．Objective. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Negative. |
| A．The great power of the observer’s mind. |
| B．The influence of knowing genetic information. |
| C．The amazing application of genetic information. |
| D．The connection between Quantum Mechanics and Medicine. |
9 . In recent years, cotton bags have risen to popularity as an eco-friendly alternative to single-use bags. Many supermarkets have made the change.
As a study by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark shows, a cotton bag needs to be used 20,000 times to offset (抵消) its overall impact of production on the environment.
According to the Circular Laboratory, it requires between 10,000 and 20,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cotton. And only 15 percent of the 30 million tons of cotton produced every year actually makes its way to textile (纺织品) warehouses. Even when a cotton bag does make it to a treatment plant, most logos printed on them are not recyclable.
That’s not to say cotton is worse than plastic. They both have disadvantages.
Buffy Reid, of the British knitwear label & Daughter, stopped production of her cotton bags in April 2021.
| A．Cotton has dried up rivers for water use. |
| B．Some companies are turning to other textile solutions. |
| C．They’re extremely difficult to break down chemically. |
| D．We are hardly aware of the overuse of plastic in packaging. |
| E．That is equal to daily use for 54 years for just one cotton bag. |
| F．However, the production process requires using much more water. |
| G．But the increase in the use of cotton bags may have created a new problem. |
10 . The idea of low material desire, low consumption and refusing to work, marry and have children, concluded as a “lying down” lifestyle, recently struck a chord with many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly-competitive society.
Many millennials (千禧一代) and generation Zs complained to the Global Times that burdens, including work stress, family disputes and financial strains, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution(内卷),” joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get trapped in an endless competition against peers.
“Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary lying down as catharsis (宣泄) and adjustment,” said a scholar. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”
Interestingly, the majority of millennials and Gen Zs reached by the Global Times, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, acknowledged that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel guilty about their constant loss of morale (士气) far beyond their reach.
“Young people on campus have both aspirations and confusion about their future, but most of us have rejected setting ourselves up in chains to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”
1. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Warned. | B．Punished. | C．Amused. | D．Touched. |
| A．Improvements in living conditions. |
| B．Growing pressure from family and social life. |
| C．Increasing material possessions from families. |
| D．Temporary adjustment to failure in competitions. |
| A．Understanding. | B．Intolerant. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．They never really drop their responsibilities. |
| B．They really enjoy the “lying down” lifestyle. |
| C．They find their dreams far beyond their reach. |
| D．They would rather escape than take challenges. |
