1 . With the rapid development of science and technology, we don’t know how different our life will be in the future.
At first we think about human relationships. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will be making new friends through the Internet — even our husbands or wives will be met in this way.
Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050. For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.
We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn’t true.
Although we can’t predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children’s future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather confident about our future.
| A．However, we are convinced of the following |
| B．We should be happy and believe good things will happen |
| C．We will pay more attention to protecting the environment |
| D．We can only imagine it |
| E．Spending holidays will also be completely different |
| F．It will be much faster and easier for us |
| G．Our environment will be more polluted |
2 . Fitness Magazine recently ran an article titled “Five Reasons to Thank Your Workout Partner.” One reason was: “You’ll actually show up if you know someone is waiting for you at the gym, ” while another read: “
So, how do you find a workout partner?
First of all, decide what you want from that person.
You might think about posting what you are looking for on social media, but it probably won’t result in a useful response.
My partner posted her request on the notice board of a local park. Her notice included what kind of training she wanted to do, how many days a week and how many hours she wanted to spend on each session, and her age. It also listed her favorite sports and activities, and provided her phone number.
You and your partner will probably have different skills.
| A．Your first meeting may be a little awkward. |
| B．A workout partner usually needs to live close by. |
| C．You’ll work harder if you train with someone else. |
| D．Do you want to be a better athlete in your favorite sport? |
| E．How can you write a good “seeking training partner” notice? |
| F．Just accept your differences and learn to work with each other. |
| G．Any notice for a training partner should include such information. |
3 . My name is Sara. When I was little, I played the drums. I also had a guitar. In fourth grade, I started playing the trombone (长号). I practiced about four hours a week. All of this might not seem like a big deal for a lot of kids, but there’s something about me that makes me a bit different from others. I was born without hands. Since I was about one year old, I’ve worn prosthetics (假手).
This year, I got an invitation to join the high school marching band (行进管乐队). I told my mom I wanted to do it. But I had an instructor who thought I would not be able to march in the band—not because it was a high school band and I’m only in seventh grade, but probably because my body is different. All I wanted was to show that I could do it, so I joined the band. And it paid off!
Music gives me energy. That happens sometimes. One time I was so down, I didn’t even want to get out of bed. Then I hit my mp3 player by accident. A song came on, and I got up and started dancing. It helped me say to myself, “OK, I can get through today.”
Around my musician friends, we all share the same problems, like working out how many beats there are to a measure. I have a hard time counting the beats, but so do a lot of the other kids. It’s a normal problem that we musicians share. When I’m with the band, I don’t feel as different as I do in other situations. It’s just another way that music makes me want to go on, and not to just sit down by myself and not care about life.
1. In what way is Sara different from other kids?| A．There’s something wrong with her body. |
| B．She knows how to play many instruments. |
| C．She learned to play the drums at a very early age. |
| D．She kept playing the trombone for the longest hours. |
| A．said no at first | B．had no idea what to do |
| C．followed the instructor’s advice | D．believed that she would make it |
| A．Bored. | B．Relaxed. | C．Successful. | D．Afraid. |
| A．A high school band | B．A young drummer |
| C．The music of me | D．My magic hands |
4 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.
1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?| A．Her social work. | B．Her teaching skills. |
| C．Her efforts to win a prize. | D．Her community background. |
| A．Jane Addams. | B．Rachel Carson. |
| C．Sandra Day O’Connor. | D．Rosa Parks. |
| A．They receive higher education. | B．They are truly creative. |
| C．They make great achievements. | D．They are peace-lovers. |
5 . Imagine this scenario: In 2050, you find an envelope, inside which is an old CD marked with the date 1998, your great-grandfather's name, and the words "all overseas bank accounts".
If this were to happen, you would be very excited, at least at first. Your excitement would be quickly followed by frustration because it would be difficult for you to retrieve the information on the disk. Even if the record was still in good condition, it would be hard to find a device that could read it.
Computers and digital technology have vastly expanded our capacity to store all kinds of information, but how long will our access to this stored information last? This is a problem that began to worry technology experts. They became concerned that, without better ways of preserving information, future generations might look back on our times as the "digital dark ages". They may not have access to the digital record of our lives and our world.
Vint Cerf, a vice president at Google, argues that this could happen if we do not quickly take steps to address the issue. He uses the term "bit rot" to describe how our digital records may slowly but surely become inaccessible. Most softwares and apps that were used to create documents and websites ten or twenty years ago are already out of date, and in another fifty years they may not even be available. We can read letters from long ago, but will we be able to read a Twitter feed or access a Snapchat exchange a hundred years from now?
Computer scientist Mahadev Satyanarayanan of Carnegie Mellon University has found a way to store everything—all together in the Cloud. Using his state-of-the-art approach, Satyanarayanan has been able to recover and preserve digital records that might otherwise have been lost forever.
Both Cerf and Satyanarayanan stress the importance of deliberate preservation. Important records shall be transferred to new forms of storage technology as they appear. Otherwise, they may disappear into the digital dark ages.
1. What does the underlined word "this" refer to in the 2nd paragraph?| A．The find of a CD. | B．A travel to the future. |
| C．The recovery of bank accounts. | D．An encounter with your great-grandfather. |
| A．Post on Twitter. | B．Store via new technology. |
| C．Upload to the Cloud. | D．Record in traditional letters. |
| A．E-Waste: Dark Side of Digital Age | B．Are We Living in the Digital Dark Ages? |
| C．What Can the Digital Dark Ages Teach Us? | D．Google's Vint Cerf warns of Dark Technologies |
6 . My husband and I made an agreement to help each other stay off social media platforms as much as possible. We left our accounts up instead of deleting them, but consciously stopped using them.
Tired of being the last to hear of things, we downloaded a few news-specific apps that provide timely information.
Staying updated on our social circle has also been a more conscious effort. Previously I was kept up-to-the-minute on engagements, weddings, new jobs and babies through updates and pictures.
Without social media, I now learn of these important events only when actually meeting the people involved.
I still log in occasionally.
| A．Overall, I'm glad to have made the change. |
| B．I bought myself a diary again after many years. |
| C．We have made a few adjustments in our daily life. |
| D．This has also widened the range of news I keep up with. |
| E．I do miss the convenience of using social media to record and reflect. |
| F．However, social media now plays a much less important role in my life. |
| G．I didn't realize how programmed I had become to constantly use the app. |
7 . Long Beach, a 28-mile area of beach, lies in southwestern Washington, and is generally called Long Beach Peninsula. Communities there take you back to old days of a simple life. Here, visitors can relax and enjoy the good of a total rest.
Bird watchingThere are different kinds of birds on Long Beach. It’s best if you watch them from a distance and don’t try to frighten them. The Southwest Loop Route Map can be got through the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Office by calling l-800-451-2542.
HorsesA popular activity on Long Beach is horseback riding. Two businesses in the city of Long Beach offer guided horseback tours along the beach: Black Country Wilderness Outfitters and Skipper’s Equestrian Center. You may also bring your own horse. Among the adventures offered with horses is a wagon ride along the beach, a carriage ride through Sea view or Long Beach, a back country pack trip, or a sunset ride by horseback on the beach.
CampingRV and tent camping aren’t allowed on the beach. Camp fires are allowed within 100 feet off the beach, but must be away from the dry grass.
Swimming and other activitiesSwimming is allowed, but you must be careful. The waters are very cold and dangerous. Surfing is advised only for experienced surfers. Beach driving is allowed at certain areas on the beach. The speed limit is 25 mph. Building sand castles, digging sand to find something, riding bicycles and flying kites are also popular activities in the area.
Enjoy your trip to Long Beach, Washington!
1. What can we learn about Long Beach from the passage?| A．Its people live a simple life. | B．It is a world-famous tourist attraction. |
| C．It lies in southeastern Washington. | D．It is 28 kilometers long. |
| A．Tent camping. | B．Driving at the speed of 30 mph along the beach. |
| C．Digging sand to find something. | D．Setting camp fires far away from the beach. |
| A．a research paper | B．a travel guide | C．a news report | D．an instruction(说明书) |
8 . At the foot of the Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang, a homestay (民宿) is attracting travelers from far and wide, which has won architectural medal at the 2021 German iF Design Awards.
The owners of the homestay are a couple in their late 30s who decided to return to their hometown three years ago. Li Xiumei used to be in charge of a division at a company in Hangzhou, and her husband was a sales director. It was an ordinary situation where Li’s husband was on business trips a lot and Li still worked on weekends. City life sometimes is not easy.
In 2018, they quit jobs and went back to Dongtianmu village, which lies in a forest of bamboo. The first time they drove into the village was one late afternoon. The cooking smoke was rising from the foot of the mountain, which gave them a very different feeling from the city.
The homestay was built beside her husband’s old countryside house. The old house is preserved (保留), while a brand-new building was built on its side and the whole site is made up of four courtyards. It has been updated to have a hall, a tea room, a kitchen, a dining room. Japanese cherry trees are planted in the east courtyard. A swimming pool is placed in the west courtyard, with a bar located on one side.
Li and her husband love gardening and music, and their new home gives them enough space to continue their interests and relax in the heart of nature. Li wants to share the quiet country life, so she makes her new home a homestay. In 2019, the homestay became an online hit after guests shared their experiences on social media. “The longer I stay here, the more I feel it was the right choice to come back, and this is more meaningful than making money,” Li says.
1. How did Li feel about city life?| A．Satisfied. | B．Noisy. | C．Attractive. | D．Tired |
| A．The forest of bamboo. | B．The smoke of cooking. |
| C．The fresh air in the village. | D．The feeling of loneliness. |
| A．It is ancient and broken. | B．It can hold many guests. |
| C．It must have been carefully designed. | D．It has been rebuilt by the couple. |
| A．Continuing their music dream. | B．Living in the countryside. |
| C．Staying at the old house. | D．Developing a city. |
9 . Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new material that can move heat out of buildings and into space.The researchers say the material can cool buildings even on hot days.The cooling material is a very thin sheet with many layers that could be placed on a roof like solar panels(板)．However，instead of turning sunlight into energy as solar panels do，the material turns heat into radiation.
Shanhui Fan is an electrical engineering professor at Stanford University.He says that the panels have a layer of material that is like sand.The panels act like a mirror.They take heat out of buildings and reflect the light from the sun.And he says both the heat and sunlight are sent 100 kilometers into outer space.“It’s a structure that cools itself without electricity input，even under the sun.So，what it does is basically radiate heat to outer space and also reflect the sunlight so it doesn’t get heated up by the sun.Mr Fan says it is like having a window into space.The heat is sent directly into space without warming the air.”
He says buildings in developing countries that do not have electricity or air conditioning could use the panels.“In areas where electricity is out of reach for many people，there is a potential benefit for storing medicine or even food.In many of these situations，being able to reduce the temperature is important.And this would provide a way to do it.”
The researchers say the main problem is creating actual cooling systems using the hightech panels.They say it may be possible to develop a cooling spray(喷涂)that could be used on present solid structures.They believe the cooling spray technology could be developed in the next three to five years.They say as much as 15 percent of the energy used in the United States is spent providing power to air conditioning systems.
1. The first paragraph mainly tells us .| A．a new material is created to cool the buildings |
| B．living on hot days is no longer a big problem now |
| C．researchers are developing new solar panels on roofs |
| D．the new material is a very thin sheet with many layers |
| A．It takes in the heat and cools it down. |
| B．It uses a mirror to reflect the sunlight. |
| C．It sends heat away right into space. |
| D．It has a window to let out the heat. |
| A．suffer high temperature |
| B．have poor air conditioning |
| C．have plenty of food |
| D．are short of power |
| A．Some people got benefits from producing the panels. |
| B．The appliance of the new panel is still under research. |
| C．People may have problems in using the new material. |
| D．The new panels may save 15 percent of the energy. |
10 . Famous American poet Robert Frost once said, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation”. But Xu Yuanchong, a well-known Chinese translator, has tried to convey the beauty of ancient Chinese poetry throughout his life. His teacher Qian Zhongshu commented on his poetry translation, “You are dancing while chained by rhyme (押韵) and thythm, but the dance shows amazing freedom and beauty, which is quite impressive.”
Since 1978, Xu has published more than 100 translated works in Chinese, English and French, reaching millions of readers at home and abroad. Most notably, he translated Chinese poems into rhymed verses in both English and French. He is also the first Asian winner of the Aurora Borealis Prize for Outstanding Translation of Fiction Literature.
Xu is known to be very fastidious (一丝不苟的) in his work. For him, English is a “scientific” language that needs exactness while Chinese is an “artistic” language that includes a wider range of content. Following this principle, Xu not only keeps faithfulness in sense but beauty in sensibility in his translation.
Through Xu's translations, time-honored Chinese wisdom has made an impact on Western societies and the world. For example, when former US president Barack Obama tried to begin a healthcare project during his presidency, some senators disagreed at first. But after reading the poem titled Fishing in Snow translated by Xu, one senator was so impressed with the fisherman's independent thinking that he chose to part with the party line to support Obama.
Having made such great achievements, the 100-year-old maintains a routine (常规). Every day he translates about 1, 000 words, working till 3 to 4 am, sleeping about 3 hours and getting up at 6 am to continue. “Translation is a means of communicating with the writer's soul. A sudden flicker of a good word or a good line thrills every pore and every inch of my skin,” Xu told News China.
1. What does the text tell us about Xu Yuanchong?| A．He has mastered at least three foreign languages |
| B．He is the first winner of the Aurora Borealis Prize |
| C．He is widely known for his translated rhymed verses |
| D．He has translated about 100 Chinese works into English |
| A．illustrate Xu's translation skills | B．recommend Xu's translation works |
| C．stress the charm of Chinese poetry | D．prove the wisdom of the ancient Chinese |
| A．Thoughtful and modest | B．Generous and productive |
| C．Creative and open - minded | D．Devoted and hard - working |
