1 . To American ears, hearing the words “Black Grace” used together makes them feel a kind of quiet strength in times of hardship or perhaps a positive cultural stereotype (刻板印象). To choreographer Neil Ieremia, the words represent the joining of two ideas born from personal and cultural conflict.

In New Zealand, where Ieremia grew up in what he describes as “a fairly tough town” northeast of Wellington, black was used to describe brave, daring behavior. In Ieremia’s youth, brave people were called “black”, linking them to the neighborhood’ s heroes, New Zealand’ s great All Blacks, the national rugby (橄榄球) team.

Ieremia was born in New Zealand to Samoan immigrants who arrived in the country during the 1960s. Illnesses kept him from actively participating in the country’s widespread sports culture. This was difficult for a Pacific Island boy living in a neighborhood where boys were expected to be sporty and tough. In this world, he developed a passion for music.

At the age of 19, Ieremia decided to attend dance school. At his first ballet class, the instructor told him he lacked grace. Ieremia wasn’t discouraged. When he started his own dance company in 1995, he looked to his own experiences for a name that would also reflect his ambitions for dance grace and storytelling. Thus Black Grace was born. Since then, he has changed the face of modern dance in New Zealand and turned Black Grace into one of the most recognizable and successful cultural brands.

In the early years of Black Grace, Ieremia struggled with the conflict between Samoan and New Zealand cultures. Questions of how and where one belongs were at the forefront of his work. Ieremia draws inspiration from his Samoan and New Zealand roots to create innovative dance works that reach across social, cultural and generational barriers. The work itself is highly physical, rich in the storytelling traditions of the South Pacific, and expressed with unique beauty and power.

1. What is Neil Ieremia’s occupation?

A．a sports figure

B．a dancer

C．a psychologist

D．a great writer

2. What does “Black Grace” mean to Neil Ieremia?

A．Stay calm and positive when facing difficulties

B．The quality of being courageous and elegant

C．A kind of stereotype from cultural conflict

D．The expectation of being sporty and tough

3. According to the passage, what can we learn about Ieremia?

A．Ieremia immigrated from New Zealand to Samoan.

B．Ieremia played a key role in mainstream sports culture.

C．Ieremia had a talent for dance at an early age.

D．Ieremia made Black Grace become a successful cultural brand.

4. The best title for the message might be________.

A．Bridging cultures through dance	B．A conflict between two cultures
C．Breaking cultural stereotype	D．Neil Iremia—a successful choreographer

2 . Why do we talk the way we do? It might date back to when our ancestors left the jungle for the open plain. Between 5.3 million and 16 million years ago, Africa’s landscapes changed from thick, leafy forests to wide-open grasslands. This environmental change pushed our ancestors out of the trees and onto the ground. Along with all of the physical and behavioral changes this may have caused, researchers also believe it may have changed the way we speak.

“Open landscapes provide us with fewer objects to affect signal communication, meaning our voices can travel further compared with that in thick forests,” Charlotte Gannon, a researcher who studies language development, told Newsweek. “The move to these open spaces may have increased the effectiveness of our communication.”

By comparing the vocal calls of the orangutan (大猩猩) , Gannon and her team were able to establish how different calls could travel across different landscapes. In their study, the team played 487 calls from orangutans and measured their audibility (可听度) at set length over an overall distance of over 1,300 feet in the South African plain.

“Our results were surprising,” Gannon said, “The rule of sound spread suggests that lower-frequency (低频率) sounds (the grumphs) would have traveled further than higher-frequency sounds (the kiss squeaks). Our results actually found the opposite to this.” In these environmental settings, consonant (辅音)-like calls traveled a lot further than vowel (元音) -like calls. Actually, around 80 percent of consonant-based calls were audible at 1,300 feet, compared to only 20 percent of vowel-based calls.

Gannon said these results highlight the importance of studying living orangutan to learn about our species’ history. “We can view them as time machines that allow us to recreate key moments of our history so we can learn more about the development of our language,” Gannon said. “Despite their popularity in modern languages, consonants have often been forgotten when discussing speech development. Our research highlights not only their presence in ancient times but their importance to the development of language.”

1. What led to the speech development?

A．Behavioral change.	B．Time development.
C．Physical development.	D．Environmental change.

2. What makes communication happening 10 million years ago more effective?

A．Less block.

B．Better tools.

C．Louder voice.

D．Larger vocabulary.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The results of the study.

B．The process of the research.

C．The purpose of the program.

D．The participants of the project.

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．The living orangutan can recreate our language.

B．Consonants are significant in language development.

C．The sound of grumphs travels further than that of kiss squeaks.

D．Consonant-like calls travel four times further than vowel-like calls.

3 . Njobati, a young woman from Cameroon, faced a challenging journey when she moved from her English-speaking area to a French-speaking area of the country to attend university. The sharp differences between these areas, once part of the British and French empires, made it difficult for her to fit in, which led her to examine her own identity—who she truly was.

Seeking guidance, she turned to her grandfather who also felt disconnected from his own culture. He expressed sadness about what the Nso had lost both culturally and materially, including Ngonnso statue. Ngonnso was the founder of Nso dating back to the 14th Century, whose statue was an important cultural symbol for the Nso. However, it was taken by the Germans in 1902 and has been housed in Berlin’s Ethnological Museum ever since.

Inspired by her grandfather’s desire and saddened by the loss of culture, Njobati made a promise to bring back the statue. She believed it would not only achieve her grandfather’s wish but connect her with her Nso heritage again.

Njobati did many researches about the statue and former unsuccessful attempts. She realized that restitution (归还) was actually about facing the colonial ( 殖民主义的) past. Njobati decided to try differently. To gather support online and offline, Njobati began a grassroots campaign. She organized meetings in community halls and churches, met people one-on-one, and used the power of social media.Through Twitter, she established contact with the Ethnological Museum.

Njobati’s tireless efforts paid off. She was told that a decision about Ngonnso statue was coming, which was an important moment for her.

“Finally, this is happening. Not just for me, but for the Nso people, and for Cameroon,” She cried. “This also lends a hand to other communities that are seeking justice for stolen culture relics.”

1. What made Njobati decide to bring back the Ngonnso statue?

A．Her interest in colonial history.

B．Her grandfather’s identity problem.

C．Her desire to reconnect with Nso culture.

D．Her experience in attending university.

2. What did Njobati do to gain support for her campaign?

A．She did wide and complete researches.

B．She turned to her grandfather for guidance.

C．She contacted the Ethnological Museum directly.

D．She organized meetings and using social media.

3. What does “this” refer to in the last paragraph?

A．The fight for the statue.	B．The promise she made.
C．The grassroots campaign.	D．The return of the statue.

4. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．A fight against colonialism.	B．A cultural fighter.
C．A promise for grandpa.	D．A stolen cultural symbol.

4 . About Byron

Whether you’re in Byron for fun or work, there are plenty of things to do to fill your spare time.

Byron, Georgia makes travel sweeter with its slower pace and breathtaking attractions. It’s full of historic sites, museums, shopping malls, and more. In this city at the center of Georgia’s peach industry, you can take a vacation that leaves you rested, not annoyed.

Events

Georgia Peach Festival-June

Fall Market Days-September

Georgia National Fair-October

Byron Christmas Parade-December

Local attractions

Byron Welcome Center

Located in the Peach Shops, the Byron Welcome Center is your first stop in our area. The Byron Welcome Center is ready to help you make the most of your stay in Byron, Georgia.

North Peach Park

North Peach Park is the place for traditional festivals, movies in the park, and many other events. The park has picnic shelters, playgrounds, football fields and soccer fields all year round. North Peach Park also has an indoor, climate-controlled multi-purpose room.

The Big Peach Shopping Mall

One of Georgia’s major shopping malls, and Central Georgia’s biggest and best variety of goods, the Big Peach has something for everyone! Open seven days a week and located directly off I-75, the Big Peach is Central Georgia’s favorite shopping destination.

Party Playground Indoor Fun Center

Let the kids work out some energy with an hour or two at the Party Playground Indoor Fun Center. This room full of safe and soft play equipment will let your little ones run, jump and play, rain or shine. It’s also a great place to have a birthday party.

Contact us

For more information, contact us at (478) 956-2409

Email: byronwelcomecenter@gmail.com

1. When is the best time to enjoy delicious peach in Byron?

A．June.

B．September.

C．October.

D．December.

2. Which attraction best suits people with children?

A．North Peach Park.

B．Byron Welcome Center.

C．The Big Peach Shopping Mall.

D．Party Playground Indoor Fun Center.

3. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A course plan.

B．A travel brochure.

C．A journal.

D．An encyclopedia.

5 . Thousands of books are published daily, and book advertisements play a crucial role in increasing awareness about those books. But it’s too easy to be tricked into bad “advertising opportunities” and make the wrong decisions. Here are several forms of digital advertising proven to work well.

Facebook advertising: Facebook provides the perfect advertising platform for authors because it allows targeting very specific categories of people. The other advantage is that it’s easy to test. You can start with a budget as low as $5 and gradually increase your monetary (货币的) commitment if your return on investment is positive.

Amazon advertising: Amazon allows you to show ads about your book directly on other book pages and search result pages. Since their main US rollout in 2017, they’ve become the most effective advertising place for authors.

Bookbub advertising: Bookbub rolled out a self-serve ad platform in 2016, which they’ve greatly improved since. It’s a less competitive playing field than Facebook or Amazon, but it does have its features.

Discount/promotion advertising: If you’re running a discount or free promotion on one of your books, you can apply to have it advertised in the newsletters of platforms such as Freebooksy, Bargainbooksy, etc.

Other types of advertising include search advertising, Goodreads advertising, banner ads on websites, etc. These haven’t produced the same effective results for most authors yet, but they could be just as effective (or more) if you write in a certain field.

1. What is special about the Facebook advertising?

A．It is easy for authors to access.

B．It aims at saving money for readers.

C．It allows adjusting investment by profit.

D．It includes different categories of information.

2. Which is suitable to promote your book with a discount?

A．Facebook.

B．Amazon.

C．Bookbub.

D．Freebooksy.

3. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To get readers to buy more books.

B．To raise people’s reading awareness.

C．To offer authors advertising platforms.

D．To help publishers communicate with readers.

6 . A new study, led by Dr. Rebecca Stone, has shown that children as young as four years old eat 79% more calories when they are bored, compared to when they are in a normal mood (情绪) .

The researchers have explored the behaviors that make children more likely to eat when they experience negative emotions. Often when children experience bad emotions such as boredom or sadness, caring adults will use food to soothe them. However, this behavior, known as emotional feeding, appears to increase the possibility of children eating more when they are in low spirits. As time passes, too many calories intake will have a significant effect on children’s health both mentally and physically.

Dr. Stone stresses that the experience of boredom is important in the development of children’s sense of self and creativity, so she does not recommend that children should avoid being bored. Instead, she suggests children learn to experience boredom without turning to food. She also suggests that parents turn their children’s attention away from food when they feel bored, or restructure the home food environment to make it less likely that children turn to food in response to being bored.

While there do appear to be individual differences between children in terms of their eating when bored, it is helpful to know that the feeding practices that adults use around food might shape the likelihood of this happening. Although it is attractive to use food as a tool to help children, emotional feeding might lead to greater emotional eating in the future. It is important for parents and caregivers to be aware that this short-term fix could create future problems.

It is hoped that, on the original basis of the study, the team will deeply explore other negative mood states in children and offer advice and support for families to find more effective ways to manage challenges around children eating behavior.

1. What does the research focus on?

A．How children form good living habits.	B．How children face challenges in life.
C．How boredom impacts on children eating.	D．How parents bring up their children.

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

A．Ignore.

B．Comfort.

C．Excuse.

D．Control.

3. What can we know about emotional feeding?

A．It makes children lose weight quickly.

B．It creates a new home food environment.

C．It cannot keep children trusting their parents.

D．It may not help handle bad moods in the long run.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Expectations for further studies.

B．The importance of going on a diet.

C．The necessity of managing moods.

D．Ways to strengthen family relationship.

7 . Books are the most valuable cultural heritage. However, there are many ancient Chinese classics suffering from different degrees of damage due to various reasons.     1    

Bai Yuzhi,a post-90s restorer (修复师) at the Wuhan Library,graduated from Wuhan University in 2016 with a major in restoring ancient books. She is now the fourth generation of restorers at the Wuhan Library, Bai started practicing this technique during her after-class activities at college in 2014.     2     “I’m shy and not good at socializing, so this job suits me very well,” she said

    3     The restoration steps cannot be rushed. When restorers receive an ancient book, their first task is not to directly restore it but to observe it and record the book’s important details. After that, the restorers will open the book,remove every page, and repair it on the back side.     4     It may take one or two days to restore a single page. So it could take at least a month to complete the restoration of a whole book.

Bai has restored about 10,000 pages of ancient books in her over 10 years of work. The most difficult part of the restoration, according to her, is keeping everything under exact control over every stage.     5     If the paste (面糊) is too thin, the repaired pages may easily come off and become broken, which could affect the quality of the restoration. However, if the paste is too thick, the fixed pages will be tough, challenging to open.

With the advancement of science and digital technology, the methods for protecting ancient books have become more various.

A．The task of restoration is demanding.

B．Sometimes the book is badly damaged.

C．Bai works in reader service for ancient books.

D．This led to a new field—restoring ancient books.

E．She officially became a restorer in February 2019.

F．Recording the content of a book demands a restorer’s patience.

G．She gave an example of the challenges in preparing a suitable paste.

8 . Mental health is a critical aspect of overall well-being, yet it is often ignored in our fast- paced society.     1     A well-cared and healthy mind leads to improved emotions, better relationships, and a more positive outlook on life.

    2     When we are stressed or upset, it is our mind’s way of reacting to negative stimuli(刺激). Good mental health allows us to cope with these emotions in a positive manner. In addition, when our minds are not clouded by negative thoughts or emotions it is easier to think clearly.     3    

Studies have shown that a person with good mental health lives longer and has a higher quality of life. The effects of positive mental health on the body are plenty, including reducing the risk of diseases and improving overall physical well-being.

Our mental state has a significant impact on relationships. People with good mental health are more likely to be kind and understanding.     4     This may further guarantee them with a stable emotional condition.

Mental health is as essential as physical health in maintaining a fulfilling life. If we run into trouble, don’t keep it to yourself.     5     With the right support, we can all enjoy the benefits of a healthy mind.

A．Turn to friends or families.

B．They strongly connect with others.

C．Physical health has been a problem.

D．So ways to keep positive must be found.

E．And a clear mind can help make smart choices.

F．The mind actually needs as much care as the body.

G．Mental health is vital for keeping emotional balance.

9 . While screen time is known to affect sleep, new research suggests that interactive (互动的) activities, such as texting friends or playing video games, put off and reduce the time spent asleep to a greater degree than passive (被动的) screen time like watching television, especially for teens.

The team studied the daytime screen-based activities of 475 teenagers using daily surveys. They asked the teens how many hours they had spent that day communicating with friends through social media and how many hours they spent playing video games, surfing the internet and watching television or videos. Finally, the researchers asked if they had joined in any of these activities in the hour before bed.

Next, the team measured their sleep time for one week. The researchers found that the teens spent an average of two hours per day communicating with friends via social media, about 1.3 hours playing video games, less than an hour surfing the internet and about 1.7 hours watching television or videos. For every hour throughout the day that they used screens to communicate with friends, they fell asleep about 11 minutes later averagely. For every hour to play video games, they fell asleep about 9 minutes later. Those who talked, texted or played games in the hour before bed lost the most sleep: about 30 minutes later.

Interestingly, David, lead author of the study, said the team found no obvious relations between passive screen-based activities and sleep. “It could be that passive activities are less mentally exciting than interactive activities,” said Anne, co-author of the study. “It’s a tricky situation,” she said. “These screen tools are really important to everyone nowadays, so it’s hard to put a limit on them, but if you’re really looking out for a teenager’s health and well-being, you might consider limiting the more interactive activities, especially in the hour before bed.”

1. Which of the following belongs to interactive screen activities?

A．Seeing movies.	B．Watching videos.
C．Texting friends.	D．Surfing the internet.

2. Who might lose the most sleep according to the text?

A．Lucy who watched a three-hour movie before going to bed.

B．Jack who had a 30-minute video chat with his brother before bed.

C．Sam who played computer games for two hours throughout the day.

D．Amy who chatted with her friends on WeChat for one hour in the morning.

3. What does the underlined word “tricky” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Frightening.

B．Awkward.

C．Hopeless.

D．Encouraging.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Screen time activities cut down our sleep hours

B．Interactive screen use reduces sleep time in teenagers

C．Passive screen use is better than interactive screen use

D．Parents should prevent children from using social media

10 . Culture shock is the experience that often accompanies moving to an unfamiliar place. It could be marked by feeling lost, anxious or hesitant.     1     You’ll become accustomed to the same things that initially “shocked” you! Read on for tips for overcoming culture shock in a short time.

When deciding to visit an entirely new place, don’t expect the traditions and cultures followed by your current home to be followed by the new land.     2     So keep your expectations low.

Even though it is an unfamiliar environment hosting different cultures and traditions from the one you’re used to, it’s vital to broaden your mind and be willing to try new things. Don’t be quick to form discriminatory judgments just because it is “odd”. Have a go at something different, like a food or clothing — different isn’t necessarily bad.     3    

Social psychologists claim that lack of information is the biggest contributor to prejudices. Talk to the local population and ask them about how their culture works instead of assuming the worst.     4     Plus, you’ll make some friends who can ease your transformation.

Keep yourself open-minded, await new experiences and familiarize yourself with the conduct of the people.     5     Go out there and have fun!

A．Integrity breaks down barriers.

B．You can gain insight into your surroundings.

C．Culture shock will eventually disappear, though.

D．Every city or country has its own values and beliefs.

E．Never do you know where you might find an interest.

F．Consequently, such memories are what you should treasure.

G．As long as you stick to that, you’ll soon adjust to the new culture.