1 . Seminole was far too accustomed to the business. Everyone sympathized with him depending on long hours, minimum wage, and ill-mannered customers. Although struggling to pay his rent, he still went all out to make those lucky enough to sit at his tables laugh. The day was going quick.

He was exhausted when he arrived to work the next day, but he went about his daily duties, putting on a brave face as customers complained about the food or questioned the bill. Usually as he prepared to close for the night, a couple of customers would sit down and order drinks. Most of the crew had left by closing time, but Seminole stayed to serve. Eventually, the last round was ordered and he gave them the bill. The minimum tip was suggested on the receipt. “Tomorrow will be better,” murmured he.

But luck wasn’t on his side. Evening approaching, a group of teenagers stepped in. Thankfully, they were polite and respectful. Their cheerful behavior began to rub off on him. As always, he did his best to make their dining experience a pleasant one.

Once they finished their dishes, he placed the bill on the table, accompanied with some candies. They placed their notes on the receipt and left smiling. When he returned to clear the table, he was shocked. The teenagers only left a tip of $3, but their total bill was more than $100. He’d gone above and beyond serving the tasty dishes. How could they be so rude?

Later that week, he struggled to let go of the awkward memories. He arrived at work and expected it to be like any other, but there was something left behind the desk for him — a two-page handwritten letter from the teenagers with $18 attached, in which they explained they were unaware of the tipping practice due to it being their first time out alone. Everything suddenly made sense.

Seminole was so touched by their gesture that he uploaded a picture of the letter sharing their admirable efforts. Web visitors voiced their opinions, and the reaction was more than positive.

1. Why did Seminole wear a brave face?

A．To serve better.	B．To relax himself.
C．To sell more drinks.	D．To gain a reputation.

2. What made the teenagers only leave a tip of $3?

A．Ignorance of tipping culture.	B．Dissatisfaction with the meal.
C．Gratitude for Seminole's service.	D．Misunderstanding of tipping practice.

3. Which of the following best describes Seminole?

A．Patient and innovative.	B．Generous and tolerant.
C．Positive and committed.	D．Considerate and ambitious.

4. What can we learn from the teenagers in the text?

A．One good turn deserves another.	B．Actions speak louder than words.
C．Honesty can turn into an opportunity.	D．It is better to make things right than not.

2 . Thirty-five years ago, with just one acre of land, a couple of seeds and a bucket of hope, one Nigerian-born scientist began his mission to defeat famine (饥荒) on his continent.

News of the drought across Africa in the early 1980s troubled Nzamujo. Equipped with a microbiology PhD and his faith, he travelled back to Africa. There, he found a continent ecologically rich, diverse and capable of producing food. He believes drought wasn’t the only reason for widespread hunger, and that sustainability had been left out.

Nzamujo began designing a “zero waste” agriculture system that would not only increase food security, but also help the environment and create jobs. In 1985, he started his sustainable farm “Songhai” in the West African country of Benin.

Nzamajo lives on the farm and constantly updates his techniques. He credits his degrees in science and engineering for Songhai’s success. But he also thanks his spiritual and cultural roots, and his father — a driving force in his life who encouraged him to pursue his studies to the highest degree and to use Songhai to share his knowledge.

Songhai has several “eco-literacy” development programs. They range from 18-month training courses for farmer-enterprisers, to shorter stays to learn techniques like weeding. People come from all over the world to study Nzamujo’s methods.

After seeing success on his first zero waste farm, he expanded throughout Benin and western Africa. Today, the Songhai model is applied across the continent, including Nigena. Uganda, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Nzamujo says they've trained more than 7.000 farmer-enterprisers and more than 30, 000 people in total since it began.

Nzamujo believes zero waste agriculture is now steadily tackling the issues he set out to defeat, hunger, unemployment and environmental declines. And he wants to see it go further.

1. Which factor related to famine was unnoticed in Nzamujo’s eyes?

A．Poor soil.	B．Water shortage.
C．Lack of resources.	D．Unsustainability.

2. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 3?

A．Introduce a solution.	B．Give examples to the readers.
C．Add some background information.	D．Summarize the previous paragraphs.

3. How does Songhai help to ease the problem of famine?

A．By offering land.	B．By trading seeds.
C．By educating farmers.	D．By selling technology.

4. Which of the following best describes Nzamujo?

A．Critical and careful.	B．Learned and responsible.
C．Optimistic and generous.	D．Considerate and ambitious.

6 . We live in a town with three beaches. There are two parts less than 10 minutes’ walk from home where neighborhood children gather to play. However, what my children want to do after school is pick up a screen — any screen — and stare at it for hours. They are not alone. Today’s children spend an average of four and a half hours a day looking at screens, split between watching television and using the Internet.

In the past few years, an increasing number of people and organisations have begun coming up with plans to counter this trend. A couple of years ago film-maker David Bond realised that his children, then aged five and three, were attached to screens to the point where he was able to say “chocolate” into his three-year-old son’s ear without getting a response. He realised that something needed to change, and, being a London media type, appointed himself “marketing director from Nature”. He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to be marketed to young people. The result was Project Wild Thing, a film which charts the birth of the World Network, a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.

“Just five more minutes outdoors can make a difference,” David Bond says. “There is a lot of really interesting evidence which seems to be suggesting that if children are inspired up to the age of seven, then being outdoors will be on habit for life.” His own children have got into the habit of playing outside now: “We just send them out into the garden and tell them not to come back in for a while.”

Summer is upon us. There is an amazing world out there, and it needs our children as much as they need it. Let us get them out and let them play.

1. What is the problem with the author’s children?

A．They often annoy their neighbours.	B．They are tired of doing their homework.
C．They have no friends to play with	D．They stay in front of screens for too long.

2. How did David Bond advocate his idea?

A．By making a documentary film.	B．By organizing outdoor activities.
C．By advertising in London media.	D．By creating a network of friends.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “charts” in paragraph 2?

A．records

B．predicts

C．delays

D．confirms

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

A．Let Children Have Fun	B．Young Children Need More Free Time
C．Market Nature to Children	D．David Bond: A Role Model for Children

7 . By day, Robert Titterton is a lawyer. In his spare  time though he goes on stage beside pianist Maria Raspopova — not as a musician but as her page turner. “I’m not a trained musician, but I’ve learnt to read music so I can help Maria in her performance.”

Mr Titterton is chairman of the Omega Ensemble but has been the group’s official page turner for the past four years. His job is to sit beside   the pianist and turn the pages of the score so the musician doesn’t have to break the flow of sound by doing it themselves. He said he became just as nervous as those playing instruments on stage.

“A lot of skills are needed for the job. You have to make sure you don’t turn two pages at once and make sure you find the repeats in the music   when you have to go back to the right spot.” Mr Titterton explained.

Being a page turner requires plenty of practice. Some pieces of music can go for 40 minutes and require up to 50 page turns, including back turns for repeat passages. Silent onstage communication is key, and each pianist has their own style of “nodding” to indicate a page turn which they need to practise with their page turner.

But like all performances, there are moments when things go wrong. “I was turning the page to get ready for the next page, but the draft wind from the turn caused the spare pages to fall off the stand,” Mr Titterton said, “Luckily I was able to catch them and put them back.”

Most page turners are piano students or up-and-coming concert pianists, although Ms Raspopova has once asked her husband to   help her out on stage.

“My husband is the worst page turner,” she laughed. “He’s interested in the music, feeling every note, and I have to say: ‘Turn, turn!’ Robert is the best page turner I’ve had in my entire life.”

1. What should Titterton be able to do to be a page turner?

A．Read music.	B．Play the piano.
C．Sing songs.	D．Fix the instruments.

2. Which of the following best describes Titterton’s job on stage?

A．Boring.	B．Well-paid.
C．Demanding.	D．Dangerous.

3. What does Titterton need to practise?

A．Counting the pages.	B．Recognizing the “nodding”.
C．Catching falling objects.	D．Performing in his own style.

4. Why is Ms Raspopova’s husband “the worst page turner”?

A．He has very poor eyesight.	B．He ignores the audience.
C．He has no interest in music.	D．He forgets to do his job.

8 . Rome can be pricey for travelers, which is why many choose to stay in a hostel (旅社). The hostels in Rome offer a bed in a dorm room for around $25 a night, and for that, you’ll often get to stay in a central location (位置) with security and comfort.

Yellow Hostel

If I had to make just one recommendation for where to stay in Rome, it would be Yellow Hostel. It’s one of the best-rated hostels in the city, and for good reason. It’s affordable, and it’s got a fun atmosphere without being too noisy. As an added bonus, it’s close to the main train station.

Hostel Alessandro Palace

If you love social hostels, this is the best hostel for you in Rome. Hostel Alessandro Palace is fun. Staff members hold plenty of bar events for guests like free shots, bar crawls and karaoke. There’s also an area on the rooftop for hanging out with other travelers during the summer.

Youth Station Hostel

If you’re looking for cleanliness and a modern hostel, look no further than Youth Station. It offers beautiful furnishings and beds. There are plenty of other benefits, too; it doesn’t charge city tax; it has both air conditioning and a heater for the rooms; it also has free Wi-Fi in every room.

Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes

Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes is located just a 10-minute walk from the central city station and it’s close to all of the city’s main attractions. The staff is friendly and helpful, providing you with a map of the city when you arrive, and offering advice if you require some. However, you need to pay 2 euros a day for Wi-Fi.

1. What is probably the major concern of travelers who choose to stay in a hostel?

A．Comfort.	B．Security.
C．Price.	D．Location.

2. Which hotel best suits people who enjoy an active social life?

A．Yellow Hostel.	B．Hostel Alessandro Palace.
C．Youth Station Hostel.	D．Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes.

3. What is the disadvantage of Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes?

A．It gets noisy at night.	B．Its staff is too talkative.
C．It charges for Wi-Fi.	D．It’s inconveniently located.

9 . A couple of days ago I unexpectedly lost my job. It wasn’t anything too important: I was just a carrier for the Scarborough Mirror, delivering newspapers every Wednesday and Friday. But it brought in a good amount of pocket money for a student like me.

During the first week of September I planned to stop my job, as I wanted to focus on my academics with school to start. I found a family on my street who were willing to take over and so I took their names anti numbers and turned them in to my district representative along with my resignation.

That was last week. This Tuesday came and I was supposed to get the newspapers to deliver on Wednesday. They didn’t come. I just assumed there probably wasn’t much to deliver so they would just give me everything tomorrow. It'd happened before so I wasn’t too worried. There was a seed of doubt, however, in my mind, that maybe the handover of this job was misunderstood. But I pushed that thought aside and just went on as usual.

Wednesday morning came and the papers weren’t lying on my driveway as they’d done for the past 9 months. My mom reminded me to call my district representative, who told me the route had indeed been turned over to the other family. She couldn’t have understood my message when I said I would work until September. So much for 2 more weeks of work!

In a way, I’m glad because I don’t have to worry about delivering newspaper in the burning sun. On the other hand, I wasn’t ready to give up my job so early, so the unexpected loss was a tiny blow to me.

Despite these negative feelings, I’m looking forward to the next summer when I’m getting promoted and my wage will rise from what I had with the job, which gave me good experience about hard work and chances to meet my neighbors.

1. Why did the author plan to quit the job?

A．He could barely put up with its hardship.	B．He hoped to shift his attention to studies.
C．He had earned enough to afford schooling.	D．He desired to turn it over to a needy family.

2. What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The family to replace me.	B．Messages of my dismissal.
C．The papers to be delivered.	D．The district representatives.

3. What do we know about the author?

A．He got fired on account of his own fault.	B．He didn’t have his potential appreciated.
C．He didn’t submit his resignation as required.	D．He had intended to stop the job in late September.

4. In which aspect did the author benefit from the summer job?

A．Learning to live with his personal imperfection.	B．Establishing a closer tie with his community.
C．Facilitating his organizational skills.	D．Breaking the habit of laziness.

10 . We all do little things to boost the way we feel and think throughout the day. Something as simple as taking a walk or eating a piece of chocolate can brighten your mood almost instantly, thanks to certain chemical reactions that occur in the brain.     1    If you're going through something complex, you need a more permanent practice. That's where writing comes in.

As Mental Health Awareness Month begins,it's worth learning about the ways that you can use writing to support your mental well-being.    2    

Use writing for mindfulness. Mindfulness is a tried-and-true technique for improving mental wellness,but can writing have the same effect?     3     By focusing on a particular moment and getting it all out there on the page, you can free yourself from any of the other concerns that are crowding your mind. This way, you can use writing as an approach to mindfulness and as a way of relieving stress.

Another benefit to writing is its ability to clear your mind of worries, negative thoughts, or sources of pain.     4     Fortunately, writing can speed up the process of restoring mental clarity.

    5    People were more likely to talk to others about a painful event after writing about it privately,which powerfully suggests that writing can indirectly lead to reaching out for support, which can mean even greater healing and relief.

Through the process of populating a blank page with letters and words, writing can be a useful mental health tool that both records your experiences and allows you to work through them.

A．Become more self-aware.

B．These pleasures are just temporary, however.

C．There's real power behind the pen—here's why.

D．Writing is also the best method of self-care treatment.

E．Clearing your brain of negative thoughts can be really tough work.

F．Actually,the act of writing for a mere 20 minutes each day can work.

G．This is because writing tends to stimulate questions about your life and direction-