1 . China’s red-hot tourism is beyond industry expectations over the May Day holiday — a five-day break starting on Saturday, April 29, with enthusiastic travelers overwhelming some lesser-known destinations and crowding old favorites.
The fulfillment of people’s long-suppressed desire to travel due to COVID-19 outbreaks, has added new energy into the rapid recovery of the nation’s tourism. A total of 274 million visits were made during the holiday, up 70.83 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday. The figure is an increase of more than 19 percent for the same period in 2019.
Previously little-known destinations were star attractions during the holiday. The Dehong Dai in southwestern Yunnan province saw its hotel bookings surge (激增) 22-fold compared with last year. The Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in northeastern Jilin province had 90 percent of all hotel rooms booked three days before the holiday started, according to the travel portal Qunar.
Qunar said that Zibo in Shandong province saw its hotel bookings increase 20-fold year-on-year. The city’s popularity boomed after its barbecuing style, which uses griddle pancakes to wrap grilled meat similar to the way Peking duck is eaten, went viral.
Rural areas with beautiful mountain and lake views also experienced a boom during the holiday. Online travel agency Lvmama said bookings on its platform for short-distance trips to countryside destinations increased by 150 percent, compared with the same period in 2019.
Overseas destinations were more suitable and popular choices for travelers wanting to avoid crowds. According to the online travel agency Tuniu, the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Thailand and the Maldives were the most-favored overseas destinations during the holiday. For more details, click here.
1. What’s the main purpose of the numbers listed in the passage?| A．To help people know the holiday better. |
| B．To show personal travel destination preferences. |
| C．To list some tourist attractions. |
| D．To indicate the recovery of tourism better. |
| A．Dehong Dai. | B．Zibo. | C．Maldive. | D．Rural areas. |
| A．A textbook. | B．A website. |
| C．A detective novel. | D．An academic article. |
2 . After long hours of waiting for my friend at the bus station, I got tired and wanted to just leave and plan another meeting.
As I was still deciding, there came a man selling shoes and started showing them to me so that I could buy or something. I just smiled and said “thank you”. I don’t know if it was the smile or what but the young man stepped closer and stood beside me and started talking to me. “You know I didn’t just end up like this, selling shoes. I had a life… had a family but one day life just turned upside down and all was gone just like that,” he said. In short, his wife stole all his money, sold his car and house. It was really a hard time for him and he was psychologically anguished. A lot happened and then he decided to pick up the pieces of his life. That’s when he started making and selling shoes to earn a living.
As I stood there listening to him pour out his heart and story of his life. I was still surprised how in the world can someone be so open to a total stranger like that and it occurred to me that some people get relieved that way. You see, a lot of times we meet people and most of them have burdens in their hearts and some of them don’t even have a person to talk to, so I’ve learned to be good to all people and always give them my time to listen to what they have to say. By doing this it will not only help that particular person but also the one who listens since you get to learn something and see the other side of life.
1. What do the author’s smile and “thank you” mean?| A．He/She took interest in the man’s story. |
| B．He/She wanted to have a look at the shoes. |
| C．He/She had no intention to buy anything. |
| D．He/She was busy thinking his/her own things. |
| A．Angry. | B．Painful. | C．Guilty. | D．Shy. |
| A．He was brave enough to continue his life. |
| B．He listened to others to bring them relief. |
| C．He got inspired after talking to the author. |
| D．He always talked to strangers about his life. |
| A．Speak out our trouble. | B．Learn to listen. |
| C．Pour out our hearts. | D．Be kind to strangers. |
3 . Social media has completely taken over everyday life, affecting how society runs and changing individuals in ways that even they can feel. While social media can act as a platform for people to express themselves, it can also be overwhelming, especially for high school teens.
To teenager Bryson Lan, quitting social media helped eliminate (消除) a significant distraction in his routine and keep up with teachers. “I was scrolling through social networking sites so much,” Lan said. “I was also starting to struggle since I entered my high school year. When school started, I was super overwhelmed (不知所措的), and I was just not ready for it.”
Most teenagers fear that by eliminating these apps, they will miss out on connections with their peers and feel a significant loss to their social life. However, Lan found he didn’t miss anything during his time without social media.
Another problem with social media is the amount of “junk content” posted. People are regularly posting and updating on social media, and much of the content has no meaning to other viewers and is ultimately a time suck.
However, social media isn’t all negative. Social media can be a place to develop passions and boost creativity. For example, Lan found his interest in photography blossom after seeing works from other photographers on social media. “Social media is a good place where you can have a portfolio (作品集) or upload your works,” Lan said. “A lot of people have photography accounts or art accounts. In some ways, I think it actually furthers your hobby.” “Thanks to this revolutionary development of social media, we can enjoy a world where everyone is closer than before,” Lan said. “But we also need to have the skills to make good use of social media, and that depends on each person’s efforts.”
1. What did getting rid of social media bring Lan?| A．More distractions. | B．Confusion about life. |
| C．A smaller social circle. | D．More attention on his studies. |
| A．A waste of time. | B．A timetable. | C．A lack of time. | D．A time switch. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Unclear. | C．Objective. | D．Supportive. |
| A．Most teenagers’ opinions on social media. | B．The effects social media has on teenagers. |
| C．Innovative development of social media. | D．The problems social media brings people. |
4 . Elon Musk, a US tech mogul(大亨), founder of SpaceX and co-founder of electric car maker Tesla, has been working on this technology. On Aug 28, Musk gave a livestream(直播) demonstration of the chip which was implanted into the head of a pig named Gertrude.
The chip, developed by Musk’s company Neuralink, is the size of a coin. But don’t let its size fool you. The tiny chip has over 3,000 electrodes (电极) attached to flexible threads, which can monitor about 1,000 neurons (神经元). It collects neural signals from an area of the brain, and then transmits those signals wirelessly to nearby computers, according to MSN. In the livestream, Gertrude could be seen walking around her pen sniffing (嗅) the ground while a monitor showed her brain activity.
Though the technology is still in its early stage, it is encouraging for humans. “This technology would solve a lot of brain/spine injuries and is ultimately (最终) essential for AI symbiosis (共生), which allows the human brain to mix with an artificial intelligence.” Musk said in previous interviews.
When the device can be applied to humans, its main goal will be to help those who have mobility(行动) issues, such as those suffering from paralysis(瘫痪). Musk hopes this technology could also be used to help those with hearing and eyesight issues and one day lead to a cure for epilepsy(癫痫).
Although such a device could, in principle, repair those problems, putting it into practice is by no means a piece of cake. Currently, the device can transmit signals from about 500 neurons in the pig’s brain. Compared to 80 billion neurons in a human brain, this number is tiny. And to cover the whole human brain also means the electrodes have to be much smaller. Also, implanting the chip into the brain poses a potential danger. There is a risk of the immune system attacking this foreign body.
Right now, the hope of controlling the brain via controlling a few neurons seems overly optimistic. “There are many technological challenges to overcome before Neuralink can put its devices to the purposes,” Yuan Lanfeng, an associate professor of China, told China Daily.
1. What do we know about Elon Musk’s microchip according to the first three paragraphs?| A．It is able to collect wireless signals. | B．It was inspired by sci-fi movie plots. |
| C．It has no more than 1,000 electrodes. | D．It is tiny in size but powerful in function. |
| A．To develop a cure for epilepsy. |
| B．To monitor animals, brain activity. |
| C．To help people who have mobility issues. |
| D．To contribute to the research in AI technologies. |
| A．Potential problems in applying the chip to humans. |
| B．Key differences between pigs’ and humans’ brains. |
| C．How the immune system is the major obstacle to the implant. |
| D．The amount of time and money implanting the chip could cost. |
| A．Excited. | B．Cautious. | C．Optimistic. | D．Worried. |
5 . Children as young as ten are becoming dependent on social media for their sense of self-worth, a major study warned.
It found many youngsters (少年) now measure their status by how much public approval they get online, often through “likes”. Some change their behavior in real life to improve their image on the web.
The report into youngsters aged from 8 to 12 was carried out by Children’s Commissioner (专员) Anne Longfield. She said social media firms were exposing children to major emotional risks, with some youngsters starting secondary school ill-equipped to cope with the tremendous pressure they faced online.
Some social apps were popular among the children even though they supposedly require users to be at least 13. The youngsters admitted planning trips around potential photo-opportunities and then messaging friends — and friends of friends — to demand “likes” for their online posts.
The report found that youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they did not respond to social media posts quickly, and around the clock.
Children aged 8 to 10 were “starting to feel happy” when others liked their posts. However, those in the 10 to 12 age group were “concerned with how many people like their posts”, suggesting a “need” for social recognition that gets stronger the older they become.
Miss Longfield warned that a generation of children risked growing up “worried about their appearance and image as a result of the unrealistic lifestyles they follow on platforms, and increasingly anxious about switching off due to the constant demands of social media”.
She said: “Children are using social media with family and friends and to play games when they are in primary school. But what starts as fun usage of apps turns into tremendous pressure in real social media interaction at secondary school.”
As their world expanded, she said, children compared themselves to others online in a way that was “hugely damaging in terms of their self-identity, in terms of their confidence, but also in terms of their ability to develop themselves”.
Miss Longfield added: “Then there is this push to connect — if you go offline, will you miss something, will you miss out, will you show that you don’t care about those people you are following, all of those come together in a huge way at once.”
“For children it is very, very difficult to cope with emotionally.” The Children’s Commissioner for England’s study — Life in Likes — found that children as young as 8 were using social media platforms largely for play.
However, the research — involving eight groups of 32 children aged 8 to 12 — suggested that as they headed toward their teens, they became increasingly anxious online.
By the time they started secondary school — at age 11 — children were already far more aware of their image online and felt under huge pressure to ensure their posts were popular, the report found.
However, they still did not know how to cope with mean-spirited jokes, or the sense of incompetence they might feel if they compared themselves to celebrities (名人) or more brilliant friends online. The report said they also faced pressure to respond to messages at all hours of the day — especially at secondary school when more youngsters have mobile phones.
The Children’s Commissioner said schools and parents must now do more to prepare children for the emotional minefield (雷区) they faced online. And she said social media companies must also “take more responsibility”.
They should either monitor their websites better so that children do not sign up too early, or they should adjust their websites to the needs of younger users.
Javed Khan, of children’s charity Barnardo’s, said: “It’s vital that new compulsory age-appropriate relationship and sex education lessons in England should help equip children to deal with the growing demands of social media.
“It’s also hugely important for parents to know which apps their children are using.”
1. Why did some secondary school students feel too much pressure?| A．They were not provided with adequate equipment. |
| B．They were not well prepared for emotional risks. |
| C．They were required to give quick responses. |
| D．They were prevented from using mobile phones. |
| A．they didn’t adequately check their users’ registration |
| B．they organized photo trips to attract more youngsters |
| C．they encouraged youngsters to post more photos |
| D．they didn’t stop youngsters from staying up late |
| A．less friendliness to each other |
| B．lower self-identity and confidence |
| C．an increase in online cheating |
| D．a stronger desire to stay online |
| A．circulate their posts quickly |
| B．know the qualities of their posts |
| C．use mobile phones for play |
| D．get more public approval |
| A．The influence of social media on children. |
| B．The importance of social media to children. |
| C．The problem in building a healthy relationship. |
| D．The measure to reduce risks from social media. |
6 . Traditionally, the number of meaningful social relationships one can maintain is around 150. This concept finds its roots in the natural development of the human brain. However, in the digital age, where our social connections extend far beyond the geographical boundaries (界限), we easily create more connections with the help of the rising online platforms. Then, a question arises: Does the digital age rewrite the rules of social connection?
A study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking explored the effect of social media usage on the size of social circles and the closeness of relationships. The researchers found that more time spent on social media made for a larger number of online “friends,” but not a larger number of offline friends. Further, the findings were not linked to feelings of closeness towards online or offline friends.
Another study from the European Journal of Information Systems studied the link between social media usage and “social overload” — the feeling that too much of the energy for socializing is being used up by online relationships. The authors found that social media usage directly contributed to the experience of social overload, related to digital tiredness and dissatisfaction with social media.
With social media platforms rising, one’s ability to connect with people challenges the traditional concept. The brain, used to manage a limited number of relationships, now fights against the difficulties of dealing with a large number of digital connections, leading to a less attention and feeling investment (投入) in a relationship. And the online shallow connections can not develop meaningful, lasting relationships that stand the test of digital distance.
Therefore, in the digital age’s social whirlwind, instead of drowning (淹没) in a sea of weak interaction (互动), choose to engage in meaningful conversations and focus on the handful of relationships that truly fit your heart. Hug the beauty of face-to-face connections, allowing the richness of human interaction to flower beyond the digital world. By doing so, we create digital and physical spaces that truly improve our well-being.
1. Why did the author mention the traditional concept in the first paragraph?| A．To tell a story. | B．To develop the topic. |
| C．To show his sincerity. | D．To give an example. |
| A．Online relationships were closer. |
| B．Spending more time online improved one’s health. |
| C．Social media usage had no effect on one’s social circles. |
| D．The large online social circles didn’t mean the large number of offline friends. |
| A．It resulted in one’s less attention to a relationship. |
| B．It caused the brain to break down and damaged the health. |
| C．It led to expression errors when one socialized with friends. |
| D．It developed shallow connections that stand the test of distance. |
| A．Offline Relationships: The Source of Well-being. |
| B．Social Overload: Do You Have Too Many Friends? |
| C．Social Media: The Bridge of People’s Connections? |
| D．Online Friends: The Cause of Digital Dissatisfaction. |
7 . Adults who had close contact with natural spaces during their childhood could have a better mental health than those who had less contact, according to a new study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (IS Global),an institution supported by “la Calxa,” involving four European cities—Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and the UK.
The all-adult study gave 3,600 participants a questionnaire on how frequently they used e natural spaces during childhood — for example, playing in a garden, riding a bike at the park or hiking in a forest. They were also asked about the importance they put on using such places.
Volunteers were then given a psychological test, which included a variety of questionnaires and problem-solving activities, to analyze their nervousness and feelings of depression within a four-week period.
The results consistently showed that the people who were more exposed (暴露的) to natural spaces had higher mental health scores compared to those with lower childhood exposure — as did those who attached higher importance to using green spaces.
The study’s coordinator (协调员), Wilma Zijlema, wrote that the results “show the importance of childhood exposure to natural spaces for the development of a nature-appreciating attitude and a healthy psychological state in adulthood”. She also stressed the importance of “recognizing the meaning of growing up in environments with limited opportunities for exposure to nature”.
According to the study, 73 percent of Europe’s population only has limited access (接触机会) to natural spaces. Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, director of IS Global’s Urban Planning, said that “Many children in Europe lead an indoors lifestyle, so it would be desirable to make natural outdoor environments available, attractive and safe for them to play in. We make a call on policymakers to improve the availability of natural spaces for children and green school yards.”
While this study was based in Europe, a lack of green space can affect anyone, anywhere. So remember to make time to immerse yourself in nature, as your mental health is just as important as the physical one.
1. What can we learn about the study according to Paragraph one?| A．It was carried out only in four European cities. |
| B．It is supported by all the adults who are physically healthy. |
| C．It indicates the more contact with nature, the happier one’s childhood will be. |
| D．It shows adulthood mental health could be related to childhood exposure to nature. |
| A．The participants were from all over the world. |
| B．The participants included both children and adults. |
| C．It focused on the participants’ physical health state. |
| D．It consisted of a questionnaire and a psychological test. |
| A．The process of the study. | B．The method of the study. |
| C．The value of the study. | D．The difficulties of the study. |
| A．Importance of Physical Health. | B．Benefits of Natural Green Spaces. |
| C．Values of Psychological examinations. | D．Problems of Europe’s Young Population. |
8 . The project, called Nemo’s Garden, is the brainchild of Sergio Gamberini, a chemical engineer who runs a scuba (水肺) diving business. In 2013, he was chatting with local farmers when he came up with the idea. Several days later, he dived to the bottom of Noli’s bay and placed a vase with seeds inside a plastic balloon. After 48 hours, the seeds were coming up and Gamberini decided to scale up the experiment.
Nemo’s Garden’s key innovation, a sub-water biosphere, is a unique type of underwater greenhouse. It can use the ocean’s positive environmental factors, temperature stability, evaporative water generation, CO2 absorption, the abundance of oxygen, and inherent protection from pests, to create an environment ideal for crop cultivation. The plants are fed by a hydroponic (水耕法) system. Water is generated from salt-water evaporating and then condensing (冷凝), so no additional fresh water source is required. Additional power for lighting, pumps and sensors is provided by wind generators and solar panels situated on the surface. This makes the entire set-up completely eco-friendly and self-sustaining.
Inside the biosphere, it is even more impressive. Each dome has a shelf running the entire circumference on which plants, equipment and tools can be placed. There is oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity sensors, radio communication, lights, a fresh-water hose and to top it all off, Wi-Fi. You can control everything in the dome via an app on your phone from the surface. You can turn the lights on, check the conditions and even watch a live video stream of the plants growing.
Gianni Fontanesi, Nemo’s Garden project manager, has logged nearly a thousand dives to perform underwater farming. He says that being inside the greenhouse is like being in an aquarium turned inside out: “You are the fish looking out into the outside world.”
1. What does the Nemo’s Garden refer to according to the passage?| A．A scuba diving business. | B．A vase with basil seeds. |
| C．A farm project underwater. | D．A garden in the bottom of Noli’s bay. |
| A．How Nemo’s Garden works. | B．Why Nemo’s Garden was built. |
| C．What Nemo’s Garden includes. | D．Where Nemo’s Garden was set up. |
| A．A hydroponic system. | B．Diving under the sea. |
| C．An app on our phones. | D．Wind generators and solar panels. |
| A．Special and eye-catching. | B．Impressive and traditional. |
| C．Convenient and economical. | D．Innovative and eco-friendly. |
9 . Fooling their parents about school was so simple; Robert and Anthony Duran made it a habit.
The twins played hooky from their high school—spending their days playing basketball and listening to music—for two entire years, skipping their freshman and sophomore years. But their truancy (旷课) was discovered when the boys’ father called their high school earlier this month to request the report cards that his sons had repeatedly “forgotten”. “Believe me, I was very upset with them—with myself mostly,” Armando Duran told a local newspaper after school officials alerted him to his sons’ absenteeism.
District policy considers students who are absent more than 50 days to be dropouts. So how to help teenagers facing the problem? Here is the solution. They can enroll in an accelerated career academy to make up their missed credits and plan to graduate a year behind their classmates. Imagine learning maths by calculating how much bears eat each day or by studying the habits of birds in an aviary (鸟舍).
About 100 students will have such opportunities when the school district—in collaboration with the local park service—opens a middle school at the zoo in the city’s 430-acre park. A school building near a park entrance will be used as a central meeting place, but the park grounds are intended to be the real classroom, school officials said. Students can wear zoo uniforms and perform certain tasks during the day, such as feeding the animals.
“The idea is to use the park campus as the school, where kids are likely to get more interested in learning and tend to develop their comprehensive and practical skills beyond textbooks.” said Arthur, the person in charge of the 23,000-student school district. Mr. Zarrella, a teacher in the community, said he is expecting science classes in the park’s greenhouses and history lessons in the park’s museum. “It’s a beautiful place,” he said. “I’ve always felt it has the potential for being an exciting place for kids to learn.”
1. What do the underlined words “played hooky” in paragraph 2mean?| A．Fooled parents. | B．Skipped classes. |
| C．Listened to music. | D．Played hide and seek. |
| A．By cleaning up the local park. | B．By calculating the number of bears. |
| C．By earning credit s after graduation. | D．By accomplishing some tasks at the zoo. |
| A．No school building can be seen there. | B．Students attended class mainly indoors. |
| C．Half of the local students have access to it. | D．It runs jointly by the school and the local park. |
| A．No Absenteeism, Full Credits. | B．Park Campus beyond the Classroom. |
| C．Zoo Learning, Disciplined Kids. | D．Science Class in the Zoo |
10 . We are delighted to welcome all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity in our National Gallery. For the protection of visitors and staff, as well as to preserve the National Gallery’s collections and facilities, the following policies apply when visiting:
West and East Building Visitor Policies
·Visitors, as well as their backpacks, coolers, purses, packages, and other containers, may be subject to inspection.
·Please do not touch objects in the galleries. Dirt, moisture, and other contaminants present on hands can stain or corrode the surfaces of artworks. Some works are more fragile than they appear, and even simple touching can cause permanent damage. Please keep a distance of about two feet from the art at all times.
·Children may not be carried on the shoulders of another person or in a backpack child carrier. Unattended children under 12 years of age are not permitted in the galleries. Please keep your children with you at all times.
Interacting with Staff
Our dedicated staff are here to make your visit safe and enjoyable. Please treat them with respect. We value empathy, integrity, diversity, equity, access, and inclusion. Abusive, harassing, discriminatory, or threatening language or behavior toward staff or other visitors will not be tolerated. Thank you for helping us create a positive and welcome environment for all.
Accessibility
All galleries and facilities are wheelchair accessible. The 6th Street entrance to the West Building and the 4th Street entrance to the East Building have ramps to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers. Wheelchairs are available at all entrances on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit our Accessibility and Inclusion page for more information.
1. Who are the policies mainly for?| A．Visitors. | B．Parents. | C．Children. | D．Staff. |
| A．All galleries are friendly to the wheelchair users. |
| B．You need to be two inches away from the artworks. |
| C．Children under 12 years of age are not permitted in the galleries. |
| D．You can touch some artworks on condition that you keep your hands clean. |
| A．An advertising brochure. | B．An organization website. |
| C．A national newspaper. | D．A scientific website. |
