2 . Olympic Games organizers in France presented the 2024 Olympic torch (火炬) that will light the Summer Games in the country a year from now. In the Olympic torch tradition, many people carry the torch in turn from Greece to the current location of the Games. After it has traveled thousands of kilometers. the torch will light the Olympic cauldron (火炬台) at the Opening Ceremony of the next Olympic Games.

French designer Mathieu Lehanneur created the torch. which is 70 centimeters long and made of lightweight steel. Lehanneur said its shape is inspired by the famous Seine River, which flows through Paris. He said the torch is equal from top to bottom and all around the middle, which stands for equality between athletes. The twisting shape of the torch represents peace.

The torch was made with lightweight steel. Its lower half copies the movement of the Seine, along which the opening ceremony will take place for over 500,000 viewers.

Lehanneur said he wants the torch to represent the kind of event that Paris 2024 hopes to be. “I wanted to move away from the torch appearing as an object of conquest (征服),” Lehanneur said. He also told reporters that designing the torch was much more techn1cal than he thought it would be. “The magic is not the torch itself. but the flame” Lehanneur said.

The torch will be lit up in Olympia, Grecce on April 16, 2024, followed by a nine day torch relay before sailing across the Mediterranean Sea from Athens to Marseille on May 8. It will then pass through several important places , which include Strasbourg , the Pantheon in Paris, the Mont Saint-Michel and multiple French territories.

Tony Estanguet, the Paris 2024 chief, said the torch is “very ,very beautiful”. He also said it is “...very pure, It’s perfectly balanced in the hand.”

1. Why is the torch equal from top to bottom?

A．It is easy for torch-bearers to carry.	B．It is the symbol of the Seine River.
C．It represents peace among nations.	D．It shows equality between players.

2. What can be inferred from Lehanneur’s words?

A．He wishes Paris 2024 to be the best ever.	B．The torch is more important than the flame.
C．Designing the torch is harder than he thinks.	D．He thinks highly of the torch’s appearance.

3. How long will it take the torch to travel from Greece to France?

A．Twenty two days.

B．Fifteen days.

C．Nine days.

D．Eight days.

4. Where is the text most probably taken from?

A．A travel brochure.

B．A sports magazine.

C．A science report.

D．A research paper.

3 . Feeling hungry? Well, get your chopsticks ready! Ho Chi Minh City Food Tours are the tastiest way to travel around the city.

Big eat & Small seat

This afternoon food tour by motorbike is focused on family-run local restaurants. These places are often small and tight with little stools. This is a tour we recommend for travelers that want to be thrown into the city’s delicious street food. It lasts from 1 pm to 5 pm at $65 per person.

A taste of Vietnam

This tour is absolutely comfortable for everyone with indoor seating and atmosphere. The menu is diverse, featuring some hands-on cooking experience and a bowl of whole crab soup that you can only find in Ho Chi Minh City. It lasts from 6 pm to 10 pm at $73 per person.

Chef’s tour

The concept for Chef’s tour is simple: We will drive you from location to location to try some of our favorite street eats in the city while adjusting the menu as much as possible to meet your tastes and personality. It lasts from 5 pm to 10 pm at $123 per person.

Street food stroll

This tour will leave you happy, full, and filled with a new appreciation for our history and culture. We will eat delicious street food while exploring the French architecture and the unique culture in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City’s District Three. A bit different from other tours, we will not use any taxi or motorbike to get from place to place. The walk tour lasts from 5 pm to 9 pm at $38 per person.

Note: During all the above tours, prices take in all food and drinks and we will also take digital photos during the trip that we send to you the next day by email.

1. How much should a tourist pay for the tour with hands-on cooking experience?

A．$38.

B．$65.

C．$73.

D．$123.

2. What is unique about the last tour?

A．The tourists have to walk all the way.

B．The tourists can have free digital photos.

C．The tourists will eat in big restaurants.

D．The tourists can try the whole crab soup.

3. Which tour lasts the longest?

A．Big eat & Small seat.	B．A taste of Vietnam.
C．Street food stroll.	D．Chef’s tour.

4 . CAPITOL CLASSROOM

October 2021 through February 2022 on selected Wednesday and Thursday mornings

Overview

Capitol Classroom is a two-hour program including a tour of the US Capitol, interactive lessons, and hands-on activities.

Choose one

Program 1 Art Appreciators: The Art and Architecture of the US Capitol

Students explore the history and culture of America by examining art and architectural elements found in the US Capitol, the Rotunda and National Statuary Hall. This program meets state standards and national standards for the visual arts.

Grades: 3 through6

Number: 20-65 students per program

Length: One-hour classroom program and one-hour tour of the US Capitol

Start Time: 9:30 a. m.

Program 2 Capitol Art: History, Culture, or Expression?

Students study the art and architectural features of the US Capitol and participate in a student-centered creative activity. This program meets state standards and national standards for the visual arts.

Grades: 7 through 12

Number: 20-65 students per program

Length: One-hour classroom program and one-hour tour of the US Capitol

Start Time: 9:30a. m.

Program 3 Environment Matters: How Does a Bill Become Law?

To understand the complex way that a bill becomes a law, students participate in activities that illustrate the process. The Chesapeake Bay and the Clean Water Acts of 1948 and 1972 serve as legislative examples. Groups receive passes to visit the Galleries of the US Senate or the US House of Representatives. This program meets the National Council for the Social Studies’ curriculum standards.

Grades: 6 through 12

Number: 20-65 students per program

Length: One-hour classroom program and one-hour tour of the US Capitol

Start Time: 9:30 a. m.

1. Daisy wants to register for Capitol Classroom. Which date is probably available?

A．Wednesday, September 2021.	B．Friday, October 2021.
C．Thursday, January 2022.	D．Thursday, March 2022.

2. Which programs offer you the chance to explore the art and architectural elements of the US Capitol?

A．Program 1.	B．Program 2.
C．Program 1 and Program 2.	D．Program 1 and Program 3.

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Program 1 includes one-hour classroom program and two-hour tour of the US Capitol.

B．Program 2 is open to the students from Grade 3 through 6.

C．Program 3 enables students to access Galleries of the US House of Representatives.

D．Program 3 enables students to participate in a student-centered creative activity.

5 . Camping tips: Which overnight wilderness experience is right for you?

If you’re an experienced backpacker, read no further. This article is for camping rookies, those who have never slept beneath the stars or haven’t pitched a tent since their youth but are seriously thinking about overnighting in the wilderness.

Car camping

At its most basic, car camping involves packing a tent, sleeping bag, fold-up chair, cooler and camp stove into your vehicle and staying at a drive-up campground. Nearly every national park, and many state and county parks and private facilities, offer drive-up campgrounds with restrooms, potable water, fire rings or pits, and maybe even hot showers. So there are lots of choices.

The downside of car camping is the fact that these campgrounds are often packed with other campers. Not a lot of privacy, they can be noisy, and possibly hinder your quest of communing with nature.

Backpacking

No vehicle required; just your feet and a good pair of hiking boots or shoes to get you to the next overnight spot. A multi-day hiking trip is without doubt the most immersive way to experience the great outdoors.

Different from maybe car camping, it requires the least expense and equipment. All you really need are a backpack, sleeping bag, water bottle, small first-aid kit, enough food to last the entire travel. It can be done just about anywhere on the planet.

Boat Camping

While this does involve owning or renting a watercraft or using a ferry or water taxi service to reach the overnight site, camping via canoe, kayak, raft or boat offers a similar get-away-from-it-all adventure as backpacking.

Experienced paddlers and boaters usually prefer to camp on their own along a secluded shoreline. But many adventure or wilderness outfitters offer guided trips that can last anywhere from a couple of days to two or three weeks. With a boat, you can sometimes camp places that not even backpackers can reach.

1. Who are the intended readers?

A．Red-blooded males	B．White-collar staff
C．Blue-blooded tourists	D．Green-hand campers

2. What can you learn from the passage?

A．Backpacking allows you to communicate with nature deeply.

B．Car camping is the most economic way to experience nature.

C．The drive-up campgrounds provide people with private environment.

D．Boat camping offers the same adventures as backpacking.

3. In which column will you find this passage?

A．Feature

B．Style

C．Travel

D．Entertainment

7 . Conflict (冲突) between teenagers and parents happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes conflict happens between teenagers and parents just because conflict happens between human beings anyway. Humans have different needs, different feelings, different opinions about what they want, and the relationship with people can be really difficult. However, teenagers can cause further conflict because of the hormonal (生理的) changes that are happening and the stage of life that they're in.

Teenagers and parents have different understanding about rules and at times they find it difficult to look into the future. So parents and teenagers will often experience conflict about many things, do chores, homework, whether teenagers speak respectfully or not and about what they're allowed to do.

Before we think about rule boundaries (界线) for teenagers, we need to make sure that we have a really good relationship base. There's no point saying “From now on, you have to listen to me”: if you don't have a positive relationship with your teenager. We need to go back and make sure there is some degree of shared respect, and some degree of positive communication and enjoyment being together. you do that first, it means that rule boundaries are a lot easier to set up.

Often we're dealing with conflict on the fly. This is not the right time to be dealing with it. We really want parents and teenagers to sit down and think about the kinds of things that may happen in the house before the problems come. The more detailed your rule boundaries are for teenagers, the more likely it is that they are going to follow them. So this means we don't have rule boundaries like “Have the bathroom cleaned”. It needs to be “The floors mopped, nothing on the countertop and the mirrors cleaned by ten o'clock every Saturday”: Rule boundaries need to be written down, and set out ahead of time so the teenager knows exactly what's expected.

1. What's important to set up a rule boundary easily for teenagers?

A．Being strict from the start.	B．Developing a good relationship with them first.
C．Saying"No" to their requirements.	D．Avoiding close talks with them.

2. Which of the following rules are teenagers most likely to follow?

A．Doing some housework.	B．Having a good reading habit.
C．Cleaning the bathroom.	D．Finishing your homework by five.

3. What do the underlined words "on the fly" in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．In a hurry.

B．On the plane.

C．By oneself.

D．Another day.

4. What's the best title for the text?

A．Growing Pains	B．Teenage Problems
C．Parent-Child Conflict and Solutions	D．Knowing the Conflict

8 . The Rise of “China-chic”

Over past years, guochao, or “China-chic” has been gaining popularity among Chinese consumers. Guochao conveys the cultural heritage and values of China.     1    . “China-chic” is rising, but what is it?

The idea of guochao was first borrowed from some international brands, and began to win over Chinese consumers in 2015.     2    . In 2018, Chinese sportswear band Li-Ning presented its Wu Dao (the principles of Taoism) collection at the New York Fashion Week. It featured bright red color and Chinese characters. More brands have since followed, heralding (预示) the early period of guochao.

    3    . This was a period when applications of big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and 5G technology hit the market one after another. Domestic tech companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and DJI made headlines.

In its third stage, guochao became more common in everyday life. Over the past decade, guochao has expanded from consumer goods to experiential products. As consumers are showing greater interest in cultural identity and creativity, productions like the TV program National Treasure, and the dance show Night Banquet in Tang Dynasty Palace integrate cultural and historical elements with the latest audio-visual technologies.     4    .

Nowadays, guochao is moving to the next stage. No matter how the trend evolves, Chinese people’s positive attitude toward the country’s development and their recognition of and growing confidence in national culture won’t change.     5    . Seen from a broader perspective, guochao mirrors the rise of China, a country eager to make its presence felt globally. Guochao is a style, but more importantly, it transmits culture and values.

A．The trend grew in the following years

B．They give the viewers a totally new experience

C．The next stage saw the rise of China’s native fashion trends

D．It also expresses national pride and confidence in a new era

E．The second period of guochao mainly features hi-tech sectors

F．Its success will rely first and foremost on gaining cultural confidence

G．The concept of “Made in China” was recognized as the representation of Chinese culture

9 . Have you ever had this kind of childhood memory: a family sits together casually, drinking and tasting tea after lunch or dinner?     1    

After being spread to different parts of the world,     2     Now tea has finally received top-level global recognition as a shared cultural treasure of mankind. On Nov. 29, “traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China” was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China consist of the knowledge, skills and practices concerning the management of tea plantations (茶园) as well as the picking of tea leaves, manual processing, drinking, and sharing of tea, noted UNESCO.

    3    The most commonly used skills ranging from shaqing (杀青) to xunzhi (窨制). Chinese tea is divided into mainly six categories: green, black, yellow, oolong, white and dark. All of them follow their own processes for tea making. Practices of greeting guests with tea are shared among multiple ethnic groups and provide a sense of identity and continuity.    4    It means boiling tea at a stove — a social tea activity popular among young Chinese people.

Weilu zhucha is a replacement in the cold seasons for the camping craze. Sitting around a stove, boiling some tea, people chat, admire the scenery and immerse themselves in traditional Chinese culture by boiling tea together in person. “    5    Whenever we want some snacks, we sit around a stove and boil tea,” an Internet user commented.

A．Take tea making for example.

B．This can be fully shown by weilu zhucha.

C．tea is common in Chinese people’s daily lives.

D．It’s good to feel the warm atmosphere when boiling tea.

E．China now has 43 items on the intangible cultural heritage list.

F．tea has delighted and fascinated the world for a thousand years.

G．This has been a daily activity for Chinese people throughout their history.