1 . A lot of people find it difficult to do exercise regularly, even though they know it’s good for their physical and mental (身心上的) health. Yet keeping on a workout routine doesn’t necessarily go to the gym or run around your neighborhood. Gardening is a great example of a popular hobby that can be used as a workout.
Nashville resident Tom Adkinson, 72, is on board with the idea of gardening to stay fit. He has three gardens, which he uses primarily to grow tomatoes, sweet banana peppers and okra. Like traditional exercise, Adkinson does a lot of preparation before gardening, and then he spends hours watering and weeding (除草) all three gardens, involving bending and stretching, which he compares to performing garden yoga.
“It is wise of Adkinson to do so. Even though gardening may not appear difficult, using the body in new ways can make you hurt if you don’t warm up beforehand,” said Zeller, who teaches at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County in New Jersey.
Working in your garden just two hours a week could improve your mood. And the communal gardening, which is done by a number of people as a group in communities and schools, provides social benefits that can reduce stress and help fight against loneliness and even dementia according to studies.
“With all these benefits, gardening for fitness will be a trend (趋势) in the coming year,” announced Mandal, CEO of the fitness coaching app Future, “Our users at Future have already been asking their coaches to add gardening and landscaping activities into their routines because it’s easy to get and fit into their lifestyle.”
1. What do the underlined words “on board with” mean in paragraph 2?A.In support of. | B.At the risk of. |
C.Under the control of. | D.In opposition to. |
A.Having a good rest. |
B.Getting enough water ready. |
C.Doing warm-up exercise. |
D.Preparing tools for weeding. |
A.Tips for gardening. |
B.The benefits of gardening. |
C.The process of garden management. |
D.The difference between personal and group gardening. |
A.Running. | B.Yoga. | C.Gardening. | D.Walking. |
2 . Yue-Sai Kan was born in China. In 1972, she moved to New York. When Kan was a child, she was told by her father that she should always aim to (力争) be the first because no one remembered the second. What her father said has been a driving inspiration over the years for her to become a bestselling author and a successful businesswoman.
Her new book Be a Pioneer, which is the tenth she has written and her first Chinese-language autobiography (自传), was produced after three years, inspired by her father’s words.
When writing an autobiography, the biggest challenge is not how to present one’s life, but to remember it. To help with reconstructing her story, Kan asked many friends and colleagues she made over the years to write down their memories of her from earlier times. So besides featuring Kan’s own words, the new book is also filled with those of her friends’s, which gives Kan a new understanding of herself — a woman who works hard, studies hard. and the most important thing is that she is a woman filled with a sense of responsibility.
“My helper Stephanie mentioned that I was worried because we were running out of money for the company. My housekeeper reminded me that before the start of one of my events she found that I had fainted (晕倒) in the bathroom. I was so tired that I was getting sick. They know more about me than myself,” Kan says.
“Writing a book is a good business to be in, not so much to make money but to grow the brain. I believe what I do will benefit the world. All the things I have done in Be a Pioneer — my successes and my failures — can be a good example to young people in particular. That’s the main reason why I wrote the book,” adds Kan.
1. What can we know about Kan’s book Be a Pioneer?A.It took her 10 years to finish. |
B.It is full of her father’s words. |
C.It was completed with her friends’ help. |
D.It tops the tenth on the bestseller list. |
A.Being short of money. | B.Having no supporters. |
C.Having to write it in Chinese. | D.Remembering her past. |
A.To tell Kan is weak in health. |
B.To show Kan is a worried woman. |
C.To report the path of writing is difficult. |
D.To state how Kan’s story was reconstructed. |
A.Setting an example. | B.Earning money. |
C.Making herself popular. | D.Proving herself to her father. |
3 . Welcome to Chelsea FC Foundation Soccer Schools. Our camp programs in these schools offer players aged 9-17 the experience of a living and training like soccer experts with world-class coaching. Players will learn what it takes to become a world-class footballer at Chelsea FC and learn about Chelsea’s unique coaching philosophies. Chelsea FC Foundation’s coaches are skilled in challenging players of every level and their specialist programs cover technical, physical, psychological and social aspects of the game. Players will be grouped by age and their ability on the first day of the camp, and then they will start their training at different places.
Groups:
Boys | Girls | |
Senior players | 13-17 | 12-17 |
Place | Charterhouse School | Seaford College |
Junior players | 9-15 | 10-14 |
Place | Lancing College | Ardingly College |
We offer you Soccer Only Camp and Soccer and English Camp to choose from.
Soccer Only Camp (2 weeks):
•Up to 32 hours per week of soccer training.
•Campers need to be able to speak at least an intermediate level of English.
•Campers need to pay $2,295.
Soccer and English Camp (2 weeks):
•Up to 19 hours per week of soccer training, along with 14 hours per week of English language lessons.
•Campers need to be basic level English speakers at least.
•One-to-one instruction from Chelsea FC Foundation’s coaches.
•Campers need to pay $3.200.
1. What is an advantage of Chelsea FC Foundation’s coaches?A.They come from different countries. |
B.They have specialized programs in different fields. |
C.They provide one-to-one instruction for Soccer Only campers. |
D.They can help campers achieve an intermediate level in two weeks. |
A.At Lancing College. | B.At Seaford College. |
C.At Ardingly College. | D.At Charterhouse School. |
A.14 hours. | B.19 hours. | C.32 hours. | D.33 hours. |
4 . Esports (electronic sports) are organized competitions where players—often referred to as “athletes” — face off against each other in video games. They are not just games in a sense. Actually, they are a sport that can improve the players’ thinking ability, hand-eye coordination, willpower and team spirit.
The esports industry has experienced significant growth in recent years around the world, though it’s still in the nascent stage, which means it has huge growth potential going forward.
In the 1990s, Games like the beat’em up Street Fighter II and the first-person shooter Doom added variety to the increasingly popular competitive gaming scene. In the 2010s, MOBA games like League of Legends and Dota 2 became mainstream in the world of esports. In 2022, esports were announced to be officially included in the Asian Games. There are now over 40 esports games with players competing around the world at huge events.
Esports made their first appearance as a medal event at the Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8, 2023. Seven games were included: FIFA Online 4, PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version, Arena of Valor Asian Games Version, Dota 2, League of Legends, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Street and Fighter V.
Previously, eight esports games were scheduled at the Hangzhou Asian Games. However, virtual card game Hearthstone (《炉石传说》) was removed in March. This followed the breakdown of negotiations between Hearthstone producer, Blizzard Entertainment, and NetEase, their local partner company in China, over their rights partnership.
1. What is the current state of esports?A.They face tough challenges. | B.They come ahead of other sports. |
C.They have great future prospect. | D.They are no more than video games. |
A.In the 1990s. | B.In the 2010s. | C.In 2022. | D.In 2023. |
A.Its version was outdated. | B.Its schedule was up in the air. |
C.Its gaming scenes were full of violence. | D.Its two parties failed to reach an agreement. |
5 . LIKE-MINDED MATES
It’s fun to spend time with people who have similar interests to you. Friendships based on mutual passions enable you to indulge (沉溺) in the things you enjoy doing while sharing your creativity and experiences with others. Here are some of the benefits you might discover.
·Sense of belonging·Chance to escape and recharge
Taking part in activities that differ from those in your daily life is a good way to refocus and recharge. Time away from school is uplifting.
·
Talking through projects can help you to discover and develop new ideas.
·Motivation
Learning and growing with friends allow you to make more of your potential. Sharing a journey can give you a push forward if you become stuck. And the enthusiasm of others is a great motivator.
A.Ideas and inspirations |
B.Opportunities to make new friends |
C.It gives a healthy balance of work and play |
D.By sharing what you’d like to achieve with others |
E.You may feel isolated joining a new group at first |
F.Meeting people with the same interests obtains a feeling of being a part |
G.And watching others is a great way to view what you do from a fresh perspective |
6 . We all feel lonely at some point, but long-term social loneliness can damage our mental and physical health. “Loneliness is a signal that you need human connection,” says Dr. Jeremy Nobel.
Know yourself
It’s easier to connect with people if you have shared the same ideas or experiences, so start paying attention to what’s on your mind.
Make something
When someone says make something, you can immediately say, “Well, I’m not Picasso. I don’t know how to do a fancy painting.” And, of course, you’re not! But the opportunities for creative expression are endless. You can plant a garden or try a dance move.
Take a risk by having conversations
Share something about yourself. It doesn’t have to be the biggest or darkest part of your life, but just something you think other people might find interesting and convincing.
Whether it’s volunteering for a cause you believe in or just for fun, try to find others who share your interests. And if you follow your natural curiosities, you may find something new. Share your thoughts and feelings in creative ways with other people who have that interest.
A.Other people’s loneliness matters too |
B.Find a group that matches your interests |
C.Since you have shared some of your secrets |
D.Here are some good tips to make connection |
E.Even if you’re nervous about being judged or refused |
F.Knowing yourself can be the first step to bond with others |
G.Making something can express your thoughts and feelings to others |
7 . The National Football Museum has the world’s largest public collection of football objects and archives (档案), which is known as the Football Heritage Collection. In 2013 it was recognised as an official Designated Collection by Arts Council England and described as “of outstanding importance and value”. There are currently over 40,000 items within the collection, which continues to grow as we acquire new objects to preserve and help us share stories about football. Below provides a brief summary of the individual collections that contribute to the Football Heritage Collection.
The FIFA — Langton Collection
The finest single collection of football in the world was collected by Harry Langton, a London journalist with a passion for the game. The vast collection includes artwork, toys and games and playing equipment, and also houses a number of objects relating to women’s football.
The Football League Collection
This collection reflects all aspects of the history and development of the world’s oldestprofessional league, founded in 1888. Handbooks, attendance records, programmes and a large range of books provide an invaluable research tool for the museum.
The People’s Collection
This rich and developing collection features objects donated to us by members of thepublic, footballers (and their families) and other people related to the game. The 6,000-strong collection features all kinds of items.
Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End Collections
The official collection from Preston North End contains over 1,000 objects and celebratesone of the most famous clubs in the history of the game, and the team that play at the oldest football league ground in the world.
1. What do we know about the Football Heritage Collection?A.It was originally founded in 2013. | B.It has no more than 40,000 objects. |
C.It is a collection of football items. | D.It helps us share basketball stories. |
A.The People’s Collection. |
B.Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End Collections. |
C.The Football L eague Collection. |
D.The FIFA — Langton Collection. |
A.A research paper. | B.A museum guide. |
C.A campus poster. | D.A film review. |
8 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.
On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.
Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.
Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.
Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?
1. What can we learn about the author from the first two paragraphs?A.All people expected too much of him. |
B.He grew up in a happy family. |
C.He accepted the greatest education. |
D.He had high expectation of himself. |
A.He spent more time preparing for the exams. |
B.He learnt from his peers from time to time. |
C.He often wrote feedbacks on others’ essays. |
D.He turned to his teacher when facing problems. |
A.Intelligent and humorous. | B.Generous and selfless. |
C.Determined and hardworking. | D.Courageous and friendly. |
A.Failure is the mother of success. |
B.Perseverance can help realize your dream. |
C.Easier said than done. |
D.It’s never too late to study. |
9 . Landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom has designed a new green roof on the Rangsit Campus of Thammasat University, about 25 miles north of central Bangkok, Thailand. Her imaginative work challenges the common thinking that urbanization has a negative impact on the planet, whether flooding, excess (过度的) energy use, disrupted (扰乱) biodiversity or the heat island effect.
The 236, 806-square-foot structure, which opened in December 2019, includes a flood water management system and Asia’s largest rooftop organic farm. It combines modern landscape architecture with traditional agricultural knowledge, creating a green and friendly environment.
The green roof, containing an H-shaped landscape, looks like a futuristic hill with a brick building beneath it. The hill features a complex pattern of zigzagging terraces (之字形梯田) of planted beds, leading all the way down to the bottom. When rainwater hits the roof, it flows down the zigzags while being absorbed by the soil in the beds, The excess water is directed into four storage ponds — with a capacity of up to 3 million gallons. The process slows down the flow speed of rainwater runoff compared to a normal concrete rooftop. This keeps the area from flooding during heavy rains.
The roof’s terraces are filled with organically grown crops, including a drought tolerant variety of rice, many local vegetables and herbs. The farm can supply the canteens on campus with a large amount of rice, herbs and vegetables a year. The food waste is composted (把……制成堆肥) to fertilize the farm, and water from the storage ponds is used to water plants, creating an entirely localized and circular system.
The farm serves as an outdoor classroom and a source of local jobs, too. Farmers offer workshops on sustainable agriculture and nutrition as part of the university’s sustainability curriculum. “Students and community members are invited to participate in seasonal seeding, harvesting, and so on,” says Voraakhom. “The urban farm is training a new generation of organic farmers with real-world skills. It also promotes a sense of community.”
1. What can we say about Voraakhom’s work?A.It’s short-lived. | B.It’s creative. |
C.It’s demanding. | D.It’s time-consuming. |
A.To store more water. |
B.To plant diverse vegetables. |
C.To slow the speed of water flow. |
D.To make it look more attractive than other buildings. |
A.It uses food as fertilizer. | B.It benefits the environment. |
C.It improves students’ lifestyle. | D.It produces vegetables and fruits. |
A.Students can learn hands-on knowledge on the farm. |
B.Farmers working on the farm can become professors. |
C.The farm prevents government from offering people jobs. |
D.The farm harms the relationship between university and community. |
10 . You may have already seen robot waiters in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and carry dirty dishes to the kitchen. But are they the future?
Many think they are the solution to the industry’s labor shortages. Sales of them have been growing rapidly in recent years, with tens of thousands now working in dining rooms. But others say they have a long way to go before they can replace humans. They can’t take orders, and many restaurants have steps and other physical challenges they can’t adapt to.
Still, the robots are increasing. Redwood City, Califomia-based Bear Robotics, introduced its service robot in 2021 and expects to have 10,000 used by the end of this year worldwide. The lack of labor sped up the adoption of robots globally. In the US, the restaurant industry employed 15 million people in 2022, but that was still 400,000 fewer than before the pandemic. In a recent survey, 62% of restaurant operators told the National Restaurant Association they don’t have enough employees to meet customer demand.
Public recognition of robot servers is already high in Asia. The US was slower to adopt robots, but some chains are now testing them. But not all chains have had success with robots. Chili’s introduced a robot server named Rita in 2020 and expanded the test to 61 US restaurants before abruptly stopping it last August. The chain found that Rita moved too slowly and got in the way of human servers. And 58% of guests surveyed said Rita didn’t improve their overall experience.
It’s expected that about 30% of restaurants will continue to have human servers and be considered more luxurious (豪华的), while the rest will rely on robots in the kitchen and in dining rooms. Economics are on the side of robots; the cost of human labor will continue to rise, but technology costs will fall. But that’s not a future everyone wants to see. “Humans don’t go to a full-service restaurant to be served by technology,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage. “They go for the experience of themselves and the people they care about being served by a human.”
1. What can we learn about the numbers in paragraph 3?A.Robot waiters are a solution to labor shortages. |
B.Robots play a more important role in restaurants. |
C.Human beings are more likely to be out of work. |
D.Restaurant owners prefer robot waiters to human waiters. |
A.It could not finish the task correctly. | B.It disturbed the dinners in the restaurant. |
C.It added to the expense of the restaurant. | D.It caused trouble for its human colleagues. |
A.Robot waiters have become a scenic spot in the restaurants. |
B.Human waiters can’t be actually replaced by robot waiters. |
C.The duties of robot and human waiters should be made clear. |
D.Restaurants should balance the cost of robot and human labor. |
A.Are robot waiters the future? | B.What can a robot do for you? |
C.Where can you find robot waiters? | D.Do robots bring convenience to us? |