1 . Before the Renaissance (文艺复兴), art developed very slowly for about 1,000 years in Europe. Most art was made to serve the Church. Human beings in the art work were typically described as morally fallen and had to be saved by God and human life was regarded just a preparation for the happiness in the other world.
But the Renaissance (14〜16 century) upended all the above ideas. The “Renaissance Men” thought that the best way to serve God was not to bow down in church all day long but to recognize and make better use of the talents that God gave them. Human life was much more than a preparation for the other world.
For the Renaissance artists, they started to combine art and science in their work. They studied human bodies like doctors, nature like biologists and the laws of perspective like mathematicians to create realistic paintings and statues. For example, Leonardo da Vinci — an Italian sculptor, engineer, inventor and thinker — studied human bodies and observed the flight of birds. Another equally inventive and fearless Italian artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti, even went so far as to show in his work that human beings were truly made in God’s own image and that they were as great as their own creator. Raffaello Santi, the youngest of the great three Italian Renaissance artists,combined the quiet elegance of Leonardo with the raw power of Michelangelo. In his huge painting, The School of Athens, Raffaello celebrated the great ancient thinkers — a shocking break from Church tradition. And to make these once forbidden figures seem even greater, Raffaello presented the great thinkers of ancient Greece as the leading geniuses of his generation. Not only did these Renaissance-era Italians appreciate the great minds of the ancient world, they considered themselves in the same league.
Although the cultural explosion slowed down in Italy by 1600, people from around the world were already attracted to see the Renaissance-era masterpieces by then. Especially today, people continue to get inspiration from the great works of the era in the country.
1. What did the “Renaissance Men” think of human beings?A.They should make best use of their own talents. |
B.They were playthings of the religious authorities. |
C.They were morally bad guys and had to be saved by God. |
D.They had to abandon God in order to enjoy life in this world. |
A.He was innocent. | B.He was unfearing. |
C.He was unashamed. | D.He was too out-spoken. |
A.Italy has a long history. |
B.Nothing can exist forever. |
C.The Renaissance has a lasting influence. |
D.People love beautiful and thoughtful things. |
A.The Greatest Renaissance Thinker in Greece |
B.The Renaissance’s Artistic Significance in Italy |
C.The Causes Leading to Slow Development in Europe |
D.The Bad Influence of the Church Before the Renaissance |
2 . The UK has many strange traditions.
One of the most famous pancake races is the Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race. This takes place on the morning of Shrove Tuesday in London, outside the Houses of Parliament.
Another important aspect of the race is the official starter.
A.One of those is pancake racing. |
B.The race is a competition between two teams. |
C.That is the person chosen to announce the start of the race. |
D.Rome schools or businesses hold special Pancake Day events. |
E.And as well as a bit of fun, the race is also held for a good cause.(事业) |
F.Pancakes in the UK are large and thin and can be topped with juice. |
G.In a typical pancake race, contestants have to run holding a frying pan with a pancake in it. |
3 . My mother used to take me to my grandparents’ in Belgium during the school holidays. While I would play chess with my grandfather, he would tell me stories about growing up, falling in love, and travelling around the world.
I didn’t realize the importance of preserving memories until my grandfather passed away, which ultimately changed my outlook on remembering our loved ones and the stories we share. I thought about solutions to help other people record the precious memories for those they love—before it’s too late. So I began matching ghostwriters (代笔人) to clients to help them write a book as smoothly and beautifully as possible, and Story Terrace was born.
Since then, we have explored the power of stories and their ability to connect us with our past and make sense of the present. It has been documented that increased family connection is significantly linked to less loneliness. Learning more about one’s family history, however, has been linked to boosting emotional health, increasing compassion and providing a deeper sense of cultures and traditions.
What we have found through our own research is that so many of us have missed out on the opportunity to explore our origins. 56 percent of Brits agreed that much of their family history is lost because they are no longer able to speak with the person who knows the most about it. A further 51 percent expressed regret as they wished they could tell their younger self to document their family’s life story, feeling that most of it had been forgotten. But when it comes to telling these stories, many don’t know where to begin.
We have seen numerous times when people come to us with random journal entries and notes from over the years, and these can be developed into a wonderful work of art that can be passed down for generations to come.
Half of the projects we see at StoryTerrace are heritage stories, with family occupying a dominant theme for most stories. Alongside this, common themes we see are of course love, overcoming challenges, settling in new surroundings and so on. However, family is a thread that always ties these together.
1. What does Story Terrace do?A.It boosts the mood of your family members. |
B.It gives treatment to people with mental illness. |
C.It links people from different cultures together. |
D.It helps turn your beloved one’s stories into a book. |
A.Why StoryTerrace matters. |
B.How StoryTerrace functions. |
C.What StoryTerrace focuses on. |
D.Where StoryTerrace beings your story. |
A.It is part of the national heritage. |
B.Its stories are mostly about family. |
C.It dominates half of the market. |
D.Its stories gain much popularity. |
A.Family Stories Worth Telling |
B.Create Your Own Story Books |
C.Documents of Family History |
D.Preserve Memories with StoryTerrace |
4 . An 82-year-old Chinese female pilot has set a record in the country’s airline industry after flying a small plane for 40 minutes in Beijing. Miao Xiaohong, one of China’s second team of female pilots, controlled the Tecnam P2010 plane to take off, turn, climb, dive and land safety at the Shifosi Airport in Pinggu District of Beijing.
In 1956, Miao Xiaohong, who graduated from a high school in Jinan, won a position in the second team. She graduated from the flight school in 1958. in the following years, she flew many important missions. In 1963, she undertook a mission to airdrop materials for the flood-stricken areas in Hebei Province. Poor visibility prevented her locating the target areas as the clouds were about 100 meters above the ground, but she managed to finish the task.
In 1989, she retired and started her writing career. When she collected material for her books, she found that many aged pilots in other countries still flew, and she had the idea of returning to the sky. To prepare for the flight, she walked 3,000 steps every day and moved her arms to meet the requirements for the high-altitude flight. Different from past flights for missions, this time her goal was to enjoy the flight. She said that it was exciting and fresh. “Seeing the boundless blue sky unfold in front of me, I feel it is very open,” she said.
The trainer said that Miao Xiaohong could finish the 30-hour flight to get a license for commercial flights. She said, “My physical condition is good enough to finish the 30-hour flight but it is not so important for me to get such a license. After achieving my dream of returning to the sky, I hope to encourage young women to join the airline industry. I’m 82 years old and I can fly again. You, the young people, can fly and will fly better than me.
1. What can we learn from the airdrop mission carried out by Miao Xiaohong?A.She was a very beautiful pilot. | B.She had excellent flying skills. |
C.She suffered from poor eyesight. | D.She usually completed hard tasks. |
A.Her deep love for flights. | B.Her wish to set a flying record. |
C.The requirements of her books. | D.The influence of other aged pilots. |
A.Faithful. | B.Energetic. | C.Determined. | D.Enthusiastic. |
A.Returning to the blue sky | B.Coming to join in the flight |
C.Managing to finish difficult tasks | D.Improving yourself to set a record |
5 . Need more excitement in your life? Maybe it’s time to take up an extreme sport!
No one knows exactly how it started, but Cooper’s Hill CheeseRolling Race is an annual event that has taken place for over 100 years.The name comes from Cooper’s Hill where the “sport” takes place, just outside the village of Brockworth, England.
But what makes the sport so extreme, and why has the local government tried to ban the tradition? Injuries—and lots of them.The hill is so steep that it’s not actually possible to run down it.
A.It’s as silly as it sounds. |
B.If you win, you get to keep the cheese. |
C.Is it wrong to let children do extreme sports? |
D.These popular activities can be extremely dangerous. |
E.Be prepared to both laugh and cover your eyes in shock. |
F.Instead, you fall, bounce and roll your way to the bottom. |
G.Extreme sports are activities that involve a high amount of danger and excitement. |
6 . The idea of low material desire, low consumption and refusing to work, marry and have children, concluded as a “lying down” lifestyle, recently struck a chord with many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly-competitive society.
Many millennials (千禧一代) and generation Zs complained to the Global Times that burdens, including work stress, family disputes and financial strains, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution(内卷),” joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get trapped in an endless competition against peers.
“Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary lying down as catharsis (宣泄) and adjustment,” said a scholar. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”
Interestingly, the majority of millennials and Gen Zs reached by the Global Times, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, acknowledged that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel guilty about their constant loss of morale (士气) far beyond their reach.
“Young people on campus have both aspirations and confusion about their future, but most of us have rejected setting ourselves up in chains to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”
1. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 1 mean?A.Warned. | B.Punished. | C.Amused. | D.Touched. |
A.Improvements in living conditions. |
B.Growing pressure from family and social life. |
C.Increasing material possessions from families. |
D.Temporary adjustment to failure in competitions. |
A.Understanding. | B.Intolerant. | C.Supportive. | D.Unclear. |
A.They never really drop their responsibilities. |
B.They really enjoy the “lying down” lifestyle. |
C.They find their dreams far beyond their reach. |
D.They would rather escape than take challenges. |
7 . ChatGPT, a new chatbot model developed by US-based AI research laboratory OpenAI, has quickly become a hit globally due to its advanced conversational capabilities,
It can write emails, computer codes, even academic papers and poems, and has passed a number of tests within seconds. Academicians worldwide are discussing whether AI should be used in education. Some universities have banned it. The New York City’s Department of Education, for example, banned the chatbot from its public school devices and networks, with some people warning that it could encourage more students to cheat, especially in exams.
Many more welcome this app, claiming that, like most technological advances and groundbreaking innovations in history, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for the development of higher education.
Embracing AI as early as possible is advisable. Higher education institutions should make preparations for including AI in their syllabus (教学大纲). They can start by offering related courses, because by understanding how it works, they can make better use of it. Besides, students with good knowledge of AI are more competitive when it comes to getting a good job, as an increasing number of jobs are being done by computer programmes-some in cooperation with humans, AI-powered education technologies can be adopted to make the learning experience more suitable for each student based on his or her strengths and weaknesses. As for professors, AI can free them from doing some dull tasks so they can concentrate on teaching and interacting with students.
Since we cannot avoid ChatGPT and other AI-powered applications from entering the field of higher education, we should make collective efforts to ensure they have a positive impact on society and the future of education Despite AI helping make learning much more interesting and enjoyable, humans need to work very hard to win the race with technology.
1. Why do some higher education institutions forbid ChatGPT?A.ChatGPT can write emails and computer codes quickly. |
B.Some professors might not perform their duties properly. |
C.Students would have conversations with each other via it. |
D.Students might seek help from it in completing the exams. |
A.Fearful. | B.Disapproving. | C.Supportive. | D.Uncertain. |
A.It offers students an increasing number of jobs. |
B.It personalizes students’ learning experience. |
C.It equips students with competitive skills to cooperate with humans. |
D.It handles uninteresting tasks so students can better focus on learning. |
A.We should guard against AI apps. |
B.AI will be more widely used in education. |
C.The future of education relies on AI apps. |
D.Humans will be left behind by technology. |
8 . Everyone can benefit from better communication.
Verbal language is only one aspect of the communication—body language is another aspect. If you ever wanted to know how to tell if someone is lying, body language is the answer. Your body language tells other people what you aren’t verbally saying, such as if you are anxious, confident, confused, angry or any other type of emotion or state of mind. If you become great at reading body language,it will help you become a better communicator.
Listen to others
Before you ever begin to speak, take a minute to see if anyone else has something to say.
Think before you speak
You parents probably told you this as a child, but many people still do not take a moment to think about the words they are about to say.
A.This is not and over-night thing. |
B.Singing a song for them is good. |
C.Become fluent in body language |
D.Don’t try to make the conversation go your way. |
E.You should decide what you want to get in any conversation before you choose your words. |
F.If you are too anxious, you can’t find the right body language to use in the communication. |
G.In fact, if everybody were excellent communicators, the world would be a much better place. |
9 . People perform graceful moves, all while standing on a bamboo strip in the river. You may think it’s a scene from an art movie, but actually it is a form of intangible cultural heritage: bamboo drifting(独竹漂).
Bamboo drifting dated back to over 2,000 years ago in the Chishui River area of Guizhou. During the Qin Dynasty,the Bozhou district of Zunyi city was known for its high-quality nanmu. It was in great demand by the royal court more than 2,000 kilometers to the north. With no transportation along the Chishui River, people had to stand on one log(原木)to drift down the river. Later, local people began to compete along the way and the game of wood drifting was born. In the Qing Dynasty, wood drifting became bamboo drifting because of bamboo’s lower price.
Now, communities in Guizhou hold bamboo drifting competitions every year during Dragon Boat Festival. Due to the great strength and balance it takes for one to get the hang of this act, bamboo drifting was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list.
Yang Liu,24,is an inheritor(继承人) of bamboo drifting.Yang said the most challenging part of bamboo drifting was keeping one’s balance. “I fell in the water several times when I was practising,” she said.
But the love for the ancient skill keeps Yang going. In the past 17 years, she has drifted all year round, in winter cold and summer heat.
Yang also produces new ideas when spreading the culture of bamboo drifting. For example, she connects dance with bamboo drifting to make it more graceful and wears hanfu when performing, creating a beautiful feel. In 2020, Yang registered on social media platforms and posted her videos. “I want to spread it to other countries so that more people around the world will like Chinese culture,” she told China Daily.
1. Why did bamboo drifting replace wood drifting?A.The bamboo was cheaper. | B.The bamboo was more beautiful. |
C.The bamboo was more convenient. | D.The bamboo was much easier to control. |
A.Prepare. | B.Change. | C.Master. | D.Improve. |
A.Designing moves. | B.Transporting goods. |
C.Choosing bamboos. | D.Keeping balance. |
A.She inherits bamboo drifting creatively. |
B.She learned bamboo drifting very easily. |
C.She has become the leader of bamboo drifting. |
D.She began learning bamboo drifting at 17. |
10 . Physical education, or PE, isn’t required for all high school students. In some schools, it isn’t offered for some different reasons. But should high school students have physical education? The answer is certainly “yes”.
Today many people don’t do sports. But as is known to all, doing sports is very important for an adult. Teaching teens the importance of a healthy lifestyle and making fitness plans now can help teens put exercise in the first place as an adult.
High school isn’t that easy. Many students are under a lot of stress. Stress can be harmful to a student’s study and life. Doing sports can help them deal with stress better, helping them live a happier life at school.
The American Heart Association says that 10 million kids and teens suffer from obesity (肥胖症). Teens should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day to control their weight and to help their bones get stronger. The increase in activities that don’t get teens to move around, such as video games and computer activities, means many teens don’t get their required exercise. PE classes act as a public health measure to encourage physical activities and help teens have healthy weights.
Not doing sports increases teens’ risk of developing many diseases. An active lifestyle offers a good way of protection from these health problems. As much as 75 percent of health-care spending goes toward treating medical conditions that can be hindered by lifestyle changes,according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
According to the President’s Council on Fitness,Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), students who performed five hours of physical activity each week improved their academic (学业的) performance. Students from programs with no physical activity, who used the extra time for classroom study, did not perform better on tests than those who gave up some study time in support of physical education.
1. According to paragraph 2, what does physical education in high school mean?A.Making teens attach importance to exercise later. |
B.Removing the stress faced by teens at school. |
C.Getting teens to encourage adults to exercise. |
D.Helping teens learn to make good plans. |
A.Measured. | B.Prevented. |
C.Shown. | D.Caused. |
A.means making students choose between sports and studies |
B.helps students make good use of all their time |
C.means students adjust to their studies better |
D.helps students do better in their studies |
A.Why high school students should receive physical education. |
B.Why some schools consider physical education important. |
C.How schools can help students love doing sports. |
D.How high school students can live a better life. |