1 . China has set new rules limiting the amount of time children can play online games. The rules limit children to just three hours of online game playing a week. That is one hour between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday most weeks.

Li Zhanguo has two children aged 4 and 8. Even though they do not have smartphones, they enjoy playing online games. Like many other parents. Li is happy with new government rules. But experts say it is unclear if such policies can help prevent addiction to online games. Children might just get addicted to social media instead. In the end, experts say, parents should be the ones to set limits and support good practice.

There has been a growing concern in China about gaming addiction among children. Government reports in 2018 found that about one in ten Chinese children were addicted to the Internet. The new rules are part of an effort to prevent young people from spending too much time on unhealthy entertainment. That includes what officials call the “irrational fan culture”

Under the new rules, the responsibility for making sure children play only three hours a day as largely on Chinese gaming companies like Net Ease and Ten cent. Companies have set up real-name registration systems to prevent young users from going past game time limits. They have used facial recognition technology to check their identities. And they have also set up a program that permits people to report what is against the law. It is unclear what punishments gaming companies may face if they do not carry out the policies. And even if such policies are performed, it is also unclear whether they can prevent online addiction.

A specialist treating Internet addiction expects about 20 percent of children will find ways to break the rules by borrowing accounts of their older relatives and find a way around facial recognition. In his opinion, short-video alps such as Douyin and Kuaishou are also very popular in China. They are not under the same restrictions as games.

1. When can children play games according to the new rules?

A．Between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. On Friday.	B．Between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. On Tuesday.
C．Between 10 p. m. and 11 p. m. On Saturday.	D．Between 10 p. m. and all p. m. On Thursday.

2. According to experts, _________

A．the new rules can stop children’s addiction to social media

B．companies are more responsible for kids ‘ obeying the rules

C．the new rules will help prevent children playing online games

D．parents play a greater part in limiting the time of online games

3. What will children probably do to battle with the new rules?

A．Design an advanced program.	B．Use facial recognition systems.
C．Set up real-name registration systems.	D．Borrow accounts of their older relatives.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Rules Limiting Short-video alps	B．Rules Limiting Video Game Time
C．Rules Banning Irrational Fan Culture	D．Rules Breaking Addition to Social Media

3 . In 1990, Hal Donaldson was 23 years old, fresh out of college and found himself in Calcutta, India, where he was asked to interview Mother Teresa.

Donaldson says about the great woman famed for feeding the hungry, “She wasn’t wearing shoes and her ankles were swollen. She sat down with me and was very polite.” After the interview, Mother Teresa asked him, “What are you doing to help the poor?” Donaldson admitted that he was young and wasn’t focused on helping others. With a smile on her face, Mother Teresa said, “Everyone can do something.”

Those words deeply struck Donaldson and forced him to face hard truths about himself.

Hal Donaldson grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. When he was 12 years old, his parents were hit by a drunk driver; his father died, and his mother was seriously injured. To make ends meet, they went on welfare. Donaldson says, “I had holes in my shoes and clothes. When you’re teased at school for that, you just want to escape.”

He managed to do just that. Donaldson got into college and turned his focus to making money for himself. He says, “I was just trying to find my way out of insignificance.” However, it’s easy to overlook others along the way. I was the guy that would see a homeless person and cross the street, so I didn’t have to confront (面对) him. My focus was on climbing to the top instead of helping those trying to climb with me.

Donaldson returned home from India with a different thought. He traveled to eight cities in America and stayed on the streets and listened to stories of the homeless. “My heart broke,” he says. “I knew I could no longer just live for myself.”

Inspired by Mother Teresa’s words and the stories he’d heard across America, Donaldson loaded a pick up truck with $300 worth of groceries and handed them out to anyone who needed help. In 1994, Donaldson created the nonprofit organization, Convoy for Hope, which works with communities across America and around the world. Their work focuses on feeding children, women’s empowerment, helping farmers and disaster services.

1. What did 23-year-old Hal Donaldson do in India?

A．He interviewed Mother Teresa.

B．He fed the hungry with Mother Teresa.

C．He attended an job-interview for a college.

D．He did something to help the poor.

2. What can we learn about Hal Donaldson from paragraph 4?

A．He was born with disability.	B．He led a hard life as a child.
C．He was well treated at school.	D．He survived as an orphan.

3. How does Hal Donaldson describe himself in college?

A．Self-centered

B．Sympathetic

C．Popular

D．Generous

4. How did Hal Donaldson change after he returned home from India?

A．He preferred traveling to volunteering.

B．He suddenly fell in love with journalism.

C．He turned his focus to living for himself.

D．He gradually devoted himself to helping others.

4 . A famous magazine, Amusement Today, does a survey among park lovers every year both in the US and overseas, based on which, “Top 5 List of the Best Amusement Parks in the World” has come out as follows:

Disneyland, California

Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California, the US. More than 515 million guests have traveled to this American landmark from around the world since the park first opened to guests on July 17, 1955. The park consists of many world-famous sections, such as Main Street, Adventure land, New Orleans Square, and so on.

Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida

Magic Kingdom is a theme park within the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando opened on October 1, 1971. It is the most famous theme park in Florida. The park’s design and attractions don’t make much difference from Disneyland Park in Anaheim.

EPCOT, Disney World, Florida

EPCOT is the second theme park built at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The park opened on October 1, 1982, and was named EPCOT Center from 1982 to 1993. It was the largest Disney theme park in the world until 1998, when Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened.

Disney­MGM Studios, Florida

MGM’s streets are the home for some great movie­themed attractions with a history of less than 30 years. With the addition of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock and Roller Coaster, the park is now home to Disney World’s most thrilling rides.

Universal Studios, Florida

Go behind the scenes, beyond the screen and jump right into the action of your favorite movies at Universal Studios, the number one movie and TV theme park in the world.

1. Which of the following theme parks have similar attractions?

A．Disneyland & Magic Kingdom.

B．Disneyland & Universal Studios.

C．EPCOT & Disney­MGM Studios.

D．Magic Kingdom & Universal Studios.

2. Which park has the longest history?

A．Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida.

B．Disney­MGM Studios, Florida.

C．EPCOT, Disney World, Florida.

D．Disneyland, California.

3. What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To attract tourists to these theme parks.

B．To increase the sales of Amusement Today.

C．To introduce world’s best amusement parks.

D．To compare attractions in different theme parks.

5 . After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first subway that came along.

After a few minutes I asked in English a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.

In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.

All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.

This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into misadventures.

1. Why does the author decided to take the subway?

A．Because he believed in his ability to deal with the trip

B．Because the network covered most of the stops

C．Because he lived near the city center

D．Because he had a good impression of its cleanliness

2. Having been shown the room card, the young man        .

A．still remained puzzled	B．understood the author well
C．answered the author directly	D．pointed at the subway map

3. Which of the following can’t be used to describe the young man?

A．helpful.

B．impolite.

C．warm-hearted.

D．responsible.

4. What’s the author’s purpose of writing this passage ?

A．To prove the importance of being careful

B．To introduce a young man who didn’t know English

C．To complain some cultural misunderstanding

D．To describe one of his adventurous experiences

6 . Winning the silver medal at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League in the United States, on Sunday, the Chinese women’s volleyball team enjoyed their best result in the tournament (联赛), with the key to the breakthrough being their unity and never-say-die spirit.

“I just feel that our team is more united than ever,” said Yuan Xinyue, Team China captain. “We support and help each other on the court. This is the most important reason behind our success. All of us should shoulder the responsibility of winning.”

She continued to say, “ We have firm determination, and we will keep moving forward. We cherish the road that we have walked. We will summarize events, and we will keep tackling the problems. We will also try hard and hold onto our dreams and the belief that the Chinese women’s volleyball team can be the best.”

Team China was one step away from gold, but the Turkish women’s team showed greater momentum (势头) in the final beating China 3-1. As the Chinese team only finished sixth at last year’s VNL, the second-place finish was a surprise to Chinese fans.

Sunday’s final attracted huge media attention and generated a series of trending topics on social media. While many joined in heated discussion about the final, many more expressed congratulations on the fast rise of the young women’s team.

“Although the Chinese women’s team wasn’t able to stand on the highest podium (领奖台) at the Volleyball Nations League, they still produced the best possible result by fighting together. Hand in hand, Team China players march forward together,” reported by China Sports Daily. “Team China was not among the favorites to reach the final of the VNL, but the team still managed to pocket a silver medal, which is huge progress compared to last year’s result. They proved all the doubters wrong, and they showed the world what a united team they are.”

1. How can we best describe Team China’s performance in the tournament?

A．Overconfident.

B．United.

C．Disappointing.

D．Careless.

2. Which can replace the underlined word “tackling” in paragraph 3?

A．Checking out.

B．Bringing about.

C．Giving up.

D．Dealing with.

3. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.

A．People were concerned about Team China because it lost the game.

B．Team China played very hard in the tournament and won the first prize.

C．Team China has made significant advances though not pocketing the gold medal.

D．Team China didn’t try their best.

4. What can be the best title for the news report?

A．Team China shines in silver medal success

B．Team China not among favorites to reach final

C．Chinese women’s volleyball team plays against Turkish team

D．Team China wins the game

7 . Join Us in Creating the Sweetest Candy Experience

Search Engine Copywriter

Pay: $80, 000 every year

Job Description:

We are looking for a creative, hardworking person to join our team as a content developer. The responsibilities of the content developer include creating new and interesting content for our website and popularizing that includes product descriptions, social media and technical work.

Shopify Developer

Pay: $120, 000 every year

Job Description:

Candy Funhouse is looking for a Shopify Developer to manage, and improve the e-commerce (电商) store hosted on Shopify. Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, you’ll be responsible for developing new product pages, and running A/B tests to continuously improve site performance.

Chief Candy Officer

Pay: $100, 000 every year

Job Description:

We are looking for the world’s first and only Chief Candy Officer! This chance is work-from-home. The job includes deciding whether or not to give each treat with the official “CCO (Chief Candy Officer) Stamp of Approval”.

Social Media Personality

Pay: $110, 000 every year

Job Description:

We’ve got a pretty sweet brand, and we want someone to help make that brand as wonderful online as it is in real life. We’re looking for someone with good knowledge of both candy and pop culture, a natural ability to relate to fans, and someone who is willing to do the work necessary to help the brand be great on social media.

1. Which post offers the best pay?

A．Shopify Developer.	B．Chief Candy Officer.
C．Social Media Personality.	D．Search Engine Copywriter.

2. What is the responsibility of Social Media Personality?

A．Popularizing a brand on social media.	B．Developing new product pages.
C．Creating fun product description.	D．Managing the e-commerce store

3. Which part of a website might the text most likely be taken from?

A．Privacy Center.	B．Job Search.
C．Modern Technology.	D．Company Review.

8 . The evidence for harmony(和睦) may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents.

An important new study into teenage attitudes shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” says one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) but actually they have other things in their minds; they want a car and other material goods, and they worry whether school is serving them well. There are more negotiations(协商) between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision making process.”

So, it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiations. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”

One of the researchers comments, “Our astonishment that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. Now, the situation has changed. Now families enjoy more harmony”

1. What does the new study show?

A．Teenagers are more rebellious.

B．Teenagers worry more about studies.

C．Teenagers avoid making family decisions.

D．Teenagers tend to get along well with their parents.

2. What can we know about today’s parents?

A．They are stricter than before.	B．They are more impatient.
C．They are more open-minded.	D．They care less about their children’s life.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards the relationship between parents and their teenagers?

A．Objective.

B．Negative.

C．Concerned.

D．Doubtful.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Discussion in family.	B．Harmony in family.
C．Teenage trouble in family.	D．Teenage education in family.

9 . You’re becoming an adult; your friends are changing; school is more challenging; and your life has more ups and downs than it used to. These books below are just for you to deal with the changes.

Say Goodbye to Stress by Dr. Jeff Brown

Kindle Edition: $11.79

Paperback: $16.95

Many have trouble getting their stress under control and want help. This book will encourage stressed-out readers to let go of anxiety and worry, and improve their lives by dealing with stress.

Find Your Inner Strength by Amy Newmark

Kindle Edition: $7.99

Paperback: $12.75

This powerful collection of stories will inspire you and help you find the inner strength to deal with the challenges in your own life. We are stronger than we think when we have to be. These brave people are the role models that show us all what is possible.

Random Acts of Kindness by Amy Newmark

Kindle Edition: $12.99

Paperback: $17.77

Make miracles happen for yourself and others. It’s easy. Just think outside the box and look around. There are so many ways that you can help--and it turns out the biggest beneficiary (受益人) may be you! Scientific studies have shown that “doing good” is good not only for others but also for the person doing it, making the person happier and healthier.

Be the Best You Can Be by Amy Newmark

Kindle Edition: $1099

Paperback: $15.67

This collection shows kids positive role models to follow in its stories about making good choices, having confidence, and doing the right things. Parents and grandparents will enjoy discussing the stories with children, making it a family event.

1. How will you feel after reading Say Goodbye to Stress?

A．Moved.

B．Upset.

C．Relaxed.

D．Confused.

2. What is unique to Find Your Inner Strength?

A．It is written by a well-known author	B．It is the cheapest of the four books.
C．It has role models for kids to follow.	D．It shows readers how to do good deeds.

3. Which book is suitable for people without confidence?

A．Say Goodbye to Stress.	B．Find Your Inner Strength.
C．Random Acts of Kindness.	D．Be the Best You Can Be.

10 . There are many podcasts (播客) that teach English and you can listen to them anytime. Here is a list of some of the best podcasts that you must see.

Learn English Podcast

This podcast has three levels.The first is for beginners, the second is for intermediates (中级学生) and the third is for upper intermediates. If a person wants to learn Business English,then episodes are also made for him.Every podcast is short but very informative. Worksheets and vocabulary tasks are also included.

Speaking Broadly

This podcast is made for advanced learners. Explained through discussion and interviews, each episode has non-native English speakers and every recording also has expert feedback. You will see some common mistakes made by English learners and you can improve your English by learning from those mistakes.

The English We Speak

This podcast airs one episode daily and every episode is only three to four minutes, which talks about phrases and idioms.There are two people in each episode who communicate with each other. Whatever level you are,you will find it rewarding

Elementary Podcast

This podcast is mainly for beginners and intermediate level learners. The length of a podcast is around 25 minutes but you can pause it anytime and continue whenever you want. The hosts of each episode are different.

1. Which podcast provides exercises going with it?

A．Learn English Podcast.	B．Speaking Broadly.
C．The English We Speak	D．Elementary Podcast.

2. What do we know about Speaking Broadly?

A．It records just expert speakers.	B．It aims at beginners.
C．It presents some typical mistakes.	D．It provides feedback from listeners.

3. What do The English We Speak and Elementary Podcast have in common?

A．They have the same length.	B．They are both interactive.
C．They share the same contents.	D．They are suitable for beginners.