1 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?| A．To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
| B．To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
| C．To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
| D．To bring out the topic of the passage. |
| A．To help people save money. | B．To cut the cost for daily life. |
| C．To prevent over-consumption. | D．To set up a new sales record. |
| A．Opposed (反对的). | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unknown. | D．Neutral (中立的). |
| A．Creating a New Lifestyle | B．Buy Nothing Day |
| C．Festivals Around the World | D．A Change in People’s Life |
Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.
One day, Ali took Zahra's shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it a secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra's school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.
Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city.When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.
The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache. Getting more and more exhausted he thought only of Zahra and his promise to her. Dreaming of the new shoes he would win for his sister gave him strength, and he stayed right behind the two fastest runners, determined to finish third. Suddenly, as the finish line drew near, another runner collided(碰撞) with Ali from behind and he crashed to the ground.
Ali looked up and saw the other boys rushing ahead.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Filled with delight, Ali walked home quickly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . My father was born in a small town in the US.He wasn't sure what he wanted from
It’s easy to feel lonely
Getting along well sometimes seemed
This is why road trips were like
| A．move | B．life | C．experience | D．belief |
| A．live up | B．struggle on | C．get out | D．walk around |
| A．because | B．if | C．until | D．when |
| A．wasted | B．worked | C．spent | D．chatted |
| A．better | B．easier | C．safer | D．cleverer |
| A．break down | B．cool off | C．clear up | D．turn over |
| A．available | B．alternative | C．necessary | D．impossible |
| A．arguments | B．fights | C．embarrassments | D．amusements |
| A．settle | B．rest | C．sit | D．watch |
| A．sharing | B．respect | C．communication | D．tolerance |
| A．silence | B．doubt | C．return | D．disappointment |
| A．unusual | B．common | C．free | D．mobile |
| A．earned | B．expected | C．missed | D．valued |
| A．on | B．by | C．like | D．beyond |
| A．friend | B．service | C．route | D．chance |
When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby，many families were left completely destroyed.Afterward all the local newspapers carried many humaninterest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday，a particular picture especially touched me.A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home，a depressed expression twisting her features.A young boy，seven or eight years old，definitely in low spirits，stood at her side，eyes downcast.Clutching(紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera，eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member.With growing interest，I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours.This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves.I taped the picture of the young family to our refrigerator，explaining their difficulty to my sevenyearold twins，Brad and Brett，and to threeyearold Meghan.
“We have so much.And these poor people now have nothing，” I said.“We'll share what we have with them，thus they will smile again.”
I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor.Meghan watched seriously，as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes，I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things.Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games.
“I'll help you find something for the little girl when I'm done with this，” I said.
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes.Meghan walked up with Lucy，her worn，faded，muchloved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest.She paused in front of the box that held the toys，pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat，paintedonface，gave her a final kiss，then laid her gently on the top of other toys.
“Oh，Honey，” I said.“You don't have to give Lucy.You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded seriously，eyes glistening with heldback tears.“Lucy makes me happy，Mommy.Maybe she'll make that other little girl happy，too.”
Paragraph 1：
The boys，openmouthed，had watched their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box.
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Paragraph 2：
Taking the cue from my little ones，I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes.
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5 . What will the future school look like is difficult to make clear, but most experts agree that the school will be electronic in the future .
" Present-day schools will no longer exist in the next century," says a report in The Age. "At that time, future schools will become community-style centers, which run seven days a week,24 hours a day. ” At the same time, computers will surely become a central part of the school in the future.
According to The Age, the distant learning will be popular and students will listen to teachers on computers. Going into classrooms on their computers, students will study at any time, which is very easy for them. However, it is necessary for students to go to the actual school in order to develop some social skills.
The Seashore Primary School is an imaginary school in the future created by the Education Department of Australia. At this school, all the teachers and students have laptop computers . Teachers check messages and call students back on a special telephone system and students use telephones to search for information or speak to their experts who teach their lessons. Besides, all the lessons are related to all sorts of subjects and all the students have their own learning plans created by teachers .
As one headmaster says, a laptop computer is students5 library, data storage （数据存储）as well as the bridge to a wider world. Technology has changed the emphasis of future learning. Thus, well pay more attention to the learning of kids rather than the teaching.
1. According to the report in The Age, students in future schools will _______.| A．have no teachers | B．study at a set time |
| C．mainly study online | D．never go to actual school |
| A．telephones are important in Australia |
| B．how future schools will work |
| C．every student needs a learning plan |
| D．students enjoy getting in touch with teachers |
| A．The Schools in the Future |
| B．Great Changes in Technology |
| C．The Seashore Primary School |
| D．Actual Schools to Be Replaced |
6 . Aunt Fannie was Blueberry Jam Woman. Of course she wasn’t really my aunt, and out of fear, I never called that to her face. The name always made my father chuckle (轻笑) and my mother look sternly (严厉地) at both of us—at me for being disrespectful, and at my father for encouraging my bad behavior. I enjoyed both reactions, so I looked for every opportunity to work for the name into conversation.
As a young woman, my mother had worked in the kitchen of a large Victorian farm house owned by Fannie Cratty. Fannie was the last of the Cratty line; she had never married, and had no living heirs(继承人). My father once told me that it was because she was too mean to share her family wealth or pass it on. Aunt Fannie was noted for her jam, and for never sharing the recipe with another living soul. Even though my mother knew it by heart, as long as Aunt Fannie was alive, she never made the jam without Miss Cratty in our kitchen to direct the process and preserve the secret.
One year, after I had been particularly helpful with the jam-making process. Aunt Fannie gave me a quarter and then made me promise I would never spend it. “Hold onto this quarter,” she said, “and some day you will be rich. I still have my first very quarter.” It had obviously worked for her, so I put that 1938 quarter in a small box,put it in my dresser drawer, and waited to become rich.
I now have the blueberry-jam recipe and the quarter from Aunt Fannie. Neither has significantly contributed to my wealth, but I keep them to remind myself to hold onto the valuable things in life. Money can make you feel rich for a while, but it is your relationships, and your memories of time spent with friends and family, that truly leave you wealthy. And that is a fortune that anyone can build.
1. Where did the “fear” mentioned in the first paragraph come from?| A．That year’s blueberry harvest had been poor. |
| B．Aunt Fannie was too old to keep making jam. |
| C．The author’s mother couldn’t help Aunt Fannie harvest the blueberries. |
| D．The author knew it was impolite to call Aunt Fannie Blueberry Jam Woman. |
| A．Aunt Fannie had no children | B．Aunt Fannie was willing to share her recipe |
| C．the author often helped Aunt Fannie make jam | D．the author’s mother always made the jam alone |
| A．Disgusted. | B．Surprised. | C．Affectionate. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．To make new friends easily. | B．Not to put a price on generosity. |
| C．Not to think of kindness as a burden. | D．To treasure the time spent with family and friends. |
7 . Some students get so nervous before a test. They do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when they worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources (资源).
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of 5%. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B-for those who did not.
“What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention (干预), all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. They were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these tests.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What may the students start worrying about before an exam?| A．Whether they can pass the exams. |
| B．What other students do during the test. |
| C．Whether they have remembered the materials. |
| D．What kind of problems they will meet on the test paper. |
| A．Asking the students to ignore the test. |
| B．Asking the students to focus on the test. |
| C．Asking the students to sit quietly before the test. |
| D．Asking the students to write about their worries before the test. |
| A．became less nervous before the test |
| B．were better at controlling their feelings |
| C．did worse than those who wrote about their feelings |
| D．did better than those who wrote about their feelings |
| A．Writing about our worries before an exam can work a bit. |
| B．We can only write about our worries right before an exam. |
| C．The best place to write about our worries is in the test room. |
| D．It doesn’t matter where we write about our worries before an exam. |
要点:1. 生活中的具体体现;
2. 好处；
3. 有待改进之处。
要求:字数120字左右。
参考词汇:移动支付mobile payment
Dear Smith，
I’m Li Hua,
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Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
It was Christmas Day. Pappy was working alone fixing an old lantern in the backroom when he heard the ringing of his bell on the shop door. The bell, which produced a uniquely pleasant sound, had been in Pappy’s family for over a hundred years. He valued it dearly and enjoyed sharing its song with all who came to his shop. Although the bell hung on the inside of the main door, Pappy had tied a wire to the screen door so that it would ring whether the inner door was open or not. Hearing the bell, he left the backroom to greet his customer.
“And how can I help you, little lady?” Pappy’s voice was joyful.
“Hello, sir.” The little girl spoke almost in a whisper. She looked at Pappy with her big brown eyes, and then slowly scanned the room in search of something special. Shyly she told him, “I’d like to buy a present, sir.”
“Well, let’s see,” Pappy said, “who is this present for?”
“My grandpa. It’s for my grandpa. But I don’t know what to get.”
Pappy began to make suggestions. “How about a pocket watch? It’s in good condition.” The little girl didn’t answer. She had walked to the doorway and put her small hand on the door. She shook the door gently to ring the bell. Pappy’s face seemed to glow as he saw her smiling with excitement.
“This is just right,” the little girl said. “Momma says grandpa loves music.”
Just then, Pappy’s expression changed. Fearful of breaking the little girl’s heart, he told her, “I’m sorry, Missy. That’s not for sale. Maybe your grandpa would like this little radio.”
The girl looked at the radio, bowed her head, and sadly sighed, “No, I don’t think so.”
In an effort to help her understand, Pappy told her that the bell had been his only companion, for the rest of his family were all gone now, except for his estranged daughter whom he had not seen for nearly a decade.
注意：
所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
With a giant tear in her eye, the little girl looked up at him.
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Paragraph 2:
Later that evening when Pappy was closing up the shop, he heard a familiar ringing.
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10 . It's now been nine years since I sold everything and left the United States to travel the world. These are the travel tips I'd like to share to help you save money and have a great trip.
Patience is important.
Don't get mad at things you cannot control.
Wake up early to avoid crowds.
Get up and head out before sunrise to have the best attractions all to yourself. It's a magical time for photos due to the soft light and there aren't any large tourist crowds to obstruct(妨碍) your view. Also, it's usually easier to interact with locals who are getting ready for their day. Want those postcard shots?
Observe daily life around you
If you really want to get a feel for the pulse of a place, I recommend spending a few hours sitting in a park or on a busy street corner by yourself just watching day to day life happen in front of you.
Laugh at yourself sometimes
Slow down to enjoy your trip
Please don't try to visit six countries in six weeks of travel. All the good stuff happens when you really take the time to explore. I can honestly say that NONE of my best travel experiences happened within the first few days of arriving somewhere.
| A．Spend more time in fewer places for maximum enjoyment. |
| B．You'll learn about activities that aren't in your guidebook. |
| C．Life is much too short to be angry and annoyed all the time. |
| D．You will definitely look like a fool many times when traveling to new places. |
| E．You may only see these places and meet these people once in your lifetime. |
| F．You need to get out there before everyone else shows up. |
| G．Slow down your train of thought and pay close attention to the details around you. |
