Ballet is a formal kind of dance performance with a rich and interesting history. The word “ballet” comes from the French language. Ballet’s early roots began in Italy in the late 1400s. But it was in France
The French ruler Louis the Fourteenth had a big influence
Louis the Fourteenth turned ballet into a form of dance that reflected
Ballet slowly changed from a dance at the king’s court to one
2 . An idea that started in Seattle’s public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched the “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor (市长) appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the “One Book, One Chicago” program. As a result, reading clubs and neighborhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, it appeared that parents and children read to each other at night and strangers chatted away on the bus about the stories and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse (多样的) population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity can be achieved or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point, putting all their energy and passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Finally, as Nancy points out, the level of success is not judged by how many people read a book, but by how many people are benefited by the process, or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not have shared a word.
1. What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?| A．To invite authors to guide readers. | B．To encourage people to read and share. |
| C．To involve people in community service. | D．To promote the friendship between cities. |
| A．They had little interest in reading. |
| B．They were too busy to read a book. |
| C．They came from many different backgrounds. |
| D．They lacked support from the local government. |
| A．communicated with each other | B．discussed the meaning of a word |
| C．gained life experience | D．used the same language |
| A．the careful selection of a proper book |
| B．the growing popularity of the writers |
| C．the number of people who benefit from reading |
| D．the number of books that each person reads |
What do Richard Branson, Jack Dorsey, and Michelle Obama all have in common? Besides being
Early rising is helpful in more than one way. As is reported, people
4 . About one year ago, a couple with three children moved into the apartment next door to me. I never heard any noise from the children. Instead, I often heard he parents yelling angrily at the kids, not in a nice tone, but in a
We often
I forgot to tell her how grateful I was for her kindness. Later I wrote a note saying how much her act of kindness had
The next day there was a/an
Last night there was a heavy snow. I looked out at my car and
| A．frightening | B．exciting | C．informal | D．confident |
| A．gathered | B．met | C．chatted | D．jogged |
| A．present | B．result | C．reply | D．announcement |
| A．fixing | B．cleaning | C．returning | D．leaving |
| A．preventing | B．removing | C．holding | D．crashing |
| A．attractive | B．stressful | C．unnecessary | D．tough |
| A．looking for | B．waiting for | C．asking for | D．seeking for |
| A．defeated | B．broken | C．touched | D．saved |
| A．note | B．knock | C．chapter | D．certificate |
| A．noticed | B．realized | C．knew | D．recognized |
| A．questioned | B．contacted | C．praised | D．thanked |
| A．manner | B．frequency | C．apartment | D．distance |
| A．desired | B．expected | C．remembered | D．wondered |
| A．updated | B．removed | C．packed | D．digested |
| A．amazing | B．challenging | C．frank | D．typical |
5 . The “happiest place on earth” is a top destination on many families’ bucket lists (人生目标清单). But taking a vacation to Disney World can be difficult to do on a budget. There are some considerations that you can make to reduce the cost of your Disney World vacation.
1. Come Prepared
Plan ahead so that you don’t have to purchase a necessity at Disneyland that you could have brought from home. For example, check the weather so that you don’t need to buy a raincoat or an umbrella.
2. Buy Souvenirs(纪念品) in Advance
Disney has influenced practically every industry, which makes it easy to find Disney items anywhere, from Walman, Target, and your local grocery stores to department stores and Amazon. You can save a lot of money by purchasing items before your trip at these less expensive places than at Disneyland.
3. Make an Autograph Book
An autograph book is seen as a must-have by many Disneyland enthusiasts and is a memory you can take home with you. These books can cost anywhere from $7.95 to $19.95 at the Disney Store and up to $30 for the latest-and-greatest autograph book at Disneyland, such as the park’s 60th anniversary editions. Other choices can get the job done for under $5. For example, you can buy a small photo album, cute pads or notebooks.
4. Take Advantage of Discounts Offered to Special Groups
Disney offers a wide variety of discounts (折扣), including for military service members, the college students and teachers, and youth groups. If you think you might qualify for a special discount or group rate, call the Disneyland Resort to book tickets.
1. Where will it cost you more money to buy souvenirs?| A．At Amazon | B．At Disneyland |
| C．At Walmart | D．At department stores |
| A．$30 | B．$19.95 |
| C．$7.95 | D．$5 |
| A．All the teachers | B．All the soldiers |
| C．All the students | D．All the young |
6 . Many people turn to doctors or self-help books, but they ignore (忽视) a powerful thing that could help them fight illnesses: their friends.
Researchers are now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship in health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of fiends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. Another study showed that there was an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk (危险) for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social relationship could improve brain health as we age.
“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t well realized,” said Rebecca, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “Friendship has a bigger effect on our psychological (心理的) health than family relationships.”
While many friendship studies are about the close relationships of women, some research shows that it can do good to men, too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-aged men, having friendships reduces the risk of heart attack. Only smoking was as important a risk factor (因素) as having little social support.
The exact reason why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear. While friends can send a sick person to the hospital or pick up medicine, the advantages go well beyond physical help. Friendship clearly has a big psychological effect. “People with stronger friendships feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen, a doctor. “The message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”
1. The three studies in Paragraph 2 show that ______.| A．old people need friends the most | B．friends can help us lose weight |
| C．social relationship are connected to health | D．more friends make us healthier |
| A．Fatness. | B．Unhappiness. | C．Excitement. | D．Health. |
| A．Friendship is more important to women than to men. |
| B．What people need most is a friend’s care. |
| C．Friendship is more important than family relationship. |
| D．The value of friendship hasn’t been fully understood. |
| A．Friends Are the Best Medicine |
| B．Friends Are as Important as a Family |
| C．Having Good Friends Leads to a Better Life |
| D．Friendship Makes People Happy |
A. The course’s themes, which are rooted in positive psychology studies, include how to encourage good relationships, deal with difficulties, make the workplace happier and build caring communities.
B. There are plenty of classes claiming they can make you happier, but few are supported by the gold standard of evidence: a randomized controlled trial (随机对照试验).
C. Researchers from the London School of Economics carried out such a study called Exploring What Matters, developed by the international charity Action for Happiness.
D. This one-point increase is bigger than waht researchers usually measure when an unemployed person finds a job or a single person enters a new relationship. The course participants also reduced their anxiety on average.
E. The trial looked at 146 people who’d resigstered for the course. For the participants who successfully completed it, self-rated life satisfaction rose from an average of 6.4 out of 10 before the course to 7.4 afterwards.
8 . Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center mapped brain changes after a year of aerobic workouts and uncovered a potentially significant process: Exercise increases blood flow into two key areas of the brain associated with memory.
The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, showed this blood flow can help even older people with memory issues improve cognition, a finding that could guide future Alzheimer’s disease research, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center.
In the study, researchers followed 30 participants who were 60 or older and had memory problems. Half experienced a year of aerobic exercise while the other half did stretches. “We’ve shown that even when your memory starts to fade, you can still do something about it by adding aerobic exercise to your lifestyle,” said Binu Thomas, a senior research scientist of UT Southwestern Medical Center who led the study. “The aerobic exercise group showed a 47% improvement in some memory scores after a year; the other group showed slight change. Brain imaging of the aerobic exercise group, taken while at rest at the beginning and end of the study, showed increased blood flew into the specific brain areas that played important roles in memory function.”
Many teams across the world are trying to determine if aerobic exercise might fight memory loss. Evidence is growing that it could at least play a small role in delaying or reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. For example, a 2018 study showed that people with lower fitness levels experienced faster retrogression of vital nerve fibers in the brain called white matter related to memory.
“Blood flow in the brain connected with memory improvement is still a part of the puzzle, and we need to continue piecing it together,” Thomas says. “But we’ve seen enough date to know that starting a fitness program can have lifelong benefits for our brains as well as our hearts.”
1. What is the study mainly about?| A．Old people have memory issues. | B．Exercise improves memory. |
| C．Aerobic workouts benefit mental health. | D．Alzheimer’s disease can be cured. |
| A．Growth. | B．Recovery. | C．Decline. | D．Increase. |
| A．Further research work requires doing. |
| B．More people experience memory loss. |
| C．Mystery of brain blood flow has been solved. |
| D．Signs of memory loss can be discovered earlier. |
1. 演出地点、时间及参加人员;
2. 介绍艺术节主题：弘扬传统文化，促进文化交流。
提示：弘扬 carry forward; 文化交流 culture exchange
注意：1.词数 100 左右;
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Peter,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . Life in the future will be different from the life today. Between then and now many changes will happen. But what will the changes be?
The population is growing fast. And most of them will live longer than people now.
Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least one in every room. And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in schools then. People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travel. Travelling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.
There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead, they will eat more fruits and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier. Work in the future will be different, too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a big problem.
1. In the future there will be________.| A．fewer vegetables | B．much more fruit |
| C．more people | D．less people |
| A．walk on foot | B．work long hours |
| C．work fast | D．eat meat |
| A．people will eat more fruits and vegetables |
| B．many people may not be able to find work |
| C．room for growing fruits and vegetables will reduce |
| D．all the work will be done by robots |
