1. What do kids bring to school on Bubble Gum Day?
A.50 cents. | B.Old toys. | C.Some snacks. |
A.A teacher. | B.A writer. | C.A bookseller. |
A.Community groups. | B.Schools. | C.Businesses. |
A.To raise money for a charity. |
B.To encourage kids to sell things. |
C.To develop children’s creativity. |
2 . According to a survey in the UK market, British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day.
Supermarket Sainsbury’s has found that one in three British people throw away bananas if there is a single bruise (擦伤) or mark on the skin. More than one in ten customers also admit throwing away the fruit if there is any green on the skin. The supermarket is making efforts to reduce food waste. It’s pushing British shoppers to make bread and desserts (甜点) out of bruised and blackened bananas.
Starting from this week, Sainsbury’s will launch hundreds of “banana rescue” stations to encourage shoppers to give bruised bananas a chance. The stations will provide tips and ideas on how to bake with bananas or use them in drinks, and the stations are already set up in 500 stores nationwide.
The supermarket’s boss, Paul Crewe, said Sainsbury’s wants to encourage customers to use the fruit in different ways. “We are determined to help shoppers reduce the number of bananas going to waste at home too,” he said. “61% of Britons admit they never use the bruised bananas in baking, so we also want to encourage customers to use their fruit in different ways,” he added.
1. What ’s the percentage of the British people throwing away bruised bananas according to the Supermarket Sainsbury’s?A.About 20%. | B.About 33%. | C.About 66%. | D.About 90%. |
A.Send. | B.Sell. | C.Start. | D.Release. |
A.British people don’t like eating bananas. |
B.Bruised bananas can be stored in the supermarkets. |
C.Paul wants to sell more bruised bananas to his customers. |
D.There is no need to throw away the bruised bananas anymore. |
A.Banana Rescue | B.Banana Harvest | C.How to Cook Bananas | D.How to Sell Bananas |
3 . Want to see your work published and win some cash along the way? Then read on. The national Spark a Story writing contest is calling in all young storytellers!
●Who can participate?
The contest is open to students in grades 9, 10, 11 or 12, or those who are being home-schooled in the United States.
●Deadline and requirements.
You’re able to send your short story up to October 7th. It will be judged on creativity, originality and overall quality of writing. Your story must be original works and shouldn’t be longer than 5000 words. There is no minimum length requirements.
●How can I send my short story?
*Online at http://learn.hmhco.com/hmhsparkamind
*Send your short story as a PDF or Microsoft word document to Sparka@hmhco.com
*Send your short story via U.S. Mail to:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
222 Berkeley Street
Boston, MA 02116
●What will I win?
The best stories will be published next year. Winners will receive a free copy of the book and $100 cash.
1. Who is this passage intended for?A.Students. | B.Teachers. | C.Parents. | D.Editors. |
A.Two. | B.Three. | C.Four. | D.Five. |
A.Sports. | B.Science. | C.Education. | D.Fashion. |
I wonder if you like long-distance running. Long-distance running is becoming one of the most popular
Doctors believe that many of the health problems come
If you are new to running, here is a piece of
5 . The sun is shinning. I get on No. 151 bus. I’m heading for my office. The sight on the bus is striking: People sit so close together, using those thin sheets of newspapers to keep their distance.
As the bus approaches the National Park, a voice suddenly rings out, “Attention! Attention! This is your driver speaking.”
No one speaks. We look at the back of the driver’s head. His voice carries authority. “Put your papers down. All of you.” The newspapers come down and they are placed on our laps.
“Now, turn and face the person next to you. Go ahead.” Amazingly, we all do it. Still, no one smiles. Just follow the order.
I face an old woman, her head wrapped tightly in a red scarf. I see her nearly everyday. Our eyes meet. We wait for the next order from the driver. We smile to each other. There is a feeling of relief. The barrier (隔阂) has been broken. We cannot help saying, “Good morning, neighbor.”
It is not so hard after all. Some of us repeat it. Others shake hands. Many laugh. The bus driver says nothing more. Slowly, I hear laughter, a warm sound I have never heard before on the bus.
When we reach my stop, I say good-bye to my seatmate, and then jump from the doorstep. As No. 151 bus drives away, I smile as I watch the happy faces of the passengers. This day is starting off better than most.
1. Where does the story take place according to the passage?A.On a street. | B.On a bus. | C.In a park. | D.In an office. |
A.Supportive. | B.Negative. | C.Unclear. | D.Doubtful. |
A.To stress the effect of reading on people. | B.To introduce the ways of communicating. |
C.To ask people to use more public transport. | D.To encourage people to break the barriers. |
6 . Known locally as sakura, the cherry blossoms in Japan are popular with both locals and tourists alike. For the Japanese, sakura hold much cultural and historical significance that goes deeper than their obvious beauty.
Sakura are usually only in full bloom (盛开) for about one week.
While the cherry blossom season occurs between March and May each year, the specific time varies from region to region. Luckily, the Japanese Meteorological Corporation (JMC,日本气象厅) has done all the work.
A.Many people hold flower-watching parties known as hanami. |
B.The pink flowers have inspired poets, artists and soldiers for centuries. |
C.Each year it posts forecasts of when the blooming will begin in each region. |
D.It’s pretty easy to plan your trip around the blooming sakura. |
E.Most people bring beer or other drinks to mark the occasion. |
F.Cherry blossom season is one of the high seasons in Japan. |
G.If you manage to catch the end of the blooming, you’ll see the beautiful flowers. |
7 . 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 |
8 . I live in Xizhou in Yunnan Province, on the historic Tea Horse Road. I have to admit that when I first heard that Paul Salopek was going to walk the entire globe on his own two feet, I was blown away. I couldn’t imagine that there could be such an unusual person in the world.
Last May, I met Paul. He told me that it was his first time in China. He talked to me with great excitement about the history, migrations, and discoveries in my region of China. He spoke of the Shu-Yandu Dao (the Southern Silk Road), the travels of the 17th-century Chinese explorer Xu Xiake, the Tea Horse Road and the early 20th-century American botanist Joseph Rock. He also talked of Xuanzang. Paul considered many of them heroes and in a sense Chinese pioneers of slow journalism.
I decided to accompany Paul on his walk toward Yunnan. On September 28, 2021, we set out. Our days were simple: walk, eat, sleep, and repeat. We woke up at sunrise, set off in high spirits, and rested at sunset, dragging ourselves into exhausted sleep.
We met many people on the road. Some were curious, surrounding us and watching us; some gave us directions; some invited us into their home to take a rest; some spoke of the charm of their hometown. We met many beautiful souls, simple souls and warm souls. We were walking with our minds.
Together, we were impressed by the biodiversity of the Gaoligong Mountains. As I walked on ancient paths through mountains, I seemed to hear the antique voices of past travelers urging me to be careful on the road.
Looking back on the more than 200 miles I walked with Paul, I came to a realization. Walking for its own sake, while healthy and admirable, is only a small part of the benefit of moving with our feet. A deeper reward is rediscovering the world around us, shortening the distance between each other, and sharing each other’s cultures.
1. How did the writer first respond to Paul’s travel plan?A.Scared. | B.Puzzled. |
C.Disappointed. | D.Surprised. |
A.He was a western journalist. | B.He had a knowledge of China. |
C.He came to China several times. | D.He was Joseph Rock’s acquaintance. |
A.They honored the ancestors. | B.They set off in high spirits. |
C.They satisfied the locals’ curiosity. | D.They built bonds with people. |
A.To share and reflect on a journey. | B.To suggest a new way of travel. |
C.To advocate protection of biodiversity. | D.To introduce and promote Chinese culture. |
9 . Apart from decoration purposes, the paint symbols were mainly used during wars to express secret messages to the other members of the tribe(部落). Native Indians believed that the designs that they painted had certain magical power that would protect them. The symbols were a reflection of the happenings and events during a war. Given below are the different symbols with their meanings.
Eye of a Medicine Man Symbol It was a very powerful symbol that represented the medicine man. The outer(外部的) lines indicated the four directions. The inner lines showed the spirit world and the dot (圆点) in the center meant the eye of the medicine man and his spiritual vision. |
Lightning Symbol It was a common symbol that was seen painted on the face or across the forehead(额头) of almost all the soldiers. It was believed that it brought power and speed to the wearer. A lightning symbol also symbolized the thunderbird, which brought lightning. |
Four Ages of Man Symbol It indicated four stages of a man's life. They were childhood, youth and adolescence, maturity in middle age, and wisdom in old age. |
Indian Camp Symbol It indicated an Indian village that consisted of tent-like houses made of wood and animal skins. It was easy to build and dismantle (拆卸)quickly. |
Homecoming Symbol It indicated the return of soldiers and ceremonies were held to welcome the brave soldiers. |
So, these were a few war paint symbols along with their meanings. These were some of the widespread symbols. Each and every tribe had different symbols and colors, which indicated different things. They were not only used during wars, but also for hunting and decorations.
1. The native Indians may disagree that the paint symbols can be used toA.share secret messages among tribe members | B.protect tribe members with magical power |
C.reflect the events happening during wars | D.prevent tribe members from being attacked by insects(昆虫) |
A.gain strength and speed | B.show his courage and bravery |
C.celebrate his narrow escape | D.show off his victory(胜利)over enemies |
A.Homecoming Symbol. | B.Lightning Symbol |
C.Four Ages of Man Symbol. | D.Indian Camp Symbol |
注意:
1. 词数80左右;
2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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