1 . The world’s craziest festivals

Crazy festivals all over the world are out there just waiting to be celebrated. Join Cornelia Kumfert on a trip to the most unusual events taking place around the globe.

Burning Man Festival

Every year in Nevada (US) there is artwork and cunosities galore to marvel at when the Black Rock Desert changes into a mammoth art exhibition.

In August and September, some 70,00 people come here to celetrate the Burning Man Festival.

San Diego Comic Con

Surely superheroes don’t queue? Well, at San Diego’s Comic Convention they do. Each July hey open their dos to fans of Superman and other comic figures. More than 100,000 annual visitors have paid homage to their mythical heroes.

Crying Baby Festival, Tokyo

At the Crying Baby Festival in Tokyo (Japan), sumo wrestlers do what they can to bring babies to tears.

Sadists run riot? Certainly not! It’s a 400-year-old tradition based on a Japanese proverb, which says that crying babies grow fastest and parents believe the event brings good health to their children.

Palio Contest, Siena

Fame and honour await the winner of the Palio contest in Siena (Italy).

In July and August, ten inhabitants of different districts of the city jockey for first place in a spectacular horse race.

The trophy goes to the contestant whose horse crosses the finishing line first—whether he’s still in the saddle or not.

1. Which of the festivals offers a view of art?

A．Burning Man Festival.	B．Palio Contest, Siena.
C．Crying Baby Festival, Tokyo.	D．San Diego Comic Con.

2. How was the festival in Tokyo founded?

A．On the basis of a proverb.	B．Based on a phrase.
C．According to a story.	D．At the request of the public.

3. What can tourists see in Siena of Italy between July and August?

A．A burning man show.	B．A comedy play.
C．A horse race.	D．A baby-crying show.

2 . “This material is called xiangyunsha,” said Song Fei, while she introduced a traditional cheongsam(旗袍) to customers in a flagship shop. “Dyed with pure plant extracts (提取物) and unpolluted river mud, the time-honored silk cloth is named ‘soft gold’ in the textile (纺织的) industry.”

To everyone’s surprise, the knowledgeable Song, who has unbelievable insights into cheongsam, a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women, has practiced law for 10 years in Chengdu City. In 2017, she traveled to Suzhou to learn design and handicraft skills of cheongsam and traditional costumes, becoming a cheongsam designer.

At first, Song’s family and friends were not optimistic about her choice to switch from a distinguished career to an artistic field. Knowing little about clothing, Song met with a huge challenge. “The pain was unthinkable, but since I had chosen that profession, I had to stick to it. I want a career that I truly enjoy,” said Song.

Song returned to Chengdu with new skills and creative passion in 2019 and founded her design brand. “To be honest, compared with my previous job, this one is harder and leaves me with much greater financial pressure. But my sense of satisfaction is beyond comparison when my works are recognized and appreciated,” said Song.

“Traditional cheongsams are one-piece tailored dresses of Chinese origin that require making with natural materials by hand. However, modern cheongsams are often made with artificial materials and produced by machine,” Song said. “In the face of rapid social and economic changes, traditional cheongsams are receiving less attention due to the popularity of mass-produced cheongsams.”

To save the beauty of traditional culture, Song wants to blend people’s daily lives with time-honored handicrafts, believing that traditional culture should not be the zone of museums. She aims to pass on traditional Chinese culture, which is a meaningful type of work with social responsibilities.

1. Where did Song probably work in the past?

A．In a design room for costumes.	B．At an office of legal affairs.
C．In a museum of traditional culture.	D．At a flagship shop of cheongsams.

2. What made Song change her job?

A．Great financial pressure.	B．Persuasion from family and friends.
C．Unthinkable pain from the former job.	D．Love for traditional costumes.

3. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．The future development of cheongsams.

B．The main producing process of cheongsams.

C．The difference between traditional and modern cheongsams.

D．The original materials of traditional and modern cheongsams.

4. Which of the following can best replace the word “blend” in paragraph 6?

A．Combine.

B．Present.

C．Compare.

D．Exchange.

4 . Some documents have been making the rounds lately — where people who work various positions in different industries share how much they’re paid.

Bravo! It’s about time we blew up that old belief that salaries have to stay secret. This is not just a matter of curiosity. Having information about salaries can help narrow the gender wage gap, which has barely changed for more than a decade. Recently released date from the US Census Bureau shows that, on average, women working full time still are paid only 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man. And the gap is even wider for many women of color: Black women make 62 cents, and Latinas just 54 cents. What’s more, the pay gap even extends into her retirement. Because she earned less and therefore paid less to the social security system, she receives less in social security benefits.

Having greater access to salary information is helping to speed things up. A new research report by the American Association of University Women shows that the wage gap tends to be smaller in job sectors where pay transparency (透明) is a must. For example, among federal government workers, there’s just a 13 percent pay difference between men and women, and in state government, the gap is about 17 percent. But in private, for-profit companies, where salaries are generally kept under wraps, the gender wage gap jumps to 29 percent.

Fortunately, salary information is increasingly available on some websites. Certain companies and many human resources departments are pushing ahead with this practice. Of course, it’s going to take more than salary transparency to equalize earnings between women and men. But sharing salaries can and must be part of the solution. The more information women have about how jobs are valued — and what different people earn — the better they will understand their value in the labor market and be able to push for the pay they deserve.

1. Why are the figures mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．To reveal the severity of gender wage gap.

B．To confirm the previous belief about salaries.

C．To satisfy readers’ curiosity about others’ salaries.

D．To appeal to readers to share their salary information.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The inequality between men and women.

B．The need to keep salary information a secret.

C．The advantage of working for the government.

D．The benefit of making salary information public.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards sharing salary information?

A．Critical.	B．Favourable.
C．Unclean	D．Negative.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Why It Pays to Share How Much You Make

B．Where Salary Information Difference Lies

C．What It Takes to Realize Gender Equality

D．How Woman’s Value Improves at Work.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Painted with tung oil, a kind of plant oil from the tung tree, to make them water-proof, Chinese oil-paper umbrellas are not just tools to shelter people     1     rain or sunlight, but also works of art with rich     2     (culture) meaning in China.

Chinese oil-paper umbrellas are among the world’s     3     (old) umbrellas. According to historical records, the first oil-paper umbrellas appeared during the Eastern Han Dynasty. They soon became very popular,     4     (especial) among the literati (文人). They loved to write and draw on the umbrella surface to demonstrate their literary tastes and painting     5     (skill).

During the Tang Dynasty, Chinese oil-paper umbrellas     6     (bring) overseas to Japan and ancient Korea,     7     they were known as Tang umbrellas. Over centuries, these umbrellas also spread to other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

Oil-paper umbrellas are     8     necessary part of traditional Chinese weddings. A red oil-paper umbrella is needed as the bride is greeted at the groom’s home, because the umbrella is supposed     9     (help) avoid bad luck. Also, oil-paper sounds similar to “youzi” in Chinese, which means    10    (have) children. So the umbrella is seen as a symbol of fertility (多子多孙).

6 . Zou Shengyu isn’t your average street photographer. She’s a breakout star on Chinese video platform Bilibili, _______ by influencers and fashion models.

The 6-year-old — known to her fans as Shengsheng — has become _______ on Chinese social media in recent months.

A vlog series showing her capturing (拍摄) fashionable _______ people has attracted over 3million views. In the videos, Shengsheng _______ approaches a well-dressed young woman on the street and asks: “Hi, miss! Can I take your photo?”   She then _______ to shoot away on her camera, directing her subjects — who often _______ over her — with surprising confidence. Fans have been won over by her precocity (早熟), but also the _______of her work.

Though she only picked up a camera in 2019, Shengsheng has already developed a signature_______. Her photos always have a warm orange tone. She _______ to capture her subjects in a relaxed pose, with broad smiles on their faces.

The ________ of Shengsheng’s success has been her father, Zou Yupeng. A commercial photographer by trade, he says his daughter was ________ to follow his passion.

Zou is a________ teacher. Even in the vlog videos, he can barely hide his anger when the little girl is unable to ________ his professional standards.

According to Zou, his daughter has already used up over 110 rolls of film taking photos. But the father insists he has no________ of pushing Shengsheng to become a professional photographer. He says he just wants to teach her to be ________.

1.

A．deserted

B．courted

C．affected

D．frightened

2.

A．famous

B．beautiful

C．mature

D．polite

3.

A．common

B．lucky

C．remarkable

D．young

4.

A．patiently

B．crazily

C．typically

D．cautiously

5.

A．hesitates

B．proceeds

C．affords

D．refuses

6.

A．pull

B．take

C．knock

D．tower

7.

A．quality

B．content

C．change

D．inspiration

8.

A．issue

B．design

C．style

D．look

9.

A．prefers

B．promises

C．hates

D．agrees

10.

A．introducer

B．architect

C．leader

D．manager

11.

A．inspired

B．ordered

C．allowed

D．warned

12.

A．gentle

B．skilled

C．strict

D．kind

13.

A．set

B．match

C．apply

D．improve

14.

A．hardship

B．pleasure

C．method

D．intention

15.

A．careful

B．gifted

C．generous

D．focused

7 . You may have seen them coming quickly towards you or passing you swiftly. They’re moving steadily, swinging what looks like a ski pole in each hand.     1     These people aren’t skiing. They’re enjoying a type of exercise called Nordic (北欧的)walking. They use poles not for balance but to get their arms working. And their arms do work! In fact, in Nordic walking, the whole upper body gets plenty of exercise.

    2     Some of the time, they have to go up hills! They use their poles to help push themselves along. Nordic skiers were the first to use poles while walking. It was a way to train for their sport when there was no snow. Then other people, learning of the health benefits of the exercise, began to do it, too.

In the early days of Nordic walking, all walkers -- skiers and non-skiers alike- used ski poles. In 1988, an American company began making and selling poles especially for walking.     3     That’s because they usually aren’t used in snow. And they don’t stick very deeply into the ground. Some of them come with various tips, or ends, for use on different surfaces.

Although regular walking is healthy, studies have shown that Nordic walking is even healthier.    4     This produces strength in the muscles (肌肉) of the arms and chest. It makes the heart and lungs work harder. For young and old, Nordic walking is a great way to exercise the whole body outdoors.     5    

A．Nordic walking poles are shorter than ski poles.

B．And there’s none of the danger of falling on skis.

C．But you aren’t on a ski hill, and there’s no snow in sight.

D．Nordic walking can be performed by anyone at any time.

E．Nordic skiers don’t just slide down hills.

F．Nordic walking is a form of popular sport.

G．With each step, Nordic walkers push themselves forward with one of their poles.

8 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Ski resorts in northern China are seeing their business skyrocket, as winter sports     1     （get）more popular in China supported by a multi—year national campaign ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“When we opened a few years ago, there was no one here     2     （ski）; even during the Chinese New Year, there were only around 300 people. Now, we have over 3, 000 each day,” Luo Li, chairman of Zhangjiakou Wanlong Sports and Tourism Co. in the ski resort city of Zhangjiakou, told the Global Times.

Luo’s resort is not the only one in Zhangjiakou     3     has more business. A recent report from the city, which is also     4     host site for the Winter Olympics, said that the city     5     （expect）to see 2. 4 million people come to ski by 2022       6     the winter sports sector will drive 1 percent of the city’s total GDP by 2025.

Luo said that the increasing business has been supported by long—term investments by private businesses, as well as a national campaign to increase the     7     （popular）of winter sports ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

    8     （national）, as part of the preparation for the Winter Olympics and national exercise campaign, Chinese     9     （official）announced that measures would be taken     10     （encourage）as many as 300 million people to play winter sports.

9 . Most of us wish to be liked by others. Increase the chances of someone liking you by smiling and being of good cheer when you’re around them.     1     No matter what, be sure to be yourself. Here are three suggestions to be yourself when you are liked.

Communicate honestly, but with tact (得体).     2     Lying or hiding the truth may make you seem untrustworthy, so aim to be truthful. You should still exercise tact, though. For instance, if asked if you like their favorite movie, say “Hmm, it’s not really my thing, but I did like the main character’s personality.” Don’t say, “No, I hate that movie!”

    3     One thing that’s characteristic about you is the principles you hold dear. So it’s important to stay true to yourself, even at the risk of someone not liking you. Sticking to your beliefs takes courage.     4     Being true to yourself might make you unpopular with some people but could also attract those with whom you share common values.

Respect yourself. Having healthy self-respect means you like yourself no matter what. When you’re communicating with others, avoid comparing yourself to others. Remind yourself of your strengths by listing them out to yourself.     5     It’s difficult for people to treat you with real regard if you don’t treat yourself well.

A．Share your values and beliefs.

B．Stand behind your values and beliefs.

C．Self-respect is key to earning respect from others.

D．It’s no easy to refuse to go along with a dangerous joke.

E．Most people like others who are able to talk to them straight.

F．If they can’t like you for who you are, they’re not worth the effort!

G．It’s also a good idea to find out their interest’s and get them talking.