1 . First launched in 2010 by China’s e-commerce giant Jingdong, the 618 shopping event has developed into a major mid-year shopping event that has driven online consumer spending over   the decade. However, consumers are becoming more cautious during a pandemic-hit economic downturn and growing tired of more frequent shopping events stimulation over the past decade.

The event was originally created as a competition for the Alibaba-backed Singles’ Day shopping event on November 11. And similar to Singles’ Day, the 618 shopping festival has grown out of its founding platform and become a promotional event across all major Chinese e-commerce platforms. The event is also considered a barometer (指标) for consumer spending capacity and new shopping trends in China.

For those who are taking a close look at the country’s second-largest shopping carnival, this year’s edition of 618 might seem like 2020’s all over again, yet if anything the situation is even more serious.

In both years, China was just coming out of lockdowns which had taken a toll on the country’s economy and led to negative consumer consumption concept. But the timing is different. In 2020, Covid-19 broke out in January and most pandemic-related lockdowns were removed in early April. By the time 618 arrived in June, the state had already stepped in to boost consumption by launching a series of digital subsidy programs over April and May. On top of that, the two-month gap allowed more time for manufacturing and logistics (物流) companies to recover from the lockdowns ahead of the shopping festival.

This year, however, there’s less time for the market—either consumer consumption concept, merchants (商人), or logistics companies—to react since the months-long lockdowns to control new Covid-19 outbreaks in cities like Beijing and Shanghai only ended on June 1, just as many retailers were preparing for the 618 shopping festival with pre-promotion and early deals. Moreover, recent trends make it obvious that Chinese consumers will be even more cautious in 2022 than they were near the start of the pandemic.

1. What was the reason for JD to establish the 618 shopping events?

A．To attract customers to shop in malls.

B．To celebrate Jingdong’s establishment.

C．To compete with Alibaba for customers.

D．To create opportunities for single person.

2. Why is the 618 shopping event seen as an assessment of spending power?

A．Because of its leadership in fashion.

B．It is China’s second-largest shopping festival.

C．Because of JD company’s popularity.

D．It is organized by China’s largest online platform.

3. What difficulty do the 618 shopping events in 2020 and 2022 both face?

A．The absent logistics assistance.

B．The same tough timing for selling.

C．The pandemic-hit economic decline.

D．The sales restrictions set by government.

4. Why may the 618 shopping event in 2022 be even worse?

A．Lockdowns just ended in early April.

B．There is less time for the market to respond.

C．Covid-19 outbreaks are more serious in cities.

D．Chinese customers are more lacking in money

5. What does the underline word “lockdowns”in the last paragraph mean?

A．measures to close cities

B．limited activities

C．locks to the door

D．downtowns

2 . Liao Wentao, a pet undertaker, put the body of 2-year-old Garfield on a small bed surrounded by flowers. Then he let the cat’s owner say a last goodbye before cremation (火化). “We send off 400 to 500 pets each year, and there’s a great demand for pet funerals,” he told China News.

Keeping pets has become a trend for young people in China and people are more than willing to pay for whatever their pets need. From 2019 to 2021, China’s pet market grew by almost 18% and hit 348.8billion yuan in value in 2021, according to a report by Research Consulting Group.

As the pet economy develops, animal lovers’ various needs have boosted the emergence and development of related businesses such as bathing, pet food, pet beauty and healthcare.

In addition to basic services, pet owners are increasingly paying for many new services, such as training, pet funerals, insurance, photography and entertainment. The growing pet market has also given birth to a large number of new pet-related jobs, noted CCTV News.

Liu Wei, 33, is a famous pet detective in Shanghai. He and his team work on finding families’ lost pets. “We have successfully helped find more than 1,000 pets. Besides cats and dogs, there are other pets like birds, lizards and hamsters,” Liu said. “In many big cities, cats and dogs have become an important part of many families and are taken good care of. So what we look for are not just pets, but family members.”

Apart from pet undertakers and detectives, some people work as pet food testers, pet sitters and pet trainers. According to Tu Di, secretary—general of the Hunan Pet Industry Association, the booming pet market shows people’s improved living standards.

However, there are also problems with the industry, for example, the high fees of taking pets to the vet (兽医). Many pet owners have called for stricter pricing regulations for pet medical services, reported Global Times.

1. Why is Liao’s story mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To teach readers a lesson.
C．To sum up the main idea.	D．To involve readers in a story.

2. How does the author show the pet market is growing?

A．By introducing an argument.	B．By telling some true stories.
C．By giving numbers and examples.	D．By focusing on basic pet—related services.

3. What is Tu Di’s attitude toward the booming pet market?

A．Negative.

B．Positive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Indifferent.

4. What concern is the growing pet industry bringing about?

A．The low quality of services.	B．The rapid growth of the industry.
C．The lack of related regulations.	D．The various needs of animal lovers.

3 . Germany’s factories, which power Europe’s economy, produced less during September than at any time in the past two years, which experts say could be an indicator of an approaching European recession (经济衰退).

The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or S&P Global PMI, found that Germany’s manufacturing activity dropped to 47.8 in September, from 49.1 in August. The survey said the drop in factory output was due to customers either putting off or canceling orders because of fast-rising prices caused by more expensive fuel bills.

Joe Hayes, a senior economist at S&P Global, said while the whole world is in the middle of a manufacturing decline, Europe appears to be at the slowdown’s center. “Production fell at a rate which has only been larger during crisis periods,” Hayes told The Telegraph. “New orders also fell at a rapid pace, reflecting the hesitancy among clients to buy goods at expensive prices.”

The analysis also showed that Europe’s other manufacturing powerhouse, France, is struggling to remain competitive. The S&P Global PMI said French companies’ order books shrank during September, with around one-third of businesses reporting customers had canceled orders because of rising prices.

Phil Smith, an associate director at S&P Global, said Europe is experiencing “a continuous downturn”. He added that producers had been “coming under pressure from a deepening drop in demand as well as an energy-led rise in cost inflation (通货膨胀)”.

1. What happened in Europe this September?

A．Factories’ efficiency rose in Europe.

B．Factories’ production dropped in Germany.

C．Customers’ purchase continuously increased.

D．Fuel bills’ prices constantly decreased.

2. What is the possible reason for the fall?

A．The whole world is experiencing recession.

B．Factories fail to remain competitive.

C．Expensive fuel bills lead to a drop in demand.

D．Customers hesitate to buy cheap goods.

3. What does the underlined word “shrank” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Expanded.

B．Faded

C．Changed.

D．Decreased.

4. What is Phil Smith’s attitude towards European economy?

A．Negative.

B．Hopeful.

C．Positive.

D．Unconcerned.

4 . Washington’s reported plan to announce new limits on China’s access to US chip technology will severely disturb the global semiconductor sector (半导体行业), which has already been struggling with risks of division in the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said on Thursday. Their comments came after Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the US Commerce Department is expected to put forward a series of rules this week governing which semiconductor technologies can be exported to China.

Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the reported move would be part of a broader push by Washington, to cut China off from the rest of the world in chip supply chains. He also added that it is a move that would be unrealistic and have painful results. “Such an attempt will strike not just US chip companies, but the global semiconductor industrial chain too. Recent years, China has become the biggest chip market and it has growing influence in semiconductor manufacturing,” Bai said. “Those moves would harm global chip companies, which count on China to make a profit,” said Pan Helin, co-director of Zhejiang University’s International Business School.

The Chinese mainland imports more than $300 billion of semiconductors annually, and most, though not all, major US semiconductor companies get at least 25 percent of their sales from the Chinese mainland market, according to an article by Christopher Thomas on the Brookings Institution’s website. “Access to this big market is essential to the success of any globally competitive chip firm today and in the future. A cooperation between China and the US is beneficial to the world.” The Semiconductor Industry Association, a Washington-based group, said in a report.

Zhong Xinlong, a senior consultant at the Beijing-based China Center, said such limits will motivate Chinese companies to achieve breakthroughs. In 2015, the US government blocked Intel from supplying its high-end processors to China’s supercomputer builders. Under the pressure, Chinese researchers came up with self-developed processors a year later, Zhong said.

1. What will happen if new chip limit measures are issued?

A．It has little influence on China’s chip market.

B．The chip supply chain between China and other countries will be cut off immediately.

C．It will have a great impact on the global semiconductor industry.

D．The income of US chip Industry will increase.

2. What can we infer from the third paragraph?

A．The chip market in mainland China is broad.

B．Mainland China needs more and more semiconductor chips.

C．The global chip market is highly competitive.

D．The Chinese market is essential to American semiconductor companies.

3. What dose Zhong Xinlong think of the chip limits measures?

A．They are of benefit to Chinese chip technology.

B．American chip technology is not particularly important to China.

C．Without American chip technology, we cannot achieve breakthroughs.

D．We can develop new chips year later.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．China’s chip technology will have a rapid development.

B．Limits against China would affect all players in semiconductor industry.

C．The United States has far-reaching influence on Chinese chips.

D．China and the United States should strengthen cooperation in semiconductor technology.

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。

Shoppers seeking witches, ghosts and severed heads     1     (decorate) their homes for Halloween     2    (find) something truly scary this year: empty shelves.

The supply-chain snarls that have shaped much of life in the pandemic are now     3    (responsibility) for shortages of Halloween décor and costumes.

A Home Depot spokeswoman says that stock on its Halloween items went quickly “as consumers are     4    (engage) with decorating again this year.”

The National Retail Federation predicts that Halloween spending will reach an all-time high this year of $10.1 billion, up     5    a record $9.1 billion in 2017.

Franco Pacini, co-owner of costume mask company Zagone Studios, says the skyrocketing price of freight shipping and     6    (rise) prices on items like foam are stretching the business financially. The company has met demand by ordering early and working seven days a week, he says. It’s already placed     7    (order) for next Halloween.

Some retailers are splurging on airfreight to avoid the backlog of container ships at U.S. ports, says Katherine Cullen, NRF’s senior    8     (direct) of industry and consumer insights. Other, smaller shops are buying up vintage or used masks, costumes and other paraphernalia from local collectors.

Amy Cobaugh, 49,    9     avid Halloween decorator in North Canton, Ohio, got     10    (create) when she couldn’t find any fake spider webs to decorate her yard. She instead bought 10 pounds of elastic netting used to wrap meat.

6 . Though the COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected the food industry, the prefabricated food (预制菜) market has witnessed a fast growth.

“I bought some prefabricated food in late April when my community was locked down due to the coronavirus outbreak,” a Beijing-based resident Yu told Global Times. “It was then that I realized there were so many different sorts of prefabricated food. All you need to do is to put some water into the heating package and a fair meal would be ready in minutes.”

Prefabricated food has become increasingly popular over the last two years, with plenty of companies entering the business and different kinds of productions keeping hitting the shelves. The total market scale for prefabricated food reached 345.9 billion yuan in 2021. It is expected that China’s prefabricated food market will stay a high growth rate in the near future, with a market scale estimated to reach 1.07 trillion yuan in 2026.

Many investors have started to pour money into it. From 2013 to 2021, a total of 71 investments were conducted in the prefabricated food sector(行业). Even so there are problems linked to the growth of the industry. For instance, the prefabricated food industry is made up of a long value chain from production, cold-chain logistics(冷链物流) to delivery, which requires companies to realize smooth operation.

In addition, the sector’s product quality problem has also begun to come under the spotlight, becoming one of the most common complaints by consumers, according to an analysis released by China Consumer Association(CCA). “There are prefabricated food products with no detailed labels and many restaurants do not inform customers when offering them prefabricated food.” CCA’s analysis said.

CCA emphasized that with the rapid development of the prefabricated food market, relevant rules need to be rolled out to promote the standardized development of the industry and to guide the industry’s healthy growth.

1. What can we infer from the Beijing-based resident Yu’s description?

A．She suffered a lot during the period when her community was locked down.

B．She had known prefabricated food quite a lot before the pandemic broke out.

C．The pandemic to some extent increased the popularity of prefabricated food.

D．Numerous cooking skills are needed to prepare prefabricated food at home.

2. What is the current situation of prefabricated food sector?

A．Promising but worthless.

B．Profitable but insecure.

C．Popular but unsuccessful.

D．Well-received but challenging.

3. What does the underlined phrase “come under the spotlight” mean in paragraph 5?

A．Draw people’s great concern.

B．Disappear from people’s sight.

C．Have the potential to get settled.

D．Have a positive effect on customers.

4. What did CCA suggest to promote the healthy growth of the prefabricated food market?

A．Canceling some rules.

B．Making some regulations.

C．Promoting the sales.

D．Enriching the production varieties.

7 . Open-air jazz, locally-grown vegetables, Focaccia bread, goat cheese, and Narcan training all competed against a rainstorm last Tuesday at Westside Farmers Market’s annual College Night.

And the vendors (商贩) held out pretty well. Even as the raindrops intensified, folks kept exploring the tables stationed in the parking lot of St. Monica Church. Among the crowd were a number of college students, mostly from the University of Rochester, likely brought in by the College Night awards being offered — a five-dollar token (购物券), a handbag, and a prize raffle entry, all free of charge.

Now in its 15th year, Westside volunteer Jackie Farrell said the market partners merely with local farms, businesses, and community groups to populate its tables. “Our mission really is to serve the people in the community, getting them health and nutrition information, and connecting them to the farmers who grow the produce,” Farrell said, “Everything has to be local. It’s a producer-only market, so you have to grow or produce whatever you’re going to sell here.” Those producers had diverse offerings. Vegetables, of course, were abundant but sellers also pushed cheeses, spreads, bread, prepared pasta dishes, and much more.

The community groups offering information were diverse too. Recovery All Ways, a local nonprofit with a stated “mission to support anyone affected by substance use disorder” handed out Narcan and trained people in its use. Their station was next to a Moms Demand Action tent, where staffers provided information on physical safety. SNAP-Ed nutrition and benefits educators also ran a table.

The activities of the stations were scored by live music. The University’s Midnight Ramblers performed, and a local jazz band played away as the rain showers started rolling in.

Farrell hoped that the College Night promotion would help make students more comfortable crossing the bridge into the Rochester community. “We love college students, and we keep encouraging them that all they have to do is go across the bridge.”

1. What attracted college students to the College Night?

A．Free prizes.	B．Scenery in the rain.
C．Interesting books.	D．Featured goods.

2. What is the characteristic of Westside Farmers Market?

A．It is managed by farmers themselves.

B．Its visitors are mostly university students.

C．Its offerings are locally grown or prepared.

D．Farmers provide more vegetables than corn.

3. Which of the following can best describe the College Night?

A．Crowded and chaotic.	B．Busy and festive.
C．Luxurious and splendid.	D．Romantic and peaceful.

4. What might be a suitable title for the text?

A．Westside Farmers Market is flowering rapidly

B．College Night channels products to community

C．College Night bridges university and community

D．Westside Farmers Market is expanding nationwide

8 . At 14, Fraser Doherty was busy making jam after his grandparents taught him a family recipe. He started selling jars of his jam door to door near his parents’ home in Edinburgh. As interest grew, his hobby stated to turn into a business. He now makes 40,000 jars of jam a month and is well on his way to making his first million.

Doherty, who has been chosen to represent Britain in the Global Students Entrepreneurs Awards in Chicago next month, said there are several advantages to having started young: “As a young person you have a different view of the world. You have a naivety and an optimism and are willing to give things a shot. The downside for me isn’t particularly scary. I don’t have a mortgage or kids to worry about so I didn’t have a huge amount to lose if my idea had not worked.”

Duncan Cheatle, founder of The Supper Club, a forum for established entrepreneurs in London, agreed that becoming an entrepreneur at a young age has a lot to recommend it.

“For young people there is no concept of thinking outside the box because there isn’t a box. There is capacity in young people to see things in a different way that older people lose. And often not being an expert in something can be helpful because if you don’t understand why something works in a certain way, you will decide to do it differently.”

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, the home business website, said that young people were much more confident about using technology as a base for their business than the older generation. “Whole sectors that didn’t exist ten years ago are coming up now because young entrepreneurs are challenging all previous rules and saying technology means that we can do things like this. They have an open capacity to think of new ideas and as a result they are starting very interesting businesses.”

1. According to Doherty,         is the competitive edge of young people starting business compared with the older generation?

A．ignorance of the reality	B．naïve pursuit of a hobby
C．readiness to try things out	D．parents shouldering the financial burden

2. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means young people         .

A．are reluctant to obey the existing rules

B．are not bound by established ways of doing things

C．have superior ideas to those of the older generation

D．will not fall into traps that old people set up for them

3. Which of the following statements will Emma Jones most likely agree with?

A．Abandoning all previous rules is a must to establish new sectors.

B．As people grow older, they are less able to take a fresh approach.

C．Those lacking confidence are less able to start creative businesses.

D．The use of technology contributes to the creation of new businesses.

4. The purpose of this passage is to         .

A．inform readers of success stories of young entrepreneurs

B．introduce opinions on the advantages of being young entrepreneurs

C．convince young people to follow the trend and start their own businesses

D．provide specific guidance on how to become successful young entrepreneurs

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. literally       B. barrier       C. Eventually       D. find E. examines       F. features       G. innovations       H. mean I. professional       J. striking       K. well-positioned

The Best Company to Work For

Every year, Fortune magazine published a list of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’. How does the magazine choose the companies? Firstly, it uses a survey: 350 employees answer 57 questions about their company. Secondly, Fortune looks at important     1     of companies: for example, pay, benefits, and communication between workers and management. Finally, the magazine     2     the results to find its Top 100.

Wegmans Food Markets, which ranks No. 1 on the list, has a motto (座右铭), ‘Employees first, customers second’, and it is also one of the 50 largest private companies in the US, with annual sales of $3.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Apparently, being good to your employees is no     3     to making money.

How much of Wegmans’ success is due to the company’s policies? ‘Up to a point, the success is because of the freedom they give us,’ says one employee. ‘On the other hand, no company gets rich just by not being     4     to its employees. Wegmans has great marketing strategies and it’s     5     within the community. I’ve been here for 15 years. Looking back, I’d say that the company’s     6     for customers, such as the Shoppers’ Club electronic discount programme in the 1990s, have been just as important as the benefits to staff. ’

But the employee benefits are     7    . Fundamentally, Wegmans believes in     8     development. As well as scholarships, the company gives its employees business opportunities. For years, one employee made delicious cookies for her colleagues.     9    , she started selling the cookies in Wegmans. ‘I just asked the manager,’ she says. ‘While looking back, I think should have asked earlier. I could have made more money!’

The staff’s freedom to make decisions is another thing you won’t     10     everywhere. Essentially, Wegmans wants its workers to do almost anything to please the customers. Believe it or not, an employee once cooked a Thanksgiving turkey in the store for a customer because the woman’s turkey, bought in Wegmans, was too big for her oven.

10 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. increase             B. separate             C. ensure            D. better            E. ease F. under                 G. benefits               H. except          I. special     J. from     K. efforts

Tax incentives for the lump sum annual bonuses earned by residents in China will continue for the next three years.

In addition, the government has also adjusted the personal income tax rules to     1     the overall tax burden of residents, including foreign residents.

The favorable tax treatment, which started in 2005, considers the lump sum annual bonus as an independent income source of an individual. In normal taxable income calculations, the lump sum bonus is added to the total earnings for tax purposes, whereas in     2     treatment, the two are considered separately for taxes, with the bonus income attracting lower tax rates in general.

Retention (保留) of the favorable clause will help the country’s ongoing     3     to ease the tax burden of individuals, analysts said.

Six categories of special individual income tax deductions will take effect along with the amended personal income tax law from Jan 1,2019. The     4     in the threshold for personal income tax exemption from 3,500 yuan ($510) to 5,000 yuan per month has already come into effect from October this year.     

Treatment of the lump sum annual bonus as     5     from other incomes, however, is not in line with the tax rules     6     the amended personal income tax law. The special treatment will be lifted in 2022.

“In the long run, it is appropriate to cancel the treatment to     7     conform to basic taxation principles and guarantee smoothness in fiscal income,” said a professor with the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing.

Even without the special treatment, other personal income tax adjustments could still bring considerable     8     to the individual tax burden, especially for young and middle-aged people.

From 2019 to 2021, foreign residents in China can choose to enjoy either the newly introduced special tax deductions, or the tax exemption     9     housing allowance, language training fee, and children’s education allowance.

But from 2022, foreign residents will only be allowed to enjoy the special tax deductions, as domestic residents do.

The professor said the cancellation of tax benefits only for foreigners conforms with international conventions and the fundamental principle of an open market economy, to     10    equal treatment for domestic and foreign market participants.