1 . If you’re not into a roller coaster, but you still want the thrill of an amusement park ride, perhaps a sky wheel is more your speed. Here’s a look the four tallest examples standing in the world today.

Aln Dubal, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Located in the Dubai Marina, the Ain Dubai, opened in 2021, is the tallest sky wheel in the world with a height of 820 feet. It’s capable of carrying 1,750 passengers on a single rotation(旋转). One rotation of Ain Dubai takes 38 minutes, and you can even have a birthday party or a wedding in one of the capsules!

High Roller, Las Vegas, Nevada

At 550 feet tall, it opened in 2014 as the tallest sky wheel in the world and held the record for seven years until it was replaced by the Ain Dubai. The High Roller has a total carrying capacity of 1, 120. And in case you get bored of the view, each capsule is equipped with eight flat screen televisions.

Singapore Flyer, Singapore

The Singapore Flyer opened in downtown Singapore on April 15, 2008. The giant wheel stands at 541 feet tall. Each of its 28 air-conditioned capsules can hold 28 passengers. A few months after opening in 2008, the Singapore Flyer changed directions to bring good fortune.

Star of Nanchang, Nanchang, China

The Star of Nanchang, built in 2006, stands at 525 feet tall and is located in Nanchang, China, the capital of Jiangxi Province. Its 60 capsules can carry eight passengers each, and it’s rather slow for its size. It takes 30 minutes to make a full rotation, allowing the passengers at the bottom of the wheel to exit the ride without stopping the entire wheel each time.

1. What’s special about High Roller?

A．It has the greatest capacity.	B．It is equipped with TV sets.
C．It is the tallest sky wheel in the world.	D．It once changed its direction.

2. Which sky wheel is the most recently built?

A．Ain Dubai.	B．High Roller.
C．Singapore Flyer.	D．Star of Nanchang.

3. In which section of a website do we probably read the text?

A．Fashion.

B．Tourism.

C．Health.

D．Technology.

2 . Rumination（深思）is a sleep—blocker because it keeps your mind awakened, especially in bed, when it’s dark and quiet.     1     Your brain’s job is to strengthen information and build new synapses（突触）by digging up moments and memories from your day, even the things that upset you.

The best time to deal with worrying is during the day when you have important things to do and don’t have time to get caught up in mental cycles for hours and hours.     2    

Worry early.

Set aside 15 minutes during the mid—to late—afternoon just for yourself. Once the timer starts, give yourself the freedom to worry about one topic at a time. Think of it as a to—do list that you go through one by one, except what you’re checking off are topics you feel the most anxious about.

If you find yourself worrying during the day, tell yourself: “Look, I just need to put off this to the next emotional worry time.”     3     “I have this scheduled for tomorrow.” Do this two to three times a week until your rumination at night slowly starts to fade.

Practice helpful worrying.

On a piece of paper, create two columns labeled as “Problem” and “Solution”. Come up with a short list of current problems you’re dealing with. Focus in particular on what you’re likely to ruminate about tonight.

    4     Remember, the goal is to make out a plan for how to get started with actionable steps for tomorrow, or within the next few days. You are not solving it completely.

Then fold the paper up and put it next to your bed. Say to yourself, “I have a plan.”     5     It frees your mind from puzzling over them at night.

A．There’s no magic switch to completely turn off rumination.

B．Like eating, drinking and breathing, we need sleep to survive.

C．Make sure you don’t get distracted by anything or anyone else.

D．Use this same technique if your worries pop up again at bedtime.

E．It turns out that you’ve already spent focused energy on these problems.

F．Here are two ways to stop ruminating at night and they only take 15 minutes to do.

G．Under “Solutions”, come up with the next one or two steps you could take to deal with each problem.

3 . Given the extremely unpleasant heatwaves of this summer, being green and good to the planet feels more urgent than ever. The actions of our governments and cities, who have the power to make a great dent in the climate crisis, are important.

Now, there are plenty of cities that are still failing to effectively take action in the climate emergency. But others are becoming successful quickly—like, for instance, the winners of two of the European Union’s most famous green cities awards: European Green Capital and European Green Leaf.

Both of the awards recognize not just what the green—stuffed cities have already achieved, but also what they’ve got planned for the future. There’s only one European Green Capital winner per year, while the yearly European Green Leaf recognizes the environmental achievements of two smaller EU cities.

And now the winners of those two awards have finally been announced. European Green Capital in 2024 will be Valencia in southern Spain, which defeated the Sardinian city of Cagliari in the final.

Valencia says proudly Turia park—the largest urban（城市的）park in Europe—has obviously increased its green infrastructure（基础设施）polices in recent years. As well as being Green Capital 2024, Valencia will take home £350,000 to put towards green policies. (2023’s winner is Tallinn, Estonia)

The Green Leaf award, meanwhile, has been won by the Danish city of Elsinore and Velenje, the fifth—largest city in Slovenia. The two winners of the Green Leaf will get £75,000 to fund local green efforts.

For the separate awards, each city had to present their ideas to a judging group. The winners were announced at a ceremony in Grenoble (this year’s European Green Capital) last week.

So even if you don’t care about EU medals. it’s very much worth visiting all these cities to find out all the cool stuff they’re doing to save the world, hit by hit.

1. What does the underlined word “dent” probably mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Progress.

B．Damage.

C．Ambition.

D．Effect.

2. How many green city award winners are mentioned in the passage?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

D．Six.

3. What must every city do to win the awards?

A．Build an urban park.	B．Donate to green efforts.
C．Predict weather accurately.	D．Demonstrate their ideas.

4. What does the author suggest doing in the end?

A．Being calm.	B．Cooling the world.
C．Paying attention to medals.	D．Calling at the green cities.

5 . Bhutan is one of the world’s most mysterious(神秘的)countries. Visiting it can be challenging, but there’s a new drive to finally cross it off the bucket list in 2022, as its breathtaking Trans Bhutan Trail(小径)will be reopening to travelers for the first time in 60 years.

According to the Bhutan Canada Foundation -the main donor to the restoration project — the 250-mile route connects nine districts, 28 local governments, one national park and 400 historic and cultural sites. Travelers who follow the entire trail route will cross 18 major bridges and climb 10,000 stairs. It will be possible to walk or mountain bike there.

“This is a community-based project in both its building and operation which will restore an ancient cultural treasure and provide a sustainable, net zero carbon experience in the country for travelers,” says Sam Blyth, chair of the Bhutan Canada Foundation. “The Trans Bhutan Trail also reflects the country’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness and will allow the children of Bhutan to walk in the footsteps of their ancestors.”

The trail’s westernmost point is the town of Haa, which is near the border with Tibet, China. The eastern most point is Trashigang, near the border of India’s Arunachal Pradesh state. According to a representative for the Bhutan Canada Foundation, an ambitious walker could cover the whole trail in about a month, but most tourists will likely enjoy shorter parts of the trail on three-, four-, or seven-day trips.

Due to its “high value, low impact” tourism strategy, Bhutan averaged just a few thousand visitors in atypical year before COVID-19 occurred. As part of its aim to avoid over tourism, the country charges a mandatory(强制的)$250 per day fee, which includes land transport, accommodations, food and guide service. The cost makes it somewhat prohibitive for many people to visit. And walkers to the Trans Bhutan Trail will have to apply for a permit. They can do this beginning in April.

1. What do we know about the Trans Bhutan Trail?

A．It connects several national parks.

B．It has been left unused for decades.

C．It has been maintained by the local governments.

D．It is more popular with mountain bikers than walkers.

2. What can we infer about the trail from Sam Blyth?

A．It allows children to reflect on themselves

B．It provides a community experience for travelers

C．It teaches people to learn from their happy ancestors.

D．It builds a connection between current and past generations.

3. What can walkers to the Trans Bhutan Trail do?

A．Choose from four types of short trips.

B．Collect ancient treasures along the way.

C．Explore Haa at the trail’s easternmost point.

D．Take a month-long trip to cover the whole trail.

4. What is Bhutan’s tourism strategy?

A．Putting profits first

B．Giving fines to badly-behaved visitors

C．Developing tourism without putting nature at risk

D．Offering tourists high-quality accommodations and food.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What was the man in China for?

A．For a tour.

B．For a conference.

C．For a lecture.

2. How many cities did the woman visit in China?

A．5.

B．4.

C．6.

3. Who are the man and the woman?

A．A scientist and a traveler.

B．A reporter and a traveler.

C．A businessman and a scientist.

7 . On March 15, 2022, Francis Kéré became the first African architect to win the Pritzker Prize, the most important award in the architecture discipline. “Can you imagine?” he exclaimed. “I was born in a little village where there was no school in Burkina Faso. And my father wanted me to learn how to read and write very simply because I could then translate or read him his letters.”

Francis was the first of his community to attend school. As there were no educational facilities in the area, at age 7 he went to live with his uncle in the nearest town. Thanks to two scholarships offered by German institutions, he was able to start studying carpentry (木匠) in 1985 and, ten years later, to start studying architecture. Although he began studying architecture at the age of 30, Francis’ career path is particularly fast. He built his first building, Gando Primary School, when he was still in college. In this project, Francis understands that his design is the result of combining basic needs, limited budgets and convincing communities to work as a team, of course, without sacrificing the beauty of architecture.

Impoverished countries (贫困国家) do not have enough influence to shape and deliver their own culture or brand to the world, but are left in the charge of what developed nations understand. For this reason Francis is aware that “The West knows how to present its culture. Everybody is dominated by the images produced in the West and, therefore, his challenge is to create a local architectural language, one of the many that African architecture can coin (创造), without falling into the stereotype of the impoverished village or violent slums (贫民窟) at polluted outskirts. ”

The first black winner of the Pritzken Prize has already receive numerous honors in his field, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the Thomas Jefferson Medal. “Francis Kéré is pioneering architecture—sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants—in lands of extreme scarcity (缺乏),” said committee chair, Tom Pritzker, in a statement. “He is equally architect and servant, improving upon the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the word that is at times forgotten. Through building that show beauty, modesty, boldness and invention, and by the integrity (完整性) of his architecture, Kéré gracefully upholds (维护) the mission of this prize.” The Pritzker jury (评审团), by awarding him, also rewarded a way of practicing architecture that happens in different latitudes (纬度) of the word: The adaptation of local techniques as an effective response to the climate crisis and the scarcity of resources.

1. Which year was Francis Kéré probably born in?

A．1978.

B．1977.

C．1955.

D．1965.

2. What does the underlined word “dominated” mean in paragraph 3?

A．astonished.

B．misled.

C．controlled.

D．convinced

3. Which of the following is true about Francis Kéré?

A．He studied architecture for his father at the beginning.

B．The Pritzker Prize is the first prize he won.

C．He wants to break the fixed image of underdeveloped areas.

D．His first building showed modesty, boldness, without the beauty of architecture.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Francis Kéré is a servant serving in his buildings to improve citizens’ life.

B．Francis Kéré likes creating and challenging things in architecture.

C．Francis Kéré’s work focuses on sustainability of the earth.

D．The mission of the Pritzker Prize is to practice architecture in response to the climate change.

8 . Recently, we have been stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic but our hearts are always on the way to travel. Here are private tours of some popular ancient cities in China for recommendation.

Pingyao Ancient CityTour

Located in Shanxi Province, Pingyao Ancient City was founded in the 14th century and now covers an area of 225 hectares. This city is a complete building including ancient walls, streets, shops, and temples. This three-day tour will show you an outstanding example of the developments in architectural style and urban planning of the Han cities.

Price: 2200 yuan per person and a 30% discount for kids under 12. Tel: 0358-3892679

Lijiang Ancient City Tour

Located in Yunnan Province, Lijiang Ancient City was founded in 1127. The roads in the town are paved with colored pebbles(鹅卵石), and there are many stone bridges built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In this one-week tour, you can enjoy the beauty of this amazing city, visit Black Dragon Pool, and Lion Hill and experience Dongba Culture from Naxi ethnic group.

Price: 3800 yuan per person and a 25% discount for kids under 10. Tel:0871-7992586

Fenghuang Ancient City Tour

Located in Hunan Province, Fenghuang Ancient City is regarded as the most beautiful city in China. Built in 1704, this city is known for its charming scenery of multiple ancient buildings and the rich culture of Miao, Tujia and other minority ethnic groups. You can appreciate the antique flavor of this old city, feel the rich culture, and explore the remaining traces of the famous historical figures and great writers in our two-day tour.

Price: 2600 yuan per person and a 20% discount for kids under 10. Tel:0937-6092582

Langzhong Ancient City Tour

Located in northeastern Sichuan, Langzhong Ancient City is a key military position with a history of 2, 300 years. Also, Langzhong is an important part of the Three Kingdoms Culture. In this five-day tour, you can visit this mysterious ancient city, taste delicious Sichuan cuisine, and enjoy culture shows including Langzhong Lantern Drama and Sichuan Shadow Puppetry.

Price: 3000 yuan per person and a 25% discount for kids under 12. Tel: 0823-9033420

1. If a couple with a kid aged 9 visit Fenghuang Ancient City, how much should they pay?

A．7800 yuan.

B．7280 yuan.

C．5720 yuan.

D．5200 yuan.

2. Which of the following will NOT be included in Lijiang Ancient City Tour?

A．Lion Hill.

B．Miao Culture.

C．Black Dragon Pool.

D．Dongba Culture.

3. For someone who’s fond of Sichuan delicious food and Shadow Puppetry, the best choice is

A．Pingyao Ancient City Tour	B．Lijiang Ancient City Tour
C．Fenghuang Ancient City Tour	D．Langzhong Ancient City Tour

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What does the speaker mainly talk about?

A．Sea animals of New Zealand.

B．A travel experience in New Zealand.

C．A painting exhibition in New Zealand.

2. Where is Christchurch?

A．On the north island.

B．On the east coast of the south island.

C．In the northwest of the south island.

3. What does the speaker like best?

A．Ocean birds.

B．Whales.

C．Dolphins.

4. What souvenir did the speaker buy at Nelson Saturday Market?

A．A mask.

B．Paintings.

C．Jewelry.

10 . Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, is by far the largest city in the country. Here, you’ll find a multitude of tourist attractions to please even the pickiest of travelers. For ideas on the best places to visit in this magical city, read our list of the top attractions in Copenhagen.

Tivoli Gardens

It’s impossible to miss the grand entrance of the famous Tivoli amusement park and pleasure gardens dating from 1843 at Vesterbrogade. Here, visitors are welcomed through a dramatic archway and you will also find more than 20 attractions including a roller coaster, roundabouts, halls of mirrors, puppets and other entertainment facilities for your family of all ages. No matter what time of year you visit, Tivoli feels festive. At Christmas, Tivoli becomes an extravagantly decorated wonderland. The park is famous worldwide and appears in many movies.

National Museum of Denmark

An easy 10-minute walk from Tivoli along Vestergade brings you to the National Museum, a must-see attraction for anyone with an interest in Danish history and culture. It was established in 1807 and has been the biggest cultural and historic museum in this country. Some impressive runic stones are on display here, and the Danish history collection includes a sun chariot, antiquities and coins. You’ll also find collections from other interesting areas including Asia, Africa and Oceania, as well as the culture of the Indians.

Christiansborg Palace

On the tiny island of Slotsholmen is the Danish seat of government and an attraction that should top any visitor’s agenda. Christiansborg boasts more than 800 years of history and today, the palace is home to the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Supreme Court. In addition, several parts are still used by the Royal House, although thankfully, much is open to the public. Opening hours for each section of the palace can vary since they are in use, so be sure to reserve ahead if you are interested in a specific area.

The Round Tower

The Round Tower is a 36-meter-high structure built as an observatory in 1642. It now also houses a small collection connected with the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. A particular treat is the platform. From the top are magnificent views over the city. A new attraction is the glass floor hovering 25 meters above the ground where you can peer down into the castle’s core.

1. Which attraction do you need to book in advance?

A．Christiansborg Palace.

B．Tivoli Gardens.

C．National Museum of Denmark.

D．The Round Tower.

2. What can you enjoy on The Round Tower?

A．Stay overnight in the tower.

B．Have a lunch on the platform.

C．Walk into the castle’s core.

D．Overlook the beautiful scenery of the city.

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．You are supposed to find a lot of antiquities from Asia in Tivoli Gardens.

B．It is not too far to walk from Tivoli Garden to the National Museum of Denmark.

C．Tivoli Gardens has the longest history among the four tourist attractions in Denmark.

D．National Museum of Denmark is the best choice if you want to know more about puppets.