1 . Morning tea is a family tradition. It is nothing less than an art form, with the
Each morning started with a cup of tea boiled in a kettle. Her favorite was a(n)
Accompanying the tea was milk,
Adding a spoonful of
| A．attitude | B．rule | C．identity | D．policy |
| A．belief | B．impression | C．character | D．taste |
| A．growing up | B．passing down | C．hanging out | D．getting along |
| A．traveled | B．returned | C．moved | D．escaped |
| A．imaginations | B．memories | C．expectations | D．relatives |
| A．mix | B．experiment | C．show | D．sight |
| A．boiled | B．drunk | C．added | D．washed |
| A．incomplete | B．colorless | C．informal | D．endless |
| A．sold | B．weighed | C．tested | D．heated |
| A．fresh | B．hot | C．wet | D．clean |
| A．make | B．preserve | C．buy | D．enjoy |
| A．regular | B．cheap | C．expensive | D．rare |
| A．secretly | B．gradually | C．generally | D．possibly |
| A．biscuit | B．milk | C．container | D．weather |
| A．common | B．interesting | C．different | D．important |
I still remember last winter, when I
When I think about what makes Christmas so magical, it’s not just gifts and Father Christmas
In December, we made sugar biscuits, stuffed the turkey and sang Christmas songs. Granny had
On Christmas morning, I was on my best
A few weeks after that Christmas, Granny passed
4 . For four long years, Owen Connors had to spend his Saturday afternoons playing rugby(橄榄球) at school. He’d be out there in all weathers. As a teenager, he
The boy would walk home in the dark,
“It was the exact
For some reason, Owen had
Owen doesn’t eat Guinness pie very often in Munich. Recently he tried to make one with his mum and daughters — it was a(n)
“I’d like to show my kids more of that kind of food,” Owen said.
1.| A．missed | B．hated | C．wasted | D．ignored |
| A．taken | B．seated | C．covered | D．buried |
| A．joy | B．pain | C．courage | D．concern |
| A．invited | B．served | C．moved | D．greeted |
| A．opening | B．tracking | C．pulling | D．hitting |
| A．graceful | B．warm | C．classic | D．unique |
| A．make | B．enjoy | C．remember | D．imagine |
| A．silently | B．calmly | C．nervously | D．comfortably |
| A．opposite | B．result | C．reward | D．choice |
| A．call | B．smell | C．type | D．role |
| A．often | B．still | C．even | D．never |
| A．new | B．busy | C．ordinary | D．modern |
| A．curiosity | B．demand | C．desire | D．emotion |
| A．amusing | B．similar | C．important | D．amazing |
| A．success | B．attempt | C．challenge | D．opportunity |
5 . As a child I was one of the 125 people at our family gathering for New Year. These days we were a much smaller group in Belle Valley, Ohio. I insisted (坚持要求的) on acting as hostess and wanted to bring back the joy I’d felt at my childhood New Year that filled with love.
As family members arrived at the hall, I handed each one of them a numbered card and said, “Time for the alphabet game.” “What kind of game is that?” one of my great-grandchildren asked. “well,” I said, “who’s got number one?” A cousin raised her hand. “Tell us something you never forget,” I said. “Something that begins with the letter A.” My cousin smiled. “Apple pie!” she said. Great-granddaughter Mindy was next. “B,” she said. “I am impressed by Buckeye Country.” “Cookies!” Number 3 shouted.
Until Number 17, “The next one’s a challenge,” I said. “Who’s got 17?” Ryan, my son, slowly raised his hand. “Q,” he said. “Quaker City Carnival (嘉年华).” The room went silent.
“It’s one of the oldest traditions in Ohio,” Ryan said. “Grandma and Grandpa met there. That’s where they fell in love. That’s where this whole thing started. This whole family.” Ryan looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone. “We wouldn’t be here celebrating New Year together if it wasn’t for Quaker City Carnival.”
The room burst into laughter and was full of the love that had kept us connected to our Ohio traditions. “This is the best New Year we’ve ever had,” a great-grandson said to me secretly. Whatever their New Year would look like when they grew up, they’d remember this one. And for me, I had an unforgettable New Year to treasure — a memory where love started with the letter Q.
1. Why did the author organize the alphabet game?| A．To enjoy the family gathering. | B．To bring joy and love to the children. |
| C．To share moving stories with family. | D．To experience long-lost New Year happiness. |
| A．It is related to guessing. | B．It is one of Ohio’s traditional games. |
| C．It is mainly about numbers and letters. | D．It describes the history of some words. |
| A．It reminded them of a tradition. | B．It was related to their family roots. |
| C．They knew their grandparents better. | D．They understood the meaning of love. |
| A．A Letter Full of Love | B．A Celebration of New Year |
| C．A Family Custom at New Year | D．A Love Story About the Carnival |
Last year I went back to the US to visit family, friends and
I went to Iowa City to visit my good friend, Matt, and
One place I visited was
A good trip
7 . As a child, I had spent my holidays travelling our village in Bangladesh — running across the rice fields or farms and fishing in lakes. But, this had started to wear off as a teen. One thing I remember about that trip was when we were only about half an hour from our village, we had to get out of our car. The road in front of us was completely under water. We all got on a bamboo boat for another two or three hours.
That was 15 years ago — the last time I visited our village. One by one, many other villagers left there. But my father has been working hard to build it up. He doesn’t want it to be lost.
Yes, we should protect our home. But there is something else to think about: climate crisis (气候危机). Bangladesh is at the centre of the climate crisis — it is hit by floods, droughts, storms and other natural disasters. “I jokingly say, Bangladesh is God’s laboratory for natural disasters,” says Prof Ainun Nishat, an expert on climate change from Bangladesh.
The period from June to October sees heavy rains. But the rainfall time is becoming more erratic (无常的). In 2020, Sylhet, my hometown, was hit by huge floods that affected thousands of families, whose homes were swept away. In fact, over a quarter of the country was flooded. Nearly 1.3 million homes were damaged, and hundreds of people died.
The weather is getting more extreme (极端的). It is getting too hot. And the supply of water can’t be relied upon, leaving the land getting drier.
Although people have worries about droughts and floods, unlike in the past, the country is well-prepared to deal with them. Prof Nishat says, “Maybe 20, 30 years back we depended on external (外部的) support to return to normal from any natural disaster, but now it’s different. The country has developed, and we suffered these disasters many times, so the people are one of the most prepared.”
1. What do the underlined words “wear off” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Advance. | B．Make sense. |
| C．Disappear. | D．Lose control. |
| A．It is affected by many disasters. |
| B．It needs more people to build it up. |
| C．People living there lead an unhappy life. |
| D．Experts are studying why the climate changes there. |
| A．To prove floods are difficult to avoid. |
| B．To show the effects of climate change. |
| C．To prove floods are frequent in Bangladesh. |
| D．To show the great damage caused by floods. |
| A．People in Bangladesh think the external support is unnecessary. |
| B．People in Bangladesh try to rebuild their homes on their own. |
| C．Bangladesh needs more support to aid its development. |
| D．Bangladesh is trying hard to deal with climate change. |
8 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.| A．show his magical power | B．pay for the delivery |
| C．satisfy his curiosity | D．please his mother |
| A．He wanted to have tea there. | B．He was a respectable person. |
| C．He was treated as a family member. | D．He was fully trusted by the family. |
| A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B．It has been driven out of the market. |
| C．Its service is getting poor. | D．It is not allowed by law. |
| A．He missed the good old days. | B．He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
| C．He needed it for his milk bottles. | D．He planted flowers in it. |
Back in my country, when I was a child, I used to go to “market day” with my mother. One day each week, farmers used to bring their fruit and vegetables into the city. They closed one street
The outdoor market was a wonderful adventure for a small child,
Everyone used to argue with the farmers
“What?” she said. She looked very surprised. “So expensive?”
The seller looked terribly hurt. “My dear lady!” he replied. “I’m a poor, honest farmer. These
They always argued for several minutes before
| A．The man’s toy. | B．The man’s room. | C．The man’s photo. |
