1 . Zion is among the most visited parks in the USA and is particularly crowded because many of its most popular sites sit in a narrow six-mile canyon (峡谷). Last year, about 4.3 million people visited it, up to 60 percent from a decade ago. So this year, park managers announced they were considering a first for any national park: requiring reservations (预定) for entry.
The National Park Service was created in 1916 to protect the country’s growing system of parks and monuments. Its aim is to conserve scenery and wildlife while also protecting visitor enjoyment for generations to come. For years, the lack of a reservation system for park entry associated with the spirit of adventure: Anyone could come, pretty much anytime.
But recently, both visitors and nature are suffering. Mr. Burns, who is on a team that is considering a reservation system, said some people showed up for a vacation they had planned for months, spent a day in the traffic jam and turned around. Mr. Burns said he favored a reservation policy. He recalled the days when he would jump in a car and pull up to parks across the West with no plans.
When he first came to the park in the 1980s, he wrote a letter home. “I’m living in a no-man’s-land,” he told his parents. He could hike for hours, even days, without seeing anyone, and he remembered the constantly changing light on the canyons, the brilliant green of the trees, the blue water of the Virgin River. Today, he said, when he wants to find solitude (清静), it is usually joined by the distant rumble of the shuttle bus.
“There is only one Zion National Park,” he said to those struggling to see a need for limiting access. “And it’s sacred (神圣的). Its beauty is sacred.”
1. What do we know about Zion from Paragraph 1?| A．It sits in a narrow six-mile canyon. |
| B．It has required reservations for entry. |
| C．It’s the most visited park in the USA. |
| D．More and more people pay a visit to it. |
| A．conserve scenery and wildlife |
| B．prevent visitor enjoyment forever |
| C．allow visitors to visit the parks at any time |
| D．protect the country’s system |
| A．Cautious. | B．Favorable. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．A Popular Reservation Policy |
| B．The National Park Service |
| C．Zion Requiring Reservations for Entry |
| D．Zion National Park — A Safe Place |
President Xi Jinping has encouraged
3 . “My goal is that the City of Atlanta becomes the best place in the United States to raise a family,” says Mayor (市长) Andre Dickens about the capital of Georgia.
Dickens grew up in Atlanta. Recently, he was asked about his main goals for this city of nearly 500,000 people. His focus, he said, is on the youth. For that reason, he told the public officially 2023 is the Year of the Youth.
“Whatever we do, we have to think about young people,” Dickens said. “Atlanta’s young people are our future. Continuing to invest (投资) in future generations puts them on pathways to success that will help us move Atlanta forward together.”
Dickens said that after he put forward the idea of the Year of the Youth, businesses, nonprofits, and other community members all said, “I want to be in on that.”
Businesses offer summer internship (实习) programs. They allow students in Atlanta to get valuable experience in the workplace. Dickens explained that several businesses in the city even made their working environments suitable for young people to join in internships.
Improving education is another key goal. Schools and city leaders have been working together to make their partnership in the service of young people stronger. Toward this end, the city is working to improve educational opportunities, create safe ways to school, and offer after-school activities for free or at little cost.
Dickens also believes that it’s important to invest in early education. Investing in early education, he explained, means that more young people will be able to develop basic skills, stopping them from falling behind later in life.
Dickens is looking forward to positive results. “Everyone’s getting ready to serve the young people over the summer,” he said.
1. Why does Dickens invest in future generations?| A．To encourage the development of the city. |
| B．To draw more attention to young people. |
| C．To attract more youths to Atlanta. |
| D．To make Atlanta more famous. |
| A．Worried. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．The importance of internship for the youth. |
| B．Dickens’ suggestions to businesses. |
| C．How businesses help the youth. |
| D．Why businesses offer help. |
| A．It builds more schools for early education. |
| B．It cooperates with schools and businesses. |
| C．It asks more young people for their support. |
| D．It helps young people with personal problems. |
4 . New Rules for Delayed or Canceled Flights
DOT Proposes New Rules
On Aug. 3, 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a briefing regarding airline consumer protections related to flight cancellation and travel delays.
While there are already DOT rules regarding airline refunds in case of a canceled or significantly delayed flight, the definition of “significant delay” was not clearly defined, and its meaning is left to the interpretation of the airline, The vagueness of old rules often did not benefit travelers.
How New Rules Help Passengers
DOT’s new proposal seeks to outline a more precise definition of what constitutes a significant change in flight schedule
●Domestic flights: A change in departure or arrival time of three hours or more
●International flights: An arrival or departure delay of six hours or more
●Airport changes: A change in departure or arrival airport
●Experience: A significant downgrade in comforts or conditions onboard the flight
Laying down these guidelines would allow DOT to enforce the fair practices regarding consumer refunds when flights are changed.
Taking public health concerns into consideration, the rules propose that passengers who cannot fly due to specific pandemic-related reasons should be protected. The new rules would require ticket agents and airlines to provide passengers with travel credits.
Limitation on Airline Responsibility
There are limitations to the airline’s responsibility, just as the DOT’s current refund rules state. An airline is not required to give are fund due to a passenger’s personal issue or unsatisfactory travel experience. The airline is also not responsible for hotel room costs or other incidentals associated with passengers needing to wait for a new flight or alternative mode of transportation.
1. What’s the main aim of the DOT new rules?| A．To introduce DOT. | B．To advertise airlines. |
| C．To protect consumers. | D．To benefit transport. |
| A．Providing the reason. | B．Making a comparison. |
| C．Giving an example. | D．Offering the detail. |
| A．When his flight is delayed for two hours. |
| B．When he finds the food unsatisfactory. |
| C．When his departure airport is changed. |
| D．When he misses his flight for being late. |
There is one road that spans thousands of years. Along it are the echoes of camel belts,
1. How many vehicles did China produce in 2021?
| A．1.06 million. | B．2million. | C．3million. |
| A．Mexico and America. | B．Germany and Japan. | C．Japan and Canada. |
| A．It’ll expand production. | B．It’ll move to Japan. | C．It’ll lose to BYD. |
7 . Students who sat for the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) can apply for funding under the new University financing model rolled out by the government on May 3, 2023.
In the new funding model, students from extremely needy backgrounds will receive 100 percent financing, while those from needy and less needy backgrounds will get 93 percent.
Priority will be given to students from poor backgrounds in terms of scholarship allocation as those from less needy backgrounds will be covered by loan financing from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) .
All students who received letters from Universities and TVET colleges after applying on the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) website are qualified for funding. Additionally, students joining private institutions also qualify for the HELB loan.
Students applying for the funding can visit the New Higher Education Financing portal (入口) at www. hef. co. ke. to apply.
They will require a valid email address, KCPE and KCSE index numbers and the year examination was done, a passport size photo, and a copy of the student’s national ID.
Other items required to make the application include a copy of the student’s birth certificate, college or university admission letter, and their parents’ national ID number.
Other documents area death certificate in the case an applicant’s parents are deceased (已故的), two guarantors’ ID numbers and registered phone numbers, and copy of the sponsorship letter if you were sponsored in Secondary school.
Continuing students will not be affected by the new funding model and will continue to receive their funding based on the Government’s existing model.
1. Who will have the priority in terms of scholarship allocation?| A．Students from developing countries. | B．Students from poor backgrounds in Kenya. |
| C．Students from private institutions. | D．Students having receiving letters from Universities. |
| A．An effective email address in use. | B．A copy of student’s driving license. |
| C．A recently taken photo with no glasses. | D．Their parents’ national telephone number. |
| A．Their funding will be reduced. | B．They will apply for funding again. |
| C．It depends on the government’s decision. | D．The new model has no effect on them. |
8 . According to a recent survey carried out by The Economist (经济学家) magazine, Ireland is by far and away the best country in the world to live in.
Once Ireland joined the EU in 1973, the base for economic growth started to be put into place. The 1990s saw the economic growth finally arrive-a total change in Ireland’s economic fortunes was born. The country experienced year-on-year growth of almost ten per cent and now has the fourth-highest GDP per head in the world — a massive 36.5 thousand dollars per person. Coupled with this has been a huge drop in unemployment (失业率) from 20 per cent15 years ago to around four per cent today, all of which has meant Dublin’s newspapers now come with larger job sections and the country is looking to import up to 300 thousand new workers in the next few years.
In many ways, Ireland is the perfect advertisement (广告) for the policies of the IMF and the World Bank as it is one of the few economies that has opened itself up to free trade, foreign investment (投资) and unregulated business activity, cut welfare (福利) spending and checked wage (工资) increases and yet still managed to grow rapidly.
1. When did Ireland join the EU?| A．In 1990. | B．In 1973. | C．In 1991. | D．In 1974. |
| A．Business activity is regulated in Ireland. |
| B．Dublin’s newspapers now come with smaller job sections. |
| C．Ireland is the bad advertisement for the policies of the IMF. |
| D．Ireland will import up to 300 thousand new workers in the future. |
| A．Free trade. | B．The advertisement. |
| C．The World Bank. | D．Ireland. |
| A．Technology. | B．Education. | C．Economy. | D．Nature. |
9 . IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer(零售商), and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world's most successful enterprisers. Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. Naturally he used it to start up a business—IKEA.
Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist(简约的) furniture, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning. Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of goods.
Kamprad's goods included anything that he could sell for profits at discounted prices, including watches, pens and stockings.
IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue(目录) in 1947. The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad's home. Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became completely a furniture company in 1951.
In 1953, IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden. People loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it. This led to increased sales and the company continued to develop. By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture.
In 1956, Kamprad saw a man disassembling(拆卸) a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales went up. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA.
Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004, he was named the world's richest man. He now lives in Switzerland and has retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.
1. IKEA's flat packaging____________.| A．needs large space to assembly furniture | B．is a business concept inspired by Kamprad |
| C．helps reduce transportation costs | D．makes the company self-sufficient |
| A．Kamprad didn't show his talent for business until he graduated from university. |
| B．During 1947 and 1951, all the furniture in IKEA was designed by Kamprad himself. |
| C．Kamprad's goods were usually less expensive than those of competitors. |
| D．IKEA, the world's largest furniture retailer, was founded in 1926. |
| A．Ingvar Kamprad is the richest man in the world. |
| B．IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer. |
| C．The advantage of IKEA's furniture is dissembling. |
| D．Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA and led it to great success. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Worried. |
| A．The online marketing campaign. |
| B．The extra salespeople. |
| C．The discount prices. |
