1 . On a bright afternoon, Jordan, Mahir and Mahir’s father gathered at the foot of a mountain. “Hey, Jordan, over here!” Jordan’s best friend, Mahir, waved his hand, pointing to a crack in the side of the mountain. “We could
Jordan tied his safety harness (系带) and checked his rope. He weighed one of them in his hand, determining its weight. Then he looked for
“At the time of a test, a person rises or falls.” said Ghanim, Mahir’s dad. Shaking his head in
His own father’s voice resounded in his thoughts, as if in a half-forgotten dream. “Climb a mountain, son, and you climb the insecurity in your own life. You climb over your shadow, climb over your
And now Jordan wouldn’t either.
| A．master | B．pack | C．climb | D．dive |
| A．worthwhile | B．possible | C．unique | D．immediate |
| A．acceptable | B．classical | C．amazingly | D．unbelievably |
| A．confusion | B．awareness | C．understanding | D．appreciation |
| A．agreement | B．destination | C．balance | D．crack |
| A．shock | B．power | C．doubt | D．struggle |
| A．accident | B．journey | C．event | D．trap |
| A．discouraged | B．connected | C．pulled | D．prevented |
| A．Agreed | B．Faced | C．Ended | D．Gone |
| A．Concentrating | B．Depending | C．Moved | D．Carrying |
Tanni was born with an illness,
Running is very relaxing and beneficial. It is a great sport for beginners. You do not need any special equipment. Just a good pair of running shoes will do. Running
One study shows that the media can play an important role in
5 . Once I told someone I wanted to get a master’s degree of fine arts in creative writing and they told me it was the second-to-worst post-graduation plan they’d ever heard from a student. Arts degrees—especially fine arts degrees, which usually come in the form of music, studio art, creative writing and theater—have been, over the years, labeled useless.
It’s true that for the most part, STEM degrees lead to higher paying jobs than liberal and fine arts degrees, and it’s understandable why young people care about a higher starting salary and financial security. Student loan debt is playing a role in the physical and mental stress of young people.
And while STEM majors usually have starting salaries that are $20,000 higher than those of liberal arts majors, by the time people reach the age of 40, the salaries between those who majored in the liberal arts and those who majored in STEM are virtually the same. For example, women who major in STEM earned nearly 50% more than social science and history majors at ages 23-25, but only 10% more by ages 38-40, a New York Times analysis reported. So even in terms of salary, which doesn’t solely determine whether or not a degree is useful, liberal arts degrees aren’t all that far behind STEM.
It seems too that since people nowadays are going to have to work longer, it’s more important than ever that we actually like and care about what we’re doing. Pursuing something enjoyable, or else a passion, is continuously found to be a key factor in maintaining healthy relationships, mental health, physical health and energy. In other words, not useless.
Art is also a method of communication. It allows people from different backgrounds, from different walks of life to communicate with each other. In a world where borders and division seem to be all over the place, we need art more than ever. We need liberal arts majors. And more than anything, we need to be able to pursue what we love with confidence, and we need to not get caught up in the ”usefulness“ of what we love.
And just because someone’s primary job isn’t in their field of study—a writer who teaches high school for example—doesn’t make the degree useless. It just means that their way of finding a stable income is different. The same goes for artists who have to work multiple jobs to support themselves. They might have to find other means of supporting themselves and their artistry. It might be copy editing or it might be tutoring,
So I am going to graduate school, and I am going to graduate school for writing. I might be paying rent by way of overnight restaurant shifts—there’s so much I’m not sure of. But one thing I am sure of is this—I would rather be a writer working two jobs to pay my bills than be no writer at all.
1. A New York Times analysis report is mentioned in Paragraph 3 to .| A．analyse the potential value of different majors |
| B．put forward the opinion on majors by example |
| C．prove the argument against arts degrees wrong |
| D．demonstrate the link between majors and incomes |
| A．Following one’s dream of arts keeps one in good condition. |
| B．Doing what one loves builds up one’s self-confidence in arts. |
| C．Mastering arts improves one’s understanding of different jobs. |
| D．Developing a love for arts helps one maintain passion for work |
| A．Students learning arts are more concerned about the value of life. |
| B．People tend to place income in the first place when choosing majors. |
| C．The man who doesn’t love his work won’t stick with the job for long. |
| D．Graduates can find a broader space of development in the field of arts. |
People from different generations often live and work together. Sometimes they’re happy being together, other times they’re not. One of the reasons for their unhappiness maybe a generation gap. A generation gap is the difference between two or more generations—not the differences between their years but the differences between the generations’ ideas, attitudes, and interests. Of course, people can have differences and still be happy together, but according to the experts, communication between the generations helps everyone get along.
Good communication between the generations starts in the family. These days many families are changing their communication style. They are moving from a “one-way” style to a “two-way” style of communication. To show this change, let’s compare two families:
The Smith family uses the “one-way” style of communication. Mr. and Mrs. Smith show interest in their children, but they don’t discuss problems of feelings. The parents make all the rules and decisions. They don’t ask for their children’s opinions. They explain their decisions to their children, but they don’t discuss them. The explanation is clear and the children understand. The communication goes one way: from the parents to the children.
The Jones family uses the “two-way” style of communication. Mr. and Mrs. Jones show interest in their children and ask for their opinions. They discuss problems and express their feelings. The family makes rules and decisions together after a discussion. The communication goes two ways: from parents to children and from children to parents.
Better communication between generations at home means better communication between generations at work and in the community. When people from different generations understand each other better, they learn from each other more. This helps them form stronger bonds, work together more easily. As a result, people of all ages can team up effectively and come up with new ideas in different parts of life.
1. What is a generation gap?2. Where does good communication between the generations begin?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
If Jack’ parents discuss with him where to spend their summer vacation, they use the “one-way” style of communication.
4. To bridge the generation gaps, what other suggestions would you make besides better communication? (In about 40 words)
7 . A few weeks ago, I sat with a California farmer named Dave Ribeiro. I asked him what he wished more people knew about farmers. He smiled and said, “That we walk among you. We look like you and talk like you. We have advanced degrees and hobbies, just like you.”
Take Dave: He’s a young man with a music degree. And if you walked past him on the street, you’d never think, “There goes a farmer.”
Is someone like Dave who you picture when you think of a farmer? Probably not. I think that most people would picture a man in his overalls. I can tell you, that does not represent Dave or any of the many other farmers I have gotten to know.
Not only do we have to throw out our stereotypes of farmers, but farming as a whole doesn’t look much like it used to either. We recently sent a team out to see what modern farming looks like, and they found farmers to be completely different from our usual ideas about them and also came across them in some unexpected places.
In a parking lot in a neighborhood of Brooklyn, they met a new crop of young farmers who are trying to bring fresh greens closer to eaters in the city by growing them in high-tech indoor vertical farms. In a Florida field under the flight path of an airport, they discovered farmers with university degrees growing algae (藻类) that might someday fuel our cars. And in a modern farm in California, they observed how farmers are using technology to take the best possible care of their animals.
These farmers all spend their days in very different ways — none of them looks like the stereotypical farmer we have in our mind — but they’re all working on new ways to feed our planet. Not only do we need to change our idea of what farming looks like, but we also need to change our view of where solutions can come from. Feeding all of us is going to take all of us working together.
1. How does Dave describe today’s farmers?| A．They often walk on the street. | B．They are leading a very busy life. |
| C．They are similar to ordinary people. | D．They have little time to make friends. |
| A．They usually wear overalls. | B．They have interesting hobbies. |
| C．They are skilled at growing crops. | D．They know modern farming practices. |
| A．To deepen connections among farmers. |
| B．To study different technologies in farming. |
| C．To report on the new developments of farming. |
| D．To encourage farmers to use new farming methods. |
| A．They all work in the city. | B．They all use high technology. |
| C．They all do hard physical work. | D．They all work with universities. |
8 . In the 17th century when a British businessman heard that there were one hundred million people in China, he was determined to go there and sell spoons. He thought even if he could earn one penny for one spoon, he would still make a lot of money.
Then, why do the Chinese people use chopsticks? Some people did research on the origin of China’s chopsticks. One theory is that chopsticks were very convenient for Chinese to use because China was an agricultural society, relying mainly on vegetables for food. When we steamed or boiled food, it was difficult for us to use spoons to dip vegetables in the soup.
Chopsticks reflect gentleness and kindness, the main moral teaching of Confucianism.
Today, chopsticks have become a typical part of Chinese culture, symbolising the power of unity.
| A．As a result, spoons were designed and preferred by Westerners. |
| B．But to his surprise, the Chinese people use chopsticks, not spoons. |
| C．Therefore, Chinese people cleverly invented chopsticks to pick food. |
| D．Besides, never point at people with your chopsticks while using them. |
| E．Indeed, one chopstick is useless and so delicate that it can be broken readily. |
| F．So these virtues have gradually become the rules people follow in their daily life. |
| G．There are some rules about using chopsticks that you should pay great attention to. |
1. 表示欢迎和安慰；
2. 给予建议及理由。
注意: 1. 词数 100 左右；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
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Yours,
Li Hua
Sachin started a textile business. He invested all the money from his savings into the business. Also, he borrowed some money from his friends and family.
In the beginning, the profit from his projects was only sufficient to cover his basic expenses. But he maintained top quality for all the deliveries. He tried very hard to get big projects but could not get one.
Not returning money to his friends and family members in time, Sachin thought of selling his textile business.
One day he was sitting on a farm and thinking. A farmer asked him, “ Why are you so upset? What is the problem?” Sachin replied his business was not giving returns as he thought. So, he was thinking of selling it off as it was not worth pursuing anymore.
Hearing his whole story, the farmer took him to his farm. He showed him a mango tree and a bamboo tree. He said, “ I planted both the trees at the same time and nurtured them with the same things they needed. After the first two years, the mango tree grew to a certain height. But there were no signs of growth in the bamboo. It continued for the third and fourth years. In the fifth year, the mango tree started producing fruits. Still, there were no signs in the bamboo.
However, after a week, there was a sign of growth in the bamboo tree. Then within six weeks, the tree grew to 100 feet.
Then I realized, in the first four years, it was developing its root deep underground for a base strong enough to support its outside growth. So, the same principle applies to your business as well. Wait for your time and never give up. ”
After hearing this story, Sachin thanked the farmer. He then started exploring the opportunities and went to big companies for orders. In the third month, he got the order from a big company worth millions and then continuous orders.
Sachin settled all the money to his family and friends. His business is now running into a highly profitable business.
1. Where did Sachin get the money to start his business?2. Why did Sachin want to sell his company?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
In the first four years, there were no signs of growth in the bamboo tree because the farmer didn’t give it enough nutrition.
4. What have you learnt from this story? Give an example in your own life to support your idea. ( In about 40 words)
