It was the Easter holidays, and school was closed for two weeks. For me, the Easter holidays were so boring that it was impossible to find something fun to do. My mom had suggested that I do some studies since the promotion test was coming up. However, I didn’t follow my mother’s suggestion. Instead, I went outside to seek out my friends to play with. When I had successfully contacted some of my friends, none of them seemed to be much in a playful mood, but one friend Jimmy agreed to play with me. He suggested we go down to the river and just relax there. The river was not far from my home, and we arrived there quickly.
Just relaxing on the river bank with nothing but some waste logs, it wasn’t fun for us at first. Clearly what was on our minds was to jump into the river and just take a swim in the clear cool water. So we took off our clothes down to our underwear and walked into the shallow part of the water. The water was truly cool and refreshing and we were starting to have fun then, playing and laughing, as we splashed the cool water onto each other’s faces.
Then we started to chase each other around on the river bank and then we ran straight into the river. We were having so much fun that we didn’t notice danger was around the corner. Before Jimmy could know it, and before he could do anything to keep his balance, he lost his footing on a tree branch, which was in the shallow part of the water, and slipped, bringing his whole entire body into the deep water. He tried to resurface from the water but found it extremely hard to keep his head above the water.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I was scared to see him struggling in the water but I knew I must rescue him.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After a while, Jimmy recovered from panic and thanked my mom and the neighbors.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . A bunch of flowers, a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine are the classic moves when it comes to buying the best mother’s day gifts. If you want something a little different this year, we’ve prepared a guide to fine gifts for your mother, grandmother or mother-in-law.
Personalized Chopping Board (切菜板)
From £40, Etsy
Quickest delivery: 5-7 days, free
A good chopping board will stay with you for life. This wooden board is handmade in a Yorkshire workshop, and can be personalized on one or both sides. Sizes vary from small to extra large.
Bloom & Wild Flower Subscription
£104 for six months, Bloom & Wild
Give the gift of fresh flowers once a month, for six months with this well priced Bloom & Wild gift subscription. It works out at £17.33 per bunch. That’s a pretty good deal considering the average bunch at Bloom & Wild costs nearer £25.
The Body Shop Rose Quartz Gua Sha Stone
£15, The Body Shop
Quickest delivery: next day if you order before 11am, £4.99
The practice of gua sha is rooted in ancient Chinese medicine but became the number one western beauty trend in 2020 after influencers and beauty editors alike were crazy about how it made their faces appear more attractive. It involves combing a gua sha along your cheeks, jawline, chin and around your mouth in delicate dragging motions to de-puff (消肿).
Fitbit Inspire 2
£44.99, John Lewis
Quickest delivery: next day from £7.50
It’s a common misconception that you have to break the bank to buy a fitness watch, but this Fitbit watch suggests otherwise. For less than £50, she gets a tracker of activity, heart-rate and sleep, as well as a battery that lasts up to 10 days.
1. How much may yearly subscribed flowers cost at Bloom & Wild?| A．£100. | B．£104. | C．£208. | D．£300. |
| A．Its beautifying effect. | B．Its easy-to-use feature. |
| C．Its body weight control. | D．Its Chinese medicine origin. |
| A．It is water-proof. | B．It is reasonably priced. |
| C．It has a long battery life. | D．It can track users’ activity. |
3 . Back-to-school shopping is an expensive business in a normal year. And with August upon us, stores are putting out back-to-school displays expecting the arrival of children and their parents.
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that careful budget works.
Price matching involves comparing the same items at other stores and asking a retailer (零售商) to match a lower price. The trick may make sense for clothing, electronics and other expensive items. Check a retailer’s website for its price matching policy details. Many will also refund the price difference if you spot a cheaper price within a certain time frame after the purchase.
Team up to buy in bulk (大批地)Sixteen states have sales tax holidays in August this year.
| A．It is an easy way to save money. |
| B．Check prices before and after shopping. |
| C．Do price analysis before you go shopping. |
| D．So purchase what you need most to get the school year started. |
| E．Most of them last through a full weekend, and some even longer. |
| F．Here are some ways of how to save money on back-to-school shopping. |
| G．Wherever your child is learning, they’ll need supplies that most students need. |
4 . Every day Zhao Dong goes around the city on a two-wheeled motorcycle running errands (差事) for its citizens for around eight hours. At night, the 26-year-old young man, taking off his helmet (头盔) and blue jacket, dives into small theaters where he is going to use stand-up comic sets inspired by his personal stories as a deliveryman to make people laugh.
In 2019, he found that running errands can bring him a good income. Then he moved from his hometown to Xi’an, and became a deliveryman. He turned all the hardships he has been going through these years into funny jokes, which brings a refreshing life. For him, the skill of humor is not something he was born with, but what he has been diligently (勤奋地) training with his sincerity and eagerness to get a better life.
On a freezing winter night, he stopped for a while in a bar after finishing the errands and heard rounds of cheers and laughs coming from the bar, and he was told that it was an open-mic event for stand-up comedy (脱口秀) . He was crazy with the joyous atmosphere into which he wanted to get himself integrated. The club owner later sent him a guidebook for stand-up comedy and gave him a chance to go on stage. His performance attracted wider attention and he received an invitation from the Shanghai-based comedy company Xiaoguo Culture to join a comic training camp last year. It was his first time to take a plane and get out from Shanxi province. He soon found that Shanghai offers more opportunities for stand-up comedy performers.
In October, he moved to the city. There, he still chose to be a deliveryman and put on comic performances for four or five times a week. For him, what’s special about the comic form is its inclusiveness (包容性). “It welcomes people from all walks of life and varied backgrounds to share stories and express opinions on the same stage,” he says.
1. What does Zhao Dong want to do by using the stand-up comic sets?| A．To introduce his personal stories. |
| B．To build up his confidence to be a deliveryman. |
| C．To provide more sources of amusement for people. |
| D．To help himself to adapt to his new job as soon as possible. |
| A．included |
| B．interested |
| C．injured |
| D．investigated |
| A．He left Shanghai by plane for the first time. |
| B．He found his stand-up comedy career may take off in Shanghai. |
| C．He put on some performances to attract people’s attention. |
| D．He rejected the invitation from a Shanghai-based comedy company. |
| A．How a deliveryman earns a lot of money. |
| B．How a deliveryman puts on performance on the street. |
| C．How a deliveryman shares stories with all walks of life. |
| D．How a deliveryman finds a new role with a sense of humor. |
5 . Hong Kong to Macau Transportation
It is really convenient and swift for travelers to travel between Hong Kong and Macau, with a straight-line distance of about 60 kilometers.
Helicopter (直升机) TransportHelicopter transport is the most swift and convenient means for transportation between Hong Kong and Macau. The length of time for a journey is only 15 minutes.
Service time: The helicopter departs every 30 minutes from 9:00 to 23:00. Passengers should arrive at the waiting room at least 15 minutes before the departure time.
Tel: 2872 7288 (Macau) and 2108 9898 (Hong Kong). Passengers can book a ticket via these telephone numbers.
Approximate ticket fares: The price of a helicopter transport is about 2,700–2,900 yuan per person.
Ship TransportThe length of time for a journey by ship between Hong Kong and Macau is about 50 minutes, which is much longer than that taking a helicopter. However, the ticket fare is much cheaper than taking a helicopter.
Service time and departure interval: The ship departs every 15 minutes from 7:00 to 24:00, and then departs at 0:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30, 4:00, 4:45 and 6:00.
Approximate ticket fares: There are different kinds of ticket fares, for day sailing and night sailing and for common seats and luxury seats. The price is from 133 to 268 yuan per seat.
Jetfoil (水翼喷射船) TransportPassengers also can take a jetfoil: a five-star Premier Jetfoil with luxurious services of high quality coming and going among Macau, Hong Kong and Hong Kong International Airport, and the length of time for each route is about 55 minutes.
Service time and departure interval: The jetfoil departs every 1 hour from 8:00–22:00.
Approximate ticket fares: The common seat for day sailing is 250–320 yuan per person. The luxury seat for day sailing is 450–560 yuan per person.
1. What are the helicopter passengers required to do?| A．Arrive at least a quarter earlier. | B．Check the departure time online. |
| C．Choose the kind of seat on the spot. | D．Pay for an extra insurance fee. |
| A．Its comfort level. | B．The price of tickets. |
| C．The length of time. | D．The frequency of transportation. |
| A．A textbook. | B．A travel diary. |
| C．A travel website. | D．A science report. |
Sun Zhen chu, an 86-year-old man in 2022, who go this driver’s license in about a year, has surprised and inspired netizens in China not only because of his age.
The motivation behind Sun Zhen chu’s
In a speech he delivered at Zhejiang Gongs hang University in late June, he encouraged graduates to keep learning to standout in a
7 . Stressed at work and feeling your blood pressure rise? People all over the world are told by their doctors to try for a low-sodium (钠) diet to treat high blood pressure or other diseases, but there’s no denying that salt makes food taste good. Fortunately, Japanese researchers at Tokyo’s Meiji University and the manufacturer Kirin have developed high-tech chopsticks that enhance salty tastes, potentially helping those who need to reduce sodium in their diets.
These wired-up chopsticks are actually part of a device that the researchers say can enhance the salty flavor of low-sodium foods. And when they were tested on participants for the first time, results showed that the high-tech chopsticks increase perceived (察觉到) saltiness in foods by about 1.5 times.
According to the research team, the basic principle is that the extra salty flavor is perceived due to extremely weak electric currents conveyed directly into the mouth through the tip of one of the chopsticks. Scientists have apparently been using this kind of weak electricity to play with flavors in the lab for years, but these chopsticks in particular are set to adjust the activity of ions (离子) in sodium chloride (table salt), which enhances salty flavor.
And do these chopsticks work as expected? To verify the effect of the new chopsticks, the researchers conducted an experiment on a total of 36 participants aged 40 to 65, all of whom were eating a low-sodium diet. If nothing else, one thing was clear: participants using the chopsticks tasted more salt than they did without. Results show that they even thought that low-sodium food eaten with the high-tech chopsticks tasted saltier than regular food made with an average amount of sodium, and eaten with normal chopsticks.
The chopsticks aren’t on store shelves quite yet, but with promising results, people around the world who are unhappily devoted to a low-sodium diet might just be excited for any updates to come!
1. What is the main function of the future high-tech chopsticks?| A．To treat blood pressure. | B．To test how salty a dish is. |
| C．To increase the saltiness of food. | D．To help reduce salt intake. |
| A．By sending warning information to the brain. |
| B．By changing the saltiness of food with electric shocks. |
| C．By using electricity to transport ions between chopsticks. |
| D．By tricking our brains into tasting extra salt. |
| A．Confirm. | B．Improve. |
| C．Change. | D．Strengthen. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Optimistic. | C．Uncertain. | D．Pessimistic. |
8 . Now, a study proves that gardens are more than just a pretty place. The study, by researchers at Illinois State University, demonstrates that such constructed gardens can have a measurable and positive impact on water quality.
Floating gardens are essentially platforms built and wrapped in coconut husks (椰子壳), and filled in with native plantings. As plants grow, they extend their roots into the water. On the North Branch of the Chicago River, non-profit Urban Rivers and its partners are developing a mile-long floating eco-park called the Wild Mile. The re-development of this former industrial canal is Urban Rivers’ important project. As part of the park, floating gardens, attached to shore, are being fixed.
The primary aim of the floating gardens is beautification. But the Illinois State team, from the University’s Department of Geology, Geography, and the Environment, saw an ideal setup for a controlled experiment. “We joined it because it’s the perfect opportunity to see if there’s an influence on water quality,” explains lead author Abigail Heath.
The study is novel: previous studies have explored floating gardens’ influence on water quality over time, primarily in wastewater treatment ponds, but not over space, in moving water. The project also matches well with Urban Rivers’ broader goals. “The city is interested in bettering water quality,” says Phil Nicodemus, Urban Rivers’ Director of Research. “Happily, Illinois State took part in it later.”
Could this small human-made park improve water quality? An average of data collected over the course of the study shows middle but definitive improvement. For example, nitrogen (氮) dropped from 4.69 milligrams per liter in surface water to 4.43 milligrams per liter, a drop of about 1 percent.
“Despite how small this garden was, there was measurable improvement in water quality from upstream to downstream,” notes Heath. She and her colleagues see this as a model for how large floating gardens should be to help improve water in similar settings. “Even this tiny garden makes a difference,” she says.
1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?| A．The floating gardens are environmentally friendly. |
| B．The floating gardens are fixed everywhere in the eco-park. |
| C．The floating gardens can help fix the former parks. |
| D．The Urban Rivers were once industrial canals. |
| A．To reduce waste water. | B．To attract more visitors to the park. |
| C．To make the surroundings brilliant. | D．To help researchers do the experiment. |
| A．The floating garden. | B．The project. |
| C．The treatment of ponds. | D．The quality of water. |
| A．Floating Gardens: More than Pretty |
| B．The Best Way to Better Water Quality |
| C．A Practical Method of Improving Parks |
| D．Floating Gardens Beautify the City |
9 . Elephants are endangered animals because of efforts to hunt them for their ivory tusks(象牙).Selling ivory has been illegal for more than 30 years worldwide. So, 17-year-old Anika Puri was astonished to see a market filled with rows of ivory jewelry and statues on her visit to India 4 years ago.
Curious, Anika did some research and discovered a shocking statistic: Africa’s forest elephant populations declined by about 62 percent between 2002 and 2011. Years later, the numbers continue to drop. As a wildlife lover, Anika wanted to do something to help protect the animals still threatened by illegal hunting.
“Drones(无人机)are currently used to detect and capture images of hunters, but they are not that accurate,” Anika explained. However, after watching videos of elephants and humans, she saw how the two differed in their movements andspeed. She realized she could use it to “increase the detection accuracy of potential illegal hunters”.
Over the next two years, Anika worked on inventing a software, which can classify a figure as either an elephant or a human based on the speed, group size,how it turns and other patterns in videos.
The software is four times more accurate than existing detection methods and is much cheaper. It uses a $ 250 camera that plugs into a smart phone, which is then attached to a drone.The camera records thermal infrared(红外线的)videos using heat, not visible light. This allows the device to produce real-time inferences as it flies over parks as to whether objects below are humans or elephants, no matter in daylight or at night.
“Research isn’t a straight line or a smooth sailing,” Anika said. “It has made me more resourceful. It also helped me develop into a more innovative thinker. I have learned a lot along the way.”
1. Why was Anika surprised?| A．Elephant populations were small. |
| B．Elephants were losing their habitats. |
| C．Elephant tusks were illegally traded. |
| D．Elephants were an endangered species. |
| A．The speed. | B．The difference. |
| C．The work. | D．The software. |
| A．The low cost of the camera. |
| B．The flight pattern of the drone. |
| C．The components of the device. |
| D．The advantages of the software. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Tolerant. | C．Talented. | D．Curious. |
Yazhou pottery—a type of exquisite pottery with a history of more than 600 years—is now shining a new light across China.
As an ancient Chinese artifact, Yazhou pottery dates back
After
The shapes of Yazhou pottery are inspired directly by objects in daily life,
Yazhou pottery saw a crisis in
The heritage of Yazhou pottery is never something that stands still, but a process driven forward by innovation.
