1 . Once upon a time, there was a small village in the center of a big forest. All the villagers were used to their robotic farm work and none of them had the imagination or the will (意愿) to try something new, except for one girl named Jo. Very few could read or write, and Jo was one of them.
One afternoon, when Jo was on one of her explorations in the forest, she came upon an abandoned cottage (废弃的小屋). Though she’d been warned to stay away from abandoned places, her curiosity got the best of her. She slid in and was amazed to find a room full of books! Jo’s excitement was huge when she realized she had found a hidden treasure.
She ran to tell the villagers everything, thinking that they would share her excitement but instead, she heard roars of laughter! Jo was confused by this reaction (反应) and a little hurt too, but she did not give up on her books.
She came to the cottage every day and got down to reading the books. For her, each page was an adventure with characters who challenged difficulties with their determination and who struggled for good. Knowing the power of stories in impressing on people the values of life, she decided to share the stories with the villagers, though she knew it would be a difficult journey. Making this her mission (使命), Jo started telling stories every day at her cottage.
In the beginning, only a few came to the readings. But word spread rapidly, causing more and more people to come, some of whom even traveled from far away to just listen to her stories. She also conducted workshops in which she taught people how to read and write. She was remembered and lived in her stories even after she was long gone.
1. What do the underlined words “got the best of” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Prevented. | B．Frightened. | C．Cheated. | D．Beat. |
| A．They already knew it. | B．They thought nothing of it. |
| C．It was related to something fun. | D．It was all Jo’s imagination. |
| A．Caring but confusing. | B．Honest and helpful. |
| C．Adventurous but careless. | D．Determined and influential. |
| A．The Discovery of a Hidden Treasure |
| B．Jo’s Journey: from Adventure to Education |
| C．The Power of Stories in Challenging Difficulties |
| D．Jo’s Adventure: Unearthing an Abandoned Cottage |
2 . My mom spent years as a stay-at-home mom so that my brothers and I could focus on our education. However, I could tell from her curiosity of and attitudes toward working women that she envied their financial freedom and the self-esteem that must come with it. When I asked her about working again, she would tell me to focus on achieving my dream. I knew she had once dreamed for herself.
For years, I watched het effortlessly light up conversations with both strangers and family. Her empathy and ability to reach the heart could make anyone laugh, even when the story itself did not apply to them at all. “Mom, have you ever thought about being a stand-up comedian?” “It is too late for me, son,” she responded, laughing at the idea. I could not bear to watch her struggle between ambition and doubt.
Her birthday was coming up. Although I had already bought her a present, I knew what I actually wanted to give her. I placed little notes of encouragement inside the present. I asked my family and her friends to do the same. Eventually I had collected 146 notes, and each with the same sentiment: “You are humorous, full of life, and ready to take on the stage.”
On the day of her birthday, my mom unwrapped my present. She was not surprised as she had hinted at it for long. But then she saw those little notes. She started to weep with her hands full of notes. She could not believe the support was real.
Within two months, my mom gave her first performance in a New York comedy club. I have read the notes countless times with my mom. They are framed and line the walls of her new office space that she rented with the profits she made from working as a professional comedian. For many parents, their children’s careers are their greatest accomplishment, but for me my mom’s is mine.
1. What was the attitude of the author’s mother to working women?| A．She was curious about their income. | B．She admired what work brought them. |
| C．She felt indifferent to working women. | D．She appreciated their ambitions in finance. |
| A．Her effort in making friends. | B．Her talent to bring people joy. |
| C．Her curiosity about working women. | D．Her desire for financial independence. |
| A．Amazed and hesitant. | B．Sad and disappointed. |
| C．Moved and encouraged. | D．Delighted and proud. |
| A．Supporting Mom’s dream. | B．Achieving his own dream. |
| C．Securing financial freedom. | D．Becoming a successful comedian. |
3 . Live music livens up beach
I’ve been to a few music festivals like Glastonbury, the UK’s biggest and most famous music festival. But I’d never been to one in China.
At the end of August, I went to the Xiami Music and Arts Festival in Aranya, Qinhuangdao. Although the main draw of the festival for me was Suede, a classic UK band, I still had a lot of fun enjoying the festival’s other aspects.
Apart from the festival’s huge stages and screens, excellent sound systems and people dancing and singing with their friends and family, there were other surprises too. This was the first festival I’d been to located on a sandy beach!
Watching live music by the ocean was incredibly relaxing. Everyone had blow-up chairs you could buy and sit on comfortably to enjoy the music. Some people even had couches! Often at music festivals, you’re left standing the whole time, but Aranya was a bit more peaceful. There were also more children and families in attendance than I’ve seen at UK festivals, and this was great to see.
As the day went on, my anticipation (期待) grew as I looked forward to seeing my familiar band, Suede, who were the headliners: While Suede put on a good show, the most enjoyable surprise came from my unexpected discovery of and subsequent (随后的) fondness for the Chinese band The Life Journey. Unlike the seasoned Suede, these young performers were clearly in their prime. They became famous after appearing on iQiyi’s The Big Band (《乐队的夏天》). Playing after the sun had gone down with bright lights coming from the stage, The Life Journey really captured my imagination with their variety of musical styles, beautiful vocals (歌唱) and positive lyrics and vibes (氛围). Even with my limited Chinese, I was still able to happily sing along.
1. What can we know about the author?| A．He has been to the largest music festival in Europe. |
| B．He went to Aranya to see his favorite Chinese band. |
| C．He had never seen Suede in person before. |
| D．He went to a Chinese music festival for the first time. |
| A．Its performers. | B．Its ticket price. | C．Its location. | D．Its popularity. |
| A．There were more families in the audience. | B．Everyone had their own chair to sit on. |
| C．People felt more relaxed and comfortable. | D．It lasted longer with more bands performing. |
| A．They interacted more with the audience. | B．Their music was emotional and unique. |
| C．He could understand their lyrics easily. | D．He was attracted by their performance. |
1. Why was Misty worried about Matthew meeting Father Christmas?
| A．He was too excited. |
| B．He has health problems. |
| C．He is afraid of strangers. |
| A．That he had an accident. |
| B．That he was born too early. |
| C．That he had a terrible fever. |
| A．That Matthew had learning difficulties. |
| B．That Matthew was unable to walk. |
| C．That Matthew couldn’t talk. |
| A．Relieved. | B．Confused. | C．Excited. |
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
| A．Fighting fires. | B．Detecting fires. | C．Using fires. |
| A．Around 50. | B．About 400. | C．Over 8600. |
| A．Size of a car. | B．Size of a plane. | C．Size of a sports field. |
| A．Saving animals. | B．Saving the trees. | C．Saving humans. |
1. Why does Lisa want the new job?
| A．It pays more money. |
| B．It offers her career advancement. |
| C．It will be easy as she’s done it before. |
| A．From an advertisement. |
| B．From a co-worker. |
| C．From someone who works there. |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. |
| A．Studying late at night. |
| B．Using up all the milk. |
| C．Leaving the milk out. |
8 . The Asch Conformity Experiments, conducted by psychologist Solomon Asch in the 1950s, demonstrated the power of conformity. (从众) in groups and showed that even simple objective facts cannot resist the pressure of group influence.
In the experiments, groups of university students were asked to participate in a perception test. In reality, all but one of the participants were “confederates”, cooperators with the experimenter who only pretended to be participants. The study was about how the remaining student would react to the behavior of the other “participants”.
The participants of the experiment were presented with a card with a simple vertical (垂直) black line on it. Then, they were given a second card with three lines of varying length labeled A. B, and C. One line on the second card was the same length as that on the first, and the other two lines were obviously longer and shorter.
Participants were asked to state out loud in front of each other which line, A, B, or C, matched the length of the line on the first card. In each experimental case, the confederates answered first, and the real participant was seated so that he would answer last. In some cases, the confederates answered correctly, while in others, they answered incorrectly.
Asch intended to see if the real participant would be pressured to answer incorrectly in the instances when the confederates did so, or whether their belief in their own perception and correctness would outweigh the social pressure provided by the responses of the other group members.
Asch found that one-third of real participants gave the same wrong answers as the confederates at least half the time. Forty percent gave some wrong answers, and only one-fourth gave correct answers in defiance of the pressure to conform to the wrong answers provided by the group.
In interviews following the trials, Asch found that for those who answered incorrectly, in conformance with the group, some believed that the answers given by the confederates were correct, some thought that they were suffering a lapse(失误) in perception when they originally had the answer different from the group, and others admitted that they knew that they had the correct answer, but conformed to the incorrect answer because they didn’t want to break from the majority.
1. What are the participants asked to do in the experiment?| A．Label the cards with different letters. | B．Pick out two lines of the same length. |
| C．State the reason for matching the cards. | D．Identify the longest vertical black line. |
| A．The result of the experiment. | B．The design of the experiment. |
| C．The purpose of the experiment. | D．The procedure of the experiment. |
| A．In spite of. | B．For fear of. | C．In response to. | D．On account of. |
| A．They misunderstood the question. | B．They believed their own judgment. |
| C．They failed to resist group influence. | D．They wanted to be different from others. |
9 . If someone asked whether you like the arts, you’d probably say you do—at least in theory. According to a survey, more than two-thirds of U.S. adults say the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.” However, only 30 percent attended a concert of any type in 2017; 23 percent went to an art museum. Fewer than half actively created art of any kind.
The mismatch can boil down to the fact that we are weighed down by our day-to-day responsibilities, leaving our schedule packed. Maybe you like to play a little background music while you work or do the chores, but even before the pandemic, most of us rarely, if ever, saw a live performance, let alone visited a gallery or watched a play.
Too often, we let the dull reality of life get in the way of the arts. But this is a mistake. The arts are the opposite of an escape from reality; they might just be the most realistic glimpse we ever get into the nature and meaning of life. If you make time for consuming and producing art—the same way you make time for work and exercise and family commitments—I assure you that you’ll find your life getting fuller and happier. Think of a time when you heard a piece of music and wanted to cry. Or maybe your dizziness as you emerged from a narrow side street in an unfamiliar city and found yourself in a beautiful town square as if in a fantasy. They probably stimulated a sudden awakening, much like the shock from a lungful of pure oxygen after breathing in smoggy air.
If you are among the people who feel that art is pure pleasure to experience and participate in, you might see it as a luxury item, while a preferable attitude is to treat art less like a distracting pleasure, and more like exercise or sleep, a necessity. Then draw up a schedule of your art exposure journey, and gradually weave art into your everyday life.
1. What prevents people from enjoying the arts?| A．Shortage of time. | B．Avoidance of duty. |
| C．Lack of interest. | D．Art space inaccessibility. |
| A．It explores mysteries of life. | B．It sparks emotional responses. |
| C．It enhances physical well-being. | D．It offers a getaway from daily life. |
| A．Ways to integrate art into routine. | B．Barriers to combine art and life. |
| C．Forms of distracting pleasures. | D．Benefits of engaging with art. |
| A．Art Journey: Refreshing Soul |
| B．Art Pursuit: Transforming Dull into Full |
| C．Embracing Art: From Luxury to Necessity |
| D．Connecting with Art: From Reality to Fantasy |
10 . The Best Volunteer Abroad Programs in Africa
Looking for the best volunteer abroad opportunities to join? Here are the best volunteer programs in Africa.
Volunteer in Zanzibar
Looking to unplug from everyday life? Zanzibar program is perfect for animal and nature lovers. As a volunteer traveler, you can live in a beachside bungalow (平房) and regenerate wild turtle populations. Alternatively, you can stay in a forest camp to protect endangered species, such as snakes, lizards and tortoises.
Volunteer in Victoria Falls
Imagine volunteering in a setting where your backyard has breathtaking views over a zebra-filled grassland—Victoria Falls is just that. It is one of the best wildlife conservation volunteer programs, which has been recommended in the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel for 2023. While the volunteer work is physically demanding, you’ll be rewarded with night camping outside the reserve.
Volunteer in Zambia
For those who want to explore the incredible area of Victoria Falls, but also want to volunteer in the community, check this out. Volunteer in Zambia includes construction, teaching and medical care. Thanks to its thrilling activities, this is the “perfect destination for adventure-seekers” according to Lonely Planet! Whether you want to swim on the ledge of a waterfall or take a walking safari (徒步野生动物观光), Zambia is the perfect spot to witness nature at its best while making a positive impact.
Volunteer in Ghana
Volunteers on the Ghana program consistently talk about the immersive cultural experience. The local people you’ll work with will make you feel at home from the moment you land in Ghana. As a volunteer here, you’ll develop a strong sense of connection to your host community and local traditions in Ghana.
1. What do Volunteer in Zanzibar and Volunteer in Victoria Falls have in common?| A．They provide beautiful sea views. |
| B．They offer camping in the reserve. |
| C．They aim to offer wildlife protection. |
| D．They are recommended by Lonely Planet. |
| A．Volunteer in Zambia. | B．Volunteer in Ghana. |
| C．Volunteer in Zanzibar. | D．Volunteer in Victoria Falls. |
| A．People fascinated by wildlife conservation. |
| B．Individuals seeking a relaxing travel experience. |
| C．People with enthusiasm for travel and volunteering. |
| D．Individuals interested in African cultures and traditions. |
