1 . Many years ago, I bought a house in the Garfagnana, where we still go every summer. The first time we
What we discovered is that it’s
It’s good to eat things at the correct time, when they’re
| A．waited | B．met | C．camped | D．stayed |
| A．making | B．searching | C．squeezing | D．feeling |
| A．customer | B．neighbor | C．relative | D．passenger |
| A．lend | B．send | C．bring | D．show |
| A．choice | B．comment | C．promise | D．gesture |
| A．worried | B．moved | C．thrilled | D．bored |
| A．simple | B．real | C．shiny | D．fun |
| A．more | B．good | C．new | D．easy |
| A．sympathetic to | B．thankful for | C．cautious about | D．interested in |
| A．tried | B．sold | C．returned | D．mixed |
| A．unnecessary | B．uncertain | C．unwise | D．unusual |
| A．appearance | B．quality | C．origin | D．price |
| A．size | B．shape | C．color | D．taste |
| A．smell | B．look | C．become | D．work |
| A．happy | B．vivid | C．short | D．vague |
| A．clean | B．check | C．count | D．pack |
| A．perfect | B．useful | C．convenient | D．familiar |
| A．on view | B．on sale | C．in season | D．in need |
| A．finished | B．stored | C．found | D．grown |
| A．cooked | B．given | C．bought | D．told |
2 . According to Jessica Hagy, author of How to Be Interesting, it’s not difficult to make yourself interesting at a dinner party.
People love to talk about themselves. If you can start the conversation with a question other than “What do you do for a living?”, you’ll be able to get a lot more interesting conversation out of whomever it is you’re talking to.
And what about that other dinner-party killer: awkward silence? If you’re faced with an awkward silence at a dinner party, the only thing that always gets everyone talking again is to give the host a compliment (赞扬).
So being interesting at a dinner party isn’t that hard.
| A．How do you know the host |
| B．The first step is to go exploring |
| C．If you ask the question “How did you get here?” |
| D．Be prepared to have awkward conversations with strangers |
| E．Or turn the conversation into a topic where they have little to say |
| F．What about that person who had too much to drink or won’t stop talking |
| G．He or she is the person who is feeling the weight of that awkwardness the most |
3 . When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue—sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.
Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing .I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don’t worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “ Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that’s what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.
When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I’d given it up.
When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I’ve traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving(穿梭)among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded(滑)up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. “I was a local here 20 years ago,” I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. “Safe, man. Safe.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Safe.”
1. What can we learn about the author soon after he moved to London?| A．He felt disappointed. | B．He gave up his hobby. |
| C．He liked the weather there. | D．He had disagreements with his family. |
| A．Be careful! | B．Well done! | C．No way! | D．Don’t worry! |
| A．To join the skateboarding. | B．To make new friends. |
| C．To learn more tricks. | D．To relive his childhood days |
| A．Children should learn a second language. |
| B．Sport is necessary for children’s health. |
| C．Children need a sense of belonging |
| D．Seeing the world is a must for children. |
4 . A British woman who won a S1 million prize after she was named the World's Best Teacher will use the cash to bring inspirational figures into UK schools.
Andria Zafirakou,a north London secondary school teacher, said she wanted to bring about a classroom revolution (变革). “We are going to make a change, ”she said.“I’ve started a project to promote the teaching of the arts in our schools.”
The project results from the difficulties many schools have in getting artists of any sort - whether an up-and-coming local musician or a major movie star - into schools to work with and inspire children.
Zafirakou began the project at Alperton Community School, her place of work for the past twelve years. “I've seen those magic moments when children are talking to someone they are inspired by - their eyes are shining and their faces light up,” she said. “We need artists . more than ever in our schools."
Artist Michael Craig-Martin said: “Andria's brilliant project to bring artists from all fields into direct contact with children is particularly welcome at a time when the arts are being downgraded in schools." It was a mistake to see the arts as unnecessary, he added.
Historian Sir Simon Schama is also a supporter of the project. He said that arts education in schools was not just an add-on. “It is absolutely necessary. The future depends on creativity and creativity depends on the young. What will remain of us when artificial intelligence takes over will be our creativity, and it is our creative spirit, our visionary sense of freshness,that has been our strength for centuries."
1. What will Zafirakou do with her prize money?| A．Make a movie. | B．Build new schools. |
| C．Run a project. | D．Help local musicians. |
| A．It is particularly difficult. | B．It increases artists' income. |
| C．It opens children's mind. | D．It deserves greater attention. |
| A．Moral principles. | B．Interpersonal skills. |
| C．Creative abilities. | D．Positive worldviews. |
| A．Bring Artists to Schools | B．When Historians Meet Artists |
| C．Arts Education in Britain | D．The World's Best Arts Teacher |
5 . For Canaan Elementary’s second grade in Patchogue, N.Y., today is speech day, and right now it’s Chris Palaez’s turn. The 8-year-old is the joker of the class. With shining dark eyes, he seems like the kind of kid who would enjoy public speaking.
But he’s nervous. “I’m here to tell you today why you should … should…” Chris trips on the “-ld,” a pronunciation difficulty for many non-native English speakers. His teacher, Thomas Whaley, is next to him, whispering support. “…Vote for …me …” Except for some stumbles, Chris is doing amazingly well. When he brings his speech to a nice conclusion, Whaley invites the rest of the class to praise him.
A son of immigrants, Chris stared learning English a little over three years ago. Whaley recalls (回想起) how at the beginning of the year, when called upon to read, Chris would excuse himself to go to the bathroom.
Learning English as a second language can be a painful experience. What you need is a great teacher who lets you make mistakes. “It takes a lot for any student,” Whaley explains, “especially for a student who is learning English as their new language, to feel confident enough to say, ‘I don’t know, but I want to know.’”
Whaley got the idea of this second-grade presidential campaign project when he asked the children one day to raise their hands if they thought they could never be a president. The answer broke his heart. Whaley says the project is about more than just learning to read and speak in public. He wants these kids to learn to boast (夸耀) about themselves.
“Boasting about yourself, and your best qualities,” Whaley says, “is very difficult for a child who came into the classroom not feeling confident.”
1. What made Chris nervous?| A．Telling a story. | B．Making a speech. |
| C．Taking a test. | D．Answering a question. |
| A．Improper pauses. | B．Bad manners. | C．Spelling mistakes. | D．Silly jokes. |
| A．help students see their own strengths |
| B．assess students’ public speaking skills |
| C．prepare students for their future jobs |
| D．inspire students’ love for politics |
| A．Humorous. | B．Ambitious. | C．Caring. | D．Demanding. |
6 . For years, David James, who studies insects at Washington State University, had wanted to examine the migration (迁徙)patterns of West Coast monarch butterflies (黑脉金斑蝶). The route the butterflies travel has been hardly known because the populations are too small to follow. For every 200 monarchs tagged (打标签)by a researcher, only one is usually recovered at the end of its trip, James says, and finding even 200 in the wild to tag is unlikely. Knowing the route is vital to conservation efforts, but James had no way to figure it out- until he got a phone call from Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
The prison was looking for new activities to improve the mental health of those serving long-term sentences. So James began working with prisoners to raise monarchs through the whole process of their transformation. The adult insects were then tagged and released from the prison. Over five years, nearly 10, 000 monarchs flew from the facility. Elsewhere in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, researchers released another few thousand.
The tags included email addresses, and soon after the first butterflies took off, James started receiving messages from people who had spotted them. The butterflies, the reports confirmed, wintered in coastal California. Twelve of them landed at Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz. Several more headed to Bolinas and Morro Bay.
The work helps researchers identify ideal places to plant milkweed and other vegetation that are important to the life cycle of West Coast monarch butterflies. It also brought out the gentler side of some of the prisoners. “They were very worried that they were going to harm the butterflies, ”James says. Watching the monarch change their form also touched the men. “This butterfly changed, ” James recalls prisoners telling him, “and maybe we can too. ”
1. What was hard for David to do in his study?| A．Gain financial support. | B．Hire qualified workers. |
| C．Build a new laboratory. | D．Find enough monarchs. |
| A．To guarantee their safety. |
| B．To enable them to fly longer distances. |
| C．To track their travel routes. |
| D．To distinguish them from other species. |
| A．The patience the butterflies showed. |
| B．The hardship the butterflies underwent. |
| C．The transformation of the butterflies. |
| D．The devotion of James to the butterflies. |
| A．The impact of the research. |
| B．The findings of James’ study. |
| C．The release of the prisoners. |
| D．The life cycle of the butterflies. |
7 . My mother is 92. Unless I have to be out of town, each week I take my mother to do her
Last week she walked up to the store, but when she went to pay for her groceries, she was
At this store, people
My mother was so
So, whoever you are, thank you for the random act of
| A．exercise | B．housework | C．cooking | D．shopping |
| A．reward | B．medicine | C．company | D．shelter |
| A．return | B．collet | C．order | D．buy |
| A．short | B．cautious | C．wrong | D．concerned |
| A．aim | B．way | C．advice | D．reason |
| A．weight | B．things | C．mask | D．glasses |
| A．raise | B．add | C．bring | D．switch |
| A．show up | B．call in | C．check out | D．sit down |
| A．store | B．select | C．deliver | D．bag |
| A．stranger | B．cashier | C．friend | D．doctor |
| A．looked for | B．talked about | C．threw away | D．put back |
| A．receipt | B．soap | C．cash | D．bottle |
| A．asked | B．waited | C．cared | D．searched |
| A．repay | B．trust | C．recognize | D．help |
| A．luck | B．chance | C．gift | D．turn |
| A．surprised | B．amused | C．touched | D．convinced |
| A．in case | B．even if | C．as though | D．so that |
| A．energy | B．money | C．space | D．time |
| A．faith | B．courage | C．kindness | D．honor |
| A．made her day | B．changed her mind | C．caught her eye | D．met her demand |
8 . We all know that unpleasant feeling when we’re talking about something interesting and halfway through our sentence we’re interrupted. But was that really an interruption? The answer depends on whom you ask, according to new research led by Katherine Hilton from Stanford University.
Using a set of controlled audio clips (录音片段), Hilton surveyed 5, 000 American English speakers to better understand what affects people’s perceptions of interruptions. She had participants listen to audio clips and then answer questions about whether the speakers seemed to be friendly and engaged, listening to one another, or trying to interrupt.
Hilton found that American English speakers have different conversational styles. She identified two distinct groups: high and low intensity speakers. High intensity speakers are generally uncomfortable with moments of silence in conversation and consider talking at the same time a sign of engagement. Low intensity speakers find it rude to talk at the same time and prefer people speak one after another in conversation.
The differences in conversational styles became evident when participants listened to audio clips in which two people spoke at the same time but were agreeing with each other and stayed on topic, Hilton said. The high intensity group reported that conversations where people spoke at the same time when expressing agreement were not interruptive but engaged and friendlier than the conversations with moments of silence in between speaking turns. In contrast, the low intensity group perceived any amount of simultaneous (同时) chat as a rude interruption, regardless of what the speakers were saying.
“People care about being interrupted, and those small interruptions can have a massive effect on the overall communication,” Hilton said. “Breaking apart what an interruption means is essential if we want to understand how humans interact with each other.”
1. What does Hilton’s research focus on?| A．What interruptions mean to people. |
| B．Whether interruption is good or not. |
| C．How to avoid getting interrupted. |
| D．Why speakers interrupt each other. |
| A．Record an audio clip. | B．Answer some questions. |
| C．Listen to one another. | D．Have a chat with a friend. |
| A．It’s important. | B．It’s interesting. |
| C．It’s inefficient. | D．It’s impolite. |
| A．Human interaction is complex. |
| B．Communication is the basis of life. |
| C．Interruptions promote thinking. |
| D．Language barriers will always exist. |
9 . It’s about 250 miles from the hills of west-central Iowa to Ehlers’ home in Minnesota. During the long trip home, following a weekend of hunting. Ehlers
Back home, Ehlers was troubled by that
A local farmer told them the dog sounded like one
Jeff had
Ehlers returned to Minnesota, and then drove 100 miles to Minneapolis to put Rosie on a flight to Michigan. “It’s good to know there’s still someone out there who
“I figured whoever lost the dog was probably just as
| A．read | B．forgot | C．thought | D．heard |
| A．fighting | B．trembling | C．eating | D．sleeping |
| A．tried | B．agreed | C．promised | D．regretted |
| A．calmed down | B．stood up | C．rolled over | D．run off |
| A．injured | B．stolen | C．lost | D．rescued |
| A．home | B．past | C．back | D．on |
| A．preparation | B．explanation | C．test | D．search |
| A．cautiously | B．casually | C．skillfully | D．angrily |
| A．surprise | B．joy | C．hesitation | D．anxiety |
| A．predicted | B．advertised | C．believed | D．recorded |
| A．house | B．phone | C．street | D．car |
| A．called | B．copied | C．counted | D．remembered |
| A．fed | B．adopted | C．found | D．cured |
| A．hunted | B．skied | C．lived | D．worked |
| A．on purpose | B．on time | C．in turn | D．in vain |
| A．cares | B．sees | C．suffers | D．learns |
| A．place | B．trouble | C．waste | D．extreme |
| A．service | B．plan | C．effort | D．team |
| A．equal | B．allergic | C．grateful | D．close |
| A．suitable | B．proud | C．wise | D．willing |
On our way to the house, it was raining
We were first greeted with the barking by a pack
When they were free from work, they invited us to local events and let us know of an interesting
