1 . Enjoy days in London
ArcelorMittal OrbitEnjoy breathtaking views of London up to 20 miles into the distance from the ArcelorMittal Orbit — the UK’s tallest sculpture. Giant screens and mirrors which change the views of the horizon, and 455 steps to the ground will make your experience unique. Thrill-seeker? Upgrade your ticket to include The Slide, the World’s longest tunnel slide!
Offer times: Mon — Fri 11:00 — 17:00; Last admission 16:30Sat-Sun 10:00 — 18:00; Last admission 17:30
Place:5 Thornton Road, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E20 2ADCity Cruises
See and experience London from the comfort of a modern, all-weather sightseeing City Cruises boat. Open-air decks and panoramic (全景的) windows give great views of the most famous sights in London — and the best photo opportunities!
Offer times: Daily 10:00 — 17:00; Last admission 1 hour before closing timePlace: Westminster Pier, London SWIA 2JH
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the most various collection of living plants anywhere in the world. With events, festivals and a range of charming attractions, it offers a unique day out for all ages.
Offer times: Daily 10:00Closed 24 — 26 Dec 2022
Place: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3ABKidZania London
KidZania London offers 4 to 14-year-olds exciting real-life activities. Occupying about 75,000 square feet, KidZania is an amazing indoor city built just for kids! Designed to entertain kids, KidZania gives children the chance to challenge themselves and explore a world of opportunities.
Offer times: Daily 10:00Place: Westfield London, Ariel Way, London W12 7GA
1. Which of the following can provide a bird’s eye view of London?
| A．Kew Gardens. | B．City Cruises. |
| C．KidZania London. | D．ArcelorMittal Orbit. |
| A．8:00. | B．9:00. | C．16:00. | D．17:00. |
| A．It covers a large area. | B．It is suitable for kids under 4. |
| C．It is next to a beautiful garden. | D．It has the world’s longest slide. |
2 . Jim Rivers, a professor of wildlife ecology in Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, has been interested in birds since he filled the feeders in his backyard growing up. “As a kid, I always made sure the feeders were filled and, particularly, I did that before birds might be going through some challenging weather conditions like a big storm coming through or particularly cold weather,” Rivers says.
Now, as a researcher, he started looking into them. There was one earlier study where researchers just took feeders away and found that birds weren’t dependent on human help. Rivers wanted to look at more challenging conditions.
For the study, Rivers and his team chose to use the black-capped chickadee, a small bird that is found throughout North America and often visits bird feeders during winter. The birds will often take just one seed from the feeder at each visit, allowing for a clear measure of the feeder visitation rate.
Researchers caught 67 birds and either left them alone as a control group or clipped (剪) some of their feathers. Clipping is a way to increase the energy birds spend while flying. In some of the birds they did a light clipping; in others, they performed a heavier clipping. They also tied a tracking chip on each bird before setting them free. Then they put 21 feeders around their study area. “We thought the birds, because of their increased energetic need, would come to these feeders and spend a lot more time there,” Rivers says.
But that’s not what they found. Instead, the feather-clipped birds took a bit of a break(several days to a few weeks)before returning to the feeders. Then they used the feeders at a similar level as the control birds. “It was a surprise to us because as the food is free and they know where it is, we thought that the birds would come back and use it at greater levels afterward but instead we saw no real strong response,” Rivers says.
1. What did Rivers use to do as a child?| A．Offer food to birds. | B．Catch birds in the wild. |
| C．Train birds in the backyard. | D．Remove bird feeders before storms. |
| A．It’s easy to find a large population of them. |
| B．They had been used in other similar studies. |
| C．They depend on humans to feed them year-round. |
| D．It’s possible to measure how often they visit feeders. |
| A．They didn’t take breaks. |
| B．They didn’t increase their feeder use. |
| C．They wanted a lot more human help. |
| D．They came back to the study area every day. |
| A．It was reasonable. | B．It was unexpected. |
| C．It was well received. | D．It was hard to achieve. |
3 . Mickelson Trail Biking Day Tour
Spending an afternoon biking a part of the 109-mile Mickelson rail trail is a fantastic way to see the Black Hills!
Depending on the desired tour length, you can choose from a short ride to the entire 109-mile length! However, for most people, the section of the trail from Rochford to Hill City makes for a nice day’s ride. This 22.5-mile part of the trail owns numerous tunnels, railroad bridges, and breathtaking scenery. There is a several-mile climb at a very low grade, so if that doesn’t match with your vacation preferences, there’s an option to do an 18-mile downhill part instead!
This is typically run as a private tour with just your group or family, and because of that, we have to charge a single-person supplement of $125 if you are traveling alone, since it will likely just be yourself and a guide.
Start time: 10:00 am
End time: 5:00 pm
Pricing and what’s included
1 person: $175 + supplement
2 persons: $299 per person
3 — 4 persons: $249 per person
Large groups: Please ask for additional discounts
All prices include bike rental, helmets, private guide, onboard snacks, drinks and picnic lunch.
Other things to know
This tour can be combined with other activities, like spending the morning at Devils Tower, stopping by Mt Rushmore, or visiting the wineries and breweries (啤酒厂) after the ride in Hill City! Just email and tell us your thoughts and we’ll help you design a day that is perfect for your group!
1. Which ride does the text suggest for most people?| A．The 18-mile ride. | B．The 22.5-mile ride. |
| C．The 40.5-mile ride. | D．The 109-mile ride. |
| A．$175. | B．$249. | C．$299. | D．$300. |
| A．It can last for several days. | B．It begins early in the morning. |
| C．It can include additional activities. | D．It requires people to bring their bikes. |
Born in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province in 1989, Su Bingtian, aged 33, is China’s legendary sprinter. He
After becoming a professional athlete in 2007, he won many prizes in
The world can be changed by man’s diligence, and it is just this diligence
5 . If you’re looking for new headphones (头戴式耳机) and want to try something different, House of Marley could be a good choice for you. As a company created by the Marley family to carry on Bob Marley’s love for both music and the planet, the company creates attractive and timeless products that are good for the earth. Today we tried out a new type of over-car headphone which you could get with high quality at a really fair price.
Battery
Offering 32 hours of playback with noise canceling turned off, and 26 hours turned on, the headphones will get you through several days of listening to good music without charging (充电) the batteries. You can use them longer if you put them on airplane mode. And the quick-charge technology will allow you to enjoy a two-hour playback after just 15 minutes of charging.
Sound
The most important thing here is the sound. It has a lot of sound quality for you to choose from, with clear sound that will sound great on a classical track. You can also design the sound to your liking on the app.
Material
Made of wood and reusable aluminum (铝), the headphones weigh quite a bit but it’s not to say that they’re uncomfortable. The special ear pads (衬垫) fit around the ears closely, and the underside of the headband also has lots of soft pads so you can’t feel uncomfortable even afterhours of listening. Costs: RRP £199.
If over-ear headphones aren’t your thing, you can’t go wrong with our other excellent products.
1. Which of the following can best describe the products of House of Marley?| A．Beautiful. | B．Traditional. |
| C．World-famous. | D．Environmentally friendly. |
| A．It has long battery life. |
| B．It works best in airplane mode. |
| C．It can be fully charged in 15 minutes. |
| D．It can recognize environmental noise easily. |
| A．To make the headphones unbreakable. |
| B．To make the headphones look beautiful. |
| C．To make people feel physically comfortable. |
| D．To improve the sound quality of headphones. |
6 . The black box is used to record all the activities of a plane during its flight. There are generally two black boxes in a plane. One is at the front and the other on the back of an airplane. The black box is made of titanium metal (钛金属).
The black box can work for 30 days without electricity. When this box is lost anywhere, it keeps on sending out the waves along with a beep sound for about 30 days.
A black box does not show a clear picture of plane accidents even if it can be found.
| A．It is placed in a titanium box. |
| B．In some cases it could be hardly found. |
| C．The black box has two separate recorders. |
| D．Black boxes also store conversations about the plane. |
| E．Only black boxes that can pass safety tests are used in planes. |
| F．This sound can be recognized from as far as about 2-3 kilometers. |
| G．This box records the sound of the airplane during the last two hours. |
7 . Communication is the basic quality of human beings. But most people fail to have the courage to talk freely with people they have first met in any place. I have many years of experience of interviewing guests on TV. I find that communication for some people is easy. However, it can also become a tough task for introverted people, because they feel awkward about meeting and speaking to other people, especially the people they know recently.
To communicate freely with people, first of all, we have to keep our attitudes right. When we enter a new place, it’s polite to introduce ourselves at first. It’s also a good idea to wait for the seniors to invite us to shake hands. Then, we can focus on their notebooks or mobile phones and say, “Good choices; they are very beautiful.” This shows that we like them. Sometimes there are certain things that can start a conversation, like the classroom we are in or the local news we both know. However, don’t voice our opinions on people’s faces and heights.
Besides, we need to carefully listen to what others say. Talking without stopping is always not a good idea; we should also pause and listen to others’ responses. Try to be actively involved in their topics and views. When they find us reliable and friendly to talk to, we will find them nice too. Let the conversation lead us, and we’ll see that one topic leads to another.
Last but not least, do stay in touch after leaving. It’s very rude not to ask for the contact number, especially after the other people have helped you. Even if we don’t want to have further communication, just occasional greetings are necessary. It shows that we attach great importance to them.
1. What can we infer about the author from the text?| A．She’s a student. | B．She’s a host. | C．She’s a farmer. | D．She’s a teacher. |
| A．Frank. | B．Generous. | C．Shallow. | D．Shy. |
| A．Try to find common topics. | B．Judge their appearance. |
| C．Invite the seniors to shake hands. | D．Wait for others to introduce themselves. |
| A．How to avoid awkward situations? | B．How to stay in touch with friends? |
| C．How to show respect to the seniors? | D．How to communicate with new friends? |
10 . In the Roman times and throughout the Middle Ages, salt was a valuable commodity (商品), and also served as “white gold”. Soldiers in the Roman army were sometimes paid with salt instead of money. Their monthly allowance was called “salarium” (“sal” being the Latin word for salt). This Latin root can be recognized in the French word “salaire” and it eventually made it into English as the word “salary”.
Language is something we take for granted. However, as the example with the word “salary” shows, languages are not static. Like biological species, languages change over time, and sometimes develop to give rise to several descendant (后代) languages. For example, French, Italian, and Spanish are among the languages that have evolved from Latin. And like species, languages can go extinct, too.
Given all these similarities, linguists (语言学家) who study the evolution of languages often use tools that are similar to those used by evolutionary biologists. One such tool is the reconstruction of a species tree. Such a tree shows the evolutionary history and relationships within a given group of biological species.
Using a reconstructed species tree, evolutionary biologists can often infer specific characteristics of ancestral species. Or they can match up common ancestors in the tree with actual fossils that have been found by paleontologists (古生物学家). This allows them to put real dates at various branching points in the tree. Thus, species tree reconstruction is an essential tool in studying biological evolution.
A similar technique can be used to study language evolution because languages also evolve and consist of words that can be easily compared. Indeed, linguists have reconstructed entire language trees. And as with species trees, characteristics of ancient ancestral languages can be derived (衍生) from them.
Of course, there also are some differences between species evolution and language evolution, each requiring unique additional methods to study them in detail. But, overall, it is fascinating to see how the basic ideas and research tools of language evolution are similar to those of biological evolution.
1. Why does the author mention the word “salary” in paragraph 1?| A．To illustrate the evolution of language. |
| B．To present the effect of Latin on languages. |
| C．To stress the value of salt in ancient times. |
| D．To show developments in linguistic theory. |
| A．Cultural diversity and biodiversity are linked. |
| B．Species and languages have a lot in common. |
| C．Human-caused mass extinction is accelerating. |
| D．Languages influence and learn from each other. |
| A．It is currently in the design stage. | B．It facilitates the research of linguists. |
| C．It can be used in a variety of ways. | D．It is the first choice for biologists. |
| A．The Language System Evolved Over Time |
| B．The Twin Extinctions of Species and Languages |
| C．Salt Played a Crucial Role in Early Human History |
| D．From Salt to Salary: Linguists Take a Page from Biology |
