1 . Birthdays are especially important to the very young and the very old. On their birthdays, people receive birthday cards and birthday presents from their family and friends. Children’s cards often have a large number on them showing how old they are. Cards for adults have pictures of flowers or scenery, or humorous or rude cartoons. Inside there is usually a simple greeting, such as “Happy Birthday” or “Many Happy Returns of the Day.”
In the US, children who have their birthdays during the school year take a cake to school and have a small party with their classmates. In Britain, children sometimes get Bumped (lifted off the ground horizontally and put down again sharply) by their friends.
In the US, the 16th birthday is called sweet 16. It is the age at which a person can get a US driver’s license, and some wealthier parents give their children a car as a present. At 18, in Britain and in the US, young people become adults and many have a big party. In most parts of the US, 21 is the age at which people can drink alcohol legally.
In Britain, people celebrate 21st birthday less. Many adults dislike getting older and a few lie about their age. But in general older people are now much more willing to tell others their age. You may see a sign by the side of a road saying: “Dave Ell is 40 today!”, put there by Dave’s friends. At about 65, people retire, and those who have reached this age are called senior citizens. Few people live to be 100, so a 100th birthday is very special. In Britain, people reaching this age may receive cards containing a printed message from the Queen.
1. What’s the main characteristic of children’s birthday cards?| A．They are full of pictures of scenery. |
| B．There are some flowers on them. |
| C．There is a large number on them. |
| D．They have greetings written on them. |
| A．The 40th birthday is very special. |
| B．Many adults like lying about their age. |
| C．Dave’s friends like playing jokes on him. |
| D．Older people don’t mind telling others their age now. |
| A．be called a senior citizen |
| B．refuse to talk about his age |
| C．receive a card from the Queen |
| D．be invited to dinner with the Queen |
| A．Bars in the US are forbidden to sell alcohol to young people of 21. |
| B．In Britain, 18 means young people become adults. |
| C．Young people will get a car as the 16th birthday present in the US. |
| D．British young men love to celebrate the 21st birthday. |
| A．Black . | B．Brown. | C．Yellow. |
| A．China. | B．France. | C．New Zealand. |
| A．In the morning. | B．In the afternoon. | C．In the evening. |
| A．Lisa. | B．Lily. | C．Lydia. |
| A．Writing a story. | B．Reading a story. | C．Writing a report. |
7 . ABOUT SMART
SMART runs both study tours for groups in England throughout the year and a holiday English course for foreign students during the summer in the centre of London. Our courses combine English language learning with cultural studies in different centres around England. Our students have plenty of holiday fun, make new friends and learn a lot of English!
The holiday course
We provide lessons and afternoon activities to help you speak, write, listen and read in English, as well as understand the English people and their culture. We will help you learn through topics which are interesting to you.
The school
The Elite School is in central London, just 5 minutes from Paddington Station and 10 minutes from Hyde Park. It has 15 classrooms including an IT room, a science lab, a music room, and an art room as well as a large cafeteria.
Travelling time from Heathrow Airport: 45 minutes
Trips
There are three trips every week. You can have fun either in London or outside London. In London we visit places such as the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the Tate Modern. Outside London we visit places such us Oxford, Cambridge and Brighton.
Terms
Age: 11-17
Minimum stay: 2 weeks
Maximum number of students in class: 15
Cost￡550 per week, including:
— registration fee (C60)
— tuition package: 15 hours of English; 1 half day of creative arts; 1 full-day trip on Saturday; all course materials; 1 half day of sport; 2 “Discover London” tours; lunch; welcome pack
— host family accommodation
1. Which of the following is provided by the holiday course?| A．A culture-based language study. | B．Free access to 15 classrooms. |
| C．Pick-up service from the airport. | D．Learning experiences in famous colleges. |
| A．￡550. | B．￡610. | C．￡1100. | D．￡1160. |
| A．A tour guide. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A journal entry. | D．A study report. |
8 . Every Thursday afternoon, the food pantry (食品储藏室) at the local high school opens up to provide fresh food bags for families who can hardly make both ends meet to get their meals to last through the weekend. Nearly a hundred families rely on the extra food. Some are between jobs, some got hit hard with medical bills for a few months, and some are new to the neighborhood, placed there by refugee services.
On one breezy afternoon, two young mothers walked in together, each accompanied by a young child. There was nothing different about their dress, but their manner revealed a shyness that they struggled to overcome. When they spoke, it was clear why: Their accents were thick, even though they were trying hard to make their English sound American. They were uncertain of being understood. But the pantry is run by grandmothers who are never pressed for time when it comes to conversations. So they sat for a moment and told their story while the little ones were held in arms so very familiar with children.
The two lived in apartments in the basement of the Methodist Church. They had been in the United States for one month. Their husbands were well-educated but working labor jobs to pay for food and save for more typical apartments.
Both had fled the war in Eastern Europe, one family from Ukraine and one from Russia. They ended up in the same church basement and discovered that they needed each other. They became fast friends. Their children played together. They shared meals and navigated their new world together.
There were no bombs or soldiers or rations in their new neighborhood, only a chance to start over. Friendships are sometimes hard to come by, yet matter so much to each of us. A good friend gives us strength, love, laughter and the courage to keep trying.
These two families — worn down by uncertainty and war, thrown together in a new country, a new community with a new language — found so much in common. And isn’t that what we all need? A friend who faces the same life challenges, even if the forces above them have different political views. We are, after all, just mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors.
1. In the article, who primarily benefits from the services provided by the food pantry?| A．High school students. | B．People with disabilities. |
| C．Families with tight budgets. | D．Underpaid individuals. |
| A．Their clothing. | B．Their language. |
| C．Their children. | D．Their ID documents. |
| A．They both live in the basement of the same church. |
| B．They met at the same restaurant. |
| C．They are from the same country. |
| D．They both have similar professions. |
| A．Challenges of Life and New Friendship | B．The Story of the Food Pantry |
| C．New Life in America | D．From War to Peace |
9 . We love our pets. In fact, for most people they are more than me re pets and become more like family members. It is likely then that their owners, at some point, are going to want photographs of their furry friends. However, pet photography presents its own special problems.
Find out about your subject’s personality and habits. Where does it nod off if the sun is out? What is its favourite toy?
See the world from pets’ perspective. If you photograph a pet while you’re standing up, all you’re going to see is the top of their head and their backs, not what you want for a portrait. Get down to their eye level. Try pre-focusing your camera and just holding it at ground level so you can look up at the pet.
Bring a flash with the owner’s permission. While greeting or playing with a new pet, fire a couple of test flashes away from them to see their reaction. In daylight particularly, they never seem to mind the flash at all.
| A．Think about getting in close to your subject. |
| B．It’s worth a try just for a new angle on things. |
| C．Animals can be unpredictable, lazy, aggressive and excitable. |
| D．A good photograph focuses on the subject and not the background. |
| E．If they do mind, then stick with natural light and use a white reflector. |
| F．The more you shoot, the greater your chances of hitting that perfect shot! |
| G．Take time to chat with the owner and observe your subject to gain some insight. |
10 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well occurring. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality (道德) and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.
Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles shows a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries (铅酸电池), containing almost 300 pounds of lead (铅) in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leaks into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable (高利润的) but deadly business.
Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an unexpected scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare cause one of the biggest environmental problems in the world yet receives little attention.
The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5.5 million people per year, making it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is heavy, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive (认知的) effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.
But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that can be resolved through financial investment (财政投入). Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the unpleasant effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.
1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?| A．By listing some numbers. | B．By analyzing hidden causes. |
| C．By making an interesting comparison. | D．By explaining its working principle. |
| A．Lead enters poor countries in one way. |
| B．Lead leaking has been avoided in all the countries. |
| C．Lead will definitely not harm anymore. |
| D．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer. |
| A．Fixing these used batteries. | B．Reducing the cost of recycling lead. |
| C．Ignoring the illegal use of lead. | D．Putting certain effort and money. |
| A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Man. |
| B．The Global Lead Poisoning Problem. |
| C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem. |
| D．The Benefits of Using Electric Vehicles. |
