1 . Food festivals are a common occurrence in the UK and take place in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times. Whatever your taste, there’s a food festival to match — no matter how specialized.
1. Meatopia
This three-day, London-based festival takes place at the end of August and is a meat lover’s paradise. In addition to a range of legally sourced meat products, from juicy burgers to tender steaks, attendees can listen to live music, watch butchery demonstrations, and attend informal meat-based workshops.
2. The National Honey Show
If you have a sweet tooth, then it could be that the National Honey Show, which started in 1921 and is the largest event of its kind, is the place for you to be. This three-day event attracts many local entries who showcase their sweet golden honey, some of which is sold globally.
3. The Orange Sauce Festival
Have you heard about a festival that is devoted only to orange sauce? Held in Cumbria, this sweet, fragrant festival has been running for 3 years. What attracts people most is a competition to find the best homemade orange sauce. There are thousands of participants from over 30 different countries across the globe, bringing their local snacks to share here.
4. The Ginger and Spice Festival
If you’d prefer something with a little more kick to it, then you could attend The Ginger (姜) and Spice Festival held in Market Drayton. Unlike other food festivals, it celebrates its town’s historic connection to Robert Clive, who returned from India with ginger. Because of this, they specialize in baking gingerbread, but also sell a range of traditional spices from mild to hot.
1. What do Meatopia and the National Honey Show have in common?| A．Both of them last for three days. | B．Both of them hold workshops. |
| C．Both of them originated from London. | D．Both of them have a long history. |
| A．The Meatopia. | B．The Ginger and Spice Festival. |
| C．The National Honey Show. | D．The Orange Sauce Festival. |
| A．It has something to do with a historic figure. |
| B．The ginger used in the festival is from India. |
| C．It sells spicy food. |
| D．The food is cooked by Robert Clive. |
2 . One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap (包装).
On September 11th, 1958, Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is.” What an honour! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it.Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room.“If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”
“Thank God!” I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!
1. What happened to the author on September 11th, 1958?| A．He got a baby brother. |
| B．He got a Christmas gift. |
| C．He became four years old. |
| D．He received a doll. |
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring. |
| C．Difficult. | D．Fearful. |
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
| A．A sad Christmas day. |
| B．Life with a lovely baby. |
| C．A special Christmas gift. |
| D．Memories of a happy family. |
| A．How to preserve strawberries. | B．Where to buy strawberries | C．How to wash strawberries. |
8 . Various sports attract fans for different reasons: Spectator sports draw even more fans who just love to watch. Here are some of the most beloved sports worldwide.
Hockey-2 billion fans
Hockey, both on ice and on a field, wins a following of two billion enthusiastic fans worldwide. Field hockey is mainly played in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, while ice hockey is particularly popular in Canada and the US, where kids grow up playing pond hockey. Unlike ice hockey, field hockey usually does not involve body contact in the form of checking and hitting.
Football-4 billion fans
Football, better known as soccer in the US, is by far the most popular sport in the world. Experts estimate that the origin (起源) of football may go as far back as two thousand years, beginning in ancient China during the Han Dynasty. One major reason for football’s global popularity is that unlike other sports that require expensive equipment, all you need to play football is a ball and your feet.
Volleyball-900 million fans
Volleyball pits two teams across a high net, each attempting to smash the ball onto the opponent’s floor. A popular variant, beach volleyball, is competed on sand by pairs rather than the regular six players per team. The crowd appeal of beach volleyball has grown greatly in recent years.
Tennis-1 billion fans
An estimated one billion people worldwide follow professional tennis tournaments and matches. In tennis, players on both sides of a net try to hit a ball with a racket so that it either goes past their opponent (对手) or bounces twice on their opponent’s side of the court to score points. Tennis superstars like Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams are now household names around the world, with huge international fan bases.
1. Which sport attracts the most fans according to the text?| A．Volleyball. | B．Hockey. | C．Football. | D．Tennis. |
| A．Its long history. | B．Its great convenience. |
| C．Its unique origin. | D．Its huge fan bases. |
| A．Playing ice hockey involves body contact. |
| B．Soccer is American people's favorite sport. |
| C．Beach volleyball has attracted the most sports fans recently. |
| D．A tennis player loses one point if his ball goes past his opponent. |
9 . You know that classics like Little Women and To Kill a Mockingbird started as novels. But you probably didn’t know that these other famous movies also came from books.
Hidden Figures
This film told the story of real-life Katherine Johnson and other female African-American mathematicians who helped drive the United States into space in the 1960s. It was actually based on a 2016 non-fiction book and the movie did boost sales of the book.
Forrest Gump
The 1994 movie which was based on the book by Winston Groom won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for the star Tom Hanks. Although the movie’s critical and box-office success gave the book a huge boost, it’s the film that made its mark on pop culture history.
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkin’s psychological thriller, about a woman on a train who thinks she sees something strange out of the window, was a huge success. But unlike the fast—paced, can’t-be-put-down quality of the novel, the movie was boring.
Field of Dreams
It’s hard to describe the plot of this movie: Ray Kinsella hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in his Iowa cornfield, and what happens next explores the themes of lost dreams, childhood heroes, and healing the pain of the past. The 1989 movie is based on W. P. Kinsella’s 1982 original, Shoeless Joe, but cuts out some extra characters.
1. Which is the best choice for a person who loves math?| A．Hidden Figures. | B．Forrest Gump. |
| C．The Girl on the Train. | D．Field of Dreams. |
| A．Tom Hanks. | B．Winston Groom. |
| C．Paula Hawkin. | D．W. P. Kinsella. |
| A．It is a romantic comedy. | B．It presents several themes. |
| C．It shows all the figures in Shoeless Joe. | D．It was released in 1982 for the first time. |
10 . Think back to the last time you shopped for fruits and vegetables. You may have noticed some items labelled with the word “organic”.
“Organic” refers to the way food is grown. To be labelled as “organic”, food production must meet strict guidelines. These can be different depending on where you live. In the United States, organic foods must be grown or raised without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
However, the organic movement was started to get back to the old traditional ways of farming. Why? Many believe the chemicals and pesticides used in modern farming can be harmful to your health.
Have you ever compared organic and non-organic foods at the grocery store? If so, you know that organic food tends to cost more. This happens for many reasons. Organic farming produces fewer crops.
Is organic food worth the extra cost? Some people believe it is. They may think it tastes better or just prefer to eat food that has not been grown using chemicals.
| A．Are you wondering if organic food is right for you? |
| B．So it costs people much more money to purchase organic food. |
| C．For most of history, almost all food was organic. |
| D．It is always best to choose organically grown foods if possible. |
| E．Some also think organic foods are naturally more nutritious. |
| F．Have you ever wondered what that means? |
| G．Scientists have studied organic and non-organic foods for many years now. |
