1 . Perhaps my favorite place during my trip to Guangxi was the Longji Rice Terraces(梯田)in Longsheng. I’ve seen rice terraces elsewhere in Asia, but nothing compared with the beauty of the Longji Rice Terraces. To go to Guangxi and skip these rice terraces would be a loss.
These over 600-year-old terraces are still very much in use and feed the local Yao and Zhuang communities; you can find many guesthouses throughout the various rice terraces, and while accommodations ( 住宿) are very basic, I would strongly suggest spending a night in the peaceful terraces, surrounded by nothing but rice.
My friends and I had arrived in Guangxi on harvest day and we were told by our local guide it was too late to see Longji in its autumnal beauty. But we were super lucky because the 2021 harvest had been put off, and when we arrived in Longsheng a couple of days later, it was the last day before the harvest began. It’s quite risky to time your visit this way, but it is amazing to see the Longji Rice Terraces both before harvest and after, when it takes on a completely new character.
The two main terraced areas are the Ping’an Terraced Fields and the Jinkeng Terraced Fields. The former is home to the local Zhuang people and has more visitors as it’s easier to reach. Jinkeng, on the other hand, is less visited. The Red Yao people live here, and should you need a hand with your suitcase, their women are happy to help you. We chose Jinkeng because it’s home to the highest point of the Longji Rice Terraces. The viewpoint is nearly 4,000 feet high. We had to go up there as our hotel was up there, but you should anyway as it’s the most wonderful viewpoint.
The Longji Rice Terraces are supposed to be beautiful in the spring and summer as well, though I much prefer its autumnal beauty. Winter, I’d skip, as it was already cold enough at night in October, but I’d return and visit again in the spring or summer.
1. What is the author’s advice for people visiting the Longji Rice Terraces?| A．Staying a night at a guesthouse among the terraces. |
| B．Going to the local Yao and Zhuang communities. |
| C．Choosing good accommodations. |
| D．Eating the local rice. |
| A．He could enjoy the terraces’ autumnal beauty. |
| B．He found a time-saving way to the terraces. |
| C．He came across one of his friends. |
| D．He had a professional local guide. |
| A．The affordable hotel. | B．The friendly people. |
| C．The great viewpoint. | D．The light traffic. |
| A．In a short novel. | B．In a news report. |
| C．In a history book. | D．In a travel magazine. |
Tea is a healthy drink. Drinking tea in China could be considered as an art and to help people achieve a sense of calm and renewed energy. It is also
Stories
Tea serves three primary
Drinking tea together is a sign of respect. In ancient times, “tribute tea”(贡茶) was
3 . The mental health of children is connected to their parents’ mental health. A recent study asked parents to report on their children’s mental and physical (身体的) health as well as their own mental health. One in 14 children aged 0~17 years had a parent who reported poor mental health, and those children were more likely to have poor general health and a mental or developmental disability.
Being mentally healthy during childhood includes reaching developmental milestones, learning healthy social skills and how to solve problems. Mentally healthy children are more likely to have a happy life and are more likely to work well at home, in school, and in their communities.
A child’s healthy development depends on their parents who serve as their first sources(来源) of support in becoming independent and leading healthy and successful lives.
The mental health of parents and children is connected in many ways. Parents who have their own mental health challenges, such as dealing with anxiety (fear or worry), may have more difficulty providing care for their children compared to parents who describe their mental health as good. Caring for children can create challenges for parents, particularly if they lack (缺乏) support, which can have a negative effect on a parent’s mental health. Parents and children may also experience shared risks, such as living in unsafe environments, and the like.
Fathers are important for improving children’s mental health, although they are not as often included in research studies as mothers. The recent study looked at fathers and found similar connections between their mental health and their children’s general and mental health as for mothers. Fathers and mothers need support, which, in turn, can help them support their children’s mental health.
1. What does the study mainly focus on?| A．Some useful social skills. | B．Children’s future life. |
| C．Parent-child mental health. | D．Community’s influence. |
| A．Raising kids without support. | B．Living in a strange place. |
| C．Sharing a common interest. | D．Communicating with each other. |
| A．They are often included in studies. | B．They play a more important part. |
| C．They seldom bear the responsibility. | D．They can influence children’s health. |
| A．In a diary. | B．In a book review. |
| C．In a magazine. | D．In a children’s story. |
4 . The winter break is just about to end. Soon we will be back at school. It’s with both happiness and sadness. I look very much forward to seeing my friends and starting practice again, but it also means I’m officially(正式地) half way through the exchange year. With school starting there are new things to try out and experience. For example? I’m starting a new sport, Track. It’s similar to Cross Country, which I did from August till November.
Being here for half a year now? I can easily tell the differences between my two schools. The hardest or most different part for me was to have the same schedule every day here. Honestly, I prefer to have different classes every day, as I did in my home country. However, I have fallen in love with the Friday football games. Football is one of my favorite sports now. Before I came, I knew nothing about it. Now I love it, especially to watch it with my host parents. I have also been so lucky to go to two college football games.
Before I left school in December, I had a couple of tests called Mid-term Test. They all went pretty smooth, mostly because I didn’t have too many hard classes. My favorite class was English, and also my hardest. Personally I really liked English, where I could write essays(文章), challenge writing skills and improve English talking.
Only four days of winter break is left. A part of me wants to be on a break forever, and the other part expects to get started again, start a new sport and see my friends and classmates.
1. Why does the author feel sad before school starts again?| A．Her homework is not finished. | B．The exchange year will end soon. |
| C．Her school life will get harder. | D．The new sport no longer attracts her. |
| A．The courses are richer. | B．The teachers are kinder. |
| C．The meals are healthier. | D．The holidays are longer. |
| A．Having a talk in English. | B．Playing video games. |
| C．Watching football matches. | D．Visiting her relatives. |
| A．Classes. | B．Tests. | C．Games. | D．Students. |
5 . “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are …”
The sweet sound of the well-known childhood song came out of the village office in Gaozhuang in Zhongwei, Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Inside, a small group of children were learning to play the guitar with Song Hao, deputy curator(副馆长) of Zhongwei Museum.
Song is 48 years and was born into an artistic family. He received strict musical training as a child and was quite good at playing the guitar and composing music. He had a wish to do what he could with his own music to make the world a brighter place for the children. In June last year, he found an opportunity to turn that wish into reality.
He was chosen to take part in rural vitalization(振兴) work in Gaozhuang for two years, and in his spare time, he started teaching village children to play the guitar.
“There’s something really magical about music,” he said, remembering that when he played for the children, many had twinkles in their eyes.
Song asked them if they wanted to learn to play, and they all said “Yes”, so he started a free class to teach them on weekends and during the summer and winter holidays. He paid for 20 guitars and music textbooks from his own pocket and began to teach them the basics, like how to pluck(弹拨) the strings and read music.
The children loved the classes so much that they would arrive at the village office early to wait for Song. Over the past six months, a number of children have learned to play entire pieces, and Song said that he could feel the happiness and confidence that learning to play music had brought to them.
Shen Mingyi, Shen Huihong’s father, spoke highly of Song and his guitar class, saying that his daughter had become more extroverted as a result.
1. What did Song Hao do during his spare time in Gaozhuang?| A．He held concerts in the village. |
| B．He went sightseeing with village school. |
| C．He helped to build the village school. |
| D．He taught village children to play the guitar. |
| A．The school rules. | B．The teacher’s plan. |
| C．Their love for the classes. | D．Their parents’ requirements. |
| A．Polite. | B．Outgoing. |
| C．Anxious. | D．Confused. |
| A．Selfless. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Honest. | D．Brave. |
6 .
| Hope Book Club A book club is a small group of persons that are reading the same book in order to share different feelings and opinions about the book. The book club meets once a month for an hour of lively discussion. All students (3+), teachers and parents are welcome! Here you can discover a new world, learn new ideas and make new friends! What you should do:★You will read the book on your own and then discuss your reading in the book club. ★You must keep up with your reading so that you can join as a part of your group. The book club will decide what pages or chapters you will read. ★You should take down notes and thoughts as you read. ★Everyone in the book club is expected to join in the discussion. More tips: ★Keep our place clean. ★No pets and no smoking. ★Take good care of books and return them on time. ★You must ask for leave if you cannot join in the discussion. Fees: Kids from 3—7: Free; Kids from 8—18: 10 dollars a month; Adults: 15 dollars a month. If you are interested, call 487-256-656 or 487-266-545, send an email to hopebook@yahoo.com or visit our website at www.hopebookclub.com. |
| A．30 dollars. | B．60 dollars. | C．75 dollars. | D．90 dollars |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Books aren’t allowed to be taken out of the club. |
| B．Joining in the discussion is encouraged in the club. |
| C．You can choose your favourite books to read in the club. |
| D．The members in the club don’t have to finish what they need to read. |
In a first of
The new regulation, which is set to fill the legal gap for domestic intelligent connected vehicles, said automakers don’t
But such fully autonomous vehicles can only drive on certain roads and sections
The regulation classified autonomous vehicles
Meanwhile, the regulation
8 . A girl is smiling at me from a picture on my desk. She is one of my sponsor (资助) children. I didn’t spend much money helping her. The joy from helping her gives me, however, is over the picture.
I can still remember the first time that I decided to help a child. It was many years ago, I was only a middle school student. I had a little extra (额外的) money each month. I didn’t feel like buying anything, though. A few years ago, we lost everything in a house fire. That fire bought me a lot. I cleared that I didn’t need a lot of things to be happy. From then on I began to care about the suffering of children in poor countries. With my mom’s help, I soon found a few groups and joined them. They were helping others around the world.
It felt so good being able to reach out and help others in need. It felt so good being able to make even one life better. I could feel the love growing in my head and beginning to change me. This feeling makes us into better people with bigger hearts. It helps us to love, to be kind, and to make this world a better place.
1. The writer began to sponsor a child ________.| A．when he studied in the middle school | B．before his house had a fire |
| C．when he felt like buying something | D．before he had a little extra money |
| A．苦难 | B．经验 | C．情绪 | D．要求 |
| A．Why the writer helped poor children. | B．How the writer found a few groups. |
| C．When the writer began to care about others. | D．How the writer felt after helping others in need. |
| A．The writer needed a lot of money to be happy before. |
| B．The writer spent much money on his sponsor child. |
| C．The writer spent lots of money doing shopping every month. |
| D．After joining the groups, the writer changed a lot in his heart. |
| A．rich | B．lucky | C．kind | D．careless |
9 . Here we’ve got three tips to help you start an exercise habit that can stick. It’s a lot easier than you think.
You don’t have to be a marathoner to get meaningful health benefits from exercise. Experts say even daily activities, which include mopping the floor, organizing a room or carrying groceries up the stairs can reduce the risk of diseases like diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers.
So remind yourself that it’s not a choice between hours-long workout or nothing at all. Instead, think of starting an exercise routine like standing up from your chair and sitting back down repeatedly.
Focus on how exercise makes you feel great
There are so many positives that happen when you move. It improves all the tasks that demand focus and creativity. It helps you generate energy. It boosts mood.
Forget long- term benefits like weight loss or better overall health.
Figure out what kind of exercise and workout location makes you feel good
If weightlifting in a crowded gym gives you anxiety, try to get a set of weights for home or follow workout videos on YouTube or ride a bike in the park.
| A．Start small and every movement counts |
| B．They often take much longer time to achieve |
| C．Focus on immediate payoffs like improved mood and energy |
| D．In short, any movement helps to clear fat and sugar out of blood |
| E．Remember, when you have more energy, you’re a happier person |
| F．Keep trying until you find a workout routine that makes you happy |
| G．No matter how modest those goals are, they create this feeling like I can do more |
10 . Don’t ask astronomers to choose between the old Hubble Space Telescope and the new James Webb Space Telescope. “Comparing Hubble and Webb is like asking if you will love your second child as much as your first one,” said Susan Mullally, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. They are very different but equally loved.
Webb is expected to detect light from the universe’s first stars, beyond Hubble’s range. This light will show how the original stars looked 13.7 billion years ago. Hubble has stared as far back as 13.4 billion years, discovering the oldest and farthest object ever observed. Astronomers are eager to close the 300 million year gap with Webb and draw ever closer in time to the Big Bang, the moment the universe formed 13.8 billion years ago. “It’s like looking at the picture book of our kids and missing the first two years. We are trying to figure out where they come from,” explained NASA’s chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen.
Hubble sees what we see, with a little ultraviolet and infrared thrown in. Webb has infrared vision. That’s why Webb needs to run at -240℃. To stay cold, Webb carries a five-layer shelter to keep it from sunlight. Between each layer of the shelter, whose size is as big as a tennis court, there is a gap so heat can escape out the sides.
To detect the universe’s first and darkening stars, Webb requires the largest mirror ever made for astronomy. The mirror spans more than 6.5 meters, yet is lighter than Hubble’s, which is 2.4 meters across. The mirror consists of 18 smaller pieces, each of which is the size of a coffee table and coated with very thin gold, an ideal reflector of infrared light.
Hubble circles 530 kilometers above the earth. Webb is 1.6 million kilometers away at what’s called the second Lagrange point (L2). This is where the gravitational forces of the earth and the sun balance, requiring minimal fuel for a spacecraft to stay there. Webb will constantly face the night side of Earth as the spacecraft and planet run around the sun in unison (同步).
1. What does Thomas Zurbuchen mean?| A．Webb will help scientists see the Big Bang. | B．He wants to find some of his kids’ pictures. |
| C．New space telescopes are better than old ones. | D．Webb might detect the light of the first stars. |
| A．The distance Webb can see. | B．The type of shelters Webb has. |
| C．The unique mirror Webb carries. | D．The position Webb is put in. |
| A．It is the coldest area in the universe. | B．It is the darkest position above the earth. |
| C．It is the farthest place any spaceship can reach. | D．It requires the least fuel for Webb to work normally. |
| A．Differences Between Hubble and Webb | B．Problems With Hubble Space Telescope |
| C．Advantages of Infrared Space Telescopes | D．Rapid Development of Space Telescopes |
