1 . Abeid was born in a village of Tanzania and dreamt of flying a plane, soaring (翱翔) through the sky. Due to financial difficulties, he became a wildlife guide instead.
Abeid didn’t give up. He became a chief pilot of hot air ballooning at the age of 20. His passion for flying was matched by his skill both as a pilot and as a guide. Then, he came up with the idea of flying across the Serengeti from east to west, which would take four flights on successive days, taking off and landing where no one had ever seen a balloon before.
As a journalist, I was so lucky to make a journey with Abeid. We were up at 3 am. Abeid walked into the basket and checked the lines and the fastenings. Moments later, he was instructing me to get into it. With barely time to catch my breath, he gave a long blast (猛吹) on the burners and the basket tipped upright.
Over the following days, we gasped at the joy and wonder of the sky; at the beauty and complexity of the land beneath us. There was no fear, just a sense of being part of something fantastic as we floated in the silence of the African sky.
But not everything went entirely to Abeid’s carefully worked-out plan. The rains that had started to fall every afternoon slowed the air. On the final day, we landed 20km short of the destination. Luckily, we finally made the crossing the next morning.
When we were returning to the land, crowds of people shouted and waved. Many children looked up as we flew over them, and started to run. As Abeid brought the balloon down, people gathered around the balloon, pressing against the basket. Those children were also there, flushed and breathless, eyes wide with amazement. Abeid and I both looked at each other in silent agreement. Suddenly we were helping some children into the basket. Abeid lifted off and we flew just a few hundred metres with the excited crowd running alongside.
I realized that Abeid’s journey was more than just about flying. It was about hope, inspiration, and the joy of sharing one’s passion. And as I penned down the last words of this extraordinary experience, I knew that Abeid’s story would resonate (回荡) far beyond the Serengeti.
1. What did Abeid dream of?| A．Being a wildlife guide. | B．Being a journalist. |
| C．Flying a hot air balloon. | D．Flying a plane. |
| A．Smooth. | B．Pioneering. | C．Painful. | D．Eco-friendly. |
| A．Showing their technical skills. | B．Teaching the children to be a pilot. |
| C．Taking the children for a ride. | D．Attracting people to their show. |
| A．A Beautiful View: from East to West |
| B．A Balloon Adventure: the Dream Soaring High |
| C．Different Job Experiences: from a Guide to a Pilot |
| D．A Wildlife Exploration: the Unforgettable Experience |
2 . During the first weeks of his retirement from the fire service, Max had felt lost. And that’s when Polly, a library manager, helped him sign up as a
Max hadn’t volunteered before and he didn’t know anything about
Glancing around the library at the many parents and carers accompanying the robot builders, Max knew he had to face this
“Okay, team,” he started
The children nodded, their hands busy with screws and plastic limbs. Max wandered from table to table,
An hour passed, and the room was filled with the sound of chatter and clinking parts. As the final minutes of Robot Club ticked away, Max stood back and
As they began to leave, many children stopped to thank Max. Each “thank you” and “see you next week” chipped away at the sense of
| A．volunteer | B．writer | C．builder | D．fireman |
| A．books | B．programs | C．children | D．robots |
| A．searching | B．waiting | C．reading | D．arguing |
| A．competition | B．consequence | C．challenge | D．conflict |
| A．calmly | B．coldly | C．casually | D．weakly |
| A．processing | B．offering | C．exchanging | D．understanding |
| A．surveyed | B．cleaned | C．decorated | D．left |
| A．bringing up | B．calling on | C．showing off | D．giving away |
| A．freedom | B．relief | C．loss | D．guilt |
| A．version | B．belief | C．approach | D．purpose |
3 . With all the dietary information online, it can be hard to know what tips to follow. Watch out for these words and expressions.
Fat Is Good
It doesn’t matter if you are part of the fat is GOOD for you or BAD for you group, the important question to ask is the source of the fat. If it comes from a land-based animal, and is likely to be solid at room temperature, then it is saturated (饱和的) fat whereas if it comes from fish or plants, and it is likely to be liquid at room temperature, then it is unsaturated fat. All the evidence indicates that eating more unsaturated fat than saturated fat lowers your risk of dying early.
Natural Sugar Is Better
The vast majority of sugar we consume is sucrose (蔗糖). It is the white powdered stuff we cook with and is made up of glucose and fructose. How about sugar from honey? It is often marketed as natural and better for you. Actually, it just has its own distinct flavour, but is as sweet because of glucose and fructose.
High-pH Water
Some people think we need to eat alkali (碱) food to maintain our blood at a pH of 7.4. But everything we eat or drink passes through the stomach, which, at a pH of 1.5, is the most acidic part of the body. It is then neutralised to a pH of 7. So, nothing we eat will change the pH of our blood.
Don’t Eat Anything That You Can’t Pronounce
Whether foods are natural or highly processed, they are all full of chemicals. Are you supposed to fear “phenylthiocarbamide”, because you can’t pronounce it? This is simply the chemical responsible for the bitter taste found in brassicas, the plants in the cabbage and mustard family.
Don’t Eat Food With More Than Five Ingredients(佐料)
Simple foods are not necessarily healthier for you. If I, for instance, use Chinese five spice powder in a recipe, that would count as one of the five ingredients. However, what if I added the typical components of five spice powder separately into a dish? Does that mean my recipe suddenly becomes bad because it has more than five ingredients?
1. According to the passage, healthier fat ______.| A．can be found in fish and plants | B．comes from land-based animals |
| C．remains solid at room temperature | D．can lower the death rate of elders |
| A．diets can help adjust the pH of our blood | B．honey sugar can do more good than sucrose |
| C．foods with more ingredients may be as healthy | D．chemicals we can recognize are safer to take in |
| A．To compare tips on food choices. | B．To introduce different health concepts. |
| C．To recommend fitness recipes to readers. | D．To warn us of some dietary misunderstandings. |
4 . Up to the age of ten, I did not mind at all the fact that my elder sister was different. The child psychologist had termed it as “Asperger Syndrome”, a disease that affects how a person socializes with others.
It was only at the age of ten that I started to become aware of my social life and self-image that I had carefully shaped. My sister, on the other hand, was socially awkward. She would mumble (咕哝) to herself and repeat the words she had just said under her breath. She, however, was academically capable, and hence we attended the same primary school. Despite this, I never, ever acknowledged in public that she was my sister.
Being in primary six, about to graduate, my sister and her classmates had to put up a performance, whether in a group, or individually. Due to her inability to integrate, my sister was the only one left without a group. “I’ll sing,” my sister told my parents, somewhat confidently. Hearing that, I was taken aback. How could my sister sing in front of the school? She would embarrass me, one way or another. “No!” I remember protesting. My parents shot me a look.
No one knows she is your sister. It is fine, you do not need to tell anyone. I remember telling myself these exact lines as I sat in the hall, waiting for the performances to start. The curtains parted to reveal the only solo (独唱) — my sister. It took about a whole minute for her to state her name and class and by that time, whispers were heard in the audience.
“Why is she taking so long?” people around me asked. I shifted nervously in my seat. Finally, my sister started to sing. I was prepared for the worst. She opened her mouth, and I was transfixed — she sang effortlessly. Her voice rang through the hall, beautiful in its power. I listened ever so carefully to the words that she had composed all by herself.
Guilt and shame filled my heart. Although she knew that I was embarrassed by her and was unwilling to attend her concert, my sister had forgiven me; she had never taken anything that I had done to her to heart. It was then that I resolved to love her unconditionally.
1. How did the author feel about his sister’s difference before 10?| A．He hardly accepted it. | B．He didn’t care about it. |
| C．He was extremely awkward. | D．He was determined to help. |
| A．To challenge his parents. | B．To follow other students. |
| C．To keep his sister’s image. | D．To protect his self-respect. |
| A．She always got full marks in primary school. |
| B．She refused to form a group with other students. |
| C．She gave an excellent performance before graduation. |
| D．She delivered an inspiring speech in front of the school. |
| A．Take nothing to heart. | B．Love without condition. |
| C．Stick to one’s own choice. | D．Learn from anyone around. |
5 . Have you considered contributing your skills and expertise virtually towards achieving sustainable human development efforts? Through the Online Volunteering service of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, you can connect with UN agencies, governments, public institutions and civil society organizations — from any device, anywhere in the world. While extending your network, you can also get first-hand practical experience.
Requirements:·To sign up on the Unified Volunteering Platform and apply for Online Volunteer assignments, you must be at least 18 years of age.
·There is no particular background required to become an Online Volunteer. Each Online Volunteer assignment is different and has its own requirements, set by the host organization.
· As an Online Volunteer, you can only support organizations remotely in assignments up to 20 hours per week for a maximum of 12 weeks for each assignment.
Criteria and service rules:
· Online Volunteers are not under contract with the UNV programme or the engaging organization.
· Online Volunteers do not receive any kind of financial benefits.
·For each Online Volunteering assignment, a maximum of 25 Online Volunteers can be engaged.
Procedures:
· Volunteers find assignments of their interest and apply.
· Organizations select the volunteers they want to engage.
· Volunteers and organizations work together online.
· Volunteers and organizations provide feedback on their cooperation.
· Organizations issue an electronic certificate of appreciation to their volunteers.
1. Through the UNV programme, one can ______.
| A．travel around the world | B．improve their network skills |
| C．set up civil society organizations | D．work on sustainable development |
| A．Being no less than 18 years. |
| B．Finishing 25 online assignments. |
| C．Working at least 20 hours a week. |
| D．Having some practical experience. |
| A．sign a contract with an organization |
| B．find tasks of their interest and apply |
| C．get a paper certificate of appreciation |
| D．receive some kind of financial benefits |
Soil
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