1 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.

But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.

Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.

Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.

In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.

Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To tell about true friends.	B．To start a discussion.
C．To encourage online friendships.	D．To summarize(总结) the text.

2. What does the underlined part “in the flesh” mean in paragraph 3?

A．In any case.

B．In public.

C．In person.

D．In advance.

3. What is Katie’s attitude toward online communication?

A．Unconcerned.

B．Positive.

C．Worried.

D．Confused.

4. Which of the following is the Rosen’s view?

A．Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships.	B．It’s easier to develop friendships in real life.
C．It’s wise to turn to friends online.	D．Social media help people stay closely connected.

2 . I have worked as a keeper at the National Zoo for 11 years. Spot and Stripe are the first tiger cubs (幼兽) that have ever been born here. Globally, a third of Sumatran cubs in zoos don’t make it to adulthood, so I decided to give them round-the-clock care at home.

I’ve got two children — the younger one, Kynan, was extremely happy about the tigers arriving — but all of us really looked forward to being part of their lives and watching them grow. I wasn’t worried about bringing them into my home with my wife and kids. These were cubs. They weighed about 2.5kg and were so small that there was absolutely no risk.

As they grew more mobile, we let them move freely around the house during the day, but when we were asleep we had to contain them in a large room, otherwise they’d get up to mischief. We’d come down in the morning to find they’d turned the room upside down, and left it looking like a zoo.

Things quickly got very intense due to the huge amount of energy required to look after them. There were some tough times and I just felt extremely tired. I was grateful that my family was there to help. We had to have a bit of a production line going, making up “riser milk”, washing baby bottles, and cleaning the floors.

When Spot and Stripe were four months old, they were learning how to open doors and jump fences, and we knew it really was time for them to go. It was hard for us to finally part with them. For the first few days, Kynan was always a bit disappointed that the cubs weren’t there.

I’m not sad about it. I’m hands-on with them every day at the zoo, and I do look back very fondly on the time that we had them.

1. Why did the author bring the tiger cubs home?

A．To ensure their survival.	B．To observe their differences.
C．To teach them life skills.	D．To let them play with his kids.

2. What do the underlined words “get up to mischief” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Behave badly.	B．Lose their way.
C．Sleep soundly.	D．Miss their mom.

3. What did the author think of raising the tiger cubs at home?

A．Boring.

B．Tiring.

C．Illegal.

D．Risky.

4. Why did the author decide to send Spot and Stripe back to the zoo?

A．They frightened the children.	B．They became difficult to contain.
C．They annoyed the neighbours.	D．They started fighting each other.

3 . I was in the seventh grade, and we had moved to New Jersey in November. By then, everyone already had had their own friends, and no one wanted to talk to a new girl. To make things worse, they put me in “Section L”. I found out later that everyone called Section L “Loserville”. It was sort of an open secret that it was the section for troublemakers and not-so-smart kids. When I found out, I wanted to scream. I had always been a good student and had amazing friends, and now everyone thought I was a loser!

I did text my friends in Illinois almost every night, especially my best friend, Ana. At first my friends wanted to hear all about it. But then some stopped texting back once I said something about how miserable I was. One night when I was texting with Ana, I complained about another friend who had just done that.

Ana’s texts came really fast for the next few minutes and they surprised me. She said that she was tired of hearing about how bad everything was in New Jersey, too. She said she did not want to hurt my feelings but that I needed to stop feeling so sorry for myself all the time, I had to try to make things better.

The next day, I thought a lot about what Ana had said. She was right!

I wish I could say that everything changed overnight after that, but it didn’t. I was still stuck in “Loserville”, and some people were still mean to me, even though I tried to just stay out of their way.

But what did change was me—I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and did something about making friends. I signed up to make sets for the school play. I met a lot of new people there, and suddenly I had friends to say hi to in the halls!

I still miss Illinois sometimes, but life in New Jersey isn’t so hard anymore. Even though I couldn’t change my situation, I could change my attitude—and that made all the difference.

1. “Loserville” is a section for ________.

A．failures	B．good students
C．class secrets	D．newcomers

2. The writer complained all the time in the new environment because ________.

A．Ana didn’t text back to her	B．her friends hurt her feelings
C．she was unfairly treated	D．she was a good student

3. What made a difference in changing the situation?

A．She went back to Illinois.

B．She ended friendship with Ana.

C．She fought back with her classmates.

D．She began to make friends with others.

4. The best title for the passage can be ________.

A．Lasting Friendship	B．An Incidence at School
C．Say Goodbye to “Loserville”	D．Unhappiness in “Loserville”

4 . African countries have retrieved some historic heritage, which directly reflects (反映) the important development of human society, from European countries. Recently, Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of valuable artworks from the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century, in what is today Benin.

But many artifacts (手工艺品) are still unluckily missing and some are on their way back. One such object is an eight-legged seat from the old kingdom in Uganda. The important arti- fact now sits at a museum thousands of kilometers away in Britain. The wooden seat is housed at the University of Oxford. It is one of at least 279 objects there taken from the Bunyoro- Kitara Kingdom.

Apollo John Rwamparo is a deputy prime minister of Uganda. He really values the country’s cultural heritage. He requested the British to return the artifacts. Uganda officials are preparing to meet with the University of Cambridge in Britain about the return of such historical artifacts. The school has an unknown number of artifacts from Africa. Through many efforts, an artifact was recently to its home.

The British Museum holds a large collection of artifacts from Africa. Rose Mwanja said Uganda’s commission had been trying hard on it and believed it could have some good effects. She is Uganda’s commissioner for museums. She added she could start with those that are more willing to cooperate.

Many of the artifacts from Africa cannot even be found. That led to an organization star- ted by late Congolese art collector Sindika Dokolo. The organization offers to buy African art from collections in foreign countries. By 2020, when Dokolo died, his group had successfully recovered 15 items. However, for African governments, the recovery of artifacts remains a struggle and will take much time.

1. What does the underlined word “retrieved” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Reduced.

B．Taken back.

C．Given up.

D．Recommended.

2. Where is the artifact of the eight-legged seat at present?

A．In Benin.

B．In Uganda.

C．In Germany.

D．In Britain.

3. What is Uganda officials’ attitude to their country’s cultural heritage?

A．Curious.

B．Concerned.

C．Uncaring.

D．Confused.

4. Which word best describes the recovery of artifacts?

A．Frightening.

B．Doubtful.

C．Effortless.

D．Challenging.

5 . 假如你是李华，你校将组织校内留学生参观中国画展览，请你以校学生会的名义写一则通知发布在校园网上。内容包括：
1.展览的时间和地点；
2.展览内容；
3.参观时的注意事项。
1.词数 80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Notice

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8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What happened to Sandy?

A．He was fired.

B．He failed to get a job.

C．He got lost in the museum.

2. What can we learn from the conversation?

A．The woman is quite selfish.

B．The man is disappointed with Sandy.

C．Sandy has applied for a job in Los Angeles.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the man doing?

A．Giving advice to his mother.

B．Asking permission from his mother.

C．Telling his mother about his school life.

2. What do we know about the man?

A．He often helps his mother in the kitchen.

B．He wants to take some dancing lessons.

C．He will not live with his parents soon.

10 . What will the woman probably do next?

A．Talk to a police officer.

B．Tell the man what happened.

C．Wait for the man to call back.