| A．The boy’s examination score. |
| B．The boy’s life goals in the future. |
| C．The boy’s performance in a basketball game. |
| D．Parents expectation on child’s academic performance. |
| A．Ticket seller and audience. | B．Manager and secretary. |
| C．Librarian and reader. | D．Receptionist and customer. |
| A．He left his cellphone at home. | B．He was late for the meeting. |
| C．He was in a hurry to go back home. | D．He didn’t read the message while running. |
| A．She eatched a TV show until midnight. | B．She was trying a new diet. |
| C．She did too much physical exercise. | D．She was having a fever. |
| A．At a convenience store. | B．At a cinema. |
| C．At a railway station. | D．At a hospital. |
| A．6:45. | B．6:15. |
| C．5:55. | D．6:30. |
7 . Some things we cannot copy where I live. We will never celebrate Christmas inside a picture postcard. We have no winter wonderland, though once, inspired by a snowfall seen on the black-and-white television, I did collect some ice from the inside of the freezer to throw at my brother. By the time I got to him, all I had was a handful of rain.
What we do have is electricity. As long as the Tennessee Valley Authority can light up the southern night with strands of color, shining from every house and mobile home, they can have their white Christmas. I have seen lights wrapped around mailbox posts. In the country, you need a whole lot of extension cord (电缆) to electrify a mailbox.
I have seen them strung across the Peterbilt trucks. My mother never takes down her lights, strung on a cedar beam (雪松木梁) in the living room, though she does unplug them. The rich folks have switched to white lights, a lot of them, to be elegant. But it will always be lights of color, shining through a night which smells of woodsmoke, that mean Christmas to me.
I find it especially hard not to live in the past at this time of year, when I would do anything to see the world like a child again. It is why I fill the refrigerator every December with chocolate-covered cherries and watch, for the hundredth time, those 50-year-old Christmas specials about Santa Claus.
It is important that some things stay the same — that, at some point this season, someone will say, “We’re going to look at Christmas lights. Do you want to come?”
I go sometimes and sometimes just say no. It is enough to know someone is going. I have a fine memory of the lights; I do not want it to grow less than it was by putting on it new lights bought at Walmart.
1. What is the primary feature that the author values about Christmas in their location?| A．Snow-covered landscapes. | B．Traditional winter wonderland scenes. |
| C．Colorful Christmas lights. | D．Cedar beams in living rooms. |
| A．bring convenience to his life | B．create a Christmas atmosphere |
| C．generate warmth in harsh winter | D．save cord to power a mailbox |
| A．They prefer white lights for elegance. | B．They use fewer lights for simplicity. |
| C．They avoid using extension cords. | D．They rely on woodsmoke for lighting. |
| A．He takes delight in bidding farewell to the past. |
| B．He gets fed up with looking at Christmas lights. |
| C．He dislikes the color options available at Walmart. |
| D．He feels relieved that Christmas lights tradition is preserved. |
8 . Road traffic accidents are caused by a number of factors which can be grouped into three categories: human factors, vehicle factors and road environment factors. Table 1 explains each factor and gives examples.
Table 1: Factors involved in road traffic accidentsFactor | Description | Example |
| Human | Things people do or don’t do | Speeding, not obeying traffic rules, using phone while driving |
| Vehicle | Things that are wrong with the vehicle | ? |
| Road environment | Things outside the vehicle that affect driving | Condition of road, time of day, weather conditions, road repairs |
One factor alone or several factors together can cause an accident. However, human actions are by far the greatest causes of car accidents. Diagram 1 shows that human factors are involved in 95% of all car accidents. Although other factors are also involved in 28% of these accidents, in 67% of cases, human factors alone are the cause of the accident.
Although behavior such as not paying attention to road, swerving to avoid an animal and eating while driving causes accidents, most road deaths are caused by speeding, driving after drinking alcohol, driving when tried and not wearing seat belts. As shown in Diagram 2, speeding is involved in more deaths than any other behavior in both city (50%) and country accidents (32%). Drivers and / or passengers not wearing seat belts is the second most common cause of road deaths.
1. Which of the following is best suited in the blank in table 1?| A．Vehicles of this type to be recalled at once. |
| B．Weak brakes, no seat belts in cars, old tyres. |
| C．250,000 people killed in car accidents in 2023. |
| D．Regular car maintenance, professional service. |
| A．Speeding kills more drivers in cities than in countries. |
| B．Two or more factors are combined to cause an accident. |
| C．Country drivers are more likely to get tired when driving. |
| D．Drunk driving cause more deaths than not wearing seat belts. |
| A．The dangers of driving a car. | B．The effects of alcohol on driving. |
| C．Human factors in road traffic accidents. | D．How to prevent deaths on our roads. |
9 . DON’T FORGET
POSTCODE YOUR PROPERTY
In only 9% of cases where something has been stolen is property returned.
Marked property can stop burglars because it’s harder for a thief to sell and can help the police to return it if found.
Mark items with some understandable information-showing your postcode and the number of your house or flat or the first two letters of its name-using a permanent etching tool or an ultraviolent marker pen. Only use UV marking when other methods would reduce the value of the object — because the mark can fade.
1. The first half of the postcode indicates your town and district, such as: NT 42 9.2. The last 2 letters pinpoint one strect or part of a street, such as: NT 42 9WA
3. Mark your valuables using the postcode followed by your house number such as NT 42 9WA7
Take pictures of all valuable items like jewellery and silverware and write down the serial numbers of your TV, video, hi-fi, home computer and camera equipment, to help the police identify them should they be recovered. If you have many valuable items, fit a safe.
Ask your local police station for postcode property stickers to display in the front and back windows of your house.
BE A GOOD NEIGHBOURIf you see anyone acting strangely in your neighborhood, call the police. There are now over 130,000 Neighborhood Watch Schemes in this country — why not join one? Anyone can start up a Watch — call your police for details.
IF YOU ARE BURGLED
A secure home will reduce the chance of you getting burgled. But, if you get home and notice is of a break-in:
●Don’t go in or call out — the intruder could still be inside Go to a neighbors’ house to call the police CRIME PREVENTION ADVICEAll police forces have offices trained in crime prevention-contact your local station for advice. Some forces can arrange surveys of your home or workplace and recommend security improvements. This is a popular service — if there’s a waiting list, you may be sent an information pack so that you can do your own survey.
1. The passage talks mainly about .| A．how to beat the burglar |
| B．how to keep your valuables safe |
| C．how to live happily in a neighborhood |
| D．how to deal with police forces properly |
| A．Part of a street name. | B．Her house number. |
| C．Postcode of acity. | D．Her car plate number. |
| A．Attach “postcode property” stickers to your valuables. |
| B．Keep silent if you sense your house has been broken into. |
| C．Tell your neighbor about anyone who behave strangely. |
| D．Design a survey to find out if your home needs improving. |
10 . Our carbon footprint is the estimated amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) given off as we go about our daily lives. While the global average carbon footprint is about 4 tons per person each year, Americans contribute approximately 20 tons of greenhouse gas per person each year. Compared to other countries, even those who use the least amount of energy in the US still contribute double the carbon emissions than the global average per person. And, not surprisingly, a person’s carbon footprint increases in size as his or her income increases.
How is it possible that people in the US who live simple lifestyles, e.g., children or the homeless, make such large contributions to greenhouse gas emissions? The answer is simple: Each US citizen has access to various basic government services such as firefighting and police departments, road and bridge repair, libraries, jails and prisons, the military, etc. When these public services are divided equally among the entire US population, it significantly raises the carbon footprint per person. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the lowest carbon footprint that can be calculated for a person living in the US is 8.5 tons. And shockingly, this carbon footprint corresponds to a homeless person who sleeps in public shelters and eats in soup kitchens.
While it is admirable to make changes in lifestyle to reduce a carbon footprint, in reality, it is very difficult to do. The MIT study revealed that a “rebound effect” occurred when someone made an effort to reduce his or her carbon footprint. Take the example of a person who made the deliberate choice to buy a hybrid car instead of a large SUV to save money on gas costs. Very often that person would use the money he or she saved to do something else, e.g., take a long airplane trip. In this case, just one long airplane trip produces more CO2 emissions than driving the large SUV for a year. This ends up having a negative impact on a person’s carbon footprint by making it bigger!
Can Americans reduce their carbon footprints? According to the study, it is possible, but it would require lifestyle changes such as giving up long-distance travel and buying fewer smartphones, tablets, and MP3 players that have large energy costs to produce and deliver. Another way to lower the average Americans US carbon footprint is to add a CO2 tax on food, housing, and transportation, and most Americans don’t want their taxes raised. Unless we can find a way to reduce our carbon footprints, the price we may ultimately have to pay is much higher than the amount Americans will ever have to pay in taxes.
1. The first two paragraphs are intended to____.| A．show why people in the US should live simple lifestyles |
| B．argue against the world’s misinterpretation of US lifestyles |
| C．reveal how big the carbon footprints of people in the US are |
| D．stress the impact of carbon footprints on American peoples life |
| A．Mary ate a large meal after she had been on diet for a week |
| B．Tom bought a hybrid car because it saved him a lot of money |
| C．Susan gave up long airplane trips to do her bit for the environment. |
| D．David had a good knowledge of what harm CO2 emissions would do. |
| A．Investment in basic government services should be reduced. |
| B．A homeless person’s carbon footprint is not easy to calculate. |
| C．The less a person spends, the more environmentally friendly he is. |
| D．A CO2 tax has already been added on food, housing and transportation. |
| A．How Can We Change Our Lifestyles? |
| B．Can We Make Our Footprints Smaller? |
| C．Why Are Our Carbon Footprints Important? |
| D．What Makes Contributions to Green house Gas Emissions? |
