1 . On Oct. 11, hundreds of runners competed in a cross-country race in Minnesota. Melanie Bailey should have _________ the course earlier than she did. Her _________ came because she was carrying a _________ across the finish line.

As reported by a local newspaper, Bailey was more than two-thirds of the way through her _________ when a runner in front of her began crying in pain. She _________ to help her fellow runner, Danielle Lenoue. Bailey took her arm to see if she could walk forward with _________. She couldn’t. Bailey then _________ to let Lenoue climb onto her back and carried her all the way to the finish line, then another 300 feet to where Lenoue could get _________ attention.

Once there, Lenoue was _________ and later taken to a hospital, where she learned that she had serious injuries in one of her knees. She would have struggled with extreme __________ to make it to that aid checkpoint without Bailey’s help.

As for Bailey, she is more __________ about why her act is considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her,” Bailey told the reporter. “I feel like I was just doing the right thing.”

Although the two young women were strangers before the __________, they’ve since become friends. Neither won the race, but the __________ of human kindness won the day.

1.

A．designed

B．followed

C．changed

D．finished

2.

A．delay

B．chance

C．trouble

D．excuse

3.

A．judge

B．volunteer

C．classmate

D．competitor

4.

A．race

B．school

C．town

D．training

5.

A．agreed

B．returned

C．stopped

D．promised

6.

A．courage

B．aid

C．patience

D．advice

7.

A．went away

B．stood up

C．stepped aside

D．bent down

8.

A．medical

B．public

C．constant

D．equal

9.

A．interrupted

B．assessed

C．identified

D．appreciated

10.

A．hunger

B．pain

C．cold

D．tiredness

11.

A．worried

B．ashamed

C．confused

D．discouraged

12.

A．game

B．problem

C．lesson

D．deal

13.

A．leave

B．cure

C．bother

D．understand

14.

A．ride

B．test

C．meet

D．show

15.

A．secret

B．display

C．benefit

D．exchange

2 . Personal Forgiveness

Taking responsibility for mistakes is a positive step, but don’t beat yourself up about them. To err (犯错) is human.     1     You can use the following writing exercise to help you do this.

In a journal or on a piece of paper, put the heading “Personal strengths.”     2     Are you caring? Creative? Generous? A good listener? Fun to be around? They don’t have to be world-changing, just aspects of your personality that you’re proud of.

At the top of a second page, put the heading “Acts of kindness.” On this one, list all the positive things you’ve done for others. It might be the time when you helped a friend with their homework, when you did the ironing without being asked, or when you baked cookies after the family had had a tiring day.     3    

You could ask a friend or family member to help add to your list.     4     That way, you could exchange thoughts on what makes each of you special and the aspects of your personality that shine through. In fact, don’t wait until you’ve made a mistake to try this — it’s a great way to boost self-confidence at any time.

It’s something of a cliché (陈词滥调) that most people learn not from their successes but their mistakes. The thing is, it’s true.     5     We’ re all changing and learning all the time and mistakes are a positive way to develop and grow.

A．A little self-forgiveness also goes a long way.

B．Now list all the characteristics you like about yourself.

C．They might even like to have a go at doing the exercise.

D．It’s just as important to show yourself some forgiveness.

E．It doesn’t mean you have to ignore what’s happened or forget it.

F．Whatever it is, no matter how small it might seem, write it down.

G．Whatever the mistake, remember it isn’t a fixed aspect of your personality.

3 . Bike Rental & Guided Tours

Welcome to Amsterdam, welcome to MacBike. You see much more from the seat of a bike! Cycling is the most economical, sustainable and fun way to explore the city, with its beautiful canals, parks, squares and countless lights. You can also bike along lovely landscapes outside of Amsterdam.

Why MacBike

MacBike has been around for almost 30 years and is the biggest bicycle rental company in Amsterdam. With over 2,500 bikes stored in our five rental shops at strategic locations, we make sure there is always a bike available for you. We offer the newest bicycles in a wide variety, including basic bikes with foot brake (刹车), bikes with hand brake and gears (排挡), bikes with child seats, and children’s bikes.

Prices

	Hand Brake, Three Gears	Foot Brake, No Gears
1 hour	€7.50	€5.00
3 hours	€11.00	€7.50
1 day (24 hours)	€14.75	€9.75
Each additional day	€8.00	€6.00

Guided City Tours

The 2.5-hour tour covers the Gooyer Windmill, the Skinny Bridge, the Rijksmuseum, Heineken Brewery and much more. The tour departs from Dam Square every hour on the hour, starting at 1:00 pm every day. You can buy your ticket in a MacBike shop or book online.

1. What is an advantage of MacBike?

A．It gives children a discount.	B．It offers many types of bikes.
C．It organizes free cycle tours.	D．It has over 2,500 rental shops.

2. How much do you pay for renting a bike with hand brake and three gears for two days?

A．€15.75.

B．€19.50.

C．€22.75.

D．€29.50.

3. Where does the guided city tour start?

A．The Gooyer, Windmill.	B．The Skinny Bridge.
C．Heineken Brewery.	D．Dam Square.

4 . The goal of this book is to make the case for digital minimalism, including a detailed exploration of what it asks and why it works, and then to teach you how to adopt this philosophy if you decide it’s right for you.

To do so, I divided the book into two parts. In part one, I describe the philosophical foundations of digital minimalism, starting with an examination of the forces that are making so many people’s digital lives increasingly intolerable, before moving on to a detailed discussion of the digital minimalism philosophy.

Part one concludes by introducing my suggested method for adopting this philosophy: the digital declutter. This process requires you to step away from optional online activities for thirty days. At the end of the thirty days, you will then add back a small number of carefully chosen online activities that you believe will provide massive benefits to the things you value.

In the final chapter of part one, I’ll guide you through carrying out your own digital declutter. In doing so, I’ll draw on an experiment I ran in 2018 in which over 1,600 people agreed to perform a digital declutter. You’ll hear these participants’ stories and learn what strategies worked well for them, and what traps they encountered that you should avoid.

The second part of this book takes a closer look at some ideas that will help you cultivate (培养) a sustainable digital minimalism lifestyle. In these chapters, I examine issues such as the importance of solitude (独处) and the necessity of cultivating high-quality leisure to replace the time most now spent on mindless device use. Each chapter concludes with a collection of practices, which are designed to help you act on the big ideas of the chapter. You can view these practices as a toolbox meant to aid your efforts to build a minimalist lifestyle that works for your particular circumstances.

1. What is the book aimed at?

A．Teaching critical thinking skills.	B．Advocating a simple digital lifestyle.
C．Solving philosophical problems.	D．Promoting the use of a digital device.

2. What does the underlined word “declutter” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Clear-up.

B．Add-on.

C．Check-in.

D．Take-over.

3. What is presented in the final chapter of part one?

A．Theoretical models.	B．Statistical methods.
C．Practical examples.	D．Historical analyses.

4. What does the author suggest readers do with the practices offered in part two?

A．Use them as needed.	B．Recommend them to friends.
C．Evaluate their effects.	D．Identify the ideas behind them.

5 . As cities balloon with growth, access to nature for people living in urban areas is becoming harder to find. If you’re lucky, there might be a pocket park near where you live, but it’s unusual to find places in a city that are relatively wild.

Past research has found health and wellness benefits of nature for humans, but a new study shows that wildness in urban areas is extremely important for human well-being.

The research team focused on a large urban park. They surveyed several hundred park-goers, asking them to submit a written summary online of a meaningful interaction they had with nature in the park. The researchers then examined these submissions, coding (编码) experiences into different categories. For example, one participant’s experience of “We sat and listened to the waves at the beach for a while” was assigned the categories “sitting at beach” and “listening to waves.”

Across the 320 submissions, a pattern of categories the researchers call a “nature language” began to emerge. After the coding of all submissions, half a dozen categories were noted most often as important to visitors. These include encountering wildlife, walking along the edge of water, and following an established trail.

Naming each nature experience creates a usable language, which helps people recognize and take part in the activities that are most satisfying and meaningful to them. For example, the experience of walking along the edge of water might be satisfying for a young professional on a weekend hike in the park. Back downtown during a workday, they can enjoy a more domestic form of this interaction by walking along a fountain on their lunch break.

“We’re trying to generate a language that helps bring the human-nature interactions back into our daily lives. And for that to happen, we also need to protect nature so that we can interact with it,” said Peter Kahn, a senior author of the study.

1. What phenomenon does the author describe at the beginning of the text?

A．Pocket parks are now popular.	B．Wild nature is hard to find in cities.
C．Many cities are overpopulated.	D．People enjoy living close to nature.

2. Why did the researchers code participant submissions into categories?

A．To compare different types of park-goers.	B．To explain why the park attracts tourists.
C．To analyze the main features of the park.	D．To find patterns in the visitors’ summaries.

3. What can we learn from the example given in paragraph 5?

A．Walking is the best way to gain access to nature.

B．Young people are too busy to interact with nature.

C．The same nature experience takes different forms.

D．The nature language enhances work performance.

4. What should be done before we can interact with nature according to Kahn?

A．Language study.	B．Environmental conservation.
C．Public education.	D．Intercultural communication.

6 . Turning soil, pulling weeds, and harvesting cabbage sound like tough work for middle and high school kids. And at first it is, says Abby Jaramillo, who with another teacher started Urban Sprouts, a school garden program at four low-income schools. The program aims to help students develop science skills, environmental awareness, and healthy lifestyles.

Jaramillo’s students live in neighborhoods where fresh food and green space are not easy to find and fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores. “The kids literally come to school with bags of snacks and large bottles of soft drinks,” she says. “They come to us thinking vegetables are awful, dirt is awful, insects are awful.” Though some are initially scared of the insects and turned off by the dirt, most are eager to try something new.

Urban Sprouts’ classes, at two middle schools and two high schools, include hands-on experiments such as soil testing, flower-and-seed dissection, tastings of fresh or dried produce, and work in the garden. Several times a year, students cook the vegetables they grow, and they occasionally make salads for their entire schools.

Program evaluations show that kids eat more vegetables as a result of the classes. “We have students who say they went home and talked to their parents and now they’re eating differently,” Jaramillo says.

She adds that the program’s benefits go beyond nutrition. Some students get so interested in gardening that they bring home seeds to start their own vegetable gardens. Besides, working in the garden seems to have a calming effect on Jaramillo’s special education students, many of whom have emotional control issues. “They get outside,” she says, “and they feel successful.”

1. What do we know about Abby Jaramillo?

A．She used to be a health worker.	B．She grew up in a low-income family.
C．She owns a fast food restaurant.	D．She is an initiator of Urban Sprouts.

2. What was a problem facing Jaramillo at the start of the program?

A．The kids’ parents distrusted her.	B．Students had little time for her classes.
C．Some kids disliked garden work.	D．There was no space for school gardens.

3. Which of the following best describes the impact of the program?

A．Far-reaching.	B．Predictable.
C．Short-lived.	D．Unidentifiable.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Rescuing School Gardens	B．Experiencing Country Life
C．Growing Vegetable Lovers	D．Changing Local Landscape

7 . Yellowstone National Park offers a variety of ranger programs throughout the park, and throughout the year. The following are descriptions of the ranger programs this summer.

Experiencing Wildlife in Yellowstone (May 26 to September 2)

Whether you’re hiking a backcountry trail (小径), camping, or just enjoying the park’s amazing wildlife from the road, this quick workshop is for you and your family. Learn where to look for animals and how to safely enjoy your wildlife watching experience. Meet at the Canyon Village Store.

Junior Ranger Wildlife Olympics (June 5 to August 21)

Kids can test their skills and compare their abilities to the animals of Yellowstone. Stay for as little or as long as your plans allow. Meet in front of the Visitor Education Center.

Canyon Talks at Artist Point (June 9 to September 2)

From a classic viewpoint, enjoy Lower Falls, the Yellowstone River, and the breathtaking colors of the canyon (峡谷) while learning about the area’s natural and human history. Discover why artists and photographers continue to be drawn to this special place. Meet on the lower platform at Artist Point on the South Rim Drive for this short talk.

Photography Workshops (June 19 & July 10)

Enhance your photography skills — join Yellowstone’s park photographer for a hands-on program to inspire new and creative ways of enjoying the beauty and wonder of Yellowstone.

6/19 — Waterfalls &Wide Angles: meet at Artist Point.

7/10 — Wildflowers &White Balance: meet at Washburn Trailhead in Chittenden parking area.

1. Which of the four programs begins the earliest?

A．Photography Workshops.	B．Junior Ranger Wildlife Olympics.
C．Canyon Talks at Artist Point.	D．Experiencing Wildlife in Yellowstone.

2. What is the short talk at Artist Point about?

A．Works of famous artists.	B．Protection of wild animals.
C．Basic photography skills.	D．History of the canyon area.

3. Where will the participants meet for the July 10 photography workshop?

A．Artist Point.	B．Washburn Trailhead.
C．Canyon Village Store.	D．Visitor Education Center.

8 . As an artist who shares her journey on social media, I’m often asked by curious followers how to begin an art journey. Unfortunately, there is no magic list I can offer. I do remember, though, what it was like to be a complete beginner. So I’ve put together some good tips for starting an art journey.

·Start small. I suggest using a sketchbook (素描本) for small studies. These small studies provide inspiration and may be a springboard for more complex works in the future.     1     You’ll want to look back on your journey to see how far you’ve come.

·Paint often and paint from life. There’s no better way to improve than to put in those brush miles. Whether you paint still lifes, portraits, or landscapes, paint from life as much as possible.     2    

·Continually challenge yourself to try something new.     3     Artistic growth can be a bit painful. Welcome to the club；we’ve all been there. I love taking on challenges. I once took up a challenge to create a painting every day for a month and post the works online.

·    4     Seeking and accepting constructive feedback (反馈) is crucial to growth. I post my work on social media and, in turn, have met some of the kindest people. They make me feel valued and respected, no matter my level of artistic ability.

The journey you’re on won’t follow a straight path.     5     Push through, give it time and put in the effort. You will harvest the rewards of an artistic life.

A．Get out of your comfort zone.

B．Make career plans and set goals.

C．Don’t throw away your beginner art.

D．Share your work if you feel comfortable doing so.

E．You’ll hit roadblocks, and you’ll feel discouraged at times.

F．Evaluate your performance and, if needed, redefine your role.

G．You’ll develop that painting muscle memory that only comes with repetition.

9 . According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.

Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.

“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).

Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.

Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.

1. What do solar developers often ignore?

A．The decline in the demand for solar energy.

B．The negative impact of installing solar panels.

C．The rising labor cost of building solar farms.

D．The most recent advances in solar technology.

2. What does InSPIRE aim to do?

A．Improve the productivity of local farms.

B．Invent new methods for controlling weeds.

C．Make solar projects environmentally friendly.

D．Promote the use of solar energy in rural areas.

3. What is the purpose of the laws mentioned in paragraph 4?

A．To conserve pollinators.	B．To restrict solar development.
C．To diversify the economy.	D．To ensure the supply of energy.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Pollinators: To Leave or to Stay	B．Solar Energy: Hope for the Future
C．InSPIRE: A Leader in Agriculture	D．Solar Farms: A New Development

10 . Indoor plants might look as if they just sit around not doing much, but in many ways they are the unsung heroes of the home.     1    , but studies have shown that they can promote people’s wellbeing by improving their mood (心情), reducing stress and helping their memory. What’s more, indoor plants are easy to look after and are not very expensive.

What are indoor plants?

Indoor plants, also known as houseplants or pot plants, are plants that like to grow indoors. Many of these species (物种) are not ideally suited to growing outside in the UK, especially in the winter.     2    .

Why are indoor plants good for you?

Will Spoelstra, who works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, says, “    3    . I find during the winter months, plants around the house can really lift your mood.” Several studies have backed this up and found that indoor plants can improve creativity, focus and memory. There is also research showing that pot plants can clean the air around them by removing harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide. They also remove some harmful chemicals from paints or cooking.     4    .

Which plants can you grow?

Aloe vera, peace lilies and spider plants are some of the species that are easy to grow indoors. You can buy plants from supermarkets, garden centres or online. Younger plants are often cheaper than fully grown ones, and you get to care for them as they mature — which is part of the joy of owning plants. “    5    ,” Spoelstra says. “It can bring a new interest and focus into people’s lives and help to make the link between home and nature.”

A．All plants are different

B．Not only do they look beautiful

C．There are many benefits to growing plants indoors

D．Instead, they grow better inside, where it is warmer

E．Plants like peace lilies and devil’s ivy are among the best

F．Changing the pot of your plant from time to time will also help

G．Learning about the requirements of each plant can be very rewarding