1 . A curtain-making couple, Liao Peisheng, 41, and Liu Xiaohui, 39, from Linyi, Shandong province recently caught many viewers’ attention. They _________ in a TV program on Chinese poems broadcast by China Central Television, inspiring many to _________ their dreams. _________ busy with their business, they still enjoy their lives, which is all thanks to a common _________ in poetry.

Liu likes the works of Su Shi. Liao, _________, loves poems by Du Fu, believing that it is the truest _________ of his life. Finding joy in reading and recitation, the two _________ poetry into their daily routines. Poetry permeates（渗透）every _________ of the couple’s lives.

One of the couple’s longtime dreams was taking part in the Chinese Poetry Competition, a(n) _________ television program broadcast nationwide, and __________ it to the final. The two have signed up __________ for 6 years. In 2021, both made it to the Top-100 __________. This year, they finally made it to the semi-finals.

On stage, Liu introduced herself to the __________. Liao, sitting aside, watched from the side as camera focused on him. Off the stage, other participants wondered what would happen if the couple compete against each other in the coming rounds, but the couple wasn’t __________.

After earning herself a participation medal, they returned to their __________ lives. “Our life is plain and ordinary, but there’s nothing wrong with such a life, right?” asked Liao.

1.

A．entered

B．competed

C．participated

D．presented

2.

A．love

B．pursue

C．stimulate

D．seize

3.

A．Although

B．When

C．Whether

D．Because

4.

A．awareness

B．problem

C．sense

D．interest

5.

A．thus

B．otherwise

C．however

D．therefore

6.

A．reflection

B．resolution

C．recognition

D．reputation

7.

A．weaved

B．absorbed

C．composed

D．revolved

8.

A．assignment

B．detail

C．campaign

D．enterprise

9.

A．realistic

B．visual

C．influential

D．annual

10.

A．turning

B．guaranteeing

C．making

D．sustaining

11.

A．continuously

B．frequently

C．particularly

D．precisely

12.

A．amateur

B．level

C．contest

D．round

13.

A．candidates

B．participants

C．representatives

D．listeners

14.

A．careful

B．sad

C．concerned

D．clear

15.

A．formal

B．normal

C．primitive

D．real

2 . Music is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. It can bring us joy, sorrow, or even inspiration. It can evoke emotions and memories that we didn’t even know we had.     1    

Music can be a source of comfort. It can provide a refuge（避难所）from the troubles of the world and provide a sense of peace and solace.     2     It can also bring people together, helping to create a sense of community and shared experience.

    3     It can be an uplifting force in times of struggle, helping us to persevere and overcome obstacles. It can inspire us to take action and make positive changes in our lives.

Finally, music can be a source of joy and celebration.     4     It can be a way to express our love and gratitude for the people in our lives.

Music has the power to change our lives in ways we may never have imagined. It can provide us with strength, courage, comfort, and joy. It can help us to find our inner voice and express ourselves in unique and creative ways.     5    

A．Poor people can live a happy life with music.

B．Music can also give us strength and courage.

C．Music can associate people with each other around the world.

D．Music can change a person’s life in ways that nothing else can.

E．Listening to music can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.

F．It can bring us closer together, helping us to appreciate and celebrate the beauty of life.

G．Music can truly be a life-changing force, and one that should never be underestimated.

3 . Sometimes, we pour in our best efforts, only to see the worst outcomes. It can be frustrating and demotivating, and slipping into a negative mindset is easy.

In the event of failure, it is very tempting to self-blame or self-pity for what happened.     1     Here’s what you can do to make yourself feel good when things don’t work out.

Acknowledge Your Emotions

When things don’t go according to plan, it’s natural to feel disappointed, frustrated, or sad.     2     Recognize your feelings and accept that it’s okay to feel that way. By allowing yourself to experience your emotions, you can process them better and move on.

While it is good to recover quickly, the grieving phase is a necessity you shouldn’t skip. People who deny that they failed and that nothing went wrong only find themselves in more complicated situations and a more fractured emotional state. Feel sad, breathe, take a few walks, and think that acknowledging the issue means 50% of your problem is already solved.

Practice Self-Care

    3     Grab some time to engage in activities that make you happy and relaxed. Take a long bath, walk in nature, meditate, read a book, or watch your favorite movie. When we feel good about ourselves, we are better equipped to deal with life’s challenges.

Surround Yourself with Positivity

Surround yourself with people who inspire you, while being true.     4     You could also join a support group or an online community of like-minded individuals who share your interests.

    5     While you see yourself as a strong person who can handle negativity, it’s best to withdraw from the chaos during recovery. Avoid social media and dealing with colleagues who often trigger negativity.

A．Take a step back and evaluate what went wrong.

B．Don’t suppress your emotions; instead, acknowledge them.

C．However, it’s crucial to pick yourself up and move forward.

D．Spend time with family and friends who love and support you.

E．Self-care is the key to healthy mental and physical well-being.

F．Celebrate the small wins with friends who are happy to see you triumph.

G．Having a positive support system can help you stay motivated and focused.

4 . Selecting gifts for your beloved ones can be one of the most difficult parts. But don’t worry! We can help! Here are some gift ideas to suit all pockets.

Air purifier

Do you have a loved one who suffers from allergies (过敏) or other skin diseases? Why not gift him or her an air cleaner? Research has shown that air purifiers can help reduce allergy reactions, remove asthma (哮喘) causes such as dust by improving air quality in your home. Look for purifiers with more than one filter and, especially, a high efficiency air filter.

Electric toothbrush

One review of 56 studies has found that a powered toothbrush resulted in a 21 per cent reduction of plaque and an 11 per cent reduction in gingivitis (牙龈炎) after three months, compared with a manual toothbrush. It’s also a fun way for children to look after their dental hygiene.

Dark chocolate

Nothing screams a gift quite like chocolate. Good news is that dark chocolate is associated with several health benefits. Small amounts of this sweet treat may lower the risk of heart disease, improve brain function and give your immune system a boost, potentially reducing infection.

Your time

Quality time spent with your nearest and dearest is completely free, but is the most precious gift you could give them. If you’ve been too preoccupied of late, determine to put aside more hours to do fun things together, or if you have time to devote to others outside your immediate circle, consider volunteering with Age UK as a friend to an elderly person.

1. Which of the following is suitable for someone with a dental problem?

A．Air purifier.	B．Electric toothbrush.
C．Dark chocolate.	D．Your time.

2. What do the first three presents have in common?

A．They belong to tech presents.	B．They are non-physical objects.
C．They are intended for the elderly.	D．They help promote healthy living.

3. What is special about the last present?

A．It is priceless.	B．It is worthless.
C．It is physical.	D．It is rare.

5 . For most of December, Adele Adkins had the top-selling album in Australia, followed by Ed Sheeran, and then there was a collection of songs that took everyone by surprise.

Songs Of Disappearance is a collection of calls from endangered Australian birds. Last month, it briefly reached No.3 on the country’s top 50 albums chart (排行榜) — ahead of Taylor Swift.

Anthony Albrecht, a PhD student at Charles Darwin University, produced the album with Professor Stephen Garnett. “I knew it was a crazy thing to suggest. But Stephen’s a little bit crazy like me and he let me do it,” Albrecht said.

Songs Of Disappearance was published with a university report which found that 1 in 6 Australian bird species are now threatened. The album records 53 of those species.

“Some sing what you might think of as bird songs, but not all of them,” said SeanDooley, who represents the conservation organization Bird life Australia. “Songs from the golden bowerbird sound like a death cry from some sci-fi series. And the love songs from Christmas Island frigate bird, which has a piece of skin hanging under its mouth that caninflate (膨胀) like a huge red balloon, sound as bizarre as its unusual looks.”

There’s also the Christmas Island pigeon. When people hear that pigeon, they might think that it’s a human making silly noises, Dooley added.

The Charles Darwin University and Bird life Australia report does document successes in protecting endangered birds, the hope being that the album will protect more species.

“The increased awareness can make a difference,” Dooley said. “When we have a community on board, that brings pressure to the government to do the right thing. We know that these conservation actions do work.”

1. Whose album reached No.1 on the chart in December?

A．Taylor Swift’s.

B．Adele Adkins’.

C．Ed Sheeran’s.

D．Anthony Albrecht’s.

2. What can be learned from the university report?

A．About 53 bird species are threatened in Australia.

B．It has not found success in protecting endangered birds.

C．One sixth of Australian bird species are now endangered.

D．Music is very powerful in encouraging people to protect birds.

3. Which is closest in meaning to “bizarre”in paragraph 5?

A．Strange.

B．Beautiful.

C．Loud.

D．Sharp.

4. What does Sean Dooley think of Anthony Albrecht’s project?

A．Crazy.

B．Amusing.

C．Uncreative.

D．Helpful.

6 . Mary Shelley bends over her latest creation. Although the carving is only half complete, the image of a waitress holding a plate of eggs comes out from the board. Of Shelley’s nearly seven hundred carvings, many show scenes with cows on farms and people in restaurants.

From memories to carvings

“My work is a visual diary, ” Shelley says. “The carvings describe things I have experienced and felt at different times in my life.”

Every one of her carvings tells a story. Many of the stories in Shelley’s woodcarvings come from memories of her childhood in a rural (乡村的) area outside of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Shelley’s family managed a small farm. Mary was a serious girl who spent a lot of time raising animals, exploring outdoors, and reading. Although Shelley never felt especially artistic as a child, there was always an art project in the works in the Shelley household. Her grandmother painted. Her father was a commercial artist, who drew and wrote to make a living.

______

Shelley attended Cornell University and hoped to become a writer, but an unusual present took her in another direction. At age 23, she received a gift her father had made-a woodcarving of her as a girl on the farm. The gift caught her interest. After gathering boards from a building site where she worked as a carpenter, Shelley bought some tools and taught herself to carve.

Shelley soon realized that she loved the slow, thoughtful process of working with wood and painting. “A carving is like a jigsaw puzzle (拼图游戏),”   she explains. “I didn’t know how it would all fit together, but the process of solving the puzzle kept me going.”

The Shelley style

Early in her career, people hired Shelley to carve special pieces that took four or five weeks to complete. The money she received motivated her to try more complicated scenes created by carving deeper in the wood. Over time, Shelley’s art began to have its own style. In a typical Shelley woodcarving, some objects seem to reach out of the frame while others drop back, creating a feeling of depth.

1. What can we infer from the “From memories to carvings” part?

A．Art is from but beyond life.	B．Life is short and art is long.
C．It is great art to laugh at your own misfortune.	D．Knowledge without practice makes but half an artist

2. Which can be the best title for the second part?

A．Life in School	B．A Dream Come True
C．A Life-Changing Gift	D．Jigsaw Puzzles and Carving

3. What made Mary take up carving?

A．The dream to be an artist in her childhood.	B．Her father’s low-relief carving for her.
C．The rugs hooked by her grandmother.	D．Her school life in Cornell University.

4. According to the text, Shelley’s art ______.

A．is very popular	B．is very expensive
C．has simple scenes	D．creates a feeling of depth

7 . 假设你是李明，你的国外网友Eric在网上看到几幅中国剪纸(Chinese paper cut), Eric对此很感兴趣，给你发来邮件询问有关中国剪纸的信息，请你根据下表提示适当补充细节给他回复邮件。(不少于60词)

Chinese Paper Cut
long history	over 2,000 years
very popular	in different parts of China, young or old, be fond of, do well in
different shapes	birds, animals, flowers …
Where do people put Chinese paper cuts? ...

Dear Eric,

You wanted to know about Chinese paper cut. Here I’m glad to tell you something about it.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes.

Yours,

Li Ming

8 . 原文填空

The h    1     of the city goes back 650 years when the Maoris settled in the area. European s     2     began in 1840 when the British arrived. Auckland was the c    3     of New Zealand for some time. Later, the capital moved to Wellington,     4    it was more central. Since 1945, the city of Auckland has grown and it now has large, modern suburbs. In 1985, the New Zealand government m    5     the whole country a nuclear-free zone and since then Auckland has been a centre for protest a    6     nuclear testing in Asia Pacific.

Famous s    7     include Mt Eden, one of many large volcanoes, as well     8    the Auckland Harbour Bridge. At the Parnell Village, you can visit some of the first European homes. In the city, you can enjoy an amazing view from the Sky Tower,     9     is the city’s tallest Tower. You can also see Maori t    10     dances at the Auckland Museum.

9 . In comparison to many closely-related species, the human child takes a long time to grow up and requires a high degree of parental investment(亲情投资). Human children need more time to reach maturity(成熟)than other closely-related species.

A new study finds that one reason is the large amount of energy that the brain requires as it grows.

Christopher Kuzawa, first author of the study, explained: “Our findings suggest that our bodies can’t afford to grow faster during the toddler(幼童)and childhood years because a huge quantity of resources is required to fuel developing the human brain. As humans we have so much to learn, and that learning requires a complex and energy-hungry brain.”

Data from the study shows that at the moment when children’s bodies are growing the least-on average, at four years old-their brains are using the highest percentage of glucose(葡萄糖). That means that 40% of the child’s total energy expenditure is being used by its brain.

The findings support the theory that children take so long to mature because of the energy-intensive task of growing a massively over-sized brain in comparison to the brain-to-body weight ratio of other species.

Kuzawa continued: “After a certain age it becomes difficult to guess a toddler or young child’s age by their size. Instead you have to listen to their speech and watch their behavior. Our study suggests that this is no accident.”

Body growth nearly stops at the ages when brain development is happening at a lightning pace, because the brain is using up the available resources.”

“The mid-childhood peak in brain costs has to do with the fact that there are a huge number of synapses(神经元突触), connections in the brain, at this age, when we learn so many of the things we need to know to be successful humans.”

1. Why does it take people so long to grow up?

A．They need to store energy to grow later.

B．They need time to adapt to their environment.

C．Most of the energy is used for brain development.

D．They need a high degree of parental investment.

2. When do the children grow slowest, according to the passage?

A．At about four years old.	B．At about two years old.
C．At about one year old.	D．At about five years old.

3. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Why toddlers and children need plenty of resources.

B．The reason why it takes human infants a long time to grow up.

C．The reason why human infants are similar to other animals.

D．Why the brains of people need a large amount of energy.

4. The underlined word “this” refers to________.

A．age	B．their size
C．listen to their speech	D．guess their age by listening and watching

10 . Dog walkers should show consideration, not just for the dog in their home or car, but also for their environment. Doing so will help keep the local area clean and pleasant, especially for people out walking their dog or taking children to the park.

A considerate dog walker will take steps to prevent their pets from producing waste wherever they want to. Dog waste is particularly unpleasant and should be avoided at all costs. Not only is it nasty to walk in a dirty area, but it is also a serious health risk. Dog fouling ( 污垢) is a criminal offence in the UK and carries a maximum fined ￡1,000 if the case goes to court (法庭). Dog walkers should always be prepared to pick up after their dog by carrying dog waste bags or even plastic carrier bags that can be used. Do not run the risk of allowing your dog to make a public area dirty by always having a steady supply of bags with you during dog walks. Carrying a single bag during a walk is not always enough, as some dogs will need to go twice or perhaps even three times during walks.

Some dog owners are not willing to admit that their pets is a challenge or troublesome. Rather than dislike the suggestions that dogs should be kept under control, you should see it as your duty to protect other dogs, children and anyone else from harm. Do know troublesome behaviors such as aggression (攻击) towards other dogs or children and make every effort to keep your dog under control. Avoid areas where you know other dogs or children will be. They can do this by showing respect for other people’s property, picking up after their dog and by keeping challenging dogs under control.

1. The writer advises dog walkers to show consideration mainly for having_____.

A．a clean car	B．a comfortable home
C．a good environment	D．a very pleasant park

2. What does the underlined word “nasty” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Highly unpleasant or annoying.	B．Very boring and tiring.
C．Specially disappointing	D．Surprising or astonishing.

3. If dog waste is found in public in England the dog’s owner will be______.

A．fined more than ￡1,000	B．ordered to pick it up at once
C．ordered to give one one waste bag	D．considered to break the law.

4. What does the writer mainly want to tell the owners in the last paragraph?

A．To keep their dogs under control.	B．To try to make their dogs keep clean.
C．To stop their dogs from being harmed.	D．To respect other people’s property.