1 . Chinese Teapot Escaping from British Museum Goes Viral

   

Chinese state media has praised a viral video series, Escape from the British Museum, which tells the story of a jade teapot coming to life and escaping from the British Museum to make its way back home.

In the video series released online on Sept 5^th, a female vlogger plays the role of an ancient Chinese jade teapot, while her male partner acts as a journalist who helps it return to China.

The plot line taps into growing criticism of the British Museum after reports last month that more than 1,500 priceless objects, including gold jewelry, gems and glass items, were missing, stolen or damaged, which made headlines around the world. Also, the jade teapot’s reaction reflected the “casual attitude of the British Museum toward Chinese cultural relics, as many of them are crammed into just one cabinet for exhibition”. Problems in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed have led to the doubts about a long-standing and widely-spread claim that foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum.

The video series stirred up the emotions of Chinese people after first being released by independent vloggers on Douyin by showing how the teapot experienced the happiness of returning to China to see pandas and watch a flag-raising ceremony on Tiananmen Square. Many netizens expressed their eagerness for cultural artifacts overseas to return home with dignity and honor.

In August the state media Global Times also called for the return of Chinese artifacts from the museum “free of charge” in the wake of the controversy. It strongly supported the video series for touching on a “powerful message” about the importance of cultural heritage and reflecting “Chinese people’s strong and emotional desire for the repatriation of the Chinese cultural relics”.

State broadcaster CCTV gave the short films a glowing review saying “We are very pleased to see Chinese young people are passionate about history and tradition. We are also looking forward to the early return of Chinese artifacts that have been displaced overseas.”

1. What is the writing purpose of paragraph 3?

A．To discuss the problem in management.	B．To introduce the content of the video series.
C．To express criticism to the British Museum.	D．To provide background of the video series.

2. What does the underlined word “repatriation” (Para. 5) probably mean?

A．Return.

B．Reserve

C．Repair

D．Reflection.

3. What can we learn about the video series from the text?

A．Chinese netizens expressed anger towards it.	B．The Chinese media showed appreciation for it.
C．The British Museum took it quite seriously.	D．The viewers were eager to learn history from it.

4. Where may the text be taken from?

A．A guidebook.	B．A story book.
C．A news report.	D．A book review.

2 . Her next goal is ________________children in poor countries (开启一个慈善网站为……募捐). (根据汉语提示完成句子)

3 . Only by changing the way ________ we treat the wildlife ________ with the nature in   harmony.

A．that; can we exist	B．in which; we can exist
C．how; can we exist	D．where; we can exist

4 . Next, the expert talked about a newly-opened market ________ people could get all _______ they need.

A．which; what

B．in which; /

C．where; what

D．in it; that

5 . 听下面一段独白，请根据题目要求，从所听到的内容中获取必要的信息，填入空格中。

News Times

Time	At     1
Event	A 15-year-old boy was     2     in a car accident.
The hitter	A man with long hair     3    , wearing a pair of     4    , ran away from the spot.
The boy’s situation	Out of danger
The speaker’s request	Anyone with     5     about the driver should report to the police.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What does the speaker mainly talk about on job interviews?

A．Mistakes to avoid.

B．Ways to make a good impression.

C．Topics to discuss with interviewers.

2. What color a tie or scarf is advised to match navy blue?

A．Purple.

B．Orange.

C．Yellow.

3. What are interviewees supposed to do after an interview?

A．Think about their behavior carefully.

B．Keep in contact with the receptionist.

C．Say goodbye to anyone they met previously.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the problem with the woman?

A．She does feel very well.

B．She finds school difficult.

C．She has gained much weight.

2. What advice does the man give the women?

A．Limit coffee to two cups a day and take a walk.

B．Sleep at most six hours every day and keep running.

C．Eat fruits at least three times per week and exercise dancing.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Taylor Swift is ending her year with another honor. The pop superstar     1     (name) Time magazine’s 2023 “Person of the Year,”     2     (beat) out Barbie and King Charles III. “While her popularity     3     (grow) across the decades, this is the first year     4     Swift, 33, achieved a kind of nuclear fusion (核聚变): shooting art and commerce together     5     (release) an energy of historic force,” the magazine said. Time said Swift was selected     6     she found a way to give people around the world hope in some seriously dark times. “No one else     7     the planet today can move so many people so well,” Time said in its profile, “    8     giving too much credit to     9     star ignores her skill and her power.” The magazine also interviewed Swift, with the artist revealing that “this is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most     10     (creative) fulfilled and free I’ve ever been.”

9 . There are thousands of languages in the world. But which language is the oldest? Experts use different methods to find out the age of a language.

Finding the oldest language is a challenging task, according to Danny Hieber, an expert in the study of endangered languages. “If we think that most languages can date back to an original human language, all languages are equally old,” Hieber said. However, it’s impossible to find out such language —the direct ancestor of every language in the world. Accordingly, some experts believe that the “oldest language” should belong to one with a well-established written record.

Many of the earliest recorded examples of writing come from languages that used cuneiform script (楔形文字). Among these languages are Sumerian and Akkadian, both dating back at least 4,600 years. Experts have also found Egyptian hieroglyphs that date to around the same historical period. These hieroglyphs, which can be translated into “He has united the Two Lands for his son, Dual King Peribsen,” are considered the earliest complete sentence ever discovered.

Experts generally agree that Sumerian, Akkadian and Egyptian are the oldest languages with a clear written record. All three are extinct, meaning that they are no longer used and don’t have any living followers which can carry the language to the next generation.

As for the oldest language that is still spoken, several competitors appear. Hebrew and Arabic stand out among such languages for having timelines that experts can reasonably find, according to Hieber. Although these earliest written languages only date back around 3,000 years, Hieber said, “both of them belong to the Afroasiatic language family, whose roots date back to 18, 000 to 8,000 B. C. E. , or about 20,000 to 10,000 years ago.” Even with this wide period of time, it is widely accepted that Afroasiatic is the oldest language family. But the exact point in time when Hebrew and Arabic separated from other Afroasiatic languages is heavily debated among experts.

1. How do experts determine the age of a language?

A．By studying its spoken dialects.	B．By analyzing its basic grammar.
C．By examining its written records.	D．By comparing it to other languages.

2. What is the value of the Egyptian hieroglyphs?

A．They’re an example of cuneiform script.	B．They belong to the Afroasiatic language.
C．They provide evidence of the oldest language.	D．They’re the earliest-known complete sentences.

3. What does the underlined word “extinct” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Gone

B．Ancient.

C．Outdated.

D．Active.

4. What is the main disagreement among experts regarding Hebrew and Arabic?

A．The reason for their standing out.	B．The exact time of their separation.
C．The appearance of their competitors.	D．The roots of earliest written languages.

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1 个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Tai Chi is par of China’s traditional culture. It is a unique type of Chinese kung fu marked with slow and gentle movements    1     are designed for self-protection, strengthening of body and prevention of diseases. Tai Chi’s movements with deep breathing and relaxation can help promote inner peace and calm, so it is suitable    2     people of different ages.

Tai Chi    3    (date) back as far as 2, 500 years. It is said that Zhang Sanfeng, a 13th-century Taoist, invented Tai Chi after watching     4     fight between a snake and a bird. However, more people tend to believe that Tai Chi     5     (develop) on the basis of martial arts skills by Chen Wangting, a l7th-century master of Chinese martial arts.   

In general, it is believed that Tai Chi can slow down aging, strengthen muscles, and aid in the treatment of heart disease, skin diseases and many other    6     (illness). Besides, Tai Chi can improve mood if people are worried or depressed. According to some studies,     7    (practice) Tai Chi on a daily basis can also help people get a     8     (good) sleep. With so many benefits of Tai Chi, more and more people begin to pick up this     9     (amaze) Chinese traditional sport to improve the quality of     10     (they) life.