1. What are they talking about?
| A．Their favorite subjects. |
| B．Their performance in class. |
| C．Their preparation for the coming exam. |
| A．It is beyond her ability. |
| B．It is difficult to understand. |
| C．It has too much to memorize. |
| A．Practising a lot. | B．Understanding the rules. | C．Memorizing more words. |
1. What was going on in the town where the speaker lived?
| A．A flood. | B．A forest fire. | C．An earthquake. |
| A．It was getting darker. |
| B．It was raining cats and dogs. |
| C．The sky was covered by thick smoke. |
| A．He was abroad. | B．He was in town. | C．He was in the garden. |
| A．Trees were burning. | B．People were escaping. | C．Animals were running. |
For centuries, West Lake has been well-known both for its landscape and for cultural heritage surviving yet illustrating the past dynasties. In ancient times, it
Besides its impressive scenery, West Lake has abundant cultural heritage and legends
1. In which city does the dialogue most probably take place?
| A．Tokyo. | B．London. | C．Beijing. |
| A．Mapo Tofu. | B．Fish and chips. | C．Beijing Roast Duck. |
| A．Before the food. | B．Together with the food. | C．After the food. |
1. How does Alex feel about the job interview?
| A．Disappointed. | B．Regretful. | C．Worried. |
| A．Luck didn’t favor him once again. |
| B．Someone fit the job better than him. |
| C．Something went wrong with his CV. |
| A．Write a CV. | B．Apply for another job. | C．Practise interview questions. |
6 . Mosquitoes are one of the few unpleasant parts of summer. As the temperature rises, these disease-carrying pests become a common sight, especially around standing water. Thankfully, these tiny annoying creatures don’t follow us into the winter, right? Wrong. According to researchers in Florida, climate change will likely keep mosquitoes active even in the colder months of the year. “In tropical (热带的) areas, mosquitoes are active all year, but that isn’t the case for the rest of the world. Outside of the tropics, winter temperatures cause mosquitoes to go into a kind of hibernation called diapause (滞育). We call these mosquitoes ‘cold bounded’ because their activity is limited by these lower temperatures,” says Brett Scheffers, assistant professor in the wildlife eco logy and conservation department, in a university release.
“However, with climate change, summers are to get longer and winters are to become shorter and warmer. What will that mean for those cold bounded mosquitoes? How will they respond?” To see just how adaptive mosquitoes are already becoming to changing temperatures throughout the year, researchers collected these insects during each season in Gainesville, Florida.
Study authors caught over 28,000 insects from 18 different mosquito species during their experiment. Scientists lured the pests by using a trap that produces carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes seek out this gas, which both humans and animals blow out when they breathe. For these pests, the gas signals that a tasty meal is nearby. The team randomly selected 1,000 of these mosquitoes to test in their lab temperature experiment. They placed each insect in a test tube before putting it in water. From there, researchers continued to change the temperature, from cold to hot. At the same time, the team monitored when each mosquito became inactive—marking their upper or lower temperature thresholds (阈点).
As for what is allowing mosquitoes to make these rapid adjustments to the weather, the answer is still unclear. However, researchers believe evolution could be working at a much faster rate in tinier creatures. Study authors believe their findings will help communities better prepare for insect season as climate change continues to lengthen summer.
1. What does Brett Scheffers think of those cold bounded mosquitoes’ behaviors?| A．Less active. | B．More alarming. | C．More annoying. | D．Less consistent. |
| A．To find out why summer gets longer. |
| B．To see how mosquitoes spread in tropical areas. |
| C．To learn how mosquitoes are adapting to climate change. |
| D．To learn why climate change is related to species evolution. |
| A．Killed. | B．Attracted. | C．Changed. | D．Protected. |
| A．Cold bounded mosquitoes are easily trapped |
| B．Wildlife ecology helps better prepare for insect season |
| C．Mosquitoes will be a year-long problem due to climate change |
| D．The cause of mosquitoes’ rapid adjustments to the weather is clear |
7 . Many Silicon Valley parents are becoming more concerned about preventing their children from using screens. Some parents think that even a little screen time can be extremely addictive, so it is better if their children avoid using or seeing these devices completely. However, it is difficult for working adults in the 21st century to give up using a phone at home. So, it’s simpler to employ someone to do this.
“Silicon Valley nanny (保姆)”, who takes children back to a time without screens every day is widely needed. From Cupertino to San Francisco, it’s widely agreed that screen time is harmful to youngsters. Therefore, parents are requesting nannies to keep phones, tablets and computers in a hidden place. Others even offer no-phone agreements.
Research shows that spending too much time on technology can harm young minds. For example, teenagers who use social media frequently are more likely to feel depressed and anxious. Insomnia (失眠) rates have also increased amongst this age group, and an increasing number of children display the signs that they can’t focus attention. These seemingly minor (轻微的) problems could become significant challenges for future generations.
“Many parents come back home and focus on their smartphones, ignoring whatever their children are trying to say,” said Shannon Zimmerman, who works as a nanny in San Jose for families that forbid screen time. “As a nanny, I also call on more parents to spend more time with their kids.”
1. Why are the Silicon Valley nannies greatly needed according to the text?| A．To help parents and children balance work and life. |
| B．To teach children how to use technology responsibly. |
| C．To keep children away from screens. |
| D．To encourage children to exercise. |
| A．Feeling confused. | B．Feeling anxious. | C．Feeling bored. | D．Feeling nervous. |
| A．Encourage their children more. | B．Play games with their children. |
| C．Stop using smartphones at home. | D．Spend more time with their children. |
| A．Parents concern about screen time for children. | B．Children are addicted to screen time. |
| C．All parents limit children to phones. | D．Science has no effects on young minds. |
8 . Bartek Ostalowski lost both his arms in a terrible aceident in 2006, but that wasn’t enough to kill his dream of one day becoming a professional race-car driver. Finding himself armless at just 20 years old and faced with the difficult task of learning to drive a car on a race circuit (赛车道) must have been quite the shock for Bartek, but he gathered the courage and the drive to push on. In three years, he became a master of driving a race-car with his feet. Today, Bartek Ostalowski is the world’s only professional sport driver who drives using his feet.
In order to deal with his physical limitations, Bartek transformed (改装) his race car according to his needs, adding a new engine, and stronger transmission (变速器). The ambitious Polish driver uses his right foot to control the pedals, while moving on with his left one. The race car is controlled with the shoulder.
“After my accident, I was looking for a solution. I asked myself if I wanted to race again what would I need to do?” Bartek told the reporter of Business Insider. “I heard about someone in Poland who, like me, had no arms, but he drove a car on a daily basis with no problem. After meeting him, my dream and passion for motor sports were alive and strong, and I made the decision to return to racing one day.”
In 2019, Ostalowski finished in ninth place out of 50 drivers in the Polish Drift Championship, one of the most competitive championship series in all of Europe, and the year before that, he won the international Czech Drift Series, beating dozens of other professional sports drivers.
“Of course, I encourage other people with disabilities to get involved in motor sports. It’s a beautiful passion and I think a great form of recovery too. So make your dreams come true,” the Polish driver said.
1. What is special about Bartek Ostalowski?| A．He lost his arms. | B．He is a race-car driver. |
| C．He drives the race car with feet. | D．He becomes a master of driving a race car. |
| A．A driving master. | B．A disabled driver. |
| C．A great champion. | D．A newspaper reporter. |
| A．Admiring. | B．Frightening. | C．Interesting. | D．Embarrassing. |
| A．A Moving Story about a Dream Coming True |
| B．A Great Man Rising from a Terrible Accident |
| C．The Only Man with Courage and Drive on a Race Circuit |
| D．The Only Armless Professional Sports Driver in the World |
1. Who is probably the speaker?
| A．A reporter. | B．A teacher. | C．A writer. |
| A．He read a book. | B．He looked after the horse. | C．He enjoyed the snow. |
| A．Sad. | B．Moved. | C．Casual. |
| A．Help those around us as much as we can. |
| B．Read as many books as we can. |
| C．Be grateful for what we have. |
10 . With coffee beans in short supply worldwide and Chinese consumers expanding their coffee habit, Yunnan province beans have increasingly appeared in major coffee chains in China.
Yunnan, the largest coffee planting area in China, is blessed with high altitudes and suitable climate for planting high-quality coffee beans. The province is the source of more than 99% of domestically (国内地) produced coffee.
Last year, Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producing country, experienced extreme weather, including drought and frost, which caused a decrease in output of nearly 20%. The epidemic (疫情) is another reason for the price increase. The COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the timely transportation of coffee beans to overseas markets.
With coffee from international markets in short supply, Yunnan has drawn attention of coffee chains in China.
Ye Peng, a coffee farmer in Pu’er, Yunnan, for more than a decade, said she has seen the prices of orders double from last year. With advanced planting technologies and higher quality local coffee beans, her company ships its product to famous coffee chains such as Starbucks and Manner Coffee.
Baoshan Chunzheng Coffee Company is a major coffee provider in Yunnan. It provides coffee beans to Yum China, which operates fast food chains KFC and Pizza Hut (必胜客) in the country.
With promising markets at home and abroad, there are more and more coffee farmers and coffee factories in Yunnan.
1. Why is Yunnan province suitable to grow coffee beans?| A．It is with high altitudes and proper climate. |
| B．It is a spring city with no summer or winter. |
| C．People in Yunnan are fond of drinking coffee. |
| D．Local government encourages people to grow them. |
| A．Foreign coffee markets. | B．The weather and transportation. |
| C．The COVID-19 pandemic. | D．Reasons for increased prices. |
| A．Speed up | B．Slow down. | C．Update. | D．Change. |
| A．The prices of coffee are decreasing for many reasons. |
| B．Brail is no longer the biggest coffee producing country. |
| C．Most of the Yunnan coffee beans are transported abroad. |
| D．Many people in Yunnan are willing to enter the coffee markets. |
