1 . How to Develop a Sense of Humor

A good sense of humor can make you the life of the party and help you go easier on yourself.   Using different forms of tricks, you’ll have people around you roaring with laughter.

Learn to tell the sort of jokes you find funny. Once you’ve learned what kind of humor you enjoy, try including it in your conversations with friends. Try to tell your jokes as if commenting on thẹ weather.     1    

Have fun.     2     Remember, you are more than your humor. Try to find the world engaging, new, and strange. This will help improve your overall mood and make it easier for you to find humor in things if you allow yourself to play. So get out there and have fun with yourself!

    3     If the way you tell a story goes a long way toward making it funny, practice it as you talk. Smile and laugh along with everyone. If you’re telling a shocking part of the story, widen your eyes and lean forward for a dramatic effect. You can also use your hands to be more expressive and get a laugh on others, too.

Joke kindly and carefully.     4     If you are making fun of a friend, try to joke about a positive aspect of that person rather than a weakness. If a colleague is always on time, say you set your watch by him or her. If your children write a good paper for school, say they’ll be promoted to a teacher next.     5    

A．Surround yourself with funny people.

B．Use your body language to be more engaging.

C．Jokes about friends should not show them in a bad light.

D．A casual delivery is often the funniest part of an unusual comment.

E．Focus on their delivery and how they turn it into something humorous.

F．Jokes out of place may look like a power move on your parting with them.

G．Avoid getting so caught up in making people laugh that you forget to enjoy yourself.

2 . 假如你是李华，请你代表心理社团，在学校的英文广播上发言，向同学们提出以多种方式缓解高中学习压力，保障心理健康的建议。内容包括：
1）具体做法；
2）表达期待。
注意：词数80左右；词汇：Psychology Club心理社团

Hello, everyone!

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3 . Favored by many internet influencers, the city of Zibo, once a sleepy industrial city, has gone viral on Chinese social media platforms. The topic Zibo “barbecue” on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, was played 4.96 billion times since the city stormed the Internet for over a month. On 29 April, Zibo Railway Station saw a record 87,000 train trips to and from the station, according to Chinese news website Caixin.

Local authorities in Zibo have been quick to respond to the sudden flow of visitors. A barbecue zone that can accommodate 10,000 people, featuring live band performances, was built overnight. Volunteers have been dispatched to the railway station to offer advice and recommendations to tourists. Designated (指定的) buses and trains bring tourists to and from the hottest barbecue spots. The government has even threatened to punish profiteering hotels who raise prices by more than 50% .

What makes Zibo barbecue so special is that it does offer a distinctive (独特的) dining experience. The skewers (烤串) are 70-80 percent cooked before they are brought to the table, where diners can finish cooking them on their own stoves, offering an immersive dining experience.

Zibo’s low prices are also appealing. Many college students in Shandong have made concrete plans to enjoy Zibo barbecue at the least cost, and traveling back and forth by train for only 200 yuan ($29.1). So what better way to attract adventurous, hungry college students with a tight budget other than “tasty barbecue that makes you full for only 50 yuan!”

The locals seem happy enough about the arrival of visitors and shy away from hot spots to make space for outsiders, saying they are proud that their hometown has gained nationwide fame.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．The history of Zibo.

B．The influence of social media.

C．The newfound popularity of Zibo.

D．The crowdedness of Zibo Railway Station.

2. What makes Zibo barbecue attractive to college students?

A．Unique dining experience.	B．Convenient transportation.
C．Wonderful performances.	D．Affordable prices.

3. What is the local people’s attitude to the arrival of tourists?

A．Favorable.

B．Worried.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Critical.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To promote an industrial city.

B．To introduce barbecue in Zibo.

C．To explain how to attract tourists.

D．To show the popularity of barbecue.

4 . 假如你是李华，是英文报纸the 21^st Century心理咨询专栏的主编，最近收到一封读者来信说他朋友陈雷沉迷电脑游戏，希望你能给他一些意见，以便能帮助他的朋友戒掉游戏瘾。请根据提示写一封建议信。
1.告诉你朋友玩游戏的危害;
2.培养其他健康爱好;
3.多参加户外活动.
注意：
1.词数80词左右，开头已给不计入总词数;
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Worried Friend,

I’m sorry to hear that your friend Chen Lei is addicted to computer games.

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Yours,

Li Hua

5 . With kids going back to school, many parents are concerned about how their children will manage their behavior for eight hours a day. They may keep a watchful eye on their phone in case they receive a phone call from the school regarding their children’s behavior. If a child has difficulty controlling his words and behavior, a daily behavior report card may be a helpful option.

A daily behavior report card can be as simple as a chart on the child’s desk where his teacher provides ratings based on his behavior. The chart might be broken down into each class in a day. At the end of each class, the teacher will rate the students based on how well they did in meeting their behavioral goals. For example, a child might get scored on a 1—10 scale. Students will have a goal score to earn after each class. If they earn their goal score, they will get an instant experience-based reward.

Some advantages of the daily behavior report card are that it makes classroom expectations clear and gives kids frequent feedback on how they did and what they need to do to improve next time. While many teachers often promise a reward for good behavior at the end of the school day, this possibility of a reward is often too far for many kids to care. Instead, by offering a more prompt reward after each class that a child’s behavioral goal is met, their motivation level can stay high to control their attention and behavior.

Teachers are busy during the school days. They often have to manage difficult behavior in class and they lose lots of the classroom instruction time. However, using a daily behavior report card may be able to prevent difficult behavior from occurring in the first place. Meanwhile it will also improve the teacher-parent communication, which helps parents track and solve their children’s problems.

1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about the daily behavior report card?

A．Its basis.

B．Its result.

C．Its rating.

D．Its use.

2. Why can the daily behavior report card help children behave well in class?

A．It includes all the study rules in class.

B．It meets the demands of children in class.

C．It offers them expectations and feedback in class.

D．It provides a great reward for those with high scores.

3. What does the underlined word “prompt” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Immediate.

B．Reasonable.

C．Necessary.

D．Minimum.

4. What does the author think of the daily behavior report card?

A．Multi-beneficial.

B．Universally true.

C．Widely available.

D．Quite complicated.

6 . In August 2019, two citizen scientists, Sunniva Sorby and Hilde FalunStrom landed on Spitsbergen, in Norway’s Svalbard island group. They planned to work through the winter, then go home in May 2020. But their ship could not come because of COVID-19 shutdowns. For fourteen months, they lived in a small cabin on an icy island near the North Poles. Sometimes, hurricane-force winds forced freezing air through the cabin’s slats. Once, wind ripped the door open. Sunniva and Hilde couldn’t close it until the storm ended! Between storms, silence settled on the cabin. Then, they could hear the crunch-crunch-crunch of polar bears walking in the snow.

Their days started at 7 am and ended after midnight. Each morning, they wore down-stuffed jackets and pants as they waited for the wood-burning stove to heat the cabin. They cut pieces of freshwater ice to melt for drinking, cooking and bathing. For the stove, they gathered driftwood. They cooked their meals, including pizza! These tasks used up large stretches of each day. They also kept in touch with schools and other groups. They wrote blog entries and answered e-mails. For fun, they danced to music, exercised, practiced yoga and read.

“We are efficient here,” Sunniva wrote. “We have a routine, habits, and systems. We have time for what matters most living safely while making a contribution to our understanding of a changing world.” They conducted lots of experiments. They gathered data on climate change, using a drone (无人机) to measure sea-ice temperatures. They observed wildlife and tested new technologies, including an electric snowmobile.

To stay four extra months, they had to eat smaller amounts of food so they wouldn’t run out. “It was difficult being here, so far away from everything,” Sunniva wrote. “Food, shelter, and warmth are often taken for granted until you are on your own.” But, they wrote, “We have packed our patience, our smiles, and good spirits.” And they enjoyed the adventure, finding ordinary miracles every day.

1. What can we learn about the two scientists on Spitsbergen?

A．They lived a boring life there.	B．They could always keep the door closed.
C．They brought drinking water with them.	D．They stayed in contact with other groups.

2. What did Sunniva and Hilde do according to Paragraph 3?

A．They watched the wildlife carefully.	B．They invented an electric snowmobile.
C．They conducted experiments on drones.	D．They collected data of new technologies.

3. Which of the following best describes these two scientists?

A．Generous.

B．Optimistic.

C．Sensitive.

D．Honest.

4. What does the author want to convey through the two scientists’ story?

A．Well begun, half done.	B．It’s easier said than done.
C．Every cloud has a silver lining.	D．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

7 . A wolf in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, Northwest China’s Qinghai Province, has gained weight as a result of regular feeding by visitors in vehicles, according to a video recorded by a netizen. The fat wolf swings its tail at passing vehicles and even rolls on its back to appeal for food in the video. The video rapidly spread, causing an Internet debate.

In July this year, a woman shared a video of her encounter with a wolf while traveling through HohXil. She got out of her car to give the hungry wolf some beef jerky, noting how thin the animal seemed. She expressed her sympathy for it and did not hesitate to feed it. In other videos posted by netizens, the wolf can be seen wandering near cars on the roadside, and even lying in front of one of them. The new video claims the wolf in Hoh Xil has been fed by humans for a long time.

It caused a heated discussion among netizens, with some finding the wolf very cute and funny, and joking that it no longer wanted to work hard. But others expressed concern that such feeding would disrupt the natural order, and have a negative impact on the wolf and its ecosystem.

Dai Qiang, a researcher at the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has been studying wild animals such as pandas and wolves for a long time, disagrees with the practice of feeding wild wolves. He believes that such behavior, may also cause the animals to become dependent, and have adverse(不利的)results. Dai says that such behavior may cause risks to both human beings and wild animals.

“Wild animals, especially injured ones, may carry bacteria. Wolves are fierce animals after all, and it is hard to know whether they are aggressive(进攻性的)or not, so it is better to keep a safe distance,” says Dai. “On the other hand, unless the species is endangered, artificial intervention(人为干预)is not recommended,” he adds.

1. What can we say about the wolf in Hoh Xil?

A．It turned to a woman for help.	B．It has been given food by people.
C．It wandered regularly near visitors.	D．It lost weight in the nature reserve.

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

A．Protect.

B．Maintain.

C．Upset.

D．Adjust.

3. What will probably happen if wild animals are fed according to Dai?

A．They may hurt people.	B．They may gain weight.
C．They may leave reserves.	D．They may become extinct.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To inform people of wolves’ habits.	B．To call on people to protect wolves.
C．To entertain readers with a wolf story.	D．To warn people of risks in feeding wolves.

8 . Why Hard Work Is the Key to Success

Hard work and success go hand in hand.     1     However, you have to spend a lot of time working hard for success to build up over time gradually. So you’ll have to decide if you want to endure the pain of hard work, or look back and regret never having tried? That said, here are some points to consider before you make your choice.

Everything Comes at a Price

Success, for the vast majority of people, does not come without hard work.     2     You have to push past the obstacles and hold the goal in your mind, realizing that each step forward is one closer to achieving it.

Hard Work Helps You Make Your Luck

If you are an average Joe and simply idle your way through life, you are likely just a spectator (观察者) waiting for something to happen or fall into your lap. The truth of the matter is that the odds of this happening are improbable. Success will not happen suddenly, but with the right amount of strong determination and hard work, your luck tends to get better.     3    

Hard Work Promotes Discipline

It is not always going to be easy, and even the most determined people may give up and admit that they are defeated and stop trying.     4     Discipline ensures that you still get up and you are determined to see the result confidently.

You Harvest What You Sow

    5     The same goes for hard work. As you make a big effort each day and focus on your goals, you are consistently approaching your future success. As you begin to see the progress you have made, you will begin to feel a sense of achievement and pride in your work.

A．Life is certainly full of challenges.

B．That is where discipline comes into play.

C．Obtaining success without hard work is impossible.

D．When opportunities come your way, do not let them pass you by.

E．If you invest money over time wisely, you will make a good profit eventually.

F．You have to wake up early and head to work even when you do not feel like it.

G．When you hit a failure, the first thing coming to mind is whether you worked hard.

9 . A career in comics (漫画) is a dream for many talented, creative artists. It’s an opportunity to express one’s imagination through powerful stories. Traditionally, it was difficult, and sometimes expensive, to make it in the comic world. However, webtoons, comic platforms for viewing on the web and mobile devices, are changing the situation for independent artists. Artists can gain a following on webtoons platforms without having to depend on large publishing agents (代理商). It’s a fantastic opportunity for comic book lovers to find exciting new stories.

WEBTOON is the largest and most well-known webtoons platform, and it offers creators the chance to gain deals with famous agents and publishers. Some creators who got their start on WEBTOON have seen their stories adapted (改编) for TV series or movies. American Netflix has published two live-action adaptations of webtoons. WEBTOON has also worked with brand-name comics. For example, DC Comics, one of America’s oldest and largest comic book producers, produced a comic book series Batman: Wayne Family Adventures with WEBTOON. The popular DC series got more than 76 million views on WEBTOON.

In addition to all that, webtoons have helped independent artists and writers make it in the comic world. Azumi was a webtoons follower, who even won a webtoons competition, but he had no means to continue comic book writing full-time. In 2021, a WEBTOON producer found his great work and employed him to write. This opportunity allowed Azumi to give up his job and focus on his art. Azumi explains, “Many groups and stories that have not been shown in traditional publishing can have a voice and space on WEBTOON.”

“WEBTOON creators are some of the most talented and creative people the history of comics. In a time when comics have never been more popular, we’re proud of the growing Creator Economy and the ecosystem we’ve built to celebrate and support WEBTOON creators,” said CEO, Ken Kim.

1. What can we learn about webtoons from the first paragraph?

A．They push artists to attract mobile viewers.

B．They enable artists to show their works easily.

C．They will take the place of traditional publishing.

D．They encourage users to recommend creative artists.

2. What does the author suggest by mentioning Netflix and DC Comics in Paragraph 2?

A．WEBTOON is competing with big agents.

B．Creators are full of curiosity about adapted works.

C．WEBTOON achieves development through partnerships.

D．Creators hope to publish their works on different platforms.

3. What enabled Azumi to work as a comic book writer?

A．His familiarity with webtoons.

B．WEBTOON’s recognition of his talent.

C．His excellent performance in a competition.

D．WEBTOON’s close contact with its followers.

4. Which word best describes Ken Kim’s attitude to WEBTOON’s work?

A．Surprised

B．Worried

C．Unclear

D．Satisfied

10 . Do you want to see some cool art exhibitions? Here are four exhibitions with different styles that you can check out.

Van Gogh’s Cypresses

Time: from May 22, 2023 to August 27, 2023

This exhibit is all about Van Gogh’s famous paintings of cypress trees. He painted them under starry night skies or in golden wheat fields. You can get really close to these amazing artworks and appreciate their beauty.

Cecily Brown: Death and the Maid

Time: from April 4, 2023 to December 3, 2023

Cecily Brown’s exhibition features a collection of her paintings, drawings and more. She explores themes like life, which are about human vanity(虚荣心) and how life is short and fleeting(飞逝的).

Lauren Halsey: The Roof Garden Commission

Time: from April 18, 2023 to October 22, 2023

In this exhibition, you can see a big architectural structure created by Lauren Halsey. It’s inspired by ancient Egyptian symbols, 1960s utopian(乌托邦的) buildings and contemporary marks. And these characters show how this exhibition tries to offer an idea to make public spaces beautiful.

Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery(陶器)

Time: from July 14, 2023 to June 4, 2024

This exhibition focuses on pottery from New Mexico’s Río Grande Pueblos, West Texas’ Ysleta del Sur community and the Hopi tribe in Arizona. You can learn about the different styles and stories behind the pottery.

These exhibitions offer a mix of different art styles and themes. So, whether you likeVan Gogh, contemporary art, or traditional pottery, there’s something for everyone.

1. What does Van Gogh’s Cypresses focus on?

A．Traditional pottery.	B．Modern architecture.
C．Natural scenery.	D．Human life.

2. What do we know about Lauren Halsey: The Roof Garden Commission?

A．It is all about human spirit.

B．It is inspired by ancient Rome.

C．It is a mix of nature and buildings.

D．It offers an idea to make public spaces beautiful.

3. Which will be on display for the longest period of time?

A．Van Gogh’s Cypresses.

B．Cecily Brown: Death and the Maid.

C．Lauren Halsey: The Roof Garden Commission.

D．Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery.