1 . Are you a fan of outdoor adventures? Do you enjoy scenic views to relax? Look no further, as the following destinations offer all that and more.

Athabasca Falls

Alberta, Canada

Water from the Canadian Rockies flows down into the waterfalls of Jasper National Park, creating a flow with wild energy. The falls are wheelchairs accessible, with a paved path taking admirers to a number of viewpoints. If visitors leave the path, they can explore both the upper and lower regions of the trail.

Akaka Falls Trail

Hakalau, Hawaii

A short half-mile hike is big on sights and low on hard activity. The well-kept ring like trail guide visitors around to see a number of waterfalls, including the 442-foot main attraction, and beautiful local flora (植物群) among the famous landscape. Though there are no hills to climb, there are a number of stairways to go.

Nugget Falls

Juneau, Alaska

Located in Tongass National Forest about 12 miles from Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier has produced Nugget Falls, a fan-like waterfall that leads into a lake. A series of short hikes allows for different views of the waterfall and icy surrounds, which are also known for frequent brown bear sightings.

Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Valley, California

Yosemite National Park is one of the oldest national parks in America and home to the fifth tallest waterfall in the world. Hikers can reach it by taking a 1-mile trail from the lodge or the 7.2-mile round-trip Yosemite Falls Trail route. Late spring is best, with the highest water flow. In the winter, the temperatures dip below freezing. A park admission fee applies.

1. Where can visitors expect to see frequent brown bear sightings?

A．Athabasca Falls.

B．Akaka Falls Trail.

C．Nugget Falls.

D．Yosemite Falls.

2. Which season is best for visiting Yosemite Falls?

A．Winter.

B．Spring.

C．Summer.

D．Fall.

3. Where can this text probably be found?

A．In a travel magazine.

B．In a novel.

C．In a history book.

D．In a diary.

2 . When gardeners grow varieties of plants in their beautiful gardens, they are happy to see beneficial insects like bees and butterflies surrounding the flowers. But as they take a closer look, they may find some plants are covered in black dots and filled with harmful insects or pests. Some gardeners may immediately reach for chemicals.     1     Although it may stop the insect problem, it will also threaten bees and butterflies which help the plants reproduce.

If you are wise gardeners, you should first take preventive measures to control the harmful insects.     2     Only when there are too many harmful insects, should pest control be considered. The first defense should always be the safest method available.

Prevention

As a rule, prevention is the best treatment. Inspect plants closely, including their leaves, before buying them from the store.     3    

When planting, space plants out to permit them to grow to their full size. Plants too close together can breed harmful organisms, like bacteria.

    4     They invite pests if permitted to remain on the ground. When you do see pests, wash them away. Use rubbing alcohol to remove some insects, or pick them off the plants.

Pesticides

If you decide a pesticide is necessary, choose it carefully and follow the directions and warnings on the product. Avoid using pesticides in extreme heat, on windy days, or when the plants are wet.     5     At the time, beneficial insects are inactive. You can consider removing flowers from the plants to lessen the risk that beneficial insects will come in contact with the pesticides.

A．But this is not wise.

B．In most cases, chemicals don’t help.

C．Treat the plants early in the morning or at night.

D．Also do remember the plants need nutrition and care.

E．Keep your garden free of fallen leaves, fruits and other wastes.

F．Do not bring any plants home that show signs of disease or pests.

G．The process starts with the idea that having some pests is acceptable.

3 . If you want to understand China but can’t afford an expensive international flight, these four books can give you a complete overview of the country.

River Town

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler-This book is a journal of the author’s two years spent teaching English in a small town called Fuling, situated on the banks of the Yangtze River. Hessler writes about his experiences living in a foreign culture and observing the lives of the town’s residents. The book was published in 2001 and has won several awards, including the Kiriyama Prize.

Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

It is a book that tells the story of China’s modernization. It was written by Ezra Vogel and published in 2011. The author describes how Deng Xiaoping’s policies led to significant changes in China’s economy and society. The book has received critical honors and won the Lionel Gelber Prize In 2012.

The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence

This book is a comprehensive history of China from the Ming dynasty to the present day. The author, a prominent scholar of Chinese history, provides a detailed analysis of the social, cultural, and political changes that have taken place in China over the past 500 years. The book was first put out in 1990 and has since been revised and updated several times. This book was the top bestseller for years.

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China

Written by Leslie T. Chang, this book, published in 2008, is reportage on the lives of young women who leave their rural homes to work in factories in China’s cities. Chang, a former New York Times correspondent (someone who is employed by a newspaper or a television station etc. to report news from a particular area or on a particular subject), interviewed hundreds of factory girls to provide insight into the social and economic changes in China.

1. What kind of book is River Town?

A．Science fiction.	B．Nonfiction.
C．A travel guide of Fuling.	D．A reference book.

2. What is TRUE about The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence?

A．It was published 500 years ago.	B．It was written by a history teacher.
C．It was very popular.	D．It has remained the same since its first publication.

3. Which book is written by a reporter?

A．River Town.

B．Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.

C．The Search for Modern China.

D．Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China.

4 . In English, my name means hope. In Spanish, it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican record my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.

It was my great-grandmother’s name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse — which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re born female — but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don’t like their women strong.

My great-grandmother. I would’ve liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn’t marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That’s the way he did it.

And the story goes, she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best of what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window.

At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish, my name is made out of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as my sister name — Magdalena — which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza.

I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do.

1. In Spanish, Esperanza means______ .

A．Sadness

B．Number nine

C．A muddy color

D．Mexican song

2. Which of the following statements about the great-grandmother is WRONG?

A．Her name was inherited by the author.	B．She was born in the year of bad luck.
C．She wasn’t married yet.	D．She’s a strong and wild woman.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards her great-grandmother’s life?

A．Neutral.

B．Sympathetic.

C．Rejected.

D．Acceptable.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．My Family

B．My School Life

C．My Name

D．My Struggle

5 . 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。

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention (《世界遗产公约》), Beijing held    1     event titled “The Next 50 Years: World Heritage Where Challenges and Development Coexist”, during which experts discussed how    2       (make) the sites more accessible and sustainable for future generations.

Since joining the World Heritage Convention in 1985, the number of world heritage sites in China    3     (grow) to 56, including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Grand Canal,    4     (allow) the nation to rank second in the world. And over the past decade, China has added 15 new world heritage sites, six of    5     have been included in the relevant lists of intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产).

Chinese experts said that the 56 listed world heritage sites reflect the country’s    6     (abundance) heritage and that China’s cultural heritage achievements over the past 10 years can be seen in many aspects.

For example, in 2013, the Tianshan Mountains    7     (list) on the World Heritage List. The beauty of Tianshan lies    8     its snow-capped mountains and glacier-capped peaks. It is really an outstanding example of a mountain ecosystem with a    9     (diverse) of landform features and ecosystems.

Experts said that the world heritage application is just a means to perform better protection. We should behave more    10     (responsible) to conserve the heritage of all humanity.

6 . Books are excellent gifts. Here are four of the year’s most talked-about titles.

Ordinary Monsters | By J. M. Miro

Miro has temporarily abandoned literary fiction in favour of a new series of historical fantasy novels. Ordinary Monsters is about a group of children with magical gifts who come together and pool their powers to escape the bad shape-shifting man that’s going after them.

Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces | By Elamin Abdelmahmoud

The soundtrack to The O. C., a drama series, and the strange beauty of Highway 401 were important factors in developing selfhood of Abdelmahmoud. This book describes his own experience of moving from Khartoum, Sudan, to Kingston, Canada, in the early 2000s at age 12.

A Magic Steeped in Poison | By Judy I. Lin

Harry Potter has his magic stick. And Ning, the heroine of Lin’s first novel, has tea, which in her world carries magical properties. Lin has created a pleasing Young Adult fantasy rich in Chinese mythology (神话). In this book, Ning enters a competition to find the most gifted tea master, Shennong.

A Ballet of Lepers | By Leonard Cohen

Unlike many other posthumous (死后出版的) works, you can count on Cohen’s to be worth your wait. Before his death, he said that the novel contained in the book, which was never published, was likely better than The Favourite Game, a novel he published during his lifetime. This book also includes a radio play script (剧本) and a handful of short stories.

1. Which book is a mirror of the author’s life story?

A．Ordinary Monsters.	B．Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces.
C．A Magic Steeped in Poison.	D．A Ballet of Lepers.

2. What do the first and third books have in common?

A．They are about teamwork.

B．They are based on an imaginary world.

C．They both involve Chinese characters.

D．They draw inspiration from other novels.

3. What can be inferred about A Ballet of Lepers?

A．It is a collection.	B．It is Cohen’s best novel.
C．It is a fantasy novel.	D．It is adapted from a play.

7 . According to research, about 21.5 million American children between the ages of six and seventeen are involved (参与的) in a team sport.     1     But regardless of the reasons for getting involved, children can gain a lot from sports.

A 2006 report shows that taking up sports can increase both emotional and behavioral well-being in teenagers. And increased well-being can lead to higher confidence, which results in better overall performance.     2     In addition, they usually get along well with people around them and are less likely to have bad or risky behavior.

    3     Through this process, children develop social and leadership skills and learn the value of teamwork. Children involved in sports usually have stronger and better relationships with their schoolmates and a better understanding of people from different backgrounds.

Actually, sports give children an opportunity to communicate with adults in valuable and positive ways, which can help them develop closer relationships with adults. This effect is especially great when children don’t get along well with their family members.     4    

Although most effects of sports on children are good, there can be disadvantages. If the pressure to win is overemphasized (过分强调) or the expectations of parents or coaches become too great, kids may experience lots of stress.     5     To avoid these bad effects, children should not overemphasize winning but focus on developing certain skills.

A．Being physically fit is linked to having a higher IQ.

B．They may take part in sports for fun or to develop some skills.

C．However, children hardly play sports when they become older.

D．It can cause worries, headaches, stomach aches, and muscle pain.

E．For example, children involved in sports are likely to do well in their studies.

F．Organized sports require children to work together to achieve a common goal.

G．Many children say sports have helped increase their conversations with parents.

8 . When I was a child, my family went to the beach often. However, we _________ played in the sand or swam in the ocean. Nature was to be _________ far away, with the car windscreen in between. We would wave to the sea from our _________, watch the sunset and drive home. My parents were _________ in crowded and polluted cities. Their upbringing made them think maybe it was _________ for kids to stay inside. Without knowing it, I was _________ by their attitudes.

It was my own children who led me to another _________. They liked observing earthworms and jumping in mud. Their such _________ about the natural world allowed me to see it in a _________ way. On beach trips, I found myself __________ to dig into the sand with them and __________ its cool graininess (颗粒感) as they buried me in it.

Last summer, my love for __________ led to us buying a house in a farming town near a mountain. It’s something I wouldn’t have __________ as a city girl. I’ve found a deeper connection to nature and I’m grateful for it. There are miles of tracks around us that I __________ every day. I walk through snow, mud and rain, __________ my boots — which I bring straight into the house.

1.

A．still

B．never

C．always

D．sometimes

2.

A．transformed

B．evaluated

C．appreciated

D．greeted

3.

A．vehicle

B．tent

C．house

D．hotel

4.

A．hired

B．raised

C．involved

D．trapped

5.

A．warmer

B．happier

C．funnier

D．safer

6.

A．influenced

B．confused

C．bothered

D．reminded

7.

A．career

B．future

C．finding

D．path

8.

A．concern

B．doubt

C．curiosity

D．knowledge

9.

A．systematic

B．standard

C．general

D．different

10.

A．hesitant

B．astonished

C．anxious

D．disappointed

11.

A．shared

B．enjoyed

C．interpreted

D．showed

12.

A．shore

B．sand

C．farming

D．nature

13.

A．achieved

B．imagined

C．supported

D．acknowledged

14.

A．explore

B．notice

C．measure

D．preserve

15.

A．washing

B．cooling

C．dirtying

D．polishing

9 . I started playing the piano when I was around four years old—that was 15 years ago!—and since then, the longest I haven’t touched piano keys was probably two months. This was an enormous amount of devotion to something that I wasn’t even planning to make money off of—so there must have been something worth holding on to, right?

The easy guess is that I was always so purely in love with music and piano that I couldn’t bear to let them go. However, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I struggled a lot with piano. I felt pressure to improve, innovate, and be the best in order to prove something to others. The seed of my musical interest was grown with competition and doubt.

It’s difficult to learn to love something that you didn’t choose in the first place. But somehow, sometime, love grew. And by high school, it was strong enough that I found the strength to hold on tighter, dig further, and find something of my own to grow. In a way, I had to start over.

And so, I took a pause. I switched teachers, and got incredibly lucky with one who encouraged me and helped me tunnel into what I loved, not what I was told I should learn. Anything I had was good enough to be loved.

This summer, I started learning the guitar. I deliberately wanted to learn on my own—this was just for me, to form a new relationship to music. Even though my guitar skills are miles lower than my piano skills, I feel I can express myself even more wholly through strings than keys. There’s just something about doing it all for myself that has helped me heal the damages to my relationship to music.

The love and hate I’ve had for the piano were both planted and grown. If you too have learned to hate something you once loved—or something you never chose—remember that with dedication, it can be uprooted, and love can make a home in its place. There is always time. There is always room.

1. What can we learn about the author’s experience from Paragraph 1?

A．He probably spent two months in playing the piano.

B．He began to play the piano when he was 15 years old.

C．He thought it necessary to start playing the piano early.

D．He committed himself to the piano not for financial factors.

2. Which of the following words best describes the author’s relationship with the piano?

A．Bittersweet.

B．Harmonious.

C．Painful.

D．Passive.

3. What inspired the author to learn the guitar?

A．His teacher’s constant encouragement.	B．His desire for a new relationship with music.
C．His interest in strings rather than keys.	D．His talent for playing musical instruments.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Practice makes perfect	B．Love cannot be forced
C．Love is a thing that grows	D．There is no end to learning

10 . During this holiday, my family took a trip to Tanzania. Getting there was really an adventure! We took fifteen different planes. The ride was difficult, but the scenery was amazing. When we arrived, the time difference was difficult to deal with, but after a few nights I got used to it. We stayed in a safari resort (游猎度假村). There were all kinds of noises. But they weren’t ones I was used to hearing; the noises came from animals and insects.

On our first day, we saw a herd of giraffes and two rhinos (犀牛). Our guide Mishi told us that the two black rhinos had been caught and brought here because they were in danger of dying out due to poachers (偷猎者), who wanted them for their horns (角). The two rhinos are not in a zoo but in guarded pens (牲畜栏) of about 100 acres.

The next day, Mishi took us to a river. In it, there are big crocodiles (鳄鱼) and even bigger hippos. After we took pictures, Mishi brought us to a suspension (悬挂) bridge. My family was very nervous about crossing it after seeing what was in the river and there was a sign saying “No more than one person on the bridge each time”. Mishi finally promised us that it was not dangerous, and she was right! We all made it to the other side in one piece.

After we explored a little in the area, we found a long line of ants. I noticed that a few were bigger than the others and these bigger ants were walking next to the line, as if keeping the others in order. Mishi told us that they were called Army Ants and were used by old Tanzanian tribes (部落) for medical treatment. They could live with nature harmoniously.

After many days of fun and great adventure, our trip was over. I am looking forward to going back someday.

1. What did the author have to adapt to at the beginning of his trip?

A．The difficult ride.	B．The time difference.
C．The surrounding noises.	D．The remote (遥远的) resort.

2. Why are the two black rhinos caught and kept in pens?

A．To attract tourists.	B．To get their horns.
C．To protect them from poachers.	D．To prevent them attacking the local people.

3. What can we learn about the bridge mentioned in paragraph 3?

A．It is safe to cross.	B．It has a long history.
C．It can bear great weight.	D．It crosses a lifeless river.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Lovely Wild Animals	B．An Unforgettable Experience
C．Living with Nature Harmoniously	D．An Adventurous but Amazing Trip