1 . The London Eye remains temporarily closed but in line with the Government's roadmap out of lockdown we plan to reopen from 17th May.You can pre-book now. Further information can be found here.
What to Expect
The London Eye soars 443 fee into the sky and views stretching25 miles every direction.Since opening in 2000,it has been used as a backdrop in countless films and is loved by Britons and visitors alike.This is the UK's most popular visitor attraction,visited by over 3.5 million people a year.
Each London Eye capsule holds up to 25 passengers comfortably. All capsules are fully air-conditioned and rotate (旋转)on a special device designed to keep everyone upright as the wheel makes a slow but progressive rotation.The full rotation lasts 30 minutes of an ever changing view of this dynamic city.
Opening Times
■September to May 10:00am—8:00pm daily
■June 10:00am—9:00pm daily
■July 10:00am—9:30pm daily
■August 10:00am—-8:30pm daily
■Not open on Christmas Day or during maintenance period.
Ticket Prices
| Adult: January to March ₤15.00 April to December ₤15.50 |
| Child (5-15 years): January to March ₤7.50 April to December ₤7.75 |
| Child under 5 years: free |
| Senior (60 plus): ₤12.00 |
Booking line
■9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Sunday
■Telephone: 0870 5000 600
1. Which of the following does the London Eye ride offer?| A．A 30-minute fast rotation. |
| B．An insight into its long history. |
| C．A 360°moving view of the city. |
| D．A non-chargeable admission. |
| A．10:00am—-8:00pm. |
| B．100am-9:00pm. |
| C．10:00am-—9:30pm. |
| D．10:00am—8:30pm. |
| A．₤30 | B．₤31 | C．₤37.5 | D．₤38.75 |
2 . Remote work, especially in a world affected by COVID-19, naturally leads to "flex time". Employees with small children might be getting the majority of their work done at night after the kids are in bed. Working early, you quit early. Starting late, work late.
With your teammates working during different hours, you may be getting messages at all hours of the day, night, or weekend, making you always available. That might be necessary in some industries during these challenging times, but certainly not in every industry and not for everyone in any industry. Once this takes root in your company culture, it becomes difficult to "reset" later. Besides, “always-on” isn't sustainable (可持续的), which increases pressure and quickly turns your company into an unpleasant place to work.
If your company adapts "flex time", how can you accommodate your employees’ needs while still protecting your culture and your team's work-life balance? The key is to encourage flex time while also setting clear "communication hours" (for example, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.）. Outside of those hours, employees should be encouraged to change their settings to "Do Not Disturb" and to use the “schedule send” feature of their email client so that messages only get delivered during communication hours.
If messages must happen outside of the set communication hours, such as for urgent or time-sensitive issues, make employees phone or text only. This way people can comfortably close down all other communication channels like email, WeChat, WeCom, etc. The act of having to call or text someone is usually enough to give the sender a pause to think, "Do I really need this person now, or can the communication wait?" This allows everyone on your team to work whenever is appropriate for them, but not feel like they have to work all the time to accommodate everyone else's schedule. A word of “Thanks for being so responsive” to someone answering an email outside of the defined communication hours definitely brings empathy (同理心) which smooths the urgency while also cultivating the trust and culture.
1. What may result in the phenomenon of "always-on"?| A．COVID-19. | B．Some industries. |
| C．Increasing pressure. | D．Flexible working time. |
| A．The phenomenon of "flex time". | B．The disadvantages of “flex time”. |
| C．The necessity of “flex time”. | D．The company culture of “flex time”, |
| A．It helps to make up for the shortcomings of “flex time". |
| B．It should be set from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| C．Employees mustn't be disturbed within the hours. |
| D．Employees are still responsive outside of the hours. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Opposed. | D．Indifferent. |
Situated on the outskirts of Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang province, Xixi National Wetland Park is the first national wetland park in China. For the abundant ecological
When
Water is the soul of Xixi. With an area of 11. 5 square kilometres, the park
In recent years, the wetland park has been
4 . Travel is the only thing that will really make you richer. While it's very valid, there're many times when we are simply unable to travel for certain reasons. However, there's still a great and affordable way to experience new places: books.
Wild
Wild is Cheryl Strayed's beautifully written story of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for 1,100 miles all by herself. Her journey of self-discovery and facing her painful past is fascinating and will keep you fascinated from the first page up until the last. You will feel like you're hiking alongside Strayed the whole time.
On the Road
Jack Kerouac's classic novel in 1957 is a masterpiece from the Beat Generation, which tells the timeless tale of being young, confused, and just getting on the road to try to figure it all out. The book tells the personal developmental story of Sal, who is strongly based on Kerouac himself, leaving New York City and traveling around the country. The book ensures madness, along with colorful characters and heartbreaking moments.
The Caliph's House
This book is written by author Tahir Shah, whose experience of vacationing in Morocco of Africa during his childhood growing up led him to move with his family from London to Morocco, where he learned a lot. His writing is rich and fascinating and tells an incredible story of their time of living there.
The Great Railway Bazaar
Paul Theroux's book narrates his four-month experience in 1973 traveling by train from London to Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, as well as his return trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway, enriching and improving himself. Theroux explored poverty and ignorance throughout the book, which is often considered as a classic in the travel writing world.
1. Which book tells of the author's long journey on foot?| A．Wild. | B．On the Road. |
| C．The Caliph's House. | D．The Great Railway Bazaar. |
| A．The author's rich writing experience. |
| B．The story of British children in Africa. |
| C．The vacation of an African family in London. |
| D．The author's childhood experience in Morocco. |
| A．Madness and sadness. | B．Travel and self-growth. |
| C．Poverty and confusion. | D．Childhood and ignorance. |
5 . A shocking news report has revealed that more than one in five species of maple trees faces extinction, warning that 75% of the threatened species are “geographically restricted” in their native regions.
The trees are experiencing a vast decline in habitat, due to urban development, wood harvesting and agricultural expansion. Time is running out for the world's biodiversity. Every recent survey of plants and animals in the wild points to this. This is happening nearly everywhere rarer maples exist. And because of climate change, the narrow habitats that support species at the edges of dry places and at the tops of mountains are quickly disappearing.
The trees can be found in subtropical and tropical regions, as far south as Indonesia. The only species found in the UK, the field maple is not under threat. Not only are the trees a popular attractive feature in parks and public spaces, but they are a key part of the natural ecosystem in woodlands, as well as being an important wood crop in several countries. Although the sugar maple in North America, which produces maple juice, is not endangered, two of the closest relatives to the species are endangered.
The report notes that conserving at-risk species in their natural habitat is the best conservation tactic. But collections in botanical gardens and seed banks-called "ex situ collections" can act as insurance policies against extinction. There are currently 14 species of maple, including four that are critically endangered, which are absent from these types of collections.
One species in Mexico, the Acer binzayedii, is in “desperate need of conservation"”despite only being discovered in 2017. “It is at risk from climate change in its cloud forest habitat and threatened by logging and forest fires while it is also absent from 'ex situ collections',” the report adds. The report recommends developing conservation plans, monitoring species currently not at risk to ensure populations are maintained, and adding those missing maple species to seed banks.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．Action to protect maple trees. | B．The dangerous situation of maple trees. |
| C．Various maple trees' habitats in the world. | D．The conditions for diversity in maple trees. |
| A．They cannot produce juice. | B．They are found in America. |
| C．They are not at risk of extinction. | D．They have two endangered relatives. |
| A．Topic. | B．Approach. | C．Result. | D．Conclusion. |
| A．To offer a proposal. | B．To recommend a product. |
| C．To introduce maple species. | D．To warn people of disasters. |
6 . When you hear the beginning of your favorite song from the radio, suddenly your neck is covered in goose bumps.
It's such a thing that a group of scientists call “skin excitement”—a feeling of cold caused not by a drop in temperature or sudden scare, but by the sense of beauty. “Skin excitement” can come from a song, a painting, a moving movie scene, or even a beloved memory-pretty much anything that causes the giving out of pleasure-soaked dopamine in your brain. But it does not come for all of us.
Your favorite music uncovers a lot about your personality，and so does how you respond to that music. Studies suppose that as few as 55 percent of people experience “skin excitement” when listening to music. And if you count yourself among this group, the goose bumps on your skin aren't the only giveaway—scientists can read it in your brain, too. In a new study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Harvard researchers performed brain scans on 10 students who said they reliably got cold when listening to music, and 10 students who didn't. They found that the cold-prone brains may really be excited by stronger emotions.
Cold-prone brains are generally more likely to show stronger emotional intelligence than no-cold brains. Cold-prone minds tend to have unusual active imagination, reflect more deeply on their emotions, and appreciate nature and the beauty of music and art to a stronger degree than no-cold brains.
So, what type of music causes the chills? It seems that the type is not so important; participants in the new study reported getting cold from songs of every kind. And any song connected with a strong emotional memory of the listener can produce the most reliable results. For me, that's the song Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler, which I listened to as a kid in the car with my dad, on the way to the summer camp.
1. What can we learn about “skin excitement” in the text?| A．It helps to produce doparmine. | B．It is caused by the pain in the skin. |
| C．It can be experienced by every music listener. | D．It is the human body's reaction to something nice. |
| A．The percentage of music lovers in students. |
| B．The solutions to the goose bumps on one's skin. |
| C．The differences between cold-prone and no-cold brains. |
| D．The relationship between one's music preference and personality. |
| A．Beautiful and intelligent. | B．Emotional and dishonest. |
| C．Imaginative and sensitive. | D．Brave and strong-minded. |
| A．Responses to Music Vary among People | B．A Feeling of Cold Is Caused by Horrible Music |
| C．Your Favorite Music Reveals Your Personality | D．Favorite Music May Bring Forth Goose Bumps |
June 8 is Best Friends Day, a day to celebrate your best friends and let them know how important they are to you.
Best friends are the most understanding and thoughtful,
Whether you grew up with them
8 . Teachers in poor areas are always being asked to do more with less. They're given smaller budgets and larger tasks in schools that employ fewer teachers and take in more students. But none of these struggles can quite compare to the challenges faced by a computing teacher Akoto in Ghana who teaches his students how to use computers.
Akoto recently posted photos of his classroom, and they've gotten quite a response. Akoto is an information and communication technology (ICT) teacher who has been assigned to teach his students without using an actual computer. So like any good teacher, Akoto teaches them by drawing pictures of a computer on the blackboard.
Akoto recently shared images of one of his computer lessons, in which he can be seen using multi-colored chalk to draw the features of Microsoft Word software on the blackboard. In one of the photos, you can see his students drawing the same images in their notebooks.
One might ask, "Why do they bother to take such a challenging course?" But here's the reason: Even though the students at Akoto's school don't have computers, they are still required to pass a national exam that includes a section on computing skills before they move or to high school.
So Akoto does what he needs to do to ensure that his students understand the material He has drawn pictures many times for his students over his six years and just happened to share the pictures this time on Facebook. He says he has his own personal laptop, but it is different from the one Akoto is required to teach. He doesn't bring it to class for fear of confusing the kids with a computer that they have never seen.
The good news is that those Facebook pictures made their way to the right place. Microsoft Africa promised to give him some proper resources. Others also stepped up to the plate and helped out Akoto. NIIT Ghana, an information technology training institution, donated five computers to Akoto's school and one for Akoto himself. A PhD student at the University of Leeds in the U. K. inspired by Akoto also donated a computer.
1. Which of the following best describes the state of Akoto's school?| A．Well-funded. | B．Underdeveloped. | C．Full-equipped. | D．Unattended. |
| A．They model after his behavior in class. | B．They learn to identify multi-colored chalk. |
| C．They usually take photos of the computers. | D．They often share images of their lessons online. |
| A．He is unwilling to share it. | B．He is confused by its system. |
| C．He is uncertain about its function. | D．He is afraid to puzzle his students |
| A．To stand still is to move back. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Great things can be achieved by joint effort. | D．A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
9 . I can remember when my daughter Maggie, who is now six, used to crawl into my lap and say, “Daddy, read me a story.” Last year she announced, “Daddy, I’m going to read you a story.”
Maggie was a television child. When she first became conscious of anything beyond eating and sleeping, the TV set was right there, and it soon commanded her attention.
A few years ago, we were worried not only that we’d never get the children away from the set long enough to learn to read, but that we’d forget how to read ourselves. But in 1955 there was not only more reading than before TV, but more reading than ever before in history.
Clearly, reading has survived television as it has survived a lot of other things. When I was six, a wail went up about menaces (威胁) to reading at home: motor cars and cinema. When Maggie came along, there was television. The motorcar, the radio, the cinema and television do take up a lot of time.
Well, we’ve got more time. When my mother was a girl, people worked about 60 hours a week. Now it’s 44. When Maggie grows up, it’ll be 30. And there’ll be numerous gadgets to do her housework. She’ll have to read. You can’t watch TV all day.
At present Maggie is reading about Johnny Woodchuck. Ahead of her — and I’m a little envious — are her first brush with Black Beauty, Alice stepping through the looking glass, Huck and Jim drifting down the Mississippi, the emotional storms of Shakespeare, the spiritual agonies of Tolstoy. For reading isn’t all joy. Like life itself, it’s mixed with many moods, from ecstasy (狂喜) to despair. Maggie will learn to take the rough with the smooth, gathering from the ancient wisdom of long-dead genius a little fire to enrich her spirit.
And some day, if she’s lucky, she’ll get the biggest thrill of all, when a little girl climbs into her lap and announces, “Mummy, I’m going to read you a story.”
1. Why do the young generation like Maggie have more access to reading?| A．They face less working pressure. |
| B．There is more time available for reading. |
| C．Their parents encourage them more often. |
| D．They have a stronger desire for knowledge. |
| A．Her exposure to classic reading. | B．Her productive works in writing. |
| C．Her wild imagination in daily life. | D．Her spiritual reflection on the books. |
| A．Maggie has rich experiences. |
| B．Maggie has a good plan for reading. |
| C．Maggie will benefit a lot from reading. |
| D．Maggie is on the road to becoming a genius. |
| A．Reading makes Maggie a fortunate girl. |
| B．More girls like Maggie enjoy telling stories. |
| C．Maggie’s daughter brings her the biggest thrill. |
| D．It is a blessing that reading can be passed down. |
10 . Our teachers always told us that high school is the best time of our life. I didn’t want to
A former student was invited to give an address. He encouraged us not to focus on selfish dreams of fame or financial
I will never forget my graduation
| A．ensure | B．insist | C．admit | D．prove |
| A．temporarily | B．suddenly | C．frequently | D．accidentally |
| A．ignored | B．trusted | C．praised | D．appreciated |
| A．wanted | B．obtained | C．stressed | D．witnessed |
| A．bravery | B．gratefulness | C．complaint | D．anxiety |
| A．gains | B．aids | C．management | D．knowledge |
| A．find fault with | B．take notice of | C．give back to | D．make up for |
| A．lost | B．inspired | C．discouraged | D．satisfied |
| A．support | B．respect | C．guarantee | D．understanding |
| A．safer | B．bigger | C．quieter | D．better |
| A．comfort | B．education | C．restriction | D．control |
| A．relief | B．excitement | C．sorrow | D．fear |
| A．welcome | B．reject | C．seek | D．create |
| A．share | B．start | C．continue | D．guide |
| A．address | B．certificate | C．ceremony | D．resolution |
