1 . People will say firmly their childhood memory is real, offering amazing detail as proof that it must be, and getting upset if you suggest they are wrong.
But, for years, scientists have questioned whether these memories could actually be true, given what we know about neuroscience (神经科学) and the brain. The human brain grows and develops in clear stages. As it grows and creates and adapts, so different developmental stages are reached. These stages are the result of millions of years of evolution (进化). Now, finally, a study has proved this. Researchers from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, reviewed decades worth of data to understand the earliest age at which lasting memories form and they have believed that it is around 30 months.
So people who think they remember something from when they were a baby are, I am afraid, mistaken. The problem with early memories is that they are very easy to fabricate, which is what I did.
I have a vivid image of standing in the garden, my mum holding a flower and laughing. It’s one of my first memories. I must have been 18 months old because we moved from that house before I was two. I could swear it was real.
Years ago, when I shared this memory with my mum, she shook her head and produced a photo. It showed her in a garden, laughing and holding a flower. But it was taken three years before I was born. That beautiful memory is a work of fiction (虚构): an old photo that used to hang on the wall.
I’ll admit to feeling shocked and robbed when I realized this memory was entirely false. It made me question other things I remember as a child, too. A study into this event published a few years ago found that around 40 per cent of us say that we have memories from before the age of two. But it’s the mind playing tricks on us taking old stories or photos and turning them into a memory.
While it can be disappointing to realize that a recollection you hold so dear might not be true, it does provide a good lesson in how changeable memory can be.
1. When is a child’s lasting memory formed?| A．When he is 18 months old. | B．When he is two years old. |
| C．When he is three years old. | D．When he is 30 months old. |
| A．Sign up. | B．Make up. |
| C．Concentrate on. | D．Bring back. |
| A．To prove his argument. | B．To attract readers’ attention. |
| C．To show off his good memory. | D．To explain how memories form. |
| A．A study published a few years ago proved false. |
| B．Our mind is always fond of playing tricks on us. |
| C．The author is curious about everything during his childhood. |
| D．The author felt surprised realizing his childhood memory was false. |
2 . When A33, a theater in Beijing, hosted a new stand-up comedy show（脱口秀), to the surprise of the organizers, nearly 250 people turned up and laughed together. Six years ago, that would have been unbelievable. Indeed, there were even cases of shows having more performers than viewers.
Wan Da, one of the performers, said, “Many people are worried about the future of stand-up comedy, a genre (类型) that is very popular in the U.S. after its introduction in China. Can it adapt itself here? But as the results show, there is no need to worry. We have survived and carried on some of the best American traditions.”
Programs such as Rock& Roast, a comedy talk show competition, which are thought to help people reduce their pressure, drive audiences to offline performances for a real laugh. “Generally, our audiences are in the 20-35 age group, but recently some older people are reported to go to the theatre,” said Song Qiyu, a performer and founder of Beijing Comedy Center.
Compared to traditional Chinese comedy performances, the stand-up comedy has a lower bar as it doesn't require years of professional training. This allows everyone to take part. Work experience and personal observations of life are the sources of their inspiration. Different lives and jobs make the performances varied, giving them unique individual colors.
Joe Wong, a humorist from Jilin province, whose performance in Washington, D.C. in 2010 attracted much attention across China's social media, is happy to see the development of the industry in China. However, he has a warning, too: There is huge space for the genre in China, but we should be careful of growing too fast as the market still needs good works.
In China, many fresh college graduates join. Through their efforts, the industry will improve its standards and popularity as well as influence.
1. What can we learn about the stand-up comedy from Paragraph 2?| A．It develops well in China. | B．It is created by Americans. |
| C．It faces an uncertain future. | D．It is very popular in Beijing. |
| A．They have a gift for talking. | B．It needs plenty of performers. |
| C．It needs no special backgrounds. | D．Most people have a sense of humor. |
| A．Learning from America. | B．Offering quality content. |
| C．Keeping creating works. | D．Employing fresh graduates. |
| A．The stand-up comedy: a rising industry | B．A33: a quickly growing comedy theatre |
| C．Why does the stand-up comedy get popular? | D．How does the stand-up comedy survive in China? |
3 . Who gets to decide what is content worth posting? Content worth engaging?
On social media, it’s an algorithm (算法) — a computer program that matches your particular likes and follows with others who have similar likes and follows. But even more than that, it’s based on how much content you create. If you don’t feed the social media monster on a regular basis, it refuses to expose what you post for others to see.
Thus, some bloggers share heavily filtered (过滤) photos of tourist attractions on the social media and lifestyle platform to get traffic. However, this practice sometimes disappoints other users of Instagram who go to those locations after seeing the pictures.
Since the bloggers don’t clearly state that their pictures are works of photography, they are considered as travel guides. After the viewers visit those places in person, they find a big gap between reality and what they have seen online, leaving them feeling frustrated.
Last week, one famous app issued a statement on its social media account, admitting that some users have “over-beautified” their online travel diaries.
The apology came after users complained on social media about their experience following travel guides on the app, only to find out on actual visits that the places are poles apart from the skilfully retouched images they saw. One of the most well-known cases involved the “pink beach” of Fuxian Lake in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, which often appears online in dreamy pink images, but in reality is more similar to the colour of red bricks.
“If it’s OK to photoshop promotion pictures for tourist sites like this, I can turn the bushes downstairs in my neighbourhood into a Norwegian forest in any minute,” one of the most upvoted (置顶) comments on the app said. Others argued that the problem lies with the bloggers rather than the platform.
1. Why do some bloggers post heavily filtered photos?| A．To show their creativity. |
| B．To get more online approval. |
| C．To advertise tourist attractions. |
| D．To promote the popularity of apps. |
| A．Envious. | B．Critical. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Frustrated. |
| A．By shooting the forest on actual visits. |
| B．By feeding the monster on social media. |
| C．By finding a gap between reality and net. |
| D．By skilfully beautifying the photo of bushes. |
| A．App users who are easily cheated. |
| B．Unreliable bloggers and travel guides. |
| C．The social media and lifestyle platform. |
| D．Different netizens have different views. |
4 . When the pandemic(流行病) hit last spring, 9-year-old Zoe Benard of California started baking(烘) sweet treats with family members. But what started out as a fun way to pass the time has become a one-girl mission to raise $10,000 for Parkinson’s disease research.
Through a series of weekend bake sales since July, the homeschooled fourth-grader has taken in nearly $3,500 through the sale of her homemade banana bread, cookies and brownies. For a weekend sale, she’ll bake up to 25 pieces, four to five pans of brownies and three batches(炉)of cookies.
One hundred percent of the money made by selling treats is given to Team Fox, a research organization set up by actor Michael J.Fox, who has the disease. Zoe’s grandfather, 75-year-old Joe Contogenis, who is the inspiration for her sales, also has Parkinson’s. Contogenis can no longer run or play tennis the way he did before his diagnosis(诊断) three years ago.But he comes to every one of Zoe’s bake sales and is often moved to tears by the generosity of Zoe’s customers.
“She is a little entrepreneur(企业家) and has always been an out-of-the-box thinker,” Christine Eris, her mom, said. “we were cleaning our house out and found a magic set, and now she’s reading books on magic. She taught herself how to solve the Rubik’s Cube in a minute and a half. She just learns and practices things until she perfects them.”
Zoe sells her treats for $1 to $2, or $12 for a full piece of banana bread. Eris said many customers give more because they know it’s for a good cause. One customer arrived with a $200 check and another with a $100 bill. Zoe said her goal is to keep hosting sales until she reaches her $10,000 goal. Then she will either start over or find another cause to support. She also plans to start her own children’s cooking channel on YouTube because she finds the process of baking so fun.
1. What encouraged Zoe to host bake sales?| A．Her grandfather suffering from Parkinson’s. |
| B．The support of a research organization. |
| C．Her favorite actor’s suggestion. |
| D．The kindness of strangers. |
| A．She has improved her creativity by practicing magic. |
| B．She has loved to cook since she was a kid. |
| C．She cares for everyone around her. |
| D．She is good at learning |
| A．To teach people with Parkinson’s to cook. |
| B．To look for a long-term partnership. |
| C．To collect money by hosting sales. |
| D．To enjoy free time with her family. |
| A．Strict and patient | B．Helpful and caring |
| C．Humorous and fearless. | D．Warm-hearted and honest |
5 . Office Manners
Be punctual. As a newcomer, you should arrive early, not just on the first day and don’t be the first to leave at the end of the day.
Respect other people’s privacy. Knock before you enter someone’s office and do not read any correspondence lying on somebody’s desk. If you need to discuss a private matter with a colleague, make sure nobody else can overhear you.
Be neat and clean.
Don’t disturb others. Always apologize if you interrupt a discussion, someone’s concentration or other activities. Be aware of how loudly you may be speaking. If people in other offices comment on your conversations, perhaps your voice is too loud.
In short, office manners are about being respectful and polite in the office. It is an essential part of growing professionally and becoming a more mature person in the business world.
| A．Be considerate. |
| B．Be polite to everyone. |
| C．Don’t be late for any appointment. |
| D．Show appreciation for any help offered to you. |
| E．Personal issues should not be made into a public topic. |
| F．You should either close your office door or lower your voice. |
| G．Take a shower regularly and wear appropriate office clothes. |
6 . China is one of the countries most affected by typhoons in the world. While summer is the peak typhoon season, autumn typhoons might be more dangerous.
In September, Typhoon Conson and Chanthu formed successively in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Chanthu has become a super typhoon, bringing “gale-force winds and rainstorms to regions including Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu,” reported Xinhua on Sept14.
It’s no surprise that super typhoons occur in September. From the vernal equinox (春分), the subsolar point (太阳直射点) moves from the equator to the Tropic of Cancer (北回归线), heating the tropical ocean in the northern hemisphere(半球). The sea temperature reaches the highest from August to September, according to Weather China website.
“The warming ocean, especially the warming northern South China Sea, enhances typhoons before landfall(着陆),” said Xiao Zhixiang, a researcher of the Guangxi Institute of Meteorological Sciences, in the conference of the Japan Geoscience Union in 2020.
Autumn brings cold air, and when that cold air meets a typhoon, it could make it more destructive. “This will develop into a powerful typhoon due to the greater temperature difference between the cold continent and the hot sea,” said Woo-Sik Jung, a researcher at Inje University in South Korea, at the conference. “In other words, the larger the temperature difference, the stronger the wind, the more powerful the autumn typhoon can be compared to the summer typhoon.”
Megi, the 13th typhoon of 2010, was generated in October. Before making landfall in Taiwan, it entered the South China Sea and then headed north to land in Zhangpu, Fujian province, where Megi met cold air from the north. The typhoon led to more than 1,000millimeters of rainfall in Ilan, Taiwan, resulting in many deaths, according to Weather China.
Autumn typhoons are not only powerful but also often unpredictable. Three typhoons “with the most complicated paths in China” include Wayne in 1986, Nat in 1991 and Nari in2001. Among them, Nat and Nari were formed in autumn, according to the National Meteorological Center.
1. Which of the following contributes to the formation of super typhoons in September?| A．It’s highly wet in tropical areas. |
| B．The sun is heating the tropical ocean in the southern hemisphere. |
| C．The weather is warm along the coast. |
| D．The sea temperature is the highest. |
| A．The strong wind. | B．The cold air. |
| C．The unstable temperature. | D．The heat on the continent. |
| A．It occurred in September 2010. |
| B．It first hit Taiwan and then Fujian. |
| C．It cost many people their lives in Taiwan. |
| D．It formed in the South China Sea. |
| A．The most powerful summer typhoons. |
| B．Examples of unpredictable typhoons. |
| C．Why autumn typhoons are unpredictable. |
| D．How the National Meteorological Center predicts typhoons. |
7 . Do you remember the last time you got excited over a pair of shoes? Sure, you might have appreciated them, but did you jump for joy and act like they were the greatest thing you’d ever seen? You may not think that shoes are something worth going crazy over, but this woman would disagree. After all, she went wild when she put a pair on for the first time in her life.
It’s amazing how often we take advantage of things in life. When we’re used to something, we don’t always appreciate how lucky we are to have it. While we’re here complaining that our WiFi isn’t fast enough and our videos keep buffering, there are people in Africa who don’t even get to eat three meals a day. While most people work hard for the things they own, it’s important to stop and think of what others don’t have every now and again.
That’s what Laura Grier did one day. The woman was in Bwindi National Park, Uganda, when she felt obliged to stop and help someone by the side of the road. The person in question was standing around without any shoes on, and the sight convinced Grier to give up her own footwear. She had more shoes at home, while this woman had never even worn a pair before.
Laura’s generosity was definitely appreciated by the stranger who treated her benefactor to a celebratory dance. The woman couldn’t keep the smile from her face as she went wild in her brand new shoes. Grier was thrilled that her good deed had made the stranger so happy, and she cheered on the Ugandan woman as she danced in the street.
The next time you buy a pair of shoes, remember how lucky you are to have them.
1. Why did Laura Grier give her shoes to the woman?| A．To show her generosity. | B．To get permission to pass by. |
| C．To offer her help. | D．To reward her dance for her. |
| A．Nervous. | B．Excited. | C．Thankful. | D．Lucky. |
| A．Never expect too much of life. | B．Try to know more about Africa. |
| C．Don’t admire what others have. | D．Appreciate what we already have. |
| A．One Woman Overjoyed by Her First Pair of Shoes |
| B．One Lady Forced to Offer Her Pair of Footwear |
| C．Ugandan Woman Dances to Welcome Her Guest |
| D．Grier Greatly Thrilled at Beautiful African Dance |
8 . As 17-year-old Norwood drove through St. Petersburg, Florida, last February, the laughter and chatter from the four teenage girls inside her car quickly gave way to sharp cries. A car behind heavily hit them, sending their black car into a tree five meters away. As smoke rose from the other car, a bystander (旁观者) shouted, “It’s about to blow up! Get out!”
Terrified but not hurt, she got out through the window. Along with two of her friends, who’d also managed to free themselves, she ran for her life. But halfway down the street, she realized that her best friend, Simmons, wasn’t with them. Norwood ran back and found Simmons stuck in the back seat. “She wasn’t moving,” Norwood told Inside Edition. She threw open the back door and pulled her friend out, trying to avoid the broken glass.
She dragged Simmons to safety and placed her on the ground. “I put my head against her chest. No sign of life. That’s when I started CPR (心肺复苏术).” Norwood, who longed to have a career in medicine, had passed the national CPR test just the day before.
Looking down at her dying friend, Norwood knew she had only a little time to practice what she’d learned. She started pumping Simmons’s chest and breathing into her friend’s mouth. No response. She tried again and again. Slowly, Simmons began coughing and opening her mouth for air. The CPR worked! Soon, doctors arrived and rushed Simmons to the hospital. And then she heard how her best friend had saved her life. “I wasn’t shocked,” Simmons told CNN. “She will always help any way she can.”
1. What is the best title for the text?| A．Breath of Life | B．A career in medicine |
| C．A Car Accident | D．Practice what one learns |
| A．Their car broke down. |
| B．They sat by a smoking flat. |
| C．Their lives were in danger. |
| D．They blocked the traffic. |
| A．She fell out of the car and struck her head. |
| B．She became unaware of the surroundings. |
| C．She was unable to move in the front seat. |
| D．She got seriously hurt but wide awake. |
| A．Unskilled but practical. | B．Typical but useless. |
| C．Strange but successful. | D．Repeated but effective. |
9 . Taking pressure off sports competitions
Sports are a great way to have fun and stay active. Competitions can make sports more exciting. But because somebody wins and somebody loses competitions can also make kids be under pressure. A little pressure can be OK. But too much pressure is bad news.
What is a competition?
There are different kinds of competition in sports.
Why do I feel under pressure?
Do you ever have “butterflies” in your stomach? It's that nervous feeling some people get when starting to attend a new school or preparing for a big soccer match. Believe it or not, the best player on your team gets nervous before a big game.
How can I deal with pressure?
When you're competing in sports, you need a lot of energy.
| A．Read on to learn more about sport pressure. |
| B．What if you want to give up? |
| C．But usually only one person or team does. |
| D．It takes a lot of work to become skilled at a sport. |
| E．Even professional players feel nervous sometimes! |
| F．One secret to having lots of energy is to get plenty of sleep. |
| G．You may compete by yourself, as part of a team, or both. |
10 . Movies about the future often show people travelling around in flying cars. Last Tuesday, that vision came a step closer to reality for a Japanese company called SkyDrive, as it showed off its new flying car, the SD-03, in action. The small car flew around for four minutes, staying about 1-2 meters off the ground.
The SD-03 is powered by batteries and has 8 motors, which lift it straight off the ground. What made this test flight special was that a pilot was on board. Toraohiro Fukuzawa, who leads SkyDrive，said, “Of the world’s over 100 flying car projects, only a handful have succeeded with a person on board.”
Many groups worldwide are working to develop flying cars. Some governments, including Japan’s, are supporting the idea, hoping that in the future, flying cars will be useful for short trips like taxi rides in cities. Flying cars could also help reach places that can’t be reached by road.
What happens when a motor fails? If flying cars are crossing a city, an accident could hurt not just people in the car, but people on the ground, too. That’s why the SD-03 has eight motors—as backups.
Some people believe flying cars reduce traffic jams. But new systems will be needed to help control traffic in the air. With many cars flying around, these systems would be too complicated to be managed in real time by humans. Besides, flying cars are expensive. When it’s ready, SkyDrive’s flying car is expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000.
However, people who believe in flying cars point out that cars and airplanes faced challenges at first, too. With time, many of the big problems were solved. By 2050, Mr. Fukuzawa hopes people will be able to fly anywhere inside Tokyo in just 10 minutes. “I think flying cars will become normal in the near future.” he says.
1. What was special about this test flight?| A．The car flew higher. | B．The car was cheap. |
| C．The car flew on its own. | D．The car carried a driver. |
| A．To ensure its safety. | B．To increase its flying speed. |
| C．To make it look cool. | D．To enable it to carry more weight. |
| A．Their design. | B．Their application. |
| C．Their cost. | D．Their disadvantages. |
| A．They can be easily bought. | B．They have a long way to go. |
| C．They have a promising future. | D．They are environmentally friendly. |
