1 . Finding a suitable name for a baby is a big deal in China. When picking out a Chinese name, parents usually select two or three characters that have a carefully thought out meaning, but when deciding on an English name, many of them struggle. That’s where Jessup and her company, Special Name, come in. In the last few years, Jessup has helped name 677, 900 Chinese babies, and earned over $400, 000 in the process, more than enough to pay her college fees.
Jessup came up with the idea for Special Name in 2015, after accompanying her father on a business trip to China. One of her dad’s business partners, a Mrs. Wang, asked her to help choose an English name for her daughter. Jessup felt glad and quickly realized the importance of choosing a proper name in Chinese culture. The woman wanted people to be surprised by the things her daughter could achieve, so Jessup suggested the name “Eliza” after the character Eliza Doolittle from the play Pygmalion. Mrs. Wang seemed delighted with Jessup’s choice. “If Mrs. Wang needed this service, maybe other parents would as well,” Jessup thought.
After returning to UK, Jessup borrowed £1,500 from her parents and paid a web designer to build a website. She then spent her free time filling up a database（数据库）with around 4, 000 English names, associating them with five major personality characteristics, like honesty and optimism.
In the beginning, Jessup offered the service for free to promote the website, but later, she started charging fees. The business is almost completely self-sufficient, requiring only a small team in China that manages technical operations. She updates the database each month, allowing her to focus full-time on studies.
1. What’s the purpose of Special Name?| A．To help Chinese teens go abroad. |
| B．To strengthen children’s personalities. |
| C．To pick an English name for a Chinese baby. |
| D．To make a deal with Chinese parents. |
| A．A suggestion from a business partner. | B．Her interest in Chinese culture. |
| C．A Chinese mother’s request. | D．A character from a play. |
| A．It offers free service. | B．It’s updated every day. |
| C．It’s operated completely by itself. | D．It is easy to manage. |
2 . Most of us consider winter a great time to stay inside with a good book. Yet the winter months offer great outdoor events.
The Ice Festival at Lake Khovsgol, March 2, 3
Lake Khovsgol, called the Blue Pearl of Mongolia, freezes up to 1.5 meters deep. Each year local residents have a two-day celebration, sharing their traditional songs and dances. Activities including sled races, skating and much more take place on the frozen lake. Visitors from different countries are always surprised to see how much weight the lake can hold.
Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, February 27~March 8
North America’s largest winter festival takes place in Anchorage, Alaska. In the past, the fur trade was one of the state’s most important industries. The festival’s 86th anniversary this year will celebrate Alaska’s pioneer way of life. People can enjoy nearly 70 different activities. Winter games and sports are a special feature as visitors celebrate the season. Tourists come from around the world to attend the festival.
Troms International Film Festival, January 12~18
If film is your passion, then Norway’s Troms film festival is for you! You will get to meet and interact with people from the international film industry. And you’ll be able to view some of the world’s best international films on Troms’s enormous outdoor screen. More than 50,000 people attend the festival each year.
Grindelwald World Snow Festival, January 19~24
Every January, ice art takes center stage in the beautiful Swiss village of Grindelwald. Artists from around the world arrive in mid-January to accept the ice challenge. They start with meter-high blocks of ice and spend six days creating spectacular sculptures (雕塑). Festival-goers are delighted to see the process as well as the finished pieces.
Don’t let the cold weather keep you inside this season. There are lots of fun and exciting events to attend!
1. What is the purpose of this text?| A．To explain why winter is not a good time to stay inside. |
| B．To show benefits of some exciting winter festivals. |
| C．To tell about the history of the winter festivals. |
| D．To introduce some fun-filled winter festivals . |
| A．It has activities related to ice. |
| B．It is held on the frozen lake. |
| C．Its visitors are from all over the world. |
| D．It is specially fit for film-lovers. |
| A．The Ice Festival at Lake Khovsgol |
| B．Anchorage Fur Rendezvous |
| C．Troms International Film Festival |
| D．Grindelwald World Snow Festival |
A．Health. | B．Science. |
| C．Life. | D．News. |
3 . At the age of 7, Rudolph Ingram Jr. also known as “Blaze the Great” has already broken several records and has become the fastest boy in the country, showing early signs of possibly becoming the next Usain Bolt.
Blaze’s father Rudolph Ingram Sr. shared that the little boy started training when he was only 4 years old right after watching the Olympics. Since then, he has shown great athleticism. His most recent 100-meter dash clocked at 13.48 seconds, breaking the USA Track and Field records for his age group.
“I feel great, anyways I trained for it,” said Blaze, who dreams “to get into the National Football League” someday.
His father has always been hands-on in his training to prepare for his future, but still lets him be a kid.
“He watched the Usain Bolt documentary, he has seen a lot of those people’s documentaries and he realizes that they were doing the same thing that he was doing at that age. So he could see where this would lead to,” he said.
Blaze has caught the attention of many people, including football players O.J. Howard and Mike Evans from Tampa Bay Bucs and basketball star LeBron James. His social media account @blaze_813 has more than 500,000 followers. Moreover, when talking about what he has accomplished and will accomplish in the future, his father Rudolph Ingram Sr. said, “This is my baby. I feel like he’s a one in a million children. I don’t like saying it because he’s my child but I definitely feel like he does great things.”
1. What kind of person is Blaze’s father according to the text?| A．Open-minded and supportive. | B．Warm-hearted and determined. |
| C．Powerful and strict. | D．Patient and calm. |
| A．His great athleticism. | B．Watching the Olympics. |
| C．Sports stars’ stories. | D．His father’s requirement. |
| A．He has gained fans from all over the world. |
| B．He has made friends with many sports stars. |
| C．His father is very proud of him. |
| D．His performance is beyond his father’s expectation. |
4 . At the foot of the Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang, a homestay (民宿) is attracting travelers from far and wide, which has won architectural medal at the 2021 German iF Design Awards.
The owners of the homestay are a couple in their late 30s who decided to return to their hometown three years ago. Li Xiumei used to be in charge of a division at a company in Hangzhou, and her husband was a sales director. It was an ordinary situation where Li’s husband was on business trips a lot and Li still worked on weekends. City life sometimes is not easy.
In 2018, they quit jobs and went back to Dongtianmu village, which lies in a forest of bamboo. The first time they drove into the village was one late afternoon. The cooking smoke was rising from the foot of the mountain, which gave them a very different feeling from the city.
The homestay was built beside her husband’s old countryside house. The old house is preserved (保留), while a brand-new building was built on its side and the whole site is made up of four courtyards. It has been updated to have a hall, a tea room, a kitchen, a dining room. Japanese cherry trees are planted in the east courtyard. A swimming pool is placed in the west courtyard, with a bar located on one side.
Li and her husband love gardening and music, and their new home gives them enough space to continue their interests and relax in the heart of nature. Li wants to share the quiet country life, so she makes her new home a homestay. In 2019, the homestay became an online hit after guests shared their experiences on social media. “The longer I stay here, the more I feel it was the right choice to come back, and this is more meaningful than making money,” Li says.
1. How did Li feel about city life?| A．Satisfied. | B．Noisy. | C．Attractive. | D．Tired |
| A．The forest of bamboo. | B．The smoke of cooking. |
| C．The fresh air in the village. | D．The feeling of loneliness. |
| A．It is ancient and broken. | B．It can hold many guests. |
| C．It must have been carefully designed. | D．It has been rebuilt by the couple. |
| A．Continuing their music dream. | B．Living in the countryside. |
| C．Staying at the old house. | D．Developing a city. |
5 . There are many movies that you can focus on if you want to improve the way you are learning. Choose one of the movies below and the results will be great in the end!
The King’s Speech
The King's Speech tells the story of a man forced to speak to the world with a stammer (口吃).That movie is filled with lots of encouraging information and is a wonderful movie for those who love language classes.
Inside Job
Inside Job is an Oscar-winning film by Charles Ferguson. It provides a detailed analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008. which caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. It's a movie for students who want to learn more about the economic market.
Whiplash
Whiplash is a story of a young drummer who wants to realise his dreams although he doesn't receive any help from the people around him. It\s an interesting movie that will help art students better understand how much hard work can help them realise their dreams.
A Beautiful Mind
A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 American film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Prize winner with schizophrenia (精神分裂症).It follows his journey from the point where he is not even aware he has schizophrenia, to the point where Nash and his wife find a way to manage his condition. It includes some interesting physics elements that will help you quite a lot.
1. Which film will you choose if you are interested in economic development?| A．The King’s Speech. | B．Inside Job. |
| C．Whiplash. | D．A Beautiful Mind. |
| A．Making efforts. | B．Asking for help. |
| C．Keeping an interest. | D．Being understandable. |
| A．It focuses on interesting scenic spots. |
| B．It describes the progress in medicine. |
| C．It is based on the story of a real person. |
| D．It records the selection of Nobel Prize winners. |
6 . 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. |
7 . Nordstrom’s yearly sale is here!
These are the best deals on everything you need for your kids. Preview and shop the sale before these deals sell out. Each product we feature has been selected and reviewed. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission (佣金).
While the sale officially launches on August 19, Nordy Club members can shop now. And if you have that access, we suggest you get to it because you can get a major discount on things like strollers, car seats, clothes and shoes for your kids while they’re in stock. If you’re not a Nordy Club member, that’s OK; you're still able to preview the sale and add items to your Wish List. You’ll just have to wait until the official start date to purchase.
Be sure to act fast because these items are sure to sell out before the sale's end date of August 30. Below, check out the best deals on equipment, clothing, and shoes for kids you can score during the Nordstrom’s yearly sale.
Best Equipment Deals
Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair, $259 (originally $349)
Nuna Pipa LX Infant Car Seat and Base, $314 (originally $419)
Thule Spring Stroller Bundle, $317 (originally $424)
Best Clothing and Shoe Deals
Adidas Gazelle Sneaker, $34 (originally $55)
The North Face Moondoggy Jacket, $77 (originally $110)
Tucker & Tate Animal Ear Hoodie, $22 (originally $35)
Hunter Buckle Strap Waterproof Rain Boot, $44 (originally $75)
1. What advantage can only a Nordy Club member enjoy?| A．Having a right to bargain. |
| B．Shopping early with more discount. |
| C．Previewing the discount information. |
| D．Adding items to your Wish List earlier. |
| A．Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair. |
| B．Tucker & Tate Animal Ear Hoodie. |
| C．The North Face Moondoggy Jacket. |
| D．Hunter Buckle Strap Waterproof Rain Boot. |
| A．To educate. | B．To complain. |
| C．To advertise. | D．To entertain. |
8 . Women have been making scientific discoveries since ancient times. Twelve women have won the Nobel Prize for Science, one of the highest honors in the world. Some women scientists never married, some worked with their husbands, and others raised large families. It has been difficult for women to be successful scientists.
In the early 1800s in England, Mary Anning became one of the first women recognized for her discoveries about the ancient history of the earth. Mary and her father collected fossils(化石) in their village on the south coast of Great Britain. Fossils are parts of plants or animals that have been saved in rocks for millions of years.
When she was only twelve years old, Mary became the first person to find the almost complete skeletons(骨架) of several animals that no longer existed on the earth.She didn’t become famous for her discoveries at that time because she often sold her fossils to get money to support her family.
In 1891, a young Polish woman named Marie Sklodowska traveled to Paris to study physics. She did so because she could not get a college education in Poland.She began working in the laboratory of a man named Pierre Curie. Marie and Pierre Curie got married and made many discoveries together. They received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 along with another scientist.Marie Curie became the first person to be awarded a second Noble Prize in 1911, this time for Chemistry. Marie Curie was one of the few women at the time who became famous as a scientist.
1. The author believes that women scientists________.| A．have more opportunities to become successful |
| B．can not get the highest honors in the world |
| C．go through difficulties to be successful |
| D．had better pay more attention to their families |
| A．win the Noble Prize for Science after getting married |
| B．make achievements in the study of ancient earth |
| C．research animals and their bones |
| D．study the mystery of all kinds of plants |
| A．She studied physics in Poland and got a college education. |
| B．She received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 on her own. |
| C．She only got one Nobel Prize during her lifetime. |
| D．She made many discoveries after she got married. |
| A．Ancient discoveries. | B．Women scientists. |
| C．Successful marriages. | D．Different prizes. |
9 . Much of the Amazon’s biodiversity (生物多样性) is under fire-literally. In the last two decades, deforestation (滥伐) and forest fire ate into the ranges of thousands of plant and animal species in the Amazon rainforest.
The extent of the damage is closely tied to the practice of laws in Brazil aimed at protecting the forest from widespread logging (伐木). The findings illustrate the key role that forest use laws have in the fortune of the Amazon rainforest.
Threats to the survival of this biodiversity could have long-term effects. Biodiversity promotes a forest’s resistance to drought. If fire-impacted area continues to rise, not only does the Amazon lose forest cover, but also some of its capacity to deal with the changing climate.
“With fires advancing deeper into the rainforest, more species will experience fire for the first time. These species have not evolved (进化) under conditions with regular fires, so the consequences for those species, like increased risk of population declines or extinction, can be severe,” says Xiao Feng, a biogeographer at Florida State University.
“But we don’t know how fires are impacting the biodiversity across the Amazon basin,” says Feng. The Amazon is a huge area. It’s generally impossible to go there and count the number of species before the fire and after it. So Feng and his team instead investigated how Amazonian plant and animal species’ geographic ranges have been affected by recent fires. The team gathered range maps of 11,514 plant and 3,079 animal species and compared these maps with satellite images of Amazon forest cover from 2001 to 2019. Those images let the team track how logging and fires have led to the reduction of rainforest.
Starting in 2009, when a series of rules aimed at reducing deforestation started being performed, the extent of fires generally decreased. Then in 2019, fires rose back up again, co-occurring with a relaxation of rules. Much of the fire-driven forest loss was concentrated along the more intensely logged southern reaches of the rainforest.
The change suggests effective forest protection laws can slow this trend of destruction and are essential for preventing the region from reaching a tipping point.
1. What does Feng mean based on paragraph 4?| A．Not all species will survive the fire. |
| B．The forest badly needs regular fires. |
| C．All species will die out after the fire. |
| D．The fire will change survival skills of species. |
| A．By taking field trips. | B．By doing experiments. |
| C．By referring to geography books. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Severe drought kept on striking. |
| B．The new species had no time to evolve. |
| C．Rules of controlling logging weren’t strictly carried out. |
| D．The rainforest’s resistance to the changing climate weakened. |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A personal diary. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A research plan. |
10 . The e-bike industry is exploding around the world as people adopt the idea of an environmentally-friendly alternative for the daily trips and a way to enjoy the outdoors. Creative minds are introducing e-bike innovations like creative new body styles. Evie Bee, a woodworker, model maker and university student, has combined her passions into a unique and beautiful wooden e-bike she calls Electraply.
The design was inspired by Bee’s love for the motorcycles of the past and the desire to honour and continue this design classic through a modern interpretation.
Electraply is composed primarily of materials of a sustainably sourced tree-poplar ply, which is the inspiration for the name. The use of wood threatened to make the bike too heavy, but Bee used poplar ply for the central frame (框架) so it was no heavier than an ordinary e-bike.
For the original bike, Bee collected the forks from an old jump bike. The decision resulted in the use of V-brakes (刹车) in the design. She says it’s not ideal but works for now, admitting, “The forks shall certainly be the first thing I upgrade once I have the money.” There are safety features to balance the system; the front brake is wired to the motor, causing it to turn off when the brakes are pressed.
Unlike most e-bikes, Bee didn’t try to hide the battery. In fact, she put it front and center. She explained, “The bike design was inspired by motorbikes, which have their gas tanks (油箱) visible. I wanted to carry this through into my own design, but change the gas tank for a battery!”
Bee is currently working on developing a Kickstarter campaign for Electraply with hopes of mass-producing and marketing it at some point. For those interested in working from the knowledge she’s developed in the process, she’s written two e-books she has posted on her website. One covers the design process for creating the bike, while the second details the construction process of turning the design into a real-life functioning e-bike.
1. What character of poplar ply is taken into consideration when used for the central frame?| A．Its security. | B．Its strength. |
| C．Its intensity. | D．Its weight. |
| A．Risky. | B．Delicate. |
| C．Unsatisfactory. | D．Useless. |
| A．Bee’s e-bike was environment friendly. |
| B．Bee’s e-bike had the battery put in easy view. |
| C．Bee’s e-bike owned more advanced safety features. |
| D．Bee’s e-bike was powered by both gas and solar electricity. |
| A．It’ll be made into production. |
| B．It’ll help raise money for charity. |
| C．It’ll enable her e-books to be bestsellers. |
| D．It’ll stimulate people’s curiosity about science. |
