1 . The stands were always filled with family members to support their favorite players. I attended each of my son’s games. His father worked nights for years, and missed out on most of his games. My son Jorden knew if his dad could, he would be there sitting right beside me.
When Jorden was younger, some family members would occasionally come to watch. But gradually they stopped showing up. Never once did Jorden lead me to believe that this bothered him, but apparently it did. It wasn’t until when he was asked to give a speech at his baseball event that he made it very clear not only to me but a room filled with over 150 people just how important it is to have extra fans in the stands.
His speech was anything but like I thought it would be. It wasn’t short and bittersweet. It wasn’t his quick thank you to his coaches and teammates. He poured his heart out, saying he seldom had grandparents, aunts or uncles coming to support him. He was grateful that his teammates’ family members showed up to support not just their own loved ones but the entire team of boys. Clearly Jorden desired more than just me. Never did I ever think my son would be hurting inside as he looked out to the bleachers to see only me at each and every game.
As he struggled to get each word out through tears, I promised I would attend as many events of the children around as I possibly could. There was no way I could allow another child to feel what my son was feeling. This small simple gesture would mean so much to any child. Neither Jorden nor I was upset with those who never attended his games. Jorden just wanted someone else besides me to witness his craft in action. I understand all of our lives become complicated and that everyone is busy with their own children and jobs that may not allow them as much free time as they’d like.
1. What do we know about Jorden’s father?| A．He had long been misunderstood by Jorden. |
| B．He had few chances to attend Jorden’s games. |
| C．He managed to be with Jorden in every game. |
| D．He had made excuses to miss Jorden’s games. |
| A．His ambition to win the championship. |
| B．His gratitude to his mother and coaches. |
| C．His complaint about his family members. |
| D．His desire for support from more people. |
| A．Depressing. | B．Complicated. | C．Astonishing. | D．Absurd. |
| A．She tried to be actively involved in children’s games. |
| B．She promised not to miss out on games of every child. |
| C．She offered to invite many relatives to Jorden’s games. |
| D．She decided to lead Jorden to trust his family members. |
2 . New Mexico is famed for roasted green chillies with a distinctive smoky flavour, but it comes at a cost — producers in the state typically use propane (丙烷) as fuel, releasing an estimated 7,800 tonnes of CO2 a year. Ken Armijo at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) wanted to see if he could match the flavour without the need for fossil fuels.
Armijo, whose family owns a chilli farm, works with solar concentrators at NSTTF, normally used for experiments boiling liquid to produce electricity, or simulating (模拟) the effect of re-entry on materials used in spacecraft. The facility uses rings of mirrors to focus sunlight on a 60-metre tower at the centre. He improved a traditional chilli roaster and loaded it with 10 kilograms of chillies before placing it in the tower to roast at 480°C.
A group of green chilli connoisseurs (品鉴师) blind-tasted the solar-roasted version alongside the traditional variety and rated them higher for both flavour and smell. Armijo says infrared (红外线的) imaging showed solar heating produced a more even distribution (分布) of heat with fewer hotspots. “Solar-roasted chillies appeared to have a much cleaner taste because the localised heat from propane roasting can cause localised burning,” says Armijo.
Although this test took place at a research facility, Armijo says the cost of solar concentrators is dropping and it could be possible to use technology developed at Sandia to build small solar concentrators at low cost. These could produce the high temperatures needed for roasting chillies and other foods.
Armijo is eager to try the technique with other foodstuffs, including cocoa and coffee beans, which are grown in lower-income countries and could be solar roasted.
Pete Schwartz at California Polytechnic State University, who has been exploring solar cooking for many years, said that he was not sure “whether solar concentrators will catch on in lower-income countries, where he has seen many solar projects fail due to lack of training and technical support.”
Armijo says he has been approached by at least 15 companies and is in discussions on ways to commercialise the technology. He is seeking extra funding from the US Department of Energy and other organisations to pursue small solar concentrators for food processing.
1. Why did Armijo roast green chillies using solar concentrators?| A．To increase profits. | B．To create a new recipe. |
| C．To reduce air pollution. | D．To improve chillies’ taste. |
| A．They are lower in production cost. |
| B．They work with higher efficiency. |
| C．They spread heat more equally. |
| D．They are easier to operate. |
| A．Favourable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Unclear. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．It has been adopted by some companies. |
| B．It is on its way to the market. |
| C．It has been officially recognised. |
| D．It is in need of technical support. |
3 . Four Preschool Winter Stories
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Keats captures that childhood joy of playing in the snow. The boy, Peter, puts on his snowsuit and heads out into the beautiful snow. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. It is full of fun. Peter takes some snow home with him in his pocket only to find that it melted while he was taking a bath. Oh no! Is that the last of snow? Not to worry, the snow is waiting for Peter in the morning.
How to Catch a Yeti (雪人) by Adam Wallace
In this silly snowy adventure, the kids set a whole bunch of clever traps to catch a yeti.
However, the yeti easily escapes and the traps backfire on the kids with funny results. If you look closely at the illustrations, you can find “hidden” members of the yeti’s family watching the kids.
Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer
This is a sweet story that teaches kids about how animals spend the winter. As the first snowflake falls on the fox’s nose, fox wonders what he is supposed to do in winter. The other forest animals tell him how they prepare for winter. Some fly south, others store food, and some hibernate (冬眠) . Unfortunately none of these ideas will work for fox. Finally, another fox comes along and shares what foxes do in winter— they dance in the falling snow!
Bear is Awake: an Alphabet Story by Hannah E. Harrison
With hardly any words, the reader pieces the story together from the fantastic illustrations and the alphabet letter and corresponding word on each page. In this book, a bear awakens too early (A=awake) and sets off in search of food. It finds a little girl in a cabin, who, through a series of humorous events, helps the bear return to its home and go back to sleep.
1. In which book is the leading character Peter?| A．The Snowy Day. | B．How to Catch a Yeti. |
| C．Winter Dance. | D．Bear is Awake: an Alphabet Story. |
| A．The joy of playing in the snow. | B．The way animals spend the winter. |
| C．The story of animals hibernating. | D．A bear in search of food. |
| A．Ezra Jack Keats. | B．Adam Wallace. |
| C．Marion Dane Bauer. | D．Hannah E. Harrison. |
4 . At the times in my life that I had been upset or angry, a good hug was usually a very quick cure for what was bothering me. After receiving a warm and genuine embrace from a loved one or friend, the tension in my body would melt almost immediately.
How does a hug deliver such a remarkable effect so quickly? Touch is a powerful means of communication and a great way to relieve the response to stress. Through touch, a person’s intention is readily discernible–you can tell comfort from potential harm easily. In the positive mode, hugs are one type of touch that relays the message: “I care about you. You matter.”
We require touch with other living beings to grow well. Children who are not held or hugged have significant developmental and socio-emotional delay accompanied by smaller brains. This means that physical contact is not only critical for how these children behaved, but for the development of the brain itself.
For adults, touch affects the response to everyday conflict. Some researchers interviewed404 adults daily for 14 days regarding their health, conflicts, how they felt emotionally (positive or negative), and whether or not they received a hug. People who had received a hug and had an interpersonal conflict reported feeling more positive with less severe negative reactions on that day. It has also been found that hugging may favorably influence the rate of infection from a cold as well as symptoms.
As hugs are a great way to relieve the response to stress, it is not surprising that the number of hugs that a woman receives from her partner is highly related to lower blood pressure as well as higher levels of hormone known as oxytocin, colloquially labeled the “love hormone”.
Hugs, of course, are a form of touch that share elements with other types, like massage (按摩) as well as gentle, light touch. Like hugging, massage is a great way to release tension.
1. What does the underlined word “discernible” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Complex. | B．Evident. | C．Abstract. | D．Varied. |
| A．Hugs can settle the conflicts. | B．Hugs can effectively cure a cold. |
| C．Receiving a hug can cause positive reactions. | D．The researchers take education into account. |
| A．Advantages of touch. | B．Different types of hugs. |
| C．Fear of inappropriate hugs. | D．Positive functions of massage. |
| A．Touch is a great way to relieve the response to stress. |
| B．Children require touch from loved ones to grow well. |
| C．Hugs from partners can bring women lower blood pressure. |
| D．Caring touch can bring mental and physical benefits to people. |
5 . Stare at a blank wall in any room, and you are unlikely to learn much more than the paint color. But a new technology can unnoticeably scan the same surface for shadows and reflections.
As people move around a room, their bodies block a portion of any available light to create subtle and indistinct “soft shadows” on walls.
| A．The technology is thought advanced. |
| B．These can’t be detected by the human eye. |
| C．Brightly colored clothing can even cast a dull, reflected light. |
| D．It also can monitor someone who avoids a camera’s line of sight. |
| E．Next, researchers recorded blank walls with people in various scenarios. |
| F．The system is considered a unique and wonderful discovery by camera specialists. |
| G．Although this system can function in any room, it performs poorly in dim lighting. |
6 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Some sports or game go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese Kungfu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends.
| A．And think of people in cold countries. |
| B．Sports help to train a person’s character. |
| C．People aren’t inventing new sports or games. |
| D．Many people like to watch others play games. |
| E．People are inventing new sports or games all the time. |
| F．Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere take part in them. |
| G．Not a few people participate in different sports competitions themselves. |
7 . English and Chinese have for a long time been the languages most studied around the world but the line up of other languages of study is ever-changing.
In 2020, Spanish overtook (超越) French as the second most learned language on the popular language learning app Duolingo. This could be explained by a number of factors. The Spanish-speaking community is increasingly influential in the US and Latin America is seen as increasingly influential worldwide. It could be that for many people in the US there’s a practical need to speak Spanish domestically (国内地) that has overridden (比……更重要) the wish to speak French for travel.
Asian languages are also increasing in popularity. There’s recently been great interest in Japanese from China, as well as from some African countries including Chad and Ethiopia. We can mainly relate this growing interest to Japan’s cultural output and general attraction to its unique culture. Not to mention the Olympics getting the interest of language learners from around the world.
What’s striking is that Chinese is now a more popular choice than Russian for language learners. That’s probably because the increasing global influence of China means it is seen as a more useful language to speak compared to Russian. Over 100 million learners are thought to be studying Chinese worldwide with interest from the UK, US, India and Africa. It’s interesting to see a relatively new superpower overtake a more established one — in language terms at least.
It’s hard to judge the cultural influence of a country but the number of people spending time learning more about it through its language is surely a sign that it is exerting (施加) influence.
1. What can we infer about Latin Americans?| A．They often travel to France. |
| B．They mostly speak Spanish. |
| C．They influence the US most. |
| D．They learn the most languages. |
| A．Culture. |
| B．Tourism. |
| C．The Olympics. |
| D．The global influence. |
| A．confused. |
| B．interested. |
| C．proud. |
| D．anxious. |
| A．Languages most studied |
| B．The app most downloaded |
| C．Changes in language learning |
| D．The battle between English and Chinese |
8 . As most people know, in the past few years, sandstorms have swept across many cities and areas of North China, polluting the air and disturbing daily lives of human beings. People look dirty and suffer many kinds of illnesses, such as breath difficulty. The sandstorm is such a serious problem that it has not only undermined the industrial and agricultural development of our country but also caused a lot of trouble to the living conditions of the Chinese people. It is expected that effective measures should be taken as soon as possible.
So what should we do with the frightening sandstorms? Some experts put forward practical suggestions as follows: For one thing, more funds ought to be put into tree planting and forest protection so as to keep more water resources within the surface of the earth. For another, governments of all countries should make laws on environmental protection. For example, banning the use of throw-away chopsticks and punishing illegal tree cutting. Scientists should also find ways to cut down the degree of its destruction and to improve the whole environment.
How people look forward to sunny days with little wind touching their faces now and forever! Nevertheless, I am fully confident that the golden days can come back so long as everyone tries his best to protect natural environment from today on.
1. The underlined word “undermined” in Paragraph 1 means ________.| A．weakened | B．encouraged | C．kept | D．made |
| A．China has taken no measures to prevent sandstorms. |
| B．more sandstorms will happen in the near future in North China. |
| C．the sandstorm is the most dangerous natural disaster to human beings. |
| D．sandstorms can cause much damage to human beings and their daily lives. |
| A．5. | B．4. | C．3. | D．2. |
| A．Unconfident. | B．Hopeful. | C．Curious. | D．Unclear. |
9 . Mr. Johnson was my 6th grade teacher. At that time I was a short girl weighing 70 kilograms. Boys always laughed at me because of it. So I became an extremely shy young lady.
One day Mr. Johnson told us that we would be required to come to the front of the class and read the reports that we had completed.
When my turn came, I refused to stand in front of all those students and open up to their tricks. Mr. Johnson handed me my report and asked me to read it. I gave it back to him. He walked to the front and said, “Martha has a very good report here and I think everyone needs to hear her read it. If you make strange noises or make fun of her in any way, I will let you fail right here and now. OK?”
Mr. Johnson walked back to me and handed me the paper again, asking me to go to the front of the class. I walked there on legs that were shaking and I felt a rabbit in my chest. Everyone was all quiet, including those boys. I stood there trying to be calm.
Mr. Johnson walked over to me and put his arm around me, “You can do it. I have confidence in you!” His words helped me calm down. I read the report and instead of the kids laughing at me and making fun of me, they all stood up and clapped their hands.
From that day on the kids never made fun of me and some actually made friends with me. I continued to be quiet and shy all through school but I knew if I had to stand up in front of the class, I could do it.
1. Why did Martha feel extremely shy?| A．Because of her study. |
| B．Because of her age. |
| C．Because of her appearance. |
| D．Because of her character. |
| A．Because she didn’t like the teacher of the 6th grade. |
| B．Because she knew her report was not good. |
| C．Because the teacher wouldn’t listen to her. |
| D．Because she was afraid of being laughed at. |
| A．Curious. |
| B．Excited. |
| C．Nervous. |
| D．Angry. |
| A．Martha’s report was well written. |
| B．Martha had a rabbit as her pet. |
| C．Martha was a good-looking girl. |
| D．The teacher helped Martha with her report. |
10 . 4-Day Classic Beijing Tour
The 4-day classic Beijing tour is designed for tourists who come to visit China for the first time. It covers the most popular and typical places in Beijing, fully displaying the scenery, culture, history, local lifestyles and features, food and drinks, business, etc. to you.
Day 1: Arrival in Beijing
Your guide meets you at Beijing Capital International Airport, and helps you check in at your hotel.
Enjoy Peking duck as welcome dinner.
Accommodation: Downtown Beijing
Day 2: The Great Wall & the Summer Palace
Start your day at the most famous part of the Great Wall, the Badaling Great Wall. Leave the downtown for the Great Wall at 8 am. Since it is a long drive to the Great Wall (about 2 hours' riding), have a break at the Beijing Bona Jade Museum on the way. Lunch will be enjoyed in a local restaurant. In the early afternoon come back to the city and have a sightseeing (观光) tour of the Summer Palace.
Suggested activity: Beijing opera shows (Liyuan Theatre, 19:30-20:30 every evening)
Accommodation: Downtown Beijing
Day 3: Beijing city sightseeing & the local experience
Your guide meets you at the hotel at 8 am and set out for the day's touring: Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City.
After visiting the two sites, have a break and get ready for lunch.
Hutong visit: see some traditional arts of the old Beijing, such as paper cutting and kite making, and visit a local family.
Accommodation: Downtown Beijing
Day 4: Beijing Olympic sites
Visit the Olympic sites: the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube and the Olympic Green, showing the fast developing modern China. Enjoy some free time after visiting the sites.
After lunch, it is shopping time and then the tour is over.
1. Whom is this advertisement aimed at?| A．Experts who study history and cities. |
| B．People who are interested in touring. |
| C．Kids who were born in other cities. |
| D．Foreigners who are new to China. |
| A．Visit the Summer Palace on the first day. |
| B．Go to Liyuan Theatre in the evening. |
| C．Go sightseeing in a Beijing hutong. |
| D．Live and eat downtown in Beijing. |
| A．Day 1. | B．Day 2. | C．Day 3. | D．Day 4. |
