1 . About Byron
Whether you’re in Byron for fun or work, there are plenty of things to do to fill your spare time.
Byron, Georgia makes travel sweeter with its slower pace and breathtaking attractions. It’s full of historic sites, museums, shopping malls, and more. In this city at the center of Georgia’s peach industry, you can take a vacation that leaves you rested, not annoyed.
Events
Georgia Peach Festival—June Fall Market Days—September
Georgia National Fair—October Byron Christmas Parade—December
Local attractions
Byron Welcome Center
Located in the Peach Shops, the Byron Welcome Center is your first stop in our area. The Byron Welcome Center is ready to help you make the most of your stay in Byron, Georgia.
North Peach Park
North Peach Park is the place for traditional festivals, movies in the park, and many other events. The park has picnic shelters, playgrounds, football fields and soccer fields all year round. North Peach Park also has an indoor, climate-controlled multi-purpose room.
The Big Peach Shopping Mall
One of Georgia’s major shopping malls, and Central Georgia’s biggest and best variety of goods, the Big Peach has something for everyone! Open seven days a week and located directly off 1-75, the Big Peach is Central Georgia’s favorite shopping destination.
Party Playground Indoor Fun Center
Let the kids work out some energy with an hour or two at the Party Playground Indoor Fun Center. This room full of safe and soft play equipment will let your little ones run, jump and play, rain or shine. It’s also a great place to have a birthday party.
Contact us
For more information, contact us at (478) 956-2409
Email: byronwelcomecenter@gmail.com
1. When is the best time to enjoy delicious peach in Byron?| A．June. | B．September. | C．October. | D．December. |
| A．North Peach Park. | B．Byron Welcome Center. |
| C．The Big Peach Shopping Mall. | D．Party Playground Indoor Fun Center. |
| A．A course plan. | B．A travel brochure. | C．A journal. | D．A novel. |
2 . How satisfied are you with your life? How good do you feel every day? Your answers to those two questions can show how happy you are.
It’s true that your happiness is partly affected by your genes.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone has different talents and abilities. It’s OK that you’re not like someone else. Comparison has been called “the thief of joy”. In addition, forgive yourself often.
Spending time with people you love and that love you is necessary for building strong connections and developing a sense of belonging. By devoting time and attention to those who matter most to you, you can create lasting memories, deepen understanding, and strengthen bonds with each other happily.
Get outside for exercise.Nature helps to reduce stress. Exercise and put your health in the first place.
Stay aware of recent events. But don’t spend hours consuming news, which usually includes negative stories and events.
Since happiness is a choice, why not choose it? Life will look brighter filled with love and joy!
| A．You are not perfect. |
| B．Invest in your relationships. |
| C．Determine happiness through actions. |
| D．You could perhaps lead a happier life and feel more satisfied. |
| E．But even if you’re not usually a happy person, you can change that. |
| F．People who get up and move are usually happier than those who don’t. |
| G．The Internet is full of people who look beautiful and seem to lead exciting lives. |
3 . Macquarie Island is a tiny island that’s part of Australia. It’s about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. The island’s been made a world heritage area because it’s so untouched, but this unique environment is under threat from some unwanted visitors.
It all started when seal hunters came to the island in the early 1800s. They brought rabbits with them as a source of food for the journey, and also on board the ships were rats and mice, which made their way onto the island too. They’re being blamed for destroying the homes of marine birds, causing soil loss and ripping up plant cover, as these before-and-after photos show.
So what’s being done about the problem? It starts with a team of helicopters that fly across the island carrying these giant containers. Inside them are poisoned pellets (有毒饲料) which are dropped and spread across the island. For any rabbits that survived the baiting (诱饵) , there’s a plan B. This special team of dogs is being put through a final training. It’ll be their job to track down any remaining rabbits. They have to also learn to behave around the island’s native wildlife. The dogs could be here for years or until the task is complete. The dogs don’t actually kill the rabbits. They find them, then the hunters decide to either catch the rabbits or shoot them.
But the program has received a bit of criticism. Some people argue 25 million dollars is a lot of money to be spending on wiping out rabbits and rodents (啮齿目动物), and in the process, some native birds will be killed because of the baiting.
The reality is the problem isn’t going to be solved overnight. The people running the program say that even if one pair of rabbits is left alive, the whole task will be seen as a failure, which means these guys could be here for a long time, trying to ensure that this precious island remains protected from pests.
1. Who are these unwanted visitors?| A．Seal hunters. | B．Marine wildlife. | C．Native birds. | D．Foreign species. |
| A．Advancing. | B．Destroying. | C．Dividing | D．Balancing |
| A．Poisoned pellets are being dropped on the island from helicopters. |
| B．A team of hunters is being trained to catch or shoot rabbits. |
| C．Native birds are being protected from the unwanted visitors. |
| D．A special team of dogs is being sent to kill the rabbits. |
| A．To spend as little money as possible. |
| B．To protect native birds from the unwanted visitors. |
| C．To ensure that no pair of rabbits survive on the island. |
| D．To train dogs to track down the rabbits on the island. |
4 . Once upon a time, there was a small village in the center of a big forest. All the villagers were used to their robotic farm work and none of them had the imagination or the will (意愿) to try something new, except for one girl named Jo. Very few could read or write, and Jo was one of them.
One afternoon, when Jo was on one of her explorations in the forest, she came upon an abandoned cottage (废弃的小屋). Though she’d been warned to stay away from abandoned places, her curiosity got the best of her. She slid in and was amazed to find a room full of books! Jo’s excitement was huge when she realized she had found a hidden treasure.
She ran to tell the villagers everything, thinking that they would share her excitement but instead, she heard roars of laughter! Jo was confused by this reaction (反应) and a little hurt too, but she did not give up on her books.
She came to the cottage every day and got down to reading the books. For her, each page was an adventure with characters who challenged difficulties with their determination and who struggled for good. Knowing the power of stories in impressing on people the values of life, she decided to share the stories with the villagers, though she knew it would be a difficult journey. Making this her mission (使命), Jo started telling stories every day at her cottage.
In the beginning, only a few came to the readings. But word spread rapidly, causing more and more people to come, some of whom even traveled from far away to just listen to her stories. She also conducted workshops in which she taught people how to read and write. She was remembered and lived in her stories even after she was long gone.
1. What do the underlined words “got the best of” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Prevented. | B．Frightened. | C．Cheated. | D．Beat. |
| A．They already knew it. | B．They thought nothing of it. |
| C．It was related to something fun. | D．It was all Jo’s imagination. |
| A．Caring but confusing. | B．Honest and helpful. |
| C．Adventurous but careless. | D．Determined and influential. |
| A．The Discovery of a Hidden Treasure |
| B．Jo’s Journey: from Adventure to Education |
| C．The Power of Stories in Challenging Difficulties |
| D．Jo’s Adventure: Unearthing an Abandoned Cottage |
5 . My mom spent years as a stay-at-home mom so that my brothers and I could focus on our education. However, I could tell from her curiosity of and attitudes toward working women that she envied their financial freedom and the self-esteem that must come with it. When I asked her about working again, she would tell me to focus on achieving my dream. I knew she had once dreamed for herself.
For years, I watched het effortlessly light up conversations with both strangers and family. Her empathy and ability to reach the heart could make anyone laugh, even when the story itself did not apply to them at all. “Mom, have you ever thought about being a stand-up comedian?” “It is too late for me, son,” she responded, laughing at the idea. I could not bear to watch her struggle between ambition and doubt.
Her birthday was coming up. Although I had already bought her a present, I knew what I actually wanted to give her. I placed little notes of encouragement inside the present. I asked my family and her friends to do the same. Eventually I had collected 146 notes, and each with the same sentiment: “You are humorous, full of life, and ready to take on the stage.”
On the day of her birthday, my mom unwrapped my present. She was not surprised as she had hinted at it for long. But then she saw those little notes. She started to weep with her hands full of notes. She could not believe the support was real.
Within two months, my mom gave her first performance in a New York comedy club. I have read the notes countless times with my mom. They are framed and line the walls of her new office space that she rented with the profits she made from working as a professional comedian. For many parents, their children’s careers are their greatest accomplishment, but for me my mom’s is mine.
1. What was the attitude of the author’s mother to working women?| A．She was curious about their income. | B．She admired what work brought them. |
| C．She felt indifferent to working women. | D．She appreciated their ambitions in finance. |
| A．Her effort in making friends. | B．Her talent to bring people joy. |
| C．Her curiosity about working women. | D．Her desire for financial independence. |
| A．Amazed and hesitant. | B．Sad and disappointed. |
| C．Moved and encouraged. | D．Delighted and proud. |
| A．Supporting Mom’s dream. | B．Achieving his own dream. |
| C．Securing financial freedom. | D．Becoming a successful comedian. |
6 . Have you ever lost something in a hard-to-reach space, like behind a couch or a cupboard? Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to squeeze in and out? New innovations in the field of robotics will soon be able to make this nice idea into a reality.
In a study published on Jan 25 in the science journal Matter, engineers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Carnegie Mellon University in the US have developed small robots that can quickly change back and forth from liquid to solid states.
According to the website Mashable, the scientists were inspired by sea cucumbers (海参). They are able to change the stiffness (僵硬度) of their body or reduce the potential for physical damage. The robots in the study were made from gallium (镓), a soft metal with a low melting point of 30 ℃. The scientists then used changes in the magnetic field to manipulate the magnetic particles (粒子) inside the gallium material to provide heat. This heat then allowed the robots to change between solid and liquid states as well as to move around.
As the website Tech Xplore pointed out, other similar materials require external heat sources such as heat guns and electrical currents to induce (触发) a change of states; but now, the robots can use a heat source inside itself to change states independently.
During the robots’ experimental trials, the scientists conducted a number of tests. These tests included having the robots melt into liquid and re-form to escape a prison like cage. It can remove a foreign object from and deliver medicinal drugs to a model stomach. The robot is also able to build and repair hard-to-reach circuits. The robot’s ability to switch between states of matter allows for a number of possible uses and advancements in different fields, such as the biomedical and circuit assembly industries.
Still, in the words of senior author Carmel Majidi at Carnegie Mellon University, for now these are all just “proofs of concept” which show the abilities of these new kinds of robots.
1. What can we learn about the small robots?| A．Chinese and British scientists co-produced them. |
| B．They were made from a newly invented. |
| C．Sea cucumbers provided inspiration for them material. |
| D．They can switch between three states of matter. |
| A．By controlling the magnetic particles. |
| B．By employing a heat source. |
| C．By using electrical currents. |
| D．By using heat guns. |
| A．They have great market potential. |
| B．It will take more time for them to be widely used. |
| C．More proof is needed for their abilities. |
| D．Their abilities are overstated. |
| A．New innovations of robotics |
| B．Liquid robots revealed |
| C．Proofs of concept robots |
| D．The limitations of the robots |
7 . Smart phones are dramatically changing the way we walk down the street. Office workers and young people are walking like pensioners as they check emails and messages.
Scientists have found mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with modest steps, to avoid obstacles. The lead author of the study said the walk is similar to that of someone in their eighties. Researchers found people writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, finding it harder to stay in a straight line and lift their feet 18 per cent higher above a pavement edge. Their steps are more than a third shorter, as they rely on their restricted vision to avoid falling over while distracted by their phone.
The scientists examined 252 separate participants walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phone or without their phone at all. Writing a text is the most demanding activity, causing people to look down at their phone 46 per cent more, and 45 per cent longer, than when reading a message. This led people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phone. People walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent while talking on the phone.
Smart phones were found to prevent people from walking in a straight line, putting them at greater risk of colliding (碰撞) with other people, cars or street lamps. This increased the need to slow down and take more careful steps.
John Timmis said, “The idea for this study came from following someone walking down the street in the afternoon, who was walking as if he had had several drinks. I thought it was a bit early for that, then walked up alongside him and saw that he was on his phone. Simply being on the phone changes the way people walk.”
1. What does the underlined word “modest” mean in the second paragraph?| A．Young. | B．Straight. | C．Small. | D．Low. |
| A．Those not carrying phones. | B．Those writing a text message. |
| C．Those reading a text message. | D．Those speaking on their phones. |
| A．The chance of possible accidents. | B．The need to walk straight. |
| C．The traffic jams during rush hours. | D．The desire for using their phones. |
| A．From many people who liked to walk in the afternoon. |
| B．From a lot of people who loved to walk along with him. |
| C．From young people who were walking like the workers. |
| D．From a person who was walking in the street very strangely. |
8 . Live music livens up beach
I’ve been to a few music festivals like Glastonbury, the UK’s biggest and most famous music festival. But I’d never been to one in China.
At the end of August, I went to the Xiami Music and Arts Festival in Aranya, Qinhuangdao. Although the main draw of the festival for me was Suede, a classic UK band, I still had a lot of fun enjoying the festival’s other aspects.
Apart from the festival’s huge stages and screens, excellent sound systems and people dancing and singing with their friends and family, there were other surprises too. This was the first festival I’d been to located on a sandy beach!
Watching live music by the ocean was incredibly relaxing. Everyone had blow-up chairs you could buy and sit on comfortably to enjoy the music. Some people even had couches! Often at music festivals, you’re left standing the whole time, but Aranya was a bit more peaceful. There were also more children and families in attendance than I’ve seen at UK festivals, and this was great to see.
As the day went on, my anticipation (期待) grew as I looked forward to seeing my familiar band, Suede, who were the headliners: While Suede put on a good show, the most enjoyable surprise came from my unexpected discovery of and subsequent (随后的) fondness for the Chinese band The Life Journey. Unlike the seasoned Suede, these young performers were clearly in their prime. They became famous after appearing on iQiyi’s The Big Band (《乐队的夏天》). Playing after the sun had gone down with bright lights coming from the stage, The Life Journey really captured my imagination with their variety of musical styles, beautiful vocals (歌唱) and positive lyrics and vibes (氛围). Even with my limited Chinese, I was still able to happily sing along.
1. What can we know about the author?| A．He has been to the largest music festival in Europe. |
| B．He went to Aranya to see his favorite Chinese band. |
| C．He had never seen Suede in person before. |
| D．He went to a Chinese music festival for the first time. |
| A．Its performers. | B．Its ticket price. | C．Its location. | D．Its popularity. |
| A．There were more families in the audience. | B．Everyone had their own chair to sit on. |
| C．People felt more relaxed and comfortable. | D．It lasted longer with more bands performing. |
| A．They interacted more with the audience. | B．Their music was emotional and unique. |
| C．He could understand their lyrics easily. | D．He was attracted by their performance. |
9 . Life isn’t fair. Some people just seem blessed with the ability to effortlessly charm anyone they meet. Well, it might seem like a magical power, but in fact there are a number of factors at work.
But first, the bad news. People initially judge each other based purely on physical appearance. With just a glimpse of a face, people make snap judgments about each other’s likeability, trustworthiness and confidence. How should we deal with this?
What other tricks might we have?
So we’ve looked at body language, but of course what you say is hugely important too, unless you want to just stand there grinning foolishly. The golden rule of friendship is if you make people feel good about themselves, they’re going to like you. In other words, you should not talk about yourself and all your wonderful achievements.
Finally, finding common ground is good to form a connection. Charming people are particularly skilled at seeking out shared interests or experiences to bond with others. Simple things like asking where someone’s from really can open up a discussion and allow you to find areas in common. And if all else fails, you can fall back on that most British of topics: the weather.
| A．It can be a nice start of a conversation. |
| B．Instead, you need to show interest in them. |
| C．There’s one incredibly simple tool: your smile. |
| D．So, can you learn to develop superhuman charm? |
| E．What good tricks can we employ to become charming? |
| F．Shared interests are the key to making connections with others. |
| G．Our brains often survey the environment for friend or enemy signals. |
10 . The Asch Conformity Experiments, conducted by psychologist Solomon Asch in the 1950s, demonstrated the power of conformity. (从众) in groups and showed that even simple objective facts cannot resist the pressure of group influence.
In the experiments, groups of university students were asked to participate in a perception test. In reality, all but one of the participants were “confederates”, cooperators with the experimenter who only pretended to be participants. The study was about how the remaining student would react to the behavior of the other “participants”.
The participants of the experiment were presented with a card with a simple vertical (垂直) black line on it. Then, they were given a second card with three lines of varying length labeled A. B, and C. One line on the second card was the same length as that on the first, and the other two lines were obviously longer and shorter.
Participants were asked to state out loud in front of each other which line, A, B, or C, matched the length of the line on the first card. In each experimental case, the confederates answered first, and the real participant was seated so that he would answer last. In some cases, the confederates answered correctly, while in others, they answered incorrectly.
Asch intended to see if the real participant would be pressured to answer incorrectly in the instances when the confederates did so, or whether their belief in their own perception and correctness would outweigh the social pressure provided by the responses of the other group members.
Asch found that one-third of real participants gave the same wrong answers as the confederates at least half the time. Forty percent gave some wrong answers, and only one-fourth gave correct answers in defiance of the pressure to conform to the wrong answers provided by the group.
In interviews following the trials, Asch found that for those who answered incorrectly, in conformance with the group, some believed that the answers given by the confederates were correct, some thought that they were suffering a lapse(失误) in perception when they originally had the answer different from the group, and others admitted that they knew that they had the correct answer, but conformed to the incorrect answer because they didn’t want to break from the majority.
1. What are the participants asked to do in the experiment?| A．Label the cards with different letters. | B．Pick out two lines of the same length. |
| C．State the reason for matching the cards. | D．Identify the longest vertical black line. |
| A．The result of the experiment. | B．The design of the experiment. |
| C．The purpose of the experiment. | D．The procedure of the experiment. |
| A．In spite of. | B．For fear of. | C．In response to. | D．On account of. |
| A．They misunderstood the question. | B．They believed their own judgment. |
| C．They failed to resist group influence. | D．They wanted to be different from others. |
