3 . You may be suffering from decision fatigue (疲劳). We humans have a limited amount of mental energy for self-control. It’s why we make better decisions in the morning and are less able to resist the things we love later in the day.

    1    

The more choices you have, the more fatigue you’ll face. So simplify your life and keep only the things that encourage you.     2     What’s more, you can take away simple decisions, and in this way you can spend more time making decisions that truly influence your life in a big way.

How many times have you considered decisions for long periods of time, only to come back to your original decision?     3     It’s also a clear indication (暗示) that in most situations, the right decision is within you almost from the start.

Working on the same tasks in the same manner again and again leads to higher degrees of mental fatigue.     4     By making some changes, you can get something else to focus on. That’s why our best solutions often come when we’re in completely different environments.

    5     They’re simply the ones that set their days up in the most efficient manner. They know when to trust themselves, and when to allow others to step in and do what they do best.

A．We’ve all done it.

B．What can you do about it?

C．The rest just gets in the way.

D．Put your most important task first!

E．Humans need creativity and change to grow.

F．If you make a decision for the right reasons, trust and let it go.

G．The best decision makers aren’t somehow smarter or better prepared.

4 . I started a Facebook page in July, and it’s steadily growing! The best part isn’t the number of its “followers” but its comments — I love reading about what people do, their ideas and views and get some feedback (反馈) on what I’m doing too.

In April of this year, I was invited by a friend to join her Social Change group. We were eight women from all walks of life, but we had one thing in common — we live in a fantastic country and yet we can see homeless people on the streets asking for money. We have a generous welfare system and a social housing scheme — but it’s a problem that is getting worse. We asked ourselves: What happens to homeless women?

Therefore, we volunteered at shelters. We met with social housing providers, shelter managers and social workers, and began to think what else we could do. We researched on which programs were having success. We had guest speakers at our meetings and began to get a clear picture about what we needed to do.

As luck would have it, we have been gifted a building in the city center. It’s old and needs a lot of work to bring it up to the standard. We want to provide more than just shelter to women in need. We aim to have six self-contained apartments providing full social services for women to stay in for up to two years. Thanks to the building provider, we have got our project off the ground.

I’m an ordinary person. If I can do this, anyone can. You can change the world. Look for the opportunity and just do it.

1. What can we learn about the Facebook page?

A．Its followers increase steadily.	B．It helps the author get feedback.
C．It was set up to advertise their service.	D．Its main content is people’s comments.

2. What does the author think of her country?

A．Its people are suffering.	B．Its system is getting worse.
C．It still has a long way to go.	D．It is a place full of inequality.

3. By volunteering at shelters, the eight women ______________.

A．acquired a few communication skills

B．discovered their ability to change the world

C．had a better understanding of social problems

D．were inspired to start a project to help the homeless women

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To share her story.	B．To introduce her job.
C．To thank housing providers for their help.	D．To encourage people to improve the world.

6 . Academic conferences (会议) are an essential part of academic life.    1     However, attending academic conferences is helpful. It can not only provide you with the opportunity to listen to different points of view but help you know more great people. There are countless benefits of attending academic conferences.

    2     If you want to know about the very latest findings in your field before they are even published in journals, then a conference is the place to be. Many researchers will present findings which have not yet been published at a conference.

Your journey to a new place for a conference can be fun.    3     In the new place, you may eat new food, visit local tourist attractions, try to learn a new language and make some good friends.

    4     Giving a talk or presentation will make you more comfortable in front of an audience. And you’ll learn things like the speed at which you should talk. Answering questions after your presentation and chatting with other attendees (出席者) will help you know how to effectively talk.

Your future job chances can be better. Attending a conference is something that can be written on your CV (简历), especially if you have given a talk or presentation. It shows that you’re engaged with your field and are taking an active part in communicating with others. It also shows your strong academic ability.    5    

A．You can hear about the latest research.

B．It’s necessary to make a full preparation for a conference.

C．Your presentation and communication skills will be improved.

D．Thus, your possible employers are more likely to be impressed.

E．Keep in mind that you are not required to attend all conferences.

F．But people sometimes feel like it’s scary to attend an academic conference.

G．Although a conference is a work event rather than a leisure one, it can still be enjoyable.

7 . The days of the bedroom fitting room are numbered. Online retail giant (零售巨头) Boohoo has become the latest in a string of retailers to start charging shoppers for returns.

By offering free returns in the first place, companies, such as Boohoo, created entirely new behaviour around shopping. A 2018 study found that 9% of UK consumers buy clothes to post on social media, only to return them straight after. Almost one in five 35-to 44-year-olds admit to doing it, and men, apparently, do it more than women.

However, when clothes are returned, they’re likely to be thrown away rather than resold. This is because processing returns is time-consuming and costly. Buttons need to be rebuttoned, labels need to be reattached, products need refolding and rebagging, and then they must be put back   into the system for sale. So it is clearly a cheaper and easier solution for businesses to send the whole lot to landfills (垃圾填埋场). It’s really a great waste of resources, not to mention an insult (冒 犯) to the skilled people who put their time into making each product, but it’s the reality of modern fashion.

When clothes don’t become rubbish, there’s still the impact of the extra shipping to consider, as well as the packaging waste. About 180bn plastic bags are produced every year to store, protect and transport clothes, and less than 15% of them are collected for recycling.

The impact of returns is a fairly well-kept secret, likely to keep people shopping guilt-free (没有负罪感地). But even if it was widely known, it wouldn’t guarantee people would stop treating returns thoughtlessly. After all, other environmental and human impacts of fast fashion are out there for all to see and yet the industry continues to thrive.

Hopefully, charging for returns is expected to change people’s behavior. Without free returns on the table, shoppers may think twice about buying 10 items when they know they’ll only keep five or buying clothes purely for social media content. And with the arrival of return charges, the clothes we already have might also start to look a little more appealing.

1. Why do retailers tend to throw away returned clothes?

A．To keep up with the latest fashion.	B．To avoid a huge waste of resources.
C．To let the skilled people feel honored.	D．To save the trouble of processing returns.

2. What does the author think people will do if they know the impacts of returns?

A．They will feel guilty about shopping.	B．They will continue their shopping behavior.
C．They will consider their shopping carefully.	D．They will keep their shopping behavior secret.

3. What does the author say about the move to charge for returns?

A．It puts great pressure on customers.	B．It can influence social media content.
C．It can do little to help reduce returns.	D．It will turn out to be an effective measure.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．It is necessary to charge shoppers for returns.	B．It is difficult to control the number of returns.
C．Many retailers are struggling to process returns.	D．People have different opinions on the end of free returns.

8 . March 12 was my last typical day in the classroom before COVID-19 changed everything. When my district closed the following day, I assumed, as many did, that this was a temporary move. However, the closure did not end as quickly as we expected. As the closure continued, while I was glad that none of my students was infected with the virus, I began to worry that the growth of reading ability my first-graders and I worked so hard for would gradually disappear.

It is reported that only one-third of students in the US achieved reading proficiency at grade level in 2019. As the years go by, the gaps become larger, and students who are reading below grade level seldom catch up with their peers. These students often encounter significant social and emotional challenges as they become increasingly aware of their differences from their classmates. And school closures caused by COVID-19 have made the situation even worse.

So when my district reopened in the fall, we were faced with difficult decisions about how to best deliver instruction. At our school, all students have to take a series of short screening tests to assess reading ability at the beginning of the school year. Considering that one size cannot fit all, I adjusted my teaching plans in time throughout the year. If a student received a low score in a particular area, I’d conduct a follow-up assessment to learn about the real cause of the difficulty.

I also conducted exercises to help students practice reading skills. Using other online platforms, I created interactive

lessons with other teachers, in which students practiced reading and writing specific words, reading full sentences and answering corresponding comprehension questions. The platforms enabled us to see all students’ screens at once and gauge which students were on target and needed additional support. They also provided information for planning subsequent lessons.

As a teacher, I know I cannot make all children reach proficiency in literacy (读写能力) myself, but I believe what I am doing can really make a difference to their lives, and I will go on with it.

1. What did the author worry about during the closure?

A．The health condition of her students.

B．The decline in her enthusiasm for work.

C．The uncertainty about the duration of the closure.

D．The influence of closure on students’ reading ability.

2. What did the author do to help her students improve their reading ability?

A．She motivated students to analyze their own problems.

B．She adapted teaching strategies to suit her students’ needs.

C．She used technology to make reading exercises more interesting.

D．She instructed students to take screening tests before each class.

3. What does the underlined word “gauge” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Judge.

B．Explain.

C．Control.

D．Change.

4. Which of the following words can best describe the author?

A．Strict and wise.	B．Responsible and flexible.
C．Sensitive and optimistic.	D．Humorous and considerate.

9 . Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin was working in his garden in Gaza when he noticed that some of the new trees he’d planted on his land did not root properly. Curious about what might be causing the issue, al-Nabahin asked his son to help him start digging.

His son’s ax (斧子) struck something hard. When the two men began to clear away the dirt, they discovered an item they did not recognize. A little Internet searching provided the answer to their mystery: They’d come across a Byzantine-era floor mosaic (拜占庭时期马赛克地画) featuring birds and other animals.

This happened six months ago. Now, archaeologists (考古学家) are hard at work studying the flooring to learn more about its secrets and civilization values.

The mosaic features 17 images of birds and other animals presented in bright colors. Archaeologists believe artists created the flooring sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries, though they don’t know whether the mosaic had religious (宗教的) origins. In total, the land covering the entire mosaic is about 500 square meters, and the mosaic itself measures about 23 square meters. Some parts of the mosaic appear to be damaged, likely from the roots of an old tree.

“These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the vivid representation and the complexity of the pattern,” says René Elter, an archaeologist in Jerusalem. “Never have mosaic floors of this precision in the patterns and richness of the colors been discovered in the Gaza Strip.”

The Gaza Strip, which is located between Israel and Egypt and was a busy trade route throughout history, is home to many ancient civilizations. The farmer and his son discovered the mosaic about a kilometer from the border with Israel. Archaeologists and other experts are concerned about the mosaic’s future because of the ongoing conflict there and a lack of funding for historical protection.

1. What led Salman al-Nabahin to the unexpected discovery?

A．His son’s constant digging work.	B．His decision to remove some new trees.
C．The improper growth of some new trees.	D．The appearance of some birds and other animals.

2. What can we learn about the mosaic?

A．Its origin has something to do with religion.	B．The time of its creation can be figured out.
C．It has been seriously damaged by digging work.	D．It reflects relationships between humans and animals.

3. What do René Elter’s words in the last but one paragraph show?

A．The history of the mosaic floors.	B．The great value of the mosaic floors.
C．The secrets hidden in the mosaic floors.	D．The difficulty in creating the mosaic floors.

4. What is some experts’ concern about the mosaic?

A．It may not be well -protected.	B．It may be too large to carry.
C．It may cause regional conflicts.	D．It may lose its historical meaning