1 . My name is Nasilele and I am from Zambia. I’ve been working as a UN Peacekeeper in the Central African Republic for the past two years. Before this, I was a pilot in my country’s army and I enjoyed my work a lot. However, Zambia is a very peaceful country and I was aware that there are other countries in Africa, where there has been a lot of violent conflicts. I felt it was my duty to help innocent people who are caught in the middle of these conflicts, so I signed up with the United Nations.
The Central African Republic is a relatively small country of five million people. Since it got independence from France in the 1950s, there have been many violent conflicts between the government and rebels (反叛者) who do not want the leaders in power. Often the army has been in conflict with leaders, which has led to many problems. In 2012, a civil war began. Conflicts between different religions and ethnic groups (种族) were the main causes. Due to this civil war, over one million people were forced to flee their homes and there were many deaths and injuries. In response to this, in 2014, the United Nations established a peacekeeping mission in the country.
My fellow peacekeepers are from many different countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Rwanda and others. This is a good thing as it ensures that there are many different cultures and backgrounds all working towards the same goals. Our roles vary with many different tasks from one day to the next. We monitor cities and villages to ensure that no conflict is occurring, help bring supplies of food and medicine to those who need it and write reports on everything we do and see. Our role never involves violence against others. We are a barrier that can keep people in conflict apart.
As a woman, I am particularly valued by the United Nations Peacekeepers as I can act as a role model for many women and girls in the country. When they see my role and how others respect me, I hope they feel that they also deserve to be respected and treated equally to men.
My life is not glamorous (富有魅力的) in any way! It’s long hours in a very tough environment. I have basic accommodation with just a bed in a shared room and a small kitchen and bathroom. Of course, being away from my family and friends is also very hard at times. However, I know that the Central African Republic is safer because of the UN Peacekeepers, and that makes it all worthwhile.
1. What motivated the author to be a peacekeeper?| A．Helping ordinary people in ethnic conflicts. |
| B．Being a pilot in the United Nations Army. |
| C．Living in the Central African Republic. |
| D．Preventing racial conflicts. |
| A．It did not gain independence until the mid-19th century. |
| B．The mission of the peacekeeping force there is to end the civil war. |
| C．The UN has sent peacekeepers to the country since its independence. |
| D．More than one in five people were made homeless during the civil war. |
| A．Peacekeeping forces must ensure local cultural diversity (多样性). |
| B．Peacekeepers have many different jobs to do every day. |
| C．Peacekeepers are not required to record their daily work. |
| D．The job of the peacekeepers is to monitor the behavior of the local people. |
| A．Because she is a unique woman. |
| B．Because women are desperately needed in peacekeeping forces. |
| C．Because she can be a role model for local women. |
| D．Because she’s a respectable woman. |
| A．Puzzled. | B．Interesting. | C．Frightened. | D．Helpful. |
2 . Foxes in southern England have apparently developed a taste for automobiles. Instead of wanting to drive them, though, they’re eating vital components. The damage hasn’t just cost U.K. drivers thousands in repair bills. The foxes have also caused dangerous accidents when people have taken to the roads without realizing their brakes no longer work.
Already in 2009, police in the southern county of Kent warned drivers to check their cars’ wires and test their brakes before driving. Indeed, for some reason, the foxes seem to find brake lines particularly attractive. With their cars’ cables broken, drivers have had to get their vehicles fixed. That has resulted in occasionally sky-high bills. The damage has also resulted in accidents. Fortunately, we didn’t find any casualties linked to the foxes, but faulty brakes and cables connected to the animals have been behind crashes and stranded (抛锚) vehicles.
To stop the greedy beasts, motorists have tried all manners of techniques. Yet, the most effective way to keep the foxes away they’ve discovered is wrapping their cars in chicken wire. It’s a trouble to constantly have to take the wire off and put it back on, not to mention the potential scrapes and scratches on the paint. But suppose it’s better than having to get your brake lines repaired — again.
But why are the foxes so crazy about biting car cables? Nobody can say for sure, but it’s most likely a sum of multiple causes. First of all, the insulation materials (绝缘材料) on car cables in the U.K. were changed from petroleum-based materials to soy-derived substances some 15 years ago. Rodents (啮齿动物), from rats to squirrels, have been attracted to the vegetable-based coatings and it could be that foxes find them delicious as well. Another reason probably lies in England’s disappearing woodlands. With fewer wild places left, the foxes are increasingly driven towards cities to find food. And then there’s the issue of people feeding them.
“Foolish people have been feeding foxes and treating them as pets,” said animal psychologist Dr. Roger Mugford. “They normally avoid humans and anything’s been touched by humans but if they are getting food given to them, that’s changed.” If some drivers have been feeding foxes. they’ve brought this problem on themselves. Unfortunately, those same foxes will then proceed to haunt the entire neighborhood
1. What have the foxes in southern England done?| A．They have developed a good taste. |
| B．They have eaten drivers’ repair bills. |
| C．They have damaged some parts of the vehicles. |
| D．They have hit cars and caused some accidents. |
| A．The cost of each car repair is very high. |
| B．Police in Kent are helping drivers chase away foxes. |
| C．Foxes biting car cables have caused a number of rollover accidents and deaths. |
| D．Drivers in some areas were warned years ago about the damage caused by foxes. |
| A．It may cause damage to the car. |
| B．It may trap the drivers sometimes. |
| C．It’s easy to be removed and put back on. |
| D．It can be used to repair the brake lines. |
| A．Changes in car cable insulation materials. |
| B．The area of forestland continues to decrease. |
| C．Some people like to feed foxes |
| D．Foxes and rodents are similar in appearance. |
| A．Praising. | B．Supportive. | C．Grateful. | D．Opposed. |
Hi there, Aunt Joan!
How are you? Mum said you asked how I was doing, so let me tell you about my life here.
As you know, I’ve been in China for around a month now. I want to study in a local university, which is why I took those after-school Chinese classes. I decided on China because it’s a fast-developing country with trade links all over the world. Studying here could be useful in finding a good job in trade or business. What’s more, Chinese culture is really interesting, so choosing to come here was a no-brainer for me! Having said that, China isn’t like I thought it might be. I thought it would be quite old and traditional, but in many ways, the cities are just as modern as back home in Vancouver, only with lots more people! There’s so much more food to try, too, and it’s all delicious! Everywhere I go, I see restaurants and snack stalls — it seems to be a big part of their culture. Food here is very reasonably priced, so it’s great for my budget. The people I meet are all very welcoming towards me as a foreigner, and I even seem to be a point of interest! However, hardly anyone speaks English in my area, so it can be a bit overwhelming at times. But I guess that’s why I’m here — to learn.
Right now, I’m studying every day for my HSK exam (a Chinese language qualification). But I also get a chance to explore the city. I usually get up extra early each morning to enjoy a freshly made breakfast on the street, and then I often visit a park. There’s a lot of traditional culture still alive in China. The parks are full of people playing traditional instruments, playing Chinese chess, and even writing calligraphy on the ground with giant paintbrushes!
My long-term plan is to take a degree course here. But it all depends on my expenses, so I intend to find some work first. I’m staying in a hostel (招待所) dormitory right now, but I’ve put an ad online to find a friendly Chinese family for a home-stay. That way, my Chinese will improve much faster, especially my written Chinese, which I find the most difficult to grasp.
Well, that’s all for now. I hope you guys can visit China sometime!
Take care!
Jim
1. What is the author’s purpose in taking after-school classes?(no more than 6 words)2. Why did the author decide on China? Give two of the reasons.(no more than 18 words)
3. What does the underlined word mean in Paragraph 2?(1 word)
4. Why is Jim looking for a home-stay?(no more than 5 words)
5. What kind of person do you think the author is? Please explain.(no more than 20 words)
4 . Compared to most people with disabilities, Zhao Hongcheng is lucky.
Born in 1990, a wheelchair has been part of Zhao’s life since she was 1 year old due to the aftereffects of poliomyelitis(小儿麻痹症).However, it did not stop her from completing her college and graduate studies before becoming a white-collar worker in Shanghai. And now, as a video content creator who has over 84, 000 followers on the video-sharing platform Bilibili, Zhao wants to be a bridge between the disabled and the rest of society.
First attempt
“I made my first video in 2019,” Zhao says, adding that it was also the years he moved to Shanghai. “My original purpose was to find an emotional outlet. I always encountered inconvenience caused by my wheelchair when going out, which made me feel sad. However, I barely had any disabled friends, so I had no one to talk to. I felt quite lonely,” Zhao explains. In 2019, the rising popularity of short videos inspired Zhao.
Under the username Da Chengzi Hao Meimei on Bilibili, her first vlog about a trip to Guangzhou with friends was viewed more than 2, 000 times on the first day, which surprised Zhao. “This made me feel that there were many things worth sharing in my life, and it also gave me a sense of mission,” she explains. That first video has since been viewed over 48, 000times and her fourth video, displaying how she got to work in a wheelchair, made her even more popular.
Rising ambition
After her fourth video went viral, she continued to make short videos and, in 2021.became a full-time content creator on Bilibili. In her video about an accessibility bus tour in Shanghai, she put forward a piece of advice for such facilities. Fortunately, her proposal was adopted by the city and is currently being optimized. Zhao’s other videos, including a list of praise and criticism for various daily travel experiences in Shanghai, have also received wide attention.
“One of the great things about being a content creator is that I feel like I have the initiative of discourse-that is, (talking about)the real difficulties and pains that a disabled person faces,” Zhao says.
Long way to go
Zhao says education and employment are the two major hurdles for the disabled group around her. She explains that she has heard many stories about disabled people dropping out of school and that some students with good grades were rejected by their chosen universities or were persuaded to change majors. Beyond that, some people with minor disabilities, which may not affect their daily life at all, were being dismissed by companies, due to their physical examination reports reflecting their issue.
Zhao says she has developed a new perspective for her videos. “I hope to be a bridge between the wider society and the disabled. I want people to be able to truly experience the life of the disabled and to develop a greater understanding of the group,” she says.
Now Bilibili star uses her platform to promote greater understanding of the lives and needs of disabled people.
1. Why does the author say Zhao Hongcheng is lucky?| A．Because she recovered from her illness under the help of her doctor. |
| B．Because she won great acclaim and support from the disabled. |
| C．Because she successfully completed her college education and obtained a job. |
| D．Because her family and friends loved her very much when she was a child. |
| A．To find a way to express her emotion. | B．To fulfill her mission to assist the disabled. |
| C．To arrest people’s attention. | D．To obtain sympathy from society. |
| A．Putting forward proposal to offer financial support for the disabled. |
| B．Helping the disabled to live optimistically on their own. |
| C．Sharing the her stories from the perspective of a disabled person. |
| D．Offering advice to the disabled to tackle their problems in their daily life. |
| A．Lack of education and job opportunities. |
| B．In different attitude and unfair treatment from family. |
| C．Physical and mental sufferings caused by disabilities. |
| D．External criticism and internal loneliness. |
| A．A disabled person. | B．A positive influencer. |
| C．A video content creator. | D．A storyteller. |
5 . As a child, I never considered myself an athlete at all as I was very uncoordinated (不协调的). However, I did love to run because I felt as if I was flying but this all changed two years ago when I suffered a knee injury. I was bedridden for two weeks and I had a difficult time moving even short distances. I literally cried myself on my way to the car for a few days.
When therapy wasn’t working well for me, I signed up for a hot yoga class for girls, Bikram Yoga to be exact. Starting a yoga practice was truly a godsend because it helped me gain strength in my knees but, most importantly, yoga helped me attain a more peaceful state of mind, body and spirit.
Since each class was heated to 105°F, every time I stepped foot in the yoga studio, I’d feel a surge (涌起) of negative thoughts come upon me like a big ocean wave. Some of these thoughts were, in the beginning of my practice, so strong that I walked out of the class several times. However, as the months passed by, I noticed that when I didn’t get swayed away by my negative thoughts, I could stay in the hot room for longer.
After 3-4 months of practicing hot yoga, my arms and legs were beginning to get definition. I also woke up with so much more energy than I had before starting my yoga practice and I gradually started shedding the pounds from my body. Yoga literally made me feel as if I’d taken a shot of energy drink and just gave me that burst that helped my knees heal and made my overall health better.
As I saw some of my classmates do poses that looked appealing to me, I started to think maybe I could do them too. Therefore, yoga helped show me that I have no real limitations physically unless I set those limitations myself through eating junk and thinking in negative limiting terms.
Also, practicing yoga in front of a mirror helped me connect with myself and practicing with a group of people really helped me to feel a greater sense of connection with humanity whereas before I didn’t. Overall, this yoga practice has helped me to see I’m part of a bigger picture in life!
1. What once depressed the author terribly?| A．Her inability to walk. |
| B．Her being uncoordinated. |
| C．Her failure to find her car. |
| D．Her serious physical disease. |
| A．She got emotionally smarter. |
| B．She felt limited but hopeful. |
| C．She became mentally stronger. |
| D．She accepted herself as she was. |
| A．The temperature was difficult to control in yoga class. |
| B．She couldn’t bear the pain the knee injury brought. |
| C．She was greatly influenced by negative thoughts. |
| D．Lack of confidence prevented the author doing yoga. |
| A．She did better than her classmates at school. |
| B．Her physical state has acquired a new outlook. |
| C．She has developed many healthy eating habits. |
| D．Her social circle was widened in the yoga classes. |
| A．To call on readers to sign up for yoga courses. |
| B．To present the benefits of practicing yoga regularly. |
| C．To show readers the necessary skills needed to do yoga. |
| D．To share with readers her experience in taking yoga classes. |
6 . Why did humans evolve to walk upright? Perhaps because it’s just plain easier. Make that “energetically less costly,” in science-speak.
Bipedalism — walking on two feet — is one of the defining characteristics of being human, and scientists have debated for years how it came about. In the latest attempt to find an explanation, researchers trained five chimpanzees to walk on treadmill while wearing masks that allowed measurement of their oxygen consumption. The chimps were measured both while walking upright and while moving on their legs and knuckles. That measurement of the energy needed to move round was compared with similar tests on humans and the results are published in this week’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It turns out that humans walking on two legs use only one quarter of the energy that chimpanzees use while knuckle-walking on four limbs. And the chimps, on average, use as much energy using two legs as they did when they used all four limbs.
However, there were differences among chimpanzees in how much energy they used, and this difference corresponded to their different gaits and anatomy. One of the chimps used less energy on two legs, one used about the same and the others used more, said David Raichlen, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona.
“What we were surprised at was the variation,” he said in telephone interview. “That was pretty exciting, because when you talk about how evolution works, variation is the bottom line, without variation there is no evolution.”
Walking, on two legs freed our arms, opening the door to manipulating the world, Raichlen said. “We think about the evolution of bipedalism as one of first events that led hominids down the path to being human.”
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the L. S. B. Leakey Foundation.
1. The underlined word “Bipedalism” means .| A．moving sideways | B．walking upright |
| C．walking on four legs | D．running fast |
| A．Masks protect chimpanzees from any harm. |
| B．Masks help chimpanzees walk steadily. |
| C．There was heavy smoke in the room. |
| D．Masks helped to measure how much oxygen chimpanzees consumed. |
| A．have no idea on how human walking on two legs came about |
| B．have had different views on why chimpanzees walk on four legs |
| C．have had different views on how human walking on two legs came about |
| D．have had similar views on how human walking on two legs came about |
| A．How did chimpanzees save energy? | B．Why didn’t chimpanzees walk on two legs? |
| C．David Raichlen researched into chimpanzees. | D．Different chimpanzees consume different energy. |
| A．conserve energy | B．differ from other animals |
| C．free their brains | D．strengthen their legs |
7 . If you want to learn something new in your spare time, there are some choices for you.
AR Workshop
615-258-5569 | arworkshop.com/nashville
AR Workshop is a DIY studio that offers hands-on classes for decorating home from raw materials. Join an instructor-led workshop where you can make wood signs, framed signs, round signs, centerpiece boxes and more! AR Workshop will help you take your home decoration to the next level and have fun while creating it!
Artistic Elements Dance
615- 472-9471 | artisticelementsdance.com
Artistic Elements’ aim is to develop dancers with excellent, professional technique, humble character and team spirit. We offer Beginner to Pre-Professional Level Classes to dancers from 18 months to adults in the styles of ballet, jazz, musical theatre, hip hop and more! Our experienced teachers all well-trained are willing to share the love of dance with each student who walks through our doors and ensure our dancers train safely in a positive environment. In addition to group classes, Artistic Elements offers private lessons, open master classes and birthday parties.
Melody Music Studios
615-510-3798| melodymusicstudios.com| musiclessonsnashvilletn. asp Melody Music Studios offers exciting music and voice lessons, in the student’s home or the instructor’s personal studio. We offer all styles, traditional and/or by ear, in a fun and positive environment. There’s a grace period (宽限期) of three business days to cancel after the trial lesson (试课), and if you’re not satisfied, it’s FREE! So you have nothing to lose to sign up today!
My Gym of Brentwoo
615-371-5437| mygym.com/brentwood
My Gym is the expert in children’s fitness. It has good programs and facilities designed to help children 6 weeks through 13 years of age develop physically and mentally. Our structured, age-appropriate, weekly classes include music dance, games, special rides, gymnastics, sports and more. Children have loads of fun as they gain strength, balance, coordination and flexibility while developing social skills and confidence.
1. If Mary wants to make her new home more beautiful, which one suits her best?| A．Melody Music Studios. | B．My Gym of Brentwood. |
| C．AR Workshop. | D．Artistic Elements Dance. |
| A．It provides various courses for dancers of all ages. |
| B．Its teachers can give professional training to learners. |
| C．It provides summer and winter camps for dance lovers. |
| D．It only focuses on developing dancers’ professional dancing skills. |
| A．must pay for it |
| B．must take the courses |
| C．can call off the class at any time free |
| D．have right to decide whether to continue |
| A．Tom, a 6-month old boy, was born with a weak heart. |
| B．Mark, a 12-year-old student, wants to get stronger. |
| C．Tony, a 31-year-old teacher, likes to build up his body. |
| D．John, a 65-year-old retired man, wants to kill his spare time. |
| A．an advertisement | B．an art show review |
| C．an exhibition guide | D．a school announcement |
8 . When I was young, a friend and I came up with a “big” plan to make reading easy. The idea was to boil down great books to a sentence each. “Moby-Dick” by American writer Herman Melville, for instance, was reduced to: “A whale of a tale about the one that got away.” As it turned out, the joke was on us. How could a single sentence convey the essence (精髓) of a masterpiece with over five hundred pages?
Blinkist, a website and an app, now summarizes nonfiction titles in the form of quick takes labeled “blinks.” The end result is more than one sentence, but not by much. Sarah Bakewell’s “At the Existentialist Café” is broken into 11 screens of information; Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” fills 13.
Blinkist has been around since 2012. It calls its summaries “15-minute discoveries” to indicate how long it takes to read a Blinkist summary. “Almost none of us,” the editors assure us, “have the time to read everything we’d like to read.” Well, yes, of course, “So many books, so little time,” declares a poster I once bought at a book market. But I judge the quality of someone’s library by the books he or she has yet to read.
That’s because a book is something we ought to live with, rather than speed through and categorize. It offers an experience as real as any other. The point of reading a book is not accumulating information, or at least not that alone. The most essential aspect is the communication between writer and reader. The idea behind Blinkist, however, is the opposite: Reading can be, should be, measured by the efficient uptake (吸收) of key ideas. No, no, no. What’s best about reading books is its inefficiency.
When reading a book, we need to dive in, let it take over us, demand something of us, teach us what it can. Blinkist is instead a service that changes books for people who don’t, in fact, want to read. A 15-minute summary misses the point of reading; speed-reading with the app isn’t reading at all.
1. What does the underlined part “the joke was on us” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．We were actually joking. | B．We were laughed at by others. |
| C．We were underestimating ourselves. | D．We were just embarrassing ourselves. |
| A．What Blinkist is. | B．Why Blinkist is popular. |
| C．How to use Blinkist. | D．Where you can use Blinkist. |
| A．There are few new books of quality. | B．Many books are hard to understand. |
| C．People do not have enough time to read. | D．People do not like reading as much as before. |
| A．Obtaining key ideas efficiently. | B．Further confirming our beliefs. |
| C．Accumulating in formation quickly. | D．Deeply involving ourselves in books. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative | C．Uncaring. | D．Tolerant. |
9 . Ojok Okello’s dream to build a city in his father’s home village began with a small house. When he set foot there in Northern Uganda for the first time in 2013, he wanted to build a small mud brick house where he could spend time with his extended family in Okere. But the poverty of his dad’s village nagged at him.
So in 2018 he returned. By that time, he’d earned a master’s degree in rural development, where he studied up on various kinds of aid projects. International projects often didn’t work in places like Northern Uganda, he’d begun to realize, because they saw locals as recipients, not cooperators. So when he decided to help rebuild Okere, he believed it had to be done differently.
He began asking locals what their most pressing challenges were. At the time, the nearest school was 2.5 miles away, and had few teachers and books.
So Mr. Okello took out his savings and in 2019 began building a small kindergarten. Later, he began another program to help adults learn to read and write. This fall, after Okere residents said they needed a way to make money, Mr. Okello began to experiment with processing small nuts, which residents mostly women—collect and turn into butter for cooking and cosmetics.
But his project has run into some of the same challenges as other development projects in the region. It needs money. To date, almost all of the project has been funded by Mr. Okello’s savings. He’s open to donor support, as long as donors are willing to back what the community says it needs rather than impose their own agenda. And so far, he’s had some donors. But the question of funding remains a lasting one. Mr. Okello says he plans to keep using his own money until he has none left to give. “New York City was built by someone. Okere will also be built.” he says. “The most important thing is that its foundation has already been laid.”
1. What do the underlined words “nagged at” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Encouraged. | B．Transformed. | C．Honored. | D．Worried. |
| A．They lacked money. | B．They couldn’t find cooperators. |
| C．They didn’t get locals involved. | D．They lacked experts in rural development. |
| A．He met their educational needs. |
| B．He sponsored their schoolchildren. |
| C．He taught at the local kindergarten. |
| D．He found jobs for women in a cosmetic factory. |
| A．It’s short of money. |
| B．It is not welcomed by the locals. |
| C．There are not enough participants in it. |
| D．It doesn’t change the poverty of the village. |
| A．Help lay the foundation for Okere. |
| B．Solve real problems of the community. |
| C．Put forward their own construction plans. |
| D．Launch as many development projects as possible. |
10 . The discovery of the Komodo Dragons is one of the most important zoological (动物学的) surprises of the 20th century. Before 1912 it was completely unknown and it was believed that there were no more large lizards (蜥蜴) in the world. Then, in that year, a party of fishermen stopped at an almost completely-unknown small island in a group of islands. The fishermen brought back stories of a huge, prehistoric animal living there. The island’s name was Komodo. The largest of these lizards was over ten feet from nose to tail. Komodo dragons have also been discovered on several neighboring islands.
Are the dragons dangerous to humans? Yes. A Swiss tourist who sat down to have a rest while the other people of his tour group went ahead was attacked and eaten by a dragon. All that was left was a piece of his camera. A number of other people have been killed by dragon attacks over the years. The dragons can eat up to 80 percent of their own weight in a single meal. Their attack way is to wait behind trees, then rush forward and give a single large bite to the person or other animal. Most Komodo dragons prefer wild boar (野猪) or deer as their meals, but they will try to attack and get almost every other animal they can find, including other dragons. The largest dragons weigh around 150 kilos. Though the Komodo dragons can see well, they do most of their hunting based on smell. A dragon can recognize a certain smell from several miles when the wind is right. They will hunt when they have to, and these large lizards are more than happy to get an already dead animal when they come across one.
1. How was the Komodo dragon discovered?| A．Scientists had been looking for it and found it |
| B．It was found by chance by some fishermen. |
| C．Some fishermen looked for it on an island. |
| D．It was discovered by some tourists. |
| A．only on Komodo | B．on several islands near Komodo Island |
| C．on many islands in the world | D．on all the islands near Komodo Island |
| A．when people attack them, they will fight back |
| B．humans are their favourite food |
| C．they will attack and eat humans if they find them |
| D．they are much bigger than people |
| A．deer | B．humans | C．trees | D．Komodo dragons |
| A．always hunt by smelling |
| B．never hunt by looking with their eyes |
| C．can always smell something several miles away |
| D．hunt with both their noses and eyes |
