1 . Binge-watching (刷剧) is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in a row. With developments in the speed and connectivity of the Internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows stream (流播) directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, binge-watching has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes, many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like” suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back (一集接一集地), almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and 25% have neglected their household chores (家务活). Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections — binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said, “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist (抗拒) watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless number of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning, then it becomes a problem. So, what’s the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?| A．By giving a definition. | B．By telling a story. |
| C．By listing some examples. | D．By analyzing the cause and effect. |
| A．For convenience. | B．At the same time. |
| C．In detail. | D．Free of charge. |
| A．people can’t control their feelings | B．people can’t resist the temptation of Bingeing |
| C．people have no patience to do work | D．people are addicted to waiting for a new episode |
| A．To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
| B．To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
| C．To learn life lessons from the episodes. |
| D．To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
2 . Are you happy with your appearance?
“Almost all the girls with single-fold eyelids (单眼皮) in our class have had double eyelid operations,” Zeng, a Senior 2 student from Chengdu, told Xinhua. Zeng had the same surgery done this summer.
From popular photo-editing apps to plastic surgery (整形手术), it seems that large eyes, pale skin and a skinny body are the only standard for beauty these days. But can following this standard really make us feel good about ourselves?
“Many teenagers are upset about their appearance because they believe in unrealistic standards of beauty,” experts say.
However, trying to live up to strict standards can make us feel anxious. What troubles us is not just our “imperfect” looks, but the fact that we criticize ourselves too much.
| A．Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. |
| B．Body image anxiety is common among teenagers. |
| C．Guys care just as much as girls do about their body image. |
| D．Some teenagers might feel negative about their appearance. |
| E．It’s common for teenagers to feel confident about their appearance. |
| F．She and many of her classmates believe bigger eyes look more beautiful. |
| G．Perfect faces and bodies are everywhere in advertising, TV shows and social media. |
3 . A famous magazine, Amusement Today, does a survey among park lovers every year both in the US and overseas, based on which, “Top 5 List of the Best Amusement Parks in the World” has come out as follows:
Disneyland, California
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California, the US. More than 515 million guests have traveled to this American landmark from around the world since the park first opened to guests on July 17, 1955. The park consists of many world-famous sections, such as Main Street, Adventure land, New Orleans Square, and so on.
Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida
Magic Kingdom is a theme park within the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando opened on October 1, 1971. It is the most famous theme park in Florida. The park’s design and attractions don’t make much difference from Disneyland Park in Anaheim.
EPCOT, Disney World, Florida
EPCOT is the second theme park built at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The park opened on October 1, 1982, and was named EPCOT Center from 1982 to 1993. It was the largest Disney theme park in the world until 1998, when Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened.
DisneyMGM Studios, Florida
MGM’s streets are the home for some great moviethemed attractions with a history of less than 30 years. With the addition of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock and Roller Coaster, the park is now home to Disney World’s most thrilling rides.
Universal Studios, Florida
Go behind the scenes, beyond the screen and jump right into the action of your favorite movies at Universal Studios, the number one movie and TV theme park in the world.
1. Which of the following theme parks have similar attractions?| A．Disneyland & Magic Kingdom. |
| B．Disneyland & Universal Studios. |
| C．EPCOT & DisneyMGM Studios. |
| D．Magic Kingdom & Universal Studios. |
| A．Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida. |
| B．DisneyMGM Studios, Florida. |
| C．EPCOT, Disney World, Florida. |
| D．Disneyland, California. |
| A．To attract tourists to these theme parks. |
| B．To increase the sales of Amusement Today. |
| C．To introduce world’s best amusement parks. |
| D．To compare attractions in different theme parks. |
4 . When you step into a new environment, you must have a strong wish to fit in. Fitting in means making more friends, having more influence on others and getting more chances to live a happier life.
Be confident. Confidence attracts most people. Everyone is special and there is only one person like you in this world. Spend some time thinking about your strong points.
Be kind to everyone. Kindness is the bridge to your own happiness. When people notice your kindness, they will return it one day. Always give more than you receive, and think more of others than of yourself.
Do smile to everyone every day. It makes both you and others feel happy.
If you follow what is mentioned above, you will be accepted by people around you. As a result, you will fit in very well and enjoy your new life.
| A．Be active in group activities. |
| B．A pleasant smile costs the least and does the most. |
| C．Here is some advice that can help you. |
| D．If so, you will be able to build up confidence step by step. |
| E．A person who cares for others is popular everywhere. |
| F．However, everybody needs friends. |
| G．Even so, it often leaves one to wonder if we fit in well. |
5 . Quietly sitting there reading, I found myself suddenly listening to the train guard’s announcements (通知). Train travelers will surely agree that when the guard (列车长) makes an announcement, whether it’s the recorded message or the guard’s message, few people listen to it, because it’s often quite dull or hard to understand. This one was different. I noticed that other passengers appeared to be listening, too. Not only that, everyone was smiling!
Why was so much attention being paid to this message? As best I can recall the guard said something along these lines, “Good Morning Ladies, Gentlemen and Children, this is the 7: 35 a.m. from Penrith to Central and you’ll be pleased to know that we are right on time. And what a lovely morning it is in Sydney today. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and all’s right with the world. I trust you have a great day wherever you’re going. Thanks for catching my train this morning and I hope to see you again soon.”
Quite a few people (obviously previous strangers) started talking to one another about the guards excellent message and how good it had made everyone feel. I started thinking about this, and then I found the young guard and said “Were you the guard on the 7: 35 a.m. from Penrith?” The guard seemed a bit stunned at first, replying, “Yes, yes.” “Well, I really appreciate your announcement. Thank you for your extremely good message, which gave me and the other passengers such a good start to the day. Please keep doing it.” I said.
There are two messages for me in what happened that day. Firstly, when people are happy in their work, it shows in what they do and say. Secondly, the story attaches much importance to the benefits that accumulate (积累) from thanking people for something they’ve done, particularly when it’s not expected. Can you imagine the conversation that guard would have when he got home?
1. Why do few train travelers listen to the announcements?| A．The messages are unattractive. |
| B．The guard’s voice is not clear. |
| C．They usually feel sleepy. |
| D．They are absorbed in books. |
| A．Patient. | B．Frightened. |
| C．Surprised. | D．Excited. |
| A．The beautiful weather. | B．The recorded message. |
| C．The train from Penrith. | D．The unexpected appreciation. |
| A．An Intelligent Guard. |
| B．A Boring Train Story. |
| C．A Different Train Announcement. |
| D．A Lovely Morning in Sydney. |
6 . A five-year-old dog named Kelsey has been praised as a hero for helping to save the life of her owner who slipped in the snow and broke his neck.
The man, Bob, was alone when he left his farmhouse on New Year’s Eve to collect firewood.Expecting a journey of only several meters, Bob was wearing just long johns (衬裤), a shirt and slippers when he went outside, although the temperature was around －4℃.
After the accident, he was unable to move in the snow. Fortunately, Kelsey came to his assistance.
“I was shouting for help, but my nearest neighbor is about 400 meters away, and it was 10:30 p. m.,” Bob explained. “By the next morning, my voice was gone and I couldn’t yell for help, but Kelsey didn’t stop barking.”
Kelsey’s companion kept him warm by lying on top of him. She licked his face and hands to keep him awake. “Kelsey kept barking but never left my side,” Bob recalled. “I knew I couldn’t give up and that it was my choice to stay alive.”
Bob spent 20 hours in the freezing cold. When he finally lost consciousness, his dog kept barking. Finally, hearing the barking, Bob’s neighbor discovered him at 6:30 p. m. on New Year’s Day and called the emergency services at once. When Bob arrived in hospital, his body temperature was below 21℃. However, doctors were surprised to find that he didn’t have any frostbite (冻疮). They believed it was because of Kelsey’s determination to keep him warm. Dr. Chaim Colen, the doctor who treated Bob, said, “His dog really saved him.He was very fortunate.”
Bob said he was very grateful to both Dr. Colen and his Kelsey. “They saved my life. They are truly heroes!”
1. What happened to Bob on New Year’s Eve?| A．He left his dog alone in his farmhouse. |
| B．He was praised for saving a dog owner. |
| C．He broke his neck and couldn’t move. |
| D．He heard his neighbor’s shouting for help. |
| A．To keep warm. |
| B．To stay alive. |
| C．To keep Bob awake. |
| D．To seek help from others. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Fortunate. |
| C．Grateful. | D．Friendly. |
| A．A Neckbreaking Accident |
| B．The Magic Night |
| C．Warmth on a Winter’s Night |
| D．Determination to Keep Alive |
7 . Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP，标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”. However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents (口音).
Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country — from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands — are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life.
In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowestrated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.
However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in a RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.
Kong Seongjae, 25, is an Internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He’s now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he’s learned. “British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent,” he said.
So if you’re working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Non-Brits usually hold that all Britons speak in a RP accent. |
| B．Only “the Queen’s English” is accepted in the UK. |
| C．Foreign visitors are disappointed at their on spoken English. |
| D．Any Received Pronunciation around the world is also called “the Queen’s English”. |
| A．Favored by foreign visitors to the UK. | B．Closest to the RP accent. |
| C．Smart and easy to understand. | D．Spoken by people of lower class. |
| A．Speaking in a RP accent. | B．Speaking in regional accents. |
| C．Speaking the Brummie accent. | D．Speaking like Harry Potter. |
| A．A study about the most intelligent accent in Britain. |
| B．A comparison between different British accents. |
| C．How much British people value the RP accent. |
| D．The influence of regional accents on people’s lives. |
8 . What a day! I started my new school this morning and had the best time. I made lots of new friends and really liked my teachers. I was nervous the night before, but I had no reason to be. Everyone was so friendly and polite. They made me feel at ease. It was like I’d been at the school for a hundred years!
The day started very early at 7:00 am. I had my breakfast downstairs with my mom. She could tell that I was very nervous. Mom kept asking me what was wrong. She told me I had nothing to worry about and that everyone was going to love me. If they didn’t love me, mom said to have a good talk with them. I couldn’t stop laughing.
My mom dropped me off at the school gate about five minutes before the bell rang. A little blonde girl got dropped off at the same time and started waving (招手) at me. She ran over and told me her name was Abigail. She was very nice and we became close straight away. We spent all morning together and began to talk to another girl called Stacey. The three of us sat together in class all day and we even made our way home together! It went so quickly. Our teacher told us that tomorrow we would really start learning and developing new skills.
I cannot wait until tomorrow and feel as though I am really going to enjoy my time at my new school. I only hope that my new friends feel the same way, too.
1. How did the author feel the night before her new school?| A．Tired. | B．Excited. | C．Happy. | D．Worried. |
| A．Clear. | B．Funny. | C．Reasonable. | D．Excellent. |
| A．She met many nice people. | B．She had a hurried breakfast. |
| C．She learned some new skills. | D．She arrived at school very early. |
| A．She disliked Stacey. | B．She was shy and quiet. |
| C．She got on well with the author. | D．She was an old friend of the author. |
9 . How to Make Friends at a New School
Starting with a new school can be difficult. Everything seems to be different, and you don’t even know where to go for your own classes.
Remember to be nice to the people you meet at your new school. If you think that you will say something that may make them feel sad, do not say anything and just nod your head if they talk to you. Also, remember to be as helpful as possible!
Believe in yourselfA smile goes a long way. When you walk in the halls, don’t keep your eyes on the floor. Raise your head and make eye contact with other people.
You like it when people use your name, and so do other people.
| A．Be friendly to others. |
| B．Making new friends can be hard, too. |
| C．Join after-school activities like |
| D．Never change what you are to try and fit in. |
| E．If you see someone you know, smile or say “Hi”. |
| F．People may become angry if you just begin by saying ”Hey“ each time. |
| G．Don ‘t sit at the back of the classroom where other people don’t notice you! |
10 . Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website Book Crossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the site and register (登记) the books they own and would like to share. Book Crossing provides an identification number (识别码) to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of Book Crossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. Book Crossing combines both.”
Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E— mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.
Book Crossing is part of a trend (趋势) among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual (虚拟).The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty—five countries.
1. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph?| A．To explain what they are. | B．To introduce Book Crossing. |
| C．To stress the importance of reading. | D．To encourage readers to share their ideas. |
| A．An adventure. | B．A public place. |
| C．The book. | D．The identification number. |
| A．Keep it safe in his bookcase. | B．Mail it back to its owner. |
| C．Meet other readers to discuss it. | D．Pass it on to another reader. |
| A．Online Reading: A Virtual Tour | B．Electronic Books: A New Trend |
| C．A Book Group Brings Tradition Back | D．A Website Links People through Books |
