1 . The Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA)

The 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA)found that high school students from the Chinese mainland ranked No. 1 in all three core subjects.

PISA tests are conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD).     1    It provides the most comprehensive international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA allow educators and policymakers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries.

PISA 2018 tested around 600,000 15-year-old students in 79 countries and regions in reading, science and mathematics.     2    Singapore came in second place, slipping from its previous top position in 2015. In the next test, creative thinking will be included in the assessment for the first time.

The first PISA was carried out in 2000. China has participated in the study every time since 2009, when students from Shanghai were selected as representatives and came out as champions in all three categories.

China’s overall ranking dropped to No. 10 in 2015 when it was represented by Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong that year. The country placed 27th in reading, sixth in mathematics and tenth in science then.     3    

Responding to disputes that a few eastern regions cannot show the whole educational picture of the world’s most populous country, the OECD said that each of them is comparable in size to many Western countries, and have a combined population of over 180 million. It added that even 10% of the most disadvantaged students in these four provinces showed better reading skills than the most advantaged students in some countries, and better performance than the average student in OECD countries.

    4     Results from the latest well-being study showed that students are not happy at school. Only about two-thirds of students across OECD countries said they were satisfied with their lives, a 5%drop from 2015.

A．The main focus this time was on reading, with most students doing the test on computers.

B．In 2012, students from Shanghai took the tests again and finished top in all areas as well.

C．Besides academic assessments, PISA also asked performers about their well-being.

D．In the latest survey, students from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang managed to regain first place in all three categories.

E．The study examines what 15-year-olds know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know.

F．However, the survey also indicated that Chinese students spend the longest time—about 57 hours per week—on study. The average figure among OECD countries is 44.

2 . Most people who live in Seattle, Washington, love their city. There is a never-ending flow of fun things to do. But, people who live there do not always enjoy the day-after-day absence of sunshine during the winter months.

It is a documented fact that sunshine(or lack of it)plays a major role in how each of us greets the day. It also affects how we perform at school or work. When people are deprived of sunlight, they can develop seasonal affective disorder, which makes it difficult for them to feel happy or get things accomplished. No major city in the United States is more affected by the “sunshine factor” than Seattle.

To fight drizzle and fog during the winter months, Steve Murphy created a business that is very popular among the locals. The Indoor Sun Shoppe is more than a little ray of sunshine during the grey days of Seattle’s winter. His shop offers a huge source of plants and artificial lighting for people who are trying to overcome seasonal affective disorder.

Located in Fremont, Washington, The Indoor Sun Shoppe has an amazing collection of exotic(奇异的)plants and “good bugs” in a humid and well-lit environment. At The Indoor Sun Shoppe, you can spend up to $400 for artificial lighting that will chase away the winter blues. It will also keep your plants healthy. You can buy a dawn simulator(模拟器)that will gradually fill your room with a warming wake-up glow. What better way to greet a Seattle morning when real sunshine is nothing more than a happy thought!

Murphy’s in-home waterfalls are also popular with customers. But his plants and lights remain the “main course”. On a cloudy winter day, The Indoor Sun Shoppe is a bright spot in Seattle!

1. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Seattle is located in the state of Washington.

B．Citizens love Seattle for their colourful city lives.

C．Sunshine in Seattle is rare during the winter months.

D．People who live in Seattle are used to the sunshine absence.

2. Which of the following best defines the underlined term ”seasonal affective disorder“ in paragraph 2?

A．Mild temperature and a general feeling of illness caused by grey winter.

B．Exhaustion, depression and lack of energy caused by lack of sunlight.

C．Winter-related illness caused by the low temperature and little sunlight.

D．Post-holiday depression that comes when relatives leave after Christmas.

3. The Indoor Sun Shoppe_________.

A．attracts people from different parts of the whole country

B．aims to create a humid and well-lit environment during the winter months

C．brings only a little ray of sunshine during the grey days of Seattle’s winter

D．offers a variety of goods helping people overcome seasonal affective disorder

4. Which of the following best explains the use of a dawn simulator?

A．An alarm clock activated by the light rays of early morning.

B．A bringer of indoor artificial sunshine when there is none outside.

C．An automatic waterfall system helping make indoor plants healthy.

D．A better way to greet a Seattle morning with real warming sunshine.

3 . Many questions can be expected in advance and it’s wise to have some well-constructed answers that you can tailor more closely on the day. It’s sensible to have a number of key phrases to use. Remember to always try and make your answers positive.

Q1: Tell me about yourself. (The interviewer is really saying “I want to hear you talk.”)

A1: This is just to get things started, but it is a very common question. Write a script, and practice it so that it sounds natural. Spend a maximum of four minutes describing your qualifications, career history and your range of skills. Emphasize those skills that are relevant to the job on offer.

Q2: What have been your achievements to date? (The interviewer is saying “Are you an achiever?”)

A2: Again, this is a common question, so be prepared. Select an achievement that is experience-related and fairly recent. Identify skills you used in this achievement and say what the results were.

Q3: What do you like about your present job? (The interviewer is really trying to find out whether you will enjoy the things the new job has to offer.)

A3: This is a straightforward question. All you have to make sure is that your ‘likes’ correspond to the skills etc. required for the job on offer. Be positive, describe your job as interesting and diverse, but do not overdo it. After all, you are leaving?

Q4: What are your strengths? (The interviewer simply wants a straightforward answer as to what you are good at.)

A4: This is the one question that you are definitely going to get, so there is no excuse for being unprepared. Concentrate on discussing your main strengths. List three or four explanations of how they could benefit the employer. Strengths to consider include technical proficiency; ability to learn quickly; determination to succeed; positive attitude; your ability to relate to people and achieve a common goal. You may be asked to give examples of the above, so be prepared.

Q5: Tell me about the most difficult situation you’ve had to face and how you handled it.

(The interview is really trying to find out your definition of “difficult” and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving using your initiative.)

A5: This can be a trap! To avoid it, select a difficult work situation that was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.

1. The passage is mainly intended to ________.

A．highlight the importance of looking positive in an interview

B．give suggestions on how to answer interview questions

C．provide some sample answers to interview questions

D．illustrate how to look confident in an interview

2. When asked about what you think of your present job, you’d better ________.

A．talk about what you dislike about it

B．comment positively on your colleagues

C．relates it to the job you are applying for

D．describe how interesting it is as far as possible

3. If an interviewer wants to know whether you can solve a problem properly, what will he ask?

A．Tell me about yourself?

B．Tell me about your strengths?

C．What have been your achievements to date?

D．How did you handle the most difficult situation?

4 . The Underwater Photographer of the Year, which originated from 1965, is a yearly contest based in the United Kingdom. As you might expect, the focus is on photos taken underwater, whether in the ocean, in lakes or rivers, or even swimming pools.

The pictures are judged in several different categories. The contest in 2020 had over 5,500 entries from 70 different countries.

The grand prize winner was “Frozen Mobile Home” by French photographer Greg Lecoeur. The photo shows seals swimming around a small iceberg. To get the picture, Mr Lecoeur traveled to Antarctica in a small boat and spent time tracking the life around floating icebergs.

The photo “Last Dawn, Last Gasp” by Pasquale Vassallo of Italy won the award for Ocean Protection Photographer of the Year. Mr Vassallo said that he went diving early in the morning to take this picture of a tuna (金枪鱼) trapped as fishermen pulled their nets in.

Mr Vassallo also took “Octopus Training”, a picture that won in the category of “Behavior”. He says that when he came up after a dive, he noticed a soccer ball floating on the surface. When he went to check it out, he saw that there was an octopus hanging from the ball. Mr Vassallo says he doesn’t understand what the octopus was doing, but wonders if it was training for the World Cup.

Though Rooman Luc of Belgium didn’t win the “Portrait” category, his photo, titled “Angry Seahorse”, is quite striking. The close­up shot of a seahorse staring strictly into the camera was named runner­up (second place). He said he spent nearly an hour standing in knee­high water being bitten by mosquitos in order to get the picture.

The contest has many more amazing photos that can be viewed on the site, along with the stories behind them. There is even a book with all of the contents that can be downloaded for free.

1. Which isn’t suitable to enter the Underwater Photographer of the Year contest?

A．The crying dolphin.

B．Saving the elephant.

C．The dancing lemon shark.

D．Kissing the whale.

2. What is the photo “Last Dawn, Last Gasp” aimed to tell us?

A．A tuna is hard to shoot.

B．We should protect ocean animals.

C．Diving early in the morning is painful.

D．There are too many fishing nets in the sea.

3. What can we learn from the photo of “Octopus Training”?

A．The octopus is endangered.

B．Photography should be serious.

C．The photographer has a sense of humour.

D．The photographer concerns himself about the octopus.

4. In which section of a website can we read the text?

A．Arts.	B．Literature.
C．Documentary.	D．Education.

5 . What are pillows really stuffed with? Not physically, but symbolically? The question occurred to me with the photos in the news and social media from the 50 cities around the world that staged public celebrations for International Pillow Fight Day. Armed with nothing more than bring-our-own sacrificial cushions, strangers struck heavily each other in playful feather from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Warsaw to Washington DC. But why? Is there anything more to this delightful celebration?

As a cultural sign, the pillow is deceptively soft. Since at least the 16th Century, the humble pillow has been given unexpected meanings. The Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu tells a famous story about a wise man who meets a depressed young scholar at an inn and offers him a magic pillow filled with the most vivid dreams of a seemingly more fulfilling life. When the young man awakens to discover that his happy 50-year dream has in fact come and gone in the short space of an afternoon’s nap, our impression of the pillow’s power shifts from wonder to terror.

Subsequent writers have likewise seized upon the pillow. When the 19th-Century English novelist Charlotte Bronte poetically observed “a ruffled (不平的) mind makes a restless pillow”, she didn’t just change the expected order of the adjectives and nouns, but instead she made unclear the boundaries between mind and matter — the thing resting and the thing rested upon.

It’s a trick perhaps Bronte learned from the Renaissance philosopher Montaigne, who once insisted that “ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head”. On Montaigne’s thinking, intelligence and happiness confront each other forever in a pillow fight that only one can win.

With the words of Tang. Bronte, and Montaigne, we can perhaps more easily measure the attraction of the global pillow fight. Like a ritual of release, the annual international pillow fight amounts to a kind of cleansing, a brushing off of daily worries: an emptying of the world’s collective mind. Rather than a launch-pad for weightless rest, the pillow is a symbol of heavy thought: an anchor that drags the world’s soul down — one that must be lightened.

1. The example of Tang Xianzu is used to illustrate that ________.

A．pillows give people satisfactory dreams

B．dreams are always wonderful while the real world is cruel

C．people’s impression of pillows changes from wonder to terror

D．pillows symbolically convey the meaning in contrast to their soft appearance

2. From the passage, we can learn that Charlotte Bronte ________.

A．wrote poems about pillows

B．regarded pillows as reflections of our minds

C．shared the same viewpoint as Tang Xianzu on pillows

D．was likely to have been influenced by the thoughts of the Renaissance

3. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 “ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head” most probably means ________.

A．pillows give us comfort

B．pillows make people more intelligent

C．people with too many thoughts have less inner peace

D．people can easily fall asleep when they know nothing

4. According to the author, why is Pillow Fight Day so popular around the world?

A．Because it is a ritual release.

B．Because it makes life delightful.

C．Because it comforts restless minds.

D．Because it contains a profound meaning of life.

6 . Mention the terms Italian culture and Renaissance art and one is immediately reminded of the mysterious smile of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

The Renaissance had a deep effect on the development of European culture. Having its beginnings in Italy, by the 16th century, it had spread to the rest of Europe. Its influence was felt in different fields such as philosophy, literature, religion, science, politics, and, of course, art. The scholars of the Renaissance period applied the humanistic method to every field of study, and wanted to have human emotion and realism in art.

Renaissance scholars studied the ancient Latin and Greek texts, searching the libraries of Europe for works of ancient times that had become obscure, in their hunt for reforming and perfecting their worldly knowledge. However, that does not mean that they refused religion. In fact, many of the greatest works of the Renaissance period were devoted to it, with the church supporting a lot of the works of Renaissance art. However, there were slight changes in the manner in which the scholars began to treat religion, which affected the cultural life of society, which in turn influenced the artists of that period and therefore was reflected in their art.

In Raphael’s The School of Athens, for example, some well-known people were described as classical scholars with Leonardo da Vinci given as much importance as Plato in his time. Giotto di Bondone, 1266-1337, a Florentine, who is regarded as the greatest Italian painter just earlier than the Renaissance period, is thought to be the first artist who treated a painting as a window into space.

However, it was only after the writings of Filippo Brunelleschi, 1377-1446, who is considered the first great builder of the Italian Renaissance, that perspective (透视法) was formally accepted as an artistic technique.

1. What makes Italy stand out in a way in world history?

A．Its artists during the Renaissance were numerous.	B．It was the center of the European countries.
C．It had many famous inventors in different fields.	D．It was home to the Renaissance.

2. The underlined word “obscure” in Paragraph 3 most probably means ________.

A．meaningless and hard to recognize	B．clear and meaningful to guiding people
C．unclear and difficult to understand or see	D．easy to understand but having little meaning

3. When was perspective officially accepted during the Renaissance?

A．After the completion of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

B．After Leonardo da Vinci’s being compared to Plato.

C．After Giotto di Bondone’s paintings were respected.

D．After Filippo Brunelleschi’s completing his writings.

4. The passage aims to tell us ________.

A．Italy’s Renaissance art and artists	B．the famous artists in Italy’s history
C．Italy’s influence on the world in culture	D．the hardships during the Renaissance in Italy

7 . Measuring about 13,170 miles long, the Great Wall of China is no doubt the longest man-made project on earth. It was once widely believed that it could be seen from space. Some media even reported with affected seriousness, “The biggest building the astronauts could see from space is the wall, which looks very much like a black worm.” Consequently, this statement has gone deep into people's minds and become an honor that Chinese people have enjoyed for years.

Is the Great Wall truly visible from space? Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut who was lifted into outer space by the spacecraft Shenzhou V, gave a definite answer “No.” Yang's negative response may probably put out a fair number of people's passion. But it powerfully corrected the misconception. The wall is indeed majestic, but you won't see it from space!

In fact, Neil Alden Armstrong, the American astronaut who first set foot on the moon in 1969, was asked many times whether or not he had seen the Great Wall from the moon. Recently from a sound recording announced by NASA Johnson Space Center, Armstrong said that he had seen the continents, lakes and blue spots touched with red. But he could not make out any man-made objects on earth from the moon.

The Great Wall is narrow and irregular. In space, something irregular is hard to observe. Measuring about 10 metres wide on average, it easily merges(融入) into the surrounding environment. With solely the naked eye, it is totally invisible at a height of 196,850 feet. To watch the wall on the moon is like seeking for a single hair from about 2,688 metres away. To say an astronaut can see it from space is obviously not true.

However, some people introduced an idea to make the Great Wall visible from space. If we install bright spotlights on the wall, astronauts will see the lights at night. But this suggestion has not been carried out by scientific experiments.

1. Which is right about the saying “the Great Wall can be seen from space”?

A．News media cast doubt on the saying.	B．There was much evidence for the saying.
C．Astronauts played a trick on Chinese people.	D．The Chinese had belief in the saying for long.

2. What does the underlined word “majestic” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Second to none.

B．Far-reaching.

C．Grand.

D．Visible.

3. As Armstrong once said, what did he see from the moon?

A．The Great Wall.

B．Bright spotlights.

C．Places painted blue.

D．Large area of land.

4. How does the author prove a point in Paragraph 4?

A．By listing figures.

B．By giving examples.

C．By classifying facts.

D．By drawing conclusions.

8 . The English language developed as a result of several invasions of Britain. The first involved three tribes called the Angles, the Jutes and the Saxons. A mix of their languages produced a language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. It sounded very much like German. Only a few words remained from the Celts who had lived in Britain.

    1     The Vikings of Denmark, Norway and Sweden arrived in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The next invasion took place in the year 1066. French forces from Normandy were led by a man known as William the Conqueror.     2     The words “parliament” “jury” “justice” and others that deal with law come from the Norman rulers.

The English language was violently influenced by an event that took place more than one thousand four hundred years ago. In the year 597, a Roman religion began its attempt to establish the religion of Britain.     3     Latin was not spoken as a language in any country at that time. But it was still used by some people. Latin made it possible for a church member from Rome to speak to a church member from Britain. Educated people from different countries could communicate using Latin.

    4     English began to grow more quickly when William Caxton returned to Britain in the year 1476. He had been in Holland and other areas of Europe where he had learned printing. He returned to Britain with the first printing press. The printing made it possible for almost anyone to buy a book.     5     Slowly, during the year 1500 English became the modern language we would recognize.

A．Meanwhile, experts cannot explain many English words.

B．The language of the Roman religion was Latin.

C．Two more invasions added words to Old English.

D．The Norman rulers added many words to English.

E．It helped spread education and the English language.

F．English is a little like a living thing that continues to grow.

G．English speakers also continue to invent new words by linking old words together.

9 . There were many battles that took place during the American Revolutionary War (1775—1783), but perhaps so ne of the worst battles involved. the American Continental Army versus(对抗) the winter at Valley Forge in 1777 and 1778. Here many people believe was where the American Army was born. Valley Forge is located about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania.

General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and he decided to setup winter camp at Valley Forge. It was close to Philadelphia, which was where the British had been camping out for the winter. This allowed him to keep a watchful eye on their movements. There were high areas in Mount Joy and Mount Misery where the army could make fortifications(防御工事). Nearby was also the Schuylkill River, which was used as a barrier to the North.

The army's stay at Valley Forge turned into a time of training. Besides Washington, two other leaders included General Friedrich von Steuben and General Marquis de Lafayette.

Steuben was born in Prussia and arrived at Valley Forge with a recommendation letter from statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin. He trained the Continental Army using the daily drill(操练), even in the extremely cold weather. In fact, he was responsible for writing the army's Revolutionary War Drill Manual, which served as the standard United States drill manual(手册) until the War of 1812.

Lafayette was a French military leader, working for no pay, and asking for no special treatment. He later became an important commander in several key battles during the war.

Besides the freezing weather, it was consistently cold, wet, and snowy at Valley Forge. In addition, food was lacking, and there were very few warm clothes, shoes, or blankets. The log cabins they lived in were crowded, cold and damp, and allowed diseases to easily spread. Of the 10,000 men at Valley Forge, 2,500 died before the break of spring mostly from diseases.

Following the winter at Valley Forge, under Washington's leadership, a better-disciplined, trained, and more powerful army, in high spirits, left on June 19, 1778. Nine days later, their first victory against the British occurred at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.

1. Why was Valley Forge chosen as the site of a winter camp?

A．It was key to the effective conduct of war.	B．It was an ideal place for military training.
C．It was very far from the British camp.	D．It was an area with adequate supplies.

2. Who was the author of the important drill manual?

A．Benjamin Franklin.	B．George Washington.
C．Marquis de Lafayette.	D．Friedrich von Steuben.

3. Which can be used to describe the conditions at Valley Forge?

A．Strange.

B．Tough.

C．Favorable.

D．Relaxing.

4. How did the Continental Army change after the winter?

A．It was taken over by the American Army.	B．It won more support from the people.
C．It had many more soldiers.	D．It became a stronger army.

10 . The night the Titanic sank

From a high place on the ship, Fred Fleet, who worked on the Titanic, saw the iceberg just a few hundred metres a way. He rang the bell to warn the people to stop the ship.     1     Soon after that, one passenger, Major Peuchen, noticed that the ship wasn't straight in the water. But nobody listened to him.

    2     Another ship, the Californian, was about 30 kilometres north of the Titanic. When the Californian saw the iceberg, it stopped. It also sent a radio message to warn other ships in the area. At about 11:15 pm, the Californian's radio operator turned off the radio, and went to bed. The Titanic sent a message back, giving its position—wrongly!     3    

Soon after midnight, the crew of the Californian saw rockets going up into the sky from the Titanic. Their captain said, “Fireworks!     4     ”The radio wasn't turned on again, and the Californian didn't move. At 12:25 am on the Titanic, people began to get into the lifeboats.

At 2:20 am on April 15th the Titanic finally sank. Another ship, the Carpathia, heard the Titanic's last call for help.     5     At 4: 10 am, the Carpathia saw the Titanic's lifeboats floating on the dark water, and rescued the survivors. Later, the Californian turned the radio back on, and heard that the Titanic had sunk.

A．The accident happened at about 11:40 pm.

B．Everyone was very proud of the Titanic.

C．The passengers of the Titanic are having a party.

D．It was 58 miles away, but it raced to help the ship.

E．But it was travelling too fast to stop, and it hit the iceberg.

F．Before the accident, the Titanic had received an ice warning.

G．A lot of people stayed on the ship instead of trying to escape.