1 . A sense of humour, God’s greatest gift to mankind, is universally considered the most valuable personality. It is born within every person’s heart, but has to be cultivated (培养). A person without humour is just like a spring without flowers, or like a dish without seasoning (调味品). In a sense, your personality lies in your sense of humour.
Humour can improve physical as well as mental well-being. It helps us bear our burdens, reduce our tension, overcome our frustration. With a piece of joke, all our worries and sadness disappear like smoke, and we are all full of energy once again.
Humour helps us live in harmony with others. It is unavoidable to have misunderstanding and tension with others during work and study. But humour can help us solve these problems more quickly than angry words or quarrels. With it you can always keep on good terms with others.
A sense of humour is really one of the keys to happiness. It gives fun and interest to life to make it worth living.
Here are five ways to improve your sense of humour.
1. Begin to cultivate an atmosphere of humour and laughter in your relationships.
2. Start association with humourous, fun loving people.
3. Learn to laugh at yourself.
4. Collect cartoons and jokes and share them with others.
5. Use humour to deal with conflict in your relationships:
Remember that a sense of humour is learned, not inherited (遗传). You can sharpen your sense of humour if you really want to.
1. What would be the best title for this passage?| A．A Sense of Humour—a Great Personality | B．A Sense of Humour—the Secret to Success |
| C．How to. Improve Your Sense, of Humour. | D．Humour Helps to Improve Our Health |
| A．a person without humour is dull | B．humour can make us happy. |
| C．humour can help us deal with worries | D．humour can help us solve all the problems |
| A．pleasing | B．interest | C．friendship | D．eager |
| A．learned | B．cultivated | C．inherited | D．improved |
2 . How to Teach Kids to Be Calm
Children often get overwhelmed by emotions. There`re some gentle but powerful ways to bring your child to a state of peace and teach him how to calm himself.
Speak to your child about what has caused an outburst after he has calmed down. It’s much easier to address the causes of lack of calm when the child is in a state of calm. As soon as he is old enough to talk, encourage your child to express his feelings and explain what was wrong.
Teach your child to recognize the signs that he is about to lose his calm.
Teach your child a routine to go through when he or you recognize that he is starting to lose his calm. Find a quiet place where he can calm down. Show him how to take three deep breaths.
| A．Keep yourself calm. |
| B．Prevention is better than cure. |
| C．Stay close to your child when he is angry. |
| D．Listen patiently even if his problems don’t make sense to you. |
| E．An angry adult isn’t a good model for teaching a child calmness. |
| F．Or teach him a simple gentle song about happiness or calmness. |
| G．Set aside a time each day for you and your child to be calm together. |
3 .
| A．As Children’s Day and Youth Day are approaching |
| B．As a part of the project “We Always Together in Weal and Woe(祸福)” |
| C．More videos will be produced by Chinese young people |
| D．As the COVID 19 epidemic continues to spread globally |
| E．These paintings have a long history and high value |
| F．The project “We Always Together in Weal and Woe” is hosted |
| G．These letters are displayed in the form of sand paintings |
4 . When it comes to family holidays in Australia, most people look to hot spots such as Sydney or the Gold Coast. However, Perth makes for a strong competitor, with plenty of museums and theme parks to keep the kids entertained, as well as historic sites and botanical gardens.
To give you a travel guide, we take a look at the best things to see and do in Perth.
King’s Park
Located in the heart of Perth’s business district, the four-square-kilometre park is perfect for spending an afternoon and making the most of the sunny weather. Here you’ll find plenty of picnic spots, play areas for little ones, and a host of activities and things to see. However, if you only visit one thing, make it the park’s impressive botanical gardens where you’ll find colorful plants.
Bibbulmun Track
Hikers, this one’s for you! This track is one of the world’s great long distance walks. Along the way you can expect amazing scenery, comfortable campsites, and a host of exciting wildlife and plants to look out for.
Perth Mint
You can discover a century’s worth of metals from gold to silver and even Coca-Cola bottle caps here. There are plenty of activities too from a live gold pouring session that you can watch to countless exhibitions.
Perth Zoo
The unusual creatures at the Perth Zoo are sure to keep small children’s attention! Giraffes, lions, elephants and monkeys are just some of the wildlife living in the zoo, which focuses on protecting various species.
1. What do we know about King’s Park?| A．It is in the hot spot Perth. | B．It is a good place for a picnic. |
| C．It is perfect for long-distance walking. | D．It is home to various plants and animals. |
| A．They have a lot of wildlife. | B．They have large exhibitions. |
| C．They are in a business centre. | D．They are noted for campsites. |
| A．To introduce Australia. | B．To celebrate some events. |
| C．To attract visitors to Perth. | D．To announce new activities. |
5 . Avebury is near the far more famous Stonehenge. What is interesting about it is that a village has grown up around the stones, unlike Stonehenge, which stands alone. Avebury and Stonehenge are just two of about 1,300 stone circles all over the UK. Many of them are in fantastic locations, like Castlering in Cumbria, from which you can see England’s highest mountain; and the Ring of Brodgar in the beautiful Orkney Island, off Scotland’s northern coast.
Some of them are UNESCO World Heritage sites, and several have local stories connected to them. For example, the Merry Maidens in West Cornwall is a group of nineteen stones. According to the story, they were young women — maidens — who were turned into stone for dancing on a Sunday.
Early historians thought that the stone circles were temples for the people who arrived in the UK in about 500 BC. Later research has shown that they are far older than that, at least 4,000 years old. Stonehenge could have been built 5,000 years ago, but it’s still nowhere near as old as the nearby wooden circle built about 10,000 years ago. Some experts believe they acted like calendars and have shown that some stones line up with sunrise or sunset on the longest and shortest days of the year. Others believe they were places for the dead bodies of the local rich and powerful.
We may never know why they were built, but each one leaves the visitor with a strong sense of the shortness of our existence in the sea of history. There are groups of stone circles and other prehistoric (史前的) monuments throughout the British Isles, so wherever you are staying you should include at least one in your tour.
1. What can we learn about Avebury?| A．It stands alone. | B．It is a part of Stonehenge. |
| C．It has a village around it now. | D．It consists of a couple of Merry Maidens. |
| A．Stone circles. | B．Mountains. |
| C．Temples. | D．Islands. |
| A．The local stories of stone circles. |
| B．The original purpose of stone circles. |
| C．The historic value of stone circles. |
| D．The time when stone circles were built. |
| A．Building more monuments. | B．Protecting World Heritage sites. |
| C．Learning more about our history. | D．Visiting some of those stone circles. |
6 . China, known for its variety of cuisines, can illustrate the history of 5,000 years from food alone.
Establish correct values.
Food education in China should be designed to guide and drive children to establish correct values.
Second, food education in China should also show the inheritance of culture. Many traditional festivals are characterized by their own dishes, such as zongzi, a pyramidal glutinous rice dumpling for the Dragon Boat Festival; mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival; and dumplings during Chinese New Year. The combination of food education and traditional Chinese culture enables students to taste in their mouth and remember in their heart“, thus passing on the tradition to the future generations.
Bulled harmony rela1onships.
Food helps Lo maintain and enhance relationships: Food is the paramount necessity of the people and Chinese culture has always valued “reunion dinners”.
Carry out food education correctly.
| A．Combine it with the traditional culture. |
| B．Improve family and interpersonal relationships |
| C．Food education should follow a step-by-step process. |
| D．I also guided the students to grow, identify and cook food. |
| E．Food education in China is still in the initial stage of exploration. |
| F．Food is both the bounty of nature and the crystallization of labor. |
| G．Either a family dinner or casual lunch at school is a good way to better communication and cohesion. |
7 . Necessary things for travel
Personal alarm
VIA AMAZON. COM
$14.99
When you're traveling alone, particularly to a place that you know little about, it's important to give yourself peace of mind in terms of safety. A wearable personal safety alarm is a great idea.
It hugely adds to your sense of control on many a dark street and crowded public space. You can sleep with it under your pillow no matter what country you are in.
Portable charger
VIA AMAZON. COM
$27.95
With our phones acting as our lifelines, traveling with one at low battery can make you stressful and, if an emergency （紧急 情况）occurs, even dangerous. Keeping a portable charger on hand to give your phone the juice it needs to be useful is important, and it won' t take up much space in your bag at all. The peace of mind is worth it.
Hand sanitiser (消毒液)
VIA AMAZON. COM
$12.99
As a traveler, you should always carry hand sanitiser. It's small enough that you can't even notice it in a pocket of your bag, and it's totally fine to take through any airport. When it comes to hygiene-related (卫生相关的) emergencies, you really can't do without it. Believe it or not, alcohol- based hand sanitiser can even help you get a fire started, which could, of course, be important in a survival situation.
Reusable water bottle with Alter (过滤器)
VIA AMAZON. COM
$36.84
As anyone who's traveled in the past two decades knows, liquids above the 3. 4-ounce limit will be taken away at the security checkpoint. Carry a reusable water bottle that includes a filter. Easy access (接近) to water in case you are short of it, especially in an emergency, is a lifesaver. Again, it's simple and easy to carry without any problems when it is checked.
1. How do you probably feel when traveling with a personal alarm on you?| A．Confident. | B．Worried. | C．Excited. | D．Safe. |
| A．Boil clean water. | B．Make water cooler. |
| C．Get drinking water. | D．Help travelers go through the checkpoint. |
| A．Hand sanitiser. | B．Personal alarm. |
| C．Portable charger. | D．Reusable water bottle with filter. |
8 . When The Alchemist was first published twenty-five years ago in my native Brazil, no one noticed. A bookseller in the northeast corner of the country told me that only one person purchased a copy the first week of its publication. It took another six months for the bookseller to unload a second copy. And who knows how long it took to sell the third. At the end of the year, my original publisher decided to cancel our contract. I was forty-one and upset.
But I never lost faith in the book. Why? Because it was me in there, all of me, heart and soul. I was living my own fantasy. A man sets out on a journey, dreaming of a beautiful or magical place, in search of some unknown treasure. At the end of his journey, the man realizes the treasure was with him the entire time. I was following my personal legend (传奇) and my treasure was my talent to write. And I wanted to share this treasure with the world.
I started knocking on the doors of other publishers. One opened, and the publisher on the other side agreed to give The Alchemist a second chance. Slowly, through word of mouth, it finally started to sell — three thousand, then six thousand, ten thousand — book by book, gradually throughout the year.
Eight months later, an American visiting Brazil wanted to translate the book and help me find a publisher in the United States. But it still took some time to sell, slowly finding its audience in the United States by word of mouth, just as it did in Brazil. And then one day, Bill Clinton was photographed leaving the White House with a copy. Then people from different walks of life were suddenly talking about it.
The Alchemist became a phenomenon. The book hit the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for more than three hundred weeks. It has since been translated into more than eighty different languages, and is widely considered one of the ten best books of the twentieth century.
1. How many books did the writer sell in the first year?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Unknown. |
| A．It’s about treasure seeking. | B．It’s a fantasy story. |
| C．It’s about his talent to write. | D．It’s a mirror of his life. |
| A．The door-to-door sale. | B．Good word of mouth. |
| C．A photo with the book. | D．An American publisher. |
| A．A Personal Legend | B．Time Tries All |
| C．The Alchemist | D．All Roads Lead to Rome |
9 . U.S. actor Brent Hill studied the violin for seven years during his childhood. But, now, he couldn’t make a sound out of it. His latest role as Dewey Finn in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, School of Rock, in which he plays with 36 talented child musicians, reminds him of his time as an instrumentalist.
Hill shared his story on arriving in Beijing. School of Rock is being staged in Beijing from March 22 until April 14 on its debut China tour. The musical staged its world premiere on Broadway in 2015.
The musical is based on the successful 2003 Hollywood comedy, starring Jack Black. The plot follows Dewey Finn, a failed rock star forced to make money as a substitute teacher at a private elementary school, where he turns a class of straight-A students into a rock band.
“The role, Dewey, is the biggest kid. I am a big kid in real life, so this part is not challenge. When I got the role, I did the exact same thing as Dewey who is a loser,” Hill says. “Working with child actors is exciting.”
Thousands of kids auditioned. Three-and-a-half months later, 36 made the cut. Samantha Zhang plays the role of Katie. She has practiced piano for seven years and violin for four but had to learn to play bass for the musical. “No many girls play bass. It’s so cool, and I feel like a rock star,” says the 13-year-old, who made her musical-theater debut in 2014. It’s the first time for the girl, who lives in Sydney with her Chinese parents, to visit China.
Webber became interested in the movie. He wrote 12 new songs. Hill says it’s difficult to get Black’s acting out of his subconsciousness. However, Webber’s songs enable Hill to make the role his own.
“School of Rock is about how music reaches and transforms everyone’s life especially children.” Webber said. “When the substitute teacher turned the straight-A student class into a rock band, it changed his life and theirs forever.”
1. What caused Hill to realize he was an unsuccessful violinist?| A．His latest role as Dewey Finn. | B．His childhood sufferings. |
| C．Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. | D．36 talented child musicians’ performance. |
| A．He is the biggest child in his family. | B．He has staged the musical many times. |
| C．He liked to work with child actors. | D．He had the same experience as Dewey Finn. |
| A．She has little talent for music. | B．She enjoys her role of Katie. |
| C．She made her debut in China. | D．She was born in China. |
| A．Musicals lead to one’s success. | B．Webber’s new songs make little sense. |
| C．Music has significant effects in life. | D．Hill has performed in many musicals successfully. |
10 . Starting this year, Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT)scores will be about more than just how many correct answers a person has on the test.The College Board in charge of the SAT recently published a new policy.It will include something called an "adversity score", based on 31 different factors and ranging from I to 100.A score of 50 is an "average level of disadvantage", said The New York Times.A higher score means a student has faced more adversity.It will cover 150 colleges later this year and be available to all US colleges in 2020.
What kind of adversity do students face? African-American students, for example, are more likely to attend underfunded(资金不足的) schools, and their families usually can’t afford extra SAT lessons.Higher SAT scores have been found to have a close tie with students from richer families and those with better-educated parents, reported The New York Times.As a result, the SAT has long been criticized for its unfairness.
The new adversity score tries to deal with that reality.If a student came from a poor neighborhood or attended a high school without enough funding, this information will be given to college administrators.While one student's SAT score may be lower than her rich classmates, college administrators may assume that she did her best in a bad situation.
This sounds good, but the College Board has received a lot of criticism for this new development.Parents are worried.They’re concerned that their children's hard work would be "completely neglected“(忽视)just because they happened to come from a rich family.
Writing in Time, Andre J.Washington and Daniel Hemel call the adversity score a half-hearted effort＂.They say the score fails to directly deal with racial inequality(种族不平等).They also say that the problems experienced by African-Americans are deeper than just low scores and school funding.For example, they point out that African-American students are less likely to have supportive relationships with teachers, so they are less likely to have satisfying recommendation letters.
At least they're trying, says Richard D Kahlenberg, a senior fellow aThe Century Foundation.”An imperfect adversity score is better than failing to consider the difficulty so many students get through”, he said."The adversity score is simple and direct.”
1. What does “adversity" probably mean in the passage?| A．Mess |
| B．Difficulty |
| C．Confusion |
| D．Failure |
| A．Schools are underfunded. |
| B．The media have caused the unfairness. |
| C．Parents are not well-educated. |
| D．Family status greatly affects students' scores. |
| A．It will narrow the gap between the white and the black. |
| B．Students from poor families are likely to benefit from it. |
| C．It will encourage students to work harder for high scores. |
| D．Students from rich families may have higher adversity scores.. |
| A．It fails to take students' difficulties into consideration. |
| B．It will make racial inequality a more serious problem. |
| C．The relationship between teachers and students will be affected. |
| D．Efforts made by students from rich families will be undervalued. |
