1 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To tell about true friends. | B．To start a discussion. |
| C．To encourage online friendships. | D．To summarize(总结) the text. |
| A．In any case. | B．In public. | C．In person. | D．In advance. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Positive. | C．Worried. | D．Confused. |
| A．Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. | B．It’s easier to develop friendships in real life. |
| C．It’s wise to turn to friends online. | D．Social media help people stay closely connected. |
2 . As I walked into the primary school, I looked down at my new black Mary Jane shoes — I wanted to be anywhere in the world but Fountain Inn Elementary School.
I stood at Mrs. Blackstone’s door. Before I tried the great escape, the wooden door suddenly opened to the singsong voice of Mrs. Blackstone, my new fifth grade teacher.
“We’ve been waiting on you!” she said in an unusually high voice. With a smile my mom walked away and I was left standing in the center stage in front of a group of students.
Over the next few days, Mrs. Blackstone made it her job to find me a new best friend and help me join a choir. During history lessons, as I didn’t want to speak in front of the class she would not only call on me but have me stand up to address my classmates. She laughed at my nervousness when I wouldn’t get in line to sharpen my pencil for fear of being embarrassed. Her silliness made me smile and finally feel much more relaxed in the new environment.
One spring afternoon, Mrs. Blackstone asked me to stay after class.
“I’d like to speak with you, Amanda”
My mind raced. Had I made a bad grade? Had I hurt someone’s feelings?
“Are you enjoying your new school?” She sat comfortably behind her desk.
“I want to tell you something, between you and me, not to be shared with anyone else.”
“Okay.” My throat all of a sudden felt very dry.
With her eyebrows raised she said. “I see something special in you. The way you communicate with others, the kindness you show — I think you have great potential to be something very important.”
I listened attentively to every word.
“I’ve been a teacher for over twenty-five years; I can see it. But you must believe in yourself. That’s very important. Remember that and you will go far.”
She then hugged me and said, “See you tomorrow.”
Her singing voice was music to my ears that day. I walked out of her class, not staring at my Mary Jane shoes, but looking straight ahead with my head high. My teacher saw something special in me!
1. What can we know about the author from the first two paragraphs?| A．She went to school unwillingly. | B．She liked the new school very much. |
| C．She was afraid of her new teacher. | D．She liked her teacher’s singing. |
| A．To tell her about her grades. | B．To encourage her to be confident. |
| C．To help her realize her mistakes. | D．To make her feel cared and loved. |
| A．A Teacher for Every Child | B．An Unforgettable Lesson |
| C．Magical Words | D．Special Treatment |
“Where are you going to college?” “I’m going to my local community college.” My answer seemed to be the magic phrase that would wipe the smile right off many people’s faces. It’s clear that people have a lot of misconceptions (误解) about community colleges.
Many people think community colleges are only for people who couldn’t get into a four-year school. But it is not true. In high school, I always got A’s. But when it came to applying to colleges, I had no idea what I wanted to major in and couldn’t justify spending thousands of dollars at a 4-year school until I knew what I wanted to do. My parents were very supportive of my decision to attend the community college.
Some people will ask, “Since the community college is cheaper, will you get a good education?” I found that nearly all of my professors taught the same courses at 4-year colleges. My professors were knowledgeable and experienced, and I found many of the courses challenging.
Some people think if I attend the community college, I will miss out on the “college experience”. I must admit that this is something I worried about a great deal the summer before college. But I soon learned that the community college, just like any other college, is what you make of it. I strived to make the most of my time at the community college. I also made tons of friends by joining clubs and attending student government meetings.
I took a lot of different courses. I had an amazing professor who suggested I take her journalism class. Never having written for my high school newspapers, I dared not take it, but since she was so enthusiastic, I eventually decided to have a try. That one course was all it took for me to realize that I wanted to become a journalist.
I look forward to graduating this May to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. Community colleges may not be for everyone, but for me it is a life-changing experience that has helped me discover who I am and the person I hope to become.
1. What was the author’s parents’ attitude towards his/her decision about attending the community college?2. How did the author make friends at community college?
3. Why daren’t the author take the journalism class at first?
4. What do you plan to get from your future college education? (About 30 words)
4 . The Sydney Opera House has become, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney’s best-known landmark and international symbol.
The base for the building was started in 1959 — years before the designs were finished. It took four years to design by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and by 1962 the designs were finalized and construction began. In total, it took 14 years to build and was officially opened on the 20th of October 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Sydney Opera House is a fascinating building and heart of the city’s cultural scene. It opened with a concert hall, an opera theatre, a drama theatre and a recital (音乐演奏会) hall, as well as restaurants and bars. A fifth theatre was added within the structure in 1998.
The Sydney Opera House cost some $160 million to build and was paid for by the public who bought $10 tickets in a series of lotteries with a first prize of $1million.
More information about the Sydney Opera House:
Conducts 3,000 events each year
Provides guided tours to 200,000 people each year
Has an annual audience of 2 million for its performances
includes 1,000 rooms
Is 185 metres long and 120 metres wide
Has 2.194 pre-cast concrete sections as its roof
Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons
Has roof sections held together by 350 kms of tensioned steel cable
Has over 1 million tiles on the roof
Uses 6,225 square metres of glass and 645 kilometres of electric cable
1. When were the designs of the Sydney Opera House started?| A．In1960. | B．In1962. | C．In1958. | D．In1973. |
| A．a drama theatre | B．an opera theatre |
| C．a concert hall | D．a reception hall |
| A．The Sydney Opera House has an audience of 2 million per year for its performances. |
| B．There are about 3,000 events held in the Sydney Opera House each year. |
| C．The Sydney Opera House is made up of more than 1,000 rooms. |
| D．The roof of the Sydney Opera House is made of concrete and steel. |
5 . My hometown is in a county (县) called Yongtai which is in Fuzhou of southern China.
Several days before the Chinese New Year, every family starts to prepare for the celebration. First of all, we do the spring-cleaning to welcome a new and clean year.
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, fathers will set off fireworks to “wake up the Chinese New Year”; mothers start to prepare a big breakfast.
On the first day just family members spend time together. From the second day on, every family will start to welcome the visitors and they can enjoy the get-together time, which is really nice.
| A．My favourite dishes are niangao and fish |
| B．Children will stay up late on New Year’s Eve |
| C．A fish dish is a necessity on the table every year |
| D．The next step is to prepare food for the New Year’s Eve dinner |
| E．After the spring-cleaning, every family starts to decorate their house |
| F．When the evening of New Year’s Eve comes, children will be very excited |
| G．Everyone should wake up by themselves and appear at the table in their new clothes |
6 . Resting her phone on a stand and making the light more suitable, 49-year-old Lyu Min started her livestreaming session — her daily job during the COVID-19 outbreak. Dressed in a qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, Lyu started the livestreaming session from her workshop at 10 in the morning, sharing the art of making Chinese knots with many handicraft (手工艺) lovers. Lyu, an inheritor (继承人) of the art of making Chinese knots, which is listed as an intangible (非物质) cultural heritage, became a livestreaming host.
“Though the sales of Chinese knots have dropped a lot, I’m still confident that I can get out of the trouble brought by the outbreak. I can make full use of this period to improve my skills and develop this traditional handicraft online,” she said. Lyu is quite new to the world of livestreaming, having bought all the necessary equipment (设备) after following her friends advice. She practises livestreaming every day and records a large number of educational videos. As face-to-face interaction is still impractical for many, even as the outbreak has been largely brought under control in China, she thinks livestreaming classes can meet more Chinese knot lovers’ needs to learn the handicraft.
She has integrated the anti-epidemic spirit into her works, expressing the determination (决心) and confidence of the Chinese people to win against the COVID-19. “I love Wuhan, where I showed my works in 2019. Chinese knots are popular among many local people, and I made lots of friends there,” Lyu said. She designed a special Chinese knot to express her thanks to the medics who were sent to support Wuhan several months ago.
She has more than 200 followers right now. There are more and more Chinese knot lovers on her online platform. She is using a length of colored string and determination to keep this traditional art of Chinese knots alive online and help more people understand the culture.
1. The underlined word “livestreaming” in Paragraph 1 is close to “_______”.| A．sending out while happening | B．equipment for recording videos |
| C．sending out after recording | D．equipment for making handicrafts |
| A．Lyu Min advised her friends to livestream traditional handicraft online. |
| B．Lyu Min’s friends provided the necessary equipment for her to livestream. |
| C．Chinese knots sell very well in Lyu Min’s workshop through the Internet. |
| D．More Chinese knot lovers want to learn the handicraft because of Lyu Min. |
| A．Unexpected. | B．Hopeful. | C．Difficult | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Having online classes during the outbreak | B．Introducing an intangible cultural heritage |
| C．Livestreaming the art of making Chinese knots | D．Expressing thanks to the doctors and nurses |
7 . Trip 1 One Week in The Mountains
Bring your strong shoes and warm clothes for this walk in a beautiful area of the Green Mountains. You may go hiking or have a try of rock climbing. This is also a protection area for wild animals. You can find many kinds of animals living in this area.
Time: May 8-May 14; Tel:64639818; Adult: $ 110.00; Child: $ 55.00
Trip 2 Three Days in The Country
There are many beautiful gardens. Take your camera and enjoy the wonderful sight in Hunter Valley. It is a good place for fishing and horse riding. You can also find different kinds of flowers here. This is also a great walk for bird-lovers.
Time: May 20-May 22; Tel: 63986432; Adult: $ 50.00; Child: $ 25.00
Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure
Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley. It is a trip full of adventure. A guide will lead the tour. Many of the plants you will see on this trip can only be seen at night.
Time: May 16-May 18; Tel: 63875629; Adult: $ 30.00; Not for children
Trip 4 Five Day By The Sea
Wear you sun hat and enjoy wonderful sunshine all the time from morning to evening. Our hotel is next to the sea. We have our own boats too. You can swim in the sea or in the swimming pool. Every day our boat will take you to different places for swimming.
Time: May 23-May 27; Tel: 67538293; Adult: $ 80.00; Child : $ 40.00
1. Sam wants to stay in Hunter Valley with his wife, his five-year-old daughter and his seven-year-old son. How much will it cost?| A．$25. | B．$50 | C．$100. | D．$150. |
| A．Hiking in the mountains. | B．Fishing in the country. |
| C．Watching plants at night. | D．Swimming in the sea. |
| A．Trip 1. | B．Trip 2. | C．Trip 4 | D．Trip 3. |
8 . Everyone complains. Even if you argue that you are the happiest person in the world, you still complain sometimes. Sometimes you complain without even realizing it, but rarely is it ever helpful.
When you find yourself thinking or saying a negative comment about something or someone, stop and force yourself to say something positive instead. Seek the help of a cheerful friend to change you when you complain and help you to see the positive in the situation.
Make a list of things you are grateful for.
You often complain about the things you don’t have without noticing those things you already have. Be grateful for what you have in your life because you are lucky simply for being yourselves.
Learn to adapt to the changes.
There are many things you can’t change.
Allow yourself to vent (发泄) your feelings every once in a while.
Constantly ignoring negative thoughts could add up. If you are really going through a rough time, don’t be afraid to share your feelings with a close friend or family member or see a therapist.
Find what makes you happy.
| A．Sometimes this list can be easy, full of hobbies you enjoy. |
| B．The best and only thing you can do is to accept them. |
| C．Change the way you think. |
| D．Are you constantly complaining about your present job? |
| E．Set down things you are thankful for and you’ll see that you don’t have any reason to complain. |
| F．Make friends with positive people. |
| G．So how can you manage to force yourselves to end complaining? |
9 . If you are crazy about paintings, you shouldn’t miss the following four famous masterpieces which have stood the test of time.
The Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, an oil painting on wood produced in 1434, in which a man and a woman hold hands with a window behind him and a bed behind her, is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces in the National Gallery, London. This painting is as visually interesting as it is famed. It is also an informative document in fifteenth-century society, through Van Eyck’s heavy use of symbolism—while husbands went out to engage in business, wives concerned themselves with domestic duties.
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, oil on canvas, a moderately abstract landscape painting of an expressive night sky over a small hillside village, during his 12-month stay at the mental hospital near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France between 1889 and 1890. When the Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased the painting from a private collector in 1941, it was not well known, but it has since become one of Van Gogh’s most famous works.
The Harvesters
The Harvesters is an oil painting on wood completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. It depicts the harvest time which most commonly occurs within the months of August and September. Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp, commissioned this painting. The painting has been at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1919.
Guernica
Guernica, a large black-and-white oil painting, was painted by the Cubist Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso in 1937. The title “Guernica” refers to the city that was bombed by Nazi planes during the Spanish Civil War. The painting depicts the horrors of war and as a result, has come to be an anti-war symbol and a reminder of the tragedies of war. Today, the painting is housed at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofaí in Madrid.
1. Which of the following paintings was produced earliest?| A．The Arnolfini Portrait. | B．The Starry Night. |
| C．The Harvesters. | D．Guernica. |
| A．It was painted on wood in oil. |
| B．It wasn’t widely recognized before 1940s. |
| C．It described the painter’s life in hospital. |
| D．It was given away to the museum by a private collector. |
| A．Pieter Bruegel the Elder. | B．Vincent van Gogh. |
| C．Jan van Eyck. | D．Pablo Picasso. |
10 . As we close out the final days of this year, treat yourself to a deliciously distracting new book —a book that you can dip into and out of throughout the holidays. Read up, rest up, and enjoy yourself.
Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and beyond
A must-have guide for yoga-loving mamas, Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond offers helpful relaxation techniques and breathing exercises that are tailored to each pregnant woman. The book also lays out valuable techniques for labor and staying in touch with your body as it continuously changes.
Mindfulness Activities for Kids
We could all use a little more peace in our lives. Uniquely suited for children and parents to do together, the 40 mindfulness exercises recommended here —from pausing to fully enjoy a tasty sandwich to taking chalk walk together—will not only teach children calm and gratitude, but also bring grown-ups and their littles closer together.
Before She Disappeared
Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who devotes her time to solving cold cases, especially those involving people of color. A new investigation brings her to Boston, searching for a Haitian teenager who disappeared months ago. But as Frankie starts asking questions, someone else will stop at nothing to keep the answers hidden.
Oak Flat
Lauren Redniss’ Oak Flat tells the story of the land near the San Carlos Apache Reservation through an Apache family fighting to protect the land which the U. S. government and two world-power mining enterprises are attempting to seize and destroy for its copper resources. Visually striking and deeply reported, Oak Flat tells a larger story of endless westward expansion and native resistance.
1. Which book can help to improve family relations?| A．Oak Flat. |
| B．Before She Disappeared. |
| C．Mindfulness Activities for Kids. |
| D．Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond. |
| A．It’s a brief account of mining enterprises. |
| B．It centers on an Apache family’s struggle. |
| C．It sings high praise of the US government. |
| D．It supports westward expansion and native resistance. |
| A．Teenagers. | B．Men. | C．Kids. | D．Grown-ups. |
