1 . “Is there going to be a flood?” asked Daniel. He looked nervously at his dad and mom. They both looked worried. Dad was completely wet and dirty. He and some other men in town had spent the morning piling bags of sand on top of the levee (防洪堤) along the river. For years the levee had kept the Mississippi from flooding its banks. After three straight days of rain, though, the water grew higher and higher. If the levee broke, Daniel’s neighborhood would be flooded for sure.
“We’ll be fine,” Dad placed a reassuring hand on Daniel’s shoulder. Outside, lightning flashed, followed by distant thunder. “Just in case,” said Dad. “I think we should start moving some things to Uncle Mike’s house.” Uncle Mike lived farther away from the river on higher ground. “And we’ll take everything we need to cook and eat upstairs,” he said, “like camping out in our own house.”
By nightfall, everything the family needed had been moved upstairs. Dad had taken their new couch and TV to Uncle Mike’s. Daniel helped his dad tie a fishing boat to the front (门廊). “Just in case,” said Dad.
Lying in bed that night, Daniel tossed and turned. He could hear the heavy rain beating on the roof. “Everything will be all right,” he said to himself just before falling asleep.
Several hours later, the sound of sirens (警报器) woke Daniel from a sound sleep. He sat straight up in bed, his heart pounding. In rushed Mom ,“Get dressed, Daniel! The levee just broke! We’ re leaving. We have no other choice.”
A few minutes later they all got into the fishing boat, leaving behind just about everything they owned. Daniel asked, “We’re going to lose everything, aren’t we?”
“No, not everything”, said Mom, pulling him close. We’ll always have each other.”
“That’s right,” said Dad. “We may lose the house, but we can always rebuild it. We can’t ever lose our home, though, because home is us.”
1. What caused the levee to break?| A．Bad construction. | B．High water levels. |
| C．Lack of sandbags. | D．People’s carelessness. |
| A．shaking | B．disturbing | C．disappointing | D．comforting |
| A．By taking a fishing boat. | B．By being saved by the police, |
| C．With the help of Uncle Mike. | D．By camping out on higher ground. |
| A．life isn’t a bed of roses | B．east or west,home is best |
| C．home is where the family is | D．a man’s house is his castle |
2 . Long long ago, there lived a Greece king named Midas. He was a greedy man and loved gold better than anything else in the world.
One day, he asked a god to give him more gold. The god decided to punish him and said, “Your wish is granted already. Everything you touch will turn to gold.”
Midas was very happy when he heard this. The next morning, he got up early to test his skill. When he touched his bed, it turned to gold. “Gold!” cried Midas, laughing like a little boy, “It works!”
Not only stones, flowers, and furniture in his house turned to gold, but, when he sat down to table, so did the food he ate and the water he drank. He was unhappy now. Just then his daughter ran up to him. Midas touched her hand. At once she became a gold statue (雕像)!
At last, he begged the god to free him from his wish. “Go to the river and bathe in it,” the god said. So Midas did, and the water took away his golden touch.
1. The god decided to punish Midas because he was ________.| A．lazy | B．proud | C．unhappy | D．greedy |
| A．satisfied | B．finished | C．discussed | D．expected |
a. Midas became the king of Greece. b. His daughter turned into gold.
c. Midas was happy with his skill. d. The god freed him from his skill.
e. Midas asked god for more gold.
| A．d→e→c→b→a | B．a→e→c→b→d |
| C．a→e→b→c→d | D．e→a→c→d→b |
| A．It’s the early bird that catches the worm. | B．Don’t put your egg into one basket. |
| C．Gold does not always bring happiness. | D．A bird in hand is worth two in the forest. |
3 . After a very long battle with cancer, Steve Jobs died at the age of 56. Millions of people worldwide were in deep sorrow for his death. His Apple products, like Michael Jackson’s songs, touched people’s hearts and changed their lives.
Jobs was not an inventor, but he was an innovator (创新者), and a businessman. Based on others’ technology, he designed products of great style for easy use. And he made Apple products seem cool! The iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad were always the coolest products on the market.
Steve Jobs was also a good example of “The American Dream”. He came from humble (低下的) beginnings. He had been an adopted child in a working class family. He dropped out of college early and started Apple in his garage. But his success was soon followed by bad luck.
Jobs was fired as CEO of the company in 1985, but that setback did not stop him. Jobs built a new computer company and also started Pixar. Later, when Apple was in trouble, Jobs was brought back to save the company — and he did it!
Jobs is a great role model for young people. He had a dream and he took chances (even foolish chances, he admitted) to achieve that dream. He suffered setbacks in business, but he didn’t give up his dream. In the end, he left some inspiring words for young innovators: “Stay hungry, stay foolish!”
1. Steve Jobs was ________ .| A．a great inventor | B．a successful businessman |
| C．a creative designer | D．both B and C |
| A．In the garage. | B．In the college. | C．In Pixar. | D．In the market. |
| A．struggle | B．danger | C．failure | D．mistake |
| A．should struggle against difficulties to realize their dreams. |
| B．should be hungry to realize their dreams. |
| C．should be foolish to realize their dreams. |
| D．should be both hungry and foolish to realize their dreams. |
4 . I. M. Pei, one of the world’s most famous building designers, died at age 102. Mr. Pei created buildings which are known and appreciated around the world. Mr. Pei’s style of architecture is called “modern” or “modernist”. This style of architecture makes use of newer building materials, such as concrete(混凝土), glass and metal. Modernist buildings are often designed with straight lines, without a lot of decorations. Modern architecture appeared at the end of the 19th century from changes in technology, engineering and building materials, and from a wish to break away from historical architectural styles and to invent something that was totally functional and new.
Mr. Pei designed many different kinds of buildings, including libraries, concert halls, office buildings, hotels, hospitals and skyscrapers. But he’s probably famous for some of his museums, like the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Perhaps Mr. Pei’s best-known building is the Pyramid he created as a new entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Like many of Mr. Pei’s designs, it wasn’t all that popular at first, but over time, people came to love it. Now it is one of the main reasons why people visit the museum. Another famous building of his is the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, China. Mr. Pei said he wanted it to look a bit like bamboo.
Mr. Pei put a lot of thoughts into his designs. He studied carefully before he designed each building. For example, he didn’t like rock and roll music, but he went to rock concerts before he designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He read books, studied music and visited many musicians. He preferred his students or teammates who came from different cultural backgrounds.
Not all of Mr. Pei’s buildings were triumphant. The Hancock Tower in Boston is one example. The huge glass-covered skyscraper was nearly finished when the bad thing happened. Some glass began falling out of the building. They had to be replaced with plywood(胶合板) until a solution could be found. The problem was a headache and took years to fix.
1. What does Mr. Pei’s architecture look like?| A．Simple. | B．Strange. | C．Traditional. | D．Classical. |
| A．The East Building of the National Gallery of Art. |
| B．The new entrance to the Louvre Museum. |
| C．The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. |
| D．The Bank of China Tower. |
| A．To enjoy the music. | B．To meet the singers. |
| C．To ask for advice on his design. | D．To prepare himself for a design. |
| A．Unique. | B．Successful. | C．Completed. | D．Famous. |
5 . Sales of green tea are rising in the US and the UK, driven largely by evidence of the health benefits. So it’s funny that a little over a century ago, this so-called super-food was considered as super-toxic.
“For most of the 19th century, there was less concern about the dangers of taking drugs than there was about the negative side effects of drinking green tea,” writes Matthew Sweet in his book Inventing the Victorians. “Readers of Victorian journalism were used to seeing reports that green tea led to horrible illnesses. Therefore, tea drinkers eventually turned to black tea.”
To be fair, the refusal of green tea should be blamed to the businessmen. Though both black and green teas are made from the leaves of the same plant, black tea is drier than the green tea, so more could be packed into the ship with lower risk of damage. But the real problem with green tea was that dishonest businessmen added the leaves of other plants to the tea leaves in order to increase the weight. Adulterated (掺假) tea was so common that when shops in London attempted to sell pure green tea, people just refused to buy it because it was considered the “wrong” color.
Fears of drinking green tea were heightened in 1839 by a paper in the famous British medical journal The Lancet. In the paper, Dr. George Sigmond studied the positive and negative effects of tea. While stating that green tea had medical benefits and was a great improvement on alcohol, he warned against overuse. He described a case, in which a woman was attacked with terrible pain at the stomach. He blamed her symptoms, on solid evidence, to drinking strong green tea on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning, without mixing it with milk, cream or sugar.
Of course, this toxic of the Victorian sitting room has now had its reputation firmly restored. Science has shown that green tea has been linked to health benefits like lower risk of stroke and some kinds of cancer.
1. What does the underlined word “super-toxic” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．A dangerous poison. | B．A healthy diet. |
| C．An unreliable cure. | D．A pleasant drink. |
| A．High price. | B．Negative news coverage. |
| C．Medical evidence. | D．Widespread adulteration. |
| A．Misleading. | B．Unscientific. | C．Balanced. | D．Confusing. |
| A．To advertise the health benefits of green tea. |
| B．To explain the changed tastes for green tea. |
| C．To expose the dishonesty of the businessmen. |
| D．To warn the negative side effects of overdrinking. |
6 . Tales of the homework-burdened American students have become common, but are these stories the exception or the rule.
The National Education Association recommends that homework time increase by ten minutes per year in school. For example, a third grader would have 30 minutes of homework, while a seventh grader would have 70 minutes. Studies have found that schools tend to follow these guidelines.
A study out of the University of Michigan found that students aged six to eight spend 29 minutes doing homework per night while 9- to-12-year-old students spend 50 minutes doing homework. For high school students, they spend an average of 6. 8 hours on homework outside of school per week.
To be more specific, 45 percent of students in grades three to 12 spend more than an hour a night doing homework, including the six percent of students who report spending more than three hours a night on their homework. The study also found that 70 percent of students in grades three to 12 had at least one homework assignment in math each day. 62 percent had at least one homework assignment in a language class (English. reading, spelling, or creative writing courses) every two days and 42 percent had at least one in a science class each week.
Regardless of how much homework kids are actually doing every night, most parents and teachers are happy with the way things are; 60 percent of parents think that their children have the “right amount of homework”, and 73 percent of teachers think their school assigns the right amount of homework.
Students, however, are not necessarily on board: 30 percent of students in grades seven through 12 and 28 percent of students in grades three through six report being “very often/often” stressed out by their homework.
1. How much time are ninth graders recommended to spend on their daily homework?| A．30 minutes. | B．50 minutes. | C．70 minutes. | D．90 minutes. |
| A．The actual amount of homework for different subjects. |
| B．The unbalanced homework burdens in different schools. |
| C．The recommended daily homework for different students. |
| D．The average time different graders spend on daily homework. |
| A．Language. | B．Art. | C．Math. | D．Science. |
| A．The majority of students feel stressed out. |
| B．It might be reduced just for some students. |
| C．The government guidelines are not scientific. |
| D．Most parents and teachers are unhappy with it. |
7 . Best Summer Camps for Teenagers 2022
Catalina Sea Camp
Catalina Sea Camp is an adventure camp in Catalina Island, California. It’s perfect for kids aged 8～17 who enjoy being out in the ocean and participating in thrilling water sports and activities. It also has an educational aspect, focusing on marine ( 海 洋 的 ) biology, making it perfect for those interested in a future career in the field.
Camp Wicosuta
This is a summer camp in New Hampshire. This particular summer camp is intended specially for teenage girls that want to spend a little time outdoors. Each sleep-away camp session is broken down into four individual weeks and the entire program is based on celebrating confidence, competence and communication.
iD Tech Camp
iD Tech Camp is a virtual technology camp for teens. At their online camp, teens receive a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education while making friends with other students. Their expert instructors have years of experience and often come from well-known universities like Stanford, California Institute of Technology and New York University. The vast majority of students who attend the camps take part in STEM programs at universities, making it perfect for high school students who want a future career in the STEM field.
Fusion Academy College Camp
If you’re looking for a different kind of camp experience, Fusion Academy is offering College Admissions Camps this summer, Fusion is a private middle and high school with a personalized learning model. They offer the unique college camp on the Internet, so high school students can attend it from anywhere. Fusion Academy provides a nurturing (培养) environment where students can become the best versions of themselves on an academic and personal level.
1. What can campers do at the camp in Catalina Island, California?| A．Take STEM classes. | B．Do water sports |
| C．Attend job interviews. | D．Visit famous universities |
| A．Camp Wicosuta. | B．iD Tech Camp. |
| C．Catalina Sea Camp. | D．Fusion Academy College Camp. |
| A．They are held online | B．They center on art activities |
| C．They offer one-on-one instruction | D．They are designed for college students |
8 . Do you think that you are not outgoing enough? Are you too shy to make friends?
Always be clean. Take a shower, brush your teeth, and try to look nice. Dress in clean clothes.
Just talk. Some people worry about talking because they think, “What am I going to talk about with that person?”
Listen to people. You can’t just talk all the time. You have to listen to others and give your ideas. Let them know you care about them.
Read the news!
| A．Your friends will like you very much. |
| B．They must make you feel good and comfortable. |
| C．Don’t just stay at home and do nothing. |
| D．Smile more often. |
| E．Read the following rules. |
| F．Talk to others politely. |
| G．Outgoing people don’t even think about it. |
9 . Time to make lemonade out of life’s lemons
When you have an unexpected lockdown staring at you, take it one day at a time. Instead of getting bogged down by the thought, take each of those days as an opportunity to build new skills, explore hobbies and do things you’ve always wanted to.
1. Give your house a makeover
2
3. Find the bookworm in you
This is a no-brainer to be honest. Besides being a great entertainer, this can be a great use of your me-time, simply because you will enhance your knowledge of people, society, history and culture.
4. Try digital housekeeping
Your home may be tidy and in order, but your digital life is a mess: photos all out of place, the music from god-knows-when, old text files that need to be cleaned up.
| A．Be a social butterfly — on the phone |
| B．Here is a list of ideas for you to explore |
| C．Also, research suggests that reading keeps you smarter |
| D．Used to the common setting of your routine workplace |
| E．Therefore, you are supposed to finish the following things |
| F．Not to mention a system backup and an update of your operating system |
| G．Tired of seeing the same old seating/dining arrangements, day in, day out |
10 . Rapid urbanization and rising global temperatures are making access to natural water sources increasingly hard to come by. Today, a quarter of the world lives in areas of high water stress. Experts say we’re consuming natural resources faster than the earth can refill them.
Singapore uses about 430 million gallons of water every day — a number it expects could double in the next four decades. What’s worse, Singapore has no natural water sources of its own, instead relying heavily on recycled water and imports from its neighbors. That kind of consumption is piling pressure on the Asian city state to address growing concerns about global water shortage. So it’s building new technology to prepare itself for a future where obtaining clean water will be even more difficult.
One development: a small, black sponge (海绵) called carbon fiber aerogel (气凝胶) that the university says can clean waste water on a mass scale. The sponge absorbs 190 times its weight in waste, contents and microplastics.
The material is being further developed for commercial use by Singapore-based startup EcoWorth Technology. CEO Andre Stoltz said the company will first enter Singapore’s waste water market then to the production industry before eventually developing this material for use on a global scale.
“We believe its potential impact is very big,” Stoltz said, adding that the product allows the company to turn waste products to something of worth.
“We’ve been very blessed to have access to clean drinking water,” Pong said. “It’s a privilege that we should be able to bring forth to the rest of the region, and advocate that clean water is an essential aspect for life on earth.”
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To propose a dilemma. | B．To reach a conclusion. |
| C．To present a definition. | D．To lead to the topic. |
| A．The rising global temperatures. | B．The high development of the city. |
| C．Having a really intense population. | D．Having no internal natural water sources. |
| A．In the drinking water market. | B．In transforming waste water. |
| C．In the production industry. | D．In detecting clean water. |
| A．Risky. | B．Promising. | C．Challenging. | D．Demanding. |
