1 . The comedy genre has drawn laughs from audiences since the early 1900s and the birth of moving pictures. Comedy films lighten moods and allow audiences to escape from reality and lose themselves in humor. The format of the comedy genre is either comedian-led or a humorous description. A variety of subgenres exists within the comedy genre, all of which make people laugh, but each includes different characteristics slightly changing the overall tone of the film.
Slapstick’s (打闹剧) origins are firmly rooted in the silent movies of the early 20th century. This type of comedy relies heavily on overplayed visual action and uses harmless violence to raise laughter. Timing and polished performance skills are vital to effective slapstick. The name slapstick comes from the wooden sticks that clowns slapped together to draw laughter. Laure l and Hardy, Abbot and Costello and Harold Lloyd are famous actors of slapstick comedy.
The mid-1930s saw the coming of screwball comedies (怪诞剧). This subgenre typically features satirical (讽刺的) views of society combined with crazy, energetic action accurately timed. Screwball comedies make fun of society and use satirical ways to explore romantic conflicts whereby the usually upper class male suffers disorder and chaos in his life at the hands of a socially mismatched female. The film involves a happy settlement of differences between the male and female characters. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn play their screwball comedy roles to perfection in Bringing Up Baby.
Romantic comedy (RomCom) remains ever popular at the box office. The American Film Institute describes romantic comedies as “a genre in which the development of romance leads to funny situations”. Romantic comedy tells of the problematic, joyful relationships between a man and a woman in love, and shows the audience in the most pleasant and humorous way that love can defeat all. There’s Something About Mary and Meet the Parents are the best examples of the RomCom.
Black comedy takes a dark subject such as death or war and presents it in a humorous way. Black comedies tell satirical stories about issues that usually make people feel uncomfortable. MASH and Kind Hearts and Coronets belong to dark humor.
1. What does the text mainly talk about?| A．The origin and development of comedy films. |
| B．The characteristics and impact of comedy films. |
| C．The subgenres of comedy films and their characteristics. |
| D．The comparison of different subgenres of comedy films. |
| A．They both involve love stories. | B．They both make fun of society. |
| C．They both have crazy performance. | D．They both reflect differences between men and women. |
| A．Slapstick and screwball comedies. | B．Screwball comedies and RomCom. |
| C．RomCom and black comedies. | D．Screwball comedies and black comedies. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
2 . There is a lot to learn about the unusual habits and qualities of the British people when you first visit London.
Get to know what to wear. Most men now go for a shirt, and women go for a smart-casual skirt or trousers and top(上衣), or a dress. Some men might keep a jacket and tie at work that they can put on if they have a client meeting or some other reason to look extra smart.
Pay attention to the art of giving praise.
Visiting gardens is common. Gardening is one of the most popular leisure activities in the UK. Two-thirds of British people visit a garden centre each year, which results in great economic value.
| A．The British like to be modest. |
| B．This business is worth 25 billion. |
| C．When it comes to money, less is more. |
| D．In this way, you will have made their day. |
| E．We like to wear suits to the gardens and donate money to show modesty. |
| F．And if you are going to a wedding as a guest, it is best to avoid wearing white. |
| G．Away from the workplace, however, there are still places that expect a suit and tie. |
3 . An outbreak of bird flu（禽流感） moved from Asia to Europe, and has now spread to North America, which has led to the deaths of tens of millions of birds.
The last time there was a bird flu outbreak was seven years ago. The 2015 bird flu caused the death of over 50 million birds in the US alone. Slowly, over time, that outbreak was brought to a close by itself. This version of bird flu was first noticed in Saudi Arabia in February,2020. All through 2020 and 2021, the disease continued to spread. Wild birds which caught the flu in one part of the world carried the disease to other parts as they travelled.
The current bird flu appears to be at least as deadly as the 2015 flu, and seems to spread more easily. As one expert put it, “A lot more birds appear to be affected.” In the US alone, over 40 different kinds of wild birds have been found to have the disease, and those birds are spread out over 30 different states. Among the wild birds hit the hardest are water birds like ducks and geese. Birds which eat other birds, like eagles, are also being heavily affected. To keep the flu from spreading, farms with a few infected birds often have to kill thousands of birds, even if they don’t all have the disease yet.
Some scientists think this virus will stick around in wild bird populations. “I hope that this is not the case. I hope that in the US this infection will go away soon,” says Ron Fouchier, a virologist（病毒学家） at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. “But there’s no guarantee for that, as we’ve seen in Europe now that this virus has remained present for several years.”
1. What do we know about the 2015 bird flu?| A．It was discovered in Saudi Arabia. | B．It had little effect on the birds. |
| C．It appeared in different forms. | D．It came to an end on its own. |
| A．The performance of the infected birds. | B．The killing of the bird flu. |
| C．The current bird flu’s consequences. | D．The tough choices for farmers. |
| A．Positive. | B．Uncertain. | C．Uncaring. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．A magazine about animals. | B．A novel about ordinary people. |
| C．A health guidebook. | D．A medicine book. |
4 . As people get older, it can become more difficult for them to do activities that require a wide range of mobility (移动的能力) — but that doesn’t mean they want to stop being active.
Feeling inspired by this realization, Ole Kassow, a kind and considerate man, wanted to offer free bike rides to the old at the local nursing home in Denmark. To make that possible, he thought hard and came up with an idea of making a trishaw (三轮脚踏车) , a new kind of 24bike that includes a two-person wooden bench that’s located at the front so riders can better enjoy the view. In this way, Ole showed great love to the old.
Ole’s bike rides became so popular that, over time, he turned it into a non-profit club called Cycling Without Age. Since then, they’ve gone from having one chapter (地方分会) in Denmark to having chapters in 52 countries! To make these rides accessible to all, they come at absolutely no cost to the riders.
Cycling Without Age is all about making bike rides accessible to the elderly, but it’s actually so much more than that. In addition to getting some much needed fresh air, these lovely people are given the chance to socialize.
“We dream of creating a world together, in which the access to active citizenship creates happiness among our fellow elderly citizens by providing them with an opportunity to remain an active part of society,” their website says.
What Cycling Without Age is doing is something the volunteers enjoy as well. “This is a great opportunity to really bring generations together,” young volunteer Adam Binnie said.
“It reminds me of when I was younger and able to go out into the countryside,” Christina Ogilvie, one of the riders said. “Yes, that’s what it reminds me of-getting out, walking... I felt like royalty (王室成员), actually, waving at everybody and everybody waving at us. We all love riding like this.”
1. What did Ole mainly take into consideration when making the trishaw?| A．Its riders’ interests. | B．Its production costs. | C．Its drivers’ age. | D．Its raw materials. |
| A．To promote sport for all people. | B．To make the old become social. |
| C．To tell people to value young days. | D．To provide jobs for young people. |
| A．To prove she is so popular. | B．To praise her for being active. |
| C．To say Ole’s project is well received. | D．To explain trishaws will be available soon. |
| A．Love breaks down barriers. | B．The simplest way is the best way. |
| C．It pays to put theory into practice. | D．It is not rewarding to try new things. |
5 . Our General English 20+ course is a practical course for motivated (积极的) adults who want to develop their confidence in communicating in English in a variety of situations. In small groups, you will develop your fluency and accuracy with realistic role-plays and real-life situations. Full-time or part-time choices are available to fit around your work, childcare or lifestyle commitments.
Our learners typically come from a wide range of backgrounds and an average of 70 nationalities per year.
For people who book 8 weeks or more, we have a special support system to ensure that your needs are met throughout your time with us and that you continue to see progress in your skills. This extra support includes extra free help and personalized feedback. We will communicate regularly with you so that any issues can be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Here’s more information about our course:
Maximum group size: 8
Minimum age: 20
Duration (时长) : a minimum of 1 week
Full-time: 24 hours per week; 9: 30-15: 45/16: 00 (Monday to Friday)
Part-time: 12 hours per week; choose morning or afternoon classes
Morning: 9: 30-12: 00 (Monday to Friday)
Afternoon: 13: 30-16: 00 (Monday to Friday)
At the end of this English course you can expect to understand the news and media better, use English more effectively for work or travel, deal with everyday. situations like meeting people or booking a hotel, and have developed your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
1. What’s special about the English conversations during the course?| A．They are academic. | B．They are natural. | C．They are informal. | D．They are easy. |
| A．Join a group of eight. | B．Choose full-time classes. |
| C．Give your personalized feedback. | D．Book at least an eight-week course. |
| A．They should be 20 or older. | B．They have to be on the job. |
| C．They should be free at weekends. | D．They must be native English speakers. |
6 . In the past, you may have had to carry a phrasebook with you when traveling to other countries. Nowadays, more and more people are using simple, free tools, not only to decode (译解 ) text but also to speak. Google Translate may be the best-known name in machine translation, but it often makes a blunder. However, DeepL Translate does better, offering various options, most of them along the correct lines.
Travel has long been a motivator for study-unless people start to feel AI tools offer a good-enough service. As AI translation becomes an even more popular labor-saving tool, people can be divided into two groups.There will be those who want to stretch their minds and immerse (使沉浸于) themselves in other cultures. This lot will still take on language study,often aided by technology. Others will look at learning a new language with a mix of admiration and puzzlement, and eventually give up trying to learn it.
As for the use of AI tools, some are concerned that apps are turning language learning into a downward trend. Douglas Hofstadter, a writer, has argued that something profound will disappear when people talk through machines. He describes giving a difficult speech in Mandarin, which requires a lot of work but offers a sense of accomplishment in the end. Who will take pride in taking a helicopter to the top of Mount Everest?
Others are less worried. Most people do not move abroad or have to be exposed to a foreign culture that requires them to put in the work to become fluent. Nor do most people learn languages for the purpose of humanising themselves or training their brains.
But a focus on the learner alone misses the basic social nature of language. When you try to ask directions in broken German, you are making direct contact with someone. When you speak a language well enough to tell a story with perfect timing, that connection is more profound.The best relationships do not require an intermediary (中间人).
1. What does the underlined word "blunder" in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Mistake. | B．Choice. | C．Adjustment. | D．Decision. |
| A．They may not offer accurate translations. |
| B．They may make language learning less popular. |
| C．They may weaken people's interest in other cultures. |
| D．They may provide a limited service for language learning. |
| A．It provides people with new experience. |
| B．It can replace traditional language study methods. |
| C．It represents a new tendency to language learning. |
| D．It lessens the sense of achievement in language study. |
| A．It enables cultural exchanges. | B．It improves communication skills. |
| C．It strengthens connections with others. | D．It adds fun to the storytelling experience. |
7 . Four best thrift (节俭) stores in New York
Housing Works
•Address: NYC Multiple Locations
•Opening Hours: 11 am-7 pm Monday-Saturday; 12 pm-5 pm Sunday
Housing Works has locations offering many second-hand treasures all throughout the city, including the Upper East Side. It’s a great place for thrifters living in the area or visiting the neighborhood. Whether you’re looking for clothing, shoes, or even furniture, Housing Works is always worth the stop. The stores also support the unhoused and those living with HIV/AIDS, so you know you’re helping out a great cause by shopping there.
Chelsea Flea
•Address: 729 West 25th St, btw 6 Ave + B’ way•Opening Hours: 8 am-4 pm Saturday-Sunday
Open year round on Saturdays and Sundays, the Chelsea Flea market is truly a full weekend adventure! There are thrift shops selling everything from antiques to jewelry (珠宝), and even great food options. And of course, you’ll find many sellers offering some of the coolest and most unique vintage (老式的) clothing in all of NYC!
AuH20
•Address: 84 E 7th St, NY, NY 10003•Opening Hours: 12 pm-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday
This is definitely one of the best places to find a bargain on clothes. You can find tons of items priced between $5-$40, so you won’t blow your budget even if you pick out a few new pieces. This neighborhood store is a highlight of the East Village shopping scene, and should be on everyone’s list of the best thrift stores in NYC.
Celene’s Thrift Shop
•Address: 568 Grandview Ave, Queens, NY, 11385•Opening Hours: 9 am--7 pm Monday-Saturday; Closed Sunday
Definitely one of the friendliest thrift stores in New York, this is a small but crowded space that offers tons of cool and unique vintage clothes and items. It’s such a great environment to shop, and you can always find what you’re looking for or something you didn’t even know you needed!
1. What is special about Housing Works?| A．It is closed on holidays. | B．It supports charitable causes. |
| C．It is famous for its vintage treasures. | D．It is limited to a few specific places. |
| A．AuH20. | B．Chelsea Flea. | C．Housing Works. | D．Celene’s Thrift Shop. |
| A．They offer a friendly dining experience. | B．They are open every day all year round. |
| C．They have the same opening hours. | D．They sell special vintage clothing. |
8 . The scent of hot bread drifting from the shops along the Street of Flour was sweeter than any perfume Arya had ever smelled. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to the pigeon. It was a plump one, speckled brown, busily pecking at a crust that had fallen between two cobblestones, but when Arya’s shadow touched it, it took to the air.
Her stick sword whistled out and caught it two feet off the ground, and it went down in a flurry of brown feathers. She was on it in the blink of an eye, grabbing a wing as the pigeon flapped and fluttered. It pecked at her hand. She grabbed its neck and twisted until she felt the bone snap.
Compared with catching cats, pigeons were easy.
She tied the pigeon to her belt and started down the street. A man was pushing a load of tarts by on a two-wheeled cart; the smells sang of blueberries and lemons and apricots. Her stomach made a hollow rumbly noise. “Could I have one?” she heard herself say. “A lemon, or…or any kind.”
The pushcart man looked her up and down. Plainly he did not like what he saw. “Three coppers.”
Arya tapped her wooden sword against the side of her boot. “I’ll trade you a fat pigeon,” she said.
“The Others take your pigeon,” the pushcart man said.
The tarts were still warm from the oven. The smells were making her mouth water, but she did not have three coppers... or one. She gave the pushcart man a look, remembering what Syrio had told her about seeing. He was short, with a little round belly, and when he moved he seemed favor his left leg a little. She was just thinking that if she snatched a tart and ran he would never be able to catch her when he said, “You be keeping your filthy hands off. The gold cloaks know how to deal with thieving little gutter rats, that they do.”
Arya glanced warily behind her. Two of the City Watch were standing at the mouth of an alley. Their cloaks hung almost to the ground, the heavy wool dyed a rich gold; their mail and boots and gloves were black. One wore a long sword at his hip, the other an iron cudgel. With a last wistful glance at the tarts, Arya edged back from the cart and hurried off. The gold cloaks had not been paying her any special attention, but the sight of them tied her stomach in knots. Arya had been staying as far from the castle as she could get, yet even from a distance she could see the heads rotting atop the high red walls. Flocks of crows squabbled noisily over each head, thick as flies. The talk in Flea Bottom was that the gold cloaks had associated themselves with the Lannisters, their commander raised to a lord, with lands on the Trident and a seat on the king’s council.
1. The story is set in a place where ______.| A．people raised pigeons | B．only privileged people lived |
| C．people sold and bought food | D．the watchmen received training |
| A．metaphor | B．overstatement |
| C．personification (拟人) | D．rhetoric rhyme |
| A．Remembering people’s appearance so that you can recognize them. |
| B．Perceiving people’s intention so that you can properly talk to them. |
| C．Understanding people’s living conditions so that you can help them. |
| D．Knowing people’ strengths and weaknesses so that you can beat them |
| A．Arya was more hunger than terrified in the story. |
| B．The Lannisters was a big enemy of the gold cloaks. |
| C．The atmosphere of the castle was agreeable and welcome. |
| D．The authority treated the executed people’s dead bodies in a cruel way. |
9 . Here at The Literacy Site, we’re big believers in playtime. So is one school in Texas, following the tradition of many schools in Finland (芬兰). And now research is on board too.
Debbie Rhea, a researcher from Texas Christian University, designed the program now in place at Eagle Mountain Elementary, in which children have four 15-minute recess (课间休息) periods throughout the school day. She heard about the success of the Finnish school system and decided to take a trip there to study it. When she returned, she began working with schools here in the U.S. to do something similar.
At Eagle Mountain Elementary, students now get three times as much recess as they used to have; outdoor time has been swelled from 20 minutes to an hour each day. The program also focuses on helping kids develop character instead of just test-taking skills.
Since carrying out the program, teachers are noticing that their students are more attentive and less restless. They make more eye contact, have better test scores, and seem to be healthier and happier overall. They even need to sharpen their pencils less because they spend less time chewing (不停地啃) on them. Schools in three other states are starting a similar program after seeing this one perform so well.
In other areas of the country, however, schools have been cutting back on playtime to squeeze in (使挤入) longer lecture periods to prepare kids for standardized tests.
Cutting recess is, no doubt, a decision made with good purposes. But is the traditional lecture-and-test method really effective? Does reducing recess time make more learning happen? The results of recent research say no. A 2014 study showed that the benefits of high-quality recess programs include a drop in bullying and conflicts (冲突), and an increase in the amount of safety and happiness students feel. Children have even been shown to learn better immediately following a break like recess, according to research done by Robert Murray, an expert at Ohio State University.
“If you want a child to be attentive and stay on task, and also if you want them to understand the information you’re giving them, you’ve got to give them regular (经常的) breaks, he said.
1. What does the underlined word “swelled” in paragraph 3 mean?| A．Stressed. | B．Measured. | C．Increased. | D．Exchanged. |
| A．The goals of the program. | B．The benefits of the program. |
| C．Teachers’ advice on the program. | D．Other schools’ reactions to the program. |
| A．To explore why some schools like to cut recess. |
| B．To show how kids make use of their recess time. |
| C．To explain why cutting recess should be stopped. |
| D．To describe how hard it is to ensure kids’ recess time |
10 . Teachers at an Atlanta elementary school hold a mirror up while students shout positive affirmations (肯定) to themselves. “We live in a tough neighborhood in Atlanta. It’s good to plant those seeds (种子) here,” a teacher said.
In a video that recently went viral (迅速传开), fourth-graders at Gideons Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia lined up to shout positive affirmations to themselves in a mirror while their teachers cheered them on. “I am smart!” “I am a good person!”
“The idea came from something I practice with my 5-year-old daughter,” said Neffiteria Acker, the teacher seen in the video holding the mirror.“ When we’re on our way to school, I have her repeat affirmations to me, starting with, ‘I am.’ Usually, I just ask her to tell me something good about herself. She’ll say, ‘I’m a fast eater,’ or, ‘I’m a fast runner.’ Then I’ll add to it, ‘You’re also really brave.’”
“It lifts her confidence. So I thought, ‘Why not bring that to the classroom? ’ ” she added.
Cierra Levay Broadway, the teacher who filmed the video, said she was moved while watching the students shout their affirmations. “It was an amazing moment,” she said. “I was really astonished when I saw the kids and heard what they were saying. For a lot of them, it was the first time they’d ever done that.”
The teachers understand the importance of building self-confidence at a young age, especially for students who do not have such an opportunity at home.
“In our neighborhood the kids hear a lot of negative things about themselves. So a seed of self-love is the best seed to plant, and all Broadway and I have to do is water it,” Acker said.
1. Why did the teachers try to help their students?| A．The students dislike studying. |
| B．The students laugh at the gardeners. |
| C．The students are affected by their environment. |
| D．The students have difficulty getting on with each other. |
| A．Plan for their futures. | B．Cheer up their schoolmates. |
| C．Find other students’ strengths. | D．Say positive words about themselves. |
| A．Her daughter’s suggestions to her. | B．Her conversations with her daughter. |
| C．A video of a small girl. | D．A mirror in her school. |
