1 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea of each paragraph in one complete sentence.

How Did Yuan Longping Revolutionize China’s Rice Production?

①Yuan Longping was born in 1930 in Hubei. As a child, he was very interested in plants and other living things. He grew up to be a curious and hard-working plant scientist. Yuan wanted to solve the problem of food shortages, so he began conducting experiments to improve rice yields per hectare (10,000 m²).

②Plants come in many different varieties; for example, some types of rice have long grains, while others have short grains. For centuries, people have been crossing different plant varieties to create hybrids. Such plants proved to have desirable qualities from both parents. Yuan believed that it was possible to do the same with rice. He tried different ways of creating rice hybrids, only to discover that his attempts were unsuccessful.

③Even though it often seemed too difficult to complete this task, Yuan didn’t give up. After many years of hard work, his experiments finally bore fruit. This was a major discovery since no one had previously been able to cross two different kinds of rice. It had a huge impact: the first hybrid rice variety increased China’s rice production by 100 million tonnes in little over a decade.

④Yuan didn’t stop there — instead, he continued experimenting and created super hybrid rice with yields over 15 tonnes of rice per hectare. Thanks to Yuan’s work, China became self-sufficient in rice. Our country continued to increase its rice yields to become one of the biggest food donors in the world. In 2019, he received the Medal of the Republic for his outstanding contributions. At the age of 90, Yuan Longping still hasn’t retired. With a growing global population, the world needs to produce enough food to feed everyone, and Yuan is working to make this happen.

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2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, choose the right sentence element for each underlined word. One sentence element may be chosen more than twice.

A.S(Subject)     B.V(Verb)     C.C(Complement)     D.O(Object)

Why Go To Rome

Rome, the city of seven hills,    1    a mythic beginning. Its founder is Romulus and Remus – twin brothers whose mother     2    a wolf and father was a war god. Although historians doubted about this mythic story, most travelers are     3    that there is something magical about Rome. Whether it's the mystery of nearby Vatican City or the ghosts of the Colosseum, an afternoon tea or a plate of pasta, Roma is sure to be popular.

Rome is known for    4    that dates back to the eras of Octavian, Julius Caesar and Hadrian. There are structures like the Pantheon, the Roman Forum and dozens of churches, among other historic gems. Art lovers    5    art exhibited at the Vatican Museums, and food lovers will enjoy the amazing Italian snacks, including the gelato.

3 . Directions:Write down the derivatives of the given words as required.
1. i______ coming or existing between two events, dates, objects, etc
2. a______ of or belonging to or inherited from an ancestor
3. d______ the fact that a particular person or thing is more powerful, successful, or important than other people or things
4. b______ a real or imagined line that marks the limits or edges of something and separates it from other things or places; a dividing line
5. c______ a sudden failure of something, such as an institution, a business or a course of action
6. d______ a range of many people or things that are very different from each other

4 . How to Improve Climate Literacy

Climate literacy is the ability to identify, understand and explain information associated with climate science.     1    

Over the past few years, many young people and educators have pushed for the inclusion of climate literacy in national curricula. So what are the best ways in which this can be embedded within already packed school timetables?

True climate literacy must address not only the science of climate change, but also issues of climate (in)justice, including how climate change affects people and places unevenly and contributes to inequalities within and across nations.

    2     Many people in developed countries like the UK therefore see climate change happening elsewhere and to other people, with less relevance to their own lives.

    3     We need to start highlighting the local effects of climate change to ground abstract understanding in reality.

One way to do this is through visual storytelling. Storytelling, often involving drawings and paintings, has been used by human communities to pass on knowledge or tales of caution for at least 30,000 years — as you can see from the cave painting.

One effect of storytelling is its ability to create cognitive dissonance: the mental conflict and discomfort felt when a person’s behaviour isn’t in line with their beliefs. Stories that demonstrate the consequences of not acting eco-consciously — especially if those consequences are shown visually — can be a good way to do this, leading to individuals being more likely to take climate action in their own lives or by confronting corporate activities.

A．Therefore, the teachers we worked with remarked that lessons are typically focused on the physical processes of climate change.

B．However, at present, much of climate change education is focused on the physical aspects of climate change, often at a global scale.

C．The next stages of our research will reflect how a separated community has come together through this journey towards climate literacy.

D．Being climate literate allows individuals to become active participants in the fight against climate change.

E．This collective psychological distancing means many fail to recognise the urgency of the climate crisis.

6 . Directions: Write out the words according to the relevant definitions. The first letter is given to you.
1. p________: n. a particular set or system of beliefs resulting from the search for knowledge about life and universe
2. a________: v. to succeed in getting something, usually after a lot of effort
3. m________: adj. very strong and powerful
4. a________: n. the use of something in a way that is wrong or harmful
5. m________: adj. very large in size, amount, or number
6. e________: adj. attractive and showing a good sense of style
7. s________: adj. very impressive
8. v________: n. the quality of being able to be easily hurt, influenced or attacked
9. i________: n. quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
10. p________: n. the act of showing or describing somebody/something in a picture, play, book, etc.

7 . Coca-Cola Launched Coke-branded Energy Drinks

Coca-Cola recently said it was considering adding a new drink, Coca-Cola Energy, to its list of Coke products.

    1     Both companies have said that they value the relationship, but Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey is pushing for aggressive growth, and he’s not afraid to upset some feathers.

The energy drink is one of the fastest-growing parts of the drink industry, and it’s highly profitable because consumers are used to paying more for energy drinks than soft drinks. Plus, some people already drink Coke for caffeine. It’s a natural brand extension.

    2     That means that energy drinks compete with other types of drinks, and that people who may not seek out an energy drink may still be looking for an energy boost.

    3     In that way, the new drink could serve as addition, rather than competitor, to Monster.

A．Monster, Coca-Cola’s energy drink partner, isn’t excited with the plan.

B．Pretty much every drink category is experimenting with making full use of energy sections.

C．Coke recognized the importance of energy drinks when it struck a deal with Monster in 2014.

D．By using natural ingredients and its recognizable brand, Coke may be going after consumers who wouldn’t reach for a Monster drink.

E．Recently, consumers have been looking for functional ingredients — like caffeine for energy — in everything from sparkling water to juice.

8 . Directions: Write out the words according to the relevant definitions. The first letter is given to you.
1. r_____ (of rules, methods, etc,) very strict and difficult to change
2. c_____the subjects that are included in a course of study or taught in a school, college, etc.
3. g_____a person’s understanding of a subject or of difficult facts
4. i_____as is certain to happen
5. T_____closely connected with the subject you are discussing or the situation you are thinking about
6. n_____ (of rivers, etc.) wide and deep enough for ships and boats to sail on
7. w_____a large area of land that has never been developed or used for growing crops because it is difficult to live there
8. i_____the act of an army entering another country by force in order to take control of it
9. c_____n.大灾难
10. f_____adj.肥沃的
11. e_____- n.短途旅行
12. i_____adj.臭名昭著的
13. e_____n.流行病
14. a_____adv.匿名地;不具体地

9 . The Last Straw?

Every second, the world uses 160,000 plastic bags — that is a total of over five trillion per year. Up to 99 percent of these plastic bags hang around for at least 1,000 years and pollute Earth. And yet, plastic bags are hardly a necessity in our lives. Of all the changes we could make to create a more sustainable lifestyle, a total ban on plastic bags should be simple.

At the beginning of 2021, Shanghai put in effect a ban on all plastic bags in shopping malls and supermarkets, as well as a ban on non-degradable plastics in many other areas. Over the years, individuals and companies have worked to replace plastic items, such as cups and straws, with paper ones.     1    .

Customers complain that paper straws often become soft and break before they can finish their hot drinks. Experts, however, have repeatedly stressed plastic substitutes (替代品) are not the ultimate solution, and that our consumption habits need a bigger change.

In college, one of my environmental science professors promoted a type of waste-free living. She carried around a small glass jar with her, and in it was all her trash she collected for the entire year. She was able to do this by bringing her own cup to Starbucks, her own bags to the shops, and never buying anything that came wrapped in plastic. Her food waste also became compost.     2    .

Plastic bags are incredibly easy to forget about when they become increasingly common.     3    . Once they are in the trash, we take it for granted that they are someone else’s problem. The sad fact is that plastic bags break down into microplastics which then get mixed into the air, soil and water, and eventually end up in plants, animals, and our very own human bodies. So what are you going to do about them?

A．Clearly she demonstrated our ability to live a completely healthy life without creating a great deal of plastic waste.

B．Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas.

C．If they’re free to use and easily disposed of, they’re a mere tool that we don’t have to think about.

D．Some of these decisions have been met with criticism.

E．Unfortunately, such a high level of pollution doesn’t come without consequences.