1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. fit B. practice C. promising D. boast E. ingredients F. disturbed G. evolution H. excuses I. passing J. stuck K. honouring

The Origin of Trick-or-treat

On October 31, hordes of children armed with Jack-o’-lantern-shaped buckets and pillow cases will take to the streets in search of sugar. Trick-or-treating for candy is equivalent to Halloween, but the tradition had to go through a centuries-long     1     to arrive at the place it is today. So how did the holiday become an opportunity for kids to get free sweets? You can blame pagans (异教徒), Catholics, and candy companies.

Historians agree that a Celtic autumn festival called Samhain (萨温节) was the origin of modern Halloween. Samhain was a time to celebrate the last harvest of the year and the approach of the winter season. It was also a festival for     2     the dead. One way Celtics may have appeased the spirits they believed still walked the Earth was by leaving treats on their doorsteps. When Catholics invaded Ireland in the 1st century CE, they rebranded many pagan holidays to     3     their religion. November 1^st became the “feasts of All Saints and All Souls,” and the day before it was dubbed “All-Hallows’-Eve.” The new holidays looked a lot different from the original Celtic festival, but many traditions     4     around, including the practice of offering food to the dead. The food of choice for Christians became “soul cakes,” small pastries usually baked with expensive     5     and spices like currants and saffron.

Instead of leaving them outside for     6     ghosts, soul cakes were distributed to beggars who went door-to-door     7     to pray for souls of the deceased in exchange for something to eat. Sometimes they wore costumes to honour the saints—something pagans originally did to avoid being     8     by evil spirits. The ritual, known as “souling”, is believed to have planted the seeds for modern-day trick-or-treating.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that trick-or-treat gained popularity in the US. Following the Great Depression and World War II, the suburbs were booming, and people were looking for     9     to have fun and get to know their neighbours. The old     10     of souling made a comeback and gave kids a chance to dress up in costumes and roam their neighbourhoods. Common trick-or-treat offerings included nuts, coins, and homemade baked goods (“treats” that most kids would turn their noses up at today).

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. rival   B. contributed   C. benefiting   D. witnessed   E. accounts F. uneasy   G. enrolment   H. intentionally I. delays     J. declined   K. unconsciously

Put off by US, Chinese students eye other universities

Caught in the US-China trade war, Chinese students are looking for alternative study destinations.

China     1     for nearly a third of foreign students on US campuses who pour billions of dollars into the economy, but since March, the number has     2     for the first time in a decade. Visa     3    , concerns over being shut out of research projects and safety fears have turned off Chinese students.

    4     education powerhouses such as Britain, Australia and Canada are the biggest countries     5     from the shift, a survey by New Oriental China’s biggest private education provider said. Japan and South Korea and parts of Europe, especially Germany and Scandinavian countries with strong engineering programmes, have also     6     a rise in applications, the survey found.

The chilling effect which makes students and their parents     7     started 2 years ago, after President Donald Trump’s administration     8     decreased the visa duration of students in science and technology fields from five years to one in some cases.

Chinese students     9     $13 billion to the US economy last year, a figure that includes tuition fees and living expenses, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Top US universities including Yale and Stanford have complained that the trade war has affected campus     10    .

3 . Directions: Fill in the blanks with the proper forms of the given words or phrases. Note there is one more word or phrase than you need.

excite       experiment       result from       result in fit in        survive            push               show off

1. It will be long for some overseas students ____________ with new manners and customs.
2. Wandering Earth tells of a grand plan of mankind: when the earth is facing destruction, humans ____________ the earth out of the solar system in search of a new home.
3. Are you attracted by all the clown’s tricks ____________ with the gadget he’s made?
4. He wasted too much time dealing with some insignificant things, ____________ the failure of the whole plan.
5. What ____________ people all over the country in the past few years is that China became the third country to softland an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon.
6. ____________ the fierce competition, the CEO of Pizza Hut decides not to expand further, but to pay more attention to the quality of its products.
7. Decorations and color began ____________ with by post-modernist designers again, so as to avoid a soulless design.

4 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. defining          B. internationally       C previously        D serving       E driving F historically          G digest             H. dining       I. compared       J. beat       K. cooking

The presence of Cantonese restaurants in the U.S. —due largely to historical reasons — has made weekend dim sum with a pot of tea a gastronomic (美食的)highlight for Chinese communities overseas. In mainland China, however, its Sichuan food that has largely defined     1     out in major cities, which has become arguably the most popular regional cuisine in the country.

The importance of Sichuan food has also been recognized    2    . In 2011, its capita] city Chengdu became the first city in Asia — and second in the world — to receive a UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation.

Of the regional cuisine restaurants registered on Meituan, eateries     3     Sichuan food made up the largest proportion in 2019. It     4     out all other Chinese regional cuisines as well as popular international food choices, according to China F&B Big Data 2020.

According to Meituan’s database, Sichuan cuisine made up the highest percentage of eateries in 2017 and 2018 as well, growing from 4.4% in 2017 to 4.8% in 2018. Meituan also reported that young Chinese millennials born in the 1990s are the     5     force behind this trend, accounting for around 51.4% of all eating out.

Located in southwestern China, Sichuan has     6     been seen as a “land of plenty” due to its climate and topography (地形地貌).Fertile soil and a wetter climate have impacted the robustness of its agriculture, and in turn it’s    7    .

Two of the     8     characteristics of Sichuan food are its two most famous types of spiciness — “aromatic (香的)”and “numbing (麻的) ” . Some diners perceive Sichuan spiciness,     9     to other cuisines known for their hotness in China, as mellower. Therefore, it is easier to    10     for those who did not grow up with a spicy food culture.

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. double          B. intense          C. pressures       D. stock          E. agriculture       F. trapped G. withdrawal     H. availability   I. drive             J. expanding     K. rising

Throughout history, people have fought bitter wars over political ideology, national sovereignty and religious expression. How much more     1     will these conflicts be when people fight over the Earth’s most indispensable resource water? We may find out in the not-too-distant future if projections about the     2     of water in the Middle East and other regions prove correct.

Less than three percent of the planet’s     3     is fresh water, and almost two-thirds of this amount is     4     in ice caps, glaciers, and underground aquifers too deep or too remote to access. In her book, Pillars of Sand-Can the Irrigation Miracle Last, Sandra Postel outlines three forces that     5     tension and conflict over freshwater. Using up the water “resource pie”. In India, the world’s second-most populous nation, with over 1 billion inhabitants, the rate of groundwater     6     is twice that of recharge, a deficit higher than in any other country. Although water is a renewable resource, it is not a(n)     7     one. The freshwater available today for more than 6 billion people is no greater than it was 2,000 years ago, when global population was approximately 200 million. (The current U.S. population is 287 million.)

Global     8     accounts for about 70% of all freshwater use. In five of the world’s most water-stressed, controversial areas the Aral Sea region, the Ganges, the Jordan, the Nileland and Tigris-Euphrates population increases of up to 75% are projected by 2025. With the fastest rate of growth in the world, the population of Palestinian territory will more than     9     over the next generation. Most experts agree that, because of geography, population     10     and politics, water wars are most likely to break out in the Middle East, a region where the amount of available freshwater per capita will decrease by about 50% over the next generation.

6 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. disorder              B. influencing              C. escalates               D. reset                    E. satisfaction F. fruitless              G. refreshed              H. coincidence              I. functions              J. powerful K. recommended

The best thing you can do for your health: sleep well

Do you think you got enough sleep this past week? Can you remember the last time you woke up without an alarm clock, feeling     1    , not needing caffeine? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” you are not alone. Two-thirds of adults throughout all developed nations fail to obtain the     2     eight hours of nightly sleep.

Insufficient sleep is now one of the most significant lifestyle factors     3     whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease. During sleep, a remarkable sewage system in the brain, called the glymphatic system,     4     at its peak. As you enter deep sleep, this sanitization system clears the brain of a sticky, poisonous protein linked to Alzheimer’s, known as beta amyloid(淀粉样蛋白). Without sufficient sleep, you fail to get that power clean. With each passing night of insufficient sleep, that Alzheimer’s disease risk     5    , like compounding interest on a loan.

Perhaps you have also noticed a desire to eat more when you’re tired? This is no     6    . Too little sleep swells concentrations of a hormone that makes you feel hungry while checking a companion hormone that otherwise signals food     7    . Full as you are, you will still want to eat more. It’s a recipe linked to weight gain in sleep-deficient adults and children alike.

Worse, should you try to diet but don’t get enough sleep while doing so, it is     8    , since up to 70% of the weight you lose will come from lean body mass, not fat. Turn these facts around and you realize that plentiful sleep is a     9     tool for controlling your appetite, your weight and keeping your body in shape.

Put simply: sleep – a consistent seven- to nine-hour opportunity each night – is the single most effective thing we can do to     10     our brain and body health each day, and the reason why I strongly suggest and respect sleep scientifically and personally.

7 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. supervising        B. serious        C. hit        D. illustrate        E. transformed F. practiced        G. contrasted        H. landscape        I. comparing        J. critical K. starts

If Stan Lee revolutionized the comic book world in the 1960s, which he did, he left as big a stamp on the even wider pop culture     1     of today.

Mr. Lee was a central player in the creation of all properties of Marvel Comics. Indeed, he was for many the father of Marvel,     2     the company^ emergence as an international media giant. A writer, editor, publisher, Hollywood executive and tireless promoter of Marvel, he played a     3     role in what comics fans call the medium’s silver age.

Stan Lee was born on Dec. 28, 1922, in Manhattan, the older of two sons born to Jack Lieber, and Celia Lieber, both immigrants from Romania. When graduated at 17 from high school, he aspired to be a writer of     4     literature. He was set on the path to becoming a different kind of writer. However, after a few false     5     at other jobs, he was hired at Timely Publications and the comics field.

In 1961, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kirby produced the first issue of The Fantastic Four, about a super-powered team with humanizing dimensions, which was a     6    .

Mr. Lee     7     what he called the Marvel method: Instead of handing artists’ scripts to     8    , he summarized stories and let the artists draw them and fill in a plot details as they chose. He then added sound effects and dialogues.

Under Mr. Lee, Marvel     9     the comic book world by filling its characters with the self-doubts, as well an awareness of trends and a sense of humor. In humanizing his heroes, giving them character flaws that     10     with their supernatural strengths,Mr. Lee tried “to make them real flesh-and-blood characters with personality.”

8 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once.

A. physical   B. practical   C. popular   D. capable   AB. range   AC. blame AD. return   BC. concerns   BD. dropped   CD. shared   ABC. improvements

Born and raised in a digital age, today’s young people are generally tech savvy （技术娴熟的). But when it comes to basic life skills, they are less     1     than the older generation.

According to a recent study by YouGov, a UK-based market research firm, 69 percent of 18-24-olds in the UK have no idea how to bleed a radiator (暖气片换水). About 35 percent of them don’t know how to sew on a button, while about 11 percent don’t understand how to change a light bulb or iron clothes.

In fact, the problem is     2    by young people in the United States. According to a report by Forbes in 2014, most millennial (千禧一代) drivers don’t know how to check their tire pressure. Cooking is another basic life skill that has been     3     as millennials are much more likely to order food deliveries than previous generations.

Technology may be to     4     for this generational gap. “Skills at using phones and computers are the ones valued these days, and the     5     hands-on skills of yesteryear are now seen as functions that can be easily outsourced (外包),” Sandi Mann, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Central Lancashire, UK, told the Mirror.

Indeed,     6     in technology have made young people unfamiliar with many basic life skills. For example, with GPS always at hand, young people have had no need to learn how to read     7     maps,

However, this change has raised     8     among many people. “If you have your master’s degree and you can’t live within your means or go home from your job and feed yourself a nutritious meal, you’re not a complete graduate,” Chris Moore, a professor from Brigham Young University, US, told HuffPost.

That’s why there’s an increasing call for the     9     of “home ec” in the US, short for home economics, which teaches basic life skills like cooking and how to do laundry. It was very     10    in the early 20^th century, but was later taken out of schools and universities because of budget cuts. But recently, home ec was reintroduced in a small number of schools and universities.

9 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one more word than you need.

A. appreciate   B. artificial   C. proportions   D. summarized   E. wealth   F. circumstances G. contributions     H. documentary   I. civilization     J. innovators     K. mark

If you had to pick one, who do you think is greater in terms of their     1     to the Western world: British physicist Isaac Newton or Greek philosopher Aristotle? Chances are that you’d find it hard to make a decision, at least right away.

But somehow, when choosing a major in college, the line between the two areas of study couldn’t be clearer. Science majors -- the likes of technology, engineering, math -- are considered to be more practical choices because of the     2     of opportunities, while those who choose a liberal arts major -- language, music, philosophy -- may have more difficulty finding a job.

But perhaps we should look at liberal arts studies in another way to understand its value. In the BBC’s     3     Civilizations, for example, presenters take us to 31 countries on six continents to     4     human creativity in its tangible form, such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and the Suleymaniye mosque in Turkey.

To Simon Schama, one of the presenters, human     5     isn’t just about technological inventions or meeting basic needs, but about creating things for the purpose of leaving a person’s “    6     of their existence for future humans to witness and admire”.

By comparing science and liberal arts, we’re drawing “an     7     line” between the two, wrote Loretta Jackson-Hayes, an associate professor of chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis, US, on the Washington Post website. And to some of the greatest     8     in history, this line never existed in the first place.

Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was just as successful a scientist as he was a painter. He was so interested in biology and anatomy that he drew the famous Vitruvian Man, part of his study of the     9     of the human body. Then there’s Steve Jobs, who, despite being an engineer, was also an artist. He     10     his view on the relationship between science and the arts in 2011: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough -- it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.”

10 . Directions: Complete the sentences with the words given in proper forms.

schedule       particular        typically       acquire       routine contribute     implement       currently       aspect       conference

1. They were large containers made of clay, ________ having long curved necks.
2. A ________ inquiry is one made for no reason except that it is the usual thing to do.
3. Donations are needed to ________ our child-care programmes.
4. The work is proceeding quite satisfactory; indeed, we are ahead of ________.
5. She is ________ writing a sequel to Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca".
6. As a diplomat, you have to pick your words at a press ________.
7. If you want to ________ profound knowledge, you must start from the ABC.
8. The relations between our two countries have improved markedly in every ________.
9. He stares detachedly into the distance, towards nothing in ________.
10. Medical negligence was said to have ________ to her death.