2 . Although Friends came to an end in 2004, it’s still considered one of the best sitcoms to ever make its way onto our screens. This show thrust the likes of Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Courteney Cox into the limelight (聚光灯), and everyone had their favorites. Women wanted to have their hair cut just like Rachel, many people wanted to be as confident as Joey, and others wanted to be able to sing just like Phoebe! However, it seems as though Lisa Kudrow’s experience on the set of Friends wasn’t as perfect as it seemed.
Recently, Lisa Kudrow was asked to speak on Marc Maron’s podcast (播客), and she opened up about her experiences with her own body image. She noted that, while working on Friends, she would often compare herself to her co-stars. She would look at Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, and she would then see her flaws compared to their perfections. She would see them as extremely thin and beautiful women, but then she looked at herself on her screen and saw someone who was much larger.
Because she often felt as though she was less of a woman because she felt larger than her co-stars, Lisa would lose weight on purpose to feel better about herself. The more she lost weight, the more she received compliments from those who knew her, and complete strangers. This heightened the idea that she needed to be thin to be beautiful.
Now, Lisa has put weight back on and feels more beautiful than ever.
1. Who were most probably Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston?| A．Stars from Friends. | B．Characters from Friends. |
| C．Fans of Friends. | D．Coauthors of Friends. |
| A．Because she didn’t work well with other stars. |
| B．Because she thought she was too fat. |
| C．Because she wasn’t her audience’s favorite. |
| D．Because she was poor at playing her role. |
| A．Don’t think much of your appearance. |
| B．Don’t express your true feelings to your fans. |
| C．Don’t focus much on the comments of co-stars. |
| D．Don’t make too much comparison with others. |
| A．Dislike. | B．Comment. | C．Praise. | D．Requirement. |
4 . In Shakespeare’s HAMLET, Polonius asks the prince, “What are you reading, my Lord?” Hamlet replies, “Words, words, words.” Either, as is likely, Hamlet wasn’t interested in what he was reading, or, less likely, he didn’t understand the words he was reading. In this case, Polonius should have lent Hamlet a good dictionary.
Dictionaries are essential tools for people who like to read. There are so many words in English that even the most educated person will sometimes meet an unfamiliar word and have to look it up. Languages keep changing, too, with new words constantly being added and new meanings being applied to old words. For example, the 12th edition of Xinhua Dictionary, the most popular dictionary in China, has added new words such as “chu xin” “fen si” “er wei ma” etc. As for new meanings, “girl” once meant “a small child of either sex”. And “naughty” didn’t mean you were “enjoying playing tricks”; it meant you were poor.
A printed dictionary can’t keep pace with all the changes, which is why most dictionaries have websites and apps to help you keep up-to-date. However, I still prefer printed dictionaries because they give you more definitions and more examples of how a word is used. Even a simple word, such as “set”, has 430 meanings (the most of English words) but an online dictionary would only offer two or three. A printed dictionary also gives you the opportunity to discover new words as you run your finger down the page looking for the word you want.
There is no “official” English dictionary, but the Oxford English Dictionary is considered to be the best. For English language learners, however, I would recommend the Collins COBUILD Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Hamlet, by the way, was Danish and a college student. He would have appreciated the Collins Dictionary to help himself with his words, words, words. This dictionary has over 40,000 words and gives you full-sentence definitions with good examples of how words are used.
1. What’s the function of paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To let the readers know more about HAMLET. |
| C．To arouse readers’ interest in Shakespeare. |
| D．To explain when it’s necessary to use a dictionary. |
| A．To show how powerful Xinhua Dictionary is. |
| B．To support the idea: languages keep changing. |
| C．To prove new words are being added to dictionaries. |
| D．To imply “girl” also means “boy” in some cases. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Negative. | D．Critical. |
| A．To introduce the history of dictionaries. |
| B．To call on learners to use dictionaries. |
| C．To recommend Collins Dictionary. |
| D．To explain why Hamlet likes Collins. |
5 . Gold Coast Suns VS. North Melbourne
Venue: Metricon Stadium
Date and time: Sunday, 30 August, 2021, 6:10 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Gates open: 5 p.m.
Important information
Nerang Station shuttles will operate for this game. Make sure you don’t miss the opening bounce at 6:10 p.m. Plan your journey and arrive well before the match starts.
Scheduled services
Use the journey planner to find out which scheduled bus and train services travel to and from Metricon Stadium. Check for current and upcoming service changes.
Metricon Stadium is close to Nerang station, and bus stops on Nerang-Broadbeach Road and Birmingham Road (approximately 470 metres away).
Major track closure — Northern lines Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 August
Timetabled rail buses will operate, but please allow extra time when heading to the game.
Additional services
Trains
No additional trains will operate for this event.
Buses
No additional buses will operate for this event.
Boowaggan Road and Broadbeach South station shuttles will not operate for this event.
Ticket and fare information
Free travel with Surfside Buslines and Queensland Rail.
If you have a pre-purchased game ticket or Suns membership card, you can travel free to and from the game on all regular Queensland Rail City Network trains and Surfside Buslines services.
Free travel begins 4 hours before and concludes 4 hours after the event ends.
Event information
Visit the Metricon Stadium website or call 5510 6000 for more information.
1. When will the stadium open?| A．At 6:10 p.m. | B．At 8:30 p.m. | C．At 5:00 p.m. | D．At 8:10 a.m. |
| A．Rail buses. | B．Trains. | C．Shuttles. | D．Queensland Rail. |
| A．Businessmen. | B．Audiences. | C．Passengers. | D．Tourists. |
6 . Life is already difficult as a single mother, but for Rebecca Polston, every day is a battle of strength and courage.
Her son, Rhylon, has been on dialysis (透析) since he began his
Rebecca and Rhylon were
Since then, Rebecca has been able to fully meet Rhylon’s needs, which have included at least one
| A．experience | B．plan | C．fight | D．decision |
| A．laugh | B．work | C．love | D．drive |
| A．relies | B．lives | C．travels | D．turns |
| A．disappeared | B．went | C．struck | D．left |
| A．slightly | B．badly | C．formally | D．secretly |
| A．collect | B．borrow | C．accept | D．afford |
| A．funny | B．uncertain | C．promising | D．dull |
| A．discussed | B．debated | C．greeted | D．refused |
| A．station | B．government | C．bank | D．community |
| A．thrown | B．presented | C．lent | D．transported |
| A．life | B．heroics | C．idea | D．kindness |
| A．car | B．toy | C．house | D．radio |
| A．home | B．hospital | C．department | D．ambulance |
| A．removed | B．played | C．posted | D．sold |
| A．arrived | B．given | C．moved | D．poured |
7 . The effects of noise can reach organisms (生物体) without ears. Because of the way living things rely on each other, noise pollution may actually stop some forests from growing, a new study suggests. In a New Mexico woodland of pine trees, researchers found far fewer tree seedlings (小苗) in noisy sites than they did in quiet ones.
The study area is dotted with gas wells, some of which are quiet and some of which have compressors (压缩机) that create a constant noise. This allowed Jennifer Phillips, a behavioral ecologist at Texas A&M University-San Antonio and her colleagues to compare sites that were similar except for noise level. In areas that had been noisy for at least 15 years, the researchers found only about 13 pine seedlings, compared with 55 pine seedlings per hectare (公顷) in quiet areas.
The differences in plant growth were probably caused by changes in animal behavior, said Phillips. For example, noise might drive away certain pollinators (传粉昆虫) such as bees, bats and moths. In the case of pine trees, the problem was likely a lack of animals to disperse seeds. Pines depend on birds to carry their seeds away from the parent tree, and birds are known to avoid noise. The differences between the sites aren’t yet obvious to someone walking through them, said Sarah Termondt, a botanist (植物学家) with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who helped conduct the study. That’s probably because pines are slow-growing, with most of the mature trees in such woodlands being over a century old.
The study raises questions about the future of the area. “If the noise stays there long term, are we going to lose this important ecosystem of the pine which supports so much wildlife?” said Phillips. The study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
1. What does the new study focus on?| A．The influence of noise pollution on plants. |
| B．The way the organisms receive noise. |
| C．The harm of noise pollution to insects. |
| D．The effects of noise pollution on humans . |
| A．Gas wells dotted in the area provide favorable conditions for the study. |
| B．The study sites are different in many ways including their noise level. |
| C．It is difficult for plants to live without noise and animals. |
| D．People can easily find the difference between the noisy and the quiet sites. |
| A．Seedling. | B．Thin. |
| C．Grown-up. | D．Tall. |
| A．Noise pollution is obviously a trouble that can be avoided. |
| B．Noise pollution could be a threat with the power to change ecosystems. |
| C．The pine forest is important because it supports so much wildlife. |
| D．Wildlife should be well protected for the future of this area. |
8 . Anyone who has studied a foreign language knows how difficult it is to become really fluent.
Find a conversation partner
Try to find someone in your school who is a native speaker and ask him or her to meet with you regularly to have conversations in that language.
Watch TV
Try to find a foreign language TV station and watch often. At first the actors will seem to speak too quickly, but try to recognize a few words or phrases.
Go out and practice
If you are visiting a foreign country and trying to learn the language, you’ll want to take every chance to go out and practice.
| A．They actually became less fluent speakers. |
| B．Later it’ll become easier to follow the dialogues. |
| C．Any situation can be an interesting learning experience. |
| D．Are you trying to learn a new language in a foreign land? |
| E．Here are some suggestions to help you practice your language skills. |
| F．Each day make a habit of going to a place like a shop, restaurant or bank. |
| G．Talking to someone with whom you feel comfortable is a great way to get experience with actual usage. |
| A．Having been | B．To be | C．Being | D．Be |
At noon on a brilliant Tuesday in March, my 12-year-old son Kai and I are a mile and a half into a four-day, 27-mile walk through the Grand Canyon—his first backpacking trip — when he asks: “Are we almost to camp?”
Um, no. Camp, at Hermit Creek, is seven miles and nearly 2,500 feet below, which will take us several more hours. We’re going down a poorly maintained path off the canyon, across which we can see many of the canyon’s layers. This is on display in cliffs hundreds of feet tall, a reminder of how far we have to go.
We are here largely because of a birthday note Kai wrote me two years ago in which he declared, “You used to be a wild 10-year-old like me and now you’re a wild 53-year-old. We can do so many things together! I am excited for when I’m old enough for the Grand Canyon!”
There are, I suppose, dads who could resist that, just as there are fathers who would plan an experience-appropriate trip for their sons. I am neither, so here we are. Never mind that; aside from simply being 12, Kai has done almost nothing to physically prepare for this. Or that I haven’t backpacked for 13 years.
We head on past twisty trees and brush. Soon the view broadens, and the layers grow deeper, down to the shadowy, 1.8 billion-year-old Vishnu, a panorama(全景) that leaves Kai excited. “This place is amazing,” he says.
Nightfall in the canyon can be magical. Darkness surrounds us, pressed by cool air. We navigate a narrow path to the stream and, hearing the sound of a waterfall, lie down to take in the stars. Twice I suggest we turn in. “Not yet,” Kai says. “This is too unbelievable.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The last day’s plan is to travel the three miles to the Colorado River, which is the most challenging.
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After the backpacking trip, I also write a note to my son.
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