1 . Diaolou — The Watchtower-like Houses in Kaiping City

This morning we’ll drive 1.5 hours to visit the unique “Diaolou”houses in Kaiping City. You will feel puzzled when hearing the word Diaolou, don’t you?    1    

Kaiping is a small city in Guangdong Province, which has long been known as the native land of a great many overseas Chinese. They, you know, are nostalgic people having a strong feeling of longing for home.    2    . Those houses built by the returned overseas Chinese during the late 19th and early 20th centuries are all watchiower-like, with thick solid wails, small and narrow iron doors and windows.

    3    ? Well, the reasons are clear. First, public order at that time was bad and banditry was a real headache and the better-off returned overseas Chinese families naturally became targets for robbery.    4    . So these solid and high-rise buildings were good both for defense against bandits and for refuge from the floods.

    5     Its total number amounted to 3, 300 in the peak years and now the registered number is 1833, and twenty of the better ones are written on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. Org(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

A．Diaolou is becoming more and more beautiful

B．Now let me tell you something about Kaiping Diaolou

C．Kaiping Diaolou is listed as a key cultural relic protected by the state

D．Why did they have their houses built into a structure of a watchtower

E．Those overseas Chinese firmly supported the construction of their hometown

F．So, the overseas Chinese would come back to buy a piece of land to build their houses

G．Second, the Kaiping area is a stretch of low-lying land and floods were a frequent occurrence

2 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失常的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect something of myself.

On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what dreamt about. Even when my electricity was cut off and I woke up at 5:30 am to pitch blackness, I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.

Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have gotten me closer to my goal. Even poverty (贫穷 ) could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to cold email about 50 Harvard students so I could ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.

Every day I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!”. A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.

Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?

1. What can we learn about the author from the first paragraph?

A．He experienced disability.	B．He grew up in a happy family.
C．He accepted special education.	D．He had high expectation of himself.

2. What efforts did the author make to achieve his goal?

A．He often wrote feedbacks on others’ essays.

B．He spent more time preparing for the exams.

C．He learnt from his peers from time to time.

D．He consulted his teacher when having problems.

3. Which can best describe the author’s character?

A．Intelligent and humorous.	B．Courageous and friendly.
C．Determined and hardworking.	D．Generous and selfless.

4. Which of the following can be the main idea of the text?

A．Perseverance can make your dream come true.

B．Explanation of “Failure is the mother of success”.

C．The longest journey begins with the first step.

D．Hardship serves as a textbook of life.

3 . Failure isn’t the end, unless you let it be. Don’t believe me? Here are four people who lived through failure before going on to become names known around the world:

Walt Disney

Disney began his career by being fired by a newspaper for not being creative enough. Later, his Mickey Mouse cartoons were rejected because they were considered to be “too scary for women”. Also, “The Three Little Pigs” was turned down because it only had four characters. Thankfully, we have the Disney company today because Walt chose not to listen to any of his critics and press forward towards his dreams.

Stephen King

King is a best-selling writer whose work has been made into several motion pictures. However, his first work was rejected 30 times, which lead to King throwing it in the trash. Thankfully, his wife made him keep working at it, and — from that struggling start — Carrie was born.

Milton Hershey

The man who blessed us with the sweet milk-chocolate treat we all love wasn’t a hit the first time around. He once worked for a local candy factory. But when he went out on his own, he failed miserably. Then he returned to the family farm and perfected the art of making delicious milk-chocolate candy, which we enjoy in the form of Hershey chocolate today.

Theodor Giesel

This author struggled to write a novel that publishing companies would call something other than “pure rubbish” several times — 27 to be exact. The man just wouldn’t quit, though. One fateful night, he ran into an old friend who was a children’s literature editor. The friend agreed to publish Giesel’s work. Better known today as Dr. Seuss, Giesel was never again called a failure after his first book struck it.

1. Why is Disney company known to us nowadays?

A．Disney was rejected many times.

B．Disney improve his works later.

C．Disney fired a newspaper and began his career.

D．Disney ignored critics and fought for his dreams.

2. What is Milton Hershey famous for today?

A．His big family farm.	B．His well-known art career.
C．His delicious milk-chocolate candy.	D．His experience in making milk-chocolate.

3. What can we infer about the people mentioned in the text?

A．They have a gift for making money.	B．They suffered defeat on a path to success.
C．They are creative and highly educated.	D．They are successful at the very start.

4 . 假如你是李华，为庆祝即将到来的“五四”青年节，你校开展了一次以中国近代史为主题的话剧演出，请给你的英国笔友Peter写信介绍这次文化活动。内容包括：
I. 活动的内容；
2. 活动的意义；
3. 你参加活动的感想。
注意：
1. 词数100左右，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2. 可以适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
参考词汇：“五四”青年节Youth Day       话剧 drama
Dear Peter,

I am delighted to share with you a cultural activity organized recently in our school.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Chinese words for “fish” and “plenty” are homonyms. A whole fish,     1     (eat) on the eve of the lunar new year, which     2     (fall) on February 1st this year, represents a wish for abundance     3     (come). Spring rolls, with their fanciful resemblance to gold bars, represent hopes for wealth. Uncut noodles symbolize longevity.

Such     4     (custom) are not unique to the Chinese word. On the Jewish new year, Jews bake a     5     (tradition) enriched bread in a round shape to signify the cycle of life and creation. The bread is smeared with honey,     6     (symbolize) the wish for a sweet year. On New Year’s Day in America, black southerners have long eaten Hoppin’ John,     7     delicious dish of rice and black-eyed peas, coked with salt pork. The peas symbolize coins, and the greens that are usually served as well stand for dollar bill. Some people put a clean coin in the pot. Whoever gets     8     on their plate will enjoy good luck.

    9     anyone actually believes in a causal relationship between eating these foods and receiving the promised benefits or not is unclear. But people have fond memories of observing them with their parents, and want to pass them     10     to their own offspring. Good fortune, as they suggest, lies all around and is always within reach.

6 . The power of low expectations

When I think about how my own expectations have influenced my happiness, I recall the early days of starting the magazine Get Rich Slowly. Back when I started it in 2019, I had a problem. I had _________ expectations for myself and this magazine, very high expectations.

After the first few months of finding my feet, Get Rich Slowly _________ rapid growth. As the readers grew, I felt _________ to provide as much quality information as possible. Get Rich Slowly _________ from a curious hobby to a near full-time business.

As part of that, I set a publishing _________. I told myself that I wanted to finish two articles every weekday, plus one article each Saturday and Sunday. My goal was to _________ twelve articles every week. That's too much work for one guy, as I'm sure you can _________. And usually, I _________ to meet these expectations. Instead of writing twelve articles per week, I usually _________ to share ten. It made me ____________.

Now, you and I both know that ten articles per week is a(n) ____________ rate for one person to create content. Back then, though, I felt like a ____________. Yes, I was producing ten articles per week, but I was ____________ my goal to produce twelve articles per week. I felt like I was letting people down. ____________, I felt like I was letting myself down.

After a few months of feeling miserable, I ____________ my expectations were too high. “What if,” I thought sometime in early 2021, “what if ____________ expecting two articles every weekday, I only expected one article every weekday?” My ____________ would be seven articles per week instead of twelve.

Do you know what happened? Nothing changed except the ____________ level in my life. I continued to write out roughly ten articles every week. But now instead of being angry with myself because I'd not run up to my goal, I felt ____________ because I had exceeded my expectations, My production rate didn't change a little bit. My expectations changed. And with the lowered expectations came increased ____________.

1.

A．high

B．low

C．ridiculous

D．reasonable

2.

A．provided

B．gained

C．suffered

D．lost

3.

A．impression

B．expression

C．attraction

D．pressure

4.

A．exchanged

B．ranged

C．developed

D．varied

5.

A．order

B．schedule

C．theme

D．limit

6.

A．analyze

B．polish

C．read

D．produce

7.

A．imagine

B．remember

C．suppose

D．propose

8.

A．forgot

B．pretended

C．failed

D．longed

9.

A．tried

B．managed

C．hesitated

D．attempted

10.

A．crazy

B．satisfied

C．cautious

D．curious

11.

A．annoying

B．relaxing

C．amazing

D．confusing

12.

A．genius

B．fool

C．success

D．failure

13.

A．losing sight of

B．focusing on

C．living up to

D．falling short of

14.

A．Worse

B．Otherwise

C．Therefore

D．However

15.

A．realized

B．argued

C．meant

D．explained

16.

A．in spite of

B．instead of

C．in case of

D．regardless of

17.

A．attitude

B．desire

C．aim

D．honor

18.

A．ability

B．stress

C．reading

D．writing

19.

A．moved

B．interested

C．surprised

D．pleased

20.

A．willingness

B．kindness

C．happiness

D．sadness

7 . Although many of us associate workaholism with the finance industry, in fact, it is expanding into more sectors and professions than ever. New studies show that workers around the world are adding an average of 9.2 hours of unpaid overtime per week-up from 7.3 hours just a year ago.

The roots of this phenomenon can be traced back to the “Protestant work ethic” in the 16th Century — a worldview held in Europe that made hard work and the quest for profit seem admirable. Sally Maitlis, a professor at Oxford University, says that the drive for efficiency arising from the Industrial Revolution and the way we prize productivity have further planted the value of consistent hard work, often at the cost of personal wellbeing.

In parallel with this work-worship, however, came an unpleasant consequence - burnout. Occupational burnout was being studied in workers in the human services industry, many of whom were on call throughout the night, and reported headaches, depression and impatience on the job. A decade later, when the economy greatly improved in places like the US and UK, people worked long and hard. But while the overwork was honored, the burnout that followed hasn’t been.

The WHO defines burnout as a symptom resulting from workplace stress, leaving you feeling exhausted and questioning why you took the job in the first place. The body formally recognised burnout as an “occupational phenomenon”.

Luckily, we have come to understand more about the results of overwork and the burnout. And experts are expressing hope for a new era that numbers wellbeing before overwork. “Workplaces can be very unhealthy environments — if there was any time to change the way we work, now is the time,” says Maitlis, “If you take a plant and put it in a pot and don’t water it and give it poor soil and not enough sun, I don’t care how attractive the plant was to begin with — it isn’t going to strive.”

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The origins of overwork.	B．The way that people in Europe work.
C．The rewards of overwork.	D．The reason why personal wellbeing is important.

2. What do we know about the burnout?

A．Our body would get used to it soon.	B．It died down as the economy improved.
C．It could raise your self-doubt over your work.	D．It played a key role in increasing work productivity.

3. In the last paragraph, the plant is taken as an example to stress ________.

A．the correct way to care for plants	B．the necessity to solve occupational burnout
C．the difficulty of changing the way we work	D．the importance of growing plants in workplaces

4. What’s Maitlis’ attitude towards overwork?

A．Favorable.

B．Disapproving.

C．Objective.

D．Sympathetic.

8 . McClure Amphitheater

Located near Chaffee Crossing Historic District, McClure Amphitheater was originally built by the U. S. Army as a training facility in 1953.

Today, it functions as a City of Fort Smith specialty park and outdoor gathering place that connects visitors and locals to multi - use trails and offers stunning (极好的) views of Fort Smith.

McClure Amphitheater can be reserved for reunions, performances, meetings, and other special gatherings by calling Fort Smith Parks & Recreation at (479) 784 - 2368.

Getting Here:

7201 Massard Road Fort Smith, AR 72916

Empty by Pastel

Somewhere between what is art and science, you will find modern architecture. Once a truly artistic piece, creating a thing of beauty has given its way to function and efficiency. This is the area in which Argentinean artist, Pastel, is most influential.

Pastel transforms ordinary buildings into inspiring works of art that contribute to a town's positive identity. The artist tries to base his work on his own experiences, as well as the stories of the particular space he is working.

Getting Here:

1100 Garrison Ave Fort Smith, AR 72901

Opossum by Bordalo Ⅱ

Bordalo Segundo was born in Lisbon, Greece, in 1987. The artist creates his signature pieces with end - of - life materials to promote sustainability and increase social awareness of protecting nature among his generation of consumers, which he describes as wasteful.

His Opossum was one of two outdoor sculptures he created in 2016 during The Unexpected Project.

Getting Here:

309 Garrison Avenue Fort Smith, AR 72901

Cross Over by Saner & AEC

This cooperative piece was created by Mexican Master - Muralist (壁画大师), Saner, alongside Ukrainian Phenomena, AEC, who is part of a world - famous duo (二人组合).

Hartness (by Saner) and Ivory Lofts (by AEC) together form the singular piece that is known as “Cross Over” in Downtown Fort Smith.

Getting Here:

North 9 Street and North A Street Fort Smith, AR 72901

1. Which place is suitable for a classmate party?

A．1100 Garrison Ave Fort Smith.	B．7201 Massard Road Fort Smith.
C．309 Garrison Avenue Fort Smith.	D．North 9 Street and North A Street Fort Smith.

2. What is special about Opossum by Bordalo Ⅱ?

A．It serves as an outdoor gathering place.	B．It has a great effect on modern architecture.
C．It aims to encourage environmental protection.	D．It is based on the writer's own experiences.

3. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To arouse readers' interest in art.	B．To call on others to make art pieces.
C．To get readers to know some famous artists.	D．To introduce some attractions of Fort Smith.

9 . 你所在的英语社团正在开展“我为英雄代言”主题演讲活动。请你写一篇演讲稿，要点如下：
1）你要代言的英雄；
2）简述英雄事迹；
3）你的感想。
注意：
1）词数80左右；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

My Hero

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . I always seemed to be running late and hurrying up. I’d wake up early in the morning in order to have enough time to get to where I wanted to go. But by the time I found myself on the road, I was clearly going to be late.     1     This constant rush entered every area of my life. For example, when I went shopping, I’d race up and down the passage.

Then one day when going to work, I had been running behind again. Unluckily, on the way, my car was out of gas. As my car left the road, I looked at my watch. It’s clear that I’d be late.     2    I had a meeting in fifteen minutes and I hadn’t finished preparing for it.

But as I looked out towards the east, the sun was just beginning to climb out of the hill. There was fog hanging over the river and some ducks were swimming across the glass-like surface of the water. A few boats sat on the river, which was shining in the sunshine.     3    

I was surprised. This pretty scene had been going on right outside my car every morning.     4    I had been rushing around in such a hurry to not miss anything that I had been missing everything!

    5    I understood I needed to set schedules and made good preparations for big events in case of any hurry. More importantly, I should try to stay relaxed and enjoy present life. And there was no need to worry about unimportant things. Now I am here traveling this life joyfully and patiently.

A．How could I avoid it?

B．I became worried and upset.

C．What an amazing picture outside!

D．I found some surprising things happened.

E．However, I had never taken the time to see it.

F．So I would drive fast to make up for the minutes I had lost.

G．Finally a co-worker recognized my car and stopped for me.