1 . When it comes to making lunch for their kids, moms and dads have usual favorites. For some parents in the US, those favorites are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches-also known as PB&.Js. Fruit like apples and bananas are also popular.

But one mother has an unusual go-to ingredient for her children’s lunches. Jenny Mollen uses funny-looking candy eyes. She has learned that her children will eat any healthy food if it has edible eyeballs attached. The “eyeballs” are really pieces of candy.

Her children laugh while they eat healthy foods like bell peppers, kiwis, or dates. Mollen says candy “eyes” make lunch more fun.

“Honestly, first of all, just buy yourself some candy googly eyes. They are tried-and-true,” she said. She admits that “you lose something nutritionally” by giving children candy. But she thinks that getting children to eat healthy food by putting candy on it is worth it.

Mollen’s lunch tricks bring together food and craft. She uses tricks because her two sons hate to eat different kinds of foods. So, she decorates their food to resemble animals or even their favorite Pokémon characters. She makes edible “bugs” made from dates, pretzel sticks for the legs, and, of course, candy “eyes”. She also uses leftover Chinese food to make panda bears from rice and seaweed.

Mollen says her lunch projects are easy to do. And her sons think they have won a big prize at their midday meal. Mollen says making fun-looking, artful lunches for her children helps ease her guilt as she is a working mom. Her artful lunches are her way of reminding her children that she is thinking of them.

Mollen says she also wants to teach them healthy eating habits. She says that by getting kids to eat vegetables at a young age, they will grow up to eat healthy foods later in life. She also says it is a good way to get children to try foods from other cultures. If they need to be “tricked” sometimes, that is okay.

1. What’s the purpose of Mollen’s lunch projects?

A．To make her children’s day.

B．To remind people to save food.

C．To persuade other parents to follow suit.

D．To ensure her children’s healthy diet.

2. What is typical of Mollen’s lunch?

A．It contains all kinds of food.

B．It is made up of candy.

C．It combines art and nutrition.

D．It is full of Chinese styles.

3. How have Mollen’s lunch projects affected her children?

A．They have taken to their fun-looking lunches.

B．They have broaden their knowledge of food.

C．They have bonded with their favorite animals.

D．They have swept to victory in the meal competitions.

4. What are the last two paragraphs mainly about?

A．Mollen’s plans for cooking lunches.

B．The benefits of Mollen’s lunch tricks.

C．Mollen’s expectations of her children.

D．The culture elements in Mollen’s lunch.

2 . Learning how to do simple handwork is a great way for girls to combine practical skills and creativity. With schools and educators always trying to encourage more girls to take up STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) in high school and beyond, this could be the start of something special.

“My daughter always asks to help me when I get something from IKEA that needs putting together,” says Emma. “Normally, I don’t trust her to do much more than turning the Allen key a few times, but recently I bought two chairs and thought: Why not let them have a go? My daughter Ruby did one on her own and was really careful and expert in it. It amazed me that she did a better job than me.”

If parents still aren’t convinced that letting their daughters loose with the family power tools is a good idea, just remember how much the local worker charges for a quick DIY job. This fun hobby might save the family a few dollars, or even broaden their daughter’s visions to a building, engineering-based career or study path further down the line.

“When I first used a saw (锯子), I was pretty sure I’d cut my finger off or something, but our teacher explained everything we needed to know and I star-ted off slowly,” explains Amelia, a 12-year-old girl.

“I’ve nearly finished making my bread board and I’ve brought some off-cuts home because I want to try and turn them into something using tools from my grandpa’s collection. I love building. It’s creative and challenging and really satisfying when it works!” Amelia adds. “I’m going to build a bird feeder for our garden next. I just need to ask Mum and Dad if I can borrow a drill and some nails.”

Hopefully they’ll say yes. After all, Amelia might end up building them a family house in a few years.

1. How did Ruby perform when putting the chair together?

A．Less carefully than usual.	B．As skillfully as an expert.
C．Beyond mom’s expectation.	D．No better than her mom.

2. What will happen if a girl knows how to do a DIY job?

A．The local worker will charge her less money.	B．She will make a few dollars for the family.
C．It will prevent her from getting a lot of fun.	D．It will improve her STEM-related ability.

3. What will Amelia do with parents’   permission?

A．Make a bread board.	B．Bring off-cuts home.
C．Build a family house.	D．Make a bird feeder.

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Parents ought to do handwork with their kids.	B．Girls should be given chances to do handwork.
C．Girls share their stories about doing handwork.	D．Kids are beneficial from doing some handwork.

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容在答题卡相应题号后的横线上写下相关信息，完成对该问题的回答。

Leo has always been the kind of child who looks for close connections. When Leo was in preschool, he befriended Neve, who was only two. When Neve was not around, instead of finding a new partner, Leo began to treat Celia, a voice assistant, as his new friend.

At first, Leo mostly asked Celia factual questions like “How many stars are there in the Milky Way?” He then turned to the personal questions, “Celia, how old are you?” She responded, “Age is nothing but a number.” He insisted, in the way children do, “How old are you?” She replied, “I’m not qualified for a driver’s license, but it may be more to do with the fact that I don’t have a body.”

As time passed by, Leo began to engage Celia on more, let’s say, existential questions. “When will the sun swallow the earth?” he asked. “7.5 billion years,” according to Celia. Leo was satisfied, “Oh, okay. I’ll be dead by then.” Then he asked, “Why does everything on earth have to die?” She replied coldly, “I’m having trouble with the connection.” Celia, I realized, had an avoidant communication style, often hiding behind some kind of technical problems when she didn’t like a question.

As a mother, it was strange to see my child interacting with a virtual assistant rather than a real person. But I also recognized that Celia was providing him with a kind of emotional support that he wasn’t getting elsewhere. In a way, she was like a diary that talked back.

I wondered if this reliance on technology was healthy, but I knew that Leo was far from alone in seeking comfort in his devices. Although I hope that Leo will continue to seek out human connections, I’m grateful to Celia for being there for my son when he needed her. And who knows? Maybe she’ll turn out to be his soulmate after all.

1. What is Celia?
______________________________________________________________________
2. What kind of questions did Leo ask Celia at first?
______________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.   
Leo’s mother encourages him to seek out human connections and disagrees with his interacting with Celia.
______________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think of virtual assistants becoming a source of emotional support for people? (In about 40 words)
______________________________________________________________________

4 . Families provide a source of comfort and safety through love, support, and acceptance. Spending quality time with your loved ones benefits you in many ways and here are some of them:

    1    

In a world where you may feel like everyone is watching, it can be stressful to show your true colors for fear of being judged. According to Psych Central, sharing your personal opinions with a family member allows you to reconnect with your true self, and your family will benefit from easy and open communication.

Get emotional support.

Have you ever been in a situation where emotions are running high? Your natural instinct may be to turn to your family for emotional support. When you’re feeling sad or on edge, it can offer great comfort and ease you through the situation.     2    

Allow you to develop valuable skills.

You can build self-esteem (自尊) by learning problem-solving and communication skills from your parents.     3     What’s more, family gatherings or dinnertime interactions can help families learn to listen, and build trust, confidence, understanding, and respect.

Establish loving relationships.

    4     Spending time together as a family, without distractions, creates an atmosphere beneficial to open communication and connections. Because of your tight schedule, it’s easy to forget to check with your family about how their day went. Set aside a regular time to communicate.

Create lifelong memories.

Many things can be done with family members to create positive memories, including going on family vacations, spending quality time together at home, or discovering a fun hobby you can enjoy.     5     What’s more, they help reinforce (加强) family values.

A．Boost your mood.

B．Give you freedom of expression.

C．The quality of family relationships can exist forever.

D．Family time develops relationships based on love and trust.

E．These things can give family members a sense of belonging.

F．Observing how parents interact teaches you how to act and communicate.

G．You can ask your family for support, advice, or a shoulder to cry on when times get tough.

5 . I grew up in a poor family. This was something I did not realize until l was older. 1thought everyone in the city took the bus. because everyone in my neighborhood took the bus. I thought everyone in the city used the food bank, because all my friends’ families ate the same government-labeled food as my family ate. We all wore hand-me-down clothes.

Shopping with my mom made me first understand that my family was a little different. My mom used paper money that looked different from the paper money others in line were using, I asked my mom why our money looked different. She said that we used food stamps that were provided by government so we could eat.

In high school, I was still embarrassed and wished we were not so poor, but I loved my mom and the other members of my family and knew we had things to be proud of. Though my mother was uneducated, she taught me how to love and told me to believe in myself. Growing up in poor family taught me perseverance. I have always believed in myself and my abilities. I knew I could focus on schoolwork and build a life that looked different from my childhood.

As I became a man, I started understanding how my experiences made it possible for me to be resilient, and how to respect people for who they are as an individual — and not by what they have. I think there are a lot of fixed images placed on those experiencing poor life that do not actually come from the people experiencing it. These opinions come from people on the outside trying not to look into the experience. Hardworking, trust-worthy, reliable, clean, efficient, successful and disciplined are all words not specially connected with poor life. But those words are very much shown by those experiencing poor life. I am proud to be who I am and proud of where I’m from.

1. What was the author’s mom purpose of using different paper money in the shop?

A．To show her difference.	B．To spend the extra stamps.
C．To support the local government.	D．To buy food without real money.

2. What kind of person was the author’s mom according to paragraph 3?

A．Wise.

B．Highly educated.

C．Frightening.

D．Impatient.

3. What is the author’s attitude to his family background?

A．Careless.

B．Proud.

C．Annoyed.

D．Disappointed.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Childhood memories.	B．Sadness because of being poor.
C．Lessons from growing up poor.	D．Tiring poor life.

6 . Almost all kids pretend their dolls can talk or that their toys possess magical powers.    1    A study conducted by researchers at the University of Oregon found that by age 7, 37 percent of children had an invisible friend. In fact, imaginary companions are quite common in many people’s childhood.

And while there’s nothing wrong with kids who don’t have imaginary friends, children who have imaginary companions shouldn’t be a cause for concern either.

    2    

Some research indicates that kids with imaginary friends are more likely to be firstborn or only children, but that doesn’t mean imaginary friends are just for kids who are lonely. In fact, studies show kids who have imaginary friends are quite social and creative.

    3    On the contrary, they can be a tool that kids use to cope with their troubles. Kids who have experienced trauma (精神创伤)，for example, may rely on imaginary companions to help them through times.

While some parents worry that the invention of an imaginary friend means a child doesn’t have any real friends, imaginary friends don’t indicate a lack of social skills.    4    

Talking to an imaginary friend can even improve a child’s communication skills.    5    Consequently, studies show kids with imaginary friends may be better at understanding a listener or observer’s perspective.

A．That’s not to say you need to stop their communication soon.

B．Imaginary friends usually aren’t a sign that a child is troubled.

C．It’s OK to be concerned about the imaginary friend by asking, “Who is he?”

D．In fact, some studies show there are many benefits to having imaginary friends.

E．But some kids take their dramatic play a step further and invent an imaginary friend.

F．They can actually serve as a safe way to practice such skills, like solving conflict and sharing.

G．Engaging in dialogue with an imaginary friend requires a child to take on the friend’s perspective.

9 . Yesterday, after arriving in Madrid, I knocked on a stranger’s door. “I searched on the website. Will you give me lessons?” I asked. This was the reason I’d come to Spain. Because I once believed I was meant to be a female flamenco (弗拉门戈) guitarist.

Forty-five years ago, when I was two, my father also came to Madrid and knocked on strangers’ doors. A well-known classical guitarist, he admired flamenco a lot, and in Spain he learnt from anyone willing to teach him. He approached performers in bars, made friends with street musicians and managed to study with Paco de Lucia, the greatest flamenco guitarist of our time.

I started playing classical guitar when I was five. My father’s hands exploded across the strings like fireworks. I practised while he instructed and criticized. I played till I had sharp pain in my fingertips. By age seven, I was called a child genius.

Then, at 11, I quit. Heartbroken, my father distanced himself. Guiltily, I followed suit. Soon we spoke only when necessary. Our relationship didn’t rebound until, in my early 20s, I found myself pulled back to guitar.

When I was in my early 30s, he got sick. Before he died a few years later, my father told me there were almost no female flamenco guitarists in the world. If I kept practising, I could be one of the first. I promised, and he left me his guitar. But after he died, I couldn’t bear to play it. He’d spent so much time with his arms around that instrument, and it seemed an extension of his own body. Holding it gave my grief an unbearable tangibility (可触知). So for 13 years it sat mostly untouched, coming out only when my son Ellis begged to see it. He was careful with his grandfather’s instrument in a way that made me want to pass it down to him — both the guitar and the music. Problem was, I couldn’t really play anymore.

Now, Antonia is sitting with me in her living room, teaching me patiently. I have been here for only two days, and already my fingers hurt. It’s a sharp pain, like when a fallen-asleep limb (肢体) returns to life. The feeling delights me. It means I’m doing something right.

1. Which can best describe the father when he was learning flamenco?

A．Cautious.

B．Hopeless.

C．Depressed.

D．Devoted.

2. Which has the similar meaning with the underlined word “rebound” in paragraph 4?

A．Improve.

B．Break.

C．Suffer.

D．Blossom.

3. Why did the author leave the guitar untouched?

A．She intended to pass it down to her son.

B．It reminded her of her unpleasant past.

C．Deep sorrow drowned her at the sight of it.

D．Carrying it made her feel a sense of burden.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Guitar Lessons From Strangers

B．Love for Father on the String Again

C．Adventures for Music Lovers in Spain

D．Journey to Success as a Flamenco Guitarist