1 . Italy’s one-euro-home sales have been attracting a lot of interest over the past few years. Some towns like Mussomeli in Sicily and Zungoli in Campania have managed to _________ abandoned properties to foreigners pursuing the Italian dream. However, some have _________ to sell their empty homes. Among them is Patrica, a remote village of barely 3,000 residents located south of Rome, where more than 40 properties deserted in the early 1900s have been left _________.

In an attempt to breathe new life into the dying village, the town’s mayor Lucio Fiordaliso has been trying to _________ the success of other Italian villages who’ve put their empty homes up for sale for one euro, or just over a dollar. “The process is not _________. We first mapped out all abandoned houses and contacted the original owners to ask for permission. Only then can we place these properties up for sale with their _________, which makes the process very complicated.” However, the permission from one owner of the house sometimes is not enough for the sale of potential one euro homes. That is because most relatives sharing the same property often _________ one another for personal reasons or some hardly speak or know each other.

Another reason that the one euro plan never really started in Patrica could be due to the _________of its homes. Some of the houses are simply too neglected to sell, even if the owners were willing to agree to it. _________, Patric a local Gianni Valleco and his two brothers decided to place their parents’ abandoned home on the market to see what would happen. But they soon disappointedly found that the house was far from __________.

In the meantime, Fiordalis o has been coming up with new ways to __________ newcomers. He prompted several locals to entirely restyle their old family homes and put them to use after decades of neglect. “The mayor’s move finally gave us a good excuse to fully restore the property which had been sitting there __________,” says the locals. The mayor also decided to start operating some commercial activities like an B&B or a restaurant or a shopping center.

“There is __________, but then when many foreigners actually see the bad shape of the old homes they’d prefer to opt for turn-key apartments that are already restyled or in need of just __________ fixes,” says Fiordaliso. “So it’s much more convenient to buy one of these newer ones than __________ an old building in need of major reconstruction, where the final cost would end up being much higher.” Despite these challenges, Fiordalis o hasn’t given up on selling the town’s long forgotten homes.

1.

A．assign

B．restrict

C．shift

D．return

2.

A．forgot

B．emerged

C．continued

D．struggled

3.

A．shaking

B．shining

C．decayed

D．burnt

4.

A．catch up with I

B．make fun of

C．pay attention to

D．take pride in

5.

A．optional

B．rigid

C．simple

D．special

6.

A．initiative

B．budget

C．approval

D．determination

7.

A．disagree with

B．negotiate with

C．text to

D．cooperate with

8.

A．location

B．condition

C．exhibition

D．ownership

9.

A．For example

B．By contrast

C．In fact

D．On the contrary

10.

A．sufficient

B．desirable

C．spacious

D．enough

11.

A．appeal to

B．back up

C．hold back

D．count on

12.

A．independently

B．uselessly

C．permanently

D．purposefully

13.

A．claim

B．coverage

C．audience

D．interest

14.

A．minor

B．temporary

C．urgent

D．costly

15.

A．build

B．furnish

C．rent

D．grab

2 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．It was on a cross street.	B．They had no time to see it.
C．It had no parking space.	D．They weren’t in favour of it.

2.

A．It is too small in size.	B．It blocks the air-conditioner.
C．It admits heat from the late afternoon sun.	D．It stops the sun beating down on the curtains.

3.

A．Parking and desk space.	B．Parking and air-conditioning.
C．Privacy and cleanliness.	D．A cheerful kitchen and a separate dining area.

4.

A．The one on 68th Street.	B．The one on 72nd Street.
C．The one on 88th Street.	D．The one on 80th Street.

3 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．The museum is old and needs repairing.

B．The museum is located in the main square.

C．The museum has been popular with global visitors.

D．The museum has a large collection of Latin American art.

2.

A．The Belleview.	B．The Lighthouse Café.
C．Harvey’s.	D．Stonecroft House.

3.

A．They are too expensive.	B．They have a long history.
C．The provide good food.	D．They are well-received by local people.

4.

A．The Belleview has been there for over a century.

B．Harvey’s has just been taken over by new owners.

C．The Lighthouse Café is right by the sea.

D．Stonecroft House has a new chef.

4 .

A．He’ll move into his new apartment in a couple of months.

B．He’d like the woman to find him a new apartment.

C．The apartment might be too expensive for him.

D．The apartment is far from his expectation.

5 . Cleaning up a messy bedroom can seem like a frightening task, but if you prepare a simple plan, you can clean up thoroughly and quickly. Here’s a basic speed cleaning roadmap:

■First, bring in a garbage bag and pick up trash around the room. Getting garbage out of the way ensures you’ll avoid spills or soiling linens like sheets or table-cloths while cleaning.

■Next, take care of the bed. An uncluttered bed with a smooth blanket and neat pillows sets the tone for the entire room. If you have time to change the sheets, do it first. If not, shake out the blanket on the floor to refresh it, and then make the bed. A neat bed can also hold items such as picture frames or books, where you can neatly line them up and easily put them back after cleaning.

■Put things in their proper place. Bring any kitchen items back to their rightful place. Place clothes either in the laundry bin, or make a pile in your closet to fold later. Put books in a neat pile or on a shelf. If you have items from other rooms lying around, start a sorting pile that you can remove and deal with later. We want the bedroom to be clean, and don’t want this whole thing turn into a game of “Where does this go?”

■Wipe down the furniture with microfiber dust wipes. Who needs polishing spray and a rag when you’re in a hurry! Pre-cut and folded microfiber cloths work great to dust furniture, a TV, bookshelves and picture frames.

■Vacuum or sweep the floor. This is an essential step, since a lot of dust and crumbs settle here. A quick run around the room will be effective. If you have more time, go for a second round.

To be consistent, start in one corner of the room and work your way around it in one direction. If you move aimlessly around, you can lose focus. Also, try to attack one chore at a time, instead of doing multiple chores at once. Once all these tasks are completed, your bedroom should look much more inviting!

1. What does the author suggest doing when we are about to organize the things in our rooms?

A．Dealing with the items from other rooms immediately.

B．Playing a game of “Where does this go?”

C．Lining up the things on the bed.

D．Sorting the things and later dealing with them.

2. What does the author mean by saying “Who needs polishing spray and a rag when you’re in a hurry!” in the fifth paragraph?

A．Polishing spray and rags are intended for specific people.

B．Polishing spray and rags are necessities to clean the furniture.

C．Polishing spray and rags can also clean the furniture but they take longer time.

D．Polishing spray and rags are useless if we have limited time to clean our bedroom.

3. Under the instruction of the speed cleaning roadmap, what is NOT recommended to do?

A．Throw away the garbage in the room at first.

B．Change the sheet if time permits.

C．Do as many chores at a time as possible.

D．Clean the floor in the end.

6 . I used to think my little corner of urban England was somewhere I could get away from the stress and strain of modern-day life — until they moved in next door. There are two of them. They are white, woolly and probably have sharp teeth as well as loud bark. But every time their constant barking interrupts my sleep, I remind myself that, in many respects, I am lucky. The neighbors don’t hold all-night parties, nor do they shout or throw crockery at each other, and though their dogs may bark, they don’t bite.

According to a recent consumer magazine report on “nightmare neighbors”, dogs are the fifth most common source of bad relations between neighbors. Noise of any description heads the list of complaints, followed by DIY enthusiasts, parking quarrelling, and arguments over house extensions.

So what alternatives are there? One is to take legal action. But this can be time-consuming and expensive and does nothing to improve already difficult relationships. The other alternatives are to sell up and go, or to try to reach a solution with the help of someone neutral. Mediation UK— the United Nations equivalent of garden fence conflicts — was set in 1984 to help resolve community disagreements.

In most cases, the lack of communication is found the main cause of conflict. David Nation of Plymouth Mediation points to poor public housing and widespread unemployment as additional factors. He also reports more cases of complaints from people who live in flats. Large houses built in the nineteenth century and designed as single-occupation family homes have, he says, been changed into flats with little or no attention to sound insulation. Dividing walls are paper thin and hardly block out sound at all.

Buyers can also be put off by the external appearance of neighboring houses. Anything from wild, uncared for gardens to unusual external color schemes can put off buyers — even though the offending property is next door. But it could be worse. John Gladden, of Norbury in Surrey upset his neighbors in St Oswald’s Road by mounting a huge fish in fiberglass (玻璃纤维) and putting it on the roof of his house. The local council argued that he should have got planning permission; residents thought the fish did nothing to improve the appearance of the neighborhood, and war broke out. Sightseers poured in and homes near the suburban property can now be hard to sell.

1. Why doesn’t the writer like her next-door neighbor’s dogs?

A．They wake her up.	B．They sometimes bark.
C．They are aggressive.	D．They remind her of sheep.

2. What does “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．the color scheme

B．the garden

C．the situation

D．the house

3. The purpose of this passage is to _______.

A．inform people what to do if they have problems with their neighbors

B．describe the writer’s own problems with her neighbors.

C．illustrate the types and causes of problems between neighbors

D．explain the activities of the organization Mediation UK

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．He is a musician.	B．He is interested in computer programming.
C．He advertised his room for rent.	D．He’s living with some other students now.

2.

A．In the newspaper.	B．On campus(大学校园).
C．At the neighborhood.	D．On the college brochure.

3.

A．It must be in a good condition.	B．It must have clean surroundings.
C．It should guarantee her privacy.	D．It doesn’t cost much to rent.

4.

A．Amy will share the house with Tom.	B．Amy is not easy to live with.
C．Tom is also the owner of the house.	D．Amy and Tom are both studying in college.

8 . 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. ground B. discourage C. massively D. collapse E. disapprove F. private G. contain H. survive I. escape J. slightly K. former

Loans at public libraries fell dramatically during the pandemic, while website visits rose. If the service is to     1     further cuts, it needs users.

Libraries are romantic yet plain places. The romance is that of reading, and the wealth of human imagination they     2    . The plain side of libraries is more physical. This is the world of buildings, shelving, books, library cards, computers-and people whose minds are ready to be opened. It would be hard to find anyone who actively     3     of, or question the principles of self-improvement libraries stand for. But when it comes to practicalities, Britain’s libraries are on less solid     4    . The sector has been cut     5     in the past decade, with around 800 libraries across England disappearing.

The first Covid lockdown caused a new increase of interest in reading, as the idea took hold that people forced to stay at home would spend more time with books — both to find out more about the pandemic and to     6     from it. But the latest data regarding libraries are worrying for anyone who values them as bricks-and-mortar (实体店) places to go. The number of physical visits also tended to     7    , from 214.6m to 59.7m, compared with the fact that website visits grew by 18% to 154.7m. Of course, this is the behavior that one would expect during a pandemic. Many libraries were closed during this period, when the government chose to     8     people from unnecessary mixing.

Meanwhile,     9     libraries at home, whether large collections or single, untidy bookshelves, appear to be booming, with more ones springing up. But the hope must be that visits and loans at public libraries will soon return to their     10     level too. Like any other service, libraries need users. This has something to do with the romantic notion of the reader as explorer. Books can be treasured possessions, but there is also something special about that ONE copy to arrive in your hand.

9 . 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.revealed     B.display   C.doubles     D.contrary     E.suggestions   F.raw G.advance     H.dramatic   I.functions     J.connected   K.developed

Your new smart TV might be your pride and joy today but they will pale into insignificance compared with the technology expected to fill homes by 2030.

And now experts at Rightmove have    1     what this home of the future will look like.

In just two years’ time, a temperature-changing mattress(床垫) will come into being that warms up in the winter and stays cool in the summer.Self-cleaning fabrics(布), truly waterproof materials and personal climate control are all being     2     now, and are also shown in the house in 2021.

Fast forward to 2023, a “smart window” appears in the bedroom that    3     as a screen; while in the bathroom, there’s a flexible     4    that’s also a shower curtain meaning users could check social media while washing in a shower that recycles water.

A smart mirror, which is actually a screen with an integrated computer, could even make polite outfit (服装）    5    to act like a personal stylist.

And by 2025 the experts predict there will be self-heating towels.

While in 2030 the home will seem like an incredibly hi-tech space, with    6     changes seen in every room.All homes will have an “AI console” in the living room, described as “the living brain of the modern home” that controls security, lighting and temperature, monitors energy usage and orders groceries, among other    7    .

Perhaps most excitingly, there’s a 3D printer that could be used to print everything from tools and electronics to food and clothing using just    8     material blocks and “recipes” downloaded from the Internet.

And the experts predict that by 2030, the machines will be as popular as televisions.Pocket-lint’s Stuart Miles said that every single electronic device in the home will be     9    to the Internet, including the doorbell.

Tim Danton, Editor of PC Pro magazine thinks smart phones will     10    to the point that we’ll be able to control nearly everything in the house with them--even if we’re not home

10 . 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. address；B. emerged；C. harmoniously；D. withdrew E. complex； F. fashion；G. troublesome；H. understandably I. initial；J. harvest；K. novel

With the rapid growth of the aging population in China, the installation of elevators in old communities has gradually become an inevitable issue. A lot of neighborhoods are living no longer     1     due to the living ills of their six-story, elevator-less buildings.

Recently, a residential     2     in Hangzhou has come up with an initiative designed to     3     the problem as to how to raise funds for facilities much-needed by elderly residents, which are called “public transit elevators.” Pay one yuan, and you can take the ride once, just like taking a bus. The price remains unchanged whether you take the lift by yourself or with your whole family. From my perspective, this     4     solution is quite necessary, but still needs improvement.

The greatest concern is the price. Residents in old communities have been at odds with one another regarding how to most effectively distribute the necessary money with which to pay for the installation of elevators. Most residents living on lower floors are     5     reluctant to pay for an elevator to be installed given that it will likely end up occupying their common area of public space. For those living on higher floors, however, the lack of elevator can often be quite     6    , especially for the elderly. Therefore, although the installation charge has been cut down to a very low level by adding pay-to-use elevators, how to properly allocate(分配) the     7     costs involved remains to be negotiated. Another problem has     8     concerning who’ll ultimately pay for the ride, suppose two families share one elevator at the same time.

Much easier as it is to work things on paper, it requires a considerable investment of financial and material resources in its initial stage, and it will only be able to     9     subtle returns, at least in the short run, making it challenging for whatever authority to carry out the proposal.

Still we have to place ourselves in the position in which we can best serve the greater society and by this, treat the issue in a more reasonable     10     so as to minimize any potential losses.