1 . Every Saturday morning, at 9 am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. Events are free, staffed by thousands of volunteers. Runners range from four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley’s world record 13 minutes 48 seconds up to an hour.
Parkrun is succeeding where London’s Olympic “legacy” is failing. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the 30th Olympiad would be in London. Planning documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to level a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. It has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run-up to 2012-but the general population was growing faster. Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children. Official retrospections continue as to why London 2012 failed to “inspire a generation.” The success of Parkrun offers answers.
Parkun is not a race but a time trial: Your only competitor is the clock. The ethos welcomes anybody. There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sports and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on success over taking part was intimidating for newcomers.
Indeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally “grassroots”, concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be getting involved in providing common goods-making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments have presided over selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse.
1. According to Paragraph1, Parkrun has_____.| A．gained great popularity | B．created many jobs |
| C．strengthened community ties | D．become an official festival |
| A．boost population growth | B．promote sport participation |
| C．improve the city’s image | D．increase sport hours in schools |
| A．aims at discovering talents | B．focuses on mass competition |
| C．does not emphasize elitism | D．does not attract first-timers |
| A．organize “grassroots” sports events | B．supervise local sports associations |
| C．increase funds for sports clubs | D．invest in public sports facilities |
| A．tolerant | B．critical |
| C．uncertain | D．sympathetic |
2 . China’s highest academic institution for natural sciences opened its doors to science lovers to share the latest scientific and technological achievements, with the goal of popularizing science and allowing the public to engage with noted scientists and key research facilities.
The institute featured dozens of exhibitions on China’s latest achievements in artificial intelligence, autonomous underwater vehicles, lunar exploration and experiments onboard the Tiangong space station.
The public were feverish since this was the first time in three years that the academy had been able to hold live activities on Public Science Day.
Parents and children began queuing outside the front doors of the academy’s Institute of Physics early in the morning. The Institute of Automation extended opening hours several times to accommodate visitors, and tickets were sold out in hours.
Children of all ages came to see the institute’s scientists conduct colorful and thought-provoking (发人深省的) physics experiments. After the show, they were able to use the instruments themselves and ask questions about their use.
Cao Ying, a Beijing resident attending the event with her 3-year-old son, said that she had previously only known about these scientific achievements through the news. She added that it had been eye-opening to experience them firsthand and to talk to the scientists behind them. “Science education should start at an early age,” she said. “Seeing these scientific achievements in person makes me appreciate the hard work and ingenuity (独创性) of our scientists even more.”
Chinese scientists and engineers have accomplished many great things, and the achievements should not be locked away in an ivory tower.
By communicating their findings to the public, scientists also learn more about the actual needs of the people, which helps open up new areas of research and use. One example is using humanoid robots to care for the elderly.
1. How did the institute involve the public in scientific events?| A．By popularizing scientific findings. |
| B．By communicating with scientists and engineers. |
| C．By engaging the public in scientific experiments. |
| D．By exhibiting the newest achievements of science and technology. |
| A．Patient. | B．Worried. | C．Excited. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Admiration for hard work. |
| B．Advice for science education. |
| C．Recommendation from experts. |
| D．Supportive response from the audience. |
| A．They can get inspiration. |
| B．They can be known to the public. |
| C．They can invent humanoid robots. |
| D．They can exhibit their achievements. |
3 . The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After immigrating form England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed “the Garden City”, almost certainly the source of Howard’s name for his later building plan of towns. Returning to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the time, but creating a unique combination of designs.
The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression(萧条) and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard’s idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement, the garden city. Howard’s idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit-Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide rang of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.
1. How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?| A．Through his observation of the country life. |
| B．Through the combination of different ideas. |
| C．By taking other people’s advice. |
| D．By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago. |
| A．making use of | B．making comments on |
| C．giving an explanation of | D．giving a description of |
| A．as far as possible from existing cities |
| B．in the countryside where the land was cheap |
| C．in the countryside where agriculture was developed |
| D．near cities where employment opportunities already existed |
| A．Their number would continue to rise |
| B．Each one would continue to become larger |
| C．People would live and work in the same place |
| D．Each one would contain a certain type of business |
| A．City and Countryside | B．The Invention of the Garden City |
| C．A New City in Chicago | D．A Famous Garden City in England |
1. How does the woman possibly know of the project?
| A．From TV. | B．From the man. | C．From a newspaper. |
| A．The city's budget is generous. |
| B．A new urban park has been built. |
| C．An old railway line might be replaced. |
| A．A teacher. | B．A director. | C．An architect. |
1.家乡的变化；
2.你的感受。
注意：1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.题目已为你写好。
My hometown’s transformation
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . In 1670, two Scottish doctors set up a garden in the city of Edinburgh to find out connections between plants and medicine. That first garden wasn’t very big — about the size of a tennis court. Fast-forward 350 years, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) now covers an area bigger than 1,000 tennis courts. The RBGE’s goal is to “explore, conserve and explain the world of plants for a better future”.
After doctors and distant cousins Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour graduated from university in the mid-17th century, they shared the goal of improving Scottish medicine by looking into botanical (plant-related) research. They found some land near Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh and started to collect plants. They taught students how to grow exotic (外来的) plants and use them to make medicines. As the collection expanded (增加), the garden moved to different sites, including what is now Edinburgh’s Waverley Station.
In 1823, the garden was moved to its current location in Inverleith, a suburb of Edinburgh. It took three years to move the collection of plants and trees using specially built machines. The Tropical Palm House was built in 1834, and it was joined by the larger Temperate Palm House in 1858. Both are still popular with visitors. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the RBGE continued to search for new specimens (标本) from around the world.
The RBGE has about 13,500 species of living plants in its collection today. The herbarium — a collection of dried and protected species — includes more than three million plant samples, which represent more than half of the world’s known plants. The oldest specimen dates back to 1697. Experts continue to recognize new species each year, as well as growing plants that are extinct in their own habitats. The RBGE also works with botanical gardens around the world, including in Africa and South America, and supports them with conservation projects, education and training.
1. Why did Robert and Andrew build up the garden?| A．To teach people some knowledge about exotic plants. |
| B．To do research on plants and medicine. |
| C．To protect endangered wildlife. |
| D．To practice their tennis skills. |
| A．In the mid-17th century. | B．In the 20th century. |
| C．In1834. | D．In1858. |
| A．It has made achievements in growing extinct plants. |
| B．It has collected less than half of all known plants. |
| C．It is going to expand its sites in other countries. |
| D．It collects native plants only. |
| A．How the RBGE has expanded. | B．The progress of saving endangered plants. |
| C．Why a botanic garden was built. | D．An introduction to the RBGE. |
1. How did the speakers find the restaurant?
| A．From a friend. | B．From a website. | C．From the newspaper. |
| A．Eat some pizza. | B．Get another drink. | C．Talk to the owner of the restaurant. |
| A．Phone Susan. | B．Go back to the restaurant. | C．Get some money from Brian. |
8 . One morning soon, you’ll get on your bike and ride from one end of America to the other, because the Great American Rail Trail is 53% complete, making a cross-country bike ride closer to a reality.
The idea of a bike trail(小路) made up of scenic paths, trails and former rail lines from Washington DC to Washington State has been 30 years in the making. Now, with more than 50% of the trail up and running, the project, run by the Rails to Trails in cooperation with local authorities, is building up, with hundreds of miles of trails in development now. Though not entirely complete, the rail trail has drawn people of all types.
Last August, Ryan Gardill and a colleague biked 350 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. Their travels took them through some beautiful and historical parts of the American East. “The trail connected me to our revolutionary and industrial history. Most of the towns on the trail were once important to America.”
The major goal of the trail is to provide the American public with the opportunity to explore their beautiful country, without getting in their car. A secondary objective is to bring prosperity(繁荣) back to the small towns and cities that once prospered along the country’s now diminished rail system, according to National Geographic.
One of these is Muncie, Indiana, a city located on a former rail system and a part of the Rail Trail. The city is already seeing the economic benefits of the trail. “A large majority of our customers are local, but the Rail Trail could help grow tourism,” said Jason Allardt, owner of the historic Kirk’s Bike Shop.
This is the hope for many once-prosperous towns and cities all throughout America, though it may take nearly 20 years to get the entire trail up and running.
1. What has made the trail attractive to people?| A．It’s a bike trail with good scenery. | B．It’s a rail line across the country. |
| C．It offers good adventurous paths. | D．Its construction lasted 30 years. |
| A．They were the basic part of the U.S. railways. |
| B．They are mostly located in the mountains. |
| C．They enjoy great popularity as destinations. |
| D．They’re no longer important towns in America. |
| A．Enlarged. | B．Protected. | C．Decreased. | D．Destroyed. |
| A．The Trail will link its scenery to the outside. | B．The Trail will help its economic recovery. |
| C．It has bike paths designed for local citizens. | D．The railway has brought about its prosperity. |
| A．Smoking is strictly forbidden in this waiting room. |
| B．The woman is bothered by others’ heavy smoking. |
| C．The waiting room is on fire and full of smoke. |
10 . A huge, 12-pointed star has been fixed on top of one of the towers of Antoni Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. This means the construction work, begun 139 years ago, nears completion. It is scheduled to be completely finished in 2026 — marking 100 years since the architect’s death.
When Gaudí died in 1926, less than a quarter of the exterior was complete. Since then construction has been stopped every now and then for various reasons from Spanish civil wars to funding problems. Though in 2005 the church was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the construction work was claimed to be illegal in 2016, and regained its building permit in 2019.
Born in 1852, Gaudí grew up fascinated by geometry and the natural wonders of the countryside. After studying architecture in school, he eventually formed his own style. In his opinion, form and function were inseparable: Beauty should be part of structure, which rules the natural world. “Nothing is art,” he concluded, “if it does not come from nature.” On his graduation ceremony, his director said the words that became famous later: “I do not know if we have awarded this degree to a madman or to a genius; only time will tell.”
Time has obviously given the answer. In fact, Gaudí’s work over the years has permanently influenced Barcelona architecture like none other before or after. The city is considered the best outdoor modernist Museum of Europe mostly because of Gaudí.
On the 10th of June 1926, Gaudí was knocked down by a tram (有轨电车) while he was doing his usual evening walk. He lost consciousness, and nobody recognized that this disheveled (蓬乱的) old man was the famous architect until he was taken to the hospital. He was buried two days later in the unfinished Sagrada Familia, following a funeral attended by thousands of people: most of the citizens of Barcelona came out to bid a final-farewell to the most universal architect that the city had ever known.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．A 12-pointed star was set on a Gaudí’s church. |
| B．Barcelona is well known for Gaudí’s architecture. |
| C．Gaudí’s famous church will be finished at last. |
| D．The 100h anniversary of Gaudí’s death will come. |
| A．It was to memorize Gaudí. | B．It suffered frequent delays. |
| C．It was a World Heritage Site. | D．It didn’t get its building permit. |
| A．His style was too special in his time. | B．He was not qualified for the degree. |
| C．His attitude to others was crazy. | D．He was too talented to be taught. |
| A．Sagrada Familia — Gaudí’s Unfinished Work |
| B．Barcelona — a City of Antoni Gaudí |
| C．Antoni Gaudí — a Genius Architect |
| D．Gaudí’s Architecture — the Beauty of Nature |
