1 . As the traditional Middle Autumn Day draws near, there are many moon cakes to choose from besides ham-pled cakes. Flower-pied, especially rose-pied moon cakes are preferred a lot by visitors to Yunnan. Baked with almost the same materials-flour, eggs, cooking oil, sugar, and honey etc, why do rose pastries (糕点) enjoy a high popularity?

The answer lies in the roses locally grown in Yunnan and used for making teas and cooking. The bushes can be found with ease in many parts of China, but Yunnan-which is known as “Kingdom of Plants” —— tops others in this respect. You might have noticed that 70 percent of fresh flowers traded in China have come from Yunnan province.

Among the dim sum —— like snacks of Yunnan, rose cakes can be a highlight. Cakes of this kind begin to be widely sold as early as April in stores, because farmers usually harvest the fresh rose crops for orders placed by food companies. You may also find dried roses sold all the year round in big stores.

In historical records, the flower-pied cakes were first prepared by a master chef in the Qing Dynasty about 300 years ago. Sweet, fragrant, and believed to be “good for improving women beauty”, these cakes were once widely sold in Kunming and even the north of China such as Tianjin.

However, not all the rose flower is used for making cakes. The petals (花瓣) of such roses, and only the petals, are valuable in this regard, and that is mainly why they (rose cakes) are a little pricier than others. There are also records saying that rose-pied cakes were paid to the Qing Dynasty’s Qian Long Emperor as a gift.

Personally, I prefer rose cakes than any others. As for ham cakes, I really don’t like the taste. If you try ham cakes, it tastes quite weird, salty and sweet.

1. Why are rose-pied moon cakes so popular?

A．They go well with tea.

B．They are made with flour.

C．They can improve women beauty.

D．They are made with the best roses.

2. What does the writer mean by saying “rose cakes can be a highlight”?

A．Rose cakes are the most expensive.

B．Rose cakes stand out from the others.

C．Rose cakes are ordered by many companies.

D．Rose cakes are best when served with dim sum.

3. What do we know about rose-pied moon cakes?

A．They are prepared by master chefs.

B．They were bought by emperors as gifts.

C．They are widely sold home and abroad.

D．They are more expensive than other cakes.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．Tell the history of moon cakes.

B．Introduce a special kind of moon cakes.

C．Encourage readers to buy flower moon cakes.

D．Compare traditional moon cakes with rose moon cakes.

2 . Since tea spread from China worldwide, it has become one of the most popular drinks in the world. Different countries have their own tea cultures, like afternoon tea in England.

The tradition of afternoon tea is a very special part of English culture. The custom of drinking tea became popular in England during the 1660s. It was not until the mid-19th century that the idea of “afternoon tea” first appeared.

Afternoon tea is served in the mid-afternoon, between lunch and a late dinner. The idea came from Anna, the seventh Duchess(公爵夫人) of Bedford, in 1840. At the time, many families would eat a late dinner at about 8 p. m., which was one of only two main meals each day, and the other was a mid-morning meal.

With a long time between breakfast and dinner, Anna would become hungry around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. So she asked some tea, bread, butter and cakes to be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.

Later, Anna continued it, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for “tea and a walking in the fields”.

Others soon picked up on the idea. By the 1880s, afternoon tea became an event for many ladies. They would be dressed beautifully to be served in the sitting room between four and five o’clock, talking about the latest news, their daily life and fashion.

Today’s afternoon tea is simpler than traditional afternoon tea. It is just a biscuit or small cake and a cup of tea. However, there is one thing that has never changed - the meaning of afternoon tea.

1. When did the idea of “afternoon tea” first appear in England?

A．In the 1660s.	B．In the 1880s.
C．In the mid-19th century.	D．In the 1840s.

2. Why did Anna ask for tea and cakes in the afternoon at first?

A．Because she felt hungry.	B．Because she loved drinking tea.
C．Because she needed to treat friends.	D．Because she wanted to change the meaning of afternoon tea.

3. What can we infer(推断) from the passage?

A．Afternoon tea has spread all over the world.

B．People used to drink tea more often than now.

C．Afternoon tea gives people a chance to communicate.

D．Women like afternoon tea much more than men.

3 . The Past and Present Lives of Mineral Water

We are not unfamiliar with mineral water, but do you understand its origin?

In 1992, Zhuhai Jialin Co., Ltd. took the lead in producing the first barrel of bottled water in China: Jialin Mountain Barreled Water.     1    , creating a market and driving the industry’s great development.

    2    , such as the Zhuhai Film Festival, Zhuhai Air Show, Zhuhai Racing, National Games, and other major events and activities. Jialin Mountain is the designated only brand of drinking water. Subsequently, it became the official designated only drinking water for the Asian and Provincial Games, and after shouting at the Asian Games, “Give me a chance to return a miracle to the world,” its development became even more rapid, and its popularity was unmatched.

    3    . At that time, there was a saying that national drinking water enterprises looked at Guangdong, Guangdong drinking water enterprises looked at Zhuhai, and Zhuhai drinking water looked at Jialin Mountain. It can be seen how glorious Jialin Mountain was in the 1990s.

After 2005, the invasion of foreign brand water enterprises, such as Nongfu Spring and Yibao, formed the situation of a hundred flowers blooming in Zhuhai’s drinking water market.     4    .

Until May 2010, Jialin Mountain was 100% purchased by China Resources Beverage, which was once a famous enterprise in Guangdong Province, and then withdrew from the market, while Ipoh, who obtained the mining right of Jialin Mountain mineral water, jumped to the first place in Guangdong Province in drinking water.

    5    .

A．At this time, Jialin Mountain felt that its country had been seriously threatened

B．In 1993, Zhuhai held a series of events but all ended in failure

C．At that time, the selling price of bottled water was extremely high, with a barrel of water once selling at a maximum of 120 yuan

D．From 1992 to 2001, Jialin Mountain can be said to be a synonym for drinking water

E．At the beginning of the 21st century, competition in China’s mineral Fishery industry will continue to intensify

F．Until now, Yibao, Nongfu Spring and Wahaha are all the leaders in China’s mineral spring Fishery industry

G．In 1994, Zhuhai successively launched multiple major projects

4 . English people don’t care about what they eat, but they care about the place where they eat.     1    English people like to eat out. The rich go to big restaurants.     2    There are also a lot of other restaurants, such as Italian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese and so on.     3     Waiters in good restaurants wear uniforms and are friendly. When you are eating, you might hear light music.     4     Small restaurants or fast-food restaurants are not quiet but clean, too.     5     People bring baskets of sandwiches and sit on the grass in the park, enjoying the sun. Some English kids’ favorite food is pizza, and most kids don’t like vegetables. Some of them like eating the most popular English food, fish and chips.

A．So the good restaurants are quiet.

B．A good restaurant is usually big and clean.

C．The poor go to small ones or fast-food restaurants.

D．In summer, English people like eating outside.

E．Rich families usually have a nice dinning room.

F．There are a lot of foreign rest.

G．In winter, people in England like to stay at home enjoying delicious food.

5 . If you haven’t taken down your Christmas tree yet, no worries. Here’s an idea: have you ever thought about eating it?

Julia Georgallis has some recipes. Over the last five years, she’s been preparing carefully for Christmas dinners in London with a friend. “How can we make something sustainable around Christmas time? What can we cat? What’s the thing that no one eats and that somehow represents Christmas? And then we just decided on Christmas trees,” Georgallis says.

She turned it into a book, How to Eat Your Christmas Tree. And her idea is that it’s not that odd. Some people enjoy Christmas wine. Some people like to go shopping and most people can get behind saving the planet.

“What I aimed for this book to do, really, was to get people thinking about the odd ways that they can be more sustainable in their daily lives,” Georgallis says.

“Eating Christmas trees isn’t going to save any animals in danger or freeze any ice caps. But if we start to think about everything that we do as a whole, then that builds up, you know, and that helps,” she says.

Most of the recipes in her book use the needles from the tree. “You’d use the needles like a herb,” she says.

“And different Christmas trees kind of have different flavors. They’re quite subtle, but they do have different flavors. So fir (冷杉), which is a really popular choice of Christmas trees, gives people better feeling and atmosphere. And then you have pine, which is a little bit more delicate.”

A warning: some Christmas trees are poisonous if eaten — like cypress and cedars. And be sure your tree wasn’t sprayed with pesticides (杀虫剂) and other chemicals. “So if you have any doubt that your Christmas tree might not have been grown to eat, then maybe don’t eat it,” Georgallis says.

And, of course, don’t even think about eating your artificial tree!

So, with all those instructions and with the appropriate tree, what could we cook? Well, Georgallis’ book has all sorts of recipes for different foods and drinks. Let’s open up the world’s cuisine with simple ingredients!

1. What’s the main purpose of Georgallis’ book?

A．To tell people not to buy real trees.	B．To inspire people to be more eco-friendly.
C．To teach people how to enjoy Christmas wine.	D．To encourage people to throw away odd traditions.

2. Which of the following might Georgallis agree with?

A．Artificial trees can also be cooked.

B．Eating Christmas trees does good to saving animals.

C．Different trees have different features and tastes.

D．All Christmas trees have their own ways to be cooked.

3. What may be talked about following the last paragraph?

A．Tips for choosing Christmas trees.	B．Warnings for cooking Christmas meals.
C．Comparison between real and artificial trees.	D．Recipes for different foods with Christmas trees.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A diary.

B．A novel.

C．A scientific report.

D．A lifestyle magazine.

6 . Caffeine (咖啡因) is linked to lower body mass index (BMI) and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (糖尿病). Genetic differences in how people metabolise (代谢) caffeine may influence how overweight they are, but this doesn’t mean drinking more coffee will make you slimmer.

Genetic evidence indicates that higher levels of caffeine in a person’s blood may be linked with lower weight. But people shouldn’t assume that drinking more coffee will be a route to weight loss, says Dipender Gill at Imperial College London, who helped carry out the study. Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive (对精神起作用的) substance, with many people consuming much coffee or caffeinated soft drinks a day.

Numerous studies have previously suggested that caffeine consumption is linked with lower weight. But these were mainly observational studies, which recorded people’s health and their caffeine consumption, making it hard to know if caffeine caused the effects or just correlated with them. Gill’s team used an alternative approach, looking at genetic differences in how quickly people break down caffeine to mimic (模仿) the effects of giving different amounts in a random trial.

There are two genes that affect people’s ability to break down caffeine, meaning that after consuming the same amount of it, people with different variants would have different levels of it in their blood. Gill and his colleagues analysed data from several previous studies that recorded people’s DNA and tracked their health. They included nearly 10,000 people in total, although most included only people of European ancestry.

The studies didn’t analyse blood samples, but previous work has shown that those who break down caffeine more slowly have higher levels of it in their blood on average — even though they tend to drink less coffee. The team found that people genetically predisposed (有倾向的) to have higher caffeine levels had a lower BMI, a measure of a person’s weight in relation to their height; lower fat mass; and a lower likelihood of having type 2 diabetes, a condition linked with being overweight.

“We know that caffeine affects metabolism (新陈代谢) and how energetic someone is. It makes sense that there might be an association,” says Benjamin Woolf at the University of Bristol, UK, who also worked on the study. Gill says people shouldn’t change their drinking habits based on these results — and that people wanting to lose weight should be especially wary of consuming milky and sugary coffee drinks. “A lot of caffeinated drinks are quite calorific,” he says. “Caffeine can have other harmful effects, including effects on sleep and heart function.”

1. What can we learn about caffeine?

A．Caffeine can make you have a slim figure.

B．The people thinner may have higher levels of caffeine in their blood.

C．Caffeine is the most psychoactive substance in the world.

D．Caffeine can be only found in people’s blood.

2. Which of the following method was used in the studies?

A．By finishing a questionnaire.	B．By doing investigation.
C．By analyzing previous data.	D．By collecting blood sample.

3. What does the underlined word probably mean in the last paragraph ?

A．Cautious.

B．Scared.

C．Aware.

D．Doubtful.

4. Which of the following statements may be supported by Gill?

A．People should drink more coffee to lose weight.

B．Europeans are more likely to be affected by coffee.

C．Those breaking down caffeine more slowly have higher levels of it in their blood.

D．Caffeine may have an impact on your sleep and heart.

7 . French cook Laurent Veyet is preparing food with something staggering: insects. Although insects are seldom served as food, the European Union has recently approved some sorts of insects as a food product. Insects provide nutrients and are an environmentally friendly food.

The food Veyet prepares is not for those with little bravery. However, what he is preparing may point to the future of feeding a growing world population.

Veyet talked about the perfect meal for first-times. He was preparing a dish made with mealworms (粉风), sweet potatoes and insects. He said, “There are some really interesting flavors. Not many people could say they don’t like that.” Veyet grows his mealworms on site. He feeds them cooked grains and vegetables. The mealworm can be used in many different meals. It can be cooked whole and eaten, or it can be ground (碾碎) to help make food like bread.

The European Food Safety Agency said the mealworm is OK for humans to cat. The agency is considering more than 12 other requests to approve other insect-based food products. Stefan is a health and food safety spokesman at the European Commission. He said, “Insects are nutritious.” He also said that insects can help us improve our diet and food system.

There are two battles Veyet must win. He needs to win over public opinion and learn how to combine the taste of insects with other foods. He said that he must find the right taste as well as the right food combinations. He said that is very interesting to do and any cook would tell you the same.

1. What does the underlined word “staggering” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Interesting.

B．Disappointing.

C．Dangerous.

D．Surprising.

2. What can we learn about Laurent Veyet?

A．He is a traditional cook.	B．He is confident about his insect dishes.
C．He buys insects from shops.	D．He is worried about customers’ reactions.

3. Which of the following statements would Stefan agree with?

A．Insects help us to have a healthy diet.	B．Insects should be farmed in large numbers.
C．It is urgent to build more insect restaurants.	D．It is hard for people to accept insects as food.

4. What’s the author’s final conclusion about Laurent Veyet’s new attempt?

A．It will be successful.	B．It will end in failure.
C．It will face challenges.	D．It will be further tested.

8 . Around 60 young students from colleges in Britain participated in the Wokstar 2022 contest, with the final six battling for the top prize in Liverpool’s Lu Ban restaurant. Jean Claudine Villaneuva, a 29-year-old student at Middlesbrough College in northeastern England, became the first Wokstar winner.

For over 20 years, Villaneuva had specialized in British and French cuisine (烹饪) before his love turned to Chinese cooking.

“Wokstar is a fantastic new competition aimed at students across the UK. Our role here at Lu Ban is to talk about Chinese cuisine, Chinese culture, and introduce it to the rest of the UK. We thought, what better way to do that is to run a specifically Chinese cooking competition,” said Lu Ban’s head chef Dave Critchley. “We have had colleges from all over the country competing, and really, it’s about showcasing how fantastic Chinese cuisine is.”

Critchley said that in its founding year, the competition involved over 60 students. “I must say that the quality we’ve seen so far has been pleasantly surprising. I think it’s the enthusiasm and the love for Chinese food that is really inspiring. It’s great to see people getting really involved in this and really celebrating not just the food of China, but also the culture around it. And what we looked for in our finalists and our winner was actually someone who does understand the importance of Chinese cuisine.”

Critchley’s interest in Chinese cuisine started when he worked in Asian restaurants in Manchester before becoming head chef at Lu Ban.

“I was flown over to Tianjin in northern China, where I worked with some amazing chefs. It really opened my eyes. It was a life-changing experience and I have not looked back since,” he said.

1. Who took part in the Wokstar 2022 contest?

A．Exchange students in China.	B．Cooks in the Lu Ban restaurant.
C．Young students in the world.	D．College students in the UK.

2. What was the purpose of holding the Wokstar 2022 contest?

A．To discover more talented cooks.

B．To understand Chinese cuisine and culture.

C．To attract more customers to Lu Ban restaurant.

D．To allow chefs to exchange their amazing cooking skills.

3. What does Dave Critchley mainly talk about in the 4th paragraph?

A．The great success of the contest.

B．The real importance of Chinese cuisine.

C．The richness of traditional Chinese culture.

D．The growing popularity of Chinese history in Britain.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To share a pleasant experience.

B．To recommend a healthy lifestyle.

C．To report a Chinese cooking competition.

D．To persuade readers to come to love Chinese food.

9 . Whenever I’ve had a few stressful weeks, I typically schedule a “cooking day”. Working on recipes that I already know builds my confidence; trying out some new ones adds an element of surprise. In the end, I feel satisfied by the products of my work.     1     You can find your own relief in preparing food.

    2     This multisensory aspect of cooking is like a coping tool for stressful situation, the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. It allows you to quickly connect with the present moment by encouraging you to notice five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste.     3     You might feel a bit calmer at the end.

Another key feature of cooking is that it’s connected to and shaped by the past. What you choose to cook, and the way you prepare it, might issue in part from the preferences and techniques of your parents, grandparents, friends or partners.     4     This link is part of cooking’s psychological richness and its potential to restore.

Trying new recipes and new ingredients can help you with the creation of new memories.     5     And, if you are wise in your choice of healthy ingredients, the food itself could have subsequent benefits for your psychological wellbeing.

The next time you step into the kitchen and try your hand at a new dish, try to consciously take notice of what’s going on in your mind and in your body, of what sorts of feelings cooking brings out in you.

A．Cooking engages all five senses.

B．For me, cooking is a stress-relieving way.

C．Through cooking, I can get back control of my life.

D．You are cooking, in this sense, for your future self.

E．Each smell and taste has the power to revive certain memories.

F．It helps focus on a task, offering you a sense of power and control.

G．Giving it a try can demonstrate the benefits of sensory experience.

10 . Bred to be more sweeter, today’s cherries, bananas and apples taste different than they used — to but not necessarily better. Among fruit farmers, the word “quality” is now routinely used as a standard for “high in sugar”, though firmness, color and size are also considerations. In a recent study about ways to enhance the sweetness of fruit using “molecular (分子的) approaches”, a group of plant scientists wrote that, in general, the sugar content of many fruits are now higher than before owing to continuous selection and breeding. Modern apple varieties, the scientists stressed, were on average sweeter than older ones.

The sweetness of fruit depends not just on how it is bred but also on growing conditions, yield and harvest. The lead researcher, Sugiura, said, “If you could taste an apple harvested 30 years ago, you would feel the difference.” He believed that modern apples are picked so early that even if they are bred for sweetness, they often don’t develop their full character. The fragrance (香味) never develops in fruit that is harvested too early.

Jim Cooper, an apple farmer in England, is regretful to admit the fact that many people will never taste the “strawberry hint” in a really ripe Pearmain, a type of heritage apple. In a way, the rise of consistently sweeter fruit in our lifetimes has been a victory of plant breeding. After all, it’s a rare person who would seek out bitter grapes if they could have sweet ones instead.

But the sweetness of modern fruit is not without its problems, especially for people with diabetes (糖尿病), who have to reduce their intake of higher-sugar fruits. Fruit that is bred sweeter also tends to be lower in the chemicals that make it healthy. Considering health, maybe the real problem with modern fruit is that it has become yet another sweet thing in a world with sugar. Even grapefruits, which used to be quite bitter, are sometimes now as sweet as oranges. If you’ve never tasted a sour cherry, how can you fully appreciate a sweet one?

1. In what aspect is many fruits different from before?

A．Sugar content.

B．Soft skin.

C．Bright color.

D．High yield.

2. Why did Sugiura express discontent with the present fruits?

A．They are bred too early.	B．They taste so sweet.
C．They are losing a good flavor.	D．They need a higher yield.

3. What is Cooper’s attitude towards modern fruit breeding?

A．Favorable.

B．Critical.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Indifferent.

4. What does the last paragraph mean?

A．It’s a wise choice to breed fruits for sweetness.

B．Breeding sweet fruits improves the quality of fruits.

C．Some fruits like grapes and cherries taste the same.

D．The sweetness of fruits will cause health issues.