1 . People who are at your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they influence you on your decision or action, it’s called peer pressure. All of us, at some point in our lives, have had to deal with peer pressure.

Recent studies have shown that peer pressure might cause an upside to you. It can make you reflect on your actions and make changes to your ways to become a better one. Observing others working hard to reach their goals will definitely encourage you to make a great effort to achieve something positive. When a teen knows that his teammates are practicing hard to become better players then it will directly affect his own performance. He will put in twice the time and energy to raise the level of his game and ensure he has a place on the team.

Having a group that brings positive peer pressure can also help you pick up healthy habits that can shape both your personality and your future. For example, when a child knows that some of his friends regularly read storybooks, he may get into the habit of reading. Seeing that his friends exercise daily, even he may take up the habit.

Just as some influences can be positive, some can be negative too. Peer pressure sometimes can make a fall in your self-confidence. Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, or because they worry that others might make fun of them if they don’t go along with the group. The idea that “everyone’s doing it” can influence them to leave their better judgment behind. Besides, it is common for teenagers to think that nobody understands them and that the whole world is against them. The influence of peer pressure is such that it keeps them completely away from their family and friends who mean well. They just shut themselves off and fall into bad company.

It’s likely that you’ve experienced the impact of peer pressure in different areas, ranging from the clothes you wear to the music you listen to. Sometimes it can be hard to resist(抵抗) and you may feel forced to do something you’re uncomfortable with. So being aware of and carefully choosing the influence of peers that will lead to healthy and happy experiences is a lifelong process.

1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．A quick reaction.	B．A positive influence.
C．A serious challenge.	D．A possible conflict

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 4 ?.

A．Peer pressure can get teenagers to become less self-confident

B．Peer pressure can provide a positive model for teammates

C．Peer pressure can get teenagers to make fun of their peers.

D．Peer pressure can help teenagers improve relationship with family members

3. What does the author advise us to do about peer pressure?

A．Just follow the trends ranging from clothes to music.

B．Accept it all because it is hard to resist.

C．Stay clear-minded and choose the influence wisely.

D．Fit into a healthy and happy lifestyle.

4. Which section is the text probably taken from?

A．Science.

B．History.

C．Opinion.

D．Entertainment.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1 个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The University of Cambridge    1    (use) scores on gaokao as part of its admission criteria for Chinese students for the last few years, according to its official Weibo account.

However, it does not admit students simply     2     (base) on their test scores. In addition to top scores on gaokao, Chinese    3     (apply) also need to meet English language requirements, participate in an interview    4     take a subject-specific written admission assessment.

Internet users have     5     (broad) welcomed the move,     6     (say) this is a blessing for Chinese students    7    want to enter the university, though the requirement     8    (set) high, reported China Daily.

Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of the university, said the reason for accepting gaokao scores is that Cambridge wants as much information as possible to evaluate candidates who are possibly suitable    9    studying here.

“Global universities must seek connection, communication and collaboration if we wish to see changes that will make the world a better place for everyone,” he said in March during a visit to Peking University, “All the universities are now trying to seek an approach to    10     (provide) an equal environment for students from all over the world.”

4 . 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。

A fifteen-year-old boy     1    ( name) Justin Foster in Dover, New Hampshire went missing two days ago. It was not until the lunchtime the next day that he    2    (find) missing. His mother became     3     ( worry) and asked her husband to call the police. People offered many different explanations for his    4     (disappear). Kelly, his sister, said that Justin did return home the night before and even     5     (hear) him put on his favourite CD. She said she happened to see a large spaceship     6     (fly) outside, so she thought Justin must have been taken away     7     aliens. Some people also said that they themselves experienced this kind of thing. But Detective Sam Peterson,    8    took charge of the case(案例), said that there was     9    ( real) no hard evidence (证据) that aliens took him, and they wouldn’t give up until they found out    10    had happened.

5 . Social media is taking over our lives: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now, TikTok. These social media platforms have changed from a way to stay connected to an industry where even kids can make money off their posts. While this may seem like another opportunistic innovation, it’s really full of hidden false realities.

The median income (中位收入) recorded in the United States of America was about $63,000 in 2018. TikTokers can make anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 for a TikTok brand partnership, and TikTokers with over a million followers can make up to $30,000 a month—$360,000 a year. They are making more than the average person trying to feed their family and keep a roof over their heads simply by posting a 15-second video.

This is mad in more ways than one. Not only is it an overpaid “job”, it promotes undeserved admiration from viewers and a false sense of reality. Many of these famous TikTokers are still teens and the effects of fame at such an early stage in life might cause issues later in life, such as mental illness. Teens between the ages of 13 and 17 make up 27% of TikTok viewers, who can be easily influenced by what they are watching. They can put a false sense of self-value into who they look up to and what they represent: money, fame, being considered conventionally attractive.

While TikTok has become a great tool for marketing, it’s important to understand how this content affects young viewers. If we’re constantly consuming content that shows us all we need to do to be successful is be conventionally attractive and post a 15-second video featuring a new dance, it will challenge our knowledge of what really makes someone successful and will in turn affect our individual work ethnics (伦理). What about the people who miss birthdays and family holidays due to their jobs and aren’t getting paid nearly as much as these TikTokers?

Richard Colyer, president and creator of Metaphor, Inc, had his own view on this issue. “It sounds great that kids can make money for doing the latest dance moves in a 15-second video, but we should feed the minds of kids and not just their bank accounts. TikTok can be great if used properly. Money alone is not good; technology alone is not good and connectedness can be bad if it is only online.”

Again, as a fellow consumer of TikTok, I do enjoy the app when I have some time to kill and need a good laugh. I’m not against someone making a living on entertainment, but what does getting famous by posting a 15-second video teach young people?

1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Social networking.

B．A job offered by TikTok.

C．Making money on social media.

D．Staying connected to the Internet.

2. What does the author try to indicate in Paragraph 2?

A．TikTokers can hardly make ends meet.

B．Social media platforms like TikTok can make people overpaid.

C．Teens are wise to make a huge amount of money from TikTok.

D．TikTokers earn such a high income that they can support their family.

3. Which is the possible influence of TikTok on its young users?

A．They are likely to develop false values.

B．They tend to live an adult life too soon.

C．They are forced to pay for certain services.

D．They may stop believing other social media.

4. What did Richard Colyer stress according to his view?

A．Contents of videos need checking before their release online.

B．We have a responsibility to supply teens with food for thought.

C．Young TikTokers should be banned from opening bank accounts.

D．Money and technology can be good if used properly by TikTokers.

6 . Today’s grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media, but the different generations’ online habits couldn’t be more different. In the UK the over-55 s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site’s second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55-64 and 2.9 million over-65s.

Sheila, aged 59, says, “I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It’s a much better way to see what they’re doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. That’s how we did it when I was a child, but I think I’m lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.”

Interestingly, Sheila’s grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 in the UK are leaving the site - only 2.2 million users are under 17 -but they’re not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. “It’s my alarm clock so I have to,’ she says. “I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.”

Unlike her grandmother’s generation, Chloe’s age group is spending so much time on their phones at home that they are missing out on spending time with their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn’t heard from in forty years. ”We use Facebook to arrange to meet all over the country,” she says. “It’s changed my social life completely.”

Parents have an important role to play if they want their kids to spend more time in real life. Peter, 38, who spends most of his time in front of a screen, is recently determined to set a better example to his kids. In the evening or at weekends, he would leave his smartphone home and take his kids out to nature.

1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?

A．Older people have difficulty using social media.

B．Children spend more time with their grandparents.

C．More and more elderlies begin to use social media.

D．Social media have become more friendly to the elderly.

2. How does Sheila feel about social media?

A．Worried.

B．Satisfied.

C．Excited.

D．Disappointed.

3. What can be concluded from the passage?

A．People tend to have less social life as they get older.

B．Young people are getting away from their smartphone.

C．More young people choose to meet their friends in person.

D．Social media actually help old people to meet their friends.

4. What’s the best title for this passage?

A．Different Online Habits Across Generations	B．The Good Old Days Without Smartphones
C．The Next Generation of Social Media	D．The Use of Smartphones at School

8 . The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem he has is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

This is both encouraging and discouraging. The fact that we were all born to be artists is certainly exciting, and yet the reality has proven that many of us have failed to remain one.

Fortunately, some people have seen the problem and want to solve it.

Western educators have suggested that we introduce the concept of “STEAM” instead of “STEM”—traditional “core majors” including science, technology, engineering, and math—since the “A”, which stands for “art”, is just as important.

And on April 11, China’s Ministry of Education issued a guideline. Colleges and universities are required to provide more art-related courses and students need to earn a certain number of art credits in order to graduate.

These efforts came after many scientific studies had found that art education helps students develop self-confidence and teamwork skills, as well as habits of mind such as problem solving and critical thinking, according to The Washington Post.

It’s true that none of these skills is aimed for specific jobs. But as former US ballet dancer Damian Woetzel told The Atlantic, the purpose of art is “to give kids the tools to become adults who are creative, adaptable, and expressive—capable of having their eyes and ears and senses alive”. And we can now see how we lost track of our born “artist self” on our way to growing up: We failed to keep our abilities to see, hear and feel, and became blind, deaf and insensitive adults.

Hopefully, art education can help turn things around.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To summarize the whole passage.
C．To introduce a famous artist.	D．To encourage us to be artists.

2. Why should the concept of “STEAM” be introduced according to western educators?

A．Art is as important as traditional “core majors”.

B．All of us should learn art in college.

C．Traditional “core majors” are out of date.

D．Western education is more helpful.

3. What can we predict from the guideline issued by China’s Ministry of Education?

A．More art-related courses will appear in all schools.

B．College students will have to gain enough art credits to graduate.

C．More students will major in art at colleges and universities.

D．Art will become much more important than science.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Every child is an artist	B．Learning from the artists
C．Bringing art to life	D．Life is art

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. When will the woman go abroad?

A．In ten weeks.

B．In March.

C．In May.

2. How does the woman feel about studying abroad?

A．A little worried.

B．Very excited.

C．Unhappy.