1 . In a fast developing world, many old-fashioned skills seem to be disappearing. It’s hard to find people who know such skills as sewing, but a few decades ago, it was common for every person to learn them.

Now many would think sewing isn’t as useful today. The garment (服装) industry is producing clothing that is cheaper, faster and more fashionable than ever, making it possible to buy a suit for less than $10 at home.

However, that doesn’t mean clothing isn’t indestructible (破坏不了的). Garments with simple tears that could be fixed in seconds with a needle are just thrown away. This causes more than 26 billion pounds of garbage and millions of dollars wasted because of a tear. Even dirty or worn clothing that still has plenty of usable cloth is being thrown away.

The ability to create hand-made clothes doesn’t only reduce waste. It is also tailor-made just for you. Most buy clothes made for a general body type, and to get it tailored by a professional is expensive. So why not do it yourself?

Perhaps the greatest problem of sewing is simply the time involved. Buying a skirt online takes a few seconds. Making a skirt can take weeks. But learning to sew doesn’t always involve complicated projects. Instead they might just be simple adjustments to help the garments fit or match your style.

Schools could easily teach sewing. Yet, they focus more on college preparations, ignoring traditional skills. Actually sewing is a valuable skill to be used in daily life. It wouldn’t take much time to teach children how to sew.

So, instead of letting old things die in this new age of the Internet, how about learning some of the lost skills that helped us for so long?

1. Why do some people think the sewing skill is less useful?

A．Because cloth is too expensive.

B．Because sewing is a bit boring to learn.

C．Because hand-made things are easily broken.

D．Because clothes are cheaper and convenient to buy.

2. Which benefit of sewing is talked about in Paragraph 3?

A．It contributes to creativity.	B．It’s environmentally-friendly.
C．It pushes the garment industry.	D．It gives costumers a typical look.

3. How do schools treat traditional skills?

A．They make the skills easy to learn.	B．They set the skills as basic subjects.
C．They make every effort to teach the skills.	D．They fail to give the skills enough attention.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to the old-fashioned skills?

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Uncaring.

D．Opposing.

2 . It has become easy for students to find and copy published material. But copying another person’s writing without giving them credit can get students and other scholars into big trouble.     1    

American copyright law protects original works of authorship including books, movies, music, images and artworks.     2     The owner can sell a copyright or permit others to use it because it is property and property ownership is protected by law in the U. S.

The idea is that copyright helps society. If people can gain from their own creations, which are called their intellectual property (知识产权), then more people will want to create original works. The law, however, permits the unlicensed use of copyrighted works under what is called fair use. Fair use can include criticism, comment, news reporting, education and research.     3     In education, students can include small parts of copyrighted work in their writing and research. But they must provide credit to the original creators through a citation which gives details about the source.

Just as it is easy to copy, it is also easy for professors to know if a student has plagiarized. First, there are computer programs and artificial intelligence, tools that compare students’ papers to large databases of published writing.     4     Second, if English is not a student’s first language, a professor might recognize a change in wording and writing style. This could bring more attention to the student’s paper.

    5     Professors could simply warn a student not to do it again, lower their grade, or they might fail the student in that class. In more extreme cases, a student may be temporarily banned or expelled from school.

A．This behavior is called plagiarism.

B．However, there are some limitations.

C．Plagiarism is punished in different ways.

D．Students must follow university policies on academic behavior.

E．They can identify whether students have copied published writing.

F．For example, it can automatically create citation s and combine them into a list.

G．The protection extends to computer software and the design of buildings and structures.

3 . 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 tourism phenomenon     1    (cause) by Harbin, in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, shows no sign of fading. Recently, the ice city     2    (lead) to fierce competition among tourism authorities in several cities. More     3    (interesting) , the video of the leaders of local tourism dancing with performers has entertained millions of netizens (网民) .

Diligent     4    (effort) that were made by Harbin     5    (attract) tourists to the city were heads of local tourist joined by netizens across the country, who discussed about the exceptional skills possessed by their own office, all to achieve similar success in their own cities.

Starting from January 9th     6     January 12th, the official account of the Department of Tourism of Henan Province has seen     7     increase in the number of videos being posted, with more than 30 clips released per day. So the tourism authorities in Shanxi and Shandong provinces find     8     a must to promote their tourism resources on social media. Winter, the     9    (tradition) tourism off-season, draws new tourism fever,     10     shows the fast tourism development in China.

4 . When people think of word innovators throughout history, male writers likely come to mind. Shakespeare is credited with inventing more than 1,700 words, including “bedroom”, “courtship” and “swagger”. Charles Dickens is said to have first used the words “butterfingers” and “doormat”, and Dr. Seuss reportedly came up with “nerd”.

But despite contributions from famous writers, historians say another group has an even greater impact on the development of language: teenage girls. Women lead up to 90 percent of linguistic (语言的) changes, as sociolinguist William Labov observed in the early 2000s. In fact, he wrote, women are often linguistically ahead of men “by a full generation”.

Now women are leading the charge online. Though Oxford University Press’2023 word of the year, “rizz”, meaning charm, was coined by a man, several runners-up, including “situationship” and “swiftie” were inspired or first used by women. The term “goblin mode”, which refers to lazy behavior, was Oxford’s 2022 word of the year and appears to have been first used by a woman on Twitter in 2009.

It’s often impossible to tell who first used new words. But whether or not young girls invent new phrases, they are more likely to be early adopters of the latest lingo (术语), says University of Toronto linguist Sali Tagliamonte, “They’re pushing changes forward.”

There are a handful of possible reasons why girls lead lexical (词汇的) innovation. According to Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, women tend to be more socially aware. They have larger social circles and may be exposed to more language diversity. And because women tend to be caregivers, boys usually learn language from their mothers, whereas women and girls learn words from other women.

1. Why does the author mention some words coined by male writers?

A．To compare male and female writers.

B．To introduce some well-known writers.

C．To lead in the topic to be talked about.

D．To put forward a point to be proved.

2. Which of the following words was invented by a male?

A．Rizz.

B．Situationship.

C．Swiftie.

D．Goblin mode.

3. Who thinks women’s social awareness contributes to lexical innovation?

A．Dr. Seuss.	B．William Labov.
C．Sali Tagliamonte.	D．Gretchen McCulloch.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．New Words Are Added to English Dictionaries

B．Female Teens Take a Lead in Linguistic Changes

C．Women Are More Sensitive to Language Diversity

D．New Terms Make Communication More Colorful

5 . Obese people experience discrimination (歧视) in many parts of their lives, and the workplace is no exception. Studies have long shown that obese workers, defined as those with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, earn significantly less than their slimmer co-workers.

Yet the costs of weight discrimination may be even greater than previously thought. “The overwhelming evidence,” wrote the Institute for employment Studies, “is that it is only women living with obesity who experience the obesity wage penalty (薪资损失).” They were expressing a view that is widely aired in academic papers. To test it, The Economist has analyzed data concerning 23,000 workers from the American Time Use Survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Our number-processing suggests that, in fact, being obese hurts the earnings of both women and men.

The data we analyzed cover men and women aged between 25 and 54 and in full-time employment. At a general level, it is true that men’s BMIs are unrelated to their wages. But that changes for men with university degrees. For them, obesity is associated with a wage penalty of nearly 8%, even after accounting for the separate effects of age, race, graduate education and marital status.

The conclusion — that well-educated workers in particular are penalized for their weight — holds for both sexes. Moreover, the higher your level of education, the greater the penalty. We found that obese men with a Bachelor’s degree (学士学位) earn 5% less than their thinner colleagues, while those with a Master’s degree earn 14% less. Obese women, it is true, still have it worse: for them, the equivalent figures are 12% and 19%, respectively (分别地).

Your line of work makes a difference, too. When we dealt with the numbers for individual occupations and industries, we found the greatest differences in high-skilled jobs. Obese workers in health care, for example, make 11% less than their slimmer colleagues; those in management roles make roughly 9% less, on average. In sectors such as construction and agriculture, meanwhile, obesity is actually associated with higher wages.

These results suggest that the total costs of wage discrimination borne by overweight workers in America are greater than expected. Now, it’s time for our governments to take it seriously.

1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in paragraph 2?

A．Obese men earn less salary.

B．Only obese women earn less salary.

C．Both obese men and women earn less salary.

D．Weight discrimination may be greater than previously thought.

2. Who may experience more discrimination compared to their colleagues according to the data?

A．A fat woman office director.

B．An obese construction worker.

C．An obese man with a bachelor’s degree.

D．A heavier female doctor with a Doctor’s degree.

3. What is the writer’s attitude of overweight discrimination?

A．Supportive

B．Objective

C．Subjective

D．indifferent

4. What might the author continue talking about?

A．Overweight discrimination in other countries.

B．The reason of discriminating obese people in their lives.

C．American people’s attitude towards overweight discrimination.

D．Actions taken against overweight discrimination in workplaces.

6 . The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Claudia Goldin, a Harvard professor, for advancing the world’s understanding of women’s progress in the work force. She is the third woman to have won the Economics Nobel, which was first awarded in 1969, and the first one to be honored with it solo rather than sharing in the prize.

Dr. Goldin, 77, was the first woman to be offered tenure (终身职位) in Harvard’s economics department in 1989. Dr. Goldin’s research on female employment and the gender wage gap over the past 200 years showed that employment among married women decreased in the 1800s, as the economy moved away from agriculture and toward industry. Women’s participation then increased in the 1900s, as the service industry began to expand as a part of the economy. Dr. Goldin has described the 1970s in particular as a “revolutionary” period when women in the US began to marry later, pursue higher education, and make major progress in the labor market.

Dr. Goldin has also illustrated how the process of closing the gender wage gap has been uneven over the course of history. In the past, gender wage gaps could be explained by education and occupation. But Dr. Goldin has shown that most of the earnings difference is now in the same jobs. Notably, it kicks in after the birth of a woman’s first child. Goldin and her colleagues once found the gap in pay started to widen a year or two after a woman had her first baby.

She hoped people would learn from her work how important long-term changes are for understanding the labor market. “We’re never going to have gender equality until we also have couple equality, ” she said. While there has been “monumental progressive change, at the same time there are important differences” which often tie back to women doing more work in the home.

1. What can be learned about Dr. Goldin in the passage?

A．She set out to research female employment in 1989.

B．She is the first woman to receive the prize alone.

C．She redefined women’s role in employment in the 1970s.

D．She is devoted to inspiring women to step outside to work.

2. Why did female employment increase in the 1900s?

A．Because the economy depended more on industry.

B．Because men wanted to obtain higher education then.

C．Because women were not eager for marriage at the time.

D．Because the service industry offered more opportunities.

3. What does the underlined word “uneven” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Regular.

B．Promising.

C．Tough.

D．Unchanging.

4. What did Dr. Goldin hope to achieve from her work?

A．Women should be judged by their education.

B．Couple equality should be a goal to work for.

C．Gender wage gaps should be addressed soon.

D．Men would take on all the housework at home.

7 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What was the speaker driving to do?

A．Go to his office.

B．Pick up his son.

C．Go to the post office.

2. What did the speaker want to buy at a shop?

A．Drinks.

B．Swimsuits.

C．Fruits and bread.

3. What caused the speaker to stop his car 500 metres from the school?

A．A traffic jam.

B．A flat tire.

C．An engine failure.

4. How did the speaker feel at last?

A．Worried.

B．Depressed.

C．Relieved.

8 . Fast food chains have tried for years to appeal to customers who care about their health. They have added lighter food to their menus, such as salads and yogurt. Of course, the lighter food goes with the usual burgers, fried chicken and shakes.

Menus have changed over the past three decades. According to a recent study, fast food menus are less healthy than they were 30 years ago. The study suggests the problem is getting worse. The fat, salt content and size of fast food meals are the problem. They are often the reason for the rising obesity (肥胖) rate among adults in the United States. The researchers found that the average main dish weighed more in 2016 than in 1986. It also had more calories and more sodium (钠). One expert said, “The restaurants have not done enough. The big picture is that there have been some positive changes, but they are small. Overall, the changes have gotten worse.”

The average fast food dessert had more calories in 2016. It also weighed more than the average fast food dessert thirty years earlier. Restaurants are counting on bigger sundaes and cookies to increase the amount spent on each order. For example, McDonald’s recently introduced “donut sticks” dusted with sugar. Six sticks have 280 calories. But you can also order 12 sticks for less than the cost of two single orders.

The researchers found that, over the 30 years, there were more calories in items like chips, soup, and French fries. Sodium content rose even though portion(一份) size did not grow much. When consumed together as a single meal, the study found that the average main dish and side order account for nearly 40 percent of a 2000-calory daily diet.

1. Why do fast food chains provide lighter food?

A．To match the fast food.	B．To attract more customers.
C．To reduce the cost of each meal.	D．To improve the health of customers.

2. Why are more American adults getting fat?

A．They take in more calories from fast food.

B．They have little time to exercise regularly.

C．They eat much more dessert after every meal.

D．They eat fast food more frequently than before.

3. What is the example of “donut sticks” for in paragraph 3?

A．Showing the way of restaurants’ making cookies.

B．Presenting the popularity of restaurants’ new food.

C．Stressing the increase in restaurants’ food varieties.

D．Explaining the intention of restaurants’ adding dessert.

4. Which one could be the best title of the text?

A．Fast Food Is Still Killing Us	B．Don’t Eat Any Fast Food Now
C．Try to Eat More Lighter Food	D．People Are Becoming Fatter and Fatter

9 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well underway. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.

Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles reveals a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries, containing almost 300 pounds of lead in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leak into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable but deadly business.

Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an extraordinary scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world — and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare — causes one of the biggest environmental crises in the world yet receives little attention.

The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5. 5 million people per year, which would make it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is extraordinary, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.

But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that is fixable with some attention and a relatively modest financial investment. Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the dreadful effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.

1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?

A．By making a comparison.	B．By analyzing hidden causes.
C．By listing convincing numbers.	D．By explaining its working principle.

2. What can we learn from the text?

A．Lead enters rich countries in various ways.

B．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer.

C．Exposure to lead doesn’t necessarily harm someone.

D．Lead leaking has caused great panic in both countries.

3. What can be done to solve lead poisoning in developing countries?

A．Fixing these used batteries.	B．Putting certain effort and money.
C．Prohibiting the illegal use of lead.	D．Reducing the cost of recycling lead.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Human Health

B．The Outcomes of Using Electric Vehicles

C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem

D．The Global Lead Poisoning Crisis

10 . When it comes to a public library, you usually think of books and computers for people to use. You can even think of educational lectures and concerts that are often held in the library. But few people would expect to have a farm in the library.

But why not? After all, with rising costs, food safety is a community-wide issue. The Cicero Public Library near Syracuse in New York solved this problem by building a farm on its land. When Meg Backus saw all the open space in the library across the street from the building, he realized it could be used to benefit the community.

The farm was created in 2011 and in the beginning, 40 members of the library brought seeds (种子), water, and supplies to see if they could grow food on the land. It turned out that they could. To get the needed supplies for a larger farm, the library began to work with the organization Syracuse Grows Agency.

The community farm donates (捐赠) over 200 pounds of fresh produce (农产品) to local food banks every year. Half of the growing area is used as the Food Educational Garden. The other half is used by growers themselves. During the year, there are educational programs held at the library to teach people how to garden. There are also a lot of gardening books that can be used at the library.

Lauren Rosenstein, a worker of the library, said that she felt like she was giving something back to the community. “You’re really making a difference as a local community because you’re growing the food that people are eating.”

1. Why did Meg Backus build the farm?

A．To earn money.

B．To attract more readers.

C．To improve food safety.

D．To teach readers how to grow food.

2. How did the 40 members feel at first?

A．Doubtful.

B．Stressed.

C．Hopeless.

D．Confident.

3. What are educational programs held at the library mainly about?

A．Farmers’ life.

B．Food donation.

C．Gardening skills.

D．Food banks.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Make a Farm Popular	B．Turn a Library into a Farm
C．Meet the First Library Farm	D．Find a Job on a Library Farm