1. What does John Smith do?
| A．A student. | B．A professor. | C．A doctor. |
| A．She didn’t go to school. | B．She came across John Smith. | C．She had a car accident. |
| A．She won’t go to school for one week. |
| B．She will have a rest at home next week. |
| C．She wants to have her car repaired. |
2 . If a scientist’s first language is not English, would it be truly difficult to publish an article in an international journal? Recent study looked at tons of scientific journals in the field of biology and found that they don’t do much to help scientists who are not native English speakers. The study found most of these journals judge articles based on how well they are written in English. This can be a problem for scientists who are not fluent in English because they have to work harder to make sure their papers can be published in international journals.
“The role of journals is huge because they can be a source of language barriers (障碍), but they also have the ability to solve many of the barriers,” says Tatsuya Amano, a biodiversity researcher. He added that though some journals have started to offer tools to help scientists whose first language is not English, such examples are still rare.”
Another study by Amano found that non-native English speakers are more likely to have their papers rejected because of writing issues compared to native English speakers. This shows that the language unfairness in journals can have serious consequences for scientists who are not native English speakers.
So apart from waiting for the journals, what can non-native scientists do? One solution is to work with other scientists from English-speaking countries. They can help to check the writing skillfully to double the possibility of being published by the international journal.
1. What do most international journals judge articles based on?| A．The nationality of the author. | B．The influence of the scientists. |
| C．The fluency of English writing. | D．The quality of the research result. |
| A．Published. | B．Praised. | C．Refused. | D．Recognized. |
| A．Work with native English scientists. | B．Ask publishers for help to check errors. |
| C．Improve English before writing a paper. | D．Practice reading and writing in daily life. |
| A．A Success in the Field of Biology Study |
| B．Scientists Unfairly Treated by Language Issues |
| C．The Advantages of Publishing Papers in English |
| D．Scientists’ Growing Interest in Learning a Language |
3 . The evidence for harmony (和睦) may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents.
An important new study into teenage attitudes shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” says one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious (叛逆的) but actually they have other things in their minds; they want a car and other material goods, and they worry whether school is serving them well. There’re more negotiations (协商) between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decisionmaking process.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17 year old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiations. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
One of the researchers comments, “Our astonishment that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. Now, the situation has changed.”
1. What does the new study show?| A．Teenagers are more rebellious. |
| B．Teenagers worry more about studies. |
| C．Teenagers dislike making family decisions. |
| D．Teenagers have more negotiations with families. |
| A．They are stricter than before. |
| B．They are more independent. |
| C．They give their children more freedom. |
| D．They care less about their children’s life. |
| A．Surprise. | B．Aim. |
| C．Memory. | D．Option. |
| A．Discussion in family. |
| B．Harmony in family. |
| C．Teenage trouble in family. |
| D．Teenage education in family. |
4 . Nearly half of us make New Year’s resolutions, but less than ten percent of us actually keep them. This can be due to lack of motivation or loss of interest, but it’s time for us to figure out ways to finish what we’ve started.
Lack of honesty
Are you truly devoted to running a marathon, losing weight, or whatever else you are promising to do? Be honest with yourself. We often find ourselves committing to things because we think we should.
While you may have the best intentions with your resolution, you could be putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. Rather than associating the New Year with resolutions or changes you need to make, consider it a time for reflection on things you wish to work on throughout the year.
If your goal was to send out ten resumes (简历) for a new job and you only sent out five, don’t beat yourself up for it. Rather, congratulate and reward yourself for making the effort toward your goal. That will give you the energy to continue working towards your initial (最初的) goal.
Giving up too easily
Whether you get discouraged or simply lose interest, giving up too easily is a big resolution breaker. Many people make their resolutions believing they can accomplish them.
| A．Wrong perspective (视角) |
| B．Narrow your resolution |
| C．Don’t waste your time on that. |
| D．But the excitement wears off and other priorities appear. |
| E．They thought they could stick to it because it’s what they want. |
| F．Here are reasons people don’t stick to their New Year’s resolutions. |
| G．Stop thinking about what you have not accomplished and focus on what you will accomplish instead. |
5 . Textile(纺织品)waste is a growing problem for our environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported the US throws away more than 11 million tons of clothing every year. That is why some small businesses spotting the problem are beginning to recycle in ways they haven’t before.
Create Good Company is a clothing company that tries to produce sustainable clothing and repurpose older clothing into updated fashionable items. Maggie Hendricks, the owner of Create Good Company, said, “If you can improve what you find, why wouldn’t you do that instead of buying new things? It’s a big issue not to create new waste. I would say we are 90% recycled materials.”
According to the EPA, the average consumer(消费者)throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes every year. “Anywhere between 10%-17% of the waste that’s going into landfills(废弃物填埋场)is made up of things like textiles and clothing,” said Danny Katz with the CoPIRG Foundation. “A lot of the clothing that we’re producing doesn’t even get worn, so it’s going right to the landfill or even being burned and contributing to pollution that way. It’s really worrying.”
This is why businesses like Create Good Company exist — to use outdated clothing and turn it into dresses or jackets. “There’s just so much waste and so many big companies that might not think about it,” Hendricks said. “Just standing with other like-minded people who are interested in sustainability is important.”
Another important element Hendricks has focused on is creating these items and selling them at an affordable price. “Sustainability sometimes is green washed in companies and they make things more expensive,” Hendricks said. “That’s not how we become a sustainable world. I think making products affordable is important to me. I want to buy things that are better for the environment without throwing my pocketbook in the fire.”
1. What makes Danny Katz worried?| A．The use of old clothing. | B．The cost of textile pollution. |
| C．The effect of clothing waste. | D．The future of the textile industry. |
| A．Its price. | B．Its sales. |
| C．Its producer. | D．Its quality. |
| A．The EPA’s measures to reduce textile waste. |
| B．Consumers being aware of the seriousness of textile waste. |
| C．Textile businesses’ social responsibility and their waste. |
| D．Small businesses working to prevent textile waste. |
6 . In recent years, the number of young adults returning to their parents’ homes after leaving has risen. This is the Boomerang Generation, becoming independent only to return to their parents’ homes like boomerangs. A boomerang is a curved(呈弯曲状的) stick that, when thrown in a particular way, comes back to the person who threw it.
One of our family members had a college roommate who dropped out(辍学) and went back to her parents because she was unable to wash her clothes. This is quite a funny example, but stories like these are plentiful. The dropout and many other young adults are often short of basic life skills, so they move out of the family home for a time and then boomerang right back.
We believe having more real-life learning in high school may solve young adults’ inability to become independent. This can be achieved through simply including extra Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills requirements for life skills. The TEKS would include learning about taxes(税), banking, health, voting(选举), job interviews, cooking, and many other important skills.
These areas of study happen to go with required courses. For learning how to do taxes, we would want to include a TEKS in math classes. In an economics class, we would require students to learn about banking and housing. In history class, students would have to learn about the importance of voting. In English class, students could learn about jobs. Cooking would be added to health class.
If in high school we can teach these skills, graduates going to college or trade school won’t need to worry about their living skills and can focus on their education. More students can finish their studies and get degrees. And once out of college or trade school, young people can focus on their jobs and responsibilities as adults. Thus jobs will be done better, people will better understand their role in society and be better rounded as both students and individuals(个人).
1. Which of the following best describes the Boomerang Generation?| A．They depend on their parents. | B．They show great interest in sports. |
| C．They like to take on new challenges. | D．They want to leave their parents’ homes. |
| A．To attract readers with a funny story. |
| B．To offer some advice for college dropouts. |
| C．To explain the cause of boomeranging back. |
| D．To show the Boomerang Generation’s influence. |
| A．It is easy for students to learn the TEKS. |
| B．They can be included in required courses. |
| C．More life skills should be added to the TEKS. |
| D．The TEKS proves to be important to students. |
| A．Teach students life skills. | B．Work together with parents. |
| C．Accept the Boomerang Generation. | D．Offer more support to trade schools. |
7 . If you have a hobby or idea that currently does not fit into an existing club in your school, starting one may be a great idea.
Think
The first step of starting anything is to think.
Judge interest
The next step of starting a club is judging interest of others. It is important to talk to friends and other students at school, because they will be the ones who finally will choose to join or stay away from your club. If they have no interest, you have no club.
Think about details
Make it official
Then you can head to the teacher’s office and tell this teacher what your club is about, along with all details. Once he or she agrees, you will likely have to fill out some paperwork to make the club official.
| A．In this case, brainstorming will be very helpful. |
| B．Then you may want to reconsider your idea for the club. |
| C．It’s a great way to practice leadership and organizational skills. |
| D．Now you can spread the word and attract others to join your club. |
| E．Next, it is important to think about the behind-the-scenes aspects of your club. |
8 . Some of Hawaii’s most popular musical artists have appeared before an unlikely audience, who are from a small elementary school on Oahu’s coast.
They all come with a purpose: The headmaster dreamed up the virtual concerts, presenting artists like internationally famous ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, as a way of bringing together a community struggling with the pandemic. “We have probably the best ukulele player — one of the best ukulele musicians in the entire world — come and play for you guys tonight,” said Headmaster Keoki Fraser as children and parents tuned in from home computers. Fraser is trying to organize concerts every several weeks as his school, like most public schools in Hawaii, continues to educate its students remotely.
Tabitha Persaud, mom of three students, remembers Fraser coming to the parent-teacher association with the idea of approaching big names. “Can we do that?” she wondered. “Will they do that for us?”
“They’re in the same situation as we are. So, I mean, they don’t have to go anywhere or leave their home. We just hit them up,” said Fraser, who graduated from the local high school. “We love to get people that are influential and the kids look up to.”
During a recent Friday concert, Fraser invited former student Dylan Kunz, now a seventh grader, to play ukulele as one of the student performers to open for Shimabukuro. Kunz, who likes Shimabukuro, was excited. “He’s the reason I started playing,” he said. “It keeps me motivated to keep playing.”
The concerts are open to all. For one performance, about 1,200 viewers tuned in. “I think it’s so much fun to see the smiling, happy faces of all the kids,” said Amy Kunz, Dylan’s mom. “I think Headmaster Fraser, in doing this, is really hitting home from social and emotional aspects. Even though we’re not in school, we can still make these connections and have fun.”
1. What’s Headmaster Fraser’s purpose in organizing the concerts?| A．To encourage his students to learn from the musicians. |
| B．To develop closer ties between educators and kids. |
| C．To get his community united in the pandemic. |
| D．To strengthen the parent-teacher relations. |
| A．Whether her family would be allowed to attend it. |
| B．Whether players like Shimabukuro would show up. |
| C．Whether Headmaster Fraser would agree with her idea. |
| D．Whether the parent-teacher association would break up. |
| A．Cheer them up. | B．Ask them for help. |
| C．Teach them a lesson. | D．Compete with them. |
| A．Grateful. | B．Curious. | C．Doubtful. | D．Worried |
9 . Jane, a 40-year-old mental health professional from Ireland, never worried too much about how she looked. However, when her job went fully virtual, she found herself anxious about Microsoft Teams meetings. Her face looked rounder, her nose looked bigger, and her top lip looked thinner than she had ever noticed it while looking in the mirror.
As the COVID-19 forced a lot of people into video meetings throughout 2020, researchers noticed a phenomenon they called “Zoom dysmorphia”. After months of remote meetings and seeing their own faces on screen, more and more people became focused on their weaknesses on their faces. Shadi Kourosh, a Masachusetts doctor studying skin diseases, coined the name in the summer of 2020, when she noticed more and more people asking about how to improve facial appearance. It is clear that the age of video meetings has opened up a Pandora’s box of physical and mental insecurities (不安全).
Psychological studies have long connected time spent in front of the mirror with one’s increasing feelings of insecurity. However, Kourosh says that looking at yourself on a screen is not like looking into a real mirror. Front-facing cameras, with their close focus, can distort (使…失真/变形) people’s appearance, making eyes look smaller and noses seem bigger.
Doctors are familiar with how the phenomenon of “Zoom dysmorphia” has become increasingly worsened in recent years by beautified photos of film stars or by social media filters (滤镜). Most people are smart enough to know a social media filter is not real life. But as for Zoom dysmorphia, people simply were not aware that video calls could cause distortion. These types of insecurities also affect a much bigger part of society. Almost everybody who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic used video meeting. The impact can be significant and lasting.
Jane has mixed feelings. Her job will be online for the coming future. Feeling less attractive on screen than in real life, she is considering cosmetic surgery (整容外科) to improve her confidence. “But it feels stupid as a 40-year-old woman to think too much about my appearance like a teenager. There are bigger problems in the world.”
1. The underlined word in the 2nd paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.| A．earn | B．change | C．invent | D．discover |
| A．They always think they are not attractive. |
| B．They are worried because they feel ugly on the screen. |
| C．They hate attending video meetings frequently. |
| D．They spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. |
| A．She feels ashamed of building her confidence in this way. |
| B．She feels disappointed at the result of surgery. |
| C．She is hopeful about her coming future. |
| D．She feels unsafe about the world. |
From November 5th to 10th, 2021, the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE)
The display area for consumer goods occupied 90,000 square meters of exhibition space,
The Online Country Exhibition enabled 58 countries and 3 international organizations
Having experienced the benefits of the fourth CIIE, enterprises described it as an event
