1 . The World Health Organization says the widespread use of sugar in food products and drinks is a major concern in many areas. So WHO officials are calling on governments to require taxes on sugary drinks in an effort to limit their usage and popularity. The officials believe the taxes also would reduce the risk of health problems resulting from obesity.

Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight. A new report says that in 2014 more than one-third of the adults in the world were overweight, and 500 million were considered obese. The United Nations agency estimates that in 2015, 42 million children under age 5 were either overweight or obese. It says that number represents an increase of about 11 million during the past 15 years. Almost half of these boys and girls live in Asia and one-fourth in Africa.

The U. N. agency blames unhealthy diets for a rise in diabetes cases. There are 422 million cases of the disease worldwide. WHO says 1.5 million people die from it every year. It says the use of sugar in food products, like sugary drinks, is a major reason for the increase in rales of obesity and diabetes.

Temo Waqanivalu is with the agency’s Department for the Prevention on Non-Communicable Diseases: He told VOA that taxing sugary drinks would reduce consumption and save lives. Waqanivalu noted that Mexico enacted a law of a 10 percent tax on sugary drinks in 2014. He said by the end of the year, there was a 6 percent drop in the consumption of such drinks. Among poor people, the number of people who consumed sugary drinks dropped by 17 percent.

The WHO says people should limit the amount of sugar they consume. It says they should keep their sugar intake to below 10 percent of their total energy needs, and reduce it to less than 5 percent for improved health.

1. Why are taxes on sugary drinks required?

A．To warn people to change their life style.	B．To readjust the economic structure.
C．To limit their use and popularity.	D．To ensure the market’s diverse development.

2. What do the figures in the second paragraph suggest?

A．Obesity is a severe worldwide problem.

B．Adult obesity is ignored at present.

C．Obesity can block economic development.

D．Obesity is most serious in developed countries.

3. What does the underlined word “enacted” mean in the passage?

A．Abolished.

B．Passed.

C．Promised.

D．Reduced.

4. What does the example of Mexico prove?

A．Tax policies are unfair to the poor.	B．Taxing sugary drinks makes a difference.
C．The poor consume more sugary drinks.	D．Sugary drinks are a threat to health.

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。

Cotton bags have become a means for brands, retailers and supermarkets to indicate a planet-friendly mindset-or,     1     least, to show that the companies are aware of the overuse of plastic in packaging.

So far, so Earth-friendly? Not exactly. It turns out the wholehearted acceptance of cotton bags may     2     (actual) have created a new problem.

An organic cotton bag needs to be used 20,000 times to reduce     3     (it) overall impact of production, according to a 2018 study. That equals daily use for 54 years-for just one bag.

Cotton is water-intensive, and figuring out ways of     4     (deal)with a bag in an environmentally low-impact way is not nearly as simple as people think, according to     5     environmental science professor at the University of Maine.

“You can’t, for example, just put a bag in a bin. Even when a bag does make it to a treatment plant, most materials used to print logos onto them are PVC-based and thus not     6     (recycle); they’re extremely difficult     7     (break) down chemically,” said Christopher Stanev, the co-founder of Evmu, a Seattle-based textile recycling firm. Printed     8     (patten) have to be cut out of the cloth; Mr. Stanev estimates 10 to 15 percent of the cotton Evnu receives     9     (waste) in this way.

That’s not to say cotton is worse than plastic. In the end, the     10     (simple) solution may be the most obvious. “Not every product needs a bag,” Comey says.

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。

With the rapid development of third-party mobile payment tools,     1     increasing number of consumers across China are using cashless payment methods.

Transactions (交易)     2     (involve) third-party mobile payments rose by 39.1 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the previous quarter to 74 trillion yuan. Although China has the most third-party payment accounts in the world, it is not the     3     (one) country to seek a cashless society. Developed states like Sweden, Denmark and Singapore are also witnessing that increase.

    4    , the rapid development of cashless payments does not mean there are no challenges and criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema Fresh Store,     5     people can shop, dine and order goods for delivery from their mobile phones via Alipay,     6     (come) into the spotlight recently. Media reports say that consumers can’t purchase goods with cash there, which would be considered     7     (legal).

Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third-party mobile payment tools, have also launched campaigns to encourage more merchants and customers     8     (use) cashless payment methods, which has caused concerns over whether cash will soon disappear.

However, experts believe that a cashless society does not mean that cash will     9     (complete) disappear. As the economy grows, the circulation of cash is still very huge. In the long term, various payment     10     (method) will be used by consumers, and merchants should respect consumers’ payment habits.

4 . The Chinese fashion icon, qipao, was born a century ago in Shanghai. However, the dress made its way through history from the hands of old craftsmen and is deep-rooted in Chinese culture.

“Qipao used to be so popular,” Leung Long-kong, 89, a well-known qipao craftsman, says, adding that the dress was an everyday outfit among women, from the less well-off to women at the highest levels of society. “Now, nobody is wearing them except on grand and happy occasions.”

To carry on the tradition, fashion designer Mary Yu, 41, who has been attending classes teaching knot button-making techniques, is trying to renew the design of qipao by taking symbols from Chinese history and literature.

“I feel I should look into Chinese culture and learn more about the past. People should have an in-depth understanding of their culture in order to move on,” Yu says. “Fashion design requires a profound knowledge of one’s culture before visualizing it.”

“After a period of wearing foreign brands all the time, there will be a day when one looks back to traditional Chinese culture. It is about finding the stuff that exists in your genes and suits you best.”

Yu set up her own qipao brand in 2016. Most of the clothes were made by tailors based in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, for their lower cost and more traditional work.

In the constantly evolving fashion industry, qipao is catching up with the times. Zippers, digital print patterns and new materials such as lace and denim have been introduced to a new generation. More daring ideas like 3D printed qipao have also become a reality. Yu believed that with the help of these new technologies, qipao will find its way back to the daily life of Chinese people in the near future.

1. Which of the following best describes Mary Yu?

A．Creative.

B．Conservative.

C．Cautious.

D．Considerate

2. Why does the author quote Leung Long-kong in Paragraph 2?

A．To call on Chinese women to wear qipao in everyday life.

B．To introduce the development of qipao in China.

C．To emphasize the importance of qipao in China nowadays.

D．To show that qipao is no longer as popular as it was.

3. What did Yu do to renew the design of qipao?

A．She devoted herself to using new technologies to make qipao.

B．She borrowed some symbolic designs from foreign brands.

C．She added some elements from Chinese culture to the design.

D．She learned the tailor techniques in Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

4. What can we infer from the passage about qipao?

A．Qipao is an iconic sign in the fashion industry.

B．Qipao is on its way back to the daily life of Chinese.

C．Qipao enjoys a good reputation in the world.

D．Qipao is seen as a symbol of wealth in modern China.

5 . Kids always have many doubts like: why do people have to die? Are mistakes always bad? Can you be happy and sad at the same time? Children often say that they lie awake at night thinking about things like why the world has the colors as it does, the nature of time and whether dream are real. These are not the kinds of questions that can be answered by googling them or asking Siri.

When children raise these questions, adults tend to respond with explanations that try to resolve the issue, at least temporarily. It’s natural to attempt to comfort a kid who is feeling puzzled by the world. But simple explanations may not be what the child wants. Sometimes, kids simply want to talk about their questions and thoughts.

Most kids start wondering about big questions almost as soon as they learn to speak, and they continue to think about them throughout childhood. Being full of curiosity about things that most adults take for granted, children all over the world are wide open to the mysteries in human life. But as they get older, kids ask questions less and less.

While children do need adult help and guidance, parents don’t always have to be in position of the experts providing the answers. Thinking with children about their bigger questions can make way for a more mutual kind of interactions. Because these kinds of questions tend not to have settled and final answers, discussions about them allow parents and children to wonder together. In this way, adults feel less pressure to be the experts.

Most of children have few long-held assumptions about bigger questions. Kids often suggest original and creative ways of looking at them. Talking with kids about what they are thinking without always feeling compelled to offer answers can help them explore their own concerns and ideas.

1. How will adults probably react when kids ask questions according to the text?

A．Attempt to raise their curiosity.	B．Help surf the Internet for answers.
C．Give them simple explanations.	D．Praise their courage and bravery.

2. What can we learn about kids’ asking questions from paragraph 3?

A．It needs adults’ guidance.

B．It starts from a very young age.

C．It helps improve their academic performance.

D．It makes a difference to their speech.

3. Which can best replace the underlined word “compelled” in the last paragraph?

A．Respected.

B．Forced.

C．Inspired.

D．Convinced.

4. What does the text mainly discuss?

A．Why children ask big questions.	B．When parents join in kids’ questions.
C．How parents handle kids’ questions.	D．What kinds of questions children raise.

10 . Where are the speakers?

A．In an airplane．

B．In an ambulance．

C．On a runway．