1 . Wang Xiaojun is twelve years old. He lives in the country in Hunan. Today is his birthday. His parents prepare a nice dinner for him, but the boy says, “I won’t have the dinner, today is over, and my parents are going to Shenzhen tomorrow. I don’t want to let them go.”
Wang Xiaojun has the birthday with his parents for the first time in the past three years. Three years ago, his parents went to Shenzhen to work. They stayed and worked there for three years. Tomorrow they have to go back to Shenzhen. Wang is not the only stay-at-home child. In the country of China, there are many children staying at home without their parents. Stay-at -home children have a lot of problems. Most of them stay with their grandparents. Some of them don’t study well because their parents can’t help them with their study. The Chinese government (政府) now is trying to solve their problems.
1. When was Wang Xiaojun born?| A．In 2010. | B．In 2011. | C．In 2012. | D．In 2013. |
| A．there isn’t a birthday cake | B．the food isn’t delicious |
| C．his parents are going to Shenzhen tomorrow | D．he doesn’t like the dinner |
| A．爱家儿童 | B．顽皮儿童 | C．留守儿童 | D．离家儿童 |
| A．don’t study well | B．don’t like to stay with parents |
| C．don’t love their parents | D．don’t have dinner with their parents |
| A．There are a lot of children like Wang Xiaojun in China. |
| B．The Chinese government is trying to solve these problems. |
| C．Wang Xiaojun’s parents go to Shenzhen to make money. |
| D．Stay-at-home children don’t have any problems. |
2 . In 2050, one in four people will be over 60 in the Asia-Pacific region. Are countries there prepared to fully address the needs of older persons so that they age with dignity?
In the past, senior citizens might have been supported by their families and communities. Yet times are changing.
More than ever, there is an urgent need for policy reform in addressing population aging. This must be driven by a shift in mindset to turn the challenges into a demographic opportunity.
It is noteworthy that, in the Asia-Pacific, with more than half of the older population being women, it is crucial to adopt a life-cycle approach to population aging, grounded in gender equality and human rights. Investing in each stage of life determines the path of a woman’s life course. When a girl has access to quality education, it helps her make informed decisions about life-changing matters.
While there is no single comprehensive policy that can address population aging, we need to take action now.
| A．Couples are having fewer babies. |
| B．Pensions are increasing, pressuring governments further. |
| C．We must rethink population aging, celebrating it as the victory of development. |
| D．Migration and urbanization have shifted traditional support systems for the elderly. |
| E．The decisions she makes paves the way towards a healthier and wealthier silver age. |
| F．We must invest in better policies that focus on the needs of people at every age of their life. |
| G．Life-long gender discrimination leaves women even more disadvantaged in an aging society. |
3 . America’s youth is turning its back on tobacco. According to a study recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking among US high school students is at an all-time low. One in 5 US high school students in 2016 reported using a tobacco product within the past 30 days, an improvement from 1 in 4 students just one year before.
“These findings show the importance of continuing to implement the evidence-based strategies that we now work to reduce all forms of tobacco product use, including e-cigarettes, among our nation’s youth,” says Brian King, of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and senior author of the study.
And it’s not just tobacco: Drug use among US teens is down across the board. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has published annual reports on US teens’ drug use since 1996, and the 2016 survey shows the lowest rates of illegal drug and alcohol use. Marijuana (大麻) use remained “mostly steady”. “It is encouraging to see more young people making healthy choices not to use illegal substances,” says former National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli.
All individual forms of tobacco such as cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smoke-less tobacco saw declines in usage in 2016. Experts are especially encouraged by the decline in cigarettes, the most popular tobacco product among teens. In 2016, 11.3 percent of high school students reported using e-cigarettes, down from 16 percent in 2015.
Dr. King says adaptation is key to the decline of e-cigarettes. “We have over a half-century of science telling students about the harmful effects of tobacco use and what works best to prevent it,” says King. “E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among our nation’s youth, and it’s critical that our proven strategies are modernized to keep pace with the changing tobacco product landscape.”
1. What does the underlined word “implement” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Delay. | B．Perform. | C．Schedule. | D．Control. |
| A．US teens’ drug use has decreased. |
| B．There are many forms of tobacco. |
| C．E-cigarettes are popular among US teens. |
| D．The strategies are put forward by experts. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Suspicious. | C．Favorable. | D．Ambiguous. |
| A．US teen tobacco use declines. | B．High percent of teen tobacco use. |
| C．The harmful effects of tobacco use. | D．The strategies to reduce tabasco use. |
4 . Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.
This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”
Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.
The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.
The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.
Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.
1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?| A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off. | B．Parisians prefer to travel by car. |
| C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes. | D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo. |
| A．To compare the famous roads in France. |
| B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles. |
| C．To stress the importance of France in Europe. |
| D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris. |
| A．Tour local bike shops. | B．Ride to competition sites. |
| C．Promote the sights in France. | D．Support the athletes around the world. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Helpful. | C．Determined. | D．Honest. |
5 . If you can’t trust an expert to make a good prediction, who can you trust?
Try a crowd. Under the right conditions, crowds can make better predictions than the individuals in them-a crowd can even beat a single expert.
More than a hundred years ago, the scientist Francis Galton visited an English country Faithere, he came across a contest to guess the weight of an ox. Interested in mathematics, Galton gathered 800 guesses and dealt with the numbers. To his surprise, Galton found that the crowd’s guess (the average) was just 1 pound different from the ox’s real weight. Did Galton happen to collect a lot lucky guesses?
David Kestenbaumand Jacob Goldstein, a pair of reporters, wanted to find out. One steamy summer day in 2015, they visited the “Burlington County Farm Fair” in New Jersey. There, Penelope, a black and white cow, shining with good health, greeted them. She was as tall as Goldstein’s shoulder. The reporters led the cow onto a large, flat truck scale (秤). A curious crowd had gathered, but Kestenbaum and Goldstein carefully guarded the scale’s digital display (数字显示), It flashed 1, 355 pounds.
Later, far from the sweet smell of warm hay, the reporters uploaded a photo of Penelope to the Planet Money website. They invited people to guess her weight, and more than 17, 000 people did. The crowd’s guess was 1, 287 pounds. That was just 5 percent less than Penelope’s true weight. Impressive!
Among the crowd, some called themselves cow experts, while others probably couldn’t tell a cot from an ox. When Goldstein and Kestenbaum calculated the guesses only from the experts, the result wasn’t any better. In fact, it was even worse:83 pounds off for the experts compared to 68 pounds for the whole crowd.
Crowds aren’t just lucky. Lots of people with different bits of information and ideas can make crowds collectively smart. A crowd will always make a prediction at least as good as the typical person in it. Often a crowd will do better. If people in a crowd have reasonably good information, they can make excellent predictions. Some businesses, financial markets, and Internet searches rely on this phenomenon (现象).
If you want to predict who’s going to win the big game on Saturday or when school buses will fly, ask a crowd of reasonably knowledgeable people instead of a single expert. Just make sure the crowd has people who know different things and have different ways of thinking. Without a diverse crowd, predictions can go badly.
1. Why is the example of Francis Galton mentioned in the passage?| A．To explain why crowds can’t make an accurate prediction. |
| B．To state Francis Galton happened to collect many lucky guesses. |
| C．To show how to predict an ox’s weight. |
| D．To prove crowds can make a better prediction. |
| A．By conducting a series of research. | B．By explaining the theories involved. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By doing experiments. |
| A．An expert who has a different way of thinking from others. |
| B．A crowd of people with different backgrounds and knowledge. |
| C．A single expert who is knowledgeable. |
| D．A crowd of experts who have the same way of thinking. |
| A．Two heads are better than one. |
| B．You never know what you can do till you try. |
| C．Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. |
| D．Seek the truth from facts. |
6 . Movie stars might think their lives are private after leaving the acting location, but they ought to know that they have much power over their audience. The power gives them an ability to change people, events, even history, making them to have the responsibility of being good role models.
With time going on, movie stars become celebrities (名人) and in the process get a large number of fans. Some of them follow their deeds, dress, and act like them. In reality, they want to be like their favorite movie stars. If a movie star engages in acts that the society does not approve, those who look up to them, especially the teens, will do the same. Movie stars should be responsible for what they do and say as following the actions is now simpler because of social media. It is important to behave like a role model even when they think no one is watching.
Nobody is perfect, and movie stars also have had their down moments. They may not have been good role models at the time, but they can change the narrative by doing the right things. They can also turn the past shortcomings into positives by opening up about problems and how they overcame the challenges. And their audience can learn to discuss their problems and seek help.
People starring in movies are the target of companies to promote their products or services for a fee. Their celebrity status is a reason enough to think beyond the payment. A movie star should not recommend something that will influence the way teens live negatively. It would be wrong to promote something like sweetened drinks or foods without health benefits. Movie stars face problems like other people, but because of their influence, they have a responsibility to be role models in the public eye.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．Fans often follow their stars’ dress and hobbies. |
| B．Celebrities’ actions spread fast on social media. |
| C．Movie stars should be responsible for their fans. |
| D．Movie stars’ acts have a great impact on their fans. |
| A．Lie to fans by making up a story. |
| B．Do the right things to overcome the problems. |
| C．Cover their problems with good movies. |
| D．Post their problems online to seek help. |
| A．Don’t tell problems to the public. |
| B．Don’t play roles that have a negative impact on teens. |
| C．Don’t ask for payment when promoting products. |
| D．Don’t recommend unhealthy drinks or foods. |
| A．To tell movie stars how to help people in need. |
| B．To stress movie stars’ impact on teens. |
| C．To call on movie stars to be good role models. |
| D．To advise movie stars to open up about their problems. |
7 . A recent study reveals about 68 percent of Gen Z adults and 20 percent of millennials (千禧一代) are choosing to remain with their families. This represents the largest generational shares among all age groups. Furthermore, the study estimates that 51 million individuals are currently living in multi-generational households.
What’s perhaps more surprising is that these young adults don’t anticipate leaving their for at homes. Both millennials (47%) and Gen Zers (41%) expect to continue living with their families for at least another two years. So what are the reasons behind young adults staying at home?
The reasons behind young adults staying at home are diverse but mainly come down to financial or health-related circumstances. The data suggests that the average millennial, living with a family member at the age of 32, shares their home with three or four other people. Many of them work in food services, construction, or education.
Compared to previous generations, millennials are slower to leave the nest, with 18 percent of baby boomers and 17 percent of Gen X having lived with their parents at the same age as today’s millennials. Several other factors could also explain this generational difference. Younger generations may find it financially advantageous to stay with family to economize on expenses such as childcare, electric bills, rent, or future down payments. Additionally, the increasing number of Millennials and Gen Zers choosing to care for family members may contribute to this trend.
When it comes to the areas with the highest percentages of multigenerational households, Los Angeles stands out, with 35 percent of its millennials and 81 percent of Gen Z residents still living with family members. The high living expense of living in this big city, which is 51 percent above the national average, makes it difficult for young adults to struggle on their own. California’s Riverside area with 35 percent of millennials and 85 percent of Gen Zers remaining at home follows closely while New York rank the third place, with 28 percent of millennials in the Big Apple living in multigenerational households.
1. What can we learn about young adults from the study?| A．They need the attention of their families. | B．They seek financial support from families. |
| C．It is hard for them to face the changing world. | D．It is common for them to attend to their parents. |
| A．Save. | B．Count. | C．Insist. | D．Decide. |
| A．Working pressure. | B．Stress from childcare. |
| C．Complex social network. | D．The high cost of living. |
| A．Growing Concerns over Young Adults |
| B．Various Reasons for Millennial Anxiety |
| C．More Young Adults Choose to Live with Families |
| D．Young Adults Struggle to Deal With New Challenges |
8 . Why Do Millennials (千禧一代) Keep Changing Jobs?
Millennials have been labelled as the “job-hopping generation”. In fact, a recent survey showed that 49% of millennials would leave their job within the next two years! Observers from older generations may think it is caused by the youth’s laziness. However, if we search deeper, there is more than meets the eye.
Instead of the traditional and practical reasons of changing jobs, such as to get better salaries or greater job stability (稳定), many millennials are inspired by value-driven goals. For example, more have to seek new opportunities whenever they lack a sense of belonging in their present jobs. Additionally, some also leave their positions for companies which better suit their value system. Therefore, it is clear that many millennials do not only consider their jobs as a source of income, but in fact, seek meaning and professional achievement in their daily jobs.
Clearly, the fearlessness of millennials in seeking job opportunities has been inspired by new business models. With the rise of online platforms, millennials who prefer work-life balance and flexibility have been attracted towards such jobs. Moreover, the increase of social media has also created more career paths. From food and travel bloggers to YouTube content creators, more millennials are leaving boring desk-bound jobs to look for more untraditional, but certainly attractive, careers.
However, people have different opinions on job-hopping. While some employers value rich experience and skills that job-hopping brings about, many of them still look down upon job-hopping. Some even argue in disappointment that the youths of today are lazy, unable to bear hardships and too self-centered.
The former American President Jimmy Carter once said, “Human identity is no longer defined (定义) by what one does but by what one owns.” Indeed, his comment still rings true today. Rather than allow traditional models of success in society to define our youths, the millennial generation should be encouraged to define new horizons of success by making the right career choices guided by the right values.
1. Why are Millennials more likely to move to new jobs?| A．Because they are unwilling to work very hard. |
| B．Because they want to realize their self-worth. |
| C．Because they hate pressure from present jobs. |
| D．Because they need higher income and position. |
| A．The rapid development of social media promotes new career paths. |
| B．There are fewer professions available to Millennials on the Internet. |
| C．There are factors contributing to Millennials’ flexible job-changing. |
| D．The tiring and boring jobs prevent Millennials staying in one position. |
| A．Courageous and noble. | B．Lazy and self-centered. |
| C．Anxious and unconfident. | D．Creative and hard-working. |
| A．Negative. | B．Doubtful. | C．Positive. | D．Concerned. |
9 . Favored by many internet influencers, the city of Zibo, once a sleepy industrial city, has gone viral on Chinese social media platforms. The topic Zibo “barbecue” on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, was played 4.96 billion times since the city stormed the Internet for over a month. On 29 April, Zibo Railway Station saw a record 87,000 train trips to and from the station, according to Chinese news website Caixin.
Local authorities in Zibo have been quick to respond to the sudden flow of visitors. A barbecue zone that can accommodate 10,000 people, featuring live band performances, was built overnight. Volunteers have been dispatched to the railway station to offer advice and recommendations to tourists. Designated (指定的) buses and trains bring tourists to and from the hottest barbecue spots. The government has even threatened to punish profiteering hotels who raise prices by more than 50% .
What makes Zibo barbecue so special is that it does offer a distinctive (独特的) dining experience. The skewers (烤串) are 70-80 percent cooked before they are brought to the table, where diners can finish cooking them on their own stoves, offering an immersive dining experience.
Zibo’s low prices are also appealing. Many college students in Shandong have made concrete plans to enjoy Zibo barbecue at the least cost, and traveling back and forth by train for only 200 yuan ($29.1). So what better way to attract adventurous, hungry college students with a tight budget other than “tasty barbecue that makes you full for only 50 yuan!”
The locals seem happy enough about the arrival of visitors and shy away from hot spots to make space for outsiders, saying they are proud that their hometown has gained nationwide fame.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The history of Zibo. |
| B．The influence of social media. |
| C．The newfound popularity of Zibo. |
| D．The crowdedness of Zibo Railway Station. |
| A．Unique dining experience. | B．Convenient transportation. |
| C．Wonderful performances. | D．Affordable prices. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Critical. |
| A．To promote an industrial city. |
| B．To introduce barbecue in Zibo. |
| C．To explain how to attract tourists. |
| D．To show the popularity of barbecue. |
10 . As you read this, pause to reflect on your recent interactions. As a politician, husband, and father, I encounter various spoken language styles: analytical or chatty, formal or informal, pointed or gentle, cooperative or decisive. Talk is the currency of politics. It is our way of negotiating, debating, and persuading. Talk is also the currency of learning-how we develop our ideas, deepen our thinking and share our feelings.
That’s why I want speaking skills, sometimes called “oracy”, to play an important part in Labor’s plans for a reformed school curriculum (课程).
Employers value speaking skills equally with reading and writing. The ability to speak well and express yourself should be something every child should master. But the curriculum doesn’t allow us to provide this. This is short-sighted. An inability to express your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and doing well in life.
Oracy is in part about good public speaking and debating skills, but in reality, it’s about teaching young people to make strong arguments, choose wise words, understand their audience, form meaningful social connections, and use facial expressions and body language to convey their message. Above all else it’s about finding your voice. To work out who you are and what you believe. If reading opens up a world of imagination and possibility, then speaking and listening opens up a lifetime of empowerment-a chance for those who feel invisible in their own country to be heard. It is about the confidence to speak out, to call out injustice or harm.
And the other side of speaking is listening, which can also be taught. Listening, truly listening, develops tolerance and understanding. And as parents we can play our part. We’ve all been there, at mealtimes, silent as we all stare at our devices. Our job, all of ours, is to get off our screens and give young people, and adults, the gift of listening.
So, oracy―speaking and listening―needs to be placed firmly at the heart of school life.
1. How does talk help a politician?| A．It deepens his wishful thinking. |
| B．It enhances his analytical skills. |
| C．It strengthens persuasive power. |
| D．It provides emotional support. |
| A．Employers underestimate the value of speaking. |
| B．Academic pressure makes students poor-sighted. |
| C．Spoken language is regarded as least important. |
| D．Oracy should deserve more attention at school. |
| A．By sharing different opinions. |
| B．By clarifying the definition. |
| C．By describing personal experiences. |
| D．By employing the concept. |
| A．Set a good example for their children. |
| B．Balance screen time and mealtime. |
| C．Have oral face-to-face communication. |
| D．Disconnect from the virtual world. |
