1 . It seems that some people were simply born charming. When they enter a room, everyone notices their presence. They are like magnets.
⚫ Charming People Give You Their Undivided Attention
Stop to think about two or three likable people you know. Do they constantly check their phone while you are talking to them? Do they continually redirect conversations to themselves so they can become the center of attention? Probably not. They ask you intelligent questions and show a true interest in what’s going on in your life.
⚫They Follow Through
They Take Real Pleasure in Proactively Helping Others
Charming people don’t preach or tell you how to do things, and they certainly don’t brag about their own lives and successes.
In a word, charming people will always let their actions talk for them instead of words. If we were all wired that way, we would probably become popular too.
| A．They always surprise you with something new. |
| B．You won’t find this with charming people, however. |
| C．Therefore, don’t make promises that you can not keep. |
| D．They take delight in giving you a helping hand proactively instead. |
| E．They focus on being “interested” rather than appearing “interesting.” |
| F．One common quality of charming people is that they stick to their words. |
| G．However, we are all born with the ability to attract other people’s interest in us. |
2 . Frato’s Pizza looks like a typical family restaurant, with its black-and-white checkered floor and red chairs. But in the kitchen, the cooks are cooking for four other restaurants at the same time.
There is, of course, the delicious pizza that customers have come to expect from Frato’s when they walk through the door. But there are also spicy chicken gyros for Halal Kitchen, barbecue chicken tenders for Tenderlicious, salmon grilled cheese for Cheesy Deliciousness and Butterfinger milkshakes for Heavenly Shakes, all of which can only be ordered through online sites Grubhub, DoorDash and UberEats.
Owner Michael Kudrna launched the four spin-offs (分店) earlier this year in a matter of weeks as he races to keep his Chicago-area business ahead of a growing trend: restaurants designed only for delivery or take-out.
Thousands of restaurants are experimenting with these virtual spin-offs tucked (隐藏) inside their own kitchens. Others are opening “ghost kitchens”, where all food is prepared to go.
Both concepts have come out to take advantage of the rising popularity of ordering out instead of dining in. The trend also speaks to the growing power of third-party delivery companies, which have transformed the way many people find restaurants and raised expectations for speed and convenience.
The $26.8 billion online ordering market is the fastest-growing source of restaurant sales in the United States, according to David Portalatin, a food industry adviser for The NPD group. Digital orders, while still accounting for just 5% of all restaurant orders, are growing by some 20% each year. Restaurant visits, meanwhile, are remaining mostly flat.
In this case, UberEats has helped launch 4,000 such virtual restaurants worldwide and about half of them are in the U.S. and Canada, according to Kristen Adamowski, head of Uber’s virtual restaurant program.
Grubhub and UberEats say their virtual restaurant programs help small businesses compete in this landscape. Both actively reach out to restaurants with suggestions for online spin-offs based on data collected from customer searches — extending their influence from how people get their food to what should go on the menu.
Virtual restaurants also have the obvious benefit of testing new concepts without taking on the high rent or hiring more staff, said Rick Carmac, head of restaurant management at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.
1. What is the purpose of paragraphs 1-3?| A．To introduce a famous restaurant. | B．To list some examples of diverse food. |
| C．To add some background information. | D．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| A．People find restaurants have changed. | B．Ordering out has become a trend. |
| C．Customers expect speed and convenience. | D．The delivery companies grow quickly. |
| A．Smooth. | B．Calm. | C．Inactive. | D．Boring. |
| A．The Rise of Virtual Restaurants | B．The Benefit of Online Restaurants |
| C．Restaurants Designed for Delivery | D．Booming Stores on the Internet |
3 . Teenage life: better now, or in the past?
Does this situation sound familiar(熟悉的)?
You’re complaining(抱怨) to your parents about something. Maybe your computer isn’t powerful enough to play the latest games.
“When I was your age, there weren’t any computers or video games. And I didn’t get a bike until I was 16. And it was second-hand.
So is it really true that life is better for teenagers now? It is certainly true that many teenagers have got more things nowadays.
However, technology often means we spend more time at home. And often it’s just us, with our computer or television. Teenagers don’t do enough exercise.
What do you think? How is teenage life better these days?
| A．And it was too big for me. |
| B．A typical family is smaller now. |
| C．You get very unhappy with this. |
| D．Or your friends’ bikes are better than yours. |
| E．So they aren’t as healthy as the teenagers in the past. |
| F．Life was not easy in the past. |
| G．Technology is probably the greatest change in our life. |
4 . I went to a movie theater with my roommate yesterday. His hobby is watching movies. He is enthusiastic about movies. I was very glad when he said that he would take me to a movie theater. As a student abroad, I always spend my time reading books in the library or studying in the classroom, so I looked forward to going to the movies.
The movie we saw was called “The Patriot”. It described the love between a father and his children during the time of the American War of Independence. It is a war story based on history, but the story was created by the writer for entertainment. The movie was enjoyable in that sometimes it made us laugh, and other times it made us cry. It was a successful movie.
The most amazing thing was the reaction of the audience. It was different. Though I could concentrate on watching a movie in Japan, I could not in America because of the reaction of the audience. They laughed loudly when an actor told a joke and they applauded at the plot when the main character killed his enemy. It was amazing to me that they expressed their emotions openly.
In other words, an American theater is a space for everyone to enjoy. If I did that in a public place in Japan, most of the audience would look down on me or complain about the noisiness, and the person beside me might say, “Could you please be silent? ”
There seems to be a cultural difference between America and Japan. It is said that Americans always express their emotions and opinions and that we always conceal(隐藏)ours. I’m glad to observe such a difference because I can feel I am experiencing a real thing while visiting the United States.
1. The writer wrote the story in order to_________.| A．introduce an enjoyable war movie to us |
| B．show his studying experience in America |
| C．give us some advice on how to behave in a movie theater |
| D．tell us a cultural difference between America and Japan |
| A．He is a Japanese and studies in America. |
| B．He doesn’t work hard at his lessons. |
| C．He is tired of the life as a student abroad. |
| D．He is fond of watching movies very much. |
| A．hide their emotions from strangers |
| B．express their emotions openly |
| C．are not so polite as the Japanese |
| D．look down upon the Japanese |
| A．laugh loudly | B．exchange their ideas |
| C．keep quiet | D．make some comments |
5 . In ancient Egypt, the rich soils along the Nile River supported roughly 3 million people. Now there are 30 times that number of people living in Egypt, with the Egyptian population soaring from 45 million in the 1980s to over 100 million now.
Just 4% of Egypt’s land is suitable for agriculture, and that number is reducing quickly due to the urban and suburban development. “It’s not an overstatement to say that this is a crisis,” said Nasem Badreldin, an expert at the University of Manitoba. “Satellite data shows that Egypt is losing about 2% of its farmland per decade due to urbanization, and the process is speeding. If this continues, Egypt will face serious food security problems.” According to one analysis, the amount of farmland near Alexandria dropped by 11% between 1987 and 2019, while urban areas increased by 11%. In recent years, the Egyptian government has promised to end unlicensed building on farmland, which remains a difficult task to fulfill.
Urbanization isn’t the only factor to reduce Egypt’s farmland. Sea level rise of 1.6 millimeters per year has contributed to the salinization (盐碱化) of farmland in Egypt. About 15% of Egypt’s richest farmland has already been damaged by sea level rise and saltwater intrusion (侵入). One response to the loss of farmland has included efforts to green parts of the desert. For instance, Farouk El-Baz, Boston University scientist, has planned to build highways, railways, water pipelines, and power lines to promote the establishment of new farmland in deserts west of the delta.
While that project hasn’t been finished, much of desert has turned into farmland in recent decades. The satellite photos show new farmland along the Cairo Highway. A mixture of center-pivot irrigation (灌溉) and drip irrigation makes farming in this area possible. “It is certainly possible to establish new farmland from the desert by tapping groundwater resources, though it’s a little expensive process,” said Badreldin.
1. What does the underlined “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The urban expansion. | B．The reduction of farmland. |
| C．The suburban development. | D．The growth of population. |
| A．Four. | B．Three. | C．Two. | D．Five. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Optimistic. | C．Disapproving. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Food Security Problems in Egypt |
| B．Urbanization Along the Nile River |
| C．Agricultural Development Along the Nile River |
| D．Egypt’s Disappearing Farmland |
6 . In the past 60 or so years. American parents’ approach to naming their kids has undergone a profound shift. Today, many parents seek out less popular names to help their kids stand out. But in the past, parents typically picked common names, consciously or not, so that their kids would fit in.
“We are deep in an era of naming individuality where parents assume that having a name which sounds distinctive and unique is a virtue,” Laura Wattenberg, the founder of the naming-trends site Namerology, said, “how parents are thinking about naming kids is more like how companies think about naming products, which is a kind of competitive marketplace where you need to be able to get attention to succeed.”
There were signs that people were tired of names that were too popular. Cleveland Evans, a professor emeritus of psychology at Bellevue University and an expert on names, said that there was a 1953 song titled John, John, John, which included the lines “Every Tom, Dick, and Harry’s called John. Can’t we give this little guy a break and call him something new?”
This tune signaled the coming turn toward novelty and distinctiveness that took hold in the 1960s. It was driven by a number of broader shifts in daily life. As family sizes shrunk and kids stopped doing labor, Americans “started to fixate on the uniqueness of each child,” as the sociologist Philip Cohen has written, and “individuality emerged as a project—starting with naming -of creating an identity.”
Another crucial change is that in the 1960s parents started gaining access to data on baby-naming trends, according to Evans. Books informed parents which names were popular—and, by extension, which overexposed names they might want to avoid of this has brought us to an era of exceptionally varied names, which, in a way, represents its own kind of conformity: trying not to be like everyone else makes you just like everyone else.
1. What does the underlined word “virtue” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．A good quality. | B．A moral standard. |
| C．An attractive habit. | D．An obvious advantage. |
| A．To show that the song was widely spread. |
| B．To show that John was a child everyone liked. |
| C．To show that the name John was too overexposed. |
| D．To show that the name John was something quite new. |
| A．The larger family sizes and less labor for children. |
| B．Parents’ concerns about the novelty and distinctiveness. |
| C．Some books showing which names are appropriate for children. |
| D．The changes in daily life and the access to the naming trend. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Optimistic. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Indifferent. |
7 . When my two boys have free time, they want to go to the mall. No, they aren’t shop-a-holics (购物狂). They want to go to gaze at sneakers.
These aren’t the sneakers you find in Foot Locker. They are limited editions—usually Nikes—that range in price from $250-$900 or more. There’s the Chunky Dunkys, a collaboration between Nike and ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s. And the Space Jam Jordans. And dozens of other pairs of shoes, all of which they know by name and all of which are very, very expensive.
That made me wonder: How did this sneaker culture develop? After all, when I was a kid, I wanted Jordan brand shoes too. But they cost $100 and I would wear them until they fell apart. Now, my boys long for shoes that cost ten times that and if they got them, they would never even think of scuffing them up by wearing them.
It all started during the Industrial Revolution, when the very wealthy began to find they had leisure time on their hands, Elizabeth Semmelhack, who runs the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, told me.
“These’ nouveau riche (暴发户)’ industrialists wanted to show that they had arrived. And so, the ancient game of tennis was revived.” explained Semmelhack, “But the problem with lawn tennis—one, the lawns of lawn tennis are extremely expensive, so they didn’t want people to run around in leather shoes. And two, when you play on lawn, you can get your feet wet. So rubber soled shoes, the sneaker, was invented as something that the wealthy could wear as they pursued these wealthy pleasures. Besides, rubber was, at the time, quite expensive, so having shoes with rubber soles was seen as a status symbol.”
But for most of us, sneakers were something you wore—not something you collected. With the development of internet, older versions of shoes could be purchased and collected. And sneaker companies, Nike especially, leaned into the trend.
1. What is the Chunky Dunkys?| A．It’s a company’s name. |
| B．It’s a kind of ice cream. |
| C．It’s a kind of limited edition sneaker. |
| D．It’s one of the author’s kids’ name. |
| A．To show he was poor when he was a kid. |
| B．To encourage his children to wear cheap shoes. |
| C．To give an example about the development of sneaker culture. |
| D．To show Jordan brand shoes have been popular for a long time. |
| A．Rubber soled shoes could prevent feet from wetting. |
| B．These ‘nouveau riche’ industrialists created lawn tennis. |
| C．Leather shoes were more expensive than rubber soled shoes. |
| D．The very wealthy were busy with their work during Industrial Revolution. |
| A．Objective. | B．Critical. |
| C．Favourable. | D．Unconcerned. |
8 . As a woman who goes outside almost every day, I’m used to people looking at me for all kinds of different reasons. In certain cases, it can be harder to tell who’s looking where: on a crowded train, or across a packed bar. If you’re unsure if a person is noticing you, there’s a little trick that I have found to be very effective: It’s called mirroring.
In a 1999 study, psychologists defined mirroring as “nonconscious mimicry (无意识模仿)of the postures, facial expressions and other behaviors of one’s interaction partners”. It’s long been used as a strategy that successful people can employ strategically to show their engagement (参与度) during job interviews or at work. They believe when done on purpose, mirroring can help people understand each other’s ideas or feelings very well.
It’s a proven method. In an experiment, volunteers were asked for their opinions about a series of advertisements. A member of a research team mirrored half the participants, taking care not to be too obvious. A few minutes later, the researcher “accidentally” dropped six pens on the floor. Participants who had been mimicked were two to three times more likely to pick up the pens. The study concluded that mimicry had not only increased goodwill towards the researcher, but also contributed to an increased social orientation (取向) in general.
If you want to know how to figure out if a person is looking at you, just throw out some kinds of gestures and see who copies you. But not everyone uses mirroring to figure out who’s making eyes at who. My years of experience of analyzing the messages sent consciously and unconsciously by the human body has left me with particularly good powers of observation. However, the average person has not had the same chance to improve this skill.
Of course, once you’ve figured out who’s watching you, it’s up to you and the watcher to decide what happens next. Not everybody watches with intent or enjoys getting hit on in public, so knowing how to react properly is very necessary.
1. What can we learn about mirroring from Paragraph 2?| A．It can benefit communication. |
| B．It helps people get out of bad habits. |
| C．People find it hard to apply at work. |
| D．Psychologists just started researching it recently. |
| A．It is beneficial for building teamwork. |
| B．It makes interaction partners less active. |
| C．It makes interaction partners more confused. |
| D．It has positive influences on interaction partners. |
| A．Some people have doubts about the effects of mirroring. |
| B．It is unnecessary for average people to master the skills of mirroring. |
| C．The author can use mirroring to read people’s body language well. |
| D．Average people lack the good ability to observe their surroundings. |
| A．Ways to draw people’s attention in public. |
| B．Reasons for people hating being watched by others. |
| C．Advice on dealing with situations where you are watched. |
| D．The importance of paying attention to one’s body language. |
9 . Liao Wentao, a pet undertaker, put the body of 2-year-old Garfield on a small bed surrounded by flowers. Then he let the cat’s owner say a last goodbye before cremation (火化). “We send off 400 to 500 pets each year, and there’s a great demand for pet funerals,” he told China News.
Keeping pets has become a trend for young people in China and people are more than willing to pay for whatever their pets need. From 2019 to 2021, China’s pet market grew by almost 18% and hit 348.8billion yuan in value in 2021, according to a report by Research Consulting Group.
As the pet economy develops, animal lovers’ various needs have boosted the emergence and development of related businesses such as bathing, pet food, pet beauty and healthcare.
In addition to basic services, pet owners are increasingly paying for many new services, such as training, pet funerals, insurance, photography and entertainment. The growing pet market has also given birth to a large number of new pet-related jobs, noted CCTV News.
Liu Wei, 33, is a famous pet detective in Shanghai. He and his team work on finding families’ lost pets. “We have successfully helped find more than 1,000 pets. Besides cats and dogs, there are other pets like birds, lizards and hamsters,” Liu said. “In many big cities, cats and dogs have become an important part of many families and are taken good care of. So what we look for are not just pets, but family members.”
Apart from pet undertakers and detectives, some people work as pet food testers, pet sitters and pet trainers. According to Tu Di, secretary—general of the Hunan Pet Industry Association, the booming pet market shows people’s improved living standards.
However, there are also problems with the industry, for example, the high fees of taking pets to the vet (兽医). Many pet owners have called for stricter pricing regulations for pet medical services, reported Global Times.
1. Why is Liao’s story mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To teach readers a lesson. |
| C．To sum up the main idea. | D．To involve readers in a story. |
| A．By introducing an argument. | B．By telling some true stories. |
| C．By giving numbers and examples. | D．By focusing on basic pet—related services. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．The low quality of services. | B．The rapid growth of the industry. |
| C．The lack of related regulations. | D．The various needs of animal lovers. |
10 . Would you eat less junk food if it costs a little bit more? Starting on July 1, the Navajo Nation will charge a 2% tax (税) on junk food sold on its reservation (保留地)- the first tax of its kind in America. The change is part of the Healthy Dine Nation Act, which the tribe’s president Ben Shelly approved last November. The law will also eliminate the current 5% sales tax on healthy food from fresh fruits and vegetables.
Denisa Livingston from the Dine Community Advocacy Alliance, a group that helped pass this law, hopes to make people in the community more aware of their food choices. “This is a friendly awareness tax,” she said.
In a press release, Livingston said that by the law, they want to improve the health of its population, which inhabits a 27,000-square-mile reservation from Arizona and New Mexico to Utah.
Approximately 24,600 Navajo tribe members face obesity, according to the Navajo Area Indian Health Service. Type 2 diabetes has emerged as a growing public health concern affecting up to 60% of reservation residents in some areas.
Livingston says that the Navajo Nation’s status (身份) as a food desert contributes to the health problems the people face. A food desert is an area where fresh, healthy food is expensive and hard to find. Food deserts are especially common in low-income communities, such as the Navajo Nation, where 38% of the population lives at the poverty level.
The money that the government collects from junk food taxes will be put towards projects that encourage people to eat healthy food from community vegetable gardens, greenhouses, and farmers’ markets. “This is going to open the door to more opportunities and conversations and ideas about how we move to a food oasis (绿洲) where everyone has access to healthy food,” Livingston said, “Whether you’re deep in the reservation or the neighboring towns, you will have the availability of healthy food. ”
1. What does the underlined word “eliminate” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Increase. | B．Admit. | C．Explain. | D．Remove. |
| A．To earn much money. |
| B．To correct the tax policy. |
| C．To make the people healthier. |
| D．To make the reservation popular. |
| A．Its tax on food is very heavy. |
| B．There is a lack of healthy food. |
| C．It is an area far away from towns. |
| D．Most of the people have a poor life. |
| A．Doing is better than saying. |
| B．Where there is a will there is a way. |
| C．The longest journey begins with the first step. |
| D．What’s taken from the people is used for the people. |
