1 . If you think that Internet shopping on a Sunday gets you the best deals, then think again. Tuesday is actually the best day of the week if you want to grab a bargain, according to an exhaustive analysis of on­line shopping. Thursday is the second best day followed by Friday—but Sunday is when you are least likely to make a saving.

The study also looked at months and found that the pre­Christmas rush in November is when there are most bargains around on the web—and not the January sales. US retailer (零售商) reporting service Sum All examined 3,000 companies and half a billion transactions (交易) as part of its report. It worked out the average discount (折扣) offered to consumers on each day of the week and over different times of the year.

The best day of the week was Tuesday where savings were 4.81 percent, followed by Thursday on 4.80 percent.In third place was Friday at 4.65 percent, then Wednesday at 4.13 percent and Monday at 4.11 percent. Only the foolish would shop on a Saturday where the discounts were typically 3.84 percent—and Sunday was the worst with 3.37 percent.

The analysis by month is even more surprising as most people think that waiting until the post­Christmas sales would yield the biggest discounts.In fact, November is when you will get the largest savings at 5.99 percent on average.January came in second at 4.95 percent, followed by May at 4.50 percent.

The worst month to buy online was March where you could expect to save just 2.76 percent. Consumers and experts have been speculating for years about the best time to shop online.

Booking a flight has almost become a science with some claiming that buying six weeks before you travel guarantees you the best price. However, a recent analysis by the US Airlines Reporting Commission found that was not actually the case.

Not only did the six week window fail to pile up, in some cases the best fares were on sale as long as 24 weeks before departure.The ARC said that booking well in advance is best advised for busy routes or long haul flights (长途航班), as the price only tends to go up.

1. If a buyer wants to buy cheap goods online, he’d better go to the shop on ________．

A．Tuesday	B．Thursday
C．Friday	D．Sunday

2. Most web sellers often provide bargain on the web ________.

A．after New Year’s Day

B．during Valentine’s Day

C．on Mother’s Day

D．before Christmas

3. Which of the following statements is True according to the third paragraph?

A．The best day of the week was Tuesday where savings were 4.8 percent.

B．In third place was Thursday where savings were 4.65 percent.

C．Sunday where the discounts were 3.37 percent was the worst.

D．Customers can get the best savings on Saturday.

4. What is the meaning of the underlined word “speculating” in the fifth paragraph?

A．Quarrelling.	B．Objecting.
C．Searching.	D．Considering.

2 . Years ago it was popular to speak of a generation gap, a disagreement between young people and their elders. Parents said that children did not show them proper respect and obedience (服从), while children complained that their parents did not understand them at all. What had gone wrong? Why had the generation gap suddenly appeared? Actually the generation gap has been around for a long time. Many people argue that a gap is built into the fabric (结构) of our society.

One important cause of the generation gap is the chance that young people have to choose their own ways of life. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents know and agree to, and to continue the family occupation. In our society, young people often travel great distances for their education, move out of the family home at an early age, marry or live with people whom their parents have never met, and choose occupations different from those of their parents.

In our easily changing society, parents often expect their children to do better than they did：to find better jobs, to make more money, and to do all the things that they were unable to do. Often, however, the strong wish that parents have for their children is another cause of the disagreement between them. Often, they discover that they have very little in common with each other.

Finally, the speed at which changes take place in our society is another cause of the gap between the generations. In a traditional culture, elderly people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society the knowledge of a lifetime may become out of date overnight. The young and the old seem to live in two very different worlds, separated by different skills and abilities. No doubt, the generation gap will continue to be a feature for some time to come. Its causes are rooted in the freedom and changes of our society, and in the rapid speed at which society changes.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．The concept of generation gap.	B．The reasons for generation gap.
C．Ways to reduce generation gap.	D．Attitudes towards generation gap.

2. What do young people often do in modern society?

A．They depend on their parents to make a life.

B．They live with their parents in the same area.

C．They ask their parents for the best advice.

D．They have very little in common with their parents.

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

A．Parents should be strict with their children.

B．The generation gap is partly caused by the older generation.

C．Parents couldn’t do things well themselves.

D．The young never want to satisfy their parents.

4. Which of the following also causes the generation gap?

A．Parents are not strict enough with their children.

B．The young value the old too much for their wisdom.

C．Young people don’t have the knowledge of a lifetime.

D．The society develops too fast.

3 . Before uploading a photo of ourselves to social media, chances are that we’ll use an app to smooth our skin, make our eyes look bigger, and lips fuller. With a couple of taps on our mobile phone, we can get a quick fix and present the “best” version of ourselves to the world. However, the problem is, when we simply edit our imperfections away, we’re also changing the way we look at ourselves.

Last month, researchers published the article Selfies—Living in the Era of Filtered (过滤的) Photographs. The article analysed photo editing apps’ bad influences on people’s self-respect and their possibility to cause appearance anxieties. The researchers also warned that such apps make it difficult to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. “These apps allow one to change his or her appearance in minutes and follow an unrealistic standard of beauty,” the article reads.

In the past, people may have compared their looks to those of famous people. But for today’s young people, beauty standards are most likely set by what they see on social media. “From birth, they are born into an age of social platforms where their feelings of self-worth can be based purely on the number of likes and followers that they have, which is linked to how good they look,” British cosmetic doctor Tijion Esho told The Independent. This is why many young people suffer an identity trouble when it comes to appearance.

“Now you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to this fake self that you present on social media,” Renee Engeln, a professor of psychology, told the HuffPost website. Engeln further pointed out that when people spend too much time making such comparisons, they may become “beauty sick” and find it difficult to accept what they actually look like. “Because between you and the world is a mirror. It’s a mirror that travels with you everywhere. You can’t seem to put it down,” she told The Washington Post. So when we look in a real mirror, we shouldn’t think to ourselves, “Do I look as good as myself in the filtered photos?” Instead, we should think, “I feel good; I have my health.”

1. Before uploading a photo to social media, we will probably _________.

A．have an operating to make our eyes look bigger

B．use some cream to smooth our skin

C．use an app to fix our photo

D．edit our perfections away

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．In many ways, photo editing apps are beneficial to people.

B．Photo editing apps are likely to cause people’s anxieties about their appearance.

C．Photo editing apps can make people more beautiful.

D．Photo editing apps help people judge realistic beauty.

3. When it comes to appearance, why do many young people suffer an identity trouble?

A．Because they compare their looks to those of famous people.

B．Because beauty standards are set by social media.

C．Because their feelings of self-worth depend on their own likes and dislikes.

D．Because their feelings of self-worth depend on their appearance.

4. According to Engeln, what should we do?

A．We should feel good about what we actually look like.

B．We should spend more time making comparison of our real self to fake self.

C．We should take a mirror with us everywhere.

D．We should try to look as good as ourselves in the filtered photos.

4 . Food safety is a problem in all places around the world and people in different areas of the world prepare foods in different ways. The WHO released five simple rules for preparing food in a safe way.     1    

Key 1: Keep clean.

The first key tells about the importance of washing. People should wash their hands often—before touching food, while they are preparing food, and any time after they go to the toilet. People should wash all surfaces and equipment used for preparing food.     2    

Key 2：    3    

People should separate raw, or uncooked foods from foods that are already cooked and foods that will not be cooked. People should store raw meat, chicken, and fish in containers, or in separate areas. Raw foods should not touch prepared foods.

Key 3：Cook completely.

People should cook eggs and meat, like birds, seafood, and animals, especially carefully. These foods may carry more micro­organisms than other foods. Food like soup must be boiled for at least a minute to make it be cooked completely. It is also important that people re­heat cooked food completely.

Key 4：Keep food at safe temperatures.

When people are finished with eating, they should keep the left food in a refrigerator below 5℃ and shouldn’t store it for too long. At room temperature, about 20℃, the amount of micro­organisms can increase very quickly.     4     They cannot grow as quickly in a very hot or very cold environment.

Key 5：Use safe water and raw materials.

    5     Damaged or old food may develop harmful chemicals as it gets older.

A．Separate raw and cooked foods.

B．Eat cooked food immediately while it is still hot.

C．They call these rules the “Five Keys to Safer Food”.

D．People should use safe water and choose fresh foods.

E．Keeping everything clean helps people to avoid micro­organisms.

F．People should also protect cooking areas and food from insects and animals.

G．But temperatures above 60℃ or below 5℃ control the growth of micro­organisms.

5 . Many kids and teenagers have cell phones in their hands. However, is it really necessary for them to have phones at school? Here are the pros and cons.

Pros

They can get in touch when necessary. The main benefit of having a phone is that your children can get in touch with you whenever they need to.    1    They can call the emergency services if necessary. If your children are in immediate danger, they can use their phones to call not only you but the emergency services. This is of great benefit and could potentially save your children’s lives.

    2    As long as your children remember to do this, their phones won’t cause distraction in class. Giving them a standard instead of a smartphone will also reduce the risk of distraction.

Cons

The latest smartphones can almost double as a computer. It means they offer far more of a distraction to kids than they used to.    3    All these characteristics could disturb your children’s concentration if they play with them in class.

Cell phones could interrupt lessons. Many children, even though they are asked to do so, forget to turn off their phones during lessons and their phones may make sounds.    4     Besides the distraction problem, cell phones can also be used to look up answers on the Internet.    5     The possibility of children having access to these during exams could be attractive for them.

A．Cell phones can be turned off or put on mute.

B．Children use ordinary phones instead of smartphones.

C．This allows you to feel they are safe.

D．Without cell phones, campus life would be less colourful.

E．They have some other functions — a calculator and the ability to save notes.

F．This not only annoys other pupils, but also prevents them from learning well.

G．Nowadays, children can not only text and make calls with their phones, but also play games, surf the Internet and listen to music.

7 . Robots used to be found only in science fiction. In the 1960s, the animated (动画的) space-age family the Jetsons had a robotic maid who could do household chores. In the 2014 movie Big Hero 6, the robot Baymax could diagnose and heal illnesses instantly. In real life robots function in many manufacturing and household situations. In the field of medicine, robot patients help train doctors and nurses by pretending they have a variety of health conditions. Now robots are finding a home in the food service industry.

The global pandemic and resulting economic crisis have created a lack of restaurant workers. Since restaurants don’t have enough workers, the remaining staff must work harder. Regardless, customers face longer wait times, fewer menu choices and higher prices. Some businessmen are lending a robotic hand in the form of server robots. These robots are not exactly modeled after Rosey, the Jetsons’ robotic household servant, but they are pretty clever.

Server robots come in several different varieties. Many have a design that looks like a rolling cart. One model named Bella even has a cute cat-like face. Many are fairly short and shaped like R2D2 of Star Wars fame. They, designed to deliver dishes, are also just the right height for customers to easily reach them. Restaurant owners are finding server robots ideal for performing repetitive tasks, however many there are. They can not only deliver delicious food to hungry customers, but also fetch back dirty dishes at the end of the meal.

Perhaps you’re wondering about issues such as the cost and safety factors. Concerning the price, a server robot costs from a few thousand to several thousand dollars. And in 2021, a restaurant even rented one for as low as $15 per day. Regarding safety, special sensors on the robots keep them from crashing into customers. Because there aren’t enough restaurant workers, filling positions with these robotic servers is easy. Don’t be surprised if you see one rolling up to your table soon.

1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To give some examples.	B．To make comparisons.
C．To state the development.	D．To introduce the topic.

2. What’s the main reason for the lack of restaurant workers?

A．The rise of labor costs.	B．The hard work in the restaurant.
C．The influence of the pandemic.	D．The drop of food service industry.

3. What can we infer about server robots from paragraph 3?

A．Customers will be satisfied with the server robots’ service.

B．A server robot may look like a rolling cart with an ugly face.

C．Server robots are not qualified for doing many repetitive tasks.

D．Server robots will help clean dirty dishes at the end of the meal.

4. What’s the writer’s attitude towards the use of robotic servers?

A．Doubtful.	B．Positive.
C．Worried.	D．Objective.

8 . 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。

New research shows that the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in China in 2021 was 485,000 yuan for a first child,     1     is far more than     2     in the United States and Japan. The high cost of child-raising is one more     3     (difficult) Chinese policymakers face while     4     (deal) with rapidly decreasing birth rates. Experts warn China’s aging population will put pressure     5     its health and social security systems. A decrease in workers could also     6     (severe) limit growth for the world’s second-largest economy in the coming years.

New policies permit     7     (family) to have as many as three children. But China`s birth rate dropped to 7.52 births per 1,000 people in 2021. That is the     8     (low) since the National Bureau of Statistics` began recording the information in 1949. The high costs of raising a child     9     (cause) officials in China to place restrictions on the private tutoring industry in the last few years. Some areas have been giving couples money for having     10     second or third child.

10 . 阅读下面短文，按照要求完成阅读任务。

The Yosufs’ house is unlike any other house. In the sitting room, instead of a television, there is a blackboard on the wall. For two hours every day, Mr Yosuf writes complex mathematical problems on the board. His daughter, Zuleika, copies them into an exercise book and solves them.

Zuleika is special. She’s five years old, but instead of watching cartoons or playing computer games, her favourite pastimes are solving equations and reading books. She already spends hours every day in a university library. Next year Zuleika will become Britain’s youngest “A” level student.

Not surprisingly, the Yosufs are a very clever family. Zuleika’s two sisters and a brother, aged 16, 14 and 12 are also good at maths and are already at university. Her father, who specialises in maths research, has taught them all. “Zuleika is very competitive, says her father.” She sees her brother and sisters working every day and she can’t wait to catch up with them. I remember teaching the others maths when they were eight. Zuleika solves the same problems now, although she took up maths much earlier. We could see she was interested in numbers at a much younger age. ”

So what is the secret of their success? When their first child arrived, Mr Yosuf and his wife made up their minds to teach all of their children at home. They say that home tuition combined with love and understanding has helped their children to succeed. “We’ve been patient and supportive, and they take pride in what they do,” says Mr. Yosuf. “Maybe Zuleika has a natural talent for maths, but I believe given the right surroundings, any child could do well. ”

One thing all child prodigies(神童) do have in common is a complete dedication to and love of their subject. They spend many more hours working at it than the average child, and this extra effort is reflected in their achievements. It is not necessary to be extremely talented to be a child prodigy, but you do have to have a lot of motivation.

1. What is the blackboard in the sitting room used for? (no more than 20 words)
____________________________________________________________
2. Why is Zuleika special? (no more than 15 Words)
____________________________________________________________
3. What does the underlined word “surroundings” in paragraph 4 probably mean? (1 word)
____________________________________________________________
4. What do all child prodigies have in common according to the text? (no more than 15 words)
____________________________________________________________
5. What do you think of studying at home?Give your reasons. (no more than 20 words)
____________________________________________________________