1 . “There’s no place like home.”This English saying has much truth in it: the best place to be is surrounded by our treasured possessions and our loved ones and with a roof over our head. And for many young adults (成年人), it’s the only affordable place to stay, where they can receive first-class service from mum and dad. But this comes at a price!
In some countries, it’s quite traditional for young people to live at home with their parents, while in other places, leaving home to start their own independent life is much preferred. But there’s been a growing trend (趋势), in the UK at least, for young people to return home to live. According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, a quarter of young adults aged 20-34 now live at home, and that number has been growing.
A survey by a website has found that 18% of adult children in the UK say they are moving back home because of debt, compared with8% last year. More young people have lost their jobs, and others can’t afford their housing cost. So, it’s easy to see why they’re increasingly becoming home birds.
The BBC’s Lucy Hooker explains that many returning adult children enjoy home comforts. These include cooked meals, a full fridge and cleaning, as well as their bills being covered by what is commonly called ‘the hotel of mum and dad’. But for the hoteliers- mum and dad, the survey has found their cost has gone up sharply.
With parents spending aroundf1, 886 on take-away food, buying new furniture and Wi-Fi services for their children, it’s easy for the returning children to put their feet up and make themselves at home. That’s before they learn a home truth- that one day it might be their own kids who’ll be checking into the hotel of mum and dad!
1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．Young adults’ growing gradually. |
| B．Young adults’ enjoying home comforts. |
| C．Young adults’ supporting their parents. |
| D．Young adults’ starting an independent life. |
| A．8%. | B．15%. | C．18%. | D．25%. |
| A．They can look after their parents. |
| B．They are free to do what they want to. |
| C．They have difficulty in paying their bills. |
| D．They enjoy the company of their loved ones. |
| A．The Hotel of Mum and Dad | B．The Price of Leaving Home |
| C．No Place like Home | D．Living with Returning Children |
2 . A letter written by Charles Darwin in 1875 has been returned to the Smithsonian Institution Archives(档案馆) by the FBI after being stolen twice.
“We realized in the mid-1970s that it was missing,” says Effie Kapsalis, head of the Archives. “It was noted as missing and likely taken by an intern (实习生), from what the FBI is telling us. Word got out that it was missing when someone asked to see the letter for research purposes,” and the intern put the letter back. “The intern likely took the letter again once nobody was watching it.”
Decades passed. Finally, the FBI received a clue that the stolen letter was located very close to Washington, D.C. Their art crime team got back the letter but were unable to accuse the suspect because the time of limitations had ended. The FBI worked closely with the Archives to determine that the letter was both genuine and exactly belonged to Smithsonian.
The letter was written by Darwin to thank an American geologist, Dr. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, for sending him copies of his research into the geology of the area that would become Yellowstone National Park.
The letter is in fairly good condition, in spite of being out of the care of trained museum staff for so long. “It was luckily in good shape,” says Kapsalis, “and we just have to do some minor things in order to be able to unfold it. It has some glue on it that has colored it slightly, but nothing that will prevent us from using it. One of our goals is to get items of high research value or interest to the public online.”
It would be difficult to steal things like the letter. “Archiving practices have changed greatly since the 1970s,” says Kapsalis, “and we keep our high value objects in a safe that I can’t even reach.”
1. What happened to Darwin’s letter in the 1970s?| A．It was got back by the FBI. | B．It was stolen more than once. |
| C．It was bought by the archives. | D．It was put in the archives for research purpose. |
| A．They proved its real identity. | B．They kept it in a safe. |
| C．They helped repair the letter. | D．They accused the suspect but failed. |
| A．Display it in the Archives. |
| B．Turn it into an item of interest. |
| C．Carry out a major repair. |
| D．Make it available on line. |
| A．People grow more interested in art objects |
| B．Strict safety measures are taken in Archives. |
| C．The value of museum objects has been increased. |
| D．The letter helped Ferdinand do research into geology. |
Have you ever wanted to be part of a band as a famous singer or musician? Have you ever dreamed of playing in front of thousands of people at a concert, at which everyone is clapping and appreciating your music? Do you sing karaoke and pretend you are a famous singer like Song Zuying or Liu Huan? To be honest, a lot of people attach great importance to becoming rich and famous.
4 . Students should be able to show what they know. Many folks take this as a self-evident truth. But I think it demands closer examination.
Possessing a skill or piece of knowledge is not the same thing as being able to show it. This is why many smart young people hate school. Understanding, figuring out, and getting a handle on a piece of knowledge is really exciting, but have to prove to somebody else that you understand is a big fat pain in the neck.
Finding proof of student learning is a huge part of the teacher's job, and whether it is done poorly or not makes all the difference in that teacher's effectiveness. There is a huge difference between "How do I figure out if this student understands" and "How do I make this student prove to me he gets it." The first is a valuable approach; the second is the first step on the road toward wasting everybody's time.
And there's the problem. If we start with the assumption（假定）that a student who knows must be able to show his knowledge to our satisfaction, we will be traveling down the wrong road The more we demand that students prove to us that they know the stuff, the more we will design artificial tasks that demand a set of skill and knowledge entirely different from the skills and knowledge we really want to measure.
As a classroom teacher, I have to remember that the burden is on me to find a way to see what my students know; the burden is not on them to put on whatever trained monkey show I design for my own case and convenience.
It may not be the worst thing ever to say "Students should be able to show what they know." But I think it's far more useful to say, "Teachers should be able to discover what students know."
1. What does the underlined phrase in the second paragraph mean?| A．Very dangerous. | B．Very difficult. |
| C．Very annoying. | D．Very frequent. |
| A．They should be limited in number. |
| B．They are a huge burden on teachers. |
| C．They slide away from their original purpose. |
| D．They should mainly focus on effectiveness. |
| A．Students should be able to show what they know. |
| B．Teachers should be able to discover what students know. |
| C．There are many ways to find proof of student learning. |
| D．There should be better understanding between teachers and students. |
5 . The referee wished the two fighters luck and the bell rang. Just four seconds later, one punched the other in the nose, making him fall to the ground.
In the next 26 seconds, the man was knocked down twice more before the referee pronounced his opponent victorious.
The defeated fighter, Ma Baoguo, is a traditional martial arts practitioner who claims to be a "master of Hunyuan tai chi". But when his skills were tested in May, he was knocked out by an ordinary fighter.
Yet his popularity has risen after that failure as he delivered a short address to audiences via video and some of his words were picked out and spread on social networks and he has become something of a social media sensation.
Just by wearing traditional clothes and giving the discipline, Ma came up with a name. Actually, Ma is far from being a traditional martial arts "master". On the contrary, he is harming traditional martial arts. Not surprisingly, it took just one punch from an amateur to knock the mask off. He blamed his younger competitor for lacking the martial arts virtues, but he is the one that lacks them.
Some people say this is not a problem because people can tell what sort of person Ma is and just treat him like a clown. But it is a problem because others seek to profit from it.
Worse than his own deeds are what has happened around him. Obviously, there are some who seek commercial profit. Young people who are not mature enough to distinguish right from wrong might really worship Ma as a "master". That's something we must warn people to pay attention to.
1. How many times was Ma Baoguo knocked down by his competitor?| A．Just one. | B．Two times. | C．Three times. | D．Many times. |
| A．He is capable in this area. | B．He is just a liar and was knocked out soon. |
| C．He is thought highly of. | D．He set the young a good example. |
| A．It would be wise for Ma to stop his wrong doings of hyping up himself. |
| B．The social network platforms should stop providing a stage for Ma. |
| C．Stricter rules should prevent such cases from happening again. |
| D．Social media networks provide a stage for us to perform ourselves fully. |
6 . The phone rings. It is either for my wife Susan, who’s the only one receiving calls on the home line, or it’s the latest of 300 attempts to sell me something useless.
“Hello,” I say, an edge in my voice.
“Daddy, it’s me.” It’s Alyce, my 12-year-old daughter. “Mommy was in a car accident.”
My heart stops and then begins pounding.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Is Mommy?”
A deep sob.
“I don’t know…I don’t think so. Come quick.”
I rush a few blocks to what looks like a shoot for a disaster movie. Fire engines, police cars, and ambulances are randomly parked in the street. A city bus is on the wrong side of the road. In front of it are the torn remains of Susan’s car.
Alyce is covered in tiny pieces of glass but uninjured. Susan isn’t so lucky. But she is alive. She has broken many bones, and spends three months in hospital.
Two years later, Susan and I were at an event at our synagogue (犹太教堂) celebrating Martin Lather King Jr. Our temple’s musical director rushed to us. “There’s a woman here tonight from one of the church choirs who you have to meet!” He returned with an African American woman. She told us she lived in the apartment building by where the accident had happened. That morning, she rushed to the street, and saw Alyce crying. She approached her, asking, “Is that your mom in there?” Alyce nodded, and the woman said, “Let's pray together.” Innocent Alyce looked at this woman wearing a cross around her neck and said, “OK, but you should know I’m Jewish (犹太人).” The woman took Alyce’s hand, held it to her chest, and said, “In here we’re all the same.”
After the accident, she said, she had continued to pray for our family.
We hugged warmly and had our picture taken together. As we were saying goodbye, realizing we had never been formally introduced, she asked me for my name. I told her it was Douglas, and she paused, and then said, “Wait, your name is Susan? And your name is Douglas?” The woman put her hand over her heart. “Oh my goodness,” she said. “My name is Susan Douglas.”
1. How did the author feel when he heard the phone ring?| A．Shocked. | B．Curious. |
| C．Annoyed | D．Frightened |
| A．She was to blame for the accident. |
| B．She called her father from the hospital. |
| C．She didn’t want to pray as she was Jewish. |
| D．She was scared and worried about her mother. |
| A．Because they had the same name. |
| B．Because they shared the same religion |
| C．Because she knew Alyce before the accident. |
| D．Because she was kind and cared about them. |
7 . Australian experts have expressed concerns that too many teenagers are hoping to use their social media accounts to build their careers.
Their concerns follow the sudden rise in “insta-celebrities” who make money by posting photos online for advertisement. For the lucky few who are not only talented photographers but also good-looking and intelligent, making money off social media isn’t impossible.
Instagram, a photo-sharing application owned by Facebook, is flooded with social media professionals who are paid to promote products and services. However, social scientist Lauren Rosewarne, from the University of Melbourne, says that in reality, there are far fewer people making money off the platforms than one may think.
She said many young Australians were getting sucked in by the appeal (吸引力) of making money on platforms like Instagram, describing it as totally unrealistic and extremely difficult to do.
“Young people are hoping to be famous in numbers that were simply not there 20 years ago,” Rosewarne told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday. “There are some people who can make money out of their Instagram posts, but that is not for everyone.”
She said it was up to parents and schools to discourage students from seeking fame online, as many believe it is a possible career choice. “There’s the warning for parents; this is not a normal or even common thing that you can make money from your Instagram account (账户).”
Meanwhile Toni Eager from Australian National University said social problems could arise from spending too much time with social media. “How can insta-celebrities separate the life shown on instagram from their actual normal life?” Eager said. “All of a sudden, people own your private life.”
1. Why is there a rise in “insta-celebrities”?| A．Many young people want to be photographers. |
| B．Many people see it as a way of making money. |
| C．People want to socialize by sharing photos online. |
| D．Instagram offers a reliable career choice. |
| A．Young people today are better at doing business than ever. |
| B．Young people are becoming less interested in Internet fame. |
| C．Instagram is not a good platform to promote new products. |
| D．It’s a bad idea for young people to try earning money on Instagram. |
| A．An over-reliance on Instagram. |
| B．A loss of personal privacy. |
| C．Inability to appreciate life. |
| D．The desire to make money from one's Instagram account. |
8 . Since early February, 218 people have been removed and taken to hospitals after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Many remain quarantined on the ship, which originally set sail on Jan. 20th with 2,666 passengers and 1045 crew. Because they've been confined to their rooms for over 11 days, passengers feel almost as though they are on the ship alone.
But Friday is Valentine's Day, the holiday of love. It is not a day many people want to spend in isolation. Luckily, it seems Cupid's arrow is far-reaching. The captain and crew did a few things to try to lift passengers’ spirits on Valentine's Day. “I'd like to read you a poem: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends,” said the captain through the loudspeaker.
Besides, guests were offered special selections for dinner and lunch. Breakfast included a chocolate croissant, decorated red for the holiday. Smith, a passenger on Diamond Princess, also tweeted a photo of other delicious treats provided by Princess Cruise, including a rose and dark chocolate. Yardley Wong, a passenger, who has been tweeting updates throughout the quarantine, shared an image of the menu provided by Diamond Princess’s crew ahead of the Valentine's Day.
Passengers also created Valentine’s messages for the crew. Dan Ponce, a television anchor from Chicago, posted on Twitter that his mother-in-law was quarantined on the ship and created Valentine’s messages for the crew, which she taped on her cabin door.
“My mother-in-law Linda is among the passengers quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan,” he wrote. “Today she used manicure scissors to make valentines for the crew. So thoughtful!”
“Thank you for taking care of us,” one of the hearts read.
As the quarantine continues with more new cases confirmed, passengers are becoming more and more anxious. “But I believe love can help us conquer all things,” said one of the passengers on the ship.
1. How many people went aboard Diamond Princess?| A．218. | B．1,045. | C．2,666. | D．3,711. |
| A．He made an announcement. | B．He rushed patients to hospital. |
| C．He read passengers a poem. | D．He created a Valentine Card. |
| A．To express her anxiety. | B．To express her gratitude. |
| C．To show off her talent. | D．To comfort other passengers. |
As for virtual reality, concerned critics have warned that there could be dangers in this powerful new medium. Will we have VR games in which people can commit virtual crimes（犯罪）? After people get used to VR, will they want to return to reality? Will we forget how to live and work with real people? On the other hand, some people think that VR will help us improve the world. By experimenting harmlessly inside a VR world, we will be able to see the dangers we may face in the future. Then we will be able to avoid them in real life.
Answer:
10 . Alibaba Group Holding is sparing no effort to turn its annual Singles' Day shopping festival into a universal celebration. The challenge for billionaire Jack Ma's(Ma Yun)online kingdom is to break another sales record after a decade of rapid developments. With rising strong competition from smaller platforms such as JD.com Inc. and Pinduoduo Inc., Allibaba is seeking to add new growth engines.
Now the retail(零售)celebration on Nov.1 has become an important signal not just for the company, but also the world's second largest economy, China. This year, shoppers in China have broken last year's record by making the sum of $30.8 billion in sales, as the tradition marked its 10th year. "Singles' Day has now become a stage for Alibaba to present its power across all its platforms." Daniel Zhang (Zhang Yong), chief executive officer(CEO), said at an October news conference in Beijing. He's taking over after Ma steps down as executive chairman next year.
It was Zhang who came up with the idea of turning Singles' Day into a shopping festival a decade ago. Now that this year's one-day fair will be Ma's last as chairman, Zhang will need to prove he can carry on the wonder. "We think I billion packs will become a daily event in the future." he said.
To fuel growth, Alibaba is speeding up its global exploration. Eleme, the company it took control of this year, will provide services for selected Starbucks stores across 11 cities in China. Rural Taobao, aiming at the customers in the countryside will offer special discount(折扣)for goods across 800 counties.
Although it's been three years since Ma said he wants to make Singles' Day a global shopping event, that hasn't happened yet. International expansion will be a key part of Zhang's plan to keep breaking sales records.
1. According to paragraph 1, Alibaba is exploring more growth engines because .| A．other companies are competing for the market |
| B．it has broken a new sales record |
| C．Jack Ma's dream has come true |
| D．it has developed swiftly in the last ten years |
| A．shoppers in China doubted whether Zhang will be a successful CEO |
| B．the Singles' Day shopping festival started over ten years ago |
| C．the idea of the-retail celebration on Nov l I was put forward by Jack Ma |
| D．Zhang has a long way to go before he sets another sales record |
| A．giving an explanation | B．making a comparison |
| C．listing examples | D．offering data |
| A．challenging and hopeless | B．challenging but hopeful |
| C．worrying and doubtful | D．worrying but promising |
