1 . Yu Pengnian is an 88-year-old real estate Chinese businessman. He amassed a fortune of $1.3 billion dollars during his career but instead of keeping the money and living like an emperor, he decided to give it all away. All of his fortune will be spent on helping poor Chinese students get a better education.
And Yu isn’t the only super-rich person in China who has this spirit of giving. Chen Guangbiao, a Jiangsu recycling tycoon, has given millions of dollars to charity and promises to give all of his money to charity when he dies.
Yu and Chen are among the many businessmen who have become prosperous during China’s economic rise. An American business magazine, Forbes, estimates that there are 117 billionaires in China and hundreds of thousands of millionaires. What sets Yu and Chen apart from the rest, though, is their tremendous generosity when it comes to donating money to charity.
Last week Bill Gates and Warren Buffett came to Beijing. Gates and Buffett, two of the world’s richest men, are also the world’s biggest philanthropists. They invited fifty of China’s richest people to have dinner with them and talk about the spirit of giving. At first, only a few people accepted their invitation. It seemed some of the invited guests were afraid that Buffett and Gates were going to pressure them into giving their wealth to charity.
A lot of people are angry at the billionaires who are not willing to give away their fortunes. They criticize them for being miserly and not caring about the poor and the less fortunate. But I think this criticism is wrong. A gift, any gift, should come from the heart. Instead of criticism, these reluctant billionaires should be encouraged to follow the examples of Yu Pengnian and Chen Guangbiao. Encouragement is always a better strategy than criticism. As we say in English, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”
1. He amassed a fortune of $1.3 billion dollars during his career… The word “amassed” means________.A.stimulated | B.contemplated | C.immigrated | D.accumulated |
A.helping poor Chinese students get a better education |
B.helping the students in earthquake-stricken area |
C.helping his off-springs lead a rich life in the future |
D.achieve his aim of living like an emperor |
A.Yu Pengnian is the only super-rich person in China who has the spirit of giving. |
B.Chen Guangbiao is a real estate Chinese businessman. |
C.Yu and Chen become wealthy during the rise of China’s economy. |
D.When Bill Gates and Warren Buffett invited fifty of China’s richest people to have dinner with them, they all felt honored and accepted their invitation at once. |
A.When it comes to charity work, they are very generous. |
B.They had dinner with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, talking about the spirit of giving. |
C.They are pressured into giving their fortune to charity. |
D.They are both businessmen. |
A.The author wants to tell us that flies prefer honey to vinegar. |
B.The author wants to prove that encouragement is always a better strategy than criticism when it comes to charity. |
C.The English saying expresses the main theme of the passage. |
D.The author wants to criticize those billionaires who are not willing to give away their fortunes for being miserly and not caring about the poor and the less fortunate. |
2 . Some children are natural-born bosses. They have a strong need to make
“
Whether it’s inborn nature or developed
When a “bossy child” doesn’t learn limits at home, he is to face lots of troubles
“I see more and more parents giving up their
A.attempt | B.chances | C.decisions | D.money |
A.change. | B.guide | C.instruct | D.follow |
A.old | B.used | C.small | D.new |
A.Examine | B.View | C.Look | D.Notice |
A.aspect | B.generation | C.place | D.level |
A.while | B.even | C.though | D.when |
A.character | B.method | C.means | D.hobby |
A.happy | B.healthy | C.harmful | D.useful |
A.weakness | B.secret | C.protection | D.pressure |
A.outside | B.from | C.upon | D.inside |
A.helping | B.obeying | C.objecting | D.finding |
A.excellent | B.confident | C.lonely | D.proud |
A.study | B.decision | C.interest | D.power |
A.helpful | B.strict | C.polite | D.changeable |
A.eager | B.proud | C.helpless | D.confident |
A. spread B. formal C. chance D. found E. objective F. experience G. divisions H. economical I. respect J. replaced K. classroom |
The idea of the youth hostel(旅社)started with one man: Richard Schirrmann(1874—1961), a German school teacher, who felt that there was a need for overnight accommodation for his students in order that they could see new things and have new experiences outside the
He felt that one learns by observing, and tried to make his dream come true in the year 1909, when he started providing accommodation for his students in inns, farmhouses and the like.
The first youth hostel was opened in Schirrmann’s own school in Altena, after which it was
And then, in the year 1932, a(n)
The idea of the youth hostel is for young people who are on nature trips to get
Youth hostels are also places to meet and make new friends. They have no class
4 . According to a report from the Ministry of Public Security. Yichen (奕辰) and Yinuo (一诺) are the most popular names for newborns in 2020. More than 14,000 boys were named Yichen while over 24,000 girls were given the name Yinuo.
More and more parents are giving their babies longer names to make their names stand out. There are around 3 percent of people with four or more characters in their names.
To help avoid too common names, new parents are able to check how many people are using a certain name on the website of the Ministry of Public Security.
As to the ranking of surnames (姓), the largest group of newborns shared the surname Li, with 726,000 new babies have this surname. Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu and Chen are the top five common surnames in China in 2020, the same as in 2019. 30.8 percent of the total population in China has these five surnames.
Although the common practice is to adopt (采用) the surnames of their fathers, more children have taken their mothers’ surnames because of the country’s second child policy. In 2020, about 7.7 percent of the 10 million newborn babies used their mothers’ surnames.
1. More than 14,000 new born boys are named ________ in 2020.A.Yichen | B.Yinuo | C.Yiwei | D.Yihan |
A.wish a good luck | B.to honor their mothers |
C.make more friends | D.avoid too common names |
A.Zhang | B.Li | C.Wang | D.Liu |
A.they are the second child in their families |
B.their mothers’ surnames are more popular |
C.their parents follow an old tradition in China |
D.their parents want to make their names special |
1. Where does the man know about homeless population?
A.From an article. | B.From the radio. | C.From TV. |
A.One million. | B.Two million. | C.Three million. |
A.France. | B.America. | C.Germany. |
Willis Carrier
In 1914, the first air conditioner was put in a private house. However, it took up too much space, and later models cost too much for most people. Cooling for human comfort, rather than industrial needs,
Jed Brown,
7 . Age has its privileges (特权) in America, and one of the most important of them is the senior citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age — in some cases as low as 55 — is automatically entitled to a dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life. Eligibility (资格) is determined not by one’s need but by the date on one’s birth certificate. Practically unheard of a generation ago, the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses — as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent (有支付能力的). Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly” and “needy” are synonymous. Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them aren’t.
It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant (刺激物) in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.
Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involve a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Supported by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job — thereby reducing employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers.
Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become an economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don’t need them. It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people can’t take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against — discrimination by age.
1. We learn from the first paragraph that ______.A.offering senior citizens discounts has become routine commercial practice |
B.senior citizen discounts have enabled many old people to live a comfortable life |
C.giving senior citizens discounts has boosted the market for the elderly |
D.senior citizens have to show their birth certificates to get a discount |
A.tax | B.expense | C.profits | D.expansion |
A.Businesses, having made a lot of profits, should do something for society in return. |
B.Old people are entitled to special treatment for the contribution they made to society. |
C.The elderly, being financially underprivileged, need humane help from society. |
D.Senior citizen discounts can make up for the inadequacy of the Social Security system. |
A.Senior citizens should fight hard against age discrimination. |
B.The elderly are selfish and taking senior discounts for granted. |
C.Priority should be given to the economic needs of senior citizens. |
D.Senior citizen discounts may well be it type of age discrimination. |
8 . The United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, 2020. The Nobel Committee (委员会) is recognizing the group for its efforts to fight hunger and improve conditions for peace in areas affected by wars. The World Food Program has long been offering help to some of the world’s most troubled places. For example, the WFP created a special service that successfully kept providing help all over the world after the outbreak of COVID-19 stopped nearly all international flights.
Berit, chairwoman of the Nobel Committee, said on Friday, “With this year’s award, the committee wishes to turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the problem of hunger.” In announcing the award, the Nobel committee said “At present, food is the best vaccine (疫苗) against COVID-19.” And it added, “There will be 265 million people going hungry within a year, so of course this is also a call to the international community to offer enough fund to the World Food Program.”
Dan Smith, a director, said the Nobel committee had wanted to send a message of both hope and support for worldwide group work among countries “Hunger, just like climate change and the present COVID-19, is a world problem that can only be properly addressed by all countries working together,” he told Reuters, a British news agency.
The award comes with a gold medal and $1.1 million——a small amount compared to the money the WFP needs for its work. So far in 2020, the WFP has received almost $6. 4 billion in money or goods from all over the world.
1. Why does the committee decide to award the prize to the WFP?a. To encourage giving money to the WFP.
b. To attract worldwide attention to global hunger.
c. To honor the WFP’s hard work to cure COVID-19.
d. To recognize the WFP’s efforts to fight global hunger.
A.abc | B.abd | C.acd | D.bcd |
A.Viewed. | B.Worked. | C.Solved. | D.Encouraged. |
A.The problem of climate change will soon end. |
B.The worldwide food problem is still very serious. |
C.People have lost hope in face of the food problem. |
D.Worldwide group work has always focused on the food problem. |
A.It’s still too little for the WFP’s programs. |
B.It will all be given to each WFP member. |
C.It can help solve many of the WFP’s problems. |
D.It’s enough to support the WFP’s work for a long time. |
A.The WFP’s Great Efforts Are Made. |
B.The WFP Provides International Medical Help. |
C.The WFP Wins the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. |
D.The Nobel Peace Prize Comes with a Gold Medal and $1. 1 Million. |
9 . Libraries
Britain’s First Public Library
The first public library in Britain opened in Manchester in 1852. Its first librarian was a man called Edward Edwards. Edwards attended the library’s opening ceremony and two famous writers called Charles Dickens and William Thackeray were there too.
How to Join a Library
To join a library, go to your local library and fill in a form. You’ll receive a library card which is needed when using library services.
Library Services
Modern public libraries have something for everyone. Most of them have audio books, CDs, newspapers and DVDs as well as books to borrow.
All Aboard the Library!
A school in London didn’t have space for a library inside the building. However, everybody agreed that it was still important to have a school library. So, the head of the school, Graham Blake, decided to park an old bus in the school parking area and change it into a library. Pupils helped to paint the bus, and after eight months, the new library was ready.
1. Who was the first librarian of the first public library in Britain?A.Charles Dickens. | B.William Thackeray. |
C.Edward Edwards. | D.Graham Blake. |
A.Playing DVDs. | B.Listening to audio books. |
C.Borrowing books. | D.Selling books. |
A.Because parents offered the school an old bus. |
B.Because pupils thought it was fun to read on a bus. |
C.Because the school didn’t have enough money to buy books. |
D.Because the school didn’t have enough space inside the building. |
Don’t brag(炫耀), but be proud of what you have done. These two pieces of advice
Social media like Facebook bring us
To post or not to post? Maybe we should all be asking