1 . About eight years ago, Li Jinglong and Guan Dian visited the Palace Museum in Beijing. The cloisonne (景泰蓝瓷器) objects on display attracted them in particular. They spent hours looking at those beautiful objects. They just couldn’t take their eyes off them.
Born and raised in Beijing, 35-year-old Li is no stranger to cloisonne, since there were a pair of cloisonne vases in his grandparents’ home. His wife, 34-year-old Guan, who learned to paint as a child and later became a designer after graduating from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, is also familiar with cloisonne, as it appears in her art books. As a result of their visit, the couple made the daring decision to open a workshop.
“We learned cloisonne after seeing the pieces displayed in the Palace Museum. We wanted to turn our hobby into a career, so that people could enjoy and learn to make the craft themselves,” said Li, who worked in a finance company before quitting his job to launch Handcraft Addicted, a DIY workshop where participants can make cloisonne. Since 2018, they have opened three workshops in Beijing. They are happy to give people a glimpse of the traditional techniques of cloisonne as part of a DIY experience.
Instead of focusing on making traditional cloisonne objects , such as plates and vases, the workshop allows participants to create the designs they want on surface of glass, resin (树脂) or wood. Although the process has been simplified, it is still not easy for people trying cloisonne for the first time to succeed. Participants spend months making one piece, which they take home or give friends as presents. It’s a luxury for people to spend time alone and fully focus on one thing nowadays because of the fast pace of life. Participants come to the workshop not only to create art, but also to take a break from their busy lives.
1. What can we learn about the couple?| A．They both grew up in Beijing. | B．They both majored in cloisonne art. |
| C．They both quit their previous jobs. | D．They are both familiar with cloisonne. |
| A．Their grandparents’ cloisonne vases. | B．Their hobby in handcraft techniques. |
| C．Cloisonne objects in Guan’s art books. | D．Cloisonne on exhibition in the Palace Museum. |
| A．the first attempt is often simple |
| B．participants relax themselves while creating art |
| C．the couple make cloisonne objects by themselves |
| D．it is a luxury to make traditional cloisonne objects |
| A．Modest. | B．Generous. | C．Creative. | D．Outgoing. |
2 . In the small town of Hinsdale, Geoffery Holt lived a quiet life working contentedly as the groundskeeper of a mobile home park.
Relying on either a bicycle or a lawnmower as his
The surprise that 4,200 residents of Hinsdale
The story, revealed first by the Associated Press, records the
The money was
Kristen Oliveri, a spokesperson of the Foundation, said, “Holt’s
“The Charitable Foundations is
An online obituary (讣告) page is attracting heartfelt well wishes from those who’ve heard of the story, with a woman from the Midwest named Dee saying “show
“Thank Geoffrey for making us feel
| A．means | B．design | C．symbol | D．shift |
| A．house | B．kid | C．pet | D．bicycle |
| A．rejected | B．reported | C．received | D．released |
| A．owned | B．stole | C．owed | D．lost |
| A．anger | B．excitement | C．relief | D．shock |
| A．selling | B．riding | C．delivering | D．pulling |
| A．best-selling | B．ready-made | C．light-coloured | D．worn-out |
| A．donated | B．posted | C．attached | D．exposed |
| A．monitor | B．lengthen | C．transform | D．address |
| A．occasionally | B．economically | C．automatically | D．individually |
| A．honesty | B．talent | C．contribution | D．chance |
| A．honoured | B．astonished | C．reluctant | D．ordered |
| A．sincerity | B．respect | C．kindness | D．courage |
| A．curious | B．crazy | C．optimistic | D．eager |
| A．whispered | B．called | C．recited | D．read |
In fifth grade, my family moved across town. I hated being the new kid at school.
I was tall for my age and already wore a size nine shoe—how awkward! My ponytails (马尾辫) and short bangs (刘海) seems quite different from others. I wanted to fit in, but in vain.
Theresa was thin but strong, with blond bangs and tightly pulled-back hair. For a reason unknown to me, she decided that I was worthy of her attention, and every day she walked up to me and kicked me in the back of the legs. Theresa was smart and quick. No teacher ever saw her, and within a week, my legs were bruised (淤青) black and blue.
One day on the playground, as Theresa was about to close in on me again, I escaped away. I glanced over one shoulder and, with relief, didn’t see her and thought she had given up. I stopped abruptly and turned around, unaware that Theresa had been running full-speed toward me. She didn’t expect my sudden stop and crashed into me and fell to the ground. A group of kids standing nearby laughed. Angry, she got up and began to kick me. I couldn’t stand any more. So I made a fist and swung my arm wildly. I caught Theresa in the nose, and she was bleeding. I didn’t know which of us was more surprised. Then we made a big fight. Consequently, we were taken to the principal’s office. He said we should be punished and then filled a form, I stared at his desk and realized that I could read the form upside down. It reads, “Labor punishment for one week.”
Theresa leaned toward me and whispered, “I guess we should get a two-week labor punishment.” I shook my head and said, “No, one week. I can read the form upside down.” Both of us were surprised that we should talk with each other.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
We were arranged to take care of the flowers and plants in the school garden together.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was surprised that Theresa and I have so many things in common.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 . Twenty years ago, I was months into my first job at a start-up independent publishing company in New York.One afternoon, I
Back then, I was much less
Later, I wrote a check,
That
| A．came across | B．rushed onto | C．passed by | D．looked for |
| A．visit | B．help | C．rescue | D．introduce |
| A．return | B．explain | C．connect | D．distribute |
| A．determined | B．objective | C．organized | D．professional |
| A．ticket | B．card | C．gift | D．book |
| A．parcel | B．wallet | C．envelope | D．bottle |
| A．cancel | B．reject | C．provide | D．accept |
| A．Naturally | B．Unexpectedly | C．Doubtfully | D．Disagreeably |
| A．embarrassed | B．disturbed | C．annoyed | D．dissatisfied |
| A．gave away | B．checked out | C．laughed off | D．sent back |
| A．lost | B．unfolded | C．noticed | D．enclosed |
| A．appreciation | B．admiration | C．amazement | D．approval |
| A．destroyed | B．inspired | C．formed | D．reported |
| A．romantic | B．generous | C．emergent | D．symbolic |
| A．force | B．allow | C．warn | D．remind |
I was eight years old when my family moved from Towoomba to England in 1950. My mother was suffering from a rare disease and had to take treatment in London. The day before we boarded the ship, Father sent his five-year-old red heeler (Australian cattle dog), Spider, who was loved by us all, to his friend Sandy, as Sandy was to be his guardian while we were overseas. We didn’t know how long my mother’s treatment would take or how long we would be away.
Six weeks later, an airletter arrived from Sandy, giving my father the news that Spider had run away just two weeks after we had sailed. I will always remember my father’s face as he read this news. My mother and I tried to comfort him, knowing in our hearts how useless this was.
Sandy had advertised constantly on the media. Despite many “sightings”, the dog was never found. It seemed Spider just kept running and searching for us. My father worried he would be shot or dead from starvation. But our family thought that Father held a secret hope that Spider was still alive.
We sailed back to Australia two years later and my father immediately began his own search for Spider. He repeated calls to the people who had said they had seen his dog, but it turned out to be clueless.
One cold winter’s Saturday morning, eight months after our return, my father had a call from Gin Gin, 375 kilometers from Toowoomba. An elderly lady living on her own was putting food out “for a very old yellow dog”. This had been going on for a few weeks. Immediately we set off.
Five and a half hours later, we found the old house beside the bush (灌木丛). Sadly, the lady told my father that the dog hadn’t been around for a few days. My father had an upset look in his eyes. He put two fingers to his mouth and did his special whistle for Spider.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly there was a sound in the bush.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Once home we gently cleaned him up.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Mom, please,” Ann a begged eagerly. “Please, let me do it by myself!” She had never made cookies by herself before, but at the age of nine, she felt capable of handling many things. Her friends had been baking cupcakes for a year. Yet, it seemed her parents had little faith in her.
“Anna is going to make cookies? Alone?” her brother, Carl, asked with a laugh. “That is going to be disaster!” Carl used big words to act smarter than Anna. Having a big brother could be annoying. Admittedly, Anna always appeared clumsy. But that was before she turned nine. She thought her parents should realize she would do better now.
At her words, a flash of uncertainty crossed her parents’ faces. Would they agree? Holding her breath, she had waited for what seemed like ages. Surprisingly, Mom nodded, saying, “Okay, but please be careful, and remember to take a look at the cookbook first.”
Fueled by determination, Anna raced to the kitchen. With each step, there was a sense of purpose and confidence growing within her. She had already done it with Mom a million times before. Putting the cookbook aside, she got down to baking cookies from memory, breaking eggs, dropping a cold stick of butter, adding salt and then…um…yes, mixing it well! Using a mixer was easy. She turned on the mixer at the medium speed—and whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Butter splattered (飞溅) everywhere, making the kitchen in a mess. Collecting herself, she turned back to the mixing bowl and started again. This time with softer butter.
Anna placed rounded spoonfuls of mixture onto the cookie pan and put it into the oven (烤炉). Within a few minutes, a fantastic smell filled the kitchen- the smell of cookie success! She was going to silence all those doubts. No more eye-rolling from her big brother. No more “You’re too young, Anna” from her parents. She believed she was grown up and mature enough to be relied on.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The moment Anna pulled the pan out of the oven, Carl stepped into the kitchen.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now she decided to have another try, carefully following the cookbook.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It is a hot sunny Saturday morning on the farm. Maya, Duksie and Doobie are helping Mama K in her vegetable garden. The children work all morning.
Mama K always gives the children a treat for helping her. Sometimes it’s cake or chocolate; sometimes it’s apples, pears or oranges. Mama K has only one rule. “Share it fair!” The children know they must share the treats equally, so they all get the same amount.
Today Mama K has baked a round strawberry cake with pink icing (糖霜) and berries from her garden. The children wait on the grass for their treat. “Here you go!” smiles Mama K. “But remember the rule. Share it fair!”
Maya has the first turn to share the cake. She uses the knife to draw lines in the icing. The others watch her. She does not cut the cake yet. The others must first agree if her way is fair. “I think I will make two cuts down like this. Now we have three slices, all the same!” Maya shows them. There is one line on the left and the other on the right.
“No way!” says Duksie. “The one in the middle is much too big!” Doobie also shakes his head. Maya laughs and tells Duksie to try.
“Pass me the knife.I’ll do it,” says Duksie First she rubs out Maya’s pattern in the icing, and then she makes one cut across and one down. “Look, I have made my three slices!” “That’s not fair!” shout Maya and Doobie together,.
“Why don’t you try, Doobie?” says Duksie. “I bet you can’t do it!”
“I wish the cake was a square, and then it would be easy!” says Doobie thoughtfully. And then! A picture comes into Doobie’s head. He sees the silver badge (标识) at the front of his father’s big red Benz truck. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I know how to do it,” shouts Doobie.
“How did you work it out?” Maya asks. Doobie smiles to himself. For now it’s his secret. Later, he will tell his dad.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
First Doobie uses a knife to smooth Duksie’s lines in the icing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With Mama K’s encouragement, Maya takes charge, expertly cutting along Doobie’s lines to make three equal slices.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . Last year, I started the journey of being a remote product designer. The thought of a flexible (灵活的) schedule, a comfortable home office, and the escape from the
However, the
One day, I tried
This incident (事件) marked the
| A．dramatic | B．severe | C．previous | D．crowded |
| A．appealing | B．annoying | C．challenging | D．confusing |
| A．direction | B．safety | C．freedom | D．responsibility |
| A．duties | B．awards | C．problems | D．expectations |
| A．concerns | B．reliefs | C．updates | D．intentions |
| A．tied | B．inspired | C．guide | D．introduced |
| A．reply | B．relax | C．react | D．read |
| A．adapted | B．limited | C．related | D．addicted |
| A．counted | B．repeated | C．watched | D．followed |
| A．tidying up | B．putting aside | C．fitting into | D．getting back |
| A．lazy | B．tired | C．rude | D．mad |
| A．mix | B．success | C．balance | D．value |
| A．distance | B．memory | C．beginning | D．training |
| A．promise | B．excuse | C．answer | D．change |
| A．maintain | B．ease | C．remove | D．regain |
9 . For nearly two decades, a thin, sun-burnt postal worker could frequently be seen carrying packages along a dangerous mountain trail in the Taihang Mountains.
The 10-kilometer-long route, which is between 20 centimeters and 1 meter wide, is known as the “cat road” by locals, meaning that it is so dangerous that only cats could walk on it. Whereas, Zhao Yuefang, a postal worker in Ewu township in Huguan county, Shanxi province, had to walk the route every day to deliver mail.
Every day at the crack of dawn, he would start his journey along the “cat road”. From picking up the day’s post to delivering it to villagers and returning along the same route, it took Zhao four days. During rainy and snowy seasons, the mountain road, part of which hugs the cliffs, would become slippery and dangerous. One day in the winter of 2003, the “cat road” was covered in thick snow and he slipped off the trail. Fortunately, he was able to stop his sharp descent by grabbing a tree branch and slowly managed to climb to safety.
By 2012, Zhao had walked more than 300,000 km and delivered over 800,000 pieces of mail. Born and raised in the deep mountains, Zhao truly understands the significance of mail deliveries to villagers. “They depend on the mail to keep in touch with the outside world,” he said. “Their sheer joy written on their face while receiving any post struck me,” he added.
In 2012, a 67-km-long tourist highway was built and gone were those days when Zhao risked his life to walk on the “cat road”. But Zhao was even busier than before. “The number of packages I handle daily now exceeds the number I used to deal with in the past,” said Zhao, adding that villagers are turning to online shopping and ordering more and more goods by post.
1. Why is the mountain trail referred to as “cat road”?| A．It’s shaped like a cat. | B．It’s intended for cats. |
| C．It is too narrow and risky. | D．It rains cats and dogs there. |
| A．Fall. | B．Pain. |
| C．Turn. | D．Landing. |
| A．Persistent and dedicated. | B．Diligent and ambitious. |
| C．Considerate and confident. | D．Courageous and generous. |
| A．The villagers’ respect for him. |
| B．His being born and raised there. |
| C．Today’s huge number of the packages. |
| D．The value of the deliveries to the locals. |
10 . As an assistant manager at a restaurant, I encountered a heart-warming experience. One day, a father and his young son
At some point, the boy, who was probably six or seven,
It
The positive
| A．entered | B．denied | C．noticed | D．checked |
| A．Formally | B．Gradually | C．Immediately | D．Eventually |
| A．expenses | B．ingredients | C．tastes | D．quantities |
| A．wrote | B．drew | C．handed | D．lent |
| A．interesting | B．enjoyable | C．useless | D．impossible |
| A．card | B．boy | C．money | D．menu |
| A．hesitated | B．agreed | C．cried | D．laughed |
| A．came to | B．looked like | C．ended up | D．turned out |
| A．clever | B．cheap | C．safe | D．new |
| A．struggled | B．pretended | C．decided | D．forgotten |
| A．designed | B．broke | C．marked | D．kept |
| A．private | B．regular | C．normal | D．curious |
| A．lesson | B．present | C．envy | D．response |
| A．difference | B．change | C．sense | D．promise |
| A．accept | B．promote | C．tailor | D．dismiss |
