1 . Barbara, 70, and me, at 71, have swum together for at least 50 years. We swim in a quiet cove (小海湾). It’s home to seagulls, a duck or two, and kayaks (独木舟) on occasion. The difficult summer drought of 2021 brought a burning sun that warmed the water. As the drought eased and the water cooled in late August, we decided to keep swimming. We have both read Bonnie Tsui’s Why We Swim, a fine book about cold-water swimming. We challenged ourselves to swim for as long as possible through September and into October.

I have long loved swimming, though the fear of being seen as fat has dogged me. I am one of those female bodies poorly displayed in bathing suits. Cold-water swimming deepened my sense of well-being and let me use my body. It became a ritual Barbara and I embraced as swimming sisters. When she returned to the United States immediately after our Canadian Thanksgiving, I did not know how I could continue our cold-water tradition. I wasn’t prepared to freeze alone.

But, I had to swim; there were larger commitments I should stick to. In the summer, we planned to cross from the cove to an island across the lake. I had to stay fit. We also planned to host a cold-water swimming race for locals in the fall. We would make it an annual event, improving our strength and endurance (耐力) so that, in our 80s, we might swim through October and into November.

With these plans in mind, I joined my local city pool. I had not been in a public pool for about 30 years. But my body said swim, my brain said swim and my heart, could not let go. So I went anyway.

I am swimming. I am alive to my love of the water, alive to my promise for the spring and the summer that will come. I intend to step back into the lake in May, and through September and October with Barbara. We are perfectly matched in our devotion, and increasingly aware of the miracle of being able-bodied enough to share the cold-water wonder side by side.

1. Why was the book Why We Swim mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．It guided the author to learn to swim.

B．It analyzes the advantages of swimming.

C．It is the author’s favorite book about swimming.

D．It partly contributed to the author and Barbara’s common interest.

2. What does the underlined word “commitments” probably mean in paragraph 3?

A．Promises .

B．Preparations .

C．Requirements .

D．Opportunities .

3. What effort did the author make to achieve her goals?

A．She went to a gym to improve her strength.

B．She became a member of the local public pool.

C．She swam across the lake to the island on her own.

D．She participated in a local cold-water swimming race.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article?

A．To describe her friendship with Barbara.

B．To express her passion for cold-water swimming.

C．To recommend people to go swimming to keep fit.

D．To explain how she overcame her fear of swimming in public places.

2 . When I was a young student, none of my friends listened to classical music. Few learned to play an _______ for more than a year or two. They were listening to the big bands. But dad _______ me to learn to play the piano and I studied for three years. And later, you know, I gave it up. But one day one thing changed me _______.

One Saturday, I went to a _______ birthday party of one of my classmates and there were quite a crowd of people of my _______. And some of the kids were fooling around at the piano while the parents are _______ us a big meal. Then one of the girls _______ stopped talking, looked at me and said, “Robert, you took piano lessons. _______, play something!”

“No, I’m not going to play the piano.” I _______ that no one in that room would show________ in the kind of music that I could play. But though I was ________ objecting, I was pushed by my friends toward the piano. I was “________” to sit down. And there I was face to face with eighty-eight black and white ________.

What to play? The only thing that came to my ________ was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. So, I began with the slow ________. And after two measures I became aware that there was a ________ in the room. After the next two measures, I felt people ________ toward me, and then the parents came out of the kitchen ________. I played the whole first movement and when I was through, the applause and cheers were ________ to believe.

If I had known that this would have happened, I never would have given up ________ playing the piano.

1.

A．apartment

B．instrument

C．equipment

D．argument

2.

A．advised

B．allowed

C．instructed

D．persuaded

3.

A．completely

B．generally

C．cruelly

D．hopefully

4.

A．boring

B．secure

C．sweet

D．brief

5.

A．city

B．age

C．height

D．dream

6.

A．buying

B．earning

C．breaking

D．cooking

7.

A．actually

B．foolishly

C．suddenly

D．curiously

8.

A．Come on

B．Get up

C．Break out

D．Carry on

9.

A．admitted

B．observed

C．figured

D．regretted

10.

A．knowledge

B．delight

C．respect

D．interest

11.

A．shyly

B．strongly

C．luckily

D．hardly

12.

A．forced

B．guided

C．invited

D．protected

13.

A．keys

B．letters

C．words

D．pictures

14.

A．music

B．party

C．meal

D．mind

15.

A．ending

B．opening

C．reading

D．stop

16.

A．quarrel

B．relaxation

C．silence

D．noise

17.

A．moving

B．sending

C．looking

D．hearing

18.

A．satisfied

B．annoyed

C．disappointed

D．surprised

19.

A．easy

B．hard

C．certain

D．glad

20.

A．remembering

B．considering

C．practising

D．imaging

3 . Winter _________ Eastern Canada into a deep freeze. We sat at home, waiting for the COVID-19 cases to decrease and for the weather to improve. Each of us looked forward to something to keep us _________ the isolation: seeing friends, eating in restaurants, watching a movie at a cinema ... My hope has quietly been _________ dust in the garage since November.

My bike got stolen within months of moving to Toronto. I rode my old bike faithfully for almost 20 years before getting the replacement, which then got stolen, forcing me back to Old Faithful. The faint of heart might have _________ biking completely at that point, but not me, _________ what biking means to me: freedom.

Every spring I take Old Faithful down from the rack, clean it, lubricate it and pump up the tires. As time goes by, the old gal has started showing her age, and now there are more replacement parts on her than _________ ones. But with all bike stores being _________ on new models as the pandemic has swept them clean, she is all I have.

On my bike, I’m limitless and unshackled by gas tanks or batteries; as long as I’m alive and eating, I’ve got fuel and can pedal to the ends of Earth if I want. No _________ is impassable. Jammed roads mean nothing: I can still weave between cars in traffic. This memory means even more to me with the experience of _________.

Society gritted its teeth (咬紧牙关) in the knowledge that we just had to __________ it out for a year to get to the other side. Then Delta hit. Then Omicron. A year __________ into two, and that’s when the walls really started closing in. That’s when we really needed hope. So, I count the days until I can return to my bike. On my bike, I achieve another state of mind. As ridiculous as it sounds, in the old days when I __________ up a hill, in my mind I became the leader in the Tour de France and that inner-city hill became the Alps. I would push myself to reach the top each time. I wanted to feel that little __________ of making it to the summit, knowing that doing so told me once again that I could go anywhere and that nothing could hold me back. I was free.

Every few years I add a new ache or pain. I am starting to get old. At some point, I won’t be able to tackle those hills the way I used to, but biking is a time-limited undertaking and is worth every __________. Therefore, every time I encounter a hill, I don’t give up. I never want to lose this sense of __________. I’m waiting for that first warm day when I’ll escape the pandemic walls. I want to put on my helmet and for one brief, beautiful moment, be free again.

1.

A．scared

B．plunged

C．frosted

D．sealed

2.

A．going through

B．suffering from

C．holding up

D．putting off

3.

A．stuffing

B．gathering

C．assembling

D．coating

4.

A．forgotten

B．undertaken

C．loathed

D．abandoned

5.

A．regardless of

B．no matter

C．in spite of

D．because of

6.

A．excess

B．replaced

C．original

D．backup

7.

A．dependent

B．hard

C．keen

D．low

8.

A．shortcut

B．vehicle

C．obstacle

D．spot

9.

A．lockdown

B．congestion

C．meltdown

D．recovery

10.

A．spill

B．tough

C．cross

D．stress

11.

A．bumped

B．rushed

C．slipped

D．turned

12.

A．rounded

B．powered

C．leapt

D．scaled

13.

A．presence

B．interest

C．spark

D．thrill

14.

A．tumble

B．strike

C．stretch

D．rumble

15.

A．proportion

B．belonging

C．freedom

D．relief

4 . Some people find hobbies boring or simply think of them as a waste of time. However, what they do not know is that hobbies can do a lot of good to a person in his or her everyday life.

Hobbies can make new social interactions. Many hobbies get you out in your communities.     1     Countless studies have found that social interactions are a key to happiness and a meaningful life, and hobbies have the potential to create precious new ties.

    2     Hobbies give you something to talk about at parties and around the water cooler. They add layers to your identity. People want to be around you because you always have a sense of curiosity and stories to tell.

Hobbies help you structure your time. This is so amazing.     3     When the evening is unscheduled, you might find yourself working late into the night, designing a work project or answering emails. Chances are, if you have a book club meeting that night, you may get those tasks done much more quickly.     4    

Hobbies help you reduce pressure. Studies show that learning something new or improving a skill gives you a sense of achievement.     5     Now imagine that after work you head out to your soccer league or pottery (陶艺) class. These activities are more than only relaxing. They remind you that you are not only an employee, but also an athlete or an artist. Hobbies let you forget your worries, overcome boredom, and have fun.

A．Hobbies make you interesting.

B．You may have had such an experience one evening.

C．Hobbies make you inspire others around you as well.

D．This can make you meet new people, forming new bonds.

E．This proves hobbies can create more time by encouraging efficiency.

F．Hobbies help you make more friends who will support you in the office.

G．Imagine a rough day at the office, where you work so hard and feel stressful.

5 . Alex Davani is mostly an A-student at Don Juan Avila Middle School, but he was not good at math last year. To get better grades in math, Davani learned to solve the Rubik’s Cube.

Davani wasn’t the only one. Teacher Ron McDevitt gave all his students a chance of getting a high grade if they could beat the cube, and he gave more scores for faster times. “A Rubik’s Cube is a lot like math,” explained McDevitt. “If you make one bad move with the cube, you have to go back a step or start over. At math, it’s the same way. It forces you to go slowly and be patient.”

For Davani, solving the cube was great fun. With about six months of practice, he could solve the Rubik’s Cube in under 30 seconds. So Davani decided to enter a world competition in Las Vegas. Davani is placed in the middle among about 800 competitors, and with more practice, he hopes to raise his position next year. He also got to meet cubers from 37 countries, and had lunch with four of the best cubers.

So how does Davani solve the cube so quickly? “It’s mostly just practice,” he said. “You will form muscle memory after lots of practice. You memorize the method and you don’t even have to think about it. Your fingers move naturally.”

“I teach my kids how to solve it and they can vanquish me now,” said McDevitt whose best record is around two minutes, much longer than many of his students. “I’ve never had a student take it as far as Davani and compete. That’s pretty cool.”

1. Why did Davani learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube?

A．To enrich his life.	B．To get a higher grade in math.
C．To develop a new interest.	D．To prepare for a competition.

2. In what way is the Rubik’s Cube like math?

A．They both require patience.	B．They both test people’s memory.
C．They both need people to finish quickly.	D．They both teach people to learn from mistakes.

3. What is Davani’s secret to solving the cube so quickly?

A．He learns from others’ experience.	B．He has strong muscles.
C．He has good memory.	D．He practices hard.

4. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “vanquish” in the last paragraph?

A．Believe.

B．Follow.

C．Beat.

D．Award.

6 . Many of us have heard of Alex Honnold, who made history in 2018 when he became the first man to climb EI Capitan without ropes or safety equipment. But his mother, Dierdre Wolownick, just became the oldest woman to conquer the famous peak: she reached the top on September 23 — the morning of her 70th birthday.

Dierdre, the writer and language teacher, decided to take up climbing as a means to connect more with her son. In 2008, accompanied by her son Alex, she visited a climbing gym and completed 12 routes that first day with his help, but it was months before she worked up the courage to return and practice on her own.

Dierdre became committed to the sport, and began to meet friends and sharpen her skills. She scaled (登上) parts of Half Dome and Cathedral peak at a time when many people at her age are thinking about retirement and slowing down. The writer would go on to publish a book about her climbing experiences with Alex called The Sharp End of Life: A Mother’s Story.

“As a mother, I am impressed by this role exchange process. Parents and children often wind up changing roles in life as they get older,” she writes in her book. “But never, I thought, is that transformation as obvious as when they climb together.”

On September 23, Dierdre and her friends set out in the dark, at 6 am. The route is steep (陡峭的) enough to require all-fours, grabbing rocks and trees and whatever else will hold the weight. Yet despite all difficulties the team made it to the top.“It was really inspiring to watch her and then to have her on top with all of us,” said one of Dierdre’s friends.“There was a special look on everyone’s face. We knew where we were. We knew how amazing the moment truly was.

1. Why did Dierdre start climbing mountains?

A．To know her son better.

B．To celebrate her birthday.

C．To seek writing inspiration.

D．To set an example for the old.

2. Which of the following best describes Dierdre?

A．Patient.

B．Courageous.

C．Intelligent.

D．Generous.

3. What does the last paragraph tell about Dierdre’s climbing journey?

A．It was worth the efforts.

B．It took days to complete.

C．It was arranged on her own.

D．It required special equipment.

4. What may be a suitable title for the text?

A．Mountain climbing benefits health

B．Mother goes beyond her son’s wish

C．Climb together, bond closer

D．Slow down, better your life

7 . It can be difficult to start a hobby. You may have come across one that requires you to buy costly equipment.     1     Find a low—cost hobby and pick something that is interesting and doesn't require a lot of materials to start.

Begin a collection.

Many different collections can be started with little or no cost.     2     Look for rocks, plant leaves and flowers. Take a walk along a beach and look for sea glass. Another way is to begin to choose an object you wish to collect, such as bottle caps you've found on the ground.

Start an art or craft（工艺）project.

    3     Writing, drawing, and more will likely be available to you simply by using what you already have on hand. Look around your house before you begin. Often unused materials can give you an idea for project or help you complete one at a low cost.

    4     Think of a subject you'd like to learn. Search out classes in your area. Your local community center or library may offer new classes for free on anything from square dancing to programming, and you can also search local colleges and businesses for inexpensive classes.

Listen to music.

YouTube contains a large quantity of music you can listen to for free. In addition, you can discover music you like by using online radio stations or services.     5    

A．Study something new

B．Create a hobby class by yourself.

C．One way to do this is to go outside.

D．Many arts and crafts can be started with few materials

E．The truth is that many hobbies can be started without much money

F．By enjoying new music online, you can turn music into a relaxing hobby

G．It means that the more money you spend, the better hobbies you can develop.

8 . With almost all the spare time spent watching television and playing video games, many of today’s children have never experienced the rewards (回馈) of a hobby.

Not long ago, _________ to a large audience, I asked, “How many of you, when you were children, had a hobby?” Nearly everyone _________ their hands. I then asked them to keep their hands in the air if at least one of their children had a hobby. Most of the hands _________ down.

Thirty years ago, almost every kid in my neighborhood had some kind of hobby. Collecting and trading baseball cards was a(n) _________ hobby, as were coin and stamp collecting. One of my friends was into photography. He’s now a well-known _________. Another enjoyed building radios and he’s now an electrical engineer. So you can see, hobbies often _________ lifelong interests, even careers (事业).

Hobbies benefit children in many ways. Because they are _________ of personal achievement and a way of self-discovery, hobbies help build _________. Hobbies are actually educational _________, too. For example, a child who becomes __________ making rockets learns about propulsion (推进力) and aerodynamics (空气动力学). By working on hobbies, children learn to set goals, make __________, and solve all kinds of problems.

Some parents __________ that hobbies will not influence the kids’ lessons positively. However, studies have shown that children with an active hobby __________ do better in school. Hobbies sharpen their focus and open their minds, __________ kids academically (学业上).

In a word, having a hobby outside of school will enrich kids’ lives and can provide many extra benefits you might not be __________ of.

1.

A．pointing

B．applying

C．performing

D．speaking

2.

A．raised

B．lent

C．gave

D．waved

3.

A．slowed

B．went

C．broke

D．calmed

4.

A．bad

B．formal

C．popular

D．dangerous

5.

A．photographer

B．doctor

C．driver

D．expert

6.

A．take control of

B．focus on

C．work out

D．turn into

7.

A．expressions

B．impressions

C．destinations

D．discussions

8.

A．profiles

B．friendships

C．strength

D．confidence

9.

A．games

B．tools

C．masters

D．adventures

10.

A．responsible for

B．suitable for

C．interested in

D．confused about

11.

A．promises

B．recommendations

C．comments

D．decisions

12.

A．request

B．fear

C．pretend

D．stress

13.

A．actually

B．fluently

C．obviously

D．extremely

14.

A．injuring

B．challenging

C．benefiting

D．annoying

15.

A．proud

B．careful

C．afraid

D．aware

9 . “What is the story of your piano?” a new friend asked over dinner. My piano sits in the corner of my small living room.

My piano has a story? “All pianos have stories” she said. Suddenly, my piano’s story came flooding out of me fully-formed as if I’d always had this tale to tell.

I loved music since childhood. I started with the recorder and moved on to instrument like the violin, trumpet (小号) and guitar. But playing the piano had always been my dream, a dream our family could not afford.

I grew up in an immigrant Chinese family in Toronto. My father waited tables in a Chinese restaurant, and my mother worked in a Chinese laundry. Despite our poor childhood, my siblings (兄弟姐妹) and I were always fed with love. I can’t remember which birthday it was when she spared the money to buy me a doll. Of course, by then I’d grown out of the age of wanting dolls, but she worked too hard to know that, and I never told her. I happily and gratefully accepted the doll because I loved the gift that was her loving me enough to buy it for me.

So it was eventually with my piano. It was in my last year of high school. I took piano lessons for about a year before university forced me to stop. I had to make a decision: to work towards the more practical goal of medical school or my love for music. Finally I chose to stop piano lessons.

I moved that piano around with me over the next decade — until my son was born. He showed an early interest in music, so I put him in piano lessons. I played that piano through my son — although guitar was finally his instrument of choice .

I’ve come to realize that for my career, I’ve let all personal pleasures fall away. I figured I’d get back to playing the piano when I retire. Maybe it’s time to get that piano retuned (重新调音) again, this time for myself, before it’s too late to enjoy. Maybe that’s something we all should do right now .

Sometimes a single question can open whole paths of thinking and discovery. So, what is the story of your piano?

1. What do we know about the author from the first four paragraphs?

A．She was born in a musical family.

B．She had a poor but happy childhood.

C．Her interest in dolls never faded.

D．Her parents were too busy to care for her.

2. What is the main reason the author stopped learning piano?

A．Her parents persuaded her to do so.

B．She faced study and career pressure.

C．She couldn’t afford piano lessons.

D．Her university didn’t provide such lessons.

3. What will the author probably do in the near future?

A．Restart her piano dream.

B．Ask her son to learn piano.

C．Buy a new piano for herself.

D．Focus on her medical career.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?

A．To explain the influence of music on her.

B．To encourage readers to play an instrument.

C．To look back on her childhood experience.

D．To share her story about an unrealized dream.

10 . I first heard about several cases of coronavirus in January, 2020. But I did not ______ the outbreak to have such a sudden and powerful effect on the rest of the world. In March, towards the end of winter quarter, it was ______ that we would take all the finals online. It was unexpected, and all university teachers and students were _______.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our University of California at San Diego（UCSD） student-run free dental clinics are closed ______, and most research laboratories are only open for ________ personnel. Thus, I have had a lot more spare time than before, ______ most of the events have been switched to be held online. To ______ time, I learned to follow ______ to make different dishes. The period of quarantine（隔离） has become a time when I can learn some new life ______.

Besides cooking, I have been ______ a new hobby—playing puzzles. At first, solving a puzzle was just a way for me to ______ endurance（忍耐性） and patience. Then I realized that I learned much more than that. When I ______ 1,000 pieces of a puzzle on the table, I ______ not buying a simpler one. I suddenly realized how impatient I was that I couldn’t even focus on such a simpler task.

Electronic devices have been training me to constantly stare at a blinking（闪烁）screen and ____ what I was doing. I decided to solve a puzzle while ______ devices for several hours, and enjoy one simple task like a little child.

When I started to look for different pieces to see if they could fit in a larger ______, I started to look for shortcuts. I tried to collect puzzles with similar patterns or colors and ______ their edges.

During this time, I slowly forgot all the madness and ______ of quarantine life. Every time I got one piece in the right place, I was ______ awarded by such a small success and motivated to keep on trying. It was surprising and unexpected for me to receive so much ______ from focusing on solving puzzles.

1.

A．encourage

B．expect

C．require

D．remind

2.

A．announced

B．promised

C．hoped

D．discovered

3.

A．unhappy

B．unfortunate

C．uninterested

D．unprepared

4.

A．occasionally

B．formally

C．temporarily

D．gradually

5.

A．devoted

B．eager

C．excellent

D．limited

6.

A．unless

B．before

C．since

D．though

7.

A．treasure

B．kill

C．waste

D．save

8.

A．schedules

B．orders

C．targets

D．recipes

9.

A．secrets

B．tracks

C．skills

D．lessons

10.

A．exploring

B．spreading

C．reviewing

D．doubting

11.

A．support

B．practise

C．recommend

D．appreciate

12.

A．broke up

B．handed in

C．poured out

D．put away

13.

A．imagined

B．permitted

C．advised

D．regretted

14.

A．forget

B．guess

C．remember

D．emphasize

15.

A．putting up with

B．staying away from

C．watching out for

D．taking control of

16.

A．basket

B．poster

C．picture

D．board

17.

A．touch

B．remove

C．draw

D．compare

18.

A．danger

B．boredom

C．excitement

D．amazement

19.

A．mentally

B．physically

C．strangely

D．passively

20.

A．trouble

B．joyfulness

C．responsibility

D．praise