1 . Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last Thursday, defeating 12-year-old Vikram Raju in a tiebreaker. It’s the first time that the contest has ever been decided by a tie-breaking round of spelling.

A spelling bee is a contest where players take turns spelling words. Though the bee is mainly about spelling, it also focuses on the meaning of the words. During parts of the contest, students were asked to choose the correct meaning of a word.

That caused trouble for Harini. She was asked about the meaning of the word “pullulation”. She said the word described the nesting of birds. The contest organizers had expected the answer to be the “swarming of bees”. Harini was removed from the contest. But soon she was back in- the judges double-checked and learned that Harini’s definition was also correct. One by one, the other students spelled a word wrong and got out. Finally, only Harini and Vikram were left.

To make ties much less likely, a “spell-off” was added to the contest in recent years. In the spell-off, Vikram and Harini each took turns trying to spell the words they were asked, but both made blunders. At one point, Harini could have won by spelling the word “drimys” (a kind of plant) correctly. But she missed it.

That put the two into a super tie-breaking event, where they were each given 90 seconds to correctly spell as many words as they could. The New York Times reports that the two spelled so quickly that the judges needed to review the video to see who had won. In 90 seconds, Vikram had spelled 15 words correctly, Harini had 21 correct spellings, making her the new winner.

This was Harini’s fourth at the Bee and it’s the first time she’s made it to the finals. Describing her win, she said, “This is just such a dream!”

1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about the spelling bee?

A．Its significant meaning.	B．Its competition content.
C．The importance of spelling.	D．Players’ struggle for spelling.

2. What happened to Harini?

A．She failed to enter the final round.	B．She was confident about her answer.
C．Her answer was misjudged at first.	D．She refused to accept the judgement.

3. What does the underlined word “blunders” mean in Paragraph 4?

A．Efforts.

B．Ways.

C．Senses.

D．Mistakes.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．A Tie-Breaking Event

B．Scripps National Spelling Bee

C．Teen Wins Spelling Bee in Exciting Tie- Breaker

D．A Girl’s First Time to Make Her Dream Come True

2 . Football clubs have existed since the 15th century, but unorganized and without official status. It is therefore hard to decide which the first football club was.

Early clubs were formed by former school students.    1    In the beginning, football was dominated by public school teams. Later, teams consisting of workers made up the majority.

Another change took place when some clubs became willing to pay the best players to join their team.     2    In the 1880s, the interest in the game moved ahead to a level that tickets were sold to the matches. And finally, in 1885 professional football was legalized. Three years later, the Football League was established.

    3    Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) became the first important competition in 1871. The following year a match between England and Scotland was played for the first time. That was followed by 4,000 people at Hamilton Crescent.

Football was for a long time a British phenomenon.    4    The first game outside Europe occurred in Argentina in 1867. But it was foreign British workers who were involved and not its domestic citizens.

Then the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded. England and the other British countries did not join FIFA from the start. They had invented the game and saw no reason to obey an association.    5    

In 1908, football was included as an official sport in the Olympic Games. Until the first FIFA World Cup was played in 1930, the Olympic Games football tournament ranked as the greatest on a national level.

A．Other milestones were now to follow.

B．Still, they joined in the following year.

C．Thus, football was played all over the world.

D．But it gradually spread to other European countries.

E．Until now, FIFA still plays a major role in the world.

F．And the first of this kind was formed in Sheffield in 1855.

G．The motivation behind this was not only to win more matches.

3 . As the World Cup approaches in Qatar, “made in China” are having increasing presence in this biggest football bonanza across the globe, with Chinese brands betting on amounting sponsorship to enhance their international influence.

Wanda Group, Hisense Group, Vivo and dairy company Mengniu are four official Chinese sponsors of FIFA, while Wanda has become one of FIFA’s seven corporate partners, along with Coca-Cola, Adidas, Hyundai-Kia, Qatar Airways, Qatar Energy and VISA.

Apart from big companies, manufacturers from Yiwu in Zhejiang Province, China’s small commodity hub, are also witnessing their growing influence during the world-renowned sports event. From footballs, national flags and trophy (奖杯) ornaments to horns and whistles, over 60 percent of souvenirs are produced in Yiwu for this year’s World Cup. “In terms of the global industrial supply chain, ‘made in Yiwu’ has already become a worldwide commercial symbol originating from China, which indicates ‘reliance’ and ‘trust’ ”, said Song Xiangqing, an economist and the vice-president of the Commerce Economy Association of China.

Lusail, Qatar’s biggest stadium to hold the World Cup final, was built by China Railway Construction Corp International, costing a total of 770 million.

CCTV news reported that Chinese companies mainly from Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces have also provided more than 10,000 container houses for the World Cup, used as accommodation for tourists and football fans.

“The World Cup sponsorship by a large number of Chinese companies is a demonstration of China’s economic power, and makes the globe feel the power of Chinese brands,” Song said.

According to Deloitte’s report, football generates an annual output of more than 500 billion across the world. For example, in 2016, Hisense spent 100 million to become an official sponsor of the World Cup in Russia. Sales volume of Hisense TV surged nearly three times after the game kicked off, reaching a record high.

“However, sponsoring sports events should not be dismissed simply as marketing stunts (噱头),” Song said, “as overseas markets have complex social systems and ethnic cultures, Chinese brands need to consolidate the foundation first, and build up themselves in product, service and platform.”

1. Which of the following is FIFA’s corporate partner?

A．Hisense Group.	B．Vivo.
C．Wanda Group.	D．Dairy Mengniu.

2. What did Chinese companies do to expand their influence in Qatar World Cup?

A．Spending $100 million to become an official sponsor.

B．Joining in the construction of Qatar’s biggest stadium.

C．Producing over 60% footballs and national flags for the event.

D．Providing container houses as ambulance for visitors and fans.

3. What can we learn from Song Xiangqing’s words in paragraph 6?

A．Chinese brands broaden their international influence by providing sponsorship.

B．Participating in the World Cup brings infinite chances for Chinese companies.

C．Chinese commerce has earned the best reputation for being reliable.

D．Chinese brands have laid solid foundation in the overseas markets.

4. How does the author prove China’s international influence?

A．By doing some studies.	B．By listing some facts.
C．By stating some opinions.	D．By making comparisons.

4 . World Press Photo

The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes and celebrates the best photo journalism and documentary photography produced over the last year. Entries for the 2023 World Press Photo Contest will open on 1 December 2022 and close on 10 January 2023. We are excited to welcome a multiplicity of stories and a diverse range of photographers from all over the world to enter the contest!

Regional winners

Every regional winner of the contest receives:

·A monetary prize of 1,000

·Inclusion in the annual World Press Photo year-long worldwide exhibition

·Inclusion in the annual collectible yearbook, available in multiple languages with a worldwide distribution of more than 30,000 copies

·Publication in the online collection and a personal profile on World Press Photo’s website

·A physical award

In addition, winners are often featured in major publications and invited to speak at public events, exhibition openings, and lectures throughout the year.

Global winners

A global jury selects the four global winners: the World Press Photo of the Year, the World Press Photo Story of the Year, the World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award, and the World Press Photo Open Format Award. The global winners will be chosen from the regional winners in their respective categories.

In addition to their regional prizes, global winners will also receive:

·An additional monetary prize of €5,000

·An additional physical award

1. Who would most probably enter for World Press Photo?

A．Storytellers.	B．Photographers.
C．Librarians.	D．Celebrities.

2. Which of the following benefits will Regional Winners receive?

A．Their works will be exhibited for years.

B．A personal profile on any website is allowed.

C．30,000 copies of their works will be distributed to other winners.

D．They will be invited to deliver speeches throughout the year.

3. If you were a global winner, what monetary prize would you receive?

A．€1000.

B．€4000.

C．€5000.

D．€6000.

5 . The Geography Bee, more properly known as the National Geographic Bee, begins in schools with students from fourth through eighth grade across the United States in December and January.

Each school champion takes a written test upon winning the Bee in their school. One hundred school winners from each state proceed to the State Level Finals in April, based on their scores on a written test scored by the National Geographic Society. The ten finalists compete on day two and the winner is announced and wins a college scholarship.     1    .

An atlas (地图册) can help you become very familiar with the continents, countries states, islands, and major physical features of our planet.     2    .

Prepare flashcards or use some other technique to memorize the capitals of the countries and the capitals of the fifty United States.

Take as many practice quizzes as possible. There are hundreds of multiple-choice Geography Quizzes that will definitely help.     3    . Be sure to use an atlas to look up or understand the questions that you’ve missed.

Read the newspaper and news magazines to learn about geography and to stay up-to-date with major news and events happening around the world.     4    . These events usually occur in the latter part of the year before the Bee. Look up any unfamiliar place names you encounter.

Knowing the main languages, currencies, religions, and former country names is definitely a bonus. It’s most important at the state and national levels.     5    . If you can review the key concepts of physical geography from the physical geography textbook, do so!

A．So start with a world map

B．Get information in a library

C．National Geographic offers a daily GeoBee Quiz online

D．Some Bee questions come from the geography of current events

E．Become familiar with the terms and concepts of Physical Geography

F．What follows are tips to help you prepare for the National Geographic Bee

G．Use Outline Maps of the world and continents to test yourself on this information

6 . The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicked off, with more than 30 teams participating. In the tournament’s 92-year history, only eight countries have won: Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay and England.

It was the first time that the Cup had been held in the Middle East. Summer temperatures in Qatar regularly top 100 degrees, so for the safety of both athletes and audience, organizers pushed the month-long contest out to late November, when the weather is milder.

Uruguay was the first host and winner of the World Cup back in 1930. The final match played out in front of 60,000 audiences. No World Cup was held between 1938 and 1950 due to World War Ⅱ. The 1950 tournament in Brazil featured separate East and West German teams. It wasn’t until the 1994 World Cup that Germany took part as a unified team. West Germany won in 1954.

That 1950 Cup was also the first to feature England, despite soccer being an English invention. That year, Team USA beat England 1-0, though some British newspapers reported the result as USA 1, England 10, as editors believed the real score had a typo. Both sides believed it would be an easy win for England, and double-digit (两位数) goals were expected. This match is considered by many as one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.

The first women’s World Cup started many decades after the men’s, in 1991. That first one was held in China. Our team is so dominant that we have won half of all the World Cups to date. The women play every four years, just like the men, but not on the same schedule. The next women’s World Cup will be held in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.

1. Why was the 2022 World Cup put off to winter?

A．To satisfy audience.

B．To be a special match.

C．To avoid high temperatures.

D．To meet the requirements of the players.

2. How is the text mainly organized?

A．In time order.	B．In space order.
C．By explanation.	D．By comparison.

3. What does the underlined word “typo” mean in paragraph 4?

A．A typing error.	B．A spelling error.
C．A program error.	D．A mathematical error.

4. What can we learn about the women’s World Cup from the last paragraph?

A．China won the first women’s World Cup.

B．China has hosted 50% of the women’s World Cups.

C．It is arranged on a different timetable from the men’s.

D．It is held in the same country as the men’s every four years.

7 . Of the seven stadiums Qatar built for the World Cup, one will be fully taken apart after the event and could be shipped to countries that need it. That’s what the host has said about Stadium 974, a seaside structure with more than 40, 000 seats partially built from steel and recycled shipping containers.

Stadium 974, named after the number of containers used to build it, is the only stadium that Qatar has constructed for the World Cup that isn’t air conditioned. It hosts only evening matches when temperatures are cooler.

“The idea is to avoid building ‘a white elephant’, a stadium that is left unused after the competition ends,” says Fenwick Iribarren Architects, which designed Stadium 974 and two other World Cup stadiums.

Qatar has said the stadium could be repurposed to build a stadium of the same size elsewhere, but it has not detailed where the stadium will go after the tournament or even when it will be taken down.

“Where its components go matters because whether Stadium 974 has a lower CO₂ footprint than a permanent one comes down to how many times it is rebuilt, and how far it is transported,” says Karim Elgendy, who previously worked as a climate consultant for the World Cup.

Elgendy estimates that if the stadium is reused only once, its emissions (排放) will be lower than a permanent one as long as it is shipped fewer than 7,000 kilometers away. If it’s repurposed more than once, it can be shipped farther and still be less polluting than a permanent stadium.

“The energy required for taking it apart and shipping the building components will obviously need to be estimated,” Elgendy says. “But it is unlikely to outweigh the emissions produced in the construction of a new stadium.”

1. What can we know about Stadium 974?

A．It can be fully taken apart and rebuilt.

B．It hosts all the evening competitions.

C．It is completely built from recycled steel.

D．It just needs to be air conditioned in the day.

2. Which of the following best explains “a white elephant” underlined in paragraph 3?

A．An extremely huge building.

B．A very expensive but useless thing.

C．A creatively repurposed shipping container.

D．An ugly but environmentally friendly stadium,

3. How far can Stadium 974 be shipped if it is just reused once according to Elgendy?

A．More than 7,500 kilometers.	B．Fewer than 6,000 kilometers.
C．Within 7,000 kilometers.	D．Around 14,000 kilometers.

4. In which section of a newspaper will this text most probably appear?

A．Culture.

B．Economy.

C．Politics.

D．Environment.

8 . While the teams of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar competed in the fields, it was worth noting that it was not only soccer that caught the world’s attention, but also the video assistant referee (VAR) technology. Like it or dislike it, the VAR is a part of football games today.

Many football fans question whether the system made the game better or if it added an unnecessary layer of complexity to the beautiful game as a number of debatable decisions were made involving the VAR — it slows down the game; the offside law sometimes becomes rigid. The introduction of the VAR means top-level football games are now easily affected by stoppages and delays with the on-field referee often waiting for decisions to be made by those in offices often far away from the stadiums.

Actually, the use of video match officials in football was included in the 2018/2019 edition of the Laws of the Game and was already used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Since then, the system has been applied in over 100 competitions worldwide.

Despite criticisms, FIFA considered the first use of the VAR to be a triumph, with referee committee head Pierluigi Collina claiming that 99.3 percent of “match-changing” decisions were called correctly at the World Cup—“very, very close to perfection”. Without the VAR, referees called 95 percent of the incidents correctly.

Not only football, sports tech to support a referee’s decision-making is widely adopted by other major sports in professional and Olympic games to assist referees to make the correct decisions. Tennis employs the Hawk-Eye Live system on competition courts, and the NBA has long used instant replay and other high-tech aids to make sure players are shooting within the time given by the shot clock in order for the referees to make the right call.

We should admit that sports tech is still not perfect in the field of sports events. People’s feelings are not towards those technologies themselves, but the current shortcomings of the application of the technology. However, fairness and consistency should not be a zero-sum option. Efforts should be made to further improve efficiency and reduce disturbance to beautiful games.

1. Why do many football fans question the VAR technology?

A．It sometimes becomes rigid.

B．It makes competitions unappealing.

C．It is easily affected by on-field referees.

D．It leads to many arguable decisions.

2. What does the underlined word “triumph” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Beginning.	B．Success.
C．Symbol.	D．Tendency.

3. Why are tennis and the NBA mentioned in paragraph 5?

A．To prove the diversity of sports tech.

B．To introduce the benefits of sports tech.

C．To show sports tech’s wide application.

D．To explain the development of sports tech.

4. What’s the author’s attitude toward sports tech?

A．Opposed.	B．Objective.
C．Favorable.	D．Doubtful.

9 . Cash Composition Contest

In support of Financial Literacy Month (April), Michigan State University Extension and 4-H, a youth organization, are coordinating (协调) the Cash Composition Contest. Youths residing in Michigan are encouraged to answer this year’s essay question with an essay of 300 words or less. The 5 top-scoring essays will each win a $100 gift card thanks to the generous sponsorship by Extra Credit Union.

Timeline

April 30, 2023: Essay submission due by 11:59 pm

May 31, 2023: Winners notified

Cash Composition Topic

What is the difference between a need and a want? Discuss how you determine if something is a need or a want. How can you make sure you have enough money to get your needs and still enjoy some of your wants? Share how needs and wants might change throughout one’s life.

Grading Standards

● Quality of Writing

● Organization and Information

● Grammar

Guidelines
Participants must:

● Between 9—12 years of age as of January 1, 2023 living in the state of Michigan.

● Have knowledge of money management such as saving, spending, borrowing, and planning appropriate for age and grade level.

Requirements

● Youths must have parental or guardian permission to apply and participate.

● The application form must be completed by a parent/guardian.

● Youths must write an essay (300 words or less)on the assigned topic above.

● Essays must be submitted on the contest registration page.

● The essay must be the work of the student submitting it. It is highly recommended that youths write their essay prior to completing the registration/submission form.

1. Who will sponsor the contest prizes?

A．Michigan State University.	B．Extra Credit Union.
C．A local youth organization.	D．The state of Michigan.

2. What will be focused on in the entry?

A．The changes throughout one’s life.

B．The ways to improve quality of writing.

C．The need for charity management.

D．The discussions on needs and wants.

3. Which will result in disqualification for an applicant?

A．Submitting the essay on April 29.	B．Writing an essay of 300 words.
C．Filling the application form in person.	D．Finishing the essay before registration.

10 . Several years ago, I was at a pre-season football practice at a high school where I was working with the team on a concussion (脑震荡) research project. The players were lined up in two rows facing each other and with little more instruction from the coach than, “on the whistle, hit the man across from you”, great concern rushed through my mind.

Professional sports get the lion’s share of attention, but over three million children and teenagers in the United States play the same game. This directly places concussions as a significant public health concern for all.

However, for decades, concussion has been considered a temporary injury with no long-term consequences. Many athletes will do just about anything to stay on the field and “play through the pain” as a sign of toughness. In 2005, with the release of the brain tissue pathology (病理学) report of Mike Webster a, a retired National Football League player, our thinking on concussion began to shift. Since then, public attention has focused on this link between brain injury and blows to the head. As our understanding of concussion progressed to understanding its significance as an injury, so too did the development of player equipment.

In the early 1900s football was played without helmets (头盔), but severe injuries, like skull fractures, led to the occasional use of leather helmets in the 1920s.The first facemask entered the game in the 1950s. Modern helmets use advanced shell materials, have moveable panels to absorb forces, and multi-layered padding that responds to different impacts. Companies will continue to improve helmets as new materials become available, guided by the newest science.

Sports are an important part of a society’s culture and they give millions of children much-needed exercise. Yet, participation in any sport carries injury risk, and concussion will always be part of that. As those children become adults and make sport their hobby or even career, ensuring them play safely at all levels is essential.

1. What made the author feel concerned?

A．The coach’s in experience.

B．The physical conflicts among the players.

C．Unawareness of the potential injuries.

D．Unpredictable outcome of the project.

2. What did athletes use to do when meeting with sports-related concussion?

A．They tended to ignore it.

B．They felt scared about it.

C．They quit playing immediately.

D．They refused medical assistance.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about concerning the helmet?

A．Its gradual improvement.

B．Its widespread influence.

C．The discovery of its new materials.

D．The difficulty of its mass production.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Exercise is vital for children.

B．Sports safety can’t be overemphasized.

C．No participation in sports is without injuries.

D．Concussion is the most common injury in sports.