1 . As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
1. How did Toumi’s holiday trips to Tunisia influence her?| A．They made her decide to leave the country. |
| B．They helped her better understand her father. |
| C．They aroused her enthusiasm for helping others. |
| D．They destroyed her dream of being a teacher. |
| A．Low rainfall. | B．Soil pollution. | C．Cold weather. | D．Forest damage. |
| A．To create job opportunities for young people. |
| B．To help the children obtain a basic education. |
| C．To persuade the farmers not to use fertilizers. |
| D．To promote the protection of their farmland. |
| A．Saving Water in Tunisia | B．Holding back the Sahara |
| C．Planting Trees of Native Species | D．Fighting Poverty in North Africa |
1. What kind of people are “early birds”?
| A．The people getting up early in the morning. |
| B．The people going to bed early at night. |
| C．The people going to bed late at night. |
| A．Around 9: 00 p. m. | B．Around 10: 00 p. m. | C．Around midnight or later. |
| A．One-fourth. | B．Two-fifths. | C．One-fifth. |
| A．Some intelligence tests. | B．Getting grades in school. | C．Getting good jobs. |
3 . Fashion rental has been on the increase for a few years, similar to trends such as up-cycling and charity shopping. It seems likely to be another pandemic related trend, pushing people to think about fashion consumption and sustainable living — a positive to come out of an isolating two years. Maybe more sustainable way of looking and thinking about fashion is the industry’s future.
According to Fashion United, the fashion rental market is “expected to grow more than 10% year-on-year until 2027”. Rental is a positive in the rapidly changing world of fashion. It is not a trend; it is a solution to limiting the unnecessary production and consumption of clothing.
Sue Ingle, owner of Heavenly Hat Hire, says her main customers are “those attending weddings and races”. Discussing the cost of living, she explains how “people are unwilling to pay £200 for a hat they may only wear once”, so paying a percentage of this on a rental is more affordable and therefore more accessible to a wider audience.
Fashion rental is widening its market. Luxury department stores such as Selfridges and Harrods join forces with rental companies to provide designer items on loan. So why go to a smaller business? From purchasing experience, small businesses often have a more personal feel with extra touches, which are not needed but much appreciated. Heavenly Hat Hire invites customers to book an appointment to try on hats. Sue names the hats to give them a more personal feel and loves it when a customer comes in telling her “I don’t suit hats and never wear them”, then an hour later leaves happily with a hat in hand.
If the pandemic revealed anything to the fashion industry, it is that no brand, no matter its scale, is completely secure. We should support the companies thinking about environmental impact and making improvements to become more sustainable. Small businesses providing this as well as exceptional services should get all our support.
Fashion rental is around to fill the gap in your wardrobe when necessary. As Sue says, “We all need to buy less and love what we already have a little bit more.”
1. What does the author intend to show in Paragraph 3?| A．The change of fashion. | B．The reason for the rise of fashion rental. |
| C．The promising future of fashion rental. | D．Rental’s accessibility to a wide audience. |
| A．To prove fashion rental’s huge profit. | B．To introduce some famous clothing brands. |
| C．To show fashion rental gains popularity. | D．To appeal to more stores to join in the trade. |
| A．Fund-saving. | B．Flexible and movable. |
| C．Fast developing. | D．Eco-friendly. |
| A．Approving. | B．Critical. | C．Objective. | D．Unclear. |
4 . We all know that unpleasant feeling when we’re talking about something interesting and halfway through our sentence we’re interrupted. But was that really an interruption? The answer depends on whom you ask, according to new research led by Katherine Hilton from Stanford University.
Using a set of controlled audio clips (录音片段), Hilton surveyed 5, 000 American English speakers to better understand what affects people’s perceptions of interruptions. She had participants listen to audio clips and then answer questions about whether the speakers seemed to be friendly and engaged, listening to one another, or trying to interrupt.
Hilton found that American English speakers have different conversational styles. She identified two distinct groups: high and low intensity speakers. High intensity speakers are generally uncomfortable with moments of silence in conversation and consider talking at the same time a sign of engagement. Low intensity speakers find it rude to talk at the same time and prefer people speak one after another in conversation.
The differences in conversational styles became evident when participants listened to audio clips in which two people spoke at the same time but were agreeing with each other and stayed on topic, Hilton said. The high intensity group reported that conversations where people spoke at the same time when expressing agreement were not interruptive but engaged and friendlier than the conversations with moments of silence in between speaking turns. In contrast, the low intensity group perceived any amount of simultaneous (同时) chat as a rude interruption, regardless of what the speakers were saying.
“People care about being interrupted, and those small interruptions can have a massive effect on the overall communication,” Hilton said. “Breaking apart what an interruption means is essential if we want to understand how humans interact with each other.”
1. What does Hilton’s research focus on?| A．What interruptions mean to people. |
| B．Whether interruption is good or not. |
| C．How to avoid getting interrupted. |
| D．Why speakers interrupt each other. |
| A．Record an audio clip. | B．Answer some questions. |
| C．Listen to one another. | D．Have a chat with a friend. |
| A．It’s important. | B．It’s interesting. |
| C．It’s inefficient. | D．It’s impolite. |
| A．Human interaction is complex. |
| B．Communication is the basis of life. |
| C．Interruptions promote thinking. |
| D．Language barriers will always exist. |
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Now, most families have one child.
6 . The New Year is the moment when people vow to improve their fitness. They join gyms, swear off alcohol and adopt healthier diets. These resolutions usually do not last beyond January.
But some employers try to help their workers stick to their goals by offering “wellness” programmes. One of the longest-running examples began in 1979 at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), an American health-care company. The plan promotes weight loss, smoking quitting and efforts to reduce blood pressure. The firm claims it reduced medical costs by $400 an employee per year, and resulted in fewer workers suffering from heart disease or high blood pressure.
Yet an examination of the data by Martin Cherniack of the University of Connecticut found that in 2005-2008, a sharp jump in alcohol use, depression and stress among J&J employees occurred. This took place just at the same time when the firm had a target of lifting productivity by 9% a year. So the employees may have been leaner and fitter, but it is possible that workplace pressure to produce more means greater stress.
All this suggests that employee well-being is a rather more complex topic than can be tackled by a programme devoted to exercise and healthy living. A study by RAND Europe, a research institute, found that obvious bad habits such as smoking and high alcohol use were in fact not associated with lower productivity, while obese workers were no more likely to take time off than anyone else. The biggest productivity problems were associated with lack of sleep, financial concerns and mental-health issues—factors that may well be directly linked to work-related stress.
It seems reasonable for companies to expect some level of economic return on any wellness programme that they provide. But a better impact on confidence and enthusiasm (and thus productivity) might occur if workers felt that their managers had a real interest in their welfare.
1. What is Johnson & Johnson’s plan?| A．To improve employees’ fitness. | B．To increase their productivity. |
| C．To reduce their medical cost. | D．To raise their welfares. |
| A．It solved all the health problems. | B．It worked to a certain extent. |
| C．It could do nothing about health. | D．It hardly improved their health. |
| A．Exercise and healthy living. | B．The New Year resolution. |
| C．Work-related stress. | D．Heavy medical costs. |
| A．By focusing on productivity. | B．By being carried out continuously. |
| C．By winning managers’ support. | D．By improving employees’ welfares. |
7 . Chinese students always complain that they’re under great pressure and don’t get enough sleep. But they may be surprised to learn that they’re much luckier than their peers in South Korea and Japan, according to a recently published report, conducted by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences on the physical and mental health of senior high school students in the three Asian countries.
According to the study among nearly 6,000 high school students in the three countries, Chinese students are the tallest but poorest in physical fitness. Chinese students are on average 168.17cm, compared with 167.61cm for South Korean students and 164.70cm for Japanese students. Chinese students asked for sick leave more than students in other countries. About 72 percent of Korean students never asked for sick and injury leave during high school, compared to 53 percent for Japanese students and 45 percent for Chinese students. Moreover, Chinese students drink alcohol and smoke earlier than Korean and Japanese students. Around 70 percent of Chinese students have drunk alcohol, compared to 50 percent for Korean and Japanese students.
According to the survey, Japanese and South Korean students suffer more pressure than their Chinese peers. Statistics show 16 percent of students in China said they experienced mental pressure often over the past year, while the numbers in Japan and South Korea were 33 percent and 47 percent respectively. Their worries come from “study”, “future after graduation”, “friendships” and “relationship with their parents”. To go with stress, 57.9 percent of Korean students sleep the least, less than six hours a day, compared with 46.6 percent of Japanese students and 30 percent of Chinese students.
More Chinese students were satisfied with their physical appearance, double that of students in the survey from Japan and South Korea. The report said that over half of students in South Korea had tried to lose weight in the past year, while in China the figure was only 22 percent. In measures of self-worth, such as “I think I am valuable” and “I think I am successful”, “I can complete many things”, “I won’t give up to failure,” Chinese students showed greater self-confidence than students in Japan and South Korea.
1. What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?| A．Chinese teenagers are tallest, but most unhealthy. |
| B．Chinese students drink most alcohol and smoke earliest. |
| C．Japanese students ask for least sick leave. |
| D．Chinese students ask for sick leave most often. |
| A．Chinese students are luckiest, yet most unsuccessful. |
| B．Chinese students are confident in themselves and luckier. |
| C．Japanese students are most stressed. |
| D．South Korean students sleep the least. |
| A．The height. | B．The percentage. | C．The weight. | D．The number. |
| A．study and career | B．physical appearance | C．friendships | D．family relationship |
8 . If Siri had any feelings, she would know she was being teased. When 10-year-old Belinda and her friends play, they sometimes ask Siri questions in the hope she will say something random and make them laugh. “Do a rap,” they urge Siri, “Tell us a bedtime story.”
Belinda and her friends have grown up interacting with artificial intelligence(AI) in the form of Siri, Alexa and Google. They were born into a world of portable devices.
In 2010 when the first of their generation were born, Apple released the first iPad, internet activist Julian Assange published thousands of classified documents, Mark Zuckerberg was Time s person of the year.
Mark McCrindle, Sydney-based social researcher, first coined the term Generation Alpha to describe those born between about 2010 and 2024 in his book Generation Alpha. He said this generation have access to more technology? information and external influences than any generation before them, and at a younger age.
Belinda has had an iPad since year 3 and is allowed to use her iPad after doing violin and piano practice. "It's always 'Can I use my iPad, I'll do that afterwards7 and the afterwards never happens,” Catherine says, “Change the order and it gets done.”
Belinda is on guard against "stranger danger" and ensures her privacy settings, which mean that only her friends can join her in games. On occasion Belinda has wiped all her apps off her iPad, worried that she has disclosed too much, such as her date of birth and photo. When she downloads apps now she doesn't use her real date of birth.
In his book, McCrindle says, " In some ways, Generation Alpha are part of an unintentional global experiment in which screens are placed in front of them from the youngest age so we should pay attention to the addictive nature of devices and internet security."
1. Why is Siri mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To prove Siri is very intelligent. | B．To point out kids often feel bored. |
| C．To indicate Siri needs to be improved. | D．To show Al is part o£ Belinda's life. |
| A．They are more independent. | B．They are more willing to help others. |
| C．They are exposed to more technology. | D．They are more devoted to social activities. |
| A．Adaptable. | B．Caring. | C．Shy. | D．Cautious. |
| A．McCrindle5s book. | B．McCrindle's concern. |
| C．The harm of screens. | D．Ways to deal with devices. |
9 . This year’s holiday photos will have an undoubtedly pandemic feel:
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Bass Pro Shops began offering free photos with Santa during the 2008 recession, when the country was in need of a collective pick-me-up.
The SoNo collection, a mall in Norwalk, Conn., is offering virtual visits this year for $25. But for those who would like to see Santa in the flesh, he’ll be greeting shoppers from inside an acrylic snow globe on the third floor.
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Her acrylic barriers, which she sells for as much as $4,000, are being used by nearly 50 malls, schools and hospitals this holiday season.
| A．A visit to Santa Claus is always a big pleasure for children. |
| B．It turned out to be an overnight success |
| C．Santa has survived so many things |
| D．We find it difficult to deal with the situation |
| E．But we had to come up with a creative plan to protect him |
| F．No more sitting on Santa Claus’s lap or whispering in his ear |
| G．Santa can’t give out hugs or candy canes this year, but people still want to see him |
10 . For much of human history and in many places, girls were considered property, or required to obey their fathers until the day they had to start obeying their husbands. In most of the world that vision of girlhood now seems not merely old-fashioned but unimaginably remote. In field after field girls have caught up with boys. Globally, young women now outnumber (数量超过) young men at university. Girl babies are more wanted than ever before. Even in places, such as China, where the sex-selective abortion of girls has been common, it is becoming less so. Girls are also less likely to be married off in childhood. In 1995 almost six in ten girls in South Asia were married before reaching 18; that has fallen by half.
When societies handle girlhood well, the knock-on effects are astonishing. A girl who finishes secondary school is less likely to become a child bride or a teenage mother. Education boosts earning power and widens choices, so she is less likely to be poor or to suffer domestic abuse. She will have fewer children, and invest more in them. They will be less likely to die in babyhood, or to grow up stunted physically or mentally. She will read to them more and help them with their homework. All this means they will learn more, and earn more as adults. A recent study estimated that, if 100% of their girls completing secondary school is ensured, it could lead to a lasting boost to GDP.
Despite the benefits of nurturing girls, some countries have still failed to grasp them. Only one girl in three south of the Sahara finishes her secondary education. The COVID-19 pandemic could disturb progress for girls in poor countries, or even reverse it. When Ebola forced west African schools to close in 2014, many girls dropped out, never went back and ended up pregnant or as child laborers. UNICEF warns that something similar could happen with COVID-19—but on a larger scale.
1. What's the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．Girls suffer a lot in human history. |
| B．Girls' situation has improved a lot globally. |
| C．Girl babies are more welcomed than ever before. |
| D．Girls do much better than boys in many fields. |
| A．There are more young women than young men at university in China. |
| B．A girl who completes secondary school will have more children. |
| C．Children of the girls with schooling may end up earning more as adults. |
| D．Economy of countries is largely determined by the education level of girls. |
| A．Healthy. | B．Confident. | C．Underdeveloped. | D．Unstable. |
| A．To prove COVID-19 is more serious than Ebola. |
| B．To warn that girls may suffer a lot in COVID-19. |
| C．To appeal to all to pay attention to the poor countries. |
| D．To stress the importance of controlling the disasters. |
