1 . Bringing goods into the UK
You are allowed to bring some goods for personal use without paying tax or duty.
Arrivals from EU countries
You can bring goods from EU countries without being charged tax or duty if they are:
● transported by yourself; ● a gift or for personal use; ● bought with tax and duty included.
You can bring alcohol and tobacco from EU countries without restriction but an inquiry(调查) might be required depending on the amount of your goods.
Arrivals from outside the EU
You will be free of duty or tax on certain amounts of goods brought from outside the EU, as long as they are for your own use. Any goods that are beyond your allowance should be declared.
Alcohol & tobacco allowance:
| Type of goods | Cigarettes | Cigars | Tobacco | Beer | Wine(not sparkling wine) | Spirits | Alcoholic drinks |
| Amount | 200 | 50 | 250 grams | 16 litres | 4 litres | 1 litre | 2 litres |
Allowance for other goods:
The maximum value of other goods you can bring is £390. Any single item that is worth more than the allowance will be charged duty or tax on its full value.
The rate of duty or tax on items above the allowance is:
● 2.5% for goods worth up to £630;
● decided by the type of goods worth above £630 — check by calling the VAT, Customs.
Banned and restricted goods
Goods banned include:
● illegal drugs; ● offensive weapons; ● endangered animal and plant species;
● meat and dairy(乳制的) products from most non-EU countries.
Food and plant products restricted include:
● products containing pests and diseases; ● products grown outside the EU;
● products not for your own use.
1. Which of the following products from outside the EU has the largest duty-free allowance?| A．Beer. |
| B．Wine (not sparkling wine). |
| C．Spirits. |
| D．Alcoholic drinks. |
| A．£ 2.75 | B．£ 12.5 | C．£ 110 | D．£ 130 |
| A．A set of Russian dolls. |
| B．A bottle of French wine. |
| C．A brick of Japanese cheese. |
| D．A package of Spanish cigarettes. |
2 . Suppose your permanent residence, or hukou, was in Chongqing, you worked in Beijing and you needed to get a passport for a business trip abroad. What should you do?
You have to go back to Chongqing, which is 1,500km away, and apply to local public security authorities for the passport, because in China public services are closely linked to hukou. But a new regulation, which is part of the hukou reform, will make this annoying experience a thing of the past.
The regulation targets China’s newly introduced residence permit system, which will take effect on Jan 1, 2016. It allows people who don’t have local hukou to receive more access to basic public services in the cities where they are living. These include education, basic employment services, automobile registration, and passport and ID card application processing.
You can apply for a residence permit at the local police station, which has jurisdiction (管辖权) over the area where you live. The documents needed for the permit application include your ID card, photos and materials that prove that you have a job, a place to live, or that you are studying at an education institution.
To certify that you have a place to live, a house rental contract or property ownership certificate will do. For employment, a business license, job contract, or employment certificate can do the trick. If you are a student applying for the permit, show your student card or other documentation issued by your school.
Despite all this, maybe you are still not happy about not having a local hukou. Don’t worry. People will have a chance, as the country is reforming the hukou system further.
1. What is the purpose of the first 2 paragraphs?| A．To introduce the topic of the passage. | B．To emphasize the focus of the passage. |
| C．To summarize the main idea of the passage. | D．To arouse the readers’ interest of reading |
| A．receive more access to basic public services |
| B．provide proofs of identification |
| C．present a house rental contract |
| D．show your student card or other documentation |
| A．apply | B．prove | C．permit | D．test |
| A．China plans to create a new hukou system |
| B．Getting a hukou may be easier with new policies |
| C．Other reforms that will bring people more happiness |
| D．People will not need hukou in China soon. |
3 . New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed an order allowing online marriages, as many weddings are cancelled under lockdown restrictions.
From now on, people in the US state will be able to apply for marriage licences remotely and clerks allowed to conduct ceremonies online
Mr Cuomo joked that the decision meant there was now “no excuse” for couples not to tie the knot.
“You can do it by Zoom. Yes or no?” he said in his briefing on Saturday.
The decision comes after New York state extended lockdown measures until May 15. More than 13,000 people have died of coronavirus in New York city alone.
Social media reaction to the decision was mixed. Some questioned why couples would choose to hold weddings when their families and friends are unable to join them, or criticised the governor for not prioritising other decisions. But others pointed out that during a pandemic (流行病), marriage could offer practical benefits, such as allowing couples to share health insurance coverage.
New York isn’t the first place to turn to the internet to offer a legal solution. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently announced that citizens and residents would be allowed to get married online, after the justice ministry created a website for couples to submit required documents. A virtual ceremony, complete with a registrar and witnesses, can then take place. Similar measures have been introduced in the US state of Colorado, where couples are being allowed to apply for marriage licences online.
Meanwhile, one county in Ohio is allowing people to obtain marriage licences online in limited circumstances, such as when one of the partners is a health care worker, suffers from a serious illness or has health insurance issues.
1. Why was an order allowing online marriage signed by New York governor?| A．Because people preferred to apply for marriage license online. |
| B．Because under lockdown restrictions, many weddings can’t be held. |
| C．Because there was no excuse for couples not to get married. |
| D．Because it was new fashion to conduct wedding ceremonies virtually. |
| A．All people are in favor of the decision. |
| B．No one except young people likes the decision. |
| C．Not all people are for the decision. |
| D．All people are against the decision. |
| A．California. | B．Ohio. | C．Florida. | D．Colorado. |
| A．In New York all people can apply for marriage licenses online. |
| B．In Colorado all people can apply for marriage licenses online. |
| C．In Ohio all people can apply for marriage licenses online. |
| D．In New York state people have to stay home until May 15. |
4 . In England and Wales, motorists will face stronger punishments for driving under the influence of drugs as new laws take effect on Monday.
Drivers will be accused if they are caught going over the new legal limits for eight illegal drugs and eight prescription drugs.
Police will use ‘drugalysers’ to screen for cannabis and cocaine at the roadside, and they will be able to test for other drugs including ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and heroin at a police station. The Department of Transport (DoT) hopes to roll out more comprehensive roadside drugalysers at a later date.
People using prescription drugs, including morphine and methadone, will not be punished as long as levels are below those defined by the new law. The levels for illegal drugs are set much lower, with even a small amount leading to accusation.
The new law will complement existing rules, which make it an offence to drive when influenced by any drug.
A crime for drug-driving will lead to a minimum one-year driving ban, a fine of up to £5,000 ($7,700, 6,860 euros), up to six months in prison and a criminal record, the DoT said.
The offender’s driving licence will also highlight the drug-driving crime for 11 years.
1. What’s the function of drugalysers ?| A．To examine the cannabis and cocaine . | B．To help the police to arrest the criminals. |
| C．To show how dangerous drug-driving is. | D．To help the drivers drive within the limits. |
| A．Which drivers should be fined. | B．Prescription drugs are used legally. |
| C．How long a driver may be stopped driving. | D．In which situation drivers can not be punished. |
| A．They need record the criminal. | B．They can get as much as £5,000. |
| C．They must stop driving for at least one year . | D．They must work in the prison up to six months. |
| A．The laws in England and wales. | B．The drugalysers along the roadside. |
| C．New drug-driving laws have taken effect. | D．The reasons why the drivers will be punished. |
5 . Many cities and towns have laws that require people to recycle paper and plastics. Now some state and local governments have passed laws that require citizens to recycle their food waste as well. California and Vermont have statewide laws about recycling food waste that apply to businesses and homes. The process of recycling food waste and turning it into usable soil is called composting (堆制肥料).
Food waste that can be composted includes fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, tea bags, and eggshells. Garden waste such as stems and leaves can also be composted. Meat, fish, and dairy food waste cannot be recycled.
According to environmental groups, composting reduces the amount of trash going into landfills, and composted waste holds a wide range of nutrients (营养物). When compost is added to the soil in gardens and fields, it helps crops grow.
Reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfills is one reason why cities and states are passing food-waste recycling laws. “Our landfills are far from enough for the creation of new ones is shrinking.” Renee Crowley, a project manager at the Lower East Side Ecology Center in New York City, told TFK.
Officials in Seattle, Washington, say that food waste makes up 30% of the trash going into landfills, and they are looking to reduce that percentage. That city has a law requiring people to recycle food waste. It is banned from all garbage. There is a fine (罚款) for people who put it into regular garbage.
Those who are against food-recycling laws say that the composting process is costly. In addition, it can be difficult for people who live in apartments to store their waste because they don’t have access to outside storage bins. Patti Ferguson from Orange County, California, told her local newspaper that she thought an indoor container containing food waste would get smelly.
1. What do we know about composting from the text?| A．Leaves can’t be reused. | B．Not all food waste can be composted. |
| C．It is cheap to compost food waste. | D．It is usually processed in empty landfills. |
| A．Benefits of recycling food waste. | B．Ways of keeping nutrients in the soil. |
| C．Ways of reducing the amount of trash. | D．Examples of different useful nutrients. |
| A．acceptable | B．shameful | C．required | D．illegal |
| A．Thankful. | B．Negative. | C．Uncaring. | D．Supportive. |
6 . Over 2. 5 quintillion （1018） bytes of data are created each day. Many of them consist of information that would allow people to be personally identified.
At the same time that we share our personal information, there is a growing concern with how that information is being gathered, stored, used and shared. While many economies like Canada and the EU have privacy laws dating back to the mid-1990s, changes to data practices in the past five years have motivated governments to review or update existing laws.
Changes to privacy laws are being fuelled by growing public concerns with the idea of unrestricted data accumulation and use. For instance, earlier this year, the World Economic Forum found that 1/3 of global citizens have no idea about how their personal information is used and that trust is lacking.
Privacy laws are changing to deal with the real and noticed risks of harm which result from the under-regulated or unregulated data economy. The EU has introduced big reform to laws which are aimed at protecting privacy. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation （GDPR） introduced strict requirements for those that control or process the personal data of the people who live in the EU. The GDPR's stated goals focus on the protection and basic rights of personal information. Certain US states are also entering the ring in the fight for control over personal data. They have passed or are actively considering privacy laws. California is out front. The California Consumer Privacy Act （CCPA） provides greater control to individuals over their personal information. There is a sense that privacy laws are on the near horizon in the US.
These are two examples that are actively pursuing more progressive privacy laws. One important consideration is to harmonize global standards for best law practices. This will ease compliance （遵守）across border and provide a valuable signal to the public that governments are keeping pace with rapid change.
1. What's the cause of the change of privacy laws?| A．A growing need for information. | B．Public concerns over data security. |
| C．General awareness of data control. | D．Collection of personal information. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By listing statistics. |
| C．By analyzing reasons. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．The practice of laws in different fields. |
| B．The reflection of reality in different eras. |
| C．The consistency of laws in different regions. |
| D．The adaptation to changes in different societies. |
| A．EU passes new laws for privacy protection. |
| B．Governments ignore the violation of personal privacy. |
| C．Privacy laws are changing to protect personal information. |
| D．People lack the awareness of personal information protection. |
Do teachers have the right to discipline (惩戒)students?
The Ministry of Education issued a notice on Nov22,
Sunnylin 01: Teachers should be cautious in disciplining students. They can punish a student without violence but hurt the child
Markwu: Disciplining is a challenging task which teachers have to do and , if not
Lindasun: It is parents’ responsibility to discipline the students, not teachers, because the teachers are not paid to discipline children, but to guide their learning.
Beijing has introduced new
9 . When your alarm clock rings and you drag yourself out of bed, you probably wonder： Why on earth does school have to start so early?
Fortunately, there is a new law to support—or better still, science.
A law in California, passed on Oct 13, requires that public middle schools begin classes no earlier than 8：00 am and that high schools start no earlier than 8：30 am. The law will go into effect by July 1, 2022.
Starting school at 8：00 or 8：30 in the morning may not sound like too big of a change, but it could mean one more hour of sleep for students who used to start school at 7:30 or even earlier.
"The effect of that one hour is something they will be feeling as 40-year-old adults," Sumit Bhargava, a sleep expert at Stanford University, told The New York Times. He said that not having enough sleep can affect students' mental health and increase the risk of being overweight and diabetes （糖尿病）.
In the short run, students' school performances should improve almost immediately. Kyla Wahlstrom, a researcher at the University of Minnesota's College of Education, found that students who have enough sleep are alert in class and get much more satisfying grades.
Some might say that asking students to go to bed earlier could have been a much easier solution than changing the school timetable across an entire state. But according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, teenagers go through biological changes when they enter puberty （青春期）,which makes it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11：00 pm. So when school starts at 8：00 or earlier, they can hardly get the ideal 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep that experts suggest they need to do their best in the daytime.
This is why when the new law came out, its author, Anthony Portantino, said, "Generations of children will come to appreciate this historic day and our governor for taking action."
1. Which of the following is TRUE about the law?| A．The law has not been put into practice. |
| B．The law requires schools to start later than 8：30am. |
| C．The law will be passed by July 1, 2022. |
| D．The law is made by a university in California. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Sharp. |
| C．Calm. | D．Honest. |
| A．About 8 hours. | B．About 9 hours. |
| C．At least 10 hours. | D．At most 8. 5 hours. |
| A．Lack of sleep could lead to health problems. |
| B．The amount of sleep people need changes with age. |
| C．A new law lets students sleep longer. |
| D．Sleeping problems are leading problems for teenagers. |
10 . Traveling by subway can sometimes be quite an adventure, especially during rush hour. There are the times when you have to avoid cups of coffee that could spill (溅) on you. The smells of some passengers’ food are very strong, too. According to the Beijing subway passenger regulations, which went into effect on May 15th, passengers except babies and the sick are no longer allowed to eat or drink on the subway. Violators (违反者) who do not stop after being asked to will be asked to get off. The violation will also be recorded in the violators’ credit record.
Some support the rule. The reason is that the smell of food and drink can annoy other passengers. “The smell of food fills the carriage, causing people discomfort, especially in the hot summer, Besides, eating on the subway produces rubbish. And on subway trains, people often spill their drinks,” said Zheng Yiou, 17, a student from Hefei.
However, others question this rule. “Some citizens live so far from their work places that they have limited time to have breakfast before they go to work. Eating while they travel saves them time and decreases the chance that they will be late for work,” He Songlin, a 17-year-old student from Chengdu said, “And some people, like those with low- blood sugar levels, get sick if they can’t eat when they must.”
Other Chinese cities like Nanjing and Chengdu have similar regulations. Some foreign cities also ban eating and drinking on the subway. For example, eating and drinking have long been banned on the subway in Washington DC. Singapore fines people who eat or drink on the subway up to 500 Singapore dollars, which is RMB 2,417 yuan.
Chen Yanyan, a professor from Beijing University of Technology, believed we should consider the need of some people to eat or drink on the subway. “Commuters (上班族) and travelers are sometimes too busy to eat. Maybe we could learn from Tokyo, where there are many subway stations equipped with services, allowing passengers to eat and drink,” she said.
1. In which city was subway passenger regulations carried out on May 15th?| A．Chengdu. | B．Nanjing. |
| C．Washington DC. | D．Beijing. |
| A．Eating on the subway. | B．Drinking on the subway. |
| C．Being fined up to 2417 yuan. | D．Being asked to get off the train. |
| A．Worried. | B．Sympathetic. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Uninterested |
| A．Food and Drink Banned on Subway. |
| B．The Adventure of Subway Traveling |
| C．Ways to Eat and Drink on Subway. |
| D．The Services on Subway Stations |
