After an absence of thirty years, I decided to visit my old school again. I had expected to find changes, but not a completely different building. As I walked up the school drive, I wondered for a moment if I had come to the right address. The dirty red brick houses had been swept away. In its place stood a bright, modern block. A huge expanse of glass extended (延展) across the face of the building, and in front, there was a well-kept lawn (草坪) where there used to be “an untidy gravel (沙石) yard”.

I was pleased to find that it was bread time and that the children were all in the playground. This would enable me to meet some members of staff. On entering the building, I was surprised to hear loud laughter coming from what appeared to be the masters’ common room. I could not help remembering the teachers in my time, all dressed in black gowns and high collars. And above all, I recalled Mr Garston whom we had nicknamed “Mr Ghastly”, the headmaster who had iron discipline on staff and pupils alike. I knocked at the common room door and was welcomed by a smiling young man who introduced himself to me as the headmaster. He was dressed casually in a sports jacket, and his cheerful manner, quickly dispelled (驱散) the image of Mr Ghastly. After I had explained who I was, the headmaster presented me to the teachers all of whom were a little younger than himself, and said he would take me round the school.

Here the biggest surprise of all was in store for me. Gone were the heavy desks of old with their deeply carved names; gone too, were the dark classrooms with their ink stained, dark brown walls, and their raised platforms for the teachers. The rooms now were painted in bright colors, and the children, far from sitting straight in their places, seemed almost free to do as they liked. I looked with envy as I remembered how, as a child, I had looked at the blackboard hardly daring to whisper to my neighbor.

1.The writer ______.

A.had no difficulty in recognizing his old school

B.found it difficult to recognize his old school

C.noticed that the building was still unfinished

D.was surprised to see an untidy gravel yard

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A.He had expected that the school had completely changed.

B.In the writer’s time, all the teachers were dressed in black gowns and high collars.

C.There was a well-kept lawn in their school when he visited it.

D.An untidy gravel yard had disappeared.

3.“Mr. Ghastly” must be ______.

A.the writer’s teacher B.a serious old man

C.the strict headmaster D.a naughty boy

4.From what is said in the passage it seems clear the writer ______.

A.disapproved of all the changes that had taken place

B.felt sorry for the children in the school

C.was glad that the school was still the same

D.felt that conditions at the school had improved a lot

阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇 60 词左右的内容概要。

In today’s world where we have various translation apps that allow us to talk to almost anyone “in his own language”, why do we still need to make an effort to learn a foreign language ourselves? There are practical reasons, of course. For example, those who are bilingual (具备双语能力的)  have a better chance in the job market. And science has proved that learning to speak more than one

language can train one’s brain to be stronger.

But there’s more to it than that. US author Rita Mae Brown once wrote: “Language is the road map of a culture.” By taking a look at the vocabulary and idioms of a language system, we get a glimpse (一瞥) at what’s held important in a certain culture. Take the Swedish word “lagom” for example. It means “just the right amount”, which doesn’t have a matching word either in English or in Chinese. From “lagom”, we can see how much the concepts of “moderation (适度)” and “balance” are valued in Swedish culture. By learning a foreign language, you also gain a better understanding of your own culture. Irish language expert Benny Lewis explained this idea in his blog with an interesting metaphor: “Trying to understand your own culture merely from within it is like trying to understand what a bus is like if you’ve only ever ridden inside it. If you want the bigger picture, you need to get off that bus and examine it from the outside.” And by opening our eyes to different

cultures, we’re able to understand better how people grow up to be different from one another. We also learn to be more tolerant and respectful to the diversity of the world.

As Trinity University professor Leonardo De Valoes wrote on the school’s website: “Foreign language study is simply part of a very basic liberal education: to ‘educate’ is to lead out, to lead out of narrowness and darkness.”

假定你是某国际高中的学生李华，得知学校正在为 2 位加拿大交换生征询寄宿家庭，你有意申请，请用英文给学校该项目负责人 Mr. Chen 写一封申请信。

内容包括：1.自我介绍；2. 家庭条件及个人优势。

注意：1. 词数 100 左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Mr. Chen,

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

    I had always  hated playing  chess. Up until a few months ago, I don’t think  I ever_____ a  chess game in my life. Actually, I didn’t have a______ about how to play. I knew the rules, but   that’s it. I had tried to _________  playing chess most of my life, even though it _________  that it should be a great game to play.

I started playing again just as a ________  to stay in touch with my friend who moved abroad.  We play ______ .  But nothing  has  changed. He  still ______  me  easily every time.  After six    months of getting kicked all over the _______ , I decided to learn something about the game. I    finally___ losing.

I _______  somebody must have made a video or a clear book on the _______  of chess, so I    started looking and was astonished at how much good ______  is out there. I got some and played  lots of games with my computer,______ some of the stuff I was learning. And what do you know? Not only did I start to play a lot ________ , but the game became as fun as I always ________  it should be. It’s interesting and___ . It’s just like playing a game of___ . It’s a great battle.

I’m no Grandmaster. Not even close. But the _______ between me two months ago and me now is amazing. I_____ learned a few important basic principles, and now suddenly I know the game. And that’s the first lesson I learned about chess that ______ to living life well:  It really helps to   learn some basics.

1.A.lost B.played C.won D.missed

2.A.clue B.question C.dream D.choice

3.A.keep B.admit C.deny D.avoid

4.A.mattered B.seemed C.happened D.proved

5.A.way B.joke C.cause D.change

6.A.indoors B.everywhere C.online D.overseas

7.A.defeated B.disappointed C.guided D.assisted

8.A.body B.world C.board D.field

9.A.made use of B.got tired of C.had fun with D.got away with

10.A.declared B.approved C.figured D.regretted

11.A.benefits B.origin C.spirit D.basics

12.A.pleasure B.culture C.interest D.material

13.A.practicing B.suspecting C.improving D.recording

14.A.worse B.less C.better D.harder

15.A.required B.thought C.decided D.discovered

16.A.relaxing B.puzzling C.touching D.challenging

17.A.war B.speed C.chance D.trust

18.A.success B.wisdom C.appearance D.difference

19.A.just B.still C.even D.seldom

20.A.leads B.applies C.objects D.adjusts

    The big examination is approaching. Assignments and tests will keep many of you up late at night, and you may plan to make up for your lost sleep during the weekends.1. A study    shows that the habit of sleeping in on weekends doesn’t fix the damage done by a lack of sleep during the week.2.

In the study, 36 healthy young men and women with different sleep requirements were divided into three groups. The first and second groups were asked to sleep nine hours and five hours a night respectively. The members of the third group slept for five hours on weekdays, but rested as long as they wanted on the weekend.

The researchers found that people who lacked sleep ate more snacks and gained weight quickly. 3.That could be partially due to the change of the biological clock. In order to    catch up on their sleep during weekends, people in the third group would habitually eat later, changing the release of hunger hormones. “4.” explained US researcher Polotsky. And even if they tried to sleep for as long as they wanted to during weekends, it was still inadequate to meet standard sleep time because they found it difficult to fall asleep.

“5.”Polotsky told CNN. “Because short, inadequate sleep schedules will lead to an in ability to change blood sugar and increase the risk of metabolic (新陈代谢的) disease in the long term. ”

For this reason, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends at least seven hours of sleep each night for adults and much more for children.

A.But is it useful?

B.Do you feel excited about it?

C.Even worse,it may damage your health.

D.And these people are more likely to fall ill.

E.However,this wasn’t the case for the first group.

F.They may feel tired even after a full night’s sleep.

G.It increases appetite,so you’re hungry and eat more.

    Before the discovery of DNA profiling (分析) in the 1980s, fingerprints were the easiest way to solve serious crimes. It’s believed that each one of us has our own unique fingerprints. But did you know that our fingerprints could actually reveal a lot more about us than just our identity? According to Melanie Bailey of The Conversation, fingerprints can indicate lifestyle and environment, eating habits, possible medical problems and even the job of a person.

So how can we figure all this out from just a simple fingerprint? Well, a fingerprint is formed when a finger makes contact with a surface. Most fingerprints are invisible to the naked eye (裸眼) and require a chemical development process in order to make them visible. Stuck between the ridges (隆起的纹路) of a fingerprint, however, are substances(物质) that can tell a story about who we are. Things like traces of sweat, blood, and food reveal a lot of information about us — what we’ve touched, what we’ve eaten and even what drugs we’ve taken.

At the moment, the technique used to detect these substances are mostly used in crime detection, but its application could be much wider, according to Bailey. For example, she and her fellow researchers were able to tell what medicines people were taking from their fingerprints, which may be of great help in the future to doctors treating their patients.

A fingerprint check may also tell a doctor whether a patient is properly absorbing a drug they’ve been prescribed (开药). In the treatment of some of the most serious illnesses, it’s vital that the body is taking in these medicines. As Scientific American noted, this is particularly important for patients undergoing treatment for heart conditions and mental disease, as these people might struggle to absorb the drugs or forget or choose not to take them.

And while it’s commonly believed that our fingerprints never change, in fact, they do — and the way they change can provide a lot of very useful information. In the future, fingerprint science won’t be restricted to the crime lab but could help doctors keep us in the best possible health.

1.What is the function of Paragraph 1?

A.To make known a common sense. B.To introduce the theme of the passage.

C.To summarize the whole passage. D.To serve as a topic explanation.

2.What could a fingerprint tell according to the research?

A.How a fingerprint was formed. B.Who the criminal might be.

C.How a doctor should prescribe. D.What drug the patient had taken.

3.What can be learned from the passage?

A.The change of fingerprints is of little value.

B.We can see a fingerprint with our naked eyes.

C.Fingerprints are the easiest way to solve crimes.

D.Things stuck between fingerprints’ridges tell a lot.

4.What’s Melanie Bailey’s attitude towards the application of fingerprints?

A.Indifferent. B.Skeptical. C.Positive. D.Negative.

    Having an older brother comes with plenty of benefits. Big brothers tend to look out for their younger siblings, and except for the occasional rocky moment here and there, many siblings enjoy life-long close relationships. However, a new study finds an interesting downside: children with older brothers take longer when it comes to developing language skills.

The study, led by a group of researchers in Paris, France, builds upon a former research which showed that having older siblings is associated with poor linguistic development. Now, researchers say they have come to a more specific conclusion: only children with an older brother have these linguistic difficulties.

One would think that children with older brothers would grow up around more conversation on a daily basis, thus speeding up their language development. Yet researchers say such children actually take longer than their older brothers to begin developing these skills. Researchers studied more than 1,000 children from birth to the age of five-and-a-half years old. Each child’s language skills were tested at ages 2, 3, and 5.5, using tests specially designed to measure numerous aspects of language development. What the research team discovered was significant: children with an older brother had, on average, a two-month delay in their language development compared to studied children with an older sister.

As far as explaining this, researchers have put forward two hypotheses. The first is that older sisters tend to talk more often than older brothers, which would make up for parents being less present than they were for their first child. The second hypothesis is that older sisters usually compete with their siblings less than older brothers for their parents’ attention.

Up till now, the study’s authors say they can’t say for certain why children with older brothers have a harder time developing language skills. In the future they would like to know if culture or location affects these results.

1.What does the underlined phrase“rocky moment”in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A.Sadness. B.Quarrel. C.Excitement. D.Peace.

2.Why did the Paris researchers carry out the study?

A.To find how kids learn from their siblings.

B.To further research into a former study result.

C.To explore the newest trend of linguistic world.

D.To investigate the situation of kids’language skills.

3.Which of the following did the researchers find in kids with siblings?

A.Children with older brothers were less active.

B.Siblings are less helpful to them than other people.

C.Kids with older sisters developed their language better.

D.Older children got more chances to talk to their parents.

Why TFT is the best

Local Experiences

Our mission is authentic travel. We partner with local experts to create enriching experiences that teach teens to be savvy (有见识的) travelers. Every program is designed to be hands-on — emphasizing doing and feeling, in addition to just seeing, so teens discover what it means to live like a local in every country we visit.

Small and Diverse

Group sizes of 14-21 students allow us to travel comfortably and to make real connections to each other and the host community. Participants come from a mix of different states, regions, and countries. We also welcome solo travelers — 75% of our teens join us without a friend!

The Most Variety

We offer cultural exploration, community service, language, and photography programs to Europe, Africa, Latin America, Oceania, Asia, and North America. We have more programs in more destinations than any other teen travel company. With over 100 programs and 40+ countries to choose from, you’re sure to find a program that’s the perfect fit.

Check out what past travelers have to say about TFT and discover why we are the best.

“This is simply one of the best things we ever did for Ethan. That first trip opened him to a new world. Different cultures, food, diversity, sights, relationships, team building, confidence, independence … only a few of the positive gains for Ethan. Now, he is off to George Washington University with confidence, excitement, and an awareness for others for which we are so grateful. We are pleased and appreciative beyond words to be a member of the TFT family for a lifetime!”

1.What is TFT most probably be?

A.A youth travel organization. B.An advertising company.

C.A cross-culture program. D.A learning center for students.

2.Who’s Ethan in the text?

A.A tour guide. B.An employee of TFT.

C.A university teacher. D.A former customer.

3.Where is this text most likely from?

A.A website advertisement. B.A newspaper report.

C.A textbook on tourism. D.A geographical book.

假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Jim给你写信，想了解你在新冠肺炎爆发期间是怎么度过的。请根据下面要点给他回信，内容包括：1.如何度过； 2. 你的感受；3.期望了解他们目前的情况。注意：词数100左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

参考词汇：新冠肺炎：NCP（novel coronavirus pneumonia);

上网课：attend online course;  疫情：epidemic situation

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

I can well remember how happily I was every time my mother celebrated my birthday. Every year on my birthday, my mother used to buy large cake and some gifts for me. The whole family would sit around the table, sharing the delicious food cooking by my mother.

With my mother’s birthday come, I would like to do something for him in return to express my special gratitude. Tomorrow I am going to buy her a cake as well as a bunch of flower. In the afternoon, I will cook a birthday meal for my mother by me. I have grown up, so my mother is getting old. My dear mother, thank you for all which you have done for me. May joy and healthy be with you always!