Kids generally like Labor Day because they’re off school. But do they know what they’re celebrating every first Monday in September? Sure, we can explain how it’s the holiday devoted to American workers. However, there might be a better way to teach them about it with these ideas.
Write thank-you letters
Labor Day celebrates the labor movement and workers here in our great country. Even little ones can thank our nation’s hardest workers during this holiday weekend. Help your child write a thank-you card to a worker they admire and then deliver it by hand or by mail.
Have a sing-along with friends
Rally(召集) the kids and lead them in an epic American sing-along to celebrate our country and its amazing workers. Be sure to have a loud speaker on hand and print out words for the children to follow along. Don’t be alarmed if the gathering turns into a completely developed dance party!
Make footprint vehicles
Ask the kids to think of some of the vehicles our nation’s workers use to do their jobs. Paint the bottom of your child’s foot with washable paint and help them make a footprint on a piece of paper. Give them markers to help them turn their footprint into their favorite worker vehicle. So cute!
Create a career mobile
Buy or make a hanging photo mobile, and have the kids add photos of American workers. Ask the children what they want to be when they grow up — place their dream career in the center and hang others off to the sides.
| A．May 1st. | B．September 2nd. |
| C．September 19th. | D．May 4th. |
| A．Have a sing-along with friends. |
| B．Make footprint vehicles. |
| C．Write thank-you letters. |
| D．Create a career mobile. |
| A．American holidays for children. |
| B．Proper gifts for American workers. |
| C．Better ways to teach about Labor Day. |
| D．Different ways to cheer up kids at home. |
At Christmas time, I often reflect upon one particular evening in the early 1960s. Back then, we decided to go carolling (唱圣诞颂歌) to spread the Christmas spirit which might
Soon we discovered that carolling brought various
One stop on our journey particularly
We stepped briskly upward into the couple’s
Sitting beside his wife, the gentleman gave us a
A smile flickered on the woman’s
At that moment, we found, and maybe even
| A．change | B．brighten | C．shape | D．influence |
| A．sponsored | B．consulted | C．dismissed | D．recruited |
| A．requirement | B．objective | C．reward | D．privilege |
| A．consequences | B．responses | C．comments | D．bonuses |
| A．awkwardly | B．passively | C．randomly | D．positively |
| A．stuck in | B．woke up | C．stirred up | D．slipped from |
| A．commanded | B．proposed | C．requested | D．recommended |
| A．shamefully | B．hesitantly | C．suspiciously | D．proudly |
| A．unfurnished | B．adorable | C．tiny | D．trendy |
| A．for the sake of | B．for fear of | C．in spite of | D．in the hope of |
| A．smile | B．glance | C．tune | D．nod |
| A．grace | B．seriousness | C．bitterness | D．sympathy |
| A．fake | B．bright | C．rosy | D．wrinkled |
| A．presence | B．absence | C．expectation | D．circle |
| A．created | B．acquired | C．spread | D．regained |
The scientist’s job is to figure out how the world works, to “torture (拷问)” Nature to reveal her secrets, as the 17th century philosopher Francis Bacon described it. But who are these people in the lab coats (or sports jackets, or T-shirts and jeans) and how do they work? It turns out that there is a good deal of mystery surrounding the mystery-solvers.
“One of the greatest mysteries is the question of what it is about human beings — brains, education, culture etc. that makes them capable of doing science at all,” said Colin Allen, a cognitive scientist at Indiana University.
Two vital ingredients seem to be necessary to make a scientist: the curiosity to seek out mysteries and the creativity to solve them. “Scientists exhibit a heightened level of curiosity,” reads a 2007 report on scientific creativity. “They go further and deeper into basic questions showing a passion for knowledge for its own sake.” Max Planck, one of the fathers of quantum physics, once said, the scientist “must have a vivid and intuitive imagination, for new ideas are not generated by deduction (推论), but by an artistically creative imagination.”
But others disagree with this universal scientific mind. They believe that scientists have special abilities that set them apart. Discovering these abilities may be hard, Allen thinks, as many scientists will be reluctant to reveal them and would prefer to preserve the mystery of creativity, fearing that if it became an object of study it would lose its magic.
But for Allen, this is all part of a bigger question of what lies behind anyone’s behavior. “We are only just beginning to understand how the characteristics of organisms, including ourselves, aren’t the fixed products of either genes or of environment/culture, but each of us is the product of a continual interactive process in which we help build the environments that in turn shape us,” he said.
“As long as our best technology for seeing inside the brain requires subjects to lie nearly motionless while surrounded by a giant magnet, we’re only going to make limited pro gress on these questions,” Allen said.
1．Why does the author mention Max Planck in paragraph 3?| A．To introduce a famous scientist. | B．To stress the role of creativity in science. |
| C．To compare different views on science. | D．To illustrate what is curiosity inscience. |
| A．Human behavior is changeable and unpredictable. |
| B．We are passively influenced by our genes and culture. |
| C．Our interaction with the environment makes us who we are. |
| D．Current technology has revealed a lot about human behavior. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Indifferent. | C．Approving. | D．Pessimistic. |
| A．Who Are The Mystery-solvers | B．Scientists Are Not Born But Made |
| C．Great Mystery: What Makes A Scientist | D．Solving Mysteries: Inside A Scientist's Mind |
Sitting in the garden for my friend’s birthday. I felt a buzz (振动) in my pocket. My heart raced when I saw the email sender’s name. The email started off: “Dear Mr Green, thank you for your interest” and “the review process took longer than expected.” It ended with “We are sorry to inform you…” and my vision blurred (模糊). The position—measuring soil quality in the Sahara Desert as part of an undergraduate research programme — had felt like the answer I had spent years looking for.
I had put so much time and emotional energy into applying, and I thought the rejection meant the end of the road for my science career.
So I was shocked when, not long after the email, Professor Mary Devon, who was running the programme, invited me to observe the work being done in her lab. I jumped at the chance, and a few weeks later I was equally shocked—and overjoyed—when she invited me to talk with her about potential projects I could pursue in her lab. What she proposed didn’t seem as exciting as the original project I had applied to, but I was going to give it my all.
I found myself working with a robotics professor on techniques for collecting data from the desert remotely. That project, which I could complete from my sofa instead of in the burning heat of the desert, not only survived the lockdown but worked where traditional methods didn’t. In the end, I had a new scientific interest to pursue.
When I applied to graduate school, I found three programmes promising to allow me to follow my desired research direction. And I applied with the same anxious excitement as before. When I was rejected from one that had seemed like a perfect fit, it was undoubtedly difficult. But this time I had the perspective (视角) to keep it from sending me into panic. It helped that in the end I was accepted into one of the other programmes I was also excited about.
Rather than setting plans in stone, I’ve learned that sometimes I need to take the opportunities that are offered, even if they don’t sound perfect at the time, and make the most of them.
1．How did the author feel upon seeing the email sender’s name?| A．Anxious. | B．Angry. | C．Surprised. | D．Settled. |
| A．criticise the review process | B．stay longer in the Sahara Desert |
| C．apply to the original project again | D．put his heart and soul into the lab work |
| A．demanding | B．inspiring | C．misleading | D．amusing |
| A．An invitation is a reputation. | B．An innovation is a resolution. |
| C．A rejection can be a redirection. | D．A reflection can be a restriction. |
Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.
Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.
On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.
As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.
However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.
A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.
The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.
During China’s dynastic period, emperors planned the city of Beijing
In the Ming Dynasty, the center was the Forbidden City,
Hutongs represent an important cultural element of the city of Beijing. Thanks to Beijing’s long history
Gone are the days when humans covered themselves with blankets to keep warm. It’s now the time to put glaciers under blankets to keep them cool because at the rate climate is changing, this seems like a good idea to keep them from melting.
A ski resort in the Swiss Alps, Switzerland uses blankets to protect the glacier from the warm climate. Gian Darms, who handles snow conditions at the ski resort told about this unique procedure and said, “We lay the fleece over the glacier like a natural protective shield.” The blankets are being used to cover the top of the 10, 623-foot Mount Titlis whose glacier has already melted in the last few decades and it is expected to disappear completely in the next 50 years due to global warming.
To diminish the effect of climate change, resort employees have taken it upon themselves to protect the glacier from the heat and for this process, they spend about five to six weeks every summer covering parts of the glacier with protective polyester fleece. This helps to reflect the sun’s energy back into the atmosphere and prevent the glacier from melting, while also preserving the already fallen snow on the glacier in the previous winter season. After the season passes, the employees remove the coating and use the collected snow to fill in any gaps in the glacier’s surface.
This practice has been going on for a while and the amount of the glaciers covered has increased to almost 100 ,000 square meters now. “We’ve been covering more and more glaciers in the last few years. Almost 30, 000 square meters more this year alone. We will have to cover more glaciers in reaction to the climate change,” said Darms.
The ski resort’s actions show the intense effect of climate change on glaciers which have been melting at rapid rates in the past few years. Many different resorts have also started covering their glaciers because if there are no more glaciers, then there is no more business for these ski resorts.
1．What does the Swiss ski resort use blankets for?| A．Keeping the glacier from melting. | B．Preventing workers from feeling cold. |
| C．Protecting visitors from strong sunlight. | D．Stopping visitors from destroying glaciers. |
| A．Measure. | B．Reduce. | C．Accept. | D．Record. |
| A．The amount of the glaciers drops rapidly. | B．More ski resorts are gradually recovering. |
| C．Climate change is becoming more serious. | D．There is a better solution to global warming. |
| A．A travel brochure. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A news report. | D．A geography text book. |
Walking along her usual running way through Central Park and the Upper West Side in New York, Barbara Anderson, a teacher, felt the city had become worse. It was June, 2020. Many local shops had closed down and office workers stayed home. On Columbus Avenue, “there were at least two empty stores every block,” recalls Anderson.
Anderson decided to change these closed shops into art galleries (画廊). With the help of her daughter, a teacher and member of a local arts council, Anderson set up a non-profit organization, Art on the Ave, which aimed to exhibit and sell art to passersby. By November 2020, several stores on Columbus Avenue were filled with works by 41 artists.
Her project provides a chance for artists whose works aren’t shown in famous galleries. “Your typical art collector tends not to think about buying art in the street but there are many common people there, and they’re buying,” Anderson says.
So far the organization has worked with 130 artists in around 50 empty spaces across the city. Andrson sys that it has brought about $235,000 for 47 artists (an average of $5,000 each).
In expensive cities around the world, many artists are struggling to pay for studio space, find an agent (代理人) or get support from a gallery that will market and sell their work. Art on the Ave is one of several projects that have appeared to support creative artists with these challenges. Silver Art Projects, a non-profit organization, arranges art residencies in empty offices across New York. Art on the Underground, a public art program in London, has been asking leading artists to create works for the Tube since 2000.
Art on the Ave has headed underground to. Inside the Fulton Center, a shopping center and subway station in Manhattan, a former bakery has been turned into a studio for artists. “Bringing us into these spaces makes people’s life more colorful,” say Amir Diop, who recently exhibited his paintings there. “People are appreciating our art when waiting for their train instead of seeing a blank storefront with nothing in it,” he explains.
1．What inspired Anderson to set up Art on the Ave?| A．Her art dream. | B．Office workers’ problem. |
| C．Empty shops. | D．Local artists’ works. |
| A．It has worked with an increasing number of artists. |
| B．It has made a great fortune for the local shops. |
| C．It has attracted a lot of typical art collectors. |
| D．It has introduced many artists to art agents. |
| A．To invite more artists to join them. |
| B．To explain their way to get support. |
| C．To prove artists are struggling to survive. |
| D．To show the support to those struggling artists. |
| A．It can enrich people’s life. | B．It is beyond ordinary people. |
| C．It indirectly changes Manhattan. | D．It should be shown underground. |
Did you watch the popular TV series Meet Yourself (《去有风的地方》) during your vacation? In the TV series, the heroine Xu Hongdou travels to a village in Yunnan provinces and volunteers at a local cafe. She gets free meals in return. As the show find a growing audience, volunteer travel — an old-yet-modern form of travel similar to Xu’s type of work — has attracted more attention.
Volunteer travel refers to taking a trip where all or part of the purpose of the trip is to participate in an arranged service opportunity to help others, according to Wise our, an online provider of tourist information.
During the trip, volunteer travelers often provide services like teaching, cooking, animal caring, and cultural activities. In exchange for their help, the volunteers may get free or discounted accommodation (住宿), meals and laundry (洗衣服务), activities, or classes.
It seems as if these long journeys could only be made possible in recent years by modern transportation. Nevertheless, volunteer ravel dates back to the 1960s, when Ale Dickson and his wife Mora from the UK founded Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), an international volunteer organization.
Traditionally, the volunteer activities take place in a foreign country. However, just as what Meet Yourself shows, more volunteer trips have taken place within the same countries or places in recent years. Sanlian Lifeweek magazine said that volunteer projects in rural (农村的) areas are now attracting more city visitors as a break from the fast and stressful pace of city living. Yang Yan, a founder of a volunteer platform, told the magazine that it has indeed been a growing trend (趋势) for city workers to volunteer in rural areas.
By working voluntarily while traveling, city workers can get a taste of rural life. For those who are sick of city pressure but can’t make up their minds whether to move forever to the countryside, volunteer travel can be a solution. In this way, as Yang says, travelers can catch some relaxation from their busy lives, while rural communities also benefit by receiving more customers for local tourism industries.
1．What’s the function of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce a new way of travel. |
| B．To lead to the topic of volunteer travel. |
| C．To show the popularity of this TV series. |
| D．To raise readers’ interest in the TV series. |
| A．It requires travelers to be highly educated. |
| B．It can date back to the 19th century in the UK. |
| C．It helps travelers earn money on their volunteer trips. |
| D．It combines travel with meaningful work to help others. |
| A．A new trend of volunteer trips. | B．The importance of volunteer trips. |
| C．Different views on volunteer trips. | D．The development of volunteer trips. |
| A．To get into shape. | B．To give back to society. |
| C．To get away from city life. | D．To support the rural tourism. |
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