opportunity to take a four-week study trip to the UK—supported by the International House London.

Throughout the activity, the “English is GREAT” website will provide access to free online resources and all kinds of materials for English learners of all levels. UK-Mandarin (Standard Chinese) Excellence Program The “English is GREAT” activity will reply to the UK-Mandarin Excellence Program, started in 2016, which aims to have 5,000 secondary school pupils in the UK fluent in Mandarin by 2020.

21. What’s the aim of the 2018 “English is GREAT” activity? A. To make more Chinese learn to speak English.

B. To collect some advice about the program. C. To spread English culture and Chinese culture.

D. To introduce one of the Prime Minister’s activities. 22. How will you take part in the first activity? A. By paying some money. B. By sending your favorite word. C. By logging in the website. D. By winning different prizes.

23. Which is true about the last two parts of the passage? A. All English teachers will receive prizes. B. The winner will visit UK for four weeks.

C. Beginners cannot take part in the activity. D. Some English pupils are learning Mandarin.

B

Bryan Laubscher, one of the world's leading astrophysicists, who study the physics and chemistry of the stars, planets, etc, is developing an invention called the Mars Elevator. To form a picture of this, you may want to imagine the story of Jack and the Beanstalk (《杰克与魔豆》). This is the story of a boy who grew a beanstalk that reached the heavens. Jack climbed the stalk and entered another world. The space elevator is similar but of course much more high-tech and better yet, it is real!

Astrophysicists are designing a steel-like cable (缆绳) that will be connected to a platform (平台) in the ocean. This cable is designed to be pulled up into space, where it will then be connected to a space station. People will be able to travel up and down this elevator by the year 2020. There will be a number of space elevators so that both tourists and businesses can travel into space. To get there, space tourists will simply travel to the nearest ocean elevator entrance. The trip up into space will take about a week. When they arrive, space tourists will be inside a space station and will be able to stay there. There are other alternatives, too. Astronomers think it will be easy to travel from the space station to the moon, where space tourists can stay in a moon hotel — which is now being designed.

The future looks bright for space tourists. It also looks bright for industry and scientists. Mining companies will travel to space to mine elements (元素) that are rare on Earth. Energy scientists will travel to space to set up space solar panels, which will collect a huge amount of energy from the sun and shoot it back to Earth where we can use it to heat our homes and meet our energy needs.

24. What does Jack and the Beanstalk help readers understand? A. The difficulty of building space elevators. B. What material space elevators would use. C. What space elevators would look like. D. The reason for inventing space elevators. 25. What can we infer about space elevators? A. They're accepting pre-paid bookings. B. They'll be available in the near future. C. They're mainly used for scientific study. D. They'll offer people a seven-day round trip.

26. What does the underlined word “alternatives” (in Para. 2) mean?

A. Advantages. B. Purposes. C. Entries. D. Choices.

27. What is the author's attitude towards space elevators? A. Worried. B. Doubtful. C. Critical. D. Positive.

C

We know cats like to hide in boxes and knock things over. But if you make a square on your floor, what will your cat do? Turns out a lot of cats will get inside it. Amazed cat owners repeated the experiment, often with tape(带子), but others with squares made out of ribbon, sheets of paper and even shoes.

Cat experts weigh in

So what makes cats so interested in a square on the floor? “We know that cats like safe spaces. It’s possible that the mark on the floor creates some illusion(幻觉) on the floor that doesn’t actually exist,” says cat behavior expert Mikel Delgado. “It might have enough similarity to a low-sided box that a lot of cats are attracted to it for safety.”

Another cat behavior expert Ingrid Johnson agrees. “I would imagine they probably feel as if they are ‘in’ something. Though shallow, still comforting, offers the idea of sides,” she says. Johnson points out that cats have poor close-up sight, so they may have the idea that the tape is actually the sides of a square area. “Their sight is built for distance and speed, watching a mouse run across the field,” she says. “Close up, they’re blind 8 to 12 inches off their noses.”

Kitty curiosity(好奇心)

Another reason cats are attracted by the square? Pure curiosity.

Because cats are very sensitive to their environment, the tape square might be attracting them just because it’s new and

different, she says. The same thing would likely happen if you put a piece of cardboard or a paper bag on the floor. A lot of cats would check it out.

28. Which is most probably the purpose of the cat owners’ experiment?

A. To check whether it is true. B. To test how smart their cats are. C. To play a joke on their cats. D. To show their love to the cats.

29. Which can best replace the underlined part “weigh in”? A. Express their ideas. B. Judge the cats’ weight. C. Put in a word. D. Give some examples.

30. Why are cats attracted to a square?

A. For fun. B. For comfort. C. safety. D. For quietness.

31. Which is WRONG according to the whole passage? A. Cat owners made squares with different materials.

B. Cats prefer to lie in a low-sided box. C. Cats have shorter sights when in boxes. D. Cats’ curiosity depends on the environment.

D

When planning a vacation, many people consider the popular

For