21. Which of the following highlights Letter 1?
A. We Found a Fix. B. Dealing with Dry Eye.
C. Run Over by a Speedboat. D. So Nice You Have to Read It Twice.
22. Who forgave the driver after an accident?
A. Annette Wolfe. B. Pam Snellgrove. C. Carter Viss. D. Leander Jones.
23. What do these four letters have in common?
A. They are notes on past issues. B. They give advice on how to read.
C. They are remarks on human virtues. D. They offer information about health.
B
I live in Xizhou in Yunnan Province, on the historic Tea Horse Road. I have to admit that when I first heard that Paul
Salopek was going to walk the entire globe on his own two feet, I was blown away. I couldn't imagine that there could be
such an unusual person in the world.
Last May, I met Paul. He told me that it was his first time in China. He talked to me with great excitement about the
history, migrations, and discoveries in my region of China. He spoke of the Shu-Yandu Dao (the Southern Silk Road), the
travels of the 17th-century Chinese explorer Xu Xiake, the Tea Horse Road and the early 20th-century American botanist
Joseph Rock. He also talked of Xuanzang. Paul considered many of them heroes and in a sense Chinese pioneers of slow
journalism.
I decided to accompany Paul on his walk toward Yunnan. On September 28, 2021, we set out. Our days were simple:
walk, eat, sleep, and repeat. We woke up at sunrise, set off in high spirits, and rested at sunset, dragging ourselves into
exhausted sleep.
We met many people on the road. Some were curious, surrounding us and watching us; some gave us directions; some
invited us into their home to take a rest; some spoke of the charm of their hometown. We met many beautiful souls, simple
souls and warm souls. We were walking with our minds.
Together, we were impressed by the biodiversity of the Gaoligong Mountains. As I walked on ancient paths through
mountains, I seemed to hear the antique voices of past travelers urging me to be careful on the road.
Looking back on the more than 200 miles I walked with Paul, I came to a realization. Walking for its own sake, while
healthy and admirable, is only a small part of the benefit of moving with our feet. A deeper reward is rediscovering the world
around us, shortening the distance between each other, and sharing each other's cultures.
24. How did the writer first respond to Paul's travel plan?
A. Scared. B. Puzzled. C. Disappointed. D. Surprised.
25. What can we learn about Paul Salopek from paragraph 2?
A. He was a western journalist. B. He had a knowledge of China.
C. He came to China several times. D. He was Joseph Rock's acquaintance.
26. What does paragraph 4 tell us about the writer and Paul?
A. They honored the ancestors.
B. They set off in high spirits.
C. They satisfied the locals' curiosity.
D. They built bonds with people.
27. What is the main purpose of the writer's writing the text?
A. To share and reflect on a journey.
B. To suggest a new way of travel.
C. To advocate protection of biodiversity.
D. To introduce and promote Chinese culture.
C
Time zones were created by railroad officials to deal with a major headache. It was becoming impossible to know what
time it was. At that time each town or city in the US kept its own solar time. “Fifty-six standards of time are now employed
by the various railroads in preparing their schedules of running time,” reported The New York Times on April 19, 1883.
In 1883, railroad representatives attended the General Railroad Time Convention. On April 11, railroad officials agreed
to create five time zones in North America. And the new standard took effect on November 18, 1883.
Though the new time standard was not sanctioned by the federal government, the Naval Observatory in Washington
offered to send, by telegraph, a new time signal so people could synchronize ( 同 步 ) their watches. Most people had no
objection to the new time standard. An article in The New York Times on November 16, 1883 noted, “The passenger from
Chicago to New Orleans, can make the entire run without changing his watch.”
As the time change was instituted by the railroads, and voluntarily accepted by many towns and cities, some incidents of
confusion appeared. A report in The Philadelphia Inquirer on November 21, 1883, described an incident where a debtor had
been ordered to report to a Boston courtroom before 10:00. He appeared at 9:48, standard time, but was ruled that it was after
10:00.
Incidents like that demonstrated the need for everyone to adopt the new standard time. However, there were objections.
An item in The New York Times on June 28, 1884, detailed how the city of Louisville had given up on standard time.
Louisville set all its clocks ahead 18 minutes to return to solar time.
By the 1890s, standard time and time zones were accepted as ordinary. The successful adoption in the US in 1883 set an
example of how time zones could spread across the globe. The following year, a conference in Paris created the time zones
worldwide and eventually they came into use.
28. What was the headache of the railroad officers?
A. Various railroads. B. Different solar times.
C. Endless conferences. D. Frequent press coverage.
29. What does the underlined word “sanctioned” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Approved. B. Replaced. C. Tested. D. Raised.
30. Evidence of opposition to standard time was available in __________.
A. The New York Times (April 19, 1883) B. The New York Times (November 16, 1883)
C. The Philadelphia Inquirer (November 21, 1883) D. The New York Times (June 28, 1884)
31. What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A. The US simplified time zones. B. Paris created its time zone.
C. Time zones went worldwide. D. Time zones proved effective.
D
Compared to metal, ceramics (陶瓷) can better resist high temperatures and certain severe environments, but they are
fragile. This potentially causes problems for innovators trying to create lightweight versions of these materials, explaining
why ceramic materials are not typically used as structural components.
Facing the challenging task of developing lightweight, high-strength ceramic materials, Mechanical Engineering