As heart of the Renainssance, Florence has long been one of the most attractive spots in Europe — So much to see, so little time. To help you plan your sightseeing, I’ve listed my ideal itineraries (旅行计划), whether you’re going for one day, two days or more .
    Florence deserves at least one well-organized day: see the Accademia (David), tour the Uffizi Gallery (Renaissance art), visit the underrated Bargello (best statues), and do my Renaissance Walk. Art lovers will want to chisel out another day of their itinerary for the many other cultural treasures.
Florence in Two or More Days
Day 1
8:30   Accademia (David) — with a reservation.
10:00   Museum of San Marco (art by Fra Angelico).
12:00   Explore Mercato Centrale and have lunch.
14:00   Medici Chapels (Michelangelo sculptures).
16:00   Visit Duomo interior and/or the Baptistery.
17:30  Follow my Renaissance Walk.
20:00   Dinner or tour the Palazzo Vecchio (open until 23:00).
Day 2
9:00   Bargello (great statues).
10:30  Duomo Museum (statues by Donatello and Michelangelo), or the Galileo Science Museum .
12:30   Lunch, then wander and shop.
14:00   Take a bike or walking tour.
16:30   Uffizi Gallery — with a reservation.
19:00   Cross Ponte Vecchio for the Oltrarno Walk.
21:00   Dinner in Oltrarno. 

Skipping Lines at Major Sights

The plans outlined above assume that you'll use my strategies to avoid wasting hours in line for the big attractions — especially the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia. These sights nearly always have long ticket-buying lines, especially in peak season (April–Oct) and on holiday weekends. Crowds thin out on off-season weekdays. You have two easy options for skipping lines: buy a Firenze Card or make reservations.

21. The underlined expression “chisel out” in the second paragraph probably means ______. 
A. end              B. cut           C. fix           D. spare   

22. According to the author, no matter how long you may stay, you don’t want to miss ______.   

A. Accademia (David), Duomo Museum and the Uffizi Gallery 

B. Bargello, Ponte Vecchio and the Renaissance Walk

C. Accademia (David), Bargello and the Uffizi Gallery

D. Bargello, the Uffizi Gallery and the Galileo Science Museum .

23. The author’s purpose of writing this passage is ______. 
A. to persuade you to visit Florence

B. to recommend a travel plan for Florence 

C. to introduce some tourist attractions in Florence 

D. to describe his/ her own travel experience in Florence

Born in 1922 in New York City, Stanley Martin Lieber’s original plan to write serious literary works led him to use the name Stan Lee on his comic (漫画) books. He began his career in 1939 as an assistant at Timely

Comics. Two years later he was given a chance to write for his first comic.

After working with comics for many years, Lee became tired of the material he was told to write. For a long time, the characters in comic books weren’t complex, and the dialogue was short and simple. Lee wanted more from his work.

In the late 1950s, Lee’s wife advised him to experiment with stories he preferred and he accepted it, giving his superheroes a flawed (有缺点的) humanity, a change from the ideal types that were typically written for pre-teens. And this is how the comic The Fantastic Four was born.

Unlike previous superheroes, his heroes in The Fantastic Four had bad tempers and were often too proud. They quarreled over small things, and worried about paying their bills. With The Fantastic Four, Lee helped change comics from simple action stories to the complex ones they are today.

In the early 1960s, Lee and another writer created the Spider-man character. This teenage superhero broke the mold (类型) for teen heroes, giving them their own voice. In one controversial edition of Spider-man, Lee wrote a story in which the superhero’s friend almost dies from drug abuse. From the 1950s until 2011, comic publishers followed the rules given by the Comics Code Authority (CCA), which disapproved (反对) of drug use in comics.

But Lee published the comic without CCA approval, and it worked out well for him. The story sold, and there was an overall positive response to the story’s focus on a serious problem in society. The CCA ended up changing its rules to allow more encouraging stories like this. From this story, Lee went on to create more interesting and realistic characters.

24. Which of the following greatly influenced Lee’s later writings?

A. His first comic.

  B. His wife’s advice.

  C. The superheros in comics.

  D. Encoragement from Timely Comics.

25. What’s a special feature of The Fantastic Four compared with previous comics?

  A. It uses a lot of dialogue.

  B. It is typically written for pre-teens.

  C. It is a simple and short action story.

  D. It has complex and imperfect characters.

26. What do we know about Spider-Man?

  A. It was created by Lee alone.

  B. Its superhero dies from drug use.

  C. It was finally recognized by the CCA.

  D. Its characters failed to be accepted by the public.

27. What would be the best title for the passage?      

A. The amazing power of Spider-Man

B. The dream of Stan Lee as a comic writer 

C. Stan Lee’s successful revolution in comic characters

D. Two comic characters — Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four

Have you ever thought about going abroad to volunteer? Making a difference in a country less fortunate than your own is seen by most as a really positive thing to do. However, not everyone is in favour of this so-called “voluntourism”.

Volunteer tourism is a growing fashion. In 2015, it was estimated that 10 million volunteers helped on project abroad. These included worksbuilding houses or hospitals, teaching English in schools, teaching locals to use computers, installing water filters, looking after chidren in orphanages, and much more.

However, there’s an argument that volunteers take away jobs from locals who would have otherwise done that work. Yes, sometimes volunteers have specific knowledge which can benefit communities such as IT skills or speaking English as a native language. However, in some cases they are put to work on construction sites, for example, depriving locals of a job on that project. Additionally, many young travelers are untrained for the role. This could become a health and safety problem on construction sites or when caring for children.

I volunteered myself last year in a library and a school in Ghana. I helped to reshelve books, talked to the librarian about the running of the library and played games with children. This was an enriching experience for myself, and the librarian and teachers really valued help and ideas on what they could improve, often based on my experience of European libraries and schools. However, I’m not a qualified teacher or librarian, and I felt like the locals were far too trusting of my opinion and decisions, just because I come from a more developed country.

Finally, volunteering abroad also helps you develop as a person, and is a shining addition to a CV. I think volunteer projects are usually very valuable for communities, but often benefit the participant just as much, if not more than those they are helping.

28. The text begins with a question to ______.

A. explain a new idea.

B. point to the conclusion

C. introduce the main topic

D. show the author’s attitude

29. what can we know about volunteer tourism?

A. Volunteers may cause the locals out of job.

B. Volunteers tend to work in richer countries.

C. Volunteers working abroad have decreased in 2015.

D. Volunteers working abroad have no safety problems.

30. What can the locals’ attitude to the author in Ghana?

A. Indifferent.       B. Doubtful.      C. Sympathetic.      D. Trustful.

31. What does the author conclude in the last paragraph?

A. Volunteers benefit a lot from volunteering abroad.

B. Volunteering abroad offers participants good jobs.

C. Volunteering contributes a lot to poor countries.

D. The quality of volunteering needs improving.

Alibaba’s finance arm has shown a payment service that will allow virtual reality shoppers to pay for things in future just by nodding their heads. VR Pay, the new payment system, is part of Alibaba’s efforts to capitalize on the latest technology in online shopping.

In 2015, for example, it introduced a facial recognition technology for Alipay mobile payments service advertised as “ pay with a selfie (自拍)”. The VR payment technology means people using virtual reality goggles for payment. With this, you will never need to take out your phone.”

User identity can be verified (验证) on VR Pay via voice print technology that recognises each person’s unique voice. Lin said this was the most convenient method in a VR setting compared with other recognition technologies. But passwords will still be needed for authentication (证明), which the user can also enter with head movements, touch, or by staring at a point on virtual display for longer than 1.5 seconds.

VR pay is expected to be ready for commercial launch soon. The new VR-based payment system can make VR “ a tool rather than just a toy” by connecting various VR goggle makers and app developers to the Alipay payments platform.

Ant Financial Services Group, which displayed VR Pay in Shenzhen on Wednesday, operates China’s largest online payments service with more than 450 million users. In September, it bought US company Eye Verify, a maker of optical (视觉的) verification (验证) technology used by US banks including Wells Fargo.

32. What can virtual reality shoppers do with the help of VR pay?

A. Buy things at lower prices.

B. Pay for goods by nodding.

C. Find whatever they want to buy.

D. Communicate with sellers easily.

33. What’s the key feature of VR Pay？

A. It’s very easy to operate.

B. It doesn’t need any passwords.

C. It uses a facial recognition technology.

D. It needn’t be connected with other devices.

34. What can be inferred from the text?

A. VR pay will be used in business.

B. VR Pay was originally a toy rather than a tool.

C. VR Pay is China’s largest online payments service.

D. The Alipay payments platform will be out of service.

35. The main purpose of the text is to ______.

A. debate          B. persuade          C. introduce            D. entertain 

what is a mind map?
A mind map is a graphical representation of topics, or concepts in a radial （放射状的）manner. 

  36   Mind maps are used to visualize, organize, and classify ideas, making them perfect for study aids,  
organizing information , problem solving , writing and making decisions.
     7 steps to follow to make a mind map
     *   37   why? Because starting in the center gives your brain freedom to spread out in all directions and to express itself more freely and naturally.

 * Use an image or picture for your central idea. why? Because each image, like the central image, is also worth a thousand words.   38   It keeps you focused, helps you concentrate, and gives your brain more of a buzz!

* Use colors throughout. Why? Because colors are as exciting to your brain as are images. Colour adds life to your mind map, adds great energy to your creative thinking, and is fun!

*Connect your main branches to the central image and connect your second- and third-level branches to the first and second levels, etc. Why? Because your brain works by association. It likes to link two (or three, or four) things together.  39 

* Make your branches curved rather than straight-lined. Why ? because single key words give your mind map more power and flexibility.

*   40  Why? Because an image is worth a thousand words and helps you use your imagination. So if you have only 10 images in your mind map, it’s already equal to 10,000 words of notes!

A. Use images throughout.

B. Start in the center of a blank page.

C. It helps with memory and organization.

D. A mind map is a powerful thinking tool.

E. A central image is more interesting and useful.

F. If you connect the branches, you will understand and remember a lot more easily.

G. It focuses on a central keyword or topic, with other items linked to the central idea.