One day I walked to my favorite cafe for lunch. I ordered a burger and iced tea and went to the outdoor area. While waiting for my meal, a homeless man on a bicycle stopped to ask if there was a grocery store in the neighborhood. After I gave him directions, he asked if I had graduated from Sana Clara University. (I was wearing a SCU T-shirt.) I told him, yes. Little did I know that this simple response would lead to a 90-minute conversation.

The man, Michael, told me he was 50 years old. He was intelligent. Unfortunately, drug abuse had ruined both his formal education and his pursuit of success in the world of work. He drifted from one topic to another, ignoring the fact that my lunch had been brought to me. He clearly had more of a need to talk than I did. I made every effort to give him my full attention, never expecting that our conversation would go on and on ...

Eventually, I did eat my meal, bite by bite between responses in our conversation. Michael was a bit strange in terms of his interests and viewpoints. We had little in common, but he was fascinated with talking with, as he put it, “intelligent people”. I have to admit, I wish our conversation had been limited to ten or fifteen minutes, but when Michael finally rode off on his bike, he thanked me for listening so attentively to him and for my willingness to talk with him for so long. It was then that I realized that, just maybe, that was my purpose in life for today --- to be there, in that place, at that time, to carry on that conversation. On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

21. Why did the author go to the outdoor area?

   A. To go on a date.                     

B. To borrow a bicycle.

   C. To wait for his order.               

D. To show strangers the way.

22. What can we learn about the homeless man?

   A. He received a complete education.

   B. He was dying for communication.

   C. He was curious about everything.

   D. He suffered from a serious disease.

23. Which word can best describe the author?

   A. Considerate.                      

B. Impatient.   

   C. Intelligent.                       

D. Strange.

Students and teachers at a Los Angeles high school missed their lunch break after a mountain lion walked into the school and tried to join them.

“The big cat was seen to walk across the schoolyard at John F. Kennedy High School shortly after noon on Friday. Instead of sitting down to eat, students and teachers quickly hid themselves in classrooms and called the police. The police sealed off the area until a wild animal expert could arrive and knock the animal out with a couple of tranquilizer darts(麻醉飞镖),” said Andrew Hughan, the spokesman of Department of Fish and Wildlife.

When officers arrived, the mountain lion ran into a nearby backyard but quickly grew sleepy and confused after the darts hit it. “It’s on its way back to the Santa Susana Mountains,” said Hughan. He added that the animal appeared to be healthy and about 2 or 3 years old. The department later posted a photo on Twitter of the sleeping big cat that was being taken to the wilderness.

Kennedy High School is in the city’s Granada Hills section, on the edge of mountain lions’ habitat. Still, it had to travel a couple of miles through a large neighborhood, across a golf course and around a freeway to get there. “Probably what happened was that it was running after a deer, a rabbit or a dog late last night for food. It looked up this morning, saw the school and thought, ‘Oh, oh, I’m in trouble now.” said Hughan. “Mountain lions wander in cities every few weeks, but this one got more attention because it broke the school’s quietness.”

A famous mountain lion known as P-22 has been wandering in the Hollywood Hills near Griffith Park for some time and P-22 killed a bear in the park’s Los Angeles Zoo last month, but it remains popular enough to have its own Facebook page.

24. When did a mountain lion walk into the school?

   A. After the students started the midday rest.

   B. After the students ended lunch break.

   C. When students stayed in the classroom.

   D. Before the students had lunch.

25. What does the underlined phrase “sealed off” in Para. 2 mean?

   A. Warned loudly               

B. Closed tightly

   C. Protected bravely           

D. Searched carefully

26. What do we know about mountain lions according to Hughan?

   A. They seldom leave where they are living.

   B. They once killed many animals in the zoo.

   C. They sometimes do much harm to citizens.

   D. They often wander somewhere in the cities.

27. What is the main purpose of the text?

   A. To tell readers a piece of interesting news.

   B. To warn students and teachers of wild animals.

   C. To tell readers something about mountain lions.

   D. To tell people what to do if a mountain lion appears.

Chinese kungfu is one of the earliest and longest-lasting sports that use both muscle and brain. Over its long history it has developed as a unique combination of exercise, practical self-defense, self-discipline and art.

It is estimated that Chinese kungfu can date back to primitive society. At that time, people used sticks to fight wild beasts. Gradually, they accumulated a great deal of self-defense experience. When the Shang Dynasty began, hunting was considered an important part of kungfu training .

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, martial arts(武术) evolved to become a kind of dancing. Usually, the dancing of martial arts was used to train soldiers and inspire their morale. At the same time, the skill and technology of sword making as well as sword ceremonies developed rapidly.

Starting from the Tang Dynasty, a kungfu examination was proposed and introduced. Excellent candidates would receive titles and awards through the examination, largely promoting the development of martial arts. By then, martial arts had evolved to become an art form and an independent genre. Kungfu was gradually introduced to many countries in Southeast Asia. Today , kungfu is honored as the ancestor of kickboxing(跆拳道), karate(空手道) and judo.

The Song and Yuan dynasties witnessed the climax of kungfu development. The practice of kungfu by civil organizations became more and more popular. People actually made a living as martial arts performers all over the country. Usually their performance was carried out by a single person or two people as a pair.

Chinese kungfu achieved greater development in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, a lot of genres came into being and numerous books on martial arts were published. In the Qing Dynasty, the ruling empire banned the practice of martial arts, and the people had to set up various clubs or societies to pass on the skills in secret.

Today, kungfu continues to be practiced by many people for the purpose of keeping fit or improving body image.

28. According to the text, ___________ was an important part of the development of kungfu

in ancient times.

   A. hunting        B. dancing       C. singing          D. fighting

29. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, kungfu was used to__________.

   A. promote the national economy           

B. keep healthy and improve body image

   C. train soldiers and inspire their morale    

D. fight big wild animals

30. What can we learn from the text ?

   A. The production of swords reached the highest point during the Tang Dynasty.

   B. Kungfu was performed by many people during the Song and Yuan dynasties.

   C. Kungfu has had a great impact on many activities in Southeast Asia.

   D. The Tang dynasty witnessed the climax of kungfu development.

31. How did kungfu evolve in the Ming Dynasty?

   A. The emperor set up many organizations to promote kungfu.

   B. Various genres appeared and books were published about kungfu.

   C. Kungfu became the only performance at court parties.

   D. People made a living as kungfu performers all over the country.

That is the subject of a new report from the United Nations refugee(难民) agency. The report says that 3.7 million children under the U.N. agency’s care are unable to attend school. The situation gets worse as the children get older. The percentage drops from 50 percent for young children to 22 percent at secondary school age.

U.N. information also shows that only one percent of refugees attend a university, compared to 34 percent of the world’s population . As refugee children grow, their chances for education severely decrease.

The issue of providing refugees with an education is more difficult because of the expanding population and a lack of necessary financing. According to the U.N. report, the population of school-age children grew by 30 percent in 2014. That number requires an extra 20,000 teachers.

Many host nations already struggle to provide simple, but necessary services for refugees. But now, they must also find a place to hold classes and a way to purchase additional school supplies. Often , the children struggle in their studies after missing several years of school and do not speak the local language.

In 2015, most of the donations for this education program arrived in the final two months of the year. U.N. officials said this hurt the ability of host countries to make effective long-term plans for schooling.

The U.N. is asking donors to provide dependable funding over many years to help those countries better plan for providing teachers and supplies. It also urges the host governments to include refugees in their national education systems instead of separate schools.

The new report discusses the helpful effects of education, saying it helps children avoid child labor and membership in armed groups. It also said that not providing schooling only extends conflict and leads to more people being homeless.

32. What issue did the U.N. report raise?

   A. More and more children drop out of school.

   B. Refugees can not afford to attend a university.

   C. A large number of children can not receive education.

   D. Only 22 percent of children are able to attend school.

33. Why is giving refugees an education becoming more difficult?

   A. No host nations want to change education systems.

   B. It is impossible to find so many extra teachers.

   C. Parents can’t afford to send their kids to school.

   D. The refugee population grows but there’s not enough money.

34. What does Para. 4 mainly talk about?

A. The difficulty host nations have in helping refugees.   

B. The challenges both host nations and children face.

C. The language problems children meet with.

D. The schools host nations built for refugees.

35. What do you know from the last paragraph?

A. The necessity of education.        

B. The threat to children’s lives.

C. The bright future of children.         

D. The bad living conditions of children.

   Reading is probably one of the most beneficial and easy-to-do activities that a man can do. It is described as a journey that starts as the opening of a page, and finishes as the last page is turned. ____36____ It is through reading that a person is able to discover new ideas, concepts, places and people.

    Books provide relaxation for our mind and soul. _____37_____ Reading is able to calm us down, and encourage peace.

    _____38____ Reading books requires readers to think and imagine different details in the book such as the characters and plot; this provides us with the opportunity to improve our thinking process. Since readers must concentrate in order to read, they will improve their concentration and thinking abilities.

    Reading is also a way for children to reach out to the world. ____39_____ This is significant because there are numerous benefits that children can get from reading. It is no secret that reading increases children’s vocabulary and spelling more than talking or direct teaching. _____40_____ In fact, the language used in children’ s books is likely to be more complicated than their average conversation.

A. A good reading habit benefits one’ s whole life.

B. Reading should be encouraged among children at an early age.

C. Reading is our companion and it assists us to go throughout our lives.

D. Another reason why reading is so beneficial is that reading improves our thinking process.

E. Even if we have a stressful day, a book can easily help us forget problems.

F. Reading forces them to look at words that they might not have seen or heard before.

G. Reading can not only refresh our mind but it also helps to improve our outlook on life.