If you’re preparing for studying overseas, here’s our advice for putting your best foot forward.

Questions

You might have heard about the strange questions you might face, such as why are ladybirds red? These questions are not as random (随意的) as they seem and are often related to your course or interests. In truth, there is no wrong way to answer these questions as they are designed to show how your mind approaches problems.

You can’t prepare for these, but you can practice explaining your thoughts aloud about different topics.

Preparation

Most of your interviews will be made up of what you wrote in your application. So make sure you review everything you’ve submitted (提交) as you will be asked about any writers or scientific theories you’ve mentioned. It’s not a good look if you can’t discuss your subject area or struggle to form your own opinions about it.

It’s also OK to say you’re unfamiliar with a question, but always attempt to answer it.

Interviews aren’t everything

Don’t worry about any mistakes you make. Your whole application is more than just a meeting, so take the time to de-stress and visit local sites.

It is also common for students to have an additional interview with another Oxford college if your interviewer is unsure about you. Take it as a second chance.

Overall, think and act as you usually would. Everyone there is gifted, but demonstrating (证明)) how your mind works and how you approach difficult things is how you will stand out.

【1】According to the passage, how can you prepare for the questions in interviews?

A.Search for information about ladybirds.B.Try to solve problems all by yourself.

C.Pay attention to your course or interests.D.Practice explaining your thoughts aloud.

【2】What does the underlined word “additional”mean in the passage?

A.ExtraB.SpecialC.UsualD.Complete

【3】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Interviews have something to do with what you wrote in your application.

B.You need to think and act much better than how you behave in your daily life.

C.You will be asked about a writer or scientific theories that you just heard about.

D.You should be careful not to make any mistakes when you are having interviews.

Standing at the front line of cultural communication, the Forbidden City also brings two rat statues s【2】for lucky rats in Tibetan (西藏的) culture, known as “Tuboshu” in Chinese people.

Rats are always a【3】 at midnight and are good at biting. It was b【4】 by the ancients that their ability to bite off bad things can end what is not so pleasant and help start a fresh new day.

So the Year of the Rat is also considered as a new b【5】in the cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

By coincidence (巧合的), the year of 2020 is a【6】the beginning of the 2020s. Many people also h【7】 for a lucky new decade.

To get some luck, maybe you can start by v【8】the Forbidden City. Don’t forget to take a photo with two cute rats if you come for a visit.

Travelling is fun. We see different people and sights. We learn about different cultures. Travelling helps our mind relax. Travelling helps us keep fit.

A.in time orderB.in space order

C.from general to specificD.from specific to general

A.completedB.were completedC.will completeD.will be completed

A.HoweverB.MoreoverC.OtherwiseD.Anyway

A.relaxB.relaxingC.to relaxD.relaxed

A.spiritB.serviceC.silenceD.surprise

— ________ of them are interesting, and I have read them for several times.

A.EitherB.NeitherC.BothD.All

注意:1.文中不得出现真实人名，单位名或地名；2.文章开头已给出，不记入总词数。

My online learning at home

This spring our new term don’t come on time because of the epidemic. We have to learn online at home. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

But even if we cannot see the virus, we know how it behaves and spreads around. It is just like most other viruses. To prevent any respiratory（呼吸系统）illness, what we can do is to have good personal hygiene（卫生）. And that includes wearing a mask and washing hands. By wearing a mask, we keep ourselves away from the droplets （飞沫）that infected people coughed and （打喷嚏）. These droplets can spread the virus — as far as two meters! But these droplets don’t stay in the air for long. They quickly fall and land on surfaces, like tables or clothes. They can also be passed on to elevator buttons（电梯按钮）and door knobs（把手）by our hands. The novel coronavirus can stay alive for quite a long time on smooth surfaces, so washing hands becomes important.

A new discovery about the virus makes it even more necessary to keep these hygienic habits even if we don’t think we’ve interacted（接触） with anyone infected. According to People’s Daily , there is evidence that the virus might be contagious（有传染性的） even before patients start showing symptoms（症状）. And these people don’t even know that they’re ill yet.

"However, this epidemic（传染病） brings us a positive（积极的） change. It’s that we’ve developed better hygienic habits. After all, washing our hands is really what we should do every day.

根据上面短文内容填空。

【1】The novel coronavirus is the enemy that we ___________ and it brings us a great disaster. It has infected 435,519 people in the world as of March 25 and 3,281 people ____________ in China by it.

【2】What we can do is to have good personal hygiene, ___________ wearing a mask and __________.

【3】When these droplets stay in the air, they _____________ quickly fall and land on surfaces but also can be passed on to elevator buttons and ____________ by our hands.

【4】A new discovery about the virus makes it even __________ to keep these hygienic habits even if we don’t think we’ve interacted with _______________.

【5】A positive change has _____________ around us since this epidemic began—We’ve developed better hygienic habits. _____________, washing our hands is really what we should do every day.