1 . As the Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, Jessica Pels is responsible for managing the content of one of the world’s largest young women’s media brands. Pels has ambitiously navigated her career to the top role relatively quickly, but the path she took wasn’t traditional.
Pels learnt ballet as a child and found her way to New York City dancing for a summer, but eventually gave up dance when she knew she “wasn’t good enough to be a star”. She didn’t give up her dream of working in the big city, though. Pels attended a film school at New York University and as a sophomore (大学二年级), got her first internship at The New Yorker. After graduation in 2008, many brands were in a hiring freeze.
But Pels was not affected. She got a job doing communications for a charity.
Six months into her first job, Pels got a job at Glamour Magazine to work for the Editor-in-Chief Cindy Levy. She would turn this first assistant role into her career, and finally found her way to Cosmopolitan, where she became the youngest editor-in-chief in the magazine’s history.
Reflecting on her career and the worst advice she’s ever received, Pels said it was “to say yes to everything”. It was a habit she had to learn to break. And while she acknowledges the importance of seizing opportunities, she doesn’t think that strategically saying “no” would have been a damage to her career.
She remembers the conversation with her boss Kate Lewis that changed her perspective on over- committing. “I had just started at Marie Claire as the digital director, and she said, I worry you’re going to burn out because you’re saying yes to everything and you are acting in such an aggressive way, and you need to take a step back and prioritize. ‘And that really changed my life. I thought that was an incredible career moment.”
1. Why did Jessica Pels give up dancing?| A．She wasn’t eager to be a star. | B．She didn’t think she was a gifted dancer. |
| C．She didn’t want to practice hard. | D．She wanted to take an untraditional career. |
| A．She always refused to help others. | B．She didn’t seize opportunities in time. |
| C．She didn’t knowhow to ask for advice. | D．She seldom refused others’ requests. |
| A．Creative and generous. | B．Humorous and confident. |
| C．Ambitious and determined. | D．Considerate and energetic. |
2 . Despite an ever-higher bar to grab the attention of students in large lecture hall, Tatiana Erukhimova, who teaches physics at Texas A&M University, has managed to get her students, as well as future generations, excited about the science.
Known as “Dr. Tatiana”, the professor performs physics tricks with boundless energy and enthusiasm in her videos. A range of everyday objects are used in her experiments, from pingpong balls and toilet paper to marshmallows, bicycle wheels and hair dryers. Videos of her dramatic demonstrations have received hundreds of millions of views across social media platforms.
However, things aren’t always easy. When she first started teaching college freshman classes two decades ago, she also struggled to grab the attention of her students. “I did not grab their attention on the first day-that was my mistake.” she says. “I missed this opportunity to bond with them from the very beginning, and then it took me a while to find my voice.”
By the second semester, she found her footing, adjusting her approach to get her students engaged. The key, she says, has been to make herself approachable and her instruction personal. And, of course, add showy demonstrations. “These demonstrations often help students to connect these abstract concepts with real life.” she says.
Physics department head Grigory Rogachev says Erukhimova’s work has helped bring visibility to the department, with about 2. 5 million subscribers on its department’s YouTube page, which has translated to a boost in research funds and physics major applicants.
As a leader in a STEM field in which women are underrepresented, she’s become a role model for some. Afiya Dhanani attended Texas A&M University after seeing Erukhimova’s videos online. “Watching Dr. Tatiana do the experiments online, especially since she was a female leader. Was more inspiring for me to even go into physics.” Dhanani said in an interview with CBS Mornings. That’s all Erakhimova says she can hope for -making physics less forbidding and more exciting.
1. What does Erukhimova’s online videos feature?| A．Rare materials. | B．Energetic presentation. |
| C．Plain demonstration. | D．Professional explanation. |
| A．All that glitters is not gold. |
| B．Sharp tools make good work. |
| C．First impressions are make or break. |
| D．A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. |
| A．It leads more students to change their majors. |
| B．It makes more people to know about the department. |
| C．It helps the department translate more research papers. |
| D．It attracts more physics professors to join the department. |
| A．Inspirational. | B．Underestimated. | C．Cooperative. | D．Ambitious. |
3 . When architect Douglas Cardinal was studying at the University of Texas many years ago, he used to drive to the college through the Rocky Mountains from his home Alberta, Canada. “I was inspired by those forms,” Cardinal told an American journalist. “They helped me realize architecture should come from the natural environment of a place.”
While Canadians are familiar with Cardinal's highly original work, he is not alone in taking inspiration from nature and preferring curves (曲线) to straight lines. As a key contributor to an international movement known as organic architecture, Cardinal has had his work and views presented in the book New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave by British architect David Pearson. In his book, Pearson expresses the meaning of organic architecture with examples of amazing buildings by 30 architects from 15 countries.
For example, in New Caledonia, Italian architect Renzon Piano has designed a village inspired by native cottages and their relationship to nature. In Palm Springs, California, American architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg has created a desert house that looks like a bird. The house is earthquake-proof (抗震的) and stores the sun's heat, letting it out at night.
“There's a growing awareness of the need for all architects to influence the environment as little as possible,” Pearson said.“What is new is to link the newer environmental awareness to the passionate (充满热情地) design that can come out of looking at nature and its forms.”
“Organic architecture is rooted in a passion for life, nature and natural forms," Pearson writes.” Its free-flowing curves and expressive forms are in agreement with the human body, mind, spirit. In a well-designed organic building, we feel better and freer."
Cardinal has won an award for his new work. "There's a countless variety of forms in nature and I am continually inspired by observing all these forms," says Cardinal.
1. What do we know about Cardinal?| A．He likes straight lines more. |
| B．He failed to win an award for his works. |
| C．He is less popular in Canada than in America. |
| D．He made great efforts in the organic architecture movement. |
| A．They look like birds. | B．They are earthquake-proof. |
| C．They draw inspiration from nature. | D．They can keep still in an earthquake. |
| A．It needs further development. |
| B．It combines humanity with nature. |
| C．It fails to care about the environment. |
| D．It focuses mainly on its attractive appearance. |
| A．Influences of architecture on environment | B．An inspirational architecture book. |
| C．Amazing buildings inspired by nature. | D．Cardinal and his organic architecture. |
4 . Louis Braille was born in France in 1809. Sadly when he was a little boy, he had an accident. By the time he was four years old, he was completely blind. However, at the age of ten, Louis was lucky enough to go to one of the first schools for blind children in Paris. At this particular school they had special books. They were written in ordinary French but the letters raised up off the page, so that the students could feel the shape of the words and read them. But there were two problems with this system. First, the letters were huge and difficult to read. Second, the books were very expensive so the school library only had fourteen altogether. Louis, who was very clever and creative, thought of a better way to improve books for blind people to read.
In 1821, when Louis was twelve years old, a soldier came to his school. This man had invented a system for soldiers to send and receive messages in the dark. Although this idea had not worked very well, Louis became very excited and began experiments with it. By the time he was fifteen, he had invented a system which used only six dots. And by 1827 the first book using his system was published.
It still took a long time before people realized what a wonderful invention Braille’s system was. In fact, Louis died in 1852 and did not live to see the success of his system, which has been adapted to almost every language in the world. Thanks to him, blind or weak-sighted people are able to read or write as well as any sighted person.
1. What did books for the blind look like when Louis was a boy?| A．No books designed for the blind. |
| B．They had raised dots on each page. |
| C．They had letters raised up off each page. |
| D．They were the same books as those for the sighted people. |
| A．The huge size of letters in the special books. |
| B．The limited resources of books for the blind. |
| C．The high price of books designed for the blind. |
| D．A messaging system for soldiers to use in the dark. |
| A．In 1821. | B．In 1824. | C．In 1827. | D．In 1852. |
| A．It helps the blind to learn independently. |
| B．It contributes to improve people’s eyesight. |
| C．It has been used in every language in the world. |
| D．It makes it easy and convenient for the blind to live. |
5 . Most Chinese know the story of the mythological Chang’e, the Chinese goddess of the moon. It’s a story about a woman who takes an immortality pill and flies to the moon. It is told every year during China’s Mid-Autumn Moo Festival, so people can’t hear the word “Chang’e” without thinking of romantic images of a moon goddess.
For this reason, China’s mission to the moon was calling out for a strong female figure. Therefore, picture s of a 24-year-old female space commander have gone viral on Chinese social media for her work on the Chang’e-5 Moon exploration programmme with comments about how she is a “frontline soldier in the field of aerospace” that young Chinese can look up to.
Ms. Zhou, a 24-year-old lady of Tujia ethnic group, is China’s youngest ever space commander. She was involved in the successful launch of the Chang’e-5 lunar probe on 24 November, in charge of the rocket connector system, described as a key role.
In Wenchang space launch site, though she is only 1.58 meters and looks “mini”, she is called “big sister” for her powerful “core and energy”. Since senior high, she has dreamed of being a member of a space research team. With her great efforts, she was admitted to an aircraft system and engineering major of a domestic university in 2014, making her aerospace dream come true. To grow into a commander, in two and a half years, she changed five positions to be familiar with multiple posts and types of work, each of which takes great courage and is full of challenges. In a working space with no air conditioning and narrow space to accommodate only three people, she worked for 60 days until the completion of “the Lang March 5 rocket goes around” battle.
Her story has received attention from Chinese state-run media as well as overseas media outlets. However, it has not appeared to have had much of an effect on her. According to the media, she declined repeated requests for interviews because she does not wish to let fame get in the way of her work.
1. Why does the writer mention the myth of Chang’e at the beginning of the passage?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To give an example. |
| C．To tell a romantic story. | D．To spread Chinese culture. |
| A．Her youth and beauty. | B．Her pictures on the media. |
| C．Her identity of Tujia Ethnic group. | D．Her performance in the moon-landing program. |
| A．She was too shy. |
| B．She was not available. |
| C．She considered fame nothing but a burden |
| D．She feared her fame might get in the way of her work. |
| A．Many hands make light work. | B．The early bird catches the worms. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. | D．Hard work makes up for inability. |
6 . Many of China’s ancient architectural treasures smashed to dust before Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng began documenting them in the 1930s. The husband-and-wife team were among the first preservationists to operate in China and by far the best known. Their efforts have since inspired generations of people to speak out for architecture threatened by the rush toward development.
Becoming China’s best architectural historians was no easy accomplishment. The buildings they wanted to save were centuries old located in distant parts of the country. In many cases they had to journey through tough conditions in the Chinese countryside to reach them. Exploring China’s remote areas during the 1930s meant traveling muddy, poorly maintained roads by mule (骡子) or on foot. Inns often provided food that could be polluted, and there was always risk from wild animals.
Their greatest discovery was the Temple of Buddha’s Light, in Wutai County, Shanxi Province. The construction of the breathtaking wooden temple began in 857 A. D., making it the oldest building known in China at the time.
Liang and Lin crawled into the temple’s most forbidden, forgotten areas to determine its age, including one hideaway controlled by thousands of bats and millions of bedbugs (臭虫), covered in dust and littered with dead bats. “In complete darkness and among the awful smell, hardly breathing, with thick masks covering our noses and mouths, we measured, drew, and photographed with flashlights for several hours. When at last we came out to take a breath of fresh air, we found hundreds of bedbugs in our bag. We ourselves had been badly bitten. Yet the importance and unexpectedness of our find made those the happiest hours of my years hunting for ancient architecture.” Liang wrote of the experience in an account included in Liang and Lin Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past.
1. On their way to the ancient buildings in 1930s, what kind of difficulties do Liang and Lin face?| A．poor accommodations and personal security | B．poor accommodations and smelly areas |
| C．broken vehicles and violence from robbers | D．broken vehicles and muddy roads |
| A．documenting smashed historical buildings | B．rebuilding historically valuable buildings |
| C．saving the oldest temples in China | D．Protecting historical buildings |
| A．Liang and Lin caught insects with awful smell. |
| B．Liang and Lin were forbidden to breathe inside |
| C．Liang and Lin were pleased at something unexpected |
| D．Liang and Lin determined its age by studying bedbug’s hideaway |
| A．Creativeness results in discovery |
| B．Difficulty produces achievement |
| C．Efforts contribute to happiness |
| D．Responsibilities make development |
7 . Kafka was hired in an Italian insurance company on November 1, 1907. He worked there for a year, during which period his letter witnessed that he was unhappy with his working time schedule — from 8 pm until 6 am — as it made it extremely difficult for him to concentrate on his writing. On July 15, 1908, he resigned, and two weeks later he got employed by the Worker’s Accident Insurance Institute. Both in his letter and his diaries, Kafka frequently complained about his life at work.
Though Kafka despaired of his twelve-hour shifts that left no time for writing, he was promoted to the position of chief clerk at the Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute, and he worked from 8:30 am until 2:30 pm. Then he had lunch around 3:00 pm, slept until 7:30 pm, did some exercise and had a family dinner, after which he started work around 11:00 pm (the letter-and diary-writing took up at least one hour a day, and more usually two). “Depending on my strength, inclination and luck, until one, two, or three o’clock, once even till six in the morning.” This routine left him permanently on the verge of collapse. It would be wrong, however, to consider him a long-suffering official depressed by his work or even found it detestable. On the contrary, he was a model official, precise and efficient, who successfully climbed the career ladder.
Kafka is one of the highest regarded writers of the German language, although he achieved little to no fame during his own lifetime. During his lifetime, Franze Kafka burned an estimated 90 percent of his work. After his death at age 41, in 1924, a letter was discovered in his desk, addressed to his friend Max Brod. “Dearest Max,” it began. “My last request: Everything I leave behind me... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others’), sketches and so on, to be burned unread.” Less than two months later, Brod, disregarding Kafka’s request, signed an agreement to prepare a posthumous edition of Kafka’s unpublished novels. Thanks largely to Brod’s efforts, Kafka’s slim, mysterious works were gradually recognized as one of the great monuments of 20th century literature.
1. Why did Kafka quit the job on July 15, 1908?| A．Because he had to work ten hours a day. | B．Because he found a better job. |
| C．Because he found it affected his writing. | D．Because he hated the job. |
| A．Boring | B．Hateful | C．Enjoyable | D．Satisfying |
| A．He had a preference for writing. | B．He did poorly in his work. |
| C．He was famous when he was alive. | D．He got his works published. |
| A．His talent. | B．His luck. | C．His diligence. | D．His friend’s efforts. |
8 . Edward O. Wilson, known as “ant man”, was born on June 10, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. His parents divorced when he was young, and he was moved frequently throughout his childhood. Wilson grew up exploring the forests and wildlife. One of these adventures left him partly blind, but they also set off his lifelong fascination(着迷)with ants and their social structures.
Wilson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama. In 1955, he received his Ph. D. from Harvard and worked there until retirement.
Wilson’s early study of ants led to his first major discovery in 1959: how ants communicate through the release of chemical signals.
Later, in 1990, Wilson and German biologist Bert Holldobler published their Pulitzer-winning The Ants. It detailed the insects’ social structure that was both valued by scholars and accessible to general readers.
Another of Wilson’s major works started in the early 1960s when he teamed up with Robert MacArthur. The pair published The Theory of Island Biogeography, where they sought to explain why different places have different numbers of species.
What many consider to be Wilson’s most important contributions to evolutionary biology came in 1975 when he published Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. The work explored the genetic roots of animal behavior and argued that genes shaped human behavior.
Wilson faced accusations(谴责)for these ideas but his work finally largely proved true. In 1978, his ideas on the role biology plays in human culture peaked in On Human Nature, which won him a Pulitzer in 1979.
Wilson published more than 400 scientific papers and 20 books. These accomplishments offered him a type of superstar status, but friends and colleagues say the polite Southerner remained down to earth. “Professor Wilson really listened and engaged with whomever he was interacting with,” said Corrie S. Moreau, who was one of Wilson’s final advisees.
1. What contributed to Wilson’s passion for ants?| A．His accidental disability. | B．The discovery he made about ants. |
| C．The school education he received. | D．His boyhood time spent in nature. |
| A．The social structure of ants. |
| B．The distribution of different species. |
| C．The links between biology and human culture. |
| D．The role of chemical signals in communication. |
| A．Productive. | B．Modest. |
| C．Open-minded. | D．Independent. |
| A．The Pioneering “Ant Man” |
| B．Discoveries in Evolutionary Biology |
| C．A Leading Figure in Popular Science |
| D．The Adventure of a Pulitzer Prize Winner |
9 . The history of microbiology begins with a Dutch cloth maker named Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, a man of no formal scientific education. In the late 1600s, Lecuwenhoek, inspired by the magnifying lenses he used to examine cloth, built some of the first microscopes. He developed a technique to improve the quality of tiny, rounded lenses, some of which could magnify an object up to 270 times. After removing some plaque from between his teeth and examining it under a lens, Lecuwenhoek found tiny twisting creatures, which he called “animalcules”.
His observations, which he reported to the Royal Society of London, are among the first descriptions of microbes, Leeuwenhoek discovered an entire universe invisible to the human eye. He found different microbes in samples of pond water, rain water, and human blood. He gave the first description of red blood cells, observed plant tissue, examined muscle, and investigated the life cycle of insects.
Nearly two hundred years later, Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of microbes helped French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur to develop his “theory of disease”. This concept suggested that disease originates from tiny organisms attacking and weakening the body. Pasteur’s theory later helped doctors to fight infectious diseases including anthrax, diphtheria, polio, smallpox, tetanus, and typhoid. All these breakthroughs were the result of Leeuwenhoek’s original work. Leeuwenhoek did not foresee this legacy.
In a 1716 letter, he described his contribution to science this way:“My work, which I’ve done for a long time, was not pursued in order to gain the praise I now enjoy, but chiefly from a strong desire for knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men. And therefore, whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that the scientific community might be informed thereof. ”
1. Which of the following best describes Leeuwenhoek?| A．A trained researcher with an interest in microbiology. |
| B．A curious amateur who made pioneer studies of microbes. |
| C．A talented scientist interested in finding a cure for disease. |
| D．A bored cloth maker who accidentally made a major discovery. |
| A．the discovery of microbes. | B．Pasteur’s theory of disease. |
| C．Leeuwenhoek’s contribution. | D．the origin of the tiny organism. |
| A．He admitted that many of his discoveries happened by chance. |
| B．He considered his work to be central to later medical breakthroughs. |
| C．He was greatly concermed with improving people’s living conditions. |
| D．He believed the sharing of knowledge was a key to scientific progress. |
10 . How do you create a restaurant business and become an overnight success at the age of 52?As Ray Kroc said, “I was an overnight success alright, but 30 years is a long, long night.” As the builder of the McDonald’s hamburger empire, he helped change America’s eating habits, as well as its nature of business by standardizing operations in the fiercely competitive fast-food industry.
But not many know how this entrepreneurial (创业的) success story came to be. Kroc was not a chef or a restaurateur. He never even went to college. For over three decades, he held a variety of jobs, from piano player to salesman of paper cups and multiple milkshake machines. “The two most important requirements for major success are, first, being in the right place at the right time and, second, doing something about it.” So said Kroc.
And in 1954, he was in the right place at the right time, and he did something about it. The salesman was surprised by a huge order for eight multi-mixers (多用搅拌机) from a hamburger stand in California. There he found a small but successful restaurant run by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, and was amazed by the effectiveness of their operation. They produced a limited menu, concentrating on just a few items-burgers, fries and beverages-which allowed them to focus on quality at every step of production.
The brothers were looking for a new franchisee (特许经营者) and Kroc saw an opportunity. He pitched (推销) his vision of creating McDonald’s restaurants all over the US to them. In 1955 he founded the McDonald’s Corporation, and six years later bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald’s name and operating system. By 1958, McDonald’s had sold its 100 millionth hamburger.
Kroc wanted to build a restaurant system that would be famous for providing food of consistently high quality and uniform methods of preparation. He wanted to serve burgers, fries and beverages that tasted just the same in Alaska as they did in Alabama.
To achieve this, Kroc chose a unique path: persuading both franchisees and suppliers to buy into his vision, working not for McDonald’s, but for themselves, together with McDonald’s. He promoted the slogan, “In business for yourself, but not by yourself.” His philosophy was based on the simple principle of a three- legged stool: one leg was McDonald’s franchisees; the second, McDonald’s suppliers; and the third, McDonald’s employees.
Kroc believed in the entrepreneurial spirit, and rewarded his franchisees for their individual creativity. Many of McDonald’s most famous menu items — like the Filet-O-Fish, Big Mac, and Egg McMuffin — were created by franchisees.
1. From the passage we know .| A．Ray Kroc was born with a talent of running businesses |
| B．Ray Kroc borrowed his business idea from others |
| C．McDonald’s Corporation was started by two brothers |
| D．McDonald’s Corporation succeeded for its unique philosophy |
| A．Kroc formed the three legs of McDonald’s |
| B．many suppliers created new ways of making burgers |
| C．franchisees began to stick to a limited menu |
| D．employees would work hard for McDonald’s and for themselves |
| A．Lucky and creative. | B．Devoted but simple-minded. |
| C．Independent and far-sighted | D．Cooperative but strict. |
| A．The cooperation of Kroc and two brothers. |
| B．The contribution of McDonald’s to the US food industry. |
| C．The requirements for a successful fast-food chain. |
| D．The story of an entrepreneurial success. |
