Indian-origin Anvitha Vijay has given a new meaning to the phrase “age is just a number”; she has proved that achievements and knowledge follow passion and not just age and experience.

Vijay, who lives with her parents in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of seven realized that her piggy bank did not have enough money to hire a developer to make her an app, so she decided to teach herself how to code. With the help of Youtube videos, the young techie learned to code. For one entire year, she watched multiple coding tutorials on the web and became a programmer herself.

Vijay’s inspiration for developing the apps was her little sister, who was still learning to talk. Therefore, Vijay developed an educational app for children that were her sister’s age. The app uses about 100 sounds and flash cards of different animals that help children learn and identify. Later, Vijay developed a similar iOS app for children to identify and learn colors.

Anvitha’s skills won her a scholarship to attend a big tech conference hosted by Apple in San Francisco, California. There, she got tips from the pros. She went to workshops where she learned about the latest software for app building.

All that training led to an idea for a third app. This one called Goals Hi, inspires kids to practice good habits. Users are rewarded for achieving goals, such as eating their vegetables or practicing piano, Anvitha says the rewards are like getting a sticker for a job well done.

Anvitha’s goal is to continue creating technology that helps kids learn while having fun. But what’s even more important to her is that the world sees the power of technology in kids’ hands. “The more training we get in tech at an early age,” she says, “the better chance we have of becoming creativity champions who will one day change the world.”

1. How did Anvitha manage to develop her first app?

A．Her parents instructed her.	B．A young techie tutored her.
C．She hired a developer to teach her.	D．She taught herself by watching videos.

2. What inspired Anvitha to code her third app?

A．Her strong desire to help her little sister to learn to talk.

B．The reward that she got alter developing the former apps.

C．The latest technology that she learned in Apple on coding apps.

D．The training that she got when helping kids practice good habits.

3. What is Anvitha’s major purpose of continuing creating technology?

A．To help kids learn while having fun.

B．To enable kids to get training at an early age.

C．To prove children’s ability of advancing technology.

D．To help little children like her sister learn and identify.

Crop diversity (多样性）is important to feed the increasing population of our planet. Agricultural experts say having a large variety of plants also helps to protect crops against possible diseases and future risks. Hundreds of thousands of different plants now exist. But many experts say the number has decreased sharply during the past century.

One of the world's largest seed conservation projects has predicted further losses. The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is warning that up to one hundred thousand plant species could permanently disappear. The rich collection of genes that decide their qualities would disappear with them.

             Not all experts agree that a decrease in cultivated(培植的）food crops is a risk. A recent study, led by Paul Heald of the University of Illinois College, showed a different situation, at least in the United States. The study examined records of plant varieties in America during the past century. They found that the total number of vegetable and apple crop varieties in the United States did not fall over the past century. Instead, he says, the study may show a small increase in the number of varieties.

For those who regard it as a major risk, they blame climate change and loss of habitat, normal growth area, for damaging plant life. They note human activities also contribute to the problem. Besides, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says modern business farming is responsible for loss of farmers’ traditional crop varieties. Some scientists and others blame patenting for what they say are losses of crop diversity. A patent is the legal right of an inventor to a process or a product, even a plant. To get this right, the inventor has to demonstrate the qualities that make the patented plant different from other plants.

But the study led by Professor Paul actually failed this assumption. Professor Paul said, “People tend to believe what they want to believe. But as a scientist, I must believe the study results. ”

4. The author begins the text by   ______________.

A．listing possible crop diseases

B．stating the significance of crop diversity

C．giving the definition of crop diversity

D．describing a number of existing plants

5. The study led by Paul Heald is mentioned in paragraph 3 to ______________.

A．show America’s great achievement in protecting crop diversity

B．give a different opinion that the number of crop varieties is increasing

C．explain the present situation of vegetables and apple crop varieties

D．support the viewpoint that the number of crop varieties is decreasing

6. Paragraph 4 mainly focuses on ______________.

A．the reasons for crop diversity decreasing

B．the unfavorable comments on patented plants

C．the further losses caused by plant diversity decreasing

D．the harmful effects brought by modern business farming

Next time your plane lands, listen to the sound of the tyres hitting the ground. The reason the tyres don’t explode is because they are made of natural rubber. The tyres of cars, motorbikes and trucks are also often made of the same stuff.

Natural rubber comes from trees. Workers cut the trunks of the trees and collect a white liquid called latex(乳胶). In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, huge numbers of rubber trees were planted in countries including Malaysia, Burma and Brazil. More than a century ago, scientists discovered how to make man-made rubber, but natural rubber is much stronger and can last much longer. Nearly half the rubber which is produced each year is natural rubber and there is always a need for more.

Rubber trees are not easy to grow. They are affected by changes in temperature, too much or not enough rain, high winds and disease. Some trees survive while others die and it’s all down to their genes. Two British organizations, the Tun Abdul Razak Research Center(TARRC) and The Genome (基因组）Analysis Center (TGAC) , have been working together to look at rubber trees. This is the genes fit together in very long chains of DNA. The genome for a plant such as a rubber tree or animal needs to grow. The genome contains all the information the plant or animal needs to grow. The genome for a plant such as a rubber tree is smaller than a human genome but it is still very long, which is why it has been so difficult to find. As Ewan Mollison of TARRC says, the work has been like putting a picture puzzle together where all the pieces show blue sea and blue sky.

Now scientists can use the rubber tree genome to produce stronger trees. By understanding the genome, they can change the DNA in rubber trees in useful ways. They can also do it much faster than before. In the future, it will be possible to grow trees which survive climate change and disease.

7. What’s the author’s purpose of writing Paragraph 1?

A．To explain the landing of airplanes.

B．To introduce the advantage of natural rubber.

C．To provide the information about tyres.

D．To compare air traffic with road traffic.

8. What made natural rubber so demanding each year?

A．Quantities of rubber trees were planted in Southeast Asia.

B．Rubber trees are not easily affected by the climate change.

C．By now scientists haven，t discovered how to make man-made rubber.

D．Natural rubber is much tougher and more lasting than man-made rubber.

9. What does Ewan Mollison suggest in Paragraph 3?

A．Finding the genome sounds as interesting as a picture puzzle.

B．The genome of a rubber tree is as blue as sea and sky.

C．The genome of a rubber tree is not easy to be identified.

D．Completing a picture puzzle with sea and sky is difficult.

10. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Origin of Natural Rubber.

B．The Application of Natural Rubber.

C．Natural Rubber: It’s All in the Genes.

D．Natural Rubber VS Man-made Rubber.

It’s no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive(难以达到的）.While you might not be able to control the factors that interrupt your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep.     11    

    12    

Set aside no more than eight hours for sleep. The recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult is at least seven hours. Most people don’t need more than eight hours in bed to achieve this goal.

Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Try to limit the difference in your sleep schedule on weeknights and weekends to no more than one hour. Being consistent strengthens your body's sleep-wake cycle.

Pay attention to what you eat and drink.

Don’t go to bed hungry or stuffed. In particular, avoid heavy or large meals within a couple of hours of bedtime.     13    

Nicotine (尼古丁)，caffeine (咖啡因) and alcohol deserve caution，too. The effects of nicotine and caffeine take hours to wear off and can harm quality sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy? it can disrupt sleep later in the night.

Create a restful environment.

Create a room that’s ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet.     14     Avoid prolonged use of light-emitting screens just before bedtime. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.

    15     But if you often have trouble sleeping, contact your doctor. Identifying and treating any potential causes can help you get the better sleep you deserve.

A．Your discomfort might keep you up.

B．Start with these simple tips.

C．Limit daytime naps.

D．Stick to a sleep schedule.

E．Nearly everyone has an occasional sleepless night.

F．Doing calming activities before bedtime might promote better sleep.

G．Exposure to light might make it more challenging to fall asleep.