【推荐1】Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. These two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses.
One evening, Brownie’s family noticed that Brownie hadn’t returned home. They went looking for him with no success and by the next week he was still missing.
Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie’s house alone. Barking, whining (哀叫) and generally pestering (纠缠) Brownie’s human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.
Continuously,Ted, Brownie’s owner, was disturbed by the angry, determined little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then rushing toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, “Follow me! It’s urgent!”
Eventually, Ted followed Spotty to a deserted spot half a mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leghold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he’d taken Spotty’s earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.
Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie’s human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week!
Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in the hope of keeping his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from hunger and other dangers, and keep his spirits up.
Brownie’s leg was treated by a veterinarian (兽医) and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses.
1. Why did Ted pay little attention to Spotty at the very beginning?

A．Because Ted was tired of listening to Spotty barking.

B．Because Ted only cared about Brownie’s safety.

C．Because Ted was not free at that moment.

D．Because Ted knew where Brownie was.

2. When Ted was led by Spotty to Brownie, he     .

A．was curious to find out what had happened

B．highly appreciated Spotty’s help

C．was worried about Brownie’s health

D．regretted not following Spotty earlier

3. Not only did Spotty help Ted find Brownie but also       .

A．he went to see his friend and played with him secretly

B．he sent messages to some other persons in his community to save his friend

C．he managed to lead a veterinarian to treat his friend

D．he sent food to his friend, accompanied him and inspired him to cheer up

4. What can we learn from the story?

A．Barking dogs seldom bite.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C．Love me, love my dog.

D．Every dog has its day.

【推荐3】Plants on Earth have grown for hundreds of millions of years, yet President Donald Trump’s pick to lead his new climate team insists that they need more carbon dioxide (CO₂) to boom.

Princeton physicist and carbon dioxide-advocate William Happer has been selected to head the brand new Presidential Committee on Climate Security. The atomic scientist, who achieved recognition for his work on atomic collisions (原子碰撞), not climate science, declared that the planet’s atmosphere needs significantly more CO₂, which is reported to speed up climate change. Happer said plants use CO₂ to live and more CO₂ is actually a benefit to the Earth. He also stressed that Earth is experiencing a “CO₂ starvation”, and concludes that “If plants could vote, they would vote for coal.”

Earth and plant scientists, however, find Happer’s insistence that the plant kingdom would benefit from increased CO₂ wrong-headed and it lacks evidence. For example, Earth’s CO₂ levels have increased sharply in the last century, and are now at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years—though other measurements show CO₂ levels are higher than they’ve been in 15 million years. “The idea that increased CO₂ is universally beneficial ‘to plants’ is very misguided,” Jill Anderson, an evolutionary ecologist specializing in plant populations, said in an interview. Data shows the evolution of global average temperature and CO₂ concentration from 1850 to 2019. Though 2019 is a bit cooler than recent years, it still is one of the warmest years ever and lies close to the trend line of global warming.

Both independent academic organizations and government agencies around different parts of the world concluded more CO₂ will bring many negative impacts to plant environments. And they added that “If someone is going to claim it is good, it’s necessary for them to show evidence.”

1. Why does Happer think plants need more CO₂?

A．Plants vote for more CO2.	B．CO2 speeds up climate change.
C．Plants need more CO2 to live.	D．CO2 is actually a benefit to the Earth.

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 3?

A．2019 is a bit warmer than recent years.

B．CO2 levels must be the highest in history.

C．The plant kingdom must benefit from increased CO2.

D．There are adequate evidence to support Happer’s insistence.

3. What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph probably refer to?

A．More CO2.	B．The plant.
C．The world.	D．The US government.

4. The author’s attitude in writing this passage can be described as ________.

A．critical	B．objective
C．positive	D．negative

【推荐1】Even for a civilization as advanced as the Harappan, a second drought was perhaps one too many. The climate disaster may be what drove the ancient society to disappear step by.

The Harappan started in the Indus valley around 5200 years ago, strongest around 2600 BC. Much about them is unknown. Yet archaeological remains tell the story of the people, skilled in trade and city planning, and particularly good at controlling water. Their huge cities, complete with excellent systems for underground water and public baths, existed long before the Roman Empire.

But by 1900 BC, their society seemed to be on the fall, and by 1300 BC, the Harappan civilizations had broken down. Several ideas have been put forward to explain the downfall, including invasion and climate change. One recent study refers to a major drought in the northern half around 4200 years ago. This event was recently considered as the start of the Meghalayan period. It is thought to have broken up climate systems around the world, including the summer monsoon rainfall the Harappan depended on.

Nick Scroxton at University College Dublin, Ireland, and his team are now challenging this idea after studying 10 ancient records. They found some facts of a sudden drought starting around 4260 years ago. The study suggests the Harappan faced a sharp decrease in winter rain. “The civilization suffered, that's for sure,” says Scroxton. But that wasn't the end of the Harappan. “Their politics might change, the crops might change, the location of their cities changes, but they adapt,” says Scroxton.

Some 300 years later, however, just as the winter rains were starting to recover, a hottest drought kicked off. This was a slowing reduction in the sum monsoon rains over several centuries. Scroxton and his team say this second drought changed the Harappan into a poor society that disappeared at last.

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The trade with the Roman Empire.	B．The site of the Harappan civilization.
C．The rise of the Harappan civilization.	D．The similarities between Roman and Harappan.

2. How did Nick's team conduct the study?

A．By tracking the rainfall.	B．By moving into the city.
C．By building climate systems.	D．By researching ancient records.

3. What may have really ended the ancient Harappan civilization?

A．The monsoon rainfall.	B．Double climate disaster.
C．The invasion of Roman.	D．The change of the cities.

【推荐2】Enlightening, challenging, stimulating, fun. These were some of the words that Nature readers used to describe their experience of art-science cooperations in a series of articles on partnerships between artists and researchers. Nearly 40% of the roughly 350 people who responded to an accompanying poll (调查) said they had cooperated with artists; and almost all said they would consider doing so in future.

Such an encouraging result is not surprising. Scientists are increasingly seeking out visual artists to help them communicate their work to new audiences. “Artists help scientists reach a broader audience and make emotional connections that enhance learning.” One respondent said.

One example of how artists and scientists have together rocked the senses came last month when the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed a reworked version of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They reimagined the 300-year-old score by using the latest climate prediction data for each season—provided by Monash University’s Climate Change Communication Research Hub. The performance was a creative call to action ahead of November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, UK.

But a genuine partnership must be a two-way street. Fewer artists than scientists responded to the Nature poll; however, several respondents noted that artists do not simply assist scientists with their communication requirements. Nor should their work be considered only as an object of study. The alliances are most valuable when scientists and artists have a shared stake in a project, are able to jointly design it and can critique each other’s work. Such an approach can both prompt new research as well as result in powerful art.

More than half a century ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened its Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) to explore the role of technology in culture. The founders deliberately focused their projects around light—hence the “visual studies” in the name. Light was a something that both artists and scientists had an interest in, and therefore could form the basis of collaboration. As science and technology progressed, and divided into more sub-disciplines (学科分支), the centre was meanwhile looking to a time when leading researchers could also be artists, writers and poets, and vice versa (反之亦然).

Nature’s poll findings suggest that this trend is as strong as ever, but, to make a cooperation work, both sides need to invest time, and embrace surprise and challenge. The reach of art-science tie-ups need to go beyond the necessary purpose of research communication, and participants must not fall into the trap of stereotyping each other. Artists and scientists alike are involved in discovery and invention, and challenge and comment are core to both, too.

1. According to Paragraph 1, art-science cooperations have ______.

A．caught the attention of critics	B．received favorable responses
C．promoted academic publishing	D．sparked heated public disputes

2. The reworked version of The Four Seasons is mentioned to show that ______.

A．art can offer audiences easy access to science

B．science can help with the expression of emotions

C．public participation in science has a promising future

D．art is effective in facilitating scientific innovations

3. Some artists seem to worry about in the art-science partnership ______.

A．their role may be underestimated	B．their reputation may be impaired
C．their creativity may be inhibited	D．their work may be misguided

4. What does the author say about CAVS?

A．It was headed alternately by artists and scientists.

B．It exemplified (作为...的典范) valuable art-science alliances.

C．Its projects aimed at advancing visual studies.

D．Its founders sought to raise the status of artists.

5. In the last paragraph, the author holds that art-science collaborations ______.

A．are likely to go beyond public expectations

B．will strengthen interdisciplinary (跨学科) competition

C．should do more than communicating science

D．are becoming more popular than before

【推荐3】We know that our smartphones are expertly-designed distraction devices that weaken our efforts to resist. But, we also know that resistance is important if we’re ever going to find a workable middle ground with our phones – and a recent study has served up another reason to strengthen our resolve.

Here it is: when you pick up your phone while doing anything mentally challenging, you're handicapping your brain’s ability to recharge and performance predictably decreases.

That’s the conclusion of a study that put roughly 400 college students to task solving challenging word puzzles. When they were about halfway through, the researchers allowed most of the students to take a break either using their phones, using a computer or reading a print circular. Other students were told to just keep on working without any sort of break.

The results showed that the students who took a break with their phones were the worst performers of all the groups. They took 19% longer to finish the tasks and they solved 22% fewer word-problems than all the other groups combined. In fact, the cell-phone group’s efficiency and processing speed was about the same as the group that took no break.

The reason offered by the researchers isn’t merely because digital devices are inherently engaging(迷人的), but because our smartphones are attention gates into so many other attention-catching areas, each pulling our mental energy in different directions.

This research stresses that we ignored the energy reduction from using our smartphones, and that we were over-confident about what our brains can handle. We also overlooked the emotional connection we'd developed with our phones. It's no longer just a device. It's a companion.

“It is important to know the costs associated with reaching for this device during every spare minute,” Kurtzberg added. “We assume it’s no different from any other break – but the phone may carry increasing levels of distraction that make it difficult to return focused attention to work tasks.”

1. What does “resolve” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Finding a workable phone.	B．Resisting using phones.
C．Making full use of phones.	D．Upgrading personal phones.

2. The underlined word “handicapping” in Paragraph 2 probably means ___________.

A．strengthening	B．performing
C．weakening	D．changing

3. What can we learn from the research?

A．There are two groups of students in the research.

B．All the students can not take a break in the research.

C．The cell-phone group did best in solving the puzzles.

D．Students have to complete word puzzles before the break.

4. What’s the main idea of the Paragraph 6?

A．The phone is no longer favored by people.

B．The phone is not as powerful as expected.

C．People cannot connect emotionally with phones.

D．People didn’t fully understand the effect of phones.

【推荐1】British men are encouraged to cry.
There are certain things British men like to believe about themselves. The first is that one day they will again win the World Cup. They also believe they do not cry. Over the centuries, Britons are believed to have a "stiff upper lip". But is this true?
Yes, it is. A recent study arranged by Kleenex on how the British express their emotions reveals that 95 percent of them still ____their emotions.
Moreover, while 72 percent think this is unhealthy, 19 percent can't remember the last time they "let it out". As a result, Kleenex is launching the "Let It Out" campaign that encourages Britons to grab a tissue and have a good cry.
These days, however, the male Briton's attitude toward crying is changing. Though the majority still struggles to open up emotionally, a 2004 study by Oxford's Social Issues Research Center found that 77 percent of British men considered crying in public increasingly acceptable. Half of London males admitted crying in front of their mothers. Scotsmen are the least emotional, although they are the most likely to cry at weddings.
Peter Marsh, director of the center, said, “Crying can now indicate sensitivity rather than weakness. Like with David Beckham, crying because you're dropping off your boy at nursery isn't seen as weak.”
Winston Churchill was said to be a frequent crier, shedding tears at seeing a survivor in an air raid shelter（防空洞）, and when he saw his wife after a long absence.
Psychologists say that while society has accepted that men can cry, there are limits. Ronald Bracey, a consulting psychologist, said, “If a man began to cry when he was having stitches（缝针）in hospital, he would be considered as a wimp（软弱的人）. Men still need to be seen as strong when it comes to physical pain. ”
1. What does the passage mainly deal with?

A．Different attitudes British men have towards crying.

B．British men's dream of the World Cup.

C．Advice on how to control emotions.

D．Impression of British men.

2. Which of the following concerning(关于) the British men is NOT true according to the passage?

A．They are supposed to easily control emotions over the centuries.

B．They are confident that they will again get successful in the World Cup.

C．Nowadays, the male Briton's attitude toward crying is changing.

D．About 50% of Britons admitted crying before their mothers.

3. The underlined word “contain” in paragraph 3 means ______.

A．store	B．include
C．hold back	D．possess