1 .

① Have you ever heard of Pi Day? You may think it is all about having pies.

That’s only partly right. Pi Day is actually about maths! Every year on March 14th, maths lovers and scientists celebrate Pi Day to honour the special number π(3. 14159…).

②____ ▲_______. It was founded in 1988 by Larry Shaw. He worked at the Exploratorium, a museum of science and technology. He linked (联系) March 14th with n and celebrated his very first Pi Day with a pie party. Later, the celebration became a yearly tradition at the museum and more visitors joined in. In November 2019, Pi Day was designated (指定) as the International Day of Mathematics by UNESCO, an international organisation.

③ There are many kinds of celebrations of Pi Day. Some people choose to memorise as many digits (数字)as they can, while some take part in a Pi parade, enjoying delicious pies and dancing to music.

Besides, people use a writing style called Pilish to celebrate Pi Day. In a Pilish sentence, the number of letters in each word matches the digit of π. The first word has three letters, the second has one letter, the third has four letters, and so on. An engineer, Michacl Keith, even wrote a book called Not a Wake by using Pilish

④ Pi Day is a day of discovery and joy, reminding us of the importance and beauty of mathematics in our lives. Let’s celebrate the mathematical wonder of π!

1. Who is most likely to be interested in Pi Day?

A．A maths lover.

B．A food lover.

C．A music writer.

D．A film writer.

2. Which can be the best to fill in the blank_____▲_____ in Paragraph 2?

A．Pi Day is celebrated in different ways

B．Pi Day is celebrated all over the world

C．Pi Day is a young international festival

D．Pi Day is a time to make delicious pies

3. Which sentence is written in Pilish?

A．Now, I get an award.	B．Now, I have a dream.
C．Now, we buy a chair.	D．Now, we wash an apple.

4. What’s the structure of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

2 .

You see a snake while hiking! Your heart is racing, your hands feel like ice, and you breathe faster to take in more air. You are experiencing an important emotion: fear.     

Some scientists believe we are born with fear: the fear of falling and loud sounds. But we learn most fear. We are scared of snakes after a certain experience, like being bitten, or seeing other people bitten by a snake. Another way to learn fear is from the spoken words or written notes. We may not know that a snake is scary, until our parents say snakes are dangerous. What’s more, fear can be catching. When we see our friends cry, we will be influenced by them.     

But where does fear come from? It starts in a part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala receives what we see, hear or smell and finds out how much it stands out to us. It then tells the heart to beat faster and the body to sweat. Another part of the brain called the hippocampus is closely connected with the amygdala. It helps the brain read the possible danger and find out whether the danger is real. Seeing a lion in the wild can cause strong fear, but the sight of the same lion at a zoo only brings us fun and the thought that the lion is cute. This is because the hippocampus is telling us there’s no need to worry about it. So, we feel less afraid when signals from the hippocampus overpower the amygdala.     

Actually, no one is fearless. Brave people still feel fear like everyone else—the difference is in how they handle it. People who work in dangerous jobs, like firemen, learn to manage their fear by practicing. In this way, they can act automatically in dangerous situations, although they might be really scared at that time. They are also able to quiet their fear because they believe they have the knowledge to solve the problem.     

Fear is a natural human emotion that we all experience. We should learn about it and live with it.

1. How many ways to learn fear are mentioned in the passage?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

2. How does the hippocampus work in our brain?

A．It helps us calm down.	B．It tells our heart to beat faster.
C．It records the fear we experience.	D．It collects the information around.

3. What does the underlined word “handle” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．go over

B．suffer from

C．deal with

D．depend on

4. What is the structure of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3 . Come to learn Swedish (瑞典语). It seems challenging, but it could be easier if you are a good English speaker. The two languages have a lot more in common than you think.     

The Swedish alphabet (字母表) is almost the same as the English alphabet, but has three more letters：A, Ä and Ö. Although some letters, like O and Ö look alike, they are actually different. Take the Swedish words “lov”and “löv” as an example. The word “lov” can refer to holidays while “löv” translates to “leaves”.     

Many words are close in Swedish and English. “Bok” in Swedish is only a one-letter change to “book”, “äpple” is an easy change to “apple”and “man” and “piano” are the same in both languages. However, there are special suffixes (后缀), such as “-en” and “-t”, to stand for “the” in English. For example, “boken” in Swedish means “the book” in English.     

Another similarity is the word order. It’s often possible to directly translate sentences between the two languages. One big difference is that Swedish always puts the verb (动词) in the second place of a sentence. Although in English sentences, words like “always” or “hardly” often appear in the second place, Swedish is very strict about that verb-second rule and will put them after the verb.     

There are many reasons that make Swedish hard, but with your English learning experience, you’ll find it easier.

1. Which sign below is written in Swedish?

A．

B．

C．

D．

2. According to the passage, what is the meaning of the Swedish word “pianot” ?

A．Piano.

B．Pianos.

C．The piano.

D．A piano.

3. To say “I always eat apples” in Swedish, which of the following shows the right way to place the verb “äter (eat)” ?

A．

B．

C．

D．

4. Why does the writer write the passage?

A．To introduce the history of Swedish.

B．To show Swedish is not so difficult to learn.

C．To tell the writer’s own Swedish learning experience.

D．To explain the difference between English and Swedish.

5 .

Recently, a group of Chinese scientists took things a step further by using 3D printing technology to create realistic models of human organs. In the past, it was challenging to create a single material that could print all human organs because they are very different from each other. The Chinese research team started by using hydrogel, a soft gel-like material, as the main material.

Scientists use hydrogel and other materials for printing human organs. They have various hardness, such as our bones being the hardest and our brains being the softest. To copy the hardness of human organs, the researchers added metallic elements to the hydrogel and regulate their ratio. In this way, some models can be hard, like the bone, and some can be soft. However, the structure inside the human body is also unbelievably complicated, even in the same organ, different parts require different levels of hardness. To make sure the printing results are correct, the team used a specific technology called light-curing in the 3D printing process. A special light was placed under the printing machine, causing the gel to become strong right after it was printed.

________. They usually cannot be used for organ transplanting directly, because human cells are likely to recognize them as “enemies” and start to fight against them. These days, scientists are working on bio-printing: using 3D printing technology to build up various types of cells and materials layer by layer. After that, the printed product will be more acceptable to grow inside the human body. However, this method is in development, and experts are still on the way. They hope it will be used in the medical field within a few years, according to CNN.

These 3D printed organ models are used in various fields, such as testing medical tools and presenting operations. Compared to live organs and animal models, they are also ethically acceptable since they are man-made and printed. To some degree, they can help researchers develop new treatments more efficiently, due to their lower relative cost, commented the Alliance of Advanced Biomedical Engineering website.

1. In the past, what was the main challenge when printing human organs?

A．The cost of printing organs was too high to afford.

B．It was hard to use one material for different organs.

C．There were too many organs for researchers to print.

D．The printing technology was still in the development.

2. The research team make the printing results right by ________.

A．adding more gel in the process of printing

B．controlling the number of metallic elements

C．using light-curing technology while printing

D．putting a special light over the printing machine

3. Which sentence can be put in the “________” in Paragraph 3?

A．However, the hydrogel materials are not perfect

B．The hydrogel materials are quite expensive to develop

C．Besides, the hydrogel materials have more advantages

D．The hydrogel materials have been applies in many ways

4. From the passage, we know that hydrogel is ________.

A．used as a main material	B．a hard material like metal
C．accepted by human bodies	D．invented by Chinese experts

6 .

The United Nations has 6 official languages. Each of them has their own days with the aim to show the rich history and culture of each language. UNESCO first created Chinese Language Day in 2010 to celebrate Chinese as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

The first Chinese Language Day was in 2010 on November 12th. But since 2011, it has been on the 20th of April. The date was chosen from Guyu (“Rain of Millet*”) to remember Cangjie. Cangjie is very important in ancient China who was believed to invent Chinese characters 5000 years ago. Legend* says that Cangjie had 4 eyes and he was good at observing*. He often watched the sun and the moon with his upper 2 eyes while watched mountains and rivers with the lower 2 eyes. His long-time observation inspired him to create the earliest written characters according to the shapes of things. When his work was over, it rained millet upon the earth.

This year’s Chinese Language Day was held in New York, under the theme of “Chinese Wisdom for a Green World” to provide Chinese wisdom and solutions for green and long-lasting development. World-famous writer Mr. Liu Cixin gave an online lecture to share his opinions on sustainable development and the protection of mother earth.

Chinese Language Day is an important carrier for Chinese learners, lovers, and users from all over the world to get close to Chinese. Nowadays, more than one sixth of world’s population speak Chinese as their first language— that’s more than any other population in the world! Learning Chinese is more like a key to knowing China and feeling the beauty of Chinese culture.

1. The Chinese Language Day was first created ________.

A．in 2011	B．13 years ago
C．to celebrate Guyu	D．to remember Cangjie

2. According to the legend, how did Cangjie observe to create the characters?

A．	B．
C．	D．

3. From the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The theme of this year is about how to be green in China.

B．Liu Cixin showed up in New York for the celebration this year.

C．The Chinese Language Day is important for people over the world.

D．More than 16 percent of world’s population are Chinese native speakers.

4. Why does the writer write the passage?

A．To tell a legend about Cangjie	B．To show the history Chinese.
C．To attract foreigners to come to China.	D．To introduce some facts of a special day.

7 .

1. ________ are necessary to make Earl Grey.
① A teaspoon     ②Hot water     ③Tea leaves   ④ Milk     ⑤A teapot

A．①②④

B．②③⑤

C．②③④

D．③④⑤

2. When enjoying Earl Grey, we ________.

A．must drink it in the afternoon	B．should drink it with the a leaves
C．have to add sugar and lemon in it	D．can enjoy sweets at the same time

3. The passage can be found on a (n) ________.

A．newspaper

B．magazine

C．poster

D．website

8 . A heat wave roasted* hundreds of thousands of people across the Pacific Northwest, taking away hundreds of lives. Climate change has made heat waves like this one more frequent and stronger than those from any other point in recorded history.

The following is what happens if you’re one of the next people whom heat wave kills, according to W. Lawrence Kenney, an expert from Penn State University. First, your brain sends messages to encourage sweat* production. Then your heart starts beating faster to pump* blood to the skin, and at the same time, blood flow is also directed away from your organs like liver, kidneys, and gut. That’s your body trying to make your skin hotter than the air outside and move heat away from you.

If heat stroke* happens, your body might get too hot and send much blood to the skin, as a result, it fails* those important organs in your body. You might require an emergency transplant to survive the organ failure. If your body fails to cool you down, its internal* temperature might start to climb from a normal level of about 98 degrees Fahrenheit to somewhere closer to 104 degrees. At that temperature, the brain becomes affected and you may feel it start as a headache. Before long, you might not know where you are or what time it is. If you are not treated in time, what follows is a series of organ failure that leads to all but certain death. And that’s just part of what we know about how heat wave kills you.

“It’s important for people to understand that there’s still a lot we don’t know about heat stroke and who’s most likely to be harmed,” Kenney said, “That’s because we can’t study it in humans in the laboratory. A lot of what we know comes from studies on animal models, like mice and rats, or from examinations of people who have died of heat stroke.”

roast v. 烤；sweat n. 汗液；pump v. （心脏）泵送血液；heat stroke 中暑；fail v. 使……衰竭；internal adj. 体内的

1. Which of the following will happen if a heat wave attacks a person?

A．The skin will produce less sweat.

B．The heart beats will slow down.

C．There will be more blood in the skin.

D．The organs will be more active.

2. What can we do first if heat stroke happens?

A．Prevent organs from failing.	B．Try to cool down the body.
C．Try to treat the headache.	D．Stop sweat from producing.

3. What can we learn from Kenny in the last paragraph?

A．There hasn’t been enough study so far.

B．We should keep studying human deaths.

C．We have already studied on humans.

D．The studies on animal models are useless.

4. Which of the following can be the best title?

A．How heat strokes are developed

B．How we can keep organs work well

C．How we can slow down global warming

D．How heat waves destroy the human body

9 . The jackfruit is a delicious fruit found throughout certain parts of Asia. But there is more to the fruit than just its taste. When considering the fruit’s English name, it is easy to become overwhelmed with questions like: “Who is Jack? And why does he have his own fruit?”

Surprisingly, “jackfruit” isn’t a person’s name at all. The fruit’s name originally comes from the southern Indian word “chakka pazham”, with India thought to be the fruit’s place of origin. Portuguese explorers who journeyed to this region went on to call it “jaca”, which leads us to the current English name of jackfruit, according to NPR. Unfortunately, no one called Jack has been proven to be involved* in this process.

There is another food, however, that was directly named after a person-the sandwich. In the 18th century, playing card games late into the night became fashionable in British high society. John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, started the habit of ordering pieces of cold beef between two pieces of bread in order to get a late-night snack without having to leave the gaming table or use a knife and fork.

This unique snack kept bands clean so card players could continue on without dirtying their cards. The midnight snack quickly became popular with everyday people, and before long everyone was making their own sandwiches. That is how the sandwich was invented and got its name.

Away from the world of food, there are more examples of names inspired by people. Long johns, the warm trousers that keep us warm in winter, are said to have been named after the US boxer John I. Sullivan who took to wearing a similar type of clothes in the match.

There are many other interesting etymologies in the English language like these. So the next time you find an interesting name, why not explore its history too?

1. What does the underlined word “overwhelmed” in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Puzzled.

B．Excited.

C．Worried.

D．Amazed.

2. Where does the jackfruit’s name come from?

A．A place in India.

B．An Indian word.

C．A Portuguese explorer named Jack.

D．The man who discovered the fruit.

3. What do we know about the sandwich, according to the text?

A．It was first popular in the UK’s middle class.

B．It was once eaten as a snack in the daytime.

C．It was named after a popular card game.

D．It was created for the convenience of playing cards.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article?

A．To introduce things named after people.

B．To raise readers’ interest in etymology.

C．To explain the effects of people’s names on food.

D．To stress the importance of learning history.

10 .

When you think of mushrooms, the image that comes to your mind is probably the delicious food in cream soup and pizza. You are not alone. Most of us think that mushrooms are just a kind of nutritious food. In fact, mycelium, the bottom part of mushrooms, is not used in our dishes but used to make handbags or build houses.

Mycelium, a newly developed material, has become more and more important in industry since a company called Ecovative Design produced mycelium bags in 2007. People are trying to make more mycelium-based products because mycelium grows fast and doesn’t take up farming land. Besides, it has very low environment footprint. It can even break down waste. It’s also useful for creating new materials. For example, mycelium can reuse waste to create packaging materials by weaving its network through the waste.

Mycelium has already been put into use in many parts of daily life. In the project “The Growing Pavillion”, scientists from the Netherlands used mycelium as one of the materials to build a house. This material can keep the house cool. Another project is “Myceli-yum”. It produces mycelium-based meat which looks nearly 100% like real meat! Producing the meat uses much less energy than producing common meat. Its high nutrition and low cholesterol make it a popular choice for people who want to lose weight. Max Justice, an expert in space, uses mycelium as one of the most important materials for a new satellite. He hopes when the satellite finishes its work, it can break down itself instead of becoming space junk.

However, mycelium has its limits. Buildings made from mycelium are easy to get wet inside, as the material itself isn’t resistant to water. Compared with common houses, mycelium-based houses are not strong enough against natural disasters like earthquakes.

Scientists are working hard to improve the quality of mycelium and experimenting with new uses of it. So keep an eye out, because over the next few years, you’re likely to find more mycelium-based products all around you.

1. According to the passage, mycelium ________

A．is a new material	B．makes pizza delicious
C．grows above the ground	D．is taken from cream soup

2. The underlined sentence “it has very low environment footprint” in Paragraph 2 means mycelium ________

A．grows at a low cost	B．is created in a rapid way
C．produces waste slowly	D．is friendly to the environment

3. Mycelium can been used to ________

A．keep products away from water	B．produce food that is good for health
C．make satellites that use less energy	D．build houses against natural disasters

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Mycelium: A Hidden Treasure	B．Mycelium: A Project on Building
C．Mycelium: A Common Vegetable	D．Mycelium: A Space Junk Cleaner