2 . Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday, with their capsule getting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out a test flight by Elon Musk's SpaceX company.

It was the first water landing by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from space. The return clears the way for another Space flight as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.

Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken arrived back on Earth in their SpaceX Dragon capsule named Endeavour. The capsule got into the calm waters about 40 miles off the coast of Pensacola.

“It's a little bit hard to take to seeing everybody here considering the things that have gone on the last few months since we've been off the planet,” Hurley said after arriving back home in Houston on Sunday evening where they were greeted by a small group of family and officials, including Musk. Musk had rushed to Houston from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, to welcome them.

The astronauts’ ride back to Earth was fast and hot, at least on the outside. The spacecraft went from a speed of 17,500 mph to 350 mph, and finally to 15 mph at landing. Highest heating was 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The expected .top G forces felt by the astronauts were four to five times the force of Earth's gravity.

Within a half-hour of the water landing, the 16-foot capsule was pulled onto a recovery ship with a staff of more than 40, including doctors and nurses. The opening of the capsule was held up for half an hour by extra checks for dangerous rocket gases outside the capsule. After medical checkups, the astronauts took a plane to Pensacola and then to Houston.

1. How was SpaceX's flight this time special?

A．It landed in water.	B．It carried some tourists.
C．It was organized by NASA.	D．It was sent into space from Mexico.

2. What did Elon Musk do?

A．He phoned the astronauts’ family.

B．He greeted the astronauts in person.

C．He waited in Houston for many days.

D．He welcomed the astronauts in California.

3. What do we know about the return flight?

A．The astronauts felt different speed.

B．The astronauts had to swim out of water.

C．The astronauts experienced the low temperature.

D．The astronauts felt six times the G forces of Earth's gravity.

4. What would the astronauts do after the landing?

A．Get physical checkups.	B．Be sent to the hospital.
C．Help pull the capsule onto a ship.	D．Take a plane to Pensacola immediately.

3 . Are you spending your holidays sitting around bored with nothing to do? You can find many ways to fill your days.     1    

Spend time with your friends. If you can't think of things to do, one of your friends probably can.     2    

Help others. If you have nothing you need to do for yourself, you may want to volunteer to help someone else. Ask friends and relatives if they have any projects they need help on, and, if so, offer your services!

    3     The holidays are a great opportunity to have conversations with family members you haven't seen for a long time. For instance, you might want to visit your grandparents and have a quality talk with them. You might be surprised how funny some of your relatives have become without your noticing.

Spend time with your pet if you have one. You might be happy to stay with an animal friend, especially if it's with one you haven't seen for a while.     4     So spend a little time walking with them, playing with them. etc.

Hold a party. Having a party is a great way to have fun. You can invite your friends and have a party together.     5     If it's cold, you and your friends can stay inside and have a nice cup of coffee.

A．Spend time with loved ones.

B．Help your friends and relatives.

C．If it's sunny, have it in the open air.

D．Do something you have never done before.

E．Your pet probably miss you if you've been gone.

F．Here are some tips for spending time with others.

G．When all else fails, simply try going for picnics or hanging out at a shopping mall with your friends.

6 . Kevin Barber was just 15 years old when he had an idea that would change downtown San Diego. His mother, Dr. Carolyn Barber, _________ in a busy emergency room and would come home with stories about the homeless _________she had treated there.

“We were trying to _________ if there was some kind of work program or something that we do for the homeless instead of just _________them with medicines,” Dr. Barber said.

One night, Barber found a TED Talk _________ “A practical way to help the homeless find work and safety.” The Talk _________ Barber's interest. After doing some more research, he started to _________ his own version of the program in San Diego called Wheels of Change. The non-profit, which he launched at age 16, offers _________to those in need, helps keep the city clean and works to _________homelessness.

At the beginning, getting Wheels of Change moving wasn't ______________. And to make his dream a ______________, Barber needed to find an organization to ______________ with. The obvious choice was Alpha Project, a San Diego-based non-profit organization.

Many students, with the ______________ of intentions, volunteered to work on homeless causes, ______________ most of them were ______________ when they met their first homeless person with severe mental illness. But Barber kept showing up at his office and shared ______________ words with everyone he came across.

Now, Wheels of Change employs 20 homeless people a day, who are ______________ $ 52 in cash at the end of their four-hour shift (with a lunch break in the middle). Workers said the money that they've earned has made a big ______________.

“It makes you feel like you're a ______________ again,” said Louis Varga, who works for Wheels of Change. Other workers have used the money to pay for college classes or transportation costs.

Sometimes, just a little ______________ can turn a life around.

1.

A．lived

B．worked

C．joined

D．arrived

2.

A．patients

B．children

C．volunteers

D．employees

3.

A．write down

B．carry on

C．put up

D．figure out

4.

A．comforting

B．treating

C．observing

D．calming

5.

A．explored

B．evaluated

C．titled

D．reviewed

6.

A．changed

B．got

C．reduced

D．aroused

7.

A．launch

B．name

C．advertise

D．attend

8.

A．drink

B．food

C．employment

D．shelter

9.

A．end

B．lead

C．advocate

D．treat

10.

A．profitable

B．useful

C．tough

D．easy

11.

A．sight

B．reality

C．fact

D．failure

12.

A．compete

B．compare

C．partner

D．deal

13.

A．worst

B．best

C．least

D．evilest

14.

A．therefore

B．however

C．moreover

D．furthermore

15.

A．paying off

B．spreading out

C．scared away

D．given back

16.

A．warning

B．disappointing

C．amusing

D．encouraging

17.

A．paid

B．donated

C．charged

D．shown

18.

A．debt

B．program

C．burden

D．difference

19.

A．doctor

B．beggar

C．citizen

D．millionaire

20.

A．cash

B．luck

C．wheel

D．girl

7 . Gestures-such as pointing or waving-go hand in hand with a child's first words, and twins lag (滞后)behind single children in producing and using those gestures,two studies from Georgia State University psychology researchers show.

The lag in gesture among twins may be mostly due to lower parental input, Ozcaliskan said. It's likely that parents caring for twins engage in shorter conversations with their children, including gesturing less, because their attention is divided and their labor is doubled.However, parents of single children used a greater amount and diversity of gestures than parents of twins. Ozcaliskan said she had grown curious about gesture because it had not yet been studied among twins. We have already known that twins are initially at a disadvantage where language is concerned. Most of the time, these lags are within the normal range of differences, and nothing to worry about. Almost all children will catch up to each other by around age three and a half.

“However,there was almost nothing in research on gesturing among twins," Ozcaliskan said. Babies start using pointing around 10 months, a few months before they produce their first words. Gesture helps them convey what they can't yet communicate in speech and prepares the way for children's early words.

Twins sometimes develop their own systems of communication, even their own “twin language," which has also been shown to delay language acquisition. “Perhaps it also delays the use of gestures. Gesture and speech together form a closely integrated system in a child's development, and a child's first gestures often precede their first attempts at speech," Ozcaliskan said.

＂Gesture is a very powerful tool," she said. “Pay attention to your child's gestures, and then provide verbal(言语的） descriptions to help their language development, such as naming objects when children point to them."

1. What mainly causes twins to produce and use fewer gestures?

A．Reduced parental input.

B．Undivided parental attention.

C．Too much “twin language".

D．Slow language development.

2. The underlined word “precede" in Paragraph 5 probably means _

A．count on

B．go with

C．come before

D．call up

3. Which of the following may best help children's language development?

A．When the child smiles, parents smile big smiles as well.

B．When the child makes a small mistake, parents ignore it.

C．When the child points to a doll, parents pass it to him or her quickly.

D．When the child points to a bottle, parents point to it, saying “bottle".

4. What can be learned from the study?

A．Twins fall behind single children in early gesturing.

B．Twins are at a disadvantage in language of a lifetime.

C．Enough research has been done on twins' gesturing.

D．Gestures prepare children for future development.

10 . Many of the New World supermarkets in New Zealand are letting their fruits and vegetables go packaging-free. In an innovative project pioneered by the New World supermarket located at Bishopdale in Christchurch, this change has led to an amazing increase in sales according to The New Zealand Herald. "We monitor them year on year and after we introduced the idea, we noticed sales of spring onions, for example, had increased by 300 percent," Bishopdale’s owner Nigel Bond told NZ Herald. "There may have been other factors at play, but we noticed similar increases in other vegetables." Bond explained, "When we first set up the new shelving, our customers were blown away. It reminded me of when I was a kid going to the fruiterer with my Dad you could smell the fresh oranges and spring onions. By wrapping products in plastic, we sanitize and keep people away from this experience, it was a huge regret for us."

This new project is part of the movement to do away with all single-use plastic packaging. There are actually government regulations that went into effect on July 1, 2019 for a phase out(强制逐步淘汰) of plastic bags by all retailers. Plastics take up as much as 20 percent of New Zealand's landfill space to 252,000 tons per year.

The idea for the unwrapped produce came from Bond. He went on a study tour in the US and was impressed by the sales at Whole Foods. Then he spoke to growers and suppliers who were more than happy to look at different ways to provide produce without the plastic packaging.

Now, most of the produce is plastic-free but some items - including grapes and some tomatoes - still come wrapped in plastic. Nine New World supermarkets in the South Island have followed the Bishop dales stores example. And New World is testing another new way to BYO (=bring your own) containers for the meat and seafood departments. All of this is a part of the supermarket chain commitment to sustainable practices.

1. What's the result of making vegetables go packaging-free?

A．An innovative project was carried out.

B．More vegetables have been sold.

C．Nigel Bond monitored sales stricter.

D．Other factors were found to play the role.

2. Which of the following is the content of regulations going into effect in 2019?

A．Not using all single-use plastic packaging.

B．Limiting the development of retailers.

C．Stopping using plastic bags gradually.

D．Building more New Zealand's landfill space.

3. What made Bond have the idea for the unwrapped produce?

A．Whole Foods’ sales.

B．His study in the college.

C．His impression from work.

D．Growers and suppliers' requirements.

4. What can be the suitable title for the text?

A．New World's Fruits and Vegetables Going Packaging-Free.

B．New Zealand's Supermarkets Calling for Environmental protection.

C．New Zealand's Contribution to Reducing the Use of Plastics.

D．New World's Supermarkets' New Ways to Promote Sales.