1 . Last year, 138,000 San Francisco residents used Airbnb, a popular app designed to connect home renters and travelers. It’s a striking number for a city with a population of about 850,000, and it was enough for Airbnb to win a major victory in local elections, as San Francisco voters struck down (否决) a debatable rule that would have placed time restrictions and other regulations on short-term rental services.
The company of Airbnb fiercely opposed the rule, Proposition F. It also contacted its San Franciscan users with messages urging them to vote against Proposition F.
Most people think of Airbnb as a kind of couch-surfing app. The service works for one-night stays on road trips and longer stays in cities, and it often has more competitive pricing than hotels. It’s a textbook example of the “sharing economy”, but not everyone is a fan.
The app has had unintended consequences in San Francisco. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last year, a significant amount of renting on Airbnb is not in line with the company’s image. Middle-class families rent a spare room out to help make ends meet. Backers of Proposition F argued that this trend takes spaces off the conventional (传统的), better-regulated (监管更好的) housing market and contributes to rising costs.
San Francisco is in the middle of a long-term, deeply rooted housing crisis that has seen the cost of living explode. Located on a narrow land overlooking the bay, San Francisco simply doesn’t have enough space to accommodate the massive inflow of young, high-salaried tech employees flocking to Silicon Valley. Consequently, the average monthly rent for an apartment is around $4,000.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, some San Francisco residents supported the rule simply because it seemed like a way to check a big corporation. Opponents of Proposition F countered that the housing crisis runs much deeper, and that passing the rule would have discouraged a popular service while doing little to solve the city’s existing problems.
1. The intention of Proposition F is to ______.A.place time limits in local election | B.set limits on short-term rental |
C.strike down a debatable rule | D.urge users to vote against Airbnb |
A.It reduces the living space of middle-class families. |
B.Users are taken advantage of by the service financially. |
C.It helps regulate the house market effectively. |
D.It indirectly leads to high house rental price. |
A.Explosion of the living cost. | B.Its historic characteristics. |
C.Inflow of migrant population. | D.Development of local economy. |
A.Objective. | B.Optimistic | C.Subjective. | D.Indifferent. |
2 . For people suffering from depression, there’s an all-natural treatment they should use — getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.
For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study’s start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.
Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky,” said lead author Karmel Choi. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes.”
Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. “Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible,” Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there’s something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.
1. How did the researchers reach their conclusion?A.By analyzing a mass of data. |
B.By conducting genetic research. |
C.By comparing various levels of activity. |
D.By tracking the subjects for many years. |
A.Physical activity betters medical treatment. |
B.Exercise is able to decrease and prevent it. |
C.Different levels of exercise intensity matter the same. |
D.Exercising 35 minutes daily is the most effective treatment. |
A.Harmful. | B.Complex. |
C.Unusual. | D.Common. |
A.To discuss a disease. |
B.To introduce a method. |
C.To analyze a genetic risk. |
D.To explain a phenomenon. |
3 . What makes people so special? Tool use, self-consciousness, language, and culture are high on the list, but in fact all of these characteristics can be found elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Humans and apes are close relatives, so it is perhaps not surprising that chimpanzees use tools or that gorillas (大猩猩) have a sense of fair play, even rejecting carrots (which they normally accept) when they see their neighbors getting grapes. But the qualities that we often think of as uniquely human exist not just on land, but in the ocean as well.
Among the invertebrates, octopuses (八爪鱼) are known for their intelligence, even exhibiting evidence of playfulness, tool use, and personality. But these skilled predators live alone and consequently lack culture. Dolphins, on the other hand, are large-brained, long-living, social- group-based predators, and it is here that we find the greatest similarity to human-like culture and awareness.
Culture depends on the ability of animals to pass on things they have learned to others. Many animals have culture in this sense, but what sets dolphins apart is what they pass on. Some bottlenose dolphins hold sponges in their mouths that they use as tools to sweep for fish hiding on the ocean floor. This ability is handed down through generations (especially in females), with some families — grandmother, mother, and daughter — all feeding in this highly specialized way.
Another characteristic that dolphins share with humans is their ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. When facing a mirror, most animals behave as though they are interacting with another individual. Even in humans, the ability to recognize that the image in a mirror is oneself does not occur before the age of 18 months. Dolphins not only recognize themselves, but if a black mark is put on the body of a dolphin, it will spend extra time at the mirror to look at the mark.
1. The example of gorillas rejecting carrots shows they ________.A.are not easy to fool | B.prefer fruit to vegetables |
C.have a special taste for food | D.have an awareness of equality |
A.Cooperation. | B.Intelligence. |
C.Tool using ability. | D.Fun-loving spirits. |
A.They tend to hunt in groups. |
B.Their hunting skills are passed down. |
C.Their learning environment is favourable. |
D.Their families are typically female-controlled. |
A.Dolphins enjoy looking at their own reflection in the mirror. |
B.Dolphins are as intelligent as a typical 18-month-old human baby. |
C.Dolphins are generally regarded as the most advanced non-human species. |
D.Dolphins’ ability to recognize their own reflection is a higher-order mental skill. |
4 . Pushpa hates tears but when she tells of incidents from her childhood, which she spent battling poverty, she can’t help feeling overwhelmed. “We used to be able to afford only one meal every day,” she says. But as challenging as those early years were, they would lead to her remarkable life as a scribe (抄写员) for people with special needs.
Pushpa remembers enjoying a blessedly normal childhood, peppered with “toys, dinners out and movies at the theatre”, until around grade 4. But life as she knew it disappeared when an accident left her father disabled.
“My mother, who wasn’t well-educated, had to work for $500 per month.” But what hit her hardest was her struggle to continue her education. The memory of her grade 7 teacher refusing to allow her to attend classes over unpaid school fees still hurts.
One day in 2007, while travelling with two visually impaired (有缺陷的) college students by bus, she heard them talk about how difficult it was for them to continue their education. “I remembered my own struggle to finish my studies so I seized the opportunity to help them.”
“I was a little nervous at first because I had passed my grade 10 examination only with a third class,” she smiles. “Since then, I’ve written exams for students who have low IQ, or are blind or visually impaired, or have met with an accident.”
It is, by no means, an easy task. “I read out the questions slowly and, sometimes, several times, and wait for the student to tell me the answer. I have seen scribes getting irritated (愤怒的) at students and that should not happen.” she explains.
Over the last 16 years, the young girl who once survived on handouts has come a long way. Connecting with examinees by word of mouth, till date, Pushpa has written 1,086 exams for special-needs test-takers and won the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2018 for her efforts. “You should be prepared to help the student for those few hours, without expecting anything in return.” Pushpa adds.
1. What do we know about Pushpa according to Paragraph 1?A.Her ambition to serve people. | B.Her early fight against poverty. |
C.Her inability to control emotions. | D.Her gratitude to the past hardships. |
A.She was sympathetic for others. | B.She expected to shoot to fame. |
C.She was professional in the job. | D.She was eager for much money. |
A.Intelligence. | B.Respect. | C.Patience. | D.Cooperation. |
A.A Helping Hand | B.A Hardship-filled Life |
C.An Old-fashioned Job | D.A Devoted Prize Winner |
5 . My dad is easy-going and has a gift for chatting. He
One Saturday, we went
Dad said, “Hi, how are you today? This is my son. I have a restaurant, and we
Back in the car, Dad said to me, “The cashier was obviously
A.owns | B.describes | C.visits | D.recommends |
A.supermarket | B.hospital | C.restaurant | D.company |
A.hiking | B.camping | C.exploring | D.shopping |
A.imagined | B.believed | C.noticed | D.remembered |
A.beautiful | B.unhappy | C.professional | D.polite |
A.received | B.needed | C.avoided | D.offered |
A.suitable | B.frightening | C.special | D.friendly |
A.helped | B.refused | C.waited | D.forgot |
A.problem | B.idea | C.hope | D.experience |
A.talking to | B.looking after | C.going after | D.laughing at |
A.work | B.play | C.tour | D.exercise |
A.drive | B.tie | C.treat | D.lead |
A.quitted | B.finished | C.missed | D.regretted |
A.in peace | B.in danger | C.in a hurry | D.in low spirits |
A.warmly | B.immediately | C.secretly | D.comfortably |
6 . In our life, there are moments when we wonder whether to offer a helping hand. These
It was a summer afternoon, and Bill was attending a
Bill recalled, “Sometimes when you’re
As Bill stood there, feeling
From then on, Bill’s life was changed. He studied hard to become a doctor. He was
A.ambitions | B.gestures | C.qualifications | D.reasons |
A.course | B.appetite | C.preferences | D.opinions |
A.unfamiliar | B.unimportant | C.contradictory | D.transformational |
A.concert | B.test | C.reunion | D.competition |
A.Nevertheless | B.Therefore | C.Otherwise | D.Besides |
A.agreed | B.talked | C.proposed | D.apologized |
A.kind | B.gentle | C.rude | D.alone |
A.teenagers | B.colleagues | C.doctors | D.teachers |
A.attaining | B.regretting | C.desiring | D.forgetting |
A.increasingly | B.permanently | C.slightly | D.rarely |
A.amused | B.invited | C.chose | D.met |
A.find | B.involve | C.suspect | D.acknowledge |
A.gave | B.let | C.reached | D.acted |
A.faithful | B.equal | C.identical | D.caring |
A.as to | B.thanks to | C.in place of | D.in spite of |
7 . Yoriko, a sheepshead fish (kobudai in Japanese), first met Arakawa nearly 30 years ago. Arakawa started
“I’d say we
On one dive when Arakawa was visiting, he noticed Yoriko’s
“I’m not sure if it’s the
It sure sounds like this is one human who’s been truly caught in a net of
A.fishing | B.training | C.diving | D.swimming |
A.fast-developing | B.longstanding | C.open | D.regular |
A.understand | B.miss | C.please | D.support |
A.enjoy | B.do | C.make | D.change |
A.human-looking | B.good-looking | C.strange-looking | D.natural-looking |
A.admire | B.fear | C.perceive | D.know |
A.mouth | B.back | C.tail | D.head |
A.eager | B.happy | C.unwilling | D.unable |
A.Initially | B.Thankfully | C.Unexpectedly | D.Basically |
A.return | B.recovery | C.growth | D.arrival |
A.preference | B.gift | C.nature | D.habit |
A.trust | B.security | C.responsibility | D.fun |
A.cheated | B.caught | C.freed | D.saved |
A.unashamed | B.grateful | C.proud | D.regretful |
A.peace | B.hope | C.love | D.joy |
8 . What a day! I started my new school this morning and had the best time. I made lots of new friends and really liked my teachers. I was nervous the night before, but I had no reason to be. Everyone was so friendly and polite. They made me feel at ease. It was like I’d been at the school for a hundred years!
The day started very early at 7:00 am. I had my breakfast downstairs with my mom. She could tell that I was very nervous. Mom kept asking me what was wrong. She told me I had nothing to worry about and that everyone was going to love me. If they didn’t love me, mom said to have a good talk with them. I couldn’t stop laughing.
My mom dropped me off at the school gate about five minutes before the bell rang. A little blonde girl got dropped off at the same time and started waving (招手) at me. She ran over and told me her name was Abigail. She was very nice and we became close straight away. We spent all morning together and began to talk to another girl called Stacey. The three of us sat together in class all day and we even made our way home together! It went so quickly. Our teacher told us that tomorrow we would really start learning and developing new skills.
I cannot wait until tomorrow and feel as though I am really going to enjoy my time at my new school. I only hope that my new friends feel the same way, too.
1. How did the author feel the night before her new school?A.Tired. | B.Excited. | C.Happy. | D.Worried. |
A.Clear. | B.Funny. | C.Reasonable. | D.Excellent. |
A.She met many nice people. | B.She had a hurried breakfast. |
C.She learned some new skills. | D.She arrived at school very early. |
A.She disliked Stacey. | B.She was shy and quiet. |
C.She got on well with the author. | D.She was an old friend of the author. |
9 . Different ways have been applied to dealing with waste paper, specifically used newspapers. Some people put them in the recycling area, while others keep them as wrappers (包装纸). While these are both good measures, a Japanese publishing company had a better idea for their end use.
The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. invented the “Green Newspaper”, which allows people to grow plants with it. This unique newspaper was published on Greenery Day, which is focused on environmental news and made of green paper with seeds placed into it. What makes it even more special is the ink (油墨) used to print words and photos, which is made from plants. The publisher advises readers to tear the used newspaper into small pieces and plant them in a container with soil. They should water them, like they would do for any plant. Within a few weeks, the seeds will grow into plants.
This brilliant concept was invented by Dentsu Inc., one of Japan’s most famous advertising companies, which works with the publishing company on the initiative (倡议). The publisher’s belief is environmental sustainability (持续性). As its mission statement says, “The Mainichi doesn’t take action only through information, but also by solving global issues.” With joint efforts, this initiative has reached the corners of Japan and sold around millions of copies daily. Other such initiatives producing plantable paper are also seen in India and the US.
About 95 million trees are lost for producing newspapers every year. The Internet, the number of whose users stands for 62.5 percent of the population worldwide, has influenced how people read news and the print readership has dropped greatly. However, the reinvention and reimagination of this newspaper will bring about a change in the publishing industry as well as having an environmental influence.
1. Why was the Green Newspaper invented?A.To get newspapers cheaper. | B.To make the most of waste paper. |
C.To improve the printing. | D.To advertise the publishing company. |
A.It uses high-tech materials. | B.It provides energy for seeds. |
C.It’s printed with plant-based ink. | D.It’s published to celebrate Greenery Day. |
A.It’s easier said than done. | B.Everything comes to one who waits. |
C.Many hands make light work. | D.Actions speak louder than words. |
A.About 59 million trees are lost for producing newspapers. |
B.The Internet has changed the way people read news totally. |
C.The popularity of the Internet leads to the fall of the print readership. |
D.The “Green Newspaper” will encourage more people to protect the environment. |
10 . One evening, Paul O’Sullivan felt bored in his Baltimore apartment. So he got on to Facebook to find out just how many others on the social network
Many of his fellow Paul O’Sullivans
But just months later, Baltimore Paul began experiencing health issues that
“What are the odds (机率)” says Baltimore Paul, “that a random Facebook
A.shared | B.called | C.mentioned | D.liked |
A.mind | B.screen | C.apartment | D.time |
A.ignored | B.tricked | C.greeted | D.praised |
A.make out | B.turn down | C.ask for | D.apply for |
A.measure | B.innovation | C.reaction | D.emotion |
A.ordinary | B.unusual | C.precious | D.formal |
A.writers | B.employees | C.musicians | D.workers |
A.observed | B.maintained | C.explored | D.formed |
A.reflected | B.aided | C.agreed | D.gathered |
A.release | B.imagine | C.exhibit | D.detect |
A.suddenly | B.generally | C.frequently | D.eventually |
A.reminded | B.forced | C.taught | D.allowed |
A.get involved in | B.take advantage of | C.think highly of | D.press pause on |
A.request | B.page | C.account | D.user |
A.business | B.success | C.fame | D.friendship |