1 . It was a cold night in Washington, D.C., and I was heading back to the hotel when a man approached me. He asked if I would give him some money so he could get something to eat. I’d read the signs: “Don’t give money to beggars as most of them are swindlers.” So I shook my head and kept walking.
I wasn’t prepared for a reply, but with no hesitation, he followed me and said, “I really am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!” But I kept on walking.
The incident kept bothering me for the rest of the week. I had money in my pocket and it wouldn’t have killed me to hand over a dollar or two even if he hadn’t been a real beggar. On a freezing cold night, no less, I assumed the worst of a fellow human being.
Flying back to Anchorage, I couldn’t help thinking of him. I tried to reason my failure to help by supposing government agencies, churches and charities were there to feed him. Besides, you’re not supposed to give money to beggars.
Somewhere over Seattle, I started to write my weekly garden column for The Anchorage Daily News. Out of the blue, I came up with an idea. Bean’s Cafe, a local charity service kitchen, feeds hundreds of hungry local people every day. Why not try to get all my readers to plant one row of vegetables or flowers in their gardens for Bean’s? Plant a row for Bean’s. It’s clean and simple.
We didn’t keep records back then, but the idea began to take off. Folks would fax me or call when they took something in. It’s food for the spirit and comfort for my conscience.
In April 1995, the Garden Writers Association of America(GWAA) held their annual meeting in Anchorage and after learning our program, Plant a Row for Bean’s became Plant a Row For The Hungry. The idea then was to have every member write or talk about planting a row for the hungry, which brought the program to national attention.
As more and more people participated, new variations cropped up. Many companies gave free seeds to customers and displayed the logo for the program. Donations poured in. It was then that I could really stop feeling guilty.
1. The underlined word “swindlers” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.| A．policemen | B．writers | C．cheaters | D．beggars |
| A．Because he didn’t show fair respect to a beggar treating him badly. |
| B．Because he could have helped a hungry man but he passed by. |
| C．Because he believed that no people begged because of real hunger. |
| D．Because he thought that charity work was the government’s duty. |
| A．He set up a local kitchen to help the poor. |
| B．He planted a row of vegetables for charity. |
| C．He called on people to donate money to the Bean’s. |
| D．He initiated the idea of Plant a row for Bean’s. |
| A．The beggar gave up the first time he was turned down by the author. |
| B．The author invented the program inspired by the Anchorage Daily News. |
| C．GWAA expanded the program concept and made it nationwide in 1995. |
| D．The program was later taken over by some seeding companies. |
2 . The apples that hang from trees in Tom Brown’s orchard (果园) are likely not found in the produce section of your local grocery store. They have names like Balsam Sweet, Candy Stripe, and Night Dropper, and are among the 1,200 varieties that Brown has regained from six southern states. Most haven’t been sold commercially for a century or more; some were transplanted from the last known trees of their kind.
One such apple is the Junaluska, which originated with the Cherokee Indians more than two centuries ago. It was popular in the South before disappearing from commercial production by 1900. Brown discovered the Junaluska in 2001 while searching for other apple varieties in a long-forgotten orchard, where he examined two ancient apple trees with Junaluskas. He took a cutting from the tree for his orchard and set about reintroducing the apple to the world.
Before Brown discovered lost apples, he was a chemical engineer who enjoyed visiting farmers markets. It was in 1999 that he became fascinated by heritage apples with unfamiliar names such as Kane, Lawver. Brown went in search of them. One dead end led to another until he reached out to local newspapers for help. The articles they ran brought about suggestions from readers, and soon Brown was tasting Yellow Potts, Moseys and many more varieties once assumed lost.
In 1905 there were more than 7,000 apple varieties in the United States. Then things changed. People migrated to urban areas and grew less of their own food, while large agribusinesses preferred selling fewer varieties, ones that were familiar and shipped easily. Brown is on mission to bring back as many of the extinct or nearly extinct varieties as possible. Most of the clues about the location of these old trees come from people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s, many of whom he meets at festivals where he exhibits heritage apples.
“These were foods people had once cared about deeply, which had been central to their lives,” he says. “It felt wrong to just let them die and be lost forever.”
1. What can we learn about Tom Brown’s apples?| A．They are juicy and sweet. | B．They are rare and valuable. |
| C．They are named by Tom Brown. | D．They are sold in local grocery stores. |
| A．He found it by accident. | B．He met it in a commercial market. |
| C．He was informed by Indians. | D．He found it with the help of farmers. |
| A．Lack of labour and guidance. | B．A sudden change in the weather. |
| C．People’s migration to the countryside. | D．Agribusinesses’ favor and choice. |
| A．The lost apples | B．Tom Brown’s choice |
| C．An apple hunter | D．American apple varieties |
3 . Some people say that the planet is getting smaller, that there are few places left to explore, and that the age of exploration will be over soon.
I would argue instead that there has never been a greater need to explore. That’s because the stage for all exploration is the natural world, and nature is experiencing a rapid decline. It is by exploring that we understand and when we understand we develop an appreciation for what is found. Ultimately, only the things we appreciate are worth protecting.
As the golden age of exploration weakens, so does the richness of life on Earth. It isn’t just that there are fewer blank areas on the map; it is that wild places and spaces have been progressively carved up (瓜分). Visiting the Okavango Delta or Kalahari Desert, for example, no longer implies a self-supported expedition. Field stations pop up in important national parks and remote sensing by satellite becomes commonplace.
In the next century, I believe we will need larger and wilder areas. We will need the wilderness, not just for the protection of it, but because it is an important part of the ecosystems from which we gain our necessities like clean water, food and materials. If we succeed, then expeditions — brief travels into the wild that seek to answer questions, monitor populations, and inspire action — will have a renewed sense of purpose. More importantly, they greatly help the public experience, understand and appreciate nature.
Based on my own research expedition which aims to understand “edge effects” — how the changes in temperature at forest edges impact animals, I find it important that today’s scientists continue to spend time in the field. It is here that they begin to understand how seemingly unrelated environmental interactions influence their study system. Sometimes, it’s difficult to know which is important to measure until you stand out there on the forest edge.
It is the young generation that is the main force to lead the next wave of expeditions. The measure of their success will be whether there are still well-preserved wild places for expeditions in the future. Their leadership is needed now, more than ever.
1. What’s the purpose of this text?| A．To suggest understanding nature by keeping exploring. |
| B．To advise people not to travel to unknown places. |
| C．To inform us about the reduced biodiversity. |
| D．To call on the public to support the study. |
| A．It is difficult for explorers to make progress. |
| B．It is more accessible with the help of technology. |
| C．It promotes the development of satellite technology. |
| D．It requires explorers to take sufficient heavy equipment. |
| A．Appear unexpectedly. | B．Close temporarily. |
| C．Develop quickly. | D．Differ greatly. |
| A．The significance of scientists’ field trip. |
| B．The difficulty of carrying out fieldwork. |
| C．The need to expand the edges of forests. |
| D．The influence of his study on the environment. |
4 . Wherever we go, we are surrounded by history. Across the globe, cultural heritage is passed down through generations. It is in the buildings and structures around us. It is in the arts and artifacts (手工艺品 ) we treasure. It lives in the languages we speak and the stories we tell. But today, it is under attack as never before. Not only is the damage of time intimidating our cultural heritage, but wars, climate change, globalization and tourism are all exacting a heavy price. Technology is now the most important weapon in the battle. Here’s how technology is preserving our cultural heritage.
As you can imagine, creating the replicas (复制品 ) via crowdsourced 2D images is extremely time-consuming. Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to do all the required sourcing, allowing millions of images to be stored in a matter of hours. AI will also make restoration-and-preservation of existing cultural heritage far easier and much better than former methods.
Virtual reality (VR) technology will play a leading role in preserving our cultural heritage in the coming years. Many of the most important sites and architecture are easily damaged. Human interaction with these locations is doing a great deal of harm. Wastes left could be seen everywhere, causing many problems. As more cultural heritage sites and objects are digitally mapped and recorded, VR technology will increasingly become the way that people experience them. We’ll all eventually be able to walk through places, look at and touch artifacts and works of art without ever seeing them with our own eyes.
Finally, our cultural heritage will be preserved via technology. Efforts in research, innovation (创新), data sharing and project work will help promote and preserve the cultural heritage of countries all across the world.
1. What does the underlined word “intimidating” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Fading. | B．Preserving. | C．Recording. | D．Threatening. |
| A．By recycling huge amounts of waste. |
| B．By stopping visitors touching artifacts. |
| C．By reducing human effects on the sites. |
| D．By educating people about the sites’ importance. |
| A．Positive. | B．Unclear. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unsupportive. |
| A．How Technology Changes Arts |
| B．What Cultural Heritage Means to Us |
| C．Prepare for an Innovation in Technology |
| D．Preserve the Ancient with the Advanced |
5 . I walked to Mrs. Windsor’s house and waited outside. She was working with another student, and I was not supposed to
The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to
With a smile, Pasha sat beside me on the piano bench, opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I
After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as it to
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers
| A．scare | B．bother | C．inform | D．remind |
| A．daydreamed | B．predicted | C．decided | D．regretted |
| A．taste | B．desire | C．gift | D．memory |
| A．in advance | B．for free | C．as usual | D．as well |
| A．sort through | B．come over | C．go over | D．look down |
| A．introduced | B．begged | C．ordered | D．selected |
| A．rested | B．opened | C．arranged | D．covered |
| A．follow | B．match | C．equal | D．resemble |
| A．professional | B．skillful | C．stubborn | D．mechanical |
| A．touch | B．press | C．warm | D．calm |
| A．anxiously | B．strangely | C．sadly | D．gratefully |
| A．river | B．flower | C．story | D．princess |
| A．dance | B．flow | C．fly | D．jump |
| A．left | B．dropped | C．rose | D．departed |
| A．source | B．entrance | C．middle | D．edge |
6 . That morning, I dropped our eldest at kindergarten and returned home to let our two younger children play while I worked on my medical report. It was wonderful, but it hit me that my career in hospital wasn’t making a difference in anyone’s life. I needed something that would stretch my limits and push me to grow. My career enabled me to work from home. I could work from home, and become a foster (领养) mother, providing safety for a child who needed it desperately.
On Monday morning, I picked up the phone and dialed the number I had googled for the nearest Department of Children’ Services. The man on the other end was receptive to my questions and explained the next step of training, involving eight weeks of classes designed to prepare and educate foster parents. We continued through all the classes, the home visits, background checks, and seemingly endless steps.
Five long months after we were approved, the phone rang. In the middle of the night, I woke my husband and rushed to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital--Our placement was waiting for us in the emergency room, sick and lack of nutrition. It didn’t take long for us to realize the full depth of her suffering. Six months later, her half-brother came to us by our request. We now had five children under our care.
On August 12, 2016, our family of seven walked into a small courtroom. The children’s lawyer and social worker were there. With just a few words, our adoption was finalized. These two amazing children weren’t going home, because they were already home. We are their forever family, and they are our forever children. We may not be able to change the entire world, but we have changed the world entirely for our new children.
1. How did the author feel about her hospital work?| A．Unusually demanding. | B．Lacking in motivation. |
| C．Filled with challenges. | D．Packed with chances. |
| A．She wanted to make a difference to other people. |
| B．She felt sympathetic for the abused children she knew. |
| C．She felt confident about her ability to raise children. |
| D．She experienced training to raise children properly. |
| A．The child to be adopted. | B．The need to get trained. |
| C．The approval of adoption. | D．The official at the hospital. |
| A．To put the adopted kids elsewhere. | B．To receive another adopted child. |
| C．To begin the kids’ adoption in her home. | D．To make the adoption officially legal. |
7 . My father left for our native place on Thursday. In fact, he had never traveled by
Later, I looked back on my life. As a child, how many
Old age is like a second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same
Just the fact that they are old does not mean that they will have to
Take care of your parents. They are precious.
1.| A．bus | B．train | C．ship | D．air |
| A．gave | B．handed | C．took | D．put |
| A．pride | B．excitement | C．admiration | D．ambition |
| A．encouraging | B．warning | C．teaching | D．preparing |
| A．thoroughly | B．slowly | C．immediately | D．suddenly |
| A．helped | B．patted | C．thanked | D．praised |
| A．honest | B．childish | C．nervous | D．emotional |
| A．successes | B．purposes | C．things | D．dreams |
| A．understanding | B．describing | C．solving | D．improving |
| A．parents | B．friends | C．children | D．leaders |
| A．ability | B．responsibility | C．freedom | D．fortune |
| A．song | B．advice | C．attention | D．thing |
| A．struggle | B．wait | C．rest | D．stand |
| A．hand in | B．pick up | C．pay off | D．give up |
| A．wishes | B．jobs | C．plans | D．suggestions |
8 . Dreams of world peace are as old as wars. But as the women of Wales were recovering from World War I, they demanded peace in droves.
Still sorrowing the husbands, sons, and loved ones who fought in the war, in 1923 the Welsh League of Nations United (WLNU) drafted a petition (请愿书) at Aberystwyth University calling for a warless world.
The petition was signed by roughly three quarters of all the women in Wales and was said to be seven miles long. The document was then packed in a large oak chest and sent across the Atlantic.
It was the WLNU’s hope that America would join in their mission for peace, and so they toured with the petition across the country before President Calvin Coolidge gave it to the Smithsonian for preservation.
As the centennial anniversary of World War I approached, a plaque was found in the archives at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff mentioning the petition, but nobody knew what it was, says Mererid Hopwood, chair of the Women’s Peace Petition Partnership.
So in 2017, an email was sent to the Smithsonian inquiring about the status and location of the chest and its petition.
Having arrived at the National Library of Wales on March 29 this year, Hopwood received it along with other members of the Peace Petition Partnership and described opening the chest and finally getting to see its contents (内容) as an emotional moment.
Hopwood is hoping more Welsh citizens will have similar experiences now that the petition has returned to its original home. The petition will be digitized, along with all signatures and addresses, so the public can view it online and see if their grandmothers or previous tenants of their homes signed 100 years ago.
Clearly the world has not yet achieved the petition’s great goals, but Hopwood said the signatures gave her hope.
1. What was the petition meant for?| A．A thirst for peace. | B．An end to WWI. |
| C．A fight for Wales. | D．A call for apology. |
| A．Most Welsh signed on the petition. | B．Welsh asked for Americans’ help. |
| C．Welsh women wished for peace. | D．Welsh women honored the war. |
| A．She could lead the petition. | B．It would cause a big storm. |
| C．Welsh could be free of wars. | D．Her hope for peace is on fire. |
9 . For those who are deaf or have hearing loss, making and enjoying music can be a challenge. However, that hasn’t stopped Dame Evelyn Glennie from achieving success.
Scottish-born Dame Evelyn Glennie is one of the world’s most recognized percussionists (打击乐器乐手). However, she started going deaf at the age of eight due to a nerve disease. At 12, she totally lost her hearing.
At first, Glennie was desperate. But her percussion teacher at school taught her to feel particular notes. For example, she had to place her hands on a wall, and he would play two notes on two timpani. He would then ask her which was the higher note and where she felt the vibration. Through trials and errors, she managed to distinguish the pitch of notes by associating where on her body she feels the sound. Thanks to her perfect pitch and the fact that she performs barefoot, Evelyn “hears” the sound. Together with her lip-reading skills, and amazing musicianship, she has conquered any troubles and inconvenience caused by her impairment.
Till now, Glennie has performed with almost all the major orchestras (管弦乐队) globally. Besides classical music, she is famous for partnerships with pop and rock artists like Sting and Bjork. Glennie’s works has earned her over 100 music awards, including two Grammys. She even led 1,000 drummers in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
At the age of 58 this year, Glennie’s mission now is to “teach the world to listen” to improve communication by encouraging everyone to discover a new way of listening. “It’s important to grab on to any opportunity that comes your way, but you also need to create your own opportunities,” says Evelyn. “It’s a personal time to reflect on the impact you might have on other people as well. I don’t know if age plays a part in it, because I feel as though I haven’t really achieved very much and there’s still so much to do!”
1. How could Glennie identify different notes as a deaf person?| A．By reading her teacher’s lips. | B．By putting her hands on a wall. |
| C．By applying her amazing musicianship. | D．By feeling the vibration through her body. |
| A．Sorrow. | B．Mismatch. | C．Abnormality. | D．Fear. |
| A．faithful and tolerant | B．cheerful and practical |
| C．determined and kind | D．considerate and dutiful |
| A．A Dream Pursued by Evelyn Glennie | B．A Deaf Musician Heard by the World |
| C．Evelyn Glennie: Teach the World to Listen | D．Talented Percussionist: Say “No” to Age |
10 . Jonathan Jones, 12, was overcome with emotion after his principal, who is also color-blind, let him
As soon as Jones put the glasses on, he appeared to be immediately
“I was feeling joy that I could
The boy’s mother posted a(n)
She wrote: “After posting the video we’ve been touched by how many
For Jonathan, with the new glasses comes a new
| A．borrow | B．polish | C．remove | D．adjust |
| A．disappointed | B．annoyed | C．surprised | D．embarrassed |
| A．and | B．but | C．so | D．or |
| A．mixing | B．painting | C．changing | D．exploring |
| A．finally | B．rarely | C．constantly | D．occasionally |
| A．tension | B．sadness | C．relief | D．shame |
| A．picture | B．article | C．video | D．introduction |
| A．moved | B．shocked | C．confused | D．entertained |
| A．loaning | B．costing | C．saving | D．collecting |
| A．wealthy | B．generous | C．competent | D．ambitious |
| A．limited | B．managed | C．donated | D．needed |
| A．find | B．produce | C．fix | D．afford |
| A．doubles | B．decreases | C．replaces | D．compares |
| A．treat | B．instruct | C．help | D．accompany |
| A．future | B．view | C．situation | D．record |
