1 . Dealing with behavioral problems at school is not easy, but Dr. Terrance Newton is doing that with a surprisingly effective solution.
In his first year as headmaster of Warner Elementary School in Wilmington, Delaware Newton has already seen a tremendous change in his at-risk students. All it took was just a few quality conversations and a pair of scissors.
Newton saw the problem as soon as he started at the school. Bullying (欺凌行为) was out of hand, and students were constantly required to stop attending school for their behaviors. He believed the best way to solve this was to build positive relationships with students. So he decided to set up a barbershop at school.
Having cut hair before, Newton thought the barbershop could be a safe space for students to open up. And he was right — not only has he developed a good relationship with former troublemakers, but suspensions (停学) have dropped from 103 to 4 in the last year! Even better, bullying has nearly stopped. “I take care of my babies,” Newton said. “It’s about building the relationship, and I use that barbershop to build connections.”
Kamisha Collins has seen the difference in her 11-year-old son, Brandon Ponzo. “In the beginning of the school year, my son started off really rough and was not getting along with Dr. Newton, but now they have built this bond — he loves him very much.” Collins said. “Dr. Newton says positive things to them while he is cutting their hair. And my son’s grades have gotten so much better.”
What a brilliant idea — not to mention a fantastic leader! Thanks to Newton, a little love and care have made a big influence on difficult kids.
1. What does the underlined word “tremendous” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Huge. | B．Simple. | C．Physical. | D．Confusing. |
| A．To take better care of his family. |
| B．To deal with students’ bad behavior. |
| C．To help poor students get their hair cut. |
| D．To strengthen connection between teaching staff. |
| A．Newton’s actions worked well on Ponzo. |
| B．Teenagers should be paid great attention to. |
| C．Conversations made no difference to Ponzo. |
| D．Schools should focus on students behaviors. |
| A．Optimistic and strict. | B．Knowledgeable and modest. |
| C．Honest and brave. | D．Thoughtful and responsible. |
2 . Scientists say only enlarging the world’s nature reserve to help protect plants and animals may be useless. The main reason is that levels of human activity are rising in and around the nature reserves. In fact, recognizing spaces as protected areas is not reducing human activity there.
The researchers found that a lack of money to pay for land conservation (保护) is affecting conservation efforts. And it is a lack of communication between people who live in protected natural areas and outsiders. About 17 percent of the world is within protected areas, including the national parks, nature reserves and wilderness areas. Protected areas are important for supporting environments with many different kinds of plants and animals.
The researchers again found increasing human activity in most protected areas in every country. However, they said that human activity appeared to be more of a problem in nations with fewer roads and lower life standards on the Human Development Index (指数). The index uses information about life length, education and earnings to grade countries on human development.
Across the northern Australia, protected areas often proved effective at slowing human activity when compared with unprotected areas. But in South America, Southeast Asia and African countries, pressure from human activity inside protected areas was higher.
Experts say governments need to provide fund support to help protected areas. Simply recognizing a place as a protected area can’t be the beginning and the end of a conservation effort. Working with local people to take efforts is also important. If they’re not partners in the protected areas, then wildlife conservation is much more difficult.
1. What are protected areas mainly affected by according to the text?| A．Human activity. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Population growth. | D．Environmental pollution. |
| A．Record more roads in the world. |
| B．Improve education in all countries. |
| C．Grade countries on human development. |
| D．Lead more people to make money. |
| A．Enlarge protected areas. |
| B．Offer extra money and work with locals. |
| C．Attract more people to travel there. |
| D．Allow local people to farm there. |
| A．People May Cause Harm to Plants and Animals |
| B．Local People Should Focus on the Natural Environment |
| C．Nature Reserves in the World Should Be Increased |
| D．Nature Reserves May Not Protect Wildlife Safely |
3 . When Faith Wanjiku graduated from the Technical University of Kenya last year, she immediately enrolled (注册) at the Confucius Institute in Kenyatta University. She wanted to learn Chinese, as she believed that it would help her land a good job.
She has just completed the hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) 3 exam. HSK is a test of Chinese language level for non-native speakers, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters.
However, this level isn’t enough for Wanjiku, who plans to pass HSK 6. She wanted to increase her level of Chinese and improve her spoken Chinese. And Wanjiku isn’t alone. The number of people taking the HSK reached 6.8 million in 2018 and went up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Education said on May 31.
Chinese is becoming an increasingly popular choice of language to study around the world. Currently, middle school students in Russia can take Chinese as an elective language test in the country’s national college entrance exam, Sputnik News reported.
In May, Zambia became the fourth country in Africa-after Kenya, Uganda and South Africa—to introduce Chinese language to its schools.
And many English-speaking countries have shown an interest in allowing their students to learn Chinese. The US government announced the launch of “1 Million Strong” in 2015, a plan that aims to bring the total number of learners of Chinese to l million by 2020.
Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning is the international community’s positive attitude toward Chinas future development, as well as the people’s longing to learn about Chinese civilization and culture.
Indeed, it’s as the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela put it, “if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
1. What did Wanjiku do after graduating from university?| A．She went abroad. | B．She learned Chinese. |
| C．She found a job. | D．She travelled to China. |
| A．non-native speakers | B．native speakers |
| C．middle school students | D．college students |
| A．Wangjiku has lots of friends. |
| B．Lots of people want to pass HSK6 exam. |
| C．Wangjiku has passed HSK3 exam. |
| D．Many people want to live in China. |
| A．Chinese Language Study Takes Off |
| B．Chinese Play an Important Role in Economy |
| C．People Share the Experience of Learning Chinese |
| D．Different Opinions about the Function of Chinese |
4 . Researchers in Singapore found that eating mushrooms over twice per week could help prevent memory and language problems later in life.
According to the study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, there is a unique antioxidant (抗氧化物质) present in mushrooms that helps protect certain brain functions.
Researchers observed 663 Chinese adults aged over 60 whose diets and lifestyles were tracked from 2011 to 2017. In the study, the participants were asked how often they ate six different types of mushrooms: oyster, shiitake, white button, dried, golden and tinned. The findings showed that eating more than two shares of mushrooms per week somehow lowered the chances of mild cognitive impairment (MCi) by 50% against those who ate fewer than one share.
MCI is a condition that can make people forgetful, affect their memory and cause problems with language, attention and finding the exact position of objects in space. Changes in behavior can be not very noticeable and not serious enough to be known as dementia (痴呆).
Participants who ate more mushrooms were found to perform better in thinking and processing exams and also exhibited a faster processing speed. The advantage was reportedly more apparent in those who ate more than two shares a week or more than 300 grams.
The scientists pointed out, however, that they have yet to put up a direct link between the fungi and brain function.
The researchers also acknowledged that since this study mainly relied on self-reported information on mushroom intake and other dietary factors (因素), further studies may be required.
Still, the lead study author Lei Feng is encouraged by their findings.
“This correlation is surprising and encouraging,” Lei said.
Mushrooms are one of the richest dietary sources of ergothioneine — a matter which humans can’t make on our own.
1. What are the findings in paragraph 3 about?| A．Diets and lifestyles. | B．The percent of MCI. |
| C．The types of mushrooms. | D．The benefit of eating mushrooms. |
| A．It can strengthen memory. | B．It can result in language problems. |
| C．It can make people get lost. | D．It can lessen the chance of forgetfulness. |
| A．They will take the exams much more easily |
| B．Their academic performance improves greatly |
| C．Their thinking ability is better than the majority |
| D．They will love communicating with others. |
| A．Scientific fiction. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A science report. | D．Adult literature. |
5 . Studying longer does not necessarily mean studying better.
Find the right place to study.
The first thing you need to do is avoid distractions (分散注意力的事物) while studying.
Break down the tasks into smaller parts.
When you have gotten everything ready, list the items you need to study, and arrange them across several hours or days, depending on how big your load is. As a general rule, assign (分配) at least one hour to each subject.
Schedule study breaks.
When you have listed all of your tasks and made a schedule, you should arrange study breaks.
Put your tasks in order of importance.
| A．Each break may take about 15 minutes every two hours. |
| B．Learn to arrange the subjects in order of importance. |
| C．This means going to one place that will give you peace and quiet. |
| D．The key to efficient studying is following the schedule strictly. |
| E．You can find a way to test your knowledge by having a study partner. |
| F．If you have a broad subject, you will need to break it down into smaller parts. |
| G．To make the best use of your time, you need to learn how to study efficiently(高效地). |
