1 . Art and science may seem like opposite things. One means the creative flow of ideas, and the other means cold, hard data-some people believe. In fact, the two have much in common. Now, a study finds art can help students remember better what they have learned in the science class.
Mariale Hardiman, an education specialist at Johns Hopkins University, noticed that students who used art in the classroom listened more carefully. They might ask more questions. They might volunteer more ideas. What’s more, students seemed to remember more of what they had been taught when their science lessons had involved(涉及) art. To prove that, Hardiman teamed up with some researchers and six local schools.
In the experiment, the researchers worked with teachers in 16 fifth-grade classrooms. They provided traditional science lessons and art-focused ones. In a traditional science class, for example, students might read aloud from a book. In the art-focused one, they might sing the information instead.
The team randomly assigned(随机分配) each of the 350 students to either a traditional science classroom or an art-focused one. Students then learned science using that way for the whole unit-about three weeks. When they changed to a new topic, they also changed to the other type of class. This way, each student had both an art-focused class and a traditional one. Every unit was taught in both ways, to different groups of students. This enabled the researchers to see how students did in both types of classes.
The team found that students who started off in a traditional class performed better after they moved into an art-focused class. But those who started off in an art-focused class did well even when they went back to a traditional science class. These students appeared to use some of the art techniques(技巧) after going back to a traditional class. Classroom teachers reported that many students continued to sing the songs that they learned after finishing the unit. “The more we hear something, the more we retain it,” Hardiman says. “It suggests that the arts may help students apply creative ways of learning on their own.”
1. Why did Mariale Hardiman do the study?| A．To prove the importance of art at school. |
| B．To see if art might improve science learning |
| C．To find a way to help her students learn better. |
| D．To know how to encourage students to ask questions. |
| A．Take two types of classes. | B．Learn three units in total. |
| C．Learn two topics for three weeks. | D．Choose what they’d like to learn. |
| A．Finish. | B．Express. | C．Improve. | D．Memorize. |
| A．Art helps students develop creativity. |
| B．Art-focused classes interest students a lot. |
| C．Art can make science easier to remember. |
| D．Art has something in common with science. |
2 . Five years ago, I was a trail ride leader at a holiday farm in Victoria. My favourite horse was a warmblooded called Holly, a chestnut mare. Aged seven, she was
One day, as we headed back from a ride on the beach, Holly and I were
At the bottom of the hill as we rounded a corner, Holly
I have heard that horses have a better sense of
Holly then
| A．negative | B．graceful | C．pitiful | D．aggressive |
| A．solution | B．reaction | C．problem | D．difficulty |
| A．frightened | B．delighted | C．touched | D．attracted |
| A．chasing | B．leading | C．following | D．pushing |
| A．proceeded | B．preferred | C．hesitated | D．refused |
| A．evidence | B．truth | C．signals | D．symbols |
| A．sped | B．rushed | C．escaped | D．slowed |
| A．rabbit | B．horse | C．monster | D．snake |
| A．turn | B．case | C．chance | D．rule |
| A．sealed | B．planted | C．fastened | D．frozen |
| A．vision | B．direction | C．smell | D．hearing |
| A．proved | B．denied | C．ignored | D．demonstrated |
| A．Unfortunately | B．Undoubtedly | C．Thankfully | D．Instantly |
| A．fell off | B．went back | C．came out | D．stepped forward |
| A．responsible | B．regretful | C．grateful | D．available |
3 . By now, we are all aware that social media has had a tremendous influence on our culture, in business, on the world-at-large. Social media websites revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. However, aside from seeing your friend’s new baby on Facebook, or reading about Justin Bieber’s latest conflict with the law on Twitter, what are some of the real influences?
Social networks offer the opportunity for people to re-connect with their old friends and acquaintances, make new friends, share ideas and pictures, and many other activities. Users can keep pace with the latest global and local developments, and participate in campaigns and activities of their choices. Professionals use social media sites like LinkedIn to enhance their career and business development. Students can work together with their peers to improve their academic and communication skills.
Unfortunately, there are a few downsides too to social networking. If you are not careful, immoral people can target you for cyber bullying and disturbance on social sites. School children, young girls, and women can fall victim to online attacks which can create tension and suffering. If you are a victim of cyber bullying, do not take it lying down, but try to take appropriate legal action against the attacker.
Many companies have blocked social networks as addicted employees can distract themselves on such sites, instead of focusing on work. In fact, studies show that British companies have lost billions of dollars per year in productivity because of social media addiction among employees.
Also, what you carelessly post on the Internet can come back to trouble you. Revealing (泄露) personal information on social sites can make users vulnerable (易受伤害的) to crimes like identity theft, stalking, etc. Many companies perform a background check on the Internet before hiring an employee. If a potential employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can greatly affect their chances of getting the job. The same holds true for our relationships too, as our loved ones and friends may get to know if we post something undesirable on social networks.
Social media has its advantages and drawbacks as each coin has two sides. It is up to each user to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure they do not fall victim to online dangers.
1. Paragraph 2 mainly shows that social networks ________.| A．help students finish their homework | B．offer professionals good chances |
| C．benefit users in various ways | D．guide users to make right choices |
| A．forbid the use of social networks during work time |
| B．avoid posting embarrassing information |
| C．refuse to hire potential addicted employees |
| D．take legal action against the attackers |
| A．share experiences in using social media | B．remind people to wisely use social media |
| C．provide some advice on social problems | D．raise public awareness of social problems |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
4 . Challenging work that requires lots of analytical thinking, planning and other managerial skills might help your brain stay sharp as you age, a study published on Wednesday in the journal Neurology suggests.
Researchers from the University of Leipzig in Germany gathered more than 1,000 retired workers who were over age 75 and assessed the volunteers’ memory and thinking skills through a battery of tests. Then, for eight years, the scientists asked the same group to come back to the lab every 18 months to take the same tests.
Those who had held mentally stimulating, demanding jobs before retirement tended to do the best in the tests. And they tended to lose cognitive (认知的) function at a much slower rate than those with the least mentally challenging jobs. The results held true even after the scientists accounted for the participants’ overall health status.
“This works just like physical exercise,” says Francisca, who led the study. “After a long run, you may feel like you’re in pain and tired. But it makes you fit. After a long day at work — sure, you will feel tired, but it can help your brain stay healthy.
It’s not just corporate jobs, or even paid work that can help keep your brain fit. Francisca points out. A waiter’s job, for example, that requires multitasking, teamwork and decision making could be just as stimulating as any high-level office work. “Running a family household also requires high-level planning and coordinating abilities,” she says. “You have to bring order to the activities of the children and take care of the bills and groceries.”
Of course, our brains can decline as we grow older for lots of reasons — including other environmental influences or genetic factors. Sill, continuing to challenge yourself mentally and keeping your mind busy can help.
1. Why did the scientists ask the volunteers to take the tests?| A．To assess their health status. | B．To evaluate their work habits. |
| C．To measure their mental abilities. | D．To analyze their personalities. |
| A．By using an expert’s words. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By referring to another study. | D．By introducing a concept. |
| A．Operating. | B．Budgeting. | C．Refusing | D．Organizing. |
| A．Retired Workers Can Pick Up New Skills. | B．Old People Should Take Challenging Jobs. |
| C．Your Tough Job Might Help Keep You Sharp. | D．Cognitive Function May Decline As You Age. |
5 . Cimabue, the greatest painter of a Middle Ages in Italy, was surprised one day after his lunch break to discover that a fly had seated itself under the nose of a character that he had been working on. He swatted (重拍) at the fly, but it did not move. He reached out to touch the insect, only to find it was only wet paint. Turning around, he saw that his apprentice (学徒), Giotto, was laughing. Giotto had painted the fly when Cimabue was away, and it looked so real that Cimabue had been completely fooled.
Giotto di Bondone was born into a poor family in a village. Legend has it that one day, when Cimabue was wandering around the countryside, he spotted a young shepherd boy drawing pictures of his sheep, which were so vivid that Cimabue immediately asked him to come to Florence and learn how to paint. That was how Giotto’s story began in Florence, where the young student flourished under Cimabue s instruction and soon surpassed his master in skill.
At that time, people in paintings didn’t look real, and the symbolism of art was difficult for viewers to connect with it. Innovation (创新) was not stressed, so art had remained the same for hundreds of years.
However, Giotto thought art should be something more connected with people in a more realistic way. His masterpieces included the forty major frescoes (壁画) for the Arena Chapel. Adopting many techniques that were uncommon then, he painted people the way he saw them, instead of the overly tall and boxy people that other artists painted. He created three-dimensional space by using perspective, something that had not been done since Roman times.
In addition to painting, Giotto wrote poetry and drew architectural plans. When Giotto was in his sixties, he painted the Ognissanti Madomma, another famous work of art. He continued working until the age of seventy. The ideas Giotto brought to painting throughout his life revolutionized the art world and made him one of the greatest painters ever.
1. What does the anecdote in paragraph 1 tell us about Giotto?| A．His humor | B．His talent | C．His courage | D．His determination |
| A．Impressed | B．Stressed | C．Doubtful | D．Concerned |
| A．Vivid colors | B．Classic skills |
| C．Original composition | D．Lifelike quality |
| A．Great minds think alike | B．Innovation is the vitality of art |
| C．Constant dripping wears away a stone | D．A slow sparrow should make an early start |
6 . About 600,000 people die of heart attacks at home each year. And the survival rate (存活率) of out-of-hospital heart attacks is much lower than those that happen at the in-hospital setting.
Pumpstart, a program created by students at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) which is meant to teach hands-only CPR (心脏复苏术) to the general public, is effective in both teaching high school students a life-saving skill and providing medical students with a chance to take part in public health and medical education after several surveys.
High school students in the Boston area who joined in the Pumpstart program completed pre-/post surveys. The pre-surveys were carried out before they watched a 60-minute training session (培训课程) on hands-only CPR. And the post surveys were done after the training session. Medical students also completed surveys judging their comfort in learning CPR both before and after they took part in the program. The high school students reported huge improvements in CPR skills following their training from Pumpstart. And it was reported that the medical students had higher confidence levels regarding their abilities to answer questions about CPR and helping new medical students to better understand the training sessions after they joined in Pumpstart.
“Getting the general public to feel comfortable performing CPR is important to overall improved survival from heart attacks,” explained Anita Knopov, a fourth-year medical student at BUSM. “Using educational resources provided by the city medical center and offering training to inner-city high school students allow medical students to serve as both educators and experienced people in CPR within the community, while making high school students interested in the healthcare field (医疗领域). That’s what Pumpstart does.”
Knopov believes Pumpstart can serve as a model for other organizations and can have a long-term (长期的) public health influence as the bystander CPR continues to be one of the most useful factors in out-of-hospital (医院之外) heart attack survival. “Although Pumpstart is offered only in Boston, we hope that our work may stimulate the development of similar programs in other areas. And in that case we can use lots of new ‘Pumpstarts’ in other regions.”
1. What is the main purpose of Pumpstart?| A．To change people’s lifestyle. |
| B．To train students to be healthy |
| C．To improve CPR skills of the public. |
| D．To provide medical care for communities. |
| A．Pumpstart improves students self-confidence |
| B．Pumpstart performs CPR for people independently. |
| C．Pumpstart obviously reduces the risk of heart attacks |
| D．Pumpstart encourages students to work in the healthcare field |
| A．Pretty useful. | B．Widely popular |
| C．Partly confusing. | D．Fairly interesting |
| A．Check | B．Prevent |
| C．Encourage | D．Slow |
7 . Vijay Gupta is known to classical music lovers across the United States. He serves as the first violinist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In that job, he often plays to large crowds, including many very rich people. When he is not performing, he organizes concerts for homeless people. “They have reminded me why I became a musician.” He said.
Last week, Gupta was recognized for being a founder and the artistic director of Street Symphony. The group has performed at homeless shelters, jails and halfway houses for about eight years. Gupta is among the 25 winners of the 2018 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “Genius Grant”. Each winner will receive $ 625,000 over five years to use as they wish. The money is coming from a private group, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It awards grants (补助金) to people whose work it considers exceptional and whose work “inspires hope in us all”. Gupta said he got the idea for Street Symphony while teaching Nathaniel Ayers, a trained musician whose mental illness led to his homelessness.
The 31-year-old winner said he did not know yet how he would spend the money. He has been a performer since the age of seven and the award will give him “space to breathe, plan and look ahead”.
Another winner is Rebecca Sandefur, an associate professor (副教授) of sociology and law in the University of Illinois. The Associated Press says her research actively supports new ways to involve poor communities in the U. S. justice system.
47-year-old Sandefur created the first national mapping of civil legal aid providers. It shows which states have the financial(金融的)resources to provide such aid and which don’t. She also found that the cost of legal services was only one of the things preventing poor people from getting lawyers. Among the others were fears of unfairness(不公平)in the legal system. Sandefur noted that a lot of attention had been paid to problems with the criminal justice system, but more attention must be paid to the civil side of the law, which also affected millions of people.
1. Why does Gupta win the award?| A．For his achievements in classical music. |
| B．For performing for large crowds. |
| C．For organizing a group playing for the homeless. |
| D．For the companionship with Nathaniel Ayers. |
| A．It is founded by the government. |
| B．It offers $ 625,000 to 25 winners in 2018. |
| C．It allows the winners to use the money freely. |
| D．It awards people who make great contributions to society. |
| A．She made it easier to get legal help for the poor. |
| B．She made the legal system fairer. |
| C．She paid more attention to the criminal justice system. |
| D．She offered legal aid to the poor freely. |
| A．Grants winners, inspiring the poor |
| B．The city homeless, in need of help |
| C．Vijay Gupta, an extraordinary violinist |
| D．MacArthur Foundation, awarding exceptional work |
8 . If you’re a parent, you’re well aware of just how many challenges virtual schooling presents. It’s incredibly stressful to get your kids to pay attention in their “classrooms”. Well, now there’s another thing you need to worry about: hackers. As more school districts rely on remote learning, they’re increasingly becoming targets for cybercriminals.
Believe it or not, your email address is actually a hacker’s primary method of attaining your families’ personal information. That’s why you need to be on the lookout for phishing emails. These emails appear to be from a legal company you’re familiar with—like your bank, credit card company, an online store, or, yes, a school—but are actually from a hacker.
However, there are a few tricks to decode if an email is fake or not. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), these emails often “tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment.” If you receive an email asking you to update your account, change your password, or make a payment, do a little digging first and contact the company directly to ensure that it is indeed legal.
There are indeed some alarming things a hacker can do when they steal your children’s information. According to FTC, “a child’s Social Security number can be used by identity thieves to apply for government benefits, open bank and credit card accounts or apply for a loan, which may go unnoticed for years—usually until they’re adults and attempt to open a credit card.” To make matters worse, a criminal doesn’t even need the child’s complete information to cook up a new identity. “Known as ‘synthetic identity theft’, the thief grabs a Social Security number and combines it with a fake name, address, phone number, and more,” explains the Identity Theft Resource Center, “That makes it a little harder for victims and law enforcement to notice the problem in the first place or take action after the fact.”
1. Why do we need to watch out for phishing emails?| A．They make our emails too crowded to operate. |
| B．They are from a legal organization that is familiar to you. |
| C．It is impossible to tell whether an email is authentic or not. |
| D．It may be quite easy for hackers to steal personal information. |
| A．To put it into the trash with little digging. |
| B．To click on the link and open the attached files. |
| C．To update your account and change the password. |
| D．To check its validity with the sender of the email. |
| A．The definition of “synthetic identify theft”. |
| B．The approaches to protecting children’s information. |
| C．The consequences of children’s information being stolen. |
| D．The suggestions on preventing children from internet addiction. |
| A．Email hack: a disastrous threat |
| B．Email hack: an unavoidable issue |
| C．School hack: an unnoticeable but terrible threat |
| D．School hack: an invisible hand affecting children’s study |
9 . Being stuck at home doesn’t mean that learning stops. In fact, it's just the opposite. Here are some activities and resources to foster (促进) kids' imagination and build their curiosity at home.
Let's Get down to ScienceThe science lab at school may be closed, but kids can still put on goggles and a white lab coat and learn at home. This Test Tube Experiment Kit will make them feel like a genius in no time. Kids will get the chance to learn about basic chemistry, physics, and more by creating pop-resistant bubbles, bouncy balls, and other objects.
To Infinity (无穷) and BeyondEarth is a part of the Milky Way, but do kids know how many galaxies there are in the universe? There are so many fun and fascinating things to learn about space that the possibilities truly go to infinity and beyond. A great way to start your child's educational space adventure is with this Discovery Real Life Sticker and Activity Book: Space.
Take a Walk on the Wild SideBiology class is in session! Here's kids' chance to get up close and personal with a great white shark without putting on a wetsuit. This 4D Great White Shark Anatomy Kit allows them to get an inside look at what makes these predators of the deep so powerful. And then take an even deeper dive into a shark's world with I'm a Shark.
Let your kid take advantage of this time at home and find new ways to keep exploring the world around him.
1. What is common among these activities above?| A．They are all performed outdoors. |
| B．They are all associated with physics. |
| C．They all recommend some resources for kids to study. |
| D．They are all carried out by the way of experimenting. |
| A．The Test Tube Experiment Kit. |
| B．Discovery Real Life Sticker and Activity Book: Space. |
| C．The 4D Great White Shark Anatomy Kit. |
| D．I'm a Shark. |
| A．To gain financial benefits. | B．To save kids from boredom. |
| C．To explore new technologies. | D．To inspire kids to study at home. |
10 . Chase Poust is a 7-year-old boy. He and his dad Steven, and his 4-year-old sister, Abigail were out for a family boating trip on Florida’s St. Johns River near Mandarin Point. Chase and Abigail were swimming at the back end of the anchored boat while Steven was on deck (甲板) fishing.
It was an idyllic (悠闲的) outing — until a strong wave came. It was too strong for Abigail to hold onto the boat. Instantly realizing his sister would be swept away, Chase let go of the boat as well to try and reach her.
Steven jumped into the water but after realizing he couldn’t keep up with both kids, he was faced with a hard decision. “I told them I loved them because I wasn’t sure what’s going to happen,” Steven told News-4 JAX. “I tried to stick with both of them. I wore myself out. She drifted away from me.”
Directing Chase to swim to shore for help, Steven stayed behind, keeping as close as he could to Abigail as the life-vest that was keeping her above the waves floated further and further from his reach.
It was a tough go for the 7-year-old, but rather than attempting to swim all out, Chase wisely paced himself. Stopping to float or dog paddle when he was tired, he’d rest and then set off again. It took Chase an hour to reach the shore. Once on solid ground, he ran to the nearest house and called for help.
Rescuers arrived soon to search for Steven and Abigail. Miraculously, the two were found and rescued about an hour later-more than a mile away from the family’s abandoned boat.
1. What happened during the family boating trip?| A．Chase went out fishing alone. | B．The boat ran into an anchored boat. |
| C．Steven fell off the boat by accident. | D．Abigail was washed away by a wave. |
| A．He couldn’t stick with both kids. | B．He didn’t know how to swim. |
| C．He couldn’t find rescuers nearby. | D．He wasn’t sure what might happen. |
| A．To hold Abigail tightly. | B．To look for helpers. |
| C．To wait calmly in the water. | D．To give the life-vest to Abigail. |
| A．Brave and clever. | B．Innocent and kind. |
| C．Proud and patient. | D．Honest and helpful. |
