1 . Several months ago, a tornado fiercely hit our city without any signs before. We hadn’t
Never did I imagine that we would put our regular
I couldn’t
Because of the tornado, I realized that my job as a teacher meant a lot. Behind every well-behaved students are a long line of teachers who have made it their life’s
| A．paid | B．searched | C．accounted | D．prepared |
| A．agency | B．education | C．emergency | D．selection |
| A．suddenly | B．finally | C．secretly | D．immediately |
| A．games | B．trainings | C．languages | D．saving |
| A．mixed up | B．stood out | C．lined up | D．spoken out |
| A．fear | B．anger | C．shame | D．shock |
| A．encounter | B．comfort | C．satisfy | D．praise |
| A．problem | B．result | C．success | D．reason |
| A．hate | B．expect | C．see | D．approach |
| A．simple | B．ideal | C．scary | D．strange |
| A．follow | B．provide | C．repeat | D．change |
| A．fortunate | B．honest | C．confident | D．brave |
| A．trust | B．pride | C．interest | D．growth |
| A．reward | B．power | C．wisdom | D．goal |
| A．chances | B．challenges | C．adventures | D．discussions |
2 . Endangered polar bears are breeding (繁殖) with grizzly bears (灰熊), creating “pizzly” bears, which is being driven by climate change, scientists say.
As the world warms and Arctic sea ice thins, starving polar bears are being forced ever further south, where they meet grizzlies, whose ranges are expanding northwards. And with that growing contact between the two come increasing hybrids (杂交种).
With characteristics that could give the hybrids an advantage in warming northern habitats, some scientists guess that they could be here to stay. “Usually, hybrids aren’t better suited to their environments than their parents, but these hybrids are able to search for a broader range of food sources,” Larisa DeSantis, an associate professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, told Live Science.
The rise of “pizzly” bears appears with polar bears’ decline: their numbers are estimated to decrease by more than 30% in the next 30 years. This sudden fall is linked partly to “pizzly” bears taking up polar bears’ ranges, where they outcompete them, but also to polar bears’ highly specialized diets.
“Polar bears mainly consumed soft foods even during the Medieval Warm Period, a previous period of rapid warming,” DeSantis said, referring to fat meals such as seals. “Although all of these starving polar bears are trying to find alternative food sources, like seabird eggs, it could be a tipping point for their survival.” Actually, the calories they gain from these sources do not balance out those they burn from searching for them. This could result in a habitat ready for the hybrids to move in and take over, leading to a loss in biodiversity if polar bears are replaced.
“We’re having massive impacts with climate change on species,” DeSantis said. “The polar bear is telling us how bad things are. In some sense, “pizzly” bears could be a sad but necessary compromise given current warming trends.”
1. Why do polar bears move further south?| A．To create hybrids. | B．To expand territory. |
| C．To relieve hunger. | D．To contact grizzlies. |
| A．Broader habitats. | B．More food options. |
| C．Climate preference. | D．Improved breeding ability. |
| A．A rare chance. | B．A critical stage. |
| C．A positive factor. | D．A constant change. |
| A．Polar bears are changing diets for climate change. |
| B．Polar bears have already adjusted to climate change. |
| C．“Pizzly” bears are on the rise because of global warming. |
| D．“Pizzly”bears have replaced polar bears for global warming. |
3 . When you are about to go to a boarding school (寄宿制学校) in England, there are many different questions that may come to mind. But once you look at them with some perspective (视角), you will certainly feel easy. Here is a normal boarding day.
Early Morning:
Usually boarders get up around 7:00 am and have around an hour to take a shower and put on their uniform before breakfast.
Lessons:
Classes start at 9: 00 am and every lesson lusts for 50 minutes. After two lessons, at 10: 40 am, you’ll have a short break. The next period of classics will include two more lessons.
Lunch:
Lunch is usually held around 12:30 pm at the dining hall, where you’ll join your friends to enjoy a hot dish. After an hour of lunch, you’ll have three or four more lessons to attend.
Dinner:
At 5:00 pm you will have finished your school lessons for the day. Most boarding schools in the UK offer their full boarders different kinds of hot meals to choose from.
Activities/ Sports:
All boarding schools in the UK provide many different kinds of activities for their boarders, such as football, swimming, golf or art.
Prep:
An important part of boarding school life is the supervised homework session known as “prop”. Although “prep” might sound stressful, it’s a great way for you to keep up with your studies.
Free time:
Once you have done all your classes and activities, it’s time to relax.
Bedtime:
In most boarding schools, the lights go out around 10:30 pm.
Being nervous just before you go to a boarding school is completely normal and understandable. Hopefully, knowing the usual routine (常规) can help you. Once you are there, you will also see how exciting life in a boarding school in England can be.
1. What can help you keep up with your studies in the boarding school?| A．Doing activitıes. | B．Having lessons. |
| C．Enjoying free time. | D．Supervised homework sessions. |
| A．Classes usually start at 8:30 am. | B．Students can have a short break after four lessons. |
| C．They don’t give students any free time. | D．They turn off the lights around 10:30 pm. |
| A．To help students know about boarders’ life. | B．To attract more students to boarding schools. |
| C．To introduce a new school life. | D．To advertise for boarding schools. |
4 . Earth is far more alive than we previously thought, according to “deep life” studies that reveal a rich underground ecosystem beneath our feet that is almost twice the size of all the world’s oceans. Despite extreme heat, no light and intense pressure, scientists estimate it has between 15 billion and 23 billion tonnes of microorganisms. “It’s like finding a whole new reservoir (储藏) of life on Earth,” said Karen Lloyd an associate professor at the University of Tennessee.
Results suggest 70 percent of Earth’s bacteria and archaea exist in the subsurface. One organism found 2.5 kilometers below the surface has been buried for millions of years and may not rely at all on energy from the sun. Also, the methanogen (产甲烷菌) has found a way to create methane in this environment, which the methanogen may not use to reproduce or divide, but use to replace or repair broken parts. Lengths of their lives were completely different. Some microorganisms have been alive for thousands of years, barely moving except with shifts in earthquakes or eruptions. They’re just active inside, with less energy than people thought possible to support life.
The team consists of 1,200 scientists from 52 countries in disciplines ranging from geology and microbiology to chemistry and physics. A year before the conclusion of their study, they will present the findings before the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting opens this week, which they say are made possible by technical advances on drills and microscopes.
The scientists have been wondering about the point beyond which life cannot exist, but the deeper they dig, the more life they find. There is a temperature maximum—currently 122℃—but they believe this record will be broken if they keep exploring and developing more advanced instruments.
Questions remain, including how the microbes interact with chemical processes, and what this might reveal about how life and Earth coevolved.
1. What do the scientists find about the underground organisms?| A．They can’t reproduce and divide. | B．They’re the oldest living things. |
| C．Some of them consume no energy. | D．Some of them almost always keep still. |
| A．It last for around one year. | B．It involves efforts from many fields. |
| C．It promotes technical development. | D．It is conducted in 52 countries. |
| A．To break their previous record. |
| B．To find the depth limit of life. |
| C．To discover more ancient microorganisms. |
| D．To measure the highest subsurface temperature. |
| A．Earth Depths Are Full of Life. |
| B．Organisms Live Better Underground. |
| C．Earth Is Fat Beyond Human Exploration. |
| D．Subsurface Life Differs from That on Land. |
5 . Chinese traditional painting and dance are two vital parts of the art world. But what about when they meet each other?
This year, a dance drama titled Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was staged on CCTV’ Spring Festival Gala and went viral.
According to CCTV, this poetic dance programme was inspired by the about 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains(《千里江山图》). Created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at the age of 18, the painting is amazing in its marvellous size, rich coloration and the expressive details, reported CCTV. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: mountains and groupings of infinite rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling water.
When the dancers moved elegantly, audiences seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers. “It brings me a pure experience of beauty. It is not only dance but also an ‘exhibition’. Vast mountains and rivers are coming to life!” An Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in a review, “About a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still wow people as they did long ago.
Some people even decided to watch the dance again when it was staged in the theaters later. In fact, in recent years, more and more modern shows highlight Chinese traditional culture and have received warm welcome. As for why, it is due to people’s great love for traditional culture.
“The younger generations have grown up with a more open mindset. They embrace Chinese culture and are proud of it. ”Yao Wei, director of Henan TV Station’s Innovation Center, told China Daily.
1. What is the function of Paragraph 1 in the text?| A．To present a common phenomenon. | B．To compare painting with dance. |
| C．To describe the art world. | D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．It was painted in several bright colors. |
| B．It shows natural beauty vividly. |
| C．It was created over thousand years ago. |
| D．It is of small size but includes great details. |
| A．People are more open to traditional culture. |
| B．People are happy to see new forms of art. |
| C．Chinese culture has been spreading around the world. |
| D．People have gained more access to traditional culture. |
| A．Passion for Chinese Traditional Painting |
| B．Art Coming Alive Through Poetic Dance |
| C．Connection Between Painting and Dance |
| D．Highlights in Traditional Chinese Culture |
6 . Losing your ability to think and remember is pretty frightening. We know the risk of dementia (痴呆症) increases with age. But if you have memory slips, you probably needn’t worry. There are pretty clear differences between signs of dementia and age-related memory loss.
After age 50, it’s quite common to have trouble remembering the names of people, places and things quickly, says Dr. Kirk Daffner of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The brain ages just like the rest of the body. Certain parts become smaller, especially areas in the brain that are important to learning, memory and planning. Changes in brain cells can affect communication between different regions of the brain. And blood flow can be reduced as blood vessels narrow.
Forgetting the name of an actor in a favorite movie, for example, is nothing to worry about. But if you forget the plot of the movie or don’t remember even seeing it, that’s far more concerning, Daffner says.
When you forget entire experiences, he says, that’s “a red flag that something more serious may be involved”. Forgetting how to operate a familiar object like a microwave oven, or forgetting how to drive to the house of a friend you’ve visited many times before can also be signs of something going wrong.
But even then, Daffner says, people shouldn’t panic. There are many things that can cause confusion and memory loss, including health problems like temporary stoppage of breathing during sleep, high blood pressure, or depression, as well as medications (药物) like antidepressants.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own. Daffner suggests going to your doctor to check on medications, health problems and other issues that could be affecting memory. And the best defense against memory loss is to try to prevent it by building up your brain’s cognitive (认知的) reserve, Daffner says.
“Read books, go to movies, take on new hobbies or activities that force one to think in novel ways.” he says. In other words, keep your brain busy and working. And also get physically active, because exercise is a widely known to boost the brain.
1. Which memory-related symptom should people take seriously?| A．Totally forgetting how to do one’s daily routines. |
| B．Inability to recall details of one’s life experiences. |
| C．Failure to remember the names of movies or actors. |
| D．Occasionally confusing the addresses of one’s friends. |
| A．Check the brain’s cognitive reserve. |
| B．Stop medications affecting memory. |
| C．Turn to a professional for assistance. |
| D．Exercise to improve their wellbeing. |
| A．Having regular physical and mental checkups. |
| B．Taking medicine that helps boost one’s brain. |
| C．Engaging in known memory repair activities. |
| D．Staying active both physically and mentally. |
| A．Reduce. | B．Benefit. | C．Increase. | D．Depress. |
7 . Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son. Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up (依偎) against me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is understanding which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their mind. “In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental (思想的) break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.
1. “The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son ________.| A．keeps himself away from his parents | B．begins to dislike his parents |
| C．is always busy with his study | D．doesn’t want to be ignored |
| A．Their daughter isn’t as lovely as before. |
| B．They can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly. |
| C．They don’t know what to say to their daughter. |
| D．Their daughter talks with them only when she needs help. |
| A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends. | B．Teenagers do not understand their parents. |
| C．Teenagers talk little about their own lives. | D．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents. |
| A．Parents shouldn’t be angry with teenagers. |
| B．Parents have to talk with children face to face. |
| C．Parents are unhappy with their growing children. |
| D．Parents should try to understand their teenagers. |
8 . It is difficult for a teacher to decide whether to allow students to listen to music in the classroom. Every time students need to write an essay or work on a problem, they say, “Can I put my headphones on? I think better that way.” But is that really true? Does music help concentrate?
Research offers little to back up the idea that listening to music improves concentration. In one small study, 133 students performed reading tasks while listening to either light music, hip hop, or no music at all. Students who performed the reading tasks in silence scored the highest. Music with a higher intensity (强度) like hip hop was more distracting and had a bad effect on task performance.
Volume (音量) plays a more important role than the type of music. The study found that the louder the music, the worse the performance in concentration. The type of music didn’t matter. Data from the study showed once again that silence was the best environment to improve concentration.
However, music has a positive effect on work performance. Studies have showed that listening to music leads to positive changes in mood, as well as creativity. In fact, in music-listening cultures, which students are certainly part of, there’s actually a change in mood when the music is taken away.
It’s hard to convince my students that music doesn’t help with their concentration. Taj, a senior told me, “I wouldn’t be able to concentrate if I were listening to music and trying to read. However, when I write, I feel like music helps me concentrate deeply. I don’t have writer’s block. It’s easy for me to put my words on paper.”
“Maybe not with reading, but when it comes to math, listening to music certainly helps,” Danela told me. “You could actually be singing along with what you’re listening to and doing well in math.”
1. What does the underlined word “distracting” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Making it difficult for someone to concentrate. |
| B．Causing great excitement. |
| C．Making someone want to do something. |
| D．Making someone feel frightened. |
| A．Students do well in reading tasks while listening to music. |
| B．Music can’t improve people’s mood and creativity. |
| C．Different types of music lead to different performances. |
| D．The volume of music affects concentration. |
| A．They believe music doesn’t help concentrate. |
| B．They use music to help with their paper-writing. |
| C．They can’t focus on reading while listening to music. |
| D．They don’t listen to music while doing math problems. |
| A．Should Students Listen to Music? | B．Does Music Help Concentration? |
| C．Is Music Related to Reading? | D．Can Music Change Mood? |
9 . Jim Thorpe is one of the greatest athletes of all time. He had amazing athletic abilities and was well-known during his lifetime, yet that did not make Thorpe a stranger to adversity.
Thorpe was an American Indian from Oklahoma who developed his extraordinary athletic skills in his youth through hard labor. It was also in his youth that he learned to endure hardship brought upon by racial prejudice. Many would say his childhood was not easy. He grew up poor and at age 9 his twin brother passed away and a few years later he lost both of his parents.
But that did not stop him from doing what he loved and pursuing his dreams. Nothing seemed to stop him, not even stolen shoes. Just hours before Thorpe was going to compete in the 1912 Olympics, somebody stole his shoes. Thorpe improvised (临时拼凑) by getting shoes out of the garbage. The shoes were two different sizes. He wore an extra pair of socks on one foot to even them out.
He still went on to win two gold medals—winning each event he competed in except for one, the javelin (标枪). The javelin was the only event he didn’t win, probably because he had never competed in that event before. It is interesting to note that Thorpe had tried to throw the javelin once before in the Olympic trials. At the time, he didn’t know that he could throw it with a running start. He threw it standing still and was placed second.
At the Olympics，he also took part in the decathlon (十项全能运动). He finished first in two events, third in four events, and fourth in two more. Thorpe ended up finishing third in the world. He was undoubtedly a dominating force that couldn’t be stopped and just kept on going.
I think Paul Dughi said it best, “It’s hard to imagine now that pro athletes get paid millions of dollars just to wear a particular brand of shoes. For Jim Thorpe, it didn’t matter what kind he wore.”
1. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．The adversity Thorpe met with led to his success. |
| B．Thorpe’s success was no guarantee of a better life. |
| C．Thorpe’s career brought him both gains and losses. |
| D．Thorpe suffered many hardships despite his success. |
| A．To prevent the foot from injury. | B．To make the shoe fit the foot. |
| C．To stop the shoe from being stolen. | D．To show his problem-solving skills. |
| A．Loss of his own sports shoes. | B．A casual attitude towards the event. |
| C．Lack of experience in the event. | D．A shortage of talent for the event. |
| A．Loyal and enthusiastic. | B．Genuine and creative. |
| C．Tough and strong-minded. | D．Selfless and good-tempered. |
10 . Putting more green space around a school may help students develop some mental abilities, a study suggests. Researchers tested students repeatedly over the course of a year on attentiveness (专注力)and working memory, which is the ability to keep something in mind temporarily for performing a task. On the whole, students whose schools were surrounded by more green space improved more than pupils from schools with less green space.
The study tracked more than 2,000 students in 36 primary schools in Barcelona, Spain. The pupils were in the second to fourth grades when the study began. Green space may help mental development by reducing air pollution from vehicles, according to an article by the researchers that included pollution data from the schools. It may also help by reducing noise and encouraging physical activity, researchers said.
Policy makers should know that “more green around the school is better for cognitive development and that they should make sure that kids can see and play in green areas,” one author Mark Nieuwenhuijsen said. “Existing urban schools should think about replacing concrete or other hard surfaces with green space,” he suggested, “and even a few trees may help.”
The researchers used satellite images to group schools according to how much green space appeared on the school grounds and within about 55 yards of the school property. Their analysis showed that differences in socio-economic factors between schools did not account for the study outcome.
Sally Augustin, a psychologist, said the results made sense to her. She said the results fit with previous findings that views of nature help children and adults lower stress and perform mental tasks better.
1. What does the text mainly tell us?| A．Green space makes schools more beautiful. |
| B．Schools are lack of green space for students. |
| C．Students’ mental abilities need to be improved. |
| D．Green space is good for students’ mental abilities. |
| A．Moved. | B．Helped. | C．Followed. | D．Found. |
| A．More trees should be planted for kids. |
| B．Noise should be cleared near the school. |
| C．Kids should be encouraged to play more sports. |
| D．Air pollution should be reduced from vehicles. |
| A．To show a different opinion. |
| B．To introduce another interesting study. |
| C．To present Augustin’s view about the study. |
| D．To make the findings of the study more convincing. |
| A．Health. | B．Education. | C．Nature. | D．Technology. |
