1 . The baguette, a long, thin French bread, is being added to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH,非物质文化遗产) list. UNESCO experts gathering in Morocco this week decided that the simple French bread — made only of flour, water, salt, and yeast — was worth U.N. recognition, after France’s culture ministry warned of a “continuous drop” in the number of traditional bakeries (烘焙坊), with some 400 closing every year over the past half century.
The UN cultural agency’s chief, Audrey Azoulay said, “The decision honors more than just bread; it recognizes the ‘graceful skills of bakers’ and ‘a daily ritual (仪式)’.” Azoulay added, “It is important that such baking knowledge and social practices can continue to exist in the future.”
With the bread’s new status (地位), the French government said it planned to create a baguette day, called the “Open Bake house Day”, to connect the French better with their heritage. Bakers in France seemed proud, if unsurprised. “Of course, it should be on the list because the baguette symbolizes the world. It’s universal,” said Asma Farhat, a baker at Julien’s Bakery. “If there’s no baguette, you can’t have a proper meal. In the morning you can toast it, for lunch it’s a sandwich, and then it accompanies dinner.”
Despite the decline in traditional bakery numbers, France’s 67 million people still buy baguettes at a variety of sales points, including in supermarkets. According to France’s “Bread Observatory”, the French eat 320 baguettes of one form or another every second. The problem is, observers say, that they can often be poor in quality. “It’s very easy to get bad baguette in France. It’s the traditional baguette from the traditional bakery that is in danger. It’s about quality not quantity,” said one local resident, Marine Fourchier.
1. Why did UNESCO’s decide to add the French bread to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list?| A．Because it has a long history. | B．Because it is made of simple materials. |
| C．Because it is in danger of disappearing. | D．Because it is made in traditional bakeries. |
| A．He felt honored. | B．His attitude was unclear. |
| C．He thought it was embarrassing. | D．He thought it was meaningful. |
| A．Baguettes should be served all the day. | B．Baguettes are common in the French diet. |
| C．Baguettes should have been put on the list earlier. | D．Baguettes and sandwiches are equally important. |
| A．The baguette — a cultural heritage that is of poor quality. |
| B．Protecting the baguette — everyone can make a difference. |
| C．Protecting the baguette — quality is more important than quantity. |
| D．The baguette — a new comer on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. |
2 . Is It Worth Buying Organic Food?
Organic food, grown without artificial chemicals, is increasingly popular nowadays. Consumers have been willing to pay up to twice as much for goods with organic labels (标签). However, if you think paying a little more for organic food gets you a more nutritious (有营养的) and safer product, you might want to save your money. A study led by researchers at Stanford University says that organic products aren’t necessarily more nutritious, and they’re no less likely to suffer from disease-causing bacteria, either.
The latest results, published in the Annuals of Internal Medicine, suggest that buyers may be wasting their money. “We did not find strong evidence that organic food is more nutritious or healthier,” says Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler from Stanford. “So consumers shouldn’t assume that one type of food has a lower risk or is safer.”
For their new study, Smith-Spangler and her colleagues conducted a review of two categories of research, including 17 studies that compared health outcomes between consumers of organic against traditional food products, and 223 studies that analyzed the nutritional content of the foods, including key vitamins, minerals and fats.
While the researchers found little difference in nutritional content, they did find that organic fruit and vegetables were 20% less likely to have chemicals remaining on the surfaces. Neither organic nor traditional foods showed levels of chemicals high enough to go beyond food safety standards. And both organic and traditional meats, such as chicken and pork, were equally likely to be harmed by bacteria at very low rates. The researchers did find that organic milk and chicken contained higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy fat also found in fish that can reduce the risk of heart disease. However, these nutritional differences were too small, and the researchers were unwilling to make much of them until further studies confirm the trends.
Organic food is produced with fewer chemicals and more natural-growing practices, but that doesn’t always translate into a more nutritious or healthier product. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that “Whether you buy organic or not, finding the freshest foods available may have the biggest effect on taste.” Fresh food is at least as good as anything marketed as organic.
1. The new research questions whether organic food ________.| A．should replace traditional food |
| B．has been overpriced by farmers |
| C．is grown with less harmful chemicals |
| D．is really more nutritious and healthier |
| A．organic food could reduce the risk of heart disease |
| B．traditional food was grown with more natural methods |
| C．both organic and traditional food they examined were safe |
| D．there was not a presence of any forms of bacteria in organic food |
| A．Organic chicken and pork. |
| B．Organic milk and chicken. |
| C．Traditional chicken and pork. |
| D．Traditional fruit and vegetables. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Approving. |
3 . My 15-year-old boy is a high achiever. He is very bright, pursuing everything he does with devotion and determination. And he is a great kid: honest, kind, faithful and caring.
Like a lot of kids who are high achievers, he is a perfectionist and very easy to fall into anxiety. That is manifested in his study, and other things he does as well. For example, he loves tennis but he often worries about losing in the game. Now he has to stop competing because the pressure he puts on himself is becoming unhealthy. He still plays, but playing socially rather than competitively means that it’s an outlet (发泄方式) for him rather than a source of stress.
He does not manage stress well. He puts so much pressure on himself to the point of worrying himself sick over just about every assessment. And he gets so negative about it, everything I say to him is met with negativity, every suggestion with a response that it won’t work, and honestly it’s depressing and tiring.
To help my son, I have a patient conversation with him. He finally follows my advice about physical exercise to ease stress. Whenever he is under a lot of pressure, I will run with him for half an hour and do some push-ups to relieve pressure. Gradually, he becomes less nervous in the later exams and his scores become more and more stable.
Pressure from grades and perfectionism can be really hard to manage when it comes to schooling. As kids, what they need is effective communication and sincere encouragement. So I have always told and shown my son that I’m proud of him, and that pride doesn’t merely depend on top grades.
1. What does the underlined word “manifested” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Rooted. | B．Hidden. | C．Reflected. | D．Involved. |
| A．He often falls ill under pressure. | B．He becomes tired of evaluations. |
| C．He fails to handle stress properly. | D．He views suggestions positively. |
| A．Stop pursuing perfection. | B．Do some exercise with him. |
| C．Talk to others more frequently. | D．Engage in some social activities. |
| A．It is hard for us to pursue the perfectionism. |
| B．The author simply takes pride in his son’s school work. |
| C．We can’t reduce the pressure from grades and perfectionism. |
| D．Communication and encouragement are helpful to teenagers. |
4 . Ants have the ability to find out cancerous cells in humans, a new study has discovered. Researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) discovered that ant species — Formica fusca — has a well developed sense of smell. So it was able to distinguish cancerous cells from healthy cells in humans, limited trials revealed. “But more tests must be carried out before they could be used in settings like hospitals.” the team said.
To conduct their research, the scientists performed tests with 36 ants, smelling cells under a laboratory setting. First, the specialists exposed the ants to the smell of a sample of cancerous human cells. This smell was then associated with a reward of sugar solution. In a second step, the researchers exposed the ants to two different smells. One was a new smell and the second was the smell of the cancerous cells. Once this test was successful, the researchers exposed the ants to different cancerous cells. As such, the scientists found that ants distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells and between two cancerous lines. After training, Formica fusca ants are able to detect organic compounds (化合物) given off by cancerous cells.
“This first study shows that ants have high potential, are capable of learning very quickly, at lower cost, and are efficient,” points out CNRS in a news release.
This isn’t the first time that scientists have used the animal sense of smell to locate cancerous cells. “Dogs’ noses are well suited for medical diagnosis (诊断) and used for the detection of cancer. specific organic compounds,” the researchers explained. However, training them to do so requires several months to a year. “Ants therefore represent a fast, efficient, inexpensive, and highly accurate detection tool for detection of cancer cells,” the team explained.
The approach could potentially be adapted to a range of other complex smell detection tasks including the detection of narcotics (麻醉药), bombs, spoiled food, or other diseases.
1. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?| A．The purpose of performing tests. | B．The process of the new research. |
| C．The steps of training different ants. | D．The new finding about Formica fusca. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Unique. | C．Complicated. | D．Promising. |
| A．They need less time to be trained. | B．They detect more types of cancers. |
| C．They complete more complex tasks. | D．They have a better sense of smell for cancers. |
| A．A diary entry. | B．A news report. | C．A biology textbook. | D．An animal novel. |
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 . A university lecturer in Linyi, Shandong province, has shone a light on the difficulties of food delivery drivers by taking on the role himself for a month and sharing his trials and sufferings online.
Last December, Xing Bin, a lecturer at the College of Literature at Linyi University, was so eager to know about what life and work must be like for a delivery driver, so he decided to sign up and be one from December to January this year. The gig economy (临时工), for better or worse, has exploded in China in recent years, and though many members of the workforce choose to work in the gig economy because of its flexibility (灵活性), others prefer full-time employment.
During the month, Xing worked more than 10 hours and took 30,000 steps a day. He lost 6 kilograms and earned a total of 7,000 yuan. On average, he earned 10 yuan each hour, and 20 yuan at most. “ I was delivering food from early morning till late at night for around 13 hours a day. When I had classes, I delivered food for two hours early in the morning, and after dinner I continued delivering until one or two in the morning,” Xing said.
“Before, if I got a call from a delivery worker, I might delay answering it. But now I will always answer it immediately because I know they might be riding an electric bike while making the call, which is very dangerous,” said Xing, adding that he now understands the difficulties of delivery workers better and realizes how hard they work to make a living.
“During that month, I tasted the bitterness and the happiness of this job with my heart. I delivered over 2,000 orders, and three of the people who ordered impressed me a lot.” he said.
1. Why did Xing try the job of a delivery driver?| A．Out of curiosity. | B．Owing to its high pay. |
| C．Because of its flexibility. | D．For its low career requirements. |
| A．To introduce Xing’s experiences. | B．To praise delivery workers’ spirits. |
| C．To describe delivery workers’ hardships. | D．To show delivery workers’ achievements. |
| A．Requirements for the job. | B．Memories of Xing’s experiences. |
| C．Xing’s calling for more respect. | D．The online reaction to his posts. |
| A．No pains, no gains. | B．Save for a rainy day. |
| C．Easier said than done. | D．Knowledge starts with practice. |
7 . Most people agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be difficult. Now there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their health and their dining out experience.
Open Table app
Open Table app helps people choose restaurants when they want to go out to eat. It is a free service that shows users restaurant available based on where and when they want to dine. It gives users points when they make reservations, which can add up to discounts (折扣) on restaurant visits.
Max McCalman’s Cheese &Wine Pairing app
Wine and cheese can be a great combination. But which wines go best with which cheeses? Max McCalman’s Cheese & Wine Pairing app can help. It provides information about hundreds of different cheeses and suggests wines to pair with each. Max McCalman’s Cheese & Wine Pairing app is free.
Happy Cow app
Vegetarians do not eat animal meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The Happy Cow app is made for both groups. Users can search for vegetarian-vegan restaurants and stores around the world.
Local Eats app
Restaurant chains, like McDonalds, can be found almost anywhere a person might travel. But sometimes travelers want to eat like locals. The Local Eats app is designed for that. It can help you find local restaurants in major cities in the US and in other countries. It costs about a dollar.
Where Chefs Eat app
“Where Chefs Eat” is a 975-page book. Most people would not want to carry that around. But there is a much lighter app version of the same name for just $15. Six hundred chefs provide information on 3,000 restaurants around the world on the Where Chefs Eat app.
1. What can users get when making a reservation with Open Table app?| A．Points | B．Books. | C．Wine. | D．Cheeses. |
| A．local foods. | B．wine and cheese |
| C．vegetables | D．animal meat |
| A．OpenTable. | B．Where Chefs Eat |
| C．Local Eats | D．Max Me Calman’s Cheese & Wine Pairing. |
8 . 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. |
9 . While some critics claim that history curricula (课程) teach unnecessary content, others argue that these curricula need to be more comprehensive. Despite ongoing debates about content, one universal truth remains: strong history curricula are necessary for developing the productive citizens of tomorrow.
The greatest academic value that history curricula provide is not the recall of important dates and names. Rather, understanding the historical inquiry process is the most important component. This process teaches students how to become critical thinkers and understand the dynamic nature of the telling of history.
Through strong history curricula, students are shown both a variety of primary and secondary sources and are taught to critique them. This is where the historical inquiry process begins. Students not only begin to analyze and ask questions about the content, but they also learn about the author’s credibility and potential bias (偏见). Students are then able to contextualize the information they learn and can think more critically about historical con text and those who tell it.
With this framework, students can then understand the causal relationship between human nature, values, philosophy, actions, and their consequences. It teaches students to recognize recurrent themes and lessons that are necessary to understand modern society. Most importantly, it teaches students to develop a healthy skepticism (怀疑论) when presented with information today because our actions are history in the making.
Forty years ago, renowned scholar James Fitzgerald argued that no education is complete without the teaching of historical inquiry. He believed that the only way to move forward in life is to understand what’s behind us.
Today, this principle still holds true. Students take both the factual knowledge and the historical inquiry skills they learn in the classroom and apply them to real world circumstances. Throughout their lives, students who are taught with strong history curricula will take the lessons they learn from our predecessors and become involved, active, productive citizens who want to create a history that tomorrow’s students will be proud to learn about.
1. What is the biggest academic significance of history learning?| A．Passing down Chinese culture. | B．Grasping historical inquiry skills. |
| C．Making people more knowledgeable. | D．Enriching people’s everyday life. |
| A．Protect. | B．Combine. | C．Comment. | D．Remember. |
| A．To stress the importance of history. |
| B．To point out the essence of education. |
| C．To indicate famous people learn from history. |
| D．To show history contributes to people’s achievements. |
| A．It Is the People that Create History |
| B．History Pushes the Wheel of the Times |
| C．History Curricula Are Gaining More Attention |
| D．History Curricula Shape Tomorrow’s Decision Makers |
10 . Do you like Chinese traditional painting and dance? They are two important parts of the traditional Chinese art. 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’s Spring Festival Gala and became popular.
According to CCTV, this poetic dance program was inspired by the 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》), created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at about 18. The painting is amazing in its sweeping size, rich coloration and the expressive details, reported by CCTV. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: mountains and groupings of infinite (无限的) rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling (涟漪的) 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 a drama but also an exhibition. Vast mountains and rivers are coming to life!” Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in a review. “More than a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still impress 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 have featured Chinese traditional culture and received warm welcome. As for the reason, it is due to people’s great love for traditional culture.
“The younger generations have grown up with a more open mind. They accept Chinese culture and are proud of it,” Yao Wei, director of Henan TV Station’s Innovation Center, told China Daily.
1. What’s the writing purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To raise a question. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To describe the art world. | D．To show a doubtful thought. |
| A．CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala. | B．A Chinese blue-green landscape. |
| C．Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng. | D．An old Chinese traditional painting. |
| A．Traditional culture is accepted and loved by people. |
| B．Green mountains and rivers greatly impress people. |
| C．The poetic dance can be staged in the theaters later. |
| D．Increasing modern shows feature Chinese traditional culture. |
| A．It explains why Chinese art enjoys popularity. |
| B．It shows us art can come to life through dance. |
| C．It highlights the beauty of Chinese traditional art. |
| D．It tells us the love for Chinese traditional painting. |
