1 . Liu Jichen, 23, a student from Tsinghua University, has developed a WeChat mini-program called “Clear Your Plate”. After a meal, users can open the mini-program and take a picture of their empty plates. Once the image is recognized by the AI(Artificial Intelligence), students can collect points and use them to buy gifts or purchase charity meals to children in impoverished(贫困的) rural areas.
Liu and his team, together with other organizations, launched the “Clear Your Plate” campaign in November for the third year. It has swept over 1,017 universities across the country. The one-month campaign attracted almost 1.6 million participants and collectively reduced food waste by 862 tons and carbon emissions(碳排放) by 3,337 tons.
“Technological innovation is a good way to reduce food waste,” Liu thought. He organized a team of 20 members to work on the project at the end of 2017. To solve the AI’s problem of identifying photos of empty plates, the team spent half a year collecting over 100,000 samples in canteens and restaurants. In 2018, the mini-program was officially put into operation on Oct 16, World Food Day. They then launched a campaign later that year.
“There were so many unknowns in research and development. For our team members, the biggest challenge was whether we were confident enough to complete it,” Liu said. They not only achieved their goal, but now, the mini-program has more than 5 million registered users, according to Liu. “We hope our efforts can start a new trend among the younger generation by encouraging them to cherish(珍惜) their food and develop the habit of thrift(节约),” Liu added.
1. What can we know about the “Clear Your Plate” mini-program?| A．It aims to put an end to waste and encourage thrift. |
| B．Its 6 million users are mostly students. |
| C．It helped reduce food waste by 3,337 tons. |
| D．It is an exchange of food for rewards to help poor children. |
| A．They found it tough to promote the campaign. |
| B．They felt uncertain whether they could complete the project. |
| C．They lacked professional technical support. |
| D．They had difficulty gathering enough samples. |
| A．Optimistic and demanding. | B．Generous and responsible. |
| C．Talented and humorous. | D．Creative and determined. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A news report. | C．A book review. | D．A textbook. |
2 . A star athlete at the college where I work recently stopped by my office. After committing a few unforced errors during a weekend match, she was tom apart by self-criticism. “I can’t stop beating myself up,” she told me. “I’m at peak fitness, and I practice hard. How is this happening?”
Many students I teach, like this athlete, believe that all-nighters in the library and hours on the field should get them exactly where they need to go. When they fall short of what they imagine they should accomplish, they are crushed by self-blame.
We talk often about young adults struggling with failure because their parents have protected them from discomfort. But there is something else at play among the most privileged in particular: a false promise that they can achieve anything if they are willing to work for it.
Psychologists have sourced this phenomenon to a misapplication of “mind set” research, which has found that praising children for effort will increase academic performance. But a recent analysis found that while praising effort over ability may benefit high-risk or economically disadvantaged students, it does not necessarily help everyone.
The cruel, messy reality is that you can do everything in your power and still fail. Instead of allowing our kids to beat themselves up when things don’t go their way, we should all question a culture that has taught them that feeling anything less than overwhelmed means they’re lazy, and that where they go to college matters more than the kind of person they are. It’s suggested that parents and teachers spend time helping students find purpose, or goals they genuinely love to pursue and that make an impact on the world, which may help them gain greater life satisfaction and become more psychologically mature.
The point is not to give our kids a pass on working hard. But we would be wise to remind our kids that life has a way of sucker-punching us when we least expect it. It’s often the people who learn to say “stuff happens” who get up the fastest.
1. Which sort of students does the star athlete belong to?| A．Those lacking courage to make self-criticism. |
| B．Those tired of working all night in the library. |
| C．Those believing hard work surely pay off. |
| D．Those overprotected by their parents in life. |
| A．Praising effort over ability will surely be beneficial to all kids. |
| B．The result of the “mindset” research doesn’t apply to all cases. |
| C．Parents should lay more emphasis on their kids’ academic performance. |
| D．Whether praising kids’ effort over ability does good to kids depends. |
| A．By choosing where to go to college for them. |
| B．By pushing them to fight against the cruel reality. |
| C．By discouraging them from making efforts to study hard. |
| D．By encouraging them to stick to a worthy cause they truly love. |
| A．Students should not expect too much from their study. |
| B．Students with positive attitudes can move on more easily. |
| C．Students should bear all the failures on their own. |
| D．Students are sure to succeed if they try their best. |
3 . Plants cannot run or hide, so they need other strategies to avoid being eaten. Some curl up their leaves, others produce chemicals to make themselves taste bad if they sense animals drooling on them, chewing them up or laying eggs on them—all signals of an attack. New research now shows some flora can feel a plant-eating animal well before it launches an attack, letting a plant prepare a preemptive（先发制人的）defense that even works against other pest species.
When ecologist John Orrock of the University of Wisconsin-Madison sprayed snail slime—a liquid the animals release as they slide along—onto soil, nearby tomato plants appeared to notice. They increased their levels of an enzyme（酶）, which is known to prevent plant-eating animals. “None of the plants were ever actually attacked,” Orrock says. “We just gave them cues that suggested an attack was coming, and that was enough to cause big changes in their chemistry.”
Initially Orrock found this defense worked against snails; in the latest study, his team measured the slimy warning’s impact on another potential threat. The investigators found that hungry caterpillars（毛虫）, which usually eat tomato leaves greedily, had no appetite for them after the plants were exposed to snail slime and activated their chemical resistance. This nonspecific defense may be a strategy that benefits the plants by further improving their overall possibilities of survival, says Orrock, who reported the results with his colleagues in March in Oecologia.
The finding that a snail’s approach can cause a plant response that affects a different animal made Richard Karban curious, a plant communications expert, who was not involved in the study. “It is significant that the plants are responding before being damaged and that these cues are having such far-ranging effects, ” Karban says. The research was comprehensive, he adds, but he wonders how the tomato plants felt chemicals in snail slime that never actually touched them.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Orrock says. He hopes future research will make out the mechanisms that enable plants to sense these relatively distant cues.
1. John Orrock sprayed a liquid onto soil near tomato plants to ________.| A．make them grow better |
| B．give them a warning |
| C．keep plant-eating animals away |
| D．inform plant-eating animals of danger |
| A．To introduce another animal. |
| B．To confirm the result of the study. |
| C．To appeal to people to protect animals. |
| D．To analyze different resistance chemicals. |
| A．How tomato plants become aware of danger. |
| B．What the chemicals in the snail slime are. |
| C．Whether the research is of practical value. |
| D．What the finding of the research is. |
| A．Watchful Plants. | B．Greedy Animals. |
| C．A Snail’s Approach. | D．A Defense Attack. |
4 . Physical education, or PE, isn’t required for all high school students. In some schools, it isn’t offered for some different reasons. But should high school students have physical education? The answer is certainly “yes”.
Today many people don’t do sports. But as is known to all. doing sports is very important for an adult. Teaching teens the importance of a healthy lifestyle and making fitness plans now can help teens put exercise in the first place as an adult.
High school isn’t that easy. Many students are under a lot of stress. Stress can be harmful to a student’s studies and life. Doing sports can help them deal with stress better, helping them live a happier life at school.
The American Heart Association says that 10 million kids and teens suffer from obesity (肥胖). Teens should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day to control their weight and to help their bones get stronger. The increase in activities that don’t get teens to move around, such as computer games, means many teens don’t get their required exercise. PE classes act as a public health measure (措施) to encourage physical activities and help teens have healthy weights.
Not doing sports increases teens’ hazard of developing many diseases. An active lifestyle offers a good way of protection from these health problems. As much as 75 percent of health-care spending goes toward treating medical conditions that can be prevented by lifestyle changes, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), students who performed five hours of physical activities each week improved their academic (学业的) performance. Students from programs with no physical activity, who used the extra time for classroom study, did not perform better on tests than those who gave up some study time in support of physical education.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what does physical education in high school mean?| A．Making teens attach importance to ęxercise later. |
| B．Removing the stress faced by teens at school. |
| C．Getting teens to encourage adults to exercise. |
| D．Helping teens learn to make good plans |
| A．Happiness. | B．Risk. | C．Safety. | D．Sadness. |
| A．means making students choose between sports and studies |
| B．helps students make good use of all their time |
| C．means students adjust to their studies better |
| D．helps students do better in their studies |
| A．Why high school students should receive physical education. |
| B．Why some schools consider physical education important. |
| C．How schools can help students love doing sports. |
| D．How high school students can live a better life. |
5 . When Deborah hiked cycling to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York last November, she
She was certain that the bird needed
Her best choice was the rehab center,
On the subway, no one seemed particularly disturbed by the
Deborah called the rehab center on the way, and Tristan Higginbotham, an animal-care manager,
The staff got the swan back up on her webbed feet (蹼足). The swan even made a
It’s a(n)
| A．spotted | B．founded | C．witnessed | D．observed |
| A．attacked | B．stoned | C．hugged | D．approached |
| A．emotional | B．psychological | C．medical | D．mental |
| A．hurriedly | B．cautiously | C．curiously | D．instantly |
| A．knocked | B．arrived | C．occurred | D．struck |
| A．while | B．but | C．as | D．for |
| A．transfer | B．transform | C．transmit | D．transport |
| A．tour | B．trip | C．lift | D．elevator |
| A．ordinary | B．feathered | C．poisoned | D．fierce |
| A．phone | B．way | C．screen | D．seat |
| A．picked | B．looked | C．put | D．called |
| A．passenger | B．driver | C．swan | D．rescuer |
| A．smelling | B．digesting | C．swallowing | D．absorbing |
| A．pair | B．couple | C．boyfriend | D．girlfriend |
| A．Sadly | B．Apparently | C．Accidentally | D．Fortunately |
| A．until | B．since | C．before | D．after |
| A．disappointing | B．disturbing | C．inspiring | D．bothering |
| A．how long | B．how far | C．how often | D．how much |
| A．bike | B．car | C．bus | D．tube |
| A．assumption | B．conclusion | C．summary | D．combination |
6 . Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future and wanted to make a
I started my
I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to
After completing my
Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or
| A．fortune | B．difference | C．wish | D．attempt |
| A．why | B．how | C．when | D．where |
| A．journey | B．study | C．occupation | D．business |
| A．volunteers | B．students | C．graduates | D．applicants |
| A．adventurous | B．brief | C．dangerous | D．tough |
| A．In turn | B．In reward | C．In honor | D．In short |
| A．seriously | B．casually | C．excitedly | D．carefully |
| A．stick out | B．turn out | C．stand out | D．pick out |
| A．duty | B．call | C．application | D．performance |
| A．city | B．company | C．village | D．school |
| A．project | B．college | C．interview | D．training |
| A．regularly | B．desperately | C．hardly | D．helplessly |
| A．as if | B．even though | C．just as | D．what if |
| A．convince | B．lead | C．represent | D．undertake |
| A．studied | B．survived | C．supported | D．taught |
| A．villagers | B．colleagues | C．students | D．competitors |
| A．familiar | B．similar | C．cruel | D．unusual |
| A．anywhere | B．everywhere | C．somewhere | D．nowhere |
| A．smarter | B．different | C．helpful | D．professional |
| A．character | B．experience | C．interest | D．life |
7 . Are you pessimistic by nature? Well, it’s not good for your brain. A new study has found that repeated negative thinking in later life is linked to cognitive(认知) decline and greater deposits(沉积) of two harmful proteins responsible for Alzheimer’s disease(阿尔茨海默病).
Negative thinking behaviors, such as reflection about the past and worry about the future, were measured in more than 350 people over the age of 55 over a two-year period. About a third of the participants also had a brain scan to measure deposits of proteins, which cause Alzheimer’s disease. The scans showed that people who spent more time thinking negatively had more harmful proteins, worse memory and greater cognitive decline than people who were not pessimists.
The study also tested for levels of anxiety and depression and found greater cognitive decline in depressed and anxious people, which agrees with previous research. But proteins did not increase in people who were already depressed and anxious, leading researchers to suspect that repeated negative thinking might be the main reason why depression and anxiety lead to Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is the first study showing a biological relationship between repeated negative thinking and Alzheimer’s disease, and gives physicians a more precise way to assess risk and offer treatment,” said neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson. “This study will change the way I care for my patients at risk.”
Fiona Carragher, who is chief policy and research officer at the Alzheimer’s Society in London, pointed out that this isn’t saying that a short-term period of negative thinking will cause Alzheimer’s disease. “Most of the people in the study were already identified as being at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” she added. “so we need more research to see if these results exist within the general population.”
1. What does the study show?| A．Negative thinking removes harmful proteins in brain. |
| B．Optimistic people have better cognitive ability. |
| C．Alzheimer’s disease leads to worse memory. |
| D．Continuous pessimism may result in Alzheimer’s disease. |
| A．Constant negative thinking may cause depressed people to get Alzheimer’s disease. |
| B．Long-term negative thinking is the reason for cognitive decline. |
| C．Alzheimer’s disease probably results in the increase in harmful proteins. |
| D．Anxiety and depression are the main causes of Alzheimer’s disease. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Negative. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．The research needs to be further improved. |
| B．The study will provide a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. |
| C．The following research will focus on short-term negative thinking. |
| D．The general population has a lower risk of having Alzheimer’s disease. |
8 . It all started when I learned to read, or rather, before I learned to read.
I was two years old, and my grandma believed it was as good a
Throughout my childhood, I’d always had a lot of
Then I met Mrs Apryl, the type of person that
And that was that. I
Now, I’m
| A．time | B．chance | C．reason | D．trend |
| A．consistent | B．complete | C．flexible | D．fashionable |
| A．written | B．reviewed | C．memorized | D．recognized |
| A．impressions | B．decisions | C．requirements | D．ideas |
| A．stood out | B．ran out | C．came out | D．worked out |
| A．aimlessly | B．penniless | C．carelessly | D．hopelessly |
| A．particular | B．anxious | C．enthusiastic | D．guilty |
| A．greeted | B．invited | C．encouraged | D．attracted |
| A．benefit | B．convenience | C．safety | D．use |
| A．proud | B．confident | C．concerned | D．amused |
| A．published | B．marked | C．practiced | D．submitted |
| A．support | B．advice | C．recommendation | D．admiration |
| A．commented | B．said | C．teased | D．continued |
| A．reporters | B．designers | C．editors | D．readers |
| A．came around | B．came down | C．came forward | D．came back |
| A．job | B．task | C．schedule | D．goal |
| A．step | B．way | C．choice | D．rule |
| A．applying | B．writing | C．advertising | D．collecting |
| A．run | B．build | C．climb | D．catch |
| A．forgotten it | B．meant it | C．got it | D．made it |
9 . The well-known Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he/ she grows up.”
This is both encouraging and discouraging. The fact that we were all born to be artists is surely exciting. But the reality has proven that remaining to be an artist is a task that many of us have failed. Fortunately, some people have seen the problem and want to solve it. Western educators have suggested that we introduce the concept of “STEAM” instead of “STEM”—traditional “core majors including science, technology, engineering and math—since the “A”, which stands for “art”, is just important as well. And so did the China’s Ministry of Education. It required colleges and universities to provide more art-related courses for students. They need to earn a certain number of art credits (学分) in order to graduate.
These efforts came after many scientific studies had found that art education helps students develop self-confidence and teamwork skills, as well as habits of mind such as problem solving and critical thinking.
It’s true that none of these skills is directly connected with jobs. But as former US ballet dancer Damian Woetzel told The Atlantic, the purpose of art is “to give kids the tools to become adults who are creative, adaptable and expressive— capable of having their eyes and ears and senses alive. And we can now see how we lost track of our born “artist self” on our way to growing up: we failed to keep our capabilities to see, hear and feel, and became blind, deaf and insensitive adults.
Hopefully, art education can help turn things around.
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce a famous painter. | B．To summarize the whole passage. |
| C．To inspire us to be artists. | D．To lead in the topic. |
| A．Art is as equally important as “core majors”. |
| B．Western education is more useful. |
| C．Traditional “core majors” are out of date. |
| D．All of us should learn art in college. |
| A．every child is an artist. | B．bringing art to life is essential. |
| C．life is full of art. | D．artists are talented |
10 . Shyness is normal and it is not considered as a mental problem. All people have been shy at one time or another. Even the most confident people experienced being shy.
You probably are wondering why you are shy. It may be because of the environment you were used to or the way you were brought up. Certain events or incidents in the past may also lead to the reason why you are shy now.
One of the negative sides of being shy is having the tendency to be passive. Most of the time shy people can’t stand up for themselves and what they believe is right.
While shyness has negative aspects, it has positive sides. Shy people are usually good observers and do not get themselves into too much trouble because they try to observe their environment or any situation before they act.
| A．But in most cases, shyness proves to be genetic. |
| B．They are sensitive and accustomed to getting suspicious. |
| C．Because some people are born to be shy, they let it go hang. |
| D．So if you’re feeling shy, don’t worry because you are not alone. |
| E．They are not hot-headed and think twice before making any decisions. |
| F．Although shyness is something from birth, it can be improved over time. |
| G．They avoid crowds by nature and stay away from groups and social interactions. |
