1 . Jenifer Mauer has needed more willpower than the typical college student to pursue her goal of earning a nursing degree. That willpower bore fruit when Jennifer graduated from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and became the first in her large family to earn a bachelor's degree.

Mauer, of Edgar, Wisconsin, grew up on a farm in a family of 10 children. Her dad worked at a job away from the farm, and her mother ran the farm with the kids. After high school, Jennifer attended a local technical college, working to pay her tuition(学费), because there was no extra money set aside for a college education. After graduation, she worked to help her sisters and brothers pay for their schooling.

Jennifer now is married and has three children of her own. She decided to go back to college to advance her career and to be able to better support her family while doing something she loves: nursing. She chose the UW-Eau Claire program at Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield because she was able to pursue her four-year degree close to home. She could drive to class and be home in the evening to help with her kids. Jenifer received great support from her family as she worked to earn her degree: Her husband worked two jobs to cover the bills, and her 68-year-old mother helped take care of the children at times.

Through it all, she remained in good academic standing and graduated with honors. Jennifer sacrificed(牺牲)to achieve her goal, giving up many nights with her kids and missing important events to study. ''Some nights my heart was breaking to have to pick between my kids and studying for exams or papers,'' she says. However, her children have learned an important lesson witnessing their mother earn her degree. Jennifer is a first-generation graduate and an inspiration to her family-and that's pretty powerful.

1. What did Jennifer do after high school?

A．She helped her dad with his work.

B．She ran the family farm on her own.

C．She supported herself through college.

D．She taught her sisters and brothers at home.

2. Why did Jennifer choose the program at Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield?

A．To take care of her kids easily.	B．To learn from the best nurses.
C．To save money for her parents.	D．To find a well-paid job there.

3. What did Jennifer sacrifice to achieve her goal?

A．Her health.	B．Her time with family.
C．Her reputation.	D．Her chance of promotion.

4. What can we learn from Jenifer's story?

A．Time is money.	B．Love breaks down barriers.
C．Hard work pays off.	D．Education is the key to success.

2 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.

Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.

For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.

The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?

1. What is the recent study mainly about?

A．Food safety.	B．Movie viewership.
C．Consumer demand.	D．Eating behavior.

2. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Big eaters.	B．Overweight persons.
C．Picky eaters.	D．Tall thin persons.

3. Why did the researchers hire the actor?

A．To see how she would affect the participants.

B．To test if the participants could recognize her.

C．To find out what she would do in the two tests.

D．To study why she could keep her weight down.

4. On what basis do we “adjust the influence” according to the last paragraph?

A．How hungry we are.	B．How slim we want to be.
C．How we perceive others.	D．How we feel about the food.

3 . We are the products of evolution, and not just evolution that occurred billions of years ago. As scientists look deeper into our genes (基因), they are finding examples of human evolution in just the past few thousand years. People in Ethiopian highlands have adapted to living at high altitudes. Cattle -raising people in East Africa and northern Europe have gained a mutation (突变) that helps them digest milk as adults.

On Thursday in an article published in Cell, a team of researchers reported a new kind of adaptation - not to air or to food, but to the ocean. A group of sea-dwelling people in Southeast Asia have evolved into better divers. The Bajau, as these people are known, number in the hundreds of thousands in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. They have traditionally lived on houseboats; in recent times, they’ve also built houses on stilts (支柱) in coastal waters. “They are simply a stranger to the land,” said Redney C. Jubilado, a University of Hawaii researcher who studies the Bajau.

Dr. Jubilado first met the Bajau while growing up on Samal Island in the Philippines. They made a living as divers, spearfishing or harvesting shellfish. “We were so amazed that they could stay underwater much longer than us local islanders,” Dr. Jubilado said. “I could see them actually walking under the sea.”

In2015, Melissa Ilardo, then a graduate student in genetics at the University of Copenhagen, heard about the Bajau. She wondered if centuries of diving could have led to the evolution of physical characteristics that made the task easier for them. “it seemed like the perfect chance for natural selection to act on a population,” said Dr. Ilardo. She also said there were likely a number of other genes that help the Bajau dive.

1. What does the author want to tell us by the examples in paragraph 1?

A．Environmental adaptation of cattle raisers.	B．New knowledge of human evolution.
C．Recent findings of human origin.	D．Significance of food selection.

2. Where do the Bajau build their houses?

A．In valleys.

B．Near rivers.

C．On the beach.

D．Off the coast.

3. Why was the young Jubilado astonished at the Bajau?

A．They could walk on stilts all day.	B．They had a superb way of fishing.
C．They could stay long underwater.	D．They lived on both land and water.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Bodies Remodeled for a Life at Sea	B．Highlanders’ Survival Skills
C．Basic Methods of Genetic Research	D．The World’s Best Divers

4 . The Lake District Attractions Guide

Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens

History, Culture & Landscape(景观). Discover and enjoy 4 centuries of history, 5 acres of celebrated and award-winning gardens with parkland walk. Owned by the Hasell family since 1679, home to the International Marmalade Festival. Gifts and antiques, plant sales, museums & Mediaeval Hall Tearoom.

Open:29 Mar-29 Oct，Sun to Thurs.

Tearoom，Gardens & Gift Shop:10:30-17:00(16:00 in Oct).

House:11:15-16:00(15:00 in Oct)

Town: Pooley Bridge & Penrith
Abbot Hall art Gallery & Museum

Those viewing the quality of Abbot Hall’s temporary exhibitions may be forgiven for thinking they are in a city gallery. The impressive permanent collection includes Turners and Romneys and the temporary exhibition programme has Canaletto and the artists from St Ives.

Open: Mon to Sat and Summer Sundays. 10:30 -17:00 Summer.10:30 -16:00 Winter.
Town: Kendal
Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery

Discover, explore and enjoy award-winning Tullie House, where historic collections, contemporary art and family fun are brought together in one impressive museum and art gallery. There are four fantastic galleries to visit from fine art to interactive fun, so there’s something for everyone!

Open: High Season 1 Apr – 31 Oct: Mon to Sat 10:00 – 17:00, Sun 11:00 – 17:00.

Low Season 1 Nov – 31 Mar: Mon to Sat 10:00 – 16:30, Sun 12:00 – 16:30.

Town: Carlisle
Dove Cottage & The wordsworth Museum

Discover William Wordsworth’s inspirational home. Take a tour of his Lakeland cottage, walk through his hillside garden and explore the riches of the collection in the Museum. Visit the shop and relax in the café. Exhibitions, events and family activities throughout the year.

Open: Daily, 09:30 – 17:30 (last admission 17:00).

Town: Grasmere

1. When is the House at Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens open on Sundays in July?

A．09:30-17:30.

B．10:30-16:00.

C．11:15-16:00.

D．12:00-16:30

2. What can visitors do at Abbot Hall Art Gallery & Museum?

A．Enjoy Romney’s works.

B．Have some interactive fun.

C．Attend a famous festival.

D．Learn the history of a family

3. Where should visitors go if they want to explore Wordsworth’s life?

A．Penrith.

B．Kendal.

C．Carlisle.

D．Grasmere.

5 . Some parents will buy any high-tech toy if they think it will help their child, but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.

Psychologist Susan Levine, an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago, found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition(认知) after controlling for differences in parents’ income, education and the amount of parent talk, Levine said.

The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age.

“The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not, on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate(旋转)and translate shapes,” Levine said in a statement.

The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would, and about half of children in the study played with puzzles at one time. Higher-income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently, and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills. However, boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls, and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than parents of girls.

The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.

1. In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play?

A．Building confidence.	B．Developing spatial skills.
C．Learning self-control.	D．Gaining high-tech knowledge.

2. What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？

A．Parents’ age.	B．Children’s imagination.
C．Parents’ education.	D．Child-parent relationship.

3. How do boy differ from girls in puzzle play?

A．They play with puzzles more often.

B．They tend to talk less during the game.

C．They prefer to use more spatial language.

D．They are likely to play with tougher puzzles.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．A mathematical method.	B．A scientific study.
C．A woman psychologist	D．A teaching program.

6 . It was just after sunrise on a June morning. “Nicolo,” whose real name cannot be _______ to the public because of Italy’s privacy laws, _______ working the whole night at a factory in Turin. As he often did, he stopped by the “after work auction(拍卖)” _______ by the Italian police where things _______ on the trains were sold to the highest bidder. There, among many other things, Nicolo spotted two paintings he thought would look _______above his dining room table. Nicolo and another bidder _______ until Nicolo finally won the paintings for $32.

When Nicolo retired and went to live in Sicily, he _______ the paintings with him. He hung them above the same table he had _______ from Turin. His son, age 15, who had _______ an art appreciation class, thought that there was something ________ about the one with a young girl sitting on a garden chair. It was signed(签名) “Bonnato” or so he thought, but when he ________ it, he only found “Bonnard,” a French ________ he had never heard of. He bought a book and was ________ to find a picture of the artist Pierre Bonnard sitting on the same chair in the same ________ as his father’s painting.

“That’s the garden in our picture,”Nicolo’s son told his father. They ________ learned that the painting they ________was called “The Girl with Two Chairs.” They ________ the other painting and learned that it was ________ Paul Gauguin’s “Still Life of Fruit on a Table with a Small Dog.” The ________ called the Italian Culture Ministry; the official confirmed that the paintings were ________ and worth as much as $50 million.

1.

A．attached

B．allocated

C．exposed

D．submitted

2.

A．finished

B．delayed

C．considered

D．tried

3.

A．attended

B．reserved

C．cancelled

D．run

4.

A．shown

B．found

C．kept

D．hidden

5.

A．nice

B．familiar

C．useful

D．real

6.

A．battled

B．debated

C．discussed

D．bargain

7.

A．held

B．left

C．registered

D．brought

8.

A．chosen

B．received

C．ordered

D．moved

9.

A．missed

B．failed

C．taken

D．led

10.

A．concrete

B．unusual

C．unappealing

D．natural

11.

A．appreciated

B．touched

C．researched

D．witnessed

12.

A．painter

B．designer

C．author

D．actor

13.

A．expected

B．surprised

C．anxious

D．ready

14.

A．room

B．kitchen

C．hall

D．garden

15.

A．apparently

B．confidently

C．eventually

D．temporarily

16.

A．owned

B．borrowed

C．sold

D．stole

17.

A．collected

B．cleaned

C．framed

D．studied

18.

A．suitably

B．actually

C．rightly

D．specifically

19.

A．girl

B．artist

C．family

D．police

20.

A．copies

B．originals

C．models

D．presents

7 . When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your holiday list, fur probably didn’t cross your mind. But some ecologists and fashion (时装)enthusiasts are trying to bring back the market for fur made from nutria(海狸鼠).

Unusual fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn have showcased nutria fur made into clothes in different styles. “It sounds crazy to talk about guilt-free fur-unless you understand that the nutria are destroying vast wetlands every year”, says Cree McCree, project director of Righteous Fur.

Scientists in Louisiana were so concerned that they decided to pay hunters $5 a tail. Some of the fur ends up in the fashion shows like the one in Brooklyn last month.

Nutria were brought there from Argentina by fur farmers and let go into the wild. “The ecosystem down there can’t handle this non-native species(物种).It’s destroying the environment. It’s them or us.” says Michael Massimi, an expert in this field.

The fur trade kept nutria in check for decades，but when the market for nutria collapsed in the late 1980s，the cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy.

Biologist Edmond Mouton runs the nutria control program for Louisiana. He says it’s not easy to convince people that nutria fur is green, but he has no doubt about it. Hunters bring in more than 300,000 nutria tails a year, so part of Mouton’s job these days is trying to promote fur.

Then there’s Righteous Fur and its unusual fashion. Model Paige Morgan says，”To give people a guilt-free option that they can wear without someone throwing paint on them-I think that’s going to be a massive thing, at least here in New York.” Designer Jennifer Anderson admits it took her a while to come around to the opinion that using nutria fur for her creations is morally acceptable. She is trying to come up with a label to attach to nutria fashions to show it is eco-friendly.

1. What is the purpose of the fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn?

A．To promote guilt-free fur.

B．To expand the fashion market.

C．To introduce a new brand.

D．To celebrate a winter holiday.

2. Why are scientists concerned about nutria?

A．Nutria damage the ecosystem seriously.

B．Nutria are an endangered species.

C．Nutria hurt local cat-sized animals.

D．Nutria are illegally hunted.

3. What does the underlined word “collapsed” in paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Boomed.

B．Became mature.

C．Remained stable.

D．Crashed.

4. What can we infer about wearing fur in New York according to Morgan?

A．It’s formal.

B．It’s risky.

C．It’s harmful.

D．It’s traditional.

8 . For Western designers, China and its rich culture have long been an inspiration for Western creative.

“It’s no secret that China has always been a source(来源) of inspiration for designers,” says Amanda Hill, chief creative officer at A+E Networks, a global media company and home to some of the biggest fashion(时尚) shows.

Earlier this year, the China Through A Looking Glass exhibition in New York exhibited 140 pieces of China-inspired fashionable clothing alongside Chinese works of art, with the aim of exploring the influence of Chinese aesthetics(美学) on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. The exhibition had record attendance, showing that there is huge interest in Chinese influences.

“China is impossible to overlook,” says Hill. “Chinese models are the faces of beauty and fashion campaigns that sell dreams to women all over the world, which means Chinese women are not just consumers of fashion — they are central to its movement.” Of course, not only are today’s top Western designers being influenced by China—some of the best designers of contemporary fashion are themselves Chinese. “Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galliano, Albaz, Marc Jacobs—and beating them hands down in design and sales,” adds Hill.

For Hill, it is impossible not to talk about China as the leading player when discussing fashion. “The most famous designers are Chinese, so are the models, and so are the consumers,” she says. “China is no longer just another market; in many senses it has become the market. If you talk about fashion today, you are talking about China—its influences, its direction, its breathtaking clothes, and how young designers and models are finally acknowledging that in many ways.”

1. What can we learn about the exhibition in New York?

A．It promoted the sales of artworks.	B．It attracted a large number of visitors.
C．It showed ancient Chinese clothes.	D．It aimed to introduce Chinese models.

2. What does Hill say about Chinese women?

A．They are setting the fashion.	B．They start many fashion campaigns.
C．They admire super models.	D．They do business all over the world.

3. What do the underlined words “taking on” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．learning from

B．looking down on

C．working with

D．competing against

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Young Models Selling Dreams to the World

B．A Chinese Art Exhibition Held in New York

C．Differences Between Eastern and Western Aesthetics

D．Chinese Culture Fueling International Fashion Trends