1 . A group of second-year college students have discovered hidden writing on a page from a book from the 1500s, using a special camera system they built.
Surprisingly, finding hidden writing on very old documents isn’t all that unusual. In fact, there’s even a special name for documents like this: a palimpsest (再生羊皮纸卷).
Long ago, writing was done on parchment — thin, dried animal skins specially prepared for writing. But parchment wasn’t easy to make and wasn’t cheap. So it became common to erase the old writing off a parchment and then reuse it for another piece of writing. That’s what creates a palimpsest.
The writing erased off the parchment can’t be seen directly, but scientists have learned ways to use special lighting to reveal the original writing. But it’s unusual for young college students to discover palimpsests.
Last year, first-year students at the Rochester Institute of Technology took part in a class that brought together many students to take on a project as a group. The project was to build a special camera system that could take pictures using different kinds of light.
Over the summer, the students working on the imaging camera managed to finish it. When they were done, they borrowed several old parchments from the collection at the school’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection. When they put one of the pages under their camera system with UV light, the hidden writing suddenly appeared. Under the UV light, handwriting in French could easily be seen behind the fancy writing and decorations normally visible on the page.
Zoe, a student involved in the project, said, “This was amazing because this document has been in the Cary Collection for almost 10 years and no one noticed it.” The students are even more excited because even though the parchment is no longer part of a book, they know where 29 other pages from the same book are. The students, who are now working with others to locate the other parchments, hope these, too, will have hidden writing and that they can figure out what it means.
1. What was parchment designed for in ancient times?| A．Writing. | B．Decorating. |
C．Imaging.  | D．Collecting. |
| A．Heat up. | B．Bring out. |
| C．Adjust to. | D．Clear away. |
| A．Make a handwriting-recognizing camera. |
| B．Identify what the parchments are made of. |
| C．Track the origin of the palimpsests in the Cary Collection. |
| D．Discover hidden writing and its meaning on more parchments. |
| A．To tell about a new discovery. | B．To recommend a special book. |
| C．To explain a cultural phenomenon. | D．To introduce an old document. |
2 . If you want to help others and improve the world, you still can, without leaving the house. Many volunteer opportunities require only a computer or a phone. We’ve rounded up four websites offering a variety of choices.
Points of Light
Founded by President George Bush, this is the world’s biggest organization about volunteer service.
History and garden lovers can help make collections more available by copying historic documents or tagging (加标签) images of American gardens by plant type in its database.
Help research cold cases of missing and unidentified people for the Doe Network.
Volunteer Match
This is a huge database of more than one million virtual (虚拟的) volunteer listings.
Got a legal background? Lawyers can review online content for Illinois Legal Aid.
Retired business owner? There are many opportunities to instruct small business owners in sales and marketing, business planning and product development.
Create the Good
AARP, the membership group for people 50+, operates this volunteer opportunities database for the 50+ age group.
Offer career advice to high school students in poor families in fields from baking to handyman by email for Career Village.
Raise awareness about scams (诈骗), especially those aimed at older people, identified by AARP’s National Fraud Team.
United Nations Volunteers
This group lists organizations for peace and development all over the world. You can:
Research money and its sources for young people who start business in Asia and the Pacific.
Brainstorm ideas to collect plastic waste in Cameroon.
Want to get involved? Click here to become a member or send an email to membership @seniorplanet.org to learn about opportunities.
1. What do all the volunteer opportunities have in common?| A．They are difficult to acquire. |
| B．They require no related knowledge. |
| C．They allow one to provide help at home. |
| D．They’re aimed at excellent professionals. |
| A．Teach the elderly how to bake. |
| B．Raise money for poor families. |
| C．Provide job suggestions for poor students. |
| D．Train teenagers to run their own businesses. |
| A．Points of Light. | B．Volunteer Match. |
| C．Create the Good. | D．United Nations Volunteers. |
3 . Flying can be stressful even for the most experienced business traveler. No matter how many times we
With no
“This was definitely one of our
| A．check | B．make | C．change | D．print |
| A．wild | B．wrong | C．successful | D．creative |
| A．bought | B．picked | C．recovered | D．left |
| A．missed | B．boarded | C．booked | D．scheduled |
| A．painting | B．passport | C．ticket | D．package |
| A．comforted | B．credited | C．contacted | D．cheered |
| A．musician | B．doctor | C．author | D．artist |
| A．reports | B．mails | C．news | D．passengers |
| A．hands | B．eyes | C．home | D．company |
| A．Unluckily | B．Unusually | C．Thankfully | D．Obviously |
| A．proposals | B．clues | C．descriptions | D．efforts |
| A．agreed | B．remembered | C． decided | D．promised |
| A．conducted | B．canceled | C．designed | D．quitted |
| A．damaged | B．unharmed | C．well-decorated | D．well-received |
| A．simplest | B．latest | C．saddest | D．happiest |
4 . As the pandemic separates us from loved ones, many of us are trying to stay connected through texting, email, and social media, even taking the opportunity to reconnect with long-lost friends.
But if our goal is to feel closer to people and enjoy our conversations more, we’d better pick up the phone, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
In the study, participants (参与者)imagined having a conversation with a friend they hadn't been in touch with for at least two years and made predictions (预测) about how it would feel to connect by phone versus(对比)email. "We think it's going to be awkward to talk to somebody, but that just turns out not to be the case," says lead author Amit Kumar. "Instead... people form stronger connection when they're talking on the phone than when communicating over email. ”
The same result held true when the researchers had participants do a conversation exercise with strangers using either video chatting, audio(声音的),only chatting, or text-chatting. People who used media that included the voice had more satisfying exchanges and felt closer to their new friends than the text-chatters.
Why? Likely it's because our voices communicate a variety of emotions, helping others to read us better and to feel like they really know us. Hearing someone's voice helps understand each other better —in some cases, even better than video chatting.
So, while texting can be useful, it's not the best way to get the most out of socializing. If we're looking for greater happiness and connection, we should give someone a call.
1. What do the underlined words “the case” in Paragraph 3 refer to?| A．Stronger connection is possible. |
| B．Predictions agree with the results. |
| C．Talking on the phone is awkward. |
| D．Communication over e-mail is effective. |
| A．They can talk more quickly. |
| B．Voices show more emotions. |
| C．Voices are easier to understand. |
| D．They are more familiar with voice. |
| A．By quoting experts' words. | B．By telling stories. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By introducing theories. |
| A．Text chatting. | B．Sending emails. |
| C．Making calls. | D．Writing letters. |
5 . Salad seeds（生菜种子）that went on a round trip to outer space and back grew at a slightly slower rate than the ones on earth, scientists have found, thanks to thousands of young people who helped conduct an out-of-this-world experiment.
The project started in 2015, when British astronaut （宇航员）Tim Peake took a million rocket seeds with him on his journey to the International Space Station （ISS）. The seeds spent six months there before they were sent back to Earth in 2016. In a message sent from the ISS, Peake said the science experiment was to find out if the conditions in space affected the seeds' ability to grow.
Around 600,000 pupils at 8,600 schools in the UK were then asked to grow the rocket seeds that had been to space, along with regular seeds that had never left the planet. Peake described the experiment as "one of the largest and most inspirational experiments of its kind".
The results of the study, which have just been published, found that the space seeds grew more slowly than the ones that had stayed on Earth. Researchers on the experiment said this was due to the stresses of space travel, such as the zero-gravity （零重力）atmosphere and high levels of cosmic rays（宇宙射线）,which slowed the growth of the plants.
Now researchers are hopeful that if the seeds are properly protected, it might be possible to grow plants during future space tasks to other planets. Dr Jake Chandler, from University of London, who led the study, said,“ The possibility of eating home-grown salad on Mars may be one small step closer.
1. Why did Tim Peake take seeds to ISS?| A．To explore the secret to gravity. |
| B．To have astronauts grow salad in ISS. |
| C．To promote young kids，interest in salad. |
| D．To test the space's influence on seeds growth. |
| A．Encouraged. | B．Disappointed. | C．Confused. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Health. | B．Science. | C．Educatn. | D．Business. |
| A．Space study, a hot topic |
| B．Salad growing, a hit among students |
| C．Your salad, grown on Mars, may soon be a reality |
| D．Man's exploration to Mars, a big step forward |
6 . My Ph. D. adviser called me into his office, saying I needn't bring my notebook. After 15 minutes of listing my positive things, he looked me in the eye and said,“You are fired from the lab.”
I had moved to Israel from my native India the year before, excited to experience a new culture and study for a Ph. D. At first things went well in my new lab. Then, 3 months before I was fired, I ran into some problems. I made a few mistakes in the lab that slowed my research, but I wasn't aware that my adviser noticed them, and he never spoke to me about any concerns. I’m still not sure why he fired me, but I guess it was because of those mistakes. He wasn't confident that I could complete my research in time as we'd planned.
The first few days after I was fired were especially difficult. I spent hours staring at my computer screen, unable to get anything done. One day all I could do was sit on a beach, crying. I tried to change his mind with promising results, but he stuck to his decision. I could not break the news to my family in India, as the fear of disappointing them overwhelmed （压垮）me. I soon got into a state of sadness and anxiety. Meanwhile, the date for me to leave the country was drawing near, as my visa required me to be registered as a student. I was lonely and without hope.
Around that time, I watched Dasvidaniya, a Bollywood movie that's about a man who has 3 months to live. One line from the movie stuck out to me :“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade（柠檬水）” .What kind of lemonade could I make out of my present situation? My desire to complete a Ph. D. was never in doubt. After much reflection, I told myself that one failed attempt was not the end of the world, and that I needed to give it another try. With renewed confidence, I emailed expected advisers and applied to other programs. Within 2 months, I landed an offer from a Ph. D. program in Italy. I accepted it and relocated to Europe, happy that my goal of completing a Ph. D. was alive once again.
I’m thankful that I didn't give up on my dream and that I found another professor willing to take me on.
1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The personality of the adviser. |
| B．The author's problems in study. |
| C．The possible reason for the author's being fired. |
| D．The author's difficulty in adapting to a new culture. |
| A．He applied for a new visa. |
| B．He got addicted to computer games. |
| C．He tried to change the adviser's mind. |
| D．He shared the news with his family in India. |
| A．Persuading the adviser to let him stay. |
| B．Being responsible for different programs. |
| C．Holding the belief to get a doctor's degree. |
| D．Getting accepted by another Ph. D. program. |
| A．Direction is more important than effort, |
| B．Turn to movies for comfort when in trouble. |
| C．A doctor’s degree is important for the future. |
| D．Difficulties in life can be turned into something positive. |
7 . The Broomstick (扫帚) Challenge, which appeared on social media on Monday, is based on incorrect science, according to NASA.
The challenge originated from a viral twitter, which claimed that NASA said Monday is the only day a broomstick could stand on its own because of the earth’s gravity (引力）.The twitter was accompanied by a video of a woman propping a broom up. As the woman watched the broom stand up on its own, she yelled, “No strings, nothing.”
Though there was no evidence that NASA ever suggested that gravity would be different on Monday, the twitter, which received more than 260,000 likes and was shared more than 60,000 times, gained hundreds of responses from people who wanted to participate in the “novelty”of watching a broom stand up by itself.
Yet NASA astronaut Alvin Drew and scientist Sarah Noble, who responded to the Broomstick Challenge on Twitter, say that the challenge can actually be conducted on any given day. The pair posted their own video of them standing up a broom on Tuesday, to show that even though the window for the challenge had passed, it was still actionable.
“Did you do the Broomstick Challenge yesterday?”Noble asked in the video.“Well, turns out you can do it again today.”
“It’s just physics,” Drew added.
The NASA Earth twitter account also weighed in saying “There’s no special gravity that only affects brooms, but the Moon’s gravity creates tides on Earth.”
The myth, which is partly based on an old wives’ tale that claims that every year on the
Vernal and autumnal equinoxes, eggs are able to balance on their ends, appears to have surfaced annually since at least 2012.
1. What can we infer from the text ?| A．The special gravity only has impact on brooms. |
| B．A broomstick could stand on its own on Monday. |
| C．The twitter received more than 260,000 responses. |
| D．The Broomstick Challenge gained much popularity. |
| A．Being surprising but dangerous. | B．Being new and interesting. |
| C．Being challenging and frightening. | D．Being clear and obvious. |
| A．Eggs can also stand on their ends. |
| B．Tides are created by the Moon’s gravity. |
| C．Physics can help us explain the phenomenon. |
| D．A broomstick could stand on its own on a specific day. |
| A．To appeal to more people to learn physics. |
| B．To introduce the process of Broomstick Challenge. |
| C．To persuade people to try broom standing experiment. |
| D．To explain the broom’s standing up on its own is not magic. |
8 . Do you still remember the scene in the famous movie Titanic, directed by Cameron, where Jack was frozen to death in the icy cold water so that Rose could survive on the floating door alone? It broke many people’s hearts. Two decades later, people are still asking the question, “wasn’t there enough room on the door for both of them?” Cameron once responded by saying it wasn’t a question of room, but buoyancy（浮力）— if both of them had tried to stay on the door, he argued, the whole thing would sink.
But several guys from “Mythbusters”, an Australian-American science entertainment television program, decided to put the theory to the test themselves. They discovered that if Rose had took off her life jacket to the bottom of the door, there would have been enough buoyancy to keep both of them afloat.
“It was an artistic choice, the thing was just big enough to hold her, and not big enough to hold him,” Cameron said. “I think it’s all kind of silly, really, that we’re having this discussion 20 years later. But it does show that the film was effective in making Jack so attractive to the audience that it hurts them to see him die. The film is about death and separation; he had to die.”
Since Jack was doomed to die, Cameron said, it could have happened in a variety of different ways. It’s not about the door not being big enough: that’s just a practical method for his death. “Whether it was that, or whether a chimney（烟囱）fell on him, he was going down,” Cameron said. “It’s called art: things happen for artistic reasons, not for physics reasons.”
1. According to Cameron, why can’t audience accept Jack’s death?| A．They are artistic people. | B．They like the movie. |
| C．They love Jack. | D．They are eager for truth. |
| A．Jack died by accident. | B．Jack’s death was unavoidable. |
| C．The chimney fell on Jack. | D．The door could make a difference. |
| A．Jack Had to Die | B．A Door of Life and Death |
| C．Audience Knew Better | D．Science Behind Movie |
| A．A popular magazine. | B．A movie poster. |
| C．A government report. | D．A notice board. |
9 . This morning, when 1 shaved in the mirror. I found my body was growing older. There was no doubt about it My
When 1 stepped back. I could see I had become
| A．hair | B．skin | C．eyes | D．hands |
| A．thick | B．beautiful | C．little | D．black |
| A．beard | B．crops | C．body | D．kids |
| A．smaller | B．stronger | C．healthier | D．fatter |
| A．made up | B．slowed down | C．left off | D．came round |
| A．relaxed | B．athletic | C．clean | D．weak |
| A．Listening | B．Speaking | C．Writing | D．Reading |
| A．book | B．note | C．mind | D．mouth |
| A．recognize | B．control | C．replace | D．forget |
| A．smiled | B．shouted | C．waved | D．appeared |
| A．low | B．lonely | C．young | D．bright |
| A．pleased | B．stressed | C．amazed | D．excited |
| A．extremely | B．hardly | C．impossibly | D．uncertainly |
| A．politer | B．lighter | C．heavier | D．prouder |
| A．come in | B．give in | C．break out | D．wear out |
10 . What will the future school look like is difficult to make clear, but most experts agree that the school will be electronic in the future .
" Present-day schools will no longer exist in the next century," says a report in The Age. "At that time, future schools will become community-style centers, which run seven days a week,24 hours a day. ” At the same time, computers will surely become a central part of the school in the future.
According to The Age, the distant learning will be popular and students will listen to teachers on computers. Going into classrooms on their computers, students will study at any time, which is very easy for them. However, it is necessary for students to go to the actual school in order to develop some social skills.
The Seashore Primary School is an imaginary school in the future created by the Education Department of Australia. At this school, all the teachers and students have laptop computers . Teachers check messages and call students back on a special telephone system and students use telephones to search for information or speak to their experts who teach their lessons. Besides, all the lessons are related to all sorts of subjects and all the students have their own learning plans created by teachers .
As one headmaster says, a laptop computer is students5 library, data storage （数据存储）as well as the bridge to a wider world. Technology has changed the emphasis of future learning. Thus, well pay more attention to the learning of kids rather than the teaching.
1. According to the report in The Age, students in future schools will _______.| A．have no teachers | B．study at a set time |
| C．mainly study online | D．never go to actual school |
| A．telephones are important in Australia |
| B．how future schools will work |
| C．every student needs a learning plan |
| D．students enjoy getting in touch with teachers |
| A．The Schools in the Future |
| B．Great Changes in Technology |
| C．The Seashore Primary School |
| D．Actual Schools to Be Replaced |
