2 . Bria Neff, at age 11, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was named a winner of the 2018 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Each year, the Barron Prize celebrates 25 outstanding young people from across North America who have made a huge positive difference to people and the environment.

Bria founded “Faces of the Endangered” to protect endangered species through the sale of her artwork. She has sold over 250 paintings of endangered animals and given away more than $33,000 to animal conservation (保护) groups. Bria has also published two educational coloring books; income helps support the zoo’s endangered species. She uses her website to present the challenges facing endangered animals, inspiring followers in 48 countries.

Bria began her work at the age of 8, when she won an art competition hosted by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. She was shocked to learn that there are over 3,000 endangered species and decided to combine her enthusiasm for painting with her love of animals to show species in danger of extinction (灭绝). She carefully researches each animal before painting it. “I hope I can inspire kids like me to believe they can do great things,” says Bria.

The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T. A. Barron and was named after his mother, Gloria Barron. Each year 25 Barron Prize winners show the great diversity of America. They are female and male, and from various backgrounds Many of them have focused on helping their communities and humans many others have focused on protecting the environment. “We need our heroes today more than ever. That is the purpose of the Barron Prize:to shine a spotlight (聚光灯) on these amazing young people so that their stories will inspire others,” says Barron.

1. Which of the following best describes Bria Neff?

A．Inspiring and responsible.	B．Honest and reliable.
C．Brave and hard-working.	D．Smart and patient.

2. Why did Bria Neff publish two coloring books?

A．To show her gift for painting.	B．To help endangered animals.
C．To honor extinct species.	D．To make herself a hero.

3. What can be learned about the Barron Prize?

A．It is intended for all Americans.

B．It is named after a famous writer.

C．It concentrates on the education for young kids.

D．It encourages the young to make a difference to the world.

4. Where is this passage most likely from?

A．A research paper.	B．A public speech.
C．A news report.	D．A history book.

6 . One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from Tanzania, seemed a bit sad, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home, who was, really________with her university studies. It was beginning to look like financial difficulties, which would make it________for her to complete her course.

So this friend of mine had done something________: she had sent all her pocket money for the month to Tanzania to________her friend! This meant that she didn’t have much food to eat, no money to go________outside the village, no money to buy any clothes, and so on.

I was so________that she did this for her friend and I felt I had to do something. So,________ my next trip to one of the nearby towns I walked into the fair trade shop to buy some food. I didn’t have much money________myself but I thought I’d buy her an extra box of the muesli we both liked and some rice. I started talking to the woman________in the shop, who was also a volunteer and________told her about my friend.

The woman looked at me,________ “Does she eat pasta? she asked. “Yes,” I replied. She immediately started________a bag with pasta, cookies, more muesli, sweets and other things until the bag was full. “Give her this for me. It’ s my________!” I couldn’t believe it but cried with________.

I left the shop to go home with my________bag of food, I asked the woman her name. “Just Gloria! God________both of you!” she said.

Imagine my friend’s face when I________the gifts on my kitchen table. I have never seen her so happy! A few weeks later, she found Gloria in the shop and thanked her________. These two________women really showed me what true kindness and compassion is, and the________will stay with me for the rest of my life!

1.

A．taking

B．travelling

C．reflecting

D．struggling

2.

A．necessary

B．responsible

C．impossible

D．possible

3.

A．ridiculous

B．unbelievable

C．reliable

D．similar

4.

A．depend

B．support

C．search

D．supply

5.

A．anywhere

B．nowhere

C．wherever

D．whichever

6.

A．depressed

B．blessed

C．touched

D．astonished

7.

A．within

B．without

C．beyond

D．during

8.

A．left

B．felt

C．dealt

D．meant

9.

A．waiting

B．cleaning

C．working

D．passing

10.

A．eventually

B．casually

C．occasionally

D．frequently

11.

A．delighted

B．amazed

C．exhausted

D．determined

12.

A．dealing

B．filled

C．loading

D．released

13.

A．idea

B．treat

C．deal

D．trade

14.

A．regret

B．happiness

C．sympathy

D．sorrow

15.

A．unexpected

B．unloaded

C．unknown

D．unmoved

16.

A．swear

B．bless

C．hope

D．desire

17.

A．ignored

B．deserted

C．deserved

D．arranged

18.

A．in practice

B．in vain

C．in person

D．in general

19.

A．simple

B．selfish

C．complicated

D．remarkable

20.

A．impression

B．atmosphere

C．attitude

D．gratitude

7 . Erin Alexander was having a hard day. A waitress working at Starbucks was too. Erin ordered an iced green tea and told the waitress to cheer up. After picking up the order, she noticed a message on the cup: “Erin, your soul is golden.” Erin Alexander recalled the incident, “Of course, I was still really sad, but that little thing made the rest of my day.”

New findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in August, prove just how powerful experiences like Erin’s can be. Researchers found that people who perform a random act of kindness tend to underestimate how much the recipient will appreciate it. And they believe that miscalculation could hold many of us back from doing nice things for others more often.

A recent experiment recruited 84 participants at an ice skating rink in Chicago, where they were given a hot chocolate and asked to keep it or give it to a stranger as an act of kindness. The 75 participants who gave away their hot chocolate were asked to predict how the recipient would feel on a scale from 0 (very small) to 10 (very large), and the recipients were then asked to report their actual feelings on the same scales.

In that experiment, the people doing the kind thing consistently underestimated the appreciation they received, according to Amit Kumar, a psychology professor at the University of Texas. “People tend to think that what they are giving is kind of little, maybe it’s relatively inconsequential,” Dr. Kumar said. “But recipients are less likely to think along those lines. They consider the gesture to be significantly more meaningful because they are also thinking about the fact that someone did something nice for them.” Dr. Kumar continued, “With an experiment like this, I hope it will inspire more people to actually commit random acts of kindness.”

1. What’s the function of Para.1?

A．To present a fact.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To describe a scene.	D．To explain an opinion.

2. What can we learn about the experiment?

A．All participants gave away their hot chocolate.

B．Recipients received kind gestures from their friends.

C．Recipients showed more appreciation than givers thought.

D．Participants reported their feelings on a scale from 0 to 10.

3. What does the underlined word “inconsequential” in Para.4 mean?

A．Insignificant.	B．Essential.
C．Beneficial.	D．Unbelievable.

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

A．The Power of Small Acts of Kindness.	B．The Magic of Receivers’ Appreciation.
C．The Importance of Appreciating Kindness.	D．The Impact of a Simple Message on a Cup.

9 . We smile because we are happy, and we frown because we are sad. Recent studies suggest that our emotions are driven by their related facial expressions.

This February psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is lessened by botox injections (肉毒杆菌注射) are happier, on average, than people who can frown. The researchers administered an anxiety and depression questionnaire to 25 females, half of whom had received botox injections to stop frowning. The botox injected people reported feeling happier and less anxious in general.

In a related study from March, scientists at the Technical University of Munich found that the botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits (回路) involved in emotional processing and responses — in the amygdala, hypothalamus and other parts of the brain — as compared with controls who had not received treatment.

The concept works the opposite way, too. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain. Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure. Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups.

No one yet knows why our facial expressions influence our emotions as they seem to. The associations in our mind between how we feel and how we react may be so strong that our expressions simply end up strengthen our emotions — there may be no evolutionary reason for the connection.

1. What can we know about the result of the study from Paragraph 2?

A．The ability to frown should be stopped by injection.

B．Less frowns make people happier.

C．Women love to frown and feel sad.

D．Half women have no ability to feel happy.

2. What did scientists do in the related studies?

A．They asked the participants to frown or smile.

B．They copied the expressions of the participants.

C．They asked the participants to stay negative.

D．They exposed the participants to heat.

3. What does the underlined word “neutral” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Humorous.

B．Ambitious.

C．Caring.

D．Calm.

4. What does the passage talk about?

A．Facial expressions influence our emotions.

B．Facial expressions are driven by emotions.

C．Why people feel happy and frown.

D．Botox injection is useful and meaningful.

10 . A world in which extinct creatures could be brought back to life came a step closer yesterday. Australian scientists have managed to extract a gene from a preserved sample of a Tasmanian tiger and make it active. The breakthrough has left them dreaming that one day they will be able to recreate the animal, which died out more than 70 years ago. And if it can be done with the Tasmanian tiger, it may also be possible to resurrect(复活) creatures that have been extinct for far longer.

“There used to be a time when extinction meant forever, but no more,” said Professor Mike Archer. “We are now able to seriously challenge whether those animals that have gone have gone for ever. What has been achieved is a very important step in bringing back those animals that are extinct. And while I think that technically it is still pretty difficult at the moment, we can now see the possibilities. I’m personally convinced that the Tasmanian tiger will be brought back to life in my lifetime.”

The breakthrough came after nine years of experiments by scientists at the University of Melbourne, who extracted a gene from one of several tigers preserved in alcohol in a Melbourne museum. They removed the equivalent gene from a mouse embryo (胚胎), implanted the tiger gene and then watched as the mouse continued to grow normally, suggesting the tiger gene had been activated.

Team leader Dr. Andrew Pask said it was the first time DNA from an extinct species had been used to” induce (引起) a functional response in another living organism”.

However, the animal’s entire gene structure would have to be revived in the same way to even begin the possibility of bringing the Tasmanian tiger back from the dead. Mick Mooney, a wildlife officer of the Tasmanian Government, was worried that such developments could encourage people’s indifference to the protection of endangered species.

“If people think that we can bring animals back to life after they’ve gone, they will start saying that there is nothing to worry about because we can fix it up later.”

1. What does the underlined word “breakthrough” in the first paragraph refer to?

A．A tiger gene has been extracted successfully and activated.

B．Scientists have recreated new animals.

C．Scientists have resurrected endangered animal.

D．It has turned out that some creatures would not go extinct.

2. Scientists are carrying out the experiments in order to __________.

A．transplant the genes of tigers into other animals

B．find out what factors lead to the animals’ extinction

C．find a new way to extract animals’ DNA

D．bring extinct animals back to life

3. Mike Archer thinks that __________.

A．scientists now have no technological difficulty reconnecting extinct animals

B．it’ll be a century or so before a Tasmanian tiger walks on the earth again

C．reconnecting extinct animals is impossible

D．humans have come closer in reconnecting extinct animals

4. We can learn from Mick Mooney’s words that __________.

A．he thought it unnecessary to worry about endangered animals

B．he is concerned that bringing extinct animals back to life may have a negative effect

C．his opinion is in contrast with that of the Tasmanian Government

D．he thought people should be encouraged to protect endangered animals