1 . Piñatex is made from pineapple leaves that are left over after the fruit is harvested. It is an innovative way of using a product that would otherwise be thrown away, which reduces the amount of organic waste going to landfill and thus the methane emissions (沼气排放) that would result. Tough and durable, it is commonly used as an eco-friendly material for vegan leather by fashion designers.
Piñatex was developed by Dr. Carmen Hijosa, a Spanish leather goods expert who grew horrified at the environmental impact of leather production while working in the Philippines in the 1990s. Nor did she approve of the petroleum-based alternatives that are commonly used. At the same time, Hijosa noticed how some traditional Filipino garments（服装）were made from pineapple fibers, which kickstarted her research into how such a resource could be transformed into something more widely usable.
The fabric is made by extracting (提取) fibers from the pineapple leaves after harvest. They are washed and dried in the sun, then undergo a purification process that results in a soft fiber. This is mixed with corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) and turned into a non-woven product called “Piñafelt”, which is the base for Piñatex products.
Around 480 leaves from 16 pineapple plants go into the creation of a single square meter of Piñatex, which weighs and costs less than a comparable amount of leather. Because the fabric is natural, it is breathable, as well as flexible; it can easily be printed on and sewed. It’s produced in a roll, which means less waste than when an irregularly-shaped animal hide is used. But best of all, it can replace animal leather.
Piñatex is a multi-use material that is suitable for footwear, bags, clothing, pet leashes, and more. It has already been adopted by 1,000 shoe companies, fashion labels, and hotel chains around the world, including Hugo Boss, H&M, and the Hilton Hotel Bankside. The number of partnerships is likely to grow as more designers and consumers discover its benefits.
1. What can we infer about Dr. Carmen Hijosa?| A．She resists Spanish leather production. | B．She disapproves of any leather alternatives. |
| C．She is devoted to designing Piñatex garments. | D．She has got inspiration from a Filipino tradition. |
| A．Advantages of Piñatex. | B．Ways to treat Piñafelt. |
| C．Purification of Piñatex. | D．Process of making Piñafelt. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Promising. | C．Doubtful. | D．Negative. |
| A．Piñatex, From Rubbish to Treasure | B．Piñatex, New Use of Vegan Leather |
| C．Piñatex, New Hope of the Earth | D．Piñatex, Innovation to Rid Rubbish |
2 . My twin sister and I studied in the same school for ten years. The first day we entered the campus, we were
As we got older, I discovered the school wasn’t always where beauty was an everyday
I decided to do something to give the campus a new
We first painted the stone sculptures, refreshing the few remaining fairies. To bring
The tree by the school gate was dead and its bare branches were
Everything done, we smiled heartily looking around the fantastic “new” school.
1.| A．educated | B．struck | C．relaxed | D．disturbed |
| A．settled | B．visited | C．worked | D．chatted |
| A．routine | B．habit | C．expectation | D．purpose |
| A．removing | B．replacing | C．wrapping | D．painting |
| A．chance | B．look | C．background | D．culture |
| A．explore | B．publicize | C．beautify | D．protect |
| A．permission | B．reward | C．promise | D．concern |
| A．security | B．honesty | C．politeness | D．imagination |
| A．proudly | B．bravely | C．artfully | D．anxiously |
| A．turned in | B．cut off | C．picked out | D．given up |
| A．astonished | B．disappointed | C．annoyed | D．upset |
| A．flag | B．reminder | C．tool | D．start |
| A．Instead of | B．In hope of | C．In addition to | D．In spite of |
| A．windows | B．bells | C．handles | D．curtains |
| A．recorded | B．hid | C．cured | D．spotted |
3 . A psychologist at Stanford once did an experiment. He assigned preschool children to three groups. The first group watched adults play rudely with an inflatable clown (充气小丑) called Bobo; another watched adults play quietly with a different toy while ignoring Bobo; and the third had no exposure to these adult role models. Next, each of the children was left alone with Bobo.
The results of the study were striking. Only the children in the first group later kicked Bobo, hit it with a stick, and sat on it just as they watched the adults do.
The above study indicates kids may follow suit if they see what others do. That’s why role models matter. When kids are exposed to role models they can relate to, it helps them set ambitious goals. Don’t assume kids know they can be anything they want when they grow up.
Take myself for example. “Angela, do you think the US will elect a female president in your lifetime?” Years ago, this was the last question of the last interview for a scholarship I didn’t win. Without hesitation I shook my head saying “no”. As the interview ended, I sensed I’d given an answer the committee found disappointing. “Of course there will be a female president,” they wanted me to say with a confident smile. “And I hope I have your vote.”
Like most children, my first role models were in my family. My dad had a PhD in chemistry. My uncles and countless cousins were mostly doctors or scientists. So, if you’d asked me in, say, third grade, “Angela, could you become a college professor someday if you tried?” Without a bit of evidence that I’d be any good at such a career, I’d have nodded my head.
So it’s quite necessary that we should go out of our way to expose kids to role models, whether it’s an Olympic athlete or a CEO. Now that we have our first female vice-president, can the first female president be far behind?
1. Why did the children in the first group treated Bobo rudely?| A．They regarded it as a mere toy. |
| B．They meant to make fun of Bobo. |
| C．They were raised to behave badly. |
| D．They were set a negative example. |
| A．To raise her doubt. |
| B．To respond positively. |
| C．To interpret its meaning. |
| D．To change her reply quickly. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Doubtful. | C．Curious. | D．Hesitant. |
| A．My Role Models |
| B．Aim High and Act Early |
| C．How to Become American President |
| D．Role Models Help Shape Kids’ Future |
4 . Kenya has been at the forefront of the global war on plastic since 2017, when officials outlawed plastic bags. In 2020, the government raised the demand with a ban on single-use plastics. Unfortunately, tons of industrial and consumer plastic waste continue to get poured into landfills daily. However, if 29-year-old Nzambi Matee has her way, the unsightly plastic garbage mountain will soon be transformed into colorful bricks.
The materials engineer’s search for an effective solution to controlling plastic pollution began in 2017, when she set up a small lab in her backyard. It took her nine months to produce the first brick and even longer to convince a partner to help build the machinery to make them.
She says, “I wanted to use my education in applied physics and materials engineering to do something about plastic waste pollution. But I was very clear the solution had to be practical, sustainable and affordable. The best way to do this was by channeling the waste into the construction space and finding the most efficient and affordable material to build homes.”
Her company, Gjenge Makers, now hires 112 people and produces over 1,500 bricks a day, which are made using a mix of plastic products that can’t be reprocessed or recycled. The collected plastic is obtained directly from factories or picked by hired locals from landfills and mixed with sand, heated at very high temperatures, and compressed (压缩) into bricks that vary in color and thickness. The resulting product is stronger, lighter, and about 30 percent cheaper than traditional concrete (混凝土) bricks. Most importantly, it helps repurpose the lowest quality of plastic.
Matee, recognized as one of the Young Champions of the Earth 2020 — the United Nations’ highest environmental honor — is far from done. Her dream is to reduce rubbish by increasing production and expanding her offerings. She says, “The more we recycle plastic, the more we produce affordable housing…the more we create more employment for the youth.”
1. Which word best describes Kenyan government’s measures against plastic?| A．Temporary. | B．Effective. | C．Fruitless. | D．Unreliable. |
| A．She turns knowledge into actual products. |
| B．Her company’s funded by the government. |
| C．She produces brick-making machinery herself. |
| D．Her bricks are made from recyclable plastic waste. |
| A．Its low cost. | B．Its wide range of uses. |
| C．Its economic benefit. | D．Its environmental value. |
| A．Matee’s achievement. |
| B．Matee’s greater ambition. |
| C．Multiple challenges Matee faces. |
| D．Innovative solutions to plastic waste. |
5 . In what has become an annual tradition, the staff of National Public Radio bring you a mighty year-end guide of Books We Love. Here are a handful of the most interesting picks. We hope you enjoy the selections and take time to look through for a while!
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Michelle Zauner lays out the complexity and the ongoing sorrow of losing a parent in her 20s, just as her own life is about to start. Zauner writes about how she turned to Korean food to process her sadness when her mother, her only tie to Korean culture, died of cancer. The book reflects on how cooking and eating the food that her mom once prepared gives her a way to connect to her identity.
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado
Crystal Maldonado creates a much-needed believable character with teenage and adult readers. Charlie Vega is fat and wears glasses, with a diet-pushing mother and a beautiful, athletic best friend. When her classmate Brian pursues a romantic relationship, Charlie is bothered with self doubt. The book, which tells a well-observed story of fat teenage life, is developed by internal (内在的) and external (外在的) conflicts.
The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches (快讯) from a Skateboard Life by Kyle Beachy
The year 2021 was the year of skateboarding, which has been transformed into an Olympic sport. And many have picked up skateboards for the first time, so The Most Fun Thing couldn’t have come at a better time. Kyle Beachy, a longtime skater and writing professor, is devoted to exploring the meaning of skateboarding based on related essays of a decade.
The Secret History of Home Economics by Danielle Dreilinger
It’s generally thought that home economics is just a class taken at school, which is appropriately named Mrs Housekeeper. But in reading this book, you can discover that in the early 20th century, the field provided jobs for women in science, companies and governments. Danielle Dreilinger also makes the case that cooking and managing a budget are invaluable lessons for all children and should still be school courses.
1. What is Charlie Vega like?| A．Romantic. | B．Unconfident. | C．Smart. | D．Dishonest. |
| A．Michelle Zauner. | B．Crystal Maldonado. | C．Kyle Beachy. | D．Danielle Dreilinger. |
| A．They both involve the topic of cookery. |
| B．They both mention the bond with parents. |
| C．They both state how to survive economic hardship. |
| D．They both stress the necessity of ensuring women’s rights. |
6 . Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde’s latest project, GROW, involved installing (安装) thousands of blue, red and purple LED lights in a 2-hectare field of leek (韭菜) for both artistic and practical purposes. People driving by the town of Lelystad, in central Netherlands, at night, this time of year are treated to a fantastic sight—a 20,000 square meters field of leek glowing blue, red and purple. Thought up by Studio Roosegaarde, the unique artistic installation is designed both as an honor to Dutch farmers and as an inspiration for them to experiment with artificial light in outdoor farming. Daan Roosegaarde also wants GROW to send a hopeful light to people in these trying times, giving new meaning to the word “agriculture” as a living cultural artwork.
Nighttime ultraviolet (紫外线的) light has been used in glasshouse agriculture for a while now, especially in places where direct sunlight is scarce, but its use in outdoor fanning has so far been very limited. Ultraviolet light is known to help plants grow better, but Studio Roosegaarde is also testing a theory according to which certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light could reduce the need for pesticides by up to 50%.
“So we started to scan the plants with these wavelengths of light and then suddenly it started to dance, the light,” Daan Roosegaarde said. “You had these huge fields of fireflies, as if they were, and we were testing it and the magic started kicking in, so I think that’s when the worlds of science, art and design meet and enhance each other.” Solar-powered LEDs give ultraviolet light onto the leek plants, thus adding the effect of natural sunlight after sunset, and creating a wonderful sight at the same time.
GROW is currently only visible near Lelystad, but Roosegaarde plans to take the visually-impressive installation on the road to over 40 countries. Each country will have its own local or national crop and its own unique light recipe. Over the years, Studio Roosegaarde has created a number of fascinating installations, like the glow-in-the-dark bicycle path powered directly by the sun.
1. What does GROW probably refer to?| A．A project creating artworks. | B．A project installing LED lights. |
| C．A project producing pesticides. | D．A project building glasshouses. |
| A．Sufficient. | B．Enough. |
| C．Steady. | D．Lacking. |
| A．What artistic effects were caused by the project |
| B．Why the project GROW was conducted. |
| C．How Roosegaarde’s design idea came up. |
| D．How Roosegaarde’s theory was tested. |
| A．It is promising. | B．It is pressing. |
| C．It is challenging. | D．It is demanding. |
7 . Christmas 2020 was shaping up to be a heartbreaker for Melanie Lee. A few weeks earlier, her 33-year-old son had lost his battle with a long illness. Then the engine of her car conked down. She had no means of paying for it to be fixed.
“When it broke down, I broke down,” Lee told CNN. “Now I don’t have my baby, now I don’t have transportation. How am I supposed to stay active in my grandchildren’s lives?”
Middleton, 38, the owner of a barbecue restaurant and former auto mechanic who, in his free time, repairs and gives away used cars. He’d heard about Lee’s predicament from Frank, the mayor of South Carolina. On Christmas morning, Middleton showed up at Lee’s home with a gift: a white 1993 Oldsmobile.
“I had no idea what was going on,” said Lee. “He handed me the keys and didn’t ask for anything.” Once again, she’s able to pick up her granddaughters from school and take them to dance class. “I got my freedom back. ”
The idea for the used-car giveaway came to Middleton a year earlier during a food drive he’d organized. Many of those who’d lined up for a meal walked up to four miles to get there because they didn’t have cars.
Cars are a lifeline in this part of South Carolina, Middleton told CBS. “There’s no public transportation, no Ubers, no taxis to take people to job interviews, doctor appointments, even food shopping. ”So he posted on Facebook an offer to trade his restaurant’s barbecued ribs for broken-down vehicles. Since then, friends and strangers have dropped off more than 100 cars in various states of disrepair. Many sit in Middleton’s yard waiting to be repaired and donated, usually to those he’s heard about through word of mouth. It’s a list of names that grows daily.
“People think Middleton is an angel,” Mayor Frank told the Washington Post. “And I do too.”
1. Why was Christmas 2020 a heartbreaker for Melanie Lee?| A．Her car was stolen. |
| B．She was in financial trouble. |
| C．Her son was beaten in a battle. |
| D．She lost one of her families. |
| A．Adventure. | B．Difficulty. | C．Failure. | D．Hesitation. |
| A．He saw many people lining up for meals. |
| B．He learnt about the huge profit of his restaurant. |
| C．He noticed the inconvenience of the people with no cars. |
| D．He witnessed many abandoned cars around his restaurant. |
| A．An angel ready to help those in need. |
| B．A mechanic repairing cars for neighbors. |
| C．A kind-hearted chef offering food for free. |
| D．An official calling on environment protection. |
8 . Under the background of the slow growth of its total population to 1.44 billion, China has seen a sharp rise in older adults over the past decade, solidifying the country’s rapidly aging pattern, the latest national census (人口普查) data shows. The population on the Chinese mainland increased by an average of 0.53 percent annually during the past 10 years to 1.41 billion, compared with an annual growth rate of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the 7th national census published by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The growth of the total population has slowed down but remains at a steady pace,” Ning Jizhe, head of the bureau, said at a news conference. “Based on trends in recent years, China’s population will grow at an increasingly slow rate in the future while remaining above 1.4 billion.” The increasing elderly population has become a defining feature of the past decade.
Ning said an aging society will set the tone for China's population structure for a long time, presenting challenges and opportunities. “A graying population will pile pressure on supply of labor force and social services, as well as adding to families’ elderly care burden. But more elderly people could also motivate consumption of products and services targeting this age group, and advance the development of some technologies,” he said.
Ning added that those between the ages of 60 and 69, who are equipped with knowledge, experience and skills and are generally in good health, make up nearly 56 percent of all older adults. “Their potential to continue making contributions to society and playing a constructive role is big,” he responded to a question on the outlook for raising the retirement age and carrying out other potential measures aimed at addressing the aging trend. Some population economists also said the latest number and proportion (比例) of elderly are largely within predictions, and the aging trend will continue for a long time.
1. What does the 7th national census data show?| A．The aging population of China has risen rapidly. |
| B．The annual growth rate has increased by 0.04%. |
| C．The annual growth rate was 0.57% during the past 10 years. |
| D．The total population of Chinese mainland increased to 1.44 billion. |
| A．It is beyond predictions. | B．It brings few advantages. |
| C．It has sharply slowed down. | D．It will increase pressure on family. |
| A．Objective. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Negative. |
| A．The aging trend brings problems |
| B．An aging society presents opportunities |
| C．China’s population gets old as growth slows |
| D．Measures are to be taken to tackle the aging trend |
9 . Some high school students think it useless to receive higher education. Therefore, they choose not to go to college. If you're one of them, think again. Here are some reasons why you should go to college and receive a good education there.
Schools and universities are the first places to get knowledge. We take that knowledge later on to build our careers after graduation. More knowledge will be gained after you start working, but without education, that job will not be within easy reach. Knowledge leads to knowledge.
While limited within the walls of the educational places, we openly explore other cultures of the world! We come to know that ours is not the only culture. Other cultures have valuable things to share, enriching our own. Education also makes us want to travel and exchange with various cultures, getting more experience.
When there's a recession in the economy（经济）, those who attended college will be more likely to find a new job than those who only finished high school and have a limited skills set. The more education you have, the more chances you will get to improve the quality of your life as you have a better job and earn a higher salary.
When you're skillful and knowledgeable, you gain access to people of similar backgrounds and tastes. It means a good education leads to excellent networking. Good networking can benefit you a lot in your later life.
A good education makes you a more interesting person. You can talk about ideas and events instead of just other people and what's on sale in stores. An educated person doesn't gossip（说闲话）, having a preference to discuss ideas and listen to what other people have to say.
1. What can we learn about college education from Paragraph 2?| A．It offers you a chance to study abroad. | B．It can allow you to gain more knowledge. |
| C．It can improve the quality of your daily life. | D．It encourages you to travel around the world. |
| A．change. | B．drop. | C．growth. | D．support. |
| A．You can gossip about others’ affairs. | B．You are likely to study well at school. |
| C．You can work well with your coworkers. | D．You get to know excellent people with similar interests. |
| A．The benefits of attending college. | B．The exchange with other cultures. |
| C．The access to good networking. | D．The ways of college education. |
10 . Archaeologists(考古学家) have recently identified the oldest known human burial in Africa during field work, which uncovered the remains of a child laid carefully to rest in a grave(墓穴) nearly 80,000 years ago.
Researchers discovered the delicate and degraded bones while excavating(挖掘) the floor at the mouth of the Panga ya Saidi cave in the tropical uplands of Kenya's coastal plain about 10 miles from the shore. The team unearthed the edge of the grave and the first pieces of bone in 2013, but the bones were so fragile that they turned to dust when the scientists tried to remove them. Over the next four years, the researchers excavated the grave from above, discovering yet more bones, but even after applying some special material, it was still too weak to recover.
The researchers decided to dig around the circular pit, roughly 40cm wide and 13cm deep, and encase the whole grave in plaster(石 膏) so it could safely be lifted from the ground. The block was taken to the National Museum in Nairobi and on to a specialist lab in Spain where the material was excavated further and then imaged with 3D X-ray equipment. The images show that the child was laid on their right side with knees tied towards the chest. The bones had not fallen apart in the grave, leading the researchers to suspect the body was wrapped tightly before burial. Dating found the bones to be about 78,000 years old, according to the study published in Nature.
Archaeologists have also found age-old human burial sites outside Africa. Human remains recovered from burials in the Skhul cave on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Israel and Qafzeh cave near Nazareth are between 90,000 and 130,000 years old.
1. What do we know about the human burial?| A．The child in the grave was casually laid. |
| B．The bones were easily taken from the grave. |
| C．Some special material was found in the grave. |
| D．It was confirmed to have the longest history in Africa. |
| A．remove. | B．take. |
| C．wrap. | D．decorate. |
| A．To have further study. | B．To use 3D-X-ray equipment. |
| C．To preserve the burial sites. | D．To measure the bones. |
| A．A technology report. | B．A recipe book. |
| C．A science magazine. | D．An economics paper. |
