1 . Ashtyn Perry, with other 35 students from Springville, was planting baby sequoias in an area where a wildfire happened last year. The 13-year-old girl has a higher purpose: to plant baby sequoias that could grow into giants and live for thousands of years!
Last year, a wildfire broke out in the California mountain community of Sequoia Crest and destroyed dozens of its signature giant trees. To save the trees, a lot of measures have been taken, including replanting baby sequoias. The efforts are part of a project led by the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit, to plant offspring from some of the largest and oldest trees. Their purpose is to archive the genetics of ancient trees, breed them and replant them.
Sequoias have massive trunks and can grow 90 meters tall. They grow naturally only in a 260-mile (420 kilometers) belt of forest in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The giant sequoia is the world's largest, and one of the best fire-resistant trees. Thick bark protects its trunk, and its canopy (树冠) is so high that it is out of reach of flames.
In recorded history, large sequoias had never damaged by fires before 2015. Destruction of the majestic trees hit unprecedented levels last year, when approximately 10% to 14% of the estimated 75, 000 trees larger than 4 feet (1.2 meters) in diameter burned, and thousands more were potentially lost this year.
An initial assessment was recently released last week, saying that climate change and a century of policies that emphasize extinguishing wildland fires are to blame for the fire. In fact, letting some burn can reduce the buildup of undergrowth around the trees and prevent bigger future fires. Hotter droughts have led to more intense fires that have burned through fuels accumulated through fire suppression.
To protect the trees, many measures are being taken, including replanting 150 of the 7-year-old seedlings. Ashtyn said she'd like to return once a year to see how they're growing, and she hopes they become giants.
1. What did Ashtyn and her friends do to save sequoias?| A．Planting young trees. | B．Protecting the old trees. |
| C．Preventing the wildfire. | D．Transforming their genes. |
| A．It's the oldest tree globally. | B．It's easily destroyed by fire. |
| C．Its canopy is fire-resisted. | D．It's unique to California. |
| A．To call for immediate action. | B．To prove the fires were severe. |
| C．To warn the trees are dying out. | D．To show the loss is huge. |
| A．Locals are responsible for the fires. | B．Wildfires are not necessarily bad. |
| C．Dry weather causes bigger fires. | D．Preventing wildfires is a solution. |
2 . Courage takes many forms and, consequently, can be difficult to define. But it would be impossible to describe Xia Boyu's heroic acts without using that word.
On May 14, 2018, he reached the world's highest summit from the south side in Nepal, at an age when most people are taking life easy. He blinked on the summit, wondering whether it really happened or if it was just a dream. He then realized that his years of effort had paid off, and he instantly called his wife with the news, bursting into tears.
That could be considered an achievement in itself, but this was his fifth attempt. About four decades, he lost his lower legs to frostbite trying to conquer the 8,848.86-meter-high peak on his first attempt. He is the first Chinese climber without legs to conquer the mountain. He reached the summit at the age of 69.
"When I finally made it to the peak, I was not as excited as I imagined. I was absolutely knackered, both cold and lacking oxygen, sitting in the snow. I was too tired to speak or move," Xia says with an lovely touch of modesty.
As well as the physical challenge of any attempt on the summit, there are also financial considerations. It costs about 500,000 yuan to climb Qomolangma. When he resolved to challenge the summit again in 2008, he sold his apartment in Beijing to cover the expenses.
He is grateful for the unconditional support from his wife and son, "My wife always understood my dream. All these years, I've devoted myself to my dream and had less time to deal with family affairs." Xia says.
His wife, Ma Yi, says in an interview: "His thought process is a simple one, and he has a preoccupation (执着) with climbing. He's doing his best to fulfill an ideal. How could I prevent him from doing it?"
1. How did Xia Boyu feel as he finally reached the summit?| A．Shocked. | B．Relieved. | C．Curious. | D．Incredible. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Exhausted. | C．Depressed. | D．Frightened. |
| A．His physical disabilities. | B．His financial conditions. |
| C．His family's support. | D．His climbing experience |
| A．A Couple in Love | B．The Height of Courage |
| C．The Unconquerable Summit | D．An Adventure to Qomolangma |
3 . The Garden Kitchen Lab (GKL) is a hands-on, cross-cultural educational program that combines a garden, a kitchen and a media lab to teach kids about urban gardening cooking arts and STEAM disciplines. Since launching at NYC Parks in 2014, the Garden Kitchen Labs program has served over 600 children across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Garden Kitchen Labs currently operates six gardens across NYC.
Curriculum
The Garden Kitchen Labs curriculum focuses on four key areas of knowledge:
*Gardening: Developing an interest in and knowledge about plant care, including harvest schedules and fertilizers.
* Cooking and Eating: Understanding that food comes from real plants, not just the grocery store. Tasting new plant-based foods and developing enthusiasm for cooking.
*Science: Learning to use scientific instruments and building scientific observation skills, and developing knowledge about biology, chemistry, and plant nutrition.
* Digital Media: Learning to take photographs with a point-and-shoot camera and to create media (photos and videos) with a digital microscope. Highlights include making stop-motion videos, using tripods and lighting, and using cloud-based tools.
Schedule
Garden Kitchen Labs is an after-school program that operates during three seasons each year.
Spring Observations: April to June
* Summer Wellness: July to August
* Autumn Transformation: October to December
How to join
Our garden kitchen labs are perfect for kids aged 8 to 13. Currently, Garden Kitchen Lab programs are available at select recreation centers across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.
Registration takes place on a rolling basis, starting two weeks before the beginning of each session. To join the Garden Kitchen Lab programs, please visit the Garden Kitchen Lab website for the Registration form to register.
1. What can you do in the GKL program?| A．Harvest crops in a farm. | B．Make digital media. |
| C．Visit the grocery store. | D．Create scientific tools. |
| A．Parents with kids. | B．Gardening experts. |
| C．Agricultural scientists. | D．Science Teachers. |
| A．18th, March. | B．10th, May. |
| C．17th, June. | D．14th, July. |
4 . 3D printing is becoming more and more popular. We are now able to create things we need very quickly and easily using 3D printers. But can you imagine printing food?
Some scientists are trying to revolutionize the dining experience by doing this. They hope that having a 3D printer in the kitchen will be as common as the microwave oven or blender.
Scientists say that it’ll be quite easy: you simply have to select a recipe and put the raw food “inks” into the printer. You can also modify the instructions to make the food exactly how you want it. This means that it would be very quick and easy to create tasty and nutritious meals.
Using 3D printers to create your meals would also be saving the environment. There would be less need for traditional growing, transporting and packaging processes as food production would be a lot more efficient. For example, alternative ingredients(原料) such as proteins from algae, beetroot leaves and insects could be converted into tasty products.
Printing food could also help people who suffer from dysphasia (a swallowing disorder). They could program the printer to print softer versions of their favorite foods so that they would not have trouble in swallowing them.
However, some people think that a future of 3D food printing would be a disaster. It could take away many jobs, including those from growing, transporting and packaging food. Imagine a world where there was no need for farming or growing crops and the same tastes could be printed from a raw “food ink”. Likewise, traditional cafes and restaurants might lose business. Also, there are concerns about the nutritional value of printed food: is it really possible to be get the nutrients we need from food-based inks and gels(凝胶)?
What’s more, cooking and eating together with family and friends has long been a traditional and enjoyable activity. It is hard to imagine a world where the pleasure of cooking is dead and meals can be created at the touch of a button.
1. Which of the following best describes 3D food printing?| A．Quick and popular. | B．Easy and efficient. |
| C．Nutritious and tasty. | D．Soft and convenient. |
| A．Traditional food would disappear. |
| B．Many people could lose their jobs. |
| C．It would affect the people’s health. |
| D．We could all eat the same food. |
| A．3D food printing will replace traditional cooking. |
| B．3D printing food can treat dysphasia. |
| C．It would hurt our tradition of food culture. |
| D．3D food printing would be a failure. |
| A．3D food “printing”: coming to the kitchen. |
| B．Can 3D printing create everything? |
| C．3D printing food will be in fashion! |
| D．The disadvantage of 3D food printing. |
5 . Last summer, I spent four months working in France, where the company I was working for put me up in a house that didn’t have Wi - Fi. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
I soon discovered, however, that living in a house without Wi - Fi was easier than I expected.
Contact between my friends and family was significantly reduced to the odd text message here and there. I couldn’t enjoy my usual web browsing on BBC iPlayer, social media sites, keeping up to date with the news, or even wanting to know the opening hours of shops in the new area I was in.
I didn’t, however, spend a full four months without connecting to a Wi - Fi network. It was only a five minute walk to the reception where I could connect for free and spend as much time online as I wanted to at my own leisure. It made me think, though, how unnecessary it can be, how unnecessarily we rely on it - how we perhaps rely on it too much. As a person, I was more sociable. I spent more time with my housemates instead of hiding behind a computer screen. I did other things that I wouldn’t necessarily have done if I could have browsed the web at my leisure. I read more, I cooked meals for my friends, and I even tidied up more often. Dare I say it; I learned how to live without Wi - Fi. Dare I say it; I found it was easier than I had imagined.
1. What was the writer’s first feeling when finding her house had no Wi - Fi?| A．Unexpected. | B．Angry. | C．Shocked. | D．Hopeful. |
| A．By writing regularly. | B．By text message. | C．By video calls. | D．By telegram. |
| A．Boring. | B．Lonely. | C．Active. | D．Relaxing. |
| A．A life without Wi – Fi | B．Different views on the Internet |
| C．The disadvantages of Wi – Fi | D．How to use the Internet properly |
6 . Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
The "World Wonder" and "Fairy Land on Earth" are names enjoyed by the Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area, which is famous for its colorful lakes, snow-capped mountains and valleys. It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992.
Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area includes the Huanglong Valley, Mounigou Valley and so on. The major scenery is concentrated in the 3.6-kilometer long Huanglong Valley that includes snow-clad mountains and the easternmost glaciers in China. The Mounigou Valley includes Erdao Lake and Zhaga Waterfall which is the biggest calcified waterfall in China.
Attention
The average temperature is around 7°C all the year round. It is misty in the morning and evening and rainy from May to August.
How to get there
Chengdu to Huanglong
Take a bus from Chengdu Chadianzi Bus Station to Songpan county, and the buses depart at 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 and 13:00. The bus fare is 109 yuan. After arrival. take a bus to Huanglong at 6:00, 7:00 or 14:00, and the bus fare is 25-29 yuan.
Jiuzhaigou to Huanglong
Visitors can hire a private car and the fare is around 400 yuan for a round trip.
Other information
Entrance Fee: 80—190 yuan
Huanglong Cable Car Ticket: 40—80 yuan
Opening Hours: 8:00—18:00
Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 day
1. What should visitors bring to have fun in Huanglong?| A．Enough water. | B．Delicious food. | C．Warm clothes. | D．Big shoes. |
| A．By plane. | B．By car. | C．By train. | D．On foot. |
| A．To compare different areas. | B．To make suggestions about trips. |
| C．To show a kind of local culture. | D．To introduce a tourist attraction. |
7 . When asked to point out one or two things that are most important to themselves, many put friends ahead of homes, jobs, clothes and cars.
A true friendship carries a long history of experience that determines(确定)who we are and keeps us connected. It is a treasure we should protect. Unfortunately, the better friends you are, the more probably you'll have disagreements. And the result can be what you don't want—an end to the relationship.
The good news is that most troubled friendships can be mended. First, don't let your pride get in your way. Most of us can forgive each other when differences are brought out in the open. Second, apologize when you're wrong—even if you've been wronged. Over the course of a friendship, even the best people make mistakes. Sometimes, it may be best if the wronged person takes the lead and apologizes. When you apologize, give your friend a chance to admit that he has been wrong. Third, see things from your friend's point of view(观点). And finally, accept that friendships change as our needs and lifestyles change. Making friends can sometimes seem easy. The hard part is keeping the connections strong during the natural ups and downs that have an effect on all relationships. My suggestion: Consider the friendship an honor and a gift, and worth the effort to treasure and nurture(培养).
1. What would be the best title for the text?| A．Easy Ways to Make Friends |
| B．Ups and Downs in Friendship |
| C．How to Mend a Troubled Friendship |
| D．How to Take the Lead in Making Friends |
| A．who has been mistaken for another |
| B．who has been blamed unfairly |
| C．who has treated friends badly |
| D．who has admitted his mistakes |
| A．we have much in common |
| B．we know our friends' mistakes |
| C．we treat our disagreements wisely |
| D．we have known one another for long |
| A．Stick to our own point of view. | B．Avoid making mistakes. |
| C．Make an apology first. | D．Change our lifestyles. |
8 . 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. |
9 . When I first arrived in Terrassa, Spain, I was excited and nervous to start a new adventure in a country I love. The first few days seem so long ago now, trying to find a place to live, organising my timetable with the schools, meeting new people.
After a couple of weeks, the excitement started to fade, however, and homesickness started to set in. It wasn’t a powerful homesickness but enough to make me spend more than a few nights thinking about family and friends back home, wondering if I should be there with them.
All that started to change after meeting some new friends and spending good time with them, practising languages, eating together and seeing new places as a group. I suppose we should never forget how important it is to have good friends in your life, because they can make such a difference.
Coming back to Terrassa after visiting home for Christmas felt like returning to a second home, to a place that was mine with people I cared about. Things got even busier and more people came into my life; new friends, romance and a whole lot of good food flowed by in what seems to have been weeks, not months.
Now, looking forward, there are some decisions to make. Should I return home to Scotland and move on with life there or try to extend my time here, perhaps make it something permanent? To travel and visit other places is one of the most fulfilling things you can do in life. Experiencing other cultures, learning about the world, it’s such an important thing to do if you have the means.
My advice from my experience so far is to travel and try new things whenever you get the opportunity. You may find somewhere you were always supposed to be.
1. For what purpose did the writer go to Terrassa?| A．To settle there. | B．To study there. |
| C．To have a holiday. | D．To visit friends. |
| A．die away | B．increase |
| C．deepen | D．set off |
| A．Making new friends. | B．Learning a language. |
| C．Experiencing a new culture. | D．Going back home during Christmas. |
| A．To leave Terrassa. | B．To travel and learn. |
| C．To extend his stay there. | D．To go back to Scotland. |
10 . An old English saying goes, “Laughter is the best medicine.” One person who certainly would have agreed with that is Norman Cousins.
Norman Cousins was the editor of a magazine called Saturday Review for almost forty years. He also wrote and spoke about world peace and anti-nuclear and anti-war issues. And he traveled to many different countries to share his ideas.
In the 1960s, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to Europe, Mr. Cousins got sick. He discovered that he had a rare disease, known as ankylosing spondylitis, which caused the joint between his bones to stiff. In less than a week after he got sick, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr. Cousins that they did not know how to cure his illness and that he might never get over it. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to stop hope.
Mr. Cousins thought that illness could be caused by unhappy thoughts. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness. So he began to experiment on himself while still in that hospital by watching comedy shows on TV. Quickly Mr. Cousins found that ten minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of pain-free sleep at night.
Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching comedy show on TV, reading amusing books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well enough to take a holiday to Puerto Rico where he began running on the beach for exercise.
After a few months, Mr. Cousins was able to carry on his work. He had laughed himself back to good health.
1. Why did Mr. Cousins travel over the world before he got sick?| A．To promote laughter therapy. | B．To have sightseeing. |
| C．To share his ideas on peace. | D．To advertise his magazine. |
| A．Easily treatable. | B．Deadly. | C．Not serious. | D．Incurable. |
| A．Resting in bed. | B．Taking medicine. |
| C．Doing physical exercise. | D．Watching comedy shows. |
| A．Never lose hopes. | B．Good health is priceless. |
| C．Laughter is a magic cure. | D．Never follow doctors' instructions. |
