1 . It has long been believed that the smart phones in our pockets are actually making us dumb (迟钝的). Now there is evidence for it.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin discovered that people are worse at completing tasks and remembering information if a smart phone is within sight. In two experiments they found phones sitting on a desk or even in a pocket or a handbag would distract (使分心) users and lead to worse test scores even when they were set up not to disturb test subjects.
The researchers tested 520 university students on their memory and intelligence when they were in the presence of a smart phone to see how it affected them. They were told to complete tests in mathematics, memory and reasoning with their smart phones either on their desks, in their bags or pockets, or in another room. Those who had their phones on the desk recorded a 10 percent lower score than those who left them in a different room. Those who kept their phones further out of sight in their pockets or their bags scored only slightly better than those whose phones were placed on desks.
The researchers found that the negative effect of having a phone within sight was greater among those who said they were dependent on their smart phones. It was also found that phones could distract users even when they were turned off or when they were placed face down.
The researchers said the effect arises because part of the smart phone users’ mind is trying not to think about distractions such as whether they have any messages when the smart phone is in their line of sight.
Similar research has previously shown that smart phones can lead a “butterfly brain effect” on users that can cause mental blunders (错误).
1. The researchers at the University of Texas carries out the study to test .| A．where smart phones should be placed |
| B．who were dependent on smart phones |
| C．university students’ daily use of smart phones |
| D．smart phones’ effect on students’ intelligence and memory |
| A．Smart phones don’t affect students if put out of sight. |
| B．Smart phones don’t distract students when turned off. |
| C．Students got lower scores in the presence of smart phones. |
| D．Students were distracted no matter where their phones were placed. |
| A．The cause of the problem. | B．The butterfly brain effect. |
| C．The mental blunders. | D．The future research. |
| A．The harm of smart phones | B．Smart phones make us dumb |
| C．Limit our use of smart phones | D．The problem of smart phone addiction |
2 . At the end of my freshman year, my lab group and I were given a task of dissecting (解剖) a pig. We had to follow the
This project taught me about
During the same time my mother fell ill, and after being sick for two years a doctor
These two
To me, being able to
| A．orders | B．instructions | C．traditions | D．rules |
| A．collected | B．designed | C．produced | D．done |
| A．inspection | B．guidance | C．pressure | D．control |
| A．bring them in | B．turn them in | C．carry them out | D．make them out |
| A．myself | B．itself | C．that | D．them |
| A．still | B．never | C．already | D．even |
| A．until | B．because | C．so | D．but |
| A．realize | B．promise | C．suggest | D．complain |
| A．experiments | B．emergencies | C．difficulties | D．disagreements |
| A．For example | B．Above all | C．At last | D．In fact |
| A．generally | B．suddenly | C．finally | D．immediately |
| A．take notice of | B．take care of | C．put up with | D．get along with |
| A．better | B．weaker | C．stronger | D．braver |
| A．impression | B．comment | C．operation | D．influence |
| A．inspired | B．permitted | C．requested | D．allowed |
| A．control | B．experience | C．ease | D．bear |
| A．ideas | B．events | C．results | D．tasks |
| A．perform | B．respond | C．compete | D．recover |
| A．praise | B．improve | C．save | D．enjoy |
| A．energy | B．respect | C．courage | D．determination |
3 . I started a Facebook page in July, and it’s steadily growing! The best part isn’t the number of its “followers” but its comments — I love reading about what people do, their ideas and views and get some feedback (反馈) on what I’m doing too.
In April of this year, I was invited by a friend to join her Social Change group. We were eight women from all walks of life, but we had one thing in common — we live in a fantastic country and yet we can see homeless people on the streets asking for money. We have a generous welfare system and a social housing scheme — but it’s a problem that is getting worse. We asked ourselves: What happens to homeless women?
Therefore, we volunteered at shelters. We met with social housing providers, shelter managers and social workers, and began to think what else we could do. We researched on which programs were having success. We had guest speakers at our meetings and began to get a clear picture about what we needed to do.
As luck would have it, we have been gifted a building in the city center. It’s old and needs a lot of work to bring it up to the standard. We want to provide more than just shelter to women in need. We aim to have six self-contained apartments providing full social services for women to stay in for up to two years. Thanks to the building provider, we have got our project off the ground.
I’m an ordinary person. If I can do this, anyone can. You can change the world. Look for the opportunity and just do it.
1. What can we learn about the Facebook page?| A．Its followers increase steadily. | B．It helps the author get feedback. |
| C．It was set up to advertise their service. | D．Its main content is people’s comments. |
| A．Its people are suffering. | B．Its system is getting worse. |
| C．It still has a long way to go. | D．It is a place full of inequality. |
| A．acquired a few communication skills |
| B．discovered their ability to change the world |
| C．had a better understanding of social problems |
| D．were inspired to start a project to help the homeless women |
| A．To share her story. | B．To introduce her job. |
| C．To thank housing providers for their help. | D．To encourage people to improve the world. |
4 . May 29 — June 2
Summer Camp for the Whole Family!
Family Camp, an event at Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center in Virginia, offers the chance for family members to socialize with each other. Participants take three classes a day, one of which is specifically appointed as a family activity. Classes offered include swimming, theatre arts, nature, canoeing, and more. Afternoons and evenings are filled with special activities such as hikes, canoe trips, and campfires.
Family camp offers a variety of activities for all ages. Space is limited to 25 families. Each family has a separate room. To receive registration (登记) information, please call your local Extension Office or Heather Benninghove at Holiday Lake 4-H Center at (434) 248-5444.
If you’re a person with a disability (残疾) and need special services, please call at (434) 248-5444 during business hours of 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM five days before the camp.
Prices
●Family of 4: $500
●Each additional member: $75
●Children aged 2—4 years old: $35
●Children under 2: Free
Payment
●$200 deposit (定金) with registration
●Final payment and all signed forms due May 5
●An information packet and all relevant forms will be mailed to you upon receipt of registration and deposit.
Refunds (退款)
●Full by May 7
●Non-refundable after May 7
1. When should people with special needs call the center?| A．Before May 5. | B．Before May 7. | C．Before May 24. | D．Before May 29. |
| A．$200. | B．$500. | C．$535. | D．$575. |
| A．It’s not really suitable for kids under 2. | B．It requires a deposit when registering. |
| C．Its application fee is non-refundable. | D．It offers classes the whole day. |
5 . The tech industry created many wonders. However, when it comes to how they are used by kids, they usually bring a
My kids
Things were good for a few years
After seeing how my kids got lost in YouTube, I
| A．slight | B．personal | C．negative | D．beneficial |
| A．had control over | B．got exposed to | C．caught sight of | D．got rid of |
| A．treasured | B．repaired | C．researched | D．quitted |
| A．amused | B．frightened | C．disappointed | D．confused |
| A．abnormal | B．private | C．educational | D．expensive |
| A．because | B．if | C．unless | D．until |
| A．shocked | B．curious | C．relaxed | D．proud |
| A．meaningful | B．appealing | C．familiar | D．essential |
| A．hopeful | B．stupid | C．costly | D．powerful |
| A．ignore | B．stop | C．improve | D．monitor |
| A．analyze | B．leave | C．advertise | D．notice |
| A．children | B．neighbors | C．teachers | D．parents |
| A．want | B．forget | C．fail | D．manage |
| A．adopted | B．changed | C．discussed | D．refused |
| A．efficient | B．latest | C．useful | D．addictive |
6 . The days of the bedroom fitting room are numbered. Online retail giant (零售巨头) Boohoo has become the latest in a string of retailers to start charging shoppers for returns.
By offering free returns in the first place, companies, such as Boohoo, created entirely new behaviour around shopping. A 2018 study found that 9% of UK consumers buy clothes to post on social media, only to return them straight after. Almost one in five 35-to 44-year-olds admit to doing it, and men, apparently, do it more than women.
However, when clothes are returned, they’re likely to be thrown away rather than resold. This is because processing returns is time-consuming and costly. Buttons need to be rebuttoned, labels need to be reattached, products need refolding and rebagging, and then they must be put back into the system for sale. So it is clearly a cheaper and easier solution for businesses to send the whole lot to landfills (垃圾填埋场). It’s really a great waste of resources, not to mention an insult (冒 犯) to the skilled people who put their time into making each product, but it’s the reality of modern fashion.
When clothes don’t become rubbish, there’s still the impact of the extra shipping to consider, as well as the packaging waste. About 180bn plastic bags are produced every year to store, protect and transport clothes, and less than 15% of them are collected for recycling.
The impact of returns is a fairly well-kept secret, likely to keep people shopping guilt-free (没有负罪感地). But even if it was widely known, it wouldn’t guarantee people would stop treating returns thoughtlessly. After all, other environmental and human impacts of fast fashion are out there for all to see and yet the industry continues to thrive.
Hopefully, charging for returns is expected to change people’s behavior. Without free returns on the table, shoppers may think twice about buying 10 items when they know they’ll only keep five or buying clothes purely for social media content. And with the arrival of return charges, the clothes we already have might also start to look a little more appealing.
1. Why do retailers tend to throw away returned clothes?| A．To keep up with the latest fashion. | B．To avoid a huge waste of resources. |
| C．To let the skilled people feel honored. | D．To save the trouble of processing returns. |
| A．They will feel guilty about shopping. | B．They will continue their shopping behavior. |
| C．They will consider their shopping carefully. | D．They will keep their shopping behavior secret. |
| A．It puts great pressure on customers. | B．It can influence social media content. |
| C．It can do little to help reduce returns. | D．It will turn out to be an effective measure. |
| A．It is necessary to charge shoppers for returns. | B．It is difficult to control the number of returns. |
| C．Many retailers are struggling to process returns. | D．People have different opinions on the end of free returns. |
7 . Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin was working in his garden in Gaza when he noticed that some of the new trees he’d planted on his land did not root properly. Curious about what might be causing the issue, al-Nabahin asked his son to help him start digging.
His son’s ax (斧子) struck something hard. When the two men began to clear away the dirt, they discovered an item they did not recognize. A little Internet searching provided the answer to their mystery: They’d come across a Byzantine-era floor mosaic (拜占庭时期马赛克地画) featuring birds and other animals.
This happened six months ago. Now, archaeologists (考古学家) are hard at work studying the flooring to learn more about its secrets and civilization values.
The mosaic features 17 images of birds and other animals presented in bright colors. Archaeologists believe artists created the flooring sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries, though they don’t know whether the mosaic had religious (宗教的) origins. In total, the land covering the entire mosaic is about 500 square meters, and the mosaic itself measures about 23 square meters. Some parts of the mosaic appear to be damaged, likely from the roots of an old tree.
“These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the vivid representation and the complexity of the pattern,” says René Elter, an archaeologist in Jerusalem. “Never have mosaic floors of this precision in the patterns and richness of the colors been discovered in the Gaza Strip.”
The Gaza Strip, which is located between Israel and Egypt and was a busy trade route throughout history, is home to many ancient civilizations. The farmer and his son discovered the mosaic about a kilometer from the border with Israel. Archaeologists and other experts are concerned about the mosaic’s future because of the ongoing conflict there and a lack of funding for historical protection.
1. What led Salman al-Nabahin to the unexpected discovery?| A．His son’s constant digging work. | B．His decision to remove some new trees. |
| C．The improper growth of some new trees. | D．The appearance of some birds and other animals. |
| A．Its origin has something to do with religion. | B．The time of its creation can be figured out. |
| C．It has been seriously damaged by digging work. | D．It reflects relationships between humans and animals. |
| A．The history of the mosaic floors. | B．The great value of the mosaic floors. |
| C．The secrets hidden in the mosaic floors. | D．The difficulty in creating the mosaic floors. |
| A．It may not be well -protected. | B．It may be too large to carry. |
| C．It may cause regional conflicts. | D．It may lose its historical meaning |
8 . March 12 was my last typical day in the classroom before COVID-19 changed everything. When my district closed the following day, I assumed, as many did, that this was a temporary move. However, the closure did not end as quickly as we expected. As the closure continued, while I was glad that none of my students was infected with the virus, I began to worry that the growth of reading ability my first-graders and I worked so hard for would gradually disappear.
It is reported that only one-third of students in the US achieved reading proficiency at grade level in 2019. As the years go by, the gaps become larger, and students who are reading below grade level seldom catch up with their peers. These students often encounter significant social and emotional challenges as they become increasingly aware of their differences from their classmates. And school closures caused by COVID-19 have made the situation even worse.
So when my district reopened in the fall, we were faced with difficult decisions about how to best deliver instruction. At our school, all students have to take a series of short screening tests to assess reading ability at the beginning of the school year. Considering that one size cannot fit all, I adjusted my teaching plans in time throughout the year. If a student received a low score in a particular area, I’d conduct a follow-up assessment to learn about the real cause of the difficulty.
I also conducted exercises to help students practice reading skills. Using other online platforms, I created interactive
lessons with other teachers, in which students practiced reading and writing specific words, reading full sentences and answering corresponding comprehension questions. The platforms enabled us to see all students’ screens at once and gauge which students were on target and needed additional support. They also provided information for planning subsequent lessons.
As a teacher, I know I cannot make all children reach proficiency in literacy (读写能力) myself, but I believe what I am doing can really make a difference to their lives, and I will go on with it.
1. What did the author worry about during the closure?| A．The health condition of her students. |
| B．The decline in her enthusiasm for work. |
| C．The uncertainty about the duration of the closure. |
| D．The influence of closure on students’ reading ability. |
| A．She motivated students to analyze their own problems. |
| B．She adapted teaching strategies to suit her students’ needs. |
| C．She used technology to make reading exercises more interesting. |
| D．She instructed students to take screening tests before each class. |
| A．Judge. | B．Explain. | C．Control. | D．Change. |
| A．Strict and wise. | B．Responsible and flexible. |
| C．Sensitive and optimistic. | D．Humorous and considerate. |
9 . A Love of Gardening
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” These words come from the author of the book The Secret Garden, first published in 1911. At that time, only the very rich in Britain had gardens. Very soon after this, homes with gardens began to be built. This is what started the British love of gardening! Today, millions of Brits like to say that they have “green fingers”, with around half the population spending their free time gardening.
For many people in the UK, their garden is their own private world. Each spring, children plant sunflowers and wait to see which one is the tallest. Expert gardeners know just the right corner for roses, and others spend hours trying to grow perfect vegetables to enter into competitions. And while many Brits like nothing better than spending their Sunday cutting the grass, some are happy just to sit under the branches of the trees and enjoy the beauty of the world around them.
But in cities, limited space has led to people looking for new solutions. Those without outside space can rent small pieces of land on which to grow things. Today, there are over 4,000 people in London waiting for such pieces of land. One recent idea has been to turn rooftops and walls into private gardens. These gardens have helped make the cities greener and improve air quality.
As well as being good for the environment, gardening is also good for the soul. What other free-time activity allows you to be at one with nature and create more beautiful living things? And if you’re in any doubt about this, take a moment to reflect on this line from The Secret Garden: “Where you tend a rose… A thistle cannot grow.”
1. What inspired the British to create their own private gardens?| A．A rise in earnings. | B．The call of the government. |
| C．The publication of The Secret Garden. | D．The competition among neighbors. |
| A．How to build a garden well. | B．Where is suitable for building gardens. |
| C．When is the right time to do gardening. | D．How the private garden is enjoyed by the British. |
| A．They don’t have free time. | B．They don’t have enough space. |
| C．They lack gardening knowledge. | D．They are not allowed to do so by law. |
| A．It wastes money. | B．It takes up too much land. |
| C．It worsens air quality. | D．It benefits the environment and people’s soul. |
10 . Have you ever imagined being able to communicate with your pet at home and have it understand everything you say? It sounds too good to be true, but scientists have started using artificial intelligence (AI) to help communicate with animals.
Professor Karen Bakker—who is the author of a book called The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants—said that AI is already helping humans communicate with bats and honeybees and this could change what we know about nature and our non-human relationships.
Scientists have worked out how bats speak to each other to argue over food and how mother bats communicate with their young.
Professor Bakker explained how researcher Yossi Yovel had used recordings and AI to understand bats.
“Bats argue over food; they actually distinguish between genders when they communicate with one another; they have individual names, or ‘signature calls’,” she said.
“Mother bats speak to their babies in a kind of ‘motherese’.
Bats learn to ‘speak’ with signals from their mothers.
But while human mothers raise the pitch(音高) of their voices when talking to babies，mother bats lower the pitch.
She said it was a great example of how animal patterns could be revealed using sensors and microphones that would otherwise never be heard with the human ear.
AI makes this possible because a computer can be trained to listen like a bat.
With honeybees, the computer combines listening with vision of the bees’ body movements to understand what they are communicating. Researchers now know how be essay things such as “hush” or “stop”.
Researcher Tim Landgraf even created a robot honeybee that entered a hive(蜂房) and was able to communicate with other bees when it wanted them to stop doing something or fly.
1. What is the role of AI in communicating with animals?| A．Allowing humans to speak to animals. |
| B．Translating human language into animal language. |
| C．Transforming human thoughts into animal language. |
| D．Helping humans understand what animals are saying. |
| A．They use unique names given by human. |
| B．They live together like early human groups. |
| C．They share their food with each other without arguing. |
| D．They can distinguish between genders when communicating. |
| A．By using a kind of “motherese”. |
| B．By raising the pitch of their voices. |
| C．By using sensors and microphones. |
| D．By making body movements. |
| A．It can speak with other bats. |
| B．It can build a hive with bees. |
| C．It can communicate with other bees. |
| D．It can teach other bee show to fly and stop. |
