1 . A year ago, my wife and I sold one of our cars and replaced it with an e-bike. I knew that passenger vehicles are responsible for much of our greenhouse-gas emissions. I also knew that electric cars were an imperfect fix. Though they’re responsible for less carbon pollution than gas cars, their supply chain is carbon intensive. But an e-bike’s comparatively tiny battery means less electricity, fewer emissions and fewer resources. E-bikes are clearly better for the planet than cars of any kind.

But I also viewed getting rid of my car as a sacrifice. I live in Colorado; e-biking would mean freezing in winter and sweating in summer. It was the right thing to do, I thought, but it was not going to be fun.

I was very wrong. The first thing I noticed was the savings. Between car payments, insurance, maintenance (保养), and gas, a car-centered lifestyle is expensive. I predict that we’ll save about $50,000 over the next five years by selling our car.

The actual experience of riding to work each day over the past year has been equally surprising. In winter, I wear gloves, warm socks, a thick cap, and a ski jacket when I ride, and I am almost never too cold. In summer, I didn’t break a sweat. I just used the throttle (油门), sat back, and enjoyed my ride.

I arrived to work a little more lighthearted for having spent the morning in fresh air rather than traffic. I jumped on my bike after a stressful day at work and rode home down a street edged with changing fall leaves. I felt more connected to the physical environment around me than I had when I’d traveled the same route surrounded by metal and glass.

1. Why did the author change a car for an e-bike?

A．He wanted to do something good for environment.

B．He thought that e-bikes would replace gas vehicles.

C．He couldn’t afford the expensive transportation costs.

D．He believed e-bike’s supply chain was environment-friendly.

2. What did the author think he would sacrifice for the e-biking?

A．The traffic safety.	B．The traffic comfort.
C．The traffic economy.	D．The traffic convenience.

3. What is the author’s feeling about having ridden an e-bike for a year?

A．Tolerant.

B．Unexpected.

C．Conservative.

D．Compromising.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Changes Brought by an E-bike	B．My Green Life for the Last Year
C．The Replacement for Gas Vehicles	D．Comparation Between Cars and E-bikes

2 . THE GLOBAL WASTE TRADE IS ESSENTIALLY BROKEN

Cut into hillside in northern Malaysia stands a large, open-air warehouse. This is a recycling factory, which opened last November. On a very hot afternoon in January, Shahid Ali was working his very first week on the job. He stood knee-deep in soggy, white bits of plastic. Around him, more bits floated of the conveyor belt and fell to the ground like snowflakes.

Hour after hour, Ali sorts through the plastic jumble moving down the belt, picking out pieces that look off-color or soiled-rejects (废品) in the recycling process. Though it looks like backbreaking work, Ali says it is a great improvement over his previous job, folding bed-sheets in a nearby textile factory, for much lower pay. Now, if he eats simply, he can save money from his wages of just over $l an hour and send $250 a month to his parents and six brothers and sisters in Peshawar, Pakistan, 2,700 miles away, “As soon as I heard about this work, I asked for a job,” says Ali, 24, a bearded man with glasses and an easy smile. Still, he’s working 12 hours a day, seven days a week. “If I take a day off, I lose a day’s wages,” he says.

In the warehouse, hundreds of bags are stacked more than 60 feet high-each stuffed with plastic wrappers and bags thrown away weeks earlier by their original users in California. The fact that the waste has traveled to this distant corner of the planet in the first place shows how badly the global recycling economy has failed to keep pace with humanity’s plastics addiction. This is an ecosystem that is deeply dysfunctional, if not on the point of collapse: About 90% of the millions of tons of plastic the world produces every year will eventually end up not recycled, but burned, buried, or dumped.

Plastic recycling enjoys ever-wider support among consumers: Putting yogurt containers and juice bottles in a blue bin is an eco-friendly act of faith in millions of households. But faith goes only so far. The tidal wave of plastic items that enters the recycling stream each year is increasingly likely to fall right back out again, casualties of a broken market. Many products that consumers believe (and industries claim) are “recyclable" are in reality not, because of hard economics. With oil and gas prices near 20-year lows, so-called virgin plastic, a product of petroleum feed-stocks, is now far cheaper and easier to obtain than recycled material. That unforeseen shift has yanked the financial rug out from under what was until recently a practical recycling industry. “The global waste trade is essentially broken,” says the head of the global plastics campaign at Greenpeace. “We are sitting on vast amounts of plastic with nowhere to send it and nothing to do with it.”

1. What is the author’s attitude towards Shahid Ali?

A．Critical.

B．Merciless.

C．Indifferent.

D．Sympathetic.

2. What most probably causes the problem of global waste recycling?

A．The prices of oil and gas have been increasing.

B．Tons of wastes travel so far before being recycled.

C．Recyclable products are not really recycled.

D．Governments don’t support the recycling industry.

3. What does the italicized word “dysfunctional” mean in the passage?

A．Out of stock.

B．Far from pleased.

C．Full of energy.

D．Out of order.

4. What is the author’s purpose of writing this article?

A．To illustrate how plastic waste has been recycled in the world.

B．To warn people that the global waste trade is essentially broken.

C．To analyze the relationship between consumers and factories.

D．To solve the conflict between the recycling industry and governments.

3 . The members of the group saw each other regularly, because they all had serious health problems. Twelve-year-old Marc was autistic (自闭症). But here, in the group circle, they could talk about what they felt. Here they could listen to the others and provide each other with some of the human attention they often so terribly missed.

But that evening, they didn’t know how to talk about what had just happened: Paul had died. The group would never again enjoy his animated laughter. Everyone stared straight ahead. Only sadness and a sense of impotence rose to the surface. No matter what she tried, Jackie, the nurse facilitating the group, couldn’t get a conversation going.

Then Jackie described how people in some cultures, when they were sad and wanted to share their feelings but could not find the words to express their sorrow, would sit in a circle and make rhythmic music together. Then everyone picked up one of the djembe drums in the room. Jackie began softly beating hers and the others joined in. Boom-boom-ta, boom-boom-ta. Slowly, they let the rhythm carry them away. Marc had trouble keeping time with the others and gave Jackie a frightened look. She smiled her encouragement, and he focused as well as he could. Jackie began to play slowly, and the others followed. At her sign, a few began to drum out of time with the beat.

Suddenly, the rhythm of the music changed. Everyone was playing his or her own melody: no one was leading the park. Everyone was carried by the music. Gradually, the sadness found its way out. Karin, in a wheelchair, was the first to think of how much Paul had enjoyed making music with the rest of the group. Then the others told their own stories. Their faces were wet with tears-as were the instruments-but still the rhythm carried them. They felt as one, with each other and with Paul. These were tears of sorrow and mourning, but also of solidarity and connection.

Henri began to smile, and the rest soon joined him. The rhythm quickened. Their combined music held power and energy. Marc felt relieved. A broad smile lit up his face, and the others were happy to see him this way. Then the situation had changed completely. Sorrow had made way for hope.

People have been making rhythmic music in groups, using drums. It is a tradition, wherein healing takes place through the spirit and the emotions, through contact with the body and its subtle powers of self-healing. In a recent study, physician Barry Bittman showed that making rhythmic music in a group affects our physical condition. Immune cells in particular are stimulated to greater activity.

1. The members of the group meet regularly to ___________________.

A．find a solution to their health problems	B．tell interesting stories
C．share their feelings and emotions	D．play music instruments

2. Why did they stare straight ahead this time?

A．Marc couldn’t talk about what he felt.	B．Paul’s death made them feel sorrowful.
C．Jackie couldn’t facilitate other members.	D．Henri found it hard to express his sadness.

3. How did Jackie encourage Marc?

A．She gave him an encouraging smile.	B．She talked about her own experiences.
C．She taught him how to play djembe drums.	D．She paused and let the rhythm carry on.

4. What would be the best title of this passage?

A．Getting together makes people feel sorrowful.	B．It’s a tradition to make rhythmic music.
C．Why immune cells are stimulated to greater activity.	D．How music captures the rhythm of the soul.

4 . Overseas Learning

Somerset Yew Wah Classroom, UK

Somerset Yew Wah Classroom program is a unique English language and life education program in the Yew Wah secondary curriculum catered for Grade 6, Grade 8 and Grade 10 students. Established in 2006, the Somerset English learning and cultural center provides a distinctive opportunity for students to experience an authentic English environment. The Centre is located in a traditional English village in Somerset Sibley’s Barn and the Knowle Hall campus, a newly renovated Victorian-era country house built on 15 acres of land in beautiful open parkland, is situated close to our Sibley Barn’s Centre and was established in 2016. The Somerset program provides an excellent cross-cultural experience which enhances self-confidence, independence, teamwork and leadership skills of students. The Somerset program continues upon students’ return to China.

World Classroom

World Classroom is a concept of learning beyond the school building walls. It is an extension of the experimental, project-based learning at the core of the Yew Wah educational model. The World Classroom program is just one of the unique experiences which allow students to sample major cultures of the world, including European, African, Middle Eastern, Pacific and Anglo-American.

Experiencing China

The program provides secondary students with the opportunities to gain insights into Chinese history and culture by visiting various regions of China. This residential program broadens students’ understanding of their own country. Through first-hand cross-cultural experiences, the programs increase students’ understanding of various cultures, promote critical thinking, and help students develop an appreciation of different viewpoints. The programs ultimately help prepare our students for an evolving modern world by nurturing their cross-cultural knowledge and skills, international-mindedness and attitudes on their becoming true global citizens with a commitment to serve the community and society.

Trips and Excursions

Trips and excursions allow students to enhance societal visions, enrich life experiences and strengthen communication and problem-solving skills. Students participate in Hong Kong Hike, one of the most traditional annual outdoor activities where students rely heavily on teamwork and personal willpower to reach the destinations when facing survival challenges. “After the hike, he grew into almost a different person. He became more mature and now capable of taking care of himself, and more responsible,” said a parent of her son. These qualities are exactly what Hong Kong Hike wants to achieve.

1. Why do students participate in Somerset Yew Wah classroom in UK?

A．To do research on British cultures and appreciate beautiful views.

B．To enhance self-confidence, independence, teamwork and leadership skills.

C．To have a special campus tour to Sibley’s Barn and the Knowle Hall.

D．To show their appreciation of British history and their own cultures.

2. Experiencing China program mainly aims to help students to ___________________.

A．be capable of taking care of himself and their parents

B．compare learning in China with learning overseas

C．broaden their understanding of their own country

D．interpret globalization and promote Chinese culture

3. What does the mother of a student think of Hong Kong Hike?

A．It empowers students to have teamwork, willpower and responsibility.

B．It helps students to share a better understanding of the world around them.

C．It works out a way to resolve the conflicts between parents and the students.

D．It enhances students’ international-mindedness and shapes attitudes to others.

6 . A cure for the future in the past?

For over fifty years, the people of Britain have relied on the welfare state to make sure they have adequate health services. But now the National Health Service is sick. Government _____ and underfunding are forcing hospitals to close, and waiting lists for treatment are getting longer. Under such circumstances, it is no surprise that more people are turning to private (but expensive) healthcare.

For some, however, there are _____. They are turning their back on modern pills, tablets and resorting to other conventional medicine. It seems paradoxical, but in an age of microchips and high technology, traditional medicine, the old-fashioned cures that our grandparents relied on, is making a _____.

Consider these case studies:

Maude is 76 years old and has been suffering from arthritis for almost ten years. “The pain in my joints was almost _____, and my doctor referred me to a surgeon at the London Hospital. I was told that I needed _____, but would need to wait for at least two years before I could have the operation. In _____, I started having massage sessions. To my surprise, these were very therapeutic, and while they didn’t cure the disorder, they did _____ it to some extent”.

Ron is 46. His high-powered city job was _____ for a series of stress-related illnesses, and the drugs he took didn’t work well on the nervous strain. “I read about _____ which involve the whole person rather than the individual symptoms, but I had always doubted about such kind of medicine for all diseases. However, my friend _____ a dietician who told me that part of my problem was diet-related. Basically, the food I was eating was _____ to my disorder. She gave me a list of foods that would provide the right vitamins and minerals to keep me in good health. At the same time, she advocated a more _____ lifestyle-running, swimming, that kind of thing. I’ m a bit of a couch potato, and this kind of lifestyle I had lived was _____ the problem. Now I feel great!”

So is there still a place in our lives for modern medicine? While it is true that some infections and viruses may be _____ by turning to traditional medicine, more serious illnesses such as cancer need more extreme measures. We do need our health service at these times, and we shouldn’t stop _____ in its future. But we mustn’t forget that for some common illnesses, the cure may lie in the past.

1.

A．support

B．restrictions

C．cutbacks

D．concern

2.

A．programs

B．alternatives

C．measures

D．scales

3.

A．comeback

B．living

C．change

D．mess

4.

A．unique

B．uncertain

C．universal

D．unbearable

5.

A．permission

B．surgery

C．supervision

D．strength

6.

A．condition

B．desperation

C．general

D．particular

7.

A．protect

B．recover

C．relieve

D．treat

8.

A．eager

B．grateful

C．famous

D．responsible

9.

A．treatments

B．sources

C．spirits

D．comments

10.

A．supervised

B．declared

C．recommended

D．tempted

11.

A．contributing

B．adapting

C．subjecting

D．objecting

12.

A．moderate

B．active

C．negative

D．suitable

13.

A．identifying

B．investigating

C．estimating

D．worsening

14.

A．prevented

B．empowered

C．indicated

D．restored

15.

A．undertaking

B．invading

C．investing

D．evolving

9 .

Life without access to energy is simply miserable. Accessing energy is the single most important factor in improving the lives of individuals and increasing the economic opportunities available in their communities. Access to lighting transforms education from outdoors during the day, to indoors and anytime! A simple refrigerator can transform a fruit stand to a grocery store. Reliable electricity allows businesses to stay open and ultimately provides the cornerstone that allows industries to form.

There is a dominant school of thought that energy access can be achieved around the world with only carbon-free sources. This paradigm envisions effectively “leapfrogging” traditional development patterns, skipping industrialization, and transforming economies with green energy and a service economy. While compelling in theory, this vision lacks several critical factors; the need to manufacture the goods that will build the economy, the scalability of energy sources, and the affordability of that energy.

This transformation is currently underway and its progress is inevitable. The urgency is created by individuals current, difficult conditions and the availability of abundant, affordable energy, particularly coal. All new energy demand will come from the developing world. Without a thoughtful conversation about the projected doubling of world energy demand, energy consumption will continue as it is currently underway, in two parallel paths. One path prioritizes carbon-free sources, and sets goals and policies that incentivize those. The other path responds to the supply and demand inherent in a world economy and is resulting in the massive development of coal-fired electricity generation.

The reality of energy development can be summarized in the example of India’s projected energy development. By 2022, India is planning 100 GW of new solar and a relatively tiny 50 MW of new coal. However, a simple calculation of the likely emissions of these two new sources of energy conducted by a colleague at Stanford indicates that if all this new electricity generation came from natural gas, the result would be 20 percent fewer emissions. This is a conversation worth having.

Although not a carbon-free source, natural gas has a transformative role to play in the energizing of developing nations. Abundantly available around the world, and more transportable than ever, a world natural gas market is creating a more stable, affordable supply. As an electricity generation fuel, it is both a base load alternative to coal and a backup for renewable generation. In this capacity, natural gas provides carbon and non-carbon air emissions benefits. When used as a transportation fuel, natural gas provides significant air quality benefit to traditional fuels and can be equally affordable. When deployed as a cooking fuel, liquefied petroleum gas(LPG), provides dramatic health benefits and could reduce the unnecessary 4 million annual deaths attributed to cooking over inefficient, biomass fuels. As an economic cornerstone, natural gas can empower industrial development as a chemical feed-stock fertilizer component, direct energy source, and electricity provider.

1. Which of the following is the view of the dominant school?

A．We must actively develop manufacturing industry to promote economic development.

B．Energy affordability should be fully considered in the process of economic development

C．Developed countries don't have to worry about energy because of overcapacity.

D．Only carbon-free sources can achieve energy access in the world.

2. Why is it urgent for developing countries to have access to energy?

A．Because of insufficient availability energy supply.

B．Because of rapid population growth.

C．Because of huge consumption of renewable energy.

D．Because of serious environmental pollution.

3. Which of the following statements is wrong about natural gas?

A．Natural gas resources are abundant all over the world.

B．Natural gas is not only a substitute for coal but a renewable energy.

C．Natural gas is good for the air as a traditional fuel.

D．Natural gas can be used to promote industrial development.

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is correct?

A．Traditional heating water to cook rice can be life-threatening.

B．Natural gas is a kind of carbon-free energy.

C．Energy consumption can only continue in the same way as before.

D．Reducing energy poverty is the common goal of mankind.

10 . Business innovation is an organization’s process for introducing new ideas, workflows methodologies, services or products. Like IT innovation, which calls for using technology in new ways to create a more efficient and agile organization, business innovation should enable the achievement of goals across the entire organization, with sights set on accomplishing core business aims and initiatives. Innovation often begins with idea generation, wherein ideas are narrowed down during brainstorming sessions, after which leaders consider the business viability, feasibility and desirability of each idea. Business innovation should improve one existing products, services or processes; or it should solve a problem; or it should reach new customers. Recent examples of business innovation include the introduction of the Dyson vacuum cleaner, whose creator and namesake James Dyson declared in advertisements that he set out to build a better product by applying industrial cyclone technologies to the household appliance.

The purpose of the business innovation process is to create value for the organization. That value can come from creating new revenue opportunities or driving more revenue through existing channels; from creating efficiencies that save time, money or both; or from improvements to productivity or performance. In short, innovation should lead to higher profits. Additionally, the results of an organization’s innovation process should yield a competitive advantage; it should help the organization to grow and reach — or, better still, exceed — strategic objectives.

Innovation and invention are closely linked, but the two terms are not interchangeable. An invention is an entirely new creation. The process of business innovation can produce an invention, but the term is broader in scope and includes the application of an existing concept or practice in a new way, or applying new technology to an existing product or process to improve upon it. To better understand the difference, consider this: The telephone is an invention, but the smartphone is an innovation.

Business innovation can also be classified as either revolutionary or evolutionary. Revolutionary business innovation yields a drastic change in a product, service, process, etc., which often destroys or supplants an existing business model. This is also known as radical Evolutionary or incremental innovation involves smaller, more continuous innovation, improvements that, while important, are not drastic enough to shift a company or market into a new paradigm. Disruptive innovation is a category that emphasizes the destructive aspect of revolutionary innovation; this term applies to business innovation that leads to the creation of a new market that displaces an existing one or, similarly, a significant upheaval in a category of products or services.

Business innovation, like most business initiatives, has both benefits and risks. Organizations should recognize on the negative side that the business innovation process can be a costly undertaking that does not always produce a return on investment (ROI); that idea considered likely to succeed could still fail; and that stakeholders could fight the changes required to be successful. On the other hand, organizations need to weigh those risks against the benefits of business innovation.

1. What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?

A．Persuasibility.

B．Scarcity.

C．Generality.

D．Practicability.

2. What is the purpose of business innovation?

A．Create value benefits for the enterprise.

B．Reform the management structure of enterprises.

C．Encourage staff to make more inventions.

D．Upgrade the product performance.

3. Which of the following is true about innovation and invention?

A．They are essentially the same concept.

B．They can replace each other in the context.

C．They can bring huge commercial benefits.

D．They are closely related but have different conceptual scopes.

4. What is the main content of this passage?

A．The precautions for brainstorming meetings.

B．The considerations for business innovation.

C．The difference between innovation and invention.

D．The revolutionary change in business innovation.