1 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To tell about true friends. | B.To start a discussion. |
C.To encourage online friendships. | D.To summarize(总结) the text. |
A.In any case. | B.In public. | C.In person. | D.In advance. |
A.Unconcerned. | B.Positive. | C.Worried. | D.Confused. |
A.Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. | B.It’s easier to develop friendships in real life. |
C.It’s wise to turn to friends online. | D.Social media help people stay closely connected. |
2 . On Saturday, Jacob Kohut finally had breaktime during his 12⁃hour standing guard outside the U.S. Capitol. He could have spent his break resting. Instead, he sat in the back of a Humvee, teaching students via his laptop how to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, which meant he was on double duty, as an active member of the National Guard and as a devoted school band teacher.
“I’m a soldier for the National Guard, but I’m as much a solider for music education,” he says.
When on duty, Kohut’s days began in the morning with teaching his elementary class remotely from the drill floor of DC Armory, finishing the lesson minutes before his Guard shift started at 10 a.m. Later in the day, during his break, he would go online to teach his middle school students from the back of a Humvee.
Music has always been a driving force in Kohut’s life. He was a saxophone player throughout high school, and finally earned his Doctor degree in music composition at George Mason University.
“What I really wanted was to teach,” says Kohut, who is married and has a three⁃year⁃old son. “My mom, who is a single mother, was a music teacher. That’s why I do what I do. She is such a good role model.”
Kohut’s double duty has caught the attention of parents at Canterbury Woods Elementary School.
“I just wanted to share how impressed I am with Dr. Kohut this week,” Susi Britain said. “This morning he taught the band online from DC Armory, in his tiredness — which just seems so beyond the expectations of a teacher in these circumstances.”
But during the long and sometimes stressful hours of standing guard, Kohut said his teaching time offered comfort. As the 11 instruments were played by his virtual students, the familiar melody of “Ode to Joy” rang through the Humvee. In that moment, Kohut realized there wasn’t a timelier tune to teach his students
“It’s a symbol of unity and peace,” he says. “And that’s what the world needs right now.”
1. Where did the students study music from Kohut?A.In the back of a Humvee. |
B.At the drill floor of DC Armory. |
C.In online courses. |
D.Outside the U.S. Capitol. |
A.Peace⁃loving and mild. |
B.Enthusiastic and devoted. |
C.Hopeful and positive. |
D.Faithful and helpful. |
A.He should teach the tune to his students earlier. |
B.No tune was taught to students before. |
C.It’s the time that he should teach the tune face to face. |
D.The tune is the most suitable for students at that moment. |
A.Jacob Kohut fights for the country and music. |
B.Jacob Kohut wants to change his job. |
C.Jacob Kohut has double duty at Canterbury Woods Elementary School. |
D.Jacob Kohut is a virtual music teacher. |
3 . Close to the North Pole, the remote and rocky plateau mountain in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems an unlikely spot for any global effort to safeguard agriculture. In this cold and deserted environment, there are no grains, no gardens and no trees. But at the end of a 130⁃meter⁃long tunnel is a room filled with humanity’s most precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection — more than a half⁃billion seeds.
A quiet rescue mission is underway. With growing evidence that unchecked climate change will seriously affect food production and threaten the diversity of crops around the world, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault represents a major step towards ensuring the preservation of hundreds of thousands of crop varieties. This is a seed collection, but more importantly, it is a collection of the traits (特点) found within the seeds: the genes that give one variety resistance to a particular pest and another variety tolerance for hot, dry weather.
Few people will ever see or come into contact with the contents of this vault. In sealed (密封的) boxes, behind many locked doors, monitored by electronic security systems, enveloped in below⁃zero temperatures, and surrounded by tons of rocks, hundreds of millions of seeds are protected in their mountain fortress (堡垒). Frozen in such conditions inside the mountain, seeds of most major crops will remain viable for hundreds of years, or longer. Seeds of some are capable of keeping their ability to grow for thousands of years.
Everyone can look back now and say that the Seed Vault has been a good and obvious idea, and that of course the Norwegian government should have approved and funded it. But back in 2004, when the Seed Vault was first proposed, it was viewed as a crazy, impractical, and expensive idea.
We knew that nothing would provide a definite guarantee. But we were tired and frankly scared of the steady, greater losses of crop diversity. The Seed Vault was built by optimists who wanted to do something to preserve options so that humanity and the crops might be better prepared for change.
The Seed Vault is about hope and commitment — about what can be done if countries come together and work cooperatively to accomplish something significant, long⁃lasting, and worthy of who we are and wish to be.
1. According to the passage, what’s the Seed Vault?A.It’s a tunnel where the collected seeds are displayed. |
B.It’s a stone room that contains the seeds of endangered crops. |
C.It’s a seed gene bank that stores diverse seeds for future agriculture. |
D.It’s a lab where researchers study how to keep the diversity of crops. |
A.Mature. | B.Clean. |
C.Alive. | D.Valuable. |
A.How the seeds are preserved. |
B.Where people keep the seeds. |
C.Why the seeds are protected. |
D.What people do to study the seeds. |
A.the Seed Vault offers a solution to climate change |
B.the Seed Vault was built by many countries |
C.the Seed Vault is sure to prevent the loss of crop diversity |
D.many people considered building the Seed Vault unwise and crazy at first |
4 . A work of art created by artificial intelligence (AI) has been sold by a major art seller for the first time. The print sold for an unexpectedly large amount of money, $432,500. The artwork was bought during an auction (拍卖) Thursday at Christie’s, an art auction house, in New York City. Officials had predicted it would sell for between $7,000 and $10,000.
In a website post, Christie’s said the AI-created work was the first ever sold by a major auction house. It praised the sale as a signal of “the arrival of AI art on the world auction stage”.
The artwork, called “Portrait (肖像) of Edmond Belamy”, was made by a machine having learnt the algorithm (算法). The AI system was created by members of an art group called “Obvious” in Paris, France. It shows the portrait of a man, looking similar to subjects shown in historical paintings. Christie’s described some differences between the AI-created work and other artworks it had sold. For example, it said some parts of the face were not drawn as clearly as those painted by artists. Also, some parts of the print were left empty. However, the sales organizer of Christie’s, Richard Lloyd, said the piece was very similar to many others sold over many years.
Three creators from the art group Obvious cooperated in the process of making the print. First, they put a collection of 15,000 portraits into a machine learning system. The portraits were painted by artists from the time period between the 14th and 20th centuries. Then a tool called the “Generator” made a new image based on the information entered into the system. After that, another tool, called the “Discriminator”, attempted to find differences between the human-made image and the one created by the Generator. Then the image was improved. “The aim is to fool the Discriminator into thinking that the new images are real-life portraits. Then we have a result,” Hugo Caselles-Dupré, a member of the Obvious group, said in a statement.
1. What can be inferred from the text?A.The AI portrait received much recognition. |
B.There is little true artistic value in the AI artwork. |
C.Technology will one day replace human artists. |
D.There is no similar AI system for art nowadays. |
A.Artists. | B.Machines. | C.Figures. | D.Techniques. |
A.To select useful information from real-life portraits. |
B.To help the portrait look more like a human-made one. |
C.To put human portraits into the machine learning system. |
D.To create a portrait based on paintings by artists. |
A.The Secrets of AI |
B.An AI Portrait |
C.Artworks and AI |
D.AI Art at Christie's |
5 . Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center mapped brain changes after a year of aerobic workouts and uncovered a potentially significant process: Aerobic exercise increases blood flow into two key areas of the brain associated with memory.
The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, showed this blood flow can help even older people with memory problems improve cognition, a finding that could guide future Alzheimer’s disease research, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center.
In the study, researchers followed 30 participants who were 60 or older and had memory problems. Half experienced a year of aerobic exercise while the other half did stretches. “We’ve shown that even when your memory starts to fade, you can still do something about it by adding aerobic exercise to your lifestyle,” said Binu Thomas, a senior research scientist of UT Southwestern Medical Center who led the study. “The aerobic exercise group showed a 47% improvement in some memory scores after a year; the other group showed slight change. Brain imaging of the aerobic exercise group, taken while at rest at the beginning and end of the study, showed increased blood flows into the specific brain areas that play important roles in memory function.”
Many teams across the world are trying to determine if aerobic exercise might fight memory loss. Evidence is growing that it could at least play a small role in delaying or reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. For example, a 2018 study showed that people with lower fitness levels experience faster retrogression of vital nerve fibers in the brain called white matter related to memory.
“Blood flow in the brain connected with memory improvement is still a part of the puzzle, and we need to continue piecing it together,” Thomas says. “But we’ve seen enough data to know that starting a fitness program can have lifelong benefits for our brains as well as our hearts.”
1. What is the study mainly about?A.Old people have memory problems. | B.Aerobic exercise improves memory. |
C.Aerobic workouts benefit physical health. | D.Alzheimer’s disease can be cured. |
A.Earlier memories were refreshed. | B.Memory scores showed very small changes. |
C.Brain imaging remained the same. | D.More blood flew into memory⁃related areas. |
A.The memory problem. | B.One’s lifestyle. |
C.Aerobic exercise. | D.Something useful. |
A.Further research work requires doing. | B.More people experience memory loss. |
C.The mystery of brain blood flow has been solved. | D.Signs of memory loss can be discovered earlier. |
6 . Teacher, Foreign Language (High School)
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) offers teaching opportunities in some of the most amazing and culturally rich places in the world. Come and work for the DoDEA schools!
Salary: US$39,775-US$80,930 Per School Year
Open Period: 10/3/2020 to 7/31/2021
Department: Department of Defense
Agency: Department of Defense Education Activity
Position Info: Flexible Schedules, Flexible Appointment Types
Who may apply: US Citizens (prior teaching experience is required)
Food Inspector
The Food Safety and Inspection Service(FSIS) is the public health agency in the US Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat and egg products is safe, wholesome and correctly labelled and packaged.
Salary: US$31,628-US$50,932 Per Year
Open Period: 7/18/2020 to 7/17/2021
Department: Department of Agriculture
Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service
Position Info: Full⁃time, Permanent
Who may apply: US Citizens (graduates in Food Quality and Safety are preferred)
Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian(兽医)
This is an excellent opportunity to seek a greater leadership role and responsibility in public health. If you are a new employee, mid-career employee, or experienced professional interested in a Public Health Veterinarian (PHV) career, this job is for you!
Salary: US$57,928-US$90,344 Per Year
Open Period: 9/30/2020 to 9/30/2021
Department: Department of Agriculture
Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service
Position Info: Full⁃time, Permanent
Who may apply: US Citizens and Nationals (no prior federal experience is required)
Veterinary Medical Officer—Veterinarian
The National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps (NAHERC) assists in the federal response to domestic(国内的) and international animal disease outbreaks, threats, or natural disasters.
Salary: US$27.78-US$36.12 Per Hour
Open Period: 5/9/2019 to 5/1/2020
Department: Department of Agriculture
Agency: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Position Info: Full⁃time, Permanent
Who may apply: US Citizens and Nationals (no prior federal experience is required)
1. What should you do if you apply to be a teacher in DoDEA?A.Have a good command of foreign cultures. |
B.Be able to arrange work time flexibly. |
C.Work for the Department of Agriculture. |
D.Send in your application from July 2020 to July 2021. |
A.Roger, who expects to get paid US$ 60,000 a year. |
B.Mary, who is a US national and wants a part⁃time job. |
C.Adam, who intends to resign to look for a new job in August 2021. |
D.Lucy, who is an American and majored in Food Quality and Safety. |
A.As a food inspector, you just need to ensure your food is safe. |
B.Department of Agriculture recruits professionals passionate about a PHV career. |
C.DoDEA welcomes US citizens and nationals without prior teaching experience. |
D.NAHERC independently researches domestic animal disease outbreaks, threats, or natural disasters. |
7 . If you could change your children’s DNA in the future to protect them against diseases, would you? It could be possible because of technology known as CRISPR/Cas, or just CRISPR.
CRISPR involves a piece of RNA, a chemical messenger, designed to work on one part of DNA; it also uses an enzyme that can take unwanted genes out and put new ones in, according to The Economist. There are other ways of editing DNA, but CRISPR will do it very simply, quickly, and exactly.
The use of CRISPR could mean that cures are developed for everything from Alzheimer’s disease to cancer to AIDS. By allowing doctors to put just the right cancer⁃killing genes into a patient’s immune system, the technology could help greatly.
In April scientists in China said they had tried using CRISPR to edit the genomes (基因组) of human embryos. Though the embryos would never turn into humans, this was the first time anyone had ever tried to edit DNA from human beings. With this in mind, the US National Academy of Sciences plans to discuss questions about CRISPR’s ethics (伦理标准). For example, CRISPR doesn’t work properly yet. As well as cutting the DNA it is looking for, it often cuts other DNA, too. In addition, we currently seem to have too little understanding of what DNA gives people what qualities.
There are also moral questions. Of course, medicine already stops natural things from happening—for example, it saves people from infections. The opportunities to treat diseases make it hard to say we shouldn’t keep going.
A harder question is whether it is ever right to edit human cells and make changes that are passed on to children. This is banned in 40 countries and restricted in many others. However, CRISPR means that if genes can be edited out, they can also be edited back in. It may be up to us as a society to decide when and where editing the genome is wrong.
Also, according to The Economist, gene editing may mean that parents make choices that are not obviously in the best interests of their children: “Deaf parents may prefer their children to be deaf too; parents might want to make their children more intelligent at all costs.”
In the end, more research is still needed to see what we can and can’t do with CRISPR. “It’s still a huge mystery how we work,” Craig Mello, a UMass Chan Medical School biologist and Nobel Prize winner, told The Boston Globe. “We’re just trying to figure out this amazingly complicated thing we call life.”
1. According to the passage, what can we know about the technology of CRISPR?A.It is very safe because it only cuts the DNA it is looking for. |
B.It is banned in most countries and restricted in many others. |
C.It could cause parents to make unwise choices for their children. |
D.It could help us discover the link between DNA and the qualities it gives people. |
A.All diseases could probably be cured through the use of CRISPR. |
B.Scientists had never edited genomes before CRISPR was invented. |
C.CRISPR is a technology that uses an enzyme to work on RNA and DNA. |
D.CRISPR has proven to be the most effective way to protect children against diseases. |
A.Supportive. | B.Worried. | C.Negative. | D.Objective. |
A.What we can and can’t do with CRISPR. |
B.How CRISPR was developed by scientists. |
C.The advantages of CRISPR and arguments about its ethics. |
D.Scientists’ experiments of using CRISPR to edit human embryos. |
8 . Science fiction writers create an imaginary world. The way things work in your imaginary world will be based on actual science. So it’s important for you to be familiar with the scientific principles and inventions that are related to your creation. For example, if you’re writing about humans living on a planet with zero gravity, then you need to know the effects of zero gravity on the human body.
Then you have to figure out the exact rules of your imaginary world. And you have to follow them. If humans have evolved to breathe underwater in Chapter 1, your character can’t drown in a swimming pool in Chapter 3. If your robots write poetry but not fiction, then you can’t throw a novelist robot into Chapter 8. The issue here is maintaining your readers’ trust. That means the reader is willing to pretend along with you. If you start out with an ordinary detective novel and then throw in someone breathing underwater in the 6th chapter, your readers’ reaction might be, “What the hell!” The imaginative spell is broken. You’ve pulled the readers out of their imagination. The same thing happens if you change the rules halfway.
Part of your preparation work for the novel is to map out its world for yourself in great detail. Decide: the history of the world, the geography, what possibilities it offers, how everything works in the new reality, and how all of these factors affect the way your characters think, feel, and react to things. You don’t have to tell your readers all the rules in the first chapter. But you have to let your readers know enough to understand what’s going on. This also allows you to work out logical problems and contradictions before you start writing.
When you are writing, remember to make it feel real. You are inviting readers to visit a new world. They will want to be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste what it’s like. Whether your novel is about a world without disease or an undiscovered planet, help your readers feel like they’re actually there.
1. What’s the relationship between actual science and science fiction?A.Science fiction promotes the development of actual science. |
B.Science fiction often reflects the development of actual science. |
C.Actual science provides basic principles for science fiction. |
D.Actual science limits the imagination described in science fiction. |
A.By making comparisons. | B.By analysing causes. |
C.By following the time order. | D.By giving examples. |
A.Readers of science fiction actually pretend the writers’ rules are true. |
B.It is necessary to do some scientific experiments before writing science fiction. |
C.It is more difficult to write science fiction than ordinary detective novels. |
D.It is great to leave some contradictions in your science fiction. |
A.How to do scientific research. | B.How to write science fiction. |
C.What to expect from science fiction. | D.How to raise interest in science. |
9 . Binge-watching (刷剧) is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in a row. With developments in the speed and connectivity of the Internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows stream (流播) directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, binge-watching has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes, many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like” suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back (一集接一集地), almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and 25% have neglected their household chores (家务活). Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections — binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said, “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist (抗拒) watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless number of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning, then it becomes a problem. So, what’s the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?A.By giving a definition. | B.By telling a story. |
C.By listing some examples. | D.By analyzing the cause and effect. |
A.For convenience. | B.At the same time. |
C.In detail. | D.Free of charge. |
A.people can’t control their feelings | B.people can’t resist the temptation of Bingeing |
C.people have no patience to do work | D.people are addicted to waiting for a new episode |
A.To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
B.To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
C.To learn life lessons from the episodes. |
D.To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
10 . On the first day of my new high school, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Everything about the school seemed so difficult. When I got home, my parents said, “You’re nervous and that’s okay. Everyone is afraid of high school.” I denied it. I wanted to be strong, so I refused to let anyone know about my fear, even my closest friends.
On the first day I was late for every class and was constantly lost. The school seemed like a puzzle that I couldn’t figure out. Was this how the whole year was going to be? I didn’t think I could rise to this challenge, especially carrying a huge backpack that I could hardly lift. It was so big that I could knock someone out with it!
Despite my fears, after the first week I finally had my schedule figured out. With the exception of falling up and down the stairs a couple of times and getting laughed at, high school was turning out to be not so bad. It was actually much better than middle school and much more challenging. Since then, I’ve been elected (选举) the vice monitor of my class, which wasn’t much of a victory since only three people ran for the four positions.
It is normal to be scared of a new school. Take a deep breath and relax. High school is not so frightening. Make sure you participate in some outofclass activities because you’ll find it easier to make friends. Try to do your best, even if it isn’t straight A’s.
Most important of all, be who you are, whether you’re a“fool”, an athlete, or a lower grader. Don’t try to pretend to be someone you’re not. Now you know the secret of my success.
1. What is the main reason for the author’s fear on his first day in high school ?A.He was unable to work out the puzzle. |
B.His schoolmates were unfriendly to him. |
C.He was not familiar with the new surroundings. |
D.His schoolbag was too heavy for him to carry. |
A.He didn’t know the right way to class. |
B.He got to school before classes began. |
C.He was fond of the school immediately. |
D.His home was very far from the school. |
A.He was still not accustomed to the schedule. |
B.He was gradually used to the new school. |
C.He found high school not so challenging as he had imagined. |
D.He ran for monitor of his class against three other students. |
A.Making more friends. |
B.Being who he really is. |
C.Getting straight A’s at school. |
D.Joining in outofclass activities. |