1 . You may have noticed sudden, brief twitching (抽动) at some point while your dog was sleeping and wondered if he was dreaming or even expressing some type of discomfort.
These involuntary movements only occur during dream states and usually don’t last long. So is twitching just a normal part of dreaming, or are there times when you should worry?
Dogs sleep an average of 12-14 hours each day. While they sleep, a dog’s brain processes information and experiences from the day through dreams. Twitching is often related to active dream cycles in the brain.
According to research by psychologist Stanley Coren, an average-size dog will dream about every 20 minutes, and these dreams will last about a minute. Larger breeds have fewer dreams that last longer—about every 45 minutes for 4 minutes. The opposite is true for smaller breed dogs; they will dream about every 10 minutes for up to 30 seconds.
Dogs experience the same dream stages as humans, including non-rapid eye movement (NREM), short-wave sleep (SWS), and rapid eye movement (REM). During the REM state, a dog’s eyes move around behind their closed eyelids, and the large body muscles are turned off so the dream is not physically acted out. The amount of twitching depends on how much these off switches cramp (阻碍) muscle movement.
If your dog sleeps next to you, he may unintentionally disturb your sleep with his sudden body movements. However, it is often advised not to awaken a dog that is twitching in his sleep unless he is clearly uncomfortable.
A bad dream or night terror could be the cause of these involuntary movements, and they may wake up frightened. Try to avoid touching them so they don’t bite you as a result of being shocked and panicked. Instead, gently call your dog’s name until they respond. Speak calmly and tell them that they are safe and secure after they wake up. While they appear to be pretty active in their sleep, dreaming dogs may be slow to awaken.
1. Which of the following influences how often dogs dream?| A．Their sleeping time. | B．Their body size. |
| C．Their daily experiences. | D．Their health conditions. |
| A．willing. | B．careless. | C．unintentional. | D．delighted. |
| A．To avoid being bitten by the dog. | B．To ensure the dog adequate sleep. |
| C．To prevent the dog getting shocked. | D．To escape disturbance from the dog. |
| A．How dogs’ brain works. |
| B．Why dogs dream at night. |
| C．Why dogs twitch in their sleep. |
| D．How dogs’ twitch affects their sleep. |
2 . You’ve ordered a new pair of shoes online. They arrive; you rush to the front door and carry the box as you open it. You untie the laces, guide them toward your feet and they don’t fit.
So, back in the box they go and an hour later you drop them at the local collections store. It’s disappointing. The shoes have never been worn and they’ll be making their way to a new home soon. Right? Wrong.
What does happen to our goods when we order online and then return them? The reality is that much of it simply ends up in landfill (垃圾场). Each year, 5 billion pounds of waste is generated through returns in the world. In the US alone, customers return approximately 3.5 billion products, of which only 20% are actually faulty according to Optoro, a company which specializes in tackling the returns.
It turns out that returns create a real headache for companies. Many companies simply don’t have the technology to handle these faults in returned goods, so it is often most profitable for them to sell them cheaply to discounters via a web of shipping, driving and flying them around the globe, or to simply truck them to the dump.
Optoro’s software helps retailers (零售商) and manufacturers resell unsold goods more easily. They offer a number of options for retailers, including a website to resell their goods, called Blinq, as well as helping with re-routing goods to donation, store shelves, Amazon or eBay. They estimate their work helps reduce landfill waste by 70%.
Ann Starodaj, Senior Director of Sustainability at Optoro, says that while consumer habits might still be harmful, creating a profitable and environmentally friendly fashion model from start to finish is the way forward. “I don’t think people are going to stop buying stuff, but creating a business model where you’re making it easier for them to make sustainable choices is very important.”
1. What are the statistics in Paragraph 3 about?| A．Waste disposal. | B．Goods delivery. |
| C．Clothing fashion. | D．Waste returns. |
| A．Very little profit can be made. | B．Related technology is not available. |
| C．Goods are damaged on purpose. | D．No places can be found to bury them. |
| A．A difficult task. | B．A marketing plan. |
| C．A practical solution. | D．A producing process. |
| A．Returns are easy to deal with. |
| B．People should stop buying goods online. |
| C．Consumer habits bring about harmful results. |
| D．It is vital to create a sustainable business model. |
3 . To better adjust to the life of studying abroad in the UK, we should learn about the forms of teaching at UK universities in advance.
Lecture
Many students will attend classes at the same time. Professors will explain professional knowledge and recent academic developments. The duration of a class is 1 to 3 hours.
Seminars
Seminars (研讨会) are generally held after the lecture, once a week or every other week, ranging from 30 minutes to 1 hour. A seminar includes communication between students and supervisors (导师) . The purpose is to discuss and analyze real cases based on the theories learned in lectures.
Workshop
If you are studying a practical major (专业), such as engineering and artistic design, you will have workshops. The content of the workshop is usually to learn an auxiliary (辅助的)software, carry out a design in the school studio or do an experiment in the laboratory.
Field trips
Field trips are mainly aimed at students studying subjects like architecture and urban planning. For example, in the art appreciation major, professors usually take students to visit art galleries to experience the wonderful artworks up close, which is a much more vivid experience than just sitting in class.
1. How long may a seminar last?| A．20 minutes. | B．3 hours. | C．33 minutes. | D．30 hours. |
| A．Student majors in engineer. |
| B．Student majors in medicine. |
| C．Student majors in urban planning. |
| D．Student majors in art. |
| A．Teachers in the UK. |
| B．Students studying abroad in the UK. |
| C．Parents whose kids are in the UK. |
| D．Officers of the UK. |
4 . The Banaue Rice Terraces (梯田) in Ifugao Province in the Philippines offer a great sight. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is also rich in history and features how human creativity can produce amazing outcomes. Through hard work, the Ifugao native managed to survive by flattening the mountain’s surface layer by layer and using them as farmlands. This practice of more than two thousand years has put together a well-known wonder.
There are several rice terraces in the Ifugao region but the Banaue Rice Terraces are the most popular tourist spot. The photos of this area are often used in printed materials like textbooks magazines and postcards. After getting a good look at the rice terraces, I was reminded of the first time that I saw their pictures in our textbook during my elementary days. I already found them amusing as a kid and seeing their beauty as an adult got me more amazed.
The tourism officer told us that we were lucky to catch them in their greenest form. If you plan to visit this tourist spot as well, you should take note that we got there last June 1. You can also take into consideration that the rice planting cycle is typically 3 to 6 months.
Unlike the other terraces, the local government created a platform that makes it easy for everyone to get a closer look at the rice terraces. The platform has four stone statues that they refer to as rice protectors.
It’s sad that the younger generation of Ifugaos are slowly abandoning the rice terraces. According to tour guide Alvin, the part of the rice terraces where people can see thick bushes and trees were former rice fields. But the children who inherited (继承) those decided to give up farming and work in big cities instead. I hope that a new farming method with modern equipment will encourage the Ifugaos to continue their rice terraces farming tradition to protect this cultural treasure.
1. What can be learned about the Banaue RiceTerraces?| A．They are most known for their history. |
| B．They were made to mainly draw tourists. |
| C．The locals created them with great wisdom and effort. |
| D．Many mountains and lakes were turned into farmlands. |
| A．To show the Banaue Rice Terraces are really attractive. |
| B．To show Ifugao Province is heavily dependent on tourism. |
| C．To show the Banaue Rice Terraces are more suitable for kids to visit. |
| D．To show advertisements for the Banaue Rice Terraces spread rapidly. |
| A．Tell us some facts about rice planting. |
| B．Encourage more people to go to Ifugao. |
| C．Raise public awareness of local traditions. |
| D．Share the proper time to visit the Banaue Rice Terraces. |
| A．Worried. |
| B．Positive. |
| C．Confused. |
| D．Curious. |
5 . I was living in Delta in 2015. There was a man, Boniface, who owned a store which I’d often visited. Gradually we became friends. One day, we talked about the business opportunities in our country at that time, and during the communication, I found the most practical one was starting a barrow (手推车)rental business. Then we talked more on it, and both of us thought there was a strong possibility of succeeding. So we went into the business.
We started as a small business with 6 barrows. The barrow-men gave us 51 cents per day for renting the barrows. It seemed small but later grew and made our life better. But we didn’t stop there. That was because when we first started our business, our aim wasn’t only to make money. The most valuable thing for us is to touch others’ lives positively.
In Nigeria, being a barrow pusher is not a very attractive job. But for people who were poor farmers or young people without jobs, wheelbarrow pushing helps them make a living. It doesn’t require much skill. With hard work and vigor, a person can make money daily.
We saw the meaning of this business and then decided to spend money and resources on rebranding (重塑…的形象) barrows. We gave each barrow-man a branded T-shirt to show they belonged to a good brand. We also held small classes for them to educate them on how to make their barrows better transporters and how to be extra polite to people so as to build up a good fame. We marketed them as polite and excellent pushers to attract more customers. These methods worked. They started getting more jobs and earned more. And a number of them even saved up enough to start businesses of their own.
Today, that little business made us millionaires while hiring over 20 people and touching their lives positively. Over 20 families are fed because two Nigerians decided, despite all the difficulties, to do something.
1. What made the author start the barrow rental business?| A．Losing his job. |
| B．His discussion with a friend. |
| C．His family’s suggestion. |
| D．Being short of money. |
| A．Hiring more workers. |
| B．Improving people’s lives. |
| C．Cutting the company’s costs. |
| D．Making customers touched. |
| A．Energy. |
| B．Praise. |
| C．Creativity. |
| D．Education. |
| A．They sent the barrow-men to school. |
| B．They lent money to the barrow-men. |
| C．They taught the barrow-men to make clothes. |
| D．They turned the barrow-men into professional pushers. |
6 . The best paintings simply take your breath away. Here are some famous paintings you might be interested in.
Our Daily Bread
It was painted in 1886 by Anders Leonard Zorn from Sweden, which depicts (描绘) his mother cooking potatoes for the harvesters. The painting is from his private collection and honors his mother. He was in his mid-20s when he painted it to show how his mother tried hard to support him and the big family. The painting was later bought by National Museum in Stockholm.
Glow of Hope
It is also referred to as Woman with the Lamp. It’s a work of art by S. L. Haldankar. This painting was produced in 1945-46. Haldankar had the idea of painting it at an Indian festival Diwali, the festival of lights, when he saw his daughter in a beautiful Indian dress with a candle in one hand and her other hand protecting the flame from the wind.
Dog Lying in the Snow
This popular work was created in 1911 by a Germany-based artist, Franz Marc. The painting features Marc’s own Siberian Shepherd named Russi. The dog was lying comfortably in the white snow in January, near the village where he lived. The scene shows a creature in harmony with nature.
Portrait of Mari Clasen
It is one of the most famous oil paintings in the world. The Drammen, Norway-based artist Halfdan Johnsen Egedius painted it in 1895. He described the beauty of the Norwegian folk costume-bunad, worn by Mari Clasen, a pretty young woman from South Central Norway. The painting speaks a lot about the beauty and traditions of the country.
1. Why did Anders Leonard Zorn create Our Daily Bread?| A．To praise the local harvesters. |
| B．To describe people’s daily life in Sweden. |
| C．To express his thanks to his mom for her hard work. |
| D．To show the relationship between him and his mother. |
| A．His adventure in an Indian village. |
| B．A beautiful Indian dress he bought. |
| C．A scene of his daughter at an Indian festival. |
| D．The candle business during an Indian festival. |
| A．Glow of Hope. |
| B．Our Daily Bread. |
| C．Dog Lying in the Snow. |
| D．Portrait of Mari Clasen. |
7 . As we enjoy the summer ocean waves along the beaches, we may think about Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and the great fear that sharks inspire in us.
Yet we are happy to see global efforts to protect the declining number of sharks. The world has realized that we need the species, like sharks, to keep a balanced ecosystem. Sharks, in particular, are “in” these days. Thanks to good public policy, killing sharks for fin soup is no longer cool.
The demand for shark fins has been rising for decades, threatening sharks to die out, up to 100 million sharks are killed each year just for their fins. But we have started to reverse the trend, particularly in many areas of the United States and overseas where restaurants once proudly provided delicious shark fins on the menu.
In California, a ban on the sale and possession of shark fin soup has gone into effect this year through the efforts of Wild Aid and other organizations. Overseas marketing and public efforts featuring posters on public transportation systems and TV ads have been underway for the past few years. These efforts all show signs of success, on both the supply side and the demand side of trade in shark fins.
Actually, stopping the killing of sharks is part of a broader movement to stop the killing of wild 019V UDITIS animals and the buying and selling of wildlife products. These products come from hunting elephants, tigers and rhinos, besides killing marine life. Whether it is shark fin soup or ivory piano keys killing animals is big business. Thus, together with international partners, the United States is leading the worldwide effort to reduce demand for high-end products that rely on killing animals.
1. What’s the main reason for killing sharks?| A．Shark fins are in great need. |
| B．Killing sharks is a great experience. |
| C．Sharks always make people so afraid. |
| D．Sharks break the balance of ecosystem. |
| A．protect. | B．maintain. | C．increase. | D．change. |
| A．Setting some larger areas aside for reserves. |
| B．Transporting endangered animals to safe places |
| C．Stopping selling and purchasing animals products. |
| D．Promoting the importance of animals in public media. |
| A．The profits coming from sharks. |
| B．The real reason for sharks’ disappearance. |
| C．The efforts to protect sharks. |
| D．The impact of the declining number of sharks. |
8 . Why did humans evolve to walk upright? Perhaps because it’s just plain easier. Make that “energetically less costly,” in science-speak.
Bipedalism — walking on two feet — is one of the defining characteristics of being human, and scientists have debated for years how it came about. In the latest attempt to find an explanation, researchers trained five chimpanzees to walk on treadmill while wearing masks that allowed measurement of their oxygen consumption. The chimps were measured both while walking upright and while moving on their legs and knuckles. That measurement of the energy needed to move round was compared with similar tests on humans and the results are published in this week’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It turns out that humans walking on two legs use only one quarter of the energy that chimpanzees use while knuckle-walking on four limbs. And the chimps, on average, use as much energy using two legs as they did when they used all four limbs.
However, there were differences among chimpanzees in how much energy they used, and this difference corresponded to their different gaits and anatomy. One of the chimps used less energy on two legs, one used about the same and the others used more, said David Raichlen, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona.
“What we were surprised at was the variation,” he said in telephone interview. “That was pretty exciting, because when you talk about how evolution works, variation is the bottom line, without variation there is no evolution.”
Walking, on two legs freed our arms, opening the door to manipulating the world, Raichlen said. “We think about the evolution of bipedalism as one of first events that led hominids down the path to being human.”
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the L. S. B. Leakey Foundation.
1. The underlined word “Bipedalism” means .| A．moving sideways | B．walking upright |
| C．walking on four legs | D．running fast |
| A．Masks protect chimpanzees from any harm. |
| B．Masks help chimpanzees walk steadily. |
| C．There was heavy smoke in the room. |
| D．Masks helped to measure how much oxygen chimpanzees consumed. |
| A．have no idea on how human walking on two legs came about |
| B．have had different views on why chimpanzees walk on four legs |
| C．have had different views on how human walking on two legs came about |
| D．have had similar views on how human walking on two legs came about |
| A．How did chimpanzees save energy? | B．Why didn’t chimpanzees walk on two legs? |
| C．David Raichlen researched into chimpanzees. | D．Different chimpanzees consume different energy. |
| A．conserve energy | B．differ from other animals |
| C．free their brains | D．strengthen their legs |
9 . Sometimes, we need a little help and get back to a state of mindfulness when it comes to taking care of our physical and mental health. Wellness vacations are on the rise.
■ Ketanga FitnessWhen: April 6 — 10
Where: Phoenix, Arizona
What: Sweat it out surrounded by the red rocks of Arizona’s desert. P.E. Club owner Nedra
Lopez leads a mixture of high and low intensity workouts in the mornings and evenings. During breaks, guests will have plenty of time to explore the desert. After your last workout class, you can hit the town for dinner and drinks.
■ Rksolid Retreat
When: April 15 — 22
Where: Oahu, Hawaii
What: What better excuses to relax yourself in Hawaii than a retreat led by Barry’s Bootcamp star Rebecca Kennedy? During your week-long journey to Oahu, you’ll surf, climb waterfalls, and hike the Stairway to Heaven trail. In between all those workouts, Kennedy creates a special stretch and recovery class so you won’t skip a beat next day.
■ Wellness Immersion
When: August
Where: Amanbagh, India
What: The Amanbagh hotel offers 4-21 day programs focusing on immersion courses that focus on relieving stress from people’s body. Activities include hikes overlooking beautiful gorges, yoga and meditation sessions, and meals made with organic, locally harvested produce.
■ Mile High Run Club
When: August 18 — 28
Where: Reykjavik, Iceland
What: After landing in Reykjavik, runners can work towards their best time in the annual marathon, half marathon, or 10K. After a race, you’ll soothe your muscles in the geothermal Blue Lagoon spa and hit the ground running again with guided runs through Thorsmork National Park. Do we even have to mention Skaftafell’s crazy glacier views?
1. Which vacation will you choose if you want to visit desert?
| A．Rksolid Retreat. | B．Ketanga Fitness. |
| C．Wellness Immersion. | D．Mile High Run Club. |
| A．Go surfing. | B．Climb waterfalls. |
| C．Hike the Stairway to Heaven trail. | D．Attend a special stretch and recovery class. |
| A．enjoy a free hotel stay and service | B．visit Thorsmork National Park |
| C．taste food made by local organic produce | D．relax muscles in a geothermal spa |
| A．Men are the target vacationers. | B．They are combinations of wellness and scenery. |
| C．Courses and classes are arranged during them. | D．They are available all year round. |
| A．To promote marathon events. | B．To attract more tourists to America. |
| C．To advertise some P.E. clubs. | D．To introduce some wellness vacations. |
10 . Kairo McLean was waiting for his mom to pick him up from school. She arrived with the car windows down, playing Kairo's song Easy Now as loud as the sound could go. That was when she informed him that he was nominated (提名)for the Juno Awards, one of Canada's most influential music awards, for Reggae Recording of the Year. At age 13, Kairo was the youngest artist ever nominated for Reggae Recording of the Year at the JUNOS. His Juno- nominated single Easy Now appears on his first-ever album(歌曲专辑)of the same title.
“I’m so glad that reggae music, which is originally from Jamaica(牙买加), is being rec- ognized and appreciated here in Canada, ”Kairo said in an interview. “It's really exciting that all my efforts have been recognized in spite of my young age, and it motivates me to keep struggling hard to realize my musical dream, ”he said.
“Kairo would try to play the keyboard before he was tall enough to reach it. He wanted to learn how to play the guitar before it could even fit on his lap, ”Kairo's mom recalled. “Listening to music from reggae music artists like Cocoa Tea, Yellowman and Bob Marley is a normal thing in our household. Apart from that, he really put many efforts in his interest, ” she added.
As a Canadian reggae artist outside of Jamaica, Kairo feels that music should spread a message about love and peace, not things like violence and hate. Kairo’s music is about bright light in the world, though we might be always caught in the darkness such as bullies(仗势欺人者)at school or crime in the society. “I bring up the injustices that I see in the world and I talk about them because they need to be spoken about and they need to be heard, ”said Kairo.
1. What was Kairo MeLean told in the first paragraph?| A．His first album came out successfully. |
| B．He was invited to receive Juno Awards. |
| C．He was likely to win a musical award. |
| D．His music was recognized in Jamaica. |
| A．Calm. | B．Nervous. | C．Frightened. | D．Encouraged. |
| A．His gift mattered more than his efforts. |
| B．He showed his love for music as a child. |
| C．He could play various musical instruments. |
| D．His family didn't support his musical dream. |
| A．Spreading positive messages. | B．Focusing on school bullying. |
| C．Introducing Jamaican cultures. | D．Describing his own life stories |
