1 . In the August sun, it’s unbearably hot in my car. I’m in Vancouver, approaching the Knight Street Bridge as I try to get home after work. It’s 5:15 pm. Traffic is already slowing down and then it comes to a full stop. I’m stuck even before getting on the bridge.
This has become my normal work commute (上下班往返) routine. Ahead of me is a heavily jammed on-ramp (匝道). I stare at the endless rows of vehicles, depressed.
My initial reaction is always denial. This is not how it looks. The traffic will soon start moving. Seconds pass. Minutes pass. Looking at the rows of cars and trucks glittering (闪光) in the sun, I start counting — 299, 300, 301 — and I give up.
Suddenly I remember I’m one of the 300 helpless drivers. But I stay alert. When the cars do move, I move carefully, making sure not to bump into other vehicles. Finally, I make it onto the bridge. The traffic is still crawling at a snail’s pace. Tired and hungry, I become very anxious.
Just then, I hear a faint sound in the distance. The sound gradually becomes louder, until I can identify it as an emergency vehicle approaching from behind. What do we do? The bridge is packed. There’s no room for us to move.
But I’m wrong. Every single car quickly, yet carefully, moves to the side. Without thinking, I follow suit. The lane remains open for a few seconds during which the ambulance flashes through.
Afterward, every car moves back into formation (队形). We close up the emergency lane, ready to restart our patient wait. Back in my spot, I’m awestruck. I forget my tiredness and hunger. My anxiety is gone. I start reflecting upon what 300 fellow drivers and I just did.
How did we do that? Despite our exhaustion, we collectively decided to help the stranger who needed the time more desperately than we did. We drew on our compassion (同情心) and intelligence, requiring no directives.
Although I may seem alone stuck on the bridge, I’m connected to all the other drivers. Together we could make the impossible possible.
1. How does the author feel when seeing the on-ramp?| A．Annoyed. | B．Shocked. |
| C．Calm. | D．Discouraged. |
| A．All drivers will be willing to move. | B．Someone should direct the traffic. |
| C．It will be hard for it to pass through. | D．Whoever is inside needs immediate help. |
| A．Deeply doubtful. | B．Filled with admiration. |
| C．Extremely confused. | D．Feeling distracted. |
| A．People’s kindness. | B．Instructions from a stranger. |
| C．The drivers’ good driving skills. | D．The drivers’ positive mindset. |
2 . A fourth color might be added to traffic lights to better realize the potential of self-driving vehicles, as stated in a recent paper by researchers at North Carolina State University in the US.
Autonomous vehicles can do more than just drive-they are able to sense their surroundings and upload information. A shared network gives orders to stop at a crossing based on traffic conditions.
The added white lights would be used to signal to human drivers that autonomous vehicles are managing the upcoming traffic flow intelligently. Drivers don’t have to check the traditional lights if the white one is on. “The white lights will tell human drivers to simply follow the car in front of them,” one of the study authors Ali Hajbabaie told the university’s website.
Simulated (模拟的) models showed that autonomous vehicles were able to improve traffic flow on their own. Introducing the white light also has a positive effect on reducing fuel consumption. The higher the percentage of autonomous vehicles at a crossing, the faster the traffic moves, reducing about 40 to 99 percent of the total delay time.
What kind of infrastructure (基础设施) is needed as self-driving technology thrives? In an interview with China Surveying and Mapping magazine, Liu Jingnan at the Chinese Academy of Engineering shared his answers.
To begin with, the vehicle’s network that collects data about the environment and shares the data with other vehicles needs to be intelligent. High-precision maps are needed for autonomous vehicles to plan routes in detail. They can provide both updated information on traditional maps and real-time changes, such as accidents.
For example, when driving around a curve, the navigation (导航) system in the vehicle needs to calculate the safe speed based on the map’s information. And if the area is foggy, the network has to alarm the other cars to slow down.
Other elements on the road need to be upgraded too. For example, road markings should be precise and readable for machines. Sensors should be built on sidewalks and roads to allow vehicles to predict potentially dangerous situations.
1. What is the purpose of adding a white light to traffic lights?| A．To signal to self-driving cars when to stop. |
| B．To help driverless cars assess traffic conditions. |
| C．To tell human drivers to go after the cars in front. |
| D．To signal to human drivers to pass the cars ahead. |
| A．Increased road safety. | B．Reduced fuel efficiency. |
| C．Less time stuck in traffic. | D．Unpredictable traffic patterns. |
| A．To calculate a safe speed for vehicles. | B．To provide real-time weather updates. |
| C．To plan routes for autonomous vehicles. | D．To offer real-time data on road conditions. |
| A．The advantages of autonomous vehicles. |
| B．The role of the navigation system in self-driving cars. |
| C．The application of the infrastructure in self-driving cars. |
| D．The efficiency of self-driving cars handling emergencies. |
3 . You don’t have to brave the crowds at the Tidal Basin to enjoy the glories of cherry blossom (樱花), which always runs for one month. The delicate pink and white blooms decorate the district. Washington-based nonprofit Casey Trees has a detailed map of where to find them.
Using the map’s explanation, you can check out a neighborhood’s list of trees. The map is color-coded by a variety of cherry blossom, and there are several: Yoshino, Okame, Oshi-ma, and Sour Cherry, just to name a few.
Michaila Musman, the Geographic Information Systems manager at Casey Trees，suggests tracking down the Sargent Cherry, which develops pinkish white blossoms and is called the “cream” of flowering cherries by the Arbor Day Foundation. “They can also support bird species around the city, which is a wonderful bonus.” says Musman.
The map is an annual tradition at Casey Trees. The organization plans to use it to help protect Washington’s trees. To build the map, staff and volunteers walked into the city’s parks to identify and measure every tree they came across. “We can do better advocacy and tree protection if we know what our trees across the city look like.” said Musman.
Other data points for the map come from DDOT’s Urban Forestry Division and from cherry trees that Casey Trees has planted. Most of the trees on the map are located on public land. So if your yard or your neighbor’s yard is the proud home of a cherry tree, it may not appear (considering it as your own secret garden).
And if you miss the cherries this time around, the organization also maintains a separate map of all the flowering trees in the city. Musman recommends checking out the Eastern Red bud. “They are native to this area and they have very beautiful blossoms.” she says, “It seems as though they came right out of a Dr. Seuss’ book.”
1. What can the map be used to do?| A．Research bird species. | B．Decorate some districts. |
| C．Locate cherry blossom. | D．Identify the type of flowers. |
| A．To know the city better. | B．To protect the local trees. |
| C．To build the city’s parks. | D．To use public land efficiently. |
| A．The map comes out of a Dr. Seuss’ book. |
| B．The map is the only product of Casey Trees. |
| C．Casey Trees has planted many trees across the USA. |
| D．Casey Trees takes individual privacy into consideration. |
| A．Casey Trees likes cherry blossom | B．Casey Trees will introduce a new map |
| C．You should protect the city’s cherry trees | D．You needn’t bother to find cherry blossom |
4 . The study of joint attention (the interaction between the parents and the baby) between a baby and the caregiver revealed that greater joint attention generates greater language development in the child.
A camera was used by Yu and Smith to record the caregiver’s and the baby’s actions. The caregiver talked to the baby about the object the child chose to hold. This study was used to understand if both participants’ gaze mattered when joint attention was happening.
Several years later, Yu and Smith modified their study with Jeffrey to see if the time when the caregiver said the name mattered when the baby was learning words. Having several objects laid out before him, a child chose one and the caregiver would name and talk about the thing. By doing so. that child would develop a greater understanding of objects and their names because the child was hearing and seeing at the same time. This social interconnection led to a greater understanding of words’ meaning, creating a stronger foundation for vocabulary development later in the child’s life.
In contrast, Mundy and Gomes wrote an article that considered whether a child’s individual differences affected the skill of joint attention. Their study had groups of babies go through a series of tests and then made a follow-up visit sixteen weeks later. Each test examined the stability of joint attention and other nonverbal communication measures.
Mundy and Gomes wanted to see if there were differences in receptive and expressive language that would contribute to a child’s individual differences. It was gathered that the aspects (child’s gender. mother’s education level. household income)were not significantly associated with the language or nonverbal communication. By showing that individual factors had no impact on the child’s language development, the testers included that children learn language in a similar manner.
1. What does the author think of the effect joint attention has on language development?| A．It’s important. | B．It’s temporary. | C．It’s slight. | D．It’s uncertain. |
| A．The babies were at the same age. | B．They both needed the babies to choose an object. |
| C．The researchers in both studies were the same. | D．The caregivers knew little about the objects’ names. |
| A．The caregivers’ education level. | B．The patterns of language development. |
| C．The meanings of verbal communication. | D．The children’s individual differences. |
| A．Literature. | B．Science. | C．Economy. | D．Fashion. |
5 . Edward Davis was a professor who worked on ocean research. However, bored with writing death records of ocean species, he quit his job in 2007. Rather than spend any more of his life recording the dying. Edward decided to try to protect the living creatures in the few remaining areas of the ocean.
These areas are the last wild places of the sea still undamaged by overfishing, pollution and climate change. “It is necessary for us to go to places that still look like the ocean as it was 500 years ago.” Edward says. “These areas, like Palau, are the examples of sustainable (可持续的) development. Maybe we can’t bring all of the ocean back to this state, but these places show us what the potential is.” Beneath the surface of a stormy sea off Palau in the western Pacific live various lively corals. The tiny island nation has protected 80 percent of its waters as a no-fishing area—the largest percentage of protected ocean area in the world. The remaining 20 percent can be fished only by Palauans.
To protect these places, Edward and his team started a project on ocean protection in 2008. Over the past years, the project has helped create 22 ocean reserves. These make up two-thirds of the world’s fully protected ocean areas. Now Edward and his team have set an even bigger goal—to protect more than a third of the world’s oceans for the purpose of keeping biological diversity.
For Edward, one of the most satisfying aspects of his job is working with local communities in the places he and his team are seeking to protect. The team worked closely with about 50 local people on the island. “We showed them an underwater world they had never seen,” Edward recalls. “Huge schools of fish will surely swim in some of the clearest waters ever measured in the Pacific.”
1. Why did Edward quit his previous job?| A．To record the dying. | B．To increase land species. |
| C．To protect the sea creatures. | D．To write a book on sea protection. |
| A．20 percent of it is covered by the sea. |
| B．It is an area open to fishermen worldwide. |
| C．It is an example of sustainable development. |
| D．The surface of it is destroyed by water pollution. |
| A．Edward’s project. | B．Edward’s team members. |
| C．The ways of keeping biodiversity. | D．The ways of creating ocean reserves. |
| A．Stressed. | B．Positive. |
| C．Curious. | D．Confused. |
6 . Exploring the Azores Islands in Portugal
Cost(£ 2.999)
Highlights
●The exceptional seabird watching at night
●Talks on land and at sea by a local biologist
●A whale-watching activity guided by an expert
Description
You can explore and learn about wildlife through some talks. You can also get an opportunity to watch the whales at the surface and listen to their sounds as they go into the water. On land, you will visit a seabird habitat and discover the attractive villages on these islands. Besides, you can study the islands’ earth and learn how it supports the unique grape planting.
Attention
●Upon arrival on Faial Island, you will check into a four-star hotel in Horta.
●Depending on your arrival time. you may have some free time to explore the small town that dates back to the 15th century and has many historic buildings.
●Your tour leader will hold a short welcome meeting in the early evening to go through the plans for the week, and then a biologist will give the first of three talks before joining you for dinner.
●During the tour, the biologist will give a brief introduction to the whale species that you will be viewing.
Just click here instead of calling or emailing us to book your tour.
1. What do we know about the tour?| A．It is free of charge. |
| B．It is in support of foreign biologists. |
| C．It offers bird feeding during the day. |
| D．It offers an expert guide during the whale viewing. |
| A．Explore old cities. | B．Plant unique grapes. |
| C．Listen to the talks on wildlife. | D．Spend a night in a villager’s house. |
| A．By entering the website. | B．By sending an email. |
| C．By contacting the biologist. | D．By making a telephone call. |
7 . The first traffic lights in the United States were installed (安装) because of an increase in traveller on the road in the 1920s. Worried about accidents, towns and cities built traffic towers to help the flow of cars. Officers manned the towers, using whistles and red, green and yellow lights to indicate to drivers when they should stop and go.
Due to the absence of effective traffic signal systems on some streets, it caused risks at corssroads. Then, William Potts created the first tricolour, four-directional traffic signal. The very first four-directional traffic light was installed at Woodward Avenue and Fort. But throughout the country, there were still a lot of systems for traffic lights and patterns in place. Since this could end up causing more problems for drivers, the Federal Highway Administration set uniform standards in 1935 for all road signs, pavement markings and traffic signals, requiring them to all use red, yellow and green light indicators.
Red is the colour with the longest wavelength, which means that as it travels through air molecules, it gets diffused (扩散) less than other colour, so it can be seen from a greater distance. Yellow has a shorter wavelength than red but a longer wavelength than green. This means that red is visible the furthest away, yellow in the middle and green the least distance away — a helpful advanced warning for needing to slow or stop. But this could be a coincidence. Red meaning stop originated with train warning lights, and it’s not clear whether that was chosen based on wavelength, contrast against green nature or natural association of red with things like blood. It could be a combination of all three!
Back in the 1900s, some stop signs were yellow because it was too hard to see a red sign in a poorly lit area. Eventually, highly reflective materials were developed, and red stop signs were born. Since yellow can be seen well at all times of the day, school zones, some traffic signs and school buses continue to be painted the colour.
1. What’s the purpose of installing traffic lights in the 1920s?| A．To increase the speed of cars. |
| B．To improve the flow of the traffic. |
| C．To reduce traffic jams in towns and cities. |
| D．To obey the standards of the government. |
| A．The absence of traffic signal systems. |
| B．The installation of the first traffic signal. |
| C．The first tricolour, four-directional traffic signal. |
| D．The existence of different traffic lights and patterns. |
| A．The wavelength of the three colour. |
| B．The differences among the three colour. |
| C．The reasons for choosing red as the stop signal. |
| D．The relationship between red colour and its wavelength. |
| A．It can’t be seen in the distance. |
| B．It is a kind of highly reflective colour. |
| C．It is not suitable to be used in school zones. |
| D．It can not be clearly seen in certain surroundings. |
8 . From the back seat of a rental car, 2-year-old Hagen repeatedly asked his parents the same question: “Where’s Buzz?” Ashley Davis realized she had left her son’s favorite Buzz Lightyear action figure on the plane. She calmly explained to her son that Buzz was on a “special mission” and would return to him shortly. In fact, she was planning to purchase a replacement toy at a nearby store. Little did Davis know that Buzz was, in fact, on a special mission and would soon be back.
Jason William Hamm, an operations agent at Southwest Airlines, discovered the toy in the plane. He noticed the name Hagen on the bottom of Buzz’s boot. “I was thinking about how this little boy is missing his little buddy, ” Hamm said. Once he tracked down Hagen’s boarding record, he sent an email to the family, asking for the address.
While waiting for a response, Hamm got creative. He took photos of Buzz in front of an airplane, an engine and even a cockpit (驾驶员座舱). And he didn’t stop there. Hamm wrote a letter to Hagen, complete with a Buzz Lightyear logo.
“To Commander Hagen,” the letter reads. “I am very excited to return to you upon completing my mission. I was able to explore the airport and spaceport in Little Rock, Arkansas while I was away, and I have included photos of my adventure. My journey has taught me a lot but I am so thankful to return to my buddy.” Once hearing back from the Davis family, Hamm printed out the photos he took, bubble-wrapped Buzz, and put in the handwritten letter. Then he decorated the outside of the cardboard box with a drawing of Buzz Lightyear, stars and planets.
Upon opening the package, Davis was speechless. “You could see all the love he put into it,” she said. Hagen was extremely surprised. His excitement was caught on camera, and the couple sent a video of his reaction to Hamm. “Seeing the boy’s smile made it all worth it,” Hamm said.
1. What happened to Hagen’s toy?| A．It was missing accidentally. |
| B．It didn’t get aboard the plane. |
| C．It got replaced at a nearby store. |
| D．It was assigned a special mission. |
| A．He made a phone call to its owner. |
| B．He turned to the airport staff for help. |
| C．He traced the information about its owner. |
| D．He took photos of it and posted them online. |
| A．To surprise Hagen with an interesting story. |
| B．To convince Hagen that the toy is humanlike. |
| C．To share his adventurous experience with Hagen. |
| D．To show the toy’s strong attachment to its owner. |
| A．Creative. |
| B．Caring. |
| C．Heroic. |
| D．Charitable. |
9 . We bought a Shamrock trailer (房车) in the fall of 2019 in anticipation (期待) of our three-month journey to Baja, Mexico. The camper (露营车) would be home base for all the fun and adventure our family, myself, my husband and our three teenagers, would have all the way.
It took three days to drive from Calgary to Las Vegas and the temperature went from negative 30 to 15 °F-a miracle! But by the time we made it to San Diego, California, we had visited two RV mechanics to fix water leaking from the water tank and a bed heater blowing up. Thankfully, while we waited for repairs, we could listen to waves lapping on the shore.
Eventually, we crossed the border into Mexico at Tijuana and pushed our way down the shore coast. While we swam, ate Mexican food and watched sunsets, the Shamrock kept throwing us surprises. We all learned to savor (尽情享受) the good moments while dealing with the bad.
Driving through Utah, our truck began making noises. The truck’s engine had completely broken, and we needed a new one. We holed up (躲) in St. George, Utah, to wait for repairs. One evening, we were heating up dinner when the oven let out a big WHUMP! The whole camper shook.
After a few weeks, we left our truck in Utah—the engine repair wasn’t going too well—and drove home to Calgary. There could not have been five travelers so happy to stay in their house for two weeks.
Eventually, we hired someone to drive our truck and the Shamrock to Calgary, but he arrived with just the truck. The camper was causing problems, and the keys got lost, so it was left in Idaho. It’s still there; we recently marked its one-and-a-half-year anniversary of storage.
This brings me to the point of this essay: For Sale: A lively 30-foot Shamrock camper. Keeps you on your toes! Sleeps five. $9,000. Pick-up is somewhere in Idaho. Bring some tools to break into it.
1. What can we learn about the author’s self-driving tour?| A．The tour lasted for about one month. |
| B．They drove a Shamrock all the way during the tour. |
| C．Their truck stopped working when they arrived at San Diego. |
| D．They enjoyed the tour despite some unexpected problems. |
| A．Breakdowns. | B．Beautiful scenery. |
| C．Amazing functions. | D．Quality after-sales service. |
| A．Unhappy. | B．Serious. | C．Amusing. | D．Exciting. |
| A．To suggest the places to travel. |
| B．To advertise her Shamerock camper. |
| C．To record the happy moments in life. |
| D．To complain about her campers. |
10 . Pinochio may be just a children’s story, but Spanish scientists at the University of Granada recently investigated the so-called “Pinocchio effect” and found that our noses don’t grow longer when we tell a lie, but actually get a little bit smaller.
Dr. Gomez Milan and his team developed a lie detector test that used thermal (热成像的) cameras to tell if people were lying, and found that whenever participants in their research were being untruthful, the temperature of their nose dropped up to 1.2℃, while the temperature of their forehead increased up to 1.5℃. They also found that drop in temperature at nose level actually caused it to become slightly smaller, although the difference could not be seen by the human eye. “One has to think in order to lie, which raises the temperature of the forehead,” Dr. Gomez Milan explained the findings. “At the same time we feel anxious, which lowers the temperature of the nose.”
For this study, researchers asked a number of 60 students to perform various tasks while being scanned by thermal cameras. One of these tasks involved making a 3-to-4-minute call to their parents, partners or friends and telling an important lie. Participants had to make up the lie themselves during the call, and the thermal cameras picked up this “opposite Pinochio effect” caused by the changes in temperature in the nose and forehead.
Interestingly, the thermal lie detector picked up the temperature difference in 80 percent of test participants, which is a better rate of success than that of any modern lie detector used by the police. “With this method we have increased accuracy (精确) and reduce the chances of ‘false positives’, something that is frequent with other methods,” said Dr. Gomez Milan, who added that police could one day combine other lie detection technology with their technology to achieve better results.
1. Why did the temperature of the participants’ foreheads go up during the test?| A．They felt ashamed. | B．They got embarrassed. |
| C．They were scared. | D．They had to think hard. |
| A．The nose becomes smaller. | B．The nose gets longer. |
| C．The temperature gets higher. | D．The temperature remains the same. |
| A．The thermal lie detector may assist the police. |
| B．The thermal lie detector has proven a popular one. |
| C．Researchers conducted the study by interviewing. |
| D．Researchers designed different lies for participants. |
| A．“False positive” can be reduced by using cameras. |
| B．The thermal lie detector is more accurate than other detectors. |
| C．The temperature difference can’t be identified by modern lie detectors. |
| D．Thermal imaging has been combined with other lie detection technology. |
