1 . A group of highly established alumni(校友) got together to visit their old university professor.The conversation among them soon turned into
The professor went to his kitchen and
After all the students had a cup of coffee in their hands, the professor said, “Did you
“
“Let’s consider that life is the coffee and the jobs, houses, cars, money and position in
Sometimes we
| A．plans | B．complaints | C．troubles | D．cares |
| A．cooked | B．supplied | C．returned | D．passed |
| A．cups | B．plates | C．bowls | D．tables |
| A．thus | B．while | C．or | D．so |
| A．myself | B．yourself | C．himself | D．themselves |
| A．found | B．fear | C．notice | D．suggest |
| A．picked up | B．got away | C．left behind | D．taken away |
| A．normal | B．clear | C．simple | D．essential |
| A．mystery | B．key | C．effect | D．source |
| A．donates | B．offers | C．provides | D．adds |
| A．times | B．careers | C．houses | D．cases |
| A．When | B．That | C．Which | D．What |
| A．consciously | B．rarely | C．passively | D．surprisingly |
| A．staring | B．measuring | C．eyeing | D．changing |
| A．school | B．dream | C．thought | D．society |
| A．correct | B．bring | C．change | D．record |
| A．accept | B．fail | C．try | D．promise |
| A．perfect | B．natural | C．real | D．important |
| A．across | B．through | C．beyond | D．by |
| A．stays | B．puts | C．gets | D．lies |
2 . No one knows for sure when advertising first started. It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them. That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job.
Let’s take a man we’ll call Mr. Fielder, for example. He did everything connected with farming. He planted seeds, tended the fields, and harvested and sold his crops. At the same time, he did many other jobs on the farm. However, he didn’t make the bricks for his house, grind the wheat for his flour, or cut his trees into boards. He also did not make the plows (犁), the work boots, or any of the other hundreds of things a farm needs. Instead, he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things.
Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright. Using what he knew about farming and working with iron, Mr. Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier. Mr. Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good plows. Perhaps, he thought, other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows.
How did Mr. Plowright let people know what he was doing? Why, he advertised, of course. First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers. That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door. It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr. Plowright and his really good plows.
Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago. Even before most people could read, they understood such signs. Shopkeepers would carve into stone, clay, or wood symbols for the products they had for sale.
A medium, in advertising talk, is the way you communicate your message. You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound, although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today. Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people’s attention.
A crier, in the historical sense, is not someone who weeps easily. It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products. Often this primitive form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods. Perhaps the crier described the goods, explained where they came from, and praised their quality. His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today’s world.
1. What probably led to the start of advertisement?| A．The discovery of iron. | B．The appearance of new jobs. |
| C．The specialization of labor. | D．The development of farming techniques. |
| A．predict the future of advertising | B．explain the origin of advertising |
| C．expose problems in advertising | D．provide suggestions for advertising |
| A．functioned like today’s TV or radio commercial | B．had the loudest voice |
| C．ran a shop selling goods to farmers | D．owned a ship |
| A．the history of advertising | B．the benefits of advertising |
| C．the basic design of advertising | D．the early forms of advertising |
3 . Nobody laughed when the UK comedy show Little Britain toured the US. Americans didn’t find the “British stereotypes(刻板印象)”funny. One character was a woman who was sick whenever she saw a foreigner.Another was a loud and rude 15-year-old girl cursing(骂)at her teachers.But back home,British people were laughing,thinking,“Yes!That’s exactly what we’re like!”
A laugh is a laugh in any language,but the reasons for it can be very different.Britons and Americans speak the same language,but humor does not always translate.
Take The Office as an example.This was originally a UK TV series but it was changed for the US.Both the US and UK series are set in a boring workplace in a boring town.But David Brent,the boss of the UK office,is not a nice guy like Michael Scott in the US version. “We had to make Michael Scott a slightly nicer guy,”wrote series creator Ricky Gervais.“He couldn’t be too mean.”
Gervais said British people are different from Americans because“Britons cruelly make fun of people we like or dislike…and of ourselves”. He believes the differences between the American and British senses of humor are because of“our upbringing”.
“Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States,”he wrote.“Britons are told,‘It won’t happen for you’.”
Things usually turn out fine at the end of every US Office episode(集). Even if they’re not perfect, the characters “learn a lesson” for the future.
But in David Brent’s office—and in lots of UK comedies—the last scene is often sad. You are often left with the feeling that things just couldn’t get worse. For British people, this seems truer to life and so much funnier.
It’s not just Britain and the US that have comic differences. Few foreigners would understand a Chinese cross-talk show,for example.
Cultural differences are no laughing matter. But comic differences can be a window into a culture.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To show that British humor is not funny at all. |
| B．To show that American people don't understand British people. |
| C．To show that Britain and America have different stereotypes. |
| D．To show how humor may mean different things in different cultures. |
| A．Unkind. | B．Great. | C．Average. | D．Ugly-looking. |
| A．David Brent is quite a nice guy. |
| B．Michael Scott is a rather mean guy. |
| C．Episodes in the UK version often end on a hopeless note. |
| D．Episodes in the US version often end in a boring way. |
| A．Britons do not like to make fun of others. |
| B．British comedy often has a moral message. |
| C．American people are brought up to be more positive. |
| D．Jokes are difficult to translate from one language into another. |
| A．They are slight differences that can be ignored. | B．They can partly show cultural differences. |
| C．They show stereotypes of different cultures. | D．They help people communicate with each other. |
4 . To learn to think is to learn to question. Those who don't question never truly think for themselves. These are simple rules that have governed the advancement of science and human thought since the beginning of time. Advancements are made when thinkers question theories and introduce new ones. Unfortunately, it is often the great and respected thinkers who end up slowing the progress of human thought. Aristotle was a brilliant philosopher whose theories explained much of the natural world, often incorrectly. He was so esteemed by the scientific community that even 1，200 years after his death, scientists were still trying to build upon his mistakes rather than correct them!
Brilliant minds can intimidate upandcoming thinkers who are not confident of their abilities. They often believe they are inferior to the minds of giants such as Aristotle, leading many to accept current paradigms instead of questioning them.
I, like many thinkers of the past, once believed in my mental inferiority. I was certain that my parents, my teachers-adults in general-were always right. They were like a textbook to me; I didn't question what was written on those pages. I respected them, and accepted whatever they told me. But that attitude soon changed. My mind's independence was first stimulated in the classroom.
A stern, 65yearold elementaryschool science teacher once told me that light is a type of wave. I confidently went through years of school believing that light is a wave. One day，however I heard the German exchange student mention that light could be made up of particles. As the others laughed at his statement, I started to question my beliefs.
Maybe the teachers and textbooks hadn't given me the whole story. I went to the library, did some research and learned of the lightasawave versus lightasaparticle debate. I read about Einstein's discovery of the dual nature of light and learned the facts of a paradox(悖论) that puzzles the world's greatest thinkers to this day. Light behaves as both a particle and a wave, it is both at once. I realized I had gone through life accepting only half of the story as the whole truth.
Each new year brought more new facts, and I formulated even more questions. I found myself in the library after school, trying to find my own answers to gain a more complete understanding of what I thought I already knew. I discovered that my parents and teachers are incredible tools in my quest for knowledge, but they are never the final word. Even textbooks can be challenged. I learned to question my sources, I learned to be a thinker. I once believed that everything I learned at home and at school was certain, but I have now discovered to reexamine when necessary.
Questions are said to be the path to knowledge and truth, and I plan to continue questioning. How many things do we know for sure today that we will question in the future? At this moment, I know that our sun will burn for another five billion years, and I know nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole. This knowledge, however, may change in the next 20 years-maybe even in the next two. The one thing we can control now is our openness to discovery. Questions are the tools of open minds, and open minds are the key to intellectual advancement.
1. In the first paragraph, Aristotle is taken as an example to show that ______.| A．he is the greatest and respected philosopher of all time |
| B．huge influence of great thinkers may block human thought |
| C．advancements are made when thinkers question theories |
| D．great thinkers often make mistakes and then correct them |
| A．Frighten. | B．Encourage. | C．Strength. | D．Persuade. |
| A．what he learned from textbooks before turned out to be wrong |
| B．he was inspired by the different ideas from an exchange student |
| C．he was laughed at by other students for his unacceptable statement |
| D．he was not satisfied with his life and desperate to achieve success |
| A．looks down upon great thinkers all the time |
| B．never doubts what he has learned in the textbook |
| C．always throws himself into the laboratory |
| D．determines to be a thinker and questioner |
| A．the author is not quite sure about his future |
| B．we human beings don't dare to predict future |
| C．theory of black holes will change in two years |
| D．questioning is necessary to promote advancement |
| A．Following rules. | B．Challenging yourself. |
| C．Questioning giants. | D．Predicting future. |
5 . I am writing this story to express the important value of sportsmanship(体育精神)．Some years ago，my traveling
One of my team members
When the team finished dancing and walked off stage，my teammates and I all started to
| A．design | B．football | C．dance | D．drama |
| A．fierce | B．reasonable | C．common | D．serious |
| A．practical | B．heavy | C．tense | D．friendly |
| A．hand | B．look | C．job | D．paper |
| A．politely | B．happily | C．straight | D．funnily |
| A．upset | B．surprised | C．excited | D．disappointed |
| A．decided | B．learned | C．thought | D．suggested |
| A．shocked | B．delighted | C．annoyed | D．puzzled |
| A．praise | B．comfort | C．cheer | D．thank |
| A．surprised | B．embarrassed | C．reluctant | D．disagreed |
| A．anger | B．wish | C．sadness | D．fun |
| A．welcome | B．congratulate | C．receive | D．scold |
| A．smiled | B．fainted | C．cried | D．left |
| A．position | B．future | C．place | D．situation |
| A．team | B．age | C．idea | D．help |
6 . I was in the middle of the Amazon (亚马逊) with my wife, who was there as a medical researcher. We flew on a small plane to a faraway village. We did not speak the local language, did not know the customs, and more often than not, did not entirely recognize the food. We could not have felt more foreign.
We were raised on books and computers, highways and cell phones, but now we were living in a village without running water or electricity It was easy for us to go to sleep at the end of the day feeling a little misunderstood.
Then one perfect Amazonian evening, with monkeys calling from beyond the village green, we played soccer. I am not good at soccer, but that evening it was wonderful. Everyone knew the rules. We all spoke the same language of passes and shots. We understood one another perfectly. As darkness came over the field and the match ended, the goal keeper, Juan, walked over to me and said in a matter-of-fact way, “In your home, do you have a moon too?” I was surprised.
After I explained to Juan that yes, we did have a moon and yes, it was very similar to his, I felt a sort of awe (敬畏) at the possibilities that existed in his world. In Juan’s world, each village could have its own moon. In Juan’s world, the unknown and undiscovered was vast and marvelous. Anything was possible.
In our society, we know that Earth has only one moon. We have looked at our planet from every angle and found all of the wildest things left to find. I can, from my computer at home, pull up satellite images of Juan’s village. There are no more continents and no more moons to search for, little left to discover. At least it seems that way.
Yet, as I thought about Juan’s question, I was not sure how much more we could really rule out. I am, in part, an ant biologist, so my thoughts turned to what we know about insect life and I knew that much in the world of insects remains unknown. How much, though? How ignorant (无知的) are we? The question of what we know and do not know constantly bothered me.
I began collecting newspaper articles about new species, new monkey, new spider…, and on and on they appear. My drawer quickly filled. I began a second drawer for more general discoveries: new cave system discovered with dozens of nameless species, four hundred species of bacteria found in the human stomach. The second drawer began to fill and as it did I wondered whether there were bigger discoveries out there, not just species, but life that depends on things thought to be useless, life even without DNA. I started a third drawer for these big discoveries. It fills more slowly, but all the same, it fills.
In looking into the stories of biological discovery, I also began to find something else, a collection of scientists, usually brilliant occasionally half-mad, who made the discoveries. Those scientists very often see the same things that other scientists see, but they pay more attention to them, and they focus on them to the point of exhaustion (穷尽), and at the risk of the ridicule of their peers. In looking for the stories of discovery, I found the stories of these people and how their lives changed our view of the world.
We are repeatedly willing to imagine we have found most of what is left to discover. We used to think that insects were the smallest organisms (生物), and that nothing lived deeper than six hundred meters. Yet, when something new turns up, more often than not, we do not even know its name.
1. How did the author feel on his arrival in the Amazon?| A．Out of place. | B．Full of joy. | C．Sleepy. | D．Regretful. |
| A．He learned more about the local language. |
| B．They had a nice conversation with each other. |
| C．They understood each other while playing. |
| D．He won the soccer game with the goal keeper. |
| A．The question was too straightforward. |
| B．Juan knew so little about the world. |
| C．The author didn’t know how to answer. |
| D．The author didn’t think Juan was sincere. |
| A．To sort out what we have known. |
| B．To deepen his research into Amazonians. |
| C．To improve his reputation as a biologist. |
| D．To learn more about local cultures. |
| A．They shifted their viewpoints frequently. |
| B．They followed other scientists closely. |
| C．They often criticized their fellow scientists. |
| D．They conducted in-depth and close studies. |
| A．The Possible and the Impossible . |
| B．The Known and the Unknown . |
| C．The Civilized and the Uncivilized . |
| D．The Ignorant and the Intelligent. |
7 . It is often said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” That is certainly true of the images of fleeting moments of nature submitted by international ecologists and students for the British Ecological Society’s (BES) annual photography competition. Here are a few of 2019’s winning entries.
Red Night
Photographed by Roberto Garcia Roa, it was declared last year’s overall winner. The image captures both the beauty of the magnificent snake and its fear of human threats like fires. The ecologist says, “During my visit to Madagascar, I had the pleasure of finding this snake and photographing it. To offer a dramatic scene reflecting the conditions that these snakes are suffering, I used an external red light as a source of light to capture the environment.”
The Rhino’s Annual Haircut
It was photographed by ecologist Molly Penny. The ongoing demand for rhino (犀牛) horns has reduced the population to just 30,000 globally. To try to save the species, ecologists in South Africa, home to over 20,000 southern white rhinos, have decided to saw off (锯掉) it part of the animals’ horns, which regrow every year. “The Rhino’s Annual Haircut,” captured beautifully in the black-and-white photo by Molly Penny from the University of the West of England, reduces the risk of the animals being cruelly murdered.
For the Love of Flamingos
Photographed by Peter Hudson, it captures a heart-shaped cloud of pink flamingos in Kenya, which is truly a sight like none other. The ecologist says, “Flamingos are all legs and necks but meanwhile beautiful and fascinating and I admit I have a deep passion for them, so I was thrilled when, flying high over Lake Magadi, I watched this flock from themselves into a heart shape.”.
Flames in Flumes
Photographed by Nilanjan Chatterjee, it captures a water redstart waiting to catch an insect near a small waterfall. It was the best overall student submission. The photographer wanted to show the struggle the river birds are likely to face from the slowdown in water flow due to planned dams in rivers across India.
1. What can we know about “Red Night”?| A．Roberto Garcia Roa suffered a lot to take it. |
| B．It describes a snake’s suffering in the fires. |
| C．It won the first place in 2019 BES’ photography competition. |
| D．Roberto Garcia Roa was very frightened when he took it. |
| A．The tips on saving an endangered rhino. |
| B．The cruelty of killing an endangered rhino. |
| C．The scene of taking part of a horn from a rhino. |
| D．The method of helping a rhino to grow a horn again. |
| A．In South Africa. | B．In Kenya. |
| C．In India. | D．In Madagascar. |
| A．It is a student’s work. |
| B．It was photographed on an island. |
| C．It is a black-and-white photo. |
| D．It shows wild animals’ suffering. |
| A．To introduce a photography competition. |
| B．To remind us to protect some animals. |
| C．To warn us of worsening nature. |
| D．To introduce some winning photos. |
8 . Here are Important Travel Notices from United Airlines, March 20, 2019, 7:12 AM. Information is updated as it is received.
1. Travel and the Zika virus
If you have a ticket for travel to a country affected by the Zika virus (as listed on the CDC website) and have concerns, please contact the United Customer Contact Center with any questions or changes to your reservation. Customers advised to avoid the affected regions based on CDC guidance may change their destination or travel date without a fee or may choose to receive a refund if their tickets were booked before February 28, 2019. The new travel date must be within the validity of the ticket. Additional charges may apply if there is a difference in fare for the new travel route.
2. Longer lines at security checkpoints
Procedural changes at TSA checkpoints throughout the United States may result in longer lines at security checkpoints. Please plan accordingly and allow for extra time at the airport. The TSA advises arriving at the airport two hours before your flight for US travel and three hours before for international travel. To save time at security, we encourage you to visit www.tsa.gov.com and apply for tsa pre-check.
3. Notice for flights departing the European Union, Norway and Switzerland
EU Regulation 261/2004 requires air lines to provide the following notice: if you are not allowed to board or if your flight is canceled or delayed for at least two hours, ask at the check-in counter or boarding gate for the form, stating your rights, particularly about compensation and assistance.
4. How to protect yourself
Travelers to regions affected by Zika can take precautions to prevent contracting the disease by protecting themselves against mosquitos. The CDC recommends visitors to areas with Zika wear long-sleeved clothing, apply mosquito repellant, and use a mosquito net at night.
1. Travelers don’t have to pay additional fees when they want to ________.| A．rearrange their travel date at any time |
| B．cancel their flights booked before February |
| C．apply for a refund for tickets booked in March |
| D．choose a longer and more expensive route to a new destination |
| A．Pre-check can be done online to save time for travelers. |
| B．Security checkpoints are not available during this period. |
| C．It usually takes longer time to go through the security check in the US. |
| D．Security check of International flights is stricter than that of the US ones. |
| A．passengers refuse to board the plane |
| B．passengers miss their flight due to traffic jam |
| C．passengers’ flight is delayed at least two hours |
| D．passengers forget to state their right in the form |
| A．Wearing long-sleeved shirts only during the flight. |
| B．Protecting the mosquitos with the disease |
| C．Avoiding the smell of mosquito repellant. |
| D．Setting a mosquito net before going to sleep. |
9 . The weather was cold. I drove down long narrow road with Boris, my old high school friend. He was very outgoing and treated everybody
After graduation, I went into the Navy, and gradually lost
It’s apparent that he didn’t
I believe that love and kindness conquer all. Ever since I was little, my parents told me even though people are
| A．nicely | B．equally | C．seriously | D．patiently |
| A．favor | B．contract | C．touch | D．friendship |
| A．appeared | B．resembled | C．impressed | D．reflected |
| A．guess | B．tell | C．receive | D．admit |
| A．because | B．so | C．but | D．before |
| A．coldly | B．slowly | C．eventually | D．reluctantly |
| A．compare | B．care | C．notice | D．expect |
| A．judge | B．tease | C．ignore | D．bother |
| A．understand | B．believe | C．mind | D．know |
| A．warm | B．fair | C．encouraging | D．outstanding |
| A．trust | B．choose | C．know | D．help |
| A．abandoned | B．hurt | C．cheated | D．doubted |
| A．warned | B．acknowledged | C．guaranteed | D．suggested |
| A．responsibility | B．attention | C．kindness | D．caution |
| A．Really | B．Recently | C．Immediately | D．Finally |
| A．shape | B．settlement | C．signal | D．beginning |
| A．absurd | B．greedy | C．mean | D．narrow-minded |
| A．sadness | B．hatred | C．disappointment | D．cruelty |
| A．benefit | B．enjoy | C．forgive | D．move |
| A．Besides | B．Otherwise | C．However | D．Therefore |
10 . If you believe that scientists and artists are most creative when they're young, you are missing an important part of the story. A new study published in De Economist looked at Nobel Prize winners in the field of economics. It found there are two different peaks of creativity. One comes early in a person's career, while another comes later.
The research supports previous work by the authors that found similar patterns in the arts and other sciences.
"We believe what we found in this study isn't limited to economics, but could apply to creativity more generally," said Bruce Weinberg, lead author of the study and professor of economics at The Ohio State University.
"Many people believe that creativity is exclusively associated with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you're talking about."
In the study, those who did their most groundbreaking work early in their careers tended to be "conceptual" innovators（创新者）.
These type of innovators "think outside the box", challenging conventional wisdom and suddenly coming up with new ideas. Conceptual innovators are not yet immersed（沉浸于）in the accepted theories of their field, Weinberg said.
But there is another kind of creativity, he said, which is found among "experimental" innovators. These innovators accumulate knowledge through their careers and find new ways to understand it.
The long periods of trial and error for important experimental innovations come later in a Nobel laureate's（荣誉获得者的）career.
"Whether you hit your creative peak early or late in your career depends on whether you have a conceptual or experimental approach," Weinberg said.
The researchers took a novel, empirical（经验主义的）approach to the study, which involved 31 laureates. They arranged the laureates on a list from the most experimental to most conceptual.
This ranking was based on the laureates' most important work, classifying them into "conceptual" or "experimental".
After classifying the laureates, the researchers determined the age at which each laureate made his most important contribution to economics and could be considered at his creative peak.
They found that conceptual laureates peaked between ages 25 and 29. Experimental laureates peaked when they were roughly twice as old, in their mid-50s.
"Our research suggests that when you're most creative is more about how you approach your work."
1. What does the underlined phrase "think outside the box" mean?| A．Follow rules strictly. | B．Experiment on boxes. |
| C．Break old thought patterns. | D．Figure out how to escape from a box. |
| A．They usually come up with new ideas all of a sudden. |
| B．They make discoveries through constant trial and error. |
| C．The majority of them reach their creative peak in their twenties. |
| D．They make more contributions than "conceptual" innovators. |
| A．The study is not the first of its kind. |
| B．The conclusion can be applied to other areas. |
| C．The laureates' most important work decides whether they are "conceptual" or "experimental". |
| D．The "conceptual" won their Nobel Prizes between ages 25 and 29. |
| A．One's personality type. | B．What kind of job one takes. |
| C．How one handles their work. | D．One's attitude toward their work. |
| A．Creativity comes at any age, young or old. |
| B．Creativity tends to decrease as people get older. |
| C．Economists, artists and other scientists have much in common. |
| D．Economists are more creative than artists and other scientists. |
