1 . You don't have to be a gardener,a farmer, or a vegetarian to appreciate how much we all depend on plants. Plants _______ us with food, shelter, clothing,medicine, and even the air we breathe! Here are just some of the ways that people rely on plants, _______ those native to the United States.

CLEAN AIR AND WATER: Plants are the basis of healthy ecosystems that _______ many functions, including purifying air and water. Green plants harness energy from sunlight through the _______ of photosynthesis (光合作用). With every breath we take, we depend on the oxygen that is given off as a by-product of that reaction. Plants also _______the water cycle. More than 90% of the water that is taken in through a plant's roots is eventually _______ back to the atmosphere in a process called transpiration.

FOOD:Plants provide the basis of most food webs on Earth. Even the _______ meat eaters, such as lions, need plants because the prey they _______ are plant eaters. The wild relatives of our own food plants are becoming increasingly important for breeding to make healthier and more productive crops. _______ the Texas wild rice, known from only one river in Texas, is being bred with northern wild rice to develop a new strain suitable for mild climates.

SHELTER: Plants provide not only food and oxygen, but also__ and shelter. The wood from trees is used in the construction of many of our homes. Plants also ___ habitats for many other animals. A single tree in the tropics can be ___ . to more than 1,000 different insect species alone.

ENERGY: Every time we _______ the lights in a room, we use plants that lived a long time ago. Over 350 million years ago, giant relatives of today's ferms (蕨类) _______ mud as they died and so were prevented from decaying. Over the years, they were compressed (压缩) to   _______ coal and other fossil fuels upon which most of the world now relies for energy.

1.

A．offer

B．afford

C．deliver

D．provide

2.

A．originally

B．particularly

C．typically

D．currently

3.

A．perform

B．admire

C．settle

D．transport

4.

A．material

B．process

C．challenge

D．behaviour

5.

A．belong to

B．refer to

C．play a role in

D．are on behalf of

6.

A．released

B．responded

C．recycled

D．captured

7.

A．unique

B．strictest

C．junior

D．senior

8.

A．select

B．consume

C．acquire

D．assume

9.

A．No doubt

B．From different perspective

C．In case

D．For example

10.

A．location

B．freedom

C．protection

D．convenience

11.

A．create

B．respect

C．reflect

D．arrange

12.

A．element

B．object

C．home

D．dump

13.

A．switch off

B．switch on

C．close

D．open

14.

A．were ashamed of

B．were proud of

C．were afraid of

D．were covered with

15.

A．indicate

B．burn

C．form

D．earn

2 . You've been painting for a few years, and maybe you have even sold a painting or two. Are you ready to ______ the title of an amateur artist?

Distinguishing green hand from professional artists is ______ task. It is not just a matter of your ability to create nice paintings. It's not only about painting techniques. And for most cases, it doesn't happen ______. Very few artists become overnight success without years of struggle and suffering.

To turn professional, people find it critical to develop a personal style. What makes your paintings _______ among other paintings out there? Are your paintings standing out unmistakably directed to you as the creator? A personal style comes along with technique, painting medium, and subject and it tends to develop gradually over time. You _______ it through unconscious and constant exploring and self-shaping. Style does not mean that you are painting the same subject or using the same painting medium. Salvador Dali used to use many artistic media, but they all have a _______ Dali style. Style refers to the emotions and thoughts delivered by your paintings, which people can identify with. (认同/产生共鸣) Their _______ of the painter is then a sure thing.

Artists talk about their _______ all of the time. What gets you out of bed every morning to paint? How do you find the energy to have all your time devoted to painting?   ______, we all love to do what we do and we get a satisfaction out of creating. For the professional artist, it goes beyond that. Some artists wish to convey a deep message concerning life, society or even politics. Others simply seek   _______ returns to cover kids' tuition fees or pay family bills. Yet, all professional artists know that they have to keep working to achieve the goals.

Many amateur artists passively wait for   _______ to come. If they are not in the mood, they do not bother wasting the time. They sometimes allow themselves to be occupied by events like parties. Professionals are never easily _______ or torn away from their art work in progress. Focused on their work so much, some even regard spending time outside their _______ as crime. _______ is their secret to high productivity.

Besides, professional artists are constantly prepared to grab new ideas for the next painting, which they believe is sure to be better than the previous one. The belief that there is always room for _______ keeps driving them forward in the art world where many masters have come along.

1.

A．step beyond

B．turn off

C．see through

D．make up

2.

A．rewarding

B．tricky

C．formal

D．temporary

3.

A．individually

B．thoroughly

C．instantly

D．sincerely

4.

A．different

B．superior

C．practical

D．reliable

5.

A．get

B．transfer

C．imitate

D．analyze

6.

A．recent

B．clear

C．modest

D．logical

7.

A．preservation

B．employment

C．adaption

D．recognition

8.

A．background

B．significance

C．motivation

D．routine

9.

A．To sum up

B．In contrast

C．In addition

D．In general

10.

A．academic

B．global

C．financial

D．original

11.

A．inspiration

B．fame

C．guidance

D．solution

12.

A．offended

B．dominated

C．distracted

D．rewarded

13.

A．studio

B．bedroom

C．garage

D．garden

14.

A．Reflection

B．Devotion

C．Creativity

D．Illustration

15.

A．negotiation

B．profit

C．criticism

D．improvement

3 . For the first time in its history, the International Olympic Committee has allowed a team of refugees to compete at the Games. All of the team’s members were forced to leave their home countries. Now they’ve come together to compete under the Olympic flag instead.

Making it to the Olympics is something eighteen-year-old swimmer Yusra has always dreamed of. But just last year, she was swimming for her life. She and her sister were forced to leave their home in Syria because of the war there. They were trying to get to Greece in a rubber dinghy (橡皮艇) with eighteen other refugees, when their boat broke down and began filling with water. Most of the people on board couldn’t swim, so she and her sister jumped in to help push it to shore.

Three hours later, they made it to safety, and eventually to Germany as refugees. Refugees are people who have left their home country because their lives are threatened by war, bad treatment or violence---often because of their race, gender or beliefs. Around the world, more than 60 million people are in this situation. And some of them, like Yusra, are elite athletes who have trained all their lives to compete at the highest level, only to have that chance taken away.

Now, a team of ten, including swimmers, runners, and judokas from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Congo have been given the chance to compete at the Games under the Olympic flag. They’ve also been given their own coaches, officials, uniforms and a chef, all paid for by the IOC. And in the past few months they’ve been training hard. The IOC says it wants the team to inspire and give hope to other refugees, and draw attention to the issues millions of other around the world are facing. And these guys say they are up to the task whether they win gold or not.

“These refugee athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies that they have faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit,” the statement continues.

1. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．She trained all her life.

B．She swam for the glory of life.

C．She swam to escape being drowned.

D．She swam to escape from other refugees.

2. Where do Yusra and her sister live as refugees now?

A．Syria

B．Germany

C．Congo

D．Ethiopia

3. Which of the following is NOT a reason why the refugees are threatened to their country?

A．Race

B．Violence

C．Religion

D．Nationality

4. The IOC allowed a team of refugees to complete in the Olympic Games in order to ________.

A．help the refugees to fulfill their dreams of winning the Olympic gold medal.

B．offer the refugees a chance to earn bread by themselves.

C．light a candle of hope for all the refugees in the world.

D．curse the darkness of the society by forcing them to pay attention to the life of refugees.

4 . Next week, as millions of families gather for their Thanksgiving feasts (大餐), many other Americans will go without. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than 12 million households _________ enough food for everyone in their family at some time during the year — including _________.

Hunger is surprisingly widespread in our country — one of the world’s wealthiest — yet the government estimates that we waste almost 100 billion pounds of food each year, more than one-quarter of our total supply.

Reducing this improper distribution of _________ is a goal of America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. Last year, it _________ nearly 2 billion pounds of food to more than 23 million people in need.

America’s Second Harvest is a network of 214 inter-connected food banks and other organizations that _________ food from growers, processors, grocery stores and restaurants. _________, the network distributes food to some 50,000 soup kitchens (施食处), homeless _________ and old people’s centers in every county of every state.

A great deal of work is involved in distributing tons of food from thousands of _________ to thousands of small, non-profit organizations. Until a few years ago, America’s Second Harvest lacked any _________ way to manage their inventory (存货). Without accurate and timely information, soup kitchens were sometimes empty while food was left to __________ in loading places.

In 2000, America’s Second Harvest began to use a new inventory and financial-management system — Ceres. It is a __________ designed specifically for hunger-relief operations. It is used by more than 100 America’s Second Harvest organizations to __________ food from donation to distribution.

Ceres has helped __________ the spoiling of food and improve distribution. An evaluation found that the software streamlined (精简) food banks’ operations by 23 percent in the first year alone.

With more accurate and timely reports, Ceres saves time, frees staff members to focus on finding new donors, and __________ more efficient use of donations.

Hunger in America remains a(n) __________ social problem. Technology alone cannot solve it. But in the hands of organizations such as America’s Second Harvest, it is a powerful tool that is helping to make a difference — and helping more Americans to join in the feast.

1.

A．serve

B．lack

C．reserve

D．order

2.

A．workdays

B．birthdays

C．holidays

D．paydays

3.

A．resources

B．incomes

C．missions

D．services

4.

A．exposed

B．introduced

C．distributed

D．addicted

5.

A．harvest

B．prepare

C．recommend

D．gather

6.

A．For example

B．In contrast

C．Above all

D．In turn

7.

A．backyards

B．shelters

C．garages

D．cabins

8.

A．donors

B．survivors

C．farmers

D．victims

9.

A．innovative

B．impressive

C．effective

D．productive

10.

A．grow

B．recycle

C．spoil

D．stir

11.

A．theory

B．action

C．remedy

D．software

12.

A．advertise

B．relieve

C．track

D．migrate

13.

A．produce

B．reduce

C．shift

D．simplify

14.

A．promises

B．ceases

C．admits

D．locates

15.

A．troubling

B．demanding

C．touching

D．imposing

5 . The Story Behind the Words

1.husband   Comes from two Old Norse words (the language spoken by the Vikings) that mean “house” and “owner”. The word originally had nothing to do with marriage, except for the fact that home ownership made these men extremely desirable marriage partners.

2.cab   From “cabrioler”,a French word that means “jump like a goat.” The first carriages for public rental bounced up and down so much that they reminded people of goats jumping on a hillside.

3.alarm   From the Italian “To arms!”—which was what soldiers shouted when they saw that the enemy was attacking.

4.jeans   Genoa, called “Gene” by sixteenth-century Europeans, was the first city to make denim cloth. The pants were named after the city.

5.escape   In Latin, this means “without your cape”. The ancient Romans would often avoid capture by throwing off their capes when fleeing so that they could run more quickly.

6.hooligan   It is believed that this term originated from a man’s last name. The man, whose first name was Patrick, terrorized a section of London with his family in the 1890s.

7.broke   Many banks in post-Renaissance Europe issued small “borrower’s tiles(瓦片)” to their customers. Like credit cards, these tiles were imprinted with the owner’s name and credit limit, and the name of the bank. In order to borrow money, the customer had to present the tile to the bank teller who would compare the imprinted credit limit with how much the customer had already borrowed. If the borrower was over the limit, the teller broke the tile on the spot.

8.genuine   From the Latin, originally meant “placed on the knees”. In Ancient Rome,a father legally claimed his newborn child by sitting in front of his family and placing the child on his knee.

9.tip   The popular explanation of the origin of this word is that it is an acronym(首字母缩略词)meaning “To Insure Promptness”, that is, to make sure the service in, e.g., a restaurant, is fast. This is incorrect. The word was underworld slang from the early 1600s,meaning “to pass on a small sum of money.”

10.addict   This was the Latin name for a slave given to Roman soldiers to reward them for performance in battle. Eventually, this term was applied to anyone who was a slave to anything, e.g., a drug.

1. Which pair of words originated from the names of two people?

A．addict and escape.	B．jeans and escape.
C．hooligans and jeans.	D．hooligan and addict.

2. The common belief of the origin of “ ” is not true to the fact.

A．husband

B．tip

C．jeans

D．escape

3. Which of the following words best fits the blank in the sentence: “He got       again due to gambling?”

A．cab

B．genuine

C．alarm

D．broke

6 . For the most part, it seems, workers in rich countries have little to fear from globalization, and a lot to gain. But is the same thing true for workers in poor countries? The answer is that they are ever more likely than their rich-country counterparts to benefit, because they have less to lose and more to gain.

Traditional economics takes an optimistic line on integration（整合）and the developing countries. Openness to foreign trade and investment should encourage capital to flow to poor economies. In the developing world, capital is scarce, so the returns on investment there should be higher than in the industrialized countries, where the best opportunities to make money by adding capital to labour have already been used up. If poor countries lower their barriers to trade and investment, the theory goes, rich foreigners will want to send to over some of their capital.

If this inflow of resources arrives in the form of loans or portfolio investment（组合投资）, it will top up domestic savings and loosen the financial restriction on additional investment by local companies. If it arrives in the form of new foreign - controlled operations, FDI, so much the better; this kind of capital brings technology and skills from abroad packaged along with it, with less financial risk as well. In either case, the addition to investment ought to push incomes up, partly by raising the demand for labour and partly by making labour more productive.

This is why workers in FDI - receiving countries should be in an even better position to profit from integration than workers in FDI - sending countries. Also, with or without inflows of foreign capital, the same gains from trade should apply in developing countries as in rich ones. This gains from trade logic often arouses suspicion, because the benefits seem to come from nowhere. Surely one side or the other must lose. Not so. The benefits that a rich country gets through trade do not come at the expense of its poor country trading partners, or vice versa, Recall that according to the theory, trade is a positive sum game. In all these trades, both sides -- exporters and importers, borrowers and leaders, shareholders and workers can gain.

1. Why are workers in poor countries more likely to benefit from the process of globalization?

A．The can get more chances to gain a good job.

B．They have less to lose and more to gain.

C．They have nothing to lose.

D．They can get more financial aid.

2. What can be the final result of the inflow of the resource?

A．It will top up domestic savings.	B．It will loosen the financial restriction.
C．It will push people’s incomes up.	D．It will bring technology and skills from abroad.

3. What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．Poor countries get the most profit during the process of trade.

B．Rich countries get profit from trade at poor countries’ expense.

C．Poor countries get more profit from trade than rich ones.

D．All aspects involved in the trade can get benefit.

7 . Kompong Phhluk Private Tour
Depart the city for an unspoiled floating community called Kompong Phhluk which is astonishing for its stilted-house villages and flooded forest.
Stop on the way for the Rolous Market tour. This is a great chance for you to take the photos of locals selling vegetables, different fish species and other local produce.
After this market tour we’ll all have a boat trip to the floating community of Kompong Phhluk, visit an island pagoda, a school and houses standing on 8 or 10m high stilts, fish farms and learn about the village life.
Stop and have lunch in a family’s house before getting into a row boat and venturing into the flooded forest, the habitat to some famous water-bird species.
Eventually we jump back into the big boat and set off for the largest fresh water lake in SE Asia, Tonle Sap.
Tour Details
·Departs 8:30am
·Returns around 2pm
·A picnic lunch with sandwiches and drinks is provided. We cannot provide local food from the area due to poor sanitation（卫生）, lack of hygiene standards and refrigeration.
·No passes required
Rates
·These rates are based on an English speaking guide.
·Rates include all transport, water and a picnic lunch.
·Children 11 years and under are 50%.
·Children 4 years and below are free.
·If your group is larger than 5 people, please email us for the best rate.
Number of People       Price Per Person
1 Person       $65
2 People       $45
3 People       $40
4 People       $35
5 People       $32
What to Wear
·Please be mindful of your clothing and try to avoid anything too revealing.
·We strongly recommend a sunglasses, hat and sunscreen.
General Information
·This is a poor rural village, please be mindful of the environment.
· Please do not hand things out to villagers, for this contributes to creating a begging cycle and can create jealousy.
·We recommend heading to the toilet before you go on this trip as facilities are very basic.
1. Kompong   Phhluk is famous for its ______.

A．local vegetables and different fish species

B．stilted-house villages and flooded forest

C．Rolous Market and an island pagoda

D．water-bird habitat and fish farms

2. A private trip for two parents and a 3-year-old boy costs ______.

A．$40

B．$80

C．$90

D．$120

3. Which of the following is not included in the rates?

A．A tourist guide.	B．Transport.
C．Drinks.	D．Local food.

4. We can conclude from the passage that ______.

A．the living standard in the village is quite low

B．the tourist facilities along the way are quite good

C．revealing clothes are appropriate in the hot weather

D．giving local children small gifts is strongly recommended

8 . WE COMBAT ANIMAL DISEASES TOGETHER!

We want to prevent serious animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever and African swine fever from spreading to Finland. These and other animal diseases can be transmitted from one country to another by animals or by meat and dairy products even if they are packed for personal consumption or intended as gifts. Travelers like you play an important role in preventing the spread of animal diseases.

Don’t bring meat, meat products, milk and dairy products from non-EU countries to Finland!

A ban on personal imports applies to meat and dairy products brought into Finland by travelers or ordered and sent through the post. The ban applies to food stuffs intended for personal consumption or as gifts and to pet food. If you have food products of animal origin with you, throw them in a waste container in the point of entry or contact Customs!

Bringing meat-containing products as presents and for personal use from an EU country to Finland

At the moment, there are EU countries with cases of African swine fever. In those countries there are restriction areas and, as a rule, pork and wild bear meat or products containing these meats may not be imported from these areas into Finland. Import is allowed only under very strict criteria controlled by local authorities. However, the sales of these meat products within the country may be allowed. In the EU, the disease has been detected in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium and Italy (Sardinia), for instance. It is difficult for travelers to know and prove from which area meat products originate and whether the products on sale meet all criteria. This is the reason why we recommend that people avoid importing any meat products containing pork or wild bear meat as presents or for personal use from countries with African swine fever.

PLEASE NOTE! Never leave any food waste or leftover in the environment or places where they may be eaten by wildlife. Never give food waste or leftover to production animals or to pet pigs.

Thank you for helping us to prevent the spread of animal diseases. We wish you a pleasant journey!

1. Whom is this notice intended for?

A．Food importers in Finland.	B．Travelers to Finland.
C．Citizens in EU countries.	D．Medical staff from non-EU countries.

2. Why does the Finnish Food Authority issue the notice?

A．To protect endangered wildlife.	B．To secure the domestic economy.
C．To promote vegetarian lifestyle.	D．To prevent the infectious diseases.

3. Which of the following behaviors is IMPROPER, according to the notice?

A．A Russian official threw a beef burger in a dustbin at the Finnish airport.

B．A Finnish girl fed milk to pigeon at the park in her neighborhood.

C．A Japanese traveler bought some Hungarian homemade sausages in Finland.

D．A German brought German cheeses to his Finnish girlfriend as a gift.

9 . We all have a tendency to fake laugh, particularly when authority figures in our lives try to make a joke that just doesn’t land. Though it might feel rude not to laugh when your in-laws or boss try to say something funny, pretending to do so might not be much better. It turns out, even if you think that your forced laughing sounds genuine, people are usually pretty good at separating truly spirited belly laughs from fake ones. But how can they possible know the difference?

Well, when researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles studied the acoustic and perceptual differences between real and fake laughter, they found that some of the sounds associated with genuine laughter is “really hard to fake.” In their study, the researchers determined that subjects were only fooled by 37 percent of fake laughter.

The most prominent factor distinguishing real laughter from fake laughter is duration -- or, more specifically, the number of breaths taken in in between sounds. Seeing as it takes more effort and concentration to fake a laugh as opposed to do it genuinely, people tend to pause more in between their “ha-ha’s” when they’re faking it. Evidently, that pausing is pretty noticeable.

“A fake laugh is basically an imitation of a real laugh, but produced with a slightly different set of vocal muscles controlled by a different part of our brain,” Greg Bryant, the lead UCLA researcher on the study, explained. “The result is that there are subtle features of the laugh that sound like speech, and ... people are unconsciously quite sensitive to them.”

People have also proven to be emotionally sensitive to laughter as well. “Our rains are very sensitive to the social and emotional significance of laughter,” said Carolyn McGettigan, a scientist at Royal Holloway, University of London.

McGettigan conducted a 2014 study that recorded participants’ brain responses as they listened to the same people produce genuine laughter by watching funny videos, as opposed to fake laughter. “During our study, when participants heard a laugh that was posed, they activated regions of the brain associated with mentalizing in an attempt to understand the other person’s emotional and mental state,” she said.

So, while we may understand that certain social situations sometimes require fake laughter, most of the time, our instincts and emotional intelligence are just too smart to buy into them.

According to McGettigan, that’s a good thing. “Evolutionarily speaking, it’s good to be able to detect if someone is authentically experiencing an emotion or if they’re not,” she said. “Because you don’t want to be fooled.”

1. What do researchers at the University of California want to find out in this study?

A．What is the difference between a fake laugh and a real one.

B．Which part of the brain controls the sound of our laughter.

C．Why do people need to fake laugh when they don’t want to.

D．How to laugh as genuinely as possible when you are faking it.

2. Your forced laughing is more noticeable than you think, mainly because_______.

A．you seem more concentrated when you laugh for real

B．you take more breaths when you try to fake a laugh

C．a fake laugh often happens after a sudden pause

D．a real laugh usually lasts longer than a fake one

3. Which of the following is true according to Greg Bryant?

A．Real laughter is not at all controllable by our brain.

B．People may notice fake laughter without knowing why.

C．People use the same set of muscles to laugh and to speak.

D．Faking laugh shares the same techniques as making speech.

4. What has Carolyn McGettigan’s 2014 study proven?

A．Certain social situations may require us to fake a laugh.

B．Evolution has enabled us to recognize other’s emotions.

C．By instincts, we are able to tell a person’s mental state.

D．We can sense other’s emotional state when they laugh.

10 . A person seeking a new career opportunity might consider looking in a museum. Museums provide jobs in fields such as research, management, graphic arts, public relations, education, preserving, cataloging, fund-raising, and construction. A museum may have one employee or thousands.

Many museum workers do not work directly with the objects in the museum; for example, the staff of a finance department prepares budgets and financial reports. Accountant and bookkeeper are typical positions. Staffers in the development department, meanwhile, work to increase museum membership and donations and to plan fund-raisers, such as dances or auctions. Publications department personnel may write newsletters, brochures, or books.

Some museums have an education department responsible for planning talks, teaching workshops, directing tours, or training tour guides.

People who prefer to work directly with a museum's collection have many career options. A person who pays attention to detail may enjoy being a registrar, the person who keeps track of the objects in a museum. Registrars keep records of objects, noting what they are, when and how they were obtained, and whether they are on loan to another museum or on display.

Curators are the people responsible for a museum's collection. One of their duties is to choose items for exhibits; then they work closely with designers who plan the best way to arrange exhibits. Other specialists do things such as arrange lighting or build display cases. Expert craftspeople can also find jobs re-creating historic buildings, such as the Pilgrim village at Plimoth Plantation.

A museum also often employs conservators to repair and take care of its collection. Many conservators are specialists who care for one kind of item, such as books or paintings. The Henry Ford Museum employs many conservators, including some who are experts in caring for antique cars.

Some historic homes, such as George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, have gardens, farms, and woods, as well as buildings. Gardeners are employed to care for the grounds and livestock handlers to care for farm animals.

Museums offer many other career opportunities too. They may have gift shops where sales assistants sell books, postcards, and other items or. restaurants where meals are prepared and served. Depending on one's interests, a museum could be a great place to look for a job.

1. A museum's education department might _____.

A．plan fund-raisers	B．prepare financial reports
C．write brochures	D．conduct workshops

2. Like curators, conservators______.

A．work directly with museum collections

B．choose museum collections

C．prepare financial reports

D．choose items for exhibits

3. It can be inferred from the passage that a publications department in a museum employs______.

A．teachers

B．writers

C．craftspeople

D．bookkeepers

4. Which of the following sentences best describes the main idea of the passage?

A．Curators work closely with designers in the arrangement of museum exhibits.

B．There are many kinds of museums in such fields as history, art, and science.

C．Museums, although they vary in purpose and size, offer a wide range of career opportunities.

D．Museums serve as an ideal workplace for those only interested in museum collections.