1 . By the end of the century, if not sooner, the world’s oceans will be bluer and greener thanks to a warming climate, according to a new study.
At the heart of the phenomenon lie tiny marine microorganisms (海洋微生物) called phytoplankton. Because of the way light reflects off the organisms, these phytoplankton create colourful patterns at the ocean surface. Ocean colour varies from green to blue, depending on the type and concentration of phytoplankton. Climate change will fuel the growth of phytoplankton in some areas, while reducing it in other spots, leading to changes in the ocean’s appearance.
Phytoplankton live at the ocean surface, where they pull carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) into the ocean while giving off oxygen. When these organisms die, they bury carbon in the deep ocean, an important process that helps to regulate the global climate. But phytoplankton are vulnerable to the ocean’s warming trend. Warming changes key characteristics of the ocean and can affect phytoplankton growth, since they need not only sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, but also nutrients.
Stephanie Dutkiewicz, a scientist in MIT’s Center for Global Change Science, built a climate model thatprojectschanges to the oceans throughout the century. In a world that warms up by 39C, it found that multiple changes to the colour of the oceans would occur. The model projects that currently blue areas with little phytoplankton could become even bluer. But in some waters, such as those of the Arctic, a warming will make conditions riper for phytoplankton, and these areas will turn greener.” Not only are the quantities of phytoplankton in the ocean changing,” she said, “but the type of phytoplankton is changing.”
And why does that matter? Phytoplankton are the base of the food web. If certain kinds begin to disappear from the ocean, Dutkiewicz said, “it will change the type of fish that will be able to survive.” Those kinds of changes could affect the food chain.
Whatever colour changes the ocean experiences in the coming decades will probably be too gradual and unnoticeable, but they could mean significant changes. “It’ll be a while before we can statistically show that the changes are happening because of climate change,” Dutkiewicz said, “ but the change in the colour of the ocean will be one of the early warning signals that we really have changed our planet.”
1. What directly makes the change of the ocean’s appearance?| A．The increase of phytoplankton. |
| B．The way light reflects off the organisms. |
| C．The type and concentration of phytoplankton. |
| D．The decline of phytoplankton. |
| A．Control. | B．Use. |
| C．Predict. | D．Discover. |
| A．Phytoplankton are sensitive to the ocean’s warming trend. |
| B．Phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide at the bottom of the ocean. |
| C．Oceans with more phytoplankton may appear bluer |
| D．Data have been found to show the change in the colour of the ocean |
| A．To introduce a new method to study phytoplankton. |
| B．To explain the effect of climate change on oceans. |
| C．To analyze the consequences of ocean colour changes. |
| D．To analyze the composition of the ocean food chain. |
2 . Welcome to Los Angeles. Here are some best things to do in Los Angeles (LA) with your kids.
Fall at the Beach
Thanks to its almost perfect weather all through the year, a visit to the beach is one of the best things to do when in Los Angeles with kids. While they enjoy themselves nearby, you can simply relax and have a good rest in the sun.
Trip to Disneyland
A trip to the City of Angels with your little angels is incomplete without a visit to the Magic Kingdom. The joy they'll feel from being around all those Disney characters will light up your day, too.
Visit to the museums
If you want to turn your stay in LA into an educational one for your kids, you should visit the museums. Starting with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, or the California Science Center, or even the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena, you have many choices. I'm sure a visit to all these places will make your kids feel smarter.
Visit to the Universal Studios Hollywood
Your kids could get to see interesting things from some of the most popular movies ever. From the theme park of Jurassic Park to Wisteria Lane from the TV play Desperate Housewives, the Universal Studios Hollywood is a place that we all find wonderful.
1. The passage is written for those who ________.| A．will go on a business trip to Los Angeles |
| B．plan to have a trip to Los Angeles with their kids |
| C．want to educate their children by traveling abroad |
| D．are interested in the history and culture of Los Angeles |
| A．the Universal Studios Hollywood |
| B．the Magic Kingdom |
| C．the museums |
| D．the beach |
| A．children can learn a lot there |
| B．parents can take a rest there |
| C．it provides different sports equipment |
| D．it’s the best beach in the world |
3 . Have you got an addictive nature? Are you unable to stop yourself joining in your favorite computer games? This probably describes most of us because its only human nature to not want to miss out on something that everyone else is talking about.
Most crazes arrive suddenly and enthusiasm for them spreads quickly. They become a talking point on social media; we read about them, give them a try and, before we know it, we are hooked (钩住). In the past, these have been objects such as toys and games. Maybe you were the proud owner of a Rubik’s cube, which became the best-selling toy of all time-around 350 million have been sold so far.
Now, technology is driving the latest crazes. Games such as Angry Birds and Minecraft are crazes available on smartphones and computers that have been hard to put down.
Our addiction to crazes has been analyzed by scientists. One of them, Dr Ben Michaels, a clinical psychologist, explains that we want to experience the benefit that another person, or group of people, have experienced from something and this “hooks into an ancient evolutionary (进化的) fear of being left behind or abandoned by our tribes”; we have to join in or lose out.
Although becoming addicted to a computer game might not seem like a ‘benefit’, it can at least give you popularity among your friends. It allows you to learn new skills and gives you something to talk about at parties!
But fashions come and go and most crazes are just a flash in the pan so if one of them is not your cup of tea, don’t worry: there’ll be a new craze arriving very soon. Look at the addiction to loom bands (橡皮筋) - those little bands you could make jewellery and other things out of. For a brief period they were the must-have item for any schoolchild, now they’re the bargain bucket item in a discount shop or worse still, trash filling up our landfill sites! What crazes have you been addicted to?
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．A lot of people usually talk about the latest crazes on the Internet. |
| B．The toy “Rubik’s Cube” was not very popular when it was launched. |
| C．The majority of crazes usually last for a long time. |
| D．Loom bands are always thrown away in some discount shop. |
| A．We just want to benefit from what others have experienced. |
| B．We have the evolutionary fear of being left behind or missing out by our groups. |
| C．Some crazes are so attractive that we can’t refuse them. |
| D．Crazes can bring us so many benefits. |
| A．Getting popularity among your friends |
| B．Learning new skills |
| C．Having something to talk about at parties |
| D．Improving communication ability |
| A．The Addiction to Computer Games |
| B．The Fear of Missing out |
| C．The Benefits of Crazes |
| D．Nature of Humans |
4 . Those who work on the “996” model (where employees work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week) must envy their counterparts (对应的人)in an American company, because they have a shorter work week. Basecamp, a Chicago-based web application company gives all his employees a short work week: just four days—a total of 32 hours, between May and September every year. Also, they usually work five days a week for the rest of the year.
“That’s plenty of time to get great work done. This is all we expect and all we want from people,” says Jason Fried, a co-founder. “Working 60-plus, or 70-plus hours is unnecessary. In fact, if you have to work 60-plus or 70-plus hours a week, there’s a management problem.”
The company’s summer workload must fit reduced hours, Mr. Fried insists, otherwise the benefits of a shorter week - to recover from work, enjoy time with family and develop outside interests - would be undone.
His new research finds that it is not just long hours that are harmful to employees’ physical and mental health. It is also the intensity (强度)of work. Moreover, it suggests that intensity work harms career prospects (前景).That is because unbearable hours and intensity are in the opposite direction, reducing the quality of the work.
The research concludes that the level of intensity we apply to the work we do is generally “a stronger predictor of unfavorable outcomes than overtime work”. The research compared people of similar jobs and education levels, and found they were more likely to suffer poorer happiness and worse career prospects, including satisfaction, security and promotion, when they worked at an intense level for long periods.
1. What do we know about Basecamp’s four — day work week?| A．It lasts nearly half a year. | B．The work pressure is too high. |
| C．There are some management problems. | D．Employees work more than 8 hours a day. |
| A．Given plenty of time, people can do more. |
| B．To get work done well needs plenty of time. |
| C．People can do a job very well in a short work week. |
| D．A long work week is appropriate for reduced workload. |
| A．Getting much more rest. | B．Improving work quality. |
| C．Refusing a five-day work week. | D．Avoiding working too intensely. |
| A．More Work, More Profits | B．Shorter Week, Better Reward |
| C．Less Work, Less Benefits | D．Longer Hours, Higher Intensity |
5 . If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it’s helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my favorite ways to do this is by developing my own helping actions. These little acts of kindness are opportunities to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be kind and helpful.
We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is beauty of nature. One of the exceptions to the beauty is the litter that some people throw out of their windows as they are driving on the rural roads. One of the few shortcomings to live in the mountainous area is that public services, such as litter collection, are less available than those are closer to the city.
A helping action that I practice regularly with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. We’ve become so used to doing this that my daughters will often say to me in exciting voices, “There’s some litter, Daddy, stop the car!” And if we have time, we will often pull over and pick it up. It may seem strange, but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically anywhere. Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to where we live. He smiled at me and said, “I saw you doing it, and it seemed like a good idea.”
Picking up litter is only one of endless supplies of possible helping actions. You might like holding a door open for people, visiting lonely elderly people in nursing homes, or removing snow off someone else’s driveway. Think of something that seems effortless yet helpful .It’s fun, personally rewarding, and sets a good example. Everyone wins.
1. What does the author think of developing helping actions?| A．It helps us to be winners. | B．It is very difficult. |
| C．It requires lots of effort. | D．It makes us feel good about ourselves. |
| A．It’s in the center of San Francisco. | B．People can see beautiful sceneries here. |
| C．It’s very easy to find litter collection. | D．Few people drive on the rural roads. |
| A．By sharing his own experience. | B．By listing reasons for giving help. |
| C．By explaining different methods to be helpful. | D．By making a comparison with others. |
| A．Parents are the best teachers to their children. | B．Everyone should set good examples to others. |
| C．Small kind acts make the world a better place. | D．Protecting the environment will benefit all of us. |
6 . Volunteering abroad is a great way to help others，improve your skills and become a more confident，independent person. If you are interested in volunteering abroad，here are some places to go.
Australia
If you seek a life on the beach，in a great climate with friendly people，Australia might be your best bet. With thousands of volunteers already signing up to leave for Australia during the holidays，it will be a very popular option.
Brazil
This vast country has some great opportunities on offer and is especially popular this year. A lot of volunteer work is available in Brazil centers on conservation and ecological projects. With the world's largest rainforest in Brazil，of which huge part is in danger，there are lots of different jobs you can do.
Kenya
Kenya is the destination for those seeking an African experience. Generally volunteers in Kenya work in orphanages (孤儿院) or with local children living in slums. There is a great demand for volunteers in Africa because many people live in poverty，so if you truly feel like making a difference to a community，Kenya should be at the top of your list.
Costa Rica
Golden sandy beaches，clear coastlines and beautiful cities are what Costa Rica is all about. Because of its small size，you can see a lot of the country in just a short time. You can really make the most of your time as a volunteer. A lot of work is needed with wildlife and ecological work，so if you want to look after turtles on the beach，Costa Rica could be just the place for you.
1. If you are interested in protecting the environment，you will probably go to .| A．Australia | B．Brazil | C．Kenya | D．Costa Rica |
| A．animals | B．plants | C．the elderly | D．children |
| A．take care of trees in the forests | B．surf with children in the water |
| C．work with animals on the beach | D．look after children who have lost their parents |
7 . Journey Back in Time with Scholars
Classical Provence(13days)Journey through the beautiful countryside of Provence，France，with Prof. Ori Z. Soltes. We will visit some of the best-preserved Roman monuments in the world. Our tour also includes a chance to walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh and Gauguin. Fields of flowers, tile-roofed(瓦屋顶)villages and tasty meals enrich this wonderful experience.
Southern Spain(15days)
Spain has lovely white towns and the scent(芳香)of oranges，but it is also a treasury of ancient remains including the cities left by the Greeks，Romans and Arabs. As we travel south from Madrid with Prof. Ronald Messier to historic Toledo，Roman Merida and into Andalucia, we explore historical monuments and architecture.
China’s Sacred Landscapes(21days)
Discover the China of “past ages,” its walled cities，temples and mountain scenery with Prof. Robert Thorp. Highlights(精彩之处)include China’s most sacred peaks at Mount Tai and Hangzbou’s rolling hills，waterways and peaceful temples. We will wander in traditional small towns and end our tour with an exceptional museum in Shanghai.
Tunisia(17days)
Join Prof. Pedar Foss on our in-depth Tunisian tour. Tour highlights include the Roman city of Dougga，the underground Numidian capital at Bulla Regia, Roman Sbeitla and the remote areas around Tataouine and Matmata，uique for underground cities. Our journey takes us to picturesque Berber villages and lovely beaches.
1. What can visitors see in both Classical Provence and Southern Spain？
| A．Historical monuments. | B．Fields of flowers. |
| C．Van Gogh’s paintings. | D．Greek buildings. |
| A．France. | B．Spain. | C．China. | D．Tunisia. |
| A．White towns. | B．Underground cities. | C．Tile-roofed villages. | D．Rolling hills. |
8 . 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. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
| 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. |
9 . Jon Steward, a 10-year-old boy with autism(自闭症), came home from Cumberland Head Elementary School in Plattsburgh, New York, on April 7 more excited than ever. To celebrate National Poetry Month, his fifth-grade teacher asked her students to write a poem about themselves, beginning every sentence with ''I am''.
Jon couldn't wait to start writing, so he sat down and didn't look up until it was finished. A few hours later, he showed the poem to his parents, who immediately got chock up.
''I am odd. I am new, '' Jon wrote in the poem. ''I wonder if you are too. I hear voices in the air. I see you don't and that's not fair. ''
''I feel like a boy in outer space. I touch the stars and feel out of place, '' he went on to write.
''At first, we felt sad and hurt that he felt lonely, misunderstood and odd at school, '' Steward said. ''As the poem went on, we realized that he understood that he was odd and that so was everyone else in their own way. This is what Jon wants everyone to know. ''
Jon was supposed to read his poem aloud to the class the following day, but upon waking up that morning, he refused to go to school. Instead, he stayed at home.
He didn't think his poem was any good, so his dad posted it on Facebook in the hope of getting some encouraging comments. Once the National Autism Association saw the photo, they posted it on their page, where thousands of strangers shared how much the poem inspired them. Now the family has heard from hundreds of parents thanking Jon for showing how their own kids may be feeling at school.
1. Why did Jon feel very excited on April 7?| A．He had a task to finish. | B．He wrote a good poem. |
| C．He had good news to share. | D．He had been praised at school. |
| A．Pleased. | B．Anxious. |
| C．Puzzled. | D．Bored. |
| A．was ignored for a short time |
| B．won much encouragement for Jon |
| C．started a hot debate immediately |
| D．made many parents know more about Jon |
| A．Doctors. | B．Students. |
| C．Parents. | D．Educators. |
10 . Sweden is so good at recycling that, for several years, it has imported rubbish from other countries to keep its recycling plants going. Less than 1% of Swedish household waste was sent to landfills(垃圾填埋场) last year or any year since 2011.
We can only dream of such an effective system in the UK, which is why we end up paying expensive transport costs to send rubbish to be recycled overseas rather than paying fines to send it to landfills under The Landfill Tax of 1996.
Sweden has a culture of looking after the environment. “We Swedish people are aware of what we need to do on environmental issues. We worked on communications for long to make people not throw things outdoors so that we can recycle and reuse,” says Anna-Carin Gripwall, director of communications for Avfall Sverige, the Swedish Waste Management’s recycling association.
Over time, Sweden has carried out a national recycling policy so that even though private companies undertake most of the business of importing and burning waste, the energy goes into a national heating network to heat homes through the freezing Swedish winter.
However, some people argue that the country is escaping real recycling. Paper plant managers say wood fiber can be used up to six times before it becomes dust. If Sweden burns paper before that point, it’s exhausting the potential for true recycling and replacing used paper with fresh raw material.
Ms Gripwall describes Sweden’s policy of importing waste to recycle from other countries as a temporary situation. “There’s a ban on landfill in EU countries, so instead of paying the fine they send it to us as a service. They should and will build their own plants, to reduce their own waste, as we’re doing in Sweden,” Ms Gripwall says.
1. Why is a low amount of household waste sent to landfills in Sweden?| A．A little bit of household waste is produced here. |
| B．Its people get waste recycled at home. |
| C．Much rubbish is imported overseas. |
| D．They have good public environmental awareness. |
| A．An effective recycling system is adopted. |
| B．People are encouraged to sell rubbish abroad. |
| C．People are forbidden to send waste to landfills. |
| D．An increasing number of landfills are being built. |
| A．It’s being spread around the world. |
| B．It’s also thought to have some shortcomings. |
| C．It’s so perfect to receive good evaluation. |
| D．It solves the problems with the local energy. |
| A．It’s partly wrong to import rubbish from other countries. |
| B．The technology of handling waste will be developed wildly. |
| C．It’s possible to completely solve all environmental problems. |
| D．All countries should work together to protect the environment. |
