1 . Maybe you’ve heard the saying. “A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high.” I’m sure that T. J. Ware was made to feel this way almost every day in school.
By high school, T. J. was the most celebrated troublemaker in his town. I met him for the first time at a weekend leadership retreat (活动). All the students at school had been invited to
At the start of the retreat, T. J. was
By the end of the retreat, he had
When T. J.
Two weeks later, T. J. and his friends led a group of 70 students in a drive to collect
T. J. reminds us that a bird with a
| A．manage | B．finish | C．provide | D．attend |
| A．involved | B．trapped | C．lost | D．fitted |
| A．still | B．already | C．just | D．also |
| A．formally | B．willingly | C．proudly | D．officially |
| A．forced | B．pushed | C．called | D．drew |
| A．welcomed | B．refused | C．added | D．ignored |
| A．director | B．trainer | C．leader | D．speaker |
| A．improved | B．joined | C．found | D．contacted |
| A．ordered | B．awarded | C．offered | D．made |
| A．showed up | B．set out | C．looked around | D．worked out |
| A．talking | B．reporting | C．protesting | D．replying |
| A．drive | B．journey | C．problem | D．process |
| A．strong | B．skilled | C．incapable | D．disabled |
| A．criticized | B．reminded | C．warned | D．demanded |
| A．change | B．reaction | C．communication | D．understanding |
| A．medicine | B．water | C．food | D．garbage |
| A．target | B．data | C．meal | D．record |
| A．accident | B．event | C．issue | D．topic |
| A．interview | B．story | C．headline | D．copy |
| A．short | B．narrow | C．beautiful | D．broken |
2 . Friday night lights are good for the game, but they may be bad for biodiversity.
According to a study published Friday in the journal Animal Conservation, bright stadium lighting could affect the feeding habits of bats. Insects swarm (涌往) to these lights in large numbers, creating a competitive advantage for bat species who aren’t afraid of humans and human structures. This could impact local ecosystems and reduce biodiversity.
For most humans, there simply isn’t enough daylight hours—we have been developing new ways to light the night since we first controlled and used fire. But researchers say our need for continuous visibility can have serious consequences for neighboring species.
Light pollution has been linked to some ecosystem damage. Baby turtles, for example, naturally use the light of the moon to travel towards the open ocean. But constant and poorly designed artificial lighting can affect their sense of direction, obviously disturbing their life cycles.
“Increasing light pollution is a major feature of global change that’s caused by humans, and it is a potential threat to biodiversity,” co-author M. Corrie Schoeman said in a press release.
Dr Schoeman, a professor of biology at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, conducted field experiments to determine how stadium lighting affected bat behaviors. He found that “urban exploiter” bats were drawn to hunt near bright lights, while “urban avoider” bats were not. Exploiter species are able to take advantage of human resources, such as artificial light. Avoider species, by comparison, tend to avoid humans and human structures.
But it’s hardly survival of the fittest. This man-made, ecological scale-tipping could result in the decline or loss of avoider species. And that, in turn, could threaten the balance of local ecosystems.
Luckily, light pollution is considered an “easy fix” compared to other forms of pollution. Smart lighting design— hooded (带罩的) streetlamps，motion-sensitive residential lights (触控住宅用灯), and better controls to remove unnecessary brightness—can obviously reduce light pollution. As for stadium lights, earlier games could do a lot of good, both for bats and for our ecosystems as a whole.
1. What does the author want to demonstrate with the example of baby turtles?| A．Turtles are good at using human lights. |
| B．Light pollution has caused ecological damage. |
| C．Artificial lighting can train turtles’ sense of direction. |
| D．Human neighboring species have their own way of lighting. |
| A．They are the fittest of their species. |
| B．They are fond of artificial lighting. |
| C．They always defeat “urban avoider” bats. |
| D．They break the balance of their species. |
| A．How to reduce light pollution. | B．How to improve stadium lights. |
| C．How to balance the ecosystem. | D．How to recognize unnecessary brightness. |
| A．Evolution of Bats | B．Competition Among Bats |
| C．Stadium Lights Change Bat Behavior | D．The Number of Bats Are Decreasing |
3 . Common phrases like “no pains, no gains” give the impression that we ought to be suffering while we study. It’s almost as though the only way to know if we’re putting in enough work is the sense of hardship we bear.
When we haven’t taken the time to come up with another strategy, all we know how to do is shut ourselves in a room with a book. It’s no surprise that we find revision boring and difficult. Just as children learn from playing, we can learn from doing, or at least from study techniques that engage us, rather than make us switch off.
Shutting yourself away can make you learn to hate studying. This leads to a situation where instead of being able to concentrate on your work, you obsess about (唠叨)how unfair it is that you must study. When you feel bitter about your work it’s very difficult to make yourself start, or approach it with enthusiasm. This can be part of a vicious cycle (恶性循环) that traps you into ineffective revision, your poor progress fuelling further bitterness. Just being around other people really helps fight against feelings of loneliness and, thankfully, it’s perfectly possible to work in the company of other people. We just need to learn how to deal with distractions.
It’s not necessary to avoid all company, just idle (懒散的) company. Studying in the same room with someone who is ironing or working out is perfectly possible. People who are bored and looking to be distracted, however, are terrible to work around. They constantly try to keep others in conversation. It’s also a good idea to avoid the company of people engaged in activities that you would rather be doing than studying. Working while sitting next to someone playing video games is much more likely to end with a new high score than a productive few hours of revision. If being around others means working in a noisy environment, a pair of headphones and some background music can block out noises. They also act as a psychological barrier, so that people think twice before interrupting you.
When you’re studying for a big exam, it seems like your whole life is taken up with study. Being in the same room with friends and family can lessen feelings of isolation (孤立). Also connecting with other people makes us happy, so it’s important not to give that up and to make sure that we take the time to socialize.
1. What is the author’s attitude to the saying “no pains, no gains”?| A．Serious. | B．Positive | C．Negative | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Give indication of not wanting to be interrupted. |
| B．Give up others’ company at once. |
| C．Think twice before taking any action. |
| D．Force yourself to be accustomed to the environment. |
| A．Ways to deal with distractions. |
| B．How to choose a perfect place to study. |
| C．Learning problems students are faced with. |
| D．How to focus mind on study. |
| A．To encourage students to work hard. |
| B．To introduce effective learning strategies |
| C．To remind students to balance study and play. |
| D．To advise students study in the company of others. |
4 . My younger brother has a strange relationship with birthdays. One year, he sent me an unexpected birthday card, which turned out to be a double
“You should just
“So basically, that means it doesn’t
“You’ve always been a little over the top about
“Fine. But I always remember yours,” I said. I would
The first year my daughter was away at college, he missed her birthday. By then, we both knew her
Her birthday is in September. In January of the following year, she
She later told me the special gift from her uncle
And it continued. Once he
So this year I was a bit
“I’m
“You’re
| A．standard | B．success | C．service | D．surprise |
| A．celebrate | B．study | C．leave | D．accept |
| A．care | B．catch | C．matter | D．stop |
| A．saved | B．born | C．hurt | D．praised |
| A．refuse | B．like | C．forget | D．happen |
| A．work | B．relationships | C．family | D．dates |
| A．already | B．always | C．never | D．also |
| A．uncle | B．friend | C．brother | D．classmate |
| A．made up | B．wrote | C．replied to | D．received |
| A．keys | B．money | C．pictures | D．text |
| A．barely | B．smoothly | C．really | D．mildly |
| A．expecting | B．understanding | C．enjoying | D．wanting |
| A．helped | B．visited | C．joined | D．asked |
| A．experiences | B．plans | C．findings | D．personalities |
| A．wondered | B．picked | C．remembered | D．explained |
| A．confused | B．worried | C．angry | D．bored |
| A．wrong | B．changing | C．unusual | D．serious |
| A．greatly | B．professionally | C．calmly | D．properly |
| A．frightened | B．lucky | C．sorry | D．satisfied |
| A．allowed | B．taught | C．advised | D．forced |
5 . Scientists say they’ve witnessed a never-before-seen type of reproduction in organic robots created in the lab using frog cells.
The discovery involves a xenobot—a simple, “programmable” organism that is created by bringing stem cells together in a lab. “You can think about this like using the different cells as building blocks like you would build with LEGO,” Douglas Blackiston, a co-author of the study says. The xenobots are made of cells taken from an African frog. The cells aren’t genetically changed at all, but simply combined in different arrangements to produce the xenobots, says Blackiston. What the xenobots did—self-replication—is new in living organisms, says Michael Levin, a professor of biology at Tufts. It does happen at the molecular (分子的) level, but “we are not aware of any organism that reproduces in this way,” he says.
Xenobots are collections of living cells and have no brain or digestive system. But in a real sense they can be programmed—to corral other cells, as in this study, or eventually to do other things. That’s why the researchers think of them as tiny organic robots. “The distinction between a robot and an organism is not nearly as sharp as... we used to think it was,” Levin says. “These creatures, they have properties of both.”
The xenobots fuel themselves by using tiny hair-like structures. They have a tendency to spin, which “turns out to be pretty good for collecting piles of things,” such as other cells, Blackiston says. So the team used an artificial intelligence-driven computer simulation (模拟图像) to see how they might control the xenobots into shapes that would be even better at piling things up. The researchers hope that one day these xenobots could be programmed to perform useful functions such as finding cancer cells in the human body or trapping harmful microplastics in the ocean.
But that concerns some scientists. Nita Farahany is a professor who studies the ethics involved in new technologies and was not part of the xenobot research. “Any time we try to improve life by means of tech... we should recognize its potential to go really poor,” she said.
1. What do we know about the study according to the first two paragraphs?| A．The research methods involve LEGO building. |
| B．The cells are genetically changed in the study. |
| C．The self-reproduction takes place in organic robots. |
| D．The xenobots are made of cells taken from plants. |
| A．Killing cancer cells in the human body. |
| B．Gathering harmful microplastics in the sea. |
| C．Purifying sea water to expand water resources. |
| D．Replicating damaged organ to avoid transplanting organs. |
| A．Worried. | B．Ambiguous. |
| C．Favorable. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．A book review. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A science fiction. | D．A scientific journal. |
6 . Gaelic had been the major culture in Scotland. But many forces tried to weaken its power. The final straw came in 1609, when some laws required Highland Scottish leaders to send their children to English-speaking schools. Naturally, the culture continued to weaken through the 20th century. Though Gaelic still existed in some rural areas, a lack of jobs meant young people in Gaelic areas were leaving for English-speaking cities.
Iain Noble was a wealthy businessman from Germany. He quickly fell in love with Gaelic culture when he moved to Scotland. So he set up the college of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in 1973 on the Isle of Skye. Today, it has more than 1,000 students and is officially the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture. It is where the revival of Scotland’s Gaelic culture started.
Of course, the college teaches the language and culture. But the secret to making such impressive cultural achievements is giving language learners skills in industries like media and business. The skills allow students to create local jobs and help make the area known to tourists.
Noble’s wife Lady Lucilla said his eagerness to revive the culture was clear. After spending much money setting up the college, Noble had to go to great lengths to find worthwhile teachers. Sometimes he tried hard to find people who had left Skye, “Iain would invite those whose families were from Skye but who were working in Aberdeen, in London and further afield,” said Lucilla.
“Now I’ve seen some cool youngsters who are very proud of their Gaelic, and they are fascinated by the culture,” she said.
One such youngster is 15-year-old Emily Macdonald. She not only speaks Gaelic fluently with her friends, but is excited to do so.
“I feel like we’re even more wanting to speak Gaelic, just to keep it alive, because it is really important to our nation,” she said. “And to have this special language that we can speak to each other in is quite special.”
1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?| A．The fall of Gaelic. | B．The future of Gaelic. |
| C．The influence of Gaelic. | D．The advantages of Gaelic. |
| A．Having the best Gaelic teachers. | B．Teaching students professional skills. |
| C．Receiving much government support. | D．Being open to both natives and foreigners. |
| A．He made much money from the college. |
| B．He traveled a lot to spread Gaelic culture. |
| C．He spared no effort to do his cultural work. |
| D．He became world-famous because of his college. |
| A．It is the pride of their nation. | B．It is hard to learn for youngsters. |
| C．It has changed a lot over the years. | D．It attracts fewer local young people. |
7 . To the untrained eye, a pingpong ball is just a pingpong ball. To a Beverly Cleary fan, it’s two motorcycle helmets for mice.
Ever since I read Cleary’s series about Ralph, the motorcycle-riding mouse, I’ve never looked at a pingpong ball—or the world—the same way. It’s amazing to think that it’s been more than forty years since I checked out The Mouse and the Motorcycle from my school library in Northport, and yet that one particular image is as clear to me as ever.
And why shouldn’t it be? It’s perfect.
How I wanted a mouse of my own to ride a toy motorcycle around my house! Thanks to Cleary’s genius, a talking mouse friend seemed indeed possible.
While much of children’s literature tried to explain the world from the point of view of a wise and gentle adult, Cleary created characters who saw the world as only children can. With great interest, I read every book that bore Beverly Cleary’s name. She seemed like a friend who understood me in ways I didn’t yet understand myself.
I’ve written eight children’s books and have always kept Beverly’s sense of wonder in mind. I don’t remember at exactly what age I decided I wanted to write books, but I know that by second or third grade, my teacher arranged a writing project that allowed us to focus on whatever we wanted. My best friend picked dolphins; I chose children’s authors, with a large amount of my project being about who else? Beverly Cleary!
I told that story recently to a school group. One of the students said, “That’s fantastic! You did your project on children’s authors and then you became one!”
“Yes,” I said. “And my best friend who did her project on dolphins—became a dolphin!”
“Really?” the students said together in astonishment.
And that perfectly sums up why I love writing for children: the belief that fantastic, magical things can happen. Best friends can become dolphins; mice can ride toy motorcycles and become our friends.
That’s what Beverly Cleary taught me. In the hands of a gifted storyteller, anything is possible... and so funny.
1. The Mouse and the Motorcycle impressed the author mainly because ______.| A．it recorded animals’ life | B．it uncovered the wisdom of life |
| C．it encouraged children to raise pets | D．it told about the world from children’s eyes |
| A．To teach the children to write. |
| B．To make the children concentrated on class. |
| C．To encourage the children to observe animals. |
| D．To show he children the importance of imagination. |
| A．Scared. | B．Surprised. | C．Doubtful. | D．Confused. |
| A．What the author created to attract children. |
| B．What the author did to turn impossible into possible. |
| C．How Beverly Cleary caused children’s interest in reading. |
| D．How he author was inspired to be a writer by Beverly Cleary. |
8 . The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028
211-535-7710 www.metmuseu.org
Entrances
Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Hours
Open 7 days a week
Sunday-Thursday 10:00-17:30
Friday and Saturday 10:00-21:00
Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, January 1, and the first Monday in May.
Admission
$25.00 for adults, a discount of 30% for students above 12, includes the Main Building and the Cloisters (回廊) on the same day; free for children under 12.
Free with Admission
All special exhibitions, as well as films, lectures, guided tours, concerts, gallery talks, and family/ children’s programs are free with admission. Ask about today’s activities at the Great Hall Information Desk.
The Cloisters Museum and Gardens
The Cloisters Museum and Gardens is a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of Europe in the Middle Ages. The extensive collection consists of masterworks in sculpture, colored glass, and precious objects from Europe dating from about the 9th to the 15th century.
Hours: Open 7 days a week.
March-October 10:00-17:15
November-February 10:00-16:45
Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1.
1. How much may they pay if a 13-year-old girl and her parents visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art?| A．$32.5. | B．$50. | C．$57.5. | D．$67.5. |
| A．it opens all the year round |
| B．it has a modern European-style garden |
| C．its collections date from the Middle Ages |
| D．it sells excellent European glass collections |
| A．On Sundays. | B．On May Day. |
| C．On January 1. | D．From Thanksgiving Day to Christmas. |
9 . In 2019, the world generated 54.6 million tons of e-waste. However, just 17.4 percent of it was formally collected and recycled. Since 2014, the amount of e-waste recycled has grown by 1.8 million tons—a relatively small amount, considering that the amount of e-waste generated increased by 9.2 million tons in the same period.
Global reserves of some elements, such as platinum, are supposed to be fully used up within 15 years if the proportion of recycled stocks entering production doesn’t increase. E-waste and EV batteries are currently recycled through processes called pyrometallurgy (火法冶金术) and hydrometallurgy (湿法冶金术). However, they involve burning temperatures with a high energy demand and deep carbon footprint, and poisonous chemicals which are harmful to the environment. Alternatives are therefore being sought.
A team of scientists from the University of Coventry are extending one such alternative. They have been using non-poisonous bacteria to oxidize and recover the precious metals—a process known as “bioleaching”. They have shown that copper is widely recoverable from e-waste, and that all metals present in EV batteries can be recovered by using microbes (微生物). If extended, bioleaching facilities would mean that manufacturers of EV batteries and other electronic goods would be able to recover metals locally, relying less on costly exports to recycling centers abroad.
“At present, a key limitation for e-waste recycling is the lack of certification detailing the types and amounts of metals contained in electronic goods. But with an efficient recycling process appearing, manufacturers have the motivation to use more recycled material in their products, which will change the very design of electronics goods. It’s about closing the loop of a product’s life cycle,” said the leader of the Bioleaching Research Group, Sebastien Farnaud.
Ultimately, bioleaching technology is born out of the idea of creating a truly circular process for the things that we consume. We need to shift from a mindset and economy where we see waste as an end product, to one where there isn’t even a start or an end at all.
1. What do the statistics in Paragraph 1 indicate？| A．People pay no attention to e-waste recycling. |
| B．The recycling rate of e-waste is comparatively low. |
| C．E-waste has caused serious environmental problems. |
| D．The amount of e-waste is sharply increasing every year. |
| A．They are not environmentally friendly. |
| B．They only apply to certain e-waste. |
| C．They generate metals with a complex process. |
| D．They cause a sharp rise in local temperatures. |
| A．It has been applied abroad. | B．It releases no poisonous gas. |
| C．It recovers metals by microbes. | D．It promotes the local export trade. |
| A．a travel guide | B．a fiction novel |
| C．a health magazine | D．a scientific journal |
10 . In one Nebraska teen running race before graduating from high school, Brandon Schutt’s personal best turned out not to be about marking the fastest time but displaying the biggest heart.
During the race, he knew he had the potential to
Brandon Schutt, who was at his side,
In today’s competitive world in which the emphasis in athletics is so often put on breaking records, it was
| A．look | B．qualify | C．search | D．obtain |
| A．step | B．race | C．pace | D．run |
| A．win | B．break | C．overcome | D．keep |
| A．extra | B．down | C．best | D．hard |
| A．matched | B．struggled | C．sensed | D．failed |
| A．Enthusiastic | B．Determined | C．Devoted | D．Anxious |
| A．fall | B．stop | C．pause | D．push |
| A．took | B．reached | C．arrived | D．made |
| A．amazing | B．boring | C．unsteady | D．careful |
| A．start | B．mark | C．front | D．finish |
| A．arms | B．bones | C．legs | D．shoes |
| A．offered | B．ordered | C．spent | D．expected |
| A．trouble | B．attempt | C．pleasure | D．operation |
| A．seize | B．disappear | C．quit | D．admit |
| A．feet | B．notes | C．knees | D．terms |
| A．adventure | B．support | C．praise | D．comfort |
| A．competed | B．attended | C．completed | D．divided |
| A．opponent | B．enemy | C．member | D．hunter |
| A．awful | B．curious | C．dangerous | D．inspiring |
| A．meaning | B．memory | C．preparation | D．success |
