1 . Charlie Watts of the British music group the Rolling Stones died on Tuesday at a hospital in London. Watts played the drums for the very successful band for almost sixty years. His publicist, Bernard Doherty, said the musician “passed away peacefully” surrounded by his family.
Watts was respected worldwide for his muscular style of drumming, which he combined with elements of jazz, a favorite music of the artist. He joined the band early in 1963, just a few months following its first public performance.
To the world, he was a rock star. But Watts often said that the experience was tiring, unpleasant, and even frightening. “Girls chasing you down the street, screaming... horrible!... I hated it,” he told The Guardian newspaper. In another media report, he described the drumming life as a “cross between being an athlete and a total nervous wreck (神经兮兮的人)”.
Charlie Watts was born in London on June 2, 1941. From childhood, he was crazy about music-jazz, especially. He fell in love with the drums after hearing the music of Chico Hamilton. Watts was not a rock music fan at first. He shared a home with the Stones’ leaders Mick Jagger and Keith Richards because he did not have to pay for the housing. “Keith Richards taught me rock and roll,” Watts said. “We’d have nothing to do all day, and we’d play these records over and over again.”
The Stones had searched for months to find a permanent drummer. Richards has spoken about how much the band wanted Watts to join. The guitar player said the band members cut down on expenses so they could pay Watts a good wage. Watts said he believed at first the band would be lucky to last a year. “Every band I’d ever been in had lasted a week,” he said. “I always thought the Stones would last a week, then a fortnight, and then suddenly, it’s 30 years.”
1. What does the underlined word “muscular” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．Aggressive. | B．Complex. | C．Fashionable. | D．Powerful. |
| A．He enjoyed the fame and attention. |
| B．He had a strong dislike for fans and music. |
| C．He found the experience exhausting and intolerable. |
| D．He considered himself lucky to be a part of the band. |
| A．To save accommodation costs. |
| B．To practice playing the guitar. |
| C．To learn rock and composition. |
| D．To be the drummer of the band. |
| A．Watts was unwilling to join the band for low wages. |
| B．The band’s success depended on a talented drummer. |
| C．A band usually lasted for a few months in those days. |
| D．The band’s popularity was beyond Watts’ expectations. |
2 . New York Broadway Show: Aladdin
Have a genie (精灵) grant your wish to see the Disney classic live on Broadway!
Provider: Tiqets International B.V.
Duration: 2h 30mins
Ticket Info:
A. $91.20 Admission to Aladdin
B. Smartphone tickets accepted
C. Instant ticket delivery
Highlights & Description
Roll out the magic carpet and get ready for a whole new world. The producer of The Lion King brings the timeless story of Aladdin to the New York stage in a musical spectacular for the whole family.
From the producer of The Lion King, this magical spectacle is packed with all your favorite songs from the Disney animated classic Aladdin, and more!
Come to the New Amsterdam Theatre and step into “A Whole New World”!
Instructions
Your tickets will be sent to you via email. Please show your ticket at the New Amsterdam Theatre entrance for the time and date of your show.
Seating starts 30 minutes prior to showtime, but there may be a wait to enter the theatre due to the security check. Please give your group plenty of time to get to the theatre and find their seats. Latecomers will be accommodated during the first appropriate break in the performance.
Reschedule and Cancellation Policy
Refunds are not possible for this ticket.
Rescheduling is not possible for this ticket.
1. Where is the text probably taken from?| A．A Disney brochure. | B．A travel blog. |
| C．A ticketing website. | D．A Broadway introduction. |
| A．It is set in ancient Amsterdam. |
| B．It is adapted from The Lion King. |
| C．It is an animated classic from Disney. |
| D．It is a magical musical with many songs. |
| A．be kept waiting until the first suitable break. |
| B．be turned away and the refund is impossible. |
| C．be rescheduled for the earliest available show. |
| D．be admitted immediately after the security check. |
3 . My dad is a car mechanic, which involves lots of heavy lifting, tightening, shaking, and banging. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would bake great bread, but he is and he does. The shop where Dad works is not equipped with enough workers, so there’s lots of pressure on Dad.
I’ve been feeling kind of stressed out myself since I found out I didn’t qualify for the swim team. Now I’ll have to wait a whole year to try out again; that might as well be a million years. Dad knew I was feeling pressure. Last Saturday he said it was time for me to help in the kitchen. I couldn’t imagine what help I could offer. Still, I followed right behind him.
Dad gave me an apron, got out his enormous stainless-steel mixing bowl, and told me to stir while he added the ingredients. When I had stirred the flour and milk mixture into a thick lump (块), Dad had me turn it over onto the countertop. Then he showed me how to knead (揉) the dough (生面团), which took ten minutes and a surprising amount of energy.
Next came the most difficult and surprising part — doing nothing. We waited for more than an hour for the dough to slowly swell up and double in size. After that, we punched the risen dough down to let the air out, divided it in two and waited for another hour. “It’s hard to resist putting the dough directly into the oven, but if you do, the bread will be tough. The most important lesson of all is learning to be patient,” Dad explained.
While we waited, we sat and talked. Silence is a blank space that begs to be filled. It’s like the dough — it swells up and fills a room with emptiness unless you punch it down with words. It felt good to be still and listen to each other. As the flour dust in the kitchen quietly settled, time seemed to slow down. The dough was going to rise at its own pace. As I accepted that, I stopped watching the clock and drumming my fingers on the tabletop. I started enjoying the quiet time with Dad. My father taught me how to bake bread, but I think I learned something more.
1. Why did Dad ask the author to help in the kitchen?| A．Dad himself was under huge pressure. |
| B．Dad liked baking bread with the author. |
| C．Dad wanted to help the author relax. |
| D．Dad intended to teach him a lesson. |
| A．Baking. | B．Talking. | C．Drumming. | D．Working. |
| A．It is necessary to spend time with family. |
| B．It is difficult to learn to bake bread. |
| C．It is beneficial to relax in times of stress. |
| D．It is important to learn to be patient. |
| A．Dad’s Lesson | B．Learning from Father |
| C．The Bread Lesson | D．Baking Bread |
4 . A typical lion tamer (驯兽师) in people’s mind is an entertainer holding a whip (鞭) and a chair. The whip gets all of the attention, but it’s
How often do you find yourself in the same
This
It doesn’t have to be that way. Anytime you find the world waving a
| A．rarely | B．mostly | C．nearly | D．merely |
| A．stand up | B．raise up | C．rely on | D．focus on |
| A．divided | B．limited | C．extended | D．strengthened |
| A．serious | B．unsure | C．curious | D．skeptical |
| A．bonds | B．notices | C．options | D．desires |
| A．emotion | B．reputation | C．position | D．generation |
| A．never | B．always | C．often | D．already |
| A．upsets | B．relieves | C．impresses | D．moves |
| A．speaking | B．worrying | C．complaining | D．debating |
| A．exchanging | B．encouraging | C．damaging | D．conflicting |
| A．effect | B．result | C．study | D．problem |
| A．defending | B．confusing | C．improving | D．weeping |
| A．whip | B．meat | C．chair | D．hand |
| A．ready | B．pleasant | C．regretful | D．frozen |
| A．orderly | B．precise | C．rigid | D．immediate |
5 . It’s good to be smart. After all, intelligent people earn more money, accumulate more wealth, and even live longer. But there’s another side to the story. The brightest people and strongest leaders sometimes make errors others don’t, especially in situations that require common sense.
Travis Bradberry, president at TalentSmart, explained in his post Why Smart People Act So Stupid that “Rational thinking (理性思维) and intelligence don’t tend to go hand in hand. Intelligent people are more likely to make silly mistakes because of blind spots in how they use logic. These blind spots exist because smart people tend to be overconfident in their reasoning abilities.” They are so used to being right and having quick answers that they don’t even realize when they’re making a mess by answering without thinking things through.
A lifetime of praise leads smart people to develop too much faith in their intelligence and abilities. They often fail to recognize when they need help, and when they do recognize it, they tend to believe that no one else is capable of providing it.
“It’s hard for anyone to graciously accept the fact that they’re wrong. It’s even harder for smart people because they grow so used to being right all the time that it becomes a part of their identity,” Bradberry wrote. “For smart people, being wrong can feel like a personal attack, and being right, a necessity.”
Smart people also have a hard time accepting feedback. They tend to undervalue the opinions of others, which means they have trouble believing that anyone is qualified to give them useful feedback. Not only does this tendency slow their growth and performance, it can lead to harmful relationships, both personally and professionally.
Smart people develop overachieving personalities because things come so easily to them. They simply don’t understand how hard some people have to work to accomplish the same things, and because of that, they push people too hard. They set the bar too high, and when people take too long or don’t get things quite right, they assume it’s due to a lack of effort. So they push even harder.
1. What do we learn from the passage about the brightest people?| A．They can differ in their personalities. |
| B．They are admired by people around them. |
| C．They usually face their own weaknesses calmly. |
| D．They can make silly mistakes in straightforward situations. |
| A．Their irrational way of thinking. | B．Too much concern about their work. |
| C．Too much faith in their ability to think. | D．Their ignorance of behavioral science. |
| A．They may experience a lot of emotional stress. |
| B．They may commit more errors than ever before. |
| C．They may lose faith in their administrative abilities. |
| D．They may suffer in their professional and private life. |
| A．They are under increasing pressure. | B．They set higher goals for themselves. |
| C．They put a lot of effort into their work. | D．They take less time to get things done. |
6 . I was driving when my phone alerted me to a new email. Filled with eager anticipation, I pulled over, turned on my hazard lights, and opened it. My emotions quickly changed as I learned, for the sixth and final time, that I had been denied a promotion to full professor. My institution didn’t seem to value what I brought to the table. But when I told my family that night, my children offered a surprisingly positive response. They were excited to see what I was going to do next, they said. They apparently knew long before I did that losing my bid for a promotion would turn out to be the best thing that could have happened for me.
This had been the final step in a long process spanning 15 months and involving so much effort. I had started by studying successful promotion bids and asking senior scholars for frank discussions about my readiness. I had carefully prepared my application packet, summarizing everything I had achieved in my career. For more than a year, I had spent hours every day trying to prove my worth to my university.
To my surprise, having a final answer brought a welcome sense of closure. As a first step toward healing, I decided to prioritize my own values and follow my own internal compass. I disconnected from people in my life who violated my values, cultivated my relationships with those who share my priorities and bring out the best in me, and spent more time with my family. I founded a nonprofit that helps first-generation and low-income students and young professionals advance in the workforce while serving their community. The initiative had long been a dream of mine, but I never pursued it because typical academic hiring and promotion don’t reward such efforts. Now, such considerations were no longer my North Star.
Five months after that email from top leadership, I found myself in the car again, experiencing another career-defining moment. I may have lost my bid for a big promotion, but in the end, it brought me to the right place.
1. What did the author feel after he read the email?| A．Anxious and annoyed. | B．Embarrassed and ashamed. |
| C．Relieved and peaceful. | D．Disappointed and sorrowful. |
| A．What contributions the writer had made. | B．What preparations the writer had made. |
| C．How successful the career had been. | D．How tiring the process had been. |
| A．Success is more than a title or a rank. |
| B．One’s internal compass is to be developed. |
| C．Serving the community may heal a broken heart. |
| D．One’s real value first lies in his family interaction. |
| A．Emails: my North Star |
| B．Full professor: a double-edged sword |
| C．A career setback becomes a great opportunity |
| D．An academic career witnesses a failed promotion |
7 . Welcome to our stand-up comedy classes
This is the workshop where beginners have grown into headliners and headliners have grown into stars. Our workshop stresses stand-up comedy writing and performing — the two key components of stand-up comedy.
Our classes are conducted by award-winning, comedy director and writer Stephen Rosenfield and his stand-up staff. They are conducted so that when it’s time for your club performance, you will have solidly written, funny material and you will be well rehearsed and ready to perform beyond your expectations. These stand-up comedy classes are offered to both beginners and advanced students. The workshop consists of group classes, private coaching sessions and a performance at Gotham or West Side Comedy Club.
Seats available: 2
Start date: May 17th
In-person show: May 20th at Gotham Comedy Club
Live streamed show: May 22nd on YouTube
Fees:
If you are a first time student: $410. If you are a returning student: $350.
We accept cash, checks or credit cards.
Your instructor: Becky Veduccio
Becky has been a professional comedian, writer and actress for over 15 years. She has performed stand-up comedy in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and London. Besides, she has appeared in commercials, theater and feature films. And she competed in the 2018 season of America’s GotTalent.
Her film works include Return to Me, Maid in Manhattan and Random Hearts. As a writer, she was chosen as one of Parenting. com’s top five “Favorite Mommy Bloggers” for her humorous articles on the website. In 2015, she won the New York Press Club Award for humorous writing. As an instructor, Becky has taught stand-up comedy to every age group — from elementary school kids and teenagers to university students and adults. She believes everyone has a comedic voice.
1. What can be learned about the workshop?| A．There are three seats left at present. | B．It focuses on both writing and acting. |
| C．There are online shows on May 20th. | D．It is specially designed for headliners. |
| A．$10. | B．$50. | C．$60. | D．$80. |
| A．She is an experienced performer. | B．She contributes a lot to magazines. |
| C．She became an overnight success. | D．She hosted America’s Got Talent. |
8 . In the animal kingdom, mimics (模仿) are not rare. Stick insects pretend to be twigs. Hawk moth caterpillars resemble poisonous snakes. The examples, though, are visual. Auditory mimicry is rarer. Danilo Russo of the University of Naples Federico II thinks he has found a novel case of it, as he describes in Current Biology. Some bats, he believes, mimic angry bees in order to scare away owls that might otherwise eat them.
Dr. Russo first noticed bat buzzing a few years ago. The noise struck him is similar to the sound of some bees. He wondered whether bat buzzing was a form of mimicry which helped to scare off would-be predators.
To test this idea, he and his colleagues first recorded the buzzing that captured bats made. Then, with protective clothing, they began the more dangerous task of recording the buzzing made by different bees. Computer analysis revealed that bees’ and bats’ buzzing were, indeed, similar.
Then the researchers recruited several owls. They put the owls, one at a time, in an enclosure with branches for them to stay on, and two boxes with holes in them. They placed a loudspeaker alongside one of the boxes and, after the birds had settled in, broadcast through it five seconds of uninterrupted bat buzzing and a similar amount of insect buzzing three times in a row for each noise. As a control, they broadcast in like manner several non-buzzing sounds made by bats.
During the broadcasts and for five minutes thereafter, they videoed the owls. After analysis, the results were unequivocal. When they heard both the bat buzzing and the bee buzzing, the owls moved as far from the speakers as they could. In contrast, when the non-buzzing bat sounds were played, they crept closer.
Dr. Russo believes this is the first reported case of a mammal using auditory mimicry to scare away a predator. They strongly suspect, however, that it is not unique. Anecdotes suggest several birds also make buzzing noises when their nests are disturbed. And with the result of the experiment, he therefore predicts that auditory mimicry is far more widespread than currently realized.
1. What was Dr. Russo’s assumption of the study?| A．Only some bats have the capacity of auditory mimicry. |
| B．The buzzing of bats is similar to the sound of some bees. |
| C．Auditory mimicry is rather common in the animal kingdom. |
| D．Bats imitate the voice of angry bees to frighten away enemies. |
| A．By collecting computer data. |
| B．By consulting experts in this field. |
| C．By referring to other scholars’ analysis. |
| D．By conducting series of scientific experiments. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Controversial. | C．Definite. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Animal Mimicry: Buzz off |
| B．Bats: No More Victim to Owls |
| C．A Self-protection Behavior among Animals |
| D．A New Trick to Scare Away Owls |
9 . While I was driving a motorbike with one hand, a lady suddenly stepped into the street. I braked
Thus, I had to
When swimming, I need to wear a tight racing suit. It took a lot of practice to become
At a Paralympic event, everyone player has a(n)
At first, learning to ask for help was the adaptation that proved to be more difficult than putting on a
| A．occasionally | B．slowly | C．hesitantly | D．sharply |
| A．relearn | B．predict | C．analyze | D．memorize |
| A．forgiveness | B．assistance | C．permission | D．protection |
| A．gather | B．change | C．worsen | D．appear |
| A．equal to | B．opposed to | C．skilled at | D．crazy about |
| A．choosing | B．preserving | C．washing | D．removing |
| A．ready | B．afraid | C．relieved | D．shocked |
| A．blame | B．inspire | C．free | D．greet |
| A．alternative | B．certificate | C．shortcoming | D．disability |
| A．seek for | B．point out | C．hold up | D．look into |
| A．confident | B．outgoing | C．strange | D．selfless |
| A．guidance | B．conflict | C．joke | D．incident |
| A．hat | B．swimsuit | C．coat | D．glasses |
| A．initially | B．dangerously | C．widely | D．frequently |
| A．gave up | B．objected to | C．ended up | D．put off |
10 . Humans’ light at night does not spare even the sea from its glare (强光). Researchers published the first global map of ocean light pollution. It shows large parts of the sea are lit up at night. And that risks confusing or disrupting the behaviors of sea life.
Tim Smyth led a team to research the areas of the ocean where light pollution is strongest. Smyth and his colleagues started with a world map of man-made night-sky brightness that had been created in 2016. Then they added data on the ocean and atmosphere. Some data came from shipboard measurements of man-made light in the water. Others came from satellite images that judge how clear the water is. Particles (微粒) in the water, such as tiny floating plants and animals, can affect how far downward light travels. These factors vary from place to place and may change with the seasons. The team also used computers to copy how different wavelengths of light move through water.
Next, they wanted to know how that underwater light might affect animals. Not all species will be easily affected. The team focused on copepods (桡足亚纲甲壳动物). These common creatures are a key part of many ocean food chains. They use light as a signal to move all together to the dark deep, seeking safety from other surface creatures. Normally they use the sun or the winter moon as their signal. Too much man-made light can mess up their usual patterns.
Light pollution is strongest in about three feet of the water. Here, man-made light can be strong enough to confuse the copepods. Nearly 2 million square kilometers of ocean get such strong night light. That’s an area about the size of Mexico. Farther down, the light gets weaker. But even 65 feet deep, it’s still bright enough to bother copepods across 840,000 square kilometers of ocean.
The team published its findings on December 13 in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene.
1. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “disrupting” in Paragraph 1?| A．Upsetting. | B．Observing. | C．Ensuring. | D．Protecting. |
| A．They are main eaters of other creatures. |
| B．They are not affected by underwater light. |
| C．They can escape attacks with the help of light. |
| D．They can weaken the effect of man-made light. |
| A．By stating opinions. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By raising questions. | D．By giving reasons. |
| A．Light Pollution from Sea Life | B．Living Conditions of Copepods |
| C．Discoveries of Copepods | D．Light Pollution Even in Sea |
