1 . This is a talk by a London taxi driver.
“I’ve been a taxi driver for nearly ten years. Most London taxi drivers have their own taxis.” “It’s a nice job most of time. you meet a lot of people. I always work at night, because there is too much traffic during the day. I live twenty miles outside London and I go to work at 5:30 in the afternoon.”
“I usually go home between 2 and 3 in the morning.”
“Some very strange things happened late at night. The other day I was taking a woman home from a party. She had her little dog with her. When we got to her house, she found that she had lost her key. So I waited in the car with the dog while she climbed in through the windows.” “I waited and waited. After half an hour of ringing the bell I decided to find out what was going on. I tied the dog to a tree and started to climb in through the window. The next thing I knew was that the police came.” They thought I was a thief.
“Luckily, the woman came downstairs. She must have gone to sleep and forgotten about me and the dog!”
1. The driver always worked at night because it was easier to ______.A.drive | B.make money |
C.climb in through the window | D.meet a lot of people |
A.she wanted to have a sleep | B.her husband didn’t open the door for her |
C.she didn’t want to pay the driver | D.she couldn’t find her key |
A.early in the morning | B.late at night |
C.20 miles outside London | D.near the police station |
A.The driver worked until between 2 and 3 in the morning. |
B.The police made a mistake. |
C.The woman had no money to pay the driver. |
D.The woman had forgotten about the driver and the dog. |
2 . A man came home from work late,
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”
“That’s
“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”
“If you
“Oh”, the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I please borrow $10?” The father got angry immediately and flatly
The man stepped into the little boy’s room
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to
A.satisfied | B.excited | C.tired | D.surprised |
A.nothing | B.not | C.none | D.nobody |
A.specifically | B.strictly | C.seriously | D.impatiently |
A.need | B.must | C.should | D.dare |
A.refused | B.accepted | C.opposed | D.denied |
A.turned down | B.sat down | C.calmed down | D.put down |
A.quietly | B.rudely | C.politely | D.confidently |
A.light | B.mood | C.condition | D.company |
A.asked for | B.waited for | C.paid | D.worked for |
A.down | B.aside | C.straight | D.still |
A.yelled | B.said | C.sighed | D.apologized |
A.hear | B.worry | C.wonder | D.know |
A.made | B.spent | C.counted | D.lost |
A.actively | B.carefully | C.directly | D.curiously |
A.borrow | B.lend | C.buy | D.use |
3 . Four Online Art Classes
International Center of Photography
Cost: $20 per month or $220 per year
Class length (持续时间): 3 to 5 hours
Registration (注册): Open year-round
Standout feature: International Center of Photography is popular for photography classes that are suitable for people at different skill levels at these classes are taught by experienced teachers.
The Ceramic (陶瓷) School
Cost: $30 per month or $300 per year
Class length: 1 to 2 hours
Registration: Open year-round
Standout feature: The Ceramic School offers many classes and live online events at a reasonable price and is only centered on ceramics.
Craftsy
Cost: $10 per month or $90 per year
Class length: 1 to 2 hours
Registration: By semester (学)
Standout feature: Craftsy stands out for offering many courses
sewing, embroidery and knitting (缝纫、刺绣和编织) that are suitable for all levels, from beginners to more experienced learners.
Skillshare
Cost: $15 per month or $150 per year
Class length: 1 to 3 hours
Registration: Open year-round
Standout feature: Providing classes for people at all skill levels at aaffordable price, Skillshare is our top pick for online painting lessons.
1. How much should you pay if you register for a five-month photography course?A.$50. | B.$75. | C.$100. | D.$150. |
A.They cost the same. | B.They last for the same time. |
C.They are both for beginners. | D.They are both open year-round. |
A.International Center of Photography. | B.The Ceramic School. |
C.Skillshare. | D.Craftsy. |
4 . Yue-Sai Kan was born in China. In 1972, she moved to New York. When Kan was a child, she was told by her father that she should always aim to (力争) be the first because no one remembered the second. What her father said has been a driving inspiration over the years for her to become a bestselling author and a successful businesswoman.
Her new book Be a Pioneer, which is the tenth she has written and her first Chinese-language autobiography (自传), was produced after three years, inspired by her father’s words.
When writing an autobiography, the biggest challenge is not how to present one’s life, but to remember it. To help with reconstructing her story, Kan asked many friends and colleagues she made over the years to write down their memories of her from earlier times. So besides featuring Kan’s own words, the new book is also filled with those of her friends’s, which gives Kan a new understanding of herself — a woman who works hard, studies hard. and the most important thing is that she is a woman filled with a sense of responsibility.
“My helper Stephanie mentioned that I was worried because we were running out of money for the company. My housekeeper reminded me that before the start of one of my events she found that I had fainted (晕倒) in the bathroom. I was so tired that I was getting sick. They know more about me than myself,” Kan says.
“Writing a book is a good business to be in, not so much to make money but to grow the brain. I believe what I do will benefit the world. All the things I have done in Be a Pioneer — my successes and my failures — can be a good example to young people in particular. That’s the main reason why I wrote the book,” adds Kan.
1. What can we know about Kan’s book Be a Pioneer?A.It took her 10 years to finish. |
B.It is full of her father’s words. |
C.It was completed with her friends’ help. |
D.It tops the tenth on the bestseller list. |
A.Being short of money. | B.Having no supporters. |
C.Having to write it in Chinese. | D.Remembering her past. |
A.To tell Kan is weak in health. |
B.To show Kan is a worried woman. |
C.To report the path of writing is difficult. |
D.To state how Kan’s story was reconstructed. |
A.Setting an example. | B.Earning money. |
C.Making herself popular. | D.Proving herself to her father. |
5 . My father brought home a sailboat when I was ten, and almost each Sunday in summers we would go sailing. Dad was quite skilled in sailing, but not good at
The last time Dad and I set sail together was really unforgettable. It was a perfect weekend after I graduated from university. I came home and
“John!
In my memory he could fix any
Before I could respond, a wave of water got into the boat. I rushed to the tiller
I swam to Dad quickly and assisted him in climbing onto the hull(船壳)of the boat. Upon sitting on the hull, Dad was a little awkward about his flash of
That was the first time Dad had counted on me in a moment of emergency. More importantly, I found it was my turn to start
A.boating | B.running | C.swimming | D.teaching |
A.enjoyed | B.desired | C.hated | D.learned |
A.sent | B.ordered | C.invited | D.allowed |
A.calm | B.icy | C.stormy | D.thundery |
A.repeatedly | B.lightly | C.hardly | D.violently |
A.danger | B.place | C.sport | D.job |
A.suffered | B.fell | C.froze | D.quit |
A.Look | B.Help | C.Run | D.Jump |
A.problem | B.relationship | C.machine | D.boat |
A.turned to | B.lived with | C.argued with | D.objected to |
A.if | B.for | C.after | D.but |
A.got through | B.poured into | C.turned over | D.lifted up |
A.ashamed | B.protective | C.tired | D.afraid |
A.pain | B.anger | C.fear | D.shame |
A.making up | B.getting ready | C.paying off | D.looking out |
6 . When I was a child, I always wanted to be a superhero. I wanted to save the world and make everyone happy. But I knew that I’d need superpowers to make my dreams come true. So I used to embark on these imaginary journeys to find intergalactic (星系之间的) objects from planet Krypton, but didn’t yield much result. When I grew up and realized that science fiction was not a good source for superpowers, I decided instead to embark on a journey of real science, to find a more useful truth.
I started my journey in California, with a UC Berkeley 30-year longitudinal study that examined the photos of students in an old yearbook, and tried to measure their success and well-being throughout their life.By measuring the students’ smiles, researchers were able to predict how fulfilling and long-lasting a subject’s marriage would be, how well they would score on standardized tests of well-being, and how inspiring they would be to others.
Another aha moment came from a 2010 Wayne State University span research project that looked into pre-1950s baseball cards of Major League players. The researchers found that the span of a player’s smile could actually assist to predict the span of his life. Players who didn’t smile in their pictures lived an average of only 72.9 years, while players with beaming smiles lived an average of almost 80 years.
British researchers found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate. Wait — The same study found that smiling is as stimulating as receiving up to £16,000 in cash. That’s like $25,000 a smile. It’s not bad. And think about it this way: 25,000 times 400 — children smile as many as 400 times per day — quite a few kids out there feel like Mark Zuckerberg every day.
So whenever you want to tap into a superpower that will help you and everyone around you live a longer, healthier, happier life, smile.
1. Why did the author shift to pursuing scientific research?A.Because he discovered galactic objects during childhood. |
B.Because he realized sci-fi couldn’t bring superpowers. |
C.Because he dreamed of global happiness since youth. |
D.Because he embarked on these fictional journeys. |
A.Every child smiles 400 times per day. |
B.Kids who smile are as rich as Zukerberg. |
C.Smiling is equal to eating 2,000 bars of chocolate. |
D.Smiling can gain stimulation alike receiving cash. |
A.Positive. | B.Doubtful. | C.Neutral. | D.Indifferent. |
A.The journey to find the truth. |
B.The hidden power of smiling. |
C.The secret to a long and healthy life. |
D.The significance of superhero studies. |
7 . Which of your children is your favorite? Your response is probably “none of them.” What kind of parent would choose one child as his or her favorite? The truth might be surprising to you.
Years of research supports what many have suspected-most parents have a favorite child. Studies have explored reasons from birth order to gender (性别) and shared interests. Yet even with years of research that supports this idea, most parents tend to deny the fact that they have a favorite child. Even if there is no obvious parental favorite among siblings (兄弟姐妹), studies have shown that children often feel preferential treatment of their sibling by their parents. Favoritism often results in family conflicts and feelings of sadness among family members whether parents’ favoritism is real or only felt. Thus both the kids and their parents tend to be plagued by the favoritism.
The question isn’t whether or not you have a favorite child, since it’s pretty clear that many parents do. Typically, favoritism has little to do with loving one child more. It is more about how your personality resonates (产生共鸣) with one child’s personality more than the others’. Essentially, it’s a question of “like”. Still, why is it so hard for us to admit that one of our children might be our favorite? Some parents might worry about harming their children emotionally or psychologically. Some parents confuse liking one child’s personality with the love they show to each child. However, when recognizing that you might hold preferential feelings towards one child you are taking an important step towards creating a better relationship with all of your children.
Instead of denying the fact, you can reflect on how you relate to each of your children. Examining your feelings towards each of your children can provide a greater insight into your own personality and how you function in relationships -- and in fact, how you consider your children might reflect more about your thoughts and feelings of yourself than them. Increased awareness about your inner world can help you build and keep healthier relationships with your children.
1. How do most parents respond to the result of the research?A.They’re quite concerned about it. | B.They’re unwilling to admit it. |
C.They’re sensitive to it. | D.They’re regretful about it. |
A.Encouraged. | B.Troubled. | C.Separated. | D.Confused. |
A.Because the child is worth more love. |
B.Because the child has a good personality. |
C.Because the child has more in common with them. |
D.Because the child knows how to please them |
A.Is it OK to have a favorite child? |
B.What kind of kids do parents prefer? |
C.How can parents get along well with children? |
D.Why do parents treat their kids differently? |
8 . When you eat a traditional ice cream in the summer, you need to finish it quickly to make sure the treat doesn’t end up melting down your hand. Reach for an ice cream sandwich instead, and the ice cream seemingly stays solid longer magically. An ice cream that refuses to melt seems unnatural, but you might be surprised by what’s really behind its practically heat-proof (耐热的) abilities.
Ice cream without a container in the freezer would inevitably lead to ice blocks because of its water content. Most packaged ice cream-whether it’s in a cone or sandwiched between two cookies-contains some elements called emulsifiers (乳化剂) that can keep water to fat to prevent ice blocks. They go a step further by helping to keep ice cream consistent, even under the hot sun. On an element list, you might find different chemicals with the same goal: to hold water in so the ice cream doesn’t melt quickly. Ice cream sandwiches generally contain more of those chemicals than hand-made ones.
If you’re worried about those elements, and some additives (添加剂) might create images that belong to a lab rather than your kitchen, then you’d better be at ease. Even natural ingredients (成分), which come from beans, might give you pause if you’ve heard about their use and misuse in weight-loss efforts.
Of course, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) takes any of the side effects of those chemicals into account, and the amount you’d find in an ice cream sandwich isn’t enough to cause health problems. While we meet someone willing to share their ice cream cookies with us, there ‘s no reason to fear your kids’ safety if they want to enjoy a store-bought treat. A slow melt rate method causes you less cleanup.
1. What’s the main function of the emulsifiers in ice cream sandwiches?A.To cover the ice cream so that it avoids sunlight. |
B.To make the ice cream sandwiches taste better. |
C.To make the ice cream stay in the cookies longer. |
D.To protect the ice cream by keeping water out. |
A.natural ingredients can sometimes be dangerous |
B.the elements in ice cream are actually harmless |
C.emulsifiers in ice cream can make people fat |
D.additives should be avoided in losing weight |
A.Replace the cookies with something natural. |
B.Restrict the amount of the cookies. |
C.Feel easy to give kids permission. |
D.Gently refuse the kid’s request. |
A.The side effects of ice cream sandwiches. |
B.The food to melt down your hand in hot summer. |
C.The methods of avoiding ice cream. |
D.The elements behind your ice cream cookies. |
9 . He really did look like a tourist, with a camera around his neck and a bottle of sunscreen cream sticking out of his bag. The fat man sat on the terrace (平台), sipping lemonade and pretending to look at a tourism brochure. His sunglasses masked his eyes, but I knew he wasn’t looking at the brochure: he hadn’t turned a page for the last ten minutes. As I brought him his dishes, he coughed up a “thank you” and looked at me briefly. I tried not to stare at the tiny scar across his left eyebrow.
I walked back inside with my empty tray (托盘), shaking my head. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him. Then it hit me. The car accident. The mysterious stranger who helped me out of my crashed car, just before it exploded. I rushed back to his table. He was gone.
I moved his saucer and found his tip, along with a card: I am deeply grateful to you. The night of your car accident, I was on my way to rob a jewelry store. Saving your life brought things back in a right way. I now live an honest life, thanks to you. God bless you! Mr. D.
I shivered (颤抖). The night of my car accident, I was heading for an interview in an illegal dance club. Seeing human kindness through his heroic gesture turned my life around and brought faith back into my life. I unfolded the tip he left. Among the singles was a grand (一千块) with a pen mark underlining “In God We Trust.” I said a silent prayer for him and got back to work, smiling.
1. Why did the fat man look like a tourist?A.Because be used money n it the same as the locals. |
B.Because he carried what tourists usually have on. |
C.Because he doesn’t look like a native citizen. |
D.Because he ordered strange food and drinks. |
A.He was drinking all the time. |
B.He sat still with his sunglasses. |
C.The page remained unturned. |
D.He was staring at the writer. |
A.They kept in touch with each other since then. |
B.The writer had been searching for the man. |
C.The man became a rich man years later. |
D.The writer didn’t go to that interview. |
A.Sympathetic. | B.Grateful. | C.Worried. | D.Trusty. |
10 . A team of researchers from the Universities of Washington and Toronto have developed an app, FeverPhone, suitable for diagnosing (诊断) a patient’s fever.
“As an undergraduate, I was doing research in a lab where we showed that you could use the temperature sensor in a smartphone to measure air temperature,” says lead author Joseph Breda. “When I came to the UW, my adviser and I wondered how we could apply a similar technique for health. We decided to measure fever in an accessible way. The primary concern with temperature isn’t that it’s a difficult signal to measure; it’s just that people don’t have thermometers (体温计).”
“In a wave of flu, for instance, people running to the emergency room can take a week sometimes. So if people were to share fever results with public health agencies through the app, this earlier sign could help us take action sooner,” adds Mastafa Springston, co-author of the study.
The trick is to use the temperature sensor already present in a smartphone. A patient holds the smartphone’s display against their forehead for 90 seconds, and the rise in temperature is compared against the surrounding temperature to determine their core body temperature — using a machine learning model trained on a number of test cases to calibrate the results.
It may sound like a crazy approach, but in testing, the FeverPhone app was able to estimate the core body temperature of 37 patients in a real emergency department with an average error of 0.23℃ — around half the 0.5℃ error range required for clinical use.
“We started with smartphones since they’re easy to get data from,” Breda says. “I am already working on seeing if we can get a similar signal with wearables like smartwatches. What’s nice, because watches are much smaller, is their temperature will change more quickly. So you could imagine having a user put a Fitbit to their forehead and measure in 10 seconds whether they have a fever or not.”
1. What inspired Breda to develop FeverPhone?A.His adviser’s suggestion. | B.His previous research success. |
C.His past experience in the UW. | D.His concerns about air temperature. |
A.Access. | B.Repeat. | C.Doubt. | D.Adjust. |
A.It was effective in measuring body temperature. | B.It was hardly suitable in a real emergency. |
C.It was more useful than a real thermometer. | D.It was no more than a crazy solution. |
A.FeverPhone can save you from hospital visits |
B.Your smartphone can become a thermometer |
C.Wearables provide a quicker temperature reading |
D.The temperature sensor is present in a thermometer |