1 . After her own experience using a service dog, Tabitha Bell understands how helpful a service dog is. Having learnt from her doctor that many people were unable to afford a service dog, Tabitha decided to start the organization Pawsitive Pawsibilities (Paws), which raises money to help people buy service dogs.
Amazing Kids (AK)：What has been the most difficult part of managing Paws?
Tabitha Bell(TB) ：It is always a struggle ( 难事) to come up with new and creative ways to raise money.
AK：What are the different ways that Paws raises money?
TB ：We have done dress competitions in my middle school and then my high school. I have done a benefit concert( 慈善音乐会) in my high school which I hope to continue in college. I put on my first
Super Paws 5k run in Utah and we are organizing our second for October in California. So we would love to have as much participation (参与) as we can get!
AK：How do you choose a puppyowner match?
TB：After we have a meeting with the person who needs a dog, we send them to a dog trainer and let the trainer make the final decision. The person will discuss with the trainer what jobs the dog has to do and then the trainer will find a dog that he thinks will suit the owner.
AK：What are your plans for the future?
TB：This fall I'm going to be attending the University of California, Berkeley. I am hoping to use my skills I get to encourage others and lead Paws to reach hopefully the whole nation.
1. What can we learn about Tabitha Bell?| A．She is good at training dogs. |
| B．She depends on a service dog to live. |
| C．She was studying at university when starting Paws. |
| D．She started Paws because of her doctor's suggestion. |
| A．Matching a dog with an owner. | B．Finding experienced dog trainers. | C．Reaching out for more people in need. | D．Working out good ways to collect money. |
| A．The person's doctor. | B．The dog trainer. | C．The dog owner. | D．The manager of Paws. |
2 . For top students from low-income families, applying to colleges is particularly difficult. One approach makes this whole process easier? Provide an adviser for them.
That's the idea behind CollegePoint, a program to help gifted students go to schools that match their intelligence. When a high school student takes a standardized test—the PSAT, SAT or ACT—and they score in the 90th percentile, and their families make less than $ 80, 000 a year, they get an email from the program offering them a free adviser. The advisers listen, guide and answer students' questions.
Connor Rechtzigel, an adviser in Minnesota, sees the importance of his role, for research shows that low-income students are far more likely to undermatch because they don't think they have what it takes to get in and because many don't even know what schools are out there. He helped high school senior Justice Benjamin, the first in his family to apply to college, thinking about what his ideal learning experience was. Finally, Justice narrowed in on smaller schools where he could study environmental science and made his final choice: Skidmore College in New York.
Figuring out how to pay for college is a major part of what CollegePoint advisers do. Nakhle, an adviser in North Carolina, is working with Hensley, an Ohio high school senior who can't get extra financial help from her family. They spent a lot of time comparing and analyzing her financial-aid award letters, which made her decision much clearer. Finally, the Ohio State University offered an option where she would pay nothing. Staying in-state wasn't her first choice, but it was the best option for her.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．How CollegePoint works. | B．The history of CollegePoint. |
| C．Ways to apply for a free adviser. | D．The challenge of choosing colleges. |
| A．Thinking highly of their abilities. | B．Knowing little about colleges. |
| C．Lack of enough learning experience. | D．Failure to pass the entrance exam. |
| A．She didn't want to stay far from home. | B．Her favorite major was provided there. |
| C．She would show her talents to the full. | D．The university met her financial needs. |
| A．Steps for Students to Choose Suitable Colleges |
| B．CollegePoint—How to Be a Financial Adviser |
| C．Advisers Helping College Students to Score High |
| D．CollegePoint—Helping Students Select Ideal Colleges |
3 . Most of London's national museums are completely free of charge. So without cost to worry about, these are the must-see museums for art lovers on their first trip to London.
National Portrait Gallery
PHONE +44 20 7306 0055
Where else but the National Portrait Gallery can you find oil paintings of the Bronte sisters and William Shakespeare alongside black and white photographs of the Spice Girls and a mixed media portrait of J.K. Rowling? Featuring a collection of famous British people from the Tudor period to the present day, the National Portrait Gallery is a must for those who like British culture.
Science Museum
PHONE +44 33 3241 4000
Ideal for left-brainers, London's Science Museum celebrates scientific, technological, and mathematical achievements — but that makes it sound so serious. With interactive exhibits, flight simulators, an IMAX theater, and even a milkshake bar, a trip to the Science Museum is far from the boring science lessons from back in the day.
Churchill War Rooms
PHONE +44 20 7416 5000
The Imperial War Museum is a collection of five museums and sites. One of the collection' s most fascination inclusions is the Churchill War Rooms. Walking through the underground labyrinth （迷宫）of war rooms is literally walking in the footsteps of Sir Winston Churchill and his war cabinet during WWII
Natural History Museum
PHONE +44 20 7942 5000
Once the home to African elephant specimens and surprising casts of a Triceratops and Diplodocus, the museum' s main hall now floats the real skeleton of a blue whale high above visitors’ heads. Though no longer in the entry hall, you can still find dinosaurs here, such as the first fossil ever found from a T. rex.
1. Which is the best choice for J.K. Rowling’s fans?| A．National Portrait Gallery. | B．Science Museum. |
| C．Churchill War Rooms. | D．Natural History Museum. |
| A．View the arts of the Tudor period. | B．Enjoy a film in an IMAX theater. |
| C．Learn about the war history of Britain. | D．Watch the skeleton of a blue whale. |
| A．44 20 7306 0055. | B．44 33 3241 4000. |
| C．44 20 7416 5000. | D．44 20 7942 5000. |
4 . Rioghna and Hannah Pittock spent the first few minutes feeling sorry for themselves. Rioghna,a junior at Rochester Mayo High School, had spring sports to play. Hannah,a senior at University of Chicago , was going to have a spring break in Aruba. However , both were canceled because of COVID-19. But they soon recovered and now they are sitting at home , solving Rochester's problems in their way. Pointing to the computer screen, Hannah tells her sister,“She is a nurse and her child needs to be matched.”
The two sisters birthed their plan last Saturday on the drive home from picking up Hannah in Chicago. As more medical workers were sent to work, fighting against the fierce pandemic (流行病), the sisters knew many of their families would need childcare. At the same time, teens throughout Rochester were off school. So on Sunday, Hannah and Rioghna launched Step Up To Sit. Already they're paired more than 40 families with sitters.
“The young people in the community are stepping up to do their part,” Hannah says, “We are delighted that we' re having an impact on people's lives in this hard time.”For the last four days,160 teens have registered to help, most willing to work free. if paired with a family in need. With more and more teens joining in, the two sisters decide to launch Step Up To Shop,a platform for teens to deliver groceries to seniors.
Rioghna acknowledges people of her age get a bad reputation as smartphone-addicted and selfish. The Pittock sisters are proving otherwise,“Amid the pandemic，people should be allowed to be upset and allowed to be a little bit down about the upset in their lives, but it's about something bigger and recognizing we all have our part to play here,”Rioghna says.
1. Why did the two sisters feel sorry for themselves?| A．They would join in activities separately. |
| B．They had to give up their planned activities. |
| C．They were infected with COVID-19 seriously. |
| D．Their parents were sent to battle COVID-19. |
| A．pair medical worker families with teen sitters |
| B．call on teens to deliver groceries to seniors |
| C．spread basic health knowledge to people |
| D．instruct teens to study online at home |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Humble. |
| C．Caring. | D．Stubborn. |
| A．Smartphone addiction makes teens selfish. |
| B．The Pittock sisters acted on a low profile. |
| C．People can do nothing against pandemic. |
| D．There is some misunderstanding of teens. |
5 . During the COVID-19 crisis, even the simple act of buying groceries has been completely transformed. For seniors this task is even more challenging. Concordia University's ACT project team has joined with community partners in the neighbourhood to fill this gap. They've rapidly created a new program-COVID-19 Grocery Response NDG.
The program uses a model that pairs volunteers with seniors, based on availability and language. Those volunteers are trained by ACT's team via video conferencing and then given a list of older adults. The volunteer calls the individuals and takes their order, working with grocer offerings of a Provigo store in the area. When the call is over, the order gets sent to Provigo, which gathers and delivers the order to the senior. It won't take the place of the work of the food bank; seniors are paying for their groceries.
There is also an important social element to the call, which doubles as a friendly check -in. The volunteer chats a bit with the senior, who may be very lonely and anxious. One volunteer says it has also been a rewarding experience and gives her the opportunity to help others while staying at home, which they are all being encouraged to do.
The program is a response to a number of factors, including the fact that many older adults are on a fixed income and may not have the internet access needed to order groceries online. It is targeting seniors who aren't able to access New Hope's usual meals on wheels service.
So far the project is a success, with a growing number of volunteers and seniors. As for what's next, Concordia is optimistic but acknowledges that the team will need to be nimble to accommodate the changing realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are at a critical time and we need to do everything we can, together, to help out.
1. What do the volunteers do to help the seniors?| A．Help them pay the bill. | B．Send their order to the store. |
| C．Write a shopping list for them. | D．Deliver their groceries lo the door. |
| A．It benefits both sides. | B．It helps the store survive. |
| C．It goes beyond expectation. | D．It encourages people to purchase online. |
| A．Daisy aged 45 with a heavy debt. | B．David who enjoys meals on wheels service. |
| C．Alexander aged 75 with a retirement pension. | D．Elspeth who knows noting about online shopping. |
| A．Flexible. | B．Beneficial. |
| C．Accessible. | D．Qualified. |
6 . Philadelphia's Magic Gardens makes up a folk art center, gallery space, and a nonprofit organization showcasing the works of mosaicist（镶嵌设计师）Isaiah Zagar.
Zagar devoted himself to beautifying the South Street neighborhood in the late 1960s, when he moved to the area with his wife Julia. The couple helped the area by purchasing and repairing some old buildings, often adding colorful mosaics on both their private and public walls. The first such project was Julia's still-busy folk art store, the Eyes Gallery at 402 South Street.
Zagar started working on the Magic Gardens in 1994 in the deserted parking lot near his studio. He spent the next fourteen years sculpting multi-layered walls and decorating the 3, 000 square foot space. The installation（装置艺术），primarily consisting of found objects and contributions from the community, finally covers half a city block with countless patterns and colors. It shows Zagar's many artistic influences, as well as the events and experiences of his life.
In 2002，the owner of the once-unused parking lot decided to sell the land in response to rising South Street property values. Unwilling to witness the destruction of Zagar's neighborhood art environment, the community rushed to support the artist. His creation, newly titled Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, turned into a nonprofit organization with the intention of preserving and promoting Zagar's works at the site of the Magic Gardens and throughout the South Street region.
The Magic Gardens is now a permanent art institution that is open to visitors throughout the year. Trained guides are available to lead tours of the Magic Gardens and Zagar's surrounding public wall paintings. In addition, it offers monthly mosaic workshops led by Zagar himself, and regularly hosts concerts, dance performances, and other public events.
1. How did Zagar help the South Street neighborhood?| A．He moved to the area with his family. |
| B．He worked to improve its surroundings. |
| C．He opened a folk art store with his wife. |
| D．He managed to buy all the old buildings. |
| A．Great achievements of Zagar. |
| B．Special skills of installing art. |
| C．Location of the Magic Gardens |
| D．Early history of the Magic Gardens. |
| A．They harm environment. |
| B．They can bring in profits. |
| C．They should be removed. |
| D．They are precious treasures. |
| A．Paint the walls on the spot. |
| B．Put on music performances. |
| C．Enjoy some Zagar's works. |
| D．Attend some dance courses. |
7 . Every year, over 7.72 trillion kilograms of plastic is washed into the oceans. There are five huge areas in the world’s oceans that are a “soup” of floating rubbish. One of these areas, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), is three times as large as France.
Over a year ago, a group called Ocean Cleanup began using a huge floating screen to try to clean up plastic pollution in the ocean. After several failures, the group is now collecting plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But the plastic is spreading out over a large area, so it's impossible to collect it piece by piece. So, the Ocean Cleanup had a plan. They got a long floating U-shaped tube with a screen hanging below it. As the tube and screen are pushed by the water and the winds, the U is meant to collect plastic rubbish, making it easy for a ship to collect and remove the plastic. The system uses the power of the wind and ocean, so it doesn’t need fuel.
The group began testing the first version, called “System 001”, last September. But it soon became clear that the screen was just moving with the plastic, not collecting it. Sometimes plastic would wash over the top of the tube. Even worse, System 001 got broken by surging seas and had to be towed to Hawaii for repairs.
But Mr. Slat, who got the idea for the Ocean Cleanup system, sees the project as an experiment, which means a failure is a chance to learn. The team collected and studied lots of information about what worked well and what didn’t. Then they changed the design. In June, an improved version, called “System001/B” was towed back to the GPGP.
The new version has a parachute (降落伞) attached to it. This makes the system move slightly slower than the plastic, allowing the plastic to be collected inside, as planned. But this success is still just the beginning of the work of the Ocean Cleanup. They want a better and larger system.
1. What does the author want to show in Paragraph 1?| A．Humans should try to prevent plastic waste. |
| B．The GPGP is facing different kinds of pollution. |
| C．Plastic pollution in the oceans has become a serious problem. |
| D．A series of problems has been caused by plastic pollution. |
| A．To make use of the water and the winds. |
| B．To create a ship to collect waste in the oceans. |
| C．To collect the floating plastic waste piece by piece. |
| D．To gather up the floating plastic waste in the oceans. |
| A．It was a failure. | B．It was a great success. |
| C．It worked with a parachute. | D．It needed to be fueled regularly. |
| A．vast | B．rough | C．calm | D．peaceful |
8 . Internet firms should help deal with the threat of terrorism or face terror tax , the security minister has said. Ben Wallace said such profiteers as Facebook and Google were failing to play their part, forcing the government to spend hundreds of millions to police internet extremism. The minister added, “If they continue to be less than co-operative, we should look at things like tax as a way compensating for their inaction. Because content is not taken down as quickly as they could do, we have to spend millions. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, was turning the internet into a violent space.”
Mr Wallace did not give more details about a possible terror tax, but it would probably take the form of a windfall tax. The minister also accused internet companies of putting profit before public safety.
Simon Milner, Facebook’s UK policy director, said: “Mr Wallace is wrong to say that we put profit before safety, especially in the fight against terrorism. We’ve invested millions of pounds in people and technology to identify and remove terrorist content.” YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, said: “Violent extremism is a complex problem and addressing it is a critical challenge for us all. We are committed to being part of the solution and we are doing more every day to deal with these issues. “Over the course of 2017 we have made significant progress through investing in machine learning technology, recruiting more reviewers, building partnerships with experts and collaboration with other companies”.
Anthony Glees, an intelligence expert at Buckingham University, told The Times: “What the government is proposing makes excellent theoretical sense when it comes to making us more secure from the appalling things that are broadcast by the service providers.” He added: “But in practice it may not be enough, because we are dealing with Goliaths here and the United Kingdom is increasingly becoming a lone David.”
1. What do we know from Ben Wallace’s words?| A．The internet firms have been put on a terror tax. |
| B．The internet companies only concentrate on profit. |
| C．The profit of the Internet firms should be cut down. |
| D．The internet companies are not cooperative enough. |
| A．internet firms | B．internet extremism |
| C．violent spaces | D．terror taxes |
| A．unpractical | B．positive |
| C．unexpected | D．disapproving |
| A．Profit or Safety? |
| B．Policing Internet Extremism. |
| C．Internet Giants Threatened with Tax. |
| D．Demonstrating the Government’ Determination. |
1. What can we learn about the “Kitchen” in the conversation?
| A．It's the man's kitchen. | B．It opens every Sunday. | C．It's a poetry club. |
| A．Persuade the woman. | B．Discuss his homework. | C．Introduce some readings. |
10 . Six years ago, Sam Shapiro’s family adopted a 15-year-old boy from Cite Soleil, Haiti. A few years later, in June 2015, Shapiro wanted to learn more about where his brother grew up, so he visited his brother’s hometown.
What Shapiro saw was a small city where 100 percent of the population lived in poverty. He saw homeless children with no access to education, activities or safe spaces to play. He also saw a run-down, abandoned basketball court.
Shapiro couldn’t fix everything. But he could do something.
“I thought athletics could be used to give kids opportunities for organized activities that could keep them off the streets,” said Shapiro.
A year after his first visit, Shapiro returned to Cite Soleil with his friend Jack Moe. The next month, Shapiro and Moe- then 16-year-old sophomores (大二学生) at the Blake School – formed a nonprofit, called “Sprint to Cite Soleil”, to benefit the city’s youth.
The core program of Sprint to Cite Soleil is basketball, but it also consists of nutrition and community-building to benefit children aged 5 to 18.
“Our mission originally was to provide a new basketball court,” said Moe. “But we soon realized that a lot of kids wanted to play basketball, and more than just a court was needed. We sent jerseys, basketballs, basketball pumps and shoes. Hundreds of kids showed up for a clinic.”
They soon hired 10 coaches and four cooks to prepare nutritious meals for the 160 boys and girls who train every Saturday and Sunday.
And they hired director Joseph Sadrack, a local native, whom Shapiro calls “trustworthy and right for the leadership position ...”
From the start, Shapiro, Moe and Sadrack agreed on how the program should develop.
“We are very much a partnership,” said Shapiro. “Personally, I’ve seen a lot of organizations trying to help in foreign countries. They have their own mindset and want to do things their way.”
“I’m not living there,” he continued. “I don’t know what they need. Before any decision is made, we ask Joseph, ‘What can we do?’ and, ‘What do they need?’”
Now sophomores in college - Shapiro at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Moe at Stanford in California - they continue their work as co-presidents of the nonprofit.
Shapiro said it’s been a rewarding experience.
“I’m proud that, despite the somewhat of a language and cultural barrier, we’re able to communicate,” said Shapiro. “I’m proud that others believe in us and trust us. That’s what we’re most proud of. Being able to create it and maintain it.”
1. Why did Shapiro go to Haiti?| A．To visit his brother. |
| B．To do a part-time job. |
| C．To help his family adopt a kid. |
| D．To learn about his brother’s hometown. |
| A．It is only run by two American boys. |
| B．It makes profits from the local government. |
| C．It stopped after Shapiro became a sophomore. |
| D．It provides resources for children and teens. |
| A．The language barrier is a big problem. |
| B．It will be great for his future career. |
| C．It is difficult but gives him a good feeling. |
| D．It is too expensive but he will continue. |
