1 . Many Silicon Valley parents are becoming more concerned about preventing their children from using screens. Some parents think that even a little screen time can be extremely addictive, so it is better if their children avoid using or seeing these devices completely. However, it is difficult for working adults in the 21st century to give up using a phone at home. So, it’s simpler to employ someone to do this.
“Silicon Valley nanny (保姆)”, who takes children back to a time without screens every day is widely needed. From Cupertino to San Francisco, it’s widely agreed that screen time is harmful to youngsters. Therefore, parents are requesting nannies to keep phones, tablets and computers in a hidden place. Others even offer no-phone agreements.
Research shows that spending too much time on technology can harm young minds. For example, teenagers who use social media frequently are more likely to feel depressed and anxious. Insomnia (失眠) rates have also increased amongst this age group, and an increasing number of children display the signs that they can’t focus attention. These seemingly minor (轻微的) problems could become significant challenges for future generations.
“Many parents come back home and focus on their smartphones, ignoring whatever their children are trying to say,” said Shannon Zimmerman, who works as a nanny in San Jose for families that forbid screen time. “As a nanny, I also call on more parents to spend more time with their kids.”
1. Why are the Silicon Valley nannies greatly needed according to the text?| A．To help parents and children balance work and life. |
| B．To teach children how to use technology responsibly. |
| C．To keep children away from screens. |
| D．To encourage children to exercise. |
| A．Feeling confused. | B．Feeling anxious. | C．Feeling bored. | D．Feeling nervous. |
| A．Encourage their children more. | B．Play games with their children. |
| C．Stop using smartphones at home. | D．Spend more time with their children. |
| A．Parents concern about screen time for children. | B．Children are addicted to screen time. |
| C．All parents limit children to phones. | D．Science has no effects on young minds. |
2 . Nasugraq Rainey Hopson is an author and illustrator (插图画家). She has written short stories and made art inspired by her Iñupiaq culture. The Iñupiaq people are native to Alaska, the US. Hopson’s first and only novel to date, Eagle Drums, is set in Iñupiaq tales about a great festival. The great festival is still celebrated locally today.
In the book, the hero Pina struggles with the suffering from losing his brothers, who have traveled to a nearby mountain and never returned. Pina decides to go to the same mountain, trying to uncover the facts, where he happens to meet Savik, who gives Pina a choice: To follow him or to meet the same fortune as his brothers. Pina’s decision takes himself on a journey that exposes himself to the dances and songs that are part of Iñupiaq culture. Eagle Drums describes aspects of Iñupiaq life as a world that doesn’t exist much in the current world, such as walking in the tundra (苔原) and imagining mythological beings and talking animals everywhere. It will definitely inspire the teen magical thinking in its beauty.
Hopson wants to write more Iñupiaq stories. “We have a lot of oral history and stories in our culture,” she says. Hopson explains that Iñupiaq people use their voices, facial expressions and movements to express emotions as they tell a story. “But you can’t do that when you’re writing,” she says. “It’s very uncomfortable, in a way, to have to write down something that is a performance.” But she’s up for the challenge.
Eagle Drums is for anyone who is looking for a vivid adventure. Hopson says that when Iñupiaq kids read her work, they get excited about seeing something from their own area and their own culture. Other kids who read her work tell Hopson they’re excited about experiencing a story they’ve never experienced before in a new place. “You know, that’s the best part, hearing feedbacks,” she says.
1. What do we know about Eagle Drums?| A．It is based on the author’s culture. | B．It is about a world-famous festival. |
| C．It is one of the author’s best novels. | D．It is rich in illustrations on each page. |
| A．Its intention. | B．Its background. |
| C．Its content. | D．Its comment. |
| A．The Iñupiaq people are poor performers |
| B．The Iñupiaq culture is too rich for words. |
| C．The Iñupiaq language is difficult to catch on. |
| D．The Iñupiaq stories are little known by people. |
| A．A news report. | B．A childhood story. |
| C．A diary entry. | D．A book review. |
3 . Atomic shapes are so simple that they can’t be broken down any further. Mathematicians are trying to turn to artificial intelligence (AI) for help to build a periodic table of these shapes, hoping it will assist in finding yet-unknown atomic shapes.
Tom Coates at Imperial College London and his colleagues are working to classify atomic shapes known as Fano varieties, which are so simple that they can’t be broken down into smaller components. Just as chemists arranged element s in the periodic table by their atomic weight and group to reveal new insights, the researchers hope that organizing these atomic shapes by their various properties will help in understanding them.
The team has given each atomic shape a sequence of numbers based on its features such as the number of holes it has or the extent to which it bends around itself. This acts as a bar code (条形码) to identify it. Coates and his colleagues have now created an AI that can predict certain properties of these shapes from their bar code numbers alone, with an accuracy of 98 percent.
The team member Alexander Kasprzyk at the University of Nottingham, UK, says that the AI has let the team organize atomic shapes in a way that begins to follow the periodic table, so that when you read from left to right, or up and down, there seem to be general patterns in the geometry (几何) of the shapes.
Graham Nib lo at the University of Southampton, UK, stresses that humans will still need to understand the results provided by AI and create proofs of these ideas. “AI has definitely got unbelievable abilities. But in the same way that telescopes (望远镜) don’t put astronomers out of work, AI doesn’t put mathematicians out of work,” he says. “It just gives us new backing that allows us to explore parts of the mathematical landscape that are out of reach.”
The team hopes to improve the model to the point where missing spaces in its periodic table could point to the existence of unknown shapes.
1. What is the purpose of building a periodic table of shapes?| A．To gain deeper insights into the atomic shapes. |
| B．To create an AI to predict the unknown shapes. |
| C．To break down atomic shapes into smaller parts. |
| D．To arrange chemical elements in the periodic table. |
| A．Its holes. | B．Its bends. |
| C．Its atomic weight. | D．Its properties. |
| A．Design. | B．Help. | C．Duty. | D．Threat. |
| A．Thanks to AI, new atomic shapes have been discovered. |
| B．Mathematicians turn to AI to create more atomic shapes. |
| C．AI helps build a relationship between chemistry and maths. |
| D．A periodic table of shapes can be built with the help of AI. |
4 . My first job was at a fast-food restaurant called Carroll’s in my hometown. One spring day my next-door neighbor
One little
The pay was
It was great to
Besides
| A．allowed | B．invited | C．forbade | D．taught |
| A．topic | B．mistake | C．difficulty | D．opportunity |
| A．March | B．June | C．August | D．October |
| A．address | B．age | C．name | D．face |
| A．fired | B．interviewed | C．refused | D．accepted |
| A．low | B．high | C．enough | D．good |
| A．counter | B．door | C．park | D．toilet |
| A．damaged | B．ignored | C．enjoyed | D．missed |
| A．help | B．thank | C．recognize | D．encounter |
| A．hidden | B．secret | C．distant | D．major |
| A．woke up | B．gave up | C．turned up | D．looked up |
| A．surprised | B．ashamed | C．disappointed | D．frightened |
| A．worrying | B．lying | C．complaining | D．arguing |
| A．days | B．hours | C．months | D．years |
| A．food | B．service | C．payment | D．experience |
5 . Tom Sawyer Play Is an Adventure
A 35-minute hand-clapping, foot-stomping musical version of a Mark Twain favorite returns with this Tall Stacks festival.
“Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure” has all the good stuff, including the fence painting, the graveyard, the island and the cave. It is adapted by Joe McDonough, with music by David Kisor. That’s the local stage writing team that creates many of the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s original musicals, along with the holiday family musicals at Ensemble Theatre.
This year Nathan Turner of Burlington is Tom Sawyer, and Robbie McMath of Fort Mitchell is Huck Finn.
Tumer, a 10th-grader at School for Creative and Performing Arts, is a familiar presence on Cincinnati’s stages. He is a star act or of Children’s Theatre, having played leading roles in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Wizard of Oz,” and is fresh from Jersey Production “Ragtime”.
McMath is a junior at Beechwood High School. He was in the cast of “Tom Sawyer” when it was first performed and is a Children’s Theatre regular, with five shows to his credit. This summer he attended Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts in Musical Theatre.
Note to teachers: Children’s Theatre has a study guide demonstrating how math and science can be taught through “Tom Sawyer.” For downloadable lessons, visit the official website of Children’s Theatre.
1. Who wrote the music for “Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure”?| A．David Kisor. | B．Joe McDonough. |
| C．Nathan Turner. | D．Robbie McMath. |
| A．They study in the same school. | B．They worked together in ”Ragtime“. |
| C．They are experienced on stage. | D．They became friends ten years ago. |
| A．Research funding. | B．Training opportunities. |
| C．Technical support. | D．Educational resources. |
6 . Today, many people spend a lot of time reading online. Whether reading news or e-books, people are spending more time eyeballing (盯住) screens. While online reading opens up a great deal of knowledge to people, there are some disadvantages too, such as eyestrain, headaches, as well as difficulty in focusing on the text. Now a new reading system, Bionic Reading, developed by Swiss typographic designer Renato Casutt, can help people overcome these issues, and most importantly, it aims to help people read faster online and develop a more in-depth understanding of written content.
The reading system improve the reading process by guiding the eyes through text with artificial fixation points. To make it short: some parts of the words are displayed in bold (粗体). As a result, the reader only focuses on the highlighted letters and lets the brain center complete the rest. Your brain can “read” faster than your eyes, so by essentially reducing the number of letters your eye needs to look at, you can read faster while still preserving the full context.
Cassult discovered the system by accident. He was working on designing a book in a foreign language and realized he could read it if he sectioned it off. He worked for six years to develop Bionic Reading and is still working to adjust it.
A preliminary (初步的) study was conducted by the Swiss Institute InnoSuisee, but more research is needed before it can be definitively shown that the system improves reading. Some people with ADHD (多动症) prove that Bionic Reading helped them focus and comprehend what they are reading. Other people don’t seem to notice a big difference compared to regular text. There’s also no evidence to suggest Bionic Reading is any better than regular text. The best way to know if the Bionic Reader helps you read better online is to try it yourself.
1. What is the main purpose of Bionic Reading?| A．To point out people’s reading problems. |
| B．To teach people necessary reading skills. |
| C．To reduce readers’ screen time and eye stress. |
| D．To improve people’s reading speed and comprehension. |
| A．Words displayed in capital letters. | B．Useful expressions. |
| C．Difficult sentences in the text. | D．Bold letters. |
| A．It is complex. | B．It can be beneficial. |
| C．It needs to be improved. | D．It has little effect on them. |
| A．A reading project for ADHD. | B．A research on language learning. |
| C．A system to help with online reading. | D．A tool for treating reading disability |
7 . Josie, who is 17 years old, said, “Why do my parents do the same things they tell me not to do? For example, my mum stops me from shouting through the walls and asks me to go and speak to her face-to-face, but she always shouts through the walls to me. What can I do?”
That is a very good point. Parents can be completely inconsistent (不一致), and usually they don’t realize it. You see this a lot in many things like smartphones. Parents always say to their kids, “Oh, you can’t use that. That device (设备) is bad for you, so stop using it at the table. It’s harmful.” But then they are on theirs continually. So what do you expect teenagers to do?
The whole “Do as I say, not as I do” thing is an annoyance, especially for a teenager who is dying for independence and respect but isn’t getting them.
What can teenagers do with it? I would say you should point it out by calmly saying something like “You tell me not to scream through the walls, but you do it to me, so you can understand where I’m coming from. That’s not ideal.” They might object to it, but I think most parents who care about being parents would logically say, “That’s a reasonable point.”
There are a lot of conflicts (矛盾) going on between teenagers and their parents, but a lot of studies show that the conflicts are resolved a lot more when they turn into a dialogue.
If you can talk at a time when you’re both feeling a bit calmer, like just in the kitchen or doing something unimportant, then go in and say, “Can I just mention it? You tell me not to do this, but you do it too.” If you can approach it in a more calm and stress-free manner, most parents will respond positively.
1. How did Josie feel according to her words in paragraph 1?| A．Hopeful. | B．Bored. | C．Proud. | D．Confused. |
| A．The parents’ smartphones. | B．The tables in the house. |
| C．The devices in the house. | D．The teenagers’ points. |
| A．Object to it personally. | B．Complain of it continually. |
| C．Talk with their parents calmly. | D．Do some studies differently. |
| A．To list a fact. | B．To offer a suggestion. |
| C．To show a result. | D．To ask a new question. |
8 . Garden goals can often be unclear. But in my opinion, not having a clear aim in mind when we are designing, creating and maintaining a garden can lead to a range of problems down the road. We must know where we’re going to determine our direction. Usually, without clear goals in mind, we end up setting out in entirely the wrong direction.
Creating our own perfect garden needs time. Waiting and failures can be dispiriting and many gardeners give up or feel disgruntled. It is always best to take our time and make progressive steps toward our overall goals.
With a clear idea of those goals, we can determine better how we are progressing toward them, even when nothing goes according to plan. We can see our success more clearly and can’t get hung up on smaller things that go wrong along the way.
Another thing clear garden goals can give us is a sense of the light at the end of the tunnel—something keeping us centered on what really matters. We need to have something to aim for to keep focus on the longer term. In a garden, it is easy to become distracted and some gardeners throw everything at their gardens in the hope that something will stick.
Buying too many plants for a garden is not only a recipe for disappointment, when things don’t end up working as expected, but also makes your efforts unsustainable. By buying only what you need, you can reduce your harmful impact and live in an environmentally friendly way.
Establishing clear goals helps us visualize our own needs and priorities (优先事项) more clearly. It helps us see what our gardens can truly provide for us and see how our gardening efforts can also help others and be of great benefit in the wider world.
1. What does the underlined word “disgruntled” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Frightened. | B．Amazed. | C．Dissatisfied. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．The dreams that people are looking for. | B．The direction that people keep changing. |
| C．The problems that appear in people’s life. | D．The light that guides gardeners forward. |
| A．Buy many plants. | B．Buy the required plants. |
| C．Work as they plan to. | D．Live in the way they like. |
| A．How can you set your goals? | B．What plants are fit for your garden? |
| C．Who can become successful gardeners? | D．Why is it important to set goals for your garden? |
9 . Leo and Max Ordoñez came roaring into the wooded park and soon they’re climbing up towering Douglas firs trees. The twins are joined by Leon Schwarcz, also 6, whose father, Joel, called out encouragement and kept a watchful eye on the young climbers.
Joel Schwarcz had a vision of turning the woods into a home for a treetop adventure park featuring platforms, bridges, and balancing. “My favorite thing is watching people come and look at the trees and go, ‘they maybe feel a little scared, but they’ll try it out and go just a little ways up and then come down and just go a little higher and higher each time, seeing people’s confidence grow as they are here for the hour and climbing.” he said.
Park guests get a safety belt and instructions and soon are to climb up one of four routes: The Brothers, Mount Whitney, Mount Olympus and Mount Rainier. Green bands on the trees mark out 20 feet, reds mark 30 feet and yellows mark 40 feet. Climbers can choose a difficulty level by sticking to certain color holds.
“I live here in Kingston,” he said, “and we’ve got a lot of great outdoor spaces but not a lot of opportunities for people to get out there and try something new without personally having the skill, so I wanted to bring something where people could just come on their own, and we give you the safety belt and instructions and then you’re free to play in the park.”
Schwarcz recommends that kids at a minimum of 5 years old, but the only set limits for the climbing systems are for weight. He notes that he has hosted both a 3-year-old climber and a 77-year-old climber at the park so far. “It’s a great activity for all ages.” he said.
He added, “No matter how high they get, it doesn’t really matter if you don’t make it to the yellow bands, just seeing people grow has been really the most rewarding part of starting this. It’s been super fun.”
1. What does Joel Schwarcz hope to provide with the treetop adventure park?| A．A place for people to try new outdoor activities. |
| B．A challenging climbing experience for children. |
| C．A place for people to learn climbing skills. |
| D．An opportunity for people to explore the woods. |
| A．To mark different climbing routes for climbers. |
| B．To indicate the height of different fir trees. |
| C．To tell the difficulty level of climbing routes. |
| D．To guide climbers to the top of the fir trees. |
| A．Only experienced and cautious climbers. | B．Only the children over the age of five. |
| C．Anyone, regardless of age or skill level. | D．Only those who meet the weight limits. |
| A．Considerable. | B．Indifferent. | C．Ambitious. | D．Demanding. |
10 . SPACE JAM
For kids inspired by India’s moon landing, here are four destinations where families can explore the stars, space and beyond.
Kennedy Space Center, Florida (USA)
The NASA-operated Kennedy Space Center is a must for aspiring astronauts and space lovers. It’s organised into chronologically grouped attractions and tours based around mission launches from the US Space Program. Hands-on experiences range from live presentations delivered by astronauts to the new Astronaut Training Experience Center. It is also the closest place from which the public can view rocket lift-offs at Cape Canaveral.
Jodrell Bank, Cheshire (UK)
This world-leading science research institute is centred around the Grade I-listed Lovell Telescope. Its 35-acre grounds include lots of interactive fun and educational exhibits across several indoor spaces, plus guided pathways to wander and outdoor facilities such as a pair of ‘whispering dishes’ for kids to call between. There’s also a programme of family friendly events, including the annual Bluedot Festival, which brings together live music and science workshops each July.
Pic du Midi, French Pyrenees (France)
There are few observatories in the world where you can eat a delicious dinner, spend the night stargazing before retiring to a comfortable cabin, then get up to watch the sun rise above the clouds. Getting to Pic du Midi is an adventure in its own right, involving a ride on two cable-cars up to 2,877m. Once there, guided astronomy sessions help kids discover Saturn and its rings, clusters of stars in deep space and solar flares on the sun’s surface via some of the world’s most powerful telescopes.
Mount Teide, Tenerife (Spain)
It’s home to the largest solar observatory in the world, which sits at an altitude of 2,390m on Spain’s highest mountain, the Teide volcano. Ride the cable-car up for a scientist-led tour, which includes the chance to observe the sun through portable solar telescopes. The special family visits include a fascinating science workshop exploring how observatory astrophysicists carry out their research.
1. Where can visitors watch rocket launches?| A．Kennedy Space Center. | B．Jodrell Bank. |
| C．Pic du Midi. | D．Mount Teide. |
| A．Enjoying live music. | B．Exploring educational displays. |
| C．Wandering on guide-free pathways. | D．Calling between via a designed device. |
| A．A comfortable cabin. | B．A workshop of science. |
| C．Places for eating food. | D．Guidance to observe the sun. |
