1 . “Given that signs of Alzheimer’s disease (老年痴呆症) start to accumulate in the brain several decades before the disease begins, understanding the connection between sleep and cognition (认知) earlier in life is critical for understanding the role of sleep problems as a risk factor for the disease,” said study author Yue Leng, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco.
The study involved 526 people with an average age of 40. They were followed for 11 years. Researchers looked at participants’ sleep duration and quality. Participants wore a wrist activity monitor for three continuous days on two occasions approximately one year apart to calculate their averages. Participants slept for an average of six hours. Participants also reported bedtime and wake-up time in a sleep diary and completed a sleep quality survey with scores ranging from 0 to 21. A total of 239 people reported poor sleep with a score greater than five.
Researchers also looked at sleep fragmentation (碎片化), a measure of restlessness during the sleep period expressed as a percentage. The higher the value, the more sleep is interrupted. Participants were divided into three groups based on their sleep fragmentation score. Of the 175 people with the most interrupted sleep, 44 had poor cognitive performance 10 years later, compared to 10 of the 176 people with the least interrupted sleep.
After adjusting for age, sex, race, and education, people who had the most interrupted sleep had more than twice the possibility of having poor cognitive performance when compared to those with the least interrupted sleep. There was no difference in cognitive performance at midlife for those in the middle group compared to the group with the least interrupted sleep.
However, due to the small sample size, the researchers were unable to fully investigate potential race or sex differences. “More research is needed to assess the link between sleep disturbances and cognition at different life stages and to identify if critical life periods exist when sleep is more strongly associated with cognition,” Leng said.
1. What do we know about Yue Leng’s study?| A．Data collection was an easy process. | B．It aimed to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. |
| C．The results were far from satisfactory. | D．Higher scores mean poorer sleep quality. |
| A．It did require outside intervention. | B．It included a series of memory tests. |
| C．It measured short interruptions of sleep. | D．It determined those participants’ groups. |
| A．The quality of sleep may affect cognitive health. |
| B．Keeping a sleep diary can improve one’s sleep quality. |
| C．People sleeping well won’t suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. |
| D．People with interrupted sleep won’t have memory problems. |
| A．The major limitation of the study. |
| B．An explanation of the research method. |
| C．A possible reason for the study findings. |
| D．The use of careful investigations in real life. |
2 . Conservation organization Plantlife is urging people to put away their lawnmowers (除草机) for a month and let wild flowers grow instead, as part of its No Mow May project.
Leaving the grass uncut will create a habitat that will benefit bees and other insects, the organization says. Plantlife says lawns could be biodiversity hot-spots if left alone. It says those who participated in its campaign last year reported the growth of more than 250 plant species on their lawns. Among these were wild strawberry and wild garlic. There were also sightings of declining species like green-winged orchids.
One gardener who has been enjoying a more relaxed approach is Tom Jennings, 45, from Buckinghamshire. He says it’s a chance to reconnect with the natural world. “Those fascinated by neat gardens use not only lawnmowers but chemicals.” says Tom.
After letting his back garden grow out, Tom witnessed an explosion of wild flowers—important for pollinators (授粉者) such as bees. Tom says he’s been shocked at how quickly insects have returned to his back garden: an encouraging signal given the global decline of insect populations.
According to Colette Webb, 42, who lives in West Sussex, there are added benefits to letting nature gradually take its course in the garden. “It saves you a bit of time and arguments with the husband about getting the lawnmower out—something my husband hates doing,” she says. “There’s a part of me that thinks the garden is really messy, but when you sit there for some time a day and look at what’s it’s supporting, you realize it’s for the benefit of nature.”
But not everyone is on board with the idea, says David. One of his neighbours is pursuing their own re-wilding project in their own garden—but the other is yet to be convinced. “And my mother, who’s 81, still says it looks untidy,” he laughs.
1. What is the major goal of Plantlife’s No Mow May project?| A．Helping promote biodiversity. | B．Attracting more garden visitors. |
| C．Making their gardens look more natural. | D．Saving people’s trouble of mowing their gardens. |
| A．He is crazy about neat gardens. |
| B．He hates having to cut the grass regularly. |
| C．He believes the project is increasing the number of insects. |
| D．He benefited a lot from the decline of insects in his garden. |
| A．She gets on better with her husband. | B．Her husband has come to enjoy gardening. |
| C．Her garden is no longer as messy as it used to be. | D．She has formed the habit of sitting in the garden. |
| A．Shows concern about. | B．Makes response to. | C．Agrees with. | D．Comes up with. |
3 . While most people are doing their best to work multiple jobs in a day to earn honest money, some people still settle on scamming (诈骗) others just to have instant cash. However, one scammer called the wrong person when he dialed Jean Ebbert’s number. The 73-year-old woman from New York may be in her senior years, but she is surely one tough lady who used to be a 911 call operator.
Her previous line of work has trained her to be a fast thinker and quick on her toes. When she received that call from someone claiming to be her grandson, she knew instantly that she was talking to a scammer.
According to the caller who was even crying at the time, he was Jean’s grandson who had gotten arrested due to drunk driving and now needed money to get out of prison. Ridiculously, Jean had no grandson who drives. However, knowing that the man could easily find another person to trick if she dropped the call, Jean decided to play along so the person on the other end of the line could get what he deserves.
“So I played the game. And then I said to him, ‘Listen! Don’t call your mother, or she’s going to be mad. Let me handle this,’” Jean recalled.
Eventually, the scammer passed the phone to his “lawyer” who then told her that her grandson needed $8,000 to be set free. Jean knew better of the situation and continued with her act, instructing the caller to visit her home address to get the money he needed.
Moments later, the doorbell rang and Jean rose to her feet and opened the door. In front of her stood a tall young man, who claimed himself to be her grandson’s lawyer and asked for the cash that had been promised to him. Jean had already laid a trap for him. The instant the scammer came, he was greeted by the two policemen waiting inside Jean’s home.
1. Who called Jean Ebbert?| A．Her lawyer. | B．Her grandson. | C．A complete stranger. | D．A 911 call operator. |
| A．She wanted to get back her $8,000. | B．She hated seeing others being tricked. |
| C．She enjoyed playing along with scammers. | D．She was concerned about her grandson’s safety. |
| A．She went outside, ready to greet the man. |
| B．She contacted her lawyer, consulting him for advice. |
| C．She got the money the man needed ready, waiting inside for him. |
| D．She contacted the police, informing them of the man’s potential visit. |
| A．One is never too old to learn. | B．You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. |
| C．Every dog has its day, and every man his hour. | D．Old horses know the way; old men know the world. |
4 . Whether due to genuine concern for the environment or the widespread criticism of plastic among consumers, many companies have invested heavily in reducing their use of plastic packaging, which may indeed have a positive environmental impact. But another trend that’s grown out of the anti-plastic movement is a lot less positive: overpackaging. More and more brands have begun adding unnecessary paper packaging on top of plastic packaging in order to make their products look more environmentally friendly, without actually reducing plastic waste.
Unfortunately, there’s a very good reason companies are adopting this clearly problematic approach. Through a series of eight studies with more than 4,000 participants, we found that consumers will accept a product’s packaging as more environmentally friendly if it’s plastic with an additional layer of paper than if the product is visibly packaged in identical plastic packaging but without the paper. These perceptions (认知) in turn make consumers both more likely to buy a product, and willing to pay more for it.
Part of what makes this overpackaging trend particularly harmful is that it is much valued by consumers who reported engaging in more eco-friendly behaviors. They were more likely to view overpackaged products as environmentally friendly. As a result, the very consumers who are most interested in pushing companies to make sustainable choices are likely unintentionally encouraging the environmentally harmful practice of overpackaging.
The good news is, overpackaging isn’t the only way to signal sustainability and attract such consumers. In our studies, we found that instead of additional paper packaging, simply adding a minimal packaging sticker to plastic packaging could clarify the misperception that overpackaged products are more sustainable, Especially for products for which plastic is necessary to ensure safe transportation and lengthen shelf life, this kind of clear messaging can help reduce consumers, discrimination against the responsible use of plastic packaging.
Of course, minimal packaging stickers certainly should only be used if a brand has actually ensured that it is using the minimal possible packaging, ideally under the supervision of a trade organization or regulatory body that maintains clear, consistent standards.
1. What can we learn about overpackaging according to paragraph 1?| A．It calls for less investment. |
| B．It involves the proper use of paper. |
| C．It has a positive environmental impact. |
| D．It causes over-consumption of materials. |
| A．They care about the environment. |
| B．They are always following the trend. |
| C．They like comparing products’ qualities. |
| D．They prefer beautifully-decorated products. |
| A．To help products stay fresh longer. |
| B．To improve the brand’s popularity. |
| C．To correct consumers’ misunderstanding. |
| D．To present more information about products. |
| A．Minimal packaging stickers have been widely used. |
| B．Advantages of minimal packaging stickers are overestimated. |
| C．The use of minimal packaging stickers should be strictly regulated. |
| D．The use of minimal packaging stickers is a solution to over-packaging. |
5 . It was the first time Moham went to a restaurant in his new neighborhood. He looked up at the menu board, and
“It’s the soda you ordered,”
He smiled at the waitress, pointed at one of the
Moham took the cake and his unexpected soda to a table and sat down to eat. Why was it that English had been so
Just then, a girl, who sat at the next table and had watched the whole
Hearing this, Moham felt much better. He wasn’t the only one
| A．imagined | B．remembered | C．described | D．wondered |
| A．even | B．just | C．never | D．also |
| A．wish | B．suggestion | C．order | D．dream |
| A．Inside | B．Under | C．Above | D．Near |
| A．moved | B．bored | C．tired | D．surprised |
| A．he | B．she | C．I | D．you |
| A．cakes | B．salads | C．drinks | D．strawberries |
| A．spread | B．work | C．develop | D．read |
| A．special | B．popular | C．mportant | D．easy |
| A．slowly | B．carefully | C．actually | D．honestly |
| A．process | B．discussion | C．performance | D．argument |
| A．crazy | B．hopeful | C．bad | D．excited |
| A．although | B．if | C．because | D．since |
| A．came up | B．cheered up | C．showed up | D．ended up |
| A．fighting | B．planning | C．regretting | D．refusing |
6 . Recently, China has announced the list of the first five national parks. Each of them is divided into two parts — the core protection area and the general control area. In the core protection area, only research and surveillance (监视) in science are allowed. And the general control area is open to the public, allowing travel activities such as camping and hiking. In the future, national parks are expected to be natural classrooms. People can learn about different kinds of animals and plants through eco-friendly travel activities.
Three River-Source National Park on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the largest national park in China. Because it is home to the sources of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, people call it “China’s water tower”.
Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park is in Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces. It covers an area of 14,100 square kilometers. It is our country’s biggest and only place for wild Siberian tigers and Amur leopards to live in.
Wuyi Mountain National Park in Fujian Province is a UNESCO natural and cultural heritage site. The forest makes up over 96 percent of the park. The park is the paradise of birds, kingdom of snakes and world of insects. You can also see the Danxia landform there.
Giant Panda National Park connects panda habitats in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces. Inside the park are more than 1,600 wild giant pandas. They make up over 70 percent of the pandas in China.
Hainan Tropical Rain forest National Park is the largest tropical forest in China. There are more than 400 kinds of plants that can only be found in Hainan.
1. Which is called “China’s water tower”?| A．Three River-Source National Park. | B．Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park. |
| C．Giant Panda National Park. | D．Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park. |
| A．a perfect place | B．a happy feeling |
| C．a good example | D．a sweet smile |
| A．Three River-Source National Park is the largest national park in China. |
| B．Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park covers an area of 14,100 square kilometers. |
| C．There are more than 1,600 wild giant pandas in Giant Panda National Park. |
| D．More than 400 kinds of plants and animals can only be found in Hainan. |
| A．The beautiful scenes of nature | B．The home of animals and plants |
| C．The introduction to the five national parks | D．The relationships among the five national parks |
1. What was stolen last night?
| A．A black shirt. |
| B．A school computer. |
| C．A set of Beats earphones. |
| A．A student. | B．A policeman. | C．A taxi driver. |
| A．At 9:30 am. |
| B．At 3:00 pm. |
| C．At 3:30 pm. |
8 . Is there a friend of yours who always sings out of tune (曲调) but never realizes it? Don’t be so hard on them — they may have amusia — the inability to tell the difference in tunes.
Apart from singing out of tune, people with amusia may also find it hard to recognize music they’ve heard before without the help of song lyrics. Besides, people who suffer from Amusia can have difficulty in recognizing melodies and a total inability to tell between different musical sounds, according to Live Science. However, people with amusia can recognize common environmental sounds as well as the high and lows sounds in human voices, meaning that this inability can be specially related to music.
In many cases, people who have amusia are born with it, as 46 percent of these individuals’ family members were found to have similar conditions, according to a 2017 study. Brain imaging shows that their brains receive and respond to music pitch (音高) information, but it is not reaching conscious awareness, meaning that the mind can’t understand the information.
Scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand also think that amusia is related to people’s special processing skills. They invited people with amusia, musicians and students from non-musical backgrounds to perform a task related to spacial imagination. They were asked to decide whether pairs of images are the same object moving around or mirror images.
The result showed that the amusia group made more mistakes than the other two groups. Amusia might be related to the way brain stores information about the high and low sounds in songs, according to the study.
Although those who aren’t confident about their singing skills often say they’re “tune-deaf”, people with amusia only make up about 1.5 percent of the population, as shown in the 2017 study. “Like dyslexics (诵读困难者) can learn how to read, those with amusia should be able to better their ability to recognize tunes if they start early enough,” Isabelle Peretz, a professor of psychology from the University of Montreal in Canada, told Live Science.
1. According to the article, what is the main difficulty faced by people with amusia?| A．Recognizing tunes. | B．Identifying human voices. |
| C．Understanding song lyrics. | D．Noticing common sounds in nature. |
| A．Amusia is common among children. |
| B．Amusia is a result of brain damage. |
| C．Many individuals with amusia are born with it. |
| D．Those who are tune-deaf often suffer from amusia. |
| A．People with amusia have strong spa cial imagination skills. |
| B．People with amusia struggle to decide the shape of images. |
| C．Amusia may be affected by one’s level of music education. |
| D．Amusia may be related to how the brain stores sound information. |
| A．Go for medical treatment. | B．Sing frequently with friends. |
| C．Learn how to read earlier in life. | D．Start to explore and learn music early. |
9 . It was one week before Teachers’ Day. Tom’s mother was very busy. But she didn’t forget to buy cards for her son’s teachers. She drove to a gift store on her way home from work. When she came back, she put the cards on the table in the living room. She was so busy that she did not have time to write them.
When Tom came home from school, she said to him, “Here are the cards for your teachers, and here are some stamps, a pen and our book of addresses. Can you write the cards when I am cooking the dinner?” Tom did not say anything, but walked out of the living room and went into his room. Tom’s mother was a little unhappy, but she did not say anything either. She knew that her son always talked little. She was just thinking how to teach Tom to be thankful and make him write the cards.
A few minutes later, Tom came back with a box full of cards. All of them had addresses and stamps on them. Tom’s mother was very surprised and asked, “Oh, what are these?” “Mom,” Tom answered, “I bought the cards and wrote all of them a few days ago.” Hearing this, his mother was very moved and said,“________.”
1. How did Tom’s mother go to the gift store?| A．By bus. | B．By car. | C．By bike. | D．By subway. |
| A．To cook the dinner. | B．To find some stamps. |
| C．To write some cards. | D．To clean the living room. |
| A．quiet | B．serious | C．funny | D．smart |
| A．Unhappy→Moved→Surprised. | B．Moved→Unhappy→Surprised. |
| C．Unhappy→Surprised→Moved. | D．Surprised→Unhappy→Moved. |
| A．Don’t be afraid, dear | B．You’re really great, dear |
| C．Many thanks for helping me, dear | D．I think you did something terrible, dear |
10 . A healthy eating habit along with enough exercise can help you keep healthy. When you are young, it is important to give your body what it needs. If you skip meals, you can’t get enough calories (卡路里). And then you may feel tired. By the way, the calorie is just another word for energy. About 50% of your calories should come from rice, bread, vegetables and fruit. You also need to drink a lot of water, 6 to 8 glasses a day. Drinking enough water can make your body work better and make you healthy.
Exercise can help to make you look good, feel good and be healthy. Scientists say that kids should spend at least 30 minutes exercising a day, five times a week. It is easy to do! You can walk or ride your bike to school, and play sports at school. However, kids often give up sports, saying they have no time left after finishing their homework. In fact, doing exercise can help them sleep better and do better in their lessons.
If you follow the advice above, you will look and feel much better and become healthy.
1. The underlined word “skip” means “________” in Chinese.| A．询问 | B．跳过 | C．阻止 | D．转移 |
| A．30 | B．50 | C．100 | D．150 |
| A．Because they are too lazy to exercise. | B．Because they feel great after giving up sports. |
| C．Because they are busy with their studies. | D．Because they don’t like playing sports at all. |
| A．About 80% of your calories should come from rice, bread, vegetables and fruit. |
| B．You need to drink three or four glasses of water every day to keep healthy. |
| C．Students should exercise at least twice a week to keep healthy and happy. |
| D．Doing exercise can help kids sleep better and do better in their lessons. |
| A．How to Sleep Well | B．How to Exercise |
| C．How to Look Thinner | D．How to Keep Healthy |
