1 . After promotions or engagements, many people’s impulse is to share good news with their nearest and dearest, or post on social media for all to see. Yet a study suggests that we are better off keeping our cards closer to our chests, for “positive secrets” can leave us feeling “energized and invigorated”.

Researchers at Columbia University conducted five experiments with 2,500 people and found that more than three quarters of participants instinctively wanted to tell someone else straight away when they had some good news. The study stated, “Prior research on secrecy has focused on the effects of negative secrets, secrets that involve information that people consider unpleasant, objectionable, or embarrassing. Although negative secrets have been found to be tiring, we propose that positive secrets can be energizing”.

We define feelings of energy as feeling alive, alert, active and invigorated. Delaying the moment when you share your good news with others allows you to spend more time savouring the information, reflecting on its meaning or considering possible joyful reactions to sharing the secret.

Participants in the study were shown 40 types of common good news. They were asked which they had personally experienced, which they had shared with others and which they had kept secret, at least for a while, and how these experiences made them feel. They were also asked to imagine they had a piece of good news and to picture two scenarios(场景), one in which they choose not to tell their partner until the end of the day, and one in which they try to call their partner but cannot get through, so have to wait until later. The first scenario, involving a deliberate choice to keep the secret for a few hours, led to positive feelings, while the second did not.

However, the researchers admitted that some “positive” secrets would not make you happy. This could be those kept secret to avoid embarrassment, such as when a piece of good news may make others feel worse about their own situation.

1. What does the underlined sentence imply?

A．Keeping good news a secret.	B．Giving your heart to your partner.
C．Sharing good news with others.	D．Preventing your card from being seen.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．What is the proper time to share good news.

B．What secrets are suitable for us to share.

C．How we should define feelings of energy.

D．Why delaying sharing good news is recommended.

3. How did the researchers get their findings?

A．By making comparisons.	B．By analyzing previous studies.
C．By demonstrating statistics.	D．By referring to literary review.

4. Which of the following sharing may lead to embarrassment?

A．You post your college acceptance letter on Tik Tok.

B．You talk about success before your partner who failed.

C．You tell your parents that you have won a scholarship.

D．You fail to put through to tell your wife your promotion.

2 . How long will it take you to read this article? On average, adults read about 240 words a minute, but I always take longer. I should probably feel embarrassed-but instead, I take joy in it.

I got the habit of reading for pleasure from my mum. Reading is what I do first thing in the morning and last thing at night. But it’s always taken me a long time. When I started reviewing books, I was averaging 20 pages an hour. I have improved to about 30 pages, but that’s still slow, according to some literary critics.

Book reviewers aren’t the only ones under pressure to read quickly. Pictures of “all the books I read this month” are all over social media. And reading has become a way of keeping up with the world. It is understandable that we try to make sense of events, but it can also fuel the idea that reading is a chore (苦差事), which it absolutely is not.

Why would pleasure be equal to pace? My slow reading seems to be down to a combination of slower processing speeds, and “subvocalising” — sounding out words as I read them. But especially when it comes to the latter, I wouldn’t want to train myself to go faster. It was news to me that not everyone subvocalises, because one of my favourite things about reading is hearing the language in my mind. Without subvocalising, I wouldn’t have caught the music of those words.

Recently, I finished a book of poetry. For two years, I read the poems each morning in the four minutes it took my coffee to be ready. It was a wonderful reminder that reading is never about quantity and always about the quality of time you spend with a text.

So when you read, don’t stick a number on it ---- resolve to read for pleasure, not as a chore.

1. Why does the author like slow reading?

A．It wins her fame online.	B．It is a delightful practice.
C．It comes from her mom.	D．It helps her reach goals.

2. What do fast readers focus on?

A．Quantity.

B．Quality.

C．Content.

D．Sound.

3. What do the underlined words “the latter” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Slower processing speeds.

B．Learning language.

C．Combining speeds and sounds.

D．Reading words out.

4. What would the author agree with?

A．Reading is a demanding task.

B．Pace equals reading pleasure.

C．Beauty of words needs tasting.

D．Poetry takes no effort to digest.

3 . Jameson Lobb and his friend Raphael Jafri were squeezing in a lunchtime workout on Pier (码头) 15, overlooking the East River, when Lobb _________. “Somebody’s in the water,” he said. Before Jafri could respond, Lobb _________ the rail and dived into the cold, polluted water. What Lobb had heard was a (n) _________ fisherman shouting from Pier 16, nearly 50 yards away, “Help! He’s in the water!”

_________ the unconscious (昏迷的) victim, Lobb saw that it was a middle-aged man. He was big, around 200 pounds, respectably dressed and sinking fast. He was 3 feet below the surface by the time Lobb reached him. The _________ dived, felt around, grasped the man and kicked upward until they both _________. Jafri was there now. The two friends floated the man on his back. Their muscles_________   as they pushed and pulled the immobile _________ through the water.

On the pier, a crowd had gathered. From somewhere, the onlookers produced a rope and a life preserver, which they _________ to Jafri and Lobb. The friends worked the victim’s arm and head _________the life preserver and tied the rope around his body. With the pair pushing from below and the _________ pulling from above, the man slowly rose until _________ hands pulled him onto the pier.

Both men, thoroughly _________ , watched as rescue workers _________ the nearly drowned (溺亡的) man into an ambulance and drove away. Lots of people were on the piers that day, yet only the two of   them jumped in the water — because, they say, they were the fittest people there and, so, had a moral _________

1.

A．waved

B．sighed

C．froze

D．cheered

2.

A．rested on

B．slid down

C．ran along

D．climbed over

3.

A．alarmed

B．confused

C．annoyed

D．surprised

4.

A．Recognizing

B．Approaching

C．Passing

D．Examining

5.

A．rescuer

B．survivor

C．victim

D．onlooker

6.

A．returned

B．recovered

C．retreated

D．resurfaced

7.

A．relaxed

B．burned

C．tightened

D．strengthened

8.

A．figure

B．rock

C．barrier

D．boat

9.

A．tied

B．handed

C．threw

D．carried

10.

A．through

B．beyond

C．across

D．along

11.

A．fisherman

B．crowd

C．couple

D．nurse

12.

A．strong

B．gentle

C．helping

D．accepting

13.

A．worn out

B．stressed out

C．light-hearted

D．hard-headed

14.

A．push

B．dragged

C．stuffed

D．loaded

15.

A．preference

B．lesson

C．responsibility

D．choice

4 . Europe draws unnecessarily too much on the earth’s food resources, which is why researchers are calling for political actions to reduce food loss and waste on the continent.

According to researchers, “food loss” occurs from the primary agricultural sector to the food processing industry and the wholesale sector, while from the retail (零售) sector towards the service industry and households, we refer to it as “food waste”.

“Halving Europe’s food loss and waste could largely help solve the challenges of food shortages in the world,” says Marianne Thomson, research leader and professor of sustainable food systems at UCPH. The researchers’ calculations show halving food loss and waste in Europe equals saving 8% of the greenhouse gas, along with a saving of about 12% of agricultural areas. In addition, there is a saving of 7% of water consumption, and 14% of energy in the food production for the citizens of Europe.

The calculations apply a consumption-based approach. This includes the greenhouse gas from locally produced and imported food in European countries, while leaving out foods produced inside but exported to other countries.

This is why countries should take actions to reduce food loss and waste at all stages of the food supply chain. Marianne Thomson introduces monitoring and reporting of food loss and waste by all actors along the food supply chain as an important action.

Such an action, combined with other types of similar actions, may be a strong encouragement for companies and the rest of society to put in time and money for new technology and combined efforts to prevent food loss and waste along the food supply chain. Producing companies can cooperate on upcycling (升级改造) products. The service industry can apply upcycled materials produced from food not needed in the wholesale sector, and at the same time encourage costumers to take smaller portions by reducing the plate size.

“Cutting food loss and waste by 50% in Europe requires political actions, and also the actions need to adapt to national circumstances and specific regional and local challenges,” says Marianne Thomson.

1. What is the researchers’ ultimate aim?

A．To decrease food loss and waste.

B．To criticize Europe for overusing food.

C．To look for new products for Europeans.

D．To arouse people’s awareness of food shortage.

2. What is presented in paragraph 3?

A．Possible causes.	B．Solving strategies.
C．Research findings.	D．Calculating methods.

3. What do we know about the action put forward by Marianne Thomson?

A．It requires producing less food for citizens of Europe.

B．It gives no consideration to the food produced out of Europe.

C．It needs joint efforts of everyone along the food supply chain.

D．It costs too much time and money of food producing companies.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Food loss and waste appear at every stage of the supply chain.

B．Smaller sizes of plates lead to people’s eating more than they need.

C．Political actions to reduce food loss and waste meet with no difficulty.

D．Cutting food loss and waste in Europe by 50% means saving 14% agricultural lands.

5 . After seeing the difficult living conditions for children in a migrant (移民) camp in Tijuana, Mexico, Estefanía Rebellón took matters into her own hands.

She could not believe what she saw: families lacking even the most basic supplies. The children, sometimes shoeless and often dirty, clearly had no place to go.

Back at home, Rebellón could think of nothing else. “We have to do something,” she told her partner, Kyle Thomas Schmidt. A school — a safe place for the children to gather and learn — seemed much-needed. So, Rebellón and Schmidt hired volunteer teachers via social media, and using a thousand dollars from their savings, set up a temporary school at the Tijuana border. Classes were held in two large tents.

In five years, that pilot program has grown into the non-profit Yes We Can World Foundation, which operates three classrooms in transformed school buses and two schools in Tijuana, plus another in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city directly across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Funded by donations, the foundation’s now well-trained teachers have provided a bilingual education to more than 3,000 kids from ages 3 to 15. The schools follow an official curriculum (课程) from Mexico’s education ministry. As well, Yes We Can offers special courses, including one that helps kids understand more about human migration.

“The program’s success is easy to see,” says Josh Phelps, former director of operations for World Central Kitchen, which has provided meals to some Yes We Can schools. “The kids really enjoy it. There are huge smiles on their faces.”

More than 6.6 million people live in refugee camps around the world, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Rebellón says she’d like to expand the foundation’s reach and support migrant children globally.

“She is a powerhouse,” says Phelps, “and, I think, one of the most important people doing work at the border right now.”

1. What does the underlined part “took matters into her own hands” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Relied on others.	B．Got rid of it.
C．Took it into account.	D．Dealt with it herself.

2. Why did Rebellón launch the program?

A．To find houses for migrants.

B．To establish a school for migrant children.

C．To raise money for migrants.

D．To provide migrants with daily necessities.

3. Which of the following best describes Rebellón?

A．Easy-going and ambitious.	B．Quick-thinking and generous.
C．Open-minded and imaginative.	D．Warm-hearted and responsible.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．How We Can Provide Education for Migrants?

B．One Woman Founded Schools for Migrant Children

C．One of the Greatest Women in the World — Rebellón

D．Yes We Can World Foundation — a Nonprofit Organization

6 . Deserts could be the best places on Earth for harvesting solar power. They are spacious, relatively flat, and never short of sunlight. So researchers imagine it might be possible to transform the world’s largest desert, the Sahara, into a large solar farm, capable of meeting four times the world’s current energy demand.

While the black surfaces of solar panels absorb most of the sunlight that reaches them, only around 15% of that incoming energy gets turned into electricity. The rest is returned to the environment as heat, affecting the climate. If these effects were only local, they might not matter in a thinly populated desert. But the area of the installations in the Sahara would be vast, covering thousands of square miles. Heat released from an area this size will be redistributed by the flow of air in the atmosphere, having regional and even global effects on the climate.

A 2018 study used a climate model to assess the effects of building massive solar farms in the Sahara. The model revealed that when the size of the solar farm reaches 20% of the total area of the Sahara, the heat released by the darker solar panels creates a big temperature difference between the land and the surrounding oceans that ultimately lowers surface air pressure and causes wet air to rise and condense (凝结) into raindrops. With more rainfall, plants grow and the desert reflects less of the sun’s energy since vegetation absorbs light better than sand and soil. With more plants present, more water is evaporated (蒸发), creating a better environment that causes vegetation to spread.

So, a large solar farm could generate enough energy and at the same time turn one of the most abominable environments on Earth into a habitable place. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. In a recent study, we used an advanced Earth system model to closely examine how Saharan solar farms interact with the climate. It showed there could be unintended effects in remote parts of the land and ocean.

We are only beginning to understand the potential consequences of establishing massive solar farms in deserts. Solutions like this may help society reduce the use of fossil energy, but Earth system studies like ours underscore the importance of considering the numerous coupled responses of the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface when examining their benefits and risks.

1. What can be learned about solar farms?

A．They are mainly located in deserts.

B．They can affect the local and even global climate.

C．They can make the best use of incoming energy.

D．They satisfy the world’s current energy demand.

2. What will happen if 20% of the Sahara is covered with solar panels according to the 2018 study?

A．It might become greener.

B．It might reflect more sunlight.

C．Its surface air pressure will increase.

D．Its temperature difference between day and night will decrease.

3. What does the underlined word “abominable” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Addictive.

B．Dynamic.

C．Sensitive.

D．Unpleasant.

4. What does the author think of turning the Sahara into a solar farm?

A．It is an impossible task.

B．It will do more good than harm.

C．It calls for more consideration.

D．It might be the solution to fossil fuel pollution.

7 . The simplest form of blind box marketing is when consumers buy a package from a brand containing unknown products. In China, it’s become a huge business that is growing fast. Simple yet surprising—consumers do not know what they will get until they unpack the box, and it is “the variable reward” that brings extra fun.

However, once the initial excitement of opening a blind box is past, a consumer’s perception of its value is linked to the quality of the products inside. That can be where disappointment sets in. According to analysis by iiMedia Consulting, more than 30 per cent of consumers interviewed felt that the quality of the products did not reflect the price of the blind box.

For brands, blind boxes should be an extra chance to connect with customers rather than a means of offloading inventory (清仓). Petit H Surprise boxes were first launched by French luxury brand Hermès in 2015 to create upcycled products from surplus materials, demonstrating that the blind box concept, executed (执行) with care, has a real appeal for consumers. Hermès offers a return service for customers who are not satisfied. For fashion in particular, when sizing may be inappropriate for a blind box customer, a generous return or exchange policy is essential.

Actually, the concept of blind boxes has been around for centuries. In ancient Japan, leftover fabrics were sold randomly, with even gold woven fabrics included, which were considered symbols of luck and blessing. If that element of magic and emotional connectivity can be injected into the blind box concept, the possibilities are endless. Ivy Yu, a brand marketing consultant based in France, says that blind boxes have the potential to “widen the customer base and at the same time gain a wave of public attention.”

Whether the forecasts for growth in the blind box market turn out to be true remains to be seen, but significant numbers of Chinese consumers right now are still fascinated by the concept.

1. What probably dissatisfies blind box consumers?

A．Poor quality of products.	B．The high price of the box.
C．Not knowing what’s inside.	D．Not getting the desired items.

2. Why is the return service provided by Hermès?

A．To prove the popularity of luxury blind boxes.	B．To offer a solution for the mismatched products.
C．To recommend a way to reuse surplus materials.	D．To show the key feature of Petit H surprise boxes.

3. Which of the following can boost the blind box market?

A．Efforts to perfect blind box products.	B．Insight into the history of blind boxes.
C．Positive influence on consumer delight.	D．Improvement of blind box marketing tricks.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．How to make the blind box market work well.	B．What to anticipate in a luxury brand blind box.
C．Where to go for a developing blind box market.	D．How to make profits from the blind box market.

8 . Glen Edwards became a hero when he rescued a construction worker trapped on top of a 160-meter-high building.

As a crane (吊车) _______ working on a construction site, Edwards _______ found himself in a life-saving mission when a fire broke out. He recalled how he _______ the trapped worker from his crane’s cabin (驾驶舱), and how he came up with the idea of saving the man by lowerin a cage to him to let him _______.

However, his attempt to _______ the cage before the man was by no means an easy job, as each post (弹) of wind prevented to throw his crane off balance. Besides, the smoke and flames also added to the difficulty. _______ the great challenges, Edwards refused to give up and fought to _______ control. Luckily, someone on the ground offered _______ on where to land the cage through a radio. Edwards _______ the crane’s movements, inch by inch, until the cage hanged (盘旋) just inches from the edge of the _______. With determination, Edwards successfully landed the cage.

Eventually, Edwards watched the cage _______ the man away from the horrible fire below and lowering him to safety. The crowd _______ a big round of applause, a tribute (致敬) to the courage and skill _______ by Edwards. He knew that his quick thinking and strong _______ had made all the difference between life and death in the face of disaster.

A GoFundMe page has now been set up to raise money for him —— with organizers _______ people to “buy Glen a beer” for his life-saving efforts.

1.

A．engineer

B．operator

C．cleaner

D．salesman

2.

A．regularly

B．unfortunately

C．intentionally

D．unexpectedly

3.

A．helped

B．spotted

C．realized

D．guided

4.

A．escape

B．hide

C．walk

D．slide

5.

A．clean

B．cover

C．position

D．open

6.

A．Despite

B．Without

C．For

D．From

7.

A．switch

B．maintain

C．lose

D．give

8.

A．instructions

B．problems

C．explanations

D．courses

9.

A．quickened

B．described

C．adjusted

D．repeated

10.

A．door

B．garden

C．crane

D．roof

11.

A．persuading

B．lifting

C．warning

D．dragging

12.

A．went through

B．put on

C．asked for

D．broke into

13.

A．displayed

B．admitted

C．exchanged

D．required

14.

A．preference

B．response

C．emotion

D．determination

15.

A．choosing

B．encouraging

C．ordering

D．teaching

9 . Social media companies are often compared to tobacco companies, for they both market harmful products to children and design their products for maximum customer loyalty (that is, addiction), but there’s a big difference: Teens can and do choose, in large numbers, not to smoke. Social media, in contrast, applies a lot more pressure on non-users, at a much younger age and in a more unnoticed way.

Once a few students in any middle school open accounts at age 11 or 12, the pressure on everyone else to join becomes intense. Even a girl who consciously knows that Instagram can foster beauty obsession, anxiety, and eating disorders might sooner take those risks than accept the seeming certainty of being out of the picture and excluded. In this way, social media unlocks a remarkable achievement: It even harms adolescents who do not use it.

A recent study in the University of Chicago illustrated the effects of the social media trap precisely. The researchers asked more than 1,000 college students how much they would need to be paid to deactivate (停用) their accounts on Instagram for four weeks. On average, the students said they would need to be paid roughly $ 50. Then the experimenters told the students that they were going to get most of their friends to do the same, and then asked, Now how much would you have to be paid to deactivate, if most others did so? The answer, on average, was less than zero — most students were willing to pay to have that happen.

Most students are on social media only because everyone else is too. This is the textbook definition of what social scientists call a collective-action problem. It’s what happens when a group would be better off if everyone in the group took a particular action, but each actor is discouraged from acting, because unless the others do the same, the personal cost outweighs the benefit. Cigarettes trapped individual smokers with a biological addiction. Social media, however, has trapped an entire generation in a collective-action problem.

1. What drives teenagers to start using social media?

A．The longing to stand out.

B．The fear of being left out.

C．The wish to impress others.

D．The pressure from non-users.

2. What can we learn about the college students in the study?

A．They are happy to interact online.

B．They are fed up with social media.

C．They choose Instagram over friends.

D．They use social media to make money.

3. Which of the following is a collective-action problem?

A．Athletes changing strategies to win a race.

B．Students taking exercise for better health.

C．Fishermen limiting their catch to protect fish.

D．Companies investing more for bigger profits.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To present new findings of a research.

B．To introduce a branch of social science.

C．To explore a reason for social media addiction.

D．To argue against the benefits of social media.

10 . There’s a site in Cornwall, in southern England, called Woodland Valley Farm. Here, farmer Chris Jones allows beavers (河狸) to wander in an enclosed five-acre plot. Their natural dams, he says, have helped control repeated flooding of the downstream village.

Centuries after beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain, efforts are now underway by environmentalists to reintroduce the creature. “Sometimes they can really be annoying; they can mess everything up,” says Christof Angst, an official consultant of be aver management. “But if you look at it on the whole, the positive impact of this species is huge.” Some of the benefits of beavers’ work on a landscape include a boost to biodiversity, drought resistance, and improvement of water quality by moving pollutants.

Yet, as the animals’ return becomes increasingly widespread, the debate is shifting from whether to bring them back to a question of how to manage them once they start appearing in waterways. The consequences of bringing beavers back are not all positive, the most common one being the flooding they can cause, rather than reduce. In addition, critics point to the high costs of beaver-felled trees and be aver reintroduction programs.“Who’s going to pick up the cost, who’s going to do the repairs, who’s going to cover crop loss?”asks Richard Bramley, a farmer from the York area.“There’s no plan.”

To avoid conflicts, organizers have fenced in beaver-related projects. The beavers are not permitted to wander freely beyond the fences. The government has also put together a beaver management strategy framework, which advises communication and listening, in an effort to clear up misunderstandings and concerns. When beavers do cause issues, available options will be provided, including modifying the dams, reducing water levels, or relocating the animals.

“What we want to direct people towards is coexistence with wildlife and nature,” saysEva Bishop, head of communications and education at the Beaver Trust. “We need to encourage people to give space for nature to function.”

1. What do we know about Woodland Valley Farm?

A．It keeps beavers for research.

B．It is funded by the government.

C．It builds dams to control flooding.

D．It restricts beavers to a certain area.

2. What is Richard Bramley’s attitude toward be aver projects?

A．Critical.

B．Appreciative.

C．Neutral.

D．Tolerant.

3. What does the underlined word “concerns” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Worries about related costs.

B．Doubts about beavers’ safety.

C．Fears for species extinction.

D．Anxieties over river pollution.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Increasing Beavers Raise the Alarm

B．Conflicts with Beavers Keep Arising

C．Wildlife Conservation Sees a Policy Shift

D．Beaver Projects Offer Coexistence Lessons