1 . The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific research. Recent studies have found positive effects. A study conducted in Youngstown，Ohio，for example, discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime. In another，employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their workplaces were decorated with houseplants.

The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)have taken it a step further changing the actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse，even unusual functions. These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they’re short of water and a plant that can detect harmful chemicals in groundwater. ＂We’re thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things that we use every day,＂explained Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT.

One of his latest projects has been to make plants glow(发光)in experiments using some common vegetables. Strano’s team found that they could create a faint light for three-and-a-half hours. The light，about one-thousandth of the amount needed to read by，is just a start. The technology, Strano said, could one day be used to light the rooms or even to turn trees into self-powered street lamps.

In the future，the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in a one-off treatment that would last the plant’s lifetime. The engineers are also trying to develop an on and off＂switch＂where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight.

Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US. Since lighting is often far removed from the power source(电源)-such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway-a lot of energy is lost during transmission(传输).Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．A new study of different plants.

B．A big fall in crime rates.

C．Employees from various workplaces.

D．Benefits from green plants.

2. What is the function of the sensors printed on plant leaves by MIT engineer?

A．To detect plants’ lack of water

B．To change compositions of plants

C．To make the life of plants longer.

D．To test chemicals in plants.

3. What can we expect of the glowing plants in the future?

A．They will speed up energy production.

B．They may transmit electricity to the home.

C．They might help reduce energy consumption.

D．They could take the place of power plants.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Can we grow more glowing plants?

B．How do we live with glowing plants?

C．Could glowing plants replace lamps?

D．How are glowing plants made pollution-free?

2 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.

Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.

For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.

The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?

1. What is the recent study mainly about?

A．Food safety.	B．Movie viewership.
C．Consumer demand.	D．Eating behavior.

2. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Big eaters.	B．Overweight persons.
C．Picky eaters.	D．Tall thin persons.

3. Why did the researchers hire the actor?

A．To see how she would affect the participants.

B．To test if the participants could recognize her.

C．To find out what she would do in the two tests.

D．To study why she could keep her weight down.

4. On what basis do we “adjust the influence” according to the last paragraph?

A．How hungry we are.	B．How slim we want to be.
C．How we perceive others.	D．How we feel about the food.

3 . I work with Volunteers for Wildlife, a rescue and education organization at Bailey Arboretum in Locust Valley. Trying to help injured, displaced or sick creatures can be heartbreaking; survival is never certain. However, when it works, it is simply beautiful.

I got a rescue call from a woman in Muttontown. She had found a young owl(猫头鹰) on the ground. When I arrived, I saw a 2-to 3-week-old owl. It had already been placed in a carrier for safety.

I examined the chick(雏鸟) and it seemed fine. If I could locate the nest, I might have been able to put it back, but no luck. My next work was to construct a nest and anchor it in a tree.

The homeowner was very helpful. A wire basket was found. I put some pine branches into the basket to make this nest safe and comfortable. I placed the chick in the nest, and it quickly calmed down.

Now all that was needed were the parents, but they were absent. I gave the homeowner a recording of the hunger screams of owl chicks. These advertise the presence of chicks to adults; they might also encourage our chick to start calling as well. I gave the owner as much information as possible and headed home to see what news the night might bring.

A nervous night to be sure, but sometimes the spirits of nature smile on us all! The homeowner called to say that the parents had responded to the recordings. I drove over and saw the chick in the nest looking healthy and active. And it was accompanied in the nest by the greatest sight of all — LUNCH! The parents had done their duty and would probably continue to do so.

1. What is unavoidable in the author’s rescue work according to paragraph 1?

A．Efforts made in vain.

B．Getting injured in his work.

C．Feeling uncertain about his future.

D．Creatures forced out of their homes.

2. Why was the author called to Muttontown?

A．To rescue a woman.

B．To take care of a woman.

C．To look at a baby owl.

D．To cure a young owl.

3. What made the chick calm down?

A．A new nest.

B．Some food.

C．A recording.

D．Its parents.

4. How would the author feel about the outcome of the event?

A．It’s unexpected.

B．It’s beautiful.

C．It’s humorous.

D．It’s discouraging.

4 . Food experts say washing could spread the germs on your turkey in the kitchen sink or nearby food. But it's been a challenge trying to convince cooks to stop rinsing （冲洗）off raw poultry. Germs that can make people sick are common in the guts of healthy poultry and are legally allowed to be on raw turkey and chicken. The assumption is that nobody eats their poultry raw, and that thorough cooking will kill the bacteria.

The do — not — wash raw poultry advice from the USDA is relatively new and perhaps hasn't caught on because it goes against the common belief that washing makes things clean, said Chapman. Benjamin Chapman, a study author and food safety expert at North Carolina State University, said the instinct to wash raw poultry goes back at least decades when people relied more on visual clues to spot problems with poultry. Meanwhile, washing hands and surfaces are also important.

But food preparation is a complicated act, and germs from poultry can be spread even if it's not washed, especially when birds are removed from packaging.

The USDA-funded study stresses that point. Researchers sprayed raw chicken with a harmless strain of E. coli （大肠杆菌）and watched volunteer cooks at test kitchens. Among those who washed their raw chicken, about a quarter ended up spreading the bacteria to their lettuce. But even some of those who did not rinse the chicken got germs on the lettuce. And there are other opportunities for germs to survive on turkeys: melting and cooking.

To ensure a bird is thoroughly cooked, they say to use a thermometer to check that the deepest and thickest parts of it have reached 165 degrees. Even after the meal is cooked, you aren't out of the danger zone. To keep turkeys and other leftovers safe, experts say they should be refrigerated after two hours.

1. People don't accept USDA's advice because____.

A．the advice is relatively new

B．cleaning seems more trustworthy

C．cooks clean the turkey before cooking it

D．heat can kill most germs and no one eats raw food

2. What can be concluded from Paragraph 4?

A．Food packages carry germs.

B．Hands and surfaces are easy to get E. coli.

C．Germs from a turkey can be spread whether it is washed or not.

D．Multiple methods should be applied to food to get rid of germs.

3. Which way may help to cook a turkey safely?

A．Rinse off the turkey before it is heated.

B．Keep the turkey away from the lettuce and refrigerator.

C．Wash hands and packages before taking out the turkey.

D．Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the turkey.

4. From which section of a magazine is the text probably taken?

A．Culture.	B．Science.
C．Education.	D．Medicine.

5 . The sea could be the food bowl of the future. In Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, seaweed, which is rich in fibre and omega 3, is grown and harvested.

Pia Winberg is a marine scientist who runs Australia's first food-grade fanned seaweed company. Her crop is grown alongside mussels (贻贝)and is used as an additive in pasta (意大利面)and other products.

Seaweed is also raised in large tanks, where it absorbs carbon dioxide waste from a wheat processing factory. The business is small, but could help to reduce the ecological footprint of traditional farming.

“We used ten percent of seaweed instead of wheat in breads and pastas, we've eliminated a million hectares of land, we've eliminated all of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with that, and we've also reduced the pressures on very precious fresh water.” said Pia Winberg.

Spiny sea urchins (多刺海胆虫)are another blue economy resource. They can destroy marine habitats, but a recent competition for environmental start-ups in Australia, saw them not as a pest but a delicacy (美味).

Martina Doblin, CEO of Sydney Institute of Marine Science, said, “By 2050 we will have some ten billion people on the planet, and about half the food they eat will come from the ocean. So, we really do need to pay attention to the way that we manage the blue economy-generating wealth from the ocean but in a sustainable (可持续的)way.”

Farming at sea has its challenges. Infrastructure (基础设施)has to be sound, as do supply chains and biosecurity. But get these things right, and the ocean might just be the next great economic frontier.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To lead to the main topic.

B．To describe a new kind of seaweed.

C．Tell how important the food safety is.

D．To explain the meaning of blue economy.

2. What can we learn from what Martina Doblin said in paragraph 6?

A．Ocean exploration has made little progress so far.

B．More and more people will die of hunger in the future.

C．More work is needed for a better use of the natural resources.

D．Sea farming will be a good way to solve the coming world food problem.

3. Which word can be used to describe the author's attitude towards sea fanning?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Tolerant.

D．Negative.

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

A．How to Protect the Marine Animals

B．Measures to Develop Blue Economy

C．Farming the Sea for the Future of Food

D．Traditional Farming is Gradually Disappearing

6 . People in Japan tend to live longer and stay healthier in their later years, with an increasing number of old people living alone. Japan is on a fast track to “ultra-age” with people aged 65 or above accounting for 28 percent of its total population in 2019；it was 26.7 percent in 2017. On the other hand, the number of births in 2019 fell to its lowest (about 941,000) since records began in 1899.

Demand for care services for elderly people has increased. A shrinking (缩小) working population means fewer able-bodied adults are available to look after the elderly. State-provided facilities for the elderly are not enough, which causes elderly people to turn to private ones but they are expensive.

The country will be short of 380,000 of health nurses by 2025. The government has to turn to advanced robots to meet the shortage. A study found that using robots encouraged one third of the people to become more active and independent. Yet there is no robot that can provide the emotional support to the elderly.

Japan provides a case study for China, which is also faced with a fast aging population. 17.23 million babies were born in China in 2019, about 630,000 fewer than in 2018. People aged 60 accounted for 17.3 of China’s population in 2019. With a shortage of elderly care facilities and unbalanced supply, China may find it hard to deal with the rapidly increasing number of senior citizens.

To meet the challenge, the Chinese government should make policy changes, which Japan is unwilling or unable to do or even consider. China should pay attention to the signals its aging population is sending and take proper and timely action.

1. What do we learn about the old Japanese?

A．More and more old Japanese prefer to live on their own.

B．A lot of old Japanese have to continue working at old age.

C．Some old Japanese remain active with the help of robots.

D．Japanese aged 65 or above make up one third of its population.

2. What can we know about state-provided care facilities for the elderly in Japan?

A．They are expensive.	B．They are inconvenient.
C．They are affordable.	D．They are fashionable.

3. What do the Japanese do to deal with the shortage of health nurses?

A．They hire foreign health nurses.

B．They employ advanced robots.

C．They set up more nursing schools.

D．They train the elderly to tend themselves.

4. What is the main idea of the last two paragraph?

A．Japan has to take action to deal with the aging population.

B．Robots can’t provide emotional support to the elderly.

C．China is now faced with a fast aging population.

D．Japan’s aging population issue is a timely lesson for China.

7 . Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us. Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum (钟摆) and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar. As someone who understood the distinction observed, ''When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours. ''

Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age. They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass. For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach.

Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly. Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we've never been before. Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as lasing a long time. But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time. The novelty of the outward journey has become routine.

When days become as identical as beads (小珠子)on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day. To counter this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day-- to stop time, so to speak.

Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time. One of the reasons the days of our youth seems to be full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery. For many of us, learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn't have to be.

1. What is the underlined sentence in paragraph 1 used to show?

A．Psychological time is quite puzzling.

B．Time should not be measured by a pendulum.

C．Physical time is different from psychological time

D．Physical theory has nothing to do with the true sense of time

2. Why do units of time fly faster as we grow older?

A．Our sense of time changes.

B．We spend less time at the beach

C．More time is structured and scheduled

D．Time is structured with too many appointments.

3. What does ''Novelty'' in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．excitement

B．unfamiliarity

C．imagination

D．amusement

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To give various explanations about time

B．To describe how we experience time physically

C．To show the differences of two kinds of time

D．To explain why time flies and how to slow it down

8 . A walk through the galleries of Quebec's Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) places individuals face-to-face with some 43,000 artworks ranging from Chinese ceramics (陶瓷制品) to Inuit sculpture.

While the visiting is an incredible cultural experience, a group of local physicians will soon be able to prescribe(开处方) museum visits as treatment for some illnesses.

Hélène Boyer, vice president of a Montreal-based medical association, explains that museum visits have been shown to increase levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter (神经传导物质) known as the "happy chemical" which helps to lift mood.

According to Boyer, the small increase in hormones(荷尔蒙)associated with enjoying an afternoon of art is similar to that offered by exercise, making museum prescriptions ideal for the elderly experiencing pain that prevents them from regularly joining in physical activity.

The museum visits are designed to improve traditional methods. As Bondil notes, spending time in a peaceful environment can provide a welcome distraction. "What is most important is this experience can help them escape from their own pain," she says. "When you enter the museum, you escape from the speed of our daily life."

"I am convinced that in the 21st century, culture will be what physical activity was for health in the 20th century," said Bondil. " Some people would do well to recall that just in the 19^th century, sports were believed to do harm to the body. Just as doctors now prescribe exercise, they will be able to prescribe a visit to the MMFA."

1. What does Hélène Boyer think of museum visits?

A．They can cheer people up.	B．They can reduce physical activity.
C．They can slow down our life pace.	D．They can increase levels of art appreciation.

2. How do museum visits affect people?

A．Stop them concentrating on pain.

B．Stop them focusing on traditional methods.

C．Encourage them not to be absent-minded.

D．Encourage them to slow their steps while walking.

3. What does the last paragraph suggest?

A．Physical activities were popular in the 19th century.

B．Sports are considered to be harmful to the body.

C．Ideas of treating illnesses are changing over time.

D．Doctors prescribe museum visits regularly now.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Museum visits are ideal for the elderly.	B．Happy chemical helps to lift mood.
C．Peaceful environment helps escape pain.	D．Cultural activities will promote health

9 . Food serves as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and play a significant role in a family or culture's celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between rural (农村的) and urban areas within one country.
Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion (时刻) or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing bread.
Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person who receives it.
Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.
Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.
1. According to the passage, sharing bread______.

A．indicates a lack of food

B．can help to develop unity

C．is a custom unique to rural areas

D．has its roots in birthday celebrations

2. What does the coin in vasilopita signify for its receiver in the New Year?

A．Trust.	B．Success.
C．Health.	D．Togetherness.

3. The author explains the role of food in celebrations by______.

A．using examples	B．making comparisons
C．analyzing causes	D．describing processes

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The custom of sharing food.

B．The specific meaning of food.

C．The role of food in ceremonies.

D．The importance of food in culture.

10 . For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.

In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.

1. Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?

A．Both are about where to draw the line.

B．Both can continue for generations.

C．Neither has any clear winner.

D．Neither can be put to an end.

2. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.

B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.

C．The teens cause their parents of misleading them.

D．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.

3. Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ______.

A．give orders to the other

B．know more than the other

C．gain respect from the other

D．get the other to behave properly

4. What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Solutions for the parent-teen problems.

B．Examples of the parent-teen war.

C．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts.

D．Future of the parent-teen relationship.