1 . Is it possible to learn too much? With so much information that’s available and accessible with just a click of a button, it’s impossible for any person to know everything there is to know. While this is true, there is still such a thing as learning too much, to the point where you get paralyzed in terms of taking action.
Have you ever wanted to achieve a goal and ended up doing tons of research on how to achieve the goal? As you learned more and more, it felt like you knew less and less because when you learned a new concept or strategy, you found that there was a lot more to know about those things.
Often times, people will get stuck in this trap of needing to gather more and more information. There’s nothing wrong with learning a lot, but when you let learning get in the way of doing, you will never get going. When you never get going, you still never start having the things you want in life.
A better way to go about achieving a goal is to gather some information and immediately start taking action on what information you have gathered. I realize that many times you will feel unprepared, and that’s okay. The best way to learn besides having someone who’s done what you want to do show you how to do it is to take action and learn from the results you get from those actions.
If a baby wanted to learn how to walk, it will never be able to do it by sitting there and analyzing how to walk. The best way for a baby to walk is to actually get up off its behind and start walking. Sure it may fall, but with every fall, it will learn what is working and what is not and adjust to it. By doing this over and over, it will eventually learn to walk. This is the approach you want to take when you want to achieve your goals as well. It works.
1. The underlined word “paralyzed” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________.| A．unable to do anything | B．unhappy about the situation |
| C．satisfied with what you have | D．discouraged with what you face |
| A．The confusion caused by the information. | B．The new concept or strategy. |
| C．The desire to learn more. | D．The trap of research. |
| A．the failure before achieving the goal |
| B．the awareness of challenges |
| C．gathering information |
| D．taking actions |
| A．Analyze Before Learning to Walk |
| B．Action Speaks Louder Than Information |
| C．Problems in Information Age |
| D．Approaches to Learning to Walk |
2 . The ancient Babylonians （巴比伦人）are thought to have been the first people to set New Year's resolutions. They made promises to gods that they would return any objects they had borrowed from others. If they did this, then it was said that gods would protect them in the year ahead. Since then, resolutions have changed from promises to gods to promises to ourselves and others. That could be starting a new hobby, trying to be healthier or learning a new language. Given the difficulties that any people have in keeping their New Years resolutions, though, should people wait a little longer before deciding what they'll be? Is January the right time to set New Years resolutions?
Yes — it gets the year off to a good start. They're called New Year's resolutions, not Half-Year resolutions. The whole point of setting New Year's resolutions is that it's done at the start of the year.Waiting longer just defeats the purpose of it. New Year's resolutions are a fun tradition to discuss with family and friends. You won't be able to talk about it in the same way if you're all setting them at different times. Besides, the more you put it off, the less likely it is that you'll ever decide on what your resolutions are going to be. You can always set new ones, or change your goals, but it's important to start off with something. By the time you've decided on some resolutions, you'll have less time to do them — which only increases your chances of failure.
No — January isn't the right time. January is a cold and dark month. Why would you want to start something new then? During the winter months, most people just want to stay nice and warm indoors, rather than try something new. People should make resolutions to lead happier, healthier lives whenever they want, not just on 1 January. Waiting longer means that you'll have more time to plan and will have a better idea of what you want to do in the year ahead. This will result in better resolutions, which have a stronger chance of success. One study found that by 6 January, one in five people had failed to stick to their resolutions. By not rushing into it, you're less likely to get discouraged and give up if you haven't succeeded right away.
Now that you've read a bit more about it, tell us what you think by voting in our poll at theweekjunior. co. uk/polls.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．Babylonians returned to gods what they had borrowed from them. |
| B．Babylonians assumed that they would be permanently protected by gods. |
| C．Resolutions have been shifted into commitments to people rather than gods. |
| D．Setting New Year's resolutions in January is better than in any other months |
| A．succeed easily | B．end up with nothing |
| C．doubt the fun tradition | D．reach your ultimate aims |
| A．Happier, healthier lives | B．More time to make plans |
| C．Losing heart and quitting | D．Failure to make decisions |
| A．To call for donations | B．To build up a tradition |
| C．To introduce a practice | D．To stimulate discussions |
3 . Do extroverts (外向者) make better leaders?
There is a general impression that you're better off in the workplace and in life — if you're an extrovert. Understandably, this idea is most likely to be spread by extroverts themselves, who are "
In what could be
| A．loud | B．slow | C．quiet | D．serious |
| A．wonderful | B．terrible | C．foreign | D．fake |
| A．fortune | B．right | C．courage | D．edge |
| A．discover | B．create | C．enjoy | D．provide |
| A．pretends | B．questions | C．argues | D．promises |
| A．fail | B．hesitate | C．plan | D．tend |
| A．However | B．Besides | C．Therefore | D．Instead |
| A．absence | B．respect | C．company | D．loyalty |
| A．While | B．Once | C．If | D．As |
| A．distracted | B．delighted | C．discouraged | D．determined |
| A．hardly | B．purely | C．nearly | D．partly |
| A．stick to | B．object to | C．refer to | D．contribute to |
| A．understand | B．govern | C．change | D．deny |
| A．listening | B．debating | C．acting | D．teaching |
| A．analyze | B．accept | C．support | D．doubt |
4 . Female birds sing, too, but scientists tend to tune in to male birdsong and ignore female songs. It highlights a long-standing bias (偏见) and helps us think about why that bias persists (持续).
Since the beginning of modern birdsong research, the field has focused on male songbirds. Any serious birder could tell you that females do sing, sometimes as frequently as males. However, early birdsong researchers tended to be men. Men are significantly less likely than women to lead research projects studying female songs. Thus, we are missing key behaviors as a result of historical biases caused by a lack of diverse participation in science.
So how do we make science welcoming and accessible for all? We need to communicate better with nonscientists. Engaging the public in science is essential for basic science findings that influence how we perceive the world around us.
For example, understanding that female birds do sing matters not only to scientists but also to the billions of people who hear the sounds of wild birds every day. In many species, males and females look similar from a distance, but can be distinguished by ear. Paying close attention to which sounds each sex makes and thinking about why they might be producing them opens up a richer window into the environment around us. It turns out female birds use songs for all the same reasons male birds do: to signal individual identity, defend valuable territories and attract potential mates.
Public awareness of female birdsong has the potential to change the science itself. Apps like eBird collect millions of public observations and audio recordings of birds every year. Increasing public engagement and involvement with research promises to benefit the scientific community and society more broadly. In many cases, scientists and experts already have strongly held biases about the way the world works, and these biases allow mistaken conclusions to persist. Public observers often make better observers of the world around them because they lack preconceived ideas.
Female birds sing! We welcome a future where research and communication combine to improve our understanding of the world around us and deepen our connections to each other and the natural world.
1. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?| A．Who is to blame for the long-standing bias. |
| B．Why female birdsong is long ignored by scientists. |
| C．What contributes to diverse participation in science. |
| D．How men have conducted modern birdsong research. |
| A．It will enable us to become real scientists. |
| B．It will help us distinguish bird species by ear. |
| C．It will expand our understanding of the world. |
| D．It will make advanced science accessible for all. |
| A．Biased. | B．Creative. |
| C．Mistaken. | D．Varied. |
| A．Why we Didn't Know That Female Birds Sing? |
| B．Advancing Science: How Bias Leads Us Forward |
| C．New Research Has Found Female Birds Sing Too! |
| D．A Case Study of Gender Bias in Science Reporting |
5 . In Shakespeare’s HAMLET, Polonius asks the prince, “What are you reading, my Lord?” Hamlet replies, “Words, words, words.” Either, as is likely, Hamlet wasn’t interested in what he was reading, or, less likely, he didn’t understand the words he was reading. In this case, Polonius should have lent Hamlet a good dictionary.
Dictionaries are essential tools for people who like to read. There are so many words in English that even the most educated person will sometimes meet an unfamiliar word and have to look it up. Languages keep changing, too, with new words constantly being added and new meanings being applied to old words. For example, the 12th edition of Xinhua Dictionary, the most popular dictionary in China, has added new words such as “chu xin” “fen si” “er wei ma” etc. As for new meanings, “girl” once meant “a small child of either sex”. And “naughty” didn’t mean you were “enjoying playing tricks”; it meant you were poor.
A printed dictionary can’t keep pace with all the changes, which is why most dictionaries have websites and apps to help you keep up-to-date. However, I still prefer printed dictionaries because they give you more definitions and more examples of how a word is used. Even a simple word, such as “set”, has 430 meanings (the most of English words) but an online dictionary would only offer two or three. A printed dictionary also gives you the opportunity to discover new words as you run your finger down the page looking for the word you want.
There is no “official” English dictionary, but the Oxford English Dictionary is considered to be the best. For English language learners, however, I would recommend the Collins COBUILD Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Hamlet, by the way, was Danish and a college student. He would have appreciated the Collins Dictionary to help himself with his words, words, words. This dictionary has over 40,000 words and gives you full-sentence definitions with good examples of how words are used.
1. What’s the function of paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To let the readers know more about HAMLET. |
| C．To arouse readers’ interest in Shakespeare. |
| D．To explain when it’s necessary to use a dictionary. |
| A．To show how powerful Xinhua Dictionary is. |
| B．To support the idea: languages keep changing. |
| C．To prove new words are being added to dictionaries. |
| D．To imply “girl” also means “boy” in some cases. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Negative. | D．Critical. |
| A．To introduce the history of dictionaries. |
| B．To call on learners to use dictionaries. |
| C．To recommend Collins Dictionary. |
| D．To explain why Hamlet likes Collins. |
6 . For a word that suggests as little as possible, so many different things fall under the label of “minimalism” at the moment. A home decoration might be described as minimalist if there's nothing bung on its white walls. A dress is minimalist if it's simple and functional. Avoiding using your phone, checking your email or updating social media is “digital minimalism.” Everything on Instagram seems to be minimalist.
But in the obsession with the objects labeled minimalist, we have lost the basic ideas of minimalism. It might appear simple but it's also a philosophical challenge, not to find exactly the right stuff to buy but to rethink our relationship to the world around us, from the ground up. Rather than the single blank style that's now noticeable everywhere, minimalism is fundamentally about a diversity of visions.
Minimalism, to me, is more about attention than anything else. It advocates seeing the world not as a series of products to consume, but personal feelings or sensory experiences to have on your own terms. An ordinary lamp can be as beautiful as the Mona Lisa. Historically, minimalism tells us to focus on what doesn't at first seem pleasant or beautiful and turn it into art instead of creating a worldview based only on what we already like. So often minimalism is thought to be permanent, a fixed end state, instead of change. But minimalism is a process that has to be kept up and refreshed day to day.
Minimalism as a style will unavoidably end, as all trends do, and we'll turn against the empty walls and embrace bright colors and loud patterns and call them the next new thing. But minimalism's fundamenta1 ideas will remain as long as human civilization, because we never quite learn its lesson: What already exists immediately around us is more important than all of our anxieties about what's not there yet. The imperfection of reality is perfect.
1. What's the author's attitude towards the label of “minimalism” in paragraph 1?| A．Supportive. | B．Neutral. | C．Disapproving. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Because it advocates consuming simple and functional products. |
| B．Because it focuses on buying stuff for a reasonable purpose. |
| C．Because it suggests more interaction with the surroundings. |
| D．Because it involves subjective personal understanding. |
| A．Minimalism is a fixed style. | B．Minimalism is a style of emptiness. |
| C．Minimalism is a changing process. | D．Minimalism will remain popular. |
| A．Less is more. | B．Make every day count. |
| C．Everything happens for a reason. | D．Life is simple. |
7 . This summer, NASA launched its latest robot Perseverance on a seventh-month journey to Mars. During the past decades, robot explorers on Mars have made great discoveries about the red planet, but they have never found clear-cut signs of creatures currently living there. Life, at least as we know it on Earth, simply does not seem probable on the Martian surface.
“If there’s any life on Mars now, it needs at least some liquid water,” Dr. Sumner said. “The surface of Mars now is very dry. Extremely dry. If there’s life on Mars now, it would be found deep underground.” Actually, there has been some evidence that liquid water is locked away beneath the surface, so perhaps there are sunless ecosystems hidden there, which are beyond the direct reach of our rovers and landers.
“Recent findings of methane and other gases in what’s left of Mars’ atmosphere are a potential signature,” Dr. Farley said, supporting the theory about underground water. Many microbes on Earth produce methane, so it is possible that the gas on Mars could be related to alien life-forms deep underground.
However, methane can also be created by a wide range of natural processes that have nothing to do with life. Some experts, like Dr. Sumner from the University of California Davis, say that the presence of the gas on Mars is “not a surprise” because it has all the geological processes it needs to produce the gas without life.
But even if we never find Martians, “Mars is a place we can go to answer some of the questions about life on Earth,” Dr. Sumner said. The red planet remains a time capsule of the era when life first began on our own world, and the direction it could have gone had all the factors that made our world possible, yet it turned out just not the right way.
1. Where can life on Mars possibly be?| A．In the methane. | B．On the surface. |
| C．In the underground. | D．In the atmosphere. |
| A．It proves the existence of microbes on Mars. |
| B．Some forms of life on Earth can produce the gas. |
| C．Underground water has something to do with the gas. |
| D．It shows different kinds of gas exist in the air on Mars. |
| A．Methane doesn’t actually exist on Mars. |
| B．Methane is a necessary condition of life. |
| C．Scientists have predicted the existence of methane. |
| D．The discovery of methane doesn’t guarantee life on Mars. |
| A．Arguments about life on Mars. | B．The value of exploring Mars. |
| C．NASA’s new robot on Mars. | D．Discovery of water on Mars. |
8 . The first time I questioned the conventional wisdom on the nature of a healthy diet, it was 40 years ago, and the subject was salt. Researchers claimed that salt supplementation (补充) was unnecessary after intense exercise, and this advice was passed on by health reporters. I recalled high school football practices in hot days. Without salt pills, I couldn’t make it through a two-hour practice.
Although sports nutritionists have recommended consuming more salt when we sweat hard in physical activity, the message that we should avoid salt at all other times remains strong. And salt is still considered fatal.
So why have we been told that salt is so deadly? The advice has always sounded reasonable: Eat more salt, and your body keeps water to maintain a stable concentration of sodium (钠) in your blood. This is why salty food tends to make us thirsty: We drink more; we keep water. The result can be a temporary increase in blood pressure. The scientific question is whether this temporary phenomenon leads to permanent problems: If we eat too much salt for years, does it raise our blood pressure, cause high blood pressure, then strokes, and then kill us? It makes sense, but it’s only a hypothesis (假设), which has never been proved but unfortunately upgraded to a fact.
In reality, eating less salt can worsen health. Decades ago, Italian researchers’ clinical trials reported that reducing salt consumption increased the risk of dying early and that reducing sodium to a government-recommended “safe upper limit” is actually harmful.
Supporters of the eat-less-salt campaign tend to deal with this confusing evidence by implying that anyone raising it is a shill (同谋) for the food industry (widely criticized for adding salt to processed foods to improve taste). When several government agencies held a hearing last November to discuss how to ensure Americans eat less salt, anti-salt supporters argued that the latest reports suggesting damage from lower-salt diets should simply be ignored. This attitude, which lacks respect for science, has been the norm for the anti-salt campaign for decades. Maybe now is the time for it to change.
1. What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．A man of high intelligence. | B．Knowledge learnt through work. |
| C．A belief that most people have. | D．Experience gained from sports. |
| A．Eating less salt can pose a threat to our health. |
| B．Eating less salt can prevent us from dying early. |
| C．We need to eat relatively more salt on a daily basis. |
| D．We should follow the government policy and reduce salt intake. |
| A．They publicly blame it on the food industry. |
| B．They suggest the food industry is behind it. |
| C．They report it to the government agencies. |
| D．They treat it with some respect. |
| A．Approving. | B．Indifferent. | C．Skeptical. | D．Neutral. |
9 . What is a challenging book? By calling a book “challenging”, I do not mean books whose language is hard for us to understand, but the ones that challenge and provoke(激起).
Kafka once said that “the only books worth reading are those that bite and kick, not happy books we could write ourselves”. That is what I mean by a “challenging” book. Oliver Twist is not a hard book because everything ends happily. Great Expectations is a “hard” book because Pip forces us to confront our own selfishness. Through Pip’s choices, Dickens forces us to realize that we too often abandon those who have cared for us simply because they do not have money.
The challenging books are books which force us to think deeply about ourselves and our world. Karl Marx’s works are challenging, and so are Adam Smith’s, both bringing great influence on economic and political history. Both thinkers critically analyze our world and lay its faults bare before us. Richard Wright and Dante are both challenging writers because their works force us to see that all is not well in our world. Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room is challenging because it shows us the hurt we suffer when we choose to follow social customs instead of our hearts.
Is there a test that tells us which books are challenging and which are not? No. Most people may read Austen’s Mansfield Park with a smile on their faces, but a reader sensitive to the pains of imperialism (帝国主义) knows that the wonderful society shown in the novel depends upon slavery for its livelihood. I want to end this by stressing that difficulty in terms of books depends on the reader, but that there are some books, by the nature of the author’s genius and the books’ expansive vision, covering so broad a range that they are challenging for almost everyone to read.
1. What does the underlined words “bite and kick” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Make readers uncomfortable and reflect. |
| B．Focus on men’s personal life and growth. |
| C．Remind people of their own struggles. |
| D．Use complex language and structures. |
| A．They don’t have happy endings. |
| B．They don’t have to be literary works. |
| C．They combine literature and social sciences. |
| D．They focus on the negative side of social rules. |
| A．Austen’s Mansfield Park is critical of imperialism. |
| B．Writers are more important than readers in literature. |
| C．Challenges in reading come from personal experiences. |
| D．A book’s broad vision helps contribute to its difficulties. |
| A．To show the importance of hard books. |
| B．To discuss a common theme in literature. |
| C．To share an understanding of challenging books. |
| D．To recommend some classic works. |
10 . Technology affects the way individuals communicate, learn, and think. It helps society and determines how people interact with each other on a daily basis. It has positive and negative effects on the world and it impacts daily lives. We are living in a time when technological advancements are common. However, with technological advancements, there's a downside （弊端）to it all.
One aspect of technology that has bad a great impact on society is how it affects learning. It's made learning more interactive, which helps people better understand the material that they are learning and have trouble with. Also, it gets people better access to resources. With the creation of the Internet, it gives us access to information at a twenty-four-hour rate and you have access to almost anything online. In addition, it allows students to get work done easier. It also expands the boundaries of the classroom, encouraging self-paced learning. People can access learning through websites and social media. This helps students learn better than sitting down for lectures and reading from textbooks. These technological advancements have made learning more fun and convenient.
Besides, the technological advancements have also helped keep people safe and healthy. There are many apps on phones for people to monitor their weight, the calories they intake, heart rate and other health properties （属性） any time of the day. There's increased accessibility of treatment available, there's the change in healthcare that adds benefits for the elderly, and hospitals using advanced technology within their surgical rooms.
However, studies show that mobile communication affects people in a negative way when it comes to being sociable and making face-to-face contact. Mobile technology can decrease communication and relations between people. There's less personal time, because you're always in contact with someone. Also, it can be distracting from your schoolwork. There is also loss of privacy, because anyone can find you anywhere, at any time of the day.
In conclusion, all of these things impact how humans act today. Without technological advancements, our way of life would not be as complex. Thus, it has been wisely said that technology is a good servant but a bad master.
1. Which of the following is a downside of technological advancements?| A．Interactive learning methods. | B．Accessible learning resources. |
| C．Monitored health properties. | D．Decreased face-to-face meetups. |
| A．widens | B．narrows | C．shortens | D．contracts |
| A．It is wise to be mastered by technology. |
| B．Technology is good at serving but bad at mastering us. |
| C．Humans can totally survive with or without technology. |
| D．We'd better make technology serve rather than control us. |
| A．to criticize technology for its negative impacts. |
| B．to promote technology as it benefits us in several ways. |
| C．to prove technological advancements are second to none. |
| D．to introduce the pros and cons technology has on our lives. |
