1. Who is Dr. Zahi Hawass?
| A．An artist. | B．A writer. | C．A guide. | D．An archaeologist. |
| A．On May 4. | B．On May 11. | C．On June 5. | D．On June 27. |
| A．Calling 6467571717. | B．Emailing to contact@zahilectures.com. |
| C．Going to Egypt directly. | D．Visiting www.zahilectures.com. |
| A．To advertise lectures. | B．To entertain people. |
| C．To present facts. | D．To stress history. |
2 . We often hear friends ask why they should read fiction. There is so much to learn from history, from what is going on at the frontiers of science, and from contemporary studies of human behavior. Why should they spend their scarce "free time" reading fiction, the purpose of which, at best, is only entertainment?
We are disappointed about such comments. Yes, we respond, we do find pleasure in reading fiction. But we also learn much about how to best live our lives in ways that can only be captured by fiction. We recognize that some novels are entertaining, but leave no lasting impression. What makes a novel more than entertainment?
Our answer is that we don't just read great books - they read us as well. The human condition is complex and contradictory, layered like an ice-cream dessert, with flavors mixed among the layers. A great novel reflects that complexity. We may read it several times, as we do with our favorites, and each time it is like finding an old friend and gaining new insights from that friend. We put it down with new understandings of the world around us and, most important, of ourselves.
Let's look at the novel Frankenstein, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein is not the monster, but a young man seeking out the secrets of the universe. He collects body parts and charges it with life. When the dull yellow eyes open, however, Frankenstein, shocked by what he has done, abandons the creature, which ultimately kills Frankenstein's brother, his bride, and his best friend.
On one level, Frankenstein is entertaining - a good horror story, though a little dated. But Shelley writes more than just that. On a deeper level, her book forces us to ask whether humans reach too far to gain knowledge that is as forbidden as the fruit of the Garden of Eden. This theme, as old as the legend of Prometheus （普罗米修斯），dominates Frankenstein. Shelley, of course, knew nothing of genetic （遗传的）engineering that happens today. She was deeply troubled by what human beings might discover about themselves, and the effects of those discoveries on society. Our reading of great literature can also be enriched by understanding the author's personal interests and anxieties.
1. How does the author feel about fiction reading?| A．It is a window to a whole new world. |
| B．It helps us discover the frontiers of science. |
| C．It offers insight into how to live best lives. |
| D．It holds some clues to understanding our memory. |
| A．Because they deserve reading several times. |
| B．Because they lead us to a rich and colorful life. |
| C．Because they explore humans' complex reality. |
| D．Because they improve the writer-reader relationship. |
| A．It is based on a grand theme. |
| B．It is a record of a historic event. |
| C．It is merely a great horror story. |
| D．It is about the legend of Prometheus. |
| A．Why should we read fiction? |
| B．Can novel reading last long? |
| C．Read for fun or read for none? |
| D．Is Frankenstein really entertaining? |
3 . Windows are a key component in a building's design, but they are also the least energy- efficient part. According to a 2009 report by the United Nations, buildings account for 40 percent of global energy usage, and windows are responsible for half of that energy consumption. If conventional windows are used to better block sunlight passing into a building, they need expensive coatings. Even so, they can not adjust the indoor temperature effectively.
Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) have developed a smart liquid window panel that can help. By creating a mixture of micro-hydrogel (水凝胶), water, and a stabilizer, they found that it can effectively reduce energy consumption in a variety of climates. Thanks to the hydrogel, the mixture becomes hard-to-see- through when exposed to heat, thus blocking sunlight, and, when cool, it returns to its original clear state. The high heat capacity of water allows a large amount of heat energy to be stored instead of getting transferred through the glass and into the building during the hot daytime when office buildings mainly operate. The heat will then be gradually cooled and released at night when the staff are off duty.
As a proof of concept, the scientists conducted outdoor tests in hot (Singapore, Guangzhou) and cold (Beijing) environments. The Singapore test revealed that the smart liquid window had a lower temperature (50°C) during the hottest time of the day (noon) compared to a normal glass window (84°C), The Beijing tests showed that the room using the smart liquid window consumed 11 percent less energy to maintain the same temperature compared to the room with a normal glass window. They also measured when the highest value of stored heat energy of the day occurred. This "temperature peak" in the normal glass window was 2 pm, and in the smart liquid window was shifted to 3 pm. If this temperature peak shift leads to a shift in the time when a building needs to draw on electrical power to cool or warm the building, it should result in lower energy charges for users. The research team is seeking ways to cut down the cost of producing the smart window and so far, they have found several industry partners to commercialize it.
1. What is the disadvantage of conventional windows?| A．They are expensive. |
| B．They are not heatproof. |
| C．They contribute less to energy saving. |
| D．They can't block light into the building. |
| A．By taking in much of heat energy. |
| B．By returning to its original clear state. |
| C．By getting most of sunlight transferred. |
| D．By spreading sunlight in different directions. |
| A．It will make the windows long-lasting. |
| B．It could help the building users reduce costs. |
| C．It makes the buildings rely on no electrical power. |
| D．It helps the windows maintain a constant temperature. |
| A．It will be unaffordable. |
| B．It needs to be further improved. |
| C．It will be widely used in the city. |
| D．It will come onto the market soon. |
4 . Many students of the past and present would agree that their favorite thing on campus is the vending machine. Whether it’s serving up snacks or drinks, beholding the grand machine full of popular options with the luxury of money in your pocket and the power to choose whatever suits you most in that moment is a cherished feeling. If only, so many people wonder, it was this easy and affordable for kids to get their hands on new books? Well...it could be, in fact.
And that's why this school just opened its first scholastic vending machine. In a bid to get kids reading more, this school is taking a new approach: present the best-selling page-turners of the world in a kid-friendly package. With racing imaginations that never turn off and a hunger for any excuse to do anything except their homework, it's more often than not that kids just need to open up a book in order to get sucked in and start flipping through pages left and right. And pretty much no kid can resist the temptations of a vending machine.
But this vending machine gets even better: the books inside are available through the purchase of tokens—not money. And these tokens are earned through a system that rewards kids from visiting and finishing other books. Through a partnership with the local library, students can check out and return books there for free to qualify themselves for the book vending program, which prevents difficulties affording books independently from becoming an issue for these students.
Once the students have earned a token, they've earned a free book—from a machine stocked with $1,000 worth of books inside. The vending machine even features books from every genre to ensure that there's something for everyone.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．How a vending machine functions. | B．What makes students excited on campus. |
| C．What inspires the vending machine program | D．How a vending machine brings convenience. |
| A．It provides a limited category of books. | B．Students earn its tokens by reading books. |
| C．Children can borrow books from it for free. | D．About 1000 books are available in each machine. |
| A．Advanced but complex. | B．Traditional and effective. |
| C．Pioneering but impractical. | D．Creative and considerate. |
| A．To advertise a vending machine that serves books. |
| B．To introduce a new way to encourage children to read. |
| C．To promote a system designed to improve reading ability. |
| D．To suggest a new approach to dealing with learning difficulty. |
5 . Was it probable that Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai and Western hero King Arthur meet and fight against each other? Yes. In a game called King of Glory (王者荣耀). Created by Chinese company Tencent, King of Glory was one of the most popular MOBA games in China in 2017.
About one in every seven Chinese people plays the game,and 55 million of them play it every day. The game is easy for beginners.Social media like QQ and WeChat have also helped the game's community grow. New players can be invited to play the game by their WeChat contacts, with some seeing it as a good way to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones.
The game has more than 60 characters to unlock and play as you progress,each with their own special style and abilities. The characters cover different times and countries. Some are real historical characters,like Li Bai. Some are not. Players use them to fight against each other or team up to fight. The winners can reach higher ranks.
However, some people think King of Glory gives the students incorrect information about events and people in history. For example,the poet Li Bai is described as a killer; Jing Ke,the man who tried to kill the first emperor of China, is a girl in the game. But more people worry about children playing the game too much and spending too much money on it. Most of the players are below the age of 19. It's reported that a 17-year-old boy had a stroke (中风) after playing the game for 40 hours.
To change the situation,Tencent added a time limit feature to the game to prevent kids from playing too much. From July 4,2017,children under 12 years old can play the game for only one hour a day,while users between 12 and 18 get two hours. Those who try to play beyond the time limit will be locked out of the game.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about King of Glory?| A．It is the most popular online game in the world. |
| B．It offers 60 characters for players to choose from. |
| C．Players fight against each other or team up to fight. |
| D．All of the characters are real historical characters. |
| A．In a comic (漫画) book. | B．In a travel guidebook. |
| C．In a newspaper. | D．In a storybook. |
| A．Children play the game too long and spend too much money. |
| B．The game give children incorrect information about history. |
| C．The game receives a lot of praises. |
| D．Many people don't think the game is so good. |
| A．King of Glory 一 easy for anyone to play |
| B．King of Glory 一 popular around the world |
| C．King of Glory 一 adding a time limit |
| D．King of Glory 一 inviting you to play |
6 . After exactly a year of staying at home, we have adapted to socializing digitally, in short bursts of time.Remember in Before Times you could head to the gym after work and then get dressed for dinner and a night out? The pandemic(疫情) has changed this. Our social batteries have run out of charge. It's been a long time since we had to perform our social role for an extended period.
For 23-year-old Hafsa, the excitement of her friends and family to restart their social lives has left her astonished. “ At the minute my parents are planning a trip abroad and I keep postponing getting back to them with a date,” she explains. “They don't know it's because of all of this. Just the thought of being in a room full of people is scary, it's like going back to school.”
Heather Garbutt, psychotherapist of the Counselling & Psychotherapy Centre says communication is key to recharging your unused social battery. “Take it slowly and don't immediately organize a large get-together,” she advises. “Go for a walk with somebody for no more than half an hour and gently get used to being with people again. It may actually be a shock to our system which has been shut down to some degree to cope with absence. We may have that longing to be with others, but that doesn't mean we are free from anxiety. It would be good to start off with a conversation about what it's going to be like when you are all together again.”
She says finding some causal topics to discuss also works. Acknowledge that many of you may feel a bit awkward after being physically apart for so long. It's a bit like learning to walk again after you've broken a limb. It may all be off-balance to begin with but you will find a new steadiness with practice. Whatever happens post-pandemic, your loved ones can't judge if you want to take it easy and not engage in the festivities immediately. We are recovering from a post-pandemic stress disorder, after all.
1. What has become of us after a year of staying at home?| A．We are addicted to chatting with people online' |
| B．We may feel it impossible to go back to normal |
| C．We are quite looking forward to being with people. |
| D．We may find it hard to socialize with others like before. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Excited. |
| C．Astonished. | D．Guilty. |
| A．Pay a visit to a close friend and stay over. |
| B．Hang out with your friends for several hours. |
| C．Have a brief chat about your future get-together. |
| D．Ignore those who are anxious about connecting with others. |
| A．What Can Help Repair Our Social Networks? |
| B．How Can We Restore Our Social Batteries? |
| C．When Can We Speed Up Our Reunion Plan? |
| D．Why Did the Pandemic Mess Up Our Social Life? |
7 . Cats don't avoid people who upset their owners, proving they're just as disloyal as we always suspected, a new study confirms. The study will be a blow to enthusiastic cat lovers across the country, as their kitty friends appear to have lived up to their reputation of being aloof and uncaring. But dog owners can cheer that man's best friend still has their back.
Having previously showed that dogs avoided a person who behaved negatively towards their owner, researchers tried the same experiment with cats to see how they reacted. For the study, cats watched as their owner tried unsuccessfully to open a transparent container to take out an object, and then requested help from a person sitting nearby. Some people helped the pet owner and others didn't, before they all offered food to the animals.
In the dog experiment, most dogs preferred not to take food from people who didn't help their owners. But cats weren't phased and showed no preference between helpers and passive bystanders, eating food from whoever offered it.
The study's 'lead author Hitomi Chijiiwa wrote: “One possible reason for domestic cats showing no sign of a negativity bias(偏见) might be that cooperation is not typical of this species. Whereas dogs are known to cooperate with humans and conspecifics(同类) in various real and experimental contexts， the same is not true of cats. Domestic cats originated from a less sociable ancestor than did dogs, and they have not been subjected to artificial selection for cooperation with humans. However,group hunting did not evolve in small cats, because the size of their typical prey items remained unchanged even as cat communities grew bigger."
“Thus,cats can be considered as at least potentially 'social' and 'flexible' in terms of social structure, but not 'cooperative'. The ability to evaluate others based on indirect experiences might be restricted to more cooperative species.”
1. What does the underlined word “aloof” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Distant | B．Aggressive |
| C．Sensitive | D．Greedy. |
| A．They tend to show no preference for food. |
| B．They are likely to wait for food without doing anything. |
| C．They refuse to eat food from those offending their owners. |
| D．They don't care about food givers' attitude to their owners. |
| A．They originated from a less flexible ancestor. |
| B．They lack the ability to directly evaluate others. |
| C．They haven't been trained since their domestication. |
| D．They haven't evolved through cooperation with humans. |
| A．By referring to previous findings. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing cause and effect | D．By explaining a concept. |
8 . “Be proud of what you do,” my father always told me, “whether you are a boss or a cleaner.” When I was 15, I got a summer job in a hospital. I was told that my duties would include sweeping floors. I smiled and remembered Dad's words. Even though my job was the lowest, it made me feel excited. I saw it as a challenge because it was my first job. I learned to be on time and tried to do everything well. In return, I was treated with respect by doctors, nurses and patients. Each morning I imagined that the dirty dishes would make patients more sick if I were not there to wash them clean. After breakfast was done, I started sweeping the floors of all patient rooms and cleaning the toilets. Though I was tired, I wanted the job to be done well. Hearing people say “That young boy really does a good job”, I was filled with pride.
Working in the hospital taught me that being proud of one's job is important. It does not matter whether the job is sweeping floors or managing a large business. Through every job I have ever had, my father's words have always stayed with me. I was a good cleaner, and now I'm a good manager. I think Dad would be proud of me all the time.
1. The writer's first job was a ________.| A．boss | B．manager |
| C．cleaner | D．doctor |
| A．Washing dishes. | B．Looking after patients. |
| C．Cleaning toilets. | D．Sweeping the floor. |
| A．worked hard | B．wasn't tired |
| C．made the patients sick | D．did everything |
| A．the writer's father always stayed with him |
| B．the father didn't like the writer's first job |
| C．the writer wasn't proud of his first job |
| D．the father's words encouraged the writer to do everything well |
9 . For people who struggle to read text, technology can be a lifeline. Actually, assistive technology (AT) tools for reading can also be useful to students who just need some extra assistance to aid reading fluency or comprehension. These tools are inexpensive and easy to find. They open up the wonderful world of reading, making text accessible to students of all abilities. But with so many tools out there, it’s not always easy to know which ones to use.
To help, here’s a guide to some best ones.
Graphic organizers
They are visual representations, like diagrams and mind maps, of ideas and concepts. You can use graphic organizers to help with comprehension while reading. Graphic organizers can be digital or pen and paper.
Annotation aids
They let you take notes and write comments while reading. This can make it easier to keep information. Annotation aids can be part of software or apps, or they can be traditional pens, markers, and sticky notes.
Display control
It allows you to control how text is displayed. When reading on a screen, you can change the font(字体), font size, and spacing of text. You can also cover parts of the screen to lessen distractions(干扰) while reading.
Text-to-speech (TTS)
It lets you see text and hear it read aloud at the same time. To use this tool, you click on words, and you’ll hear the words read by computer-generated voices. You can even read after it and record your own voice. TTS can also be used to change any digital text files into audio files.
Optical character recognition (OCR)
It can read aloud text from images and pictures. You can use OCR by taking photos of worksheets, paper documents, and even objects like street signs. Like TTS, OCR uses computer-generated voices.
Keep in mind that using AT reading tools won’t prevent people from learning to read. For example, experts say audiobooks can actually help kids become better readers.
1. If a reader prefers taking his feelings down while reading, he’d better use ________.| A．graphic organizers | B．annotation aids |
| C．display control | D．text-to-speech |
| A．Changing file types. | B．Editing photos of documents. |
| C．Reading words in pictures. | D．Using computer-generated voices. |
| A．accessible and beneficial | B．expensive but worthwhile |
| C．helpful and energy-efficient | D．innovative but complicated |
10 . A New Jersey couple and a homeless man have been accused of making up a feel﹣good story that raised more than ＄400,000 through GoFundMe.
The couple, Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico, and the man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., face a charge of second-degree theft, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said Thursday.
The couple said they met Bobbitt when he gave his last ＄20 to McClure, who was stranded on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, so she could put gas in her car，then started the GoFundMe campaign as a way to thank him.
The paying-it-forward story that drove this fundraiser might seem too good to be true, Coffina said at a press conference.
Unfortunately, it was. The entire campaign was based on a lie.
After fees, the money of the campaign netted about ＄367, 000, all deposited into McClure's accounts, Coffina said. Bobbitt received ＄75,000, and within months McClure and D'Amico had wasted their share on buying a car, high-end handbags and trips, Coffina said. They also used it at casinos(赌场), he said.
Coffina stressed that while Bobbitt, a veteran (老兵), deserves thanks for his service to the country and sympathy for his situation; he was fully involved in the crime, using media to help "promote the dishonest campaign".
According to Coffina, McClure and D'Amico first met Bobbitt at an off-ramp（驶出匝道）near a casino they regularly went, at least a month before the GoFundMe campaign went live.
They went back to the spot a month later, Coffina said. D'Amico took a picture of McClure and Bobbitt that became the face of the GoFundMe campaign that they started hours later, Coffina said.
1. What's the actual purpose of the GoFundMe campaign started by the couple?| A．To express their appreciation for Bobbitt's help. |
| B．To help Bobbitt pay off his heavy debt. |
| C．To raise money for their own benefit. |
| D．To make people believe in Bobbitt's generosity. |
| A．Impossible to finish. |
| B．Unable to move. |
| C．Without any choice. |
| D．Out of service. |
| A．About ＄292, 000. |
| B．About ＄367, 000. |
| C．About ＄325, 000. |
| D．About ＄400, 000. |
| A．Pretending to be a veteran. |
| B．Robbing the couple of ＄75, 000. |
| C．Failing to serve his country. |
| D．Helping invent the story. |
