1 . A books-for-food program in Guatemala is helping feed needy children as hunger rates rise during the pandemic(疫情). It is run by a local nonprofit organization that aims to feed nearly 400 children.
The program is simple. People choose a book they want from a list of donated titles, and in return give bags of Incaparina, a high-protein drink mix. Bonifaz Diaz works for the program. By bringing the books-for-food program directly to people's homes, Diaz makes sure donations keep flowing. He has traveled more than 2,000 kilometers on his bicycle, delivered loads of books and carried back thousands of kilograms of Incaparina for the nonprofit group 32 Volcanoes. Diaz sometimes pulls a small cart that helps him carry up to 57 kilograms of product. He has traveled as far as 60 kilometers for a delivery to a town in the Western Highlands, where road conditions are poor.
Nearly a year into the books-for-food program, two more cyclists have joined Diaz and donations keep flowing in. Ana Castillo is a 29-year-old high school teacher who recently received the sociology book from Diaz. She donates to the program often. The 1.8 kilograms of Incaparina she provided will help one family eat for a month.
Castillo looks forward to choosing her books from the titles Diaz posts on social media. She also loves the feeling of a "growing circle" of giving and receiving. "You might not get to those places, but your help can. "she says.
Diaz says he plans to continue cycling against hunger as long as the need exists. He has faced his own economic difficulties since the theater company he co-founded closed last spring. But the program has kept him active. "It's an opportunity to serve in which we all benefit. "Diaz said.
1. What is the purpose of the program?| A．To serve the readers. |
| B．To produce Incaparina. |
| C．To offer poor children food. |
| D．To fight the pandemic. |
| A．He set up a social media. |
| B．He made donations frequently. |
| C．He rented a cart to carry goods. |
| D．He traveled to deliver books and food. |
| A．More people are involved in it. |
| B．Only two cyclists work for it. |
| C．Over 400 adults benefit from it. |
| D．Financial difficulties put it to an end. |
| A．Indifferent. |
| B．Supportive. |
| C．Tolerant. |
| D．Unwilling |
2 . The world's largest iceberg (冰山)is floating toward the island of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Scientists fear the iceberg could crash into the island and block major feeding areas for a large population of penguins (企鹅)and seals.
Satellite images show the iceberg has remained in one piece. It is estimated to be about 150 kilometers long and 48 kilometers wide. It is traveling at one kilometer an hour and is on a path to hit South Georgia in around 30 days.
The British Antarctic Survey says it is concerned that if the iceberg hits the island, it could prevent the penguins and seals from reaching food supplies.
Professor Geraint Tarling, an ecologist with the Antarctic Survey, says right now is the time of year when seals and penguins spend a lot of time caring for their young. This means the distance that parents have to travel to find food is important.
"That means they have to go a lot further, they have to go around the iceberg, or to actually go further to find sources of food," Tarling said. "And that time is quite important at this particular period of their life cycle."
The breaking off of icebergs from Antarctica is a natural process. But the process is changing with climate change. " What we 're seeing with models and some observations now is the rate at which this is happening is increasing. And so, this might become more of a usual thing into the future," Tarling said.
The iceberg also could damage South Georgia's valuable fishing industry. Fishers pay for the rights to catch Patagonian toothfish, icefish and krill (磷虾)in waters off the island.
Officials are hoping that changing weather patterns could direct the iceberg out into the open ocean, where it would, in time, break up and melt.
1. What will happen if the iceberg hits the island of South Georgia?| A．Wildlife will lose their homes. |
| B．The iceberg will remain in one piece. |
| C．The island of South Georgia will disappear. |
| D．Feeding will be challenging for penguins and seals. |
| A．Icebergs are coming off faster than before. |
| B．Penguins and seals' birth rates are increasing. |
| C．The iceberg's breaking off is caused by human. |
| D．It's unusual to see the iceberg melting is speeding. |
| A．The present situation is beyond hope. |
| B．The weather patterns are controllable. |
| C．The iceberg is bound to melt very soon. |
| D．The crash of the iceberg may be avoidable. |
| A．The changing climate in Antarctica. | B．The potential problems of the iceberg. |
| C．The island of South Georgia. | D．The population of sea animals. |
Baby Done
When Zoe and Tim find out they are having a baby, they decide to not let parenthood change them. Tim runs towards being a dad, while Zoe runs away from being a mum. Terrified that her life won't be her own anymore, Zoe is still determined to tick off a list of their wildest dreams before the baby arrives.
Director： Curtis Vowell
Release Date： Jan 22, 2021
Runtime： 1h 31m .
The Reunited States
At a time when America is falling apart, The Reimited States is a powerful documentary that follows the unsung heroes on the difficult journey of bridging divides. Each of the bridgebuilders has realized that while the divides run deep, so does the love and hope to bring the country back together. Based on the book of the same name the film encourages us to consider that everyone has a role to play in reuniting the country.
Director： Ben Rekhi
Release Date： Jan 29, 2021
Runtime：1h 24m
Our Friend
Our Friend tells the true story of the Teague family-journalist Matt, his wife Nicole and their two young daughters — and how their lives are ended by Nicole's deadly disease. As Matt's responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming（压倒性的), the couplers best friend Dane Faucheux offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life-changing decision proves great and meaningful.
Director： Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Release Date： Jan 22, 2021
Runtime： 2h 4m
Happy Cleaners
When a new landlord comes around, Mr. and Mrs. Choi find their dry-cleaning business, Happy Cleaners in Flushing, Queens, at risk of closing after 17 years. While they make every effort to save the business, their daughter Hyunny and son Kevin are also at their own tough crossroads of life under the pressure of their parents’ high hopes. Faced with many difficulties, the Choi family realizes that the only way to be stronger is to embrace each other.
Director： Julian Kim, Peter S. Lee
Release Date： Feb 5, 2021
Runtime： 1h 38min
1. Which film encourages Americans to bring their country together?| A．Baby Done. | B．Our Friend. |
| C．Happy Cleaners. | D．The Reunited States. |
| A．The courage to start business. | B．The importance of friendship. |
| C．The necessity of having a baby. | D．The value of individual freedom. |
| A．It comes out in a different month. |
| B．It was first in theater 17 years ago. |
| C．It refers to part of daily family life. |
| D．It is about an unlucky young couple. |
4 . With paper flowers and music hanging around in the air, Lyu Jun was hosting a small farewell ceremony at an industrial zone in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. It was a funeral for a pet dog. Lyu came up with the idea of becoming a pet mortician (殡葬师) four years ago when he was preparing to start a business.
“At that time, there was only one brick-and-mortar(实体的) business that provided funeral services for pets in Shenzhen, but hundreds of pets die every day in this city,” he said. According to Lyu, many pet owners used to bury the remains of their beloved animals near their homes , which had a harmful impact on the environment and created the risk of spreading disease.
He saw a gap in the market for someone able to properly handle the death of pets. “A pet funeral service provides treatment of the bodies that is harm-free, and it is the greatest comfort to pet owners,” Lyu said.
He takes good care of the remains of the pets and tidies up their appearance before the funeral. In addition, he prepares funeral addresses and selects suitable tombs for the pets. He also films funerals for owners who cannot attend the ceremonies, and provides paper and pens for those who want to write down their blessings and hang the notes on the wishing tree.
Over the past four years, Lyu has bid farewell to more than 2,000 dogs, cats and other kinds of animals. He also does volunteer work in his spare time to promote responsible dog raising. “The pet funeral service industry is still in its babyhood, and I hope there will be a set of strict standards for people who take on this job and a belter environment for the industry,” Lyu said.
1. Why did Lyu start the business on pet funeral service?| A．Because he could earn a lot of money from it. |
| B．Because he thought it met the market requirement. |
| C．Because he thought it would be a unique and challenging business. |
| D．Because he could help owners bury their dead pets near their homes. |
| A．He delivers speeches to mourn the pets. |
| B．He gives best wishes to the pets' owners. |
| C．He makes films of the pets for their birth. |
| D．He nurses and cares for the pets carefully. |
| A．Lyu volunteers to raise pets on his own. |
| B．The pet funeral service has got a big success. |
| C．More strict standards should be set for pets' owners. |
| D．There remains a potential in the pet funeral industry. |
| A．A research report. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
5 . Cecilia Chiang, whose San Francisco restaurant, the Mandarin, introduced American diners in the 1960s to the richness and variety of authentic Chinese cuisine, died on Wednesday at her home in San Francisco.
Ms. Chiang was not a chef, nor was she a likely candidate to run a restaurant. She was born near Shanghai in 1920 as the seventh daughter in a wealthy family. After her parents died, Cecilia managed the businesses' finances while still in her teens.
Ms. Chiang came to the United States from China to flee the Japanese during World War Ⅱ, traveling nearly 700 miles on foot. Once in San Francisco, she met two Chinese acquaintances who wanted to open a restaurant. Ms. Chiang agreed to put up a huge deposit. But when the two women quit, Ms. Chiang found to her honor that the deposit was not refundable（可退还的）. She took a deep breath and decided to open the restaurant herself. "I began to think that if I could create a restaurant with Western-style service and the dishes that I was most familiar with -the delicious food of northern China — maybe my little restaurant would succeed," she wrote in her book.
The Mandarin , which was opened in 1962 as a 65 -seat restaurant, introduced customers to mainly Sichuan9 Shanghai and Canton dishes. The early days were difficult. But little by little, Chinese diners, and a few Americans, came regularly. Overnight the tables filled and became a huge success.
Ms. Chiang continued to work as a restaurant consultant into her 90s. " I think I changed what average people know about Chinese food," Mrs. Chiang wrote. "They didn't know China was such a big country. "
1. When did Ms. Chiang start to manage the businesses' finances?| A．In the 1920s. | B．In the 1930s. | C．In the 1950s. | D．In the 1960s. |
| A．When Ms. Chiang came to the US. | B．How Ms. Chiang earned her deposit. |
| C．What Ms. Chiang wrote in her book. | D．Why Ms. Chiang opened her restaurant. |
| A．It survived the early hardships. | B．It provided all kinds of Chinese dishes. |
| C．It could seat less than 60 people at first. | D．It attracted many Americans once opened. |
| A．Smart but stubborn. | B．Devoted and brave. |
| C．Adventurous but careless. | D．Enthusiastic and ambitious. |
6 . The time that cars could go completely driverless is coming “very soon”, according to Jianxiong Xiao, CEO and founder of AutoX, a Shenzhen-based start-up developing autonomous driving technology.
Now, most regulations across various cities in China still require the presence of a safety driver in vehicles, but the company foresees that as more data gets captured over time, that requirement would be reduced, Xiao told CNBC's “Street Signs Asia" on Wednesday.
The autonomous driving tech firm chose to partner with Alibaba's AMAP — a Chinese mapping service provider --- to roll out its RoboTaxi ride hailing service in Shanghai on Monday. AMAP is a "super mobility app" with almost 500 million active monthly users, according to Xiao.
AutoX had received support from Shanghai authorities to roll out a fleet of 100 autonomous ride-hailing cars in Shanghai's Jiading district in September last year.
Earlier this month, AutoX announced that it had set up an 80,000 square feet RoboTaxi operations center in Shanghai to help facilitate (使容易)operations of its driverless fleet, as well as act as a center to collect data from daily operations.
Backed by investors such as Alibaba, Shanghai Motor and Dongfeng Motor, AutoX is one of the players in the trillion U.S. dollar Chinese autonomous driving vehicles market alongside others like DiDi Chuxing.
Xiao said they were working with the technology to ensure the vehicles were "very, very safe" and are carrying out a lot of testing.
Over a hundred vehicles have been arranged on roads daily to obtain enough data needed to validate the software and system, according to Xiao.
He added that the company was also running a hundred times more simulations (模拟)in the car every day, and the “huge amount of data" would help to prove that the vehicles could be used in "full safety".
“Our goal is not to just make (it) as safe as human beings, but going one step forward to really make...a superhuman safety standard; (cars) that (can) drive much safer than any human being ever,“ Xiao said.
1. What will be most required to go driverless according to CEO of AutoX?| A．Traffic regulations. | B．Driving technology. |
| C．Enough data. | D．Mapping service. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Optimistic. | C．Disappointed. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．test | B．invent | C．develop. | D．design |
| A．Driving Technology |
| B．Science Achievement |
| C．No Driver in the Future |
| D．The Development of Driverless |
7 . Researchers studied a group of black-legged kittiwakes that nest in an abandoned radar tower on Middleton Island, Alaska. They attached GPS-accelerometers onto kittiwakes to track their flight performance and discovered that they sometimes travel as far as 155 miles (250 kilometers) a day to find food.
By combining data from the GPS tracker with minute muscle samples from some of the birds, the researchers found that — despite beating their wings less frequently — birds with larger muscle fibers were able to fly as fast as those with smaller fibers. The team also found that birds that flew faster had a higher number of nuclei — which produce the proteins to power flight — in their muscle cells, allowing the birds to increase more muscle fibers to power their flight.
Athletes exercise to maintain muscle tone. The same may be happening with kittiwakes, with those individuals that exercise the most — that is, fly the most — having better developed muscles than those that move less.
“Past studies have focused on hormone levels, body mass, or levels of red blood cells as a predictor of flight performance. We found that muscle structure and body mass together predict performance, says study coauthor Kyle Elliott, an assistant professor in McGill University's department of natural resource sciences in the Bieler School of Environment.
“With the data from the GPS-accelerometers, we can understand a lot about these birds, like where they're going to find food, how fast they're flying, and how frequently they're beating their wings in flight," says Kristen Lalla, the first author of the paper, which she co-wrote as an undergraduate student under Elliott's guidance. “In the past, one of the challenges of measuring muscle structure in small birds was that it usually requires dissecting (解剖)the muscle."
1. What do the first two paragraphs tell us about kittiwakes?| A．They nest in an abandoned Island of Alaska. |
| B．With smaller muscle fibers, they can fly faster. |
| C．They often travel as far as 250 kilometers a day. |
| D．Muscle fibers play an important role in their flight. |
| A．Body mass. |
| B．Hormone levels. |
| C．Levels of red blood cells. |
| D．Muscle structure and body mass. |
| A．The influential factors of kittiwakes' flight performance. |
| B．The importance of protecting kittiwakes. |
| C．The reasons for Kittiwakes flying so far. |
| D．The process of kittiwakes' flying. |
| A．Sport. | B．Nature. | C．Health. | D．Entertainment. |
8 . When talking about being overcome with emotions, both good and bad, we have a somewhat strange expression to describe that situation：to be beside yourself. So, if I say I am beside myself with joy, I am filled with joy! However, I can also be beside myself with sadness, anger, or any other emotions. The expression is useful and simple，but queer. It sounds as if someone has become two people. How can you be next to yourself? Being “beside yourself ” is technically impossible.
In American English，you can simply say “I’m beside myself ” to mean you are very upset. For example，if you have a bad quarrel with a close friend, you might be beside yourself. You might shout, write an angry letter to your friend, or just go somewhere by yourself and cry.
Here’s another situation. A high school student applies to several colleges. If all her applications are refused, she could be beside herself. She might stay up all night worrying about what to do next.
If a person becomes seriously ill, he could start talking in a way that does not make any sense. The patient may also start behaving strangely, walking around the room—back and forth. A doctor might say, “He is beside himself.”
We have another expression that is very similar to “being beside yourself”.We can also be “out of our minds”. We use this expression in the same way we use “beside oneself ”. So we can be out of our minds with fear, with love, with happiness，or with any other emotions. And just like “beside oneself”.we also use this expression on its own without a specific emotion. So, if someone says or does something crazy—like learning how to ride a motorcycle on a dark, rainy night, you can simply say, “She is out of her mind!” You could also say the person is crazy or has lost her mind.
1. What does the underlined word “queer” probably mean?| A．Easy. | B．Difficult. | C．Common. | D．Strange. |
| A．Excited. | B．Unhappy. | C．Relaxed. | D．Frightened. |
| A．By asking some questions. |
| B．By telling some stories. |
| C．By giving some examples. |
| D．By listing some data. |
| A．The usage of the phrase “out of one’s mind”. |
| B．The difference between the two expressions. |
| C．An example about “being beside yourself ”. |
| D．More expressions about different feelings. |
9 . For several months, Cara has been working up the courage to approach her mom about what she saw on Instagram. Not long ago, the 11-year-old girl, like all the other kids in this story, discovered that her mom had been posting her photos for much of her life.“I’ve wanted to bring it up.It’s strange to see myself up there, and sometimes there are pictures of myself I don't like,”she said.
Like most other modern kids, Cara grew up in social media. While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams, and other organizations have been organizing online presence for them since birth.The shock of realizing that details about your life have been shared online without your permission or knowledge has become an important experience in the lives of many teenagers. Recently a parenting blogger (博主) wrote in an essay of The Washington Post that despite (尽管)her 14-year-old daughter’s horror of discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop posting them on her blog and social media. The writer said that promising her daughter that she would stop posting things about her publicly on the Internet “would mean shutting down an important part of myself, which isn't necessarily good for me or her”.
But it’s not just crazy mommy bloggers who construct their children’s online identity; plenty of average parents do the same. There’s even a special word for it: sharenting (晒娃成癖). Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their photos to the Internet, according to a study conducted by the Internet-security (安全)firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of kids under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.
1. How does Cara probably feel about her mom’s behavior?| A．It’s aggressive. | B．It’s appropriate. |
| C．It’s annoying. | D．It’s favorable. |
| A．It filled up her blog. | B．It showed off her success. |
| C．It recorded her stories. | D．It meant a lot to her. |
| A．A quarter of students. | B．Many ordinary parents. |
| C．Kids under the age of 2. | D．Some crazy bloggers. |
| A．Children’s New Trouble |
| B．Social Media |
| C．Kids’ Online Performance |
| D．Mommy Bloggers |
10 . Poaching has been threatening the survival of the African black rhino for long. But thanks to conservation efforts, the population of this endangered animal is slowly increasing, according to a recent update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Between 2012 and 2018, the number of black rhinos in Africa has increased moderately, at annual rate of 2.5%, The population in the wild has grown from approximately 4,845 to 5,630. As IUCN's update suggests, the population models predict the number will continue to rise slowly over the next five years.
The white rhino, Africa's another rhino species that exists in greater numbers, has been on the IUCN Red List categorized as Near Threatened. Compared to the black rhino, the white rhino is at higher risk of being poached as it has larger horns and prefers more open habitats, which makes it easier to spot.
The threat to the two species mainly comes from poaching for the illegal international rhino horn trade. Fortunately, in recent years, a number of groups including range states, private landowners, and communities have been making efforts to protect them, and the measures are working. In 2015, there were at least 1,349 rhinos poached—an average of 3.7 rhinos hunted per day. Since then, the poaching numbers have decreased every year. In 2018, there were at least 892 rhinos poached, meaning approximately 2.4 African rhinos poached per day, or one every 10 hours. The data for 2019 looks promising as the poaching levels appear to have further gone down.
Although the levels of rhino poaching have been declining slightly in recent years due to conservation efforts, the costs of keeping rhinos safe have greatly gone up and sale prices for live rhinos have decreased considerably over the last 10 years, making private landowners and communities less motivated to protect rhinos. This trend could delay the continued progress of expanding the species range and numbers.
1. Which of the following can best describe the number of the African rhinos now?| A．Slightly declining. | B．Slowly expanding. |
| C．Greatly increasing. | D．Considerably decreasing. |
| A．The better situation for the African white rhinos. |
| B．The reason for protecting the African white rhinos. |
| C．The process of the white rhino being on the IUCU Red List. |
| D．The reason why the African white rhino is more likely to be poached. |
| A．In 2015. | B．In 2016. | C．In 2018. | D．In 2019. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Confident. | C．Concerned. | D．Uninterested. |
