1 . ''I'd like to play a game. That is so much fun. It's not so very hard to do.''
As soon as I hear ''Simple Simon says put your hands on your head'', I am back in my grandfather's living room on New Year's Day in the early 1970s. It was our family's favorite song to get the party started.
Grandfather's house was the gathering place for my mum, dad, aunties, uncles and cousins to meet up. My mum comes from a big family, so there was always lots of chatter and laughter. Whenever someone told a story they would get up and do all the actions to illustrate it, which was great fun.
Grandfather had a coal fire, so it was always warm, even if it was freezing outside. He sat in his armchair and happily watched everyone dancing while he smoked a pipe.
Once Simon Says had got the party going, other records would follow, such as Sugar, Sugar by the Archies.
Later there would be a sing-along, with everyone taking turns to sing old folk songs such as A Warship Had Landed. I would put my hands over my ears at this one as it was so sad.
Grandfather drove us home as he didn't drink. The road we travelled on was dark. There was one big bump(隆起物) that made us feel as if we were on a roller coaster(过山车). As we approached it, we would shout, ''Go faster, Grandfather! ''
I've been to many New Year parties, but none can match those family get-togethers at Grandfather's. You can keep your Gangnam Style moves—it's much more fun to dance along to Simon Says!
1. According to the text, the song Simon Says _______.| A．was written by the author's grandfather |
| B．was the only song the author could sing |
| C．was the first song the author learnt |
| D．was often played at the author's family's New Year parties |
| A．Explain. | B．Retell |
| C．Represent | D．Comment. |
| A．They never sang sad songs at their parties. |
| B．They were kept warm by a coal fire. |
| C．The author's grandfather liked drinking alcohol. |
| D．Smoking was forbidden at the author's grandfather's house. |
| A．A Beautiful Song |
| B．My Kind Grandfather |
| C．Unforgettable Family Parties |
| D．My Happy Childhood |
2 . If you want to make music but never had lessons as a kid, don’t lose hope. Music teachers say it’s never too late. And as it turns out, the most difficult things are not stiff (不灵活的) hands or an aging brain.
Scot Hawkins, a piano teacher in Silver Spring, says that ability is low on the list of what’s required for adult students. Instead, attitude — especially patience — is everything. “Adults come in with unreasonable goals about what they can achieve, and how quickly,” he says. They want to skip (跳过) steps one through five, and get to step six. And unlike children, no one forces adults to practice, so they may never spare time for it.
But adults have advantages, too. They can see and hear things in the music that completely escape children. David Conrad is one of Hawkins’ students. He started learning the piano with his son Simon when Simon was 8. When learning a new piece, Conrad spends hours studying the music before he sits down to play it. He wants to understand how the notes are organized to figure out what the music is trying to show.
David and Simon Conrad have had their musical difficulties over the years but they haven’t given up. Simon, who is now 16, still takes lessons. A few months ago, he started teaching himself the saxophone. His dad learned some Jazz music, so now, when Simon needs a break from his homework, they play duets (二重奏).
It may be hard but playing music with someone you love or working towards a lifelong goal can be very enjoyable and useful.
1. What is the most important when it comes to learning music?| A．Age. | B．Attitude. |
| C．Teachers. | D．Brain. |
| A．They have reasonable goals. |
| B．They are able to learn quickly. |
| C．They can teach their children by themselves. |
| D．They can work out what the music is trying to express. |
| A．They always give in to difficulties. |
| B．They have great desire to learn music. |
| C．They are both good at teaching themselves. |
| D．They really want to become great musicians. |
| A．Sports. | B．Science. |
| C．History. | D．Music. |
3 . Journey Back in Time with Scholars
Classical Provence(13days)Journey through the beautiful countryside of Provence，France，with Prof. Ori Z. Soltes. We will visit some of the best-preserved Roman monuments in the world. Our tour also includes a chance to walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh and Gauguin. Fields of flowers, tile-roofed(瓦屋顶)villages and tasty meals enrich this wonderful experience.
Southern Spain(15days)
Spain has lovely white towns and the scent(芳香)of oranges，but it is also a treasury of ancient remains including the cities left by the Greeks，Romans and Arabs. As we travel south from Madrid with Prof. Ronald Messier to historic Toledo，Roman Merida and into Andalucia, we explore historical monuments and architecture.
China’s Sacred Landscapes(21days)
Discover the China of “past ages,” its walled cities，temples and mountain scenery with Prof. Robert Thorp. Highlights(精彩之处)include China’s most sacred peaks at Mount Tai and Hangzbou’s rolling hills，waterways and peaceful temples. We will wander in traditional small towns and end our tour with an exceptional museum in Shanghai.
Tunisia(17days)
Join Prof. Pedar Foss on our in-depth Tunisian tour. Tour highlights include the Roman city of Dougga，the underground Numidian capital at Bulla Regia, Roman Sbeitla and the remote areas around Tataouine and Matmata，uique for underground cities. Our journey takes us to picturesque Berber villages and lovely beaches.
1. What can visitors see in both Classical Provence and Southern Spain？
| A．Historical monuments. | B．Fields of flowers. |
| C．Van Gogh’s paintings. | D．Greek buildings. |
| A．France. | B．Spain. | C．China. | D．Tunisia. |
| A．White towns. | B．Underground cities. | C．Tile-roofed villages. | D．Rolling hills. |
4 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
5 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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? |
6 . Some parents will buy any high-tech toy if they think it will help their child, but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.
Psychologist Susan Levine, an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago, found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition(认知) after controlling for differences in parents’ income, education and the amount of parent talk, Levine said.
The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age.
“The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not, on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate(旋转)and translate shapes,” Levine said in a statement.
The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would, and about half of children in the study played with puzzles at one time. Higher-income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently, and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills. However, boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls, and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than parents of girls.
The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.
1. In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play?| A．Building confidence. | B．Developing spatial skills. |
| C．Learning self-control. | D．Gaining high-tech knowledge. |
| A．Parents’ age. | B．Children’s imagination. |
| C．Parents’ education. | D．Child-parent relationship. |
| A．They play with puzzles more often. |
| B．They tend to talk less during the game. |
| C．They prefer to use more spatial language. |
| D．They are likely to play with tougher puzzles. |
| A．A mathematical method. | B．A scientific study. |
| C．A woman psychologist | D．A teaching program. |
7 . Recently, TV shows like National Treasure are increasingly popular in China.
National Treasure combines stage drama with a documentary style to tell the stories behind China’s relics. Cultural relics which once laid in museums have come alive. Through new forms of cooperation between China’s museums and television stations, a new way of presenting historic treasures has been created to promote (提升) the protection of cultural relics and traditional culture.
These shows have increased the public’s interest in cultural relics and motivated them to go to history museums and read historical books. They give examples to show Chinese museums’ shift from the protection, collection and research of relics to presenting national treasures and educating the public.
The idea of bringing ancient relics to life was suggested by President Xi Jinping in a speech delivered at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in March 2014 and has since been made a reality. In addition to television shows, museums are also cooperating with companies to develop creative cultural products based on cultural relics.
To further promote the full use of cultural relics, all fields of society including the government, museums and companies should work together. The government has already come up with a series of policies (政策) in recent years to promote the development of creative cultural products and the proper use of cultural relics. Those working at museums should not only research relics but also communicate the stories behind them to the public.
1. What is the purpose of the show National Treasure?| A．To advise the public to read more. |
| B．To cooperate with China’s museums. |
| C．To present the audience with interesting stories. |
| D．To raise people’s awareness of cultural protection. |
| A．Forced. | B．Reminded. |
| C．Encouraged. | D．Allowed. |
| A．By uniting the whole society. |
| B．By trying to research the relics. |
| C．By building more cultural museums. |
| D．By telling more people the stories behind them. |
| A．Cultural Relics Come to Life |
| B．TV Shows Are Increasingly Popular |
| C．Cultural Relics Will Be Fully Protected |
| D．Museums Are Cooperating with Companies |
8 . Pangolins (穿山甲), the world’s only mammals with scales (鳞片), have existed on earth for about 60 million years. Pangolins are very sensitive creatures and most of them don’t like staying indoors. In the wild, they’re slow to reproduce and give birth to only one baby at a time. Pangolins are alone and shy — nearly impossible for even the most devoted field researchers to catch sight of.
However, over recent ten years, their wild population has decreased greatly. More than a million pangolins are believed to have been taken from the wild in Asia and Africa. In the first eight days of April 2019 alone, authorities caught two 14-ton shipments of pangolin scales in Singapore, representing about 72,000 animals and worth a combined $90 million. In February, Malaysian seized a 33-ton shipment of mostly whole, frozen pangolins.
“The present scale of trade could drive this species to extinction,” said an Indian official.
If the illegal pangolin trade continues at such high levels, it’s thought that another 10 years might see them die out altogether. The trade is caused by a series of factors, but the fact that the local government doesn’t make strict laws against it plays a major role.
Another big challenge facing pangolins is that so few people know what they are and why they’re in such danger. As National Geographic Photo Ark photographer Joel Sartore says, “You won’t save what you don’t love.”
1. According to Paragraph 1, pangolins ______.| A．are rare mammals | B．like living indoors |
| C．are outgoing but sensitive | D．are easily found in the wild |
| A．People in Africa like hunting pangolins. |
| B．Strict laws against it haven’t been made. |
| C．Pangolins’ population is increasing rapidly. |
| D．Pangolins have existed on earth for a long time. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Puzzled. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Worried. |
| A．Pangolins are hunted in Asia. |
| B．Pangolins are facing extinction. |
| C．People are trying to save Pangolins out of love. |
| D．Many countries are taking action to protect Pangolins. |
9 . 
Order food online with your iPhone or iPad using the Takeaway.com app. Super easy!
Are you feeling like a delicious pizza, salad, burger or kebab? You can easily order the most delicious meals from thousands of restaurants. Order pizza, schnitzel, lunch, pasta, Chinese or Indian takeaway online: You’ll have your meal within 30-45 minutes (depending on the restaurant’s availability).
Benefits of our app:
• Map view available for all restaurants.
• Pay safely with a credit card or PayPal.
• Log in with your account and (re)order easily.
Follow your order to your doorstep:
Do you want to know where your order is? Follow your order from kitchen to doorstep with Food Tracker ®. We’ll text you to update you about the status of your order. You’ll receive three texts: one to confirm (确认) your order, another one to let you know that your food is being prepared and the last one to inform you when your food is on its way.
All advantages at a glance:
• The design is clearer, cleaner and cooler than ever!
• New! Choose whether you want to pick up your food or have it delivered.
• Map View: see the exact location of every restaurant on a map.
• Popular Dishes: overview of the restaurant’s most popular dishes.
• The app is available in 4 languages. Switch to Dutch, English, French or German anytime.
• Addresses: all your saved addresses will be available in the app for your next order.
1. By using the Takeaway.com app, you can ______.| A．book a restaurant table | B．learn how to cook |
| C．order some delicious food | D．cancel your meal for free |
| A．Food Tracker | B．Map View |
| C．Popular Dishes | D．Addresses |
| A．You can make it clear where the restaurant is. |
| B．The app provides more than one language for the users. |
| C．You need to fill in your address each time you order some food. |
| D．It can help you find out the most popular dishes in the restaurant. |
10 . When I was in my first year of high school, I had a terrible time when every area of my life was a disaster. I felt so hopeless and alone that I thought everything was impossible.
On one such day, I was walking from class across the school to catch the school bus home, with my head down, fighting tears of total hopelessness, when a young man came down the sidewalk toward me. Though I had never seen him before, I did not want him to see that I was in such low spirits, so I turned my head away and hoped to hurry past. I thought he'd walk on by, but he moved until he was directly in front of me, waited until I looked up, and then smiled.
Looking into my eyes, this stranger spoke in a quiet voice："Whatever is wrong will pass. You're going to be OK, just hang on." He then smiled again and walked away.
I can't explain the effect of that man's unexpected kindness and caring! He gave me the one thing that I'd lost completely—hope. I looked for him in our school to thank him, but never saw him again.
That was thirty years ago. And I've never forgotten that moment. Over the years, whenever I see someone who is in trouble, I will always think of that young man and try to give a flash of hope in the dark wherever I can. I carry things for people when they are too heavy for them, sit with naughty babies in the waiting room while their mothers are busy, or talk to tired couples at the checkout line or it could be anything.
If you keep your head up, your heart will show you the place that needs hope.
1. Where did the writer meet with the young man？
| A．In the school. | B．In the school bus. | C．In the classroom. | D．In the library. |
| A．had known the young man for a long time |
| B．made friends with the young man afterwards |
| C．was grateful to that young man very much |
| D．avoided meeting the young man since then |
| A．show his sympathy to those who are badly ill |
| B．give others hope of life when they are in trouble |
| C．realize his promise made to the young man |
| D．get respect from those who were helped by him |
| A．the young man always tried his best to help those who were in trouble |
| B．it was the young man's smile and words that made the author feel hopeful |
| C．the author had never been praised by others before he met with the young man |
| D．the author traveled to a lot of places to look for the young man but failed |
