3 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.

But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.

One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.

“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”

Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.

1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?

A．To prevent natural disasters.	B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions.
C．To imitate volcanic eruptions.	D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels.

2. What are researchers worried about in terms of global warming?

A．More volcanoes will throw out.

B．More solar energy will go into space.

C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world.

D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm.

3. What can be inferred from Douglas’ words in an interview?

A．He thinks more research remains to be done.

B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth.

C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production.

D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention.

4. What does the underlined words “sweet spot” in the last paragraph mean?

A．The rainfall pattern of a region.

B．The modest drop in temperature.

C．The number of extreme weather events.

D．The injection amount of aerosol.

4 . The next time a giant Big Mac or Coke flashes into your mind when you’re walking home from the pub, you may not simply have the snacks.

A British hi-tech company has created a new advertising system that uses lasers (激光) to project images up to 200 metres tall from the sides of tall buildings, enabling advertisers to reach people from virtual billboards in the sky. Passers-by will see each image for only between one tenth and quarter of a second, as their eyes catch the light from certain angles.

Advertising agencies and big businesses have already signalled their interest, but Skyline campaigners have branded the technology “greedy” and said that it could fill our skies with showy and tasteless brands.

The Echo system uses a high laser projector to bounce light off a narrow reflective strip fixed to the side of a building, visible up to 1km away. This creates large-scale images that are captured briefly in the viewer’s eye as a result of the “persistence of vision” effect: the same effect that leaves an imprint (印记) of a light source on your vision after you’ve turned away.

Daniel Siden, the technology’s inventor, explained: People often think this could be subversive, but it’s actually less invasive and more fun than traditional advertising. Mr.Siden said that the system was safe because of the distance between the projector and passers-by. And images would be above the line of sight of drivers and cyclists and below the field of vision of airline pilot. The images have been tested and shown not to cause epileptic seizures (癫痫发作).

Because it uses only one strip of reflected light, the system needs a small amount of the power, about one-twentieth of a standard 96-sheet digital outdoor display for an image of the same height.

Still, some Skyline campaigners dislike the technology and believe it delivers subliminal advertising (隐形广告). Barbara Weiss of the Skyline Campaign, said: “It’s actually offensive. London’s latest tall buildings are not particularly well-built or well designed, but unfortunately people are forced to look at them. Adding stupid advertising that’s invasive in its nature will only make it worse.”

1. Why does the writer use the example of Big Mac, Coke in paragraph 1?

A．Because he attempts to promote these products to potential consumers.

B．Because he wants to introduce a new advertising technology to readers.

C．Because he studies the association between products and images in advertising.

D．Because he tries to illustrate the effectiveness of flashing images of advertised goods.

2. Which of the following statements about the Echo system is true according to the passage?

A．Pedestrians can see the flashing images from specific angles.

B．It’s a new system developed by an advertising agency.

C．The image will no longer exist in vision after you’ve turned away.

D．The system consists of a laser projector, a reflective strip and a physical billboard.

3. The underlined word “subversive” in paragraph 5 probably means ________.

A．subconscious

B．damaging

C．harmless

D．imaginative

4. Which party is likely to set obstacles to the application of the Echo system?

A．Environmentalists worried about energy consumption.

B．Drivers, cyclists and pilots whose sight might be affected.

C．The Skyline Campaign regarding the technology as flashy.

D．The patients who suffer from epileptic seizures.

5 . Research shows students learn better when they’re well nourished. Healthy eating has been linked to higher grades, better memory, faster information processing and improved health leading to better school attendance, according to registered dietitian Elisa Zied, author of Feed Your Family Right. On the contrary, unhealthy eating habits can negatively affect learning. Researchers have studied many areas related to eating and learning.

Skipping breakfast can have a negative impact on learning. A higher percentage of breakfast eaters passed a biology exam in one study of college students. It’s also important to eat a high-quality breakfast. In a study of students between the ages of twelve and thirteen, the average mark increased as breakfast quality improved.

Even with breakfast, the brain can run out of fuel before lunch. In one study of students between the ages of seven and nine, having a mid-morning snack improved memory. The children who ate a smaller breakfast and lunch but consumed a mid-morning snack experienced a smaller decline in immediate and delayed memory. Attention wasn’t affected, however. Zied recommends yogurt with blueberries; this fruit has been proven to be linked to better memory in studies. A hard-boiled egg is also a good snack choice.

Kids who eat healthily are more likely to attend school. Without proper nutrition and adequate calories, students often don’t have enough energy to power the brain, resulting in tiredness and learning problems. In fact, alertness(机敏) improved significantly in students eating breakfast in one study of high school students published in the journal Pediatrics.

A study of public school students published in the Journal of School Health linked high intake of sweetened drinks, such as sugary sodas, to lower scores in math tests. A diet high in junk food and sugary sodas is also linked to childhood obesity, which could result in lower cognitive(认知的) functioning, according to the Yale University research. On the other hand, students with healthy eating habits are less likely to be overweight and more likely to learn well.

1. What is an effective way for students to improve their memory?

A．Eating a big breakfast on a regular basis.

B．Staying away from junk food in daily life.

C．Eating something healthy at about 10:00 am

D．Adding yogurt with strawberries to their daily diet.

2. What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?

A．Students will have better attendance at school after eating healthily.

B．Students will have a good performance as long as they are well fed.

C．A high-quality breakfast will make a difference to students, learning.

D．Every student has a strong awareness of eating breakfast.

3. What would happen to students who eat much junk food?

A．They would become less confident at school.

B．They would grow too overweight to work out.

C．They would become unwilling to attend school.

D．They would fall behind other students at school.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．The impacts of eating habits on students’ learning

B．The advantages of healthy eating habits

C．Some suggestions on how to learn better

D．The link between diets and learning

6 . Parking in the CBD of any Australian city is expensive, hard to come by and often an unavoidable headache. But Rylan Kindness, a 16-year-old entrepreneur (企业家) from Brisbane, thinks he might have the answer to this problem.

It was after Rylan realized his parents were spending hours to try and find parking deals in the city that he came up with the idea for a centralized system. This system shows users the best price for parking in the area they want and offers users a daily deal with a discount .

Rylan now doubles as a high school student and the CEO of Parking Deals Australia, a role he took on four months ago. Parking Deals Australia isn't even Rylan's first business. When he was barely 11, Rylan came up with an idea to sell wholesale scooter parts online, purely because he just wanted some extra money. On the side, he's succeeding in other passions as well. However, he admits it hasn't always been smooth sailing.

“I've learned so many crazy things through trial and error. Every day I fail somewhere but I always try to get better. My biggest failure was when I first set up everything and thought it was what everyone else would like but it's a shock when I see people not enjoying what I’m doing. It makes me want to cry a little bit but then I polish the product and keep going.”he said.

While Rylan didn't want to say exactly how much his now-bustling company is worth, he did admit he's making a tidy profit.“I earn more in one day than I was earning for three months working in a cafe but I'm investing it all back into the business.... what I've learned is that if you're starting a business just to make money, you're definitely going to fail. I'm there to help millions of people and that's what really gets me going,”he said.

Rylan's goal with Parking Deals Australia is to take it countrywide and save millions of people millions of dollars.

1. According to the article, the centralized system can           .

A．analyze users' parking habits	B．recommend the cheapest parking spaces
C．show the nearest parking lot	D．show available parking spaces

2. What can we learn about Rylan Kindness?

A．He got the idea for the parking system from his parents directly.

B．He left school to run his own company four months ago.

C．He displayed a talent for business when he was about 11.

D．He started his business purely for profits.

3. What is Rylan's main purpose for his business?

A．To assist people while making a profit.

B．To earn some extra money and make bigger investments.

C．To get improvement by working through failures.

D．To expand his influence on a national scale.

4. How do you find Rylan?

A．Hardworking and humor.	B．Bright and curious.
C．Generous and cautious.	D．Ambitious and insistent.

7 . Most of the 500 whales stranded (搁浅)off Tasmania have now died. Dozens more stricken whales have been found in Australia’s largest ever mass stranding.The estimated total now stands at around 500, with the majority of that number dead and a tenth rescued by authorities on the Island state of Tasmania. Experts believe all of the animals would have been part of one large group. Officials began working to rescue survivors among an estimated 270 whales found on Monday on a beach and two sandbars near the remote coastal town of Strahan. Then another 200 whales were spotted from a helicopter on Wednesday less than 10 kilometres (six miles) to the south.All 200 had been confirmed dead by late afternoon. They were among the 380 whales that have died overall, with estimates from earlier today suggesting that 30 that were alive but stranded and 50 had been rescued since Tuesday, Mr Deka, Wildlife Service manager explained. He added,“We’ll continue to work to free as many of the animals as we can.We’ll continue working as long as there are live animals.”

It is not known what caused the animals to run aground. While stranding events are not unheard of, they are very rare in such large numbers. About 30 whales in the original stranding were moved from the sandbars to open ocean on Tuesday, but several got stranded again. About a third of the first group had died by Monday evening.

Australia’s largest mass stranding had previously been 320 pilot whales near the Western Australian town of Dunsborough in 1996.This week’s incident is the first involving more than 500 whales in Tasmania since 2009.Marine Conservation Programme wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said the latest mass stranding was the biggest in Australia in terms of numbers stranded and died.

Marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta said there were a number of potential reasons why whales might become beached, including navigational errors.She explained, “They do have a very strong social system; these animals are closely bonded and that’s why we have seen so many in this case unfortunately in this situation.Rescuing them does not always work, because they are wanting to return back to the group, they might hear the sounds that the others are making, or they’re just disoriented and, in this case, extremely stressed, and just probably so exhausted that they in some cases don’t know where they are.” she added.

1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

A．270 whales were rescued on Monday.

B．380 whales were found dead on Tuesday.

C．500 whales were found stranded and dead.

D．200 whales spotted from a helicopter were dead.

2. Why did Kris Carlyon say this event is the biggest in Australia?

A．Rescue work is not done in time.

B．The number of the death is large.

C．The cause of the event is still a mystery.

D．There was no other similar event in recent years.

3. Which of the following is Not the cause of the stranding of the whales?

A．Navigational errors.

B．Overhunting of the human beings.

C．Whales’ group living style.

D．Whales’ confusion and exhaustion.

4. Where does this passage possibly come from?

A．A newspaper.

B．A magazine.

C．A textbook.

D．A travel brochure.

8 . We know that the pandemic(流行病)has had a far-reaching impact on our minds — so much so that it may have changed the very fabric of our society altogether. Mental health professionals think that those with social anxiety will not emerge from the pandemic unaffected.Counselling Directory member Beverley Blackman says, “For people with social anxiety, lockdown will make them deeply anxious in one way, and yet a relief in another.” He added, “On one hand, a person with social anxiety may feel relieved that they no longer have to socialize in person, but they may also feel that they have lost the opportunity to socialize with the people they feel safe and secure spending time with, meaning that they feel a new level of isolation and a different level of anxiety about socializing in any form.Without the security of those they feel safe with, self-confidence may very well decrease rapidly.Lockdown may have had a negative impact on those with social anxiety.”

Dr Daria J.Kuss, associate professor in psychology at Nottingham Trent University, says: “Following the lockdown, people in this country were allowed to meet up again, which for individuals with social anxiety may have led to stress and worry.They may not be comfortable being expected to be ‘social’ again, especially when in larger groups, and may worry about saying the wrong things and asking the wrong questions as they are reintegrating into their offline social lives.” Furthermore, Beverley says our even bigger reliance on social media and digital communication in the midst of lockdown could also have a negative impact on people with social anxiety.She says “For some people with social anxiety, communication by media can be even harder than communication in person.We know that words form only roughly 7-10% of the way in which we communicate and that we rely on body language, facial expression, tone of voice, and unconscious signals behind words to convey our thoughts and feelings.”

When it comes to what people with social anxiety can do to feel better as the lockdown situation continues to shift, Dr.Kuss says “I recommend being open and honest with their social environments. Friends and family will empathize when the concerns are voiced openly.Engaging in focused breathing and relaxation may also help alleviate feelings of worry and discomfort.Finally, negative thinking (e.g., “I don’t know what to say”) may be replaced with positive ones (e.g., “I am good enough” and “My friends want to see me”).”

1. Why do people with social anxiety feel relieved during the lockdown?

A．There is no one disturbing their life.

B．There is no need for them to socialize.

C．They have increased their self-confidence.

D．People can no longer communicate with each other.

2. What does the underlined word mean in the third paragraph?

A．Stimulate.

B．Relieve.

C．Begin.

D．Develop.

3. What can be the good advice for those with social anxiety during the lockdown?

A．Stay at home alone.	B．Communicate online.
C．Open heart to strangers.	D．Take a positive attitude.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Stay with safe people can bring more confidence.

B．Lockdown can help people overcome the feeling of anxiety.

C．For people with social anxiety, lockdown is a double-edged sword.

D．It is a suitable way for people of social anxiety to communicate by media.

9 . Sleeping is important, but we all know that, right? Many people have experienced strange sleeping patterns, weird dreams and a feeling of restlessness and drowsiness during the coronavirus lockdown, despite a good night's sleep. So what sort of things can help you to improve your sleep?

There’s a plethora of myths related to sleep, some of which can be quite damaging for our health, Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously claimed that she only hit the sack for five hours a night. But according to experts this is detrimental to health. Likewise, kipping in front of the TV is another thing to avoid. The bright lights can prevent you from entering deep sleep.

From a young age we're told to count sheep to help us to nod off, with some choosing to stay in bed to battle with insomnia (失眠). However, some experts advise getting up and doing something mindless, like folding socks, to help us get in the mood to catch forty winks.

Psychologist Seth J. Gillihan PhD recommends walking to help in the battle against insomnia. He talks about a sleep study published in the journal Sleep Health which suggests that those who walk slightly more will experience better quality and duration of sleep. Watching what you eat or drink can also improve the amount of REM, or rapid eye movement you experience.

If you’re a snorer, you might also want to take note. While most snoring is harmless, it could be a sign of sleep apnoea, with people suffering from the condition more likely to have strokes or heart attacks, irregular heartbeats or high blood pressure.

Finally, a decent nap, or even a power nap, can help you to be more alert, calm and focused. So while there are some good tips like exercising or folding socks to help us get a good night’s sleep, sometimes a good afternoon’s sleep can help us tackle the day ahead.

1. To improve our sleep, which of the following is preferred?

A．Sleeping with TV on	B．Counting sheep in bed
C．Taking some walks	D．Doing some specific things.

2. What harm will snoring probably cause?

A．Weird dreams.	B．Boredom.
C．regular heartbeats.	D．heart trouble.

3. What is the purpose of Paragraph 1?

A．To put forward a relevant topic.

B．To five examples of sleeping habits.

C．To analyze the reason for sleeping problems.

D．To emphasize the importance of good sleep.

4. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Want a better sleep?

B．Ways to promote health

C．Reasons for insomnia

D．Why fighting for sleeplessness?

10 . Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain­computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated (展示) a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp (头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.
Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”
He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.
1. BCI is a technology that can ________.

A．help to update computer systems

B．link the human brain with computers

C．help the disabled to recover

D．control a person's thoughts

2. How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?

A．By controlling his muscles.

B．By talking to the machine.

C．By moving his hand.

D．By using his mind.

3. Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?

A．scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair

B．computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair

C．scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair

D．cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair

4. The team will test with real patients to ________.

A．make profits from them

B．prove the technology useful to them

C．make them live longer

D．learn about their physical condition

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center

B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works

C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled

D．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries