1 . Nearly everyone knows eBay is a website where you can buy and sell pretty much anything. There are other Internet auction (拍卖) sites, but none come close to eBay for brand-name recognition. And for good reason: eBay is the largest English-language online auction site in the world. Buyers come to eBay for the best chance of finding the particular thing they want. Sellers come for the largest pool of buyers, which they hope means the best chance of selling at the highest possible price.

Buying things on eBay is pretty simple. You can type a term into the search field, or click through the categories list to get to what you want. Inside an individual item listing, you’ll see the current asking price, and a little button to click if you wish to place your own bid. Enter a price, occasionally come back to see if someone has bid higher than you and wait for the end of the auction period. If your bid is the highest, you win! Now all you have to do is arrange payment and shipping method with the seller. eBay is only in the business of putting buyers and sellers together for a small fee from the seller. It doesn’t handle the actual payment or shipping of goods. In other words, it isn’t a big department store, or a warehouse. It’s the owner of a flea market, and you have to do your own deals with the individual sellers in their virtual stalls.

To be a skillful eBay buyer, you should learn when to trust sellers and how a proxy (代理人) bid can save you from going online every half-hour to up your bid. Experienced eBay users also know how to use escrows (公正托管) to guarantee goods, and how to avoid selling tricks such as fake bids that push up prices. The more often you buy on eBay, the more you learn.

1. Why is eBay the best website for people to buy and sell things?

A．Because it has all brand products.

B．Because the trade language is English.

C．Because sellers and buyers can close their deals.

D．Because sellers can find a swimming pool there.

2. What should you do first if you want to buy something at the site?

A．Find the current asking price.

B．Click a button to place your own bid.

C．Enter a price which is higher than others.

D．Find what you want in the categories list.

3. What should the buyer do if he/she wins the bid?

A．Get goods from eBay.

B．Determine payment and shipment.

C．Send somebody for the goods.

D．Talk about the price of the goods.

4. What is mainly talked about in the last paragraph?

A．How to be a skillful buyer at eBay.

B．How to make sure of qualified goods.

C．How to avoid being cheated by others.

D．How to spare you from going online frequently.

2 . THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020

In our efforts to increase and spread knowledge, we highly recommend these titles issued this year.

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

Treating the first president’s masculinity (刚毅) as a ‘‘previous conclusion”, historian Alexis Coe explores lesser-known aspects of Washington’s life, from his interest in animal husbandry (畜牧业) to his role as a father figure.

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis

Johnson, a marine biologist and the founder of Ocean Collective, and Wilkinson, the editor in chief of Project Drawdown edited appealing pieces on climate change crafted by 60 women. The collection, All We Can Save, showcases a diverse range of experts, all working to tackle climate issues in powerful ways.

Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food

Gina Rae La Cerva travels the globe in search of some of the planet’s last truly wild foods. Her journey takes her to a place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she investigates the “bush meat" trade that is common in the region’s rainforest and results in the illegal hunting of wild animals.

The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard

James Beard Award-winning author, John Birdsall writes this book to show a more complete picture of Beard’s life, examining the cook’s use of coded language in early cookbooks. The language itself is as rich as Beard’s fried chicken.

1. What can we learn from You Never Forget Your First?

A．Washington’s wide interests.

B．Washington’s masculinity as a father.

C．Some popular aspects of Washington’s life.

D．Some unfamiliar aspects of Washington’s life.

2. Which book should you read if you want to know the topic about climate problems?

A．Feasting Wild.	B．All We Can Save.
C．You Never Forget Your First.	D．The Man Who Ate Too Much.

3. What is the similarity between Feasting Wild and The Man Who Ate Too Much?

A．Foods are both mentioned.	B．Both are about traveling.
C．Their languages are vivid.	D．Their authors are famous.

3 . No matter where you go around the globe, everybody loves to celebrate. And when it comes to celebration, festivals offer something for everyone.

Mardi Gras （New Orleans, Louisiana）

Also known as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a cultural event. Though the celebration

is held every year on the day before Ash Wednesday, the festivities last for months, banning in November throughout January and early February. And if you love music, check out the annual Galactic concert at the world-famous Tipitina’s on Lundi Gras (the day before Mardi Gras).

La Tomatina （Valencia, Spain）

Launched way back in 1945, La Tomatina is one of the oldest festivals on our list. It's also easily the happiest but the messiest, coming off like the world's biggest food fight.

Legend has it that the whole thing started when some local boys joined a parade alongside musicians. The boys made the performers so angry that they tried hit the boys, and a vendor's (小摊贩)vegetable stand fell victim to the incident.

If you go, please follow some simple rules: Don't throw hard objects, squash the tomato before throwing it, stay a safe distance away from tomato trucks, and stop in time.

Montreux Jazz Festival （Switzerland）

Founded back in 1967, Montreux is one of the oldest music festivals in the world. It's also the second largest jazz festival, after the Montreal International Jazz Festival. That Canadian concert may attract more visitors-around 2 million annually. But Montreux benefits from its pretty location on the attractive shores of Lake Geneva. The area is particularly beautiful in late June/early July, when the festival is held.

1. When is Galactic concert held?

A．On Mardi Gras.	B．On Lundi Gras.
C．On Montreux Jazz Festival.	D．On La Tomatina.

2. What do people do on La Tomatina?

A．Punish naughty boys.	B．Enjoy musicians' performance.
C．Throw tomatoes without hurting.	D．Catch people who destroy tomatoes.

3. Where can you read the passage probably?

A．News report.	B．Academic journal.
C．Conceit brochure.	D．Travel magazine.

4 . 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.

2. Why does the author say great books read us as well?

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.

3. What do we know about the novel Frankenstein!

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.

4. What is the best title of the text?

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?

5 . 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.

2. How does a smart liquid window panel work to cool buildings?

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.

3. According to paragraph 3, what is the value of the temperature peak shift?

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.

4. What can we expect of the smart window in the future?

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.

6 . Pre-College Program Courses

The Harvard Pre-College Program will be hosting all courses online for Summer 2021. To encourage interactive learning, class sizes are small and typically range from 12 to 18 students. In this collegial setting, you will practice the art of healthy debates, learn to communicate clearly on complex topics, and deliver presentations on your own research, all under the guidance of Harvard instructors for a true Ivy League experience. At the end of the program, you will receive a written evaluation from your instructor, as well as a Harvard transcript with a grade of AR or NM （"requirements met" or "requirements not met"）. Please note: You need to attend every online class in its entirety to receive a passing grade of "Met All Requirements".

Course: Care in Critical Times

• Jul 5 —Aug 16, Mon. to Thurs., 8:30 — 11:00 am

• Andrea Wright

What is care? How can and do communities encourage care as a tool for building healing, and hope? This course requires students to not only ask how they might engage in caring acts with their own communities, but to complete a locally based community project that brings care.

Course: Introduction to neuroscience

• Jul 7 — Jul 25, Wed. to Fri., Noon — 3:00 pm

• Grace Francis

This course is an introduction to the nervous system, with emphasis on the structure and function of the human brain.

Course: College Writing

• Jul 1 — Jul 22, Thurs. to Sat., 8:00 — 11:30 am

• Martin T. Greenup

This course introduces students to college writing by taking them through the steps required to complete a five — page analytic essay. Students read a range of classic and contemporary short stories, and develop strategies for careful close reading via class discussion and in-class exercises.

Course: The Economics of Cities

• Jun 17 — Jul 29, Sun. to Thurs., 3:15 — 6:15 pm

• Thomas Shay Hill

What causes cities to grow, and what limits their growth? What are the costs of urban living, and how can they be overcome? We examine a range of major urban issues from an economic view: traffic and transportation; water, public health and the role of cities in generating economic growth and technological innovation.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To offer an overview of the program.

B．To introduce the program instructors.

C．To present the contents of the guidance.

D．To explain the requirements of the courses.

2. Which course can you take if you are available on Friday mornings in July?

A．Care in Critical Times.	B．College Writing.
C．Introduction to neuroscience.	D．The Economics of Cities.

3. Whose course should you choose if you are interested in urban public health?

A．Andrea Wright's.	B．Grace Francis's.
C．Martin T. Greenup's.	D．Thomas Shay Hill's.

7 . With the world’s attention on vaccines (疫苗), now feels like a good moment to sing the praises of an often forgotten contribution to their development. Three hundred years ago this month, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu got her daughter inoculated (接种) against smallpox, making her child the first person in the West to be protected in this way. Without Montagu’s willingness to adopt a practice she had learned from other cultures, the introduction of vaccines around 80 years later would never have taken place.

Montagu first witnessed inoculation when she accompanied her husband to Turkey in 1717. Inoculation had started in Asia, probably in China, as early as the 10th century AD. Montagu observed how older women in Turkey took a tiny amount of pus (脓) from a person with smallpox. They then used needles to make cuts on people’s wrists and ankles and added the pus to their bloodstream. This helped people gain immunity from future infection.

Like other visitors to the country, Montagu took steps to ensure that her son was inoculated in Turkey. This worked well, but she knew that trying it in England would be far more challenging. Inoculation performed by unlicensed amateurs would threaten doctors’ professional standing and potentially rob them of valuable income. Churchmen also disagree with the practice, as they saw it as going against nature.

Back in England, Montagu observed the increased severity of smallpox infections. Eventually, in April 1721, she decided to use the Turkish practice to have her daughter inoculated, because she believed that the rewards would outweigh the risks. After a safe time had passed following the inoculation, Montagu allowed doctors to examine her daughter.

Doctors in Britain gradually accepted the practice. About so years later, a pioneering physician found smallpox vaccines to destroy smallpox completely. As early as last century, academics argued that Montagu was no more than an enthusiastic amateur. In truth, she made a vital scientific contribution towards finding the cure for smallpox.

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The origin of smallpox inoculation.

B．Montagu’s first access to inoculation.

C．The benefits from smallpox inoculation.

D．Turkish women’s invention of inoculation.

2. Montagu found it difficult to try inoculation in England because ________.

A．it was against human nature	B．it might harm doctors’ interests
C．it was beyond doctors’ abilities	D．it might shake churchmen’s belief

3. What led doctors in Britain to accept inoculation?

A．The increased severity of smallpox infections.

B．A physician’s discovery of smallpox vaccines.

C．The result of Montagu’s daughter’s inoculation.

D．Montagu’s focus on its rewards rather than its risks.

4. What might be the best title of the test?

A．An unsung hero	B．No limit to creation
C．Development of vaccines	D．A historic medical innovation

8 . Movies were more than photographs and different from books. They transmitted romance, danger and comedy straight into your emotional bloodstream, with no need for translation and no cultural barriers. They were creating another world out there on the screen, a world of joy and sadness, laughter, romance, places far away in space and in time, heroes and heroines and ordinary people — a world that moviegoers could enter and live other lives. They were giving our audience a common culture.

Over the decades, movies and movie theaters have survived many competing technologies that threatened their extinction, among them television, VHS tapes, DVDs and Blu-rays, and streaming. Through all of these worthwhile advances, people continued to leave their homes to watch movies in theaters. From 2010, just after streaming became important, to the beginning of 2020, the number of movie theaters nationwide remained nearly constant, going from 5,773 to 5,798. Annual ticket sales dropped by only 7 percent, from about 1.33 billion to about 1.24 billion.

Seeing a movie in a public theater on a giant screen, surrounded by other people, is not only entertainment. It is also an experience, a communal activity, a night out of the house almost everyone can afford.

Then came the covid-19 pandemic. Few industries have suffered more than movie theaters. The small number of theaters that remain open have seen attendance decline dramatically. If theaters do not survive, something irreplaceable will have been lost. We are social creatures. No matter how comfortable our living rooms and complex our technology we need community, we need physical contact with one another.

On the screen were the enduring themes of chivalry, good vs. evil, conquest and dominion, fashioned for our technological age. We moviegoers left the theater in crowds, talking to each other, sharing impressions, some of us speechless. But all of us felt that we now shared some magical bond. Lawmakers should act to save that magic.

1. In what respect are movies different from books?

A．They stand the test of time and space.	B．They create a world of joy and sadness.
C．They bring emotions into your bloodstream.	D．They are shared across languages and cultures.

2. Why did the author mention annual movie ticket sales drop?

A．To show the decline of film industries.	B．To give evidence on the new social trend.
C．To indicate movie theaters remain popular.	D．To prove the advances in other technologies.

3. What would be lost if theaters do not survive the pandemic?

A．A form of social bond between us.	B．The level of comfort on the screen.
C．A dancing style of physical contact.	D．The great joy of advanced technology.

4. What would the author probably agree to do about movie theatres?

A．To make laws to control them.	B．To take action to support them.
C．To lay out plans for their expansion.	D．To let them be part of our sweet memory.

9 . Young children who have experienced compassionate (有同情心的) love and empathy (认同感) from their mothers may be more willing to turn thoughts into action by being generous to others, a University of California, Davis’ study suggests.

In lab studies, children tested at ages 4 and 6 showed more willingness to give up the tokens (代金券) they had earned to fictional children in need when two conditions were present—if they showed bodily changes when given the opportunity to share and had experienced positive parenting that modeled such kindness. The study initially included 74 preschool-age children and their mothers. They were invited back two years later, resulting in 54 mother-child pairs whose behaviors and reactions were analyzed when the children were 6.

“At both ages, children with better physiological regulation and with mothers who expressed stronger compassionate love were likely to donate more of their earnings,” said Paul Hastings, UC Davis professor of psychology. “Compassionate mothers likely develop emotionally close relationships with their children while also providing an early example of satisfying the needs of others,” researchers said in the study, published in November in Frontiers in Psychology” Emotion Science.

In each lab exercise, after attaching a monitor to record children’s heart-rate activity, the examiner told the children they would be earning tokens for a variety of activities, and that the tokens could be turned in for a prize. The tokens were put into a box, and each child eventually earned 20 prize tokens. Then before the session ended, children were told they could donate all or part of their tokens to other children.

Taken together, the findings showed that children’s generosity is supported by the combination of their socialization experiences—their mothers’ compassionate love—and their physiological regulation, and that these work like “internal and external supports for the ability to act prosocially that build on each other”.

In addition to observing the children’s propensity (习性) to donate their game earnings, Hastings suggested that “being in a calmer state after sharing could reinforce (加强) the generous behavior that produced that good feeling.”

1. How do young children loved by their mother tend to become in later years?

A．Considerate.	B．Emotional.
C．Generous.	D．Optimistic.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The process of the research.	B．The result of the experiment.
C．The reactions of the children.	D．The importance of Mom’s love.

3. According to Hastings, what factor could strengthen children’s good behaviors?

A．Their moms love them deeply.	B．They donate the tokens easily.
C．They behave physiologically.	D．They are calmer after sharing.

4. What is probably the best title of this passage?

A．What Contributes to Generosity?

B．The More You Give, the Calmer You Will Be

C．Do You Prefer to Receive or Give?

D．More Giving, Less Receiving

10 . If there had to be a father of handwashing in history, it would be Ignaz Semmelweis. While working at Vienna General hospital, the Hungarian doctor, faced with a situation in which maternal death (孕产妇死亡) in hospitals were significantly higher than local clinics, tried hard clues as to why.

Germs (细菌) were yet to be discovered, and it was still believed in the 1840s that disease was spread by bad smells in the air. So it didn’t seem a problem that trainee doctors hanging out of labs to dissect (解剖) human bodies would pop up to the maternity ward (产房) to deliver a baby without washing their hands.

Then an accidental finger cut by a knife during a dissection caused a doctor to die, seemingly of the same sign the mothers had been getting. Semmelweis assumed that something from the dead bodies was to blame, which might, through the hands of doctors, make their way into women’ s bodies during childbirth.

To test his theory, he ordered doctors to wash their hands and instruments in some chlorine solution. As a result, the death rate for new mothers dropped to about 1 percent, compared with that of as high as 18 percent before the experiment.

However, he faced great resistance, and met a sad end. People at that time didn’t think of themselves as sort of walking Petri dishes. And the majority of doctors then were from middle- or upper-class families, and thought of themselves as very clean people.

Over the next 40 years, a better understanding of germs developed, and attitudes to hygiene (卫生) gradually shifted. In 1876, the German scientist Robert Koch discovered the anthrax bacillus (炭疽), kicking off the new research field of medical bacteriology. Many more germs were later identified. Surgeons started to take handwashing seriously.

By the 1890s and into the early 1900s, handwashing moved from being something doctors did to something everybody had been told to do.

1. What was the situation like in the 1840s?

A．Germs might have been discovered then.

B．Women suffered from delivering babies then.

C．The air at that time was dirty and full of viruses.

D．People were unaware of how disease was spread.

2. What does the underlined word “Solution” probably mean?

A．Liquid.

B．Option.

C．Tissue.

D．Shell.

3. How did the public feel about handwashing at first?

A．It was effective.	B．It was necessary.
C．It was ridiculous.	D．It was dangerous.

4. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Steps to Protect Yourself

B．Disease Spreading by Your Hand

C．Hand Washing Critical in Fighting Viruses

D．The First Recorded Discovery of Handwashing