1 . People as far away as South Africa have called Melody Pugh in Washington D. C. to help them find a beloved family member. The country’s only licensed and bonded “pet detective”, this 58- year-old former police officer is an expert on thinking like a dog or cat.
It all started in April 1998 when her beloved kitty, Norman, was stolen from the car after arriving at the vet’s office. Pugh searched for Norman for 95 days, quitting her job because the search became all-consuming, and during that time she found 27 other lost pets. That's when she discovered she had a nose for finding clues --- a paw print here, a broken spider web there.
While there are other pet finders, Pugh is the only person in the U. S. registered as a licensed pet detective 一 and there's a big difference. "Pet finders may make posters and phone calls, but they won't actively track your pet or get personally involved because they aren’t bonded and can’t afford to get sued（起诉）,” says Pugh, who has never been sued. She was able to obtain a Private investigator's license from the State of Washington in 2001 because of her background in law enforcement.
Pugh has returned more than 1,000 dogs and cats to their homes in almost every state nationwide. Nearly two million companion animals are stolen each year, often right from their owner's yard, and then sold to research laboratories, dog-fighting rings, or puppy mills.
1. What do we know about Melody Pugh from paragraph 1?| A．She is a caring vet. | B．She is good at finding pets. |
| C．She comes from South Africa. | D．She works as a police officer. |
| A．After she lost 27 pets. | B．The time she arrived at the vets. |
| C．95 days before she found Norman. | D．When she was searching for her cat. |
| A．She tracks the lost pets. | B．She makes posters and phone calls. |
| C．She has never been accused. | D．She is a licensed pet investigator. |
| A．Demanding. | B．Devoted. |
| C．Stubborn. | D．Tough. |
2 . Having an older brother comes with plenty of benefits. Big brothers tend to look out for their younger siblings(兄弟姐妹）,and despite the occasional rocky moment here and there, many siblings enjoy life-long close relationships. However, a new study finds an interesting downside: children with older brothers take longer when it comes to developing language skills.
The study, conducted by a group of researchers in Paris, France, builds upon earlier research that had already established that having older siblings is associated with poor linguistic(语言的）development. Now, researchers say they have come to a more specific conclusion: only children with an older brother exhibit these linguistic difficulties.
One would assume that children with older brothers would grow up around more conversation on a daily basis, thus speeding up their language development. Yet researchers say such children actually take longer than their older brothers to begin developing these skills.
Researchers studied more than 1,000 children from birth to the age of five-and-a-half years old. Each child’s language skills were tested at ages 2,3,and 5.5,using tests specially designed to measure numerous aspects of language development such as vocabulary, syntax, and verbal reasoning.
What the research team discovered was significant: children with an older brother had, on average, a two-month delay in their language development compared to those with an older sister.
As far as explaining this phenomenon, researchers have proposed two hypotheses(假设).The first is that older sisters tend to talk more often than older brothers, which would compensate for parents potentially being less present than they were for their first child. The second hypothesis is that older sisters usually compete with their siblings less than older brothers for their parents’ attention.
As of now, the study’s authors say they can’t say for certain why children with older brothers have a harder time developing language skills. In the future they would like to investigate if culture or location affects the results of these studies.
1. What does the underlined word“downside”in paragraph 1 mean?| A．difficulty | B．drawback | C．mistake | D．burden |
| A．Having older siblings will affect the younger one’s language development. |
| B．Many children prefer having brothers and sisters. |
| C．Older brothers may have something to do with the linguistic difficulties. |
| D．Children with older siblings would grow up around more conversation. |
| A．Parents tend to focus more on the first child. |
| B．Older sisters are more caring than older brothers. |
| C．Older brothers always seek to get more attention from their parents. |
| D．Younger children are always ignored by their older brothers. |
| A．The reasons for children’s delay in language development. |
| B．Other aspects that may influence the outcomes of the study. |
| C．More assumptions to explain the phenomenon. |
| D．The effect of culture on children’s language learning. |
3 . In one of my favorite photographs of my mother, she's about 18 and very tall, with long, blond hair. It's the 1970s and my dad is there, too, hugging her from behind．
I haven't seen this photo for years. I have no idea where it is now, but I still think of it and, specifically, my mom is in it. She looks so young and innocent. At that time she hasn't yet dropped out of college, or got married. The young woman in this photo has no idea that life will bring her five children and five grandchildren, one divorce, two marriages and a move across the country．
For me, as for many daughters, the time before my mother became a mother is a string of stories, told and retold: the time she sold her childhood Barbie doll to buy a ticket to Woodstock; the time she worked as a waitress at Howard Johnson's, struggling to pay her way through her first year at Rutgers. The old photos of her are even more appealing than the stories because they're a historical record, carrying the weight of fact．
It is always a comfort from those photos to know that time, aging and motherhood cannot take away a woman's essential identity. For daughters who closely resemble their moms, it must be an even bigger comfort: these mothers and daughters are twins, separated by a generation ,and an old photo serves as a kind of mirror．
For daughters, these old photos of our mothers feel like both a chasm(巨大差异)and a bridge. The woman in the picture is someone other than the woman we know. She is also exactly the person in the photo-still, right now. Finally, we see that the woman we've come to think of as Mom-whether she's nurturing(养育), or disapproving, or thoughtful, or supportive, or sentimental--is also a mysterious, fun, brave babe．
She's been here all this time.
1. What can we know about the author's mother from paragraphs 2&3?| A．She divorced twice all her life |
| B．Life was tough for her during her first year at college |
| C．She traveled across the country in her youth |
| D．She was good at storytelling |
| A．The photo reminds her of her mother |
| B．Her mother looks young and happy in the photo |
| C．She wonders why her mother dropped out of college |
| D．The photo tells a lot about her mother in her youth |
| A．the photos are kept well even after generations |
| B．the photos record the life of the mothers faithfully |
| C．the photos help daughters to learn more about their mothers |
| D．the photos show the essential part of the mothers remains unchanged |
| A．The Pictures of Our Mothers |
| B．Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them |
| C．My Favorite Picture of My Mother |
| D．The Way to Learn About Our Mothers |
4 . Enter the 17th Annual Kids’ Fish Art Contest
Each fall, Ontario students are invited to enter the Kids’ Fish Art Contest．This free annual contest lets you show off your artistic talents and learn about Ontario’s native fish and their habitats．
The contest is open to all students：
●who are residents of Ontario
●currently attending elementary or secondary school(or homeschooled)
●between the grades of 4-12
Children of Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Fish and Wildlife Services Branch employees are not permitted．
Prizes
There is 1 winner for each of the 3 categories：
●grades of 4-6 ●grades of 7-9 ●grades of 10-12
This year’s prizes include：
●a fishing trip at Brennan Harbour Resort
●a day of fishing with Canadian Sport fishing Television Show Host, Italo Labignan
●the winning designs advance to an international competition
Key dates
Opens: September 30,2019
Closes: December 6,2019
Announcement of winners: March 2020
How to enter
1.Prepare your entry：
●original artwork ●a short essay
2.Download and complete the entry form．
3.Mail your entry, postmarked no later than December 6,2019
To: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Kids’Fish Art Contest
Peter borough ON K9J 3C7
Do：
●provide your artistic interpretation of the fish in its habitat
●submit your original, hand-done creation
Do not：
●use photographs, tracings, computer-generated artwork
●submit freehand copies of other people’s work
●put any lettering, signatures or initials on the front of the design
Essay
Write a 1-page essay about：
●your fish ●its habitat ●how to protect it for future generations
Include your name and address on your essay．
1. Who can sigh up for the contest?
| A．Julie, a 3 grader from Ontario | B．Ian, whose father works with the contest |
| C．Brian, a 6-grade homeschooler | D．Olivia, who lives outside of Ontario |
| A．September 30,2019 | B．December 6,2019． |
| C．March 2020 | D．December 31,2019． |
| A．mail the entry form to the contest holder |
| B．put their names on their artworks |
| C．ensure their entries are received by December 6,2019 |
| D．create their artworks by hand |
5 . Recently according to a new research, humans have had a link to starches (含淀粉的食物) for up to 120,000 years — that’s more than 100,000 years longer than we’ve been able to plant them in the soil during the time of the ice Age’s drawing to an end. The research is part of an ongoing study into the history of Middle Stone Age communities.
An international team of scientists identified evidence of prehistoric starch consumption in the Klasies River Cave, in present-day South Africa. Analyzing small, ashy, undisturbed hearths(壁炉) inside the cave, the researchers found “pieces of burned starches” ranging from around 120,000 to 65,000 years old. It made them the oldest known examples of starches eaten by humans.
The findings do not come as a complete surprise — but rather as welcome confirmation of older theories that lacked the related evidence. The lead author Cynthia Larbey said that there had previously only been genetic biological evidence to suggest that humans had been eating starch for this long. This new evidence, however, takes us directly to the dinner table, and supports the previous assumption that humans’ digestion genes gradually evolved in order to fit into an increased digestion of starch.
Co-author Sarah Wurz said, “The starch remains show that these early humans living in the Klasies River Cave could battle against their tough environment and find suitable foods and perhaps medicines. And as much as we all still desire the tubers (块茎), these cave communities were gilling starches such as potatoes on their foot-long hearths. They knew how to balance their diets as well as they could, with fats from local fish and other animals.”
As early as the 1990s, some researchers started to study the hearths in the Klasies River Cave. Scientist Hilary Deacon first suggested that these hearths contained burned plants. At the time, the proper methods of examining the remains were not yet available. We now know human beings have always been searching for their desired things.
1. When did humans begin to farm starches?| A．After the Ice Age. | B．After the Middle Stone Age. |
| C．About 20,000 years ago. | D．About 100,000 years ago. |
| A．Starch diet promoted food culture. | B．Starch diet shaped humans’ evolution. |
| C．Starches had a variety of functions. | D．Starches offered humans rich nutrition. |
| A．They were smart and tough. | B．They preferred plants to meat. |
| C．They were generally very healthy. | D．They got along with each other. |
| A．Great Civilization of South Africa | B．The Evolution of Foods in History |
| C．Starches--the Important Food of Today | D．Big Findings--the Starches in Ancient Times |
6 . Do you like watching movies? The following movies are coming on soon. Please check and find the one you like. Click the name of each movie to get more information.
Brahms: The Boy II
Horror | Mystery |Thriller
Soon after a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their only son makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.
Director: William Brent Bell
Stars: Katie Holmes, Ralph Ineson, Owain Yeoman, Christopher Convery
Little Joe
Drama | Sci-Fi
Alice, a single mother, is a devoted senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. Against the company policy, she takes one plant home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. The plant was created by genetic engineering and anyone touching it will become strange. Director: Jessica Hausner:
Stars: Emily Beecham, Ben Whishaw, Kerry Fox, Kit Conor
The Aeronauts
Action | Adventure I Biography | Romance
Pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) find themselves in a hard fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a gas balloon. Director: Tom Harper
Stars: Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Himesh Patel, Phoebe Fox
Apparition
Horror | Adventure
A group of young people, guided by an APP that connects the living with the dead, find themselves at an abandoned castle, a place with a horrific history tied to each of them, for reasons they’ll soon discover.
Director: Waymon Boone
Stars: Mena Suvari, Kevin Pollak, Megan West, Jon Abrahams
1. What can we learn about Brahms: The Boy II?| A．William Brent Bell is in charge of it. |
| B．Brahms can live a life as a man does. |
| C．The audience may be amused by the movie. |
| D．The story was created by William Brent Bell. |
| A．Brahms; The Boy II. | B．The Aeronauts. |
| C．Apparition. | D．Little Joe. |
| A．They are liked by teenagers. |
| B．Their plots are both horrible. |
| C．They are played by young actors. |
| D．Their characters all behave strangely. |
7 . Life satisfaction is the way persons evaluate their lives and how they feel about their directions and options for the future. It's a measure of well-being and may be evaluated in terms of mood, satisfaction with relations with others and with achieved goals and self-concepts to cope with daily life. It's having a favorable attitude towards one's life as a whole rather than just an evaluation of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economy, education, experiences, and residence, as well as many other topics.
Life satisfaction can reflect experiences that have influenced a person in, a positive way. These experiences have the ability to motivate people to pursue and reach their goals. As a matter of fact, in these experiences there are two kinds of emotions that may positively influence how people understand their life. Hope and optimism both consist of emotional processes that are usually directed towards the reaching of goals. People who have higher life satisfaction are always full of hope for a better future; additionally, optimism is linked to higher life satisfaction, while pessimism is related to symptoms in depression.
The psychologist, Yuval Palgi, studied the old-old-people who were primarily in their nineties. This subject group was found to have thought highly of their past and present, but they thought lower of their future. A large factor that was talked about in life satisfaction was intelligence. The experiments talk of how life satisfaction grows as people become older because they become wiser and more knowledgeable, so they begin to see that life will be better as they grow older and understand the important things in life more. But when they step into their nineties, future becomes a luxury to them.
According to Seligman, the happier people are, the less they are focused on the negative. Happier people also have a greater tendency to like other people, which promotes a happier environment, which then correlates to a higher level of the persons' satisfaction with their life.
1. What can we learn about life satisfaction from Paragraph 1?| A．It can be easily measured through income and education. |
| B．It includes a positive attitude towards people's entire life. |
| C．It merely determines people's attitude towards the future. |
| D．It has nothing to do with the evaluation of current feelings. |
| A．The wealthier a person is, the happier he will feel. |
| B．Happy people are more likely to get along well with others. |
| C．Happy people won’t be influenced by the negative items in life. |
| D．Intelligence plays a leading role in determining people’s happiness. |
| A．They were less hopeful about it. | B．They thought highly of it. |
| C．They felt satisfied with it. | D．They were scared of it. |
| A．Old People Have Much More Life Satisfaction |
| B．Life Satisfaction—the Key to a Happier Life |
| C．Optimism Ensures Life Satisfaction |
| D．Emotions Affect Life Satisfaction |
8 . A book is so much more than mere ink and paper. So insist French booksellers, who for nearly four decades successfully persuade the government to keep the forces of the free market at bay. A law passed in 1981 bans the sale of any book at anything other than the price decided by its publisher. Authorities are cracking down on those trying to sell the latest Thomas Piketty or J.K Rowling at a discount.
The fixed-price rule is meant to keep customers loyal to their local bookshop and out of the control of supermarkets and corporations. But the arrival of e-commerce and e-readers has promoted questions worthy of their own tomes(大部头著作). Can you fix the price of a book if it is part of an all-you-can-read subscription service? Are audio-books books at all? And what of authors who self-publish?
Changes have been made to preserve the principle of “one book, one price”. In 2011, the rule began to apply to digital tomes. Free delivery by online sellers was prohibited because it implied a subsidy(补贴) on the delivered books (encouraging online sellers to charge only €0.01 for postage). But a new challenge to the policy is proving more difficult to deal with.
Used books are exempted from the pricing rule. Third-party sellers on Amazon are accused of using this as a way to apply forbidden discounts: selling brand-new books as “second hand” to make them cheaper. So fans can purchase a copy of the latest Michel Houellebecq novel Serotonine for 11.71 pounds on Amazon, roughly half of its original price. Its seller claims it is in “perfectly new” condition.
Amazon claims its practices are legal. But books sellers are upset, and their political allies with them. “This is a major concern,” said Franck Riester, the culture minister, at a bookseller’s conference this week. He says new laws may be needed.
Defenders of the fixed-price principle (which has spread to other parts of Europe) say it helps keep independent bookshops alive. Others are not so sure. Books are expensive in France — an odd way to encourage people to buy more.
1. What was the function of the law passed in 1981?| A．To stop publishers from publishing poor books. |
| B．To prevent the random price of books in the market. |
| C．To help book consumers benefit from the free market. |
| D．To encourage French booksellers to sell cheaper books. |
| A．It greatly changed people’s reading habits. |
| B．It challenged the principle of “one book, one price”. |
| C．It weakened the ties between publishers and authors. |
| D．It provided local booksellers with some new opportunities. |
| A．are involved in. | B．are threatened by. |
| C．are consistent with. | D．are unrestricted by. |
| A．He is hopeful of them. | B．He is uncertain of them. |
| C．He disapproves of them. | D．He is indifferent to them. |
9 . Something strange happened when I was 14 years old. Every previous year on Thanksgiving Day I’d woken up early, filled with excitement. But that Thanksgiving, for some reason I saw no reason to celebrate. None of my family were really thankful, I realized. The whole thing was a lie!
During the dinner time, I left, hiding in the guest room and cried. My mom came to see what was wrong. “No one is really thankful!” I sobbed, “They just pretend for one day because that’s what they’re supposed to do!”
After I finished talking, she nodded. “You’re right,” she told me. “It’s fake until you find the truth for yourself.” She said it was my choice whether to celebrate with them or not. She said Thanksgiving is a time to reflect because we don’t always get to see loved ones and eat a good meal. Then she left.
I didn’t listen to her, thinking that every holiday was a lie and I could never find joy celebrating again. But giving in to my starving stomach, I went back to the dining room in a few minutes. I couldn’t believe what I saw. My entire extended family was waiting for me with wide smiles and concerned looks, and the table was covered with untouched plates.
“Andy,” my aunt said, “We can’t eat without you. We’re waiting for your turn. Now you can start it.” I didn’t know what to say first. Finally, I said I was thankful for having a younger brother to teach, play with, and see grow.
The family shared, and everyone had something beautiful to say. Listening to what they said, I suddenly understood what my mom meant about finding out my own reason for celebrating. For me, this holiday was a chance to pause and reflect on everything I cared about.
And with that, I took a huge and satisfying bite of food.
1. Why did the author hide himself and cry on the Thanksgiving Day?| A．Because he got up too late |
| B．Because some of his family were absent. |
| C．Because he thought the dinner was tasteless. |
| D．Because he doubted the sincerity of others’ thankfulness. |
| A．She is very understanding. | B．She is strict with the author. |
| C．She disagreed with the author. | D．She showed great worry about the author. |
| A．Having dinner. | B．Expressing thankfulness. |
| C．Giving a performance. | D．Making a wish. |
| A．My loving mother | B．Love and lies |
| C．An inspiring Thanksgiving | D．An unforgettable dinner |
10 . 2019 World Conference on VR Industry was held in Nanchang, China, with the goal of further satisfying people's growing demand for a better life, accelerating the modernization of China's economic system and its transformation into an innovation -oriented country, and promoting breakthroughs in the economic and social development of Jiangxi Province. The theme of the conference is "VR Adorns （装扮）the World - VR + 5 G for a New Era of Perception （观念）” .The virtual reality industry in Nanchang, capital city of East China's Jiangxi province, is expecting a boom when China grows in a new era of 5G this year, experts and industry insiders said at the conference.
The Conference attracted experts, scholars and company leaders from more than 30 countries, including the US, Germany, Britain, Russia, India and Israel, discussing the development and application of VR, especially as 5G, the next generation technology for network on devices like cellphones, unlocks the potential of VR. With a focus on the new era of perception enabled by 5G, this yearns conference showed leading-edge VR technologies and the latest outcomes of the global VR industry.
Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in the opening address that with China officially getting 5 G commercial licenses on June 6th 2019, the co — development of VR and 5G promises a huge market in future. " China takes the lead in VR innovations. And the wide popularity of high-tech in our country guarantees the potential of this market, said Miao.
China is building its VR industry into one with the most dynamic environments for innovation and entrepreneurship, highest market acceptance, and the greatest growth potential in the world.
1. What is one of the aims of 2019 World Conference on VR Industry?| A．To promote 5G technology. |
| B．To make Chinese people more creative. |
| C．To improve the economic development of Jiangxi. |
| D．To change the world into a modern one. |
| A．It is widely used in Nanchang. | B．It can be used in business now. |
| C．It makes China a leading country. | D．It is the technology for computer system. |
| A．5G can greatly help the development of VR. | B．VR's application would unlock 5G. |
| C．5G makes VR a business. | D．VR is made up of 5G. |
| A．Technology Revolution in Jiangxi | B．New Era Marked by 5G and VR |
| C．VR, Technology for the Future | D．VR Conference in Nanchang |
