1 . Wouldn’t it be great if you could correct your eyesight, especially nearsightedness, and reduce your dependence on glasses and needn’t have eye surgery? The solution is called orthokeratology, or ortho-k (角膜塑形镜).
What is ortho-k?
Orthokeratology( ortho- k)is the fitting of specially designed contact lenses (隐形眼镜) that you wear overnight while you are asleep, the lenses gently reshape the front surface of your cornea (角膜) so you can see clearly the following day after you remove the lenses when you wake up.
How long does the ortho-k effect last?
You should be able to see acceptably well without glasses or contact lenses for a day or two, sometimes longer. For best results, one should wear the ortho- k lenses every might.
Who are good candidates for ortho-k?
Most people with mild to average nearsightedness are good candidates for ortho-k. Because the cornmeal reshaping effect is temporary, little risk is involved, and you can discontinue wearing the lenses at any time. Children and young adults who want to be gases-free but are too young for eye surgery or are afraid of taking the surgery often are good candidates for ortho-k. People who participate in contact sports or work in dusty environments that can have problems for contact lens wear also can be good candidates.
How much does ortho-k cost?
Costs also can vary based on the region of the country and the type of practice where you have the procedure performed. Ortho-k prices in the US generally range from $1, 000 to $2, 000 But particularly difficult cases of ortho-k can cost as much as $4.000.
There are additional costs for lens care solutions and following up exams, which can total about $300 to $ 500 per year.
Finally, keep in mind that, as with all contact lenses, there are some possible side effects of wearing ortho-k lenses. Ask your eye doctor for details.
1. According to the passage, which way is introduced to correct eyesight?| A．Performing an operation of the cornea. |
| B．Applying contact lenses in the daytime. |
| C．Fitting proper glasses during the night. |
| D．Wearing especially designed contact lenses. |
| A．You have to wear ortho-k day and night to ensure good results. |
| B．Ortho-k is a good choice for a man with average nearsightedness. |
| C．The cast of ortho-k in the city is higher than that in the countryside. |
| D．There is no need for people to worry about the side effects of ortho-k. |
| A．1, 000. | B．$1, 300. | C．$1, 500. | D．$2, 000. |
2 . Tropical rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and according to a new report by Rainforest Foundation Norway, humans are to blame. The world's dependence on coal, farming. soy. palm oil and mining has resulted in two-thirds of Earth's tropical rainforests being completely destroyed, and the remaining ecosystems being put closer to a tipping point.
Tropical rainforests once covered 14.5 million square kilometers of Earth's surface, but now, just one-third of that remains intact. Of the original area tropical rainforests once occupied, 34% is completely gone and 30%is suffering from degradation. All that remains is roughly 9.5 million square kilometers, and45% of that is in a degraded state, the report says.
Researchers blame human consumption for the loss. While agriculture has always been a driving factor of rainforest loss, the report said that energy consumption, international trade and the production of soy and palm oil, logging and mining have been the largest threats over the past century. A significant number of U. S. commodities rely on resources from tropical rainforests. The country heavily relies on palm oil, rubber and cocoa, all of which come from forests around the world. Oftentimes, these resources are harvested from illegally deforested lands.
Tropical rainforests are home to more than half of the Earth's biodiversity and have more carbon in living organisms than any other ecosystem. Along with supporting significant animal life, tropical rainforests are also essential to slowing down global warming. “These highly specialized ecosystems are suffering from constant abuse, through our bottomless appetite for land and resources,” said Anders Krogh, who authored the report. “We expect that upcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits provide specific targets and measures to protect intact tropical rainforests.”
The rescarchers also believe that the loss of tropical rainforests puts the whole world at risk of future pandemics. “Massive deforestation is violating nature's natural virus protection systems.” Krogh said. “The aftermath of COVID-19 should bring rainforest protection to the top of the agenda of all policy makers and world leaders concerned about preventing the outbreak of new pandemics.”
1. What is the purpose of the numbers in paragraph 2?| A．To point out the threat to the current ecosystem. |
| B．To exhibit the forest coverage rate on Earth. |
| C．To present the process of rainforest degradation. |
| D．To highlight the severe destruction of rainforests. |
| A．It displayed the richness of rainforest resources. |
| B．It stressed the effects of farming on tropical rainforests. |
| C．It explained the relationship between humans and nature. |
| D．It showed human's excessive consumption of rainforest resources. |
| A．Human diet. | B．Social structure. |
| C．Global climate. | D．Economic development. |
| A．Rainforest protection demands immediate attention. |
| B．Deforestation will affect the future generations. |
| C．Rainforest loss has brought about new pandemics. |
| D．Deforestation has accelerated the spread of the virus. |
3 . With paper flowers and music hanging around in the air, Lyu Jun was hosting a small farewell ceremony at an industrial zone in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. It was a funeral for a pet dog. Lyu came up with the idea of becoming a pet mortician (殡葬师) four years ago when he was preparing to start a business.
“At that time, there was only one brick-and-mortar(实体的) business that provided funeral services for pets in Shenzhen, but hundreds of pets die every day in this city,” he said. According to Lyu, many pet owners used to bury the remains of their beloved animals near their homes , which had a harmful impact on the environment and created the risk of spreading disease.
He saw a gap in the market for someone able to properly handle the death of pets. “A pet funeral service provides treatment of the bodies that is harm-free, and it is the greatest comfort to pet owners,” Lyu said.
He takes good care of the remains of the pets and tidies up their appearance before the funeral. In addition, he prepares funeral addresses and selects suitable tombs for the pets. He also films funerals for owners who cannot attend the ceremonies, and provides paper and pens for those who want to write down their blessings and hang the notes on the wishing tree.
Over the past four years, Lyu has bid farewell to more than 2,000 dogs, cats and other kinds of animals. He also does volunteer work in his spare time to promote responsible dog raising. “The pet funeral service industry is still in its babyhood, and I hope there will be a set of strict standards for people who take on this job and a belter environment for the industry,” Lyu said.
1. Why did Lyu start the business on pet funeral service?| A．Because he could earn a lot of money from it. |
| B．Because he thought it met the market requirement. |
| C．Because he thought it would be a unique and challenging business. |
| D．Because he could help owners bury their dead pets near their homes. |
| A．He delivers speeches to mourn the pets. |
| B．He gives best wishes to the pets' owners. |
| C．He makes films of the pets for their birth. |
| D．He nurses and cares for the pets carefully. |
| A．Lyu volunteers to raise pets on his own. |
| B．The pet funeral service has got a big success. |
| C．More strict standards should be set for pets' owners. |
| D．There remains a potential in the pet funeral industry. |
| A．A research report. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
4 . For several months, Cara has been working up the courage to approach her mom about what she saw on Instagram. Not long ago, the 11-year-old girl, like all the other kids in this story, discovered that her mom had been posting her photos for much of her life.“I’ve wanted to bring it up.It’s strange to see myself up there, and sometimes there are pictures of myself I don't like,”she said.
Like most other modern kids, Cara grew up in social media. While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams, and other organizations have been organizing online presence for them since birth.The shock of realizing that details about your life have been shared online without your permission or knowledge has become an important experience in the lives of many teenagers. Recently a parenting blogger (博主) wrote in an essay of The Washington Post that despite (尽管)her 14-year-old daughter’s horror of discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop posting them on her blog and social media. The writer said that promising her daughter that she would stop posting things about her publicly on the Internet “would mean shutting down an important part of myself, which isn't necessarily good for me or her”.
But it’s not just crazy mommy bloggers who construct their children’s online identity; plenty of average parents do the same. There’s even a special word for it: sharenting (晒娃成癖). Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their photos to the Internet, according to a study conducted by the Internet-security (安全)firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of kids under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.
1. How does Cara probably feel about her mom’s behavior?| A．It’s aggressive. | B．It’s appropriate. |
| C．It’s annoying. | D．It’s favorable. |
| A．It filled up her blog. | B．It showed off her success. |
| C．It recorded her stories. | D．It meant a lot to her. |
| A．A quarter of students. | B．Many ordinary parents. |
| C．Kids under the age of 2. | D．Some crazy bloggers. |
| A．Children’s New Trouble |
| B．Social Media |
| C．Kids’ Online Performance |
| D．Mommy Bloggers |
5 . It’s often said of British people that they are very aware of each other’s social rank. Britons can usually work out a fellow countryman’s background from the way they speak or dress, and may even treat them differently based on this. But although this may have been truer in the past than it is today. Visitors to Britain say that they still notice it. The comic play Pygmalion by the Irish man George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), is a famous exploration of the importance of social rank in British society.
The main story of the play concerns a working class girl, Eliza Doolittle, a flower seller from London. Two upper class gentlemen try to see if they can get Doolittle to appear like an upper class lady after sending her for elocution lessons. Professor Henry Higgins, a language expert, says it can be done; his friend Colonel Pickering says that it’s impossible. Even so, Higgins sets out to teach Eliza how to “speak properly”.
Of course Eliza isn’t a lump of clay; she has her own will. She can see that it’s in her best interest to go along with Higgin’s plan to “improve herself”. She wants to be able to sell flowers in a shop rather than on the street. Still, Eliza’s willfulness means that it’s a bumpy（坎坷的）ride for everyone.
At the beginning of fourth act, the characters are at home after a ball（舞会）, at which Eliza proved that a flower girl can pass herself off as a lady after all. She was a triumph at the ball, and Higgins has won his bet.
But what happens next? Eliza has her future to worry about. She may be able to fool the upper class into thinking she’s one of them, but she isn’t really one of them.
Shaw seems to be telling us that social rank is about more than the someone talks---it’s about wealth and privilege. The whole experiment proves the idea that accents and classes are very superficial. The way one speaks and dresses are only markers of class. The class system itself, however, is something completely different.
1. According to the text, in Britain, the way a person speaks and dresses _____.| A．determines their social rank |
| B．used to have a strict code |
| C．is no longer cared about by other people |
| D．could affect other opinions of them |
| A．dance lessons | B．speech lessons |
| C．sales training | D． dress courses |
| A．She is forced to give up selling flowers on the street. |
| B．She is unwilling to participate in the experiment at first. |
| C．She is thought of as a respectable upper-class lady at the ball. |
| D．She is afraid that true background will be known by other people. |
| A．People should try to improve their accents. |
| B．One can enter the upper class after receiving training. |
| C．The way someone speaks makes a big difference to their social status. |
| D．A person’s social rank can’t truly be judged by the way they look and talk. |
6 . American actor James Dean has been dead for 65 years. James Dean, who died at the age of 24 in September 1955, starred in just three movies before he died in a car accident. They are Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant. Yet, he will star in a new movie about the Vietnam War thanks to digital technology, which generates images of James Dean by the computer.
The idea that one of the movies' most beloved former stars would be recreated digitally for a new film has been met with criticism. Captain America's actor Chris Evans called the plans to use Dean's images in the film disrespectful.
However, Mark Roesler, chairman of CMG said, “Dean has more than 183,000 followers on Instagram, and he is still important today. He is known as Hollywood's ‘rebel(叛逆者)’who famously said that if a man could bridge the gap(间隔) between life and death, if he could live after he was dead, then maybe he was a great man.” Roesler added, “What was considered rebellious in the 1950s is very different from what is rebellious today, and we feel confident that he would support this modern-day act of rebellion.”
Anton Ernst, the film's director, said, “I respect Dean's life and history. The movie is one of hope and love. There are still a lot of James Dean's fans worldwide and there would always be critics. All we can do is tell a great story.” Ernst added, “The Dean family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not want to let his fans down.”
1. Which film did Chris Evans star in?| A．Rebel Without a Cause. |
| B．Captain America. |
| C．East of Eden. |
| D．Giant. |
| A．James Dean's rebellious spirit is about life and death. |
| B．Roesler wanted to be a rebellious man like James Dean. |
| C．James Dean thought he was a great man full of rebellion. |
| D．Roesler believes James Dean would support the digital technology. |
| A．James Dean to Star in a New Film |
| B．James Dean's Death in 1955 |
| C．The Latest Development of Digital Technology |
| D．A Once Popular Movie On Again |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Thankful. | D．Uninterested. |
7 . 3 Days Dunhuang Bike Tour
Going on a bike is a great way to explore the natural beauty of Dunhuang. Our tour is spent riding along the country road and the edge of town where we’ll pass by country houses, farmlands and vineyards (葡萄园) to show you the beauty of the little oasis (绿洲) in the desert.
Day 1
Meals: None
Accommodation (住宿): In Dunhuang
You will be picked up at the train station and moved to the hotel once you arrive in Dunhuang. Free for the rest of the day. Dunhuang is located on the western end of Hexi Corridor, at the meeting point of Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang in the Northwest of China. Known as Shazhou in ancient times, Dunhuang served as a rest stop for traders and due to its special geographical location, it was the gateway through which many religions (宗教) like Buddhism, Islam and Christianity entered China.
Day 2
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Dunhuang
You need to get up and start biking early in the morning. First, we will ride 30 minutes to the Mogao Caves (10 km) and visit the biggest Buddhist art gallery of the world. After lunch, we will ride bike to the White Horse Pagoda which is located in the countryside (12 km) and was built in 386 A.D. in memory of the white horse of the greatest Buddhist translator, Kumarajiva. Then we will have dinner at a local farmer’s restaurant. In the evening, we will ride bike to the famous SingingSand Dunes and Yueyaquan (6 km). Finally, we will ride back to the hotel.
Day 3
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: None
Be dropped off at the airport and call it a day.
1. What can the riders do during the tour?| A．Enjoy the beauty of the countryside. |
| B．Find the best way to visit Dunhuang. |
| C．Have to put up with the heat in the desert. |
| D．Go cycling in downtown Dunhuang. |
| A．horse races |
| B．tourism programs |
| C．business activities |
| D．Buddhist arguments |
| A．They hold art exhibitions. |
| B．They have places for horses. |
| C．They have religious backgrounds. |
| D．They are tourist information centers. |
8 . Nowadays more and more people like to travel, especially when vacations come. A great number of people rush out of their homes or companies to travelling spots. They either drive or take a bus, a train, a ship and so on. Some even ride bikes.
However, there is another way of travelling — poorism. People have a tour in the poorest areas of the world. Some people may take a one-day poor tour, and some even pay to stay in very poor neighborhoods to experience the lowest living standards in the world. Poorism tours take place around the world, and not just in the third world countries. You can, for instance, tour New York neighborhoods in the Bronx, in the Bund of Shanghai. Such tours can take people into the heart of poor areas within some large and rich cities. These tours may awaken people to pay more attention to long-standing poverty, or the effects of war.
Some suggest that tours in the poor areas can raise social care. And the money from the tour can be donated to help the people there.
1. What's the meaning of the underlined word “poorism” in the second paragraph?| A．贫困 | B．穷人 | C．穷游 | D．可怜的人 |
| A．to show how rich they are |
| B．to experience the poor life |
| C．to enjoy the beautiful scenes |
| D．to see poor people |
| A．care for the poverty more |
| B．know about the countryside |
| C．go to big cities |
| D．go into the heart of rich cities |
9 . On account of the government shutdown, many of the city’s best attractions, such as the national museums, are closed. It may affect your social plans. That’s especially true if you have out-of-town visitors coming to the District. Don’t worry! For every closed museum, we’ve offered up a suitable substitute that is privately run, thus not subject to the shutdown. Here’s where you can go instead.
Banneker-Douglass Museum or Alexandria Black History Museum
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is one of the hottest draws on the National Mall, with free tickets taken weeks in advance. Its sister museum, the Anacostia Community Museum, takes a community-focused look at African American history. So does the Banneker- Douglass Museum in Annapolis, which traces the African American experience in Maryland, and the Alexandria Black History Museum, where exhibitions honor local activists and explore the influence of slavery in the area. And unlike the African American Museum, neither requires you to plan ahead.
Glenstone
Wandering through the galleries at Glenstone, you’ll come across some of the biggest names in 20th century art—Jackson Pollock, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Robert Rauschenberg. Glenstone sits on a 230-acre estate (土地) that doubles as an outdoor sculpture garden. Free tickets for Glenstone are often reserved weeks in advance, but 72 free tickets are available every day for anyone who takes a Montgomery County Ride—On Bus from Rockville Metro Station to the museum.
The African Art Museum of Maryland
Masks, musical instruments and jewelry can be found in Fulton, where the African Art Museum of Maryland houses a collection of traditional and contemporary African artworks and objects. And the best part, for visitors on a budget? Admission is free.
1. Where can visitors go to explore the history of African Americans during the shutdown?| A．The galleries at Glenstone | B．The African Art Museum of Maryland |
| C．The African American Museum. | D．Banneker-Douglass Museum. |
| A．Make sculptures in the outdoor garden. |
| B．Take a Montgomery County Ride on bus. |
| C．Get access to works of famous artists. |
| D．Enjoy a collection of contemporary African artworks. |
| A．To introduce different kinds of art exhibitions. |
| B．To provide an alternative to museums during the government shutdown. |
| C．To compare public museums with private ones. |
| D．To advertise some private museums in the area. |
10 . There have been many problems with our schools today, the biggest of which is closely related to our culture. In general, our culture, as represented in the media, gets excited by famous stars, and constantly stresses that it's what you have, not what you are, that counts. Parents are encouraged to be away from even very small children for most of the day. Too many voters go for politicians who would rather cut school funding (基金）than to get rid of tax cuts for the wealthy. All contribute greatly to the problems of educating our children.
Today's teachers have to deal with a culture that is vastly different than in the past. They report that there is, among more children than ever, a lack of motivation, no drive to succeed or even try. The role models that boys view in the media mostly consist of men in comedies and other shows who are rude and often extremely immature: self-centered overpaid athletes; men in movies, television dramas, video games, etc. who are preoccupied with violence and power. As Leonard Sax wrote in "Boys Adrift". "Teenage boys are looking for models of mature adulthood. but we no longer make any collective effort to provide such models. "Girls are attacked not only with such annoying images (形象）of males. .but also with women who are preoccupied with appearance and are extremely materialistic.
In such a cultural environment, it is more important than ever to have responsible, loving and caring parents who have enough time and motivation to devote to their children and see to it as their duty to model for them and raise them with high standards of honesty and responsibility along with tending to their physical needs. They need to care enough to see that their children are not attacked with the garbage that comes from movie, television and computer screens. In today s culture, they are basically alone in this effort since, unfortunately, so much is working against them.
Until we, as a culture, face the truth about ourselves-that we are not providing adequately for a great many of our children--the storm will continue to rage (肆虐）over our education system.
1. How is paragraph 1 mainly developed?| A．By analyzing causes. | B．By showing differences. |
| C．By describing a process. | D．By using time order. |
| A．Narrow access to entertainment. | B．Poor understanding abilities. |
| C．Few materialistic models. | D．Little desire for success. |
| A．devote more to their children |
| B．find honest models for their children |
| C．keep their children away from computers |
| D．help their children develop motivation |
| A．Positive. | B．Ambiguous. |
| C．Dissatisfied. | D．Approving. |
