1 . Otters, are cute, this no one can deny. They have big eyes, short and flat noses and claws (爪子) like tiny hands. They look even cuter when they wear hats and throw food balls into their mouths as if they were bar snacks, like Takechiyo, a pet otter in Japan. Documenting Takechiyo’s funny behavior has earned his owner nearly 230,000 followers on Instagram, a photo-sharing app.
The function of the first paragraph is to ________.
| A．present the main idea | B．introduce the main topic |
| C．set readers thinking | D．illustrate the writer’s point |
2 . Although these teachers are separated by thousands of miles, their methods of encouraging children to write spring from a common source: the Bread Loaf School. There, near Vermont’s Middlebury College, grade school and high school teachers give up part of their vacations each summer to spend six weeks brainstorming, studying and trading experiences as they try to design new methods of getting their pupils to write. Says Dixie Goswami, a professor who heads Bread Loaf’s program in writing: “We have nothing against ‘skill-and-drill’ writing curricula, except that they don’t work.” Instead, Bread Loaf graduates have created one inventive program to work together to cultivate student writers.
What’s the purpose of the Bread Loaf literature and writing program?
| A．To help students study English and train for advanced degrees. |
| B．To promote teachers’ teaching ability to motivate students to write. |
| C．To look for excellent educational leaders in every part of America. |
| D．To cover the cost for tuition and board of rural schools with funds. |
3 . A study was conducted with people who wanted to purchase a car to determine their ability to assess the opportunity cost of that purchase. When asked “If you buy this car today, what will you not be able to do in the future as a result?”, the majority said, “If I buy this SUV today, I will not be able to buy a sports car tomorrow.”
According to the passage, the opportunity cost in consumption field refers to ________.
| A．the cost to pay for various opportunities |
| B．what a person is willing to give up if he buys a specific item |
| C．the opportunities to invest in costly items |
| D．the comparison of prices of the same item from different sources |
4 . It is hard to imagine that many people are stupid enough to want children because it looks so fantastic — most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it is interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren’t in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting a part of the way celebrities live might make us look just a little bit like them.
Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．Having children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms. |
| B．Celebrity moms have influenced our attitude towards child raising. |
| C．Having children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life. |
| D．We sometimes neglect the happiness from child raising. |
5 . Lucy M. Calkins, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College and a much-respected expert on how to teach reading, has drawn attention with an eight-page essay. Here is part of her argument: “The important thing is to teach kids that they needn’t freeze when they come to a hard word, nor skip past it. The important thing is to teach them that they have resources to draw upon, and to use those resources to develop endurance.”
Both sides agree that children need to acquire the vocabulary and background information that gives meaning to words. But first, they have to pronounce them correctly to connect the words they have learned to speak.
Calkins said in her essay: “Much of what the phonics people are saying is praiseworthy,” but it would be a mistake to teach phonics “at the expense of reading and writing.”
The two sides appear to agree with her on that.
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．phonics approach has been proved to be successful |
| B．children don’t shy away from difficulties in reading |
| C．the two reading approaches might integrate with each other |
| D．reading and writing are much more important than phonics |
6 . Rome can be pricey for travelers, which is why many choose to stay in a hostel (旅社). The hostels in Rome offer a bed in a dorm room for around $25 a night, and for that, you’ll often get to stay in a central location (位置) with security and comfort.
What is probably the major concern of travelers who choose to stay in a hostel?
| A．Comfort. | B．Security. |
| C．Price. | D．Location. |
7 . Regardless of how famous they are, and despite the star treatment they receive, many celebrities make it a point to give back to charities. Some have even set up their own private foundations. Their widely publicised visits to troubled areas of the world help to raise awareness of issues such as famine and poverty. According to Jane Cooper of Unicef UK, celebrities have a unique ability to reach huge numbers of people, many of whom might not otherwise be engaged in charitable causes. She pointed out that famous faces had played a significant role in raising funds in recent years, and their energies had produced tangible results, such as enabling millions of children in poorer countries to attend school.
But in spite of these successes there is evidence to suggest that celebrity endorsement (代言) may be overrated. In a survey of members of the public to find out if celebrity involvement would encourage people to donate, researchers found that the impact was not as great as previously thought. When shown a list of well-known organisations and famous people who represent them, over half of respondents were unable to match the celebrity with the cause. What’s more, three quarters claimed that they didn’t respond to celebrity endorsement in any way. The survey also showed that a few names did stand out as being associated with particular charities. But the presence of a celebrity in a campaign, was not a significant factor when it came to a decision to donate time or money. Instead, the majority of people contribute because of personal connections in their lives and families which make a charity important to them.
In another study aimed at young people, most participants cited a compelling (无法抗拒的) mission as their main motivation to give. The second most important incentive was if a friend or peer recommended supporting a particular cause. Only two percent of respondents said they were motivated by celebrity endorsement. This seems to contradict the general assumption that teenagers are particularly influenced by famous people. One possible explanation is that there is a general fatigue (疲倦) with celebrity culture. There is also a suspicion that the stars are the one who benefit most when they offer to do charity work. Some critics have accused that celebrities might actually take attention away from issues by attracting more attention than the causes they represent.
So taking all these issues into account, is it time for charities to rethink their campaign strategies and look for alternative ways to reach new audiences? Whichever point of view you favour, there seems to be opportunities for more research into how charity campaigns might develop relationships with celebrities to maximise their potential. This in turn will open up more engagement, and better targeted campaigns-which can only benefit those who really matter — the people and animals that are in need of assistance.
1. What does the underlined word “tangible” in paragraph I probably mean?| A．Definite. | B．Complicated. | C．Limited. | D．Temporary. |
| A．they gain benefit from the charities |
| B．they are forced to finish a necessary task |
| C．they believe in the famous people they like |
| D．they are inspired by the people around them |
| A．what celebrities achieve in doing charities |
| B．How young people react to celebrity culture |
| C．why young people are hardly influenced by celebrities |
| D．who is to blame for taking attention away from charities |
| A．Objective. | B．Positive. |
| C．Negative. | D．Unclear. |
8 . Nothing succeeds like success, as every parent of a straight-A student knows, but trying to stress academic excellence by telling your child, “You’re so smart!” may be counterproductive. Why? According to a 2017 study, children who think their intelligence is fixed are less likely to pay attention to and bounce back（重新振作）from mistakes than children who think intelligence can grow and change.
In the study, researchers looked at 123 children. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset”(believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded. During the recording, researchers noted that brain activity stopped within a half-second after making a mistake, as children became aware of their mistake and paid closer attention to what went wrong. The larger the brain response was, the more the child focused on the mistake. Based on the data, they concluded that children with a “growth mindset” were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake. While children with a “fixed mindset” were able to “bounce back”, only if they gave their full attention to the mistake.
For parents, the lessons are clear. Don’t pay your children compliments that suggest that intelligence is fixed. If your child hands you an A+ score, don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Instead, say, “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.
Besides, many parent shy away from addressing a child’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. ”You’ll get it next time. ” without offering them the chances to figure out what goes wrong. Instead, it’s better to reassure your children that mistakes happen, and work to figure out where and how they make the mistake.
1. Which of the following best explains “counterproductive” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Opposite | B．Competitive |
| C．Successful | D．Unknown |
| A．They made fewer mistakes. | B．They tried to avoid mistakes |
| C．They had smaller brain response | D．They focused more on the mistake. |
| A．You are so careless |
| B．Paying compliments to children |
| C．You’ll get it the next time |
| D．Let’s find out how you made it. |
| A．Overstressing the intelligence. |
| B．Pay compliment to children. |
| C．Addressing children’s mistakes. |
| D．Offering chances to find mistakes. |
9 . Was your school noisy or peaceful? It might not seem important, but a growing body of research suggests that sounds can have an impact on learning, performance and creativity.
Whether background sounds are beneficial or not seems to depend on what kind of noise it is—and the volume. In a series of studies published last year, Ravi Mehta from the College of Business at Illinois and his colleagues tested people's creativity while exposed to a soundtrack made up of background noises—such as coffee-shop chatter and construction-site drilling—at different volumes. They found that people were more creative when the background noises were played at a medium level than when volume was low. Loud background noise, however, damaged their creativity.
This makes sense for a couple of reasons, says psychologist Dr Nick Perham, at Cardiff Metropolitan University in the UK, who studies the effect of sounds on learning but was not involved in the study. Firstly, he says, sounds that are most disturbing tend to be very variable. A general hum(嗡嗡声)in the background suggests a steady-state sound with not much variation. "So there's not much there to capture your attention- nothing disturbing the subjects," he says. At the same time, the background noise might cause the subjects to be in a slightly heightened state of arousal(觉醒), says Perham. "Medium arousal is best for good performance. So it might be that a general hum in the background gives an ideal level of arousal. " With that in mind, Perham suggests there may be some benefits to playing music or other sounds in an art class or other situations where creativity is key.
Many teachers all over the world already play music to students in class. Many are inspired by the belief that hearing music can improve IQ in tasks, the so-called Mozart effect. While the evidence actually suggests it's a stretch to say classical music improves brainpower, researchers do think pleasant sounds before a task can sometimes lift your mood and help you perform well, says Perham, who has done his own studies on the phenomenon. The key appears to be that you enjoy what you're hearing. "If you like the music or you like the sound—even listening to a Stephen King novel -then you did better. It didn't matter about the music," he says.
1. Which of the following is true according to the studies by Ravi Mehta and Nick Perham?| A．It's better not to expose people to any background noise while at work. |
| B．Construction-site drilling should be forbidden where there is a school. |
| C．Noises will harm people's health however low their volumes are. |
| D．A certain level of noise may do good to people's creativity. |
| A．keep the classroom quiet |
| B．play music at a steady and medium volume |
| C．broadcast classical music |
| D．vary the volume of the music constantly |
| A．prove the usefulness of pleasing sounds |
| B．confirm the belief of Mozart effect |
| C．challenge the importance of soft music |
| D．cast doubt on the power of music in raising IQ |
| A．Learning Power: Noise and Music Work |
| B．Noise Meeting Music: A Blessing? |
| C．Noise or Music: Creativity in Danger |
| D．Brainpower: More Music and Less Noise |
10 . Even as a child, the best-known North American woman painter, Frida Kahlo exhibited an independent, rebellious spirit and lack of restraint that often got her into trouble.
At the age of six, however, Frida's life changed dramatically. She got polio and confined to her bed for nine months. The disease left Frida's right leg shorter and thinner than her left, and when she had recovered enough to return to school, she walked with a limp. She was often teased by her playmates, and although that was emotionally painful for her, she compensated by being outgoing and gained a reputation as a "character".
A turning point occurred in Frida's life in September, when she was involved in a near-fatal accident. The bus in which she was riding home after school crashed into a trolley car. The impact caused a metal rail to break loose, piercing Frida's entire body with the steel rod. The red Cross doctors who arrived and examined the victims separated the injured from the dying, giving the injured first priority. They took one look at Frida and put her with the hopeless cases.
The doctor eventually treated Frida, and miraculously she survived. She suffered a broken spine and two broken ribs. Her right leg was broken in 11 places, and her right foot was smashed. Her left shoulder was dislocated. From that point on, Frida Kahlo would never live a day without pain.
Although Frida recovered enough to lead a fairly normal life, the accident had severe psychological and physical consequences. she had to abandon her plan to become a doctor. Her slowly healing body kept her in bed for months, and it was during this time that Frida began to paint. Some artists look to nature or society for their inspiration, but Frida Kahlo looked inward. After her accident, Frida described her pain in haunting, dreamlike self-portraits. Most of her 200 paintings explore her vision of herself. The Broken Column（1944）, a small deer with Frida's head and a body pierced with arrows runs through the woods.
When she was in her forties, her health seriously declined, but Frida always kept her lively spirit. By then she was internationally known. When a Mexican gallery wanted to have a major exhibition of her work, she arranged to have her elaborately decorated, four-poster bed carried into the gallery so that she could receive people.
1. Polio left Kahlo with a limp, and as a result she became________.| A．shy and withdrawn | B．polite and graceful |
| C．friendly and unconventional | D．weak and silent |
| A．when she was still a child |
| B．after she suffered from polio |
| C．after a serious traffic accident happened |
| D．while she was already in her forties. |
| A．She painted many beautiful landscapes. |
| B．She painted pictures showing pain and suffering |
| C．She often used herself as a subject for her work |
| D．Her painting only reflected her inner world. |
| A．still an unknown artist | B．sorry she had taken up art |
| C．not accepted as an accomplished artist | D．a famous North American woman artist |
