1 . To bring the Olympic spirit to developing nations in the late 1990s, the Olympic Committee allowed a small number of “wild card” athletes to join the Games. But because they didn’t have to go through any qualifying rounds to compete, when they arrived, not all of the competitors were prepared. One such athlete was a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea named Eric Moussambani. When Moussambani arrived at the 2000 Sydney Games, he’d only been training for the 100-meter freestyle for about eight months. He’d also never been in an Olympic-size pool and had never raced more than 50 meters. Regardless, he was determined to represent his country.
The three wild-card athletes were given their own race, and Moussambani was next to the other two swimmers from Niger and Tajikistan. When the official called the swimmers to begin the game, both of Moussambani’s competitors were disqualified for false starts. Left to swim by himself, Moussambani dove in and dog paddled, breathing for air and moving his arms and legs. Halfway through the race, the situation looked so serious that the audience seriously worried he was drowning.
When Moussambani finally passed the finish line and pulled himself from the water, the applause thundered. His final time was 1:52.72 - more than twice that of swimmers in the previous race. But Moussambani couldn’t have been happier. He told reporters, “I’ m going to jump and dance all night long in celebration of my personal success.”
Moussambani’s courage and determination made him an Olympic celebrity (名人). He kept training for the 2004 Games and even got his time down to a respectable 57 seconds.
1. What can we infer about “wild card” athletes?| A．They arrive late. | B．They are well-prepared. |
| C．They are the best athletes. | D．They are from developing countries. |
| A．He lost in the race. | B．He swam unskillfully. |
| C．He failed at the beginning. | D．He disappointed everyone. |
| A．Extremely excited. | B．Quite ashamed. |
| C．Very disappointed. | D．Pretty calm. |
| A．Smart and flexible. | B．Patient and careful. |
| C．Brave and determined. | D．Optimistic and modest. |
2 . Have you ever noticed that your fingertips are wrinkled (起皱的) when you’ve just finished swimming or washing dishes? It seems as if your hands have aged 30 years in a second. But is this an accident? Or is it something that nature has built into our bodies?
“If your finger’s wrinkling up had no use at all, it wouldn’t need to.” Professor Tom Smulders from Newcastle University UK told BBC News. By studying wet fingers closely, Smulders and his partners found that the wrinkles looked a bit like the patterns on the car tire or the bottom of the running shoes. So they made a guess that wrinkles on fingers might be able to help the hand hold things more tightly.
To test this, researchers asked 20 people to pick up marbles (大理石) from water with their hands. But before they started, some of the people had to keep their hands in water for half an hour. The researchers found that the people with wrinkled fingers completed the task faster than those with dry hands. But when they were asked to move dry marbles, all the people performed equally well no matter they had the wrinkled fingers or not. Researchers said our ancestors might not have played with marbles but wrinkled fingers could have made it easier for them to climb around in the wet forests and catch fish from rivers. Similarly, our toes also get wrinkled in water. This may have developed from our ancestors need to run on wet ground.
But the question is if wrinkled fingers are so helpful, why don’t our hands just stay that way all the time? Researchers explained that wrinkling had its disadvantage: wet fingertips are far less sensitive than smooth ones, reducing our sense of touch.
1. What does the underlined word “this” in the third paragraph refer to?| A．Whether fingers have wrinkles after they are put in water. |
| B．Whether wrinkled fingers can hold things more tightly. |
| C．Why keeping things in water makes them wrinkled. |
| D．Why wrinkles help hands hold things more tightly. |
| A．wrinkled hands hold dry things more tightly than dry hands do |
| B．dry hands hold dry things more tightly than wrinkled hands do |
| C．wrinkled hands hold wet things more tightly than dry hands do |
| D．dry hands hold wet things more tightly than wrinkled hands do |
| A．They are too sensitive to be touched. |
| B．They might be more likely to get hurt. |
| C．They cannot hold things tightly enough. |
| D．They are not so sensitive as dry fingers. |
3 . Beat the Burglar
Don’t invite crime -- take basic, sensible precautions (预防). Your house and possession are valuable and must be properly protected. When you buy a lock, you buy time. The best prevention is delay and noise which could mean discovery.
When you leave it- lock it! First of all, fit security locks to all doors and windows and a safety chain on the front door. Secondly, use them! If you have any ladders or tools, don’t leave them lying about in the garden, lock them away. “Safe”or “secret” places for keys and valuables are not reliable -- nine times out of ten. they are the first place a thief will look. | When you move house… When you move into a new home even if it is fitted with security locks, change them. You don’t know who else may have keys. Never let strangers into your house. An official-looking cap is not enough, ask for proof of identity and look at it carefully -- if you are still not satisfied, don’t let the person in. |
Valuables need special protection Valuables should really be given special protection- preferably by leaving them with your bank. A small security safe works too, but not to the most determined burglar. It is also important to keep an up-to-date list of valuables and their descriptions. In the case of fine art paintings, or jewelry, color photographs can sometimes be of assistance to the police if you are unfortunate enough to have them stolen. Enter the details on the back of the pictures. But don’t keep such documents in your house, keep them at the bank or with your insurance company. | Going on holiday? Don’t talk about your holidays and future plans loudly in public. Do remember to cancel the milk and newspapers and also to draw curtains back. Operate a “Good Neighbor” program to ensure that mail is taken in, the house is checked regularly and that lights are put on. Call at your local police station and tell them you are going away. Make sure that they know how to contact you in case of trouble Don’ t leave cash or valuables in the house -- take them with you or put them in the bank. |
1. Which is the safest way to protect your valuables?
| A．Putting your valuables in your safe. |
| B．Giving a list of your valuables to the police. |
| C．Taking pictures of your valuables. |
| D．Keeping your valuables at the bank. |
| A．shouldn’t make it known that your home is empty |
| B．shouldn’t leave your keys to your neighbors |
| C．should cancel your mail |
| D．should ask the police to check your house regularly |
| A．To inform people of safety standards. |
| B．To educate people on prevention of burglars. |
| C．To introduce the advantages of banks. |
| D．To prove the importance of security locks. |
4 . Every year in May, art galleries and museums prepare shows to honor Leonardo Da Vinci, who died in France on May 2, 1519. He is remembered as one of the greatest artists and creative thinkers of all time. His most famous paintings are The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
Recently, researchers have been studying a painting-Landscape 8P which, they think, is Da Vinci's earliest-known artwork. They used special lighting to study the artwork and discovered there were two images(图像)，not one. One drawing is on the back of the piece, which dates back to August 5，1473.
The drawing on the front was painted when Leonardo was 21 years old. It shows a river valley and a castle outside the city of Florence. There is little left of the drawing on the back, perhaps because it was wiped off. Only a bridge over a river can be seen. But there is writing on both sides.
The writing on the front gives the date and goes from right to left. Some people would call this "mirror-writing". It's a way Leonardo often wrote in his notebooks. The writing on the back goes from left to right and tells about an agreement, probably to produce a work of art.
Cecilia Frosinini is an art historian. She said, "Leonardo was born left-handed, but was taught to write with his right hand from a very young age. By looking at his writings, including from this drawing, we can see his right-handed handwriting is educated and well done. ”
Experts compared the two handwriting samples(样本)and said they were both made by Leonardo. They show he could write well using his left hand or his right hand.
The drawing is known as Landscape 8P from its number in an art list. It will be part of an exhibit at Italy's Uffizi Gallery. The gallery director, Eike Schmidt, said by studying the drawing researchers gave us a new way of looking at Leonardo's drawing technique and his abilities in writing.
1. Which of the following mentioned in the text has been studied by researchers recently?| A．The Mona Lisa. | B．Landscape 8P. |
| C．Mirror-writing. | D．The Last Supper. |
| A．A statement about the painting. |
| B．An introduction about Leonardo. |
| C．An agreement to produce a painting. |
| D．Something about the city of Florence. |
| A．He could write with either of his hands. |
| B．He did bad in right-handed handwriting. |
| C．He wasn't good at writing with his left hand. |
| D．He taught himself to write with right hand. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
5 . A person can use all five senses while spending time with dolphins. We can see them play in the waves, hear them call, and feel their skin. Dolphins can sense you, too, but not in all the same ways. They have good eyesight, for example, but no sense of smell. Sensory biologists try to understand connections between animal behaviors and the senses. One team of these scientists recently made an unexpected discovery about certain dolphins.
The researchers found that Guiana dolphins can detect electric fields, an ability that may help them find fish to eat. The secret to this newly found sense, say the scientists, is hidden in the dolphins' snouts (口鼻部)．
“We were really surprised to find this in the dolphin. Nobody had expected it,” said Wolf Hanke, who led the new dolphin study.
Hanke and his team suspected the dolphin's electro－sense might have something to do with small dimples (酒窝) on the animal's snout. “We thought they must have some functions,” Hank said. To find out for certain, his team studied two Guiana dolphins.
The scientists first studied the dimples of a 29－year－old dolphin that had died of natural causes. Under a microscope, the dimples looked familiar: they were similar to the sensors used by other animals to detect electric fields.
Next, Hanke and his team tested a live dolphin, a 28－year－old named Paco, to see if he could recognize an electric field. They taught Paco to swim close to a device that could create a weak electric field in the water. Then the team taught Paco to swim away from the device if he detected any changes. When the scientists created an electric field, Paco swam away—showing that he knew something had changed. When there was no electric field, Paco stayed there. When Paco's snout was covered in plastic, he didn't react to the electric field.
Paco's behavior told the scientists that the dolphin used his snout to detect the tiny electric field. “This is a major breakthrough,” Peter Madsen, a sensory biologist, said.
1. From the passage we learn that________．| A．the ability to detect electric fields helps Guiana dolphins survive |
| B．Guiana dolphins can create electric fields |
| C．dolphins don't have the same senses as humans |
| D．the sensors to detect electric fields are hidden in the dolphins’ eyes |
| A．create | B．declare |
| C．attract | D．find |
| A．employed a device to produce a electric field |
| B．used a device made of plastic |
| C．taught Paco how to change the electric field |
| D．helped Paco to leave the water |
| A．Cautious. | B．Negative. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Positive. |
6 . Before you start feeling regretful about eating too much, consider a new study from the Center for Nutrition Research at Illinois Institute of Technology that suggests the fat in avocado (鳄梨) can help you prevent hunger and stay more satisfied longer.
The study was published in the journal Nutrients on May 8, 2019. It concludes that overweight people who added avocado to their meals as a substitute for carbohydrates (碳水化合物) like cola were able to stave off hunger longer and increase meal enjoyment. On three different days, researchers fed 31 overweight adults one of three meals with the same calories; a high-fat meal with one avocado, a high-fat meal with half an avocado, or a low-fat meal. For six hours afterward, the volunteers reported how hungry they felt.
Everyone reported feeling fuller longer after the meal featuring a whole avocado; even the meal with half an avocado helped satisfy the volunteers longer than the low-fat meal. Further tests revealed that the avocado meals helped improve an intestinal (肠的) hormone called PYY—when it drops, you feel hungry.
“For years, fats have been targeted as the main cause of obesity, and now carbohydrates have come under scrutiny (监视) for their role in appetite regulation and weight control,” said Britt Burton-Freeman, PhD, director of the Center for Nutrition Research at Illinois Tech. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution when it comes to best meal composition for managing appetite. However, understanding the relationship between food chemistry and its physiological (生理的) effects in different populations can reveal opportunities for addressing appetite control and reducing rates of obesity, putting us a step closer to personalized dietary recommendations.”
Although nutritional experts have long blamed fat for weight gain, more and more studies like this one indicate that eating a proper amount of healthy fat can help prevent hunger and assist with weight control. This study proves that small, enjoyable changes in your diet like swapping a piece of bread for a yummy half-avocado can lead you to achieve your weight-loss goals.
1. What’s the possible meaning of the underlined phrase “stave off” in paragraph 2?| A．Feel. | B．Delay. |
| C．Stand. | D．Hold. |
| A．The one who had lunch with an avocado. |
| B．The one who had a meal with low fat. |
| C．The one who has a low PYY level. |
| D．The one who has a fast intestinal movement. |
| A．By making sure different people have their own appetite control and can reduce unnecessary food. |
| B．By knowing the connection between food chemistry and its physiological effects for different people. |
| C．Through finding different people’s appetites. |
| D．Through understanding people’s eating habits. |
| A．Terrible. | B．Bitter. |
| C．Unpleasant. | D．Delicious. |
7 . I took a motor rickshaw to the train station in the city of Belapur. The driver didn’t speak much English, but understood “Belapur Railway Station”. I had my tabla, a traditional drum from India, my suitcase with my clothes and other essentials. The feeling of flying by cars in this little machine is: as if you are inside a box with tiny wheels, dashing through terrible traffic.
I arrived at the station safely, and took a heavy breath as I unloaded my baggage before the ticket office. It was the first time that I had taken a train in India. I wanted to go to Tilak Nagar, where I was going to learn traditional vocal music. Standing in line, I counted at least 20 people staring at me. I bought my ticket, which was only 55 cents for a 20-minute train ride. The prices still blow me away.
When the train came after 15 minutes or so, I got on with all speed, as the train only stops for a few seconds. The locals again stared at me. This was a train especially for local transport. After a while, a young man asked me if he could talk to me. He wanted to know if I was in a band. I stated no, but I love to play the tabla. Through the conversation I knew he was a student of engineering with his exams being tomorrow — I wished him good luck for the exams sincerely, as I know what it means to Indian students to get good marks on their exams. If students do not get good enough scores, job opportunities will be few in a highly-competitive environment.
The student I met helped me unload my luggage as the train reached Tilak Nagar Station. He shook my hand strongly and looked into my eyes with marks of genuine care and friendship, despite us meeting for only 20 minutes.
1. Which of the following best explains the author’s feeling of riding in a motor rickshaw?| A．Relaxed. | B．Courageous. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Excited. |
| A．Because he was carrying a strange instrument. |
| B．Because his suitcase was too large for him. |
| C．Because he was a foreigner to the local people. |
| D．Because he couldn’t understand what they said. |
| A．He wanted to learn to play tabla from the author. |
| B．He was a student on the way to a university. |
| C．He was a genuine and helpful university student. |
| D．He wished to find a job in Tilak Nagar. |
| A．Traveling Is the Most Memorial Time | B．A Warm-hearted Indian Student I Met |
| C．I Learn to Play the Tabla in India | D．My First Train Travel in India |
8 . Lately, the concerns about bees being endangered have become widely noted among people all over the world, but how to take action about it has become scarce in this age. That’s why World Bee Day exists to educate people about the importance of bees and how they can help preserve them for the sake of the future. If you want to help save these fuzzy insects from extinction, then read down below to learn more about what World Bee Day is about!
World Bee Day corresponds (相一致) with an important influencer in the pioneering of beekeeping. Anton Jansa, who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping techniques in his native Slovenia, was one of the first people to help bring about the importance of bees in the world environment. Since then, beekeeping has become a vital necessity in the world’s ecosystems and economic systems. However, not many people realize the importance of bees or know how to help save the bees, which led to the announcement of World Bee Day through the United Nations.
The United Nations set World Bee Day to raise awareness of the importance of bees. Because bees are under a continuous threat from human activity, including the introduction of invasive insects, pesticides and land-use change, which has continuously been destroying bee colonies (蜂群) over time. World Bee Day helps educate people about the importance of bees and what they do for the environment, which includes how they help grow 90% of the world’s wildflower plants, 35% of the world’s crops, and help build ecosystems all over the world. With these statistics, the United Nations has created various programs all over the world to increase awareness of protecting bees and what you can do to help this cause.
If you’re looking for a way to help raise awareness of bee endangerment, then share and spread the news about World Bee Day through social media. If you’re wanting to do more, find a charity that goes towards bee conservation and donates through there. Start a garden and place in a wide arrangement of fruits, vegetables, and flowers that you know bees would like.
1. What’s the purpose of setting up World Bee Day?| A．To prove that bees are now endangered. |
| B．To teach people ways of protecting bees. |
| C．To show the meaning of the scarce bees. |
| D．To warn people of the danger of bees. |
| A．He was the first to keep bees in his motherland Slovenia. |
| B．He used a brand-new technique to keep bees in the 19th century. |
| C．He made people know the importance of bees in the environment. |
| D．He helped people know the ways to help to save the bees exactly. |
| A．To show the number of the world’s wildflower plants is big. |
| B．To prove that bees are important to build ecosystems. |
| C．To help people understand the necessity of World Bee Day. |
| D．To have readers know what to do to protect the bees. |
| A．Present colorful pictures of bees on social media. |
| B．Share the news of kinds of bees that are dying out. |
| C．Raise and donate money for bees with your friends. |
| D．Build a garden with many plants in it. |
9 . Scientists say they have created a new device that can turn brain signals into electronic speech.The invention could one day give people who have lost the ability to speak a better way of communicating than current ones.
The device was developed by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.Their results were recently published in a study in the journal Nature.Scientists created a"brain machine connection"that was set in the brain.The device was built to read and record brain signals that helped control the muscles to produce speech.These include the lips, tongue and jaw .
The study involved five volunteer patients who were being treated for epilepsy(癫痫).The individuals had the ability to speak and already had electrodes(电极)set in their brains.The volunteers were asked to read several hundred sentences aloud while the researchers recorded their brain activity.
The researchers used audio recordings to reproduce the vocal(发声的) muscle movement which is the key to producing human speech.Future studies will test the technology on people who are unable to speak.
The study reports the reproduced sentences were understandable to hundreds of human listeners asked to write out what they heard.The listeners were able to write out 43 percent of sentences with perfect accuracy.
Edward Chang is a professor of the university's Weill Institute.He was a lead researcher on the project.Chang admitted that much more research of the system would be needed to reach the goal of perfectly reproducing spoken language.
1. Who will probably benefit most from this device?| A．Those unable to hear. | B．Those unable to see. |
| C．Those unable to speak. | D．Those unable to write. |
| A．It could control the muscles. | B．It could produce human speech. |
| C．It could transform brain signals. | D．It could read and record brain signals. |
| A．Brain activity. | B．Muscle control. |
| C．Audio recording. | D．Vocal muscle movement. |
| A．Science. | B．Fashion. |
| C．Education. | D．Entertainment. |
10 . The world’s top automakers are increasingly offering more electric vehicle models. This growth is expected to continue， with more people choosing to hit the road with clean-running electric- powered cars.
Environmentalists have praised the automakers for taking major steps to limit harmful pollutants linked to worldwide climate change. But electric vehicles are also known for not producing another kind of pollution—noise. They run on batteries instead of fuel， and can operate in silence.
While many people might consider this a good thing， quiet cars can also cause problems. The main danger is that people walking in areas around electric vehicles face a greater risk of being hit if they cannot hear the cars coming.
Governments in the United States and Europe have recognized this problem. So， they have set requirements for manufacturers to add warning sounds to vehicles operating on electricity.
The U.S.Department of Transportation finalized its rules a year ago. The rules require electric and hybrid (混合能源) vehicles to be equipped with some kind of warning sound when moving at speeds up to 30 kilometers per hour. The rules are aimed at preventing injuries among people walking or riding bicycles and to protect the blind.
So what kinds of sounds can we expect to hear from the next generation of electric vehicles? One of the easiest solutions would be for carmakers to simply reproduce the sound a car would make if it actually did run on fuel. But many industry officials believe this would be a mistake.They say this would not support the electric vehicle’s true identity. It would also limit great possibilities to link the car’s sound to a whole new image, which could help increase sales.
Frank Welsch is head of technical development at Germany’s Volkswagen. He said that finding the perfect sound mix is not an easy process. “The electric vehicle sound is its identity,” he said. “It cannot be too annoying. It cannot sound like anything we had in the past.”
An official from Mercedes-Benz said the sound was designed to provide a safe warning without annoying passengers inside the vehicle. He said the goal was to create a car that remains completely quiet on the inside, but fills the sound requirements and supports the model’s image on the outside.
It might seem strange to think that part of our automotive future is currently being developed in the same kinds of recording studios used by musicians. But that is exactly what is happening.
1. The underlined words “hit the road” in Paragraph 1 probably mean_________.| A．clean a road | B．start a trip |
| C．avoid an accident | D．reduce noise pollution |
| A．introduce the topic of the passage |
| B．list the advantages of automobiles |
| C．provide some facts about electric cars |
| D．stress the importance of saving energy |
| A．limit pollutants | B．increase sales |
| C．prevent injuries | D．make cars smarter |
| A．Electric Car Sounds Promote Sales to a Large Degree |
| B．Recording Studios Will Create Sounds for All Electric Cars |
| C．Governments Call on People to Design Electric Car Sounds |
| D．Electric Cars Need Creative Sounds to Replace Engine Noise |
