1 . My life as a tax-paying employed person began in middle school, when, for three whole days, I worked on an assembly (装配) line. My best friend Betsy’s father was an executive (管理者) at Hough Bakeries, which, at special festivals, made little rabbit-shaped cakes for all its stores. The plant downtown needed eight kids for temporary help, and the shift (轮班) fell over spring break, during which I had no plans. Cake? I loved cake-icing especially. I’d earn minimum wage. I’d see how a factory worked. My parents thought all of this was a grand idea for a girl like me and called Betsy’s dad with their permission.
Our roles on the line were simple: Place cakes on conveyor belt. Attach icing ears. Apply icing eyes and nose. Remove the cakes from belt; place onto trays. This was harder than it sounds. With your mind wandering, the cakes pile up. As I told my parents that first night, it was all a little more high-pressure than I’d expected. Dad smiled. This was the sort of work that made you appreciate the money you earned, he told me. And if your feet hurt or the minutes felt like hours, well then that was just motivation to keep those grades up and get that college education.
And the icing? We kids were allowed to eat as much as we wanted. By noon the first day, I could barely look at the stuff. To borrow a favorite phrase from my father: The executives weren’t born yesterday.
1. Why did the writer decide to take the job?| A．To earn lots of money. |
| B．To enjoy her spring break. |
| C．To help Betsy’s father temporarily. |
| D．To learn of the operation of the plant. |
| A．The writer found the job simple. |
| B．The job needed great concentration. |
| C．The writer quit the job the first night. |
| D．Father laughed at the writer’s performance. |
| A．Inspiring. | B．Doubtful. | C．Critical. | D．Sympathetic. |
| A．She found the icing ugly. | B．She was tired from the work. |
| C．She had eaten too much icing. | D．She felt depressed with the job. |
2 . It was in my first year of work as a doctor. My mouth was dry, my palms sweaty and my voice trembling. The only thing that kept me focused was the thought that things were so much worse for the family I was talking to.
A woman in her early twenties had been brought in after a road traffic accident. She had suffered multiple injuries and had been rushed up to theatre. The surgeons had been unable to save her life and she died on the table. Ashen-faced, the consultant (会诊医生) told the woman's family the news. “Tom, I think it would be nice if it came from you,” my consultant said.
I stared blankly. “What?” I asked.
“About organ donation,” he replied. I swallowed hard. Surely this would be the last thing they'd want to talk about. It felt acutely awkward and ill-timed to be considering this kind of conversation while they were being engulfed in grief. But the problem with organ donation is that every minute counts. The clock is ticking because the sooner organs can be transplanted, the better the chance they will survive in the recipient's (接受者) body.
I began to feel sick. I opened the door and sat opposite them, convinced that I was only going to make things worse for them.
“It's what she'd have wanted,” the mother said before I'd even finished. The father nodded. “She was always so generous,” her father added.
As my consultant and I left them, it occurred to me that I'd been wrong in thinking it would be an awkward conversation. Nothing could take away the pain of having lost their daughter. Yet this last, final act had comforted them and helped them feel that the spirit of their daughter lived on m this act of generosity. Strangely, it is one of the most heart-wanning conversations I have ever had.
1. The first two paragraphs suggest________.| A．the woman died on the scene |
| B．it was hard for the author to face death |
| C．the author witnessed the traffic accident |
| D．the woman's death was told by the consultant |
| A．He was caught in a dilemma. | B．He was seriously ill at that time. |
| C．He failed to transplant the organ. | D．The woman's chance of survival was slim. |
| A．To do the author a favor. | B．To show respect for the doctor. |
| C．To follow then daughter’s will. | D．To end the awkward conversation. |
| A．The consultant’s assistance. | B．The author’s consideration. |
| C．The donor’s kindness. | D．The recipient’s appreciation. |
3 . When you hear the beginning of your favorite song from the radio, suddenly your neck is covered in goose bumps.
It's such a thing that a group of scientists call “skin excitement”—a feeling of cold caused not by a drop in temperature or sudden scare, but by the sense of beauty. “Skin excitement” can come from a song, a painting, a moving movie scene, or even a beloved memory-pretty much anything that causes the giving out of pleasure-soaked dopamine in your brain. But it does not come for all of us.
Your favorite music uncovers a lot about your personality，and so does how you respond to that music. Studies suppose that as few as 55 percent of people experience “skin excitement” when listening to music. And if you count yourself among this group, the goose bumps on your skin aren't the only giveaway—scientists can read it in your brain, too. In a new study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Harvard researchers performed brain scans on 10 students who said they reliably got cold when listening to music, and 10 students who didn't. They found that the cold-prone brains may really be excited by stronger emotions.
Cold-prone brains are generally more likely to show stronger emotional intelligence than no-cold brains. Cold-prone minds tend to have unusual active imagination, reflect more deeply on their emotions, and appreciate nature and the beauty of music and art to a stronger degree than no-cold brains.
So, what type of music causes the chills? It seems that the type is not so important; participants in the new study reported getting cold from songs of every kind. And any song connected with a strong emotional memory of the listener can produce the most reliable results. For me, that's the song Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler, which I listened to as a kid in the car with my dad, on the way to the summer camp.
1. What can we learn about “skin excitement” in the text?| A．It helps to produce doparmine. | B．It is caused by the pain in the skin. |
| C．It can be experienced by every music listener. | D．It is the human body's reaction to something nice. |
| A．The percentage of music lovers in students. |
| B．The solutions to the goose bumps on one's skin. |
| C．The differences between cold-prone and no-cold brains. |
| D．The relationship between one's music preference and personality. |
| A．Beautiful and intelligent. | B．Emotional and dishonest. |
| C．Imaginative and sensitive. | D．Brave and strong-minded. |
| A．Responses to Music Vary among People | B．A Feeling of Cold Is Caused by Horrible Music |
| C．Your Favorite Music Reveals Your Personality | D．Favorite Music May Bring Forth Goose Bumps |
4 . A shocking news report has revealed that more than one in five species of maple trees faces extinction, warning that 75% of the threatened species are “geographically restricted” in their native regions.
The trees are experiencing a vast decline in habitat, due to urban development, wood harvesting and agricultural expansion. Time is running out for the world's biodiversity. Every recent survey of plants and animals in the wild points to this. This is happening nearly everywhere rarer maples exist. And because of climate change, the narrow habitats that support species at the edges of dry places and at the tops of mountains are quickly disappearing.
The trees can be found in subtropical and tropical regions, as far south as Indonesia. The only species found in the UK, the field maple is not under threat. Not only are the trees a popular attractive feature in parks and public spaces, but they are a key part of the natural ecosystem in woodlands, as well as being an important wood crop in several countries. Although the sugar maple in North America, which produces maple juice, is not endangered, two of the closest relatives to the species are endangered.
The report notes that conserving at-risk species in their natural habitat is the best conservation tactic. But collections in botanical gardens and seed banks-called "ex situ collections" can act as insurance policies against extinction. There are currently 14 species of maple, including four that are critically endangered, which are absent from these types of collections.
One species in Mexico, the Acer binzayedii, is in “desperate need of conservation"”despite only being discovered in 2017. “It is at risk from climate change in its cloud forest habitat and threatened by logging and forest fires while it is also absent from 'ex situ collections',” the report adds. The report recommends developing conservation plans, monitoring species currently not at risk to ensure populations are maintained, and adding those missing maple species to seed banks.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．Action to protect maple trees. | B．The dangerous situation of maple trees. |
| C．Various maple trees' habitats in the world. | D．The conditions for diversity in maple trees. |
| A．They cannot produce juice. | B．They are found in America. |
| C．They are not at risk of extinction. | D．They have two endangered relatives. |
| A．Topic. | B．Approach. | C．Result. | D．Conclusion. |
| A．To offer a proposal. | B．To recommend a product. |
| C．To introduce maple species. | D．To warn people of disasters. |
5 . Slowing down was the last thing on Elaine Schaefer's mind when she turned 70 last year. She'd enjoyed an ambitious travel schedule for the previous decade. She didn't feel too old to travel.
Yet many people are asking that slightly embarrassing question: Can you be too old to travel? The travel industry has already responded. Try renting a car in Europe, for example. In Croatia, Schaefer wouldn't be able to this year, because the maximum age is 70. Insurance companies require higher rates; tour operators limit certain activities. That feels like a " no" for many travelers.
Definitely some folks should think twice before traveling, but not only based on their age. It's their level of fitness, says Kirsten Veldman, a former tour guide who now edits a retirement blog. She recalls a 93-year-old who was disabled and traveling alone on a Caribbean tour. "You can't expect to ask a tour leader to be there for you 24/7 for medical care. " she says. "Tour guides don't have the time, skills, and knowledge for it. So, in this case, my advice is: he shouldn't have traveled with us in this situation. "
But some tour operators serve older travelers. For example, Grand Circle Travel started in 1958 to serve senior members. “We have travelers into their 80s and even 90s. Some travel as a couple and some alone,” says company spokeswoman Ann Shannon. “We have no age limit.”
If you ask travel experts, they'll tell you that age is just a number. It's a question of physical, and to a certain extent, mental ability. "Many of our travelers are retired, focused on keeping their good health, and are experienced travelers who have a good idea of what to expect, "says Sara Baer-Sinnott, president of Oldways, a food and nutrition nonprofit that operates tours. "Someone in their 40's may struggle more than someone in their 80s. "
1. What is expected if Schaefer travels in Croatia this year?| A．She can rent a car to go around. |
| B．She has to pay more insurance fees. |
| C．She can join in all kinds of activities. |
| D．She will receive 24/7 medical care. |
| A．His old age. | B．His lack of money. |
| C．His poor health. | D．His in sociable personality. |
| A．It is a non-profit traveling organization. |
| B．It offers service to a wide range of travelers. |
| C．It has a history of more than seven decades. |
| D．Its main customers are senior travelers. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Supportive. | C．Tolerant. | D．Objective. |
6 . If you move to a new school, you'll have to worry whether or not you'll make friends. Here are some simple suggestions which help you make new friends a lot easier.
•Try speaking to the people you're sitting next to in class. As they're close by, it makes sense to communicate with them first.
•Have courage to speak to everyone in your class. You will probably stay with that class through your years at the new school, so it helps if you get on with them.
•If you don't have many friends in your class, try and make new friends in your subject lessons. You can also talk with them at lunchtime and after school.
•Join a lunchtime or after school club. You'll get to meet kids of all years that way.
•Ask your teacher to find you a partner pupil.
•Use your celebrity （名人）status! Since you're the new person, you'll have gained celebrity status, which you can use for a couple of weeks. Talk to people. Remember to smile and always be open and friendly. Listen carefully to what others say so as to make them feel important.
•As you grow older, it's natural to make new friends and sometimes that means you grow apart from your old friends. So try and make time for all your friends—why not introduce your different sets of friends so you can all go to the cinema or go bowling together?
But what if a friendship group is pushing you out? If this is happening to you, try and ask someone you're friendly with what is happening. If the whole group is leaving you out, try to find new people to spend time with at lunchtime.
1. According to the passage, moving to a new school is ________.| A．worrying |
| B．exciting |
| C．interesting |
| D．boring |
| A．Sit close to friendly classmates. |
| B．Take possible chances to communicate with others. |
| C．Try our best to help our new classmates. |
| D．Try to study well to gain others' trust. |
| A．make use of our celebrity status |
| B．be friendly and open to them |
| C．smile while talking with them |
| D．listen to them carefully |
| A．Turn to the teacher for help. |
| B．Try to find out the reason. |
| C．Forget it at once and make new friends. |
| D．Make our different sets of friends know each other. |
7 . The Internet plays a big part in human life. We use it for work and pleasure. We use it to learn a new language. We find advice on it. We use it to keep in touch with events we care about. The list goes on and on.
As far as the Internet being a part of our lives--well, that train has left the station. There is no going back to an Internet-free life. But can using the Internet too much be bad for our health? It might be, say researchers. A new study finds that heavy Internet use may be connected to high blood pressure（高血压） in a group---teenagers.
The study results show that teens who spend at least 14 hours a week only online may cause high blood pressure, which makes your heart and blood vessels( 血管) work too hard. Over time, this extra strain (压力) increases their risk of a heart attack. High blood pressure can also cause other diseases.
The Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan did the study. 335 young people, from 14 to 17 years old, took part in it. 134 of the teens were described as “heavy Internet users”. And researchers found that out of these 134 teens, 26 had high blood pressure. The researchers say the study is the first to connect heavy web use with high blood pressure.
The lead researcher of the study is Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow. She said, “Using the Internet is part of our daily life but it shouldn’t ruin us.” Ms. Gassidy-Bushrow adds that it is important for teens to have a rest regularly from their computers or smart phones and do some kind of physical activity. She also suggests that parents shouldn’t let their children use the Internet for more than two hours a day, five days a week.
1. What does the underlined part “that train has left the station” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．The train has stopped at the wrong station. |
| B．There is something wrong with the station. |
| C．Life without the Internet is nowhere to be found. |
| D．The train has changed its course. |
| A．Heavy Internet users might have high blood pressure. |
| B．There is no relation between high blood pressure and Internet use. |
| C．There are more advantages than disadvantages of Internet use. |
| D．High blood pressure will do harm to teens. |
| A．Teenagers shouldn’t use the Internet. |
| B．The Internet will ruin human life in the future. |
| C．Smart-phones are more harmful than computers. |
| D．Regular breaks are necessary when using the Internet. |
| A．How to prevent teenagers from the Internet |
| B．Teenagers should keep away from the Internet |
| C．Too much Internet use may be bad for teenagers |
| D．Every coin has two sides--So does the Internet |
8 . I might be letting my young son watch too much television. I am certainly watching too many of his programs. They can really be perplexing as they force you to think carefully about the mysteries of life.
For example, when Franklin (the turtle) wanted a pet, his parents didn’t want it to be a frog. They felt that frogs belong in a pond. Isn’t that where turtles belong?
And why is it that Little Bear’s animal friends can all talk and behave like people, but his friend Emily has a dog that can only bark and fetch? Tell me that isn’t a mystery!
Dog lovers can be cheered up by Kipper and his friends. These dogs are very human. However, the only time they wear clothes is when they put on bathing suits to go swimming. I’m confused!
Speaking of dogs, could Pluto ever be Goofy’s pet? I don’t get it! What did the great Mr.Disney have in mind?
And this is awful! The other day we watched a very nice little pig setting up a picnic. One of the foods was a big ham. Could it have been a soy (大豆) ham? Is there such a thing? I hope so!
Another thing that bothers me: What if Elmo isn’t real? He can’t be a mere puppet (木偶)! He’s got a better altitude than most people. I just keep wondering.
I think we’ll turn off the TV and go out for a walk. Maybe we’ll run into that mouse who dresses well but certainly doesn’t speak as clearly as the average bear.
1. What does the underlined word “perplexing” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Boring. | B．Humorous. | C．Confusing. | D．Curious. |
| A．Pigs don’t eat meat. | B．Pigs are dirty animals. |
| C．Ham is too expensive. | D．Ham is made from pigs. |
| A．Embarrassed. | B．Concerned. | C．Astonished. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．should speak more clearly | B．should not wear good clothes |
| C．should not dress better than bears | D．should speak louder again next time |
9 . Kids spend a lot of time looking at screens. And some parents worry. But a new study argues against the anxiety parents may feel.
“Parents are hearing a message that social media, digital technology use is causing very serious and harmful problems like depression, like suicide-related behaviors,” Candice Odgers, professor of psychological science at the University of California said. “But the idea is that if you shut off social media, you could in fact be making a situation worse. Parents are really being sent a message that is not supported by anything scientifically.”
Odgers and her colleagues looked at the screen-related behavior of 400 public school students in North Carolina aged 10 to 14. The researchers found that the kids spent between almost five hours to seven hours per day on their devices. That’s a lot of hours but the researchers didn't find connection between the amount of time that young people spent online using digital technologies and mental health signs like depression, or anxiety. They found that young people who sent more text messages actually reported better mental health.
This was a small association, but it reflects what other people have found: the people who are very connected offline, who use technology in the positive ways to stay connected, often are more connected online as well and experiencing better mental health.
So why the fears about screen time? Odgers argues that the methods for previous studies may have led to false conclusions. When given a survey, the kids were often asked to recall, over the past six months, “How often are you online?” and “Have you ever felt depressed”. And the relation between those two things has been used to spread a lot of fear around the connection between social media use and things like depression, yet 99.5% of the reasons that kids differ in their depression is due to something other than the time they spend online.
1. The new study is mainly about the relation between ________.| A．kids, screen time and their eyesight | B．kids’ screen time and their depression |
| C．social media use and kids’ mental health | D．Internet environment and kids' mental health |
| A．It misleads people. | B．It makes much sense. |
| C．It was confirmed by science. | D．It reveals parents, ignorance. |
| A．Kids spending less time online. | B．Kids staying unconnected offline. |
| C．Kids shutting off social media. | D．Kids positively using digital technology. |
| A．To present a social phenomenon. | B．To challenge a common belief. |
| C．To draw attention to kids, health. | D．To encourage more screen time. |
10 . Honeybees can’t swim, and when their wings are wet, they can’t fly, either. But Chris Roh and other researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that when bees drop into bodies of water, they can use their wings to produce little waves and slide toward land-like surfers who create and then ride their own waves.
As with many scientific advances-Isaac Newton’s apple or Benjamin Franklin’s lightning bolt-Dr. Roh’s experiment began with a walk. Passing Caltech’s Millikan Pond in 2016, he observed a bee on the water’s surface producing waves. He wondered how an insect known for flight could push itself through water.
Dr. Roh and his co-worker, Morteza Gharib, used butterfly nets to collect local Pasadena honeybees and observed their surf-like movements. The researchers used a wire to restrict each bee’s bodily movement, allowing close examination of their wings. They found that the bee bends its wings at a 30-degree angle, pulling up water and producing a forward force. Bees get trapped on the surface because water is roughly three times heavier than air. But that weight helps to push the bee forward when its wings move quickly up and down. It’s a tough exercise for the bees, which the researchers guess could handle about 10 minutes of the activity.
The researchers said the surf-like movement hasn’t been documented in other insects and most semiaquatic insects use their legs for propulsion, which is known as water-walking. It may have evolved in bees, they-predicted.
Dr. Roh and Dr. Gharib have imagined many practical applications for bees’ surfing. One plan is to use their observations to design robots able to travel across sky and sea. “This could be useful for search and rescues, or for getting samples of the surface of the ocean, if you can’t send a boat or helicopter,” Dr. Gharib said.
1. What does the author intend to show by mentioning Newton and Franklin?| A．Roh’s admiration for them. | B．Roh’s chance discovery about bees. |
| C．Their outstanding talent for science. | D．Their similar achievements in discovery. |
| A．The air weight. | B．Its leg extension. |
| C．The water movement. | D．Its continuous wingbeat. |
| A．Fast flight | B．Driving force. | C．Pulling speed. | D．Explosive power. |
| A．Honeybees can surf to safety. | B．Bees help scientists make inventions. |
| C．Insects can adapt to the environment. | D．Nature is a helpful guide for discovery. |
