1 . Geese live to be around 25 years old, are very loyal, and never forget their first home. Even so, it came as a total shock to me when, in 2019, an aging adult wild goose made his way back to my family home. Geese love houses with large, green grassland to eat on; the flat area also makes it easy for them to watch out for predators (捕食者). So, at first, I assumed it was just another goose.
And yet, something about the lone male seemed oddly familiar to me. After two weeks of the goose coming back repeatedly, it became clear to me that this wasn’t a random goose. He did all of the same things Peeper used to, like trying to come in through the front door and sleeping in our enclosed pool area. In addition to following Peeper’s old ways, this goose also responded to the name Peeper. Much to my amazement, my old best friend had returned, 20 years later.
Why did Peeper return? It’s hard to say. Perhaps his mate died, leaving him lonely. If s also possible that he is approaching his twilight (薄唇) years and knows it, making him long for his early home. This behavior is typical of geese. Whatever the reason, Peeper continues to live with me. It’s a good thing that I stayed in my childhood home.
He doesn’t come home every single night the way he did as a baby. Some nights he may seek out the comfort of his own kind at the lake nearby. Geese in the wild typically sleep on water. But he’s here a lot, making his presence known and giving me joy. Many years later, the goose still remembers the true meaning of family. So do his people.
1. What was the author’s feeling at first?| A．Joyful. | B．Natural. |
| C．Shocked. | D．Strange. |
| A．The goose kept coming back. |
| B．The goose reacted to the name. |
| C．The goose fed on the grassland. |
| D．The goose slept at the front door. |
| A．Peepers mate had made him return. |
| B．Peeper was too old to live in the wild. |
| C．The writer knew why Peeper returned. |
| D．The writer felt lucky to have Peeper back. |
| A．He takes it as a sign of family bond. |
| B．He considers it as typical of geese. |
| C．He thinks Peeper is seeking comfort. |
| D．He supposes it to be a past habit. |
2 . A star athlete at the college where I work recently stopped by my office. After committing a few unforced errors during a weekend match, she suffered severely by self-criticism.
This student, like many I teach, strongly believes she should be able to control the outcomes of her life by virtue of her hard work. In her mind, “Nothing can stop me but myself”. So when these students fall short of what they imagine they should accomplish, they are filled with self-blame, reasoning, “If my accomplishments are mine to control, my failures must be entirely my faults, too”, which makes it extremely difficult for them to move on.
We often owe young adults struggling with failure to their parents’ overprotection of them from discomfort. But there is another factor at play: a message transmitted by indulging (纵容的) parents who have falsely promised them that they can achieve anything if they are willing to work for it. However, the cruel reality of life is that you can do everything in your power — and still fail. Then what should be done to help?
Psychologists Luthar and Kumar urge parents and teachers to spend time helping students find purpose, or goals they genuinely love to pursue and that make an impact on the world, which may help them gain greater life satisfaction and become more psychologically mature. Besides, instead of allowing our kids to beat themselves up when things don’t go their way, we might all question a culture where one is considered lazy without full devotion. The point is to remind them that life has a way of sucker-punching (出其不意) us when we least expect it. It’s often the people who learn to say “stuff happens” who get up the fastest.
1. What does the underlined phrase “by virtue of” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．in addition to | B．in spite of | C．by means of | D．for fear of |
| A．they are not taught how to deal with difficulties |
| B．they are short of the ability to handle failure |
| C．they are under the protection of their parents |
| D．they are misled by their parents’ false message |
| A．To teach students how to avoid faults. |
| B．To lead students to set their truly loved goals. |
| C．To help students to discover a path to success. |
| D．To allow kids to blame themselves. |
| A．Students don’t care about failure at all. |
| B．Students are sure to succeed if they try their best. |
| C．Students should bear all the failures on their own. |
| D．Students with positive attitudes can move on more easily. |
3 . Here's the story of my growth over the past year. If anyone is inspired (激励) by this, that's wonderful.
I'd been stuck as this under-confident, fat and just frightened girl for years and years and years. Since I was a little girl, I'd been stuck like this, and I had lived a life where I'd be afraid of everything. But then it all started changing. Something clicked, and in over a period of 6 months I finally managed to stick to one of my diets, bringing me from overweight straight down to underweight. This proved ( 证明) that I could change myself.
One single time, I heard about a public speaking thing going on at my university, and for the first time, I managed to keep up the courage to go there. For the first time I was able to share my story, and able to do it in front of so many people possibly judging (评判) me, and suddenly all the fears about speaking publicly started vanishing. I never felt more confident.
This taught me I could get rid （去除） of my fears. It was from that point on that my road to change went from a rocky mess to a full-on empty highway.
Using the fact that I could change, and that I could get rid of my fears, I started working on them one by one. My fear of talking to strangers ,my fear of asking simple questions, my fear of hanging out with people, my fear of being myself... All of them were gone. And I still continue to progress to this day. I've never stopped.
1. When did the author know she could change herself?| A．When she was in her childhood. |
| B．When she refused a diet. |
| C．When she was underweight. |
| D．When she was overweight. |
| A．Moving. | B．Increasing. |
| C．Changing. | D．Disappearing. |
| A．The road to change was smooth. |
| B．Many other fears were on the way. |
| C．The author felt empty in face of fear. |
| D．The author started changing rapidly. |
| A．To inspire the readers. |
| B．To prove a new idea. |
| C．To teach how to speak publicly. |
| D．To show how to get rid of fears. |
4 . It’s hard to be a bird in a world which is in the charge of mankind.
You can hardly hear yourself sing, let alone hear the songs of your friends… and worst of all, you can’t hear a predator(捕食者). Noise is almost everywhere, especially noise from traffic.
Researchers have tried to study the influence of road noise on animals by looking at animals living near noisy roads.
“We figured out a way to have just the noise without any of the other effects of the road, and to do that we put many speakers in a forest where there was no road,” said Chris McClure, a biologist at Boise State University and The Peregrine Fund. He and his team carried out their experiment at a place popular with birds in Idaho as they fly south for the winter.
While the noise kept lots of birds away, some remained. But they had trouble putting on enough weight to support them in the next part of their migratory journey.
“They have to take food but they also have to avoid getting eaten by a predator. But these two things can’t be done at the same time because to eat, they have to look down, which means they aren’t looking at predators.”
And when it’s too loud, they can’t hear the alarm calls of other birds. So they have to waste time looking for predators instead of searching for food.
By 2050, it’s thought that enough new roads will be built to circle the planet more than 600 times. But there’s an easy solution to the noise problem—“Lowering speed limits does a lot.”
So next time you’re driving through nature, just slow down a little. It’s safer for you and the wildlife. And you can enjoy the view a little longer.
1. Who does the word “you” in Para 2 refer to?| A．A driver. | B．A predator. | C．A researcher. | D．A bird. |
| A．To prevent birds from being hit by cars. |
| B．To separate noise from other effects of the road. |
| C．To test a larger number of birds. |
| D．To put as many speakers as possible. |
| A．They can’t concentrate on looking for food. |
| B．They have to fly south for the winter. |
| C．They can’t hear the alarm calls. |
| D．They feel afraid of the noise. |
| A．To build enough new roads. |
| B．To carry out more experiments. |
| C．To enjoy the view a little longer. |
| D．To drive slowly through nature. |
5 . Imagine someone who has spent the majority of their life sitting with a sign on the side of the road and that very person giving someone their last 20 dollars. That’s exactly what Marine Corps veteran (退伍军人) Johnny Bobbitt, 34, did in October in Philadelphia.
Bobbitt served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a paramedic (医务辅助人员) in Vance County, N. C. before he became homeless. Nobody knew how he got to where he was because he was discreet about that.
One night in October, Bobbitt was sitting roadside with a sign in Philadelphia as usual, when Kate McClure of Florence Township, N. J. was driving home down Interstate 95 and ran out of gas. Scared and nervous, she got out of the car to head to the nearest gas station. As McClure was heading to the nearest gas station, she ran into Bobbitt and he told her to get back in the vehicle and lock the door. Minutes later, he appeared with a red gas can. He’d used his last $20 to buy her gas.
After that unexpected meeting, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, who both live in New Jersey, visited Bobbitt several times to deliver gift cards, cash, snacks and toiletries. They then decided to create a fund raising page so he wouldn’t have to spend the holidays sleeping on the street.
McClure started the GoFundMe page on November 10. With the page, the couple hoped to raise $10,000, enough money for his rent, a reliable vehicle and up to six months’ expenses. Bobbitt’s story ran in a local paper. By November 15，more than 10,000 local people had made donations through the GoFundMe page and more than $300,000 had been raised.
On Thanksgiving, Bobbitt was resting in a hotel, his feet up on the bed, drawing up a grand plan for his new life, thanks to several thousand dollars raised to repay him for a good deed.
1. What does the underlined word “discreet” in paragraph 2 most probably mean?| A．Doubtful. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Guilty. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．couldn’t find a gas station | B．got to the way home |
| C．couldn’t unlock her car | D．was in search of gas |
| A．Bobbitt’s story obtained wide attention |
| B．Bobbitt became world-famous overnight |
| C．the GoFundMe page collected over $400,000 for Bobbitt |
| D．the GoFundMe page was started to help people like Bobbitt |
| A．A Homeless Veteran Paid Kindness Forward |
| B．A Homeless Veteran Had a Generous Heart |
| C．A Homeless Veteran’s Kindness Paid Off |
| D．A Small Kindness Made a Big Difference |
6 . Smart Home Products for Living a Connected Life
What makes something a smart home product? Generally, it’s defined by its ability to connect to a Wi-Fi network, allowing users to interact（互动）with it from their smartphones.We’ve rounded up some cool, diverse offerings that you’ll love to have in your home.
Nest Cam IQ
walmart.com
$299.00
The Nest Cam IQ is a beautifully designed home security camera that can recognize faces. It can warn you if there’s a stranger in your home. The device also supports two-way communication via built-in microphones and a powerful speaker.
Logitech Harmony Elite
amazon.com
$249.99
The Logitech Harmony Elite is one of the best universal remote controls available on the market. It can control just about every piece of electronics you own（it supports over 270，000 devices！）in every room of your house or apartment, including TVs，streaming devices, and sound systems.
Apple HomePod
bhphotovideo.com
$349.00
The Apple HomePod has better audio quality than any other smart speaker available today. Available in white or space gray, the Siri-powered device also allows you to control a number of devices with your voice.
August Smart Lock Pro
amazon.com
$279.99
The August Smart Lock Pro is compatible（兼容的）with most locks. A mobile app allows you to manage access to the lock, check its usage history, and get informed when someone opens the door. You can control it and check on the state of your door with voice commands.
1. What can the Nest Cam IQ help you do？| A．Properly use your smartphone camera |
| B．Control electronics with your voice. |
| C．Check the locks of your house. |
| D．Keep your home safe. |
| A．Nest Cam IQ. |
| B．Apple HomePod. |
| C．August Smart Lock Pro. |
| D．Logitech Harmony Elite. |
| A．Technology. |
| B．News. |
| C．Society. |
| D．Education. |
7 . About four million people worldwide took to the streets on Friday, September 20, 2019, for the Global Climate Strike. The young protestors (抗议者), and their adult supporters, marched along city streets outside government buildings to urge leaders to take action against climate change.
The back-to- back protests are timed to coincide (与……一致) with the United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York City on Monday, September 23, 2019. The meeting is designed to challenge world leaders from 69 countries to discuss steps to handle climate change. The UN hopes their actions will help reduce global carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 and, if all goes well, eliminate them altogether by 2050.
While the strikes are in long-standing anger about the changing environment, the worldwide call for action is closely linked to teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. The 16-year-old got well-known a year ago after she began spending Fridays outside the Swedish Parliament (国会) building in Stockholm to convince officials to take action against climate change. Her protests have inspired young people worldwide to take action in their cities.
Thunberg, who came from Sweden to New York City in an emissions- free sailboat, was one of the key speakers at the UN Climate Change Summit. On Monday, September 23, the teenager told lawmakers, “You all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You’ve stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, and yet, I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are falling down. So you have to listen to scientists and take immediate measures to help stop climate change.”
While Thunberg and other young climate activists are calling the recent global Climate Strike a victory in terms of its size and reach, they realize it’ ll take time to convince lawmakers to create real change. However, the teenager is hopeful they’ll begin to pay attention as more people of all ages join in the call-to-action.
1. What can we know about the Global Climate Strike from the text?| A．It is to support the un climate Change Summit. |
| B．It is to raise teenagers environmental awareness. |
| C．It was led by adults but mainly included teenagers. |
| D．It was attended by millions of people in the world. |
| A．Join. | B．Improve. |
| C．Get rid of. | D．Stay away from. |
| A．The role that Thunberg plays in the Strike. |
| B．Thunberg’s contributions to climate change. |
| C．The importance of the global climate Strike |
| D．Thunberg’s opinions on the Global Climate Strike. |
| A．Humans’ carelessness is worsening climate. |
| B．Humans are suffering due to climate change. |
| C．Measures need taking to stop climate change. |
| D．Extreme climate change is drawing attention. |
8 . An experimental cleanup device called RemoveDEBRIS has successfully cast a net around a dummy (仿真的) satellite, imitating a technique that could one day collect spaceborne garbage.
The test, which was carried out this week, is widely believed to be the first successful demonstration of space cleanup technology, experts told CNN. And it symbolizes an early step toward solving what has already been a critical issue: junk in space.
Millions of pieces of junk are turning around in orbit, the result of 50 years of space travel and few regulations to keep space clean. At orbital speeds, even a small bit of paint crashing with a satellite can cause critical damage.
Various companies have plans to send thousands of new satellites into low-Earth orbit, already the most crowded area.
The RemoveDEBRIS experiment is run by a company and researchers led by the U. K.’s Surrey Space Center and includes Airbus, Airbus-owned Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and France’s ArianeGroup.
Guglielmo Aglietti, the director of Surrey Space Center, said that an operational version of the RemoveDEBRlS technology would cast a net that remains fastened to the main satellite so the debris can be dragged out of orbit. It could target large pieces of junk, including dead satellites up to 10 meters long.
The RemoveDEBRIS satellite will conduct a few more experiments in the coming months, including testing navigation features that could help guide the satellite to a specific piece of debris.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the success of this week’s experiment was exciting, but he cautioned against “over- publicizing” it.
There are still enormous barriers to clear before operational cleanup tasks are underway, he said, and the most discouraging is figuring out how to fund such projects.
Aglietti, the Surrey professor who helped lead the RemoveDEBRIS project, said “The challenge will lie in persuading the relevant authorities to sponsor these tasks.” Aglietti said he hopes RemoveDEBRIS will conduct a few cleanup tasks per year, targeting the largest pieces of junk in the most crowded orbits.
1. What is the use of the RemoveDEBRIS satellite?| A．Demonstrating space technology. |
| B．Imitating a developing technique. |
| C．Collecting wastes existing in space. |
| D．Symbolizing great progress in space. |
| A．By throwing a net to take the junk from orbit. |
| B．By fastening it to the main satellite tightly. |
| C．By dragging satellites up to 10 meters long. |
| D．By targeting large pieces of junk carefully. |
| A．Accomplish. | B．Support. | C．Oppose. | D．Provide. |
| A．The RemoveDEBRIS Project Is Perfect |
| B．How RemoveDEBRIS Is Invented in the Lab |
| C．Why the RemoveDEBRIS Satellite Is Invented |
| D．Satellite Collects Space Junk for the First Time |
9 . There are always stories in the life that can hardly be forgotten and will restore our hope for holidays every time we recollect.
Johnny and I, along with our two young sons, Barry and Doyle, lived in a village in southern Alabama in 1979. We had bought the boys a bicycle for the New Year, and had hidden it in the garage ,where Johnny would assemble (组装)it on New Year5 s Eve after the kids fell asleep. But that day, Johnny had to go to Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, an hour away, to repair a jet. I had my hands busy with baking, preparing for holiday dinner and caring for two energetic boys.
Just as I was making the chocolate cake, a neighbor knocked on the door. It was Beatrice, who was the only person on our road with a telephone. The base had called to say that a heavy tool had come apart suddenly, hitting Johnny's arm and breaking the bone. My brother Otto took me to the base hospital while my mother stayed with the children.
We got there to find Johnny with a cast (石膏)on his arm, anxious to get home regardless of the doctor's orders. It was New Year's Eve, Johnny argued, and he had the bike to assemble for his boys. The doctor said he'd consider dismissing him the next morning if Johnny could find someone to drive him home. On New Year's morning, Johnny called the base and was told everyone was off duty； there was no one to drive him home. Johnny kept making calls. At last, a big blue car with the Air Force sign rolled up.
I was putting dinner on the table when hearing the car. We were thrilled to see Johnny assisted by a uniformed Air Force officer. With Otto's help, Johnny assembled the boy's gift, and they all had a good time that afternoon. Our hearts were full of gratitude to the people who had gone the extra mile to bring us together.
1. What had Johnny planned to do on New Year's Eve?| A．Repair a jet. | B．Buy his sons a bike. |
| C．Prepare a surprise gift. | D．Assemble a bike with his sons. |
| A．To relay a message. | B．To make a phone call. |
| C．To lend out her telephone. | D．To take the author to the hospital. |
| A．Diligent | B．Stubborn | C．Considerate | D．Complicated |
| A．A Hard - won New Year Present | B．A Treasured New Year Memory |
| C．An Unexpected New Year Dinner | D．A Life - changing New Year Experience |
10 . A new study from MIT has found that piano lessons have a very specific effect on kindergartners’ ability to distinguish different pitches (音高), which translates into an improvement in distinguishing between spoken words. However, piano lessons did not appear to provide any benefit for overall intelligence, as measured by IQ, attention span (注意力集中时间), and working memory.
The 74 children participating in the study were divided into three groups: one that received 45-minute piano lessons three times a week; one that received extra reading instruction for the same period of time; and one that received neither of these. All children were 4 or 5 years old and spoke Mandarin as their native language.
After six months, the researchers tested the children on their ability to distinguish words based on differences in vowels (元音), consonants (辅音), or tone (音调). Better word distinguishing usually comes with better phonological awareness – the awareness of the sound structure of words, which is a key part of learning to read.
Children who had piano lessons showed a significant advantage over children in the extra reading group in distinguishing between words that differ by one consonant. Children in both the piano group and extra reading group performed better than the third group when it came to distinguishing words based on vowel differences.
The researchers also used electroencephalography to measure brain activity and found that children in the piano group had stronger responses than the other children when they listened to a series of tones of different pitch. This suggested that a greater sensitivity to pitch differences is what helped the children who took piano lessons to better distinguish different words, Desimone says.
“That’s a big thing for kids in learning language: being able to hear the differences between words,” he says. “They really did benefit from that.”
In tests of IQ, attention, and working memory, the researchers did not find any significant differences among the three groups of children.
Desimone says he hopes the findings will help to convince education officials who are considering abandoning music classes in schools not to do so.
1. What do we know about the study?| A．The participants were divided into four groups. |
| B．All the participants spoke English as their native language. |
| C．The participants were tested after a period of six months. |
| D．The ages of the participants ranged from 4 to 15 years. |
| A．Children in the piano group had better awareness of the differences among words. |
| B．Children in the piano group performed better in the IQ test. |
| C．Children in the extra reading group had better awareness of sounds. |
| D．Children in the extra reading group performed better in the IQ test. |
| A．The ability to imitate certain sounds. |
| B．The ability to tell the differences between sounds. |
| C．The ability to remember new sounds and words. |
| D．The ability to relate sounds to real objects. |
| A．To have more music classes in schools. |
| B．Not to end music classes in schools. |
| C．To provide more types of musical instruments to schools. |
| D．Not to force students to study music if they are unwilling to. |
