1 . Will your kids love your favorite childhood reads? Let’s get to it: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I’m reaching way back with this one (1881), but after all, who doesn’t love a good rags to-riches story?
Oh, those little Peppers. How well I remember Phronsie, Ben, Polly, Joel and Davie, and how hard they worked in the little brown house to help their poor mother, Mamsie. My kids are not yet at an age when they realize just how poor the Peppers are. But my kids are as drawn to this story as I was as a child. And I am not the one to turn down an opportunity to share an example of children gladly helping their mother.
I’m not reaching back quite as far with 1943’s Cherry Ames, Student Nurse by Helen Wells, but convincing my kids that once it wasn’t easy for nurses to wear caps and dresses. When I was little, I couldn’t get enough of Cherry’s adventures. How pioneering Cherry was! She had a job when there were few jobs available to women, she never got married, and she solved mysteries when men couldn’t. Cherry always knew what to do. She was smart, pretty, strong and ambitious. I love her.
I know the time will come when my son asks, “Come on, Mom, Didn’t you read any books with men in them?” and I’ll have to answer honestly, “No. But maybe one day a few.”
The day will come when we can go back to the library and see what is new on the shelves, and that will be a great day. But for now, I plan not to let any book on our shelves go to waste. It may seem that reaching for a book that’s more than a century older than my kids is just as ambitious as reading Frankenstein, but I’m really confident, this time.
1. What do the author’s kids feel about Five Little Peppers and How They Grew?| A．Frightened. | B．Interested. | C．Puzzled. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Praiseful. | D．Afraid. |
| A．She is very poor, |
| B．She likes books about women. |
| C．She dislikes classical literature. |
| D．She is confused about her career. |
| A．Read less and faster. |
| B．Go back to the library, |
| C．Ask her kids to read books kept at home. |
| D．Inspire her kids to read newly published books. |
2 . When it comes to eating, more and more Americans are ordering online instead of eating out. In some restaurants, cooks make food for other online restaurants at the same time. Online orders are only 5% of all restaurants orders, but they are growing about 20% each year.
The increase in online ordering in the US has created openings for new kinds of businesses. One is called Kitchen United. It builds kitchens for restaurants that want to enter take-out markets. Chick-Fil-A, The Halal Guys and Dog Haus all have opened kitchens through it. Another company, DoorDash, sends food to customers who order online. Fuad Hannon is the head of new business at DoorDash, He says, “The industry is still young. It may be too soon to know how it will grow, but what we know is that people love to get their favorite food sent.”
Two other businesses, Grubhub and Uber Eats, say their virtual (虚拟的) restaurant programs help small businesses compete. Both reach out to restaurant owners with suggestions for online. restaurants based on data from customer searches. This information helps owners. think about everything from how people get their food to what should go on the menu.
Kristen Adamowski heads Uber Eats. She says they have helped start 4,000 virtual restaurants worldwide, about half of them in the US and Canada.
Virtual restaurants have the benefit of testing new ideas without taking on expensive rents or employing more workers like traditional ones. But small restaurants should look at the risks before starting an online restaurant suggested by third-party app businesses. Those businesses offer no training for kitchen' workers to get used to making new foods. Other things to consider: whether their delivery containers are right for new dishes, or whether they want to increase their dependence on outside delivery drivers. Those are not small or easy things.
1. What can we learn about online food orders in the US from paragraph 1?| A．They’ve replaced traditional restaurant orders. |
| B．They take up only 20% of restaurant orders. |
| C．They’ve taken up most of the market, |
| D．They are rapidly increasing yearly. |
| A．Its customers are young. |
| B．It will surely develop well. |
| C．Its future remains to be seen. |
| D．It will help people build more restaurants. |
| A．Uber Eats. | B．Dog Haus. | C．Chick-Fi1-A. | D．DoorDash. |
| A．Better late than never. |
| B．Think carefully before you act. |
| C．Failure is the mother of success. |
| D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
3 . If you've been dreaming of having an electric car, but can't yet afford to buy one, you can start at a low price, really low. Changli, the world's cheapest electric car, can be ordered online and sent to your door for just $ 930.
Designed and produced by Chinese maker Changzhou Xili Car Industry, Changli, and Changli Nemeca is a small electric car that has got lots of attention online after being advertised as the world's most affordable electric car. Calling this thing a car is kind of stretching it a bit, as its electric motor can only produce 1.16 horsepower, and it has a top speed of only 30. km/h. Still, it does come with some interesting features, like air-conditioning, independent suspension, heater, radio and even reverse-view camera. But the most impressive thing about Changli in my opinion, is that you can have it sent to your doorstep.
Anyone who can just order Changli Nemeca online can have it mailed to them without having to pay extra money to the dealership. Changli measures 2.5 meters long, 1.5 meter wide, and 1.8 meters high, weighs 323 kilograms and can carry up to 30 kilograms.
The two-seat version starts at $ 930($ 1,200 with larger batteries), but you can choose a three-seat version as well, which will cost you $ 1,50. The battery of the small electric car is between 40 and 10 kilometers per charge and the batteries take between 7 and 10 hours to charge.
While Changli Nemeca won't be going head to head with other electric cars anytime soon it's still an amazing piece of machinery for the price. Where else are you going to find full functional electric cars that you can have mailed to your door.
1. Why does the author think Changli electric car is the most impressive?| A．Because of its design. | B．Because it's convenient. |
| C．Because it's light and cheap. | D．Because of its appearance. |
| A．Its producer. | B．Its users. | C．Its production. | D．Its features. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By reasoning. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Uncertain. | D．Hopeless. |
4 . The debate over washing dishes by hand vs.using a dishwasher has been on TreeHugger since it faced the world.In the earliest article I could find from 2005, the dishwasher came out the clear winner, with researchers from the University of Bonn saying it uses only half the energy and one-sixth the water.
Fifteen years later, we're still talking about it, and a new study published in the journal Environment Research Communications shows not much has changed.Dishwashers still take the prize for efficiency（效率）, both in terms of energy and water used.The findings are interesting because kitchen cleanup is something we do every day, so why not learn the best way?
Forty participants were required first to load and run a dishwasher and then to wash dishes by hand the way they would at home.They answered survey questions afterwards about their dish washing behaviors.Three other participants were then required to load a dishwasher and wash dishes by hand following best practices.This meant not pre-rinsing（预冲洗）dishes before loading them in the dishwasher and using the recommended normal cycle with heated dry, rinse-aid, and high-quality cleaner.For washing dishes by hand, this meant using the two-basin method "where dishes are soaked（浸泡）in hot water, rinsed in cold water, and are air-dried."
These "best practices" differ from typical dish washing behaviors.Most people pre-rinse their dishes before loading them into a dishwasher.They also run the tap while washing by hand, which wastes large amounts of water, and rinse with hot water.The researcher found that these typical practices produce "5,620 and 2,090 kg of greenhouse gas emissions（排放）based on washing 4 loads a week for 10 years."So the dishwasher was less than half as bad as hand-washing, even when improper techniques were used.
When it comes to water usage, the benefits of dishwashers continue.Over the course of ten years, a dishwasher will use 16,300 gallons of water, 99.8 percent of which comes from daily use; whereas, washing the same number of dishes by hand for ten years will use 34,200 gallons.
1. What did people think of the dishwasher fifteen years ago?| A．It was expensive. | B．It was effective. |
| C．It was of little use. | D．It was harmful. |
| A．To wash dishes as they usually do. |
| B．To wash all the dishes without soaking. |
| C．To use the two-basin method for a week. |
| D．To ask questions about doing housework. |
| A．Tuning of the water tap during the process. |
| B．Soaking the dishes in hot water first. |
| C．Washing dishes four times a week. |
| D．Rinsing the dishes before loading them. |
| A．About 5,500 gallons. | B．About 16,000 gallons. |
| C．About 18,000 gallons. | D．About 34,000 gallons. |
5 . A few years ago, my husband, Mike, and I would dine out on weekdays.One Wednesday afternoon, I was ever suggesting places to which he could take me for lunch when he interrupted（打断）me."Rose" he said, "have you ever thought of taking me out to lunch? I would like to be wined and dined, too, and it would be nice if, for once, you picked up the check." I smiled at his words and said, "OK, but I'll choose the restaurant."
I drove us to Miller's Ale House, a family-style restaurant with good food and an affordable menu that we attend only during the daytime.As Mike and I walked in, I jokingly warmed Mike to look for the menu specials and to avoid ordering expensive drinks.The warm Ale house atmosphere, together with the hot meals, was a welcome compared to the cold February weather.What was not welcome, though, was the seating arrangement.And the man seated at the bar stool closest to us was carrying on a conversation in a very loud voice with two friends, often dropping an expletive（脏话）.Mike and I finally gave up trying to hold a conversation and ate silently, making a mental note that in the future, we would be more careful with the seating we accepted.
Mike completed his meal and stepped away from the table.I waited for my check.While I waited, the man opposite me continued to talk loudly.This time, he looked around and saw me seated behind him.Facing me, he said, "I apologize for my language." I smiled and in a friendly voice said, "You have used that word many times since I sat down, and it was impossible not to hear you." We both laughed.The man apologized again, adding that his hearing is damaged so he speaks loudly.He said, "I'm paying for your lunch," I smiled, telling him it was not necessary, but he insisted.I said thank you and left the table.
I waited for my husband by the entrance.When Mike found me, I told him about the man's kindness.Mike stared at me and said, "It was the one time you were going to pay, and I lost out again."
1. What can be inferred about Mike from paragraph 1?| A．He got tired of the lifestyle. |
| B．He disliked the restaurant his wife chose. |
| C．He was always the one who paid for their meals. |
| D．He was unhappy with the way his wife spoke. |
| A．The prices of dishes. | B．The taste of meals. |
| C．The freezing temperature. | D．The noisy environment. |
| A．He was quarrelling with his friends. |
| B．He had serious hearing problems. |
| C．He was angry about the service there. |
| D．He thought he was the only one eating there. |
| A．Stressed. | B．Excited. | C．Disappointed. | D．Confused. |
6 . Happiness is not a warm phone, according to a new study exploring the link between young life satisfaction and screen time. The study was led by professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge at San Diego State University (SDSU).
To research this link, Twenge, along with colleagues Gabrielle Martin at SDSU and W. Keith Campbell at the University of Georgia, dealt with data from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) study, a nationally representative survey of more than a million U. S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. The survey asked students questions about how often they spent time on their Phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their face-to-face social interactions and their overall happiness.
On average found that teens who spent more time in front of screen devices — playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting — were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interactions.
"The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use," Twenge said. "Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the amount of time you spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising — two activities reliably linked to greater happiness."
Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, it's easy to find that the increase of screen devices over time happened at the same time as a general drop-off in reported happiness in U. S. teens. Specifically, young peopled life satisfaction and happiness declined sharply after 2012. That's the year when the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone rose above 50 percent. By far the largest change in teens' lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the following decline in in-person social activities and sleep.
1. Which method did Twenge's team use for the study?| A．Calculating students' happiness. |
| B．Asking students certain questions. |
| C．Analyzing data from a survey. |
| D．Doing experiments on screen time. |
| A．By making a comparison. |
| B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making an argument. |
| D．By introducing a concept. |
| A．To draw a conclusion from the study. |
| B．To offer some advice to the readers. |
| C．To prove social activities' importance. |
| D．To support the researchers' finding. |
| A．Quitting Phones Equals Happiness |
| B．Screen Time Should Be Banned |
| C．Teens' Lives Have Changed Sharply |
| D．Screen-addicted Teens Are Unhappier |
7 . Located in the southeast of Canada and with a population of approximately 6 million, Toronto is a big and beautiful city, which has developed from a relatively unknown place over the past half century to the center of culture, trade and communication in Canada.
With its colorful ethnic mix, rich history and breathtaking buildings. Toronto offers non-stop adventures to the tourists. To get a sense of how big, various and magical Toronto is, the best place to start is the CN Tower. From this point, visitors can get a bird's-eye view of the city's amazing scenery and unique geography.
In addition to being an important center of culture, trade and communication in Canada, Toronto is also a major muti-ethnic city. It is the most populous city in Canada and its citizens come from countries around the world and from different kinds of ethnic backgrounds. Every day, in most places of the city, a hundred different languages can be heard on the streets, from Hindi to Greek to French. This, perhaps, explains why former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said that Canada is a mosaic（嵌合体）of cultures and languages rather than a melting pot.
Street signs in Toronto are mostly in English. Weekly and daily newspapers are published in various languages, and the city hosts the successful international film festival each September. It is also home to a popular baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto has something for everyone.
Moreover, Toronto has been rated one of the most livable cities in the world by United Nations Human Settlements Programme for many years. At the same time, Toronto is one of the safest, richest cities in the world with the highest standard of living.
1. What's the purpose of the text?| A．To draw more tourists to Toronto. |
| B．To introduce something about Canada. |
| C．To introduce some famous sights of Toronto. |
| D．To tell us how Toronto develops from the past. |
| A．Toronto is in the center of Canada. |
| B．Toronto is a city with a history of half a century. |
| C．The street signs in Toronto are all written in English. |
| D．From the top of the CN Tower we can see the whole Toronto. |
| A．It's worth visiting. |
| B．It's just a common city in Canada. |
| C．There are too many foreigners in the city. |
| D．There aren't many places of interest to visit. |
| A．A personal diary. | B．A news report. |
| C．A tourist handbook. | D．A student's notebook. |
8 . If you're British or live in a Commonwealth nation, Christmas doesn't end on December 25.The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, and the relaxing holiday is a chance to allow the celebration for one more restful day.
But its name has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, and unlike the popular idea, did not appear from a need to return unwanted gifts or clean up trash produced by Christmas gifting.
There are several theories as to how that charitable tradition became known as "boxing".Some historians link the use of the term to boxes of donations that were laid in churches during the pre-Christmas season of Advent in the early days of Christianity during the second and third centuries A.D.The day after Christmas, the boxes were opened and the money was given away to the poor.
Another possible story for Boxing Day has to do with a tradition that formed in 19th century Victorian England, where servants sacrificed（牺牲）time with their own families to cater to their employers on Christmas.On the day after Christmas, employers would give the servants a rare day off and send them home with leftovers from the family's Christmas feast for their service.
Though the reasons are lost to history, Boxing Day charity eventually fell out of tradition---and was replaced with physical and material pleasures.Today, the holiday is linked with sports, with major football rugby, and cricket matches and horse races taking place on December 26.
December 26 is also a big shopping day throughout the UK and the Commonwealth.The holiday kicks off what is known as " Boxing Week" , during which retailers（零售商）try to move old stock and shoppers compete for one last bargain of the year.In recent years, though, the American tradition of Black Friday---massive sales that take place the day after Thanksgiving each November---has become popular in the United Kingdom and has largely overshadowed Boxing Week.
1. What kind of festival was Boxing Day probably in the beginning?| A．A charitable festival. | B．A religious festival. |
| C．A sports festival. | D．A business festival. |
| A．Take care of. | B．Depend on. |
| C．Put up with. | D．Pick up. |
| A．It has become an online shopping day. |
| B．It has been replaced by Black Friday. |
| C．It only covers popular sports events. |
| D．It has become less important than before. |
| A．When Did Boxing Day Come into Being? | B．Why Did People Celebrate Boxing Day? |
| C．How Is Black Friday Celebrated in the UK? | D．Why Is Black Friday Popular in the UK? |
9 . The Bureau of Labor Statistics recommends some high-paying jobs.
Construction and Building Inspector
Construction and building inspectors inspect construction sites and buildings to make sure that the structures meet all requirements. Many construction and building inspectors have a certificate from a local or community college, although others have a two-year associate's degree instead.
Salary: about $ 70,710 per year
Web Developer
Web developers design and develop websites. They create the look of the site and handle the website's performance, speed, and capacity. Web developers might work for computer system design companies, or for marketing firms or departments, or be self-employed. While some web developers have an associate's degree in web design, others have a certificate in web development instead.
Salary: about $ 63,760 per year
Architectural and Civil Drafter
An architectural and civil drafter creates drawings of the structural features of buildings, or creates maps of civil engineering projects. Most drafters have training in computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), engineering, mechanical drawing, and other design and engineering skills. This training can be from a certificate program, a two-year program, or even a four-year program.
Salary: about $ 56,830 per year
Sheet Metal Worker
A sheet metal worker constructs and/or installs products made of thin sheet metal. This work might involve measuring and marking dimensions on sheets, drilling holes in sheets, carrying large sheets, and so on. Sheet metal workers learn their work through a certificate program from a technical school.
Salary: about $ 50,400 per year
1. Which job provides the highest income according to the text?| A．Construction and Building Inspector. | B．Web Developer. |
| C．Architectural and Civil Drafter. | D．Sheet Metal Worker. |
| A．They inspect websites. | B．They are good at marketing. |
| C．They can be self-employed. | D．They need CADD training. |
| A．Engineering skills. |
| B．Computer knowledge. |
| C．A certificate or a degree. |
| D．Technical school experience. |
10 . More than half the world’s population live in cities, and by 2050 the UN expects that proportion to reach 68%. This means more homes, roads and other infrastructure. In India alone, a city the size of Chicago will have to be developed every year to meet demand for housing. Such a construction increase is a bad sign for dealing with climate change, because making steel and concrete, two of the most common building materials, generates around 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions (排放). If cities are to expand and become greener at the same time, they will have to be made from something else.
Wood is one of the most promising sustainable (可持续的) alternatives to steel and concrete. It is not, however, everyday wood that is attracting the interest of architects.
Rather, it is a material called engineered timber. This is a combination of different layers, each designed to meet the requirements of specific parts such as floors, panels and beams (横梁). Designers can use it to provide levels of strength like steel, in a product that is up to 80% lighter. In addition, engineered timber is usually made into large sections in a factory for future use, which reduces the number of deliveries to a construction site.
According to Michael Ramage of the University of Cambridge, a wooden building produces 75% less CO2 than a steel and concrete one of the same size. However, if building with wood takes off, it does raise concern about there being enough trees to go round. But with sustainably managed forests that should not be a problem, says Dr Ramage. A family-sized apartment requires about 30 cubic metres of timber, and he estimates Europe’s sustainable forests alone grow that amount every seven seconds. Nor is fire a risk, for engineered timber does not burn easily. Besides, fireproofing layers can be added to the timber. All in all, then, it looks as if wood as a building material may get a new lease of life.
1. Why is India mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To point out the severe pollution. |
| B．To predict the population increase. |
| C．To indicate the high degree of urbanization. |
| D．To show the great need for building materials. |
| A．It is produced at a low cost. |
| B．It hardly appeals to architects. |
| C．It helps save energy in transportation. |
| D．It possesses greater strength than steel. |
| A．Becomes cheaper. | B．Gains popularity. |
| C．Requires less work. | D．Proves sustainable. |
| A．Making Future Cities More Attractive |
| B．Living in a World with Less Emission |
| C．Building Sustainable Cities with Woods |
| D．Growing More Trees for Future Building |
