1 . Though leaders from the International Olympic Committee(IOC)have announced a first-of-its-kind postponement of the Tokyo Summer Olympics because of the corona virus epidemic,people all over the world are still concerned about its preparations.Officials from the Tokyo Olympic Committee say they are sparing no effort and announce the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 is going green.The 5,000 medals Japan has made are more special than most.
One novel focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to be"sustainable”－to avoid using too many natural resources,so that the games are easy on the environment.As part of this goal,the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics.
Almost all electronics are made with small amounts of"precious metals",like gold and silver.But collecting enough of these metals to make 5,000 medals was a huge challenge.That's because the amount of metal in each device is tiny.It would take about 20,000 cell phones to get just l kilogram of gold.
Beginning in April 2017,the organizers placed collection boxes around the country,and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices.Soon people began to respond to the initiative(倡导），turning in smart phones,digital cameras,handheld games,and laptops.At first,collection went slowly,but soon more and more areas began to take part.By the end,1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process.
Then came the job of breaking those devices down into smaller pieces.After eing taken apart and sorted, the small electronics were smelted(熔炼）to get all the gold,silver,and bronze elements.This is a tricky job, which calls for careful attention and good skill.It's also dangerous,because some of the metals and other things aren't safe for people to touch or breathe.
By the end of March,2019,the organizers had hit their targets of getting enough metal for the medals. They had collected around 32 kilograms of gold,4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze.And now all the 5,000 medals are available for the would-be winners.
1. What can we know about the Tokyo Olympics medals?| A．They are hugely valuable. |
| B．They are of high quality. |
| C．They are made from e-waste. |
| D．They are designed uniquely. |
| A．The difficulty of making the medals. |
| B．The initiative to recycle used smart phones. |
| C．The classification of the collected devices. |
| D．The process of collecting old electronics. |
| A．creative | B．demanding | C．well-paid | D．time-consuming |
| A．To advocate sustainable use of resources. |
| B．To promote the spirit of Olympic Games. |
| C．To introduce a new technique to make medals. |
| D．To show the gravity of environmental damage. |
2 . Most of the new diseases we humans have faced in the past several decades have come from animals. The more we come into contact with wild animals, the more we risk a so-called disease “spillover” from animals to humans.
“As people move and wildlife move in response to a changing environment, humans and wildlife and animals will come in contact more regularly,” said Jeanne Fair from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Fair argues that by shifting animal habitats, climate change will also make the opportunities for disease spillover more frequent. “Everything is sort of shifting and will shift into the future as the environment changes through climate change,” Fair said.
Scientists, including climatologists and epidemiologists (流行病学家) on Fair’s team at Los Alamos, are beginning to model how changes to the climate will impact the spread of infectious diseases. It’s early days for this kind of research, but previous studies suggest that extreme weather has already played a role in at least one outbreak. Scientists say drought and deforestation have combined to force bats out of rain forests and into orchards (果园) in Malaysia to find food. Those bats, a common disease reservoir, then passed the Nipah virus through pigs to humans for the first time in the late 1990s.
“We’re going by the past data to really predict what’s going to happen in the future,” Fair said, “And so, anytime you increase that wildlife-human interface, that’s sort of an emerging disease hot spot. And so, that’s just increasing as we go forward.”
Jeffrey Shaman, head of the climate and health program at Columbia University’s public health school, argues we don’t yet know whether climate change will cause a net increase in infectious disease rates globally. For example, mosquitoes carry disease that affects millions of people across the world every year. As their habitats expand in some parts of the world, they might contract diseases elsewhere. Shaman says what we know for certain about climate change is that it will make it harder to predict where disease outbreaks will pop up.
1. How does climate change affect the spread of disease according to Fair?| A．By breaking animals’habits. | B．By increasing animals’varieties. |
| C．By promoting animals’breeding. | D．By changing animals’living environment. |
| A．Explaining the influence of Nipah virus. |
| B．Proving the harm of bats to human beings. |
| C．Showing the effects of climate change on disease. |
| D．Presenting scientists’early study about the cause of disease. |
| A．Humans should give up studying animals. |
| B．Frequent contact with animals can cause disease outbreaks. |
| C．Disease hot spots will disappear if animals die out. |
| D．Past data can solve the problems in the future. |
| A．Climate Change and Disease Spillover |
| B．Animals’Interaction with Humans |
| C．Early Studies about Extreme Weather |
| D．Scientists’Prediction for Disease Outbreaks |
3 . One of the greatest sources of unhappiness, in my experience, is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are.
When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different. We cry out for something better. That may be human nature, or perhaps it’s something ingrained(根深蒂固的) in our culture. The root of the unhappiness isn’t necessarily that we want things to be different. However, it’s that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place. We’ve judged it as bad, rather than saying, “It’s not bad or good, and it just is it.”
In one of my books, I said “You should expect people to mess up and expect things to go differently than you planned”. Some readers said it’s too sorrowful to expect things to go wrong. However, it’s only negative if you see it as negative and judge it as bad. Instead, you could accept it as the way the world works and try to understand why that is.
This can be applied to whatever you do: how other people act at work, how politics works and how depressing the news media can be. Accept these things as they are, and try to understand why they’re that way. It will save you a lot of sadness, because you’ll no longer say, “Oh. I wish bad things didn’t happen!”
Does it mean you can never change things? Not at all. But change things not because you can’t accept things as they are, but because you enjoy the process of changing, learning and growing.
Can we make this world a better place? You can say that you’ll continue to try to do things to help others, to grow as a person, to make a difference in this world. That’s the correct path you choose to take, because you enjoy that path. Therefore, when you find yourself judging and wishing for difference, try a different approach: accept, and understand. It might lead to some interesting results.
1. The author believes that we feel unhappy maybe because ________.| A．it is our natural emotion in the life |
| B．culture asks us to be different from others |
| C．everyone has their own opinions on things |
| D．we dislike something in the beginning |
| A．Acting well at work and in politics. |
| B．Feeling depressed for the news media. |
| C．Accepting and understanding what has happened. |
| D．Saying something negative when bad things come. |
| A．Help others and make a difference. |
| B．Enjoy what you have to do in the work. |
| C．Judge yourself and make a wish for you. |
| D．Try a new way when making the world better. |
| A．Accepting can make our life happier and better. |
| B．Expecting things to be different gives us hope. |
| C．Traditional culture becomes root of unhappiness. |
| D．Judging good or bad is important for our world. |
4 . A billionaire has recently made one of the biggest charitable（慈善的）donations to a university in China’s history. Chen Tianqiao donated $115 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to help advanced brain research. The donation will be spent deepening the understanding of how the brain works. Chen has been interested to brain research, believing it can shape the industries such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. However, this huge donation has caused heated discussing among Chinese scholars and internet users alike.
Many criticized him for choosing to give money to a foreign university rather than home institutes for brain research, which are developing fast and are on track to catch up with the US in just a few years. Rao Yi, a biologist at Peking University, even said the donation was a typical mistake.
Others, however, support his choice. They believe Caltech is a more reasonable choice compared to Chinese research institutions. Caltech has a long history and has taken a leading position in biology, and therefore it produces more efficient results. In addition, the results of the research benefit not only the American people, but also the rest of the world.
A similar controversial case started two years ago when Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China, donated $15 million to Harvard University to help disadvantaged Chinese students.
Many believe that China is still behind in the management and use of donated money, and that as a result, Chinese charity donators are looking abroad. In comparison, Western countries like the US, which have a long history of donating money, have well-developed systems that use money efficiently. They can also provide full access for donors who want to track the use of the money. To get more donations, Chinese universities should be braver and more honest. They need self-reflection, rather than envy.
1. Why did Chen’s donation draw criticism?| A．It was not given to a Chinese university. |
| B．It was one of the largest to Caltech. |
| C．It was not used efficiently in the USA. |
| D．It was used in brain research. |
| A．The Chinese are just too envious |
| B．The achievements will benefit the whole world |
| C．Caltech is a university with a longer history |
| D．The fund can help disadvantaged Chinese students |
| A．To suggest the enthusiasm of the billionaires |
| B．To show off generosity of the billionaires |
| C．To inform Chinese students are poor at academy |
| D．To stress the disagreement over donating abroad. |
| A．explore artificial intelligence | B．develop efficient systems |
| C．grow fast and catch up with the US | D．educate more honest graduates |
5 . Two of the hardest things to accomplish in this world are to acquire wealth by honest effort and, having gained it, to learn how to use it properly. Recently I walked into the locker room of a rather well-known golf club after finishing a round. It was in the late afternoon and most of the members had left for their homes. But a half-dozen or so men past middle age were still seated at tables talking aimlessly and drinking more than was good for them. These same men can be found there day after day, and, strangely enough, each one of these men had been a man of affairs and wealth, successful in business and respected in the community. If material prosperity were the chief necessity for happiness, then each one should have been happy. Yet, it seemed to me, something very important was missing, else-there would not have been the constant effort to escape the realities of life through scotch and soda. They knew, each one of them, that their productivity had ceased (停止). When a fruit tree ceases to bear its fruit, it is dying. And it is even so with man.
What is the answer to a long and happy existence in this world of ours? I think I found it long ago in a passage from the book of Genesis which caught my eye while I was looking through my Bible. The words were few, but they became memorably impressed on my mind. “In the sweat of the face shall you eat the bread.”
To me, that has been a challenge from my earliest recollections (memories). In fact, the battle of life, of existence, is a challenge to everyone. The immortal words of St. Paul, too, have been and always will be a great inspiration to me. At the end of the road I want to be able to feel that I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.
1. Which of the following is indicated in the first paragraph?| A．Wealth results from honest effort. |
| B．The men seated at tables in the locker room are lost in the significance of life. |
| C．For some people, no way can be found to escape the realities of life other than scotch and soda. |
| D．The men acquire wealth by planting fruit trees. |
| A．Bread tastes delicious when sweat pours off your face |
| B．No pains, no gains |
| C．Failure is the mother of success |
| D．Bread comes from the sweat on your face |
| A．was a wealthy person in the community |
| B．held a positive attitude towards an active life |
| C．was fond of associating with celebrities (名人) |
| D．kept a secret of the reason why he was so impressed |
| A．To use wealth properly, cat, drink and be merry. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．As life is but like a dream, a man is like a fruit tree. |
| D．If you cease to struggle, you cease to live. |
On Thanksgiving weekend, the Heffelmire family gathered for a meal at their home. After dinner, the family went down to the finished basement to relax except Charlotte’s father, Eric, who was in the garage to fix his truck．
Around 8 p.m., Charlotte decided to check on her dad. She walked through the kitchen. When she opened the side door to the garage, black smoke rose up into the kitchen. She could barely make out her father lying on his back, trapped under the truck. He’d removed the front passenger-side tyre and raised the truck on a jack（千斤顶）. The truck had slipped off the jack, and now the whole weight of the wheel was on his chest and shoulders．
Charlotte ran to the front of the truck and struggled to lift it. Eric was still conscious, and he yelled, “You got it! One more try!” She tried again and was able to tip the truck backward just enough for her to pull her dad by the shirt with both hands from under the truck．
She dragged him across the garage and 20 feet down the driveway. Then she ran back to the garage, which had burst into flames. “I was afraid the car was going to explode,” says Charlotte, so she climbed into the truck, which faced forward, turned the key, and pressed the gas pedal（油门）. The car slowly rolled out, the metal wheel scratching loudly against the concrete．
Safely on the driveway, Charlotte stopped the truck and ran back to the basement. “There’s a fire! Everybody get out!” she yelled as she picked up her three-month-old niece and ran out. Outside, she handed the baby to her mom, and then ran around to the burning garage. She picked up a garden hose（水管）and sprayed the fire while calling 911．
A few minutes later, firefighters and an ambulance arrived. Charlotte was treated for second-degree burns on both her feet and face. Her dad had injuries on his chest and shoulders, as well as minor burns on his face. The garage and the house were damaged but the family survived．
The Heffelmires are staying in an apartment while their house is rebuilt. “Charlotte is a remarkable kid,” says her dad. Charlotte, however, simply says, “ I was saving my family and my house. I wasn’t going to let my dad die.”
1. Eric got trapped because_________| A．the truck slipped off the jack. |
| B．the wheel fell off the truck. |
| C．the front tyre was removed. |
| D．the kitchen was on fire. |
a. Charlotte called the firefighters．
b. Charlotte saved Eric from under the truck．
c. Charlotte drove the truck out of the garage．
d. Charlotte warned the family to leave the house．
| A．b, c, a, d | B．a, b, d, c |
| C．b, c, d, a | D．a, c, b, d |
| A．the house was not fit to live in. |
| B．the truck exploded. |
| C．the three-month-old baby was injured. |
| D．Charlotte was burned on her chest and shoulders. |
| A．proud and clear-headed. |
| B．calm and quick-minded. |
| C．modest and easy-going. |
| D．independent and self-centered. |
"Women tend to be social in their behavior．They often share with others．But men lend to be competitive．They are trying to improve their social status," said Professor Ryan．
Generally, people believe that the hormone oxytocin is let out in our body in various social situations and our body creates a large amount of it during positive social interactions （互动） such as falling in love or giving birth．
But in a previous experiment Professor Ryan found that the hormone is also let out in our body during negative social interactions such as envy．
Further researches showed that in men the hormone oxytocin improves the ability to recognize competitive relationships, but in women it raises the ability to recognize friendship．
Professor Ryan's recent experiment used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37．Half of the participants（参与者）received oxytocin．The other half received placebo （安慰剂）．
After a week, the two groups switched with participants．They went through the same procedure with the other material．
Following each treatment, they were shown some video pictures with different social interactions．Then they were asked to analyze the relationships by answering some questions．The questions were about telling friendship from competition．And their answers should be based on gestures, body language and facial expressions．
The results indicated that, after treatment with oxytocin, men's ability to correctly recognize competitive relationships improved, but in women it was the ability to correctly recognize friendship that got better．
Professor Ryan thus concluded: "Our experiment proves that the hormone oxytocin can raise people's abilities to better distinguish different social interactions．And the behavior differences between men and women are caused by biological factors （因素） that are mainly hormonal．"
1. What causes men and women to behave differently according to the text?
| A．Placebo． | B．Oxytocin． |
| C．The gesture． | D．The social status． |
| A．Oxytocin affects our behavior in a different way． |
| B．Our body lets out oxytocin when we are deep in love． |
| C．Our body produces oxytocin when we feel unhappy about others' success． |
| D．Oxytocin improves our abilities to understand people's behavior differences． |
| A．To test the effect of oxytocin on the ability to recognize social interactions． |
| B．To know the differences between friendship and competition． |
| C．To know people's different abilities to answer questions． |
| D．To test people's understanding of body language． |
| A．explaining people's behaviors |
| B．describing his own experiences |
| C．distinguishing sexual differences |
| D．discussing research experiments |
