1 . For many years, I knew I wanted to be a music video director. After graduating from high school, I moved to Los Angeles, where I earned a degree in video production. Fortune smiled upon me as I quickly worked at important positions. I was young and ambitious working in the field I'd dreamed of for years.
One day, while assisting as a volunteer at an award show, one of the production managers remarked that I was going to be a “powerhouse”. I knew I wanted to be happy and enjoy whatever work I did, but I wasn't sure I wanted to be a "powerhouse”. Not too long after the show, I was laid off from my position at the production company. It sent me back home to Florida to think about my next career move.
In Florida, I landed a job working the night shift at a financial institution. The pay was good, but a few months later my creative spirit sent an S. O. S. to my brain, signaling I wasn't making the best use of my talents. I didn't have the money to make another cross-country move back to Los Angeles, but I also couldn't stay in an unfulfilling（不称心的） job.
I did some creative writing during my spare time. To motivate myself even further, I made the commitment to author a children's book. My goal didn't end there, however. I was also determined to get the book published.
Once I completed my manuscript （手稿），I decided it would be best if it were a picture storybook. It was not easy for me to get the book published and yet I continued sending out my work. It took somewhere between three and four years to finally attract the interest of a publisher. I held a copy of my beautiful children’s book in my hands.
I found a happy place within and a new realization. I may not have become a powerhouse, but I did accomplish a goal. Success found within is how you define it, how you live it and always have something to strive for, not fear.
1. What used to be the author's goal in life?| A．To be a music video director. | B．To be a powerhouse. |
| C．To be a financial expert. | D．To be a famous book writer. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Satisfied. | C．Disappointed. | D．Puzzled. |
| A．Define her goal in life. |
| B．Move back to her home. |
| C．Make a change in her career. |
| D．Find someone appreciating her talent |
| A．Try different lifestyles. |
| B．Find our own strength. |
| C．Be brave to struggle for something. |
| D．Stick to the first goal in our life. |
2 . A new study showed evidence of how coal burning which was caused by a volcanic eruption resulted in climate change in Siberia. It discovered the first direct evidence of how extensive burning of coal in Siberia caused the Permian-Triassic（二叠纪至三叠纪）Mass Extinction Event. Their study was published recently in Geology. The research team looked at the volcaniclastic rocks found in the Siberian Traps. These eruptions lasted for about two million years more. The mass extinction almost extinguished life on our planet around 252 million years in the past.
Researchers calculated the temperature of marine waters at the time extinctions were at their peak, and results showed that the planet was in an extremely high temperature level, with ocean and sea temperatures around the equator（赤道）over 104° F. Ecosystems and plant and animal species needed millions of years to establish a new balance and recover populations.
One assuming cause of the event involves massive coal burning, which led to extreme global warming and extinguished most life forms. The team set out to look for evidence of this theory and began to study the region of the Siberian Traps, where magma and lava （岩浆和熔岩）are known to have burned coal and wood.
In the Angara River, the team found high cliffs of volcaniclastic rocks that line the river for many hundreds of miles. They studied the structures for six years, travelling far and wide to collect rocks. More than a thousand pounds of rock samples were collected and shared with a scientific team.
Upon analysis, they found strange parts that seemed to be burnt wood and coal.
Co-author Steve Grasby from the Geological Survey of Canada had previously found similar tiny burnt coal material on an arctic island in Canada, which also dated from the end of the Permian Period and were believed to have floated into the area from Siberia.
Similar events also occur today, with human burning of coal and other fossil energies. The team leader Elkins — Tanton says this is an extra incentive （动 因）for us to act now. Indeed? taking action may prevent or at least slow another mass extinction event.
1. What does the underlined word "extinguished” in the first paragraph mean?| A．Destroyed. | B．Constructed. |
| C．Formed, | D．Strengthened. |
| A．Parts from the volcanic eruption. |
| B．Lack of food after the volcanic eruption. |
| C．High temperatures caused by the volcano. |
| D．Magma and lava of the volcanic eruption. |
| A．To avoid burning the fossil fuels. |
| B．To try to prevent volcanoes erupting. |
| C．To take measures to protect wild animals. |
| D．To learn how to stay alive in disasters. |
| A．How to protect our earth more effectively. |
| B．The mass extinction in history in Siberia, |
| C．The high temperatures around the world. |
| D．A study of coal burning in history in Siberia. |
3 . One of the important, but seldom-discussed, problems in healthcare reform is how to take care of our aging population as people continue to live longer. According to a new study from the MacArthur Research Network on an Aging Society, by 2050 Americans may live 3.1 to 7. 9 years longer than the government expects. That would mean women would live 89 to 93 years and men 83 to nearly 86 years. The researchers base their conclusion on "rapid advances in biomedical（生物医药）technology that delay the start and progression of major deadly diseases or that slow the aging process・”
While this is good news, especially for the young, the life expectancy, which is in excess of（超过）the government's estimates, would raise costs sharply for Medicare and Social Security. If the study's predictions are accurate, the total cost for those two programs through 2050 could be between $ 3. 2 trillion and $ & 3 trillion higher than the US Census Bureau（人口普查局）and the Social Security Administration currently expect.
And that's only the beginning. With anticipated scientific breakthroughs in coming decades, people could eventually live to 150 years of age, says Dr. Steven Joyal, an official of the Life Extension Foundation (LEF) a nonprofit organization that promotes research on how we can live longer and healthier. The MacArthur paper, in fact, says that some experts believe the average life expectancy could hit 100 by 2060.
What's more, Joyal says, the conquest（战胜）of disease and the slowing of the aging process will lead to a sharp decline in disability, allowing people of advanced age to function as well as they did when they were much younger. "In other words, a 90-year-old person could have the same mental and physical capacity as somebody 40 or 50 years old."
1. What does the new study show?| A．Americans will live much longer by 2050 than they do now. |
| B．Great progress has been made in the US in public security. |
| C．Few people pay attention to the health care reform in the US. |
| D．Fewer Americans suffer from deadly disease now than before. |
| A．Social security. |
| B．Biomedical technology. |
| C．Healthcare reform. |
| D．New research in health cam. |
| A．The aging process will speed up. |
| B．It adds to the chance of being disabled. |
| C．The old will have some mental problems. |
| D．It will increase public costs for the government. |
| A．Life for Senior Citizens in the US |
| B．The Longer Life Expectancy in the Future |
| C．The Disadvantage of Longer Life Expectancy |
| D．What Can Be Done to Support So Many Aged People |
4 . A NASA-funded study used satellite to search for penguin poops (粪便) in Antarctica: funny at first sight though, it resulted in unique insights on the Adelie penguin’s diet and its future as the climate changes. The findings published recently unlocked the secrets about the species that can provide an early-warning of threats to Antarctica’s delicate ecosystem.
Researchers from Stony Brook University used satellite images to see if the Adelie penguin’s diet has been changing in response to Antarctica’s changing climate. Adelie penguin population has dropped greatly in some areas even as the global population increases. The satellite images cannot show the penguins individually, but their presence can be detected by the stain (污渍) left on the ice by their waste, called guano.
Male and female penguins take turns incubating (孵化) in the nest. The guano builds up in the same areas occupied by the nests. Heather Lynch, associate professor at Stony Brook, along with his team, used the area of the colony as defined by the guano stain to work back to the number of pairs. A global survey for Adelie penguins turned up 3.8 million breeding pairs. Also, the satellite data can detect the color of the penguin guano, ranging from white to pink to dark red. White guano is from eating mostly fish; pink and red would be from eating mostly krill (磷虾). The team found that while the Adelie penguin’s diet did show changes from year to year, no consistent pattern was obvious.
“This was a big surprise, since the abundance and distribution of Adelie penguins has changed dramatically over the last 40 years and scientists had assumed that a change in diet might have played a role,” said Casey Young flesh, a graduate student from the university. However, continued changes in the physical environment and a growing krill fishery in the region are likely to have an influence on penguin prey (猎物) and penguin population itself. “Tools like this will be important for the management of the Antarctic ecosystem, which is often considered among the most primitive areas in the world,” said Young flesh.
1. What concerned scientists most according to paragraph 1?| A．The climate change. | B．The Adelie penguin’s diet. |
| C．The Antarctica’s ecosystem. | D．The secret of penguin poops. |
| A．By doing experiments. | B．By conducting surveys. |
| C．By making observations. | D．By collecting documents. |
| A．The Adelie penguin population was 3.8 million worldwide. |
| B．Guano colors reflected the health condition of the penguin. |
| C．The Adelie penguin’s diet stayed the same most of the time. |
| D．Adelie penguin waste helped estimate the penguin population. |
| A．More Adelie penguins have appeared over the last 40 years. |
| B．There was not an obvious changing pattern of penguin’s diet. |
| C．Diet changes didn’t actually affect penguin population as assumed. |
| D．Fishery was important for the management of the Antarctic ecosystem. |
5 . When most high school students complain about having to wake up extra early，they're usually referring to a swim practice before class or the last minute study before a test. But that was never the case for Corey Patrick，who woke up at 4：30 every morning last year in order to arrive on time at Tarrant High School in Alabama.
Patrick had attended Tarrant City Schools since his fourth grade，but things got difficult when his family moved to a town 14 miles away. Even though his family didn't have any forms of transportation，Patrick didn't want to miss out on his senior year with friends，so he woke up at 4：30 every morning in order to make it to a 5：41 a．m.bus that would help him get to Tarrant on time.And just as he had done every other school day of the year，Patrick got up one morning to start the journey from his home to his high school; the only obvious difference that morning was that he was wearing his graduation gown (毕业礼服)，which made that day's bus driver，DeJuanna Beasley, take some photos of him. She then shared them online with these words，“You tell me this isn't determination.He got on my bus to go to his graduation，and no one was with him.Sometimes it's all in what you want out of life.I was so proud of this young man.”
That was soon shared by many people online，and it caught the attention of radio host Rickey Smiley，who surprised Patrick by giving him a car later. Smiley confirmed that he would make sure that Patrick received help with getting his driver's license. A GoFundMe was also created for Patrick，which has raised over $20,000. And Patrick has got a scholarship (奖学金) to Jacksonville University，where he plans to study computer science.
1. Why was Patrick different from most students when it comes to rising early?| A．It had something to do with study. |
| B．It was a part of daily life for him. |
| C．He was unwilling to get up early. |
| D．He spent more time in studying. |
| A．Patrick dressed poorly on his graduation day. |
| B．It took Patrick an hour to get to the bus stop. |
| C．The driver was moved by Patrick's story. |
| D．There was no school in Patrick's town. |
| A．Patrick's request for help on the Internet. |
| B．The difficulties that Patrick experienced. |
| C．The information about Patrick's university. |
| D．The message published online by the driver. |
| A．GoFundMe. | B．Rickey Smiley. |
| C．Patrick's high school. | D．Jacksonville University. |
6 . Would a faster reading speed mean that we could learn more? Some people claim that it’s possible. In July last year，the six-time speed reading champion Anne Jones sat down to read Harper Lee’s Go Seta Watchman. Just 25 minutes and 31 seconds later, she finished it--- which equals a reading rate of around 3100 words per minute. Jones runs training courses teaching speed reading, recall and concentration techniques and there are numerous speed reading apps that have appeared on the market over the past few years. But do they actually work?
First, we need to understand how we read. The human eye movement system is central to our reading ability. Read over that sentence again, and think about how your eyes scan across the words. They don't move smoothly over them. Instead, they make a series of short, sharp jumps, skipping over a few characters before briefly landing on a word. The movements are known as saccades(扫视)and the pauses are called fixations.
Reading isn't just about seeing the words---you need to comprehend them to build up a picture about what the text means. People are able to get through a block of text faster, but at the cost of accuracy and understanding. In other words, you use a speed reading app, then you'll probably get the gist(主旨) of a piece of text, but you'll struggle to recall details about what you’ve just read.
So, does speed reading work? Well, yes and no. It really depends on what you’re reading and why you need to read it. As yet, there isn't a trick that enables you to read a piece of text both quickly and accurately-there's always going to be a trade-off.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Speed reading is bad at times. | B．Speed reading is a waste of time. |
| C．Speed reading can work sometimes. | D．Speed reading is always enjoyable. |
| A．Reading apps ensure we read much faster. |
| B．Fast reading makes us learn more knowledge. |
| C．Reading ability is not related to the eye movement system. |
| D．You probably get the main idea of a passage by using a speed reading App. |
| A．She runs training courses teaching only speed reading technique. |
| B．She is a running champion. |
| C．She can read very fast. |
| D．She creates some speed reading apps. |
| A．The advantages of faster or slower reading. |
| B．The reasons why to do faster or slower reading. |
| C．The methods for making use of faster or slower reading. |
| D．The cases where to do faster and slower reading. |
7 . Selfie Drone
Drone X Pro is a shining star on the drone(无人机) market. Here's why it's gone viral.
How does Drone X Pro work?
Start by installing the Drone app to your smartphone(Android or iOS). It takes just minutes. After that, just place the battery in your drone and launch the app. You're now ready to fly your Drone X Pro!
Why is this drone so special?
The drone is about the size of a large screen smartphone. It's so small that it fits into any pocket or handbag!
Here's the best part: flying is extremely easy. There's no experience required to fly this drone. You can easily control and fly this drone, even if you've never flown a drone in your life. Flying the drone is smooth and natural as riding a bike. Our friend's son came over to the office, and he figured out how to fly the drone in just minutes. You can't imagine how stable and smooth his controls are!
Once you own this drone, you can enjoy amazing HD pictures of nature, friends, and families. It's a blast!
How much does it cost?
Now, Drone X Pro sells for $150 each online and two at a discount of 80%. It's a great deal! If you're not satisfied, return it and you can get your money back.
Because of the easy use, portability, low price, and small size, it's absolutely worth it! Just imagine amazing pictures and videos you'll be taking with your new Drone X Pro. If you've never flown a drone before, this is the time to start!
Call now! 400-800-7832 or order yours from the official website www. Drone X Pro. com.
1. What makes Drone X Pro different from the other drones?| A．It isn’t hard to control. | B．It is of high quality. |
| C．It needs no power to drive. | D．It is unnecessary to install. |
| A．By giving a specific example. | B．By sharing some experience. |
| C．By stating its operating steps. | D．By telling an unforgettable story. |
| A．$120. | B．$150. | C．$240. | D．$300. |
8 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
9 . There’s no doubt that one of the greatest human achievements is the exploration of the space. Ever since astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to be sent into the orbit around the moon in 1961, scientists have been pushing the boundaries further and further. But until now the exploration into the unknown has been dominated (主导) by men.
Of course, in the past, women were also included in the space projects and played an active role on the ground and behind the scenes. For example, they worked as seamstresses (女裁缝师), sewing vital spaceflight components. In fact, many of NASA’s key works would never have been possible without them. Recently Hollywood produced a movie called Hidden Figures to focus on a group of American female mathematicians, especially the black women, who helped NASA send the first American into space. But this was not women’s only contribution. Back in 1963, Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to be sent into space. However, after that, space flight programs were slow to employ women. In the USA. NASA didn’t accept applications from women to become astronauts until 1978.
But attitudes have changed and leading officials at NASA say that the first person to set foot on Mars should be a woman. The space agency aims to have a sex-balanced workforce but can only achieve that if equal numbers of men and women are trained for science and technology jobs. As Allison McIntryre told the BBC, “My director is a woman. We have female astronauts. We haven’t put a woman on the moon yet. And I think that perhaps the first person to step on Mars should be a woman.”
1. What did Yuri Gagarin do in 1961?| A．He landed on the moon in success. |
| B．He discovered many new boundaries. |
| C．He led scientists to explore the moon. |
| D．He made the first journey into the space. |
| A．To show women are the true heroes of NASA’s first launch. |
| B．To stress that black people have won equal rights in NASA. |
| C．To prove women can do as well as men in NASA’ projects. |
| D．To present women’s contributions to NASA’s space programs. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Will the First Person to Step on Mars Be a Woman? |
| B．Great Achievements Have Been Made in Space Exploration? |
| C．Why Men Played an Important Role in Exploring the Unknown? |
| D．Men and Women Have Made Equal Contributions to NASA’s Projects? |
10 . William Lindesay has been interested in the Great Wall of China since seeing it in a school atlas（地图册）as a child in England. I vividly recall seeing in the " Oxford School Atlas" the Great Wall with its battlement symbol. From that moment, I had in my mind that when I grew up I'd go to China and walk along the Great Wall from end to end.
Lindesay's about 3 ,000-km solo run along the Great Wall began in 1987. Running the length of the wall was a brave expedition, venturing into sparsely populated regions where there was little chance of help if the runner had an accident. During another trip, Lindesay and his team ventured deep into the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The explorers almost died from dehydration(脱水） . In total, Lindesay estimates in an interview that he has spent about 1,600 days of his life, or four full years, on the Great Wall in all seasons.
Lindesay and his wife, Wu Qi, whom he got to know and fell in love with during his trips in China, had a farmhouse at the foot of the wall. During his exploration, he noticed some sections of the wall were badly damaged and covered with litter. Modernization and development were making the situation even worse. "Some people say it will take generations to change; I say we don't have generations of time. It's got to be much quicker, " he said. Lindesay always carries a garbage bag with him in the wilderness, picking litter along the way. Lindesay uses a garbage bag as his calling card. The cloth bag bears a set of nine simple guidelines in Chinese, which calls on people to observe while traveling or camping outdoors : "Take your own garbage home" "Pick up? litter left by othersDon't damage plants or flowers, or pick fruit" and lots more.
1. What sparked William Lindesay's dream of exploring the Great Wall?| A．Seeing a movie about the Great Wall. |
| B．Experiencing a war for the Great Wall. |
| C．Surfing a website about the Great Wall. |
| D．Admiring the Great Wall in the school atlas. |
| A．Remotely. | B．Rarely. |
| C．Frequently. | D．Largely. |
| A．The destroyed ecosystems. | B．Waste caused by farms. |
| C．The increasing tourists. | D．Modernization and development. |
| A．Strong - willed and selfless. | B．Determined and grateful. |
| C．Warmhearted and impolite. | D．Considerate and optimistic. |
