1 . The terraced rapeseed(油菜)flower hills of Jiangling, Wuyuan is well-known as one of the four “seas of flowers” in China, attracting thousands of plant-loving tourists to come and appreciate and photograph the vast and endless rapeseed flower fields.
“Rapeseed flowers are the messenger of spring,” said Bin Zhan, manager of Jiangxi Wuyuan Tourism, “Jiangling is the best place for a relaxing spring trip to enjoy the most visually impressive views of golden seas of rapeseed blossoms covering layered terrace fields”.
The rapeseed blossom in the terraced fields of Jiangling, located 45 kilometres to the northeast of Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province, reached full bloom in the second week of March.
This year. Wuyuan restores ancient farming traditions and practices to give visitors an idea or the history ，culture and folk customs of the county by adding scarecrows(稻草人) in the rapeseed flower fields. The creative scarecrows of Wuyuan County are designed in the shapes of popular cartoon characters, Hui-style architecture and folk customs. They are placed in the rapeseed fields to provide more fun and interactions for visitors on flower viewing tours.
“As flower viewing is becoming more popular in recent years, Jiangling is seeing a growing number of returning visitors, especially professional photograph who come back every year for the dramatic rapeseed blossoms,” Zhan said. “The blossoms only last one to two months. April is the last chance to catch a flower-viewing tour this year.”
In addition to flower viewing, Wuyuan County is also home to the most well-protected ancient Hui-style architecture in China. As one of the most beautiful countryside villages in China, it attracts photographers from around the world every year to document not only the natural scenery, but also the unique farming culture and folk traditions.
1. Which is NOT one of the features of the rapeseed blossoms of Jiangling？| A．The rapeseed fields cover a limited area. |
| B．The rapeseed is planted on layered terraces. |
| C．Rapeseed flowers blossom, at the beginning of spring. |
| D．When the flowers blossom, the fields are like a golden sea. |
| A．Folk customs. | B．Hui-style buildings. |
| C．Creative scarecrows. | D．Models of popular cartoon characters. |
| A．Returning visitors get discount when entering Jiangling. |
| B．Visitors could catch the last flower viewing tour in May. |
| C．It is in March and April that Jiangling has the most visitors. |
| D．Not many professional photographers will go to see the blossoms. |
| A．To introduce Wuyuan County as a tourist destination. |
| B．To report how many people visited Jiangling this year. |
| C．To introduce the history of rapeseed farming in Jiangling. |
| D．To remind visitors the best viewing time for rapeseed blossoms. |
2 . One day about eight years ago in the departure lounge (休息室) of a flight from New York's LaGuardia airport to O'Hare in Chicago, I found a young boy in tears and his mother at his side also appeared upset, I walked to them and invited them to our VIP lounge.
As it turned out, the boy, Miles and his mom were returning to their home in Kansas City. Miles has had some health problems. Though he had received more than thirty operations in a Jewish Hospital in New York, he would be back for more.
Miles enjoyed spending his time in our VIP lounge looking at the entire wall filled with the pictures of many celebrities (名人) who often came to our office. We soon added Miles' picture to the wall among those celebrities.
Among the celebrities, Miles like the country singer Garth Brooks best. Miles would just sit and stare at Garth's picture,
One day, Mr. Brooks was waiting in the lounge for his flight. As he looked at the collection of photographs, Garth asked about the youngster with the big smile. We told him about Miles. We also told him how much Miles loved and respected (尊重) him. He nodded and left.
About six months later, Garth was going to be performing in Kansas City and he asked our workers to help him get in touch with the family. He wanted Miles to be his guest. That evening, not only did Miles sit in the front row, but he and Garth also had a private meeting after the performance.
Although Miles would receive many more treatments after that special evening, his smile greeted us with every following visit. The face of a sick boy was changed by the joy of a stranger.
1. What does the author probably do?| A．A worker at an airport. | B．A killed photographer. |
| C．A country music singer. | D．A doctor in a Jewish hospital. |
| A．Interviewing celebrities he saw there. |
| B．Seeing pictures of celebrities on the wall. |
| C．Drawing pictures of the celebrities there. |
| D．Singing together with his favorite singer. |
| A．Determined and generous. | B．Proud and selfish. |
| C．Kind and helpful. | D．Powerful and rich. |
| A．Importance of Good Service | B．Kindness from Strangers |
| C．A Serious Health Problem | D．A Helpless Mother |
3 . Morris, a well-known English violinist, had been exhausted from a day of recording at Abbey Road Studios when he exited the Southeastern Railway from London late last month. He was so tired that he didn’t even realize that he had left his beloved violin on the train until the following morning.
The violin is one of the few surviving instruments made by Roman craftsman David Tecchler in 1709. Not only is the violin worth$320,000,but Morris has also been playing the instrument for 15 years.
Feeling panic, Morris contacted the British Transport Police to see if it had been returned; unfortunately, officers checked the footage(录像) and saw that the violin had been picked up by another train passenger. Morris then created social media accounts to beg for the return of his instrument. The footage was shown in the news, and the person responsible for taking the violin was treated as a suspect.
Several days later, Morris received a phone call from someone who recognized the man on the train. Morris was then put in contact with the man who took the violin—and he had apparently been very eager to return the instrument. After promising the man that he wouldn’t be arrested, Morris met him in a parking lot so he could reunite with his beloved instrument.
The man apologized sincerely, saying he wanted to hand it to Morris in person. Morris found the instrument and the contents of its case were still in consummate condition. To his surprise, it was even still in tune(音调准确). Morris was excited and deeply grateful for its return.
“I’m still getting over the shock of its coming back,” Morris admitted in an interview afterwards. Then he played a breathtaking piece of music Amazing Grace on his 310-year-old violin in front of the reporters.
1. What can we learn about the lost violin?| A．It’s valuable and important. | B．It’s a gift from David Tecchler. |
| C．It’s the only violin Morris owns. | D．It’s the oldest violin in the world. |
| A．He spoke to reporters about it. | B．He turned to the police for help. |
| C．He described his situation online. | D．He returned to the train to look for it. |
| A．He knew the violin was unique. | B．He got in touch with Morris directly. |
| C．He was unwilling to return the violin. | D．He felt afraid to be punished for his act. |
| A．Unusual. | B．Poor. | C．Perfect. | D．General. |
4 . Have you ever noticed that the stars sometimes appear brighter in December, January and February? There's a link between cold air and the night lights. "Part of it is that it tends to be drier in the winter," said Diane Tumshek, an astronomer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Even though it's invisible, moisture can change the way light moves through the air. And in the summer, moisture can make stars appear more dull.
Air temperature is also what puts the twinkle twinkle in the little stars. "Even on very clear nights, some of the atmosphere is cooler, and some of the atmosphere is warmer,” said Tumshek, who also works with the Allegheny Observatory. And when the light from a star passes through those bubbles of varying temperatures, "it bends and shifts the light, so that we are seeing stars appear to dance or twinkle,” she said.
For star lovers in the United States, there's another factor that comes into play for bright winter stars, although this is a matter of coincidence. During Earth's journey around the sun, “there are just simply more bright stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere in the winter sky," Tumshek said. If you really want to see a shiny star, just try to find a burning ball of gas called Sirius near the horizon. At 8.6 light-years away, Sirius is relatively close to Earth and the brightest star visible in the night sky. It is also large — nearly twice as big as our sun and 20 times as bright. So this winter, when the world turns cold and it seems like we should be spending more time indoors, consider asking an adult to go exploring outside. With a warm coat and a clear sky, any night can be turned into a treasure hunt. All you have to do is look up.
1. What does the underlined word "dull" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．not shiny | B．not exciting | C．not severe | D．not smart |
| A．By changing the bubbles around them. | B．By putting the twinkle twinkle in them. |
| C．By varying the direction of the light from them. | D．By making the stars dance and twinkle in the sky. |
| A．It can be found at any night. | B．It is 20 times as bright as the sun. |
| C．It is a burning and shiny ball. | D．It is closer to Earth than other stars, |
| A．To advocate stargazing in winter, | B．To call on people to focus on stars. |
| C．To present new research results about stars. | D．To explain why stars are more visible in winter. |
5 . I love snakes. My mom definitely does not. When she was a kid, snakes used to hide in warm spots under the furniture. So she grew up afraid she’d step on a snake. I grew up hoping I’d see one... outside! Lots of people who are afraid of snakes have never even seen one. So where does our fear come from?
Scientists wonder about this too. Their experiments with adults, kids, and even babies show that it’s complicated. People may not be born afraid of snakes, but we are born able to see them quickly. In tests with pictures, people picked out snakes faster than they could find flowers, frogs, and caterpillars. It wasn’t just snakes, though. People also found spiders and angry faces faster than “safe” things like flowers. It seems like we find things that might be dangerous to us faster than things that aren’t
People also learn to fear snakes faster than we learn to fear many other things. We take our hints from other people’s scared voices and faces. Some scientists think we’ve evolved this way—faster to see snakes and faster to learn to fear them. After all, if we had to be bitten by a snake to learn that it’s dangerous, we might learn our lesson too late.
So why does it matter if we’re afraid of snakes? It may not matter much to us, but it matters to snakes. People protect animals they like, not animals they fear. Snakes may not be as cute as dolphins, but they’re just as important to the environment. Snakes eat insects that are pests to humans. Snakes are also food for other animals, so when we kill snakes, we’re hurting other creatures too.
How do we get past our fears to give snakes a chance? Scientists did a study recently where students of your age went on a field trip, Guides helped them find and capture snakes in the forest. Everyone could safely touch and hold a snake. It turns out that snakes aren’t so bad when you get to know them. Most people who were afraid of snakes before the field trip weren’t afraid afterward. In fact, snakes even became some students’ favorite animal. Hmm, maybe I should take my mom on the next field trip.
Remember：Always respect snakes, whether you’re afraid of them or not.
1. We learn from Paragraph 1 that her mom’s fear of snakes is______.| A．unreasonable | B．questionable | C．acceptable | D．incredible |
| A．school education | B．others’ influence |
| C．self-experience | D．scientific researches |
| A．Paragraph 2. | B．Paragraph 3. |
| C．Paragraph 4. | D．Paragraph 5. |
| A．Snakes are not dangerous at all. |
| B．People’s fear matters little to snakes. |
| C．Snakes are well protected by humans. |
| D．People should make peace with snakes. |
6 . The 2020 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to former U.S. Poet Laureate（桂冠诗人）Louise Gluck. The prize committee cited “her unique poetic voice that with plain beauty makes individual existence universal”. Gluck is the first American woman to win the award since Toni Morrison in 1993. Gluck, 77, joins a list of literary giants and previous Nobelists who include, in this century, Canadian short-story master Alice Munro, Chinese magical-realist Mo Yan, etc.
Gluck’s work includes 12 collections of poetry and a few volumes of essays on literary writing. “All are characterized by a striving for clarity（清晰）. Childhood and family life, the close relationship with parents and siblings, is a theme that has remained central to her,” Anders Olsson, the chairman of the Nobel Committee for Literature, said. “She seeks the universal, and in this she takes inspiration from myths and classical motifs,” Olsson added, citing her 2006 collection Averno, which the committee described as “masterly” for its “visionary interpretation of the myth of Persephone’s (珀尔塞福涅) fall into hell in the captivity (囚禁) of Hades(哈得斯), the god of death”.
Being a professor at Yale and a resident of Cambridge, Gluck also served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2003 to 2004 and is no stranger to awards. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for her collection of poems titled The Wild Iris, in which “she describes the incredible return of life after winter in the poem Snowdrops,” the Nobel literature committee said Thursday. She also won the 2014 National Book Award for the poem Faithful and Virtuous Night. In 2016, President Obama awarded the National Humanities Medal to Gluck in a White House ceremony.
The publicity-shy Gluck did not immediately issue any comment about the latest honor for her body of work, which spans more than half a century. In a 2012 interview, she acknowledged that prizes can make “existence in the world easier” but did not amount to the immortality(不朽) of a true artist.
1. What can we know about Gluck from Paragraph 1?| A．She is as popular as the Chinese novelist Mo Yan. |
| B．She won the Nobel Prize for her special literary style. |
| C．She is the first American to win a Nobel Prize in literature. |
| D．She is the only Poet Laureate in modern American history. |
| A．Daily life. | B．Nature. |
| C．Careers. | D．Classical myths. |
| A．To show Gluck’s contributions to literature. |
| B．To prove Gluck’s great passion for writing. |
| C．To present Gluck’s outstanding achievements. |
| D．To stress Gluck’s influence on other poets. |
| A．She is content with it. |
| B．She takes it very seriously. |
| C．She deserves a higher honor. |
| D．She doesn’t attach great importance to it. |
7 . The grey squirrels(松鼠)and Mary Krupa became friends during Mary Krupa's first week at Penn State University. After seeing them running around, she wondered what they would look like with tiny hats on their heads. Today, everyone at the university knows her as the “Squirrel Girl".
Mary started bringing them food, and gradually they began to trust her. She managed to put a hat on a squirrel and take a picture. Thinking that her friends could use something to lift their spirits, she started posting those photos on Facebook. The response(回应)was greatly positive, and before long Mary and her squirrels became very famous on the Internet.
Growing up in a neighbourhood outside State College, Mary was always fond of birds and animals around her home, but she didn't communicate with people very much. She was later diagnosed(诊断)with Asperger's syndrome(埃斯伯格综合征)，but the squirrels changed that. “Being together with the squirrels is actually a good way to break the ice, because I'll be sitting here touching a squirrel and other people will come over and we'll just start like feeding the squirrels together and chatting about them," she said. “I am a lot more outgoing.
Perhaps you're wondering how Mary is able to get the squirrels to do what she wants for her photos. Actually, it has a lot to do with food. For example, whenever she wants them to hold or play with something, she puts peanut butter on a plate, and they'll grab(抓住)it. But getting to that part took a while. In the beginning, she would throw peanuts up the trees on campus and invite the squirrels to come down and get them, but they didn't want to approach(接近)her. She had the patience to earn their trust, though.
This year, Mary graduated with a degree in wildlife science. She wants to be a science writer and educate people about how to protect the environment. As for her furry friends, Mary plans to stay in the area and visit them as often as she can.
1. How did Mary manage to make the squirrels trust her?| A．By playing music for them. |
| B．By providing them with food. |
| C．By playing together with them. |
| D．By building a small house for them. |
| A．She is friendlier to others. |
| B．She is more interested in animals. |
| C．She is more outgoing than before. |
| D．She is more willing to share her secrets. |
| A．She is studying medicine in the university. |
| B．She is making a study on the life habits of squirrels. |
| C．She is very patient when getting close to the squirrels. |
| D．She likes animals because she can take photos of them. |
| A．The Squirrel Girl of Penn State University |
| B．How Mary Made Friends with Wild Animals |
| C．How Mary Helped Squirrels in Her Neighbourhood |
| D．Mary's Studying Experience in Penn State University |
8 . After the season for giving, it is the one for throwing away. Each year in late December and early January a massive amount of plastic packaging is discarded (丢弃) worldwide. In Britain alone households generate 30% more waste, an extra 3m tonnes, in the month over Christmas. Most is destined for landfill. Lithuania will do less damage than many, though. The country now recycles at a record level. Almost three- quarters (74%) of plastic packaging waste was recycled there in 2017, the highest proportion in Europe.
Much of Lithuania' s success is due to a deposit refund scheme (方案). Customers pay €0.10 extra when buying drinks containers. After use, these can be fed into reverse vending machines (反向自动售货机) installed in shops, which spit the deposit back out. The machines’ contents are sent directly to recycling centers. By the end of 2017, 92% of all bottles and cans sold in Lithuania were being returned. The overall plastic packaging recycling rate increased by almost 20%.
The Lithuanian government says the scheme has fueled a potential love for recycling in its citizens. Nearly 90% of Lithuanians have used the machines at least once. However, Lithuanians do not generally describe themselves as eco-fighters. A 2017 survey by the European Commission found they were less likely than most other Europeans to regard environmental issues as “very important”.
The eagerness of Lithuanian recyclers may stem not from a love of the Earth but from a low net worth(资本净值). A tenth of the population live on less than €245 a month. In big cities it is common to see people scooping recyclable items out of bins to take to the machines.
Less litter and money for people who need it seems like a win-win. But it might not in fact be best for the environment in the long run. In Germany ----where a similar, widely used refund deposit scheme has been in place since 2003 --- the earnings from keeping the deposits from unreturned bottles seem to have discouraged producers from switching to more sustainable packaging.
1. What might most Lithuanian customers do under the deposit refund scheme?| A．They send their drinks containers directly to recycling centers. |
| B．They spend more on drinks than other European customers. |
| C．They return their used drinks containers. |
| D．They use vending machines to buy drinks. |
| A．Lithuania beat many countries in plastic recycling. |
| B．Lithuanians were less aware of environmental conservation. |
| C．Lithuanians made much money from recycling. |
| D．Lithuania had an unequal income distribution. |
| A．Positive. | B．Unfavorable. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．How and why Lithuanians recycle their trash. |
| B．How waste turns into treasure in Lithuania |
| C．Who are recycling plastic bottles in Lithuania |
| D．Where Lithuanians throw away their plastic packaging |
9 . How did the ancient Chinese keep food warm in winter?
Facilities like electric rice cookers, microwaves, and electric kettles, make it easy for people to keep food warm and enjoy a comfortable winter. So how did Chinese people in ancient times keep food warm in winter without these? In fact, ancient Chinese people used their own methods of heat preservation as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
● “Wen Ding”, ancient rice cooker
One of the major functions of an electric rice cooker is to keep food warm. The “Wen Ding”, an ancient cooking container, served the same purpose, but instead of using electric energy, the ancient cooking container preserved heart by burning fuels like charcoal(木炭).
● “Ran Lu”, ancient small hot pot
The “Ran LU” is a small size cooking vessel(器皿) made of bronze, which can be divided into three parts. A charcoal stove forms the main structure, with a bottom tray to hold charcoal ashes, and a movable cup at the top. Some experts have concluded that the vessel’s structure suggests it may have been used as a small hot pot and that these vessels became popular in the Warring States Period(475—221 BC)
●“Bronze You”, ancient kettle
The Bronze You was one of the most common wine containers during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The Bronze You can also be used to warm wine. For example, the Bronze You with beast mask design, unearthed in Jiangxi province, has an opening where charcoals could be placed. Just as people today can’t do without an electric kettle, the Bronze You allowed people to enjoy a hot drink.
●“Bronze Yan”, ancient steamer
Although the “Wen Ding” was effective at keeping food warm, the ancient Chinese people later found that its burning produced pollution. As a result, the “Bronze Yan ”was made with a two-tier structure and used to steam rice and other grains. After the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-AD 220), further improvements to the“Bronze Yan” led to the modern-day steamer.
1. When did the “Ran Lu” become popular?| A．In the Zhou Dynasty. | B．In the Warring States Period. |
| C．In the Eastern Han dynasty. | D．In the Stone Age. |
| A．place charcoal | B．pour water | C．store wine | D．hold charcoal ashes |
| A．It is warm. | B．It is convenient. | C．It is environment-friendly. | D．It is useful. |
10 . The concept of ownership comes so easily to humans that even preschoolers have got it. Robots, on the other hand, often struggle to grasp such abstract concepts. Now a well-mannered robot that can make it has been programmed.
“Teaching robots ownership-related etiquette (礼仪) is really, really worthwhile,” says Matthias Scheutz, a computer scientist at Tufts University. "We can't just send out robots who are unaware of who owns what... If I instruct a robot to ‘build a fence’, and it goes to the neighbor’s and starts ‘stealing’ boards, that's not what we have in mind.”
The new socially conscious robot can learn who owns what from clear statements as well as its own observations. The robot learns its code of conduct (行为准则) from direct orders and generalizing from specific examples. For instance, if the robot is told not to touch several objects that it knows belong to specific people, the robot will deduce that, as a general rule, it shouldn’t touch owned objects.
Artificial intelligence (AI) expert Xuan Tan and colleagues at Yale found out how the robot reacts in experiments with blocks on a table. In one session, Tan played with only the red blocks, leading the robot to infer that these blocks belonged to the same person. When Tan instructed the robot to throw away everything on the table and the machine reached for a red block, Tan stopped the robot, saying, “That's mine.” Now aware that it should not throw Tan’s belongings, and assuming that the rest of the red blocks belonged to Tan as well, the robot cleared the table of everything but red blocks.
Later, when Tan's colleague Jake Brawer directed the robot to throw out a red block, the robot replied, "Sorry, I'm forbidden to throw it away if it's owned by Tan.” Though robots may have more difficulty understanding who owns what in situations filled with far more objects of much wider variety than blocks on a table. Scheutz called it a good "first attempt” at equipping robots with an appreciation of ownership.
1. What does the second paragraph focus on?| A．The way of teaching robots ownership. | B．The basics of the human-robot relationship. |
| C．The benefit of robots learning ownership. | D．The importance of robots learning code of conduct. |
| A．Conclude. | B．Admit. | C．Agree. | D．Doubt. |
| A．To train the robot. | B．To predict the robot’s move. |
| C．To test the robot's behavior. | D．To study the preference. |
| A．The robot knows how to obey. | B．The robot can learn who owns what. |
| C．The robot follows no wrong orders. | D．The robot can solve complex situations. |
