1 . It was the homecoming parade in Rockwall, Texas, and cheerleader Tyra Winters was riding on one of the school’s floats (彩车). As it slowly made its way down the avenue, the 17-year-old enthusiastically waved at the crowd, all the while absorbed in the music, laughter, and applause.
Suddenly, a terrible scream came from the cheering crowd. Looking down, Winters saw a two-year-old on the sidewalk gasping for air and his mother desperately begging for help. The boy had been enjoying a piece of candy when it slid down the back of his mouth, sticking in his throat and blocking his windpipe (气管).
“I saw a little bright red face and his mom’s begging for help,” Winters told KTVT.
“There was no coughing; there was no breathing,” the mother, Nicole Hornback, later told news station NBCDFW. “He was just gasping for air. ” No one seemed to know how to help.
Except for Winters. A senior with dreams of becoming a doctor, she had learned the first-aid method of Heimlich maneuver and CPR. Knowing that the clock was ticking, she jumped off the moving float and ran to the child. By the time she got to him, his face had turned purple. “I got him!” she yelled to Nicole as she grabbed the boy from her. “I held him face down and gave a good three back pushes,” she told the local CBS station. Soon, the boy coughed up the piece of candy, and began breathing again. Without another word, Winters handed the boy back to his mother and ran back to her float before it could leave her behind.
It all happened so fast. Nicole never had time to thank the teen. “She didn’t need to,” says Winters. “I knew how she was feeling. I saw her tears. I saw her face. ”
And for Nicole, she says, “I don’t really have any words,” she says. “The words that you would say to anyone who does something for you is ‘thank you. ’ But that doesn’t seem good enough. ”
1. It can be learned from paragraphs 1-4 that ________.| A．the cheering crowd ignored the scream for help |
| B．Winters panicked at the mother’s desperate cry |
| C．the mother gave the boy first aid but in vain |
| D．the little boy choked on a piece of candy |
| A．Her dream of being a doctor. | B．Her timely rescue of the boy. |
| C．Her enthusiasm for the parade. | D．Her cooperation with the crowd. |
| A．The media’s attention to the matter left her at a loss. |
| B．The crowd’s concern for the boy deeply touched her. |
| C．Her memory of the unexpected incident made her speechless. |
| D．Her gratitude for Winters’ heroic actions was beyond expression. |
2 . September is an exciting month in every college freshman’s life. For many, it’s the first time that they’ve left home to live in a new environment. But after the hustle and bustle of a few weeks, excitement gives way to a less enjoyable emotion—homesickness.
Homesickness manifests itself in many ways. You may miss mum’s cooking, your pets, or even your old bed. All this becomes a fond memory of the past. Homesickness can be a bitter feeling for many students, especially when faced with the challenges of settling into an unfamiliar environment.
But remember, you’re not alone. According to a recent BBC article, 70 percent of British college students experience homesickness. In this increasingly globalized world in which people migrate to faraway places for a relationship, education or work, homesickness is a feeling shared by many adults.
Homesickness can have similar symptoms to depression and in extreme cases it can develop into a panic attack. As for the term, homesickness or nostalgia wasn’t invented until the 17th century. It was considered a disorder by a Swiss physician, who attributed soldiers’ mental and physical discomfort to their longing to return home, “nostos” from Greek, and the accompanying pain, “algos”.
Studies in recent years, however, have shown that nostalgia may have some benefits to our mental health. After a decade of surveys and researches, Constantine Sedikides, a US social psychologist, found that nostalgia is what makes us human. He explains that nostalgia can resist loneliness, boredom and anxiety. Therefore, it’s necessary for college students to learn some ways to overcome the uncomfortable feeling.
1. From the first two paragraphs, we can infer that ________.| A．homesickness means a fond memory of the past |
| B．only a few students will experience homesickness |
| C．homesickness is an enjoyable emotion among freshmen |
| D．college freshmen usually suffer from homesickness after weeks |
| A．Some benefits about homesickness. |
| B．Other problems in college freshmen’s life. |
| C．How to make campus life more meaningful. |
| D．Some tips on how to cope with homesickness. |
| A．common but solvable | B．unexpected and cheerful |
| C．temporary but discouraging | D．inevitable and disgusting |
3 . Smartphones have been blamed for everything from taking drivers' attention from driving to keeping people on the sofa scrolling (滚屏) videos. But the smartphone that seems to be everywhere could just as easily increase physical activity if it pushes its owner's buttons in the right way.
New research shows that making social connections through activity-tracking apps gets people to move more. And a separate study on this summer’s “Pokemon Go” phenomenon shows that the smartphone game got players to take thousands more steps than usual. Together, the studies show the potential for smartphones to push a range of people to be more active.
People who linked with friends on the activity-tracking app increase their steps by 400 a day on average over the next week, compared with people who made no social connections, according to Tim Althoff and two other computer scientists at Stanford University. The effect of social connections declined, but remained significant for five months before the numbers fell back even with users who made no connections.
Such insights show the promise of smartphones and games to help with one of the most stubborn public health problems — that even people who want to be active have trouble staying active.
An NBA video game, for example, gives players extra powers in the game if they reach a step goal in real life. The app “Zomies, Run!” uses audio stories to push people to run more or run faster.
Still, there is room for growth: Only about 4% of all health apps use “gamification”, such as point-scoring or competition, according to a study published in October in BMJ Open. “Gamification is actually quite closely linked with behavior change techniques”, says Dr. Elizabeth Ann Edwards, the study's lead author and a doctor and researcher at Queen Mary University of London.
1. What does the author think of smartphones?| A．They can have video games more interesting. |
| B．They can involve their users in more exercise. |
| C．They lead to people's lack of physical activity. |
| D．They will make people have more connections. |
| A．They get extra powers in life. |
| B．A life goal has been set step by step. |
| C．They have more social connections. |
| D．The games increase physical activity. |
| A．By showing the results of some researches. |
| B．By giving vivid description of some games. |
| C．By explaining the functions of smartphones. |
| D．By analyzing the causes of public health problems. |
Be careful what you say around your dog．It might understand more than you think．
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany．The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child．Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee．
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects．Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back．In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right．As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words．
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew．The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before．
The correct object was chosen in seven out of ten tests, suggesting that the dog had worked
out the answer by process of elimination（排除法）．A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive．
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog．For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed （品种）known for its mental abilities．In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months．
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say．Even if they do, they can't talk back．Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then．You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
1. From paragraph 2 we know that __________．
| A．animals are as clever as human beings |
| B．chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills |
| C．dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees |
| D．dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children |
| A．Rico is smart enough to get all commands right |
| B．Rico can recognize different things including toys |
| C．Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics |
| D．Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them |
| A．Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training． |
| B．The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities． |
| C．The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects． |
| D．Rico is born to understand its owner's commands． |
| A．To train your dog． | B．To talk to your dog． |
| C．To be careful with your dog． | D．To be friendly to your dog． |
5 . Rising numbers of older adults are unable to care for themselves, often leading to serious health problems and even death, according to state and local government agencies. So-called self-neglect cases generally involve the inability to perform basic self-care, such as providing oneself with food, personal health, medication and safety.
Seniors who no longer drive, for instance, are often unable to get to medical appointments, worsening health problems that can make them unable to care for themselves. A fall can result in body injuries leaving one bedridden (卧床不起的) and unable to care for oneself. Failure to pay bills for public services could lead to service cutoffs. Forgetting to pay rent could lead to the loss of a home.
Mr. McCormack, 75 years old, and his wife, 71, both had mental illness and stayed in hospitals from time to time, unable to care for their possessions. Despite repeated visits to their home by local officials, the McCormacks declined assistance. But after they were found living in their car parked outside their house in December 2017, officials removed them from their home and helped them settle in a nursing home.
Self-neglect cases, like above, involved 144,296 people across the country in 2018, according to a report. The federal government doesn’t have comparable data for previous years, but several state and local service providers say they are seeing the self-neglect problem swell.
The reasons seniors stop caring for themselves vary, including illness, depression and poverty. The loss of the spouse or a neighbor who previously kept an eye on an individual often starts a decline into self-neglect, experts say. And the key to reducing self-neglect cases is providing services to enable seniors to remain in their homes safely, such as reliable transportation for medical appointments and shopping, as well as affordable home help.
1. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2?| A．Give examples of self-neglect cases. | B．Provide some advice for seniors. |
| C．Summarize the previous paragraph. | D．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．They longed for help from others. | B．They took good care of themselves. |
| C．They couldn’t afford to go to hospital. | D．They ended up living in the nursing house. |
| A．Self-care Benefits Greatly the Seniors. |
| B．Self-Neglect Rises Among the Elderly. |
| C．Government’s Encouragement on Self-care. |
| D．Many Years’ Investigation on Self-Neglect. |
6 . This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. As I searched the name, I found that there were two famous people having the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; let the coin decide. I flipped (掷) a coin and Ah! Tails (背面)! My report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.
Weeks later, I stood in front of the classroom and proudly read my homework. But things started to get strange. I looked around the room, only to find my classmates with big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes and my stone-faced teacher. I was completely lost. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Oh well, I dropped the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American War of Independence.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that my teacher meant that George Washington?
Of course, my subject result was awful. Sad but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to the headmaster Miss Lancelot, but she said firmly: No re-dos; no new score. I felt that it was not fair, and I believed I deserved a second chance. So I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, I sat in the headmaster’s office again, but this time a completely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the terrible moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster told me I was good enough to skip (跳过) the 6th grade and started the 7th grade next term.
1. People in the class acted strangely because ________.| A．I was too proud of my homework |
| B．I mistook what the homework was about |
| C．the whole world suddenly became quiet |
| D．the teacher’s face turned to a stone |
| A．the headmaster didn’t like the writer at all |
| B．the writer’s classmates felt sad at his mistake |
| C．the writer knew little about American history |
| D．the writer’s grandpa was a very wise man |
| A．Seeing is believing. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．One is never too old to learn. |
| D．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
7 . The promise of college in America is the promise of a clear path to the future, of a reward for all the sleep deprivation and soul-deadening competition of high school, and, most of all, of instant adulthood. As of April, 2020, however, none of that is happening due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus（新型冠状病毒）.
Saminah Haddad, a seventeen-year-old senior at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, wasn’t expecting her college offers until later in the spring. This year, there will be no spring season, which for Haddad means no four-year college. She is considering Long Beach City College, which is free for state residents. She also lost her job at an amusement park. All of the senior-year milestones that Haddad had been looking forward to have been cancelled: prom, graduation, and an event called the “Pursuit of Excellence Awards,” where she would have been recognized for perfect attendance. She doesn’t yet know if she’ll still be working this summer for her father, who was about to open a juice bar in Brooklyn.
In the meantime, Haddad’s school is offering some online instruction, but in her case the course load has dropped to just two classes: A.P. Literature, which meets virtually, and a government class, which consists of written assignments that she receives by e-mail. Haddad is planning to take her A.P. exam, though she finds it hard to imagine what the forty-five-minute, cell-phone-friendly version of the test will be like. No one knows how colleges will view it, either.
Life has been emptied of content, and the plot is lost. She texts with friends. She argues with her mom and stepdad a lot. “It’s bringing us closer together,” she half joked. “But it’s O.K.”
1. What can be known about Haddad from Paragraph 2?| A．She has applied to study abroad. |
| B．She will attend a graduation ceremony. |
| C．She won’t work in her father’s juice bar. |
| D．She may get her college offers in late spring. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Bored. |
| C．Excited. | D．Nervous. |
| A．Family. | B．Society. |
| C．Education . | D．Health. |
8 . Just before Christmas in 1994, a letter arrived at our house. The postmark was from Tuskegee, Alabama, so we all knew who it was from. We excitedly gathered around mother as she opened it.
My Dear Mother,
I didn’t get the leave I expected for Christmas. I’ll miss all of you. Please leave the Christmas tree up until I make it back. I hope to be home by March.
Love from your son,
Clifton
My heart sank. I felt profound sadness that my favorite brother wouldn’t be home for Christmas. My mother, being the optimist she always was, said, “Well, it looks like we’ll get to have two Christmases this year!”
After Christmas, my sister and I worked together to make sure we kept that Christmas tree looking as pretty as possible. This was no easy feat. By mid-January, the branches drooped so low to the ground. Each day, ornaments would come crashing to the ground and there were brand new sprinklings of pine needles all over the wooden floor. My sister and I took turns sweeping them up. We repositioned the ornaments to the stronger branches on the tree, hoping they would stay on.
Each time we freshened that tree up, my sister and I were full of thoughts about Clifton and how happy we would be to see him again. It made us feel that he was close by, even though he was hundreds of miles away.
On March 5, the doorbell rang. We ran to the door and gave Clifton a big hug. As he hugged mother, I could see him peek over her head at the Christmas tree.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Thank you.” Clifton opened his presents and told us all sorts of stories about his work in Tuskegee. That night as we slept, we heard a crash in the living room. We all ran to see what had happened. The tree had toppled onto the sofa and there were needles and broken ornaments everywhere. We all had a good laugh. It was fortuitous (巧合的) Clifton got home when he did.
1. How did the author feel when he read the letter?| A．Deeply sad. | B．Quite annoyed. |
| C．Very regretful. | D．A little disappointed. |
| A．Because his mother asked him to keep the tree up. |
| B．Because he wanted to keep all the ornaments on the tree. |
| C．Because he longed to have another Christmas with his brother. |
| D．Because he intended to keep the Christmas tree alive until next December. |
| A．Approving. | B．Upsetting. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Hopeful. |
9 . Do you have a job? If you do, you’ll know the world of work can be tough-long hours, boring tasks and stress. But it can bring benefits too, such as a regular salary. Maybe that's why more of us are now taking on a side hustle — another name for a second job.
For some having two jobs is a necessity — a way to make ends meet and provide extra income. But it now seems that more people want to put their skills and passions into practice to make money. These tend to be entrepreneurial young people who want to work on their own projects alongside their main source of income.
According to Henley Business School, around one in four workers run at least one side hustle business, half of which were started in the past two years. Those aged 25 to 34 are most likely to be involved, with 37 percent thought to run a sideline of some kind. It calculates that the average side hustler makes about 20 percent of their income through their second job.
But what's interesting is that many millennials （千禧一代）are turning their hand to new jobs not just for money and security. Research has found that almost three-quarters of people are following a passion or exploring a new challenge. Becci Mai Ford, who works some of the time for a telecommunications company to pay the bills, spends the rest of her time developing her craft company. She says going full-time is "not financially worth it right now but it fuels my creative soul and makes me happy".
Of course having a side hustle means you are self-employed, which can give you flexibility to work when you like, but it can be risky. You sometime work on a zero-hours contract and may not get offered enough work. Or what was originally your passion may become more of a chore. However; this could be the best way to try out a new career or follow a passion while not giving up the day job.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the reason for people to take on a side hustle?| A．To make money. | B．To obtain job satisfaction. |
| C．To have the flexibility to work. | D．To enjoy a risky lifestyle. |
| A．describing the process | B．making a comparison |
| C．presenting research findings | D．analyzing cause and effect |
| A．Critical. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Favorable. |
10 . Before the end of the year, employees at Ubiquitous Energy, a company in Redwood City, Calif, will gather in a window-lined conference room to stare toward the future. That’s because their new glass windows will offer more than an amazing view of the North California landscape. They will also be able to power the company’s lights, computers and air conditioners.
Several years in the making, Ubiquitous’ energy-producing glass is a remarkable technological achievement. Its power lies in the layers of organic polymers (聚合物) between sheets of glass. As light enters the window,the flow of electrons between the polymer layers creates an electric current, which is then collected by tiny wires in the glass.
“It’s sort of like a transparent computer display run in reverse (反过来),” says Veeral Hardev, director of business development at Ubiquitous Energy. “Instead of electricity being shuttled to different points in a display to light them up, light is producing electricity to be shuttled out of different points in the window.”
Right now the windows produce about a third as much electricity from a given amount of sunlight as the typical solar cells used in roof panels (板).These windows, about half as transparent as ordinary glass, don’t work as well as transparent ones. Hardev says the company is likely to improve the transparency significantly. As for the lower output of electricity, he notes that windows can cover a much greater surface area than a roof, so numerous windows will produce a surprisingly larger amount of electricity than the production from a rooftop full of higher-efficiency solar panels. “You could do both.” says Hardev. “But you’ll get more from the windows. The biggest challenge, he adds, is increasing the windows from less than two square feet currently to about 50 square feet.”
1. What makes the new glass windows special?| A．They can offer an amazing view. |
| B．They are controlled by computers. |
| C．They can power the conference room. |
| D．They can help stare toward the future. |
| A．The source of light. |
| B．The significance of different points. |
| C．The similarity of computer and glass. |
| D．The working principle of energy-producing glass. |
| A．The transparency of the glass. |
| B．The quality of the rooftop. |
| C．The height of the solar panels. |
| D．The thickness of the glass. |
| A．Windows: A New Challenge of Technology |
| B．Windows: No Longer Just for Letting in the Light |
| C．Power: A Pressing Problem in the Near Future |
| D．Power: Not Enough from Rooftop Solar Panels |
