1 . City trees grow faster and die younger than trees in rural forestry, a new study finds. Over their lifetimes,then, urban trees will likely absorb less CO2 from the air thah forest trees.
As we all know, the earth would be freezing or burning hot without CO2. However, CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning it traps energy from the sun as/heat. That makes temperatures near the ground rise. Human activities, especially the widespread burning-of fossil (化石) fuels, have been sending extra greenhouse gases into the air. This has led to a rise in average temperatures across the globe.
Studies had shown forests readily absorb CO2, but there hadn’t been much data on whether city trees grow, die and absorb CO2 at the same rate as forest trees do. So some researchers decided to find out.
To figure out how quickly trees were growing, researchers tracked their diameters (the width of their trunks) between 2005 and 2014. A tree’s diameter increases as it grows, just as a person’s waist size increases as they gain weight. About half the weight of a tree is carbon, research has shown. Most of the rest is water. Over the nine years’ tracking, the researchers found city trees absorbed four times as much carbon from the air as forest trees. However, they were twice as likely to die. So over the lifetime of each type of tree, forest trees actually absorbed more CO2.
City trees grew faster because they had less competition for light from their neighbors. In a forest, trees tend to grow close together, shading their neighbors. Street trees also benefit from higher levels of nitrogen (氮) in rainwater. Nitrogen helps plants grow. Waste gases from gas-burning cars also contain nitrogen, thus enriching city air with nitrogen. Later, rainwater may wash much of it to the ground. Some street trees may also have better access to water than trees in the country because the underground water pipes can leak.
1. What can we know about CO2 from paragraph 2?| A．It is one of the side effects of greenhouses. |
| B．It greatly accelerates the process of global warming. |
| C．It results from the widespread burning of fossil fuels. |
| D．It prevents the earth from becoming unsuitable to live on. |
| A．To know about their growth rates. |
| B．To find out how much they weigh. |
| C．To check whether they were healthy. |
| D．To assess the carbon amounts in them. |
| A．They are more likely to access growth promoters. |
| B．They can enjoy more water coming from the air. |
| C．They can enjoy more shade from neighbors. |
| D．They are better at competing for light. |
| A．How urban trees can live longer. |
| B．Why city living makes trees die young. |
| C．How trees respond to dry soil conditions. |
| D．Why faster-growing trees absorb more CO2. |
2 . What would it be like to live on Mars? Volunteers are spending eight months in an area that looks much like the surface of Mars. They are isolated(孤立)high on top of Mauna Loa, a volcanic mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii, living on a simulated(模仿的) or make-believe, Mars Base.
The project called HI-SEAS is in the charge of Kim Binsted. She says this wild environment is as close to Mars as you can find on Earth. Because it is so high, the land is not warm or rich with plants, like the rest of Hawaii.
“You will see there is really no visible plant life or animal life. And you have got this wonderful volcanic material.”
Mauna Loa, 2,500 meters above sea level, is geologically very similar to Olympus Mons on Mars and almost as tall as the Martian mountain. When measured from its base, deep in the ocean, Mauna Loa is the second largest mountain in our solar system, after the one on Mars.
The six member HI-SEAS crew is mostly self-sufficient. Food and supplies are brought to them. But the individuals bringing those supplies cannot communicate with volunteers inside the habitat, or base.
Kim Binsted says this experiment looks at how the astronauts get along with each other. “We study how well they work together, how we can keep them happy and supported, and not wanting to kill each other over these long durations (期间).”
Crew members communicate with the outside world through e-mail and blogs. They also produce video on the YouTube website, like this one from mission commander Martha Lenio. “I am really enjoying this opportunity to live here and pretend that I’m on Mars and get to learn all sorts of new skills.” One of them said. “Whoever gets there first, the trip will not be easy”, says Kim Binsted, “It is going to be challenging.”
1. What do we know about Olympus Mons?| A．It is 2,500 meters above sea level. |
| B．It is geologically similar to Mauna, Loa. |
| C．It is the second largest mountain on the earth. |
| D．It is a mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii. |
| A．To set up a space station. |
| B．To explore new settlement for human. |
| C．To prove human can live in whatever conditions. |
| D．To study how the astronauts treat each other. |
| A．Volunteers First Explore Mars |
| B．Volunteers Experience Life in Hawaii |
| C．Volunteers Get Taste of Mars in Hawaii |
| D．Volunteers Study the Environment on Mars |
3 . Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play, catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, extra learning trials (尝试) increase the length of time we will remember it.
In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.
The multiplication tables (乘法口诀表) are an exception (例外) to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.
The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习) for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one’s future development.
1. What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?| A．People remember well what they learned in childhood. |
| B．Children have a better memory than grown-ups. |
| C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words. |
| D．Stories for children are easy to remember. |
| A．presenting research findings |
| B．setting down general rules |
| C．making a comparison |
| D．using examples |
| A．Commonly accepted rules. |
| B．The multiplication tables. |
| C．Things easily forgotten. |
| D．School subjects. |
| A．It’s helpful only in a limited way. |
| B．It leads to failure in college exams. |
| C．It’s possible to result in poor memory. |
| D．It increases students’ learning interest. |
4 . Oscar Wrigley, a two-year-old child with the same IQ as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, has become the youngest boy in Britain to be accepted into Mensa.
A leader at the Gifted Children’s Information Centre said Oscar, with an IQ of at least 160, is one of the brightest children they have ever come across.
Oscar’s father Joe, 29, an IT specialist, said, “He is always asking questions. Every parent likes to think their child is special but we knew there was something very unusual about Oscar. I’m fully expecting the day to come when he turns around and tells me I’m an idiot(白痴).”
Mother Hannah, 26, told The Daily Mail, “He surprises everyone. We knew at 12 weeks he was quite bright. He was unusually quick in mind. The other day he said to me, ‘Mummy, sausages are like a party in my mouth.’ His vocabulary is surprising. He’s able to make complex sentences.”
Dr Peter Congdon, who tested Oscar, said he was a “child of very superior intelligence (超常智力)”. He showed outstanding ability. “Oscar shows great gift. Changing that gift to success is the challenge for his parents and we are pleased that they have chosen to join the Mensa network for support”, he said. Exactly speaking, Oscar was accepted at the age of two years, five months and 11 days.
The youngest British girl to join Mensa is Elise Tan Roberts, from Edmonton, North London, at two years, four months and 14 days, with an IQ of 156.
1. Why was Oscar Wrigley accepted into Mensa?| A．Because he is cleverer than Albert Einstein. |
| B．Because he has very superior intelligence. |
| C．Because he is the brightest child in Britain. |
| D．Because his father is an IT specialist of Mensa. |
| A．the cleverest boy in the world |
| B．the brightest adult in Britain |
| C．a club for people with superior intelligence |
| D．a family with superior intelligence |
| A．change his gift to success | B．answer his questions |
| C．test his gift | D．know him well |
| A．to tell us a family with the cleverest child |
| B．to give us some ways to have the same IQ as Albert Einstein |
| C．to explain how Oscar becomes a clever child |
| D．to tell us a boy with the same IQ as Albert Einstein |
5 . Fast food has become indicative of our thoughtless, throwaway society. Yes, it may taste good to some people, but the truth is, it is terrible for health. For those who live in a fast food fantasy world, eating it every day, believing that it is fast, convenient and inexpensive, it can be catastrophic（灾难性的）.
Contrary to being cheap, fast food is very expensive on many levels. To start with, a home-cooked nutritious meal will cost a lot less than any fast food meal and you will know exactly what ingredients are in your food.
However, the expense is not only in terms of the money you spend at the restaurant. There are hidden costs. Not only does it cost money to pay for the petrol to go and get this nutritionally poor food, but also it is very wasteful of paper, plastic and styrene（苯乙烯），all of which do serious damage to the environment: plastic and styrene cannot be got rid of, but break up into small particles（颗粒）and end up in our water supply or our air, and therefore our food chain. It is a very serious circle.
Besides not being good for you, fast food is also addictive（上瘾的）. The more you eat, the more you want, and so, more and more kids are suffering from fatness. Fast food restaurants have become a favorite hangout for teens, and not just for something to eat. If fast food was designed to be quick and easy, why do many of them have cafes, a WiFi zone and an eat-in restaurant？Those are not things a person in a hurry would use. The goal now is trying to attract customers to stay longer and thus spend more money. Their marketing is aimed at attracting kids because they are the ones who have money to spend and are customers of the future.
Fast food is dangerous to your health, hard on your wallet, addictive and harmful to the environment. Through the power of the melia（媒体），children, teens and adults are attracted to “fit in and be cool” ，be part of the fast throwaway lifestyle it promotes. How to resist the hype（促销广告）? Just take a good look at the results on those who eat it. Then look at yourself.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text？| A．To present the advantages and disadvantages of fast food. |
| B．To tell readers about the negative effects of fast food. |
| C．To explain what ingredients you can find in fast food. |
| D．To compare home food with fast food. |
| A．the price includes the labor and materials |
| B．the delivery charge of fast food is high |
| C．the hidden costs have to be included |
| D．the packaging is too expensive |
| A．the young care less about their health |
| B．their food promotes a young lifestyle |
| C．the young are more easily addicted to fast food |
| D．they consider the young as their main future customers |
6 . Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. “ 1 don’t know what to write about, ’’ he complained to his dog Toby, which was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends, but he had trouble finding words when he had to write.
By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby’s smile. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies with him on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthurs English teacher, asked the class to turn in the first draft of their stories. His heart sinking, Arthur turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.
Arthur wasn’t surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised at what she said to him: “ This was an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, and the tree in the wind—I can’t wait to find out how they all fit together. “
“ That isn’t my story, Mrs. Solomon, “ Arthur admitted. “ I haven’t been able to think of one yet. “
“ Oh, I think you have the seeds of a story there, ’’ Mrs. Solomon replied/4 Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story occurs to you.
That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this was what he wrote: “ One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The sound of the wind sounded like the barks of Mike’s clog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn’t the sound of the wind. Toby was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with blame. Mike felt guilty because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby into the house just as the rain started to pour down. “
Arthur completed a story in the end. The last thing he did was write his name proudly at the top of the page.
1. Why did Arthur only turn in the page with his name, the drawings and the note at first?| A．Because he had no time to fit them together. |
| B．Because he had difficulty in writing a story. |
| C．Because he wasn’t willing to do his homework. |
| D．Because he wanted to show his talent for drawing. |
| A．Toby is a lovely dog. |
| B．The small tree will grow into a big one. |
| C．His friend Lee can give him a lot of support. |
| D．He can develop his story based on the first draft. |
| A．Arthur is a shy and quiet student. |
| B．Arthur isn’t very satisfied with his story. |
| C．There will be a storm on Saturday. |
| D．Encouragement is important in teaching. |
7 . Most people agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be difficult. Now, there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their health and their dining out experience.
Happy Cow app
Vegetarians do not eat animal meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The HappyCow app is made for both groups. Users can search for vegetarian-vegan restaurants and stores around the world. A free version of Happy Cow is available for Android that has ads and requires an Internet connection.
Open Table app
The Open Table app helps people choose restaurants when they want to go out to eat. It is a free service that: shows users restaurants available (可获得的) based on where and when they want to dine. It gives users points when they make reservations (预定), which can add up to discounts on restaurant visits.
Local Eats app
Restaurant chains, like McDonalds, can be found almost anywhere a person might travel. But sometimes travelers want to eat like locals. The Local Eats app is designed for that. It can help you find local restaurants in major cities in the US and in other countries. It costs about a dollar.
Where Chefs Eat app
“Where Chefs Eat” is a 975-page book. Most people would not want to carry that around. But there is a much lighter app version of the same name for just $ 15. Six hundred chefs provide information on 3,000 restaurants around the world on the Where Chefs Eat app.
1. The Happy Cow app is designed for those who prefer _____.| A．local foods | B．animal products |
| C．animal meat | D．vegetables |
| A．Happy Cow. | B．Open Table. |
| C．Local Eats. | D．Where Chefs Eat. |
| A．A science textbook. | B．A tourist map. |
| C．A health magazine. | D．A museum guide. |
8 . Moving to a foreign country is an amazing, life-changing experience. It’s a chance to meet new people, put yourself in a different culture and possibly learn another language. However, before such an adventure, there are some practical decisions that need to be made. One such decision is choosing where to live.
Will you stay in your own apartment where you can have your own space and privacy? Will you share a flat with other young foreigners who are in a similar position to you? Or will you choose to live with a host family? For me, choosing to live with a French family was the best choice I made, and here is why.
Firstly, a family can show you around the city or town and help you settle in, stopping you from feeling lonely. When you’re in a new environment with people that you don’t know and who are speaking a language you’re still not fluent in, you might feel lost, tired and homesick—I know I did. However, my host family were wonderful and welcoming; they showed me which buses to take to get to work, cooked dinner for me, and took me with them on trips to the beach, the theatre and even a bullfight（斗牛表演）. These were great chances to experience French culture and build relationships.
Above all, living with French people has helped me improve my language skills. Being constantly exposed to French conversations has allowed me to learn new phrases, widen my vocabulary and even improve my accent. My host family are happy to answer my questions and correct me when I say things wrong.
Finally, the experience of living abroad is one that you will remember forever, and perhaps the friendships—like the memories—will also last. I hope to remain in contact with my host family long after I leave France because when I was away from my friends and loved ones, they welcomed me and made me part of their family.
1. What is the purpose of the author in writing the passage?| A．To share his life experience with the readers |
| B．To suggest the foreign life is quite attractive. |
| C．To tell how to choose a living place in a foreign country |
| D．To introduce his host family to the readers. |
| A．Because he was afraid of living in a new environment. |
| B．Because the family provided him with free meals every day. |
| C．Because he could get a lot of help from the family. |
| D．Because the family can help him get rid of his illness. |
| A．The host family being wonderful and welcoming |
| B．The host family helping improve his language skills. |
| C．The host family being glad to make rich dinners for him. |
| D．The host family showing different cultures to him. |
| A．By giving some examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By showing different attitudes. |
| D．By following time order. |
9 . I ran into quite a few language problems while travelling with my family last summer. The most embarrassing was when my mom apologized to the people we were staying with because her “ pants were dirty” . They looked at her in amazement, not knowing how to react. You see, Mom had fallen over and gotten mud on her jeans. But in Britain, “ pants” means underpants（内裤）or knickers, not trousers as it does back home.
——Katie—From America
I went to stay with a friend on the west coast last summer. Her flat was on the first floor of a high-rise building so I got the lift up. Then I wandered round for ages looking for her flat but couldn’t find it. Fed up and tired, I finally had to go out to find a phone box. She explained that her flat was on the first floor, which for me meant the ground floor.
——David—From Britain
When I asked for the “ restroom” in a big department store, people kept directing me to a room with seats where I could sit and ‘‘ rest. It took me years to get through to someone that I only wanted the toilet!
——Tom—From America
Last summer we went on a two-week family touring holiday, so Dad hired a car over the Internet. This was an old vehicle（汽车）and there turned out to he lots of things wrong with it. When he phoned the hire company and tried to explain that the lock on the boot was broken, they thought he was talking about footwear! He had no idea their word for ‘‘boot” was “ trunk” . In the end we ‘vent to a garage and just solved the problem.
——Mary—From Britain
1. Hearing Katie’s mother’s words, Katie’s friends were in surprise because ______.| A．Katie’s mother got mud on her jeans |
| B．Katie’s mother’s underpants were dirty |
| C．they didn’t know English |
| D．they mistook “ pants” in America for underpants |
| A．phone the police for help |
| B．phone his friend for help |
| C．lell his friend he couldn’t go to visit her |
| D．apologize for his being late |
| A．he wanted to go to a department store |
| B．he wanted the toilet |
| C．he wanted to have a rest |
| D．he wanted a chair |
10 . Many people，some even at a very young age，set the goal of graduating from college. One American woman in Texas waited a long time for her chance to reach that goal.
The woman，85-year-old Janet Fein，received her bachelor's degree（学士学位）from the University of Texas in December，2018.
Fein has had a full life. She raised five children and then had a career as a secretary（秘书）until she retired at age 77. But even then，she was not ready to take it easy and rest during a well-earned retirement. She decided to major in sociology.
Fein grew up in the Bronx area of New York City. In high school，she just wanted to finish and get a job. After graduating early，at the age of 16，she went to work as a secretary.
After getting married，she spent 18 years staying home with her children. She held several jobs throughout her life，including as a secretary at a Dallas hospital. That is the job she retired from in 2011. She received an associate degree（专科学位）in 1995. But she also wanted to earn a bachelor's degree. Fein took part in a state program that lets people who are 65 and older take free classes at public universities in Texas.
She kept going to class even as her health condition worsened. During her studies，it became necessary for her to use a walker to get around and she required oxygen. She also developed knee problems. So, Fein took online classes to finish the last part of her degree requirements.
Renee Brown is one of Fein's caregivers. She says Fein has also inspired her. At 53, she plans to begin nursing school to further her career. Brown says Fein told her, "Renee, you can do it. If I can do it you also can do it, and you will feel so good about it. "
1. When did Janet Fein start to work?| A．In 1933. | B．In 1950. |
| C．In 1995. | D．In 2012. |
| A．Sociology. | B．Secretary. |
| C．History. | D．Health. |
| A．Professors. | B．Advisors. |
| C．Employers. | D．Carers. |
| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| B．It is never too late to learn. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. |
| D．When in Rome，do as the Romans do. |
