1 . With 60 miles of canals and nearly 7,000 buildings dating from the 18th century or earlier, Amsterdam is one of Europe’s best preserved cities. Here are some of our favorites.
The Concertgebouw
A free classical concert in one of the world’s greatest concert halls? Sounds too good to be true, but every Wednesday at lunchtime that’s exactly what’s on offer at the Concertgebouw. The latest series just started up again this month and will run through June. You can pick up a free ticket (one per person) on the day of the show starting at 11:30 a.m.; the concert takes place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Rijksmuseum Gardens
Take a walk in the beautiful formal gardens of the Rijksmuseum, which are dotted with fascinating artworks. There’s a life-size chessboard, a fountain by contemporary Danish artist Jeppe Hein, and post-war climbing frames by architect Aldo van Eyck. The gardens also host sculpture exhibitions — currently there are 21 sculptures on show by the Spanish artist Joan Miró until October 11.
The Muziektheater
This important opera, dance and music venue has free weekly lunchtime concerts by top performers on Tuesdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the entrance hall, from September to May. Once or twice a month, the concert is followed by a free tour of the theatre — check the website for details.
Central Library
At the Netherlands’ biggest library, the Centrale Bibliotheek, you can read the international papers for free, and while Wi-Fi isn’t completely free, you can purchase 30 minutes for little more than a dollar by using one of the ticket machines. Upstairs on the 7th floor there is a café with a balcony that boasts wonderful city views.
1. Which one would you prefer if you have a taste for artworks?| A．The Concertgebouw. | B．The Muziektheater. |
| C．Rijksmuseum Gardens. | D．Central Library. |
| A．Enjoy classical music at Concertgebouw. |
| B．Attend the free weekly lunchtime concert. |
| C．Visit sculpture exhibitions of Joan Miró. |
| D．Take a walk in the Rijksmuseum Gardens. |
| A．Wi-Fi in it is free to use. |
| B．You can get a fantastic view of the city. |
| C．It is the biggest library in the world. |
| D．Newspapers at home and abroad are free to read. |
2 . The spot of red was what first caught Randy Heiss's attention on December 16. He was biking on his ranch in Patagonia, Arizona, a town near the U. S. -Mexico border. Heiss walked toward it, and found on the grassland was a broken balloon with its string attached to a piece of paper.
“Dayami,” it read on one side, in a child's writing. It was a Christmas wish list, all in Spanish He suspected that a child had tried to send Santa Claus a Christmas wish list by balloon, something he used to do himself when he was a kid. And he wondered whether he could find the child who had sent this one.
It would be difficult, but based on the prevailing wind, Heiss was pretty sure where it came from—just across the border, the city of Nogales, Mexico.
Heiss then posted about his quest on Facebook, attaching photos, hoping his friends in Nogales might know the girl's family.
A few days passed with no leads. Heiss worried that time was running out before Chirstmas. On December 19. he sent a private Facebook message to Radio XENY. a radio station based in Nogales The next morning. Heiss awoke to a message from Radio XENY: They had located Dayami, an eight-year-old girl, and her family, who indeed lived in Nogales. “It just changed my entire day.” said Heiss. Having bought just about everything on Dayami's list and a few other toys, as they had learned that Dayami had a younger sister, Heiss and his wife. at the Radio XENY. met tho family.
“Their eves were wide open with wonder.” Heiss said of the two sisters' reactions. “Like. ‘Oh my gosh, this really did work!’”
Not wanting to disappoint the girls who still believed in Santa Claus, Heiss and his wife told them they were “Santa's helpers”.
“It was a beautiful and healing experience for us...” Heiss said, “Since our only son died ten years ago, being around children at Christmas time has been absent in our lives.” Heiss said. “We now have friends for life. And, for a day, that border fence with its wire melted away.”
1. What did Heiss find when hiking on his ranch.| A．A Christmas wish list from a child | B．A mass of grassland. |
| C．A letter addressed to him. | D．A beautiful red balloon. |
| A．Examples. | B．Clues. | C．Suggestions. | D．Plans. |
| A．He wanted to make up for his lost son. |
| B．He wanted to make friends with Dayami. |
| C．He wanted to realize his childhood dream. |
| D．He didn't want to spoil Santa Claus for the girls. |
| A．Love knows no borders. | B．A bold attempt is half success. |
| C．God helps those who help themselves. | D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
3 . Rosie Dutton teaches a weekly class for 10- and 11-year-olds. During a recent class, Dutton used apples to brilliantly explain the effects of bullying.
Rosie Dutton started out by showing the class two perfect-looking apples. But unknown to the students, she had dropped one of the apples repeatedly on the floor. She picked up the dropped apple and began insulting (侮辱；损害) it.
“I started to tell the children how I disliked this apple, that I thought it was ugly and it was a horrible color,” Dutton wrote. “I told them that because I didn't like it, I didn't want them to like it either.”
They passed that apple around in a circle and the kids joined in on the insults. Then, Dutton took a completely different approach with the other apple.
“We then passed another apple around and started to say kind words to it,” the 31-year-old wrote.
She eventually cut both of them open to reveal that the apple that had been insulted was bruised (青肿的) inside. The apple that received praise wasn't.
“When people are bullied, especially children, they feel horrible inside and sometimes don't show or tell others how they are feeling,” Dutton wrote in her post. “If we hadn't cut that apple open, we would never have known how much pain we had caused it.”
“Unlike an apple, we have the ability to stop this from happening. We can teach children that it's not OK to say unkind things to each other,” the 31-year-old explained in her post. She later added, “More and more hurt and damage happens inside if nobody does anything to stop the bullying. Let's create a generation of kind, caring children.”
1. What didn't the students know in advance?| A．She had dropped one apple repeatedly on the floor. |
| B．She had dropped two apples repeatedly on the floor. |
| C．The two apples were perfect-looking in appearance. |
| D．She had picked the two apples from the same tree. |
| A．By reading famous sayings. | B．By listing the numbers. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By quoting some examples. |
| A．brave | B．considerate |
| C．active | D．honest |
| A．One woman found an incredible way to teach a history lesson. |
| B．People have the ability to stop bullying from happening again. |
| C．A teacher encourages students to put what they learned to use. |
| D．A teacher uses a bruised apple to show bad effects of bullying. |
4 . Maeve Higgins once set herself a task. The Irish-born comedian wanted to see what life would be like if she stopped laughing at things that weren’t funny. Turns out it wasn’t as easy as she thought. “It was so hard,” she says. “ Laughter is a lubricant (润滑油) and is expected, and it’s really hard not to do it.”
Higgins suggests there’s something particularly special about being part of the shared experience that is live comedy — that curious magic that occurs when people come together specifically to laugh.
Comedy is more than just a pleasant way to pass an evening, humour more than something to amuse. They’re interwoven into our everyday existence. Whether you’re sharing an amusing story at a party or telling a dark joke at a funeral, humour is everywhere. But what is it for? And can humour, as comedy, change how we feel, what we think or even what we do?
As an essential part of human interaction, humour has been on the minds of thinkers for centuries. One of the most enduring theories of humour was put forward by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. It asserts that humour appears to make fun of the weak and exert superiority. While this is clearly the function of some comedy, it’s far from a complete explanation for the overall purpose of humour.
For some comedians, it’s not just about getting laughs — it’s about changing what we think and maybe even what we do. If there’s one comic who is really typical of this, it’s Josie Long. A social justice activist and a comedian, Long has a reputation for delightful, optimistic humour and storytelling.
As her career has evolved, she has consciously put social and political topics at the heart of her act. She believes that comedians have a role to play in challenging some of the most pressing issues of the day.
British comic Stephen K Amos sells out venues seating thousands, year in, year out. Amos firmly believes that when comics consciously deal with pressing or controversial （有争议的）social issues like racism, they can reach people on a much more meaningful level than that achieved by briefly lifting someone’s mood. And while it may be difficult to quantify, he says, the social and psychological impact of comedy deserves much greater recognition.
The research backs this up. Although the role of comedy is to be entertaining first and foremost, Sharon Lockyer, a sociologist who studies humour, has identified a number of possible other functions. These include challenging stereotypes (刻板印象).
Amos’s work frequently settles the issues of race by challenging stereotypes.”I don’t do things for shock value,” he says. “ I do stuff that matters to me. In the old days it was just about doing jokes. We’ve moved on — people are talking about things that matter. ”
1. What do the first two paragraphs mainly talk about?| A．The benefits of laughing. |
| B．What a comedian’s daily work is about. |
| C．Why Maeve Higgins chose to be a comedian. |
| D．Maeve Higgins’ understanding of the appeal of comedy. |
| A．Protect the weak from the evil. |
| B．Encourage people to be stronger. |
| C．Be determined to improve oneself. |
| D．Show you are better than other people. |
| A．By gradually influencing people’s attitudes. |
| B．By urging politicians to try and solve the issues. |
| C．By quickly yet thoroughly changing people’s thinking. |
| D．By calling on the whole society to pay attention to the issues. |
| A．getting people to laugh |
| B．promoting social progress |
| C．influencing people’s ideas |
| D．making people more productive |
5 . Fires sweeping across the Amazon rainforest this year have been a hot topic as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen the climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity.
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon rainforest is often called "the lungs of the world". It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million native people. The vast areas of the rainforest play an important role in the world’s ecosystem because they absorb heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, ensuring that less carbon dioxide is released, mitigating the effects of climate change.
"Any destroyed forest is a threat to biodiversity and people," Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. "The overwhelming threat is that a lot of carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere," he stressed. "In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon rainforest must be protected," U. N. Secretary General António Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year compared to the same period last year. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. "We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest have decreased by between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of São Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose degradation (恶化) could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended (超出) Brazil’s borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1. What does the underlined word "mitigating" in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Increasing. | B．Relieving. |
| C．Ignoring. | D．Improving. |
| A．The biodiversity makes the rainforest unique. |
| B．The rainforest fires result in serious consequences. |
| C．The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires. |
| D．The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires. |
| A．To prove the importance of the rainforest. |
| B．To show reasons for forest fires. |
| C．To explain the process of the research. |
| D．To present the reduction in rainforest areas. |
| A．The climate change crisis is worsening. |
| B．The forest areas are on the decline. |
| C．"The lungs of the earth" is burning. |
| D．The world’s ecosystem is under attack. |
6 . Philadelphia offers a ton of attractions that are suitable for people of every age and here are some family-friendly attractions.
Spruce Street Harbor Park
Spruce Street Harbor Park, one of the best urban beaches in America, is an outdoor heaven on the Delaware River waterfront. Visitors can relax in a hammock (吊床), play on the playgrounds, and play games like table tennis and giant chess. Don’t miss out on the park at night, when colorful LED lights hanging from treetops make the entire area bright.
Blue Cross RiverRink
Offering ice skating in the winter and roller skating in the summer, Blue Cross RiverRink creates a fun, outdoor experience for the whole family. Visitors can play on the nine-hole mini-golf course during the summer, and enjoy foods and drinks from the on-site (现场的) bar and restaurant all year round.
Sesame Place
Big Bird, Elmo and the other stars of Sesame Street come out and play at Sesame Place, the only theme park in the nation starring the popular TV show’s most lovable characters. A water park, interactive activities, parades, fireworks and shows add to the fun.
Once Upon a Nation Storytelling Benches
On summer days, uniformed and professional storytellers at 13 storytelling benches throughout Philadelphia’s Historic District entertain visitors with true, free, three- to five-minute tales about the colonial (殖民的) era as part of Once Upon a Nation. Children can pick up a Story Flag at any storytelling bench, and then collect a star from every storyteller on their journeys. Flags with all the stars can get free rides on the Parx Liberty Carousel at Franklin Square.
1. Who would most probably go to Spruce Street Harbor Park?| A．People who are fans of popular stars. |
| B．People who want to have a relaxing day. |
| C．People who have a preference for skating. |
| D．People who are interested in water activities. |
| A．Sesame Place. | B．Blue Cross RiverRink. |
| C．The Parx Liberty Carousel. | D．Spruce Street Harbor Park. |
| A．To tell what we can do in certain places. |
| B．To encourage people to visit Philadelphia. |
| C．To recommend some places for family fun. |
| D．To compare some attractions in Philadelphia |
7 . My family and I never talked about school as the ticket to a future. I was in the classroom, but I wasn’t there to learn to write, read or even speak. When it was my turn to read, I wanted to hide. I was 13 years old, but I already hated being who I was.
I had an English teacher, Mr. Creech, who knew I couldn’t read. In one of my first lessons the teacher said that anyone who had a reading age below six had to stand up. I felt so embarrassed. But at the same time, it made me realize that I needed to change the situation. I was determined it wouldn’t happen again. Later that day, Mr. Creech encouraged me and promised he would try his best to help me learn to read. From then on, I never gave up practicing reading.
Then when I was 41 years old, one day, I planned to fly back to Texas to visit my friends and family. On my way from the airport, I saw Mr. Creech buying himself a drink. I rushed over and reached into my pocket to pay for him. “Do I know you?” he asked. “Yes, sir, you do know me,” I answered excitedly. “My name is Anthony Hamilton. You taught me English.” The look on his face told me that he remembered the boy he’d once encouraged.
“I’m so glad I had a chance to see you,” I said. “And Mr. Creech, I have great news to share.” I told him I had learned to read. But that wasn’t all. I had become a published author and an active speaker. “The next time you get another Anthony Hamilton in your classroom, please encourage him to read as well,” I added.
The experts say what once worried me has a name: dyslexia (诵读困难). But I can tell you it was a lack of desire for education.
1. Why did the author want to hide?| A．Because he felt sorry for himself. | B．Because he hated being laughed at. |
| C．Because he couldn’t read at all. | D．Because he didn’t have a ticket. |
| A．Considerate and dutiful. | B．Demanding and enthusiastic. |
| C．Emotional and dedicated. | D．Friendly and ambitious. |
| A．Because his reading age was not long enough. |
| B．Because his parents didn’t teach him how to read. |
| C．Because he was afraid of reading before the class. |
| D．Because he didn’t have inner driving force to learn to read. |
| A．The author was grateful to Mr. Creech. |
| B．Dyslexia made the author unable to read. |
| C．The author had become an active speaker. |
| D．Mr. Creech taught two Anthony Hamiltons. |
8 . In April 2015, UK journalist Rebecca Atkinson, along with other parents of children with disabilities started the campaign ToyLikeMe to solve the lack of various toys for children with disabilities. They created a Facebook page where everyone was able to post ideas and pictures about what toys for children with disabilities should look like.
Even though the campaign attracted a lot of attention, these parents couldn’t rest until their ideas actually became real. Luckily, only 2 weeks after the campaign started, the people who started the campaign got in touch with a company in the UK that designs toys through 3D printing, and the company agreed to create new series of dolls. That’s when the first toys for disabled children were produced.
There are around 150 million children with disabilities, and even though the toy industry is worth over $2.9 billion, it has completely failed to create toys that are fitter for them. Until recently, that is. Thanks to this campaign that has taken the Internet by storm, many toy companies have answered this calling and have made toys specifically for children with disabilities.
Soon enough, the ToyLikeMe campaign on Facebook and Twitter finally reached the big companies like Lego, and now there is an entire series of toys for disabled children that have been sold worldwide.
Even after all the success this campaign has had, ToyLikeMe gets on with its task. The organization has followers in over 45 countries and has received donations from over 700 people. The mission of ToyLikeMe is to continuously influence the worldwide toy industry and hopefully make kids with disabilities all around the world feel accepted and appreciated.
1. How did Rebecca and some parents start the campaign ToyLikeMe?| A．They made a new series of dolls through 3D printing. |
| B．They asked Lego to design toys for children with disabilities. |
| C．They called on people to donate toys on their Facebook page. |
| D．They created a Facebook page for people to share opinions and pictures. |
| A．It makes disabled kids have more confidence. |
| B．It makes disabled kids have various toys to play with. |
| C．It gives away toys to children with disabilities. |
| D．It gives families with disabled kids encouragement. |
| A．There’s a growing need for helping disabled kids. |
| B．There’s a growing need for more toy companies. |
| C．Many toy companies are responding to the calling. |
| D．Children are fond of playing with various toys. |
| A．It has gained support of parents. | B．It will continue its journey. |
| C．It has been popular with disabled kids. | D．It will care for other needs of disabled kids. |
9 . Jose Adolfo is a banker from Peru. He encourages children to save money and offers his customers cash for recycling plastic wastes. But the remarkable thing is that he is still a child himself.
By the age of 7,he decided to create a bank for children. He was motivated by seeing his classmates skipping lunch because they had spent the little money they had on sweets or football cards. What drove him even more was the poverty he saw among children.
With the support of a local company, the 14-year-old founded the Bartselana student bank which now has more than 2,000 customers between the ages of 10 and 18. Children can withdraw(提取) money from several cashpoints of the bank. They can also monitor their balances online. What makes it different from traditional banks is that it sets savings goals for children. They have to reach those goals in order to withdraw their money.
The student bank really caught on when he came up with the “Recycle Plan”, a new way for the children to earn money by collecting recyclable plastic or paper waste. Students can bring recyclable plastic bottles, used school books and old newspapers to the schools and put them into the collecting boxes. The recycling is weighed and the money goes to their bank accounts.
The bank recycles 4.4 tons of material a month and has collecting boxes in seven schools in Arequipa. More are on a waiting list. Increasingly the model is in demand in the rest of Peru and abroad.
His efforts have been noticed by Peru’s environment ministry. “He’s making an amazing change in financial education that perhaps many adults could not come up with,” said the Peru’s environment minister, Lucia Ruiz. “He’s achieving a double goal because he’s not just designing a financial opportunity for children and teenagers but also helping to reduce waste in the country.”
1. What’s the purpose of creating a bank for children for Jose?| A．To recycle the waste. | B．To provide free lunch. |
| C．To learn to manage money. | D．To help children in poverty. |
| A．Saving goals are set for children. | B．The balances are monitored online. |
| C．Customers should obey the bank rules. | D．Money can be withdrawn from some cashpoints. |
| A．Drew on. | B．Took off. | C．Looked forward. | D．Gave rise to. |
| A．He told children the significance of running a bank. |
| B．He contributed to financial education and recycling. |
| C．He let children know how important saving money is. |
| D．He solved children’s realistic problem—skipping lunch. |
10 . Ever wondered if dogs can learn new words? Yes, say researchers as they have found that talented dogs may have the ability to grasp new words after hearing them only four times.
While previous evidence seems to show that most dogs do not learn words, unless eventually very well trained, a few individuals have shown some extraordinary abilities, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
“We wanted to know under which conditions the gifted dogs may learn novel words,” said researcher xuekw Claudia Fugazza from the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. For the study, the team involved two gifted dogs, Whisky and Vicky Nina. The team exposed the dogs to the new words in two different conditions.
In the exclusion-based task, presented with seven known toys and one new toy, the dogs were able to select the new toy when presented with a new name. Researchers say this proves that dogs can choose by exclusion when faced with a new word, they selected the only toy which did not have a known name.
However, this was not the way they would learn the name of the toy. In fact, when they were presented with one more equally new name to test their ability to recognize the toy by its name, the dogs got totally confused and failed.
The other condition, the social one, where the dogs played with their owners who pronounced the name of the toy while playing with the dog, proved to be the successful way to learn the name of the toy, even after hearing it only 4 times. “The rapid learning that we observed seems to equal children’s ability to learn many new words at a fast rate around the age of 18 months,” Fugazza says. “But we do not know whether the learning mechanisms(机制) behind this learning are the same for humans and dogs. ”
To test whether most dogs would learn words this way, 20 other dogs were tested in the same condition, but none of them showed any evidence of learning the toy names, confirming that the ability to learn words rapidly in the absence of formal training is very rare and is only present in a few gifted dogs.
1. What was the purpose of the study published in Scientific Reports?| A．To better train dogs’ ability to learn new words. |
| B．To further confirm previous evidence about dogs. |
| C．To prove extraordinary memory abilities of gifted dogs. |
| D．To explore favorable conditions for gifted dogs’ new-word learning. |
| A．Slow to understand. | B．Quick to learn. | C．At a loss. | D．In a panic. |
| A．Learning through playing applied to most dogs. |
| B．The social condition helped dogs learn new words. |
| C．Dogs’ new-word learning turned out to be less effective. |
| D．Dogs shared similar learning mechanisms with children. |
| A．Gifted Dogs Can Learn New Words Rapidly. |
| B．Dogs Identify Newly-named Toys by Exclusion. |
| C．Dogs Can Acquire Vocabulary through Tons of Training. |
| D．Gifted Dogs Have Similar Learning Abilities to Humans. |
