1 . Will your kids love your favorite childhood reads? Let’s get to it: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I’m reaching way back with this one (1881), but after all, who doesn’t love a good rags to-riches story?
Oh, those little Peppers. How well I remember Phronsie, Ben, Polly, Joel and Davie, and how hard they worked in the little brown house to help their poor mother, Mamsie. My kids are not yet at an age when they realize just how poor the Peppers are. But my kids are as drawn to this story as I was as a child. And I am not the one to turn down an opportunity to share an example of children gladly helping their mother.
I’m not reaching back quite as far with 1943’s Cherry Ames, Student Nurse by Helen Wells, but convincing my kids that once it wasn’t easy for nurses to wear caps and dresses. When I was little, I couldn’t get enough of Cherry’s adventures. How pioneering Cherry was! She had a job when there were few jobs available to women, she never got married, and she solved mysteries when men couldn’t. Cherry always knew what to do. She was smart, pretty, strong and ambitious. I love her.
I know the time will come when my son asks, “Come on, Mom, Didn’t you read any books with men in them?” and I’ll have to answer honestly, “No. But maybe one day a few.”
The day will come when we can go back to the library and see what is new on the shelves, and that will be a great day. But for now, I plan not to let any book on our shelves go to waste. It may seem that reaching for a book that’s more than a century older than my kids is just as ambitious as reading Frankenstein, but I’m really confident, this time.
1. What do the author’s kids feel about Five Little Peppers and How They Grew?| A．Frightened. | B．Interested. | C．Puzzled. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Praiseful. | D．Afraid. |
| A．She is very poor, |
| B．She likes books about women. |
| C．She dislikes classical literature. |
| D．She is confused about her career. |
| A．Read less and faster. |
| B．Go back to the library, |
| C．Ask her kids to read books kept at home. |
| D．Inspire her kids to read newly published books. |
2 . More than half the world’s population live in cities, and by 2050 the UN expects that proportion to reach 68%. This means more homes, roads and other infrastructure. In India alone, a city the size of Chicago will have to be developed every year to meet demand for housing. Such a construction increase is a bad sign for dealing with climate change, because making steel and concrete, two of the most common building materials, generates around 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions (排放). If cities are to expand and become greener at the same time, they will have to be made from something else.
Wood is one of the most promising sustainable (可持续的) alternatives to steel and concrete. It is not, however, everyday wood that is attracting the interest of architects.
Rather, it is a material called engineered timber. This is a combination of different layers, each designed to meet the requirements of specific parts such as floors, panels and beams (横梁). Designers can use it to provide levels of strength like steel, in a product that is up to 80% lighter. In addition, engineered timber is usually made into large sections in a factory for future use, which reduces the number of deliveries to a construction site.
According to Michael Ramage of the University of Cambridge, a wooden building produces 75% less CO2 than a steel and concrete one of the same size. However, if building with wood takes off, it does raise concern about there being enough trees to go round. But with sustainably managed forests that should not be a problem, says Dr Ramage. A family-sized apartment requires about 30 cubic metres of timber, and he estimates Europe’s sustainable forests alone grow that amount every seven seconds. Nor is fire a risk, for engineered timber does not burn easily. Besides, fireproofing layers can be added to the timber. All in all, then, it looks as if wood as a building material may get a new lease of life.
1. Why is India mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To point out the severe pollution. |
| B．To predict the population increase. |
| C．To indicate the high degree of urbanization. |
| D．To show the great need for building materials. |
| A．It is produced at a low cost. |
| B．It hardly appeals to architects. |
| C．It helps save energy in transportation. |
| D．It possesses greater strength than steel. |
| A．Becomes cheaper. | B．Gains popularity. |
| C．Requires less work. | D．Proves sustainable. |
| A．Making Future Cities More Attractive |
| B．Living in a World with Less Emission |
| C．Building Sustainable Cities with Woods |
| D．Growing More Trees for Future Building |
3 . I’m glad I got to attend PRSSA’s (Public Relations Student Society of America) National Conference in Philadelphia this year because it gave me the opportunity to get advice and insight (见解) from industry professionals. Newhouse (American publisher) brings in great speakers, but I don’t always get the chance to go to the ones I want because of classes and other schedule conflicts (日程冲突). Having five days to focus only on developing my public relations knowledge base was great.
One of the sessions (会议) I enjoyed the most was about food PR. The speaker was very enthusiastic and gave helpful information on her day-to-day responsibilities and on the importance of choosing the person you want to work for, not just the job position.
Attending the different sessions also gave me insight on areas that I might not want to work in. The session on entertainment and public relations showed me that I do not have enough interest in the latest television shows and pop culture to work in the entertainment industry. All of the reality stars and movies everyone was talking about were beyond me.
Attending conferences also allowed our own PRSSA members to get to know each other better and become friends outside of meetings and work. We have a sort of PRSSA family environment where we always try to help each other.
To sum up, if you ever get the chance to attend a PR conference, whether regional or national, be sure to take the opportunity to do so. Conveniently, Syracuse University will be hosting a regional PRSSA conference on March 1-2 this coming spring. Don’t miss it!
1. The author sometimes can’t go to the meetings he wants because ________.| A．he is not invited |
| B．he has to do part-time jobs |
| C．he doesn’t like the speakers |
| D．he has classes or other plans |
| A．unfavorable |
| B．enthusiastic |
| C．doubtful |
| D．unconcerned |
| A．can benefit a lot from the sessions |
| B．have to work out solutions to public issues |
| C．compete with each other for good opportunities |
| D．can know their shortcomings from the meetings |
| A．explain how PRSSA works |
| B．show readers how to join PRSSA |
| C．describe the future development of PRSSA |
| D．encourage readers to attend PRSSA meetings |
4 . Man’s best friend is also his oldest. The partnership between dogs and people may go back as much as 40,000 years long predating any other domestication （驯化）. And it is based not, as is the case with many succeeding domestications, on a human desire to eat the animal concerned, or to consume some associated product such as milk or eggs, but rather on sincere companionship, though with a little work — and hunting-related using on the side.
How this partnership got going, though, is debated. In particular, unlike other domestications, which involved groups of people who had taken up farming, the domestication of the wolves that became dogs happened while all human beings were still hunter-gatherers. The two species were, in other words, competitors. Yet they managed to become soul mates.
One popular theory is that the wolves which became dogs acted as rubbish cleaners for groups of people, by eating their waste, possibly including their faeces （粪 便）.That, though, would be a service more useful to settled farmers than mobile hunter-gatherers. As she writes in Scientific Reports, however, Maria Lahtinen of the Finnish Museum of Natural History thinks she might have the answer as to how wolves and people squared the competitive circle while both species were still hunters. It was, she and her colleagues suggest, simply a matter of remaining calories.
The archaeological （考古的）evidence suggests that wolves were domesticated in wood lands at the edge of the ice sheets of the last ice age, since that is where almost all Palaeolithic dog remains have been found. Dr Lahtinen calculates that, given the large size of hunted animals in this environment, and humans' need to eat a balanced diet with plenty of plant matter in it as well as flesh, there would have been a lot of remaining meat around from kills. What better way to use some of it than to feed a few wolf cubs （幼崽）to provide entertainment and companionship? And thus, she suggests, were dogs born.
1. Why did our ancestors domesticate dogs?| A．To balance their diet. | B．To help them to farm. |
| C．To get rid of rubbish. | D．To develop a partnership. |
| A．Dogs were born as early as wolves. |
| B．People ever hunted wolves for food. |
| C．Wolf cubs were raised for remaining meat. |
| D．Cruel enemies could become good friends. |
| A．A new idea. | B．Some evidence. |
| C．A practical way. | D．A scientific report. |
| A．Home & Life. | B．Finance & Economy. |
| C．History & Future. | D．Science & Technology. |
5 . American billionaire Elon Musk has demonstrated a technology designed to use a computer chip inside the head to control the brain. During a video demonstration on Friday, Musk provided details about the system, called Neuralink.
Musk says he hopes the technology can be used to treat neural disorders and help spinal injury victims regain body movement. Musk also believes the system could be used in the future to improve intelligence to help humans keep up with supercomputers and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
During the show, Musk showed off a model of the Neuralink device. It is about 23 millimeters wide. It is designed to be implanted into a person's skull. Small wires would connect the device directly to the brain.
The Neuralink system is currently being tested in pigs, with plans to seek government approval for human testing sometime in the future.
A pig named Gertrude was also shown during the show. Musk explained that Gertrude had a Neuralink chip inside its head. The device is meant to record nerve activity in the pig's nose and mouth.
Musk said the company had three pigs, each with two chips. He described the animals as "healthy, happy and indistinguishable from a normal pig." Musk said the company was able to predict with "high accuracy" a pig's leg movement on a running machine using data from the chip.
Musk noted that Neuralink first wants to use the device on people with severe spinal cord injuries to help them talk and move using their brain waves. He said he is hopeful that, in the long term, those people could regain "full-body motion."
Some neuroscientists not linked to the company said the presentation suggested Neuralink had made great progress with the technology. However, they warned that many more studies will be needed to test the long-term success of such devices.
1. What good can the Neuralink device do to the disabled?| A．Making them think clearly. |
| B．Treating their diseases successfully. |
| C．Having them keep up with supercomputers. |
| D．Helping them to move again. |
| A．Normal. | B．Active. | C．Nervous. | D．Intelligent. |
| A．it has been a great success. |
| B．it will succeed very soon. |
| C．it has a long way to go. |
| D．It needs support from new theories. |
| A．There Will Be Great Progress in Brain Science. |
| B．Musk Shows Technology Linking Computer to Brain. |
| C．Three Pigs Are being Tested Instead of Human Beings. |
| D．The Disabled Will Receive Better Treatment in the future. |
6 . It may seem as if Mother's Day was invented by a company named Hallmark, but people have been taking time on the calendar to give a shout-out to Mom for a long time. The Greeks and Romans had mother goddess festivals — although their celebrations didn't involve the menfolk taking their underappreciated mothers out to dinner. A more recent tradition was Mothering Sunday, which developed in the British Isles during the 16th century. On the fourth Sunday in April, young men and women who were living and working apart from their families were advised to return to their mothers’ houses.
Mother's Day as it is observed in the United States started in the 1850s with Ann Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who held “Mothers' Work Days” to promote health and hygiene(卫生 ) at home and in the workplace. During the Civil War, Jarvis organized women to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides, and after the war she became a peacemaker, furthering the cause by bringing together mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers and promoting a Mother's Day holiday.
Jarvis's work inspired another 19th-century woman, Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe published her “Mother's Day Proclamation”, which envisioned(设想) the day not as appreciation of mothers by their children but as an opportunity for women to exercise their collective power for peace. Howe started holding annual Mother's Day celebrations in Boston, her hometown, but after about a decade she stopped footing the bill and the tradition faded away.
It was Jarvis's daughter Anna who succeeded in getting Mother’s Day recognized as a national holiday. After her mother died, in May 1905, Anna started holding yearly ceremony on the anniversary and conducting a tireless PR campaign to have the day made a holiday. In 1908 she succeeded in enlisting the support of John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia department store magnate and advertising pioneer, and by 1912 West Virginia and a few other states had adopted Mother's Day. Two years later, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution declaring the second Sunday in May a national holiday.
It wasn't long, though, before whatever ideals the day was supposed to celebrate were buried under an amount of greeting cards and candy. By the 1920s Anna Jarvis was campaigning against the holiday she had been instrumental in creating. “I wanted it to be a day of emotionalism, not profit,” she said.
1. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that .| A．mothers didn't get enough appreciation in the past |
| B．Mother's Day was invented by Hallmark |
| C．young people all returned to their mothers' houses |
| D．Greeks and Romans were the first to celebrate Mother's Day |
| A．Ann Jarvis. | B．Julia Ward Howe. |
| C．Woodrow Wilson. | D．Anna Jarvis. |
| A．Because it was extremely emotional. |
| B．Because the festival was not profitable. |
| C．Because the celebrations went against the original spirit. |
| D．Because the day was celebrated in the form of exchanging greeting cards and candy. |
| A．The Definition of Mother’s Day |
| B．The Argument on Celebrating Mother's Day |
| C．The Story Behind the Creation of Mother's Day |
| D．Different Forms of Celebration on Mother's Day |
7 . When leaving school, I was pleased that my exam results meant that I could study engineering at university. But I also wanted to travel before starting my course. A friend of mine told me about the Schools Exploring Society, an organization which helps students take a gap year （a year between leaving school and going to college）. It has three foreign journeys a year, taking 16-20-year-olds on science and nature trips. I love being outdoors, and a mountaineering trip to Alaska was on offer. So I signed up immediately.
There was one problem, though. I had to raise a large amount of money for the trip. It was a big task, but I managed to make it. I washed cars, worked in a cafe and also sold off some of my old books, clothes and CDs. Then, just before starting out, I started worrying. Can I do this? Am I fit enough? What if I see a bear?
Seventy of us traveled to Alaska. The first two days after arrival were spent in a school hall preparing our equipment and five tons of food. Then we left for the beautiful Talkeetna Mountain. On the trip we dug paths and recognized plant species. Then we climbed a mountain that was over 6,000 feet high. It was tiring but exciting.
Looking back, a gap year was so right for me. I learned a lot about accepting other people for what they are. We had to help each other and it made me less selfish. My gap year has also made me more able to concentrate. Now, whenever Tm worried about anything, I think I did Alaska-I can do this!
1. We can learn from Paragraph 1 that the author .| A．hadn’t taken foreign trips before |
| B．made the trip together with his friends |
| C．was not satisfied with his exam results |
| D．was going to study engineering at a college |
| A．His body was not strong. |
| B．He couldn’t afford the trip. |
| C．He had no outdoor experience. |
| D．He had little time to prepare for the trip. |
| A．was well worth it |
| B．got him interested in plants |
| C．made him fall behind others in study |
| D．helped him know more about himself |
| A．To explain how to prepare for trips. |
| B．To advise on how to spend a gap year. |
| C．To describe his experience in his gap year. |
| D．To encourage students to do part-time work. |
8 . Recently I’ve had two good roles on television. But when I was just getting started in theater work 17 years ago, I never thought I’d make it. Back then I was recovering from surgery and had been off work for six months. Even worse, as a single mother with three youngsters, I had no place to live in. I felt hopeless.
One Sunday morning I saw actor Robert Young on the television talking about his faith: Believe yourself! If we confidently take that first step, well take the next, until we reach our goal.
The first step was scary. After I went working part-time, I looked for an apartment. The ones I saw were either too expensive, or I couldn’t raise my children in them. I knew a house, not an apartment, was more suitable for me. However, after seeing several houses, my confidence was shaken. I found two seemed right, but when I was about to make an offer, someone else had ordered.
I remembered a saying, “When one door closes, a better one opens.” I wouldn’t just sit staring at the closed one but got up and struggled on. In a real estate (房地产) agent, I found a small house with proper price. To buy it, I had to borrow $ 3,000 for a down payment and get a mortgage (按揭). Common sense argued that a mortgage for a single mother working part-time was impossible. But I had enough self-confidence without following common sense.
After getting the house, my new self-confidence grew. Later , when I began filling small parts in television productions, that self-confidence showed. I'd always played the role as the director wanted. Now I find myself freer to interpret (演绎) it.
Self-confidence has made it through life. Trouble can be scary at first, but each time I take that step, I believe I will win the next.
1. How did the author feel when entering television industry at first?| A．Hopeful. | B．Embarrassed. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Aggressive. |
| A．To show the value of self-confidence. |
| B．To share her different life experiences. |
| C．To introduce her toughest part of life. |
| D．To tell us her ways to get over difficulty. |
| A．Her sense of confidence. | B．The difficulty in her life. |
| C．The director’s good direction. | D．Her success in her first attempt. |
| A．Appear on the Stage | B．Struggle with Life |
| C．Stick to Your Plan | D．Believe in Yourself |
9 . Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean (毕达哥拉斯) power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery (嘲弄) of what human life should be. I long to alleviate (减少) the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.
1. Which would be the best title of the essay?| A．The suffering of life. | B．The truth about love. |
| C．The forces driving me. | D．The power of knowledge. |
| A．The shining stars. | B．Great winds. |
| C．A bottomless abyss. | D．A boundless ocean. |
| A．It relieves loneliness. | B．It brings ecstasy. |
| C．It provides a glimpse of heaven. | D．It leads to a marriage. |
| A．He regrets that he could not free himself of pity. |
| B．Human love is ultimately disappointing. |
| C．Heaven is merely a poetic invention. |
| D．A loving person naturally wants to relieve the suffering of others. |
10 . Last fall, I went to New York for sightseeing. I visited many tourist attractions there, and I also saw many unfortunate citizens on the street, like beggars and homeless folks.
Standing outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I heard a voice ask, “Can you do me a favor?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended out. Naturally, I reached into my pocket for some change immediately and placed it in her hand without even looking at her. I was really annoyed at being bothered by a beggar. What I only thought at that moment was to send her away.
But the blind woman said with a warm smile on her face, "I don't want your money. I just need you to show me the way to the subway entrance."
In an instant, I realized what I had done just now. Her unexpected words took me by surprise and shame. I had acted with prejudice ——I'd judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be. I felt ashamed of myself and couldn't face the old woman anymore. And I felt small beside her.
The incident reminded me that I believed in being humble, even though I had lost that belief for a moment. The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant. I left Honduras and arrived in the U. S. at the age of 15. Through the years, I have experienced many acts of prejudice. I remember a time at the age of 17 when I was a busboy, I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me. But now, living my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to go. It is the blind woman who cured me of my blindness.
1. What did the author think the blind woman wanted at first sight?| A．To ask for directions. | B．To offer him some help. |
| C．To demand some donations. | D．To borrow money from him. |
| A．He had a prejudice on the woman. | B．He couldn't face the woman. |
| C．He was judged by his appearance. | D．He was an immigrant himself. |
| A．To indicate he led a miserable life. | B．To tell he didn't work hard at school. |
| C．To prove he used to be a humble man. | D．To show he used to be unfairly judged. |
| A．Be Considerate - Always Minding Your Words |
| B．Be Humble - Always Dropping Your Prejudice |
| C．Be Generous - Always Helping Those in Need |
| D．Be Aggressive - Always Having a Big Dream |
