1 . The company SpaceX has already launched hundreds of its Star-link satellites, with plans to put as many as 42,000 of them in Earth orbit. Its goal is to provide high-speed Internet to billions of people. Moving toward that kind of access is important, but it comes at a cost. Glittering with reflected sunlight, these first orbiters, sent up in the past year, are brighter than 99 percent of the 5,000 or so other satellites now circling Earth, and obviously there are going to be a lot more. This sudden increase is bad for astronomy: the probability of a Star-link satellite crossing a telescope’s field of view and ruining an observation will be quite high near sunset. For that reason, my fellow astronomers have signed a petition (请愿书) calling for governments to protect the night sky from this invasion.
In response to protests, SpaceX has promised to address the visibility problem by, for example, applying experimental coatings — essentially painting the satellites black — but the company’s aggressive launch schedule remains unchanged. And the satellites’ illuminated (被照亮) surfaces are mostly their solar panels — exactly the part that cannot be painted over.
Unfortunately, at present no regulations govern how bright a single satellite can be, let alone thousands of them together. Even if there were such regulations, one nation’s laws can not hinder (阻碍) another country’s launches. Space literally has no borders, and the sky will need to be protected at an international level. As a consequence, we hope that the United Nations will find a way to think outside of the box to save the sky for everyone.
When I was growing up in Montana, it was a game to be the first to find a moving satellite among the host of stars in the night sky. Soon it could be a game to recognize the constellations (星座) behind a swarm of moving points of light.
1. What is the writer’s attitude toward Space X’s launching plans?| A．Indifferent. | B．Doubtful. | C．Optimistic. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．SpaceX plans to send too many Star-line satellites into space. |
| B．The Star-line satellites will possibly ruin an observation near sunset. |
| C．The first orbiters are brighter than most of other satellites circling Earth. |
| D．Space X fails to provide high-speed Internet to people around the world. |
| A．The United States. | B．The United Nations. |
| C．The company SpaceX. | D．Just one nation. |
| A．Preserve the Night Sky | B．Ban Star-line Satellites |
| C．Observe the Stars Attentively | D．Protest against Space X |
2 . Whales are big, but why aren't they even bigger? A new study says the key factor is how many calories they can take in. Researchers came to this conclusion after using small boats to chase down 300 whales of various species around the world. They reached out with long poles to attach sensors (传感器) to the creatures, allowing them to record what whales were doing as they dived for food.
The study included 90 blue whales, the biggest animals ever to live. Size estimates vary, but they can grow to about 100 feet long and weigh more than 100 tons, according to the American Cetacean Society. The research also included sperm whales, the biggest whales with teeth; they can grow to about 60 feet in length.
Toothed whales hunt their prey (猎物) one at a time, seeking them out in the dark depths with a sonar-like detection. But as their body size increases, their hunting style becomes progressively less efficient — they take in fewer calories from their meals than the number they burn in each dive. That's a result of the limited availability of prey.
Blue whales grow bigger because they feed in a much different and more efficient way, the researchers reported. They open their mouths wide to take in an enormous volume of water — even bigger than their body size — as they swim along. They then close their mouths and strain the water out through a sieve-like filter (过滤器), trapping huge numbers of tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill. That "allows them to take advantage of a very large prey resource that's very rich in a small amount of time," said Jeremy Goldbogen of Stanford University, another member of the research team. "They get a huge bang for the buck."
So why aren't they even bigger than they are? Perhaps blue whales are limited by the seasonal nature of the most nutritious krill patches, which grow huge and dense in the summer," Goldbogen said. "And calculations indicate that to sustain a blue whale that's 115 feet long, you'd need a density of prey that is just not seen anywhere in the world."
1. How did researchers conduct the study?| A．By detecting whales with poles. | B．By tracking whales with devices. |
| C．By filming whales' preying on boats. | D．By recording whales' sound from sensors. |
| A．They can grow to about 100 feet long. |
| B．They seek prey in the shallow waters. |
| C．They hunt less efficiently as they grow older. |
| D．They dive consuming more calories as they grow bigger. |
| A．Blue whales have big mouths. |
| B．Blue whales hunt in the deep sea. |
| C．Blue whales eat more varieties of foods. |
| D．Blue whales hunt for food more efficiently. |
| A．Preying takes more time than before. |
| B．Preying becomes easier than expected. |
| C．Whales get a greater harvest from preying. |
| D．Whales consume more calories than they obtain. |
3 . What does being happy have to do with luck? To answer the question, a team of researchers from the UK and Hong Kong gave surveys to 844 English-speaking university students in Hong Kong. The survey questions measured their thoughts about luck and their happiness levels.
The researchers observed that less happy people believed in external (外在的) luck—the “Good luck with that!” variety that controls our good or bad. The authors point out that blaming “luck” for events and experiences makes people lose personal self-determination, which diminishes their sense of purpose and, in turn, their happiness. Believing we need luck to be successful may make us less determined to reach goals and take risks.
On the other hand, happier people believed themselves to be personally lucky. Viewing yourself as lucky, the researchers suggest, shows an active and positive attitude that develops hope and self-acceptance. Personally lucky people may feel more confident to try new things or act in ways that help others.
How does luck influence those people? Next, the research team asked those people to fill another survey. They found that people who believed in external luck were more likely to be less active, and in turn were less happy. Those who believe they’re especially lucky suffer less of a hit to happiness.
This study has its value. However, the data all come from surveys filled out by those surveyed, which means the responses may be too personal. Moreover, the use of a one-time survey means we cannot say that one thing causes another.
Although there are some limits, this study stresses the value of thinking about luck as something that benefits us. Moreover, this study helps explain why we call people “happy go lucky”—because happy is how we feel when we focus on how personally lucky we are.
1. What does the underlined word “diminishes” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Explains. | B．Reduces. | C．Develops. | D．Balances. |
| A．They are always helped by others. | B．They have a preference for the past. |
| C．They have confidence in themselves. | D．They like changing their own goals. |
| A．Its findings are unreliable. | B．It has space for improvement. |
| C．It is actually of little value. | D．Its research method is perfect. |
| A．The Connection Between Happiness and Luck |
| B．Being Happy Has Nothing to Do With Luck |
| C．How Less Happy People Can Become Luckier |
| D．The Latest Study on People’s Happiness Levels |
4 . A teenager of 17 walks into a corner store and grabs a Coca-Cola, but the cashier refuses to sell it to him because he is underage. That rule is expected to soon become reality in parts of Mexico, as lawmakers in several states push legislation (立法)to keep junk food away from children. know it can sound a bit difficult but we have to take action now," says Lopez, a lawmaker in Oaxaca's Congress.
More than 70,000 Mexicans have died from COVID-19, the world's fourth-highest recorded death toll, tracked by Johns Hopkins University. 89% of those who died in Mexico had an underlying medical condition such as obesity, diabetes (糖尿病)，high blood pressure and heart problems. That has led to a new urgency to change diets so that the younger generation doesn't suffer those illnesses.
The critics, however, say the leaders are using preexisting health conditions in COVID-19 patients to distract from a weak government response to the virus outbreak. Yet few people would deny that the country consumes large amounts of sugar-sweetened drinks and processed snacks with little nutrition --- or that Mexico has a major weight problem.
Oaxaca's governor approved the state's junk food prohibition last week. Legislators still have to complete the legal systems, and punishment could include fines and even jail. Lopez says legislators from all over the country have called her for advice. Many other states are debating a junk food ban. However, a nationwide law would not be easy. "There are powerful commercial interests that least want it to happen, but we must prioritize the well-being of our children," Lopez says.
1. What is Lopez 's attitude towards the junk food?| A．Negative. | B．Neutral. |
| C．Positive. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Keep distance. | B．Avoid illnesses. |
| C．Break away. | D．Shift attention. |
| A．Selling children junk food has been banned nationwide in Mexico. |
| B．Most Mexicans who died of COVID-19 had other health problems. |
| C．The younger generation doesn't suffer any weight problems. |
| D．People who break the prohibition in Oaxaca will only be warned. |
| A．Teenagers. | B．Legislators. |
| C．Soft drink companies. | D．State governors. |
5 . Resilience is the ability to recover from experiences that are scary, painful, or upsetting. For you, it could be getting up after falling, or ignoring a hurtful comment. For another person , it could mean recovering from an accident or the loss of a loved one.
Here in New Zealand, award-winning author Diana Noonan teaches resilience through her fictional characters. "They win out,“ she said during a recent video interview, “by being self-dependent and resilient, and by looking for answers. "
Noonan has written many books, ranging from picture books for children to novels for adults. She has also written for television, radio and film. "Writing is a way of figuring out the answer to a lot of things in your life," she said, “except that you do it through other people."
Noonan believes that as a writer, it's her job to convince readers that things will get better. Quaky Cat, one of Noonan's titles, is more than just a picture book.
After a series of destructive earthquakes struck Christchurch, one of New Zealand's largest cities, in 2010 and 2011, Noonan wrote Quaky Cat. She wanted to bring hope to the city's children, many of whom had developed anxiety following the quakes. A copy was given to each five-year-old in Christchurch. Sales from the book raised over $ 150, 000 for local charities.
“To fight anxiety, you have to really know who you are," Noonan said. "You have to really believe and trust in yourself. There's only one way to do that, and that's to dig deep inside yourself. Reading is a time when you do a lot of thinking about yourself.
During the coronavirus pandemic, being resilient is especially important. A lot of us have spare time on our hands. "It's a good time to get to know ourselves. You need to take action,“ Noonan said. "Being strong in yourself,“ she added, “is knowing yourself. "
1. What does the first paragraph say about resilience?| A．It prevents us taking any possible risks. |
| B．It is an ability that is easy for people to get. |
| C．It helps to spread love around the world. |
| D．It means different things for different people. |
| A．To educate kids on survival skills. | B．To teach kids to be volunteers. |
| C．To help children in the disaster area. | D．To start a charity organization. |
| A．By improving their learning abilities. |
| B．By getting them to believe others. |
| C．By drawing their attention to writing. |
| D．By making them know themselves better. |
| A．Suggest. | B．Advertise. | C．Apologize. | D．Appreciate. |
6 . If you’re one of the people who find it difficult to make small talk at parties, it may be because you’re asking the wrong questions, experts said.
For example, while the question "What do you do? "is a classic conversation starter，it may lead to an embarrassing moment if your conversation partner is unemployed or simply doesn’t want to talk about work.
Instead of “What do you do?”, try asking "What keeps you busy?"expert Daniel Post Senning said. That way, the question applies to people whether or not they have traditional jobs.
As it turns out, Senning considers work life one of the most intimate(私密的) conversation topics, right up there with family, health, and finance. Slightly less intimate topics include politics and dating, while the safest topics to discuss include sports, weather and pop culture.
Meanwhile, in other countries, the "What do you do? " question could even be taken as offensive (冒犯的). In France,for example, "They will be offended, believing you’ re trying to put them into a box, "culture writer Julie Barlow said. “And they just don’t think it’s interesting to work for a living. There are other things they’d much rather talk about.”
But other than rephrasing(改述) the question, there are plenty of other strategies you can use to start meaningful conversations with strangers.
For one, it helps to ask your conversation partner open-ended questions, which prompt(引起)more detailed answers than yes-or-no questions. A question like "Did you have a good weekend? "will get a less thought-provoking (发人深思的) response than “What was the best part of your weekend?”
Communication expert Yasmin Sara Merchant also recommends preparing a few conversation topics in advance related to the event, like "How do you know the host? "or “What is your connection to this event?”
1. What may Senning think about the “What do you do? "question?| A．It is a less private topic. |
| B．It is better than topics about family |
| C．It may discomfort those who are unemployed |
| D．It can hardly be replaced by the“What keeps you busy? ”question |
| A．Confident | B．Puzzled | C．Angry | D．Unconcerned |
| A．Giving detailed answers |
| B．Asking open-ended questions |
| C．Avoiding asking intimate questions. |
| D．Preparing event-related topics ahead of time |
| A．What kind of questions people prefer to ask |
| B．How to make friends at parties |
| C．Why some people hate small talk |
| D．How to ask small talk questions properly |
7 . The way that others judge you is similar to placing marbles (玻璃弹珠) on a scale (天平盘) as soon as they get any information. We form impressions of people the same way we form an impression of anything: As soon as our scale of marbles starts tipping one way, we start collecting evidence to back that up by picking up the marble that’s easiest to pick up.
Why? Our brains are lazy and our time is limited. As we get more choices, we become more careless about everything. “Basically, we get around choice overload by ignoring most of the choices we have,” says the decision-making researcher Peter Todd.
Think about an employment manager working through a stack of résumés (一摞简历), one of which advertises an applicant’s (申请人的) fluency in French. Does it matter, even if the position is for a web designer? It just might.
“Suppose the manager has a great interest in learning French to talk to her elderly aunt in Montreal. No doubt the applicant would feel excited about being offered the job,” writes Warren Thorngate in Judging Merit. “But how would you feel about such a one-step judgment, especially if you’d spent three days preparing your résumé for the job opening but did not trouble to note in your résumé that you, too, spoke French?”
I called Thorngate to ask how such things manage to continue. “Some very good applicants may be missed, but they don’t care,” the judgment and decision-making researcher replied.
“It’s one of those problems where everybody thinks that they’re a good judge of character,” says the researcher Kristine Kuhn. “But obviously people just are not nearly as good as they think they are. Even if they met someone and judged them as great employees and employed them, and then they turned out to be bad, that doesn’t shake people’s confidence. They can always explain away that it really didn’t have anything to do with them not being a good judge of character.”
1. What does the author say about first impressions in Paragraph 1?| A．They’re lasting. |
| B．They’re important. |
| C．They’re hard to make. |
| D．They’re often unreliable. |
| A．To prove it is not easy to prepare a résumé. |
| B．To suggest the employment manager is irresponsible. |
| C．To explain how your résumé makes a first impression. |
| D．To show first impressions are formed quickly and easily. |
| A．Employment managers. |
| B．Decision-makers. |
| C．Researchers. |
| D．Applicants. |
| A．They would hide it. |
| B．They would be punished. |
| C．They would excuse themselves. |
| D．They would lose their confidence. |
By Sandra Markle. Ages 8 to 10.
Woolly Monkeys spend most of their time high up in 150-foot-tall trees. That makes them difficult animals to count and to study. But cameras have provided valuable information and taken, as this book shows, amazing pictures. Experts now believe that Peru's lowland monkeys and the waste they produce are necessary to the survival of the rain forest.
Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild
By Catherine Thimmesh. Ages 10 to 12.
The giant panda is much-beloved in China, but in the past 40 years, at least half of its habitat has been destroyed. Camp Panda tells about efforts to reintroduce the giant pandas into the wild so that they might have a future. As part of the efforts, people wear panda costumes that smell like pandas while weighing and measuring the young pandas. They aren't supposed to get used to seeing and being around people, because people could pose a threat to them in the wild.
Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel
By Carl Safina. Ages 10 and older.
Carl Safina studied elephants in an African national park and killer whales off the coast of Washington state. He learned about their strong family bonds, the surprising ways they communicate and how they play and hang out with one another. This book makes a strong case for protecting the ability of these animals to live freely.
Back from the Brink: Saving Animals from Extinction
By Nancy F. Castaldo. Ages 10 and older.
This book focuses on seven groups of animals — including whooping cranes, California condors and American alligators — that were brought back to healthy numbers by a lot of efforts. As she celebrates these successes, Nancy F. Castaldo also makes clear that dangers, such as the effects of climate change, still cloud the future of these creatures.
1. Which is the most suitable book for readers below 10?| A．The Woolly Monkey Mysteries: The Quest to Save a Rain Forest Species. |
| B．Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel. |
| C．Back from the Brink: Saving Animals from Extinction. |
| D．Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild. |
| A．To attract visitors. |
| B．To make pandas feel safe. |
| C．To take photos of pandas in the wild. |
| D．To celebrate the increasing numbers of pandas. |
| A．Animal protection. |
| B．Climate change. |
| C．Animal rights. |
| D．Rain forests. |
9 . 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 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. Mc-Cormack, 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 Mc-Cormacks refused 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 rise.
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 is the function of Paragraph 2?| A．Give examples of self-neglect cases. | B．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| C．Arouse readers' interest. | D．Summarize the previous paragraph. |
| A．They accepted help from others. | B．They took good care of themselves. |
| C．They ended up living in the nursing house. | D．They couldn't afford to go to hospital. |
| A．Self-care benefits greatly the seniors. |
| B．Investigations are conducted on self-neglect. |
| C．Self-neglect rises among the elderly. |
| D．The government promotes self-care of the seniors. |
| A．In a guidebook. | B．In a newspaper. |
| C．In a fairy tale. | D．In a science fiction. |
10 . Israeli researchers say they have invented a reusable face mask that can kill the coronavirus with heat by drawing power from a mobile phone charger.
The disinfecting(消毒)process takes about half an hour-and users should not wear the mask while it is plugged in, said Professor Yair Ein-Eli, who led the research team at Technion University in Haifa. TI new mask has a USB port that connects to a power source such as a standard cellphone charger that heats an inner layer of carbon fibres to 70 degrees Celsius, high enough to kill viruses.
Ein-Eli said disposable masks, in high demand globally during the health crisis, were not economically or environmentally friendly. “This is our solution,” he said.
Professor Allon Moses, an infectious diseases expert at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, said there was “no question” that a half hour’s exposure to 70-degree heat would kill the coronavirus. But he cautioned that repeated heating could “damage the masks paper or fabric and spoil its ability to protect from diseases in the future.”
During testing, the prototype was exposed to 20 heating cycles, each for half an hour, with no damage on durability, Ein-Eli said. “We can guarantee it up to a few dozen cycles, without any risk,” he added.
The prototype looks like a standard N95 face mask, with a valve(阀) at the front and bands to hold it in place around the head. The researchers submitted a patent for the mask in the United States in late March and say they are discussing commercializing the product with the private sector. It will likely sell at a $ l premium over the price of a typical disposable face mask, the researchers say.
1. How long does the disinfecting process usually take?| A．Around 20 minutes. | B．around 30 minutes. |
| C．Around 60 minutes. | D．Around 70 minutes. |
| A．To kill viruses thoroughly. | B．To spread a novel idea. |
| C．To replace the traditional ones. | D．To make reusable and friendly ones. |
| A．The reusable face masks were unhealthy. |
| B．70-degree heat would hurt people in a way. |
| C．The cost of reusable face masks may be high. |
| D．The function of mask to prevent diseases was ruined. |
| A．Fine. | B．Extra. | C．Currency. | D．Face value. |
