1 . Many of us have heard stories about teachers who can “see” into a student's future. Even if a student is not performing well, they can predict success. We are convinced that this ability, this gift, is evidence that they were “called to teach”. If the gift of sight is evidence, how greater must be the gift of touch. I have a story.
I grew up in the fifties in a poor African American neighborhood m Stockton. California. that had neither sidewalks nor an elementary school. Each day, always in groups at our parents’ insistence, my friends and I would leave home early enough to walk eight blocks to school and be in our seats when the bell rang. For four blocks, we walked on dusty roads. By the fifth block, we walked on sidewalks that led to lovely homes and to Fair Oaks Elementary School. It was at Fair Oaks, in a sixth grade English class, that I met Ms. Victoria Hunter, a teacher who had a huge influence on my life.
During reading periods, she would walk around the room, stop at our desks, stand over us for a second or two, and then touch us. Without saying anything to us (nothing could break the silence of reading periods), she would place two fingers lightly on our throats and hold them there for seconds. I learned many years later when I was a student at Stanford University that teachers touch the throat of students to check for sub-vocalization (默读)，which slows down the reading speed. I did not know at the time why Ms. Hunter was touching our throats, but I was a serious and respectful student and so, during silent reading period, I did what Ms. Hunter told us to do. I kept my eyes on the material I was reading and waited for her to place her fingers lightly on my throat.
One day, out of curiosity, I raised my head from my book — though not high — so that I could see Ms. Hunter, a white woman from Canada, moving up and down the rows, stopping at the desks of my classmates. I wanted to see how they reacted when she touched their throats. She walked past them. I was confused. Did she pass them by because they were model students? What did we, the students who were touched, not do right? I sat up straighter in my chair, thinking that my way of sitting might be the problem. I was confused. Several days later, I watched again, this time raising my head a little higher. Nothing changed. Ms. Hunter touched the same students. Always, she touched me.
She touched me with her hands. She also touched me with her belief in my ability to achieve. She motivated me by demanding the best from me and by letting teachers I would meet in junior high school know that I should be challenged, that I would be serious about my work. I am convinced that she touched me because she could “see” me in the future. That was true of all of us at Fair Oaks who sat still and silent as Ms. Hunter placed her fingers lightly on our throats. We left Fair Oaks as “best students”, entered John Marshall Junior High School, finished at the top of our high school class, and went on to earn graduate degrees in various subjects. Ms. Hunter saw us achieving and she touched us to make certain that we would.
I was not surprised that she came to my graduation ceremony at Edison High School in Stockton or that she talked to me about finishing college and earning a Ph. D. She expected that of me. She gave me a beautifully wrapped box. Inside was a gift, the beauty of which multiplies even as it touches me: a necklace to which I can add charms for each stage of my life.
1. When she saw Ms. Hunter walk past some students without touching their throats, the writer felt_________.| A．disturbed | B．puzzled | C．ashamed | D．annoyed |
| A．By correcting the way she sat. |
| B．By having high expectations of her. |
| C．By sending her a valuable necklace. |
| D．By communicating with her parents often. |
| A．A gift which encourages me to do well on the journey of my life. |
| B．A gift which becomes more and more valuable as time goes by. |
| C．A necklace which I wear on all important occasions in my life. |
| D．A necklace which suits me and adds to my charm. |
| A．disappointed | B．grateful | C．doubtful | D．sympathetic |
| A．Ms. Hunter’s Surprise | B．Ms. Hunter’s Challenge |
| C．A Teacher’s Touch | D．A Teacher’s Memory |
2 . Binge-watching is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in quick succession(一连串，连续）". With developments in the speed and connectivity of the internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows streamed directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, " binge-watching" has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode”.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back, almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and one quarter have neglected their household chores. Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections-binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said: “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, coupled with the fact that it has shown to lead to negligence in many, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning then it becomes a problem. So, what's the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?| A．Listing some examples |
| B．Telling a story. |
| C．Giving a definition |
| D．Analyzing the cause and effect |
| A．similarly | B．gradually | C．naturally | D．necessarily |
| A．people have no patience to do work |
| B．people can’t control their movements |
| C．people are delighted to watch television |
| D．people can’t resist the temptation |
| A．To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
| B．To draw life lessons from the episodes. |
| C．To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
| D．To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
3 . Even with wonderful friends, family and a partner, I don't always want to be surrounded by people. “Table for one? Or will someone else be joining you?” A dinner reservation for one person never fails to raise a few eyebrows. I actively choose to spend time alone when possible. But not everyone has the luxury of choosing to be alone, of course, many are forced into one-on-one time because they have no one.
But for those of us who spend our days surrounded by colleagues in the workplace, our evenings and weekends with family, friends and partners, all the while being constantly bombarded by WhatsApp,social media and email, time to ourselves can be a rare treat. Time to yourself not only gives you the chance to do practical things you don't normally get round to but also the activities your pals don't want to do. In a less real way, spending time alone also allows-or perhaps forces- you to sit with your own thoughts, to think about things that might normally be drowned out by conversation and the noise of companionship. When you're alone you get time to think without purpose.
It is worth noting that I'm a real introvert(性格内向者）,so perhaps sitting alone with my thoughts-refilling my energy reserves-might just be indulging personality traits that others don't have. But I believe more people could benefit from it.
Given this constant social conditioning since childhood that we should be surrounded by people , it's no wonder many hesitate to press forward at the idea of spending time alone-a sign we've failed at climbing that social ladder. And if you're an extrovert who gets their energy from other people, this must be even harder. But as someone who has come to love spending time alone, even when there are many wonderful souls in my life I can spend time with, I wish more people would give solo a go.
Reservation for one, please.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．The author wants to be alone all the time. |
| B．The author feels bored with family and friends. |
| C．Surrounded by people, the author still feels lonely. |
| D．Reserving a table for one will draw disapproving looks. |
| A．The benefits of alone time. |
| B．The weaknesses of social media. |
| C．The definition of being alone. |
| D．The ways of spending time alone. |
| A．By eating delicious food. |
| B．By reflecting on their own thoughts. |
| C．By socializing with others. |
| D．By reading their favourite books. |
| A．quote others' words |
| B．answer the waiter's question |
| C．excite the readers' appetite |
| D．stress the author's determination |
4 . A city in Netherlands is planning to construct a pretty bike path made of recycled wood.
The first of its kind in the world, the path near the city of Emmen will be surfaced not with the usual asphalt（沥青） but with wood chips packed together with organic resin(有机树脂).
The idea behind the path is to cut the use of conventional, less eco-friendly materials such as concrete, which is very difficult to recycle.And the creation of the wood chips will require no direct cutting down of trees; the company leading the experiment, Grontmij, plans to use waste products from sawmills(锯木厂).
The idea of creating a permanent road from a material that is celebrated for its biodegradability(生物降解性)might seem ridiculous. But the engineers working on the path insist that the wood and resin surfacing will stay in good condition for a long time, with a working life at least as long as concrete or asphalt. Rudi van Hedel, project manager of bio-based economy at Grontmij, explained that the light weight of the material also makes it far easier to move.
However, van Hedal said, “At present, the material costs of the path are higher than those of traditional paths made of asphalt or concrete, but the construction costs are comparable or perhaps slightly cheaper. We expect that as production ability increases, the costs will go down. In the future, we hope to use bio-fibres(生物纤维)that are cheaper than the wood fibres we’re currently experimenting with, and we expect that biodegradable materials will be able to compete with asphalt and concrete.”
1. What can we learn about the path?| A．It uses some asphalt. | B．It aims to protect trees. |
| C．It is a pioneering project. | D．It is being built by a sawmill. |
| A．Its material is heavy in weight. | B．It can stay in service for long. |
| C．Its length may break a record. | D．It is environmentally friendly. |
| A．Their production process is complex. | B．They are not as hard as asphalt. |
| C．They are not always available. | D．Their costs are relatively high. |
| A．A diary. | B．A novel. | C．A magazine. | D．A guidebook. |
5 . By the year 2050, a fifth of the world’s cities will experience unprecedented climate conditions and environments that currently don’t exist in any major cities, according to new research. A team of scientists at the Crowther Lab in Switzerland produced the report, which described the climate for 520 major cities 30 years in the future.
The results showed that 77 percent of the world’s cities will experience a surprising change in climate conditions by 2050, and 22 percent of the 520 cities will see conditions that are not currently experienced by any existing major cities.
In China in 2050, the climate of Xi’an, in Shanxi province, will be similar to that of current day Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho in southern Africa, with the maximum temperature of the warmest month likely to increase by 4.59℃. Chongqing in southwest China will resemble the climate of Swaziland capital Mbabane, as the warmest temperature is predicted to rise by 5.1℃.
Scientists predict summers in Europe will get warmer by an average of 3.5℃ and European winters will see temperature rises of 4.7℃. London’s climate will be more similar lo Barcelona, and Madrid’s to Marrakech.
The Crowther Lab hopes the analysis will motivate decision-makers to take necessary steps to prevent or address some of the climate effects due to the threat of climate change. The report also found that cities in tropical regions will experience smaller changes in average temperature but will be controlled by shifts in rainfall regimes. This may lead to a noticeable increase in unexpected events, and severe droughts.
“Across all scientific fields, the greatest challenge in climate science is no longer the precise measurement of climate change impacts, but inspiring people to picture is actual effects in order to motivate action,” said Tom Crowther, senior scientist und founder of the Crowther Lab.
1. According to the research, among the 520 cities by 2050, about ________ cities will experience the climate conditions that no major cities currently have experienced.| A．400 | B．114 | C．260 | D．104 |
| A．By listing figures. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By doing experiments. | D．By explaining theory. |
| A．To compare the climate change of the major cities of the world. |
| B．To inspire people to picture its actual effects in order to motivate action. |
| C．To inspire decision-makers to take necessary steps to prevent some climate effects. |
| D．To show most word’s cities will experience a striking change in climate conditions. |
| A．World Temperature | B．Current Climate Change |
| C．Big Titles in the World | D．Future Climate Change in Most Big Cities |
6 . The vaccine (疫苗) news continues to seem very encouraging. Britain started its mass vaccination effort and the U.S. isn’t far behind.
But there is still one dark cloud hanging over the vaccines that many people don’t yet understand.
The vaccines will be much less effective at preventing death and illness in 2021 if they are introduced into a population where the coronavirus is still severe—as is now the case in the U.S.
A vaccine is like a fire hose (消防龙头). A vaccine that’s 95 percent effective, as Moderna’s and Pfizer’s versions appear to be, is a powerful fire hose. But the size of a fire is still a bigger determinant of how much destruction occurs.
At the current level of infection in the U.S. (about 200,000 confirmed new infections per day), a vaccine that is 95 percent effective—distributed at the expected pace—would still leave a terrible toll (伤亡人数) in the six months after it was introduced. Almost 10 million or so Americans would catch the virus, and more than 160,000 would die.
This is far worse than the toll in a different situation where the vaccine was only 50 percent effective but the U.S. had reduced the infection rate to its level in early September (about 35,000 new daily cases). In that case, the death toll in the next six months would be kept to about 60,000.
It’s worth pausing for a moment on this comparison. If the U.S. had maintained its infection rate from September and Moderna and Pfizer had announced this fall that their vaccines were only 50 percent effective, a lot of people would have panicked.
But the reality we have is actually worse.
How could this be? No vaccine can get rid of a pandemic immediately, just as .no fire hose can put out a forest fire. While the vaccine is being distributed, the virus continues to do damage.
There is one positive way to look at this: Measures that reduce the virus’s spread—like mask-wearing, social distancing and rapid-result testing—can still have great consequences. They can save more than 100,000 lives in coming months.
1. How does the author mainly present his argument?| A．By giving definitions. | B．By categorizing facts. |
| C．By drawing comparisons. | D．By appealing to emotions. |
| A．Improving the effectiveness of the vaccines. |
| B．Producing a greater variety of vaccines. |
| C．Looking at the situation in a positive way. |
| D．Wearing masks and practicing social distancing. |
| A．The vaccines are less effective than expected. |
| B．The US have controlled the spread of the coronavirus. |
| C．The death toll in the next six months will be about 60,000. |
| D．Fewer people will die if the infection rate is lower. |
| A．The vaccine is the hope of wiping out the pandemic. |
| B．The public are optimistic about the effects of the vaccine. |
| C．The public are concerned about the high infection rate. |
| D．The distribution of vaccine will end the pandemic quickly. |
7 . In a recent study, researchers at Germany’s Technical University of Munich（TUM）find that trees in cities can grow up 25% faster than their country cousins. This is believed to be a direct result of the heat island effect, which is a situation where the temperature of the city is higher than the nearby rural areas. It’s mostly caused by the fact that buildings, roads, and many other things in the city take in a lot of sunlight and send out the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies. A secondary cause is waste heat produced by heavy uses of energy.
For the study, TUM researchers studied 1,400 trees in 10 cities around the world, which were found in both city centers and nearby rural areas. Based on tree ring study, researchers found that city trees are growing faster than their rural cousins. But before the 1960s, both city and rural trees grew at about the same speed.“We can show that city trees of the same age are generally larger than rural trees because they grow faster. While the difference is about a quarter at the age of 50, it is still just under 20% at a hundred years of age,” lead author Hanz Pretzch says.
Researchers from TUM also found that in some cities, higher-than-normal temperatures have led to growing seasons that are more than eight days longer than the norm. This sounds like a good thing. But while fast -growing city trees are busy taking in CO2and providing relief from the heat, they’ re also aging and dying at a faster speed than rural trees. As a result, these trees need to be replaced and replanted more frequently.
Considering the valuable “ecosystem services” that city trees provide, planning and management should follow to make a change with today’s tree growth speed. Pretzch and his team set out to perform the study largely in response to United Nation’s report that the world’s cities will experience population growth of more than 60% by 2030. And with such fast growth comes a great need for city trees that make these cities better places to live in.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?| A．Cities need more trees to reduce the temperatures. |
| B．Humans lead to trees growing faster in cities. |
| C．Trees need scientific planting in rural areas. |
| D．Greenhouse effect is too serious in cities. |
| A．Rural trees live twice longer than city trees. |
| B．City trees live for about 100 years at most. |
| C．Rural trees live much longer now than in the 1960s. |
| D．City trees grow faster at early years. |
| A．Cities suffer more easily from natural disasters. |
| B．The temperatures in cities will fall greatly. |
| C．City trees have a shorter life circle. |
| D．More people move to rural areas. |
| A．Taking better care of urban trees |
| B．Planting more trees in urban areas |
| C．More researches to be done on urban trees |
| D．Urban trees growing faster than rural trees |
8 . That morning, I dropped our eldest at kindergarten and returned home to let our two younger children play while I worked on my medical report. It was a wonderful chance to work from home, but it hit me that my career in hospital wasn't making a difference in anyone's life. I needed something that would stretch my limits and push me to grow. My career enabled me to work from home. I could work from home, and become a foster mother, providing safety for a child who needed it desperately.
On Monday morning. I picked up the phone and dialed the number I had Googled for the nearest Department of Children's Services. The man on the other end was receptive to my questions and explained the next step of training, involving eight weeks of classes designed to prepare and educate foster parents. We continued through all the classes, the home visits, background checks, and seemingly endless steps.
Five long months after we were approved, the phone rang. In the middle of the night, I woke my husband and rushed to East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Our placement was waiting for us in the emergency room, sick and lack of nutrition. It didn't take long for us to realize the full depth of her suffering. Six months later, her half-brother came to us by our request. We now had five children under our care.
On August 12, 2016, our family of seven walked into a small courtroom. The children's lawyer and social worker were there. With just a few words, our adoption was finalized. These two amazing children weren't going home, because they were already home. We are their forever family, and they are our forever children. We may not be able to change the entire world, but we have changed the world entirely for our new children.
1. How did the author feel about her hospital work?| A．Lacking of motivation. | B．Filled with challenge. |
| C．Highly motivating. | D．Unusually Demanding. |
| A．She felt sympathetic for abused children she knew. |
| B．She wanted to make a difference in other people. |
| C．She felt confident about her ability to raise children. |
| D．She experienced training to raise children properly. |
| A．The child to be adopted. | B．The need to get trained. |
| C．The approval of adoption. | D．The official at the hospital. |
| A．To put the adopted kids elsewhere. | B．To receive another adopted child. |
| C．To make the adoption officially legal. | D．To begin the kids' adoption in her home. |
9 . Today’s young people frequently deal with multiple streams of information and entertainment media while doing schoolwork, a trend that researchers call distracted learning. While numerous researchers found that simultaneous (同时的) use of electronic devices has a harmful impact on learning, a researcher, professor Shelly J. Schmidt of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said many students dismiss warnings about the negative consequences because they consider themselves such good multitaskers.
While the faculty (全体教员) restrict or ban students’ unapproved use of cellphones and other devices in the classroom, these policies can be difficult for instructors to enforce and cast technology as “the enemy”. “Banning technology use in the classroom suggests to our students that they are children who can’t learn to appropriately handle it, rather than young adults we are helping to grow into professionals,” Schmidt said.
While it’s virtually impossible to make students limit all distractions in class or out, Schmidt said teachers and parents can encourage youths to develop an internal locus of control (内控点).
Researchers found that media multitasking during schoolwork disturbs students’ attention and working memory. Students may understand less and have difficulty recalling what they have learned and applying it in new contexts. Their reading comprehension, note-taking ability, test performance and grade point averages all decrease, according to the studies Schmidt reviewed.
Some researchers suggest that mobile devices can worsen a form of social anxiety called the “fear of missing out” that forces people to interrupt their studies and work projects constantly to read and respond to social media posts and messages, negatively affecting their performance. When working on the projects that require lasting concentration, Schmidt said intentionally removing irrelevant devices from their workspaces can help people limit distractions and resist the urge to respond to every buzz or ping sent by their phone.
1. What does Schmidt find in the recent research?| A．Students are good at multitasking while studying. |
| B．Students are not affected by the use of electronic media. |
| C．Students attach great importance to using electronic media. |
| D．Students don’t care about the expert opinion on distracted learning. |
| A．They bring in better learning conditions. |
| B．They produce inequality among students. |
| C．They may make students doubt their self-control. |
| D．They disturb the friendly learning atmosphere in the school. |
| A．The negative effects of distracted learning. |
| B．How can students fight with distracted learning? |
| C．Why some students perform badly in learning. |
| D．The role the brain plays in learning. |
| A．It is caused by social media use. |
| B．It requires long-term focus on media. |
| C．It makes many people suffering stress. |
| D．It can be overcome by powering off phones. |
10 . A new study, published in The Journal of Experimental Psychology found that communication interactions that included voice, like a phone call or video chat, created stronger social bonds than communication through typing, like text messaging or email.
In the study, researchers used various experiments to gauge connectedness. In one, they asked 200 people to make predictions about what it would be like to reconnect with an old friend by email or by phone and then assigned people at random to do one or the other. Although people anticipated that a phone call would be more awkward, hearing someone's voice actually made the experience better. However, people who participated in the experiment reported that they did form a significantly stronger bond with their old friend on the phone versus email, and they did not feel more awkward.
In another experiment, the researchers had strangers connected by either texting, talking over video chat, or talking using only audio. They found that both forms of voice communication — whether video or audio only — made the strangers feel significantly more connected than when they communicated via text.
Sabrina Romanoff, a Harvard trained clinical psychologist based in New York City, says people tend to text or email instead of calling because of convenience, as they see it as a controlled form of communication where they can "correspond information exactly in the way they intend without unexpected additions by the other person."
Romanoff says that in reality, texting can make it hard to determine the true meaning behind a conversation. A phone call is actually more convenient when considering the net effects of the message. Each party is more present, and therefore, able to gauge the meaning behind the content without ruminating on the endless possible meanings behind words and punctuation.
1. What is the purpose of the study?| A．To encourage people to let their fingers do the talking. |
| B．To introduce the effects of verbal and non-verbal communications. |
| C．To demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of making phone calls. |
| D．To compare connectedness of communication through voice and typing. |
| A．Typing a letter. | B．Sending an email. |
| C．Having a video chat. | D．Texting a message. |
| A．A way to talk about controlled topics. | B．A way to communicate without time limit. |
| C．A way to explain something without delay. | D．A way to express thoughts without being disturbed. |
| A．Being more formal. | B．Being less awkward. |
| C．Being more straightforward. | D．Being less expensive |
