2 . Getting paid to stay in bed all day sounds pretty good, but what if someone pays you $ 23, 000 to stay in bed for two months? That’s the deal that a medical research team in France is offering to 24 volunteers.

The researchers are looking for volunteers to help them study the effects of weightlessness (失重状态) on the human body and find ways to stop problems. Lying in bed isn’t exactly the same as being weightless, but the effects are alike.

When astronauts spend a long time in an environment with no gravity, their bodies change in many ways. After several months, their hearts don’t beat as hard. Their muscles become smaller and weaker. Their bones may be broken more easily. There may also be changes in the astronauts’ immune systems (免疫系统) and sleep habits.

The study will take 88 days. During the first two weeks, the volunteers will be tested to make sure of their levels of fitness. Then they will spend 60 days lying in bed with their heads lower than their bodies. They will have to do everything while lying down, including eating, brushing their teeth, and going to the bathroom. The rule is that they must have at least one shoulder touching the bed at all times. The last two weeks of the study will be spent trying to build up the volunteers’ fitness again.

Volunteers must be men between the ages of 20 and 45 who are in perfect health. The researchers completed one study in April. A second study will take place from September to December.

1. What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A．How astronauts work in an environment without gravity.

B．Astronauts’ sleep habits in an environment without gravity.

C．Why astronauts’ bodies change in an environment without gravity.

D．The effects of an environment without gravity on astronauts’ bodies.

2. From the passage, we can learn that the volunteers must_____.

A．be women	B．come from France
C．be in excellent condition	D．be under twenty years old

3. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．How to build up astronauts’ fitness.

B．Researchers pay volunteers to stay in bed.

C．Effects of weightlessness on the human body.

D．Disadvantages of lying in bed for two months.

4. Where does the passage most probably come from?

A．A medical magazine.	B．A short novel.
C．A grammar book.	D．A travel guidebook.

4 . When Adora Svitak was twelve years old, she spoke on the TED stage, saying she hates the word "childish" if it's being used to describe irrational （不合理的）demands or irresponsible behavior. She said she has seen enough of that in the adult world, so she knows irrational demands and irresponsible behavior aren't limited to children. In fact, she made the point that adults could learn a thing or two if they'd only open their mind to the possibility that kids have a lot to offer the world.

Even as a kid, Svitak often spoke to educators, making the point that there should be more of a reciprocal （互惠的）relationship between teachers and students. "It shouldn't just be teachers at the head of the classroom telling them to do this or that. The students should teach their teachers," she said.

But she wasn't naive（幼稚的）, and she knew that isn't how many classrooms and schools operate in that way. Her theory is that it's all about trust. Adults always seem to have a restrictive （约束的）attitude towards kids. "Kids have no or very little say in making the rules," Svitak joked.

As a young child, Svitak loved to write. When her mom gave her a computer she wrote over 300 short stories on it. She wanted to get them published, and she was lucky because her parents were on her side. Even though she was turned down by many publishers, eventually she did have a book of short stories published. She was only seven years old then.

After that first success, Svitak has gone on to do more impressive things, something she wishes more kids had the support to do. She says it's important for kids to be heard and contribute when they're young, so they grow up to become a better kind of adult. "The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adults, but rather better adults than you guys have been. Progress happens because new generations and new eras grow and develop, and they become better than the previous ones. It's the reason we aren't in the Dark Ages anymore," she said.

1. What does Svitak think of using "childish" to describe irrational demands?

A．It is unfair for children.	B．It can lead to positive effects.
C．It takes no account of adults' needs.	D．It can result in irresponsible behavior.

2. What is a good reciprocal relationship between teachers and students according to Svitak?

A．Students get along with teachers.	B．Students teach instead of learning.
C．Teachers keep telling students what to do.	D．Teachers and students learn from each other.

3. How did Svitak's parents react to her dream?

A．They supported her.	B．They had doubt about it.
C．They were greatly shocked.	D．They hardly took it seriously.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Children need to stick to their dreams.

B．Parents should satisfy their children's needs.

C．Children are advised to imitate their parents.

D．Parents should support and expect more from children.

5 .

Who we need

We are looking for talented and passionate people to work for health. WHO is committed to achieving workforce variety, aiming to achieve a broad representation of nationals of our member countries. Particular attention is paid to candidates from developing countries and gender balance. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. All posts are filled in accordance with WHOs ability model.

There are two key categories of staff at WHO：professionals(P) or directors(D) who are internationally recruited(招募) and general(G) or national professional(NPO) staff who are recruited locally for both fixed or short-term positions. We also run internship(实习) and opportunities for junior professional officers(JPOs).

Internationally recruited(Por D) Professional staff and directors are hired internationally and occupy leadership functions or positions that require a significant level of technical expertise. P or D staff are mobile and are expected to work across the globe.	Locally recruited(G or NPO) General Service staff are hired locally at the respective duty station. Their main role is to work with and support internationally recruited staff in their roles and to assure the smooth functioning of all administrative matters. National Professional Officers are nationals of the country in which they serve and perform functions of a professional nature requiring local knowledge, professional knowledge and experience.	Internships We offer internships for current students with educational background in public health, management or administration fields.
Junior professional officer programme The Junior Professional Officer(JPO) Programme provides young professionals at an early stage in their career with practical experience in international technical co-operation. JPOs are sponsored by their respective governments.	Recruitment restrictions Please note the following restrictions on recruitment： Relatives of WHO Staff: Except where another equally well qualified person cannot be recruited, appointment shall not be granted to a person who bears any of the following relationships to a staff member: father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister. Candidates under the age of 20 and above the age of 62 will not be considered for any vacancy. Policy on Non-Recruitment of Smokers: WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or other tobacco users who do not indicate a willingness to stop smoking. This policy underscores the Organization’s commitment to promoting a tobacco-free environment.

1. The above webpage aims at ________.

A．recruiting volunteers for WHO	B．achieving a broad representation of nationals
C．explaining the functions of WHO	D．providing information about WHO positions

2. What kind of applicants will definitely be turned down according to the restrictions?

A．Males in their later 60s.	B．People who have health problems.
C．Children of WHO staff.	D．Candidates with a smoking history.

3. What can be learned from the webpage?

A．General Service staff are recruited all around the world.

B．Junior Professional Officers work for local governments.

C．Current students majoring in engineering can apply for internships.

D．Professionals and directors are an internationally mobile workforce.

6 . On Monday, a scientist and doctor Robert Winston is to formally ask a question in congress about what assessments the government has made “for requiring adults riding bicycles in city centres to heave a licence and third-party insurance”. The letter below is the entirely imagined response I would like the government to make to him.

Dear Robert,

You ask what assessments we’ve made for your proposal about obliging cyclists to have licences and insurance. The brief answer is: none. Nor do we have any plans to do so.

Why? Again, the short answer is this: it’s a silly and pointless thing to suggest, as evidenced by the fact that practically no countries or territories anywhere in the world require cyclists to be licensed, or to have compulsory insurance.

I suppose it’s only fair if I explain why I think it is such a non-issue. It’s pretty simple: such a plan would achieve pretty much nothing, while causing significant problems. More widely, any sensible governments will do everything in their power to get more people cycling, not to put pointless obstacles in their way.

Let’s just take one example. As I’m sure you know as a doctor, one of the problems facing our nation is that the National Health System is likely to collapse under the caring for an increasingly overweight population. Inactive living is central to this. Even a fairly brief daily bike trip can have miraculous benefits for people’s health.

Next, how would such rules even work? Would the licensing and insurance be just for adults, or also children? How would the system even be enforced-would it also require all bikes to be registered with number plates?

Finally, what would you hope to achieve by this? If you believe licensing transport users stops wrongdoing, can I point to you the data showing how a third of drivers admit to using handheld phones while driving, despite the law forbidding it.

So, to summarize：your plan would be to introduce a hugely new administrative scheme that would most likely have limited effect on the behaviour of averagely law-abiding (守法的) transport users who rarely harm others, while putting people off from this beneficial type of transport.

I’m afraid I just don’t get it.

1. What does Robert most probably want to know by asking the question?

A．whether the government has made efforts regarding his proposal.

B．whether each bike rider has applied for a third-party insurance.

C．whether the congress has sympathy towards the cyclists.

D．whether doctors can receive the government’s support.

2. What does the author think of the plan proposed by Robert?

A．It may raise people’s insurance awareness.

B．It can motivate people to obey the law.

C．It imitates what other countries are doing.

D．It is difficult to implement and enforce.

3. The example in paragraph 6 is used     .

A．to draw people’s attention to overweight problems

B．to prove that cycling can cause problems

C．to explain why governments advocate cycling

D．to illustrate how broken the NHS is

4. We can conclude from the passage that the author     .

A．holds prejudices against Robert Winston

B．is a pleasant and good-tempered person

C．has the right to speak for the government

D．is skilled in argumentative techniques

7 . The scientists who re-engineered the plastic-eating enzyme(酶) PETase have now created a new enzyme called “cocktail” , which can digest plastic up to six times faster.

PETase breaks down PET back into its building blocks, creating an opportunity to recycle plastic and reduce plastic pollution. PET is the most common thermoplastic(热塑性塑料) used to make single-use drinks bottles, which takes hundreds of years to break down in the environment, but PETase can shorten this time to days. The initial discovery set up the prospect of a revolution in plastic recycling, creating a potential low-energy solution to tackle plastic waste.

Now, the same trans-Atlantic team have combined PETase and its “partner”, a second enzyme called MHETase, to generate much bigger improvements: simply mixing PETase with MHETase doubled the speed of PET breakdown, and engineering a connection between the two enzymes to create a “super-enzyme”, increased this activity by a further three times.

The team was co-led by the scientists who engineered PETase, Professor John McGeehan and Dr Gregg Beckham. Professor McGeehan said: “Gregg and I were chatting about how PETase attacks the surface of the plastics and MHETase chops things up further, so it seemed natural to see if we could use them together. Our first experiments showed that they did work better together, so we decided to physically link them. It took a great deal of work, but it was worth the effort — we were delighted to see that our new enzyme is up to three times faster than the separate enzymes.”

The original PETase enzyme discovery indicated the first hope that a solution to the global plastic pollution problem might be within grasp, though PETase alone is not yet fast enough to handle the tons of PET bottles. Combining it with a second enzyme, and finding together they work even faster, means another leap forward has been taken towards finding a solution to plastic waste. PETase and the new combined MHETase-PETase both work by digesting PET plastic. This allows for plastics to be made and reused endlessly, reducing our reliance on fossil(化石) resources.

1. What can we learn about “cocktail” from the text?

A．It doubles the breakdown of plastics.

B．It takes hundreds of years to break down.

C．It contributes to breaking down plastic quickly.

D．It deals with the plastic waste three times faster.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．A new study of PET.	B．The breakdown of PET.
C．The discovery of PETase.	D．The functions of PETase.

3. What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Co-leading the trans-Atlantic team.	B．Combining PETase and MHETase.
C．Attacking the surface of the plastics.	D．Talking about conducting experiments.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．PET pollution is no longer a difficult problem to deal with.

B．New enzyme is speeding up our reliance on fossil resources.

C．MHETase-PETase makes the world free from plastic pollution.

D．Plastic-eating enzyme “cocktail” promises new hope for plastic waste.

8 . In a large survey of people's first memories, nearly 40% of participants reported a first memory that is likely to be fictional, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Current research indicates that people's earliest memories date from around 3 to 3. 5 years of age. However, the study from researchers at City, University of London, the University of Bradford, and Nottingham Trent University found that 38.6% of 6, 641 participants claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger, with 893 people claiming memories from age 1 or younger. This was particularly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults.

As many of these memories dated before the age of 2 and younger, the authors suggest that these fictional memories are based on remembered fragments(碎片) of early experience—such as a pram(婴儿车)，family relationships and feeling sad—and some facts or knowledge about their own infancy or childhood which may have been derived from photographs or family conversations.

“Further details may be unconsciously inferred or added, e. g. that one was wearing nappy when standing in the cot(幼儿床)," added Shazia Akhatr, first author on the study and Senior Research Associate at the University of Bradford.

“When we looked through the responses from participants we found that a lot of these first 'memories' were frequently related to infancy, and a typical example would be a memory based around a pram," explained Martin Conway, Director at the Centre for Memory and Law at City, University of London and coauthor of the paper.

“For this person, this type of memory could have resulted from someone saying something like 'mother and a large green pram'. The person then imagines what it would have looked like. Over time these fragments then become a memory and often the person will start to add things in such as a string of toys along the top,"   he added.

"Crucially, the person remembering them doesn't know this is fictional," Conway noted. "In fact when people are told that their memories are false they often don't believe it. This partly due to the fact that the systems that allow us to remember things are very complex, and it's not until we're 5 or 6 that we form adult-like memories due to the way that the brain develops and due to our maturing understanding of the world.

1. What does the underlined word "prevalent" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Unique.

B．Crazy.

C．Common.

D．Doubtful.

2. What can be concluded from the study mentioned in the passage?

A．Some people have clear knowledge about their own infancy.

B．Added details are an important clue to recall the childhood.

C．Most people claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger.

D．Talks between family members influence the earliest memories.

3. How does Martin Conway present his opinion?

A．By making comparison.	B．By setting examples.
C．By analyzing data.	D．By referring to documents.

4. What's the main idea of the text?

A．Many people's earliest memories may be fictional.

B．People's earliest memories can date back to 2 or younger.

C．The middle-aged and adults specialize in detailing their first memory.

D．Memories develop due to our maturing understanding of the world.

9 . The preventive measures for forest fires include some pre-emptive ( 抢先的 ) methods that can help reduce the risks of fires and control their severity and spread, and thus, maintain ecological balance and protect natural resources. Close monitoring of forest fires caused by natural factors can help prevent their spread to a large extent. To contain forest fires, fire departments usually use water and chemical fire retardants ( 抑制剂 ) that can be dropped from planes and helicopters. To control the spread of a wildfire, firefighters usually create a control line by removing all fuel from an area so that the fire cannot travel across it.

Controlled burns are often employed by government authorities to reduce fuel build-up,   and clean up the fallen leaves, and thus, prevent the spread of forest fires to a vast area. Regular controlled burns can also help maintain biodiversity ( 生物多样性 ), as the smoke and heat produced in the process can facilitate ( 促进 ) the growth of seeds of certain plant species. Apart from these, responsible human behaviour can help reduce the number of forest fires to a great extent. In fact, we can reduce the number of wildfires dramatically by not leaving behind any source of fire in the forest.

Forest fires can affect climate and weather to a great extent, besides causing severe damage to valuable trees. Wildfires can increase the level of greenhouse gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, etc), and therefore increase pollution and global warming. However, they are also an important part of the ecosystem, and many plants depend on the heat and smoke generated by wildfires for their growth and reproduction. But large wildfires can cause extensive damage to the ecosystem，which again highlights the importance of effective control and prevention of forest fires.

1. Firefighters get rid of all fuel in all area in order to________.

A．keep close monitoring of forest fires

B．prevent the forest fire from occurring

C．stop the wildfire from spreading

D．protect the animals there

2. The government arranges some controlled burns mainly to________.

A．burn the rubbish and keep the forest clean

B．help keep the ecological balance of nature

C．provide reasonable conditions for some animals’ growth

D．reduce fuel build-up and limit forest fires’ spreading area

3. A controlled forest fire may play a positive role because________.

A．it promotes the development of some seeds

B．a new forest will appear soon

C．nature keeps its balance only by wildfires

D．it makes the trees grow faster than before

4. The last paragraph tells us that________.

A．the greenhouse gases are caused mainly by wildfires

B．wildfires have both positive and negative effects

C．people should be aware of the necessity of wildfires

D．all the valuable trees disappear owing to wildfires

10 . A woman held her phone tightly to her heart the way a church-goer might hold a Bible. She was anxious to take a picture of an impressive bunch of flowers that sat not so far away, but first she had to get through a crowd of others pushing their way to do the same. The cause of this was Bouquets to Art, one of the most popular events at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Flower sellers were asked to create flower arrangements that respond to pieces of art on display, from ancient carvings to contemporary sculptures. It’s extremely attractive and also memorable, to the point that it has become a problem.

In recent years, the de Young received more than a thousand complaints from people who felt that cell phones had spoiled their experience of the exhibit. Institutions of fine art around the world face similar problems as the desire to take photographs becomes a huge attraction for museums, as well as something that upsets some of their patrons (资助人). So the de Young responded with a kind of compromise:carving out “photo free” hours during the exhibition’s six-day run.

One common complaint about the effect of social media on museum culture is that people seem to be missing out on experiences because they are so busy collecting evidence of them. A study recently published in the journal Psychological Science suggests there is some truth to this. It finds that people who keep taking photos of an exhibit and posting them on social media rather than simply observing it, have a hard time remembering what they see. But the issue is complex for the professionals running museums. Linda Butler, the de Young’s head of marketing and visitor experience, acknowledges that not everyone wants a museum to be“a photo-taking playland”. Yet a lot of people do and she believes that the de Young is in no position to judge one reason for buying a $ 28 ticket to be more valid than another. “If we removed social media and photography,” she says. “We would risk becoming irrelevant.”

1. What was the woman eager to do according to Paragraph 1?

A．To get her phone.	B．To escape the crowd.
C．To take a photo.	D．To push ahead.

2. How did the de Young respond to the dilemma?

A．By setting periods without photo-taking.

B．By making the exhibition free of charge.

C．By compromising with the government.

D．By extending the free exhibition hours.

3. The recent study finds that the use of social media in museums may ________.

A．uncover the truth	B．cause irrelevancy
C．bring more pleasure	D．play a negative role

4. Which of the following may Linda Butler support?

A．Reducing admission prices.

B．Catering to visitors.

C．Reserving judgement in public.

D．Banning social media and photography.