1 . Returning to a book you’ve read many times can feel like drinks with an old friend. There’s a welcome familiarity - but also sometimes a slight suspicion that time has changed you both, and thus the relationship. But books don’t change, people do. And that’s what makes the act of rereading so rich and transformative.

The beauty of rereading lies in the idea that our bond with the work is based on our present mental register. It’s true, the older I get, the more I feel time has wings. But with reading, it’s all about the present. It’s about the now and what one contributes to the now, because reading is a give and take between author and reader. Each has to pull their own weight.

There are three books I reread annually .The first, which I take to reading every spring is Emest Hemningway’s A Moveable Feast. Published in 1964, it’s his classic memoir of 1920s Paris. The language is almost intoxicating (令人陶醉的)，an aging writer looking back on an ambitious yet simpler time. Another is Annie Dillard’s Holy the Firm, her poetic 1975 ramble (随笔) about everything and nothing. The third book is Julio Cortazar’s Save Twilight: Selected Poems, because poetry. And because Cortazar.

While I tend to buy a lot of books, these three were given to me as gifs, which might add to the meaning I attach to them. But I imagine that, while money is indeed wonderful and necessary, rereading an author’s work is the highest currency a reader can pay them. The best books are the ones that open further as time passes. But remember, it’s you that has to grow and read and reread in order to better understand your friends.

1. Why does the author like rereading?

A．It evaluates the writer-reader relationship.

B．It’s a window to a whole new world.

C．It’s a substitute for drinking with a friend.

D．It extends the understanding of oneself.

2. What do we know about the book A Moveable Feast?

A．It’s a brief account of a trip.

B．It’s about Hemingway’s life as a young man.

C．It’s a record of a historic event.

D．It’s about Hemingway’s friends in Paris.

3. What does the underlined word ＂currency＂ in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Debt

B．Reward.

C．Allowance.

D．Face value.

4. What can we infer about the author from the text?

A．He loves poetry.

B．He’s an editor.

C．He’s very ambitious.

D．He teaches reading.

2 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.

Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.

For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.

The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?

1. What is the recent study mainly about?

A．Food safety.	B．Movie viewership.
C．Consumer demand.	D．Eating behavior.

2. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Big eaters.	B．Overweight persons.
C．Picky eaters.	D．Tall thin persons.

3. Why did the researchers hire the actor?

A．To see how she would affect the participants.

B．To test if the participants could recognize her.

C．To find out what she would do in the two tests.

D．To study why she could keep her weight down.

4. On what basis do we “adjust the influence” according to the last paragraph?

A．How hungry we are.	B．How slim we want to be.
C．How we perceive others.	D．How we feel about the food.

3 . In the mid-1990s, Tom Bissell taught English as a volunteer in Uzbekistan. He left after seven months, physically broken and having lost his mind. A few years later, still attracted to the country, he returned to Uzbekistan to write an article about the disappearance of the Aral Sea.

His visit, however, ended up involving a lot more than that. Hence this book, Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia, which talks about a road trip from Tashkent to Karakalpakstan, where millions of lives have been destroyed by the slow drying up of the sea. It is the story of an American travelling to a strange land, and of the people he meets on his way: Rustam, his translator, a lovely 24-year-old who picked up his colorful English in California, Oleg and Natasha, his hosts in Tashkent, and a string of foreign aid workers.

This is a quick look at life in Uzbekistan, made of friendliness and warmth, but also its darker side of society. In Samarkand, Mr Bissell admires the architectural wonders, while on his way to Bukhara he gets a taste of police methods when suspected of drug dealing. In Ferghana, he attends a mountain funeral(葬礼)followed by a strange drinking party. And in Karakalpakstan, he is saddened by the dust storms, diseases and fishing boats stuck miles from the sea.

Mr Bissell skillfully organizes historical insights and cultural references, making his tale a well-rounded picture of Uzbekistan, seen from Western eyes. His judgment and references are decidedly American, as well as his delicate stomach. As the author explains, this is neither a travel nor a history book, or even a piece of reportage. Whatever it is, the result is a fine and vivid description of the purest of Central Asian traditions.

1. What made Mr Bissell return to Uzbekistan?

A．His friends' invitation.	B．His interest in the country.
C．His love for teaching.	D．His desire to regain health.

2. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Developing a serious mental disease.

B．Taking a guided tour in Central Asia.

C．Working as a volunteer in Uzbekistan.

D．Writing an article about the Aral Sea.

3. Which of the following best describes Mr Bissell's road trip in Uzbekistan?

A．Romantic.

B．Eventful.

C．Pleasant.

D．Dangerous.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To introduce a book.	B．To explain a cultural phenomenon.
C．To remember a writer.	D．To recommend a travel destination.

4 . I am an active playgoer and play-reader, and perhaps my best reason for editing this book is a hope of sharing my enthusiasm for the theater with others. To do this I have searched through dozens of plays to find the ones that I think best show the power and purpose of the short play.

Each play has a theme or central idea which the playwright(剧作家) hopes to get across through dialogue and action. A few characters are used to create a single impression growing out of the theme. It is not my intention to point out the central theme of each of the plays in this collection, for that would, indeed, ruin the pleasure of reading, discussing, and thinking about the plays and the effectiveness of the playwright. However, a variety of types is represented here. These include comedy, satire, poignant drama, historical and regional drama. To show the versatility(多面性) of the short play, I have included a guidance play, a radio play and a television play.

Among the writers of the plays in this collection, Paul Green, Susan Glaspell, Maxwell Anderson, Thornton Wilder, William Saroyan, and Tennessee Williams have all received Pulitzer Prizes for their contributions to the theater. More information about the playwrights will be found at the end of this book.

To get the most out of reading these plays, try to picture the play on stage, with you, the reader, in the audience. The houselights dim(变暗). The curtains are about to open, and in a few minutes the action and dialogue will tell you the story.

1. What do we know about the author from the first paragraph?

A．He has written dozens of plays.	B．He has a deep love for the theater.
C．He is a professional stage actor.	D．He likes reading short plays to others.

2. What does the author avoid doing in his work?

A．Stating the plays’ central ideas.	B．Selecting works by famous playwrights.
C．Including various types of plays.	D．Offering information on the playwrights.

3. What does the author suggest readers do while reading the plays?

A．Control their feelings.	B．Apply their acting skills.
C．Use their imagination.	D．Keep their audience in mind.

4. What is this text?

A．A short story.	B．An introduction to a book.
C．A play review.	D．An advertisement for a theater.

5 . Pacific Science Center Guide

◆Visit Pacific Science Center’s Store

Don’t forget to stop by Pacific Science Center’s Store while you are here to pick up a wonderful science activity or souvenir to remember your visit. The store is located(位于) upstairs in Building 3 right next to the Laser Dome.

◆Hungry

Our exhibits will feed your mind, but what about your body? Our café offers a complete menu of lunch and snack options, in addition to seasonal specials. The café is located upstairs in Building 1 and is open daily until one hour before Pacific Science Center closes.

◆Rental Information

Lockers are available to store any belongings during your visit. The lockers are located in Building 1 near the Information Desk and in Building 3. Pushchairs and wheelchairs are available to rent at the Information Desk and Denny Way entrance. ID required.

◆Support Pacific Science Center

Since 1962, Pacific Science Center has been inspiring a passion(热情) for discovery and lifelong learning in science, math and technology. Today, Pacific Science Center serves more than 1.3 million people a year and brings inquiry-based science education to classrooms and community events all over Washington State. It’s an amazing accomplishment and one we cannot achieve without generous support from individuals, corporations, and other social organizations. Visit pacificsciencecenter.org to find various ways you can support Pacific Science Center.

1. Where can you buy a souvenir at Pacific Science Center?

A．In Building 1.

B．In Building 3.

C．At the the Laser Dome.

D．At the Denny Way entrance.

2. What does Pacific Science Center do for schools?

A．Train Science teachers.

B．Distribute science books.

C．Inspire scientific research.

D．Take science to the classroom.

3. What is the purpose of the last part of the text?

A．To encourage donations.

B．To advertise coming events.

C．To introduce special exhibits.

D．To tell about the Center’s history.

6 . Choose Your One-Day-Tours!

Tour A - Bath &Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge -￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter. Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.

Tour B - Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary’s Church Tower and Anne Hathaway’s -￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter. Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England’s oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶）” from St Mary‘s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.

Tour C - Windsor Castle &Hampton Court: including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace -￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VILL’s favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle(entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫) where it is easy to get lost!

Tour D –Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great -￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.

1. Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?

A．Tour A	B．Tour B
C．Tour C	D．Tour D

2. Which of the following tours charges the lowest fee on 17 March?

A．Windsor Castle & Hampton Court	B．Oxford & Stratford
C．Bath & Stonehenge	D．Cambridge

3. Why is Hampton Court a major tourist attraction?

A．It used to be the home of royal families	B．It used to be a well-known maze
C．It is the oldest palace in Britain	D．It is a world-famous castle

7 . As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.

In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.

In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory (交互记忆)”

According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn’t mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.

1. The passage begins with two questions to ________.

A．introduce the main topic	B．show the author’s attitude
C．describe how to use the Internet	D．explain how to store information

2. What can we learn about the first experiment?

A．Sparrow’s team typed the information into a computer.

B．The two groups remembered the information equally well.

C．The first group did not try to remember the formation.

D．The second group did not understand the information.

3. In transactive memory, people ________.

A．keep the information in mind

B．change the quantity of information

C．organize information like a computer

D．remember how to find the information

4. What is the effect of the Internet according to Sparrow's research?

A．We are using memory differently.

B．We are becoming more intelligent.

C．We have poorer memories than before.

D．We need a better way to access information.

8 . Last year, the bushfires in Australia burned more than 12.35 million acres of land. At least 25 people were killed and 2000 homes destroyed. According to the BBC, that was the most casualties(伤亡) from wildfires in the country since 2009. The University of Sydney estimates that 480 million animals have died in South Wales alone.

Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst and climate researcher at Berkeley Earth, said warmer temperatures and extreme weather made Australia more susceptible to fires and increased the length of the fire season. "The drier conditions combined with record high temperatures in 2019 created main conditions for the disastrous fires. Australia's fires were worsened by the combination of those two. 2019 was the perfect storm for being the warmest year on record for Australia and the driest year on record for Australia," Hausfather added on Friday.

Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said warmer ocean temperatures are also contributed to more variable weather around the world. Trenberth believes that global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots in the oceans, which can create a wave in the atmosphere that locks weather patterns in places, causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia. He said that once an area experiences drought conditions for two months or more, it increases the risk of fires catching and spreading. Those changing weather patterns due to global warming make drought events longer.

Climate experts stress that climate change is not the only factor in the severity(严重) of wildfires. How land is managed can also impact the amount of fuel available for fires. Practices like controlled bums and other factors can impact the risk to people and property, such as warning systems and the type of development in a given area. Changing those policies has great potential to limit future damage from wildfires along with changes to how fire management resources are dispatched(派遣).

1. What are the numbers about in paragraph 1?

A．The causes of Australian fires.	B．The results of Australian fires.
C．The damaged areas of Australian fires.	D．The property destruction of Australian fires.

2. Which of the following best explains ''susceptible to" in the second paragraph?

A．Very quickly to adapt to.

B．Very seriously to focus on.

C．Very likely to be influenced by.

D．Very easily to be protected against.

3. What can we infer from Trenberth’s research?

A．Longer dry weather contributes to global warming.

B．Global wanning is also a main cause of the bushfires.

C．Warmer ocean temperatures leads to the fires directly.

D．The imbalanced energy leads to the temperature rising.

4. What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?

A．To stress the effects of Australia fires.

B．To show the methods for land management.

C．To predict the seriousness of Australia fires.

D．To provide some advice about reducing fire damage.

9 . According to a new study， teens focus on rewards and have a hard time learning to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions.

University College London researchers compared how teens and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. They tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols.

Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. As the trial progressed ， participants learned which symbols were likely to lead to each outcome and adjusted their choices accordingly. Teens and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward， but teens were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice， while teens did not appear to take this information into account.

“From this experimental lab study we can draw conclusions about learning during the teen years. We find that teens and adults learn in different ways， something that might be relevant to education," said lead author Dr. Stefano Palminteri. " Unlike adults, teens are not so good at learning to adjust their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that teens did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices."

To interpret the results, the researchers developed computational models of learning and ran simulations （模拟）applying them to the results of the study. The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking. For example, obtaining no outcome rather than losing a point is weighted equally to gaining a point rather than having no outcome.

Comparing the experimental data to the models, the team found that teens" behavior followed the simple reward-based model while adults" behavior matched the complete, contextual model. “Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value, ” said senior author Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. “As a result, it may be useful for parents and teachers to frame things in more positive terms.”

1. It can be learned from the study that .

A．adults made choices faster than teens

B．adults understood rewards better than teens

C．teens reacted better to reward than punishment

D．teens were aware of the outcome of each choice

2. What do we know about the three computational models?

A．They reflected people’s strong desire for punishment avoidance.

B．They gave circumstances different degrees of consideration.

C．They paid equal attention to reward and punishment.

D．They shaped the behavior of people at different ages.

3. The underlined word “receptive" in the last paragraph probably means .

A．accustomed	B．opposed
C．sympathetic	D．responsive

4. According to the writer, which of the following statements works best for teens?

A．“If you insist on doing things in this way， you will lose ten points. "

B．“If we had talked about this earlier， you wouldn’t have made the mistake. "

C．“ If you hand in your assignment ahead of time， you will get an extra bonus."

D．“If you want to approach a problem differently ， you can talk to your parents. "

10 . A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.

The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.

“RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected,” said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.

RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.

“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” Minor said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’ performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.”

1. How does RAS serve elderly people?

A．Through sensors.	B．Through objects.
C．Through a mobile robot.	D．Through their daily activities.

2. What can we know about RAS?

A．It is the first robot used in daily life.	B．Its function remains to be tested.
C．It can locate people and do any task.	D．It can cook for owners on its own.

3. What’s Minor’s attitude toward the future of RAS?

A．Doubtful.	B．Negative.
C．Optimistic.	D．Uncertain.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Elderly people leave the nursing home.

B．Smart Home Tests first elder-Care robot.

C．RAS, the first robot to make home smart.

D．Older adults have benefited from RAS.