1 . Electric vehicles are close to the "turning point" of rapid mass adoption thanks to the decreasing cost of batteries, experts say.
Global sales of electric vehicles rose 43% in 2020, but even faster growth is expected when continuing falls in battery prices result in the price of electric cars under the same petrol and diesel (柴油) models, which may happen between 2023 and 2025. According to a study by Prof. Tim Lonton, at the University of Exeter, the turning point has already been passed in Norway, where tax breaks (税收减免) mean electric cars are cheaper and the market share of battery-powered cars increased to 54% in 2020 in Norway, compared with less than 5% in most European nations.
The falls in battery prices in the last decade have been dramatic and faster than predicted thanks to a massive production and cuts in costs, such as reducing the amount of expensive cobalt (钴) required. BloombergNEF's analysis predicts lithium-ion (锂离子) battery costs will fall so sharply that electric cars can match the price of petrol and diesel cars by 2023. McKin-sey's Global Energy Perspective 2021, published on 15 January, forecasts that "electric vehicles are likely to become the most economic choice in the next five years worldwide".
Electric cars, vital in efforts to fight climate crisis, are quieter and start to go faster, so people do not want to return to a petrol or diesel vehicle once they have one. A survey of 2,000 electric car owners found 91% said they did not want to go back.
"The survey shows the strong and lasting impact of switching to a clean car. The evidence in favour of electric vehicles grows more convincing even in a year as destructive as 2020," said Melanie Shufflebotham, at Zap-Map, which maps charging points.
1. What leads to the growing sales of electric vehicles?| A．The rise in petrol prices. | B．The desire for a lower tax. |
| C．The drop in battery costs. | D．The need for a cleaner life. |
| A．Policies in Norway support electric vehicles |
| B．Economy in Norway outgrows other nations |
| C．The market share of electric vehicles will decline. |
| D．The tax breaks in Europe will continue to increase. |
| A．By increasing the demand for cobalt. |
| B．By boosting the sales of electric cars. |
| C．By reducing the production of batteries. |
| D．By cutting the costs of lithium-ion batteries. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Positive. | C．Unwilling. | D．Opposed. |
2 . Today’s grandparents are joining grandchildren on social media, but the different generation’s online habits couldn’t be more different. The over-55s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site’s second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55-64 and 2.9 million over-65s.
Sheila, aged 59, says, “I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It’s a much better way to see what they’re doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. I think I’m lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.”
However, Sheila’s grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 are leaving the site—only 2.2 million users are under 17---but they’re not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, age 15, even sleeps with her phone. “It’s my alarm clock so I have to,” she says. “I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.”
Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early adopters of the smartphone. Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or laptop constantly. He says, “How could I tell my kids to get off their phones is I was always in front of a screen myself?” So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages. “I’m not completely separated from the world if emergent, but the important thing is that I’m setting a better example to my kids and spending more quality time with them.”
Is it only a matter of time until the generation above and below Peter catches up with the new trend (趋势) for a less digital life?
1. How does Sheila feel about social media?| A．Useful. | B．Disappointed. | C．Useless. | D．Addicted. |
| A．To make calls to his boss. |
| B．To stop his work. |
| C．To set a good example to his kids. |
| D．To catch up with the new trend. |
| A．different | B．figured out | C．cut off | D．protected |
| A．Children under 17 don’t use smartphone at all. |
| B．Chloe is one of the early adopters of the smartphone. |
| C．Today’s grandparents enjoy a life without social media. |
| D．People may enjoy a less digital life in the near future. |
3 . Whether you have ten minutes or an hour to practice each day, you’ll find a wide variety of learning materials to help you make progress and improve your language skills. All the material on the LearnEnglish website is designed for self-study to support your learning.
Take our online level test: Start by taking our free English grammar and vocabulary test to help you find your level. All the material is labelled(标记) with the level, to make it easier to find material to suit your needs.
Explore our Skill Sections: In our Skills sections you can find self-study lessons to practice your listening, reading and reading and writing skills. There are different types of texts and audio(音频) recording, all with interactive exercises and worksheets that practice the skills you need. Choose your level and then choose a lesson!
Practice grammar: In this section you can improve your grammar with our clear and simple grammar lessons. The lessons start with an exercise to test your understanding, then an explanation to improve your grammar knowledge and finally another exercise to test your understanding again to see if you have improved. Choose your level and then choose a grammar point!
Read our Magazine sections: Are you looking for something quick to read? Our Magazine and Business magazine sections have short interesting articles for you to read about special days and business topics.
Challenge a friend or a colleague: If you want to play a quick online game and practice your English vocabulary at the same time, have a go at Wordshake. See how many points you can get in three minutes! You can challenge a colleague to play too and compare your points to see whose English vocabulary is improving the most.
1. If you want to find learning materials that suit you, you can start by________.| A．taking an online level test | B．finding self-study lessons |
| C．playing a quick online game | D．practicing your English grammar |
| A．Explore our Skill Sections | B．Read our Magazine sections |
| C．Practice grammar | D．Challenge a friend or a colleague |
| A．Similar types of texts are provided for learners. |
| B．The grammar lessons are clear but complicated. |
| C．The Magazine sections provide long articles for learners. |
| D．A quick online vocabulary game is limited to three minutes. |
| A．Students. | B．Self-study learners. |
| C．Teachers. | D．Workers. |
4 . Scientific experts have warned that deadly pandemics(大流行病) are likely to keep happening if action is not taken to protect natural environments. The warning came in a report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, an international expert group that advises governments. The group has more than 130 member states.
The experts called for major efforts aimed at preventing pandemics rather than trying to contain them after they happen. The report urges major worldwide efforts to stop habitat destruction that can lead viruses to jump from wild animals to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals. Scientists have said COVID-19 probably started in bats and began spreading among humans.
In their report, the experts predict that about half of an estimated 1.7 million undiscovered viruses in nature might be able to infect people. Activities such as poaching(偷猎) or clearing forests to grow soy or palm oil can bring humans and disease closer together.
Peter Daszak was the report’s lead writer. He is president of EcoHealth Alliance, an international health, environment and development organization. He said in a statement that even though the experts call for urgent action, “this report is not a misfortune suggesting the world’s going to end and it’s too late.” Instead, Daszak said it should be seen as “an optimistic call for action.”
He noted that the current method for dealing with pandemics is to wait for them to emerge and then try to identify them before they spread. COVID-19 has demonstrated the problems with that plan. Officials attempted to contain COVID-19 after the disease was discovered last year, but it was already too late. “And here we are waiting for a vaccine(疫苗) and drugs to work,” Daszak said. “It’s not a good strategy. We need to do more.”
1. Why does the aim of urging habitat protection need major world efforts?| A．To prevent viruses spreading from animals to humans. |
| B．To stop illegal poaching and forest destruction. |
| C．To control pandemics after they happen. |
| D．To strengthen international cooperation. |
| A．About 1.7 million. | B．About 0.85 million. |
| C．About three fourths. | D．About 130. |
| A．Waiting for pandemics to appear. |
| B．Expecting effective vaccines and drugs. |
| C．Investigating pandemics after they appear. |
| D．Acting earlier and more actively to explore more |
| A．Advice from Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform. |
| B．Experts’ Views on Disease Control and Prevention. |
| C．More Deadly Pandemics if Nature Not Protected. |
| D．Unstoppably Increasing Pandemics. |
5 . My name is Michelle. I'm 27 years old, and I've been writing letters to my pen pal in England for 14 years.
Yes, a pen pal. Rachel and I have been writing letters to each other since the 8th grade. My reading teacher at the time helped our class find pen pals through a company called International Youth Service (unfortunately closed in 2008).
On February 28, 2006, I received a letter back from the girl from England. Our letters started to turn into novellas(中篇小说) pretty quickly. We began spilling our guts to each other about all sorts of teenage stuff—boys, namely.
We continued writing letters throughout college, but they started to slow down with the age of the Internet and Facebook. It was both a blessing and a curse, because if I needed to share something with her right away, I didn't have to wait two weeks for a response. But there was still no better feeling than opening up my mailbox and seeing past the advertisements and campus happenings and finding a letter with her handwriting on the envelope waiting for me.
One would think that we are more connected than ever in a world of text messaging and social media—but honestly, I don't think this could be further from the truth. We are losing the personal touch, the quality of the time it takes to put into a friendship. Think about letter writing—it's not expensive. An international stamp costs $1.15.
It's not the expense. It's the time. The time it takes to go to the store and pick out a card or stationary. The time it takes to actually hand-write a letter. The time it takes to address the envelope, go to the post office, pay, and mail the letter out. And I believe this is what makes letter writing so personal and special.
1. How did Michelle find a pen pal?| A．By reading a novel. |
| B．By travelling to England. |
| C．Through the Internet. |
| D．Through a company. |
| A．Because the Internet occupied more communication. |
| B．Because she didn’t want to wait too long for a reply. |
| C．Because opening up the mailbox is troublesome. |
| D．Because too many advertisements took up the mail box. |
| A．We become closer to each other. |
| B．We are losing the quality time of friendship. |
| C．Letter writing becomes more expensive. |
| D．Letter writing becomes cheaper. |
| A．Letter writing takes too much time. |
| B．Letter communication needs several steps. |
| C．Time spent in letter writing makes it valuable. |
| D．Time spent in letter writing makes it expensive. |
6 . Mary Nafula learned she had cancer a year ago. She survived the cancer treatment, but her hair fell out. The hair loss made the mother of three feel unprotected and weak. Nafula found help at a beauty salon in Nairobi. Women go to salons for haircuts and beauty treatments. But this business in Kenya's capital offers other products. It gave Nafula a wig to cover her head. The wig replaces the natural hair she lost during the treatment.
Nafula describes her new feelings of confidence in herself. "We can take all the challenges that accompany us, knowing that we are going to heal," she says. Cancer deaths are rising from 37,000 reported cases in 2012 to almost 48,000 currently. Doctor Gladwell Kiarie is a cancer specialist at The Nairobi Hospital. She says the rise in cancer deaths is probably a result of lifestyle changes and more testing for cancer. "We are smoking more. We are taking alcohol more," Kiarie said. "Our traditional diets have changed. We have more fatty foods. We have less water and greens in our foods."
Nafula says she is happy to have a wig and to be free from criticism on the streets and in the public transport vehicles called "matatus." Nafula described being very sick and trying to ride in a matatu. She was told "You should not enter the matatu because cancer can infect us." Diana Akech is the owner of the beauty salon where Nafula got her wig. Akech started doing beauty makeovers （翻新）five years ago after a friend got cancer. The friend lost her hair, but Akech gave her a wig. "Let me say my friend gave me the willpower to keep doing this... She's in heaven right now and I am sure she's very proud of what I'm doing." Recovering from cancer can be long and painful. A wig can reduce the pain and show patients that they are not alone.
1. What does the underlined “wig” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．A popular hat. | B．A beautiful mask. |
| C．A piece of artificial hair. | D．A pair of fashionable sunglasses. |
| A．Because there are not enough beauty salons to offer special products. |
| B．Because testing for cancer causes people to suffer from cancers. |
| C．Because people in Kenya are too poor to be treated. |
| D．Because the unhealthy lifestyles mainly lead to more cancers. |
| A．People living with cancers in Kenya are usually discriminated. |
| B．Nafula has recovered from her cancer completely. |
| C．More and more people in Kenya will quit smoking. |
| D．Wearing a wig is the best way to treat cancer. |
| A．A friend of Diana Akech dying of cancer. |
| B．The functions of wearing a wig. |
| C．The reason for the appearance of the wig. |
| D．The help from a friend to open a salon. |
7 . Some people must carefully pay attention to everything they put in their mouths in order to control their weight. By contrast, others can eat French fries to their hearts' content and achieve the same result. How do some people manage never to gain weight?
"Perception, one of the most important factors, has nothing to do with the body type because our personal feeling is always wrong. We often feel that some people who eat more don't put on weight. Actually? those who appear to eat whatever they like without gaining weight aren't eating more than the rest of us," said professor Kathleen Melanson. "For example, your friend who eats ice cream on a daily basis might eat less at another meal- or snack less throughout the rest of the day.”
“Physical activity can also make a difference, but it doesn't have to be a gym workout. There's little evidence to suggest that—without exercise-some people were born to burn significantly more calories than others," said Dr Ines Barroso, a researcher at the University of Cambridge. But there may be physical differences that allow some people to naturally control the number of calories they consume without exercising much self-regulation.
A lot of nervous system signals and hormones （激素）that circulate in our blood interact to tell us when we're hungry or full. This is called the appetite regulatory system, and it may be more sensitive in some people than others, Melanson said. One important hormone involved in this system is leptin （瘦素）.It helps regulate how much food we want to eat over longer periods of time, not just for our next meal. So a person with a more sensitive system might go back for seconds and thirds at a party, then feel full for the next few days and eat less.
Genetics can also play a role in a person's tendency to gain or lose weight. Researchers have identified over 250 different regions of DNA that are associated with obesity, according to a 2019 study published in PLOS Genetics.
1. What does the underlined word “Perception" in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Connection. | B．Sense. | C．Defense. | D．Reduction. |
| A．It makes people usually feel hungry. |
| B．It helps people have a better appetite. |
| C．It helps people regulate their food intake. |
| D．It makes people more sensitive to the flavour of food. |
| A．Weight problems can be avoided. |
| B．Losing weight is equally difficult for everyone. |
| C．Some people may be born to have weight problems. |
| D．Genes can be completely changed to avoid weight problems. |
| A．To share some ideas about how to lose weight. |
| B．To explain why some people never gain weight. |
| C．To advise people to control their daily diet strictly. |
| D．To call for people to pay attention to healthy eating. |
8 . Regnante and her husband, Tingley, knew they were in trouble when they found that they had to stay at the airport on the night before Thanksgiving with a grounded plane and 30 turtles （海龟）. The two rescuers were part of a volunteer effort to save hundreds of sea turtles that were washed up close to death on the beaches of Massachusetts.
The couple urgently needed to find temperature-controlled accommodation for the endangered sea turtles. They were in the rescuer race to save the smallest sea turtles in the world? at a little over 2 feet long, and they had been found with very low temperatures. Every year, hundreds of the turtles follow warm ocean currents north from their hatching sites in the Gulf of Mexico, become trapped in the cold Atlantic and are then rescued from Cape Cod by volunteers. who take them to wildlife centres along warmer coastlines.
Regnante is a volunteer with Turtles Fly Too, a charity that provides air transport for the stricken turtles. On Wednesday, she took off with the turtles from near Boston in a plane piloted by her husband. They were bound for New Orleans but storms forced them to change course and refuel twice. Then, at Chattanooga. Tennessee, a stone damaged the propeller （螺 旋桨）.“It was just one thing after another,” Regnante told The New York Times. just kind of wanted to say, 'Guys, it's going to be OK'."
For turtles, being out of the water and in transit for a long period was stressful. Luckily, a happy ending was delivered. Two heated trucks were sent nearby, where the turtles spent the night. On Thanksgiving morning, Regnante and Tingley drove them to a handover point in Alabama from where the turtles were taken to their new home.
“Turtles Fly Too does whatever it takes to make the mission happen." Leslie, president of the charity, said. “When challenges arise, we'll be quick to make adjustments.”
1. What can be inferred about the sea turtles in paragraph 2?| A．They were hatching babies. |
| B．They were dying from hunger. |
| C．They were to be brought to cold areas. |
| D．They were in danger of low temperatures. |
| A．The fund issue. | B．The bad weather. |
| C．The lack of fuel of the plane. | D．The physical condition of his wife. |
| A．Every coin has two sides. |
| B．God helps those who help themselves. |
| C．Saving turtles sometimes depends on luck. |
| D．The charity will spare no effort to save the turtles. |
| A．A Race to Save Turtles | B．Endangered Sea Turtles |
| C．New Shelters for Sea Turtles | D．An Introduction to Turtles Fly Too |
9 . A study from 1976 tells us how and why relationships with our neighbors can be so good for us. Surprisingly to scientists at that time, results showed that connection with family members-even one's own children—had little influence on feelings of well-being or willpower. Meanwhile, friendships, especially those with neighbors, predicted lower levels of loneliness and worry, higher levels of feelings of usefulness and respect within the community.
The study suggests that acquaintance and friendship with neighbors are more effective at increasing well-being since they are based on nearness, common interests and lifestyle choices. The neighborhood relationships are also developed voluntarily. Family ties, on the other hand, are often characterized by a sense of responsibility, physical distance, and personal disharmony. Later studies confirm the importance of close friendships for people over 65, highlighting the particular importance of frequent connection.
More recent studies show that neighborly support is associated with better well-being for individuals in mid- to-late life. Data about neighborly relationships and general well-being from 1,071 adults aged 40-70 from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the US was collected in 1995, and again from the same individuals in 2005.
The study found that those who had little connection with neighbors at the time of both samples, as well as those who experienced a reduction in connection with neighbors over the years, experienced downward trends in well-being, as indicated by feelings of sadness, nervousness. restlessness, hopelessness and worthlessness.
It is important to note here the difference between friendship and neighboring or relationships with neighbors. While friendships are based on common affection, neighboring, at its core is an instrumental relationship that is catalyzed by nearness. But it doesn't have to be this way. Where neighbors are also close friends? the potential benefits are clear. While both friendship and neighboring are beneficial to well-being, they are most effective when the types of support and assistance from both coincide.
1. What does the 1976 study tell us?| A．The friendships between neighbors can last forever. |
| B．People ignore neighbors more than family members. |
| C．Neighbors influence people as much as their own children do. |
| D．Neighbors are more influential to people than family members. |
| A．By analyzing data. | B．By giving instructions. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By following the order of time. |
| A．Nearness. | B．Responsibility. | C．Physical distance. | D．A common life goal. |
| A．Why neighbors always help us. | B．Why our neighbors are so important. |
| C．How neighborly support is available. | D．How neighborly relationships develop well. |
10 . When I was reading a post about taking someone to the movies, something happened a couple of years ago suddenly hit me.
I used to drink Cokes and they had a competition where there was a code inside the bottle cap. You might win something so long as you went to a website and entered the code. I won some free Cokes. But what astonished and delighted me was the Grand Prize I won then.
The Grand Prize was free movies for a year. They pointed out that one movie a week was what free movies for a year meant. All of the tickets were valid(有效的)for one year from the day I received them. So I must use them in the following year. 1 used quite a few taking friends to movies we all wanted to see.
Then I donated 20 tickets(all I had left by that time)to the local Women's Transition House. Women and children could go there when they want to avoid a bad situation in general and get help to make a new start. It was the best thing I did with the tickets.
My workplace team had decided to help people in need, so we collected donations for that particular New Year's Day. I knew that the Women's Transition House provided some childcare for the women so they could go for job interviews and things like that.
I put those tickets in a box and wrote a note on the outside. And I asked the Women's Transition House staff to give movie tickets to women there over the holidays to have some fun to do, with or without their children, which made me really happy.
1. How did the author get the tickets?| A．By visiting a website by chance. | B．By reading a post. |
| C．By getting a code from a website. | D．By winning the prize for drinking Cokes. |
| A．10. | B．20. | C．30. | D．40. |
| A．Lucky and caring. | B．Strict and careful. |
| C．Responsible and patient. | D．Brave and kind. |
| A．Actions speak louder than words. | B．Good luck favors those who are always ready. |
| C．The roses in their hands, the flavor in mine. | D．God helps those who help themselves. |
