1 . What is talent? Are you born with it? Or does it seem to develop over time? Before I start, I’d like to say that one thing everyone agrees on is that the most skilled musicians have worked hard to get there.
While it’s true that a few of us had enough “talent” to avoid extra practice to do just as well as those who did, those who worked hard easily beat us. It is, in fact, very likely that if some of us “talented ones” had actually been practicing and improving our skill, we would have achieved a whole different level.
Another aspect of talent seems to be heart and passion (酷爱). The people I see who are the most talented musicians are crazy about music. They eat, breathe, and live music and they make an extraordinary effort to make it part of their lives. As Remus Badea said, desire for the musician-to-be is significant for them to be successful. This desire is easily found in those considered to be talented. When you want and love something so bad, it drives you and your entire character can be shaped around it. Such determined passion seems to produce incredible skill and talent.
The third aspect (方面) of talent is having talent around you. When surrounded by talented musicians, it only seems natural that you start to catch up to their level Take a look at almost any group of musicians in history. The more talented people in the group the more talented the group is as a whole. A great example of this is the relationship between audio producer and artist. The artist turns up to the studio with their song, and as they work through recording it, the audio producer will often suggest various changes to the song to make it better.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Pride goes before a fall. |
| B．It’s never too old to learn. |
| C．Practice contributes to talent. |
| D．Talent determines achievements. |
| A．Passion. | B．Character . | C．Skill. | D．Talent. |
| A．To introduce what real talents are. |
| B．To explain how a song is composed. |
| C．To prove talents need team spirit. |
| D．To show the benefits of being with talents. |
| A．Music has no limits. |
| B．Musicians are born with talent. |
| C．Music favors the talented. |
| D．Musicians are created, not born. |
2 . My 12-year-old daughter, Lauren, came home from school yesterday, proudly waving her grade book to me. She had been awarded A-1 in most subjects such as mathematics, language arts and science—a great achievement! Then she sadly pointed out that her perfect score was damaged by a B-1 in French and a C-1 in Physical Education.
I asked her what the scores meant. She said that the letter showed the achievement(成绩) and the number showed the effort. That moment I realized that the grades were misleading. I reached out my hands and gave her a big hug and told her in my mind she had a perfect score. It didn’t matter that her grade in French was a “B”—the “l” showed that she had tried her best. That is something to make any parent proud.
Everybody is different. Everybody has different potential(潜能). Not all of us will become linguists(语言学家) or sports stars. But without 100％effort no potential can be achieved. If I see a salesperson fail at sales, the first thing I want to examine is the effort being put in. If there is a problem with effort, the salesperson has no future. But if I see a salesperson isn’t successful with l00％effort, he or she is worth my effort in helping. Maybe a bit of training or some advice from a more successful person will help. I know that 100％effort, focus in the right direction, will always bring a result whether that is an “A” or a “C”. As long as you make 100％effort, you are great.
1. The author’s daughter was weak in _______.| A．maths. | B．science. | C．chemistry. | D．physical education. |
| A．High grades make parents proud. |
| B．Grades are important to children. |
| C．People hold a wrong idea of grades. |
| D．High grades show great achievements. |
| A．will give him training. |
| B．is willing to offer help. |
| C．will find an easy way for him. |
| D．may think he has no future. |
| A．trying his or her best. |
| B．achieving good grades. |
| C．having different potential. |
| D．giving other people useful advice. |
3 . Drug Allergy
INSTRUCTIONS:
Medicines:
●Keep a written list of what medicines you take and when and why you take them. Bring the list of your medicines or the pill bottles when you see your caregiver. Learn why you take each medicine. Ask your caregiver for information about your medicines. Do not take any medicines without first talking to caregivers.
●Always take your medicine as directed by caregivers. Call your caregiver if you think your medicine is not helping or if you feel you are having side effects. Do not quit taking it until you discuss it with you caregiver.
Allergies:
●Talk with your caregiver before taking any drugs, including over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and herbs.
●After taking a new drug in your caregiver’s office, always stay there for at least 15 minutes.
If you get hives (荨麻疹) or rash (皮疹):
●Talk with your caregiver about taking an antihistamine(a drug used to treat allergies)that you can buy over the counter.
●Take the antihistamine until the hives are gone for 24 hours.
The following are ways to lessen itching (痒):
●Put cold compresses (敷布) on the skin, or take cool baths.
●Wear loose-fitting clothes and avoid tight underwear.
CONTACT A CAREGIVER IF:
●You think you are having a reaction to a drug. Symptoms may appear as soon as 15 minutes after taking a medication.
●Your rash, hives, or itching have not gone away.
SEEK CARE IMMEDIATELY IF:
●You have trouble breathing, tight feeling in your chest or throat, or a swelling in your mouth. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. Dial 120 for help.
●You have hives, swelling, or itching ALL OVER your body.
1. What should you do to relieve itching?
| A．Take hot baths. | B．Wear loose underwear. |
| C．Take some vitamins. | D．Stay in caregiver’s office for a while. |
| A．You feel sleepy and tired. | B．Your rash has not faded away. |
| C．You are having a reaction to a drug. | D．You have itching all over the body. |
| A．To introduce some drug allergies. | B．To comment on the drug allergies. |
| C．To advertise a kind of medicine. | D．To advise people to learn more about medicines. |
4 . French children 15 and under will no longer be allowed to bring smart devices to school. Lawmakers in France voted recently to ban all phones, tablets, and other Internet-connected devices from school grounds. The ban will start in September, “These days, the children don't play at break time anymore,” Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's education minister, said. “They are just all in front of their smartphones, and from an educational point of view, that's a problem. Some strict measures must be taken immediately.” A 2010 law bad already banned smartphones during "all teaching activity" in France. But the new rules say smartphones and tablets are not allowed even during breaks. Students who bring these digital devices to school have to keep them in their backpacks and turned off, If they want to call their parents, schools will help. However, the new law doesn’t forbid students to turn to them during extra-curricular activities. It also makes an exception for disabled students.
Alexis Corbiere is a French politician. He said the effort to make such a law should have been put to something else because teachers have already carried out this rule so far. “I don't know a single teacher in this country that allows the use of phones in class and in school, ” he told French news channel BFMTV.
How about smartphones in American schools?According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, about 66% of public schools banned devices in 2019, which was down from 91% in 2009. Why the change? Liz Kolb, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Education, said that parents are concerned about security in schools. "In the rare case that something may occur, " she said, "the belief by some parents is that a cell phone could be a useful tool for safety."
1. What does the underlined word "them" in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Disabled students. |
| B．Digital devices. |
| C．Backpacks. |
| D．Students' parents. |
| A．It's unnecessary. |
| B．It's rewarding. |
| C．It's impossible. |
| D．It's unexpected. |
| A．It's made a comeback. |
| B．It's helped parents a lot. |
| C．It's done good to students. |
| D．It's followed the French ban. |
| A．Students Must Turn off Smartphones. |
| B．Digital Devices Won't Be Popular. |
| C．France Makes the Call in School. |
| D．Parents Value Children's Safety. |
5 . According to a survey conducted by The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the monarch butterfly is facing a sharp population decline that could soon lead to its extinction.
The monarch butterfly is considered the "king of all butterflies due to its extreme beauty, hence the name "monarch". The most popular among the North American butterflies, the grand black-and-orange in vertebrate（无脊椎动物） is known for its yearly mass migration of up to 3,000 miles from the Baja California Peninsula to California's Central Coast every winter, beautifully covering all the trees along their path.
In 1980, its population was recorded to be about 4. 5 million and by the mid-2000's, there were barely 100,000 remaining. In 2018, the number of monarch butterflies fell down to only 28,260, which makes a 99. 4 percent decline in 39 years.
"It's mind-boggling. We're now down below 1 percent of the historic population," Says Emma Pelton, a Xerces Society Conservation biologist.
A variety of factors could be involved to cause the monarch butterflies' near extinction. One could have a co-relation to the lessening of other insects such as bees and other bird species. Another factor could be due to a number of human economic activities such as urbanization and illegal logging which lessens the butterflies' habitat, and pesticides widely used on corn and soybean crops.
Because of these chains of events, an "extinction vortex（旋风）” has occurred where the process of extinction would be near unstoppable since the species won't be able to reproduce and raise their numbers the natural way.
The mass disappearance of the monarch butterfly and other endangered species is a wake up call of our little time remaining to positively shift the direction of the ecological environment for a massive improvement in the near future, in order to help mother nature and all the other living species in this earth.
1. What is the monarch butterfly noted for?| A．Its extreme beauty as king. |
| B．Its special name with monarch. |
| C．Its manner of reproduction. |
| D．Its regular large-scale migration. |
| A．About 20,000. | B．About 150,000. |
| C．About 114,660. | D．About 44,550. |
| A．The growth of cities. |
| B．The popularity of other insects. |
| C．The cleaning of lakes. |
| D．Less crops such as soybean. |
| A．To inform us of something about butterflies. |
| B．To appeal to us to protect the ecological environment. |
| C．To analyze why monarch butterflies have gone extinct. |
| D．To attract visitors to California's Central Coast. |
6 . When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.
People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems blurry. Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near—sighted. Then People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading , they must get glasses, too.
Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism. This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts. Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.
Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object’s relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distance as people with two eyes.
1. What problem might a person have when things far away seem unclear?| A．Near-sighted. | B．Far-sighted. | C．Astigmatic. | D．Suffering from cataracts. |
| A．only when we can see well. | B．only when we cannot see perfectly. |
| C．even if we can see well. | D．only when we realize how important our eyes are. |
| A．seeing at night | B．seeing objects far away |
| C．looking over a wide area | D．judging distances |
| A．One eye bigger than the other. |
| B．Eyes that are not exactly the right shape. |
| C．A difficulty that can be corrected by an operation. |
| D．An eye difficulty that cannot be corrected by glasses. |
7 . Narasimha Das is on his way to feed 169,379 hungry children. Das is in charge of a kitchen in Vrindaban. The town is about a three-hour drive from India’s capital, New Delhi. Das gets to work at 3:00 a.m. Thirty workers are already working to make tens of thousands of rounds of bread. It will be brought to 1,516 schools in and around Vrindaban.
A Growing Problem
Going to school is difficult for more than 13 million children in India. They must go to work instead, or go hungry. That’s why India began the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the largest school-lunch program in the world. A free lunch encourages children to come to school and gives them the energy they need for learning. The program began in the 1960s.
The kitchen in Vrindaban is run by the Akshaya Patra Foundation. It is one of the lunch program’s biggest partners. “Just $11.50 can feed one child for an entire year,” said Madhu Sridhar, president of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Lunch Is Served!
The Akshaya Patra food truck arrives at Gopalgarh Primary School. Since the program started, the number of underweight children has gone down. The children get foods they need — as long as they finish what’s on their plates.
1. What does Narasimha Das do？| A．A waiter. | B．A salesman. | C．A cook. | D．A shopkeeper. |
| A．the poor | B．school children | C．college students | D．the old |
| A．Because they have to work to make money. |
| B．Because there are not enough schools. |
| C．Because there are not enough teachers. |
| D．Because their parents refuse to send them to school. |
| A．It is to encourage children to go to school. |
| B．It has been carried out for about 50 years. |
| C．It is run by Narasimha Das. |
| D．It is the largest school-lunch program in the world. |
8 . Will your kids love your favorite childhood reads? Let’s get to it: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I’m reaching way back with this one (1881), but after all, who doesn’t love a good rags to-riches story?
Oh, those little Peppers. How well I remember Phronsie, Ben, Polly, Joel and Davie, and how hard they worked in the little brown house to help their poor mother, Mamsie. My kids are not yet at an age when they realize just how poor the Peppers are. But my kids are as drawn to this story as I was as a child. And I am not the one to turn down an opportunity to share an example of children gladly helping their mother.
I’m not reaching back quite as far with 1943’s Cherry Ames, Student Nurse by Helen Wells, but convincing my kids that once it wasn’t easy for nurses to wear caps and dresses. When I was little, I couldn’t get enough of Cherry’s adventures. How pioneering Cherry was! She had a job when there were few jobs available to women, she never got married, and she solved mysteries when men couldn’t. Cherry always knew what to do. She was smart, pretty, strong and ambitious. I love her.
I know the time will come when my son asks, “Come on, Mom, Didn’t you read any books with men in them?” and I’ll have to answer honestly, “No. But maybe one day a few.”
The day will come when we can go back to the library and see what is new on the shelves, and that will be a great day. But for now, I plan not to let any book on our shelves go to waste. It may seem that reaching for a book that’s more than a century older than my kids is just as ambitious as reading Frankenstein, but I’m really confident, this time.
1. What do the author’s kids feel about Five Little Peppers and How They Grew?| A．Frightened. | B．Interested. | C．Puzzled. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Praiseful. | D．Afraid. |
| A．She is very poor, |
| B．She likes books about women. |
| C．She dislikes classical literature. |
| D．She is confused about her career. |
| A．Read less and faster. |
| B．Go back to the library, |
| C．Ask her kids to read books kept at home. |
| D．Inspire her kids to read newly published books. |
9 . Avi Loeb, a scientist, believes that we are not alone in the universe. The belief fits with Loeb’s alien (外星的) spaceship theory that at least one alien spaceship might be flying over the orbit (轨道) of Jupiter, which won the international attention last year.
Astronomers in Hawaii found the first known interstellar (星际的) object in late 2017. It was a bit of light moving so fast past the sun that it could only have come from another star. Almost every astronomer on the planet was trying to figure out how the object, called “Oumuamua” got to our far-away, part of the Milky way galaxy. “One possibility is that ‘Oumuamua’ is debris (碎片) from an advanced technological equipment,” Loeb said. “Technology comes from another solar system just showed up at our door.”
“‘Oumuamua’ is not an alien spaceship,” Paul Sutter, another scientist wrote. He suggested Loeb was seeking publicity. Most scientists think “Oumuamua” is some sort of rock. They think it could be an icy wandering comet.
Loeb says that “Oumuamua’s” behavior, means it can’t be a block of rock shaped like a long photo. He thinks it's more likely an object that’s very long and thin, perhaps like a long pancake or a ship’s sail. Loeb says that if someone shows him evidence that contradicts his beliefs, he will immediately give in.
Loeb believes himself a truth-teller and risk- taker in an age of very safe, too-quiet scientists. “The worst thing that can happen to me is that I would be relieved of my management duties, and that would give me even more time to focus on science,” Loeb says. He said he wouldn’t mind giving up all the titles he had and returning to the Israeli farming village where he grew up.
1. What does Loeb say about “Oumuamua”?| A．It is an icy comet. |
| B．It looks like a long photo. |
| C．It is actually some sort of rock. |
| D．It may come from another alien civilization. |
| A．Searches for. | B．Depends on. |
| C．Turns to. | D．Goes against. |
| A．He is foolish. |
| B．He is unsatisfied with his titles. |
| C．He is a firm believer in scientific truth. |
| D．He is uncertain about his career future. |
| A．Have Aliens Paid a Visit in Spaceships? |
| B．Do We Really Know about Space Theory? |
| C．Scientists Are Working on High Technology |
| D．Astronomers Are Encouraging Space Travel |
10 . Each year, the women of Olney and Liberal compete in an unusual footrace. Dressed in aprons (围裙) and headscarves, they wait at both towns’ starting lines. Each woman holds a frying pan with one pancake inside. At the signal, the women flip (轻抛) pancakes and they’re off!
This “pancake racing” tradition is said to have started on Shrove Tuesday, 1445, in Olney. Shrove Tuesday is the day before the Christian season of Lent (大斋戒) begins. During Lent, many people decide to give up sugary or fatty foods.
Legend says that in 1445, an Olney woman was making pancakes to use up some of her sugar and cooking fats before Lent. She lost track of time and suddenly heard the church bells ring, signaling the beginning of the Shrove Tuesday service. Realizing that she was going to be late for church, she raced out the door still wearing her apron and headscarf and holding her frying pan with a pancake in it. In the following years, the woman’s neighbors imitated her dash to church, and pancake racing was born.
The rules are simple. Racers must wear the traditional headscarf and apron. They must flip their pancakes twice - once before starting and once after crossing the finish line. After the race, there are Shrove Tuesday church services. Then Liberal and Olney connect through a video call to compare race times and declare a winner.
In both towns, the races have grown into larger festivals. Olney’s festival is an all-day event starting with a big pancake breakfast. Liberal’s festival lasts four days and includes a parade, a talent show, and contests that feature eating and flipping pancakes. Although the women’s race is still the main event, both towns now hold additional races for boys and girls of all ages.
1. How did pancake racing start?| A．A woman in Olney created it. |
| B．Women made pancakes before Lent. |
| C．A woman dashed to church with a pancake. |
| D．People followed the suit of an interesting incident. |
| A．They can wear fashionable headscarves and aprons. |
| B．They must flip their pancakes once in the race. |
| C．They must flip their pancakes at the beginning of the race. |
| D．They can flip their pancakes in the middle of the race. |
| A．People can show their talent in Olney festival. |
| B．People can enjoy a one-day holiday in Liberal. |
| C．The race is not only intended for women now. |
| D．People can have a big pancake breakfast in both towns. |
| A．The origin of pancake racing. |
| B．The history of pancake racing. |
| C．The development of pancake racing. |
| D．The introduction to pancake racing. |
