1 . It’s Earth’s birthday! The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old! In honour of our planet, former U. S. Senator Gaylord Nelson decided we needed a special day to celebrate and learn how to care for our environment. He wrote letters to many schools about the day he planned because he knew kids like you would help.
On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was held. Many environmental laws were passed, and people all over the country made promises to protect the environment.
Since then, Earth Day has spread around the world and people are working together to create cleaner air and energy to take care of Mother Nature. Learn how you, your family and friends can start making a difference too!
Earth Day is now celebrated by hundreds of millions of people in more than 180 countries. Here are some ways that you can help re-energize the Earth and celebrate too!
·Visit a nature conservancy(保护协会). Nature conservancies teach us how to preserve our natural history.
·Have an Earth Day block party! Invite neighbourhood kids to plant gardens or trees or pick up trash. Then celebrate your achievements with some Earth Day’ treats and nature music.
·Challenge your family to “go green”. Walk, bicycle, carpool or take the bus to reduce greenhouse gases and get outdoors!
·Wear green, a nature or Earth Day T-shirt to help spread the word about caring for our environment.
·Make a “planet promise” to reduce your energy use and recycle.
We hope you’ll use some of these ideas during the week of April 22 to celebrate and give back to the Earth that gives so much to us.
1. Why did the former U. S. Senator Gaylord Nelson write letters to many schools?| A．To show his care about the planet. |
| B．To have a good relationship with them. |
| C．To encourage their students to work hard. |
| D．To expect their students to protect the environment. |
| A．Forty five. | B．Forty nine. | C．Fifty one. | D．Fifty six. |
| A．An Earth Day block party. | B．A nature conservancy. |
| C．Your family and friends. | D．A “planet promise”. |
| A．The way for the Earth Day to appear. |
| B．The first person to create the Earth Day. |
| C．The origin and celebrations of the Earth Day. |
| D．Reasons for people to celebrate the Earth Day. |
2 . A new TV documentary is being made which charts the lives of three children who are making a home in Britain. In each case, the children have travelled to the UK alone to join their mothers after a separation of several years.
Imran is 11 and lived in Pakistan with his grandmother before coming to a village near Peterborough in the East Midlands to join his mother and his new stepfather, whom he had not met before. He speaks Urdu and Punjabi, but not a word of English. Imran soon gets into trouble at school because he is at a disadvantage among his confident English-born classmates. The other children tease him because they think he is not cool, so he covers up his awkwardness by playing the fool. After school he sits drawing a picture of himself with tears on each cheek.
Like Imran, 10-year-old Altynay from Kyrgyzstan, spoke no English when she arrived at her new home in Penistone, Yorkshire, but she was lucky to have Kanykei, who has lived in England for three years, to interpret for her. Even so, this little girl, who was the head girl at her old school, found her first few months here very hard. Early in the film she is shown laughing and dancing with Kanykei, while later she appears to be homesick and disappointed by the language barrier at her village school. But that was a few months ago. Kanykei confirms that Altynay is happier now because she has learned more English.
Compared with the two, Marshal has a huge advantage, having been educated at English-language schools in Zimbabwe. He is also outgoing. When asked if settling into a new country is hard for him, he shakes his head, “No, it was not hard for me. I am a brave person.” But his new life is not without difficulties. “It is his reading I am worried about, ” says his mother Josephine. “He didn’t have my support when he needed it.”
1. What concerns Imran in the UK?| A．His foolish classmates. |
| B．His poor drawing skills. |
| C．His bad relationship with his stepfather. |
| D．His unpleasant experience at his new school. |
| A．She is adapting to the new life speedily. |
| B．She finds it easy to learn a new language. |
| C．She is experiencing a positive change now. |
| D．She has become the top student in her new class. |
| A．He is good at reading. |
| B．He lacks parental love. |
| C．He has fewer difficulties in language. |
| D．He faces more challenges in his new life. |
| A．A Lonely Life in a New Country | B．Breaking the Barrier |
| C．Great Expectations | D．Happy life in the UK |
3 . “I had no intention to adopt a cat that day. I just liked being around animals.” Miranda says. But when she saw Nala in her metal cage, “We made eye contact and I couldn't resist（抗拒）her big blue eyes.” At that point, “Nala was so small. I asked the shelter if I could hold her. Once had Nala in my arms, Nala looked up at me and licked（舔）my face.” And that was when she knew she had to take this kitty home.
Still, Miranda never imagined Nala would become an Insta-star. “I started Nala’s Instagram account in 2012 as a way to share photos with my close friends and family in Thailand,” she explained. The possibility of Nala gaining attention beyond that small group of people hadn’t occurred to her until it happened.
Miranda says, “Each time Nala’s photo was featured on Instagram’s popular page, her account would gain 1,000 new followers.” From there, Nala’s popularity snowballed. Large nationwide brands messaged Miranda about hiring Nala to do ads. “This took us by surprise because we couldn’t believe that a big brand wanted to pay them to take photos with their products next to Nala.”
Nala started life out in a shelter, just waiting to be loved like many other animals that were abandoned. Today that dream has surely come true. Nala has over 4 million followers on Instagram, which earned her the title “Guinness World Records Most Popular Cat on Instagram.”
In addition to managing her Insta fame, Nala is being asked to test various cat food brands. More importantly, “Nala is our chance to share the love to help create a better life for other animals, so they can grow well and bring joy to the world like Nala has.”
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Visits to a shelter. | B．Love at first sight. |
| C．Power of blue eyes. | D．Duty to adopt cats. |
| A．To meet Nala’s needs. | B．To help Nala be a star. |
| C．To share Nala’s pictures. | D．To attract public attention. |
| A．Satisfied | B．Amazed. | C．Upset. | D．Disappointed |
| A．Being well treated like many of her kind. | B．Starting life in the shelter. |
| C．Gaining chances to earn money. | D．Being raised by Instagram fans. |
4 . It is believed that human story begins in Africa and ends about 200,000 years later with their seven billion descendants (后代) spread across the Earth, living in peace or at war, their faces lit by campfires and computer screens.
In between is an exciting tale of survival, movement, isolation, and conquest, most of it occurring before recorded history. Who were those first modern people in Africa? What routes did they take when they left their home continent 60,000 years ago to expand into Europe and Asia? When and how did humans reach the Americas? For decades, the only proof was found in a small number of scattered bones and artifacts that our ancestors left behind on their journeys. In the past 20 years, however, DNA technologies have allowed scientists to find a record of ancient human migrations in the DNA of living people.
“Every drop of human blood contains a history book written in the language of our genes,” says population geneticist Spencer Wells. The human genetic code, or genome, is 99.9 percent identical throughout the world. But while the bulk of our DNA is the same, what’s left is responsible for our individual differences — in eye color or disease risk, for example. On very rare occasions, a small change, called a mutation, can occur, which is then passed down to all of that person’s descendants. Generations later, finding that same mutation in two people's DNA indicates that they share the same ancestor. By comparing mutations in many different populations, scientists can trace their ancestral connections.
These ancient mutations are easiest to track in two places: in DNA that is passed from mother to child (called mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA for short), and in DNA that travels from father to son (known as the Y chromosome, the part of DNA that determines a child will be a boy). By comparing the mtDNA and Y chromosomes (染色体) of people from various populations, geneticists can get a rough idea of where and when those groups separated in the great migrations around the planet.
1. The best title for this reading could be ________.| A．Exploring human history | B．Finding DNA differences |
| C．Making a biology experiment | D．Discovering ancestry in DNA |
| A．A drop of blood contains genetic information that can tell a person’s ancestral history. |
| B．The organization of information in a history book is similar to the organization of DNA within a gene. |
| C．Every drop of blood contains enough DNA information to fill many history books. |
| D．Although people speak different languages, all human blood contains the same language. |
| A．the large size | B．the main part |
| C．the weight or shape | D．the quantity |
| A．The earliest people are said to originate from Africa and spread across the world. |
| B．Scientists have found ways to determine whether people share the same ancestor. |
| C．Human DNA remains the same as what is passed down from their ancestors. |
| D．Comparing mtDNA and Y chromosomes can help identify human migrations. |
5 . Katherine Rooks remembers when she first learned that a punctuation mark (标点符号) could be so powerful. The Denver-based writer had sent her high school-aged son a text message — coming home from school. “I could tell from his response that he was offended (冒犯) all of sudden. And when he came home, he walked in the door, came over and said, ‘What did you mean by this?’” Rooks was confused. How could a simple text message send confusion?
“And so we looked at the text together and I said. ‘Well, I meant, see you later, or something. I don’t remember exactly what it said.’ And he said, ‘But you ended with a period (句号)! I thought you were really angry!’” Rooks wasn’t angry, and she explained to her son that periods are how you end a sentence.
But in text messaging — at least for younger adults — periods do more than just end a sentence: they also can set tone. Gretchen McCulloch, linguist (语言学家) said that when it comes to text messaging, the period has lost its original purpose because rather than needing a symbol to indicate the end of a sentence, you can simply hit send at the end of your message. That doesn’t mean the period has lost all purposes in text messaging. Now it can be used to indicate the gravity of a situation or a sense of finality (终结).
However, caution is needed, said McCulloch, noting that problems can start to arise when you combine a period with a positive emotion, such as “Sure.” or “Sounds good.” “Now you’ve got positive words and serious punctuation and the clash between them is what creates that sense of passive-aggression (消极对抗),” said McCulloch.
Our language has developed, and “what we have done with our incredible linguistic genius is finding ways to insert some kind of emotional, interpersonal information into texting,” said Celia Klin, a psychology professor at Binghamton University. “And what we have is things like periods, emoticons and other kinds of punctuation. So people have repurposed the period to mean something else.” And that something else is passive-aggression.
1. What left Rooks at a loss?| A．Her son’s untimely coming home. |
| B．Her son’s heavy reliance on text messages. |
| C．Her son’s inability to adapt to high school life. |
| D．Her son’s unexpected reaction to the message. |
| A．It aroused his anger. |
| B．It meant seriousness to him. |
| C．It brought embarrassment to him. |
| D．It appeared in an improper position. |
| A．Interval. | B．Exchange. | C．Mismatch. | D．Association. |
| A．The basic rules of punctuation |
| B．Passive-aggression from punctuation |
| C．debate about language development |
| D．Parents’ trouble with passive-aggression |
6 . Fathers in France will now get double the paid paternity leave. President Emmanuel Macron announced this week. Starting next summer, dads will receive 28 days paid leave. When a baby arrives in the world, there is no reason it should be just the mother who takes ('are of it, Macron said in the announcement.
It stands in sharp contrast to the dire state of paternity leave in the US, where there is no federal paid parental leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act grants some mothers and fathers the ability to lake 12 weeks unpaid leave and return to a protected job, depending on the size and type of the company. But the law leaves many parents at the mercy of the state in which they live (only three, California, New Jersey. and Rhode Island, grant paid leave) or their employers' individual plans.
According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, only 9 percent of US companies offer paid paternity leave to all male employees. Some companies offer more paid leave for mothers and less for fathers, essentially ensuring that taking care of a new child is a woman's responsibility.
Even when paternity leave is an option, many fathers don't take it, due to fear of losing their standing—or, even worse, their job. In fact, 76 percent of fathers are back to work within a week after the birth or adoption of a child.
Studies have shown that paternity leave can set the tone for fathers' long-term relationships with their children and families. Children whose fathers took at least two weeks of paternity leave reported feeling closer to their dads even nine years later, according to a joint study of sociology professors at Ball State University and Ohio State University, which also found that paternity leave is linked to lower divorce rates. In Europe, data found that fathers are “more likely to remain involved in parenting and to equally divide household chores with their partners if they take time off after their children arrive”.
1. How long can French fathers rest before announcement?| A．28 days. | B．14 days. | C．12 weeks. | D．4 weeks. |
| A．Horrible. | B．Wonderful. | C．Acceptable. | D．Positive. |
| A．They may take the risk of being unemployed. |
| B．It's women's duty to look after the new born child. |
| C．Their companies don't have the right to let fathers take it. |
| D．They are unwilling to accompany their wives and children. |
| A．Changes of the relationship of the family. |
| B．A science report made by sociology professors. |
| C．Some advantages of fathers' taking paternity leave. |
| D．The benefits of fathers' sharing household chores. |
7 . For the past decade, Noutsady has been working with the Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) and grown into an experienced and reliable staff member of its Laos' branch company.
Noutsady, born in 1986 in central Laos' hilly Hin Heup District, went to the capital Vientiane alone at the age of 21 to look for a job and go on with her study. In 2009, with sound knowledge of accounting and favorable English communication skills, she stood out from many applicants and became an employee of POWERCHINA's Lao Cement Industry Co., Lid. Noutsady showed her talent and ability soon in the accounting position, completing nearly 200 payments for more than 50 downstream carriers every month, timely and accurately.
Working and spending time together has brought Noutsady and her Chinese colleagues closer. "I feel great with POWERCHINA, and I will try to achieve the same like POWERCHINA to 'keep promises and make promises valuable' and start a new life here," Noutsady told reporters.
When talking about the cement products of the company, Noutsady is full of pride. "We are one of the earliest cement producers in Laos," she said. "From the many hydropower plants around the country to the broad 450th Anniversary Avenue in the capital and the splendid Lao National Convention Center, even many house buildings in my hometown, our cement is used."
In the last decade, the Lao lady has not only seen the development of the cement company, but also set up her own small family. Now, Noutsady lives with her daughter in a comfortable apartment provided by the company. At the end of 2019, she was honored as an outstanding foreign employee of POWERCHINA. "Another new decade has begun and I will value it even more, loving my daughter, loving my life and loving my POWERCHINA," said Noutsady.
1. What does Noutsady do in the company?| A．An interpreter. | B．An accountant. | C．A salesperson. | D．A reporter, |
| A．Worthwhile. | B．Competitive. | C．Challenging. | D．Unique. |
| A．Many power plants have been built in Laos. | B．Laos has changed a lot in the past ten years. |
| C．Noutsady is satisfied with her achievements. | D．Cement of POWERCHINA is popular in Laos. |
| A．A Successful Lao Woman Living in China |
| B．POWERCHINA's Significant Influence on Laos |
| C．Valuable Memories of a Lao Lady Working in China |
| D．Noutsady's 10-year Experience in a Chinese Company |
8 . Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse, and when he arrived in this hard world, it was very doubtful whether he would live beyond the first three minutes. He lay on a hard little bed and struggled to start breathing.
Oliver managed to draw his first breath by crying loudly. His mother raised her pale young face from the pillow and whispered, “Let me see the child, and die.”
The doctor turned away from the fire, where he had been warming his hands. He gave her the child to hold. Lovingly, she kissed the baby on its forehead with her cold white lips, then stared wildly around the room, fell back—and died.
The doctor began to put on his coat. “The baby is weak and will probably have difficulties,” he said. “If so, give it a little milk to keep it quiet.”
And so Oliver was left with only the drunken nurse. Without clothes, under his first blanket, he could have been the child of a king or a beggar. But when the woman dressed him later in rough cotton clothes, yellow with age, he looked exactly what he was — an orphan in a workhouse, ready for a life of misery, hunger, and neglect.
Oliver was sent to a special “baby farm” nearby. There, he and thirty other children rolled around the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing. Mrs Mann, the old woman who “looked after” them, was very experienced. She knew what was good for children, and a full stomach was very dangerous to their health. She also knew what was good for herself, so she kept for her own use the money that she was given for the children’s food. The board responsible for the orphans sometimes checked on the health of the children, but they always sent the beadle, a kind of local policeman, to announce their visit the day before. So whenever the board arrived, of course, the children were always neat and clean.
On Oliver’s ninth birthday, Mr Bumble, the beadle, came to the house to see Mrs Mann. Through the front window Mrs Mann saw him at the gate, and turned quickly to the girl who worked with her.
“Quick! Take Oliver and those others upstairs to be washed!” she said. Then she ran out to unlock the gate which was always kept locked.
1. According to the passage, a workhouse was where ________.| A．many women died unexpectedly | B．workers helped each other |
| C．the poor and homeless lived | D．people were only interested in money |
| A．Oliver was born into the world on a cold day. |
| B．Many people, especially women, drank heavily at that time. |
| C．The children in the baby farm were taken good care of. |
| D．Doctors were usually paid too little for the work they did. |
| A．protect the children inside from dangers outside |
| B．prevent official visitors walking in unexpectedly |
| C．keep the children inside working all the time |
| D．ensure the children were always neat and clean |
| A．Oliver’s early life. | B．Oliver’s personality. |
| C．Mother’s death. | D．People’s selfishness. |
9 . Jac Grimes plays Santa in Greensboro, North Carolina. He gave up home visits which make up about a third of his business. He did it not just for his own health, but to prevent passing the virus from one family to the next. At a farmer's market where he works every year, Grimes dresses up as Santa and sits in a parking area. He talks to children who remain inside their cars.
The virus has many Santas and parents turning to online visits. Those visits have led many Santas to turn to their children and others for help in learning new computer skills. "It has been a challenge （挑战），" said Christopher Saunders, a Santa performer in Tool, a small town near Dallas, Texas. But Saunders and others say that instead of in-person visits, online visits are good, if imperfect.
Even Santas with the best jobs are hurt. Howard Graham has played Santa for eight years at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The place is known for its famous Christmas show with the Rockettes, a dance group. This year, he is making online visits and working five days with a historic railroad in Pennsylvania. “I love what I do... bringing them （children） a little bit of smile and hope," said Graham.
Brad Six first played Santa 35 years ago. He recently sat on Santa's chair for three hours at a shop in Miami. As families sat in front of a glass barrier（屏障）for photos, Six turned his head so that his face protection did not reflect （反射）the camera's light. He happily waved at children around the barrier so they could tell him their wish lists-from a distance about 1.8 meters away.
Six said the situation was a little easier physically on Santa's back because he didn't have to pick anybody up, but it was not as enjoyable because Santa didn't get the interaction （互动）he normally gets. This was definitely different, but the kids were excited and that was what mattered.
1. Many Santas learn new computer skills in order to.| A．offer their services online | B．attract more visitors |
| C．give up playing Santa | D．make their job easier |
| A．To show the advantages of working as Santa. | B．To introduce a famous Christmas show. |
| C．To compare different situations of Santas. | D．To show the great effects of the virus on Santas. |
| A．They interact with children online. | B．They take pictures with children. |
| C．They play Santa with safety measures. | D．They keep 1.8 metres from the children. |
| A．Health Risk Changes Ways Santas Meet Children |
| B．It's Hard for Children to See Santas in Public |
| C．Christmas Disappoints Children This Year |
| D．Santas Are the Hope in Children's Hearts |
10 . There are many therapies (疗法) for depression, including medical treatment, psychotherapy and talk therapy. Having a range of treatment choices is a good idea because no single treatment works equally well for each of millions of sufferers. Choosing the most suitable treatment is important to them. Now researchers say a new therapy proven to relieve depression should be added to the established treatments. It's called nature therapy. "Interacting with nature can have positive effects on those with depression," says Ethan Kross, PhD, an expert who has studied the nature depression link.
A little exposure to nature helps all of us get our energy back, and it may have special benefit for those who are depressed.“It seems that, from our work, the restorative effect of nature seems to be stronger for individuals with depression," says Marc Berman, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. That might be because they feel mentally exhausted, and being in nature re energizes them. However, Dr Berman has a strong warning. “We're not arguing that interacting with nature should replace clinically proven treatments for depression," he says, “Nor should those with clinical depression try to treat themselves.”
However, Berman and others say, interactions with nature could serve as a very effective supplementary treatment. Compared to adults with depression walking for 50 minutes in an urban setting, those who took a 50 minute walk in a natural setting were less depressed and had better memory skills.
Why does nature hold this special effect? Berman says, “In a natural environment, we can choose to think or not, and this choice is believed to help us rest our brains. You can then pay attention later, when you need to.”He adds, “It gives people more ability to concentrate, which is a big problem for those with depression. ”Nature provides an effective setting for resting our brains, unlike urban setting. Even in the most peaceful urban environment, you have to pay attention to such things as traffic and stoplights.
1. What can we learn about depression therapies from paragraph 1?| A．They focus on physical activity. |
| B．They pay no attention to interactions. |
| C．They mainly depend on natural environment. |
| D．They need to be tailored to different patients. |
| A．By making them feel energetic. | B．By reminding them to rest in time. |
| C．By taking the place of clinic treatment. | D．By covering up their mental problems. |
| A．Additional. | B．Traditional. | C．Controversial. | D．Essential. |
| A．An urban setting of restoring energy. |
| B．The positive role of nature in treating depression. |
| C．The popularity of using multiple ways to treat diseases. |
| D．An effective replacement of clinical therapy for depression. |
