1 . Journalists are the major group of people who make their living from writing. Many young people who see themselves as future novelists choose journalism as a way of earning a living while developing their writing skills. Although writing for newspapers and writing for books require different qualities, the aspiration (志向) to be a great writer is not one to be discouraged in a would-be journalist.
Most people want their work to be recognized by others. This helps to give it value. Some people also want themselves to be recognized, so that they have status (地位) in the eyes of society. It is not a bad motive to wish to be famous, but this must never become your main reason for being a journalist. You will not be a good journalist if you care more for impressing your audience than for serving their needs.
Knowing the power of the printed or spoken word or image, some people enter journalism for the power it will give them to influence people. There is a strong belief that journalists control the mass media but the best journalists recognize their role as servants of the people. There is a difference between the desire to influence events for your own sake, and the desire to do it for other people. You should never use journalism for selfish ends, but you can use it to improve the life of other people.
Curiosity is a natural part of most people’s characters and an important ingredient for any journalist. Lots of young men and women enter the profession with the desire to know more about the world without needing to specialize in limited fields of study. Most journalists tend to know a little bit about a lot of things, rather than a lot about one subject. Knowledge has many uses. It can simply help to make you a fuller and more interesting person. It can also give you power over people, especially people who do not have that particular knowledge. Always bear in mind that power can be used in a positive way to improve people’s lives.
1. What can we know from the first paragraph?| A．Journalists are most likely to become great writers. |
| B．Writing for newspapers is similar to writing for novels. |
| C．Most of the journalists make a living by writing books. |
| D．Journalism can be used as a means to improve writing. |
| A．Being specialized in a certain field. |
| B．Having a wide range of knowledge. |
| C．Being good at making friends with others. |
| D．Being able to speak a foreign language well. |
| A．The development of journalism. |
| B．The challenges journalists face now. |
| C．How to become a qualified journalist. |
| D．Why people choose a career in journalism. |
2 . Yawning is something we all do -- maybe because we're bored carrying out boring tasks or because we're tired. Sometimes, just seeing other people yawn can set you off. But is this biological function really contagious, and why do we do it in the first place?
Many of us think we open our mouths when we yawn to take in more oxygen, but in fact it appears there is no clear biological reason. According to BBC Bitesize, new research suggests it might be because yawning cools the brain down and prevents it from overheating, much like the fan in your laptop. This might be why we're more likely to feel sleepy and yawn in warm temperatures.
What is clear is that we yawn more when we're exhausted and ready for a nap, and we can't control when we do it -- once we start, there's no stopping us! But it's also true that yawning is a very contagious behavior. John Drury, a researcher from Sussex University found in his research that there is a connection with our social group and how close we are to the people in it. If we identify with the person who exhibits the behavior, we are likely to copy it too.
Another research by the University of Nottingham in 2017 found similar results. They asked volunteers to watch other people yawn. They found their ability to resist yawning when others around them yawned was limited. And the urge to yawn was increased when people were told they couldn't. They also found, when using electrical stimulation, that they were able to increase people's desire to yawn. These findings, they say, could be useful in treating other conditions like Tourette's, which involve the same area of the brain.
What is certain is that a yawn can creep up on us at any time even when we think we're not tired --but, I hope, not when you're reading this article!
1. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “contagious”？| A．Infectious. |
| B．Active. |
| C．Dangerous. |
| D．Efficient. |
| A．we are too exhausted. |
| B．our brain needs more oxygen. |
| C．we are bored with difficult tasks. |
| D．our brain needs to be cooled down. |
| A．Humans can't stop yawning as it is beneficial. |
| B．When told not to yawn, we will yawn less frequently. |
| C．Using electrical stimulation can stimulate people to yawn. |
| D．We are more likely to yawn when someone around us yawns. |
| A．The reasons for yawning. |
| B．The benefits of studying yawning. |
| C．The necessity of yawning. |
| D．The similarity of the studies on yawning. |
3 . A new study suggests that identical(同卵的) twins are not exactly the same genetically. Scientists in Iceland examined DNA from 387 pairs of identical twins, their parents, children, husbands or wives. The examinations led the team to find “early mutations that separate identical twins,” lead researcher and geneticist Kari Stefansson said.
Mutations are small changes in DNA that can happen when a cell divides in an attempt to copy itself. These small changes can influence a person’s physical appearance or control a person’s ability to fight a disease.
The newly-discovered mutations show that identical twins do have genetic differences. On average, identical twins have 5.2 of these early genetic differences, the researchers found. These differences represent a small part of each twin’s genetic material. But they could influence why one twin is taller or why one is at greater risk for some cancers than the other.
In the past, many researchers believed physical differences seen in identical twins were related mostly to environmental influences, such as nutrition or lifestyle behaviors.
Jan Dumanski is a geneticist at Sweden’s Uppsala University. He was not involved in the study. He praised the findings as “a clear and important contribution” to medical research. “The implication is that we have to be very careful when we are using twins as a model” for examining the influences of genetics or the environment, Dumanski said.
A 2008 paper in The American Journal of Human Genetics found some genetic differences between identical twins. The new study, however, goes beyond earlier work by including the DNA of parents, children, husbands and wives of identical twins. Studying family members permitted the researchers to examine when genetic mutations happened in two different kinds of cells: those present in only one individual and those passed on to the person’s children.
Stefansson said his team found twins where a mutation is present in all cells of the body of one twin, but not in the other twin at all. However, “sometimes the second twin may show the mutation in some cells, but not all cells,” he added.
1. What is a function of mutations?| A．Change people’s DNA. |
| B．Help a cell to copy itself. |
| C．Influence people’s physical appearance. |
| D．Increase people’s ability to fight diseases. |
| A．To check when the mutations happened. |
| B．To identify the results of former research. |
| C．To find out where the mutations happened. |
| D．To examine the influence of the environment. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Concerned. | D．Positive. |
| A．A Breakthrough in Identical Twins Study |
| B．Identical Twins: Not Genetically Exact Copies |
| C．Genetic Differences Caused by Family Members |
| D．DNA Decides the Difference between Identical Twins |
4 . With bold colors, sharp lines and surreal (超现实主义的) scenes, street art from Brazil brings a different cultural feast to the audience in Shanghai this winter.
Two famous Brazilian street artists, twin brothers Gustavo Pandolfo and Otavio Pandolfo, opened their exhibition at the Shanghai Fosun Foundation on the last day of 2020. Titled “You Are My Guest,” the show will last till Feb. 26.
“It was difficult to put this show together when the whole world had to stop because of the pandemic,” Otavio Pandolfo told Xinhua during an online interview. Due to COVID-19, the two artists could not personally present their work in Shanghai, nor could they participate in the exhibition’s offline planning and preparations. However, they created a network with staff members from the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai via e-mails and video links.
After months of online communication and arrangements, they managed to send over 200 art pieces to Shanghai. “We try to find the best way to share our works with all the guests that visit the show,” he said.
Popular around the world, they have held and participated in exhibitions in countries including the United States, Portugal and Finland. “ ‘You Are My Guest’ is an invitation for everyone to jump inside our imagination, and we like to share this with everybody,” he said, adding that the exhibits were presented in a multi-media way, including large-scale paintings and sound pieces.
Born and living in Sao Paulo, they infuse(注入) their works with Brazilian cultural elements, such as local folk stories, hip hop music and breakdancing, and hope the exhibition would give Chinese audiences a glimpse of Brazilian culture. “It was a difficult year for everyone in many different ways,” said Gustavo Pandolfo. “We hope that with this exhibition we can bring some hope, energy and light, and people can think of something colorful, fun, happy and with love.”
1. What can we learn about the exhibition?| A．It will last about a month. |
| B．It was hardly influenced by the pandemic. |
| C．Visitors can jump inside the large-scale paintings. |
| D．The two artists couldn’t get involved in its preparations in person. |
| A．To share their works with Chinese audiences. |
| B．To bring hope, energy and light to people’s life. |
| C．To help Chinese audiences understand Brazilian culture. |
| D．To make people think of something colorful and delightful. |
| A．A story of two artists. |
| B．An exhibition review. |
| C．An introduction to an exhibition. |
| D．An advertisement for an exhibition. |
5 . A new report connects eating eggs to an increased risk of heart disease. The results follow several earlier studies that found eating eggs was generally healthy. The study collects data from six other earlier studies. It shows a 6 percent increased risk of heart disease when the number of eggs a person ate each day increased by half an egg.
Norrina Allen, an associate professor at Northwestern University said that, in the United States, eggs are generally one of the top sources of cholesterol(胆固醇)in a person’s daily food. People with higher levels of cholesterol in their food are at increased risk of the development of heart disease later in life. However, Allen added that she would not say that eggs are completely unhealthy. “I’m not saying that people should take them completely out of their food,” she said. “I’m just suggesting that people eat them in a proper amount.”
Some experts believe the new study does not prove that eggs are causing heart disease. “Cholesterol’s role in the development of heart disease has been discussed for more than 30 years,” said Bruemmer, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “This study does have clear shortcomings, including self-reporting at a single time point,” he added.
Bruemmer said, “Eggs in moderation(适度)are probably acceptable from a nutritional standpoint.” “Moderation,” he added, “is less than one egg a day, including eggs in foods such as bread”.
Holly Andersen, a doctor at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, agrees that the study has “real shortcomings”. One problem Andersen has with the study is that a lot of the egg-eating people in the study also appeared to be eating much meat and processed meat. “If you’re taking a lot of processed meat, it doesn’t matter how many eggs you’re eating,” Andersen said.
Also, Andersen said, “The study can only show there is a relation between eggs eating and heart disease. But it cannot prove eggs are the cause of the disease. It may just be that people eating a lot of eggs are also taking a lot of bacon.”
1. What does Norrina Allen agree with?| A．Eggs are completely unhealthy. |
| B．Eggs contain the most cholesterol. |
| C．Eggs should be eaten in a right amount. |
| D．Eggs have no connection with heart disease. |
| A．Interested. | B．Doubtful. | C．Concerned. | D．Hopeful. |
| A．Eggs and meat cannot be eaten together. |
| B．Processed meat may cause heart disease. |
| C．Processed meat should be avoided. |
| D．The study is supported by evidence. |
| A．Do eggs cause heart disease? |
| B．Are eggs the top source of cholesterol? |
| C．What’s the proper amount of eggs eaten? |
| D．Is the cholesterol to blame for heart disease? |
6 . Japanese businessman Katsuo Inoue chose Italy for his summer vacation this year. He enjoyed the views of Florence and Rome—without ever leaving Tokyo.
Inoue and his wife “flew” to Italy on First Airlines, a company known for entertainment, not transportation. The Tokyo-based company entered the growing virtual reality (虚拟现实) market, as people face travel restrictions (限制) because of COVID-19.
“I often go overseas on business, but I haven’t been to Italy,” Inoue told the Reuters News. “My impression was rather good because I got a sense of actually seeing things there.”
The “passengers” on First Airlines sit in the first or business-class areas of an “airplane”. They are even given a life vest and oxygen mask. Workers serve meals and drinks as large screens show passing clouds and other views outside the airplane. The “travelers” then receive virtual reality eyewear that provides true-to-life tours of places like Paris, New York, Hawaii and Rome and other Italian cities.
Japan has recorded over 50,000 infections (感染) and just over 1,000 deaths. A second wave of infections starting in July has stopped most travel in and out the country. The country’s biggest airline, ANA Holdings, said the numbers of passengers flying to foreign countries fell by 96 percent in June. And the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted last month that it would take until the year 2024 for international travel to recover.
But Hiroaki Abe, president of First Airlines says, “Our business has increased by 50 percent since the start of the travel restrictions. We get some customers who normally travel to Hawaii every year and they can experience some of that here.”
1. What do we know about Inoue’s trip to Italy?| A．It was a trip on business. | B．It was a virtual visit. |
| C．It was his first trip by plane. | D．It was against the travel restrictions. |
| A．Customers’ comments on the trip. |
| B．Safety rules to follow during the trip. |
| C．Business advantages of virtual vacations. |
| D．The company’s services to make the trip real. |
| A．It may disappear by 2024. |
| B．Its customers are hard to please. |
| C．Its market will surely become bigger. |
| D．It meets customers’ need in the special time. |
| A．A news report. | B．A blog post. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A business advertisement. |
7 . You’ve probably heard of rain forests, but do you know what a cloud forest is? Cloud forests are evergreen forests that are often covered in clouds or mist and are located on mountains. Cool temperatures on mountain slopes create clouds that cover the trees. There are cloud forests on most continents. Central and South America have them, as do Asia and Africa. You can also find cloud forests in Hawaii and on Caribbean islands.
Cloud forests have different names, depending on where they are found. Cloud forests are also known as fog forests or mossy forests. In Peru and Bolivia, cloud forests are part of a larger ecosystem called yungas, which means “warm lands.”
Many scientists consider cloud forests to be a special type of rainforest. Cloud forests are not as warm tropical rain forests because they are found at higher elevations (海拔) that have colder air. But these cloud forests and tropical rain forests both have many different plants and animals living within their ecosystems.
Like tropical rain forests, cloud forest trees drip (滴下) with moisture, but it does not often rain in a cloud forest. Instead, the fog collects as dew on leaves, vines, and branches. This dew provides the water that the plants need. Green moss, ferns, and exotic, colorful orchid flowers hang down from the canopy. Other plants and bushes crowd between the trees, and hundreds of insects crawl (爬行) and fly amid the vegetation. Cloud forests are as diverse and interesting as rain forests or temperate forests.
Cloud forests have animals that aren't found anywhere else, such as mountain gorillas and a strange woolly mammal called the mountain tapir. The colorful Quetzalcoatl bird is also found there, and golden toads hop among the bushes. Lately, scientists discovered a new cloud forest animal, a black and brown rodent that looks like a cross between a squirrel and a rat. Cloud forests probably contain hundreds of other rare and fascinating plants and animals that people have never seen before.
1. The passage is mostly about .| A．the animals of the cloud forest | B．what the cloud forest is like |
| C．where cloud forests are found | D．how scientists study the cloud forest |
| A．temperatures are cool | B．there are so many trees |
| C．the forests are so low | D．it is so moist there |
| A．why scientists study cloud forests | B．the kinds of trees in cloud forests |
| C．the animals and plants of cloud forests | D．why cloud forests are endangered |
| A．Cloud forests have more plants. |
| B．Cloud forests are wetter. |
| C．Cloud forests are studied by scientists. |
| D．Cloud forests are found on mountain slopes. |
8 . When a corporation(公司) is formed, it issues stock (股票), which is sold or given to individuals.Ownership of stock entitles you to vote in the election of acorporation’s directors, so in theory holders of stock control the company. In practice, however, in most large corporations, ownership is separated from control of the firm. Most stockholders have little input into the decisions a corporation makes. Instead, corporations are often controlled by their managers, who often run them for their own benefit as well as for the owners. The reason is that the owners’control of management is limited.
A large percent of most corporations’ stock is not even controlled by the owners; instead, is controlled by financial institutions such as mutual funds (financial institutions that invest individuals’money for them) and by pension funds (financial institutions that hold people’s money for them untilit is to be paid out to them upon their retirement). Thus, ownership of I Corporations is another step removed from individuals. Studies have shown that 80 percentof the largest 200 corporations in the US are essentially controlled by managersand have little effective stockholder control.
Why is the question of who controls a firm important? Because economic theory assumes the goal of business owners is to maximize profits, which would be true of corporations if stockholders made the decisions. Managers don’t have the same motivation to maximize profits that owners do. There’s pressure on managers to maximize profits, but that pressure can often be weak orineffective. An example of how firms deal with this problem involves stock options. Many companies give their managers stock options-rights to buy stock at a low price - to encourage them to worry about the price of their company’s stock. But these stock options dilute the value of company ownership and profits per share and can give managers an incentive (激励, 刺激)to overstate profits through accounting tricks, as happened at Enron, Xerox, and a number of other firms.
1. Why can’t the stockholders control the company?| A．Because they are separated from the managers. |
| B．Because they havea little input in making decisions. |
| C．Because they are limited in the control of management. |
| D．Because they are restricted to the ownership of the company. |
| A．Ownership is controlled by managers. |
| B．Ownership is separated from control of the company. |
| C．Ownership is removed from the stockholders. |
| D．Ownership is controlled by financial institutions. |
| A．maximize | B．arouse | C．decrease | D．ease |
| A．Stock option. | B．The right to own stock. |
| C．Controlling power. | D．Effective stockholder control. |
| A．Who Controls Corporation? | B．When should the Stock be Issued? |
| C．Importance of Financial Institutions | D．Stockholders and Managers |
9 . Ireland is throwing away peat（泥炭) for energy and turning to wind.
Peat has a lot to recommend it. It sends off a pleasant smell when burned. It is a cheap source of energy; at its simplest it needs no more than digging by hand. But peat is also one of the dirtiest fuels available, emitting 23% more carbon dioxide than coal.
Ireland is unusual among developed countries in burning it for energy. Peat has been used on the island for at least 1,000 years. But it may at last be on its way out as Ireland turns to another energy source of which it has unlimited quantities: wind.
Galway Wind Park will be Ireland's largest wind farm when it is completed, producing 169MW of power at peak capacity（容量), or about 3% of Ireland's average needs. It is only the latest development in Irish wind power, which has tripled in the last decade to more than 3GW of capacity. The renewable resource now provides a quarter of the electricity Ireland consumes every year.
Eirgrid, a state-owned company which manages the grid（电网 ） in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, says much more wind capacity is in the planning stages. Wind is difficult to manage because it is unpredictable, even on the shores with strong winds of western Ireland. Since wind turbines （涡轮机）do not turn consistently, the grid must be carefully tuned to keep it stable.
Eirgrid is planning a set of wires to continental Europe.
A report from SEAI, Ireland's energy authority, suggests that the island could produce enough wind electricity to match domestic demand by 2030, with more left over to export. Bord na Móna, the body responsible for developing Ireland's peatlands, has said it will stop using peat for electricity by the same year.
1. Which of the following statements about peat is right?| A．Peat is a cheap and clean source of energy with a pleasant smell. |
| B．Peat in Ireland will be an export. |
| C．Ireland will stop using peat as fuel. |
| D．Peat is renewable and will never be used up. |
| A．The wind power is not strong enough |
| B．It is a high-cost project. |
| C．The wind power is unstable. |
| D．It won’t produce enough electricity. |
| A．The Change of Using energy in Ireland |
| B．Stop Using Out-Of-Date Energy |
| C．Peat vs Wind Power |
| D．Ireland: A Country Using Wind Power |
10 . I took a deep breath and walked through the front door, my arms full of groceries. A challenge lay ahead of me, someone who could hardly boil water: cooking the Easter Sunday dinner. What if I made everyone sick? It could truly be our family’s last super meal.
Making the holiday meal was my brother’s job, not mine. I could never fill his shoes. Peter had died in September at the age of 45 from a heart attack, but he’d been a natural in the kitchen all his life. He planned every course in detail, from the crescent rolls to the Dutch apple pie.
My family was lost without him, and we went out to dinner for Thanksgiving and ordered pizza for Christmas. By the time Easter rolled around, though, I couldn’t bear the idea of another holiday surrounded by takeout (外卖食品) boxes. Peter would have hated that. To him, there was nothing more important than a meal made with love. So I convinced Mom that we should cook Easter dinner together. But we were terrible cooks.
I had been thinking what to cook for Easter dinner. I’d bitten off more than I could chew. No one could do this half as well as Peter.
I stepped into the family room. Mom was still at church, but her newspaper was opened on the coffee table, to the sports section, as usual. She was a huge Notre Dame women’s basketball fan, and the featured story was about the forward Devereaux Peters. I read the headline and nearly dropped my grocery bags, Filling Peters’ Shoes.
That afternoon, cooking in the kitchen, I didn’t feel so alone. Mom and I pulled together and the Easter feast was not that bad. The ham may have been a little dry, but it was all made with love— just like Peter would have wanted.
1. What would Peter have preferred to do if holidays had come?| A．To go out to have dinner. | B．To order pizza. |
| C．To show off his cooking skills. | D．To cook a big dinner for his family. |
| A．the Easter dinner was the family’s last dinner |
| B．Mom persuaded the author to cook the Easter dinner |
| C．Peter enjoyed cooking a dinner with love |
| D．their Easter dinner this year was a complete failure |
| A．she wasn’t confident in cooking the Easter dinner |
| B．she was not able to eat a lot of food |
| C．the Easter dinner made her sick |
| D．she couldn’t cook the dinner alone |
| A．Cooking in the Kitchen | B．Filling Peter’s Shoes |
| C．Happy Easter Day | D．Terrible Cooks |
