1 . A calorie deficit is a state in which you burn more calories than you consume. As one of the most popular approaches of losing weight, how does it work? For example, if you burn 2,500 calories per day but only eat 2,000，you have created a deficit of 500 calories per day. There is mathematical certainty. But, this by no means tells the whole story about how calories deficit affects our lives.
Before wondering what a calorie deficit is, it’s probably best to learn what a calorie is. A calorie is a unit that we use to track our body’s energy expenditure (消耗) and storage. In order to just stay alive, human beings (and animals) burn calories. This means, even before we perform any activity, our bodies are already using energy (measured in calories) to keep us alive. Around 70% of the calories we consume are spent on just keeping our vital organs running. Thus, if a person consumes calories far more less than needed to look thin，it may have negative effects on the body.
When people pick up a calorie deficit, they often merely note that the calorie math is irrefutable (无可辩驳的). The question here is that not all calories are the same. If you eat a few bags of potato chip worth of calories to support the calorie intake needed to maintain or cut down on your weight, it will work. But, this doesn’t have the same effect on your body and overall health as a balanced nutritional meal containing the same amount of calories.
It seems like a simple unit of energy has become an object of our society’s obsession. It needn't be that way. Remember, calorie deficits are just a tool, which serves a purpose in losing some weight and keeping track of your calorie intake seems simple enough.
1. What do we know about the calorie deficit?| A．It helps people lose weight. |
| B．It is a way of doing exercises. |
| C．It affects people's lives positively. |
| D．It means the calories people consume. |
| A．A calorie is a unit to store daily energy. |
| B．People need to burn calories to be alive. |
| C．Calorie intake is to keep our organs operating. |
| D．Living animals only burn calories after activities. |
| A．Focusing on the calorie math when eating. |
| B．Focusing on different calories when eating. |
| C．Having bags of potato chips containing enough calories. |
| D．Having balanced nutritional diets containing proper calories. |
| A．Influences of calorie deficits. | B．Approaches to lose weight. |
| C．Distinctions between calories. | D．Ways to track calorie intake. |
2 . The popularity of Chinese-owned video-sharing service TikTok(抖音)continues to grow among young people in the United States. In 2019, experts say the service more than doubled its American user base to 37 million. TikTok is especially popular with teens and young adults.
The service lets users create and share their short videos that they think interesting and useful. Many of them are under 15 seconds. The TikTok app offers a wide choice of sounds, brief parts of songs and special effects tools to help create a video. Some TikTok-based memes(表情包)are very popular. Videos often include popular songs from well-known artists and TikTok has even helped launch the careers of new music stars.
TikTok is considered a competitor to the video-sharing app Snapchat, as well as Facebook's Instagram service. Snapchat and Instagram also mainly interest young users with a wide mix of photos and videos centered largely on fashion, pop culture and humor.
Last year, TikTok was the second-most downloaded app from Apple and Google stores. Only WhatsApp was downloaded more. Research company Sensor Tower guesses people have downloaded the TikTok app 1.65 billion times.
TikTok has been used by many major companies to reach young people who use little or no traditional media. One of those companies is American-based e. l. f. Cosmetics(化妆品). The makeup company's chief marketer, Kory Marchisotto, said that TikTok is "where the Gen Z party is". Gen Z is a name used to call the generation born between the late 1990s and the early 2000s.“That's where they're all hanging out," Marchisotto said.
Companies appearing on TikTok can make money through advertising. Often, the companies create user "challenges" as part of their advertisement campaigns. TikTok users created 3 million videos that received more than 4 billion view.
1. Which word can best describe the videos created on TikTok?| A．Traditional. | B．Boring. | C．Various. | D．Serious. |
| A．TikTok. | B．Snapchat. | C．Instagram. | D．WhatsApp. |
| A．Challenge their competitors. | B．Make advertisements. |
| C．Hold music concerts. | D．Promote users' abilities to make videos. |
| A．TikTok Keeps Growing Among US Youth | B．How to Share Short Videos |
| C．Facebook Achieves Great Success | D．Companies Benefit Much from Videos |
3 . This year, new technologies will enable more drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel （方向盘）while on the road. But that doesn’t mean their cars will be fully self-driving --- that day still remains far in the future.
Automakers like General Motors （GM）, Ford and Stellantis are introducing, or upgrading existing technologies. But in the words of Kay Stepper, an automated driving expert, these systems are "feet off’ and "hands off’, but they will not be "eyes off" or “mind off’.
For the time being, these systems will only be used on limited-access highways, where there are no pedestrians or bicyclists. Vehicles with this technology will be able to drive at relatively high speeds, but only in simple traffic situations.
Bryan Reimer, a researcher with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab, said it will be decades before people can buy truly self-driving cars in which humans ride as passengers.
Still, the technology that will be rolled out by the major automakers this year will do more than most so-called Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, do now.
GM’s Super Cruise system allows drivers to completely let go of the steering wheel while driving on selected highways. It was introduced in 2017 on the Cadillac CT6 sedan, which was discontinued last year. An improved version is coming this year on the Cadillac Escalade SUV and the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans.
Super Cruise only works on highways that have been previously laser-mapped in three dimensions. GPS positioning and the vehicles, radar sensors （传感器）and cameras are used to enable drivers to unhand -- and unfoot — all the controls.
Drivers still need to pay attention, however. A camera in the car makes sure the driver is looking at the road at all times. If the driver looks away from the road for more than a few seconds, the system will stop working.
1. At present, what can the self-driving cars do?| A．They can drive freely on city streets. |
| B．They can run without human drivers. |
| C．They handle complex road conditions on their own. |
| D．They allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel. |
| A．GM’s Super Cruise system. | B．GM’s latest car models. |
| C．GM’s development plan. | D．GM’s close competitors. |
| A．People need to trust new technology. |
| B．People still need to pay attention. |
| C．People can look away from the road. |
| D．People can’t unhand all the controls. |
| A．It’s High Time to Get a New Car |
| B．The Industrial Revolution Is Underway |
| C．Super Cruise Does More than Most ADAS |
| D．The Real Self-driving Remains Far Away |
4 . The practice of drinking tea has a long history in China. According to a popular story. tea was discovered by Shennong in 2737 BC when a leaf from a nearby shrub（灌木）fell into the water Shennong was boiling. Tea is deeply woven into the history and culture of China.
The Chinese have a saying: “Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day.” Though tea is the last on the list, we still can see its importance in daily life. A simple meal in Chinese is Cu Cha Dan Fan, which shows even a simple meal is finished with tea.
For the Chinese, tea drinking and tasting are not parallel. Tea drinking can help keep up one’s spirit while tea tasting has cultural meaning. Tea and tea sets should match the breeze, the bright moon, bamboo and so on. All these show the goal of Chinese culture: the harmonious（和谐的）unity of human beings with nature.
Similarly, tea-drinking habits differ in different parts of China. Generally. flowering tea is popular in northern China; green tea is preferred in eastern China, and black tea is fit for people in Fujian and Guangdong. Green tea is the most popular type of tea drunk in China. Green tea usually loses its flavor（味道）within a year while the flavor of black tea can remain for several years. As a result, black tea has long been traded worldwide. It still accounts for over ninety percent of all tea sold in the West. At present, tea is commonly seen in Chinese restaurants and grocery shops worldwide.
1. Why does the author use the Chinese saying in Paragraph 2?| A．To show the tea’s role in Chinese culture. |
| B．To express the author’s love for tea. |
| C．To show the history of tea. |
| D．To explain the Chinese saying. |
| A．Different. | B．Strange. | C．Ordinary. | D．Equal. |
| A．It suits people in Fujian and Guangdong. |
| B．It tastes better than green tea. |
| C．Its flavor can be kept for a long time. |
| D．Its flavor is preferred by the West. |
| A．The development of tea drinking in China. | B．The culture of tea in China. |
| C．The popularity of tea drinking in China. | D．The history of tea in China. |
5 . Nowadays people rarely read for enjoyment, even though reading books used to be one of most people's recreations. It was an escape from the surrounding world, away from technology. However, these days has seen a sharp decline in how much time people spend reading books, news articles, short stories, and many other macro-reading materials.
Social media that have come out, such as Twitter and Facebook, have shortened the amount of time we need to read and process information. Twitter's character limit quickly summarizes information for readers so they do not have to bother opening and reading a longer article. Five minutes on Twitter can catch people up on their news for the rest of the day. Twitter and other social media sites can be regarded as micro-reading, which is a technology that takes bits of articles and summarizes them in a few brief sentences.
But Twitter isn't always able to thoroughly summarize a topic. A headline or summary can be misleading if the reader does not know the context. This can lead to misinterpretations of what an article is actually about.
The other day I was criticized for one of my columns. The criticism was strange, because it was barely connected to the article. When I countered their argument f saying that this opinion wasn't related to the article, they said they didn't read the story, only the headline.
As a columnist, I spend a good amount of time writing these columns and I hope people can read them with great attention. There are points that I am unable to sum up in a single line. If readers don't bother to read the article and only read the headline, they are not going to get the point of the piece of writing. This is why, as a society, we can't fully rely on social media for all of our information.
1. What can we know about most people in the past regarding reading?| A．They spent less time. | B．They read for pleasure. |
| C．They read digital books. | D．They read very quickly. |
| A．headlines and summaries are misleading for writers |
| B．micro-reading sometimes fails to summarize a topic |
| C．articles in a column seem to be easy to be criticized |
| D．people have trouble in selecting reading materials |
| A．They can read the articles carefully. | B．They will express personal opinions. |
| C．They can rely on news on social media. | D．They will make a summary of the points. |
| A．Why Do We Read Less? | B．Is Social Media Good? |
| C．How Is Information Got? | D．Is Micro-reading Enough? |
6 . A new survey by Harvard University finds more than two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Trump’s use of Twitter. The implication is that Millennials prefer news from the White House to be filtered through other source, not a president’s social media platform.
Most Americans rely on social media to check daily headlines. Yet as distrust has risen toward all media, people may be starting to beef up their media literacy. Such a trend is badly needed. During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly a quarter of web content shared by Twitter users in the politically critical state of Michigan was fake news, according to the University of Oxford. And a survey conducted for BuzzFeed News found 44 percent of Facebook users rarely or never trust news from the media giant.
Young people who are digital natives are indeed becoming more skillful at separating fact from fiction in cyberspace. A Knight Foundation focus-group survey of young people between ages 14 and 24 found they use “distributed trust” to verify stories. They cross-check sources and prefer news from different perspectives---especially those that are open about any bias(偏向). “Many young people assume a great deal of personal responsibility for educating themselves and actively seeking out opposing viewpoints,” the survey concluded.
Such active research can have another effect. A 2014 survey conducted in Australia, Britain, and the United States by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that young people’s reliance on social media led to greater political engagement.
Social media allows users to experience news events more intimately(密切地) and immediately while also permitting them to re-share news as a projection of their values and interests. This forces users to be more conscious of their role in passing along information. A survey by Barna research group found the top reason given by Americans for the fake news phenomenon is “reader error,” more so than made-up stories or factual mistakes in reporting. About a third say the problem of fake news lies in “misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news” via social media. In other words, the choice to share news on social media may be the heart of the issue. “This indicates there is a real personal responsibility in counteracting(抵制) this problem,” says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.
So when young people are critical of an over-tweeting president, they reveal a mental discipline in thinking skills---and in their choices on when to share on social media.
1. According to the Paragraphs 1 and 2, many young Americans cast doubts on ________.| A．the justification of the news-filtering practice |
| B．peoples preference for social media platforms |
| C．the administration’s ability to handle information |
| D．the reliability of social media as a source of news |
| A．prefer biased perspectives on news |
| B．tend to voice their opinions in cyberspace |
| C．check out news by referring to diverse resources |
| D．like to exchange views through “distributed trust” |
| A．readers’ lack of knowledge | B．journalists’ mistaken reporting |
| C．readers’ misinterpretation | D．journalists’ made-up stories |
| A．A Rise in Critical Skills for Sharing News Online |
| B．A Counteraction Against the Over-tweeting Trend |
| C．The Accumulation of Mutual Trust on Social Media |
| D．The Platforms for Projection of Personal Values and Interests |
7 . Some people think going to the gym takes time and effort. It often hurts, and it can be extremely boring. Most weight-related exercises are a combination of sets and reps(几次几组). In order to see any significant change from any exercise, it will probably need to be repeated six to eight times for a minimum of three sets for about three months. Then there's aerobics( 有氧运动). For some, there's nothing more boring than endless miles spent running on a treadmill(跑步机).
But what if there is a way to reduce the boredom of exercise while still getting a good workout?
Luckily for us, there's virtual reality(VR).
“In the past, playing video games was a sedentary( 久坐不动的) experience ， ” says Jo Stauffer of the VR Health Institute, “but VR changes all of that.” Many VR games are played while standing. In order to play properly, the players are forced to move around swinging their arms or using their legs. After an hour of this on a regular enough basis, it's not surprising that many people unexpectedly find themselves a little fitter. There are already a number of virtual reality games which, deliberately or not, result in their player “getting a good sweat on” if played for enough time. For example, there's a music game which forces players to shadow-box(做空拳攻防练习) in order to hit the notes—that's an upper-body workout.
The benefit of VR has been noticed by one company. They want to take the whole experience into the gym. They are making a resistance machine, designed to be used in combination with a VR headset. Players challenge a virtual competitor in a series of games, which results in a 30-minute full-body workout. “However, the cost of the equipment is expensive and there are safety concerns to be worked out,”says J. P. Gownder from the consultancy Forrester.
Although it's early days for those of us who struggle to overcome the boredom of exercise, a new solution could be coming. And a world where a person can exercise and have fun at the same time might be something that many people would want—virtual or not. So don't give up exercising.
1. What conclusion can we draw from the first paragraph?| A．Most weight-related exercises nearly have no effect. |
| B．You'd better not go to the gym because of the risk of injury. |
| C．Running on a treadmill won't bring any significant change. |
| D．Some people think exercising in the gym is difficult and tiring. |
| A．bring more fun to play |
| B．take people less free time |
| C．are more popular in the gym nowadays |
| D．are more likely to bring players health benefits |
| A．It has been widely used in the gym. |
| B．There are some disadvantages of it. |
| C．It can result in a 40-minute full-body workout. |
| D．When using it, people need to have a partner. |
| A．The Boredom of Exercise | B．Keep Going to the Gym |
| C．Virtual Exercise in the Gym | D．The Popularity of VR Games |
8 . Rainforests are home to a rich variety of medicinal plants, food, birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush（灌木丛）in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the whole of Britain! About 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest.
Rainforests are the lungs of the planet-storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world's oxygen. Rainforests have their own perfect system for ensuring their own survival; the tall trees make a canopy（树冠层）of branches and leaves which protect themselves, smaller plants, and the forest animals from heavy rain, intense dry heat from the sun and strong winds.
Amazingly, the trees grow in such a way that their leaves and branches, although close together, never actually touch those of another tree. Scientists think this is the plants' way to prevent the spread of any tree diseases and make life more difficult for leaf-eating insects like caterpillars. To survive in the forest, animals must climb, jump or fly across the gaps. The ground floor of the forest is not all tangled leaves and bushes, like in films, but is actually fairly clear. It is where dead leaves turn into food for the trees and other forest life.
They are not called rainforests for nothing! Rainforests can generate 75%of their own rain. At least 80 inches of rain a year is normal-and in some areas there may be as much as 430 inches of rain annually. This is real rain-your umbrella may protect you in a shower, but it won't keep you dry if there is a full rainstorm. In just two hours, streams can rise ten to twenty feet. The humidity（湿气）of large rainforests contributes to the formation of rainclouds that may travel to other countries in need of rain.
1. What can we learn about rainforests from the first paragraph?| A．They produce oxygen. | B．They cover a vast area. |
| C．They are well managed. | D．They are rich in wildlife. |
| A．Heavy rains | B．Big trees. |
| C．Small plants. | D．Forest animals. |
| A．For more sunlight. | B．For more growing space. |
| C．For self-protection. | D．For the detection of insects. |
| A．Life-Giving Rainforests | B．The Law of the Jungle |
| C．Animals in the Amazon | D．Weather in Rainforests |
9 . A new study published this week in the journal Nature Communications has concluded that a 100 percent change to organic (有机的) food production in England and Wales would actually lead to a great increase in greenhouse gas emissions (排放). In turn, this would contribute to further climate change.
Although organic farming directly pours out fewer emissions than conventional farming—around 20 percent lower for crops and 4 percent for farm animals—it produces notably less food. As to this study’s findings, total organic agriculture in England and Wales would produce 40 percent less food. With less food in the market, the countries would need to increase food imports, which would produce more global greenhouse gas emissions.
Organic farming also increases the amount of absorbing carbon, a process where carbon dioxide (CO2) is “absorbed” out of the atmosphere and captured by plants and stored in the soil. However, even a total change to organic farming would only be equal to a tiny part of the higher emissions from overseas land use.
“We predict a drop in total food production of 40 percent under a fully organic farming process, compared to conventional farming, if we keep to the same national diet,” Dr Adrian Williams, lead author and reader in Agri-Environmental Systems at Cranfield University, said in a statement. “This results from lower crop quantity, because output is limited by a lower supply of nitrogen, which is mainly from other crops or solid waste from cattle on the grassland.”
Nevertheless, it is important to note that organic farming still holds some useful benefits for the environment, such as reducing exposure to chemicals and improving the varieties of creatures. In conclusion, the study suggests that organic farming will continue to play a key role in resolving the world’s environmental problems. However, it’s just one part of a much wider solution.
1. What will total organic agriculture bring to England?| A．More main food. | B．More species crop. |
| C．More food imports. | D．More fresh oxygen. |
| A．By taking in CO2. | B．By changing CO2. |
| C．By giving off CO2. | D．By producing CO2. |
| A．The ways to reduce organic farming. | B．The results caused by organic farming. |
| C．The solution to the environment problems. | D．The advantages of organic farming. |
| A．Organic farming, green food | B．Organic farming, our hope in future |
| C．Organic farming, a mistake we made | D．Organic farming, a double-edged sword |
10 . Deep in the middle of Sri Lanka, a massive column of rock reaches out from the green tropical forest. It is 660 feet tall and features frescoes (壁画), graffiti, and landscaped gardens.
The rock is known as Sigiriya and holds a special place in the island's cultural history.
It was established as the stronghold of a king over 1,500 years ago, and today the Sigiriya complex stands as one of the earliest preserved examples of ancient urban planning.
Located in the Central Province, the column of rock is somewhat central to the country. The rock is known as Sihagiri, meaning "Lion Rock", a nod to the giant animal carved from stone which greeted visitors at the entrance.
In 476 BC. King Dhatusena ruled over Sri Lanka. One of his illegal sons, Kashyapa, wanted the throne (王位). Kashyapa overthrew Dhatusena and drove his brother Moggallana to Southern India. Kashyapa crowned himself king in 477 BC.
King Kashyapa chose Sigiriya as his palace because its position was an advantage to the defensive stronghold, offering fantastic 360-degree views. Plans to build a city quickly unfolded and after several years, the Sigiriya complex had become a business center for the new King.
Sigiriya was both a palace and a fortress (堡垒); the overall complex featured five gates and measured just under 3 km by just over 1 km. The site plan consisted of a fort，an upper palace on the top of the rock,and lower palaces at ground level. The king also constructed gardens throughout，and for protection a river with walls surrounded the complex.
Frescoes decorate the western side of the rock, along with the mirror wall, a brick face covered in a highly-polished white plaster. When new, the wall was said to be able to produce Reflections.
Over time the Mirror Wall became a graffiti board, covered in verses written by visitors. Known as "Sigiri Graffiti", some of the messages date to the 8th century CE.
1. It is implied in the passage that Sigiriya was built to ______________.| A．preserve the culture of Sri Lanka | B．prove the ancient urban planning |
| C．keep the King from being attacked | D．protect the green tropical forest |
| A．have a reflection before the Mirror Wall |
| B．leave comments on the Mirror Wall |
| C．draw beautiful paintings of girls on the wall |
| D．be lost in thought before the Mirror Wall |
| A．Its entrance is carved like a lion. | B．Its gardens are at ground level. |
| C．Its western side is a mirror. | D．Its palaces are on the top of the rock. |
| A．The giant lions in Sri Lanka. | B．The pearl of the Indian Ocean. |
| C．The Lion Rock of Sri Lanka. | D．The mirror wall in a rock. |
