1 . A 27-year-old inventor, Joco Paulo Lammoglia, has come up with a new device named the AIRE mask, which is capable of converting the wind energy provided by the wearer’s breath into electrical energy. This means breathing has become a source of renewable energy. The inspiration for the invention came from his watching children blowing on pinwheels (纸风车).
The device is worn like a mask equipped with tiny wind turbines (涡轮) and it can work its magic even while people are sleeping, jogging or hanging around, since energy is created from one’s breath. The principle of this AIRE mask is simple. The invention uses the wind flow created by breathing and changes it into energy that can charge mobile phones and iPods. Simply put, this mask connected to your mobile phone on your face. The rest takes place naturally through your breath that provides power to run turbines which produce electricity.
Lammoglia explained how useful he hopes the AIRE will become. He said, “I hope to bring the concept into production and reduce the carbon footprint. It can be used indoors or outdoors, while you’re sleeping, walking, running or even reading books.” Apart from saving energy and contributing to environmental protection, it also encourages the practice of physical exercise. This is an entirely all time renewable energy source. Its energy is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Lammoglia explained why he thought the AIRE was so useful, saying, “Though many of our modern devices offer benefits, they tend to consume a high amount of electrical energy. This may cause problems for the environment, especially if the energy used by these devices is obtained from non-renewable sources.”
The AIRE mask will be future’s cheaper source of charging mobile phones. It would save energy and allow people to never have to worry about their phone dying unless they stop breathing.
1. The AIRE mask can stop working if people ______________ .| A．use it indoors | B．read books |
| C．hang around | D．stop breathing |
| A．Breathe out air ---- Drive turbines ---- Produce electricity. |
| B．Use wind ---- Pass through turbines ---- Produce electricity. |
| C．Breathe in air ---- Use turbines ---- Create energy. |
| D．Connect turbines ---- Produce wind flow ---- Create energy. |
| A．consumes a high amount of energy | B．account for environmental damage |
| C．is available in the shop now | D．is a good solution to energy issues |
| A．An electronic mask | B．A new renewable energy source |
| C．A breath-powered charger | D．An air purifying device |
2 . It is an honor for me to deliver this speech and on behalf of the graduating students, welcome you to this special ceremony 2020.
This is a unique moment. We are stepping up to another phase of our lives at a time of great hardship and global difficulties. Hope this ceremony will help erase sad memories, refresh beautiful ones and add more splendid memories into our lives.
I was born in the middle of war, which caused my family to move to Serbia for three years. When the war ended, we returned to Bosnia. My mother, who is and will ever be my heroine, was the only figure who guided me, provided for me and kept me on the right track, in the hope for a better life. I owed her so much as she is responsible for huge part of my success. I will always remember her teachings “to complain less and always find solutions at the price of whatever it takes” ， which brought me to China, an ancient land of new hopes.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, I got the best opportunity to understand China. I saw millions of people united with one goal-to win the battle against this epidemic. I have never seen such a collective dedication from a nation, turning things for the better by sacrificing personal convenience on a grand scale. China's governance and health care system proves to be one of the most efficient in the world. With a population of 1.4 billion, China not only has successfully controlled the transmission of the corona-virus but also assisted many other countries across the globe.
Everyone has a role to play in the battle against the virus. In Tsinghua, I played a tiny but necessary role: Staying on campus, studying online, cooperating during temperature checks and respecting social distancing measures. The rules set by the university and Chinese government had everyone's health and safety as first priority. This made me feel safe and confident that China was on the right track towards victory. Throughout this time, despite the immense challenges, Tsinghua has facilitated many online conferences, which helped me nurture more skills in my field of study.
……
Let's undertake everything we can for the sake of unity, humanity and the international community. Let's work together for a more promising future and prosperous world.
1. In the author's eyes, the special ceremony 2020 should| A．be a unique moment to deliver speech |
| B．be a time to say good-bye to hard times |
| C．be a moment to open a new chapter of life |
| D．be a specific time to embrace a beautiful past |
| A．she expected to escape the terrible war |
| B．she longed to possess her own career |
| C．she was encouraged by her inspiring mom |
| D．she found the good control of COVID-19 in China |
| A．The rules of the government. |
| B．The joint devotion of the nation. |
| C．The breaking-out of the epidemic. |
| D．The great challenges of the school. |
3 . Anyone who commutes by car knows that traffic jams are an unavoidable part of life. But humans are not alone in facing potential backups.
Ants also commute —between their nest and sources of food. The survival of their colonies depends on doing this efficiently.
When humans commute, there’s a point at which cars become dense enough to slow down the flow of traffic, causing jam. Researchers wanted to know if ants on the move could also get stuck. So they regularly traffic density by constructing bridges of various widths between a colony of Argentine ants and a source of food. Then they waited and watched trying to find out at what point they are going to have a traffic jam.
But it appears that that nervous happened. They always managed to avoid traffic jam. The flow of ants did increase at the beginning as ants started to fill the bridge and then levelled off at high densities. But it never s slowed down or stopped, even when the bridge was nearly filled with ants.
The researchers then took a closer look at how the behaviour of individual ants impacted traffic as a whole. And they found that when ants sense overcrowding, they adjust their speeds and avoid entering high areas, which prevent jams. These behaviors may be promoted by pheromones, chemicals that tell other ants where a trail is. The ants also manage to avoid colliding with each other at high densities, which could really slow them downs.
Can ants help us solve our own traffic problems? Not likely. That’s because when it comes to getting from point A to point B as fast as possible, human drivers put their own goals first. Individual ants have to be more cooperative in order to feed the colony. But the research could be useful in improving traffic flow for self-driving cars, which can be designed to be less like selfish humans—and more like ants.
1. How did the researchers control the traffic density of the commuting ants?| A．Through closer observation. | B．By controlling the widths of their path. |
| C．By finding out the dense points | D．By regulating their numbers. |
| A．They depend on their natural chemicals to adjust their speeds. |
| B．They follow a special route. |
| C．They never stop or slow down on the way. |
| D．They level off at high densities. |
| A．Traffic jams | B．Survival of an ant colony |
| C．Differences between human and ants | D．Unavoidable? Not for ants! |
4 . I was 15 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: Both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!
And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza (狂欢)?
Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was thrilled and transported by a book ---- it was Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises ---- and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barens and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in a classroom taking another biology exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatriates (异乡客).
I spent that day lost in words. Time fell away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role ---- as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student ---- in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.
Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway’s language was quietly braiding itself into my imaginations. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.
1. Why did the author skip school on that day?| A．Because she was fascinated by novel. | B．Because it was a cold winter morning. |
| C．Because she hated to take the biology exam. | D．Because her parents left home early. |
| A．Reading by the fire. | B．Travelling in Spain. |
| C．Being occupied by one’s passion. | D．Breaking the regulations. |
| A．I was tired of my real-life roles. |
| B．Hemingway’s style influenced me a lot. |
| C．Becoming a writer was my childhood dream. |
| D．I learnt how to write on the internet. |
5 . Standing in line for the latest iPhone at the Apple store,queuing for tickets to Wimbledon or even just waiting at the post office might just have got a lot easier.
Japanese car-maker Nissan claims to have just the thing to relieve the sore legs of weary queuers.
The new system of “self-driving” chairs is designed to detect when someone at the front of the queue is summoned, and automatically move everyone else one step forward in line.
The new invention is shown off in a company video, which re-enacts (重视) a busy restaurant with customers waiting outside. In the video, diners are sitting in a row of chairs, but will not have to stand when the next hungry diner is called to a table. Instead the chairs, equipped with autonomous technology that detects the seat ahead, slide along a path toward the front of the line. When the person at the front of the queue is summoned, the empty chair at the front can sense it is empty and so moves out of pole position. Cameras on the remaining chairs then sense the movement and follow automatically.
The system, which is similar to the kind used in Nissan's autonomous vehicle technology, will be tested at select restaurants in Japan this year, Nissan said.
Although Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants, long queues are not uncommon. Therefore this system appeals to anyone who has queued for hours outside a crowded restaurant: it reduces the physical stress of standing in line, Nissan added.
Nissan also released a short video showing the chairs being used in an art gallery, moving slowly in front of the various paintings to let viewers appreciate the art without the need to stand up.
1. What's the meaning of"summoned"underlined in paragraph 3?-| A．detected | B．called | C．shown | D．tested |
| A．restaurant | B．Apple store | C．post office | D．art gallery |
| A．With “self-driving” chairs, people will be released of queuing. |
| B．The new invention is shown off in a busy restaurant. |
| C．When the person at the front is summoned, all the chairs move out of pole position. |
| D．Long queues are common in Tokyo’s restaurants. |
6 . In Central America, sea turtle eggs are a popular cuisine dish. The eggs are hugely and secretly harvested onto tables, leaving the sea turtles listed as threatened. Yet we simply do not have the ability to continuously guard large beaches. Scientist Kim William was thinking hard when she had an “aha” moment: How about placing a fake egg containing a GPS tracker.
That's how the special eggs come in. To build them, Williams and colleagues used a 3D printer. Then, they fixed in the smallest GPS tracking devices. As mother turtles laid their eggs under cover of night, the researchers slipped a single spy egg into each nest. Once they are covered in sand with the real ones, it's very difficult to tell the difference," says Williams.
Of the 101 spy eggs, 95 were taken away while 6 were quickly discovered and left on the beach. The team received tracking data with the farthest egg travelling 137 kilometers inland and stopping at a local supermarket. The spy egg sent its final signal the next day from a personal house, suggesting that the research team had tracked the eggs all the way. The researchers stress that the tracker is not a way to catch local thieves, many of whom are living in poverty, but rather a tool to better understand how the deal goes.
Still, stopping stealing is not as simple as handing the tracking data over to the police, Across Central America, trade in sea turtle eggs can be legally ambiguous. In Costa Rica, for example; it is illegal to steal and sell sea turtle eggs but buying them is not a crime. It is not black and white. Meanwhile, local support is in need above all. “It, but not tracking with eggs, is the real meat and potatoes of conservation," says Williams.
1. What is the major threat to the existence of sea turtles?| A．Unguarded sea beaches. | B．Unsafe GPS trackers. |
| C．The overhunt of turtle eggs | D．The popular dishes of sea turtles. |
| A．By using an expert's words. | B．By clarifying the process. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By listing scientific data. |
| A．test the GPS trackers | B．look into the whole deal of turtle eggs |
| C．catch the eggs thieves | D．learn about the current situation of sea turtles |
| A．Central America Need Wildlife Protection | B．Sea Turtles Draw International Concern |
| C．GPS Trackers Improve Tracking accuracy | D．Spy Eggs Help Save Endangered Sea Turtles |
7 . We all do it. We put off that dreaded task for five more minutes, then for thirty minutes, then for another hour, until it doesn’t get done at all. And the worst part is we still weren’t able to enjoy our day. We spend so much time stressing over that looming task that it deprives us from actually being able to focus on other tasks.
Why do we do it? We know it never ends well. The problem is that the cycle can feel nearly impossible to break. We get so caught up in the cycle of procrastination that we almost forget how to effectively tackle hard tasks.
Here are five tips for nipping procrastination in the bud and taking back control over your daily life.
Tackle the most difficult task first.
You’re probably thinking “Duh, I already knew that.” But you may not have realized that there’s scientific backing for this suggestion. We only have a limited supply of willpower. Once it’s been used up for the day, chances of us tackling hard tasks are pretty slim. Dive into your hardest task when your energy level is at its highest. This will ensure the best results.
When we push the hard tasks to the end of the day, it takes a toll on our energy all day long. In the end, stressing for hours over the task we’re procrastinating negatively affects all the other tasks on our list.
So next time you’re scheduling the items on your list, make sure to start out with worst one. It may not necessarily be the largest, but it should be the one you’re dreading the most. By accomplishing it so early in the day, you will feel energized and productive. You’ll know the rest of the day is all downhill and cruise through the list with remarkable speed.
Divide the task into smaller tasks.
We tend to get overwhelmed when a giant project looms ahead of us. We don’t know where to start or what to do first. Keep in mind that forests are made up of individual trees. Though you may not be able to take down a whole forest at once, you could certainly start with one tree (or even a branch).
If you need to organize your entire kitchen, start by working on just one cupboard. Organizing one cupboard is much more feasible than trying to get everything done in one swoop. Make a commitment to complete a small step each day, and you’ll find the task becoming less and less daunting with each new task that you accomplish.
Set a mid-day alarm.
There’s nothing more guilt-inducing than ending a day and realizing you haven’t accomplished a single task. We can avoid this rut by setting an alarm on our phone to ring every day around 1 p.m. When the ringer goes off, assess how many things on your list have been attended to.
Re-plan your schedule for the remainder of the afternoon and shift it around to take care of the most important item first. If necessary, you can indulge in a second cup of coffee to jumpstart your “second morning.” By doing this, you will avoid going to bed at night mulling over all the things you didn’t get done.
Dedicate yourself for a small period of time.
To stimulate productivity, there’s an old trick of setting a timer for ten minutes. By frantically racing the clock for that short period, you’ll likely find you become engrossed in your tasks and continue working.
The feeling of dread that has been on your mind will quickly be replaced with a sense of pride and satisfaction. Seeing what you can accomplish in ten minutes when you put your mind to it is quite motivating.
Schedule your tasks on the calendar.
Creating a game plan will help you move past the initial paralysis you feel. Instead of just writing the tasks down in a to-do list, take it a step further and identify when and how you’ll accomplish it.
For example, plan to go to the grocery store at 4:00 p.m. and start cooking dinner promptly at 4:30. By clearing up the anticipatory stress, you’ll avoid a large part of the dread that holds you back. Creating the plan is half the battle!
Though it feels impossible, you have it in you to accomplish everything that you need to every single day. With a fresh perspective, a little prodding (敦促), and a detailed plan, you’ll be well on your way to ending the procrastination cycle once and for all.
1. The word “procrastination” most likely means _______.| A．hesitation | B．delay | C．distinction | D．diminution |
| A．fully realize the importance and severity of the problem of procrastination |
| B．make an effort to keep the problem of procrastination well under control |
| C．take our time to identify the root problem of the habit of procrastination |
| D．prevent and cope with the issue of procrastination in the early stage |
| A．If we put off the hardest task to the end of the day, we can be more energetic. |
| B．It is of greater importance for us to see the “forest” than attend to the “tree”. |
| C．A small and steady step on the daily basis will make the task less overwhelming. |
| D．Having a second cup of coffee will help you compete morning commitment better. |
| A．trick you into being more anxious and desperate |
| B．keep you more concentrated and productive |
| C．help you move past the initial paralysis you feel |
| D．prevent you from feeling guilty when going to bed at night |
| A．Many people have slim hope to completely get rid of procrastination circle |
| B．creating a good plan can help you win the battle against procrastination |
| C．everybody may tend to procrastinate and there is little need for guilt |
| D．it is more than hopeful to conquer procrastination with the listed requirements |
8 . Most of the 500 whales stranded (搁浅)off Tasmania have now died. Dozens more stricken whales have been found in Australia’s largest ever mass stranding. The estimated total now stands at around 500, with the majority of that number dead and a tenth rescued by authorities on the Island state of Tasmania. Experts believe all of the animals would have been part of one large group. Officials began working to rescue survivors among an estimated 270 whales found on Monday on a beach and two sandbars near the remote coastal town of Strahan. Then another 200 whales were spotted from a helicopter on Wednesday less than 10 kilometres (six miles) to the south. All 200 had been confirmed dead by late afternoon. They were among the 380 whales that have died overall, with estimates from earlier today suggesting that 30 that were alive but stranded and 50 had been rescued since Tuesday, Mr Deka, Wildlife Service manager explained. He added, “We’ll continue to work to free as many of the animals as we can. We’ll continue working as long as there are live animals.”
It is not known what caused the animals to run aground. While stranding events are not unheard of, they are very rare in such large numbers. About 30 whales in the original stranding were moved from the sandbars to open ocean on Tuesday, but several got stranded again. About a third of the first group had died by Monday evening.
Australia’s largest mass stranding had previously been 320 pilot whales near the Western Australian town of Dunsborough in 1996. This week’s incident is the first involving more than 500 whales in Tasmania since 2009. Marine Conservation Programme wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said the latest mass stranding was the biggest in Australia in terms of numbers stranded and died.
Marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta said there were a number of potential reasons why whales might become beached, including navigational errors. She explained, “They do have a very strong social system; these animals are closely bonded and that’s why we have seen so many in this case unfortunately in this situation. Rescuing them does not always work, because they are wanting to return back to the group, they might hear the sounds that the others are making, or they’re just disoriented and, in this case, extremely stressed, and just probably so exhausted that they in some cases don’t know where they are.” she added.
1. Why did Kris Carlyon say this event is the biggest in Australia?| A．Rescue work is not done in time. |
| B．The number of the death is large. |
| C．The cause of the event is still a mystery. |
| D．There was no other similar event in recent years. |
| A．Navigational errors. | B．Overhunting of the human beings. |
| C．Whales’ group living style. | D．Whales’ confusion and exhaustion. |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A textbook. | D．An encyclopedia. |
9 . Fire ants dig tunnels efficiently by only a small percentage of the group doing most of the work. Free-loaders just sit around while their hard-working colleagues get things done. But might freeloaders actually be necessary for society to function efficiently? The answer could be yes.
Fire ants are highly social organisms. So, Goldman, a physicist at Georgia Tech, and his colleagues wanted to know how individual ants knew what to do without a central leader issuing orders. To find out, Goldman's team labeled individual fire ants with paint and then watched them dig their narrow tunnels —barely wide enough for two workers. Turns out, just 30 percent of the ants did 70 percent of the labor. “I was surprised that we ended up with so few workers actually doing the work at any one time. ” A quarter of the ants never even entered the tunnel. Others crawled inside, but left without digging single grain of dirt. These idling behaviors ensured the tunnels did not get clogged with insect traffic, which would make the construction process stop.
And when the scientists removed the five hardest working ants from the colony, others immediately jumped in to compensate (补偿) — with no reduction in the group's productivity. It seems that it doesn’t matter which ants are working or freeloading at a given time, as long as there is some division of labor to keep the tunnels flowing smoothly. The findings are in the journal Science.
The study could have implications for robotics. Imagine groups of robots sent to search rubble (碎石) for disaster survivors. Or nanobots (纳米机器人) coursing through our bodies to diagnose illness and deliver targeted medical treatment. Such robot groups will need to avoid getting jammed up in tight spaces. It might be necessary to program them so some just sit back and watch their comrades work.
1. How do fire ants get the work done when digging tunnels?| A．Only the leaders do most of the work. |
| B．They all work under the order of one leader. |
| C．They all cooperate together to do the work efficiently. |
| D．Individual fire ants know their tasks and work efficiently. |
| A．crowded | B．transported |
| C．organized | D．covered |
| A．The ants will have no idea what to do. |
| B．Other ants will take their place and do the work. |
| C．The tunnels will get blocked and the work will stop. |
| D．The leader will compensate them and give them food as the reward. |
| A．fire ants are the most diligent insects. |
| B．scientists may diagnose illness more easily. |
| C．people may feel happy when they watch their colleagues do nothing. |
| D．scientists can deal with robotics better when coming to specific programs. |
10 . Insects could disappear within a century at current rate of decline, says global review.
The world’s insects are rushing down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review. More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles.
“It should be of huge concern to all of us, for insects are at the heart of every food web, they pollinate(授粉) the large majority of plant species, keep the soil healthy, recycle nutrients, control pests, and much more. Love them or hate them, we humans cannot survive without insects, ” said Professor Dave Goulson at the University of Sussex in the UK. In the food web, a creature often feeds on many kinds of creatures, and the same creature is eaten by many consumers. Therefore, when one species of organism is reduced or even extinct, other organisms will be affected.
The analysis says intensive agriculture is the main driver of the declines, particularly the heavy use of pesticides(杀虫剂). Urbanization and climate change are also significant factors.
One of the biggest impacts of insect loss is on the many birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish that eat insects. A small number of adaptable species are increasing in number, but not nearly enough to outweigh the big losses.
Matt Shardlow, at the conservation charity Buglife, said: “It is alarming to see this collation of evidence that demonstrates the pitiful state of the world’s insect populations. It is increasingly obvious that the planet’s ecology is breaking and there is a need for an intense and global effort to stop and reverse these dreadful trends.”
1. Why cannot we humans survive without insects according to Professor Dave Goulson?| A．Humans feed on insects. |
| B．Insects pollinate most plant species. |
| C．Humans love and hate insects. |
| D．Insects are at the centre of all food webs. |
| A．The decline of insects threatens collapse of nature. |
| B．Insects extinct faster than mammals, birds and reptiles. |
| C．Insects keep the soil health and control pests. |
| D．Using pesticides is the main cause of the decline of insects. |
| A．Humorous | B．Hopeful | C．Worried | D．Disappointed |
