1 . Beijing's transportation commission released a new regulation on Wednesday banning passengers from eating or drinking on the subway in a move intended to create a more comfortable space for travelers. Uncivilized behavior, such as selling products or playing loud music, are also prohibited under the regulation.
It will be included in the passenger's credit record that if a passenger disobeys the rules, and the he could be forbidden from taking the subway in the future, the commission said. The commission also assigned special inspectors and supervisors to identify improper behavior on subway trains. Prohibitions against smoking electronic cigarettes and using fake tickets were also added to the rules.
Liu Daizong, China transport program director at the World Resources Institute, applauded the new measure and said that as an enclosed space, a subway car will be filled with odors if passengers are allowed to have food. "These easily cause arguments between passengers, but there was no basis for law enforcement（实施） officers to get involved before," he said.
In January, a woman named Wang caused heated discussion online after she was filmed eating snacks and spitting out the food debris onto the floor of a car on Beijing's Line 13.She was later found by netizens to be the same woman previously filmed eating chicken claws and spitting out bones in a Shanghai subway car. Netizens had dubbed her "chicken feet lady". Other passengers asked Wang to clean up her mess but she refused, leaving the food packages in the subway car when she got off.She was later controlled by police in Beijing on suspicion of disrupting public transport.
Han Yanni, a 26-year-old white collar worker in the finance industry in Beijing, said drinking water and bread is her daily routine on the subway, especially in the morning rush. "Except for onions or sunflower seeds, I can put up with most of the eating behaviors," she said. "Especially if they take a garbage bag for their trash."
1. Which statement is true according to the passage?| A．It is not prohibited that a man smokes electronic cigarettes on the subway. |
| B．If a person breaks the rule, he may lose the chance of taking the subway now. |
| C．A passenger may be supervised by someone when taking the subway in Beijing. |
| D．One can eat bread if he or she brings a garbage bag in Beijing subway. |
| A．an awful smell of food | B．food remains | C．used napkins | D．food package |
| A．She had spitted out all she had eaten in a Shanghai subway car. |
| B．She got away with what she had done in Shanghai. |
| C．She called herself “chicken feet lady”. |
| D．She had cleaned up the mess she had caused on Beijing’s line 13. |
2 . Six Neanderthals who lived in what is now France were eaten by their fellow Neanderthals some 100,000 years ago, according to fearful evidence of the cannibalistic (食人的) event discovered by scientists in a cave in the 1990s. Now, researchers may have figured out why the Neanderthals , including two children , became victims of cannibalism (食人):Global warming.
While previous studies have examined Neanderthal remains to find proof of cannibalistic behavior, this is the first study to offer clues as to what may have led Neanderthals to become cannibals. Scientists found that rapid changes in local ecosystems as the planet warmed may have wiped out the animal species that Neanderthals ate, forcing them to look elsewhere to fill their stomachs.
The researchers examined a layer of sediment (沉积物) in a cave known as Baume Moula-Guercy, in southeastern France. In that layer , charcoal (碳)and animal bones were so well-preserved that scientists could reconstruct an environmental picture representing 120,000 to 130,000 years ago. They discovered that the climate in the area was likely even warmer than it is today , and that the change from a cold ,dry climate to a warmer one happened quickly .Maybe within a few generations, “study co-author Emmanuel said. As the animals that once populated the landscape disappeared, some Neanderthals ate what they could find-their neighbors.
Cannibalism is by no means unique to Neanderthals, and has been practiced by humans and their relatives “from the early Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age and beyond,” the study authors reported. The behavior adopted by the starving Neanderthals in the Baume Moula-Guercy should therefore not be viewed as “a mark of bestiality(兽性)or sub-humanity ”, but as an emergency adaptation to a period of severe environmental stress, according to the study. The findings were published in the April issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.
1. What does the study mainly focus on?| A．The social behavior of Neanderthals. |
| B．The climate change in southeastern France. |
| C．The reason for cannibalism among Neanderthals. |
| D．The influence of global warming on ancient animals. |
| A．It was cold and dry all the time. |
| B．It was first cold, dry and later warm. |
| C．It was first warm and later cold, dry. |
| D．It was warm all the time. |
| A．Neanderthals’cannibalism showed their bestiality. |
| B．Climate change drove some Neanderthals to cannibalism. |
| C．Neanderthals’cannibalism guaranteed their rule over other tribes. |
| D．Only Neanderthals were found to have cannibalism in human history. |
An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to £200 or £300 a week. Put an advertisement for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.
Rent a room
Spare room? Not only will a lodger earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax on the first £4500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.
Live on set
Renting your home out as a “film set” could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register your home for free — but you will be charged if your home gets picked.
Use your roof
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around £14,000) and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.
1. Where can you put an advertisement to rent out a room during a big event?| A．On Letpark. | B．On Roomspare. |
| C．On Grashpadder. | D．On Roommateeasy. |
| A．sign an agreement with the government | B．pay around £14,000 for the equipment |
| C．sell the roof to some energy companies | D．keep the roof unchanged within 25 years |
| A．Lodgers. | B．Advertisers. | C．House owners. | D．Online companies. |
4 . British anthropologists Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham, after studying the results of one-on-one boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling matches at the Olympic Games, conclude that when two competitors are equally matched in fitness and skill, the athlete wearing red is more likely to win.
Hill and Barton report that when one competitor is much better than the other, colour has no effect on the result. However, when there is only a small difference between them, the effect of colour is enough to tip the balance. The anthropologists say that the number of times red wins is not simply by chance, but that these results are statistically significant.
Joanna Setchell, a primate (灵长目动物) researcher at the University of Cambridge, has found similar results in nature. She studies the large African monkeys known as mandrills. Mandrills have bright red noses that stand out against their white faces. Setchell’s work shows that the powerful males—the ones who are more successful with females—have a brighter red nose than other males.
As well as the studies on primates by Setchell, another study shows the effect of red among birds. In an experiment, scientists put red plastic rings on the legs of male zebra finches and this increased the birds’ success with female zebra finches. Zebra finches already have bright red beaks (鸟喙), so this study suggests that, as with Olympic athletes, an extra flash of red is significant. In fact, researchers from the University of Glasgow say that the birds’ brightly coloured beaks are an indicator of health. Jonathan Blount, a biologist, and his colleagues think they have found proof that bright red or orange beaks attract females because they mean that the males are healthier. Nothing in nature is simple, however, because in species such as the blue footed booby, a completely different colour seems to give the male birds the same advantage with females.
Meanwhile, what about those athletes who win in their events while wearing red? Do their clothes give them an unintentional advantage? Robert Barton accepts that “that is the implication” of their findings. Is it time for sports authorities to consider new regulations on sports clothing?
1. According to their research, Hill and Barton conclude that _____.| A．the colour of clothing has an effect on most sport events |
| B．red should be the choice of colour for clothing in sports |
| C．red plays a role when competitors are equally capable |
| D．athletes perform better when surrounded by bright red |
| A．achieve | B．seek | C．keep | D．change |
| A．male birds use different body parts to draw attention |
| B．red is not the only colour to attract female birds |
| C．blue gives female birds the same advantage |
| D．blue can indicate how healthy a bird is |
| A．What Colour Implies More Power? | B．A Tip on Clothing. |
| C．Need to Change the Rules in Sports? | D．Red Is for Winners. |
5 . We all need to eat, and when we go to buy food at the supermarket, we’re offered many choice. But we often buy food that’s been produced in huge amounts and that’s traveled many miles before it ends up on our plate. So for some, growing their own food is a better choice – and it tastes good too!
From growing vegetables in little pots on your balcony to taking care of a small plot of land, there are many ways to produce home-grown food. It can be backbreaking work digging, weeding and watering the soil, but the result is fresh, home-grown fruits and vegetables, helping us keep a ‘five-a-day’ diet.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic lock-down means demand for homegrown food has seen a comeback in the UK. Miriam Dobson from the University of Sheffield, told the BBC that some people have been spending a lot of their time on their plots, growing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables – which, at times, have been challenging to buy in supermarkets. She says “Coronavirus has reminded people of the weakness within our global food system. In such a difficult time, interest in self-support rises.”
But for those with limited space, a solution to grow your own vegetables lies closer to home – using pots. Sheila Brand lives in a third-floor flat in Rotterdam. She has managed to grow tomatoes and eggplants and is already harvesting raspberries. She told the BBC watching the plants grow “is very exciting: 'Oh it's got a new leaf!' ”
As well as the benefits of saving money and enjoying tasty food, growing your own from a balcony or window ledge not only improves your well-being and immediate environment, you can actually grow a lot of vegetables. So, maybe it’s time for us all to get planting and develop our green fingers!
1. A “five-a-day” diet (Para. 2) probably refers to a diet that include__________ every day.| A．Five meals | B．Enough fruits and vegetables |
| C．Five kinds of rice | D．Plenty of water |
| A．It’s more interesting, cheap and delicious. |
| B．our global food system is doing harm to us. |
| C．It saves the time and money on transportation. |
| D．it can be hard to buy fresh food during the pandemic. |
| A．In a pot. | B．On a plate. | C．In a garden. | D．On the roof. |
| A．Growing your own food can do good to your health. |
| B．Growing your own food can make your fingers green. |
| C．Growing your own food can improve your gardening skills. |
| D．Growing your own food can bring your family more happiness. |
6 . Nobody knows what bombs were supposed to hit during the War, but they landed in a small orphanage (孤儿院). Two children were killed, and several children were wounded, including a girl, about eight years old, who suffered wounds to her legs. Without immediate action, she would die from loss of blood and shock.
A quick blood typing showed that several of the uninjured children could help. Then the doctor tried to explain to the frightened children that unless they could give some blood to their little friend she would certainly die. He asked if anyone would be willing to give blood. After several long moments, a little hand slowly went up, dropped back down, and a moment later went up again.
It was Jasper.
He was quickly laid on a bed, his arm cleaned, and a needle was put into his arm. Through all of this, He lay stiff (僵硬的) and silent. After a moment, he let out a long sob, quickly covering his face with his free hand.
"Is it hurting, Jasper?" the doctor asked.
Jasper shook his head silently, but after a few moments more tears came, and again he tried to cover up his crying. Again the doctor asked him if the needle in his arm was hurting, and again Jasper shook his head. But now he was silently crying, his eyes held tightly shut, his fist in his mouth trying to stop his sobs.
The doctor now was very worried that something was very wrong. At this moment, a nurse came and had a face-to face talk with the boy. After a moment, the little boy stopped crying, and looked questioningly at her. When she nodded, a look of great relief spread over his face.
It turned out that Jasper thought he was dying. He thought he had to give all his blood so the little girl could live.
"But why would he be willing to do that, anyway?" asked the doctor.
"She's my friend." answered the boy simply.
1. How badly was the girl injured?| A．She would never be able to walk again. | B．she would die without being given blood. |
| C．She would have to get her legs removed. | D．she would get better after some bed rest. |
| A．Because he thought he would die. |
| B．Because he worried about his friend. |
| C．Because he could not stand the pain. |
| D．Because he had never given blood before. |
| A．The gift of life |
| B．A hero during the war |
| C．Jasper and his friend |
| D．A misunderstanding in hospital |
7 . King's Point (Canada) (AFP) — At dusk, tourists are amazed at the breakdown of an iceberg at the end of its long journey from Greenland to Canada's cast coast, which now has a front row scat to the melting (触化）of the Arctic’s ice.
While the rest of the world nervously eyes the effect of global warming, melting icebergs have breathed new life into the far coastal villages of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Once a center of cod (鳕鱼) fishing, the province now plays host to large groups of photographers and tourists hoping to sec the breathtaking ice melt. As winter ends, iceberg finding begins. The increase in tourism around here in the past 10 to 15 years has been unbelievable. Last year, a total of 500,000 tourists visited Newfoundland and Labrador, a number almost as large as the province's total population. Those visitors spent nearly $433 million, government numbers show. The tourism boom has helped solve the decrease in the regions traditional fishing industry, which is in crisis (危机) because of overfishing at the end of the last century.
But under the shiny surface of economic success is the dark truth that the area is in part profiting from global warming. The Arctic is warming three limes faster than the rest of the world. In mid-July, record temperatures were recorded near the North Pole. In recent years, the icebergs have traveled further and further south. For now, tourists are enjoying the view and the experience while they can.
Laurent Lucazcau, a 34-year-old French tourist, said seeing an iceberg was upsetting. “It is a picture of global warming to see icebergs making it to these places where the water is warm,” he told AFP. “There’s something mysterious and impressive about it, but knowing too that they are not supposed to be here makes you wonder, and it’s a little scary.”
1. What can we learn about the tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador?| A．It benefits local economy. | B．It bothers local people. |
| C．It prevents global warming. | D．It hurts the fishing industry. |
| A．The total number of tourists is the same as the province's total population. |
| B．The shiny economic success is more important than global warming. |
| C．All of the tourists are enjoying the view along Canada's cast coast. |
| D．In mid-July, the Arctic is much warmer than ever before. |
| A．Summer is coming to an end in King's Point. |
| B．New icebergs will form along the Canadian coast. |
| C．Visitors don't know why icebergs come down south. |
| D．The view is a sign of serious environmental problems. |
8 . Setting goals is common in our life. We look ahead, predict what may make us happy in the future, and then narrow down the things to something specific. For the most part, having goals is better than not having any, but there are also problems that come with spending an entire life living from goal to goal.
For one thing, we try to predict an unpredictable future. Who is to say that what you want next year is the same thing you want right now? What if what you want right now isn't in the right direction over the long term?
Secondly, and just as importantly, you only confine your expectations of happiness and satisfaction to the goal you have set so that you often forget that other things in your life can also add just as much joy to your experience. This creates a strange problem.
To solve this problem, we have to move towards something more unclear. Going after interestingness. I think, is what we should do.
Interestingness doesn't mean looking for pleasure only. It’s deeper than that. It's doing that random (随机的) project you had no plan to do because you have a feeling that you might just learn something you didn't know about yourself. It's seeing a person you just met not as a possible partner or someone who can do something for you but simply as someone who may open a new, unknown and unique world for you.
Goals incorrectly assume (假设) that we already know what we want. Interestingness is more modest. It makes up its mind as it moves, slowly blowing from one thing to another, until it catches something that lies beyond prediction at last.
1. Setting goals is to predict an unpredictable future because __________.| A．it ignores possible changes in our life |
| B．it proves meaningless in the long run |
| C．it may lead us to the opposite direction |
| D．it fails to reach our true possibilities |
| A．Devote. | B．Limit. | C．Deliver. | D．Compare. |
| A．Bringing us self satisfaction at once. |
| B．Improving our relationship with others. |
| C．Making us gain something unexpected. |
| D．Helping us successfully predict the future. |
| A．To ease our worry about the future. |
| B．To express a new thought on setting goals. |
| C．To point out disadvantages of an aimless life. |
| D．To recommend a new way of achieving success. |
9 . If you are aiming to master anything quickly, you can learn from Albert Einstein and Richard Feynman. They offer practical advice you can use to improve your learning.
According to Einstein, improving your intellectual capacity should be fun and enjoyable —— happy learners are quick learners. In 1915, he wrote a letter to his 11-year-old son (Hans Albert) who was learning the piano and said:
“I am very pleased that you find joy with the piano. This and carpentry are in my opinion for your age the best pursuits, better even than school, because those are things which fit a young person such as you very well. Mainly play the things on the piano which please you, even if the teacher does not assign those. That is the way to learn the most when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes.”
To learn anything faster or better, choose topics you will enjoy — if you have control over what you are learning. Make the learning relevant. You should be able to answer the question “Why am I learning this?” at any point.
Richard Feynman won a Nobel Prize and always wanted to know more and to learn more. Known as the “Great Explainer”，he was famous for his ability to explain complex topics in simple ways.
The Feynman Technique, his approach to improving learning, features explaining or teaching what you learn to others. It can help you learn better and keep more of what you learn. According to Feynman, it is significant to have the ability to explain things simply — so simple, in fact, that you could explain it to an eight-year-old. Einstein agrees. He once said, “If you can't explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. “While we teach, we learn,” said the Roman philosopher Seneca. Learners keep a greater percentage of what they learn when they explain or teach the concept to someone else, or use it immediately. Your ideas will never be more effective than your ability to make others grasp them. When you share, you remember better.
1. Einstein wrote the letter to his son in order to _.| A．encourage Hans to play the piano well |
| B．share some useful advice on how to play the piano |
| C．support Hans' learning the piano with enjoyment |
| D．suggest Hans taking teachers* assignment seriously |
| A．Teaching what you learn to others. | B．Explaining your things thoroughly. |
| C．Choosing enjoyable topics. | D．Understanding things well enough. |
| A．To provide advice on how to teach concepts. |
| B．To illustrate the significance of teaching others. |
| C．To impress the readers with his meaningful quotes. |
| D．To show people’s exploration of concepts in history. |
| A．Secrets of Learning Faster. |
| B．Benefits of Teaching Others. |
| C．Contribution of Great Explainers. |
| D．Importance of Learning with Enjoyment. |
10 . Bermuda, the island known for its pink-sand beaches, blue .waters, and year-round warm weather, has been announced the Official Sponsor of the U.S.Open.It's a fitting collaboration (协作), given the island's reputation as a destination for travelers in search of perfect adventures 一just a ninety-minute flight from New York City.Lesser known, however, is that the long history of American tennis was introduced by this attractive Atlantic island.
Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, the New York celebrity Mary Ewing Outerbridge sailed for days to vacation on this quiet island.She watched, fascinated, as some British soldiers stationed there played tennis, although a' version different from one we know today.The courts in Bermuda were shaped like hourglasses, the net was also higher, and a number of the rules were different.
Mary became fascinated watching the ball flying back and forth, and ended up purchasing a kit containing all the materials needed to bring the sport home to Staten Island.Using a hand-drawn diagram, she laid out a court at her brother's cricket club, where the sport caught on among members.From there, the game's popularity quickly grew, leading to standardized rules and regulations--and then, in 1880, to the first U.S.tennis championship.
In only a few years, Mary' s unexpected souvenir from her Bermuda trip helped set a national tradition: today, nearly eighteen million people in the US play the sport, from the public-tennis-court games in many cities to the annual U.S.Open, in NYC.Mary s role in bringing tennis from Bermuda to America has earned her a place in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
It only serves to enhance the sport's appeal to learn that every swing of the racket in the US can be trace back to Bermuda, where island adventures still wait for all travelers--tennis lovers included.You' re welcome!
1. What can we learn about Bermuda?| A．It is distant from New York City. |
| B．It is friendly to adventure seekers. |
| C．It is unfit to sponsor the U.S.Open.. |
| D．It is better known for being the origin of tennis. |
| A．She held the first U.S.tennis championship. |
| B．She made the game become world famous. |
| C．She designed the first tennis court in the US. |
| D．She set standard rules and regulations of the game. |
| A．To introduce the founder of American tennis. |
| B．To introduce the history of American tennis. |
| C．To attract more people to enjoy the sport. |
| D．To attract more people to tour Bermuda. |
