1 . Have you ever loved a destination but couldn’t figure out why — or even a way ——to express your feelings? That’s my dilemma with Morocco.
In August, I traveled in a country that had long been, on my wish list. I rode a camel, got lost in Medinas, and ate more couscous (粗麦粉) than was humanly possible.
I loved the trip. Our friendly guide introduced us to the helpful locals. I made friends with my tour mates and my roommate (which, on a tour, is a huge blessing). I loved being lost in the smell of different spices, and the chaos of millions of people and the dark red of the Sahara were all I wanted them to be.
There were many moments when I felt like a fish out of water and things didn’t go my way. But I take pleasure in those moments because it’s when you are pushed out of your comfort zone that you grow. Morocco lived up to all my expectations, but for some reason, my experience has been hard to express. Why?
One constant in my travels is that of a touchstone, one defining point where the trip all comes together and acts as a prism (三棱镜) for everything the journey represented . In Costa Rica，it was getting lost in a jungle. In Thailand, it was meeting those five people who changed my life.
I’m so inconsistent about Morocco because I lack that touchstone. There’s no “whoa” moment. But I have thousands of little ones - staring at a million stars in the blackness of the desert, discovering new foods with some amazing Australians on my tour, and befriending the fish sellers.
1. What does the author regard as a huge blessing?| A．Going on a guided trip. |
| B．Having a helpful guide. |
| C．Being warmly received by the local people. |
| D．Getting along well with the fellow travelers. |
| A．To prove Morocco lacks the touchstone. |
| B．To show his reliance on the touchstone. |
| C．To compare Morocco with Costa Rica and Thailand. |
| D．To share his experience in Costa Rica and Thailand. |
| A．The lack of big moments. |
| B．The little “whoa” moments. |
| C．Meeting with five Thai people. |
| D．Making friends with Australians. |
| A．Unpleasant travel in Morocco. |
| B．Finding a touchstone on travel. |
| C．Reflection on traveling in Morocco. |
| D．Lack of special moments in Morocco. |
2 . The biggest and the smallest of the world’s animals are most at risk of dying out, according to a new analysis, with vertebrates (脊椎动物) in the so-called “Goldilocks zone”—not too big and not too small—winning out. Action is needed to protect animals at both ends of the scale, they say. The research adds to evidence that animals are dying out on such a scale that a sixth extinction is considered under way.
One clue is body size. Research on birds and mammals has shown that those with larger bodies are more likely to go extinct. Yet, when the researchers made a database of thousands of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians (两栖动物) and reptiles (爬行动物) at risk of extinction, they found disproportionate (不成比例的) losses at the large and small ends of the scale.
“Surprisingly, we found that not only the largest of all vertebrate animal species are most threatened, but the very tiniest ones are also highly threatened with extinction,” Prof. Ripple told BBC News.
Large animals, such as elephants, rhinos (犀牛) and lions have long been the target of protection efforts. However, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians that are the giants of their kind, such as the whale shark, Somali ostrich (鸵鸟) and the Chinese giant salamander (蝾螈), tend to be overlooked. Meanwhile, small species at risk--such as frogs and shrews (鼩鼱)--receive very little attention.
“I think, for the smallest species, first of all we need to bring higher awareness to them, because the larger ones get a lot of attention, but the smaller ones get very little,” said Prof. Ripple.
In the study, vertebrates with the smallest and the largest bodies were found to be most at risk of disappearing, whether they were on land or living in oceans, streams or rivers.
Heavyweights are threatened mainly by hunting, while featherweights are losing out to pollution and cutting down forests. “Ultimately, reducing global consumption of wild meat is a key step to reduce negative impacts of hunting, fishing, and trapping on the world’s vertebrates,” they write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
1. What made the researchers feel surprised?| A．A sixth of animals are dying out. |
| B．Small animals are in great danger. |
| C．Great losses of birds and mammals. |
| D．Big animals are at risk of disappearing. |
| A．Transform our habits. | B．Change our concepts. |
| C．Find ways to save small animals. | D．Take measures to stop pollution. |
| A．Loss of forests. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Human activities. | D．Environmental pollution. |
| A．Size Matters When It Comes to Extinction Risk |
| B．Large Animals Are Badly in Need of Protection |
| C．Why a Great Number of Animals Are Dying out |
| D．What We Should Do to Protect Endangered Species |
3 . Essay Competition
The aim of this contest is to encourage great student writers and to give them a leg-up in their studies.
Prizes
One Grand Prize winner will receive: $1,000 in cash; the essay published in our magazine’s May 2021 issue; an interview with our magazine’s author.
Ten First Place winners will receive: $500 in cash; their names and essay titles listed in our magazine’s May 2021 issue.
Fifty Honorable Mention Winners will receive:a$50 gift card to our online shop.
Requirements
＊The length of the essay should be between 500-700 words.
＊Write an essay on the topic of: How Food Affects Our Mood.
＊Please write about three reasons for believing in your thesis (论点) statement in the form of body paragraphs and back up your reasons with practical evidence from respected sources.
＊Do not write about yourself and don’t explain why you deserve to win the prizes.
Deadlines
Early-Bird Deadline: May 4,2020-Free for the entry.
Deadline: June 5,2020-$5 for the entry.
Extended Deadline: July 22,2020-$10 for the entry.
1. What will the First Place winners be rewarded with?| A．Getting their essays published in the magazine. |
| B．Having their essay titles listed in the magazine. |
| C．Receiving a gift card to the particular online shop. |
| D．Gaining an opportunity to meet the magazine’s author. |
| A．Writing an essay of more than 800 words. |
| B．Submitting an essay about food nutrition. |
| C．Expressing your strong desire to get the award. |
| D．Supporting your reasons with credible evidence. |
| A．April 30,2020. | B．May 20. 2020. | C．June 10. 2020. | D．July 25,2020. |
4 . NATURE has many ways of reminding us who is in charge. Her most deadly weapons — bacteria, viruses, and parasites (寄生虫) —claim millions of lives every year.
But thanks to the hard work of great scientists, mankind could turn nature against itself. And it is for exactly this sort of work that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Oct 5.
Half of the prize was awarded to the Irish William Campbell and the Japanese Satoshi Ōmura for discovering avermectin (阿维菌素), a drug that kills the parasitic worms that cause river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (象皮病). Chinese scientist Tu Youyou shared the other half of the prize for developing Artemisinin, a drug that helps kill the parasite that causes malaria.
Ōmura is a microbiologist by training. He studied Streptomyces bacteria to find compounds (化合物) that work against harmful microbes (微生物). Campbell, working in the US, took bacteria found by Ōmura and took out avermectin, which is effective against parasites in farm animals. An improved type of avermectin was later produced for humans, which greatly reduced the cases of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
Avermectin comes from bacteria, but artemisinin comes from plants. Its discovery was the result of Project 523, a Chinese government project to find a new malaria drug in the late 1960s.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by parasites, which attack red blood cells, causing fever, and sometimes, brain damage and death. Tu and her team made 380 herbal extracts from 2,000 recipes from traditional Chinese medical books. In 1971, after more than 190 failures, Tu’s team finally found an extract that was 100 percent effective against malaria parasites. It was called qinghaosu, later renamed artemisinin. In 2001, the World Health Organization named artemisinin the first choice in the treatment of malaria.
Millions of people are still troubled by infections caused by parasites. But the WHO said that by 2013, malaria deaths had fallen by 47 percent compared with 2000. Similarly, river blindness used to be one of the leading causes of preventable blindness. These days, doctors are talking about chances of wiping the disease off Earth. All of these achievements would not be possible at all without the drugs that Campbell, Ōmura and Tu helped to discover.
1. The drug Tu Youyou developed, artemisinin, has proven effective in treating ______.| A．river blindness |
| B．malaria |
| C．lymphatic filariasis |
| D．infections caused by Streptomyces bacteria |
| A．bacteria | B．plants | C．farm animals | D．ocean animals |
| A．It took Tu and her team about 10 years to discover artemisinin. |
| B．Tu and her team achieved success after about 380 failures. |
| C．Artemisinin has saved millions of people’s lives since its discovery. |
| D．Artemisinin was discovered thanks to the efforts of scientists from at home and abroad. |
5 . POETRY CHALLENGE
Write a poem about how courage, determination, and strength have helped you face challenges in your life.
Prizes
3 Grand Prizes:Trip to Washington, D.C. for each of three winners, a parent and one other person of the winner’s choice. Trip includes round-trip air tickets, hotel stay for two nights, and tours of the National Air and Space Museum and the office of National Geographic World.
6 First Prizes:The book Sky Pioneer:A Photobiography of Amelia Earhart signed by author Corinne Szabo and pilot Linda Finch.
50 Honorable Mentions:Judges will choose up to 50 honorable mention winners, who will each receive a T-shirt in memory of Earhart’s final flight.
Rules
Follow all rules carefully to prevent disqualification.
■Write a poem using 100 words or fewer. Your poem can be any format, any number of lines.
■Write by hand or type on a single sheet of paper. You may use both the front and back of the paper.
■On the same sheet of paper, write or type your name, address, telephone number, and birth date.
■Mail your entry to us by October 31 this year.
1. How many people can each grand prize winner take on the free trip?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Six. |
| A．A plane ticket. | B．A book by Corinne Szabo. |
| C．A special T-shirt. | D．A photo of Amelia Earhart. |
| A．Typing your poem out. | B．Writing a poem of 120 words. |
| C．Using both sides of the paper. | D．Mailing your entry on October 30. |
6 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
7 . Artemis is NASA’s new lunar exploration program. Through the Artemis program, NASA will use new technology to study the Moon in new and better ways, and prepare for human missions to Mars.
NASA’s new rocket will carry the Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit. Then, astronauts will dock (对接) Orion at a small spaceship called the Gateway, from which the crew will take trips to the lunar surface in a new human landing system, and then return to the Gateway. The crew will return to the Earth aboard Orion.
NASA will test the rocket and spacecraft in flight, then send a crew for a test flight:
Artemis 1 will be a test flight of the SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft with no crew.
Artemis 2 will fly SLS and Orion with a crew past the Moon, then circle it and return to the Earth. This trip will be the farthest any human has gone into space.
Artemis 3 will send a crew with the first woman and the next man to land on the Moon by 2024. The Artemis 3 crew will visit the Moon’s South Pole. No one has ever been there.
At the Moon, astronauts will:
Search for the Moon’s water and use it.
Learn how to live and work on the surface of another celestial body (天体) where astronauts are just three days from home.
Test the technologies we need before sending astronauts on missions to Mars, which can take up-to three years round trip.
The Moon is a good place to learn new science. NASA will learn more about the Moon, the Earth and even the Sun. The Moon is a “test bed” for Mars. The Moon is a place to show that astronauts will one day be able to work away from the Earth on Mars for long periods of time.
1. What is the aim of the Artemis program?| A．To help astronauts return to the Earth. | B．To be ready for the landing on Mars. |
| C．To study the Mars using new science. | D．To test the Moon landing spacecraft, Orion. |
| A．Going to the Moon’s South Pole. | B．Making the farthest trip into space. |
| C．Sending the first man to the Moon. | D．Flying to the Moon with three persons. |
| A．Send astronauts to Mars. | B．Run a three-year-long test. |
| C．Find and make use of water. | D．Learn to live not far from home. |
| A．It is possible to live on another planet now. |
| B．The crew will reach the lunar surface from the Orion. |
| C．NASA has sent the first woman astronaut to the Moon. |
| D．The Artemis program is of great help to Mars exploring. |
8 . Do you have cold feet in winter? But now if you wear a pair of UGG boots, you won’t be troubled by that.
UGG means Australian Sheepskin Boots. UGG boots became popular among shearers (剪羊毛的人) in the 1920s.The shearers sheared the sheep and grabbed a bit of dead sheep, wrapped it around their feet and called them “Ugly Boots”. Good old Australian slang shortened Shearers Ugly Boots to UGG boots. Thus UGG Boots date back as far as the 1920s in Australia.
UGG boots became so popular because of the amazing amount of comfort they bring to the feet. The sheepskin is made incredibly soft so the boots are warm and comfortable. UGG boots felt more like socks than shoes, yet they are tough enough for outdoor wear.
Our UGG boots are handmade with Australian sheepskin of the highest quality by our factory of UGG Original Pty Ltd.
We can wear UGG boots in cold weather or summer. In cold weather, the thick wool of UGG boots provides a preventing layer of warmth by trapping your body heat. In the heat of summer, the natural fibres of the wool will actually cool your feet by absorbing sweat. UGG boots are made to be worn barefoot to maximize the cushioning and warmth provided by the sheepskin.
Why not pick up your phone and contact us right now at www.uggoriginal.com.au.?
1. Who made the first pair of UGG boots according to the passage?| A．Shearers. | B．Travelers. |
| C．Workers. | D．Campers. |
| A．Ugly and hard. | B．Comfortable and warm. |
| C．Strong and warm. | D．Cheap and tough. |
| A．persuade | B．advertise |
| C．inform | D．instruct |
9 . The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem (生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna (大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat (栖息地).
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Disappearance of African elephants. |
| B．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| C．The effect of African elephants’ search for food. |
| D．The eating habit of African elephants. |
| A．Fixing the time. |
| B．Worsening the state. |
| C．Improving the quality. |
| D．Deciding the conditions. |
| A．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| B．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
| C．They are home to many endangered animals. |
| D．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds. |
| A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| B．pointing out similarities and differences |
| C．describing the changes in spare order |
| D．giving examples |
10 . A company in San Francisco, California, has found a way to turn used plastic bottles into women’s shoes.
Every day, millions of Americans drink water and other liquids from plastic bottles. More than 60 million of them are thrown away each day. Many of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or are burned with other waste products.
A San Francisco start-up company called Rothy’s, however, turns this plastic waste into environmentally friendly shoes. Roth Martin is the company’s co-founder. He explains how they turn plastic into soft material for women’s feet. They take the plastic, clean it, and break it down into small pieces. Then they press them through a device that makes soft fibers. Those fibers are then combined together. This is done by a 3D machine. It is designed to reduce waste while making the shoes. The knitted stuff and the inner part of the shoe are then attached to the shoe’s outer part, called the sole (鞋底). This outer sole is also made from environmentally friendly material: responsibly sourced no-carbon rubber.
Rothy’s shoes are sold online. They are flat shoes, with either a rounded or pointed toe. They come in different colors and designs. They cost either $ 125 or $ 145 per pair, depending on the design. After American actress Gwyneth Paltrow discovered them last year, the demand for the shoes grew. Martin says there is no shortage of material to fill that demand. “We’re not going to run out of water bottles any time soon. So we have a limitless supply of material, and I think that is a good sign for our future.” When the environmentally friendly shoes wear out, customers can return them at no cost to a company that uses the recycled materials to make other products.
For now, the shoes are only available to be shipped in the United States. However, the company says it will add international shipping in the near future.
1. How are used plastic bottles usually dealt with?| A．They are buried or burned. |
| B．They are used to make shoes. |
| C．They are changed into soft materials. |
| D．They are returned to factories for reuse. |
| A．Attached. | B．Fixed. |
| C．Combined. | D．Repaired. |
| A．The design and color. | B．The reasonable price. |
| C．The company’s advertisement. | D．The star power of Gwyneth Paltrow. |
| A．To advertise a new kind of shoes. |
| B．To describe the process of making shoes. |
| C．To introduce a new way of recycling plastic waste. |
| D．To stress the importance of environmental protection. |
