1 . Independent living at home is the ideal for every aging person. But a fall or other health-threatening incidents can change everything rapidly.
The wearable “panic buttons” introduced in the late 1980s were a great advance. But they only work if people actually wear them and can reach the button in an emergency. Today there are passive wearables that automatically detect falls, and camera-based systems to monitor elder safety.
Coming from a 40-year career in the semiconductor and wireless communication field, Rafi Zack decided to find a better alternative. “People aren’t devoted to wearing small devices 24/7, and camera-based systems are an invasion（侵犯）of privacy,” he points out, “The most challenging aspect is a fall. How fast we can detect a fall matters because the medical situation worsens quickly. Sometimes people stay on the floor for a long time. We have to find out how to solve that problem.”
Zack is a co-founder, CEO and vice president of R&D at EchoCare Technologies which has developed ECHO (Elderly Care Home Observer), a cloud-connected monitor based on radar technology and machine learning.
Because radar sees through walls, one ECHO unit fixed on the ceiling or wall can monitor one person (or two persons, in a future version) in a standard-sized apartment in a senior living facility. The device detects falls, breathing difficulties, drowning in a bathtub and other dangerous events. It gives out warnings to potential health worsening conditions by continuously monitoring and analyzing the person’s location, posture（姿势）, motion and breath. EchoCare tested the device in the United States, Japan, Australia and Israel. ECHO was certified（认证）in 2019 in Japan with the most aging population in the world.
“Bathrooms were the main testing area where about 17,000 deadly accidents happen annually.” said SMK Director and Executive Vice President Tetsuo Hara. “Bathroom makers, home security service providers and nursing homes are highly interested in EchoCare’s solution.” Zack noted, “As more and more elder people live alone as a result of social distancing, there is an increased need to monitor them without the burden of wearables or privacy-invading cameras.”
1. What’s the advantage of ECHO over “panic buttons”?| A．It has camera-based systems. | B．It has been widely accepted. |
| C．It can function without cameras. | D．Its buttons can be easily reached. |
| A．It is designed to send out warnings regularly. |
| B．It monitors dangerous health-related events. |
| C．It was certified in many developed countries. |
| D．It detects more than one person at the same time. |
| A．It’ll become more popular with the elderly. |
| B．It’ll stop 17,000 deaths happening annually. |
| C．It’ll be used in nursing homes and hospitals. |
| D．It’ll help elderly people to live an active life. |
| A．An Advanced Medical Instrument |
| B．A High-tech Monitor for the Elderly |
| C．The Invention of a Healthcare Device |
| D．The Improvement of a Medical Facility |
2 . During the COVID-19 pandemic, Julia began her second year as a first grade teacher in an online classroom. One September afternoon, she received a call from and Cynthia, who was having technical difficulties with her granddaughter's tools for online learning.
Julia immediately knew something was wrong with Cynthia. The two women had spoken many times before, but Julia had never heard she sounded like this. Her words were so jumbled that Julia could barely understand her. Julia called her headmaster, Charlie, who convinced her that he would call and check on Cynthia himself.
Just like Julia, Charlie could barely understand Cynthia. He suspected she might be having a stroke (中风) — he recognized the signs from when his own father had suffered one. Charlie immediately became concerned that Cynthia's two grandchildren, ages six and eight, were probably home alone with her and scared. Charlie asked his office manager to send an ambulance to the grandmother's home.
The quick response from Julia and Charlie saved Cynthia's life. She arrived at the hospital in time to get treatment before long-term damage occurred. Thanks to an extended stay in the hospital, she has regained most of the movement throughout her body except for one hand and a region of her mouth.
“I'm proud of the people I work with, that they responded so quickly and that it did make a difference to Cynthia,” says Julia. “I am so pleased to be part of such a caring community.” But the school's crisis response is only one piece of the community's extraordinary efforts to help Cynthia and her granddaughters. Another family with young children took in the two girls.
Virtual learning has been a challenge across the country, but it's fair to say that it has helped the community grow closer. Many teachers there gave their personal phone numbers to students and families in case they needed extra help. In this case, the exchange was literally life-altering.
1. Cynthia called Julia in order to .| A．complain about the poor contents of online learning |
| B．consult about her granddaughter's academic performance |
| C．seek some help for lack of certain technical knowledge |
| D．volunteer her services as a teacher in an online classroom |
| A．brief |
| B．unclear |
| C．gentle |
| D．impolite |
| A．By recalling his own previous sufferings from the disease. |
| B．By using his professional knowledge to form the judgment. |
| C．By combining Julia's call with the granddaughters' description. |
| D．By identifying the symptoms that a stroke patient may have. |
| A．It has caused much inconvenience to parents. |
| B．It will bring about unavoidable leak of privacy. |
| C．It has provided more benefits than challenges. |
| D．It needs technical guidance to be highly effective. |
3 . At 88, I remain a competitive runner. The finish line of my life is drawing close, and I hope to reach it having given the best of myself along the way. I’ve been training my body to meet the demands of this final stretch. But, I wonder, should I have asked more of my mind?
If I didn’t exercise, I would release the hungry beasts that seek their elderly prey on couches, but not in the gym. The more I sweated, the more likely it was my doctor would continue to say, “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll see you next year.” My mind, on the other hand, seems less willing to give in to discipline. I have tried Internet “brain games”, solving algebraic problems flashing past and changing the route of virtual trains to avoid crashes. But these never approach my determination to remain physically fit as I move deeper into old age.
Though I have many friends in their 70s, 80s and 90s, I’ve been far too slow to realize that how we respond to aging is a choice made in the mind, not in the gym. Some of my healthiest friends carry themselves as victims abused by time. Other friends, many, whose aching knees and hips are the least of their physical problems, find comfort in their ability to accept old age as just another stage of life to deal with. I would use the world “heroic” to describe the way they cope with aging.
One such friend recently called from a hospital to tell me a sudden brain disease had made him legally blind. He interrupted me as I began telling him how terribly sorry I was: “Bob, it could have been worse. I could have become dead instead of blind.”
In spite of all the time I spend lifting weights and exercising, I realized I lack the strength to have said those words. It suddenly struck me that I’ve paid a price for being a “gym rat”. If there is one characteristic common to friends who are aging with a graceful acceptance of life’s attacks, it is contentment. Aging had to be more than what I saw in a mirror.
But rather than undertaking a fundamental change in the way I face aging. I felt the place to begin would be to start small. A recent lunch provided a perfect example.
I’ve always found it extremely difficult to concentrate when I’m in a noisy setting. At this lunch with a friend in an outdoor restaurant, a landscaper began blowing leaves from underneath the bushes surrounding our table. Typically, after such a noisy interruption, I would have snapped, “let’s wait until he’s finished!. ”, then fallen silent. When the roar(吼叫)eventually faded, my roar would have drained(消耗)the conversation of any warmth. It troubled me that even a passing distraction(分心)could so easily take me from enjoying lunch with a good friend to a place that gave me no pleasure at all. I wanted this meal to be different.
My years in gyms had taught me to shake off pains and other distractions, never permitting them to stop my workout or run. I decided to treat the noise this way. I continued talking with my friend, challenging myself to hear the noise, but to hold it at a distance. The discipline was so familiar to me in the gym—this time applied to my mind— proved equally effective in the restaurant. It was as though I had taken my brain to a mental fitness center.
Learning to ignore a leaf blower’s roar hardly equips me to find contentment during my passage into ever-deeper old age. But I left the lunch feeling I had at least taken a small first step in changing behavior that stood in the way of that contentment.
Could I employ that same discipline to accept with dignity the unavoidable decline awaiting me like the finish line? Hoping that contentment will guide me as I make my way along the path yet to be travelled.
1. The author’s question in Paragraph 1 implies that ________.| A．he feels unsatisfied with the result of the brain games. |
| B．he has never believed the necessity of mind training. |
| C．He has realized he should mentally prepare for aging. |
| D．he feels regret for not sharpening his thinking skills |
| A．He takes physical illnesses as they come. |
| B．He fears that his illness will become worse. |
| C．He needs to find a way through those hardships. |
| D．He sees life as a series of disappointments. |
| A．he had made small changes to adapt to aging. |
| B．the restaurant was not an ideal place for eating |
| C．distractions were not uncommon in everything life. |
| D．his roar had spoiled the friendly conversation. |
| A．Benefits of Regular Exercise |
| B．Old Age Hate and Blessing |
| C．Never Too Old to Learn |
| D．The Secret to Aging Well |
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| A．Students who fail to come up with original ideas. |
| B．Teachers who need help in marking the papers. |
| C．Authors who attempt to publish their own works. |
| D．Editors who want their work less time-consuming. |
| A．The services offered both instant and lasting benefits. |
| B．His personal letter got wide recognition after it was polished up. |
| C．He met up with many new writers and learnt much from them. |
| D．The services set patterns for different types of writing to follow. |
| A．Education. | B．Finance. |
| C．Technology. | D．Advertisement. |
5 . Nothing succeeds like success, as every parent of a straight-A student knows, but trying to stress academic excellence by telling your child, “You’re so smart!” may be counterproductive. Why? According to a 2017 study, children who think their intelligence is fixed are less likely to pay attention to and bounce back（重新振作）from mistakes than children who think intelligence can grow and change.
In the study, researchers looked at 123 children. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset”(believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded. During the recording, researchers noted that brain activity stopped within a half-second after making a mistake, as children became aware of their mistake and paid closer attention to what went wrong. The larger the brain response was, the more the child focused on the mistake. Based on the data, they concluded that children with a “growth mindset” were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake. While children with a “fixed mindset” were able to “bounce back”, only if they gave their full attention to the mistake.
For parents, the lessons are clear. Don’t pay your children compliments that suggest that intelligence is fixed. If your child hands you an A+ score, don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Instead, say, “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.
Besides, many parent shy away from addressing a child’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. ”You’ll get it next time. ” without offering them the chances to figure out what goes wrong. Instead, it’s better to reassure your children that mistakes happen, and work to figure out where and how they make the mistake.
1. Which of the following best explains “counterproductive” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Opposite | B．Competitive |
| C．Successful | D．Unknown |
| A．They made fewer mistakes. | B．They tried to avoid mistakes |
| C．They had smaller brain response | D．They focused more on the mistake. |
| A．You are so careless |
| B．Paying compliments to children |
| C．You’ll get it the next time |
| D．Let’s find out how you made it. |
| A．Overstressing the intelligence. |
| B．Pay compliment to children. |
| C．Addressing children’s mistakes. |
| D．Offering chances to find mistakes. |
6 . With the social media freely available, I've realized how easy it is to become a jealous cow. The truth is that however much I remind myself of the many wonderful things I have in my life, there are still moments when I look at those around me and feel bitterly upset by their success.
It's a horrible thing to admit! In an ideal world, I'd never want to be jealous of another person's achievements and I'd want to celebrate the successes of my friends. But sometimes it's hard, even when we want to. But I don't want to live my life as a jealous cow, and I assume you don't either.
It's easier to celebrate other people's wins if you celebrate your own. How often do we take the time to enjoy our success rather than instantly move onto the next thing we want to achieve? Last year, I decided to write a book. It was the only professional goal I set for myself and, while it tired me out, I got there. But as soon as it was done, I started planning my next goal-making the book a success. As I saw other people publishing books, I stopped celebrating and instead began to fear that mine wouldn't compete.
When I told a friend how I was feeling, she reminded me how much easier it is to clap for someone else when we also clap for ourselves. So, I took myself out for lunch, ordered a glass of wine and wrote myself a congratulations card. When I saw all those other books being written on my social media, I felt proud of each and every one of us who had battled to the end of the word count.
The other trick for celebrating other people's success is to realize that there is no limit on success. We can make more, which means that while it might seem as if others have everything and we have nothing, the reality is that life turns quickly and our luck could change at any time. If others have achieved those things, we can too. When we celebrate others, we're acknowledging their achievements but also cheering for ourselves as well as for our hopes and dreams and our belief that we can make them happen. And hopefully, when we do, those people will cheer for us too.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Social media is the source of the author's jealousy. |
| B．Frequent successes on social media encourage envy. |
| C．It is a pleasure to face others' successes on social media. |
| D．People tend to be crazy about immediate success online. |
| A．Appreciate what's been done. |
| B．Show it off on social media. |
| C．Reflect on gains and losses. |
| D．Waite for others' congratulations. |
| A．pursuing those achievable goals |
| B．devoting yourself to the next goal |
| C．admitting personal incompetence |
| D．changing your attitude to success |
| A．I'm so happy for us! |
| B．What a considerate friend! |
| C．I don't care about it! |
| D．How selfless you can be! |
7 . A recent study suggests there's nothing soft about pink, as it is revealed that the pinkest flamingos are the toughest. Published in the Journal Ethology, a recent study found that a pink color of feathers was a good indicator of how aggressive a bird was when feeding, as well as a sign of good health or a signal that the bird was ready to breed(繁育）.
For the study, researchers observed the behavior of flamingos in different feeding situations, ranging from small indoor spaces to large outdoor spaces, with or without a pool.
They found that compared to indoor birds competing for food from a bowl, the outdoor-raised flamingos spent twice as much as time searching for food, so they had less time to show aggressive behaviors. Interestingly, their findings also revealed that when the race for food turned hot, the birds most likely to appeal to arms were the pinkest, whether they were male or female.
“The color of flamingos comes from their food, more specifically, from the algae(藻类）that they absorb from water. So the more food they have, the pinker the birds are,” said Dr. Paul Rose, from the University of Exeter, in a statement. “Flamingos live in large groups with complex structures, in which color plays an important role.”
Flamingos don't have a breeding season. Instead, they breed when they are healthy enough to do so. Their health is indicated by the color of the feathers, which is pinker in their prime and paler when they weak. So, the signal that a bird is ready to breed is described as a pink flush in its feathers, which goes away when the bird parents a chick or already passes its best reproductive time.
A healthy pink flamingo will have more time and energy to be aggressive and dominant when feeding. When birds have to crowd together to get their food, they fight more and therefore spend less time feeding, leading to the fading color of flamingos that are already weak. “And this definitely is unfavorable for their reproduction,” Rose said.
The research provides a direction for zoos to feed their flamingos and keep them content and colorful. That is, ensure captive birds are fed in a wide space, as crowded conditions are more likely to result in fights. “Based on my observations, I suggested some changes. And the keepers were willing to try them out. As a result, we've got pinker, more relaxed flamingos," said Dr. Rose.
1. What's the purpose of the author by writing Paragraph 1?| A．To propose an example. |
| B．To make an argument. |
| C．To make a comparison. |
| D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．Health condition. |
| B．Social structures. |
| C．Feeding activities. |
| D．Breeding activities. |
| A．Body size determines status. |
| B．Family is taken as a basic unit. |
| C．Healthy flamingos control the whole group. |
| D．Pinker flamingos enjoy a breeding advantage. |
| A．Enlarging the raising space. |
| B．Raising all flamingos indoors. |
| C．Limiting the population of a group. |
| D．Increasing the frequency of providing food. |
8 . Is there a strange something high up in the world’s tallest mountains? If so, is it a big bear? Is it a monkey? Or is it a kind of man? No one knows. This mystery has puzzled the world for years.
In 1887, a mountain climber found large footsteps in the snow. They looked like the footsteps of a very large man. But men don’t walk without shoes in the snow!
In 1906, another climber saw more footsteps. He saw a very large animal standing on two legs. As he watched, it ran away very quickly. Fifteen years later, a newspaper had new stories about the “something”. A mountain climber said he had seen the “snowman” walk slowly in the snow. He said it looked like a very large man.
From then on, more and more people had stories to tell. But not until 1951 did a mountain climber bring back the pictures of large footsteps. The pictures showed clearly that the snowman walked on two legs. So it was not a bear or a monkey. Could it be an apeman (猿人)? And the mystery keeps growing. Some day, we may find out just what it is that makes the largest footsteps.
1. The passage is about ________.| A．some mountain climbers |
| B．some strange animals |
| C．the snow |
| D．the mystery of the large footsteps |
| A．Because they were the footsteps of a large bear. |
| B．Because they looked like the footsteps of a large man. |
| C．Because they were found in the snow. |
| D．Because they were found in the mountains. |
| A．They were the footsteps of an apeman. |
| B．They were the footsteps of a snowman. |
| C．The pictures showed clearly how the snowman walked. |
| D．People still don’t know who made the footsteps. |
| A．Snow | B．The large footsteps |
| C．A big bear | D．Monkey |
9 . The world has seen many inventions. While most people are proud of those associate with their names, there are things making inventors feel the other way.
The pop-up (弹出) advert, by Ethan Zuckerman
Pop-up ads are convenient for those who are interested, but most people get annoyed when they are on computers. They may contain computer viruses. Just as we would blame the inventor, the man humbly accepted his invention isn’t one of the best. In his essay, Zuckerman wrote about the most hateful thing, “I wrote the code to launch the window and run an ad in it.”
The emoticon, by Scott E. Fahlman
Emoticons began to occupy screens crazily in 2011 and gained great popularity, especially with young men. It had been four years since Fahlman first used a “smiley face” in a computer message. He created the emoticon as a joke marker. But things are different. “It has gone to places I don’t approve of,” he complained to The Wall Street Journal in 2013. “It shouldn’t have been created.”
The office cubicle (隔间), by Bob Propst
In 1968, Bob Propst came up with the idea office cubicles, something that “would build a futuristic and tidy office style with no real walls or doors and provide a more comfortable environment”. But the man has come to hate what he has invented, as Propst recalled to Fortune at age 80, “They’ve changed and just become cubicles”.
The K-Cup, by John Sylvan
It seems everyone has a Keurig coffee maker for K-Cups. John Sylvan invented the K-Cup, aimed at facilitating office life of white-collar workers. Now it’s common in houses and companies. However, the single-serve plastic coffee cups aren’t eco-friendly. “I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it”, Sylvan admits. But! Good news for Mr. Sylvan: Keuring now offers varieties of recyclable K-Cups.
1. When was the emoticon invented?| A．In 2007. | B．In 2009. | C．In 2011. | D．In 2013. |
| A．The pop-up advert. | B．The emoticon. | C．The office cubicle. | D．The K-Cup. |
| A．They benefit human life greatly. |
| B．Their creators are blamed by the public. |
| C．Their inventors feel regretful. |
| D．They are very popular with young people. |
10 . Hartley got to Gentral Slalion nearly an hour before his train was due to leave. A lifetime in the theatre had given him a healthy — indeed excessive (过分的) — sense of punctuality; a lifetime of unwanted cups of coffee, constant checking of the time, yet another turn around the block before that all too often pointless, tiresome audition (试镜).
Hartley was 75 — pretty fit for his age, legs holding lip, memory still ticking over nicely — though the occasions for punctuality were now rather fewer. But he was a creature of habit and couldn’t change now.
He repaired to the restaurant purchased a coffee and a blueberry muffin, tired and failed to find a litter-free table. The coffee was awful, the muffin was stale — but the coffee was always awful, the muffin always stale. Hartley refused to let himself be annoyed. His visit to the city had not been without its pleasures. Lunch with an old actor-chum (好友), then a film — regrettably not utilizing (利用) his own talents — had rounded out an agreeable day.
Hartley was a good actor, although the calls on his talents were now infrequent. But really, he thought draining his awful coffee, he’d had a reasonably good career. Something to be proud of. But he’d never had that break-through part.
He headed for his platform. Just as the train was about to pull out a man ran down the platform, jumped aboard as the door slammed shut and sank into the seat next to Hartley.
“Cutting it a bit fine”, he said.
“Indeed”, Hartley replied. “A close run thing”.
The man — forty-ish, amiable looking — gave him an amused glance.
This brief exchange served as an adequate ice-breaker and they chatted their way through the outer suburbs and into the countryside. Having satisfactorily disposed of the sad state of the railways, country versus city living, his neighbour asked Hartley what he did—or had done—for a living.
Hartley hated telling people he was an actor. He was not ashamed of his job. Not in the least, but he had long tired of reactions ranging from “what have I seen you in” to “how do you learn all those lines”.
So in situations like this he simply selected an occupation from a former role. Bit risky, of course. You say you’re a doctor and find yourself meeting the quizzical（疑问的）gaze of a heart surgeon. But he’d never been caught out and it was harmless enough game, Hartley felt. It amused him, and he’d given some damn good performances too.
“I’m a lawyer”, he replied. “Retired several years ago. Property law. Bit of criminal stuff”.
The train was slowing down. The man glanced out of the window.
“My station. I had you quite wrong then”.
He stood and took down his briefcase from the overhead rack.
“Yes, I’d have said you were an actor. The voice especially. Still, lawyers are actors in a way, don’t you think? Plenty of drama in a courtroom”.
The train drew into the station.
“I’m a film director. Casting a feature at the moment. You study faces. On the train. Everywhere. Always on the lookout. Anyway, enjoyed our chat. Bye.”
1. What did Hartley think of his not telling his occupation?| A．Harmful to his acting career. | B．Amusing despite the risk |
| C．Helpful to protect his identity | D．Upsetting when caught out. |
| A．He assumed Hartley had given another answer. |
| B．He understood Hartley’s profession was acting. |
| C．He thought Hartley practiced a different profession. |
| D．He mistook Hartley for another person. |
| A．shows the readers how unexpectedly Hartley’s career ends |
| B．describes Hanley’s shock on finding the man is a director |
| C．confirms Hartley's lack of luck in spite of his acting skills |
| D．proves the man will reconsider giving Hartley a chance to act |
| A．Acting up | B．Employ talents |
| C．Selecting an occupation | D．Casting a feature |
