1 . Bookstores are fascinating places. That’s because the books on the shelves can take you away to magical lands, help you learn a foreign language, or cook a delicious meal. But when your community is too small to house a real brick bookstore, sometimes you have to make a compromise. A mobile bookstore that brings books around the country was the result. That is the case for Rita Collins, 70, who dreamed of opening a used bookstore after retiring from teaching.
A business planning class from the American Booksellers Association convinced Collins to abandon her idea that opening a bookstore in the small town where she lives, which would not be sustainable. Eureka, Montana, located just seven miles from the Canadian border, only has a population of 1,517. Collins asked her instructors about a traveling bookstore on wheels and they were skeptical. But she persevered.
Collins was inspired by Dylans Mobile Bookstore, a traveling bookstore in Wales run by Jeff Towns. She contacted Jeff for advice but she was largely on her own when it came to building her bookstore. First, she had to find a vehicle large enough to stand in. Then she had to have it refitted with shelves that would hold the books at a 15-degree angle so that they would stay in place while in transit. Collins named her bookstore St Rita’s Traveling Bookstore, which has been on the road since 2015.
At first, she drove through Montana and then she made her first cross-country trip in 2016. After she retired in 2017, it became a full-time job all year round. Collins and her mobile bookstore have visited 30 states, stopping at festivals and events along the way. While the locations change, some things always stay the same. Collins loves meeting people and making connections. While she loves what she does, Collins doesn’t think she can keep doing it. In several years, she hopes to pass her traveling bookstore onto another bibliophile who shares the same interest and will keep it on the road.
1. Why did Collins abandon opening a bookstore?| A．It would cost a lot of money. | B．It was not promising. |
| C．It would be out of date. | D．It was not approved. |
| A．To beautify the mobile bookstore. |
| B．To make full use of space of the shelves. |
| C．To keep the bookstore’s balance. |
| D．To protect the books from falling down. |
| A．Merciful and delightful. | B．Intelligent and reasonable. |
| C．Determined and social. | D．Generous and lovely. |
| A．A book lover. | B．A publisher. |
| C．A famous writer. | D．An editor. |
2 . Things to do in Las Vegas
Explore the food and drink scene in Chinatown
It’s a bit of a secret, but Las Vegas has one of the most amazing Chinatown dining scenes in the country. There is incredible variety to be enjoyed throughout the district, such as roast meats at Raku, spicy Sichuan at Chengdu Taste, etc. Chinatown is about two miles of Spring Mountain Road easily reachable by taxi or rideshare.
Compete in esports
We already know video games are big business. Now they’ve become their own form of competitive sport. Las Vegas is fast becoming a centre for esports. Visit the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor, a multi-level venue that hosts tournaments, special events and stations for anyone to play.
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden at the Mirage allows guests to enjoy an up-close experience will nature’s most charming creatures. Take a tour and mix with bottlenose dolphins, white tigers, white lions and so on. You can even upgrade to a VIP package and work alongside dolphin trainers.
Soak in the views at the Eiffel Tower
The centerpiece of the Paris Las Vegas is a half-size replica (复制品) of the Eiffel Tower. Take a lift to the observation platform to be absorbed in the views 46 stories above the Las Vegas Strip. Don’t forget to take a few photos. A new light show lightens the tower every 30 minutes after dark. If you’re hungry, try distinctive cuisine at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, which has its：own mid-level views of the Strip.
1. Where can visitors enjoy various food?| A．At Chinatown. | B．In the HyperX Esports Arena. |
| C．On the top of the Eiffel Tower. | D．At Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Carden. |
| A．Food lovers. | B．Animal fans. | C．Came players. | D．Bird watchers. |
| A．A light show. | B．A sight-seeing lift. |
| C．A 46th-story restaurant. | D．An observation platform. |
3 . Bangladesh's floating gardens, built to grow food during flood seasons, could offer a continuous solution for parts of the world which are likely to suffer from flooding because of climate change, a new study has found.
Bangladesh's floating gardens began hundreds of years ago. The gardens are made from native plants that float in the rivers and operate almost like rafts (筏), rising and filling with the waters. Historically, they were used to continue growing food during rainy seasons when rivers were filled with water.
The farmers layer the plants about three feet deep, creating a version of raised-bed gardens that float in the water. Then, they plant vegetables inside those rafts. As the raft-plants rot away, they release nutrients, which help feed the vegetable plants.
But as climate change affected the volume of water in those rivers, the researchers wanted to understand whether Bangladesh's floating gardens could be a continuous farming practice. They interviewed farming families and found strong evidence that floating gardens provide stability, both in the amount of food available to feed rural populations and in a farming family's income.
They found that farmers typically use hybrid (杂交) seeds, which must be repurchased each year, to grow a diverse range of vegetables in the floating gardens. The gardens are also sensitive to pests, so farmers end up spending some money on both pesticides and fertilizers. But even with those expenses, they found, benefits outweighed costs. One farmer told the research team that he earns up to four times as much money from the gardens as from traditional rice fields.
However, before gaining profits, farmers often take out high-interest loans (贷款) to cover the investment costs of filling the beds and stocking them with plants. Luckily; there are also lower-interest loans from responsible government or non-governmental organizations, which could ease that burden.
1. How do vegetable plants grow according to the text?| A．By absorbing nutrition from raft-plants. | B．By taking shelter from climate change. |
| C．By living together with hybrid seeds. | D．By moving up and down with raised beds. |
| A．“Our life becomes tough when rivers flood.” | B．“Fewer vegetables are planted when water rises.” |
| C．“We harvest much more food during rainy seasons.” | D．“Climate change has little influence on our income.” |
| A．Affected. | B．Brought. | C．Beat. | D．Equaled. |
| A．A solution to climate problem has been found. | B．The gardens are built with rotted native plants. |
| C．Farmers earn more from traditional rice fields. | D．Low-interest loans lighten the stress of farmers. |
4 . It is possible that interstellar（星际的）space explorers could face problems communicating with all the arrivals, their spoken language having changed in isolation（与世隔绝）along the way.
Therefore, a new paper by two American scholars Andrew McKenzie and Jeffrey Punske recommends that such crews include members with knowledge of what is likely to occur and how to adapt. They co-authored the article “Language Development During Interstellar Travel”, in which they discuss the concept of language change over time.
In a recent interview, McKenzie gamed it out.
“If you’ re on a spaceship for 10 generations; new concepts will emerge, new social issues will come up, and people will create ways of talking about them,” McKenzie said, and these will become the vocabulary particular to the ship. People on Earth might never know about these words. And the further away you get, the less you’re going lo talk to people back home.
So if we have Earth English and spaceship English, you will have to learn a little Earth English to send messages back, or to read the information that came with the spaceship.
“Also, keep in mind that the language back on Earth is going to change, too. So they may well be communicating like we’d be using Latin-communicating with this version of the language nobody uses.”
The authors also point out that an adaptation in the form of sign language will be needed for use with and among crew members who, genetics tell us，are sure to be born deaf.
“Every new spaceship will essentially offload linguistic（语言学）immigrants to a foreign land. Given the certainly that issues such as whether they will be discriminated will arise, and the uncertainty of exactly how they will progress, we strongly suggest that any crew exhibit strong levels of linguistic training in addition to simply knowing the required languages. There will be need for an informed linguistic policy on board that can be maintained without referring back to Earth-based regulations.”
If a study of the linguistic changes aboard ship could be performed, it would “add to its scientific value,” McKenzie and Punske conclude.
1. What does the underlined phrase “game it out” mean?| A．Offer a new concept. | B．Make a further study. |
| C．Give a detailed explanation. | D．Lose the game completely. |
| A．They will forget Earth English. | B．They will be using sign language. |
| C．They may have their own language system. | D．They may make adaptations to Earth English. |
| A．Through Earth-based linguistic policy. | B．Through adequate language training. |
| C．By knowing the required language. | D．By referring to informed rules. |
| A．Why space travelers change their language. |
| B．How language is changed in the future time. |
| C．The language challenge during interstellar travel. |
| D．New concepts of language created in a spaceship. |
5 . I recently gave a talk about zero waste living to university students. During the Q&A afterward, the unavoidable question of cost came up. One student pointed out that he “can’t afford to buy $30 toothpaste.” While the $30 price may be a bit generous, the student did raise a good point -that buying zero-waste products is often more expensive than the overly-packaged conventional ones.
I tried to handle the question as best I could in the moment, but I kept thinking about it afterward. I’m writing about it because I’m sure many others have similar doubts about their own abilities to reduce waste without breaking the bank.
First, once you begin to explore the zero waste world, you quickly realize how pointless many products in your life are. You start using fewer, buying less,and using them interchangeably. Soon you’ll find yourself spending less money overall, which balances the higher cost of the zero waste ones. The total number of products in my bathroom decreased by 50% when I became more focused on waste reduction.
Second, if you stop to examine those zero-waste products, you’ll see that they are usually of superior quality. Companies rarely redesign their packaging to be reusable without also upgrading them to be healthier, safer, and greener. So you’re paying extra money not just for non-disposable（一次性的）packaging, but also for a better product that does less harm.
In my experience, higher-quality skincare products last longer than cheap ones. My personal habits have developed gradually, too. Knowing an item costs more leads me to use it in small quantities and use it to the very end. Moreover, I sometimes even make my own. The price-per-unit is cheap.
To quote Lindsey Miles, a zero waste blogger, “Zero waste is not about what we can afford to buy. It is about what we choose not to buy.” To that student who got me thinking about this, I’d recommend starting with what matters to you. Over time you will figure out where you get the most value for your money. In return, you’ll gain a sense of liberation from the consumer culture, and a rewarding sense of accomplishment.
1. What can we benefit from zero waste products?| A．Saving regularly. | B．Balancing totally. | C．Living conveniently. | D．Spending -economically. |
| A．Zero-cost. | B．Top-grade. | C．Non-breakable. | D．Well-packed. |
| A．Buy what is necessary. | B．Choose what is affordable. |
| C．Consider where we save money. | D．Learn what consumer culture means. |
| A．To oppose wasting. | B．To analyze a social issue. |
| C．To promote a new product. | D．To advocate eco-consumption. |
6 . An 8-year-old boy I know is small for his age, shorter and slighter than his friends, even smaller than his 5-year-old sister. Concerned about the increasing use and possible risks of growth hormone(生长激素), I asked his mother if she’d considered treating him with it. She replied, “Not really. He’s built like his father, who was short and slight as a boy and didn’t shoot up until college.”
His father, at 41, is now 6 feet tall, though still very slender. He recalls being a reasonably athletic child but without the physical power of his friends, making up for what he lacked in mass with speed and agility. “I enjoyed competitive sports and worked on skills others didn’t have,” he told me, and said he encourages his son to recognize and capitalize on the skills he has.
If only every parent with a short but healthy child approached the matter as sensibly. Experts estimate that 60% to 80% of children who are short for their age do not have a growth hormone deficiency(缺乏) or other medical condition that limits growth. But knowing there’s a therapy available to increase height, some parents seek a medical solution for a perceived problem, even when there is no medical abnormality. They should also know, however, that new research has linked growth hormone treatment to serious unfavorable health effects years later.
Dr. Adda Grimberg, a doctor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, recalled that “Twenty years ago, families were focused on health. They came in with a child who was not growing right and wanted to know if there was an underlying disease. Now, more and more, they’re focused on height. They want growth hormone, looking for a specific height. But this is not like online shopping; you can’t just place an order and make a child the height you want.”
In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration approved use of recombinant human growth hormone for the condition known as “idiopathic short stature”, or short build of unknown cause, which is not a disease. But it has caused a growing number of parents to consider using the hormone to boost the height of their children.
The resulting rush to therapy reflects concerns about a widespread societal bias(偏见) against shortness, rather than a true medical need. Experts have noted that the practice backs up the belief that short stature is unacceptable, leading to an increasing demand for therapy. It is far better, Dr. Grimberg suggested, to help a short child develop coping skills than to buy inches through medicine.
1. As for the parents’ attitude to their 8-year-old boy’s shortness, the author is ________.| A．critical | B．tolerant | C．supportive | D．worried |
| A．They are eager to get the expected result. |
| B．They spare no effort to sort out the cause. |
| C．They feel disturbed by their children’s health. |
| D．They help develop their children’s coping skills. |
| A．It might be officially recommended. |
| B．It may fuel height discrimination. |
| C．It is pushed by a medical need. |
| D．It is targeted at certain diseases. |
| A．Shower the Short with Growth Hormones |
| B．Find Replacement for Growth Hormones |
| C．Assess the Effects of Growth Hormones |
| D．Weigh the Use of Growth Hormones |
7 . Ann started to work last summer. In order to have a holiday, she saved as much as she could and, this January, she booked a package tour to Spain. She left London airport early on the morning of the first Saturday in August. She was very excited, as this was her first trip abroad. When she arrived at Barcelona airport, the weather was beautiful.
At the hotel, she found that her Spanish money wasn’t in her handbag. All she had was a small purse with ten English pounds in it!
Ann found a place to change her English money for Spanish money. She would stay here for two weeks. After changing her money, Ann bought some cheese, some bread and some oranges. When she got back to the hotel, she told the tour guide that her doctor had told her not to eat much food, so she’d just have breakfast each day. This was all right, as she knew breakfast was included in the price of hotel.
For the rest of her holiday, Ann swam in the hotel or lay on the beach. She also went for long walks with Jane, a Scottish girl. However, when the others went to interesting places, Ann always said she wasn’t well. In fact, her holiday wasn’t bad, except that she was always hungry.
On the last day, Jane asked her why she never ate with them in the hotel restaurant. The food was excellent. Ann told her all about her money problem. Jane looked at her for a minute, and then said, “But didn’t you know? The price of this tour includes everything!”
1. Why was Ann so excited about the trip?| A．Because she had never been abroad. |
| B．Because she had saved enough money. |
| C．Because she had booked a cheap tour. |
| D．Because she had found a good job. |
| A．She didn’t find her purse. |
| B．She couldn’t find a place to change money. |
| C．She couldn’t find her Spanish money. |
| D．She didn’t understand Spanish. |
| A．she wanted to see a doctor. |
| B．she doubted the price of the hotels. |
| C．she had bought some food for her meals. |
| D．she would only take breakfast. |
| A．Ann was not allowed to eat much. |
| B．Ann’s Spanish money was stolen. |
| C．Ann missed some meals included in the tour. |
| D．Ann didn’t like the restaurant and the holiday. |
8 . Scientists have been trying to figure out how to alter the genes of humans for many years, and it looks like they’ve finally cracked (破解) the code. But while this may seem like a great step forward in science, some also believe that it’s one step back when it comes to ethics (道德准则). In August, a group of scientists from the USA and South Korea worked together to successfully edit a human embryo (胚胎) and remove a genetic mutation (突变) that would have led to heart disease, reported The Guardian. This was done with the help of CRISPR, a gene-editing tool that allows scientists to “cut and paste” human DNA.
Although this was the first example of an embryo’s genes being changed successfully, the advantages of gene editing have already been tested in living patients. In 2015, a five-month-old girl from the UK was saved after doctors used edited cells to fight off her cancer. As of today, she’s alive and well. And in the USA last year, scientists managed to remove HIV cells from several patients by editing the genes inside their bodies.
Some people hope that in the future, diseases or birth defects could simply be "edited out”. However, others believe this could lead to so-called designer babies, giving parents the option to choose everything from eye color to intelligence. “You could find wealthy parents buying the latest “upgrades” for their children, leading to even greater inequality than we already live with,” Marcy Camovsky, director of the San Francisco Center for Genetics, told BBC News.
In spite of these ethical concerns, experts say it’s not possible to create the “perfect” human being. Despite the progress scientists have made, we don’t understand human genes enough to give all unborn children great brainpower or amazing singing abilities. “Right now, we know nothing about genetic enhancement,” Hank Greely, a director at Stanford University, USA, told The New York Times. “We’re never going to be able to say, honestly, this embryo looks like it would score high on the two-part SAT.”
So it looks like if we want good exam results, or to impress people with our piano skills, we’ll have to stick with the old fashioned method of plain hard work---at least for now.
1. The underlined word “alter” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.| A．record | B．change | C．remove | D．increase |
| A．A genetic mutation related to heart disease was removed by scientists. |
| B．A newborn baby with cancer was saved by edited cells. |
| C．HIV cells were removed from patients9 bodies. |
| D．Some birth defects were simply edited out. |
| A．They don’t think it is an effective way to fight diseases. |
| B．They are concerned that it could lead to genetic mutations. |
| C．They think it could lead to designer babies and increased inequality. |
| D．They worry that it could make parents abandon children with birth defects. |
| A．Gene editing is regarded as the perfect way to treat birth defects. |
| B．There is still a long way to go to fully understand human genes. |
| C．Gene editing could help enhance human intelligence in the near future. |
| D．Scientists are pessimistic (悲观的) about the future of gene editing. |
9 . Scientists have shown a new printing process that can turn just about any piece of paper into a waterproof keyboard that you can fold up and put in your pocket.
The technique uses a special coating that's repellent (排斥的) to liquids and dust, which allows multiple circuit (电路) layers to be printed on top of the paper without any dirt between the layers. On the other side of the paper, standard ink printing can then be used to point out where the buttons are, and what they represent. These layers can be printed in any design you want. What's more, no batteries are required to operate the finished keyboard. It's able to be fully powered from the touch of the operator and the mechanical energy that's produced.
"This is the first time a self-powered paper-based electronic device has been shown," says engineer Ramses Martinez, from Purdue University. When the primed parts of the paper get pressed, they're able to send signals over Bluetooth to another device—a laptop, for example. You've then got a lightweight, foldable keyboard that can be taken anywhere and easily wiped clean when needed.
The technology is great. It's good for the environment because the paper can be simply recycled again. These paper devices are cheap to produce as well - less than $0.25 each, according to the researchers. Potential uses include smart packaging, or where temporary input devices are required.
"I expect this technology to help the user interact with food packaging—checking whether the food is safe to be consumed, or allowing users to sign the package that arrives at home by dragging their fingers over the box to properly identify themselves as the owner of the package," says Martinez. "Additionally, our group showed that simple paper sheets from a notebook can be transformed into music player interfaces (界面) for users to choose songs and play them."
1. What can we learn about the keyboard according to the text?| A．It consists of several layers of paper. |
| B．It's printed on both sides of the paper. |
| C．It's smaller than an ordinary keyboard. |
| D．It has its buttons hidden behind the layers. |
| A．By giving signals via Bluetooth. |
| B．By being attached to other devices. |
| C．By getting any part of the paper pressed. |
| D．By using the power produced by other devices. |
| A．Portable and beautiful. |
| B．Convenient and fashionable. |
| C．Eco-friendly and economical. |
| D．High-powered and permanent. |
| A．The technology makes food packaging easy. |
| B．The technology has been used in food industry. |
| C．The technology can be employed in more fields. |
| D．The technology will improve the quality of food. |
10 . Remote work, especially in a world affected by COVID-19, naturally leads to "flex time". Employees with small children might be getting the majority of their work done at night after the kids are in bed. Working early, you quit early. Starting late, work late.
With your teammates working during different hours, you may be getting messages at all hours of the day, night, or weekend, making you always available. That might be necessary in some industries during these challenging times, but certainly not in every industry and not for everyone in any industry. Once this takes root in your company culture, it becomes difficult to "reset" later. Besides, “always-on” isn't sustainable (可持续的), which increases pressure and quickly turns your company into an unpleasant place to work.
If your company adapts "flex time", how can you accommodate your employees’ needs while still protecting your culture and your team's work-life balance? The key is to encourage flex time while also setting clear "communication hours" (for example, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.）. Outside of those hours, employees should be encouraged to change their settings to "Do Not Disturb" and to use the “schedule send” feature of their email client so that messages only get delivered during communication hours.
If messages must happen outside of the set communication hours, such as for urgent or time-sensitive issues, make employees phone or text only. This way people can comfortably close down all other communication channels like email, WeChat, WeCom, etc. The act of having to call or text someone is usually enough to give the sender a pause to think, "Do I really need this person now, or can the communication wait?" This allows everyone on your team to work whenever is appropriate for them, but not feel like they have to work all the time to accommodate everyone else's schedule. A word of “Thanks for being so responsive” to someone answering an email outside of the defined communication hours definitely brings empathy (同理心) which smooths the urgency while also cultivating the trust and culture.
1. What may result in the phenomenon of "always-on"?| A．COVID-19. | B．Some industries. |
| C．Increasing pressure. | D．Flexible working time. |
| A．The phenomenon of "flex time". | B．The disadvantages of “flex time”. |
| C．The necessity of “flex time”. | D．The company culture of “flex time”, |
| A．It helps to make up for the shortcomings of “flex time". |
| B．It should be set from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| C．Employees mustn't be disturbed within the hours. |
| D．Employees are still responsive outside of the hours. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Opposed. | D．Indifferent. |
