2 . Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

It’s the largest children’s museum in the world. Here, kids and their parents can learn about dinosaurs, ancient Greece, outer-space objects, and much more. In 2018, the museum opened the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience, where kids can play while learning about the history and culture of sports.

Apollo Mission Control Center

In 1985, it was regarded as a National Historic Landmark. Work began in 2017 to restore it to perfect condition. And now you can visit it firsthand, learning about the engineers, flight controllers, and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the moon landing a reality. The team at the center hosts events about space every day of the year, for kids as young as 4.

Deichman Biblo Toyen

It is one of the coolest libraries. This striking library for only children aged 10 to 15 was designed to inspire. With many colorful exhibits and surprises, each section offers visitors a perfect experience. For those who have just come with a good book to read, there’re plenty of comfortable spots to do so.

Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center

Since it opened in 2018, it has helped kids and other visitors understand and appreciate the food on their tables. It partners with nearby Grotegut Dairy Farm (奶牛场), which bridges the gap between the center and real-world dairy operation. Visitors can take a bus tour of the farm to see it in action. And when any of Grotegut’s cows is ready to have a baby, it’s brought to Farm Wisconsin’s birthing center, where visitors are able to watch it all. But there’s no guarantee that a birth will happen during your visit.

1. What can be learnt about Children’s Museum of Indianapolis?

A．It has a large collection of ancient works.

B．It encourages children to play more freely.

C．It concerns children’s sports education.

D．It’s based on Apollo Mission Control Center.

2. What can visitors do in Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center?

A．Milk the cows.

B．Have outdoor experiences.

C．Make cheeses.

D．Feed a baby cow.

3. Which is meant to inspire kids to read ?

A．Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

B．Apollo Mission Control Center.

C．Deichman Biblo Toyen.

D．Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center.

3 . Robots will have taken over most jobs within 30 years leaving humanity facing its “biggest challenger ever” to find meaning in life when work is no longer necessary according to experts.

Professor Moshe Vardi, who works in Rice University, says that many middle-class professionals will be assisting the work of machines within the next few decades leaving workers more leisure（休闲）time than they have ever experienced and as a result, the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rate greater than 50 percent.

“We are approaching a time when machines will be able to do better than humans at almost any task,” said Vardi, “Robots are doing more and more jobs that people used to do. I believe that society needs to face question before it’s upon us. If machines can do almost any work humans can do, what will humans do? The question I want to put forward is, ‘Does the technology we are developing finally benefit mankind?’”

Prof. Vardi said existing robotic and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies were already getting rid of a growing number of middle-class jobs and that pace of advancement in the field is increasing.

But Prof. Vardi is not sure that a workforce of human like robots will be good for mankind. “A typical answer is that if machines will do all our work, we will be free to pursue leisure activities,” he said. “I do not find this a promising future, as I do not find the idea of leisure-only life appealing. I believe that work is essential to human well-being.” He added, “Humanity is about to face perhaps its greatest challenge ever, which is finding meaning in life. If machines can do all the work or even 50 percent of the jobs that we used to do, what will people do?”

1. According to the text, what is human’s “biggest challenge ever”?

A．The most challenging jobs.

B．Seeking the significance of life.

C．The rise of unemployment rates.

D．No necessary work for humanity.

2. What is Prof. Vardi concerned about?

A．Whether robotic and AI technologies are good for humans.

B．Whether robots can rule humans within 30 years.

C．The unemployment rate is increasing greatly.

D．The development of robots is rapid enough.

3. What does Prof. Vardi think of the leisure-only life?

A．Realistic and comfortable.

B．Unpleasant and unattractive.

C．Entertaining and pleasing.

D．Disgusting and annoying.

4. We can infer from the text that we ________ in the future.

A．will be in short of labor force

B．can have a surplus of products

C．have to face fierce competition

D．may lose the value of life

4 . A year ago, I decided to create a more environmentally friendly kitchen, focusing on reducing the single-use products such as plastic bags and paper towels. I’m not going to sugarcoat my experience. It takes com mitment and a willingness to change long-held habits. In creating my kitchen, I tried a lot of different alternative products and some plain old com mon sense； the result, however, has been worth the effort. I’m recycling more and relying less on single-use products and I’m saving money too.

I’m not kidding when I say that I used to really love plastic storage bags, so this was, perhaps, the biggest challenge for me. Switching to reusable storage bags is a financial investment, but the cos is reasonable considering that I previously spent at least $ 100 annually on single-use plastic bags and wrap. I willcheck online periodically for recycling updates, where a zero-waste box for kitchen items is offered, from party supplies to mixed-materialfood containers.

I’m a clean freak (怪人) and used to go through an amount of paper towels on a daily basis, butit’s easy enough to take old T-shirts ortowels and cutthem up to use to wipe down surfaces. I’m also a fan of bamboo paper towels, which have the look and feel of traditional paper towels, yet are made from a highly renewable source and also break down in just 45 days. Better yet, they can be reused up to 100 times. As for kitchen sponges (海绵擦), I keep an eye out for those made with natural and recyclable materials.

When purchasing household items online from companies like Amazon or Jet, I will ask to have them shipped in as few boxes as possible or as small a box as possible if a single item is to be sent. I’ll let the company know that they should pay more attention to how It is packaging items for delivery.

1. What is the author’s main purpose of creating her kitchen?

A．To save money.	B．To reduce waste and recycle more.
C．To change her long-held habits.	D．To make it cleaner and more practical.

2. What does the underlined word “sugarcoat” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．M ake attractive.	B．Getinterested.
C．Show off.	D．Give up.

3. In creating her kitchen, what does the author do?

A．Begins to recycle more single-use plastic bags.

B．Goes through an amount of paper towels on a daily basis.

C．Checks online periodically to buy zero-waste box.

D．Chooses to use the recyclable or reusable kitchen items.

4. What can we learn about the author from the text?

A．She has strong environmental awareness.

B．She is used to traditional paper towels.

C．She has a good knowledge of financialinvestment.

D．She prefers to have her purchases packed in small boxes.

5 . The place of exposure to the greatest amount of allergen（过敏原）for the longest time is in the bedroom. Up to 60% of the dust mites（螨虫）found in the home are actually living in your bed and you spend about one-third of your life in the bedroom! And, bedrooms are the easiest area to control as an allergen free zone. Your cleaning professional will first vacuum the mattress（垫子）, carpeting and furniture using a vacuum cleaner.

The mattress is then thoroughly cleaned on all surfaces using the Responsible Care cleaning agents and a special low moisture cleaning tool designed to leave the mattress as dry as possible. Following cleaning, Allergy Relief Treatment is applied to all mattress surfaces using a fine mist application. The mattress is then placed in a drying position and a special air mover used to speed the drying process, which, depending upon temperature and humidity, normally takes about an hour.

The same safe cleaning agents are used to clean the bedroom carpeting and if desired, any furniture or rugs. This is also followed by an application of Allergy Relief Treatment. Once again, a speed drying system is set up to dry the cleaned items as quickly as possible and bring the humidity down to normal levels. Baseboards and windowsills are cleaned as well. While the cleaning and treatment service is being performed it is highly recommended that the bedding and pillows be washed in hot water and that two cups of Allergy Relief Treatment be added to the washing cycle.

While servicing the bedroom is the highest priority（优先）, significant benefits may also result from cleaning and treating other areas where allergy sufferers spend lots of time. These areas include the furniture and carpeting in rooms where time is spent watching television, reading and so on. Also, carpeted areas that pets have access to should be cleaned and treated.

A test for the presence of dust mites in quantities requiring treatment is also available from our company. But we will only test dust mites and will not provide information on pet allergen.

1. Which place has the most dust mites in your room?

A．Bed.	B．Carpet.
C．Furniture.	D．Floor.

2. What is mainly talked about in paragraph 2?

A．The use of cleaning agents.

B．The surfaces of mattress.

C．Cleaning the mattress.

D．Drying the mattress.

3. What do we know about Allergy Relief Treatment mentioned in this passage?

A．It is a cure to allergy.

B．It is a tool to kill mites.

C．It is the name of a company.

D．It is a chemical to prevent allergy.

4. Where might this passage come from?

A．A magazine about furniture.

B．The website of a cleaning company.

C．The website of a hospital.

D．A newspaper on public health.

6 . Around 45% of plastic waste is recycled annually in the UK and is on the increase. However, one of the problems with present plastic recycling methods is that you end up with a lower-quality plastic with worse properties （特性）than the original. This means that plastic drink bottles cannot simply be recycled into new drink bottles continuously, but instead are used for other lower-grade products like park benches.

Now, British scientists have developed a new method of chemical recycling. They use lower temperatures and more environmentally-friendly starting chemicals than previous methods to turn plastics back into their constituent chemical molecules （分子）.In this way, they can be used to make new plastics of the same quality as the original.

"Most plastic is now recycled using mechanical methods, where they are transformed into liquids before being made into something new," said a professor named Matthew Jones. "The problem is, melting plastic changes its properties and reduces the quality. Out method of chemical recycling overcomes this problem. Then plastics can be used all over again without losing any properties?"

The researchers are recycling some kinds of plastics, including plant-based PLA, a plastic used for food packaging and PET, which is used for drink bottles. So far, the technology has only been demonstrated on a small range. However, scientists are now working to produce larger quantities of starting chemicals.

"There is no single solution to the problem of plastic waste — the approach has to be a combination of reducing, reusing and recycling. Our method of chemical recycling could allow carbon to be recycled endlessly rather than digging more up from the ground in the form of fossil fuels, or letting it into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas," said Dr. Paul McKeown from the University of Bath.

1. What is the problem with the present plastic recycling?

A．The quality of recycled plastics declines.

B．Plastic drink bottles cannot be recycled.

C．The amount of plastic waste is increasing.

D．Recycled lower-grade products sell badly.

2. How do scientists recycle plastic waste with the new method?

A．By transforming it into fuels.

B．By heating it into liquid state.

C．By keeping its original properties.

D．By changing its molecule structure.

3. What can we learn from what Dr. Paul McKeown said?

A．Fossil fuels are endless resources.

B．The plastic waste problem has no solution.

C．Recycled carbon leads to greenhouse gases.

D．The chemical recycling is environment-friendly.

4. In which part of the website can we find the text?

A．Business.	B．Tech & Science.
C．Lifestyle.	D．Arts & Culture

7 . Yoga is an ancient physical and spiritual practice originating in India. The word“yoga” comes from Sanskrit （梵文）and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and mind. Today it is practiced in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity. Recognizing its universal appeal, the United Nations declared 21 June as the International Day of Yoga in 2014 to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.

Yoga is an invaluable gift from an ancient tradition. It’s not just about exercise but a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself nature and the world. There is no written record of who invented yoga. Yoga practitioners （从业者）passed down the principles to their students. The earliest written record of yoga is generally believed to have been written by Patanjali, an Indian master who lived somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago.

Various yoga types give you multiple choices. Hatha yoga is the most widely practiced type and is excellent for beginners. It is gentle with slow and smooth movements. Kundalini yoga combines a singing session besides body and mental control. Bikram yoga is practiced in a heated room. It is to loosen muscles and to sweat to clean the body and remove symptoms of disease and pain. Ashtanga yoga is taught as a difficult workout where you move quickly from one gesture to another to build strength and patience.

In recent years, the World Health Organization has urged countries to help their citizens reduce physical inactivity, which is among the top ten leading causes of death worldwide, and a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Yoga is a proper exercise. It is known for its ability to ease stress and anxiety. It may also help reduce several risk factors for heart diseases and promote a better sleep.

1. Why did the United Nations set the International Day of Yoga?

A．To promote the research into Sanskrit.

B．To help people know more about India.

C．To popularize Yoga practice worldwide.

D．To give a declaration on cultural diversity.

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The principles of yoga.	B．The history of yoga.
C．The benefits of yoga.	D．An Indian yoga master.

3. What will you choose if you’re looking for a challenging exercise?

A．Hatha yoga.	B．Kundalini yoga.
C．Bikram yoga.	D．Ashtanga yoga.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Physical inactivity causes deadly diseases・

B．Yoga can help prevent communicable diseases.

C．Little or no exercise puts people’s health at risk.

D．Yoga can be a cure for many kinds of diseases.

8 . Macinley Butson was just 16 years old when she first had the idea to try and protect women from more — than — necessary radiation during breast cancer treatments—and now, her invention could be a game-changer in the medical field.

Butson, whose father works in medical physics, has always been interested in science. But she only began researching the harmful side effects of radiation treatment after her father discussed his experience with ineffective cancer treatments in his work. Since Butson had also recently lost a relative to breast cancer, she felt inspired to conduct her own research on the subject. She tried to begin her medical research by consulting scientific journals, but she found their academic terms almost impossible to understand.

She then turned to the Internet to find videos that taught how to read scientific journals. As she went deeper in her research, she stumbled upon a key bit of information: copper （铜）has been shown to be effective at protecting skin from radiation. An idea hit this Australian teen as she was viewing a film on medieval wars in her 10th grade history class. When she saw the scaled （鳞片） patterns of the mail （盔甲）,she was inspired to create a wearable protective tool out of copper. She then headed back online and watched videos on how to put together tiny scales. She made her own flexible scale-mail which she now calls SMART: Scale Mail for Radiation Therapy.

When her invention was tested in a laboratory setting, it reduced surface exposure to unnecessary radiation by 75%. And now Butson is working on getting her SMART into clinical settings for use.

1. Why did Macinley Butson start her research?

A．To assist her father with his work.	B．To save her relative from cancer.
C．To publish some articles in journals.	D．To find effective ways to treat cancer.

2. What does the underlined phrase “stumbled upon" in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Came across.	B．Missed.
C．Passed on.	D．Required.

3. Where did Macinley Buston get inspiration for her invention?

A．Videos online.	B．Scientific journals.
C．History textbooks.	D．Soldiers defensive clothes.

4. Which of the following best describes Macinley Buston?

A．Stubborn.	B．Creative.
C．Selfless.	D．Considerate.

9 . Like Indiana Jones (a fictional character), who undertakes daring adventures in his spare time, my father is a businessman by day and a thrill-seeker by night.

His enthusiasm rubbed off on me, and I have been lucky to be his companion on many adventures. We started out by riding America’s fastest, most twisted roller coasters. After that a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon（峡谷）on the Colorado River started our search for other extreme thrills across the globe.

Amazing thrills awaited us at every corner of the world. Skydiving was especially thrilling when performed from a helicopter over the breathtaking Swiss Alps. We have bungee jumped from the world’s highest platform, Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa. Most recently, in Interlaken, Switzerland, we attempted canyoning（溪降运动）.

Anyone who loves a challenging thrill should try canyoning. Our adventure began with a 90-foot rope down a canyon wall into a rushing ice-cold river. Then we crossed the bone-chilling water toward the mouth of the river, our final destination, where the reward for the journey would be a whole view of the beautiful Interlaken basin. We slid over slippery rocks at one moment, jumped from waterfalls and swam through underwater tunnels the next. Back and forth we alternated, climbing rope ladders before going back into the fresh mountain water. Certainly, danger was waiting for us in each of these activities, but that very danger provided the rush. Canyoning was indeed one thrill after another, from beginning to end.

While canyoning is possible only in certain places, thrills and adventure can be found anywhere. Our beginnings in the U.S. showed us just that. We continue to seek the big thrills, but in doing so, we have learned to seek lesser excitement in daily life as well. After all, we can’t go canyoning every day, and small thrills are better than none for us thrill-seekers.

1. What do we know about the author’s father?

A．He is a very successful businessman.

B．He is doing a part-time job.

C．He likes Indiana Jones very much.

D．He enjoys experiencing adventures.

2. What does the underlined phrase “rubbed off on” mean in paragraph 2?

A．relate to	B．keep off
C．affect	D．confuse

3. What did the author and his father do when attempting canyoning?

A．Jumped down from waterfalls and swam across the icy water.

B．Jumped down a canyon river and crossed it.

C．Climbed over a rope ladder and swam through underwater tunnels.

D．Climbed down a canyon wall and swam across the rushing icy river.

4. What does the author want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．Small thrills in daily life are worth a try as well.

B．We had better go abroad to experience canyoning.

C．Canyoning is not suitable for everyone.

D．America is the most proper place to experience adventures.

10 . I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had             died “full of years”, as the Bible would say. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence (吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon.
At the first home, the son of the deceased (已故的) woman said to me, “If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow , she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son of the other             deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. It’s my fault that she’s dead.”
You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out badly, they believe that the opposite course — keeping Mother at home, putting off the operation — would have turned out better.             After all, how could it have turned out any worse?
There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that __________ the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.
The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling             may lie in our childhood.
A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to its tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people             feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.
1. The author had to hold the two women’s funerals probably because .

A．he wanted to comfort the two families	B．he was an official from the community
C．he had great pity for the deceased	D．he was priest of the local church

2. People feel guilty for the deaths of their loved ones because .

A．they couldn’t find a better way to express their sorrow

B．they believe that they were responsible

C．they had neglected the natural course of events

D．they didn’t know things often turn out in the opposite direction

3. According to the passage, the underlined part in paragraph 4 probably means that .

A．everything in the world is predetermined

B．the world can be interpreted in different ways

C．there’s an explanation for everything in the world

D．we have to be sensible in order to understand the world

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Life and death is an unsolved mystery.

B．Every story should have a happy ending.

C．Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault.

D．In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away .