1 . While going to the aquarium（水族馆）is a great way to learn about sea animals, some have raised concerns about the animals' quality of life. But Edge Innovations, a company in New Zealand, has a very special way to solve the problem.
Edge Innovations is working with American creators of some of Hollywood's most famous animals to develop robot dolphins that look like almost exactly the same as real-life animals.
The ocean park industry has had falling interests for over ten years because of ethical（道德的）concerns and the cost of live animals, yet people's hunger for learning about and experiencing these animals is still as strong as ever. Developers believe that it's time to make a change in this industry and that this method shows humans' mercy and brings more interests at the same time.
One robot dolphin could cost an aquarium at least $ 26.3 million. But the robot would be controlled by humans and be able to play with humans as a regular dolphin would. The price at the moment is very high, but Edge Innovations notes that since the robots last longer than a real animal, the returns will be worth the price.
The robot dolphin weighs just about 600 pounds but is amazingly life-like. According to The Guardian, a test audience was actually not able to tell it apart from a real dolphin. As for aquarium visitors, the developers forecast that they won't mind not seeing a "real" dolphin. "For people in New Zealand, for me, I prefer natural animals," said Li Wang, the business developer for Edge Innovations. "But when we think about the new generation who spend far more time than us playing electronic games online, we think the robot dolphins will be accepted.”
The development of robot animals may be the future of zoos and aquariums, making it easier for animal lovers to enjoy nature in a kind way.
1. What is Edge Innovations doing?| A．Designing robot dolphins. |
| B．Stopping animal shows. |
| C．Improving dolphins' living conditions. |
| D．Making Hollywood films about dolphins. |
| A．Why the ocean park industry closes down. |
| B．How the ocean park industry can develop. |
| C．How robot dolphins can succeed. |
| D．Why robot dolphins are created. |
| A．Their price is too high to be accepted. |
| B．They look smaller in size than real ones. |
| C．They save aquariums' cost in the long run. |
| D．They can serve longer than creators thought. |
| A．Robot Dolphins Are Coming |
| B．The Rise and Fall of Robot Dolphins |
| C．The Aquariums Are Facing the Ethical Problem |
| D．Robot Dolphins Will Bring an End to Ocean Park Industry |
2 . A mother has taken her celebration（颂扬）of great women in history to the next level—by dressing her baby daughter up as some of the most famous women of all time. Jenelle Wexler, a hair stylist from Chicago, the USA, came up with the idea when she noticed similarities in appearance between her four-month-old baby, Liberty, and a Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Wexler took photos of Liberty who was dressed up as the Mexican artist. And after that, Wexler wanted to go on with what she did. "The pictures came out wonderfully, and soon after that, I thought about other women in history that contributed to the benefit of women and people as a whole," she says.
Wexler takes the photos with her iphone. Up until now, she has dressed Liberty up as a series of famous women, including Marie Curie, Coco Chanel, Madonna and Amelia Earhart.
Once she decides which woman she would like Liberty to play, she researches the person and learns about some of the historic achievements this woman has made. Wexler checks photos of each woman, which she then uses to design clothing and setting that will show their character and achievements.
It takes Wexler around 20 minutes to take each photo, and for every dress-up activity, Wexler usually takes nearly 50 pictures in total. "Liberty has acted 34 women of influence," she says. She just wants to draw people's attention to those who should really be admired in our society—there are so many great women who need to be remembered and have their stories told.
1. What made Wexler dress Liberty up as Frida Kahlo?| A．Frida Kahlo is popular among women. |
| B．Wexler admires Frida Kahlo very much. |
| C．Liberty and Frida Kahlo looked like each other. |
| D．Wexler wanted Liberty to be an artist like Frida Kahlo |
| A．Show how the dress-up activity goes on. |
| B．Offer some suggestions on picture-taking. |
| C．Value women's contributions to the world |
| D．Introduce some research on famous women |
| A．She enjoys taking photos to record life. |
| B．She devotes all her time to her daughter. |
| C．She works hard to protect the rights of women |
| D．She puts lots of effort into the dress-up activity. |
| A．To introduce some excellent women. |
| B．To advise people to take pictures of kids. |
| C．To call on people to remember famous women. |
| D．To choose proper role models for young people. |
3 . While it's not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly for a few seconds in poor weather, but most of them prefer to stay put on rainy days.
Why does rain make it harder for birds to fly? You might imagine that moving through the air while being pelted by raindrops would be pretty unpleasant. However, it's not the rain itself that makes flying difficult. Instead, birds are influenced by the drop in the air pressure that comes with most rainstorms. When pressure drops, the air is less thick, which makes it harder for birds to fly. Moving through the sky in areas of low air pressure takes a lot of energy.
Most birds need to eat several times a day—rain or no rain. Luckily, most birds' feathers（羽毛）are highly waterproof（防水的）, protecting the skin beneath. Many birds can also make oil that they can spread over their feathers to further protect themselves from the rain. Most birds don't like rain. In fact, in a 2010 study, a team of researchers studied birds living in a Costa Rican rainforest. They found that the birds had higher levels of stress hormone（应激激素）on rainy days. That may not surprise you. After all, many animals feel stressed out during storms. Pet owners often find that rain and thunder make their animals nervous. Some animals are so strongly influenced by nature that they almost seem to forecast the future.
No one really knows how many birds die during a storm or series of storms. But the number is certainly higher than usual. They fly into trees or windows; they get lost over the ocean or a large lake; their food sources are made more difficult to get but, at the same time, they need more food to get warm. However, if rain continues for some time, birds will have to challenge the storm.
1. What makes it harder for birds to fly in the rain?| A．The wet air. | B．Food shortage. |
| C．Raindrops. | D．The low air pressure. |
| A．Cleaned. | B．Hit. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Protected. |
| A．Why birds can fly in the rain |
| B．How birds are influenced by rain. |
| C．How birds survive long rainy days. |
| D．Why birds' feathers are waterproof. |
| A．Birds will develop the ability to fly in the rain |
| B．Birds fly only when necessary on rainy days. |
| C．Birds have nowhere to hide in rainstorms. |
| D．Birds need less food on rainy days. |
4 . Covid-19 has brought a great deal of trouble for all of us since March 2020. During this time, mobile phones have been the solution for the boredom and restlessness caused from staying indoors. The most downloaded apps on play store 2020 are;
TikTok
TikTok was the most downloaded app. With over 111.9 million downloads, TikTok has seen a huge growth in 2020, twice more than what it got in 2019. 20% of its total downloads were from India and around 9. 3% of the total downloads were in the US.
Zoom
Zoom was the second most installed app in the overall downloads category. With nearly 94. 6 million installs, Zoom is the most used app for online meetings and virtual classrooms. 17% of its downloads were in the US and India. Offices and educational institutes were shut down and to continue working and studying from home, people relied heavily on Zoom for video conferencing and calling.
WhatsApp ranked third in overall downloads with more than 100 million downloads. It is one of the most popular and widely used chat applications; WhatsApp also supports communication between international phone networks.
It ranked fourth in the overall downloaded list. Facebook is the world’s most popular social networking application. Facebook builds technologies that give people the power to connect with friends and family, find communities and grow businesses.
1. What do we know about TikTok?| A．It is an India-based app. | B．It has most users in America. |
| C．It is used for growing business. | D．It has doubled its download than in 2019. |
| A．TikTok. | B．Zoom. | C．WhatsApp. | D．Facebook. |
| A．Communication. | B．Training. | C．Teaching. | D．Payment |
5 . An early morning winter storm had brought several inches of snow in my small town in the mountains.Schools were canceled,roads were dangerous and all I wanted to do was to stay in bed.Still,I knew I had to get the day started so I put on warm clothes and walked outside.The snow got all over my shoes.The cold wind dried my lips and my eyes.My 47 year-old back ached in anticipation（预想）of the shoveling（铲雪）I would have to do if the snow didn't stop soon.
Yet,when I looked out on the white blanket that covered the ground,I couldn't help but smile a bit.It was so beautiful.It softened the bare trees and hid the dead grass.In the distance I could hear the sound of the snowplow on the road,the barking of a happy dog and the laughter of children playing outside,enjoying their way off from school.
The sweet music of that laughter brought back a hundred memories of winters past.I remembered catching snowflakes(雪花)on my tongue,building snowmen,making snow angles,running down hills and always losing snowball fights with first my brothers and then my own children.Standing there in that warmcoat of memories made the wind a little less cold and my back a little less sore.I turned up my head,stuck out my tongue and for the first time in years caught a snowflake on it.It tasted so fresh and clean.It tasted like youth,like joy and like love.
May you always feel young in spirit,no matter how old or achy your body may be.May you always delight in the simple joys of life.May you always share your happiness with the hearts of children.And may you always give your love,your light,your laughter and your warmth to others even on the coldest days.
1. What was the author’s first reaction when he knew it snowed heavily?| A．He was upset. | B．He was happy. |
| C．He was thankful. | D．He was moved. |
| A．my back ached because of the cold weather. |
| B．I didn't want to start my day on such a snowy day. |
| C．my back would ache upon thinking of cleaning up the snow. |
| D．the snow didn't stop and I felt too cold. |
| A．Taste and smell. | B．Sight and smell. |
| C．Smell,hearing and taste. | D．Sight,hearing and taste. |
| A．Appreciate every snowstorm you spend with your family. |
| B．Snow brings both fun and trouble. |
| C．Memories can change our opinion. |
| D．We should stay young at heart. |
6 . Once there was a relative who offered a man and his three sons two baskets of peaches(桃子). One basket of peaches were just ripe(成熟) while the other were already overripe and would go bad at once.
The father asked, “Which way of eating can avoid wasting a peach?”
The eldest son said, “Of course, we should eat those overripe, for they can’t be kept for three days.”
“But after you eat up those, the peaches in the other basket will go bad!”Certainly, the father was not satisfied with the eldest son’s advice.
The second son thought for a while and said “We should eat the peaches just ripe. Choose the good ones!”
“If so, won't the overripe peaches be wasted? Don’t you think it pity?” The father turned to the youngest son, “What good idea do you have?”
“I feel,” thinking for a while, the youngest son said, “we’d better mix them together, give some of them to the neighbors, and let them help us eat, so that we won’t waste a peach at all.”
Hearing this, the father nodded and said with a smile, “OK. It is really a good way. Then let’s do it by your way.”
1. Who offered them two baskets of peaches?| A．A boss | B．A friend. |
| C．A relative. | D．A neighbor. |
| A．avoid wasting a peach | B．sell the peaches |
| C．eat the overripe peaches | D．send the ripe peaches |
| A．Eating them up. | B．Eating those ripe peaches first. |
| C．Giving some to the neighbors. | D．Eating those overripe peaches first. |
| A．He felt sad. | B．He felt worried. |
| C．He was satisfied. | D．He was disappointed. |
7 . Earthquakes are something that people fear. There are some places that have few or no earthquakes. Most places in the world, however, have them regularly ( 有规律地). Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous.
The most-talked-about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906. Over 700 people died in it. The strongest one in North America was in 1964. It happened in Alaska.
Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people. In 1755, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal. Around 2，000 people died.
In 1923, a very strong earthquake hit Tokyo, the Yokohama area of Japan. A hundred and forty thousand people died. Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake.
One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 1976. It killed a large number of people. The worst earthquake ever recorded was also in China, in which about 80，000 people were killed or injured. This earthquake happened in 2008.
Earthquakes worry people a lot. The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming.
People can't prepare for them.
1. Earthquakes happen _______．| A．in all the places in the world |
| B．only in the countries that have a lot of mountains |
| C．regularly in most places in the world |
| D．only in a few places along the mountains |
| A．4; Alaska. | B．2008; China. |
| C．1923; Japan. | D．1976; China. |
| A．How do earthquakes worry people? |
| B．What will people do to prepare for earthquakes? |
| C．How can we save people when earthquakes happen? |
| D．How do earthquakes happen? |
8 . Jon Steward, a 10-year-old boy with autism(自闭症), came home from Cumberland Head Elementary School in Plattsburgh, New York, on April 7 more excited than ever. To celebrate National Poetry Month, his fifth-grade teacher asked her students to write a poem about themselves, beginning every sentence with ''I am''.
Jon couldn't wait to start writing, so he sat down and didn't look up until it was finished. A few hours later, he showed the poem to his parents, who immediately got chock up.
''I am odd. I am new, '' Jon wrote in the poem. ''I wonder if you are too. I hear voices in the air. I see you don't and that's not fair. ''
''I feel like a boy in outer space. I touch the stars and feel out of place, '' he went on to write.
''At first, we felt sad and hurt that he felt lonely, misunderstood and odd at school, '' Steward said. ''As the poem went on, we realized that he understood that he was odd and that so was everyone else in their own way. This is what Jon wants everyone to know. ''
Jon was supposed to read his poem aloud to the class the following day, but upon waking up that morning, he refused to go to school. Instead, he stayed at home.
He didn't think his poem was any good, so his dad posted it on Facebook in the hope of getting some encouraging comments. Once the National Autism Association saw the photo, they posted it on their page, where thousands of strangers shared how much the poem inspired them. Now the family has heard from hundreds of parents thanking Jon for showing how their own kids may be feeling at school.
1. Why did Jon feel very excited on April 7?| A．He had a task to finish. | B．He wrote a good poem. |
| C．He had good news to share. | D．He had been praised at school. |
| A．Pleased. | B．Anxious. |
| C．Puzzled. | D．Bored. |
| A．was ignored for a short time |
| B．won much encouragement for Jon |
| C．started a hot debate immediately |
| D．made many parents know more about Jon |
| A．Doctors. | B．Students. |
| C．Parents. | D．Educators. |
9 . In the old days, when you had to drive to a movie theater to get some entertainment, it was easy to see how your actions could have an impact（影响）on the environment. After all, you were jumping into your car, driving across town, coughing out emissions（产生排放）and using gas all the way. But now that we're used to staying at home and streaming movies, we might get a little proud. After all, we're just picking up our phones and maybe turning on the TV. You're welcome. Mother Nature.
Not so fast, says a recent report from the French-based Shift Project. According to "Climate Crisis: The Unsustainable Use of Online Video", digital technologies are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that energy use is increasing by 9% a year. Watching a half-hour show would cause 1. 6 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions. That's like driving 6. 28 kilometers. And in the European Union, the Eureca project found that data centers （where videos are stored） there used 25% more energy in 2017 compared to just three years earlier, reports the BBC.
Streaming is only expected to increase as we become more enamored of our digital devices （设备）and the possibility of enjoying entertainment where and when we want it increases. Online video use is expected to increase by four times from 2017 to 2022 and account for 80% of all Internet traffic by 2022. By then, about 60% of the world's population will be online.
You're probably not going to give up your streaming services, but there're things you can do to help lessen the impact of your online use, experts say. For example, according to Lutz Stobbe, a researcher from the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, we have no need to upload 25 pictures of the same thing to the cloud because it consumes energy every time. If instead you delete a few things here and there, you can save energy. Moreover, it's also a good idea to stream over Wi-Fi, watch on the smallest screen you can, and turn off your Wi-Fi in your home if you're not using your devices.
1. What topic is the first paragraph intended to lead in?| A．The environmental effects of driving private cars. |
| B．The improvements on environmental awareness. |
| C．The change in the way people seek entertainment. |
| D．The environmental impacts of screaming services. |
| A．Get more skeptical of. | B．Become more aware of. |
| C．Feel much crazier about. | D．Get more worried about. |
| A．It is being reduced to protect the planet. |
| B．Its environmental effects are worsening. |
| C．It is easily available to almost everyone. |
| D．Its side effects have drawn global attention. |
| A．Watching downloaded movies on a mobile phone. |
| B．Downloading music on a personal computer. |
| C．Uploading a lot of images of the same thing. |
| D．Playing online games over mobile networks. |
10 . Most Chinese people these days know what it is like to have an "English teacher",since almost all pupils study English from their third year.Usually that first English teacher will be a young and lovely lady in primary school.But my first English teacher is no other than my father.Looking back,I can see that,when I was only a little girl,he created an English environment by providing me with flashcards（识字卡）,fun English-language toys and even dolls which can sing English songs!My interest in English had certainly been awakened（唤起）when I began to learn English at school.Just imagine,he went a step further and asked me to learn New Concept English by myself!I was confused（迷惑不解）and had much anger.I could not understand why a father could be so strict with his little girl.All the same,he never gave up and he gently insisted that I follow through with his ideas.At first,I read stories with tears in my eyes and I actually hated them because they were too difficult for me.In the end,I came.to love the funny stories and,to be honest,my father was always there with a helping hand.I am sure that my English would never have got so far without his support.And that's why my father is not only my first English teacher but also my lifelong teacher.He is the one who awoke my interest,who gave me confidence and who offered me much needed help.
1. Which of the following wasn't used by the father to create an English environment?| A．Flashcards. | B．Fun English-language toys. |
| C．Dolls singing English songs. | D．English books. |
| A．Happy. | B．Angry. |
| C．Excited. | D．Amazed. |
| A．the author's father is an English teacher |
| B．the author was interested in English after she learned New Concept English |
| C．the author's English wouldn't be so good without her father's help |
| D．the author had no difficulty when she first learned New Concept English |
| A．My First and Lifelong English Teacher | B．Different Ways to Learn English |
| C．My Good English | D．Learn English or Not? |
