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| C．It would be out of date.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 . I’m fat. I’m too skinny. I’d be happy if I were taller, shorter, had curly hair, straight hair, a smaller nose, bigger muscles, longer legs. Do any of these statements sound familiar? Do you often put yourself down? If so, you’re not alone. As a teen, you’re going through a ton of changes in your body. And as your body changes, so does your image of yourself. Lots of people have trouble getting used to it, and this can affect their confidence.
Some people think they need to change how they look or act to feel good about themselves. But actually all you need to do is to change the way you see your body and how you think about yourself.
The first thing to do is to recognise that your body is your own, no matter what shape, size, or colour it comes in. If you're very worried about your weight or size, go to your doctor to check if things are OK. But it’s no one’s business but your own what your body is like finally, you have to be happy with yourself.
Next, find which aspects(方面) of your appearance you can change and which you can’t. Everyone, even the most perfect-seeming celebrity, has things about themselves that they can’t change and need to accept-like their height, for example, or their shoe size.
If there are things about yourself that you want to change and can, do this by making goals for yourself. For example, if you want to get fit, make a plan to exercise every day and eat nutritious foods.
When you hear negative comments coming from within yourself, tell yourself to stop. Try building your confidence by listing three things in your day that really give you pleasure. It can be anything like the way the sun feels on your face, the sound of your favourite band, or the way someone laughs at your jokes.
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．Most teens like to have a special body image. |
| B．Many teens can’t accept their body changes easily. |
| C．Teens prefer to change their body image quickly. |
| D．Teens usually change their opinions on their body image. |
| A．change the way other people look at you. |
| B．go to your doctor for advice on how to change your body. |
| C．learn from some celebrities on how to change your body. |
| D．realise you can't change everything about yourself. |
| A．Make yourself fall down. | B．Write down your name somewhere. |
| C．Force yourself to do something | D．Say negative things about yourself. |
| A．how to adjust the changes of your body |
| B．how to build confidence by changing your body |
| C．how to keep an attractive body image |
| D．how to find pleasure in your day |
3 . In many cultures, it is considered unlucky to spill salt. Fortunately, many cultures also have a solution to the problem, which usually involves throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder. It may seem confusing to modern humans, but knowing that salt was once incredibly valuable can change this perspective.
For thousands of years, salt was an extremely rare commodity. It was difficult to obtain so that the price was very high. Many trading routes were set up to carry salt, people were paid in salt, and salt was sometimes worth more than its weight in gold. Therefore, spilling salt was considered wasteful.
Because of its high value, salt was also associated with friendship and good fortune. Offerings of salt were included in many religious ceremonies, and people might bring salt to a new home for good luck. These associations would have suggested that it would be bad luck to spill salt, since it would seem to violate salt’s fortunate properties.
Salt is also an excellent preservative. It prevents food from going bad. As such, it came to be linked with health and longevity. In some cultures, spilling salt was thought to reduce one's well-being. In Britain, for example, each spilled grain was said to represent a tear, while in Germany spilled salt awakened the devil, bringing misfortune.
The fear of spilling salt was also adopted into the Christian faith. It is said that Judas spilled salt at the Last Supper, and since he later turned out to be the betrayer of Christ, spilled salt is considered unlucky by many Christians.
Should you be unfortunate enough to spill salt, you might throw a pinch over your left shoulder to blind the Devil.
1. Spilling salt was probably thought to bring bad luck because ________.| A．it was a Christian faith | B．salt was linked with misfortune |
| C．it would decrease one’s lifespan | D．salt was always expensive than gold |
| A．Protector. | B．Flavor. | C．Medium. | D．Solution. |
| A．To introduce the history of salt. | B．To show ways to avoid misfortune. |
| C．To explain the beliefs about spilling salt. | D．To entertain readers with some anecdotes. |
4 . Sora observed in amazement as Weilun picked up two large metal cans. She followed Weilun with a pail (桶) of clothes, watching him carry the two cans effortlessly. They were large and were covering Weilun’s small frame.
Sora’s father had sent her to the village to learn about rural life. Sora had never once done any household chores back home. She did not understand why her father would always chant “Where is your willingness to learn?” whenever she asked him if she could stay home for the holidays. Her father had given her a checklist on the life skills that she needed to learn, one of which was to wash clothes. She recalled washing a table cloth after an art lesson in school. That was a piece of cake, she thought. So Sora refused Weilun’s offer to help. Weilun then went to fill the large cans with water at the far end of the river.
Suddenly, a big bird dived from the sky when Sora placed the last piece of clothing back in the pail. Sora released her grasp of the pail in shock. Then she was relaxed to find it was aiming for a worm near her. But the clothes were drifting in the river. Weilun immediately came to help and Sora shifted the blame to the bird.
He pointed at the detergent foam (洗涤剂泡沫) on the surface of the river. “Don’t tell me you rinsed (漂洗) the detergent from the clothes in the river. Don’t you know that it may kill the river creatures? You caused the problem, not the bird!” Sora looked down in shame. “You think that you know everything, but you actually don’t.”
Sora closed her eyes to let Weilun’s words sink in for a moment. She finally understood the meaning behind her father’s chants. She walked towards Weilun and whispered, “Could you teach me all the life skills that my father had planned for me to learn?”
1. Why was Sora amazed?| A．Weilun was too small in size for the two large cans. |
| B．Weilun was willing to help his parents do some chores. |
| C．Weilun managed to carry the two large cans easily. |
| D．Weilun was willing to accompany her to the riverside. |
| A．She thought it was an easy task. |
| B．She had learned how to do it. |
| C．She wanted her father to be proud of her. |
| D．She wanted to learn new things by herself. |
| A．The bird was diving for food. |
| B．The bird was attacking her. |
| C．Sora was rinsing the detergent in the pail. |
| D．Sora was shocked to find a worm in the pail. |
| A．She wasn’t capable of living on her own. |
| B．She really lacked the willingness to learn. |
| C．Life skills could be learned in the country. |
| D．Her father wanted her to learn from Weilun. |
5 . 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 |
6 . A young woman was walking in Santa Ana, California, when she came upon an elderly street vendor (小贩) selling tamales (玉米粉蒸肉). Seeing how tired he looked in his wheelchair, she decided to give him a few bucks and a sandwich—and she also gave him a sympathetic ear to listen to his story.
When Kenia Barragan first saw Jose Villa Ochoa, she thought of her own parents. “I felt for him,” she told KTTV News, “My parents are both older, and I would hate to see my dad out selling tamales for somebody and barely making ends meet.”
Known as “Don Joel”, he explained that although he wanted a job, no company would hire him because of his age. In order to keep himself out of debt, he started to sell tamales cooked by a local woman. At the end of each hard day, she would give him a cut of the earnings. This allowed him to buy food, but was not enough for him to afford his medical treatment or a phone.
The 28-year-old woman was happy to listen to Don Joel’s story, but she wanted to do more. She made an appeal to her followers on Instagram for some assistance. Within a week, friends and strangers flooded her with more than $84 000 in donations.
In addition to the money raised for Don Joel’s retirement, Kenia purchased him a new wheelchair and a shiny new pair of shoes. Even though he’s 94, he says he feels like he’s 40 now, because the kindness has made him feel so alive. He describes the generosity as “life-changing”.
Kenia feels exactly the same way. She says she’s always looking for a purpose that helps people and that she’s been living in line with those values in her current job, working with people who have disabilities to get them transportation. Her goal in life is to establish a homeless shelter.
1. Why did Don Joel sell tamales?| A．To buy a new wheelchair. | B．To struggle for a living. |
| C．To pay off his medical debt. | D．To help a local woman. |
| A．By establishing a homeless shelter. | B．By giving him money and sandwiches. |
| C．By collecting donations on Instagram. | D．By listening to his story attentively. |
| A．She disliked her father because of his job. |
| B．She is a wealthy woman ready to help others. |
| C．She helped Don Joel when she was 40 years old. |
| D．She is a kind woman aiming to do more charity. |
| A．Rose given, fragrant in hand. | B．The best hearts are always the bravest. |
| C．No pain, no gain. | D．Sharp tools make good work. |
7 . 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. |
8 . The use of AI (artificial intelligence) is becoming more common in many branches of industry and online shopping. Traditional lines of work, such as goods transport and driving, are developing in a similar direction although mainly out of public view. Scientists at the University of Göttingen have now investigated how efficient (高效的) the use of AI can be in the commercial management of trucks.
“Digital applications—as well as machine leaning, a kind of AI—are increasingly applied to operations and courses in the transport area,” explains Professor Matthias Klumpp from the Faculty of Economics. “The question in the commercial area, however, is whether or not this contributes to achieving goals.”
To answer this question, the researchers compared the work efficiency of truck drivers with their main use of AI applications. Looking at trade delivery by truck, they studied three groups: the first drove completely following human decision-making models; the second used a combination of human and machine; and the third depended completely on fully automated decisions.
The researchers found that an intelligent combination of human work and decision-making abilities with AI applications promises the highest transport and driving efficiency. “On average, the second group achieved the most efficient transport trips, with the fewest interventions (干预) and off-course from the best path.” one researcher said, “Clearly, neither a completely human decision-making structure nor a fully automated driving system can promise to meet current goods transport requirements.” The scientists therefore summarized that despite the progress of AI in the field of transportation by truck, human experience and decision-making abilities will still be necessary in the longer term. However, the challenge is that a wide range of training and qualification (资格) needs will come along by working with Al applications, especially for simple goods transport activities.
1. What does Matthias Klumpp focus on?| A．The efficiency of AI. |
| B．The advantages of AI. |
| C．The problems caused by AI. |
| D．The wide applications of AI. |
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By using different trucks. |
| D．By listing three experiments. |
| A．Al is better at making decisions. |
| B．A balance is needed between human and AI. |
| C．Human will soon be replaced by AI in driving. |
| D．Al applications meet the current requirements. |
| A．The future of transport. |
| B．Artificial intelligence as a co-driver. |
| C．Artificial intelligence-a better choice in driving. |
| D．The strengths of artificial intelligence in transport. |
9 . 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 |
10 . After beating bone cancer, Hayley Arceneaux thinks rocketing into orbit on SpaceX’s first private flight should be no problem at all. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced the 29-year-old doctor’s assistant will rocket into space later this year.
Arceneaux, a former patient at St. Jude, will become the youngest American in space, beating NASA record-holder Sally Ride by over two years. She will travel with businessman Jared Isaacman, who is using the spaceflight he bought to raise money for charity. Two other yet-to-be-chosen space flyers will join them. Arceneaux will be the first person to launch with a prosthesis an artificial device that replaces a missing or injured part of the body. When she was 10, Arceneaux had an operation at St. Jude to replace her knee and a piece of metal was put in her left leg. She still limps and has occasional leg pain.
“My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel,” she recently told The Associated Press. “It made me tough, and then also I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and go along for the ride.” Arceneaux wants to show her young patients and other cancer survivors that “the sky is not even the limit anymore.” “It’s going to mean so much to these kids to see a survivor in space.” she said.
Isaacman announced his space flight on February 1, promising to raise $200 million for St. Jude. As the flight’s self-appointed commander, he offered one of the four seats aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to St. Jude. The hospital chose Arceneaux from among its many workers who had once been patients. The idea was that one of them could represent the new generation, noted Rick Shadyac, president of St. Jude’s financing organization.
Arceneaux was at home in Memphis, Tennessee, when she got a surprising call in January. She was asked if she would represent St. Jude in space. As a lifelong space fan who loves adventures, Arceneaux has traveled widely and loves roller coasters. Isaacman, who flies fighter airplanes for fun, considers her a perfect fit. The launch is planned for this fall at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with the spacecraft orbiting Earth for two to four days.
1. Which statement is true about Hayley Arceneaux?| A．She works where she used to be a patient. |
| B．She is an adventure hater. |
| C．She is the youngest American in space. |
| D．She is the first woman space flyer. |
a. She received a surprising call. b. She was diagnosed with a serious disease.
c. She was chosen to rocket into space. d. She was operated on at St.Jude.
| A．a c d b | B．b c d a | C．b d a c | D．c a b d |
| A．To carry out medical research. |
| B．To explore space. |
| C．To expect the unexpected. |
| D．To collect money. |
| A．Generous and strong. |
| B．Caring and optimistic. |
| C．Brave and honest. |
| D．Patient and representative. |
