2 . When Adora Svitak was twelve years old, she spoke on the TED stage, saying she hates the word "childish" if it's being used to describe irrational （不合理的）demands or irresponsible behavior. She said she has seen enough of that in the adult world, so she knows irrational demands and irresponsible behavior aren't limited to children. In fact, she made the point that adults could learn a thing or two if they'd only open their mind to the possibility that kids have a lot to offer the world.

Even as a kid, Svitak often spoke to educators, making the point that there should be more of a reciprocal （互惠的）relationship between teachers and students. "It shouldn't just be teachers at the head of the classroom telling them to do this or that. The students should teach their teachers," she said.

But she wasn't naive（幼稚的）, and she knew that isn't how many classrooms and schools operate in that way. Her theory is that it's all about trust. Adults always seem to have a restrictive （约束的）attitude towards kids. "Kids have no or very little say in making the rules," Svitak joked.

As a young child, Svitak loved to write. When her mom gave her a computer she wrote over 300 short stories on it. She wanted to get them published, and she was lucky because her parents were on her side. Even though she was turned down by many publishers, eventually she did have a book of short stories published. She was only seven years old then.

After that first success, Svitak has gone on to do more impressive things, something she wishes more kids had the support to do. She says it's important for kids to be heard and contribute when they're young, so they grow up to become a better kind of adult. "The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adults, but rather better adults than you guys have been. Progress happens because new generations and new eras grow and develop, and they become better than the previous ones. It's the reason we aren't in the Dark Ages anymore," she said.

1. What does Svitak think of using "childish" to describe irrational demands?

A．It is unfair for children.	B．It can lead to positive effects.
C．It takes no account of adults' needs.	D．It can result in irresponsible behavior.

2. What is a good reciprocal relationship between teachers and students according to Svitak?

A．Students get along with teachers.	B．Students teach instead of learning.
C．Teachers keep telling students what to do.	D．Teachers and students learn from each other.

3. How did Svitak's parents react to her dream?

A．They supported her.	B．They had doubt about it.
C．They were greatly shocked.	D．They hardly took it seriously.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Children need to stick to their dreams.

B．Parents should satisfy their children's needs.

C．Children are advised to imitate their parents.

D．Parents should support and expect more from children.

3 . On Monday, a scientist and doctor Robert Winston is to formally ask a question in congress about what assessments the government has made “for requiring adults riding bicycles in city centres to heave a licence and third-party insurance”. The letter below is the entirely imagined response I would like the government to make to him.

Dear Robert,

You ask what assessments we’ve made for your proposal about obliging cyclists to have licences and insurance. The brief answer is: none. Nor do we have any plans to do so.

Why? Again, the short answer is this: it’s a silly and pointless thing to suggest, as evidenced by the fact that practically no countries or territories anywhere in the world require cyclists to be licensed, or to have compulsory insurance.

I suppose it’s only fair if I explain why I think it is such a non-issue. It’s pretty simple: such a plan would achieve pretty much nothing, while causing significant problems. More widely, any sensible governments will do everything in their power to get more people cycling, not to put pointless obstacles in their way.

Let’s just take one example. As I’m sure you know as a doctor, one of the problems facing our nation is that the National Health System is likely to collapse under the caring for an increasingly overweight population. Inactive living is central to this. Even a fairly brief daily bike trip can have miraculous benefits for people’s health.

Next, how would such rules even work? Would the licensing and insurance be just for adults, or also children? How would the system even be enforced-would it also require all bikes to be registered with number plates?

Finally, what would you hope to achieve by this? If you believe licensing transport users stops wrongdoing, can I point to you the data showing how a third of drivers admit to using handheld phones while driving, despite the law forbidding it.

So, to summarize：your plan would be to introduce a hugely new administrative scheme that would most likely have limited effect on the behaviour of averagely law-abiding (守法的) transport users who rarely harm others, while putting people off from this beneficial type of transport.

I’m afraid I just don’t get it.

1. What does Robert most probably want to know by asking the question?

A．whether the government has made efforts regarding his proposal.

B．whether each bike rider has applied for a third-party insurance.

C．whether the congress has sympathy towards the cyclists.

D．whether doctors can receive the government’s support.

2. What does the author think of the plan proposed by Robert?

A．It may raise people’s insurance awareness.

B．It can motivate people to obey the law.

C．It imitates what other countries are doing.

D．It is difficult to implement and enforce.

3. The example in paragraph 6 is used     .

A．to draw people’s attention to overweight problems

B．to prove that cycling can cause problems

C．to explain why governments advocate cycling

D．to illustrate how broken the NHS is

4. We can conclude from the passage that the author     .

A．holds prejudices against Robert Winston

B．is a pleasant and good-tempered person

C．has the right to speak for the government

D．is skilled in argumentative techniques

4 . As one of the most momentous languages in the world, Latin had humble beginnings. It originated along the Tiber River in Italy and only a handful of people spoke the language. Over time, Latin became more distinguished as Romans procured political power. Many famous literary texts and scientific classifications were written in Latin. Even though knowing Latin indicated a person was educated, according to Britannica, in the 20th century far fewer people learned Latin”, leading it to be classified as a "dead” language.

There are around 7, 000 living languages in the world, but, according to Britannica, “more than half are at risk of dying out by the end of the 21st century”. Civilizations evolve over time and so do languages. More often than not, a language dies because everyone who speaks the language dies. For example, Marie Smith Jones, perhaps the last native speaker of the Alaskan Eyak language, died at the age of 89 in 2008, and so did the language. Now, fewer and fewer people speak Latin, which raises public's awareness about its preservation.

Actually, there are many other reasons in respect of why Latin should be preserved or taught. “It is a window into an engaging ancient civilization, and studying an ancient civilization teaches us to respect different points of view and unfamiliar cultural practices," says Kathleen Coleman, James Loeb Professor of Harvard University.

Since it isn't used in ordinary conversations, there are a lot of difficulties that arise from teaching Latin. Teaching a 'dead' language is distinct from teaching other languages, explains Coleman, “because there are no native speakers to demonstrate us how it sounds or answer questions about the meanings of words or justify idioms. While it's tough, we still can find the answers to our questions from the fragmentary evidence available in written texts.”

1. What can we learn about Latin from Paragraph 1?

A．Latin was well-known since its birth.

B．Only educated people learned Latin in the past.

C．Latin was not favored by scientists and writers.

D．All people didn't learn Latin in the 20th century.

2. The author mentions Marie Smith Jones in Paragraph 2 to show.

A．Latin is going to be a "dead” language.

B．what it really means when a language dies.

C．why people should be aware of protecting languages.

D．he is the last native speaker of the Alaskan Eyak language.

3. Why should people learn Latin according to Coleman?

A．To show unfamiliar practices.

B．To respect others' opinions.

C．To learn about an ancient society.

D．To protect a "dead” language.

4. What will the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．The learning materials.

B．The development of Latin.

C．The learning methods.

D．The difficulties in learning Latin.

5 . The vaccine (疫苗) news continues to seem very encouraging. Britain started its mass vaccination effort and the U.S. isn’t far behind.

But there is still one dark cloud hanging over the vaccines that many people don’t yet understand.

The vaccines will be much less effective at preventing death and illness in 2021 if they are introduced into a population where the coronavirus is still severe—as is now the case in the U.S.

A vaccine is like a fire hose (消防龙头). A vaccine that’s 95 percent effective, as Moderna’s and Pfizer’s versions appear to be, is a powerful fire hose. But the size of a fire is still a bigger determinant of how much destruction occurs.

At the current level of infection in the U.S. (about 200,000 confirmed new infections per day), a vaccine that is 95 percent effective—distributed at the expected pace—would still leave a terrible toll (伤亡人数) in the six months after it was introduced. Almost 10 million or so Americans would catch the virus, and more than 160,000 would die.

This is far worse than the toll in a different situation where the vaccine was only 50 percent effective but the U.S. had reduced the infection rate to its level in early September (about 35,000 new daily cases). In that case, the death toll in the next six months would be kept to about 60,000.

It’s worth pausing for a moment on this comparison. If the U.S. had maintained its infection rate from September and Moderna and Pfizer had announced this fall that their vaccines were only 50 percent effective, a lot of people would have panicked.

But the reality we have is actually worse.

How could this be? No vaccine can get rid of a pandemic immediately, just as .no fire hose can put out a forest fire. While the vaccine is being distributed, the virus continues to do damage.

There is one positive way to look at this: Measures that reduce the virus’s spread—like mask-wearing, social distancing and rapid-result testing—can still have great consequences. They can save more than 100,000 lives in coming months.

1. How does the author mainly present his argument?

A．By giving definitions.	B．By categorizing facts.
C．By drawing comparisons.	D．By appealing to emotions.

2. Which does the author think is a better way to save lives?

A．Improving the effectiveness of the vaccines.

B．Producing a greater variety of vaccines.

C．Looking at the situation in a positive way.

D．Wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

3. What does paragraph 6 tell us?

A．The vaccines are less effective than expected.

B．The US have controlled the spread of the coronavirus.

C．The death toll in the next six months will be about 60,000.

D．Fewer people will die if the infection rate is lower.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．The vaccine is the hope of wiping out the pandemic.

B．The public are optimistic about the effects of the vaccine.

C．The public are concerned about the high infection rate.

D．The distribution of vaccine will end the pandemic quickly.

6 . Artificial Intelligence (AI) advice is as influential as human’s, but positive crowd views still overpower.

In a study, researchers found that machines that make recommendations—or AI experts—were as influential as human experts when the AI experts recommended which photo users should add to their online business profiles. However, both AI and human experts failed to budge them if their feedback was negative and went against popular views among other users, said S. Shyam Sundar, a professor of Media Effects.

Because people are increasingly using social media to look for feedback, studies suggest that expert opinions and the bandwagon（从众效应）effect may be important factors in influencing decisions, according to Jinping Wang, a doctoral candidate in mass communication and first author of the study. “Nowadays, we often turn to online platforms for opinions from other people—like our peers and experts—before making a decision,” said Wang. AI experts are often less expensive than human experts and they can also work 24 hours a day, which, Wang suggests, might make them appealing to online business.

The researchers also found that the AI’s group status—in this case, national origin was pointed out—did not seem to affect a person’s acceptance of its recommendation. Among human experts, however, an expert from a similar national origin who offered a negative opinion of a photograph tended to be more influential than a human expert from an unknown country who offered a similar negative rating of a photograph.

While findings that suggest group status may not affect whether a person values the view of AI experts sound like good news, Sundar suggests that the same cultural prejudice might still be at work in AI experts for they could be hidden in the programming and training data.

“It can be both good—and bad—because it all depends on what you feed the AI,” said Sundar. “While it is good to believe in AI’s ability to transcend（超越）cultural prejudice, we have to keep in mind that if you train the AI on pictures from one culture, they could give misleading recommendations on pictures meant for use in other cultural contexts.”

1. What do the underlined words “budge them” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Change users’ ideas.	B．Satisfy users’ needs.
C．Raise users’ spirits.	D．Fire users’ imagination.

2. Why do users often turn to AI experts?

A．Because AI experts are more knowledgeable.

B．Because AI experts are less influenced by feelings.

C．Because AI experts are always available and cost less.

D．Because AI experts are so new as to be more attractive.

3. Which expert’s negative assessments is a person more likely to believe?

A．An expert who has great achievements in arts.

B．An expert from countries with similar cultures.

C．An expert with better personality and attitude.

D．A foreign expert who is very popular worldwide.

4. What did Sundar mean by the last paragraph?

A．People should have a mind of their own.

B．People should be able to tell good from bad.

C．People should be trained how to use AI properly.

D．People should know AI’s hidden cultural prejudice.

7 .

A young man whose good looks and innocent smile have turned him into an internet celebrity has brought a surge in interest in his hometown among tourists.

Ctrip, an online travel agency, said that after a video of Tamdrin, a 20-year-old ethnic Tibetan man from Litang county in Sichuan province's Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, became popular online recently, the number of searches for Litang increased quickly.

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, featured Tamdrin in three tweets in a row on her Twitter account on Monday. “The channel of Sicfiuan TV has a new ‘anchor’, Tamdrin, who broadcasts news in his native Tibetan language as a guest,” she wrote. “Tamdrin recently became a social media star after a photo of his bright, sunny and innocent smile had become popular.” She also posted a short clip of Tamdrin riding a horse and introducing himself in subtitling: “They call me ‘prince on a horse’. The happiest thing for me is to race horses with my brothers. Tm really good at horse racing and often rank first in our village. ”

Tamdrin has now been hired by Litang Culture Tourism and Sport Investment Development Co. to promote tourism for the county. Du Dongdong, the company’s general manager, told China Central Television he hoped the young man could grow and develop alongside local tourism, which has just started to take off.

Tamdrin said in a CCTV interview that he didn’t know why he had become so well-known, but he was happy that so many people knew of him, and he was excited to help people learn more about his hometown. He added that he planned to learn many things and hoped he would do well in his work for the company. "At the same time, I still want to race horses and continue to be a champion,” he said in Tibetan.

1. What does the underlined word “surge” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Rise.

B．Flow.

C．Decrease

D．Movement.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．Sichuan TV is in urgent need of a Tibetan broadcaster now.

B．A social media star should look good with innocent smiles.

C．Hua Chunying supports the positive energy Tamdrin shows.

D．A short clip of Tamdrin riding a horse makes him popular.

3. Tamdrin is employed to           .

A．promote the culture of horse racing.	B．set an example for Internet celebrities.
C．speak for the tourism of his hometown.	D．act as an image ambassador of the company.

4. How does Tamdrin feel about his popularity?

A．Confident.

B．Nervous.

C．Proud.

D．Cheerful.

8 . For many years doctors have warned us about the dangers of stress (压力) and have given us advice about how to cut down our stress levels. Everyone agrees that long-term stress, for example having to look after someone who has a chronic (慢性的) illness, or stressful situations where there is nothing we can do, for example being stuck in a traffic jam, should be avoided whenever possible. However, some medical experts now believe that certain kinds of stress may actually be good for us.

Dr Marios Kyriazis, an anti-ageing expert, points out that what he calls "good stress” is beneficial to our health and may, in fact, help us stay young and attractive and even live longer. Dr Kyriazis says that “good stress” can strengthen our natural defences which protect us from illnesses common among older people, such as Alzheimer's and heart problems.

According to Dr Kyriazis, running for a bus or having to work to meet a deadline are examples of “good stress”, that is situations with short-term or low stress. The stress usually makes us react quickly, and gives us a sense of achievement — we did it! However, in both situations, the stress damages the cells(细胞) in our body or brain and they start to break down. But then the cells own repair mechanism “switches on”and it produces proteins which repair the damaged cells and remove harmful chemicals that can gradually cause disease. In fact, the body's response is greater than is needed to repair the damage, so it actually makes the cells stronger than they were before.

“As the body gets older, this self-repair mechanism of the cells starts to slow down,” says Dr Kyriazis.“The best way to keep the process working efficiently is to ‘exercise’ it, in the same way you would exercise your muscles to keep them strong. This means having a certain amount of stress in our lives.”Other stressful activities that Kyriazis suggests as being good stress include redecorating a room in your house over the weekend, packing your suitcase in a hurry to reach the airport on time, or shopping for a dinner party during your lunch break.

So next time your boss tells you that she wants to see the report finished and on her desk in 45 minutes, don't worry; just think of it as “good stress” which will   benefit your long-term health!

1. What is Dr Kyriazis' opinion probably based on?

A．How to get a sense of achievement.

B．How to cut down our stress levels.

C．The benefits of doing physical exercise.

D．The relationship between stress and health.

2. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The daily stress.	B．Long-term stress.
C．The increasing stress.	D．Short-term or low stress.

3. According to Dr Kyriazis, which of the following may be “good stress”?

A．Being stuck in a traffic jam.

B．Packing for a trip at the last minute.

C．Being late for work for several days.

D．Looking after a patient with heart trouble.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Stress beats success	B．Stress attracts illness
C．Get stressed, stay young	D．Less stress, better health

9 . Bricks are one of the oldest known building materials, dating back thousands of years. But researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found a new use for bricks: as energy storage units. A team of engineers and chemists have found a way to transform an ordinary house brick into a pseudo-battery — allowing it to conduct and store electricity. The bricks are powerful enough to illuminate（点亮）an LED light bulb and cost only about $ 3 to make.

“I love the idea of adding value to things that are inexpensive, things that are affordable, things that we kind of take for granted, ”said Julio D’Arcy, an assistant professor of chemistry at Washington University and one of the researchers on this project.

The brick battery relies on the reddish pigment（色素）known as iron oxide, or rust, that gives red bricks their color. The scientists pumped the bricks with several gases that react with iron oxide to produce a network of plastic fibers. These microscopic fibers coat the empty spaces inside the bricks — and conduct electricity.

“What we’re trying to do is: we’re trying to make specialized plastics that are only used on the nano（纳米）scale — where we use very little of the plastic, and we can actually insert that plastic inside construction materials. ” The study is in the journal Nature Communications.

In the future, D’Arcy says, a brick wall could potentially serve a double purpose: providing structural support and storing electricity generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar panels.

The technology is still at least a few years away from being ready for the commercial market. And right now the energy storage capacity of the bricks is still pretty low — about 1 percent of a lithium battery. But the team is now testing ways to improve brick performance — because it looks like you can teach an old brick new tricks.

1. What appeals to Julio D’Arcy listing bricks as their subjects?

A．Their low expense.	B．Their common existence.
C．Their additional value.	D．Their internal composition.

2. What is the last step of making a brick conduct electricity?

A．Pump the brick with gases.

B．Color the brick red.

C．Produce microscopic fibers.

D．Cover its inner vacancy with microscopic fibers.

3. What will the future bricks be like according to the passage?

A．Construction materials possessing low energy storage capacity.

B．Construction materials generating renewable energy resources.

C．Construction materials used for electricity storage.

D．Construction materials with built-in common plastic.

4. Which word best describes the author’s attitude to the technology?

A．Skeptical.	B．Objective.
C．Conservative.	D．Controversial.

10 . As my husband and I drove down a country road, we passed a fire station with a sign that read, "Are you ready for the next storm?” Our area had just been in the path of Hurricane Irma, causing downed trees and outages. We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world.

We have had our share of storms in the past--a snowstorm and other heavy snows that knocked down trees, sometimes up to a week at a time. Those days in a cold house weren't fun, but we learned so much from those early storms, things that made later storms easier to bear.

Now we have stored up flashlights, lanterns and candles. We bought a battery-operated radio to keep up with the news. We stocked up on batteries so that we'd have plenty for extended power failures. We make sure our grill（烤架） is ready and its tank is full, and we purchase food that can be easily prepared and then cooked or heated on the grill. And we don't forget to buy emergency chocolate! We have book lights to read in the dark. We keep our car gas tanks full and have emergency cash on hand.

We're ready for the next storm, but we wouldn't have learned to do all those things if we hadn't encountered a storm in the past. The same is true spiritually. Those little storms in our lives are never fun, but they prepare us for the big storms--the big trials--that will come our way, They can teach us some valuable lessons.

Are you ready for the next storm? Now is the time to get ready. . . not when the storm arrives.

1. Which can replace the underlined word "outages” in paragraph 1?

A．weather change

B．virus' spreading

C．power failure

D．emotional reaction

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The lessons that storms can teach us.

B．The importance of being ready for storms.

C．The necessities the author bought for her daily life.

D．The preparations the author made for the next storm.

3. What does the author think of experiencing the past storms?

A．It was rewarding.

B．It was annoying.

C．It was thrilling.

D．It was frightening.

4. What can we learn from the author's story?

A．Things will work out.

B．Keep something for a rainy day.

C．Don't stop regardless of the weather.

D．Sunshine always comes after the storm.