3 . They say everything is bigger in Texas. While that may be true, some of the best things in Texas are quite small. Case in point: tiny Mount Vernon, a town of just under 3,000 people. But if you do come across Mount Vernon, you might just get an intention to stay. That happens a lot around here, and it’s worth noting how remarkable that is.

Tom Wilkinson was born in Mount Vernon 87 years ago and moved back after he retired from his career as a college English professor in Dallas. Like many of his neighbors, Wilkinson can track his ancestors back to the pioneers who settled here in the 1870s. And like many, he values the simple life you can’t easily find in big cities. “People are still polite. They hold the door open for you.” he says, “We grow strong roots here!”

Preserving and honoring the past has been key to helping Mount Vernon survive. The residents have restored and reopened some of the empty stores, including the old barbershop, built more than 100 years ago. An old general store was turned into a combination space. Wander in on any given day and you might find a book club discussion, a Coffee Ladies meet-up, or a work session for the local genealogy(家谱) group among the tables of people chatting over cups of coffee and plates of food.

Mount Vernon has the kind of big hearts you tend to find in a small town. For instance, when a local policeman was diagnosed with cancer last year, ten-year-old Lola McKellar set up a lemonade stand to raise money for his treatments. In 2015, when a 350-year flood sent water rushing into local homes, an army of volunteers showed up to get a wheelchair-bound neighbor and his wife to higher ground, and then came back to help rebuild.

1. What does the author think of Mount Vernon?

A．Remote.	B．Wealthy.
C．Primitive.	D．Attractive.

2. Why did Tom Wilkinson come back to Mount Vernon?

A．He preferred the simple and natural life.	B．He could continue his language teaching.
C．He could live together with his ancestors.	D．He could meet more neighbors of his age.

3. What can we infer about people’s way of life in Mount Vernon from Paragraph 3?

A．It is in danger of extinction.	B．It is quickly changing over time.
C．It is conservative but harmonious.	D．It is being disturbed by the outside world.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The history of Mount Vernon.	B．The humanity of Mount Vernon.
C．The volunteers of Mount Vernon.	D．The reconstruction of Mount Vernon.

4 . The scientists who re-engineered the plastic-eating enzyme(酶) PETase have now created a new enzyme called “cocktail” , which can digest plastic up to six times faster.

PETase breaks down PET back into its building blocks, creating an opportunity to recycle plastic and reduce plastic pollution. PET is the most common thermoplastic(热塑性塑料) used to make single-use drinks bottles, which takes hundreds of years to break down in the environment, but PETase can shorten this time to days. The initial discovery set up the prospect of a revolution in plastic recycling, creating a potential low-energy solution to tackle plastic waste.

Now, the same trans-Atlantic team have combined PETase and its “partner”, a second enzyme called MHETase, to generate much bigger improvements: simply mixing PETase with MHETase doubled the speed of PET breakdown, and engineering a connection between the two enzymes to create a “super-enzyme”, increased this activity by a further three times.

The team was co-led by the scientists who engineered PETase, Professor John McGeehan and Dr Gregg Beckham. Professor McGeehan said: “Gregg and I were chatting about how PETase attacks the surface of the plastics and MHETase chops things up further, so it seemed natural to see if we could use them together. Our first experiments showed that they did work better together, so we decided to physically link them. It took a great deal of work, but it was worth the effort — we were delighted to see that our new enzyme is up to three times faster than the separate enzymes.”

The original PETase enzyme discovery indicated the first hope that a solution to the global plastic pollution problem might be within grasp, though PETase alone is not yet fast enough to handle the tons of PET bottles. Combining it with a second enzyme, and finding together they work even faster, means another leap forward has been taken towards finding a solution to plastic waste. PETase and the new combined MHETase-PETase both work by digesting PET plastic. This allows for plastics to be made and reused endlessly, reducing our reliance on fossil(化石) resources.

1. What can we learn about “cocktail” from the text?

A．It doubles the breakdown of plastics.

B．It takes hundreds of years to break down.

C．It contributes to breaking down plastic quickly.

D．It deals with the plastic waste three times faster.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．A new study of PET.	B．The breakdown of PET.
C．The discovery of PETase.	D．The functions of PETase.

3. What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Co-leading the trans-Atlantic team.	B．Combining PETase and MHETase.
C．Attacking the surface of the plastics.	D．Talking about conducting experiments.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．PET pollution is no longer a difficult problem to deal with.

B．New enzyme is speeding up our reliance on fossil resources.

C．MHETase-PETase makes the world free from plastic pollution.

D．Plastic-eating enzyme “cocktail” promises new hope for plastic waste.

5 . Smokers who give up smoking and live on a diet high in tomatoes and fruits, especially apples, have better chances of repairing their lung function harmed by smoking, a new study finds. The study, published in the December issue of the European Respiratory Journal, said former smokers who ate more tomatoes and fresh fruits regularly saw a slower natural drop in lung function over a 10-year period.

According to the study, conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, adults who on average ate more than two tomatoes or more than three portions of fresh fruits a day had a slower drop in lung function, compared to those who ate less than one tomato or less than one portion of fruits every day.

Lung function starts to drop at around age 30 and poor lung function is related to higher risks of death from all diseases, including heart disease and lung cancer. “A diet rich in fruits can soy down the lung's natural aging process even if you have never smoked,” said Vanessa Garcia Larsen, the study's lead author, who is also an Assistant Professor in Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Larsen and her team examined diets and lung function of more than 650 adults from Germany. Norway and Britain in 2002 and performed lung function tests on the same group of participants 10 years later. The researchers found a more eye-catching connection between diets and lung function among former smokers, who had a slower drop over the 10-year period because their diets were highly rich in tomatoes and fruits.

Such result suggests that the nutrients（营养物）in their diets are good for repairing the harm to the lung done by smoking.

1. What`s the effect of tomatoes and fruits on former smokers?

A．They help smokers repair their lung function.

B．They slow down the aging process little by little.

C．They greatly reduce the risk of serious lung diseases.

D．They make smokers less worried about their health.

2. What risk is a 35-year-old man of poor lung function likely to have?

A．The acceleration（加速）of the lung's aging process.

B．The heavy dependence on smoking cigarettes.

C．The danger of dying from serious diseases.

D．The faster natural drop in lung function.

3. Why were lung function tests performed on the same group 10 years later?

A．To examine if the participants develop the disease.

B．To make the readers believe the result of the study.

C．To see clear signs of a quick drop in lung function.

D．To see changes in lung function of the same person.

4. What's the main purpose of the text?

A．To introduce two kinds of fruits.

B．To describe some research work.

C．To tell people the result of a study.

D．To explain the effect of smoking on people.

6 . A lot of people feel that it's much harder to learn a foreign language as you grow older—and they're right. A new study found that if you want to achieve the proficiency（精通）of a native speaker, you'd best start when you're 10 years old.

There is a lot of evidence that shows children find it much easier than adults to learn a foreign language, which has made researchers suggest that there is an "important period" for language learning. But until now, no one has really been sure what that age period is. Now. MIT researchers believe they have solved one of those things.

They found that the window starts to close when you're about 10 years old. Although children up to 17 or 18 learn a new language faster than adults, and their ability drops slower than that in adults, it becomes very difficult to reach the proficiency of a native speaker if you start later than age 10.

The findings are based on an analysis of a grammar test taken by nearly 670,000 people. Researchers took snapshots（快照）of thousands of people who were in different stages of learning English. They also used a game called “Which English?” to judge which dialect of English the test-taker speaks. Within hours after being posted on the social media, the 10-minute test "Which English?" spread quickly.

Researchers found that the grammar-learning ability remains strong until age 17 or 18, after which it starts to drop—which was rather unexpected. It's not clear why the drop starts to happen. It may either be a cultural reason or a biological one. You shouldn't let this disappoint you. Even if it's a bit harder, you should try it. It's not just the ability to talk to someone from another country. Studies have shown that learning a second or third language does wonders for your brain and mental health.

1. What does the word "window" in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．A good period to learn a foreign language.

B．A better way to solve a problem.

C．The ability to learn a foreign language.

D．A good memory to recite new foreign words.

2. What's the function of "Which English?"?

A．It is a kind of grammar test.

B．It is a new method of learning English.

C．It helps analyze the way to learn English.

D．It can tell what kind of English people speak.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Culture affects language learning greatly.

B．Learning a foreign language can be very useful.

C．You had better not learn a new language when old.

D．The author, doesn't think the research is complete.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．When is the best time to learn a foreign language?

B．What kind of people are fit for learning a foreign language?

C．Things we should care for when learning a foreign language

D．Some special ways to learn a foreign language

7 . “There's no place like home.” This English saying has much truth in it: the best place to be is surrounded by our treasured possessions and our loved ones and with a roof over our head. And for many young adults, it's the only affordable place to stay; somewhere where they can receive first-class service from mum and dad. But this comes at a price!

In some countries, it's quite traditional for people in their late teens and early 20s to live at home with their parents, but in other places, flying the nest to start their own independent life is very desirable. But there's been a growing trend, in the UK at least, for young people to return home to live—or not to leave home at all.

A survey by a price comparison website found that 18% of adult children in the UK said they were moving back home because of debt, compared with 8% last year. More young people had lost their jobs, and others couldn't afford their rent compared with the previous year. So, it's easy to see why they're increasingly becoming home birds.

Emma Craig from Money supermarket says “parents are trying to look after their children more. If your child comes home and you see them struggling to pay their bills, you feel more awkward asking them for rent or to contribute. It tugs (猛拉) on your heartstrings more.”

With parents buying new furniture and upgrading their Wi-Fi for the benefit of their children, it's easy for the returning children to put their feet up and make themselves at home. That's before they learn a home truth—that one day it might be their own kids who'll be checking into the hotel of mum and dad!

1. Which proverb might show the young British's living conditions?

A．A lazy youth, an awful age.	B．East or west, home is best.
C．Two heads are better than one.	D．Nothing comes wrong to a hungry man.

2. Which is the reason for the increase of home birds according to the survey?

A．The popularity of living independently.	B．Looking after their old parents.
C．The economic problem they face.	D．Their parents' offer to help them out.

3. What's Emma Craig's attitude towards home birds?

A．Understandable.

B．Worried.

C．Doubtful.

D．Uncertain.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Flying the net is becoming popular at present.

B．Returning to live with parents comes at a price.

C．It's easy for parents to receive their returning children.

D．Home birds think it quite natural to live with their parents.

8 . Magic is a form of entertainment that is based on pretending to do things that are impossible. The magician is a specially trained actor. He tries to make the audience believe that he has the power to do things which are against the laws of nature.

Magic shows are entertaining as long as the audience does not discover how the tricks are done. The magician usually depends on his skill with his hands, on his knowledge of psychology, and, sometimes, on mechanical devices(机械装置). Since magic performance is meant to trick people, the use of psychology is important. The magician must keep people from noticing all the movements of his hands and from thinking about the secret parts of his equipment. He must also lead the audience to draw false conclusions. The magician's success depends on the fact that many things seen by the eye are not the things that matter.

Two basic magic tricks are making objects seem to appear and making objects seem to disappear. A combination of these two tricks makes for some interesting effects. For example, the magician puts a small ball under one of several cups. The ball then seems to jump from one cup to another or to change colour. What actually happens is that the magician, employing quick hand movements or a mechanical device, hides one ball. While doing this he talks to the audience and waves a brightly coloured cloth with one hand. The audience is too busy watching the cloth and listening to the magician's words to notice that his other hand is hiding the ball.

Another favourite trick is to cut or burn something, and then make it appear whole again. What actually happens is that the magician makes the cut or burned object disappear by quickly hiding it while the audience watches something else. Then he “magically” makes it appear whole again by displaying(展示)another object that has not been cut or burned.

1. What is the author's main purpose in writing the text?

A．To promote a magic show.	B．To teach people to be magicians.
C．To explain the art of magic.	D．To praise the talents of magicians.

2. Which of the following is important for a successful magic trick?

A．Moving stage equipment.	B．Directing the audience's attention.
C．Applying high technology.	D．Keeping the performance in secret.

3. What does the author focus on in the last two paragraphs?

A．Providing examples.	B．Making a summary.
C．Drawing comparisons.	D．Explaining a concept.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．Mechanical devices are expensive.	B．Most magicians employ assistants.
C．It takes practice to perform magic.	D．Small objects are magicians' favourite.

9 . Late last year, I needed to transport some furniture from our house to my son’s flat in central London. I should have paid a man to do it, but foolishly confident in my driving ability, I decided to hire a lorry and drive it myself.

Moving the lorry backward in my yard, I crashed into a small shed, causing permanent damage. Fortunately, I owned the shed. I loaded up with the furniture and set out. By now it was rush hour. My nerves broke down, as I drove the huge lorry through the streets nervously.

At last I arrived at Charlotte Street and found an available parking space. I moved the lorry into it only to notice three people at a pavement cafe waving to me. I got out, trembling violently, like one who had just finished a stormy Atlantic crossing. “You’ve hit the car parked behind you,” they said. I examined the car. There were white scratches on its front face. It bore a disabled sign. So, now I was a bad driver and a bad man. Under the severe look of the three, I left an apologetic note on the damaged car’s windscreen, giving my phone number.

I unloaded the furniture, dripping the sweat, wanting only to escape from the monster. I drove it back to its base at Edgware. On arrival, the boss told me I must fill it up with petrol before returning it. “Just charge me,” I cried, still shaking with fear. He stared at me with understanding. No doubt he’d witnessed others in this state before. “How about I drive you to a petrol station, you fill up, and I drive it back?” he asked.

He danced the great lorry through the traffic so carefully that it would have shamed me if I had not been so grateful.

1. The man felt ______ to have delivered the furniture himself.

A．grateful	B．regretful
C．proud	D．confident

2. The man trembled violently because ______.

A．he caused a terrible traffic accident

B．driving the lorry was too difficult for him

C．he was afraid to see the three people

D．the furniture was too heavy for him

3. The man said he was a bad man most probably because ______.

A．he made the traffic accident on purpose

B．he parked the big lorry on the pavement

C．he shouldn’t have driven the lorry himself

D．he shouldn’t have caused trouble for the disabled

4. The writer intended to suggest that ______.

A．it was exciting to drive a lorry	B．it was hard to avoid accidents
C．being too confident is foolish	D．the boss was expert in driving

10 . As the world around them is changing, teenagers continue to need guidance and support from both parents. Studies show that teens who have an active relationship with their fathers are less likely to involve（牵涉） themselves in dangerous behaviors and more likely to succeed in school and develop higher self-worth, because their fathers go beyond social expectations to devote attention to them.

Peer（同龄人）pressure has always been a big part of the teens' experience. Even the best father can't completely protect their kids from the growing influence of their peer group. However, studies show that teenagers whose fathers focus on their lives are more likely to resist（抵抗） the more bad effects of peer pressure, taking drugs, for example.

Teens may not like to admit it, but they are watching their parents closely and often follow their example. An interesting finding explains just how important parents are, especially Dad. Swiss researchers discovered that if Dad attends church, even though Mom doesn't, 44 percent of the kids are still more likely to keep going to church as adults. But if Mom goes regularly and Dad never shows up, only 2 percent of the kids continue to attend.

Teenagers face a lot of difficult choices, especially in their later teens. Fathers don't get to make those choices for them, but they can be influenced. For example, teenagers can learn a lot from their parents' concern on what to do when they finish high school. Should they go directly to college and, if so, where?   Should they consider going to trade schools, joining the army or looking for a job?   A father's guidance brings a long-term perspective that teens often lack to these important decisions.

1. Teenagers without fathers' focus are more likely to __________.

A．have higher self-worth.	B．experience some danger
C．become the best students in school	D．resist all bad effects of peer pressure

2. What does the third paragraph tell us?

A．More teenagers pay no attention to their parents.

B．Teenagers often treat their fathers as role models

C．Teenagers never attend church with their mothers

D．Fewer teenagers like to attend church with their fathers.

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．Fathers should make choices for teenagers directly.

B．Teenagers care less about what their parents do.

C．Mothers have no effect on their children's life.

D．Teenagers are greatly influenced by their fathers.