1 . Drinking coffee as soon as one wakes up from a night's sleep greatly affects metabolism （新陈代谢） and blood sugar responses. Scientists published this in the British Journal of Nutrition,
In the study, the UK researchers let 29 healthy men and women take part in three different overnight experiments. In the first two scenes, participants were given a sugary drink upon waking first from a normal night's sleep, and then again after a greatly disturbed night's sleep. In the third, their sleep was similarly, but they were given a strong black coffee 30 minutes before having the sugary drink.
Blood samples from participants were taken following the sugary drinkin each experiment. Results showed that one night of disturbed sleep did not worsen the participants' blood sugar responses at breakfast when compared to a normal night of sleep. However, strong black coffee consumed before breakfast increased the blood sugar response by around 50 percent.
By drinking such kind of drink after breakfast, UK researchers found that our bodies, ability to break down our food healthily is completely improved. Examining the effects of broken sleep and morning coffee through a range of different metabolic markers, researchers found that, while one night of poor sleep had a limited effect on metabolism, drinking coffee before breakfast could have a negative effect on blood sugar control.
“We know that nearly half of us will wake in the morning and, before doing anything else, drink coffee-the more tired we feel, the stronger the coffee is. This study is important and has far-reaching health influences, and it indeed shakes some coffee drinkers. Up to now we have had limited knowledge about what this is doing to our bodies, in particular for our metabolic and blood sugar control, so we have a long way to go. "said Professor James Bette, co-director of the Centre for Nutrition at the University of Bath.
1. How did the UK researchers get the result of the experiment?| A．By theoretical analysis. | B．By comparative experiments. |
| C．By doing questionnaires. | D．By consulting journals. |
| A．A poor night sleep surely affects blood sugar responses. |
| B．Drinking coffee after breakfast does much harm to health. |
| C．Having strong drinks has a good effect on one's metabolism. |
| D．Drinking coffee at different time has different effects on health. |
| A．It makes no sense. | B．It is limited and blind. |
| C．It remains to be continued. | D．It is particular and precise. |
| A．Harms of drinking coffee before breakfast. |
| B．What weakens ones' blood sugar responses. |
| C．How much coffee one should drink a day. |
| D．The effective procedure for blood sugar control. |
2 . Sky Drive Inc. conducted a successful test drive of its new flying car on August 25 at the Toyota Test Field, one of the largest in Japan and home to the car company's development base. The car, named SD-03, manned with a pilot, took off and circled the field for about four minutes. It was the first public demonstration for a flying car in Japanese history.
"We are extremely excited to have achieved Japan's first-ever manned flight of a flying car in the two years since we founded SkyDrive ... with the goal of commercializing (使商业化）such aircraft,” CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa said. “We want to realize a society where flying cars are an accessible and convenient means of transportation in the skies and people are able to experience a safe, secure, and comfortable new way of life. "
The SD-03. is the world’s smallest electric vertical (垂直的）take-off and landing vehicle and takes up the space of about two parked cars, according to the company. It has eight motors to ensure “safety in emergency situations”. “In designing an unexplored , new type of transportation known as the flying car, we chose the keyword ‘progressive’ for inspiration," Design Director Takumi Yamamot said. "We wanted this vehicle to be futuristic ，charismatic (有魅力的）and desirable for all future customers, while fully including the high technology of SkyDrive.
The company hopes to make the flying car part of normal life and not just a product. More test flights will occur in the future under different conditions to make sure the safety and technology of the vehicle meet industry standards.
The success of this flight means that it is likely that the car will be tested outside of the Toyota Test field by the end of the year. The company will continue to develop technologies to safely and securely launch the flying car in 2023. However, no price has been announced so far.
1. What's the feature of SD-03?| A．Green and energy-saving. | B．Lightweight and multi-function. |
| C．High-tech and secure. | D．Expensive and unmanned. |
| A．They are the pioneer of flying cars. |
| B．Flying cars will soon be commercialized. |
| C．Flying cars will set a new trend in society. |
| D．They target flying cars on high-end consumers. |
| A．Flying cars fail to reach industry standards. |
| B．Flying cars will be sold at affordable prices. |
| C．The safety of flying cars needn't be tested. |
| D．Tests are now limited to the Toyota Test Field, |
| A．Flying cars will be on the market by 2023. |
| B．Flying cars are no longer just a flight of fancy. |
| C．SkyDrive's SD-03 is the flying car of tomorrow. |
| D．SkyDrive demonstrates its first piloted flying car. |
3 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar(农历）divides the year into 24 solar terms(节气）．Start of Winter, the 19th solar term of the year,begins this year on Nov 7 and ends on Nov 21.
Start of Winter is the first solar term of winter,which means winter is coming and crops harvested in autumn should he stored up.
In ancient times, the Start of Winter was regarded as the beginning of winter, however,due to geographical factors, the actual winter time varies from place to place.
In fact,the Start of Winter is not the beginning of winter in terms of meteorology(气象学）。The weather every year is different, so the beginning of winter could be quite different.And as China is very large, it starts at different times in different areas.
The beginnings of the four seasons were important festivals in ancient times. Before the Start of Winter,the ancient emperor would take a shower and have no more meat.On that day,the emperor would lead his officials to the countryside and"welcome the winter".
People eat dumplings on the beginning of winter. Legend has it that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty,Zhang Zhongjing invented "Jiao Ear"(娇耳）to treat typhoid(伤寒） patients with ear frostbite(冻疮）.He cooked mutton,hot peppers and herbs to drive out the cold and warm up the body.He put these materials into a dough skin and made them into an ear shape.Since then,people have learned to make the food which became known as "dumpling" or jiaozi. Today there is still a saying that goes "Eat dumplings on Start of Winter Day, or your ears will be frostbitten.”
1. Which of the following is right about Start of Winter?| A．It is one of the solar terns in Chinese calendar. |
| B．People begin to harvest crops on this day. |
| C．Winter begins on November 7 this year. |
| D．It begins in different months in different places. |
| A．the Start of Winter |
| B．the change of weather |
| C．the important festival |
| D．the beginning of winter |
| A．Importance of Start of Winter. |
| B．Customs of Start of Winter. |
| C．Origin(起源）of Start of Winter. |
| D．Food eaten on Start of Winter. |
| A．Because dumplings can drive away typhoid. |
| B．Because they wish for good luck for themselves. |
| C．Because eating dumplings can warm up their ears. |
| D．Because they want to prevent the coming of winter. |
4 . Though only just 21 when diagnosed with the disease ALS, Hawking was perhaps the most famous scientist in the world when he died in 2018 at age 76. His 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, sold ten million copies and made him an unlikely superstar even to people who sweated through high school science.
Humor was always a big part of Hawking’s effort to bring physics to the masses. In his 2010 book, The Grand Design, for instance, he recounts how, in 1277, the Catholic Church declared scientific laws such as gravity to be wrong, since they seemed against God's idea. “Interestingly,” the text adds jokingly, “Pope John was killed by the effects of the law of gravity a few months later when the roof of his palace fell in on him.”
“He loved adventure and fun,” says Mlodinow, who once took Hawking on a punt-boat trip down the fiver Cam in Cambridge, England, despite the obvious danger of the boat turning over. “You know about when he went on the Vomit Comet? It’s a plane that flies in a parabolic path so you are weightless, like you are in space. A lot of people vomit, but he loved that sort of thing.” And he was 65 at the time.
Hawking’s greatest hit, humor-wise, was probably the cocktail party he threw in 2009. It was a “ welcome reception for future time travelers,” he said, so naturally, he sent out the invitations the day after the party. No one showed up yet. “Maybe one day someone living in the future will find the information and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party, proving that time travel will one day be possible,” Hawking explained. And if that happens, don’t be surprised if Hawking is there too. After all, he never missed a chance to have fun.
1. What does the text mainly tell us about Hawking?| A．He related physics to humor closely. | B．He made great contributions to physics |
| C．He went through many funny experiences. | D．He was optimistic about the future of science. |
| A．He was not in favor of God. | B．He was a scientist like Hawking. |
| C．He was opposed to the law of gravity. | D．He was killed due to the discovery of gravity. |
| A．His fondness of adventure. | B．The invitation from his friend. |
| C．The requirements of his work. | D．His desire for recovery from ALS. |
| A．The cocktail party was a great success. |
| B．The possibility of time travel was not proved. |
| C．Hawking was a man who enjoyed holding parties. |
| D．The wormhole time machine was used at that time. |
5 . Learning a second language is tough at any age. Now, in a new study, scientist have found out the exact age after which your chances of reaching fluency（流利）in a second language seem to plummet:10.
The study published in the journal Cognition, found that it's "nearly impossible" for language learners to reach native-level（母语水平）fluency if they start learning a second language after age 10. "It turns out you're still learning fast," says study co-author Joshua Hartshorne. "It's just that you run out of time, because your ability to learn starts dropping at around 17 or 18 years old," People who start a few years after age 10 may still become quite good at a language, the authors say, but they are unlikely to become fluent.
Kids may be better than adults at learning new languages for many reasons. Children's brains are more plastic than those of adults, meaning they're better able to adapt and respond to new information. Kids may also be more willing to try new things than adults are. Their comparatively new understanding of their native language may also be advantageous.
These findings may seem discouraging, but it was inspiring for scientists to learn that the key period for fluent language learning might be longer than previously thought. Some scientists believed that the window begins to close shortly after birth, while others made it longer to very early childhood. Compared with those judgments-age 17 or 18 —when language learning ability start to drop off—seems relatively old.
For this study, the researchers created an online test promising to guess people's native language and home country based on their responses to English grammar questions. Almost 670,000 people took it, giving the researchers huge amounts of data from English speakers of many ages and backgrounds. Examining the responses and grammar mistakes allowed them to made unusually exact judgments about language learning.
1. What does the underlined word "plummet" in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Drop sharply. | B．Increase greatly. |
| C．Appear gradually. | D．Double suddenly. |
| A．Adults tend to perform badly in learning a second language. |
| B．Children are at an advantage in acquiring a new language. |
| C．All these new findings are quite discouraging for scientists. |
| D．People have different key periods for mastering a language. |
| A．The purpose of the study. | B．The findings of the study. |
| C．The subject of the study. | D．The process of the study. |
| A．Kids Are Better at Learning New Languages |
| B．Adults Can't Learn a Second Language Well |
| C．Never Say Die When Learning a New Language |
| D．Better to Learn a New Language Before Age 10 |
6 . When I was quite young, my family had a telephone. I would sit quietly and listen when my mother talked to it. I was surprised to discover that somewhere inside it lived a lady named "Information Please".
One day my mother went out to visit a neighbor, I hit my head against the door while playing. It was painful, but I held back my tears because there was no one home to give sympathy（同情）. Then, I noticed the telephone.
Quickly, I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear. "Information Please," I said into the mouthpiece. Then a clear voice spoke into my ear." Information". "I hurt my head." I spoke into the phone. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's at home but me." I cried. "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then took out a piece of ice and hold it to your head." said the voice.
After that, I called "information Please" each time I met with a problem. When my pet canary（金丝雀）died, I called "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She comforted me, saying softly, "Paul, always remember there are other worlds to sing in."
Later, we moved, but the memories of those conversations never really left. One day when I was alone, I dialed again and said. "Information, Please." A different voice answered, "Information". I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" he asked. "Yes, a very old friend. My name is Paul." I answered. "Well, Sally left a message for you. Let me read it to you. It said. 'Paul always remember there are other worlds to sing in.’ I'm sorry to tell you that Sally has..." I stopped him and hung up, tears rolling down silently. I knew what Sally meant.
1. What amazed the author when he was quite young?| A．There was a telephone in his family. |
| B．His mother was always on the phone. |
| C．There was a lady living in the phone. |
| D．A woman he knew had a strange name. |
| A．To ask his mother to come back home. |
| B．To seek sympathy from someone else. |
| C．To satisfy his curiosity about the phone. |
| D．To find out how to treat his aching head. |
| A．Caring. | B．Curious. | C．Creative. | D．Humorous. |
| A．She may have moved. | B．She may have retired. |
| C．She may have quit her job. | D．She may have passed away. |
7 . Many of us know about Russia's Lake Baikal from our textbooks,or by listening to Chinese singer Li Jian's hit song,Lake Baikal.But over the past decade,the world's deepest freshwater lake has been in the spotlight for an extreme sport.
Each March since 2005,about 150 people from around the world sign up for the Baikal Ice Marathon.They come to explore the lake's breathtaking beauty and challenge themselves in unpredictable conditions.The 26-mile journey starts on the lake's eastern shore.In March,the ice is a meter thick and iron-hard.Runners cross this frozen surface,finishing on the western side of the lake.
Known as the"blue eye of Siberia",Lake Baikal has exceptionally clear waters.This means its ice is almost perfectly transparent（透明的）."Seen from above,a runner on the ice looks as if he or she is jogging through space,"The New York Times noted.
The landscape might be beautiful,but the weather is harsh.Strong winds blow across the lake and frostbite（冻伤）can occur within half an hour.Runners say the cold climate is what draws them.They want to test their limits."When you are in such an environment,you don't have cars around you,you don't have the noise around.I think these extreme races allow you to be alone with nature,"Alicja Barahona,a 64-year-old runner from the US,told ABC News.
The location offers some strange and unique characteristics for this marathon.The finish line is visible from the start,but the endless white offers no progress markers.The race also ends with little fanfare（喧闹）.Tourists crowding the ice are mostly addicted to taking photos and just ignore the runners.
For some runners,the absence of audience makes the race more challenging,because it's lonely.They must fight with themselves."You are alone on Baikal.It is your race.You are alone with yourself All you need to do is to defeat yourself,"Veronique Messina,a French runner,told the Telegraph.
1. What do we know about the Baikal Ice Marathon?| A．It requires runners to jog through space. |
| B．It attracts more and more participants each year. |
| C．It combines extreme weather and beautiful scenery. |
| D．It highlights our textbooks and Li Jian's hit song. |
| A．Pleasant. | B．Severe. | C．Annoying. | D．Damp. |
| A．Only men are allowed to run in this race. |
| B．There are many progress markers on the ice. |
| C．The runners are often disturbed by tourists. |
| D．The runners can see the finish line from the start. |
| A．Loneliness. | B．The long distance. |
| C．The cold climate. | D．Noisy surroundings. |
8 . When Rachel Ratelle saw a news video of a burned koala trying to climb a tree to safety in fire-stricken Australia, she decided to do something about it. She looked up wildlife rescue and relief agencies in Australia to find out what they needed most. Besides donations, many organizations asked for hand-sewn and knitted pouches(袋子) and wraps for koalas and other animals that were burned or had lost their homes and parents in the fires.
This idea attracted Ratelle, but there was just one problem. "I'd never sewn in my life," said Ratelle,17,a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, US. "Giving money seemed like something too simple. But I wanted to directly help these animals by doing something myself so I decided to learn how to sew."
Over the next few months, Ratelle bought her own sewing machine and taught herself how to sew via videos online. Then she purchased 18 yards of fabric and sewed 25 pouches of different sizes and shipped them off to FAWNA, one of several relief organizations that have rushed to rescue koalas, kangaroos and other species suffering from bums.
A week later, she received a photo from EAWNA with a young koala in one of her larger pouches. "It made me feel like I contributed to the world and it showed how a simple act of kindness can go a long way," said Ratelle, who hopes to study biology for a future career as a nurse practitioner.
Several craft websites around the world have appealed to people to make the animal pouches. Karen Newberry and her two daughters Madison,12 and Rochelle,8,from San Diego also offered their help in such a way. For Newberry, "It was a big push that made us crafters, sewers realize there's something more we can do than just make things for ourselves,” she said.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?| A．What inspired Ratelle to learn to sew. |
| B．The poor living conditions of Australian animals. |
| C．What is needed to save koalas and other species. |
| D．Different ways to help koalas and other animals. |
| A．Calm. | B．Surprised. | C．Proud. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．It is challenging for crafters and sewers to do relief work. |
| B．Life is not easy for crafters and sewers in Australia. |
| C．People should stay united through difficult times. |
| D．Many people are involved in helping injured animals. |
| A．Helping Injured Wildlife | B．A Big Bushfire in Australia |
| C．Making Animal Pouches | D．Relief Agencies in Australia |
9 . Schedule an Appointment at the Center for Women's Health
Please call your doctor's office or the clinic as far in advance as possible to schedule your appointments.This will make it easier to choose times that are most convenient for you.
Be sure to register after you have scheduled your first appointment. Registration helps each clinic correctly identify you and your medical information.
If your health plan restricts the clinics you can use,be sure your plan has approved the healthcare you are requesting.This will help you avoid unexpected fees.
Checklist of information you will need when making an appointment
We will ask you for the following information:
Your name
Your date of birth or Social Security number(this helps ensure that your medical information is not confused with someone who has a similar name)
Reasons for the appointment(be as specific as possible so that we can reserve the right amount of time for your visit)
Whether you want a particular doctor or the first available appointment
Canceling an appointment
If you cannot keep your appointment, please call your doctor's office or clinic as soon as possible or no later than the day before.We realize that sometimes emergencies come up and your plans may change.However,giving us as much notice as possible helps us better serve you and our other patients.When you call,we will help you reschedule for another day and time.
1. What helps to identify you and your medical information correctly?| A．Your first appointment. | B．Your registration. |
| C．Your health plan. | D．Your phone call. |
| A．The birth place. | B．The Social Security number. |
| C．The reasons for an appointment. | D．The need for a particular doctor. |
| A．April 12. | B．April 11. | C．April 13. | D．April 10. |
10 . A day away from the stress of city life!
A perfect experience for nature lovers!
Our One — Day tour will take you to see the most beautiful sunset and sunrise at the top of Mt. Huangshan （Yellow Mountain）.
Schedule
Early in the morning: take the cable car to the top of the mountain to see the breathtaking sunrise at Cloud Dispelling Pavilion.
Late in the morning: Visit such famous places as the Sixinfeng Peak, the Black Tiger pine tree, the Writing Brush Peak or the Xihai Scenic Area.
At noon: have a traditional Chinese lunch at a hotel on the top of the mountain.
In the afternoon: go to the city centre of Huangshan and take a walk along Tunxi Old Street, where traditional old buildings line the quiet street.
In the evening :Return to the Cloud Dispelling Pavillion to enjoy the sunset.
Price:$327
What's included
Professional and friendly English-speaking tour guide; Breakfast, lunch, dinner; All entrance fees; Cable car fees to and from the Cloud Dispelling Pavillion; Two nights at Beihai hotel or similar standard hotels; Hotel pickup and drop-off.
What's not included
Expenses to and from Mt. Huangshan;
Local Chinese-speaking tour guide;
Other attractions not included in the schedule.
1. Where should the tourists go to see the sunset and sunrise?| A．Sixinfeng Peak. | B．Xihai Scenic Area. |
| C．Cloud Dispelling Pavilion. | D．Writing Brush Peak. |
| A．In the morning. | B．At noon. | C．In the afternoon. | D．In the evening. |
| A．the British | B．the Chinese | C．the Dutch | D．the Germans |
