1 . Two vaccines（疫苗）developed by a Maryland company are showing promise in the fight against malaria（疟疾）. One vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing the deadly disease malaria.
Malaria is a disease caused by parasites（寄生虫）and carried by mosquitoes. Parasites are organisms that live on or in an organism of another species and feed off it or get protection from it. Mosquitoes spread the disease to people by biting on their skin. The World Health Organization says there are 214 million cases of malaria each year. And the deadly disease kills over 400,000 people a year worldwide. People who have malaria often have a fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Serious complications happen, including death, when the disease is left untreated.
The new vaccines work by preparing the immune system to fight the disease. Researchers do this by introducing live, but weakened, young parasites called sporozoites. They are injected into the body by infected mosquitoes. Both vaccines target Plasmodium Falciparum（恶性疟原虫），which is the most common and deadly form of the disease.
One successful trail was carried out in Germany. Different amounts of the vaccine were injected into 27 healthy people who volunteered for the study. Another group of 15 was given a placebo, which is a substance given to a patient like a drug, but t has no physical effect on the person. Eight to 10 weeks after the last vaccine amount, both groups were then exposed to the parasites that carried the malaria.
Stephen Hoffman is chief executive and scientific officer of Sanaria. He says the researchers were surprised by the results from nine of the people who received the highest vaccine amount. “We got 100% protection against malaria at ten weeks after the last amount of the vaccine. That is really beginning to look like something quite extraordinary and that's never been done before.”
1. What can we know about malaria?| A．It is a disease that can't be treated. |
| B．It kills people when left untreated. |
| C．It is a deadly disaster with a high death rate. |
| D．It is a flu-like disease caused by mosquitoes. |
| A．By killing parasites in the mosquitoes. |
| B．By getting rid of most of the mosquitoes. |
| C．By injecting parasites into mosquitoes' body. |
| D．By restarting the immune system of people's body. |
| A．Remarkable. | B．Unpredictable. | C．Unsatisfactory. | D．Unreasonable. |
| A．Science &technology. | B．Education. |
| C．Lifestyle. | D．Politics. |
2 . The holiday season is upon us and though they may feel a bit different this year — without large get-togethers, the holidays themselves are certainly not canceled. December is filled with celebrations. Here are some of the most unusual ways people bring the festivities home — all around the world.
Kentucky Fried Christmas
Japan
Kentucky Fried chicken might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas, but over the years, it has become quite the holiday tradition in Japan. In order to ensure you get your hands in a holiday bucket, it is suggested that you order in advance, as nearly 4 million people choose KFC as their Christmas dinner.
Throwing of the Shoe
Czech Republic
This Christians tradition has nothing to do with trimming trees or singing carols. Rather, young women step outside their homes on Christmas Eve and instead of waiting for Santa, they throw a shoe over their shoulders. How it land is said to predict if the woman will marry next year.
Burning Effigies
Ecuador
New year's Eve comes with a whole set of traditions and customers to symbolically leave the previous year behind. Here, “monigotes” — figures that represent what went wrong in the last year, sometimes politicians are then burned into the night.
Sauna Visit
Estonia
This is a holiday tradition most people would happily get behind. On Christmas Eve, after spending the day setting up for the following day's festivities, it is traditional to sweat it out in sauna with your family.
1. Which holiday tradition do you need to book in advance?| A．Sauna Visit. | B．Burning Effigies. |
| C．Throwing of the Shoe. | D．Kentucky Fried Christmas. |
| A．whether she will get promoted. | B．how much money she will make. |
| C．whether she will get married or not. | D．how many new friends she will make. |
| A．A science fiction. | B．A news magazine. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A government report. |
3 . Is digital technology weakening our ability to communicate? Fingers flying, we can blog, email and enter chat rooms. As we type our millions of words, something is being lost. Our virtual skills increase, our ability to communicate using speech is on the decline (下降).
We are addicted to the power of the typed word and it is getting in the way of our ability to look people in the eye and talk. A good example is how much digital technology has affected public speaking.
At conferences and meetings, I hate it when speakers show their long and boring slides (幻灯片). I don’t mind maps and pictures, but all those words of text drive me crazy. “And now for my introduction...” and up comes the word “introduction”. “There are four main points” and we see “four points”. Lots of facts and data follow. These should all have been given out as an information sheet, or put on a website. Instead, while you are trying to go through the material, the lecturer is reading all about it, word for word. There’s a confusion of focus, and it gives me a headache. As the slides flash by, the most important relationship in public speaking is being destroyed — the connection between the speaker and the audience.
Good speakers watch their audiences. They don’t allow them to be distracted. If heads are nodding or feet moving around, it is time to attract their attention. Change the tone (音调) of your voice, slow down, and then suddenly speed up. “And most importantly!” you shout, and then say the next thing very softly, so people prick up (竖起) their ears in case they miss important information.
We would be better off if we stop clicking away crazily on a mouse, as the ability to communicate face to face and hold the attention of others is a necessary human skill. Be careful of a technology in which the speed of our fingers is more important than the quality of our voices.
1. What does the underlined word “something” in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．Time for online chatting. |
| B．Ability to use technology. |
| C．Face-to-face communication. |
| D．Ability to survive in real life. |
| A．Tips on being an excellent public speaker. |
| B．Unusual mistakes that public speakers make. |
| C．The author’s expectations of slides for meetings. |
| D．Digital technology’s ill effects on public speaking. |
| A．Changing the talking speed. |
| B．Pricking up ears while talking. |
| C．Nodding heads while listening. |
| D．Walking around in the room. |
| A．We need to improve our typing skills. |
| B．We should stop using digital technology. |
| C．We'd better think twice before using technology. |
| D．We should balance our virtual life and the reality. |
| A．Opinions. | B．Lifestyle. |
| C．Breaking News. | D．Art and Design. |
4 . Schuylerville High School students have a broad range of interests, which are reflected by the number of clubs and organizations in which our pupils participate. Here are some of the most popular clubs.
Environmental Club
Open to students in grades 9-12
Advisor: Mrs. Flores
The High School Environmental Club is open to all students interest increasing environmental awareness throughout the school. Activities include: recycling, environmental competitions, volunteering with green schools and outdoor events. This run student club collects and recycles paper products throughout the school building.
Freshman Class
Open to students in grades 9-10
Advisor: Mr. winslow
The freshmen class participates in several activities throughout the year to raise money for the class account. The class officers meet once a month to discuss business that affects the entire class. All members of the freshman class are encouraged to participate in some type of community service during the year.
Literary magazine
Open to students in grades 10-12
Advisor: Mr. Sgambati
Members of the Literary Magazine collect, edit and often contribute to the body of student work. Literary Magazine meetings will also give students the opportunity to share and receive feedback on the creative pieces that they re working on, as well as the chance to learn about writing practices and strategies.
Mock Trial Team
Open to students in grades 11-12
Advisor: Mrs. Lewis
Mock Trial is an after-school activity that helps students develop useful knowledge about the law. Students play out all the roles and use general rules of evidence and fact explanations in a school court. They will work with a real lawyer and an advisor to further understand the court process.
1. At which club can you take part in the community service?| A．Environmental Club. | B．Freshman Class. |
| C．Literary Magazine. | D．Mock Trial Team. |
| A．To encourage students to be lawyers. | B．To develop students’ writing skills. |
| C．To explain all kinds of facts at school. | D．To help students learn more about laws. |
| A．A news report. | B．A school website. |
| C．A research paper. | D．A science magazine. |
5 . If you're like many people, you may have decided that you want to spend less time staring at your phone. It's a good idea: an increasing body of evidence suggests that the time we spend on our smartphones is affecting our sleep, self-respect, relationships, memory, attention, creativity, productivity and problem solving and decision-making skills.
Until now, most discussions of phones' biochemical effects have focused on dopamine (多巴胺)，a brain chemical that helps us form habits. Smart-phones and apps are designed to cause dopamine's release, with the goal of making our phones difficult to put down.
But our phones' effects on cortisol（皮质醇）are potentially even more alarming. Cortisol is our primary fight-or-flight hormone. Its release（释放） causes our bodies' changes, such as a jump in blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar, that help us react to and survive acute physical threats. But by raising levels of cortisol, our phones may be threatening our health and shortening our lives.
The average American spends four hours a day staring at their smart-phone and keeps it within arm's reach nearly all the time, according to a tracking app called Moment. The result, as Google has noted in a report, is that "mobile phones loaded with social media, email and news apps" create "a constant sense of commitment bringing unintended personal stress."
"Your cortisol levels are increased when your phone is in sight or nearby, or when you hear it or even think you hear it," says David Greenfield, professor at the University of Connecticut School. "It's a stress response, and it feels unpleasant, and the body's natural response is to want to check the phone to make the stress go away."
But while doing so might comfort you for a second, it probably will make things worse in the long run. Any time you check your phone, you're likely to find something else stressful waiting for you, leading to another increase in cortisol and another desire to check your phone to your anxiety go away. This cycle, when continuously strengthened, leads to increased cortisol levels, which have been tied to an increased risk of serious health problems, including depression, obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack and so on.
1. What phone-related effect is dopamine responsible for?| A．Memory loss. | B．Increased mental stress. |
| C．A behavioral addiction. | D．Poor sleep quality. |
| A．Its decrease will improve heart rate. |
| B．Its release will lower blood pressure. |
| C．Its release has no benefits for humans. |
| D．Its increase is related to personal stress. |
| A．Ways to make phones less stressful. |
| B．Benefits of reducing dopamine levels. |
| C．Reasons why cortisol levels are increased. |
| D．Bad results of checking phones frequently. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. | C．Technology. | D．Education. |
6 . If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He'd need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It's nothing personal. Most Americans don't even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and
philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks(缺陷)of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.
1. The opening paragraph is mainly intended to______________.| A．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| B．attract the readers' interest in the subject |
| C．show great respect for the ancient thinker |
| D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
| A．have a great interest in studying Chinese |
| B．take an active part in Chinese competitions |
| C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams |
| D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese |
| A．Forgotten Wisdom in America |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language |
| C．Chinese Culture for Westerners |
| D．Old Thinker with a Big Future |
| A．a personal biography | B．a history paper |
| C．a cultural newspaper | D．a philosophy textbook |
7 . When most Chinese people were happily filling their shopping baskets on the annual shopping festival on Nov 11, 2018, a group of musicians from the China Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) did something different. They gave a performance at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on the pleasant evening. The concert, a part of the CPO'S I8th season, brought as much joy to classic music lovers as shopping brings to others.
Tony Siqi Yun, a 17-year-old pianist, who was named the 2018 champion at the "Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition" in Cleveland, played the well-known note from Chopin (肖邦). The piano concerto (协奏)was written by young Chopin when he was only 20 years old. Yun, also with young people's energy yet sensitive mind, beautifully showed the romantic beauty and peace in the note. His elegant style and perfect skill soon won the hearts of listeners as the sound of piano began. When he finished the last note, all the listeners applauded, just like the audience did at the concerto's debut (首演) on Oct 11 in 1830. In fact, that concerto, the Piano Concerto No.1, was first played during one of Chopin's "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland.
Coincidentally, after the performance, Yun will soon leave for New York to go on his piano study at the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. The young pianist developed excellent skills at the Middle School Affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
Though taking part in the CPO's music festival for the first time, Yun has worked with the Orchestra twice. One was in 2014, at the "Silk Road" New Year's Concert co-hosted by the CPO and China Central Television, and the other was a tour in Shanghai in 2016. "China Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the most brilliant orchestras,and it's my honor to work with them, " the young artist said, "The members are very strict in music and the sound it gives is always extravagant(夸张的) yet elegant. I really enjoy the experience to perform with them."
1. This passage is probably taken from a ______.| A．novel | B．textbook | C．guidebook | D．newspaper |
| A．will celebrate its 18th birthday this year |
| B．doesn't like the annual shopping festival |
| C．gave joy to music lovers in different seasons |
| D．held a pleasant concert on November 11 |
| A．It was a great success. |
| B．It won a special award. |
| C．It was played by Yun in Poland. |
| D．It won people's heart in New York. |
| A．Shanghai. | B．Beijing. | C．Poland. | D．New York. |
| A．Yun thinks highly of the CPO |
| B．The CPO brought Yun great honors |
| C．Yun was greatly influenced by the CPO |
| D．T he CPO is the best orchestra in the world |
8 . America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while—then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily, but truly can’t manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes,
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for pure business matters. So accept their hospitality at home !
1. Where are we expected to call our American friends if we go there by plane?| A．On the bus. | B．At the airport. |
| C．Near their home. | D．At our own hotel. |
| A．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| B．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| C．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
| D．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| A．Treating friends at home. | B．Sharing everything they have. |
| C．Taking days off to be with friends. | D．Meeting friends at the airport at midnight. |
| A．Culture. | B．News. |
| C．Story. | D．Travel. |
9 . A Massive Open Online Course (大规模开放在线课程) — known as a MOOC — is a kind of online platform offering various lessons to the public, which brings opportunity and help to those who are eager to learn more. Many countries are active participants in developing online courses, and China is not an exception.
In the past few years, China has made great progress on online education and the country is in a leading position worldwide. The China Internet Network Information Center said that 144 million people had taken up online education up to June 2017.
According to the Ministry of Education, there are more than 10 MOOC platforms in China, providing 3,200 online courses — which make China the world’s largest online course provider. 490 of them are high quality and national-level courses, and another 3,000 will be added by 2020. High quality online courses have raised students’ enthusiasm for learning and given them more freedom to choose subjects.
However, the explosive increase in the number of lessons and users also brings problems in lesson quality and network security. In addition, online courses are not properly combined with on-campus courses. Therefore, the ministry intends to roll out a development plan for online education at Chinese colleges, along with regulations and standards.
The ministry will create policies encouraging professors to use MOOCs in their teaching, and set rules on how college students gain credits(学分) for taking such courses in an effort to promote the training of talented people in Chinese institutions of higher education and to bridge the country’s regional inequality in education. Besides, professors who use MOOCs in their teaching can enjoy the same sense of honor as those who innovate teaching in other ways. At the same time, strict supervision will be used to stop the spread of harmful information and users’ personal information will also be protected. China will do more to make its online courses go global and show the world the country’s achievements in this field.
1. What can we learn about MOOCs?| A．They are gaining more and more users and courses. |
| B．They are designed for college students. |
| C．Just a few countries are developing them. |
| D．They are just free for the poor students. |
| A．Students have little freedom to choose courses. |
| B．Different problems arise in online courses. |
| C．Many professors don’t use online courses in their teaching. |
| D．Online courses are not practical for college students. |
| A．Truth. | B．Teaching. |
| C．Themes. | D．Rules. |
| A．A diary. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A novel. | D．A bulletin board. |
10 . This centuries-old town of stone homes could be any rural (农村的) village in Europe. It reached its maximum population at around the turn of the last century, and since then it has slowly emptied until, in 2007, its public school finally shut its doors.
“They say when a town loses its school it loses its soul,”says the governor of St. -Pierre-de-Frugie, Gilbert Chabaud, who was elected to office the following year. After the village’s only restaurant closed too, Gilbert took up his post with a central question, “What can we do to make it come back to life, to make people come here?”
Gilbert, who himself left St. -Pierre-de-Frugie to work in the automobile industry before retiring, found his answer in sustainability (可持续发展). He opened up a store for local producers to sell their vegetables which were grown without using any artificial chemicals. He opened a community (社区) garden and ongoing ecological workshops that encourage knowledge-sharing among the community.
He has a businessman's knowledge: he is making use of the idea shared across the West by many people looking for an alternative to the high-pace urban life. And after the rapid urbanization of the 1950s and 1960s left many villages across Europe abandoned or only partially used, a mini urban-to-rural flow is under way.
Since taking office, 40 new people have moved here — most of them from the cities, bringing the population up to 400. Last year a new school opened in the village. Gilbert is eyeing a bigger place for a new school.
Just a few months ago, lulia Timofticiuc and her partner Guillaume Bled were living in Paris. They were concerned about global environment and at a more micro level about what foods they were consuming and where they were coming from. “We wanted to live lighter, be productive, and be autonomous,” Timofticiuc says. But they didn’t just want to go anywhere. They wanted to go where things were already happening. So they chose St. -Pierre-de-Frugie.
1. What can we learn about the village St. Pierre-de-Frugie?| A．Its population began to rise at the turn of the 20th century. |
| B．Its public school was closed for lack of students. |
| C．It used to be a popular rural village in Europe. |
| D．It became completely empty in 2007. |
| A．He quit his job to lead the village. |
| B．He sold green vegetables to local settlers. |
| C．He increased people's ecological awareness. |
| D．He encouraged people to share their harvest. |
| A．It allows people to grow their own food. |
| B．It has done a lot to be eco-friendly. |
| C．It is less crowded. |
| D．It is autonomous. |
| A．History. | B．Culture. |
| C．Education. | D．Society. |
