1 . In the 1960s and 1970s, the greatest fear was that the human race, and possibly all advanced life forms on the planet, could be wiped out by nuclear missiles. Today, however, environmental problems have taken over as the greatest risk to life on Earth. Scientists are thinking of ways to lower this risk, such as replacing coal and oil with forms of renewable energy. But they are also preparing for the worst: what can we do if the terrifying scenes in films such as The Day After Tomorrow happen in real life? What is our plan B for Earth?
One option is to explore other planets to see if we could live on them. The most likely choice is Mars, which is relatively close to Earth and has an environment less hostile than that of other planets. Mars has fascinated people since ancient times, and today our interest in Martian exploration is greater than ever before. Besides, more governments are making efforts to educate the public on the Red Planet.
There is no doubt that humankind is drawn towards Mars. However, sending people there will require all the skill, courage and intelligence. While the Moon can be reached within days, it would take months to reach Mars, travelling through dangerous solar radiation. And even if the first settlers do reach Mars safely, they may not be able to return to Earth — ever. Staying alive will be a daily challenge, but as proved by the Biosphere 2 experiment, not impossible. As early as the 1980s, scientists were building Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert, consisting of a closed space in which people, animals and plants could live together. Although the two-year experiment was not a success, it did provide us with a better understanding of how humans might be able to live on another planet.
For now, human settlement of Mars is still decades away. Until we are finally able to live on another planet, we need to take much better care of our own. Right now, it's the only one we have!
1. What was the biggest threat to humans in the 1960s and 1970s?| A．Human race themselves. | B．All advanced life forms. |
| C．Nuclear missiles. | D．Environmental problems. |
| A．It's closest to the earth. |
| B．It has relatively appropriate living conditions. |
| C．It has drawn the public's attention in recent years. |
| D．It has a more hostile environment. |
| A．Humans have visited Mars. |
| B．The Biosphere 2 experiment proved to be valueless. |
| C．Humans will have to go and live on another planet. |
| D．Our Plan A includes developing renewable energy resources. |
| A．The Traveler. | B．Environmental Concerns. |
| C．All About Space. | D．Biology for Fun, |
2 . Described as the world’s most environmentally friendly protein（蛋白质）, Solein is made by applying electricity to water to release bubbles of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Living microbes (微生物) are then added to the liquid to feed on the carbon dioxide and hydrogen bubbles and produce the Solein, which is then dried to make the powder. It’s a chemical change process similar to beer brewing. The dried Solein has a protein content of 50 percent and looks and tastes just like wheat flour.
“It is a completely new kind of food, a new kind of protein, different to all the food on the market today in how it is produced as it does not need agriculture.” Dr Pasi Vainikka, the chief manager of Solar Foods told The Guardian. The process used to produce Solein—changing hydrogen and carbon dioxide is amazing, as the wonder food can be produced anywhere in the world. It’s also 10 time-efficient than photosynthesis (光合作用), and 10 to 100 times more environment and climate-friendly in water use than animal or plant-based food production.
“Solein also contains all the essential amino acid (氨基酸),but because it is produced using carbon and electricity, it does not require large amounts of land to produce, ” the Solar Foods website explains. “Another unique characteristic of Solein is that it is able to take carbon directly from carbon dioxide without needing a source of sugar.”
While Solar Foods does not expect Solein to challenge conventional protein production methods in the next two decades, it does expect it to become a “new harvest” for humanity, which is significant considering so far we have only relied on plants and animals for sustenance. The Helsinki-based company plans to open its first Solein factory at the end of 2021 and increase production to two billion meals per year by 2022.
1. Why is Solein described as environmentally friendly?| A．Because it is man-made by using electricity. |
| B．Because it contains all the nutrition people need. |
| C．Because it is made consuming less land and energy. |
| D．Because it is produced from water and carbon dioxide. |
| A．It’ll have a rewarding future. |
| B．It’ll reach consumers in 2020. |
| C．It’ll challenge traditional protein production. |
| D．It’ll be a complete replacement for plants and animals. |
| A．survival | B．food |
| C．material | D．support |
| A．A textbook. | B．A novel. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A brochure. |
3 . The executive committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency(WADA，世界反兴奋剂组织) agreed to a series of tough measures against Russia on December 9. According to The Washington Post, it is the most severe punishment to date in the years-long Russian doping saga (兴奋剂事件).
Russia is prohibited from participating in all major international sports events in the next four years, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The country will also be banned from hosting any major sports events.
The reason for such severe punishment is that WADA believes the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) did not actively cooperate with its investigation. WADA also claims that the sample data submitted by the Moscow laboratory in January 2019 was incomplete and untrue. A great deal of data was deleted and changed.
Under the four-year ban, the Russian flag and anthem (国歌) are also prohibited from being displayed at major events. Only ''clean'' Russian athletes will be allowed to participate in international competitions under a neutral flag if they can provide the necessary proof.
Several countries and organizations have already upheld (支持) WADA's decision. The International Olympic Committee states that the decision is binding (有约束力的) and will also support the ruling (裁决) of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (国际体育仲裁法庭) in the future if Russia appeals. Norway said it would refuse Russia's participation in the Ski World Cup in2023.
The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said the ruling against Russia was “too moderate” and that the failure to ban Russian athletes from participating in any sports event was a blow to international sports. Although RUSADA will have three weeks to appeal against WADA's decision, according to the reaction of other organizations, there is a high possibility that the penalties will be carried out.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said the country had every reason to appeal against the decision. ''The key thing, and everyone is in agreement here, any punishment has to be individual, has to be targeted based on what a particular individual has done. We can't have collective punishment, '' Putin stressed. ''We cannot punish people who have nothing to do what so ever with violations.''
Despite the ban, Russia will be able to compete at Euro 2020 — in which St. Petersburg will be a host city — as European football’s governing body UEFA is not defined as a ''major event organization. ''
1. What does the underlined word prohibit in paragraph 2 mean?| A．To forbid. | B．To force. | C．To encourage. | D．To urge. |
| A．In 2021 Russian can host some major sports events. |
| B．Under the ban, the Russian flag and anthem can be displayed at major events. |
| C．No Russian athletes will be allowed to participate in international competitions. |
| D．Russian president Vladimir Putin is against the punishment. |
| A．In a guidebook. | B．In a madcine journal. |
| C．In a science news report. | D．In a sports news report. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Objective. | C．Indifferent. | D．Puzzled. |
4 . Road networks are expanding worldwide at an alarming rate. Although roads can promote economic development and improve human welfare, they can also have severe effects on wildlife populations by worsening habitat and human disturbance. Moreover, traffic disturbance from noise, lights, and motion reduces the quality of habitat near roads.
While roads are now everywhere across much of the earth, the construction of new roads will be concentrated in areas with high biodiversity value. Many of these new roads and highways will likely cross reserves or other highly biodiverse areas. Although roads are one of the most important impacts on global ecosystems, we know little about how patterns in road construction will affect biodiversity in the coming decades.
Here, we use a recently developed global roads data set to investigate the extent and potential influence of road networks across the 1,160,000-km,13-country range of the globally endangered tiger. In the Russian Far East, for example, roads reduce tiger survival rates due to crashes into vehicles. In some regions, tigers avoid areas closer to public roads, suggesting that roads act as important barriers to movement. The emerging impacts of road development on tigers are critical for several reasons.
We calculate road density (度), distance to the nearest road, and relative mean species abundance (MSA) to characterize how road networks influence tiger habitats. These systems of measurement provide starting points for range-wide monitoring and impact assessments of road development projects, thus enabling evaluation of progress toward country-level conservation and sustainable (可持续的) development goals.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The importance of creating reserves. |
| B．The destruction to global ecosystems. |
| C．The effect on biodiversity worldwide. |
| D．The opinion about road construction. |
| A．It has bad influence on tigers. |
| B．It causes more traffic accidents. |
| C．It covers too many areas. |
| D．It requires a quantity of funds. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Concerned. | D．Astonished. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. |
| C．Education. | D．Science. |
5 . In 1992,Teen Talk Barbie was put on the market with the controversial voice fragment(碎片），＂Math class is hard."While the toy's sale met with strong public reaction,this hidden assumption continues,spreading the belief that women do not boom in science,technology,engineering and mathematic(STEM)fields due to biological inadequacies in math talent.
However,in 2019 Jessica Cantlon at Carnegie Mellon University led a research team that thoroughly examined the brain development of young boys and girls and found no sex difference in brain function or math ability.
Cantlon and her team studied the biological sex differences in math ability of young children.Her team used functional MRI(核磁共振）to measure the brain activity in 104 young children（3-to-10-year-old;55 girls)while watching an educational video covering early math topics,like counting and addition.The researchers compared scans from the boys and girls to evaluate brain similarity.In addition,the team examined brain maturity by comparing the children's scans to those taken from a group of adults(63 adults;25 women)who watched the same math videos.
After many statistical comparisons,Cantlon and her team found no difference in the brain development of girls and boys.In addition,the researchers found no difference in how boys and girls processed math skills while watching the educational videos.Finally,boys' and girls' brain maturity were statistically alike when compared to either men or women in the adult group.
Cantlon said she thinks society and culture are likely directing girls and young women away from math and STEM fields."Typical socialization can make worse small differences between boys and girls that can snowball into how we treat them in science and math,"Cantlon said."We need to be aware of these origins to ensure we aren't the ones causing the sex unfairness."
However,this project is focused on early childhood development using a limited set of math tasks.Cantlon wants to continue this work using a broader scope(范围）of math skills,such as spatial processing and memory,and follow the children over many years.
1. What can we infer after Teen Talk Barbie was on sale?| A．Girls are born with poor math abilities. |
| B．Math is difficult for both boys and girls. |
| C．Boys perform no better than girls in math. |
| D．Math is harder than science and technology. |
| A．The result of Cantlon's study. |
| B．The purpose of Cantlon's job. |
| C．The method of Cantion's research. |
| D．The difficulty of Cantlon's work. |
| A．By using a larger variety of subjects. |
| B．By employing a wider range of math skills. |
| C．By raising the difficulty of the math tasks. |
| D．By expanding the number of the children. |
| A．Business. | B．Sports&Health. |
| C．Entertainment. | D．Popular science. |
6 . Youth is a stressful time from friends to school to families, and stressful situations become common. The body can respond (反应) with faster breathing, a fast beating heart, tense (绷紧的) muscles and drop of sweat. And teens who breathe polluted air appear to respond most strongly to stress, a new study shows.
Jonas Miller, a psychologist working at Stanford University ,studied whether or how air pollution might affect the body’s response to stress. Miller's team invited 144 teens to participate in a stressful test. Most of the kids lived in or near San Francisco,which has the worst air quality.
Before the test, the researchers used sensors(感测器) to record heart rates and sweat levels for five minutes as the kids rested. Then as the test began, a researcher read aloud the beginning of a story and the kids had five minutes to make up an exciting ending to the story. They would have to memorize their ending and present it aloud to a judge. After finishing this task, the kids were asked to do math problems, which obviously was a harder task. If he or she made a mistake, the judge let the student start over. The whole time, sensors recorded heart rates and sweat levels.
Miller found all the students had similar heart rates and sweat levels at rest. But as the test got difficult, differences began to appear. Kids from places with more air pollution responded more strongly to stress and their heartbeats became irregular. They sweated more than teens who lived in cleaner places.
"The teens' bodies were preparing to deal with possible challenges in the environment and such bodily responses to stress were linked to negative feelings", Miller concludes. Over time, he says, "these responses can contribute to both physical and mental health problems."
This study has proved the negative health effects of air pollution among teenagers. Therefore, teenagers should try to avoid their exposure (暴露) to air pollution They should consider limiting their time outside during rush hour, especially on days when air pollution is particularly strong.
1. What happened to teens in stressful situations?| A．Their bodies react strongly. |
| B．Their muscles cause pain. |
| C．They become seriously sick. |
| D．They have trouble in breathing. |
| A．The judge of the test was strict with the kids. |
| B．The kids enjoyed making up endings of stories. |
| C．Those breathing polluted air doesn't have more stress in life. |
| D．The kids gradually felt more stress in the process. |
| A．solve their mental health problems |
| B．spend less time outside in heavy traffic |
| C．learn to deal with stressful situations |
| D．enjoy more outside activities in good weather |
| A．A report on pollution. | B．A geography book. |
| C．A psychologist's diary. | D．A science magazine. |
Description:
The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th-to 15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titian and Veronese.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velaazquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th-to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours:
The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm (Fridays 10am to 9pm) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There:
Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).
1. In which wing can you see religious paintings?| A．In the East Wing. | B．In the main West Wing. |
| C．In the Sainsbury Wing. | D．In the North Wing. |
| A．Van Eyck | B．Cranach |
| C．Van Dyck. | D．Constable. |
| A．The National Gallery is the biggest British national art museum. |
| B．There are four exhibition areas in The National Gallery |
| C．The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm |
| D．The Gallery is completely free |
| A．An artist magazine. | B．A tourist map. |
| C．A news report. | D．A museum guide. |
