2 . Answering the Community Needs of Our City

The Siver City Council recognizes that citizens have certain needs. To better meet your needs, we have made several changes to community facilities in 2020. The followings shows how we have tried to make your life better.

Transport

☆Three stations for the suburbs have been added to the western train service.

☆20 new buses for the southern line were purchased in January.

☆50 per cent of city bus-stops have been upgraded.

Communication

☆Broadband cableis now available to ll parts of the city.

☆All of the new Government buildings are smart-wired for better computer service!

Medical Facilities

☆The new state-of-the-art Nightingale Hospital was opened in June.

☆To overcome a shortage of trained medical staff at Dover Hospital, 10 doctors have been employed from overseas.

☆Some facilities at Station Street Hospital have been upgraded.

Education

☆Textbooks will be free to all primary students in 2020!

☆Rental for private schools has been reduced.

Protection and Security

☆Extra police now patrol(巡逻)the tourist areas.

☆50 new police officers graduated in July and have taken up duties in the city area.

Entertainment/Recreation

☆The new Central Community Building opened in May.

☆5,000 new fiction books were bought for the Silver City Library.

1. What’s the notice mainly about?

A．The work carried out by the people of Silver City.

B．The facilities available in Silver City.

C．Some improvements in Silver City.

D．Information for interested tourists.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Travel books are provided in the new library.

B．More bus lines and stops are bought in Silver City.

C．Free medical treatment is available at Station Street Hospital.

D．There are more police officers on duty now.

3. The public notice is from ________.

A．the community	B．the local government
C．the Silver City Library	D．a travel agency

3 . With paper flowers and music hanging around in the air, Lyu Jun was hosting a small farewell ceremony at an industrial zone in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. It was a funeral for a pet dog. Lyu came up with the idea of becoming a pet mortician (殡葬师) four years ago when he was preparing to start a business.

“At that time, there was only one brick-and-mortar(实体的) business that provided funeral services for pets in Shenzhen, but hundreds of pets die every day in this city,” he said. According to Lyu, many pet owners used to bury the remains of their beloved animals near their homes , which had a harmful impact on the environment and created the risk of spreading disease.

He saw a gap in the market for someone able to properly handle the death of pets. “A pet funeral service provides treatment of the bodies that is harm-free, and it is the greatest comfort to pet owners,” Lyu said.

He takes good care of the remains of the pets and tidies up their appearance before the funeral. In addition, he prepares funeral addresses and selects suitable tombs for the pets. He also films funerals for owners who cannot attend the ceremonies, and provides paper and pens for those who want to write down their blessings and hang the notes on the wishing tree.

Over the past four years, Lyu has bid farewell to more than 2,000 dogs, cats and other kinds of animals. He also does volunteer work in his spare time to promote responsible dog raising. “The pet funeral service industry is still in its babyhood, and I hope there will be a set of strict standards for people who take on this job and a belter environment for the industry,” Lyu said.

1. Why did Lyu start the business on pet funeral service?

A．Because he could earn a lot of money from it.

B．Because he thought it met the market requirement.

C．Because he thought it would be a unique and challenging business.

D．Because he could help owners bury their dead pets near their homes.

2. What does Lyu often do as a pet mortician?

A．He delivers speeches to mourn the pets.

B．He gives best wishes to the pets' owners.

C．He makes films of the pets for their birth.

D．He nurses and cares for the pets carefully.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Lyu volunteers to raise pets on his own.

B．The pet funeral service has got a big success.

C．More strict standards should be set for pets' owners.

D．There remains a potential in the pet funeral industry.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A research report.	B．An advertisement.
C．A novel.	D．A magazine.

4 . Today we communicate over the Internet all the time. In this blog post, I want to discuss how we keep our Internet communications well protected.

"How are the mobile apps safe?" I can hear you ask. It is a good question. They all use encryption（加密）to make sure no one else can eavesdrop on your messages with your friends, family, and business partners. Apple is one of the first to do this for its users; however, it started encrypting the message between iCloud users and the shortcoming is that the encryption only works between iCloud users.

Many of us are used to being able to take our computers down to the local coffee shop or with us when we travel, connect to any Wi-Fi, and then keep doing what we always do on the Internet. What you may not be aware of, however, is that public Wi-Fi is not encrypted. Anything done on those wireless networks can be known by some bad people. So how do you protect the wireless? It can be protected by using a Virtual Private Network（VPN）.

As with the encryption protection for E-Mail and messaging, there are a lot of VPN providers out there that don't cost a lot of money. Any person or organization can research and decide which one is best for their needs. Using a free VPN isn't suggested. Free VPN providers can be uncertain because they get much of their pay through pushing ads to their users. And they can follow and record what to do, which kind of fails the purpose of using a VPN in the first place.

Returning to how a VPN can protect your communications, we could go into a lot of details about what a VPN does, but we will keep it simple instead. Unlike the protection above, which is very specific, a VPN works by creating a passage between you and a distant server. This passage is encrypted, which means that everything you send through it is protected from being listened. This can be especially useful if you are working at a coffee shop or an airport.

1. Where does the text probably come from?

A．A website.	B．A guidebook.
C．A personal diary.	D．A scientific magazine.

2. What does the underlined phrase "eavesdrop on" in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Care about.	B．Miss out on.
C．Get something by accident.	D．Listen secretly to something.

3. What is the disadvantage of using the encryption of Apple?

A．It works slowly.	B．It costs you too much.
C．It is unsafe sometimes.	D．It is limited to certain user.

4. Paragraph 4 implies that a free VPN           .

A．requires extra fees for long-time usage

B．may cause risks to personal information

C．pushes ads according to your interest

D．fails to be encrypted sometimes

5 . Teens Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep And Schools Are Partly to Blame

Most kids are severely sleep deprived, and early school starting times aren’t helping.

Across the country, only 17.7 percent of middle and high schools start classes after 8:30 a.m.. The average school start time for middle and high schools around the country is 8:03 a.m., according to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AAP advises that schools start after 8:30 to help teenagers get 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night — the amount the AAP says is ideal. Currently, less than a third of high school students sleep 8 hours a night, says the CDC analysis.

The analysis uses 2011–2012 information from the Department of Education to gather the start times of about 39,700 schools. Alaska has the latest average school start time at 8:33 a.m., while Louisiana has the earliest at 7:40 a.m.

Sleep-deprived teenagers are more likely to suffer from depression, use drugs, get low grades and be overweight. Even though schools often face obstacles when trying to delay school start times due to traffic and scheduling concerns, some have made progress recently.

After Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts delayed school start times in 2008 from 7:55 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., the private school saw a number of benefits. As the Huffington Post previously reported, the school’s 2014 viewbook noted that students earned higher grades; ate more breakfasts, visited the health center far less frequently; and performed better in athletics. Teachers reported that first-period discussion classes were uncharacteristically lively from the beginning bell.

Half of parents whose teens attend schools that start before 8:30 would support a later start time, according to a 2014 survey from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

1. The benefits of enough sleep for students don’t include ________.

A．earning higher grades	B．eating more breakfast
C．visiting the health center more frequently	D．performing better in athletics

2. The author explains the result of sleep-deprived problem by ________.

A．making a comparison	B．using examples
C．presenting research findings	D．quoting diagrams

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The earlier schools start, the higher grades students can get.

B．All schools should start after 8:30 across the world.

C．Nine hours of sleep a night is the most ideal choice.

D．The lack of sleep may lead to various terrible problems.

4. Where does this passage probably come from?

A．A research report.	B．A health guide.
C．A class presentation.	D．An official document.

6 . Do you remember the last time you received a postcard? The UK’s family-owned oldest postcard firm, which has been publishing postcards and calendars since 1880, will close this December. The reason? It says instead of penning a card, people are putting photos up on Facebook or Instagram or using WhatsApp to show friends and family at home just how much fun they’re having.

If you get a postcard from someone who’s away somewhere, it’s as much the thought that they’ve gone through the hassle (麻烦) of choosing a postcard, working out where to get a stamp from, finding a postbox and then the postcard making that journey through to you. That’s the value of the postcard. But that time has gone.

Brothers Charles and Harry Salmon, the fifth generation of the family to run the firm, said the popularity of social media had had a huge impact on the business. People are also tending to take shorter holidays, meaning they are likely to have arrived home long before their postcards. As a result the business was no longer viable.

“Increasingly challenging trading conditions and changes to the nature and size of the market for its publications have resulted in uncertainty over the future of its trade,’’ the brothers wrote in a letter to suppliers and newsagents.

As a result they were announcing a proposal to withdraw from publishing. The number of postcards sold each year is reported to have seen a sharp decline to about five million from 20 million just 25 years ago. But the firm said that as well as the drop in the number of postcards sent, “we have also had to consider that there are no more members of the family who wish to join the business.”

1. What’s the value of sending a postcard?

A．It’s a symbol of sympathy.	B．It’s a journey of love.
C．It’s an act of patience.	D．It’s a way of passing time.

2. What does the underlined word “viable” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．likely to exist.	B．worthy of praise.
C．short of money.	D．possible to change.

3. What is the best title of the text?

A．UK’s oldest postcard firm set to close.

B．Postcard industry booming in the future.

C．UK’s postcard firm through a tough time.

D．Postcard industry needing support to survive.

4. Where does this text probably come from?

A．A book review.	B．A business column.
C．A hi-tech advertisement.	D．A finance report.

7 . The 15-day Spring Festival is the biggest holiday of the year for many Chinese to leave from their jobs to travel home and see their loved ones. But along with gathering come a lot of traditions aimed at making sure the year ahead is lucky and happy.

Here are some key dos and don’ts that many Chinese follow before and after the Lunar New Year.

DOs
Set off fireworks

The more fireworks or firecrackers you set off, the better.

Not only do you light up the night sky with a symphony of color, but the loud banging sounds are thought to scare off evil spirits.

Eat dumplings

Eating dumplings is a popular tradition in northern China because dumplings not only taste good but also look like pieces of gold.

Clean your home

Sweep, mop, vacuum, steam-do anything and everything to make sure your home is clean before the midnight on Lunar New Year eve. The aim here is to free your home from any bad luck that’s accumulated over the past year.

DON’Ts
Wash or cut your hair

Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year.

The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosperity(发达).

This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away.

Clean post-New Year

Cleaning of any kind on the first day is strictly forbidden.

You clean your home to avoid any bad luck before the New Year - now you want to be sure not to wipe, sweep or wash away any of the good luck that arrives after midnight.

Buy books

It’s bad luck to buy them during the 15-day Spring Festival.

The Chinese word for "book" (shū) sounds exactly the same as the word for "lose’"-so buying a book is considered an invitation to bad luck.

Also, avoid giving books as gifts to anyone, because it’d be like wishing bad luck upon them.

1. Why is the Spring Festival the best time for many Chinese people according to the text?

A．They can enjoy a lor of delicious dishes.

B．They can get together with their family members.

C．It’s time for them to say good-bye to the past year.

D．The festival will bring them good luck and happiness.

2. You are expected to do the following on the first day of the New Year EXCEPT        .

A．setting off fireworks	B．enjoying tasty dumplings
C．cleaning your home	D．leaving your books untouched

3. In which section of a newspaper can we see the passage?

A．Advertisement.	B．Literature.
C．Culture.	D．Travel.

8 . How do you like your milk: cooked or raw? It may sound a strange question, but it’s being asked more often at kitchen tables, grocery stores and farmers’ markets across the US.

The vast majority of milk we drink is heat-treated to kill off harmful bacteria (细菌). Raw milk, on the other hand, goes straight to bottle. Fans call it milk as nature intended: nutrient-rich and full of a good kind of bacteria. Some fans go further, calling it a super food that aids digestion (消化), benefits the immune system and treats some diseases.

An increasing number of people agree. For health-conscious, organic-loving shoppers, raw milk is a growing food trend. They feel uneasy at the thought of heated milk sitting under supermarket lighting. But despite the enthusiasm, it’s a trend with a terrible side.

Pasteurization (加热杀菌) is a reason—it’s highly effective at killing some harmful things that can hang around in the body of even healthy cows. Raw milk, on the other hand, relies heavily on the skill of the farmer to avoid them.

Raw milk illnesses have increased as more people drink it. Between 2010 and 2019, raw milk and raw milk cheese caused the vast majority (96%) of all illnesses linked to dairy products. Considering far fewer people consume it, that makes unpasteurized dairy 840 times more risky than pasteurized. The recent deaths of two people who ate raw milk cheese made in New York underscored the sometimes deadly consequences. And for young children, whose underdeveloped immune systems make them more vulnerable (易受伤害的), the dangers of raw milk make it hard to recommend.

1. Why does most milk that people drink is heat-treated?

A．To add some useful bacteria.

B．To make it taste more delicious.

C．To make it safer for people to drink.

D．To make it have a better appearance.

2. Which of the following is a reason for raw milk not being accepted?

A．It’s not good for people’s health.

B．It may contain something harmful.

C．It’s often put under market lighting.

D．It comes from unhealthy cows.

3. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.	B．Health.
C．Education.	D．Politics.

4. What is the best title of the text?

A．Benefits of Raw Milk

B．How to Tell the Quality of Milk

C．Reasons for Choosing Heated Milk

D．Raw Milk: a Super Food or Super Risk?

9 . Do you like running enough to make it a habit? Tierney Wolfgram does; she has made running a lifelong career and isn't stopping.

In February, the 16-year-old from a high school, US, competed at the 2020 US Olympic Trials. She finished the marathon(42.195 km)with a time of 2:42:47 as the youngest competitor in the race and ranked 76th out of 390 runners. However, the cross-country(越野的)season was postponed to winter because of the COVID-19. So she jumped at the opportunity to train for another race-the Parkway Marathon in California. In November, Wolfgram broke the Women's American Junior marathon record with her time of 2:31:49. The old record was 2:34:32, which had stood since 1984.

“I'm completely stunned, ”said Wolfgram's coach.   “I knew she was going to break it, but she really showed out！”

During the run, Wolfgram once hit a wall pretty hard, but she overcame it to finish. “I guess I can say I gave it my all, ”she told Runner's World. “When I finished, all I was thinking was I felt super happy,” Wolfgram said This was only her third marathon. In 2018, when Wolfgram was 15 years old, she ran her first marathon just because she wanted to see if she had the ability to do it. “I believed that I would get faster as the distances got longer. . . I'm still glad that I did it. ”

When preparing for that first marathon, she ran up to 120 miles per week. Although her parents didn't have any background in running, they helped Wolfgram train. At first, her dad would take her out in the morning and run about 13 miles. The distance would gradually increase each day. On top of her runs in the morning, she would do cross-country practice after school.

Now Wolfgram will consider attending the Olympics Games in 2024 after it's scheduled.

1. What can we learn about Wolfgram from Paragraph 2?

A．She was the champion at the 2020 US Olympic Trials.

B．She put off the cross-country season for the COVID-19.

C．She broke an Olympic marathon record in November.

D．She prepared for the Parkway Marathon in California.

2. What does the underlined word “stunned”in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Doubtful

B．Worried.

C．Shocked.

D．Interested

3. What inspired Wolfgram to run her first marathon?

A．Her parents' encouragement.	B．Her desire to prove she could do it.
C．Her coach's support and help.	D．Her hope to break the national record

4. Which section of a newspaper does the passage probably come from?

A．Sports.

B．Lifestyle

C．Culture.

D．Opinion

10 . Optimism (乐观) doesn’t mean paying no attention to things that cause stress. But when bad things happen, optimistic people are less likely to be unhappy about themselves and more likely to see the bad things as something that lasts a short time.

A new research has found a direct connection between optimism and healthier diet and exercise behaviors, as well as better heart health, a stronger immune system (免疫系统), better lung function, and lower death risk. “Optimistic people, regardless of sex, often have goals and the confidence to reach them,” Lee said. “Those goals could include healthy habits that contribute to a longer life.”

Studies find only about 25% of our optimism is controlled by our genes (基因), and the rest is up to us. It turns out we can actually train our brain to be more positive. Researchers studied the brains of monks (僧侣) and found surprising results: Tens of thousands of hours of meditation(冥思) had changed the function (机能) of their brains, which support positive qualities. And that may be key in producing the effect on the body.

There are simple mental exercises to develop an optimistic attitude. One of the most effective ways to increase optimism is called the “Best Possible Self” method. That is to imagine ourselves in a future in which we have achieved all our life goals. And keeping a diary in which we list the positive experiences we had can also help shape our attitude. Taking a few minutes each day to write down what makes us thankful can improve our view on life, too.

1. What is the meaning of Lee’s words?

A．Goals can lead to confidence.

B．Better lung function lowers death risk.

C．Optimism is connected with length of life.

D．Sex should be taken into consideration when studying optimism.

2. Why are the brains of monks studied?

A．To lengthen their life.

B．To improve their brains’ function.

C．To prove optimism can be learned.

D．To show genes’ connection with optimism.

3. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．How to be a positive person.	B．How to make people thankful.
C．What to write about in a diary.	D．What to do to achieve the goals.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A science magazine.	B．A guidebook.
C．A novel.	D．A diary.