1 . Have your parents ever told you any strange or alarming things about protecting your eyes? For example,they might have said that you'd go blind from reading in the dark, but you could make up for it by eating a lot of carrots. This is just one of the misunderstandings you may have heard of. Below are picked out scientific explanations for three mistakes that people often make about eyes. Let's take a look.
Can eating carrots improve your vision? If eating carrots helps us see better, why do so many students end up wearing glasses? Carrots are rich in vitamin A, which is essential for our eyes' general health. Vitamin A helps the eyes to make light into signals, allowing people to see in low light conditions. However, eating more carrots doesn’t help you see better. A certain minimum amount will help, but a large number of carrots will not give you superhuman vision or allow you to get rid of your glasses.
If your parents have bad eyesight, will you have bad eyesight, too? Parents are often concerned about the causes of nearsightedness (近视).Many people believe that if parents are shortsighted, their children will suffer from the same problems. Nearsightedness can be genetic (遗传的). A study by the American Optometric Association found that if both parents are nearsighted, there's a 33 to 60 percent chance that the child is. For children who have one parent with nearsightedness, the chance is 23 to 40 percent, and it's down to 6 to 15 percent for kids with non-nearsighted parents. So no matter how bad your parents' vision is, you still have the chance of good eyesight.
Is it true that people who are color blind can't see colors? Color blindness doesn’t mean that someone can't see colors at all, like a black and white movie. Most commonly, it means that someone has difficulty telling certain colors apart, usually green and red or blue and yellow.
1. What is the purpose of this text?| A．To offer some advice. | B．To give some reasons. |
| C．To clear up some misunderstandings. | D．To provide some medical information. |
| A．Eating carrots has no benefits at all. |
| B．Eating more carrots won't ensure good eyesight. |
| C．Vitamin D is very important for your eyes’ health. |
| D．Eating more carrots helps you remove your glasses. |
| A．The people having bad eyesight can't see colors, either. |
| B．Nearsightedness can certainly be passed from parents to kids. |
| C．Non-nearsighted parents surely have kids with good eyesight. |
| D．The parents with nearsightedness can have kids with good eyesight. |
| A．A magazine. | B．A news report. | C．A novel. | D．A guidebook. |
2 . It'll be Easter soon, and time to think of how to spend a few days' holiday. Let's look at three of the best.
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. It's actually made up of the twin cities of Buda and Pest, which are separated by the mighty River Danube. The city is famous for its cafes. There are several good ones to choose from, but you must try either Gerbeaud, or the famous New York Cafe. Order a “somloi galuska", a very rich chocolate dessert. Finally, you can' t leave the city without visiting one of its amazing Turkish baths. Some of them date back to the 16th century.
Bucharest
A fourteen hours train ride east will take you through Transylvania to Bucharest, capital of Romania. Once there, you should visit Mamie's Inn, which is a 19th century caravanserai (an inn built around a large courtyard, which is big enough for caravans). It's located in the Lipscani district (the heart of the city), and it's also a great place to have lunch and a drink.
Sofia
From Bucharest it's only 300 kilometres to Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. The city sits below the massive Vitosha Mountain. Sofia is an ancient place, and parts of the city walls date back to the 7th century BC and can still be seen. It' s also a holy city, and two of its major tourist attractions are churches. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is well worth a visit, but you should find time for the Boyana Church, a small medieval Bulgarian Orthodox chapel. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has incredible wall paintings dating back to 1259.
So, we hope we've given you a few ideas of places to spend your Easter. Wherever you go, have fun and send us a postcard!
1. If you want to enjoy a chocolate dessert, you can go .| A．Sofia | B．Bucharest | C．Vitosha | D．Budapest |
| A．It is located in the heart of the city. | B．It is an ancient place and a holy city. |
| C．It is famous for its cafes. | D．It is made up of the twin cities. |
| A．Travel. | B．Sports. | C．Health. | D．Business. |
3 . It may sound a bit “Dr. Doolittle,” but it turns out kangaroos can communicate with humans. Researchers found that kangaroos communicated with humans “on purpose”--a behavior that was thought to only belong to domesticated(驯养的)animals, like dogs, horses or goats.
Experts from London's University of Roehampton and the University of Sydney set up a task. This task was known as “the unsolvable problem task”・ During the task, they presented kangaroos with food trapped inside a plastic container.
After trying, and failing, to open the boxes, the kangaroos turned their gaze(注视)on a nearby human - and sometimes even pushed or scratched(抓) them to ask for help, researchers said.
“Their gaze was pretty powerful, co-author Alexandra Green said. "We've previously thought only domesticated animals try to ask for help with a problem. But kangaroos do it too. If they can't open the box, they look at the human and back to the container. Some of them use their nose to push the human and some get close to the human and start scratching at him asking for assistance.,,
Based on these new findings, the team believe kangaroos - considered social animals, like dogs and goats --may be able to change their behavior to interact with humans.
“Through this study, we are able to see that communication between animals can be learnt and that the behaviour of gazing at humans to get food is not related to domestication lead author Alan McElligott said.
“Indeed, kangaroos showed a very similar pattern of behaviour we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats when put to the same test,“ McElligott added.
1. What have the researchers found about kangaroos?| A．Kangaroos can become domestic animals. |
| B．Kangaroos can communicate with humans. |
| C．Kangaroos can learn from domestic animals. |
| D．Kangaroos have the same habits as domestic animals. |
| A．Removed. | B．Hidden. | C．Kept. | D．Saved. |
| A．Observations. | B．Previous data. |
| C．Making comparison. | D．Making a survey. |
| A．Travel. | B．Education. | C．Technology. | D．Science. |
4 . If you don't use it, you lose it. At least, that's how the old saying goes. It refers to the idea that something which does not get used regularly quickly falls into a state of decline. Muscles, for example, will waste away without use. In order to resist this, people take regular exercise to keep their skills sharp.
Well, what about the brain? As we age, our brains can naturally begin to decline. In some cases, this can lead to certain mental conditions such as dementia(痴呆)，which I'm sure you will agree, no one wants. However, all is not lost because these days it's relatively easy to train your brain. Smart phones and apps have put programmes into our hands that can test, maintain and even improve our memories, mathematical skills and a lot of other mental abilities. With a little practice every day, we can keep our brains nice and sharp, right?
Well, no, actually. According to a report from the Global Council on Brain Health, even though many people thought it was important to play online games, such as puzzles and mind games, which are designed to improve brain health, the evidence of the benefits was “weak to non-existent”.
There are other ways to promote the old grey matter. It recommends seeking out new activities that challenge the way you think and are socially engaging，while leading to a healthy lifestyle. Among their suggestions are practising tai chi, taking photography classes, learning new technologies, gardening, art projects or volunteering.
There's more good news, too, James Goodwin, chief scientist at Age UK has said that brain decline is not inevitable (不可避免的）. As long as the activities are “new to you and require your concentrated attention”, they can provide benefits for brain health. So, hurry up, get out there and try something new. Maybe it's time to try that hobby you've always wanted to do. And as for me? I'm off to learn the piano.
1. From which is the text probably taken?| A．A biology textbook. | B．A healthy magazine. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A research paper. |
| A．Making more shopping. | B．Avoid brain decline. |
| C．Doing exercises alone. | D．Going out with friends. |
| A．Trying something new. | B．Using smart phone regularly. |
| C．Playing games online. | D．Doing what you are good at. |
| A．Advantages of trying something new. |
| B．Disadvantages of using smart phones. |
| C．Ways to keep our brain as sharp as possible. |
| D．How to spend time meaningfully at an old age. |
5 . Teens and younger children are reading a lot less for fun, according to a Common Sense Media report published on Monday.
While the decline(下降) over the past decade is steep for teen readers, some data in the report shows that reading remains a big part of many children’s lives,and indicates how parents might help encourage more reading.
According to the report’s key findings, “the proportion(比例) who say they ‘hardly ever’ read for fun has gone from 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds in 1984 to 22 percent and 27 percent respectively(分别地) today.”
The report data shows that pleasure reading levels for younger children, ages 2-8, remain largely the same. But the amount of time spent in reading each passage has declined, from closer to an hour or more to closer to a half hour per passage.
When it comes to technology and reading, the report does little to suggest parents looking for data about the effect of e-readers and tablets on reading. It does point out that many parents still limit electronic reading, mainly due to concerns about increased screen time.
The most hopeful data shared in the report shows clear evidence of parents serving as examples and important guides for their kids when it comes to reading. Data shows that kids and teens who do read frequently, compared to infrequent readers, have more books in the home,more books purchased for them, parents who read more often,and parents who set aside time for them to read.
As the end of school approaches, and school vacation reading lists loom(逼近) ahead, parents might take this chance to step in and make their own summer reading lists and plan a family trip to the library or bookstore.
1. What’s the proportion of 17-year-olds who rarely read for fun today?| A．8%. | B．9%. | C．22%. | D．27%. |
| A．Buying e-books costs too much. | B．Children are addicted to e-books. |
| C．It is a waste of time to read e-books. | D．It may be harmful to children’s health. |
| A．Parents | B．teachers | C．interests | D．environment |
| A．Health. | B．Education. | C．Science. | D．Entertainment. |
6 . You know that thrill you get when listening to your favorite music or that exciting feeling down your spine (脊柱) when you hear your favorite melody or rhythm? According to a recent study, it seems the same thing can happen while you are reading, but not with every kind of text. This opens up fascinating questions around how music, reading and emotions are connected in the brain.
“We decided we would do a comparison between four or five different kinds of texts to see how the brain responded,” explains Professor Adam Zeman, a neurologist. “The participants lay in an MRI scanner reading the texts, and then we compared brain activity for those five texts.” The texts ranged from deadly boring ones to highly exciting ones, including the Highway Code, passages from novels and poems.
As the researchers observed, participants found some texts more emotional than others. When they read these emotional texts, there was higher activity in brain areas associated with pleasure and reward — the same areas related to the thrill we get when we listen to music. As Zeman says, “It was a nice proof that the emotional response to literature and to music has quite a bit in common.”
When the participants were reading poems, the team found there was more activity in a particular group of brain areas called the Default Network. "These areas seem to be associated with things we do with our minds when we are resting, like thinking about what's happened to us recently, thinking about what’s going to happen in the near future, about other people, and that network seems to be more strongly associated with poetry than with prose” explains Zeman. The study shows that the different texts activate different areas of our brains when we read.
1. What can we know from the study?| A．People may feel excited when reading poems. | B．People aren’t thrilled when listening to music. |
| C．Music gives participants more pleasure than text. | D．Deadly boring texts never excite the brain. |
| A．To thrill the participants. | B．To scan the participants’ brain. |
| C．To check the response of human's brain. | D．To teach the participants novels and poems. |
| A．Their brains preferred music. |
| B．Brain areas related to pleasure became more active. |
| C．Their emotional response to literature stopped. |
| D．Their brains were less emotional when reading the emotional text. |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A film review. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．A science fiction. |
7 . No video games are allowed after 10 pm. It is not allowed to play games for more than 90 minutes on non-holidays. No more than 400 yuan per month is allowed to buy virtual weapons and costumes.
The Chinese government has issued new regulations aimed at controlling teenager’s addiction to video games. Some officials believe that this problem is the reason why more and more young people are suffering from myopia (近视) and poor learning. The rules forbid users under the age of 18 from playing between 10 pm and 8 am. The rules demand that they shouldn’t play more than 90 minutes on non-holidays and more than 3 hours on weekends and other holidays.
Officials have taken stronger measures to monitor large technology companies and promote them to help spread the advocated cultural values. The official media regarded some games as “poisons” and banned some violent games. In addition, minors (未成年人) must use real names and ID numbers when they log into the game. These regulations also limit the a-mount of money that teenagers can use to purchase virtual items such as weapons, clothing, and pets through the app.
Analysts said that these regulations have been largely predicted by the industry and are unlikely to affect its earnings. However, young gamers may also find ways to bypass (绕开) the rules, such as using the parent’s phone number and ID number. “There will always be something imperfect,” said Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Niko Partners. However, he added that thanks to the regulations, China is now one of the most regulated video game markets in the world.
Yang Bingben is the owner of an industrial technology company. He noticed that his son often plays games that don’t require networking and is difficult to control. “We have something new to replace the games,” he said, “our thinking should be to build more stadiums, such as football stadiums and basketball courts.”
1. The new regulations will help Chinese teenagers with their ________.| A．intelligence | B．personalities |
| C．study and eyesight | D．constitutions and morals |
| A．They are adjustable. | B．They are effective. |
| C．They are creative. | D．They are worthless. |
| A．Teenagers are spending more time in the stadiums. |
| B．Football and basketball will be popular with teenagers. |
| C．Getting rid of the addiction to video games is impossible. |
| D．Doing sports helps prevent teenagers playing video games. |
| A．Literature. | B．Education. |
| C．Fashion. | D．Sport. |
8 . Denmark is only about half the size of South Carolina, but it produces more of its electricity from wind than any other country in the world. That's not because it's a country with particularly strong wind; it has pretty ordinary wind speeds. The reason why the Danes now get 47% of their electricity from wind, with more to come, comes down to a combination of history and policy.
First, the history: Paul la Cour was a scientist and inventor who experimented with and built early wind power machines at the start of the 20th century. So it's not surprising that Denmark spent money building wind power plants early, beginning at a national level in the 1970s. In the 1980s, because of a strong movement against nuclear （原子核的）power plants, Denmark increased production before many other countries were even considering it.
Denmark has also had important government support for wind-energy projects, as well as support from the country 's technology-focused universities. Even back in 2002, the country was taking climate change warnings seriously, successfully cutting greenhouse gas emissions （排放）by 20%.
Some of the world's largest companies—including Vestas, which builds turbines （(涡轮）， and Orsted, which specializes in offshore wind projects—are Danish. European countries are global leaders in using wind power but Denmark is far in front of its nearest competitor Ireland, which sourced 28% of its power from wind in 2018 according to industry group Wind Europe.
At the end of 2019, lawmakers in Denmark set a new goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 and increase the share of electricity sourced from renewable power to 100%.
1. What do we know about Denmark from Paragraph 1?| A．It produces more than half of its electricity from wind. |
| B．It makes the most of its wind to produce electricity . |
| C．It is the most environmentally friendly country. |
| D．It is a country with rich wind resources. |
| A．Denmark started making use of wind power very early . |
| B．Paul la Cour built wind power plants in the whole country. |
| C．Nuclear power plants produce most electricity in Denmark. |
| D．Denmark taught other countries to build wind power plants. |
| A．has an influential role on the world stage |
| B．has many technology-focused companies |
| C．is the head office of many large companies |
| D．is the world's leading wind power country |
| A．History. | B．Lifestyle. | C．Environment. | D．Society. |
9 . Top 4 Most Comfortable & Luxurious Airports In the World
1. Singapore Changi Airport (SIN)
This airport has won the title of the world’s best airport for the 6th year in a row!
The airport is world-famous for their beautiful architecture, indoor waterfalls, and butterfly garden
Free 24-hour movie theatre and a swimming pool are some of what makes Changi Airport the best
Luxurious spa, open air restaurants and free tours around the airport to make your layover fun
2. Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN)
Seoul’s Incheon is always sparkling and is one of the busiest airports in the world
Located on an island in South Korea, Incheon Airport has a Korean culture museum and features cultural performances throughout the day
Spacious VIP lounges, indoor skating rink, and beautiful spas
Authentic(真正的), local dish options
3. Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)
One of the two major airports of Tokyo, Japan, Haneda is only a few miles from Japan’s capital
While being one of the most busiest airports in the world, Haneda is of the cleanest and most efficient
Cross the Haneda Bridge to feel like you’re in Edo
Visit the ‘Aviation Shrine’ for spiritual healing and praying if you have time!
4. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
Home to Cathay Pacific Airlines – a top-rated airline
Fast connections from the city via Airport Express that takes you to the airport in just 24 minutes!
Premium class lounges, nap rooms, and an IMAX theatre
HKG even has their own top-rated luxury hotel called the Regal Airport Hotel.
1. What can’t be found at SIN?| A．A 24-hour theater | B．Swimming pool |
| C．Open air restaurants | D．Indoor skating rink |
| A．SIN | B．ICN | C．HND | D．HKG |
| A．Passengers can watch movies there. |
| B．It provides local special food. |
| C．It has its own hotel. |
| D．It is the busiest airport. |
| A．Business | B．Travel | C．Culture | D．Society |
10 . Good news! Job offered.
Science Technician
Term time plus 10 days, 37 hours per week
We are looking for a technician to provide a technical support service for science teaching staff. Applications are to be received no later than midnight on 10th February 2019.
Receptionist Administration
Full time
A receptionist is required from 1st February 2019 at Dartford Science & Technology College. The position is only from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Thursday and 8:30 am to 4:00 pm Friday, with an hour's break for lunch every day. The successful applicant must have a good telephone manner, good interpersonal skills and IT skills.
Health & Social Care Teacher
Our client, an 11—18 mixed comprehensive school in Ealing, West London, is currently seeking a teacher for Health & Social Care. The position will be a full-time post until July 2020. We require an energetic teacher to develop the learning potential of students. We are seeking someone with excellent subject knowledge who can combine academic strictness and achievement with enjoyment of teaching Health & Social Care.
If you are keen to work, click the button below.
1. The receptionist to be employed will work .| A．20 hours a week | B．37 hours a week |
| C．38.5 hours a week | D．34.5 hours a week |
| A．A full-time science teacher |
| B．A teacher with the ability to get along with people |
| C．A teacher with excellent knowledge about Health & Social Care |
| D．A technician who can provide a technical support service |
| A．on the Internet | B．in a novel |
| C．in a magazine | D．in a newspaper |
