1 . It’s mid-afternoon. You’re full from lunch. The day is warm. You’re starting to feel sleepy. Should you give in to the comfort of a nap (打盹) ? In point of advantage, it is worth it. Though there is some disagreement as to whether napping benefits everyone, research suggests naps can boost at least some people’s mental process of understanding in the short term.
Several studies find that a well-timed nap can provide a short-term boost in brainpower. For example, scientists reviewed past research that focused on healthy participants with regular sleep cycles. That review, published in 2009 in the Journal of Sleep Research, shows that napping improves factors ranging from reaction time to alertness (警觉) to memory performance.
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How does the writer prove arguments in the text mainly?| A．By listing statistics. | B．By criticize wrong opinions. |
| C．By making comparison. | D．By presenting study results. |
2 . The first wave of a new class of anti-aging drugs have begun human testing. These drugs won't let you live longer but aim to treat specific illnesses by slowing a fundamental process of aging.
The drugs are called senolytics—they work by removing certain cells that accumulate as we age. Known as “senescent” cells, they can create low-level inflammation (炎症) that prevents normal systems of living cells repair and creates a poisonous environment for neighboring cells.
In June, San Francisco - based Unity Biotechnology reported initial results in patients with mild to severe osteoarthritis (关节炎) of the knee. Results from a larger clinical trial are expected in the second half of this year. The company is also developing similar drugs to treat age-related diseases of the eyes and lungs, among other conditions.
Senolytics are now in human tests, along with a number of other promising approaches targeting the biological processes that lie at the root of aging and various diseases.
A company called Alkahest injects patients with components found in young people's blood and says it hopes to stop conscious and functional decline in patients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The company also has drugs for Parkinson's and dementia in human testing.
And in December, researchers at Drexel University College of Medicine even tried to see if a cream including the immune-suppressing drug could slow aging in human skin.
The tests reflect researchers' expanding efforts to learn if the many diseases associated with getting older- such as heart diseases, arthritis, cancer, and dementia- can be dealt with to delay their outbreak.
How does the text mainly develop?
| A．By listing data. | B．By providing details. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By analyzing causes. |
3 . The first wave of a new class of anti-aging drugs have begun human testing. These drugs won't let you live longer but aim to treat specific illnesses by slowing a fundamental process of aging.
The drugs are called senolytics—they work by removing certain cells that accumulate as we age. Known as “senescent” cells, they can create low-level inflammation (炎症) that prevents normal systems of living cells repair and creates a poisonous environment for neighboring cells.
In June, San Francisco - based Unity Biotechnology reported initial results in patients with mild to severe osteoarthritis (关节炎) of the knee. Results from a larger clinical trial are expected in the second half of this year. The company is also developing similar drugs to treat age-related diseases of the eyes and lungs, among other conditions.
Senolytics are now in human tests, along with a number of other promising approaches targeting the biological processes that lie at the root of aging and various diseases.
A company called Alkahest injects patients with components found in young people's blood and says it hopes to stop conscious and functional decline in patients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The company also has drugs for Parkinson's and dementia in human testing.
And in December, researchers at Drexel University College of Medicine even tried to see if a cream including the immune-suppressing drug could slow aging in human skin.
The tests reflect researchers' expanding efforts to learn if the many diseases associated with getting older- such as heart diseases, arthritis, cancer, and dementia- can be dealt with to delay their outbreak.
1. Why do the researchers develop the drugs?| A．To rid inflammation. | B．To lengthen people's life. |
| C．To treat age-related diseases. | D．To remove cancer cells. |
| A．Repairing. | B．Cycling. | C．Aging. | D．Dividing. |
| A．By listing data. | B．By providing details. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By analyzing causes. |
| A．A diary. | B．A guidebook. | C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
4 . Skyscraper didn’t always mean a tall building. The earliest reference to the word dates back to 1788, when it was used to describe a really tall horse, according to The Oxford English Dictionary. By the 1790s, a Philadelphia doctor had used the term to describe the triangular sail at the very top of a ship.
After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Home Insurance Company hired architect William Jenney to design a tall, fire-proof head office. Jenney was inspired to design the building’s steel framework (框架)after his wife placed a heavy book on a small birdcage and found that the cage supported the weight. Today, that revolutionary structure is widely considered to be the first skyscraper.
Since then, the competition to build the world’s tallest building has been as sharp as the top of the Empire State Building. In the late 1920s, Walter Chrysler and his architect arranged for the secret construction of a roof that added 125 feet of height to the new Chrysler Building, making it 1,046 feet tall. The plan allowed them to eclipse(使逊色)the 927-foot Bank of Manhattan Trust Building.
However, only 11 months after the Chrysler Building was ranked the world’s tallest, it was surpassed by a new neighbor — the Empire State Building. Yet when it opened in 1931, less than 25 percent of the building was occupied. New York jokers called it the “Empty State Building”.
The largest skyscraper in the world always seems to be under construction. Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia is the latest and it’s expected to stretch nearly one kilometer (3, 280 feet) into the sky.
1. What did the word “skyscraper” originally mean？| A．A triangular sail. | B．A high building. |
| C．A fire-proof head office. | D．An extremely tall horse. |
| A．given away | B．left behind | C．put off | D．taken up |
| A．It was ranked the world’s tallest. |
| B．Tourists were not allowed to visit it. |
| C．Its construction lasted eleven months. |
| D．Only a few people lived or worked in it. |
| A．In order of time. | B．In order of space. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By giving definitions. |
5 . Esports (electronic sports) are organized competitions where players — often referred to as “athletes” — face off against each other in video games. They are not just games in a sense. Actually, they are a sport that can improve the players’ thinking ability, hand-eye coordination, willpower and team spirit.
The esports industry has experienced significant growth in recent years around the world, though it’s still in the nascent stage, which means it has huge growth potential going forward.
While the assumption is that esports are only a recent phenomenon, in reality the first esports-like event was held back in 1972, when some Stanford University students competed against one another in the game Spacewar. The prize? A year-long subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.
The ’80s saw the first true videogame tournament, with over 10,000 players gathering for the Space Invaders Championship. However, most of the period saw that players focused on beating each other’s highest scores rather than competing in organized tournaments.
As gaming became more popular, the ’90s became the first decade when esports (a term which wasn’t yet coined) began to really take off, with companies such as Nintendo and Sega holding professional gaming tournaments. This is also when we began to see money becoming a factor in professional gaming. But it is the 1997 Red Annihilation Quake tournament that is considered the world’s first real esports event. Only a few weeks later, the Cyberathlete Professional League was formed — an organization which is considered a pioneer of esports.
Due to the normalization of gaming and the Internet (along with technological advances), the real surge ( 激增 ) of esports came in the recent decade. It was then that we began seeing what we now know to be modern-day esports. As streaming platforms such as YouTube took off, people began to show interest in not only playing videogames but watching them too. Popular tournaments now sell out stadiums and professional players can earn millions from prize money, advertising and salaries.
1. What does the underlined word “nascent” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Beginning. | B．Peak. |
| C．Mature. | D．Final. |
| A．By providing examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. | D．By following the order of importance. |
| A．They spread worldwide overnight. |
| B．Prize money appeared in the 1990s. |
| C．The first real esports event was held in 1972. |
| D．The athletes in esports are programmers. |
| A．They are getting popular. |
| B．They become too commercialized. |
| C．They boost the normalization of the Internet. |
| D．Their development relies on advertising. |
6 . More museums are showing multisensory art, which asks people to use more than one of the senses. Sometimes, the art has a smell. Others have sounds. The artists are finding new ways for people to understand their work.
The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts is in Watertown. Recently, the center created “Please Touch the Art”. The special show lets visitors touch the work. Aneleise Ruggles works at the Mosesian Center. She is in charge of the museum’s shows. She says that “Please Touch the Art” rethinks meaning in art. The artist must go beyond sight. Forty artists created 52 pieces for the show. Ruggles explained that “Please Touch the Art” is not a show for blind people. Everyone can enjoy the show. Guests use all five senses. The work, though also includes people who are blind or have low vision. “Touchable art creates something people can share.” He also said, “Touch is key to understanding the works.”
A group of guests with low vision visited “Please Touch the Art”. At first, they were nervous about touching the work. One man touched a raised blue painting. The work is Claudia Ravaschiere and Michael Moss’s “Whirl”. Soft music followed his movements. By the end, the visitors were no longer shy. They wrapped each other in hanging cloth.
Shows like “Please Touch the Art” can change what we think of as fine art. Ruggles says the change will take time. The art world must find a new understanding of art. They also need a new way to talk about touchable art.
1. Whom is “Please Touch the Art” intended for?| A．Anyone who is into art. | B．People with poor eyesight. |
| C．Anyone who understands art. | D．People with blindness. |
| A．It makes them question what real art is. | B．It helps them regain some of their eyesight. |
| C．It helps them understand and enjoy art. | D．It encourages them to create their own art. |
| A．listing numbers | B．making comparisons |
| C．offering reasons | D．giving examples |
| A．To attract visitors to the show. | B．To show the creativity of the blind. |
| C．To enrich the lives of blind people. | D．To introduce a special art show. |
7 . In the past few decades, great progress has been made in the field of space exploration, which has enabled mankind to have a deeper understanding of the Solar System, our place in it and in the universe. “We sent probes(探测器) to every planet in the Solar System. This is by far the best one,” said Clayton, vice president of Blue Origin. “Let's focus right now on protecting the Earth environment, and then we'll go from there. Space science and technology should be people-centric and application-centric, and focus on improving human life. We need to have a strong footing on the Earth, learn to solve the day-to-day problems of the society.”
“Space technology can help achieve the 17 sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030 set by the United Nations. Satellite monitoring can really help with agriculture. ” said Victoria, CEO of a company working on sustainable development, “Through Global Navigation Satellite System, animals' movement information recorded on self-recharging devices can be transmitted to the company server. Farmers can be alerted in real time if anomalies(异常现象）are detected. We can use it to ensure the traceability of the entire meat chain. As a result, it enables consumers to know that the beef they are eating does not come from protected areas or the cattle don't contribute to deforestation. ”
As early as 2007, Michael Griffin, former Administrator of NASA, put forward the concept of the “space economy” in a speech. He is very optimistic about the market prospect of commercial space and said, “According to the latest data, the global space industry could reach $1 trillion in 2040, up from $ 378 billion currently. I believe more business models and space activities will be created in the future to achieve the economic scale of $1 trillion. ”
As an entrepreneur(创业者）herself, Victoria thinks the thriving space market will bring countless opportunities for entrepreneurs. She mentioned future settlements on Mars or on the Moon. “If we are going to develop a new society outside the Earth, we will need all types of applications and all types of startups. But coming back to the Earth, there are so many problems that need to be solved, and space technology can really help with that.”
1. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 1 refer to ?| A．A successful space exploration. |
| B．A probe sent to other planets. |
| C．The planet people are living on now. |
| D．The solar system people are exploring. |
| A．Providing more financial support. |
| B．Improving people's life on earth. |
| C．Sending more probes in the universe. |
| D．The development of related technology. |
| A．By making reasoning. |
| B．By providing accurate figures. |
| C．By making comparison. |
| D．By illustrating from different aspects. |
| A．Necessities of space exploration. |
| B．Breakthroughs in space exploration. |
| C．Possible application of space technology. |
| D．Controversial issues about space technology. |
8 . Cybercrime refers to any criminal offence related to the Internet. Internet crimes have been classified into four categories. First, they can be related to a lack of proper Internet security, such as downloading or deleting other people’s files without permission, and spreading computer viruses. The second are crimes usually committed without a computer, but can occur over the Internet. For some criminals use the Internet to cheat others of their money. Third, websites which offense information or encourage hatred and violence are named. Last, there are related to intellectual property (intellectual property is a design, patent, book, etc. law prevents other people from copying).
All Internet users are affected by cybercrime in one way or another. However, crime against a private organization in the USA, showed that 45.6 percent of the 351 biggest company government agencies had had their security systems broken into in the previous year. Security consultants tell us that cybercrime is costing firms worldwide hundreds of billions of dollars every.
Considering how bad the situation with cybercrime against companies has become, many people wonder why so little is known about this. The main reason is that most cybercrime is not reported. Until now, most companies have been unwilling to report cases of cybercrime. They fear that by doing so, they will lose customers, who may think that the company cannot protect their confidential information or their money.
All of this is made more difficult by the legal situation regarding cybercrime. Cybercrime is so new that many governments have not yet passed laws against it, and there are many holes in the legal systems. In addition, most countries do not have arrangements for dealing with suspects from other countries who may have committed cybercrime. Thus, it is difficult to catch criminals of cybercrime.
The only answer to this problem is international cooperation. Governments must join forces to keep up with the advances in technology used by the criminals. It is also important to draft new laws and negotiate international standards for fighting cybercrime.
1. Which of the following can be considered as cybercrime?| A．Copying others’ public files. | B．Creating computer virus. |
| C．Sending hatred words to a friend. | D．Stealing from online banks. |
| A．By comparing the changing numbers. | B．By listing the survey data. |
| C．By analyzing the heavy loss. | D．By adding background information. |
| A．Legal. | B．Valuable. | C．Private. | D．Correct. |
| A．Countries work together following the same law. |
| B．Abroad cybercriminals should be sent back. |
| C．The lawyers should learn more about laws. |
| D．The government should flow the law. |
9 . The practice of encouraging laughter with the sound of laughter itself dates back to the 16th century. During performances of Shakespearean plays, there were people who laughed at just the right moments. This would cause other members of the audience to laugh in a similar way, thus making the show seem funnier.
Centuries later, when comedy programs were popular on radio, the sound of a laughing audience was a natural part of performances that were aired live. To make sure his performances were aired at the same time in each time zone, actor Bing Crosby had his show prerecorded. Eventually, one of the show's writers realized that big laughs from old recordings could be added in to follow new jokes. So the world was introduced to canned laughter.
When TV came along, laugh tracks were recorded from the live studio audience that was present at a show. But sometimes, the audience didn't laugh at the expected time, making these moments seem dull to those watching at home. To fix this problem, TV audio engineer Charley Douglass invented a machine called the Laff Box.
Douglass' Laff Box was a collection of tapes connected to different keys. Each tape contained canned laughter that-was-carefully selected by Douglass for its particular quality. For example, one tape might have produced very soft laughs, while another produced loud cackles(咯咯笑). The machine could be played almost like a musical instrument: if the live audience didn't laugh enough, Douglass would “sweeten” the audio by adding the right amount and type of canned laughter. This technique could even be used when no audience was present, as with cartoons. Critics have long claimed that canned laughter is merely a trick to make people laugh at bad jokes. Live laugh tracks, however, can still be heard on popular modern shows like The Big Bang theory. Sometimes it's just more fun to share in the laughter - canned or otherwise.
1. What is mentioned about Shakespearean plays?| A．They were sometimes broadcast on radio. |
| B．Most of these plays weren't funny enough. |
| C．Some viewers were purposefully arranged to laugh. |
| D．Canned laughter was used during the performances. |
| A．Bing Crosby's older jokes got more laughs. |
| B．Bing Crosby' show was aired live worldwide. |
| C．Bing Crosby's team made comedy programs popular. |
| D．Bino Crosby's team brought canned laughter into existence. |
| A．It can offer many types of laughter. |
| B．It is inconvenient for people to use. |
| C．It isn't allowed by law today. |
| D．It can make bad jokes funny. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By analyzing reasons. |
| C．By following time order. | D．By making comparisons. |
10 . Cats don't avoid people who upset their owners, proving they're just as disloyal as we always suspected, a new study confirms. The study will be a blow to enthusiastic cat lovers across the country, as their kitty friends appear to have lived up to their reputation of being aloof and uncaring. But dog owners can cheer that man's best friend still has their back.
Having previously showed that dogs avoided a person who behaved negatively towards their owner, researchers tried the same experiment with cats to see how they reacted. For the study, cats watched as their owner tried unsuccessfully to open a transparent container to take out an object, and then requested help from a person sitting nearby. Some people helped the pet owner and others didn't, before they all offered food to the animals.
In the dog experiment, most dogs preferred not to take food from people who didn't help their owners. But cats weren't phased and showed no preference between helpers and passive bystanders, eating food from whoever offered it.
The study's 'lead author Hitomi Chijiiwa wrote: “One possible reason for domestic cats showing no sign of a negativity bias(偏见) might be that cooperation is not typical of this species. Whereas dogs are known to cooperate with humans and conspecifics(同类) in various real and experimental contexts， the same is not true of cats. Domestic cats originated from a less sociable ancestor than did dogs, and they have not been subjected to artificial selection for cooperation with humans. However,group hunting did not evolve in small cats, because the size of their typical prey items remained unchanged even as cat communities grew bigger."
“Thus,cats can be considered as at least potentially 'social' and 'flexible' in terms of social structure, but not 'cooperative'. The ability to evaluate others based on indirect experiences might be restricted to more cooperative species.”
1. What does the underlined word “aloof” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Distant | B．Aggressive |
| C．Sensitive | D．Greedy. |
| A．They tend to show no preference for food. |
| B．They are likely to wait for food without doing anything. |
| C．They refuse to eat food from those offending their owners. |
| D．They don't care about food givers' attitude to their owners. |
| A．They originated from a less flexible ancestor. |
| B．They lack the ability to directly evaluate others. |
| C．They haven't been trained since their domestication. |
| D．They haven't evolved through cooperation with humans. |
| A．By referring to previous findings. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing cause and effect | D．By explaining a concept. |
