1 . For many Americans, regular exercise is a complicated commitment—one made at the beginning of January that fades out within weeks or months. Busy work schedules, a lack of motivation and unease towards exercising in public all contribute to the discouraging statistics that only around a quarter of adults exercise enough per week.
This month, enterptiser Trent Ward and designer Yves Behar are uncovering their design for a mirror fitness system, Forme. Forme is reflective like a mirror, uses machine learning to heighten workouts, and offers attachments including ankle belts, rope handles and a heart rate monitor. When not in use, the two arms that form the resistance pulley (滑轮) system fold behind it and the display screen disappears, turning Forme into a simple full—length mirror.
Interest in home exercise has particularly increased recently around the world. Home workout apps have seen a significant uptick in downloads, and trendy brands like Peloton have rolled out free virtual workouts for everyone stuck indoors. One French athlete who was kept away from others chose to run an entire marathon on his 23-foot balcony.
But beyond the new restrictions affecting daily workout routines, Ward and Behar are tapping into the same concerns that have made every home workout appealing：the ability to save time and sweat in the privacy of one’s home. In an age of personal metrics (衡量标准)--where one can measure their heart rate and sleep cycles with smart watches and train for marathons with AI smart sneakers----Ward and Behar want to improve exercise through machine learning. Forme evaluates performance and adjusts weights accordingly. Easy access to one’s own performance data also makes it easier to track that progress and stay motivated.
Though it’s too soon to tell if mirror gyms will be the trend of the late 2010s to 2020s, Behar explained that having a screen in the home can become the basis for more than just fitness, such as shopping or telemedicine.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?.| A．The ways to operate Forme. | B．The features of Forme. |
| C．The reasons to develop Forme. | D．The theory behind Forme. |
| A．By offering them online workouts for free. |
| B．By raising their interest in marathon. |
| C．By keeping them far away from others. |
| D．By entertaining them with all kinds of downloads. |
| A．The better results than outdoor activities. |
| B．The fresher air at home. |
| C．The privacy of home. |
| D．The convenient access to mass data. |
| A．Can Forme Have More Powerful Functions? |
| B．Does Regular Exercise Keep up with New Technology? |
| C．Is the New Trend of Smart Machines at Home available? |
| D．Is this AI—Powered "Mirror Gym" the Future of Home Exercise? |
2 . On Monday, I stopped my car in front of my daughter Juliet’s middle school. She jumped in the front seat, feeling down. She asked me to help her study for her science test.
“Dad, I need to memorise a unit about the Reproductive Cycle of Plants. And I can hardly make it.”
“You know memorising seems like the best way to study, but in fact you can do better in tests if you work on trying to understand the material.”
Juliet was open to my advice. It was Monday afternoon and we had two nights to study before the test on Wednesday. I suggested a plan. “Tomorrow night, you are going to teach the material to me. Tonight, read the unit. Prepare to teach.”
Asking her to teach me was an unusual idea but I was determined to do it. Studies show teaching somebody else is a very useful way to learn. Even if you don’t do the teaching, the act of preparing to teach leads to more learning than just trying your best to memorise the material.
On Tuesday afternoon, Juliet sat down with her science book facing me and said, “Okay Dad, let’s study.” I wanted her to teach me. But false starts happened. I couldn’t be too hard on her. So instead we started with me asking her some simple questions. She knew some but not others. When she didn’t know the answers, I encouraged her to check the book.
She started checking things that didn’t make sense. And she was actively seeking to test her understanding. I was happy to see it. She wasn’t memorising; she was trying to make sense of things, which was exactly what I had hoped she would do.
1. Why did Juliet feel down?| A．Because she failed her science test. |
| B．Because she had trouble memorising a unit. |
| C．Because she knew nothing about planting. |
| D．Because she couldn’t follow her teacher. |
| A．Memorising. | B．Testing. |
| C．Questioning. | D．Understanding. |
| A．Making her check the book. |
| B．Using simple questions to test her. |
| C．Encouraging her to read the unit. |
| D．Asking her to teach me the unit. |
| A．A Creative Father |
| B．An Unexpected Test |
| C．Learning from Teaching |
| D．Preparing for Teaching |
3 . Football is my favorite sport. I loved to watch it, but I had never played in a football game before I went to college. I lacked self－confidence and I doubted if I could do well in a team, which was why I hardly did sports together with others. I just loved practicing playing football in the backyard of my house.
About one month after I went to college, one day some of my classmates said they'd play a football game with some players of another class. I really looked forward to it but never thought I'd join them to play. That day finally came and I went to watch with my classmates. However, just about ten minutes after the game started, one member of our football team got injured and could no longer play. The other members looked worried. Then one of them came to me and asked, “Can you play?” At first, I shook my head, but then I nodded. “Great! Come and play,” he said. I followed him, having no idea at all what to do. To my joy, he asked me to play in defense (防守). Defense was my favorite because I found it more fun and less complicated (复杂的). Then the game began again. There weren't a lot of big kids on the offensive line (攻击线) of the other team and I suddenly gained some self－confidence. About five minutes later, the ball was kicked toward the guard. I thought it was a good opportunity for me. I quickly ran past the guard and got the ball. When the guard came to the offensive line, I kicked the ball. I scored and all my classmates cheered. You may not believe it, but I scored twice that time. The final score was 6—2 and we won. My teammates thought that I did very well and none of them believed I hadn't played in a game before.
That game really changed me. I am a really confident person now and often play football games with my teammates.
1. Why didn't the author play sports with others before?| A．He wasn't interested in sports. |
| B．He wasn't popular with others. |
| C．He couldn't afford time for sports. |
| D．He wasn't confident about his ability. |
| A．excited | B．boring |
| C．anxious | D．angry |
| A．got nervous about watching football games |
| B．decided to become a full－time football player |
| C．was considered the best football player at school |
| D．fell in love with joining others in playing football |
| A．My first football game. |
| B．My most unforgettable experience. |
| C．My way of finding self－confidence. |
| D．My way of scoring at football games. |
4 . Although it has been shown in recent years that plants can see, hear and smell, they are still usually thought of as silent. But now, for the first time, they have been recorded making ultrasonic (超声的) cries when stressed, which researchers say could open up a new field of precision agriculture where farmers listen for water-starved crops.
Itzhak Khait and his colleagues at Tel Aviv University in Israel found that tomato and tobacco plants made cries at frequencies humans cannot hear when stressed by not having enough water or when their stem is cut.
Microphones placed 10 centimetres from the plants picked up sounds in the ultrasonic range of 20 to 100 kilohertz, which the team says insects and some mammals would be able to hear and respond to from as far as 5 metres away. A moth may decide against laying eggs on a plant that sounds water-stressed, the researchers suggest. Plants could even hear that other plants are short of water and react accordingly, they speculate (推断).
On average, drought-stressed tomato plants made 35 sounds an hour, while tobacco plants made 11. When plant stems were cut, tomato plants made an average of 25 sounds in the following hour, and tobacco plants 15. Unstressed plants produced fewer than one sound per hour, on average.
Enabling farmers to listen for water-stressed plants could “open a new direction in the field of precision agriculture”, the researchers suggest. They add that such an ability will be increasingly important as climate change exposes more areas to drought.
“The suggestion that the sounds that drought-stressed plants make could be used in precision agriculture seems feasible (可行的) if it is not too costly to set up the recording in a field situation,” says Anne Visscher at the royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK.
She warns that the results can’t yet be broadened out to other stresses, such as salt or temperature, because these may not cause sounds. Besides, there have been no experiments to show whether moths or any other animal can hear and respond to the sounds the plants make, so that idea is still based on guesses for now, she says.
1. The experiment by researchers at Tel Aviv University shows that________.| A．humans can hear water-hungry plants crying clearly |
| B．plant sounds can be heard by plants quite far away |
| C．tomato plants cry more often than tobacco when hurt |
| D．moths like laying eggs on stressed plants |
| A．Cautious. | B．Disappointed. | C．Appreciative. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．harvest crops in time | B．reduce greenhouse effects |
| C．detect and remove insects easily | D．identify plant condition faster |
| A．Plants Get Stressed Just Like Us | B．Sounds of Plants Detected Far Away |
| C．Plants Scream in the Presence of Stress | D．Cries of Plants Break Farmers’ Hearts |
5 . Owls(猫头鹰)can be found in many parts of the world. And today, one kind of owl, the barred owl, is causing a problem in forests of the northwestern United States. Barred owls are a large species native to eastern North America, but they began moving west at the start of the 20th century. In parts of the Pacific Northwest, barred owls are now causing a drop in the population of a kind of smaller and less aggressive(侵略性的) bird: the northern spotted owls. The U.S. Geological Survey is doing something unusual to protect spotted owls: killing barred owls. As a member of the department, David Wiens has mixed feelings about the program. “It’s a little unpleasant, I think, to go out killing owls,” he says. “But we knew that barred owls were really stronger than spotted owls and their numbers were growing too fast, so it makes sense to do that.”
It is a controversial( 有争议的) program. “A decision not to kill the barred owl is a decision to make the spotted owl disappear,” says Bob Sallinger, a director at the nonprofit Audubon Society in Portland, Oregon. However, Marc Bekoff, a professor of ecology(生态学 ) and biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, strongly disagrees with the experiment and says humans should find another way to help spotted owls.
If reducing the barred owl population improves the number of spotted owls, the U.S. Geological Survey may consider killing more barred owls as part of a longer-term effort. Enough success has been noted for the experiment to be extended to August of 2021.
1. Why are barred owls being killed ?| A．They are breaking the laws of nature. |
| B．They are killing each other to survive. |
| C．They are destroying large areas of forests. |
| D．They are putting the spotted owls in danger. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uncaring. | C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
| A．New Ways to Help Forests |
| B．How to Keep Ecological Balance |
| C．Killing One Species to Save Another |
| D．Time to Protect Animals |
6 . Modern medicine’s ability to keep us alive makes it tempting to think human evolution may have stopped. But if we look at the rate of our DNA’s evolution, we can see that human evolution hasn’t stopped – it may even be happening faster than before.
Evolution is a gradual change to the DNA of a species over many generations. It can occur by natural selection, when certain traits created by genetic changes help an organism survive or reproduce. Such genes are thus more likely to be passed on to the next generation, so they increase in frequency in a population. Gradually, these changes and their associated traits become more common among the whole group.
By looking at global studies of our DNA, we can see evidence that natural selection has recently made changes and continues to do so. Though modern healthcare disrupts a key driving force of evolution by keeping some people alive longer, in countries without access to good healthcare, populations are continuing to evolve. Survivors of infectious disease outbreaks drive natural selection by giving their genetic resistance to offspring. Our DNA shows evidence for recent selection for resistance of killer diseases like Lassa fever and malaria. Selection in response to malaria remains in regions where the disease remains common.
Humans are also adapting to their environment. Gene change allowing humans to live at high altitudes have become more common in populations in Tibet, Ethiopia, and the Andes. The spread of genetic changes in Tibet is possibly the fastest evolutionary change in humans, occurring over the past 3,000 years. This rapid increase in frequency of a mutated gene that increases blood oxygen content gives locals a survival advantage in higher altitudes, resulting in more surviving children.
Diet is another source for adaptations. Studies show that natural selection favoring a change allowing adults to produce lactase – the enzyme (酶) that breaks down milk sugars – is why some groups of people can digest milk. Over 80 per cent of northwest Europeans can, but in parts of East Asia, where milk is much less commonly drunk, an inability to digest lactose is the norm. Like high altitude adaptation, selection to digest milk has evolved more than once in humans and may be the strongest kind of recent selection.
Yet, despite these changes, natural selection only affects about 8 per cent of our genome. But scientists can’t explain why some genes are evolving much faster than others. We measure the speed of gene evolution by comparing human DNA with that of other species. One fast-evolving gene is human accelerated region 1 (HAR1), which is needed during brain development. A random section of human DNA is on average more than 98 per cent identical to the chimp comparator, but HAR1 is so fast evolving that it’s only around 85 per cent similar. Though scientists can see these changes are happening – and how quickly – we still don’t fully understand why fast evolution happens to some genes but not others.
1. Which of the following statements may the author agree with?| A．Evolution occurs among several people overnight. |
| B．Genes may change and some are beneficial to people’s lives. |
| C．Evolution is done when the whole population possesses a certain gene. |
| D．The changed genes leading to higher survival rates are chosen deliberately. |
| A．explains | B．causes | C．upsets | D．heals |
| A．some people can resist infectious diseases like malaria |
| B．children in Tibet tolerate living environments with thin air |
| C．northwestern Europeans digest lactose better than East Asians |
| D．the human gene HAR1 resembles that of a chimp to a lesser extent |
| A．What Is Natural Selection? |
| B．Are Humans Still Evolving? |
| C．Why Will Certain Genes Evolve? |
| D．How Do Mutated Genes Function? |
7 . Culture shock has many stages. Each stage can appear only at certain times. Culture begins with the “ honeymoon”. This is the period of time when we first arrive in which everything about the new culture is strange and exciting. This honeymoon stage can last for quite a long time. Afterwards, the second stage presents itself. A person may encounter some difficult times in daily life. This period of culture adjustment (调整) can be very difficult and lead to the new arrival rejecting the new culture. This “rejection stage” can be quite dangerous because the visitor may develop unhealthy habits, such as smoking, drinking too much.
The third stage is characterized by gaining some understanding of the new culture. A new feeling of pleasure and sense of humor may be experienced. And you are becoming stronger by learning to take care of yourself in the new place. Things are still difficult, but you are now a survivor! This is called the “adjustment stage”. The fourth stage can be called “ at ease at last”. Now you feel quite comfortable in your new environment. You can deal with most problems. You may still have problems with the language, but you know you are strong enough to deal with them. If you meet someone from your country who has just arrived, you can be the expert on life in the new culture and help them to deal with their culture shock.
The fifth stage is the stage that is called the “re-entry shock. ” This occurs when a return to the country of origin is made. One may find that things are no longer the same. For example, some of the newly learned customs are not in use in the old culture.
1. What could be the best title of the passage?| A．How to Fight Cultural Shock | B．Stages of Cultural Shock |
| C．Origin of Cultural Shock | D．How to Adjust to New Cultural |
| A．The “honeymoon stage” | B．The “rejection stage” |
| C．The “adjustment stage” | D．The “re-entry shock” |
| A．The place is not the same as before |
| B．The old customs have changes over the years |
| C．They are not used to the local customs. |
| D．They are no longer what they used to be. |
8 . Did you know that Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four years old, and could not read until he was seven? His parents and teachers worried about his mental (大脑的) ability.
Beethoven’s music teacher said about him, “As a composer (作曲家) he is hopeless.” What if this young boy had believed it?
When Thomas Edison was a young boy, his teachers said he was so stupid that he could never learn anything. He once said, “I remember I used to never be able to get along at school. I was always at the foot of my class ... My father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided that I was a stupid person.” What if young Thomas had believed what they said about him?
When the sculptor (雕刻家) Auguste Rodin was young, he had difficulty learning to read and write. Today, we may say he had a learning disability. His father said of him, “I have an idiot (白痴) for a son.” His uncle agreed. “He’s uneducable,” he said. What if Rodin had doubted his ability?
Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper editor because he was thought to have no “good ideas”. Enrico Caruso was told by one music teacher, “You can’t sing. You have no voice at all.” And an editor told Louisa May Alcott that she was unable to write anything that would have popular attraction.
What if these people had listened and become discouraged? Where would our world be without the music of Beethoven, the art of Rodin or the ideas of Albert Einstein and Walt Disney? As Oscar Levant once said, “It’s not what you are but what you don’t become that hurts.”
You have great potential (潜力). When you believe in all you can be, rather than all you cannot become, you will find your place on earth.
1. How many successful people are mentioned as examples in the passage?| A．Six. | B．Seven. | C．Eight. | D．Nine. |
| A．When he was young, Thomas Edison always got good grades at school. |
| B．Levant thought Louisa May Alcott couldn’t write any popular works. |
| C．Only Auguste Rodin’s uncle regarded him a boy of learning ability. |
| D．Both Enrico Caruso and Beethoven achieved their dreams in music. |
| A．He is too stupid to be taught. | B．He is very clever. |
| C．He is different. | D．He is a late success. |
| A．Working Hard for Success | B．Having Dreams |
| C．Believing in Yourself | D．Self-challenging |
9 . Rainforests are home to a rich variety of medicinal plants, food, birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush（灌木丛）in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the whole of Britain! About 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest.
Rainforests are the lungs of the planet-storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world's oxygen. Rainforests have their own perfect system for ensuring their own survival; the tall trees make a canopy（树冠层）of branches and leaves which protect themselves, smaller plants, and the forest animals from heavy rain, intense dry heat from the sun and strong winds.
Amazingly, the trees grow in such a way that their leaves and branches, although close together, never actually touch those of another tree. Scientists think this is the plants' way to prevent the spread of any tree diseases and make life more difficult for leaf-eating insects like caterpillars. To survive in the forest, animals must climb, jump or fly across the gaps. The ground floor of the forest is not all tangled leaves and bushes, like in films, but is actually fairly clear. It is where dead leaves turn into food for the trees and other forest life.
They are not called rainforests for nothing! Rainforests can generate 75%of their own rain. At least 80 inches of rain a year is normal-and in some areas there may be as much as 430 inches of rain annually. This is real rain-your umbrella may protect you in a shower, but it won't keep you dry if there is a full rainstorm. In just two hours, streams can rise ten to twenty feet. The humidity（湿气）of large rainforests contributes to the formation of rainclouds that may travel to other countries in need of rain.
1. What can we learn about rainforests from the first paragraph?| A．They produce oxygen. | B．They cover a vast area. |
| C．They are well managed. | D．They are rich in wildlife. |
| A．Heavy rains | B．Big trees. |
| C．Small plants. | D．Forest animals. |
| A．For more sunlight. | B．For more growing space. |
| C．For self-protection. | D．For the detection of insects. |
| A．Life-Giving Rainforests | B．The Law of the Jungle |
| C．Animals in the Amazon | D．Weather in Rainforests |
10 . Binge-watching (追剧) your favorite TV series is bad for your brain. Dr. Randall Wright, based in Texas, said the need to watch episode (集) after episode has a similar influence on the brain to gambling (赌博). What’s more, it often leads to social loneliness, snacking on junk food and a shortage of exercise and sleep, which, over time, is bad for the brain.
When you let auto play start the next episode, you can find out what happens next and your brain receives good feedback, Dr. Wright wrote in an article. This right-away satisfaction is similar to gambling where even after a win, you are not satisfied and want to continue playing. With binge-watching, you are not satisfied with stopping after episode five and want to continue watching. This cycle coupled with the snacking and the long time sitting can lead to unhealthy changes in your brain and body over time.
Dr. Wright said, “Binge-watching itself is not bad. It becomes problematic when you are watching a third, fourth or fifth episode instead of doing healthy activities.” But he said it is possible to avoid the bad influence of binge-watching with four tips, including staying away from salty, fatty, calorific foods, exercising before a binge-watching, setting an alarm for sleep and balancing TV viewing with socializing.
If you add these tips to your binge-watching practice, you can create lasting healthy habits and still enjoy the now-and-then binge-watching time without hurting your brain.
1. What might “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Gambling. | B．Binge-watching. |
| C．TV series. | D．Brain. |
| A．The long time sitting. | B．The changes of feeling. |
| C．The snacking on junk food. | D．The immediate satisfaction. |
| A．The tips on how to develop a healthy lifestyle. |
| B．The reasons why binge-watching is problematic. |
| C．The ways to keep away from binge-watching. |
| D．Do’s and don’ts of binge-watching. |
| A．Ill Health: The Result of Addiction |
| B．Healthy Habits: A Must of A Better Life |
| C．Binge-watching: A Killer of Your Brain |
| D．TV-Viewing: Gradual Harm on Your Health |
