1 . With the social media freely available, I've realized how easy it is to become a jealous cow. The truth is that however much I remind myself of the many wonderful things I have in my life, there are still moments when I look at those around me and feel bitterly upset by their success.
It's a horrible thing to admit! In an ideal world, I'd never want to be jealous of another person's achievements and I'd want to celebrate the successes of my friends. But sometimes it's hard, even when we want to. But I don't want to live my life as a jealous cow, and I assume you don't either.
It's easier to celebrate other people's wins if you celebrate your own. How often do we take the time to enjoy our success rather than instantly move onto the next thing we want to achieve? Last year, I decided to write a book. It was the only professional goal I set for myself and, while it tired me out, I got there. But as soon as it was done, I started planning my next goal-making the book a success. As I saw other people publishing books, I stopped celebrating and instead began to fear that mine wouldn't compete.
When I told a friend how I was feeling, she reminded me how much easier it is to clap for someone else when we also clap for ourselves. So, I took myself out for lunch, ordered a glass of wine and wrote myself a congratulations card. When I saw all those other books being written on my social media, I felt proud of each and every one of us who had battled to the end of the word count.
The other trick for celebrating other people's success is to realize that there is no limit on success. We can make more, which means that while it might seem as if others have everything and we have nothing, the reality is that life turns quickly and our luck could change at any time. If others have achieved those things, we can too. When we celebrate others, we're acknowledging their achievements but also cheering for ourselves as well as for our hopes and dreams and our belief that we can make them happen. And hopefully, when we do, those people will cheer for us too.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Social media is the source of the author's jealousy. |
| B．Frequent successes on social media encourage envy. |
| C．It is a pleasure to face others' successes on social media. |
| D．People tend to be crazy about immediate success online. |
| A．Appreciate what's been done. |
| B．Show it off on social media. |
| C．Reflect on gains and losses. |
| D．Waite for others' congratulations. |
| A．pursuing those achievable goals |
| B．devoting yourself to the next goal |
| C．admitting personal incompetence |
| D．changing your attitude to success |
| A．I'm so happy for us! |
| B．What a considerate friend! |
| C．I don't care about it! |
| D．How selfless you can be! |
2 . Most solar panels acquire sunlight from only one side, meaning they can acquire more or less of it depending on where the sun is in the sky. In recent years, they’ve become far more effective typically turning around 22 percent of the light they acquire into energy. In a new study published in the journal Joule on Tuesday, scientists put forth a way to increase that percentage even higher: double-sided solar panels that can move to follow the sun.
Basically, these panels can acquire sun from not only their sun-facing side but also from the light reflected off the ground onto their dark undersides. At the same time, a GPS allows them to move on an axis from east to west in order to always be pointed at a best angle to acquire the sun’s rays. Though double-sided solar panels and sun-following solar panels are both in use currently, models that combine the two technologies aren’t widely available for commercial use, Solar experts predict explosive growth in the market soon, though.
The study authors determined that these two-sided sun-tracking panels produce an average of 35 percent more energy than immobile single-panel systems, and are 16 percent more cost-efficient. That holds true even when accounting for changes in weather conditions.
“This means that investing in double-sided and tracking systems should be a safe bet for the foreseeable future, Carlos Rodriguez-Gallegos,” the study’s lead author said.
The same warnings for solar panels and their effect on the local environment apply to the double-sided, moving systems as well, if not more so. Lead used in solar panels can be one source of local pollution, and Dustin Mulvaney, an associate professor of environmental studies, told Earther in an email double-sided panels could mean “twice as much lead” as traditional solar systems.
Since these new panels are more energy efficient, they could save not only money but also land. That would require restructuring how solar contracts currently work.
1. What does most solar panels rely on to acquire sunlight?| A．The amount of sunlight. | B．The location of the sun. |
| C．The quality of solar panels. | D．The size of solar panels. |
| A．The sun’s rays. | B．The panels’ undersides. |
| C．The double-sided panels | D．The panels’ sun-facing sides. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Subjective. |
| A．Double-Sided Solar Panels that Follow the Sun | B．Advantages of the Double-Sided Solar Panels |
| C．Application of the Double-Sided Solar Panels | D．New Trends of Double-Sided Solar Panels |
3 . When it comes to figuring out the link between well-being and access to nature, there are big confusing factors. To begin with, what is psychological(心理的)well-being? The World Health Organization defines(下定义)mental health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can deal with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. That is hard to quantify.
Then there is the question of what “access to nature” means. Some studies measure passive access, or how much green space is available in someone’s local area. Others look at active access, which is the actual exposure a person gets to green space. That makes it difficult to compare results and build a coherent(协调的)picture.
A few researchers have tried to assess what the proper dose(剂量)of nature might be. A 2019 study involving almost 20,000 participants in England concluded that at least 120 minutes a week of recreational(消遣的)nature contact was connected with good health or well-being. The team, led by Mathew White, found that the effect peaks at between 200 and 300 minutes a week, with people reporting no further gain after that.
What exactly this means for you—or any individual—is unclear. As other studies indicate, the mental health benefits a person gets from access to nature are likely to be influenced by many factors, including age, gender, personality features, personal preferences and socio-economic status. Your culture matters too—and, so far, most research into the well-being effects of nature has been done in Western societies.
1. Which of the following might mean mental health according to WHO?| A．Ignoring ones’ own abilities. | B．Complaining about stresses. |
| C．Communicating effectively. | D．Having high productivity. |
| A．50 minutes. | B．150 minutes. | C．250 minutes. | D．350 minutes. |
| A．Studies haven’t provided any results so far. |
| B．Studies haven’t considered all the factors. |
| C．Studies were only done in Western societies. |
| D．Studies have misled the public over the results. |
| A．Why does nature affect health? | B．Who does nature influence? |
| C．How much nature do I need? | D．How does nature benefit people? |
4 . “Human activity has wiped out two-thirds of the world’s wildlife since 1970,” CNN reported on September 10, 2020. Later that month, the Guardian reported that “40 percent of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction”. Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich and his colleagues argued that “the ongoing sixth mass extinction may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization”. Around the same time, the Daily Mail warned that “human civilization stands a 90 percent chance of collapse within decades due to deforestation”.
These horrible calculations and projections come from authoritative-sounding reports issued by international agencies, conservation groups, and peer-reviewed scientific journals. But is the future of wild nature and human civilization really so poor?
Data from uncontroversial mainstream sources strongly indicate that both humanity and the natural world are likely to be flourishing rather than collapsing at the end of this century. Humanity is becoming an urban species, and that’s good for the environment, since urban dwellers generally use less electricity, produce less globe-warming carbon dioxide, and have smaller land footprints than people living in the countryside. By 2100, it is estimated that 85 percent of people will be city dwellers, which would leave only 1.2 billion still living in the countryside. That means more space for the wildlife and less pollution from the agriculture.
The global tree-covering area increased by 865,000 square miles between 1982 and 2016. The researchers found that gains in forest area in the mild, subtropical and northern climatic zones are offsetting declines in the tropics. The Maryland researchers owe much of that increase to “natural afforestation on abandoned agricultural land”. “Furthermore, forests in mountainous regions are expanding as climate warming enables trees to grow at higher altitudes,” they added.
Humanity does face big environmental challenges in the coming century. But the scientific and economic evidence shows that most of the trends are positive or can be turned in positive direction by human wisdom. Rather than an age of extinction, the 21st century promises to be an era of environmental renewal.
1. Why does the author mention the reports in Paragraph 1?| A．To give examples. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To make a contrast. | D．To support his opinion. |
| A．No one will choose to live in the countryside. |
| B．More space will be available for the wildlife. |
| C．Neither humanity nor the natural world will develop quickly. |
| D．Urban residents will do more walking than those in the countryside. |
| A．The expanding and disappearance in forest area aren’t evenly matched. |
| B．The forest area in the mild, tropic and northern zones is increasing. |
| C．There are more forests in mountainous regions due to the climate warming. |
| D．The plan of “natural afforestation on abandoned agricultural land” is unfavorable. |
| A．The Bright Future of Humanity |
| B．The Challenges in the Coming Century |
| C．Better Environment, Better Future of Human |
| D．21st Century: An Era of Environmental Renewal |
5 . How do you turn “dumb” headphones into smart ones? Rutgers engineers have invented a cheap and easy way by transforming headphones into sensors that can be plugged into (插入) smartphones, identify their users monitor their heart rates and perform other services.
Their invention, called HeadFi, is based on a small plug-in headphone adapter that turns a regular headphone into a sensing device (装置). Unlike smart headphones, regular headphones lack sensors. HeadFi would allow users to avoid having to buy a new pair of smart headphones with sensors to enjoy sensing features.
“HeadFi could turn hundreds of millions of existing, regular headphones worldwide into intelligent ones with a simple upgrade (升级),” said Xiaoran Fan, a HeadFi primary inventor.
A Rutgers-led paper on the invention, which results in "earable intelligence", will be formally published in October at MobiCom 2021, the top international conference on mobile computing and mobile and wireless networking.
Headphones are among the most popular wearable devices worldwide and they continue to become; more intelligent as new functions appear, such as touch-based gesture control, the paper notes. Such functions usually rely on aiding sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and microphones that are available on many smart headphones.
HeadFi turns the two drivers already inside all headphones into a versatile (多功能的) sensor, and it works by connecting headphones to a pairing device, such as a smartphone. It doesn't require adding aiding sensors and avoids changes to headphone hardware or the need to customize headphones, both of which may increase their weight and size. By plugging into HeadFi, a converted headphone can perform sensing tasks and play music at the same time.
The engineers conducted experiments with 53 volunteers using 54 pairs of headphones with prices ranging from $2. 99 to $15 ,000. HeadFi can achieve 97. 2 percent to 99. 5 percent accuracy on user identification , 96. 8 percent to 99. 2 percent on heart rate monitoring and 97. 7 percent to 99. 3 percent on gesture recognition.
1. What does Xiaoran Fan think of HeadFi?| A．Secure to operate. | B．Simple to use. |
| C．Easy to substitute. | D．Convenient to store. |
| A．It can't work with headphones alone. |
| B．It actually functions as a versatile sensor. |
| C．It makes headphones larger and heavier than usual. |
| D．It doesn't work when headphones are playing music. |
| A．the various functions of HeadFi | B．the wide popularity of headphones |
| C．the great complexity of headphones | D．the excellent performance of HeadFi |
| A．How to Use Headphones Appropriately |
| B．Headphones Can Be Upgraded Instantly |
| C．How to Make Regular Headphones Intelligent |
| D．New Uses Have Been Found in Headphones |
6 . Kemira Boyd had just jumped in the shower when she heard her stepmother, Tammy Boyd, knocking on the door. Kemira's 12-day-old daughter Ryleigh was choking. Kemira tried everything, but she still couldn't breathe. Kemira knew Ryleigh needed to get to the hospital fast.
They had barely driven out of their neighborhood when a police car appeared behind them. Deputy Will Kimbro figured that the speeding driver was either too distracted to notice him or unconcerned. Kimbro soon found out it was a frightening combination of the two.
Once she'd pulled over, Kemira handed the baby to Kimbro. He put a hand on her little chest. Ryleigh's heart was barely beating. Kimbro radioed for an ambulance. At that time Ryleigh's lips were already blue.
The fact that Kimbro was there was a miracle. He had recently completed a CPR class and knew how to treat a child.
“Although I was shocked, my training kicked in, and I went to work to keep that child alive,” said Kimbro. Then he began tapping Ryleigh's chest, hoping to press her heart back into action. Thanks to the CPR class, Kimbro knew the choking child didn't have a chance if there was a blockage, and he used one finger to clear her airway. That was a magic touch. 20 seconds later, Ryleigh began to cry. “If she's crying like that, she's breathing,” said Kimbro.
But they still had five more minutes until the ambulance would arrive, and Kimbro worried that Ryleigh would choke again. He continued with delicate chest compression and clearing her airway.
After transferring Ryleigh to the ambulance, Kimbro drove away. At the hospital, Ryleigh recovered quickly thanks to a determined police officer who was in the right place at the right time.
1. Why did Kemira stop her car outside her neighborhood?| A．She wanted to ask for help. | B．She had broken traffic rules |
| C．She needed to care for the child. | D．She planned to talk with Kimbro |
| A．Nervous. | B．Frightened. | C．Calm. | D．Curious. |
| A．The CPR class. | B．The doctors' help. |
| C．Kemira's reaction. | D．Kimbro's first aid. |
| A．An encounter saved a life | B．A CPR class is important |
| C．A clever and brave mother | D．A policeman's experience |
7 . Happiness is not a warm phone, according to a new study exploring the link between young life satisfaction and screen time. The study was led by professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge at San Diego State University (SDSU).
To research this link, Twenge, along with colleagues Gabrielle Martin at SDSU and W. Keith Campbell at the University of Georgia, dealt with data from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) study, a nationally representative survey of more than a million U. S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. The survey asked students questions about how often they spent time on their Phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their face-to-face social interactions and their overall happiness.
On average found that teens who spent more time in front of screen devices — playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting — were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interactions.
"The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use," Twenge said. "Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the amount of time you spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising — two activities reliably linked to greater happiness."
Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, it's easy to find that the increase of screen devices over time happened at the same time as a general drop-off in reported happiness in U. S. teens. Specifically, young peopled life satisfaction and happiness declined sharply after 2012. That's the year when the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone rose above 50 percent. By far the largest change in teens' lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the following decline in in-person social activities and sleep.
1. Which method did Twenge's team use for the study?| A．Calculating students' happiness. |
| B．Asking students certain questions. |
| C．Analyzing data from a survey. |
| D．Doing experiments on screen time. |
| A．By making a comparison. |
| B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making an argument. |
| D．By introducing a concept. |
| A．To draw a conclusion from the study. |
| B．To offer some advice to the readers. |
| C．To prove social activities' importance. |
| D．To support the researchers' finding. |
| A．Quitting Phones Equals Happiness |
| B．Screen Time Should Be Banned |
| C．Teens' Lives Have Changed Sharply |
| D．Screen-addicted Teens Are Unhappier |
8 . Japanese officials say they are pleased with the quality of the asteroid (小行星) material collected by a spacecraft and returned to Earth.
Last week, officials from Japan described the samples (样品), which were collected from the Ryugu asteroid in July 2019. Ryugu sits more than 300 million kilometers from Earth. Japan’s unpiloted Hayabusa2 spacecraft removed the material after making a hole into the asteroid.
The space agency said the July 2019 mission (任务) aimed to collect samples from below the surface of Ryugu. During an earlier operation in February 2019, Hayabusa2 collected material from a different part of the asteroid. The second collection effort resulted in sample pieces as big as 1 centimeter. The black material looked similar to charcoal and was very hard. It did not break apart when picked up or poured into another container.
Earlier this month, space officials described the samples Hayabusa2 removed on its first mission as smaller, sandy pieces. They were collected from the surface of Ryugu. Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014 and arived near Ryugu in June 2018. The Japanese space mission aims to use the samples to learn more about how our solar system formed.
To get the second set of samples in July, Hayabusa2 used an impactor to knock the asteroid’s surface. The aim was to collect material unaffected by space radiation or other environmental conditions. The size differences suggest different hardness of the bedrock of the asteroid. One possibility is that the place of the second touchdown was a hard bedrock and larger particles broke and entered the container.
Hayabusa2 is now on another mission to a smaller asteroid, called 1998KY26. The Japanese government expects the aircraft to take 11 years to reach that asteroid. Hayabusa2’s new mission aims to study possible ways to prevent large meteorites (陨石) from hitting Earth.
1. What are these asteroid materials used to do?| A．Study how the solar system was born. | B．Determine the movement of asteroids. |
| C．Study the environment on the asteroid. | D．Uncover when the asteroid was formed. |
| A．To discover new planets. | B．To fetch more materials in space. |
| C．To travel around the solar system. | D．To explore ways to protect the earth. |
| A．They were collected in the same place. | B．They both were black and hard. |
| C．They came in different shapes. | D．They were of equal weight. |
| A．Japan Makes Progress in Studying Solar System |
| B．Japan Is Pleased with Latest Asteroid Samples |
| C．The Secret of an Asteroid Comes to Light |
| D．The Earth Faces Threats from Space |
9 . If you're British or live in a Commonwealth nation, Christmas doesn't end on December 25.The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, and the relaxing holiday is a chance to allow the celebration for one more restful day.
But its name has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, and unlike the popular idea, did not appear from a need to return unwanted gifts or clean up trash produced by Christmas gifting.
There are several theories as to how that charitable tradition became known as "boxing".Some historians link the use of the term to boxes of donations that were laid in churches during the pre-Christmas season of Advent in the early days of Christianity during the second and third centuries A.D.The day after Christmas, the boxes were opened and the money was given away to the poor.
Another possible story for Boxing Day has to do with a tradition that formed in 19th century Victorian England, where servants sacrificed（牺牲）time with their own families to cater to their employers on Christmas.On the day after Christmas, employers would give the servants a rare day off and send them home with leftovers from the family's Christmas feast for their service.
Though the reasons are lost to history, Boxing Day charity eventually fell out of tradition---and was replaced with physical and material pleasures.Today, the holiday is linked with sports, with major football rugby, and cricket matches and horse races taking place on December 26.
December 26 is also a big shopping day throughout the UK and the Commonwealth.The holiday kicks off what is known as " Boxing Week" , during which retailers（零售商）try to move old stock and shoppers compete for one last bargain of the year.In recent years, though, the American tradition of Black Friday---massive sales that take place the day after Thanksgiving each November---has become popular in the United Kingdom and has largely overshadowed Boxing Week.
1. What kind of festival was Boxing Day probably in the beginning?| A．A charitable festival. | B．A religious festival. |
| C．A sports festival. | D．A business festival. |
| A．Take care of. | B．Depend on. |
| C．Put up with. | D．Pick up. |
| A．It has become an online shopping day. |
| B．It has been replaced by Black Friday. |
| C．It only covers popular sports events. |
| D．It has become less important than before. |
| A．When Did Boxing Day Come into Being? | B．Why Did People Celebrate Boxing Day? |
| C．How Is Black Friday Celebrated in the UK? | D．Why Is Black Friday Popular in the UK? |
10 . The planets Jupiter (木星) and Saturn (土星) have been moving closer and closer to each other in the night sky. In fact, on December 21 , they appeared closer together than they have been in hundreds of years.
When two astronomical bodies appear close in the sky, as seen from Earth, it is called 4 conjunction (合相). Conjunctions can happen with any two bodies, such as planets, moons, stars and asteroids (小行星). When Jupiter and Saturn come together, it is called a "Great Conjunction".
Astronomers say these events between the two largest planets in our solar system are not rare. Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn once every 20 years as they circle around the sun. But this conjunction is especially close: From Earth, the two planets will look to be just one-tenth of a degree apart. That is about the distance of one-fifth of a full moon.
If weather permits, they should be easy to see just after sundown. This just-in-time-for-Christmas sight promises to be one of the greatest of Great Conjunctions. What makes this modern Great Conjunction different is that it is happening at nighttime. The last time that happened was almost 800 years ago.
Saturn and Jupiter have been getting closer in the sough-southwest sky for weeks. Jupiter, which is bigger and closer to Earth, is much brighter. The two planets might look like one body if viewed with eyes alone. If sky watchers use telescopes they should be able to see the planets as separate. Saturn will be the smaller, less-bright body at Jupiter's upper right.
Even though they appear close, more than 730 million kilometers of space lies between them. Observers using telescopes will not only see Jupiter and Saturn in the same field of view, but also some of their brightest moons. Their next close pairing will happen on March 15, 2080.
1. What do astronomers think of planets getting close to each other?| A．Controllable. | B．Unimaginable. |
| C．Common. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．The time when it takes place. |
| B．The part of sky where it happens. |
| C．The distance between the two planets. |
| D．The brightness of the two planets. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．Two Planets Reach Especially near Earth |
| B．Jupiter and Saturn Come Together in the Night Sky |
| C．Conjunctions of Planets Excite Astronomers |
| D．Good Chances to Observe Jupiter and Saturn Appear |
