1 . The 2019 World Conference on VR Industry shows that Virtual Reality （VR） technology can be used to revolutionize people's experiences in practically any field．

Held in Nanchang from Oct． 19 to 22， the annual conference attracted more than 300 experts， leading scholars and company principals from over 30 countries． The theme of this year's World Conference on VR Industry was "VR+5G tor a new age of insight．" Conferences and exhibitions， which hosted more than 2，000 companies from across the world， were held during the event．

As China introduces 5G this year， experts and industry insiders said that the VR industry will hug the new era． "We will take the lead in VR technology creativity． For example， the technology has already been applied successfully to this year's National Day parade． The popularity of the technology among younger generations of users guarantees a large potential market， said Guo Ping， representative of Huawei．

In 2018， Oral Roberts University in the USA opened a new Global Learning Center， which has classrooms equipped with 360-degree cameras on the wail， which follows and records professors as they teach． Through an app on the smart phone， students can see images in 3D and manipulate （操纵）them．

In May 2019， a VR theme park opened to the public in London． Covering about 13，000 square meters with 120 sets of advanced VR equipment， the park attracts thousands of visitors every day．

During the 22nd Asian Music Festival， the musical Eight made its second appearance． Eight is a unique fusion of music， theater， VR technology and visual art， in which audience members wear VR headsets to walk through and manipulate an equipment． The show tells a poetic story of an old woman looking back on her life and it lasts for 15 minutes．

1. What does this year's World Conference suggest？ ______

A．VR technology can be used only with 5G．

B．VR technology can change people's lives．

C．China's 5G technology will take the lead．

D．More VR theme parks will be opened to public．

2. Why is Guo Ping confident about VR technology？ ______

A．Because it attracts experts to cooperate．

B．Because it has a large overseas market．

C．Because young customers have interest in it．

D．Because it has changed how to teach and learn．

3. What does the underlined word " fusion'' in the last paragraph refer to？ ______

A．research	B．process
C．combination	D．type

4. Which is the best title of the passage？ ______

A．China Is Leading the Way in the World

B．VR Technology Development in China

C．5G Technology： China Moves Ahead Quickly

D．The Bright Future of VR in Diverse Fields

2 . If you wear glasses, chances are you are smarter. Research published in the famous British journal Nature Communications has found that people who displayed higher levels of intelligence were almost 30 percent more likely to wear glasses.

The scientists studied the genes of thousands of people between the ages of 16 and 102.The study showed intelligence can be connected to physical characteristics. One characteristic was eyesight. In out of 10 people who were more intelligent, there was a higher chance they needed glasses. Scientists also said being smarter has other benefits. It is connected to better health.

It is important to remember these are connections which are not proven causes. Scientists call this correlation. Just because something is connected to something else does not mean one of those things caused the other. And it’s worth noting that what constitutes intelligence is subjective and can be difficult, if not impossible, to measure.

Forget genes though. Plenty of proof shows wearing glasses makes people think you are more intelligent, even if you do not need glasses. A number of studies have found people who wear glasses are seen as smarter, hard-working and honest. Many lawyers use this idea to help win their cases. Lawyer Harvey Solves explained this. Glasses soften their appearance. He said Sometimes there has been a huge amount of proof showing that people he was defending broke the law. He had them wear glasses and they weren’t found guilty.

Glasses are also used to show someone is intelligent in movies and on TV. Ideas about people who wear glasses have begun to shift. People who do not need glasses sometimes wear them for fashion only. They want to look worldly or cool. But not everyone is impressed by this idea, though. GQ magazine said people who wear glasses for fashion are trying too hard to look smart and hip (时髦的). However, that hasn’t stopped many celebrities from happily wearing glasses even if they do not need them. Justin Bieber is just one high-profile fan of fashion glasses.

1. What does the new study show?

A．People wearing glasses are smarter.

B．People wearing glasses are healthier.

C．Wearing glasses can make people cleverer.

D．Wearing glasses is associated with higher IQ.

2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Shift.

B．Link.

C．Proof.

D．Consequence.

3. Why do some lawyers ask their clients to wear glasses in court?

A．Because it can create a moral image.

B．Because it can mislead the witnesses.

C．Because it can highlight clients’ qualities.

D．Because it can prove the clients’ innocence.

4. What is the general attitude to those who wear glasses for fashion?

A．Positive.

B．Negative.

C．Mixed

D．Indifferent.

3 . According to a new study， teens focus on rewards and have a hard time learning to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions.

University College London researchers compared how teens and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. They tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols.

Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. As the trial progressed ， participants learned which symbols were likely to lead to each outcome and adjusted their choices accordingly. Teens and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward， but teens were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice， while teens did not appear to take this information into account.

“From this experimental lab study we can draw conclusions about learning during the teen years. We find that teens and adults learn in different ways， something that might be relevant to education," said lead author Dr. Stefano Palminteri. " Unlike adults, teens are not so good at learning to adjust their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that teens did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices."

To interpret the results, the researchers developed computational models of learning and ran simulations （模拟）applying them to the results of the study. The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking. For example, obtaining no outcome rather than losing a point is weighted equally to gaining a point rather than having no outcome.

Comparing the experimental data to the models, the team found that teens" behavior followed the simple reward-based model while adults" behavior matched the complete, contextual model. “Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value, ” said senior author Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. “As a result, it may be useful for parents and teachers to frame things in more positive terms.”

1. It can be learned from the study that .

A．adults made choices faster than teens

B．adults understood rewards better than teens

C．teens reacted better to reward than punishment

D．teens were aware of the outcome of each choice

2. What do we know about the three computational models?

A．They reflected people’s strong desire for punishment avoidance.

B．They gave circumstances different degrees of consideration.

C．They paid equal attention to reward and punishment.

D．They shaped the behavior of people at different ages.

3. The underlined word “receptive" in the last paragraph probably means .

A．accustomed	B．opposed
C．sympathetic	D．responsive

4. According to the writer, which of the following statements works best for teens?

A．“If you insist on doing things in this way， you will lose ten points. "

B．“If we had talked about this earlier， you wouldn’t have made the mistake. "

C．“ If you hand in your assignment ahead of time， you will get an extra bonus."

D．“If you want to approach a problem differently ， you can talk to your parents. "

4 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.

But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.

One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.

“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”

Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.

1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?

A．To prevent natural disasters.	B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions.
C．To imitate volcanic eruptions.	D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels.

2. What are researchers worried about in terms of global warming?

A．More volcanoes will throw out.

B．More solar energy will go into space.

C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world.

D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm.

3. What can be inferred from Douglas’ words in an interview?

A．He thinks more research remains to be done.

B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth.

C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production.

D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention.

4. What does the underlined words “sweet spot” in the last paragraph mean?

A．The rainfall pattern of a region.

B．The modest drop in temperature.

C．The number of extreme weather events.

D．The injection amount of aerosol.

5 . For several decades, there has been an extensive and organized campaign intended to generate distrust in science, funded by those whose interests and ideologies are threatened by the findings of modern science. In response, scientists have tended to stress the success of science. After all, scientists have been right about most things.

Stressing successes isn’t wrong, but for many people it’s not persuasive. An alternative answer to the question “Why trust science?” is that scientists use the so-called scientific method. If you’ve got a high school science textbook lying around, you’ll probably find that answer in it. But what is typically thought to be the scientific method — develop a hypothesis (假设), then design an experiment to test it — isn’t what scientists actually do. Science is dynamic: new methods get invented; old ones get abandoned; and sometimes, scientists can be found doing many different things.

If there is no identifiable scientific method, then what is the reason for trust in science? The answer is how those claims are evaluated. The common element in modern science, regardless of the specific field or the particular methods being used, is the strict scrutiny (审查) of claims. It’s this tough, sustained process that works to make sure faulty claims are rejected. A scientific claim is never accepted as true until it has gone through a lengthy “peer review” because the reviewers are experts in the same field who have both the right and the obligation (责任) to find faults.

A key aspect of scientific judgment is that it is done collectively. No claim gets accepted until it has been vetted by dozens, if not hundreds, of heads. In areas that have been contested, like climate science and vaccine safety, it’s thousands. This is why we are generally justified in not worrying too much if a single scientist, even a very famous one, disagrees with the claim. And this is why diversity in science — the more people looking at a claim from different angles — is important.

Does this process ever go wrong? Of course. Scientists are humans. There is always the possibility of revising a claim on the basis of new evidence. Some people argue that we should not trust science because scientists are “always changing their minds.” While examples of truly settled science being overturned are far fewer than is sometimes claimed, they do exist. But the beauty of this scientific process is that it explains what might otherwise appear paradoxical (矛盾的): that science produces both novelty and stability. Scientists do change their minds in the face of new evidence, but this is a strength of science, not a weakness.

1. How does the author think of the scientific method?

A．Stable.	B．Persuasive.
C．Unreliable.	D．Unrealistic.

2. What does the underlined word “vetted” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Explained.	B．Examined.
C．Repeated.	D．Released.

3. According to the passage, the author may agree that ______.

A．it is not persuasive to reject those faulty claims

B．settled science tends to be collectively overturned

C．a leading expert cannot play a decisive role in a scrutiny

D．diversity in knowledge is the common element in science

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Put Your Faith in Science	B．Defend the Truth in Science
C．Apply Your Mind to Science	D．Explore A Dynamic Way to Science

6 . More and more travellers in China nowadays prefer homestays rather than traditional hotels, as they seek private living experiences. The house-sharing model was first introduced by the website Couchsurfing.com in 2003. It is still the largest website for travellers to find accommodation (住宿) without much money to spend.

Encouraged by her great experience of homestays in France, Maggita, 30, considered short-term hire as her first choice in her future trips. She later went back to her hometown Shanghai and ran a "shared accommodation" business.

The short-term hire idea has been a win-win business model. For travellers, they can rent a special room at a reasonable price and also enjoy a firsthand experience of the local culture, compared with traditional hotels. For owners, they can gain much with daily rental. Now Maggita has quit her last job in an IT company and become a host of some 20 homestays, which enables her to earn a monthly income of around 40,000 — 50,000 yuan.

In recent years, China has seen many homestay booking websites such as Xiaozhu and Tujia. Chen Chi, the founder and CEO of Xiaozhu, said the model is to share rooms or apartments that are not in use with people who need them. Instead of the traditional view that Chinese people feel uncomfortable living with strangers, Chen found that a large number of travellers got along well with house owners.

However, experts have pointed out a series of problems brought about by the fashion. Lacking supervision (监管) to those accommodation sharing websites, the service quality and accommodation safety cannot be guaranteed (保障).Experts suggest that the online websites should closely work together with communities and local police stations to improve the services.

1. What can we learn about homestays from the first paragraph?

A．They started in China.	B．They offer the best service.
C．They can be money-saving.	D．They are popular with the youth.

2. What does the underlined word "quit" in the third paragraph mean?

A．Taken up.	B．Given up.
C．Looked for.	D．Gone for

3. What does Chen Chi think of this sharing model?

A．Useless.	B．Relaxing.
C．Well-accepted.	D．Uncomfortable.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Homestays need to be improved.

B．Some experts don't support homestays.

C．Lacking supervision is the biggest problem of homestays.

D．The police should manage the homestay services.

7 . Pangolins (穿山甲) are the most trafficked (非法交易) mammals in the world and are facing extinction. To draw attention to these scaly (有鳞片的), anteater-like animals, a new wildlife documentary, Eye of the Pangolin, is attempting a unique way to inspire action and conservation. Partnering with the non-profit organization Pangolin. Africa, the documentary was made available on YouTube in May 2019. The intention is to reach communities wherever the Internet is available, especially African communities, who live near the animal’s habitats.

Over two years, the documentary crew traveled to South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic and Gabon in search of the four unique species of pangolin, which has never been achieved before. Filmmakers Bruce Young and Johan Vermeulen say that they went into the shoot knowing relatively little about pangolins, but grew to respect and appreciate the animals. Getting close to the creatures over two years was a crash course in these secretive creatures. Johan Vermeulen said, "One thing however that might seem unimportant is that they are actually quite fussy eaters. You would think they would eat any type of ant, but they all prefer a specific type ant."

Pangolins are hunted illegally across Africa for their scales, which are used for traditional medicine, and their meat. In April 2019, Singaporean customs officials conducted two separate seizures of 24 tons of pangolin scales, which equals to the death of 69,000 pangolins.

Though the documentary focuses less on the trafficking of pangolins, and more on the animals in their natural habitat, the aim of the documentary is to inspire viewers around the world to call for action to end trafficking and protecting these unique creatures.

Filmed on location in South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic, and Gabon, this powerful documentary is the story of two men on a mission to get all four species of African pangolin on camera for the very first time.

1. What is the purpose of the documentary?

A．To study the situation of pangolins.

B．To collect fund to protect pangolins.

C．To raise awareness of pangolin protection.

D．To propose setting up pangolin reserves.

2. What is the meaning of the underlined word “fussy” in paragraph 2?

A．Picky.	B．Messy.
C．Showy.	D．Heavy.

3. What’s the documentary mainly about?

A．The illegal trade of pangolins.

B．The medical function of pangolin's scales.

C．The life of pangolins in their natural habitats.

D．The efforts of Pangolin, Africa to save pangolins.

4. Where is the text most likely from?

A．A brochure.	B．A diary.
C．A novel.	D．A magazine.

8 . With around 100 students scheduled to be in that 9:00 am Monday morning lecture, it is no surprise that almost 20 people actually make it to the class and only 10 of them are still awake after the first 15 minutes; it is not even a surprise that most of them are still in their pajama’s(睡衣). Obviously, students are terrible at adjusting their sleep cycles to their daily schedule.

All human beings possess a body clock. Along with other alerting systems, this governs the sleep/wake cycle and is therefore one of the main processes which govern sleep behaviour. Typically, the preferred sleep/wake cycle is delayed in adolescents, which leads to many students not feeling sleepy until much later in the evenings. This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the “night owl” schedule of sleep.

This is opposed to the “early bird” schedule, and is a kind of disorder where the individual tends to stay up much past midnight. Such a person has great difficulty in waking up in the mornings. Research suggests that night owls feel most alert and function best in the evenings and at night. Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people can be classified as “night owls” and only 10 percent can be classified as “early birds” ------ the other 70 percent are in the middle. Although this is clearly not true for all students, for the ones who are true night owls, this gives them an excellent excuse for missing their lectures which unfortunately fall before midday.

1. What does the author stress in Paragraph 1?

A．Many students are absent from class.

B．Students are very tired on Monday mornings.

C．Students do not adjust their sleep patterns well.

D．Students are not well prepared for class on Mondays.

2. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 2?

A．Most students prefer to get up late in the morning.

B．Students don’t sleep well because of alerting systems.

C．One’s body clock governs the sleep/wake cycle independently.

D．Adolescents’ delayed sleep/wake cycle isn’t the preferred pattern.

3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “classified”?

A．Criticized

B．Grouped

C．Organized

D．Named

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Functions of the body clock.

B．The “night owl” phenomenon.

C．Human beings’ sleep behaviour.

D．The school schedule of “early birds”.

9 . Any foreigner who has tried to learn Chinese can tell how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges.

Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese. Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience，researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on the same parts of the brain that help people discover changes in pitch(音调).

One of the study's authors，Nina Kraus，said the findings suggested that studying music “actually tunes our sensory system”.This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs，Dr. Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.

Mandarin(普通话)speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding(编码) of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is because in Mandarin and other Asian languages，pitch plays a central role. A single­syllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.

For this study，the researchers looked at 20 non­Chinese speaking volunteers，half with no musical background and half who have studied an instrument for at least six years.

As they were shown a movie，the volunteers also heard an audio tape of the Mandarin word “mi” in three of its meanings:squint，bewilder and rice. The researchers recorded activities in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds. Those with a music background showed much more brain activities in response to the Chinese sounds.

The lead author of the study，Patrick C.M.Wong，said it might work both ways. It appears that native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments.

1. When learning Chinese，a foreigner will find ________.

A．he has a difficult time learning music at the same time

B．he has an easier time learning music at the same time

C．it is hard to master the tones required to speak and understand

D．it is easy to use the brain to help him discover changes in pitch

2. Why does Chinese learning have something to do with music training?

A．Because there is the same difficulty in learning Chinese and music.

B．Because skills to learn the two make use of the same parts of the brain.

C．Because music training might help people with language study.

D．Because people who do well in Chinese study do well in music.

3. The underlined word “intoned” in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by the word “____”.

A．created

B．spelled

C．seemed

D．pronounced

4. What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Mandarin Speakers Are Smarter than English Speakers

B．Skilled Ear for Music May Help Language Study

C．Pitch Plays a Central Role in Chinese Learning

D．Schools Need to Develop Music Programs

10 . I worked in a small drug store when I was very small. I worked long and hard because that was my father’s store. I treasured my lunch breaks, not for the food or the rest, but for reading comic books about superheroes. And I could read comic books only during my lunch breaks.

Now I close my eyes and think back, I know what I wanted to be when I was a small kid—a superhero! Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man were some of my heroes. In all of the comic books that I read, there were two patterns.

First, there was always a battle between good and evil. The battle was always tough. No matter how strong or how many powers the superhero had, evil could almost defeat him. Second, the superhero was never paid for his contribution to society. Superman made money as Clark Kent, a newspaper reporter. Batman made money as Bruce Wayne, a rich businessman. Spider-Man made money as Peter Parker, a photographer. Iron Man made money as Tony Stark, a rich scientist. None of them was paid for keeping peace or helping others.

The real superheroes don’t get paid for what they do for society!

I clean the local park with my friends every weekend. I help cheer up kids in the hospital. I send food to disabled people. I don’t get paid for doing these in my free time. It’s correct to be fairly compensated but I simply choose not to. I feel my dream has come true!

Volunteering and helping people without getting paid is what superheroes do. You can be a superhero, too.

1. Why did the writer value the lunch breaks?

A．He could take delicious food.	B．He could free from the hard work.
C．He could do what he liked to do.	D．He could act as a superhero.

2. The underlined word “compensated” can be replaced by “            ”.

A．rewarded

B．refused

C．admitted

D．bargained

3. How did the writer realize his dream?

A．By working hard in the store.	B．By performing voluntary work.
C．By doing a lot of reading.	D．By choosing the right job.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Volunteering is fun.	B．Comic books and my childhood.
C．Be a superhero.	D．Do superheroes get paid?