1 . There is more that comes with older age than greying hair and wrinkled skin When humans reach their later years, they favour more established friends and their social circle is reduced.
Now, for what appears to be the first time, scientists have seen the same behaviour in another species. Twenty years of observations of chimpanzees (猩猩) reveal that older males choose to hang out with their long-term friends at the expense of other relationships.
The researchers studied 78, 000 hours of observations made between 1996 and 2016 that followed the social interactions of 21 male chimpanzees between the ages of 15 and 58 years old. They classified the chimps’ relationships depending on the amount of time they sat with others and groomed (梳毛) them. They then rated the various pairings as mutual (相互的) friendships, where both chimps seemed to enjoy the relationship; one-sided friendships, where one chimp was more keen to be friends than the other; and non-friendships, where neither chimp showed interest in the other.
When the scientists looked at the patterns of friendships, they found that the older chimps had more mutual friendships and fewer one-sided friendships than younger chimps. Another feature seen in older humans was also spotted in the chimps. As the males got older, their levels of aggression (挑衅) tailed off, meaning they started fewer fights and tended to intimidate others in their group less often.
The observations have left the researchers puzzled. According to an idea in psychology known as socioemotional selectivity theory, or SST, older humans prefer more positive relationships because they are aware time is running out. But many animal experts argue that chimpanzees lack the human sense of mortality (死亡), suggesting something else is driving the behaviour.
Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, said in humans, the decline in social circles with age is due to declining social motivation to get out and meet people combined by lack of opportunity. In chimpanzees, as older males compete less for mates, they may focus on close, reciprocal (互惠的) relationships with trusted partners, she said.
1. What do older male chimpanzees favour?| A．Old friendships. | B．New bonds. |
| C．Greying hair. | D．Wrinkled skin. |
| A．By turning to other scientists. |
| B．By introducing a new concept. |
| C．By forming relationships with them. |
| D．By analyzing two decades’ observations. |
| A．Threaten. | B．Motivate. | C．Defend. | D．Accompany. |
| A．Awareness of time. | B．Less competition for mates. |
| C．Low motivation for socialization. | D．Lack of the human sense of mortality. |
2 . That morning, I dropped our eldest at kindergarten and returned home to let our two younger children play while I worked on my medical report. It was a wonderful chance to work from home, but it hit me that my career in hospital wasn't making a difference in anyone's life. I needed something that would stretch my limits and push me to grow. My career enabled me to work from home. I could work from home, and become a foster mother, providing safety for a child who needed it desperately.
On Monday morning. I picked up the phone and dialed the number I had Googled for the nearest Department of Children's Services. The man on the other end was receptive to my questions and explained the next step of training, involving eight weeks of classes designed to prepare and educate foster parents. We continued through all the classes, the home visits, background checks, and seemingly endless steps.
Five long months after we were approved, the phone rang. In the middle of the night, I woke my husband and rushed to East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Our placement was waiting for us in the emergency room, sick and lack of nutrition. It didn't take long for us to realize the full depth of her suffering. Six months later, her half-brother came to us by our request. We now had five children under our care.
On August 12, 2016, our family of seven walked into a small courtroom. The children's lawyer and social worker were there. With just a few words, our adoption was finalized. These two amazing children weren't going home, because they were already home. We are their forever family, and they are our forever children. We may not be able to change the entire world, but we have changed the world entirely for our new children.
1. How did the author feel about her hospital work?| A．Lacking of motivation. | B．Filled with challenge. |
| C．Highly motivating. | D．Unusually Demanding. |
| A．She felt sympathetic for abused children she knew. |
| B．She wanted to make a difference in other people. |
| C．She felt confident about her ability to raise children. |
| D．She experienced training to raise children properly. |
| A．The child to be adopted. | B．The need to get trained. |
| C．The approval of adoption. | D．The official at the hospital. |
| A．To put the adopted kids elsewhere. | B．To receive another adopted child. |
| C．To make the adoption officially legal. | D．To begin the kids' adoption in her home. |
3 . Going to bed in one major city and waking up in another, toasting the landscape as a new country slips past; being rocked to sleep as you rattle across a continent. It's no wonder that the night trains of Europe have been a byword for romance.
In fact, over the past decade, much of Europe’s night train network has been cut. For many, it seemed the end of the line was near. But recently there has been a recovery of night trains across Europe. On December 8th 2020, four national rail providers teamed up to announce new routes between 13 European cities.
“You leave work at a usual time, have dinner, make your way to the Nation, get on the train, and wake up in the place you want to be. There’s no turning up at the airport at a very strange hour, as you do for a budget flight.” says Monisha Rajesh, author of “Around the World in 80 Trains.”
In fact, “flight shaming” has been sweeping across Europe in the past few years. In 2018, domestic flights were down 9% in Sweden.
The Covid-19 pandemic has helped, too. Trains are easier to social-distance on, says Rajesh. And night trains—where you can book an entire compartment to yourself—are even better.
Europe's geography also helps the argument for night trains, says Nicolas Forien, a member of Back on Track, who points out that half the flights leaving France are either internal, or going to a neighboring country. “The distance between European capitals is mostly ideal for night trains. The continent could be a night-train paradise.”
1. What does the author say about the night trains of Europe?| A．They run at a high speed. | B．They were popular among Europeans. |
| C．They experienced a down a century ago. | D．They bring passengers a sense of romance. |
| A．long. | B．cheap. | C．short. | D．expensive. |
①flight shaming ②the Covid-19 pandemic ③the maternal budget flight
④Europe’s geography ⑤the tourism boom
| A．①②⑤ | B．②③④ | C．①②④ | D．②④⑤ |
| A．Why Europeans choose to travel by night trains |
| B．How Europe’s night trains come back from the dead |
| C．When Europeans start taking an interest in night trains |
| D．Whether the network of Europe’s night train has been cut |
4 . “I don’t want to sigh when I get an invitation in the mail, but I can’t help it,” Susan, aged 30, tells us. “I want to go, but how do I explain I can’t?” Weddings are supposed to be about fun and togetherness — a time to get together and celebrate a huge life milestone.
However, more and more, they’ve become a source of tension and distance. When wedding season approaches and another wave of wedding invites start to roll in, many millennials are facing an uncomfortable truth – they’re just too expensive.
Because it’s not just the wedding. It’s the engagement party, the gifts and the airfare in the middle of high season to a destination wedding. The average bachelor party now costs an eye-watering $1,532 and the average bachelorette party isn’t far behind at $1,106, and that’s before we even get to the wedding, which, by the way, costs the average guest $1,386. It doesn’t matter how many times the thrifty among us can restyle the same old jumpsuit because the money you’re saving isn’t going to touch your Air BNB bill.
It’s no surprise that more people are saying no to wedding invitations because of the cost. And who can blame them? It’s hard to see another solution. It’s natural to want everyone you care about to be at your wedding, but it’s also understandable if you can’t afford to fly to three different weddings during six weeks.
The wedding machinery shows no signs of slowing down, so all we can do is have a little more sympathy. If you’re throwing a wedding, try to be sensitive about the cost and understanding when someone just can’t make it. We have to create more socially acceptable ways of celebrating a marriage without spending a month’s salary to be there to celebrate the big day. It really should be the thought that counts.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?| A．The average bachelor. | B．The expensive wedding. |
| C．The economical people | D．The saved money. |
| A．The weddings are too costly to attend. | B．They don’t care about the wedding. |
| C．They don’t have enough time to go. | D．The weddings are often disappointing. |
| A．People should spend a month’s salary to prepare a gift. |
| B．When throwing a wedding, people should be thoughtful. |
| C．A luxurious wedding contributes to a good marriage. |
| D．Wedding invitations should go unnoticed. |
| A．Weddings are about fun and togetherness. |
| B．It is an art to say no to wedding invitations. |
| C．Millennials are facing more and more tension. |
| D．Wedding invitations bring joy and burden to Millennials. |
5 . A ship that’s been frozen into the Arctic ice for the last year has finally returned home. After nearly 13 months, the researchers have gathered more detailed information on the Arctic than ever before. Much of the news is troubling.
The German ship RV Polarstern is normally designed to break a passage through ice. But last September, the ship set sail from Norway with the goal of getting frozen into the Arctic ice cap for a year. The mission was part of a $155 million project known as MOSAiC, whose goal is to learn more about the ice that forms near the North Pole and how it’s affected by climate change.
By last October, the ship had been frozen into the Arctic ice north of Siberia. Over the next year, more than 300 scientists from 20 different countries spent time on the boat, doing long-term research on the ice, over the ice, and under the ice. The boat held about 100 scientists and other workers at a time. The plan was for members of the team to be exchanged regularly.
The project leaders knew there would be many challenges related to the extreme cold, the ice, and even polar bears. But the team hadn’t planned on the coronavirus, which, for a time, made it impossible to swap out team members. That was one time the isolation helped, though, since the people on the Polarstern didn’t have to worry about catching the virus.
At the end of July, the team collected all of their gear from the ice, just before the ice was frozen. In September, the boat left the ice cap, finally returning to Germany on Monday. However, the news that the researchers bring back isn’t good.
1. What’s the aim to build RV Polarstern?| A．To break up ice. | B．To transport passengers. |
| C．To study MOSAiC. | D．To do research in Arctic. |
| A．More scientists took part. | B．Scientists got on well with each other. |
| C．The research turned out to be complex. | D．International cooperation has been adopted. |
| A．Challenge. | B．Separation. | C．Relaxation. | D．Determination. |
| A．Polarstern Drew Attention Once Again | B．Polarstern Returns After a Year in the Arctic |
| C．Polarstern Ends One-year Research Completely | D．Polarstern Gathers More Detailed Information |
6 . Scientists have designed “transparent wood” that could replace conventional glass in windows. The innovation was developed using wood from the balsa tree, which is native to South and Central America, and claims to be five times more thermally efficient than glass.
The team treated balsa wood in an oxidizing bath that bleaches it of nearly all visibility and then penetrated(渗透) it with a synthetic polymer (合成聚合物) called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), creating a product that is virtually transparent. Unlike traditional glass, the transparent wood can bear much stronger impacts and will bend or break when damaged, instead of shattering.
The transparent wood was created by teams at the University of Maryland and University of Colorado, which set out to find a greener alternative to conventional glass – a production that creates 25,000 tons in emissions each year.
Along with contributing to greenhouse gases, glass contributes to a loss of energy. Residential building windows in particular account for 10-25% of the heat loss due to their poor thermal management capability, the team wrote in the study. Exploring energy efficient window materials is thus highly desirable to address heating costs, energy shortages, and the global impact of climate change associated with increased carbon emissions.
The team notes that the bonding between PVA and cellulose in the wood, creates a tightly packed structure that allows for more thermal protection and makes it more long-lived and lighter than glass.
“Switching to transparent wood could prove to be cost efficient as well,” researchers shared in a statement. It is approximately five times more thermally efficient than glass, cutting energy costs. It is made from a sustainable, renewable resource with low carbon emissions. It’s also compatible with existing industrial processing equipment, making the transition into manufacturing an easy prospect.
1. What is the meaning of “transparent” in paragraph 1?| A．man-made | B．as clear as glass |
| C．energy–saving | D．environmentally-friendly |
| A．The material of it comes from a balsa tree in nature. |
| B．It won’t break into pieces even when damaged. |
| C．It is easier to lose heat to cool the room in summer. |
| D．It is lighter and can be used longer than glass. |
| A．A new way to produce transparent wood . |
| B．Transparent wood’s advantage over conventional glass. |
| C．A kind of tough wood is discovered. |
| D．More balsa trees will be planted. |
| A．to save cost and make more money. |
| B．to replace air conditioner and save energy. |
| C．to cut down greenhouse gas to protect environment. |
| D．to find a greener choice to replace glass. |
7 . What does being happy have to do with luck? To answer the question, a team of researchers from the UK and Hong Kong gave surveys to 844 English-speaking university students in Hong Kong. The survey questions measured their thoughts about luck and their happiness levels.
The researchers observed that less happy people believed in external (外在的) luck—the “Good luck with that!” variety that controls our good or bad. The authors point out that blaming “luck” for events and experiences makes people lose personal self-determination, which diminishes their sense of purpose and, in turn, their happiness. Believing we need luck to be successful may make us less determined to reach goals and take risks.
On the other hand, happier people believed themselves to be personally lucky. Viewing yourself as lucky, the researchers suggest, shows an active and positive attitude that develops hope and self-acceptance. Personally lucky people may feel more confident to try new things or act in ways that help others.
How does luck influence those people? Next, the research team asked those people to fill another survey. They found that people who believed in external luck were more likely to be less active, and in turn were less happy. Those who believe they’re especially lucky suffer less of a hit to happiness.
This study has its value. However, the data all come from surveys filled out by those surveyed, which means the responses may be too personal. Moreover, the use of a one-time survey means we cannot say that one thing causes another.
Although there are some limits, this study stresses the value of thinking about luck as something that benefits us. Moreover, this study helps explain why we call people “happy go lucky”—because happy is how we feel when we focus on how personally lucky we are.
1. What does the underlined word “diminishes” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Explains. | B．Reduces. | C．Develops. | D．Balances. |
| A．They are always helped by others. | B．They have a preference for the past. |
| C．They have confidence in themselves. | D．They like changing their own goals. |
| A．Its findings are unreliable. | B．It has space for improvement. |
| C．It is actually of little value. | D．Its research method is perfect. |
| A．The Connection Between Happiness and Luck |
| B．Being Happy Has Nothing to Do With Luck |
| C．How Less Happy People Can Become Luckier |
| D．The Latest Study on People’s Happiness Levels |
8 . Posing for a picture and flashing the V sign may expose your fingerprints, giving criminals an opportunity to steal your important information.
Researchers with the National Institute of Informatics in Japan successfully got fingerprint information from a picture during an experiment, even though the subject was photographed from three meters away, according to the newspaper.
“Once you share them on social media then they’re gone. Unlike a password you can’t change your fingers.”
Biometric（生物统计的） security is reaching the mainstream with more than 50 percent of mobile phones set to include fingerprint recognition for the first time in 2017. The technology is also used in immigration control and for access to high-security controlled areas.
Photos that include both people's faces and fingers run a higher risk of revealing personal information, and the risk for celebrities is even higher.
Chinese experts in fingerprint identification confirmed the possibility. "Technically, we can use high-definition video cameras to obtain people's fingerprints," said Dr. Yin Desen of the First Institute of the Ministry of Public Security. He also said that people's external features are easily recorded. However, compared to video, it is more difficult to obtain fingerprints through just one photo.
According to experts, criminals are able to use counterfeit fingerprints to commit crimes, such as stealing fingerprint passwords and signing agreements. Yin warned that people should pay more attention when they leave fingerprints or use them as passwords.
1. What is the difference between passwords and fingerprints?| A．Passwords can be changed. |
| B．It is simple to recognize fingerprints. |
| C．Fingerprints have a higher security level. |
| D．Passwords depend on users’ experience. |
| A．Fingerprint recognition. |
| B．Immigration control. |
| C．Vehicle identification. |
| D．High-security controlled area. |
| A．Reliable. | B．False. |
| C．Genuine. | D．Unique. |
| A．People should use passwords. |
| B．All the photos run a high risk of exposing personal information. |
| C．Passwords can be more easily stolen than fingerprints. |
| D．It’s easier to give away information of fingerprints through video. |
9 . Guests arriving at the Aloft Hotel in Manhattan or one in Silicon Valley will soon be able to do something hotels have dreamed about offering for years: walk past the check-in desk and enter their rooms by using a smartphone as a room key. The boutique hotel brand from Starwood to Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. plans to offer this feature at two hotels before the end of the quarter.
Starwood officials are hoping this will be one of the biggest technological changes in the industry since free Wi-Fi. “We believe this will become the new standard for how people will want to enter a hotel.” says Frits van Passchen, Starwood’s CEO.
Not everyone is so sure. Past attempts to use technology to streamline the check-in process have had mixed results. Robert Habeeb, president of the First Hospitality Group, says he pulled out check-in desks at two of his Holiday Inn hotels after finding that most guests ignored them. He found that many travelers will talk with a staff member and ensure their room has the right view or location, or to try for an upgrade. Other guests may still want to be greeted when they arrive.
Hotels have never been known for being in the forefront of technology, partly because many hotels are owned and managed by small companies. Many hotel operators, though, have been searching for ways to remove the bottlenecks (瓶颈) at a hotel’s front desk. “Everybody has to check in, but we are all doing it pretty much the same way we were 100 years ago,” says Christopher Nassetta, CEO for Hilton Worldwide holdings Inc. “It’s something we are seriously addressing.”
Yet it is still not clear that virtual keys will do better than previous attempts to beat traditional check-ins. An effort several years ago to allow guests to enter rooms with the magnetic strip (磁条) on their credit cards never became popular. Guests worried about security and were unwilling to give their kids credit cards instead of room keys.
1. According to the first two paragraphs, which of the following is NOT true?| A．The new room key may become a new standard of choosing a hotel. |
| B．Hotel officials hope the new room key will be a great change in hotel industry. |
| C．Aloft of Hotel in Manhattan will allow guests to use a smartphone as a room key. |
| D．All Starwood Hotels plan to offer the new room key before the end of the quarter. |
| A．unify | B．identify | C．simplify | D．beautify |
| A．it’s a good idea to cancel check-in |
| B．the way of check-in needs to be changed |
| C．the management of hotel needs to be improved |
| D．it depends on the hotel operators to update technology |
| A．secure | B．negative | C．bright | D．uncertain |
10 . I have always found the Chinese to be a very polite people. In particular, Chinese frequently compliment (称赞) foreign friends on their language skills, knowledge of Chinese culture, professional accomplishments, and personal health. Curiously, however, Chinese are as loath to accept a compliment as they are eager to give one. As many of my Chinese friends have explained, this is a sign of the Chinese virtue of modesty.
I have noticed a difference, though, in the degree to which modesty is emphasized in the United States and China. In the US, we tend to place more emphasis on “seeking the truth from fact”, thus, Americans tend to accept a compliment with gratitude.
Chinese, on the other hand, tend to reject the compliment, even when they know they deserve the credit or recognition which has been awarded them. I can imagine a Chinese basketball fan meeting Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He might say, “Mr. Jordan, I am so happy to meet you. I just want to tell you, you are the best basketball player in the world; you’re the greatest!” to which Jordan would probably respond, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate it! I just to try to do my best every time I step on the court.” If an American met Deng Yaping, China’s premier pingpong player, he might say much the same thing: “Ms. Deng, you’re the best!” but as a Chinese, Deng would probably say, “No, I really don’t play all that well. You’re too much kind.”
Plainly, Americans and Chinese have different ways of responding to praise. Ironically, many Americans might consider Ms. Deng’s response the less modest, because it is less truthful—and therefore less sincere. Americans generally place sincerity above manners; genuine gratitude for the praise serves as a substitute for protestations of modesty. After all, in the words of one of my closest Chinese friends, modesty taken to the extreme is pride.
1. What does the underlined word “loath” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Polite. | B．Uncertain. | C．Curious. | D．Unwilling. |
| A．To note they do as much as they can each time they play against others. |
| B．To remind readers they are the best players in basketball and table tennis. |
| C．To explain they deserve the credit or recognition for their great contributions. |
| D．To show they as Chinese and Americans are different in accepting praise. |
| A．They think sincerity matters the most. | B．They think her reply is against the fact. |
| C．They think she is too modest to believe. | D．They think manners is more important. |
| A．Education. | B．Sports. | C．Culture. | D．People. |
