1 . The city of Lviv, as I have seen it in winter greatly reminded me of several famous cities o£ Central and Eastern Europe that I have been to, such as Prague and Saint Petersburg. At the same time, it has many features that make this western Ukrainian （乌克兰）city unique. Lviv is rather small, though rich with historical heritages； as a result, you cannot make a single step without running into the next attraction.
The historical center, if it had no places of interest, could be crossed in no time；however you will need at least four days to gel a rough picture of it. But let me tell you everything in order.
The first thing that caught my eye was the architecture Perhaps, for those who have traveled across Europe it could seem less unique, but I was astonished? though I am a brat-up traveler. The reason for my surprise is that Lviv’s houses breathe with time：the city isn't, so restored as Prague, for instance, but accurate. So, while walking the streets you will repeatedly catch yourself imagining you got into the 17th century somehow；many regular buildings in Lviv are at least 2-3 centuries old.
Besides architecture which I will review in detail a bit later, I must mention two other phenomena that caught my attention in Lviv: the number of themed cafes and restaurants? and extremely polite and friendly people. As for the café they can be safely considered a landmark of the city；looking back, I can tell you that you can hardly find two cafes in Lviv that would be at least remotely similar to each other. During my first day, I visited the well-known "House of Legends where each floor and each dining hall is restricted to their own themes.
The atmosphere inside was relaxing, though there were lots of tourists like me, dropping in to take a picture. My advice：if you want to enjoy a beautiful cityscape, climb to the roof of this restaurant at sunset j sitting there with a glass of wine and watching the sun roll behind ancient roofs was an unforgettable experience for me,
People in Lviv are friendly；you can always count on help, even if you don’t know Ukrainian. The people I was talking to knew English quite well, knowledgeable enough to explain to me where I could go and what to see Many townsmen smiled without any obvious reason, though I arrived in Lviv the day before Christmas, so maybe this was the reason of the peoples’ uplifted mood.
1. What is so special about the city of Lviv?| A．The historical centre is very large. | B．The winter is extremely beautiful there. |
| C．The tourist sites are close to each other. | D．The features of this city are typical in Ukraine. |
| A．Because the city is poorly restored. |
| B．Because the houses changes through time. |
| C．Because the architecture seems less unique in Lviv. |
| D．Because the buildings looked the same as centuries ago. |
| A．Exhausted | B．Experienced | C．Energetic | D．Enthusiastic |
| A．Tourists' interest in taking pictures. |
| B．People being excited about Christ mas, |
| C．Local people's willingness in offering guidance. |
| D．Ail cafes having different themes for each floor, |
2 . ON TUESDAY， the Shenzhen team of Blue Sky Rescue， a nonprofit civil rescue team， confirmed that two of its members had died trying to rescue 24 tourists who had got into difficulties.
According to the official news， it was on Monday that the rescue team received a telephone call from 24 travelers， who were trapped in a river valley， with a storm on the way and one of the female travelers being badly injured.
The team responded immediately. However， when they helped the travelers， two team member got trapped by the rising river water. The next day， they were confirmed dead.
The two heroes who gave their own lives to save others are being mourned by all.
Who can rescue the rescuers？ The question aroused a heated discussion among people. Most of them think we would rather such "heroic deeds" were not required. However， that depends on people being more sensible. In the past several years， there have been many cases in which travelers， ignoring the signs saying certain areas are dangerous and off﹣limits， still have kept on "exploring" unpaved and unmarked regions and ended up needing to be rescued. By so doing， they put not only their own lives at risk but also the lives of those who go to their aid.
In this case， although the travelers may have been in an authorized area， they ignored the warnings of an approaching typhoon. It was extremely reckless（鲁莽） of them to travel into the wild on such a day， as the local weather forecast had warned people against the upcoming typhoon. Two rescuers have lost their lives because of the thoughtlessness of others.
The law has already made it clear that if a traveler or group gets into difficulties when entering unauthorized regions， they must bear the costs of the rescue operations. The regulations need strengthening to deter travelers from putting their own lives and the lives of others at risk.
1. What happened to a woman traveler？| A．She lost her way. |
| B．She was trapped on the mountain. |
| C．She died in the storm. |
| D．She was seriously hurt. |
| A．Critical. |
| B．Sympathetic. |
| C．Understanding. |
| D．Admiring. |
| A．protect. |
| B．keep. |
| C．excuse. |
| D．separate. |
| A．The Blue Sky Rescue. |
| B．Who can rescue the rescuers？ |
| C．Who should bear the costs？ |
| D．A deadly typhoon. |
3 . The proportion of teenage and young adults smokers in China has been increasing rapidly in recent years, which is an alarming trend, the president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Wang Chen said on Thursday.
Last year, 18.6 percent of people aged 15 to 24 in China were smokers, compared with 12. 5 percent in 2013 and 8.3 percent in 2003, Wang Chen said at a news conference on tobacco control. In contrast, tobacco prevalence among adults as a whole has been declining steadily in recent years-the percentage of smokers aged 15 and older last year in China was 26.6 percent, down from 27.7 percent in 2015, according to a report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in May. Despite a general decline, the smoking rate in China is still higher than in most other countries, Wang said.
“What is most worrisome is the rising prevalence of tobacco among young people, which represents a country’s future,” he said. “Young smokers are very likely to keep the habit for their entire lives, which can cause huge health and economic consequences.”
Smoking has been regarded as a major culprit in many chronic diseases, and tobacco control has played a significant role in health promotion efforts made in recent years by the Chinese government, which aims to reduce the smoking rate for people aged 15 and older to 20 percent by 2030.
Wang said a lot of young people are still not aware of the harmful effects caused by smoking, and more education is needed to reduce the rising smoking rate. In addition, tobacco advertisements and rampant smoking footage in films and television series can also encourage smoking among teenagers and young adults, and they should be banned. “Key groups, such as medical staff, schoolteachers, government officials and parents, should take the lead in quitting smoking to help create a nonsmoking environment for teenagers and young adults,” he said.
1. What can we know from the numbers listed in para. 2?| A．Adult smokers has been increasing steadily. |
| B．People aged 15 and older are more likely to smoke. |
| C．The numbers of young smokers has been rising rapidly. |
| D．Smoking rate in China is higher than any other country. |
| A．reminder | B．issue |
| C．cause | D．crisis |
| A．objective | B．concerned |
| C．indifferent | D．relieved |
| A．Smoking rate among youth is rising. | B．Smoking accounts for many chronic diseases. |
| C．Smoking is harmful to our environment. | D．Smoking footage in films should be banned. |
4 . New Character from Sesame Street
As a means of offering comfort to kids from every walk of life, Sesame Street is introducing a new character who lives in a foster（寄养的）home.
Karli, the foster kid, and her "for — now" parents, Dalia and Clem, are all being shown in a series of Sesame Street videos, storybooks, and interactive activities to offer support to children, foster parents, and foster care providers.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind the show, says they are starting their movements as part of their Sesame Street in Community program. It provides free, easy-to-use resources for community providers and caregivers on a range of topics, including tough issues like family homelessness and traumatic experiences, to help them support children as they explore the world of foster care, and they provide simple, approachable tools to help children feel safer.
The number of children in foster care in the US has grown for five continuous years. In response to the growing need for resources to serve children in foster care, Sesame Workshop partnered with national experts on foster care. The resources include proven strategies to improve relationships between caring adults and children and reduce the effects of traumatic experiences.
" Fostering a child takes patience, adaptability, and sacrifice, and we know that caring adults hold the power to reduce the effects of traumatic experiences on young children," says Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President of US Social Impact at Sesame Workshop. " We want foster parents and providers to hear that what they do is vital, as they have difficulty building and rebuilding family structures and children's sense of safety."
1. How does Sesame Street differ with new roles added?| A．It extends the significance of care projects. |
| B．It promotes the entertainment of the program. |
| C．It arouses people's awareness of care for teens. |
| D．It arrests the public's attention to foster kids. |
| A．Carefree. | B．Spiritless. |
| C．Miserable. | D．Irregular. |
| A．Supply care providers with expertise to attend kids. |
| B．Offer free and accessible approaches to aid foster care. |
| C．Present parents easy and adaptable tools to keep safe. |
| D．Release appointed programs to attract audience. |
| A．Foster parents and providers matter to foster kids. |
| B．Sesame Street operates well in foster centers. |
| C．Family structures make little sense to foster homes. |
| D．Foster children are challenged every day. |
5 . Looking at a pile of old photos, I couldn’t help feeling rather regretful.
I’ve never got into the habit of sorting out photos. However, it’s almost a habit of mine to have photos taken thoughtlessly. Thus, photos have been piling up in my childhood to womanhood. In spite of that, those black-and-white pictures taken in my early years are rarely kept, except a few survivals regarded as antiques. The bald baby picture of me that I treasured, the only one left, it’s now missing.
Familiar faces flash one by one before my eyes. Though the world is so small and we all live in it, yet we are separated by physical and psychological distances, some smaller, some larger. With the passage of time, one cannot, regretfully relive (重温) it with the same feeling as one had in the picture. What one can get from the old photos is but a bit of the past joy.
One takes pictures with different persons in different time and places. They fill one with nostalgia (怀旧) in various degrees — some more, some less, and others none. That’s why one has conflicting feelings towards the old photos. Still kept with the current ones, they’re even less favored than a daily-used cup, which is always close to the owner.
How these pieces of thought influence me! Photos keep our images rather than our sentiment, which may not remain. The image is always there but not its owner, whom the photo can’t keep, neither can it keep the event.
Of course, there are some of the photos still holding my affection, such as those taken with my family members, with favorite playmates, fellow girl-students and best friends, not only in pictures but also in my life and heart.
Now, since I have learned all this, I will not allow myself to be included casually in a photo taken with others. I’ll make sure that the friendship can last before I take a photo with somebody.
1. Why did the writer have only a few black-and-white pictures?| A．She took fewer of them. | B．She took photos thoughtlessly. |
| C．She didn’t take good care of them. | D．She only liked the bald baby picture. |
| A．All the past events. | B．All the past excitement. |
| C．Some past happiness. | D．The everlasting memory. |
| A．Feeling. | B．Thought. | C．Look. | D．Influence. |
| A．To take the photo happily. | B．To refuse the request politely. |
| C．To ignore the request casually. | D．To think carefully before action. |
6 . A team of scientists have studied thousands of species of birds to understand why there is so much diversity in the length of time they take to grow from a fertilized (受精的) egg into an independent adult. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first one to consider the importance of lifestyle and environmental factors alongside evolutionary history and body size to explain the variation.
All organisms face a trade-off (交换) between reproducing and surviving and they solve this problem in different ways. The team found that migratory birds develop much quicker, which may ensure they are ready to return to their winter habitats at the end of each summer. Findings showed that birds that breed and live in safer environments with fewer predators typically took longer to develop, possibly because they can afford to spend longer since there is no danger or need to leave. They also found that bird species with a “live fast die young” strategy develop quicker, allowing them to maximize the number of offspring (后代) they can produce in the short time available. As expected, the research showed that bigger birds took longer to develop — but even among birds of a similar size there was variation in development times.
Dr. Chris Cooney, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences and lead author of the research, said, “The amount of time it takes for a fertilized egg to develop into a fully grown adult varies hugely across the animal kingdom. For instance, it takes an elephant almost 10 years to reach independence, whereas a fruit fly is fully grown after only a matter of days. This extraordinary diversity is also prevalent within birds, where albatrosses (信天翁) can take almost a year to develop from an embryo (胚胎) to an independent adult, but a typical UK garden songbird (鸣禽) takes little more than a month. We found that certain aspects of a species’ lifestyle and environment are important in explaining how long they take to develop.”
The study on birds gives scientists some clues about the type of factors that may be important in other species. However, it may be that different factors are important for determining development length in other animal groups. Therefore, the next step is to address these questions using data that covers the whole scale of the animal kingdom — from fish to mammals to insects — to gain an even broader insight into the factors shaping these fundamental differences across species.
1. What does the study mainly focus on?| A．The number of bird species. | B．The changes of bird habitats. |
| C．The development length of birds. | D．The life span of birds. |
| A．Rare. | B．Common. | C．Special. | D．Strange. |
| A．The development times vary with the species. |
| B．Size determines the speed of birds’ development. |
| C．Animals living in the same place develop at the same rate. |
| D．Bigger animals always grow more slowly than smaller ones. |
| A．To study the cause of the species diversity. |
| B．To show the basic differences among species. |
| C．To explore the evolutionary history of animals. |
| D．To figure out other factors in development length. |
7 . I just counted how many foreign languages: it’s been twelve!
I always follow my interests and find ways to put my language learning into things I’m already interested in. I like to read blogs in other languages. I found them the perfect learning tool because they’re usually written in oral language, so I don’t have to worry much about adopting strange terms that are only used in writing.
Movies are also a really good tool, especially if you can find subtitles in the language you’re learning. Though they don’t always exactly match what’s being said, they will still keep your brain listening and reading in the same language. Music is another way to start listening to things in your new language. Personally, this doesn’t really work for me, but I have friends who learn a language through lyrics. Games are also an excellent way of studying a new language. A lot of language learning computer programs include games. I’m super competitive and if I play any of them, I can be hooked for hours.
When the initial excitement of learning a new language begins to fade, it can be hard to stick with it. Ideally I will sign up to take a big language exam because then I’ll have to keep studying, and work to master the details that seem unimportant enough in everyday usage that I tend to just ignore them. Each time I start getting complacent, it’s time to take a new course or sign up for online lessons, or take up some sort of challenge that will require me to level up my skills.
I also try to think in the language I’m learning. The best language class I’ve ever taken was my beginner’s Russian course at university where my professor never used any English. It got to the point where I would kind of just forget about English while in Russian class, which helped me to really immerse myself in the Russian language and do a lot with the limited Russian I had.
1. Why are blogs perfect learning tool according to the author?| A．Because they only use oral language. |
| B．Because they don’t use professional terms. |
| C．Because they often use several languages. |
| D．Because their language is usually informal. |
| A．Take an exam. | B．Stick with it. |
| C．Sign up for online lessons. | D．Choose a new course. |
| A．bored | B．discouraged | C．self-satisfied | D．self-disciplined |
| A．To call on readers to learn new languages. |
| B．To share personal language learning tips. |
| C．To recommend some blogs and movies to language learners. |
| D．To help deal with common problems in learning new languages. |
8 . The reason why dominant (占支配地位的) men always seem to rise to the top has been uncovered. Researchers say they are able to make decisions far faster than those with nondom-inant personalities. It could explain why so many top CEOs and politicians are known for their dominant personalities.
The study found high-dominance men respond faster in situations where a choice is needed, regardless of social context. Promptness (敏捷) to respond in high-dominance men was accompanied by a noticeably amplified brain signal. In addition, when the researchers analyzed the EEG (脑电图) images of the high-dominance participants, they identified a higher activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and behavior, compared to low-dominance participants.
This promptness in decision-making can act as a biomarker for social personalities. “Dominance itself depends partly on the ability to make decisions faster than others. This allows the individual to act first in social situations, which might result in an evolutionary advantage.” the team wrote.
They now hope to link these reading to roles such as CEOs, and to find out if the same differences happen in female. and children. “In the future, it will be important to find out whether even stronger brain signals are observed in particularly dominant individuals, such as CEOs,” said Carmen Sandi of the Ecole Poly technique Federale de Lausanne.
She added, “It will also be relevant to understand whether these differences in promptness to respond and brain signals are also observed in women that differ in dominance and whether they are already present in children. Our findings may open a new research approach using EEG signatures as a measure for social dominance.”
The study involved 240 male students at the University of Lausanne who were sorted into high or low dominance groups by a standard “dominance scoring” questionnaire proved in many former studies.
1. What makes dominant people stand out?| A．Their wiser decisions. | B．Their kind personalities. |
| C．Their high social status. | D．Their rapidity of responding. |
| A．affected | B．adjusted | C．enhanced | D．controlled |
| A．Save people's life. | B．Check on more people. |
| C．Test the participants' brain. | D．Show the effect of dominance. |
| A．It used previous research findings. |
| B．It involved some women and children. |
| C．It showed how people became CEOs. |
| D．It corrected people’s ideas of dominance. |
9 . School children across the United States have been taking part in local and state spelling competitions. These competitions are called spelling bees. The young competitors spell words that even some adults may never have heard of.
More than 280 local winners will earn the right to compete in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. The event will take place from May 28 to June 3 near Washington, D.C., at the National Harbor in Maryland.
Most competitors in the National Spelling Bee are between the ages of 12 and 14. But this year, one competitor will be less than half that age — five-year-old Edith Fuller.
Last weekend, she won an area spelling bee in her home state of Oklahoma. The five-hour competition lasted 37 rounds. Edith correctly spelled words like sevruga(闪光鲟鱼子酱), jacamar (a kind of bird), and Nisei (a child of Japanese immigrants).
Her winning word? Jnana, a Sanskrit(梵语的) word that is related to having a higher level of knowledge. Remember, Edith is five. She is the youngest person ever to qualify for the National Spelling Bee.
Not so long ago, when she was just four, Edith surprised her parents when she was able to spell the word “restaurant”. At that moment, her mom and dad realized their child might have a mental gift.
Edith is home-schooled. So, her parents are able to spend a little more time teaching her to spell.
About two percent of US children are home-schooled. Yet, home-schooled kids usually make up 8 to 10 percent of those who make it to the National Spelling Bee.
Now, the Fullers must prepare young Edith for the national bee. But no matter how she does there, Edith is already being called a “spellebrity”.
1. According to the passage, what can be learned about spelling bees?| A．There is an age limit to competitors of spelling bees. |
| B．The competitors can spell words unheard of by some adults. |
| C．The local Spelling Bee lasts five hours with 37 rounds every year. |
| D．About 8 to 10 percent home-schoolers will attend the National Spelling Bee. |
| A．Jnana. | B．Jacamar. | C．Nisei. | D．Sevruga. |
| A．A person who is spelling. |
| B．A person who is famous. |
| C．A person who is talented. |
| D．A person who is good at spelling. |
| A．Edith and home-schooling. |
| B．The National Spelling Bee. |
| C．The amazing achievements of home-schooling. |
| D．The youngest National Spelling Bee competitor. |
10 . Have you ever wondered what wild animals do when no one is watching?
Low cost, dependable and small modern cameras offered a big help. Cameras placed in hard-to-reach places have shot everything from small desert cats to larger snow-lowing cats in the northern Rocky Mountains. Scientists have been able to document the “private” moments of wildlife with leading technology.
Grant Harris is a government biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In his words, “there’s no doubt that these wild cameras are important tools to learn new information on wildlife.” Harris said some images help scientists see the influences of climate (气候) change.
Researchers with the Wyoming Migration Initiative, or WMI, are among those using wild cameras along with global positioning systems, or GPS. But WMI director Matthew Kauffman says as those devices (设备) are limited (有限的), so is the amount of information they can gather. However, cameras can be left in very wild areas for days, weeks or even months. They can provide information on how many animals are moving over a given period of time.
Putting those cameras in place requires careful planning. Wild video can show details about animal behavior. However, wild cameras have their problems too. Animals such as wolverines and bears sometimes attack (袭击) them. Scientists do not know if the attacks are the result of anger or interest. Also, the devices have become popular tools to help hunters look for animals. Some people argue that it is unfair to use the cameras that way.
Even with such problems, wild cameras are clearly an important scientific tool in researching wild animals.
1. What does the underlined word “document” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Remind. | B．Enrich. | C．Produce. | D．Record. |
| A．They cannot be left in the wild over a long period. |
| B．They cannot be placed in hard-to-reach areas. |
| C．They provide limited information. |
| D．They might be stolen by people. |
| A．It is difficult to fix the cameras. |
| B．It helps hunters find animals easily. |
| C．It is hard to achieve careful planning. |
| D．It makes animals interested in the cameras. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supporting. | C．Uncertain. | D．Uninterested. |
