1 . For most people, graduation is an exciting day the celebration of years of hard work. My graduation day... was not.
I remember that weekend two years ago. Family and friends had flown in from across the country to watch our class walk across that stage. But like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy turn from bad to worse. What I thought would take a week dragged into two. and then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself in the exact same spot as 1 was before. And the due date to begin paying back my student loans was creeping ever closer.
You know that feeling when you wake up and you are just consumed with fear? Fear about something you can't control—that sense of approaching failure that remains over you as you hope that everything that happened to you thus far was just a bad dream? That feeling became a constant in my life. And the most frustrating part was no matter how much 1 tried, 1 just couldn't seem to make any progress.
So what did I do to maintain my sanity（理智）？ I wrote. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer—a little brighter. Something about writing gave me hope. And if you want something badly enough... sometimes a little hope is all you need! So I channeled my frustration into a children's book. And then one day, without any sort of writing degree or contacts in the writing world — just a lol of hard work and perseverance—I was offered a publishing contract for my first book! After that, things slowly began to fall into place. 1 was offered a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an interview with The Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.
The moral of this story is... don't give up. Even if things look bleak now, don't give up. Things change If you work hard, give it time, and don't give up, things will always get better Oftentimes all we need is the courage to push beyond the river.
1. From Paragraph 2, we can learn that the author probably.| A．was having an exciting graduation |
| B．was getting into financial difficulties |
| C．missed the life in the university |
| D．had just applied for the student loans |
| A．By sending applications. | B．By offering contracts. |
| C．By keeping writing. | D．By publishing books. |
| A．unattractive | B．hopeless |
| C．thrilling | D．promising |
| A．Success belongs to the persevering. |
| B．A contented mind is a perpetual（长久的）feast. |
| C．A smooth sea never makes a skillful mariner. |
| D．Misfortunes tell us what fortune is. |
2 . Social distancing is not a new concept in the natural world, where infectious diseases are commonplace. Through specialized senses animals can detect certain diseases and change their behavior to avoid getting ill.
In 1966, while studying chimps (猩猩) in a Tanzanian national park, zoologist Jane Goodall observed a chimp named McGregor who had caught a highly infectious virus. His fellow chimps attacked him and threw him out of the troop. In one instance, McGregor approached chimps in a tree. He reached out a hand in greeting, but the others moved away without a backward glance.
“For a full two minutes, old McGregor sat motionless, staring after them,” Goodall notes in her 1971 book In the Shadow of Man. “It’s really not that different to how some societies react today to such a tragedy.”
Not all animals are so aggressive toward their ailing neighbors. Sometimes it’s as simple as avoiding those who may infect you.
When Kiesecker, a lead scientist in America, studied American bullfrog in the late 1990s, he found that bullfrogs could not only detect a deadly smell of infection in other bullfrogs, but healthy members actively avoided those that were sick. Bullfrogs rely on chemicals signals to determine who is sick or not.
Caribbean lobsters also shun diseased members of their community, well before they become infectious. It takes about eight weeks for lobsters infected with the deadly virus Panulirus argus mininuceovirus to become dangerous to others. Normally social animals, lobsters begin keeping away from the diseased as early as four weeks after infection – once the lobsters can smell certain chemicals released by sick individuals.
Overall, it’s important to note that, unlike us, animals don’t realize if they stay home, they might actually reduce the infection rate,” Kiesecker explains. “As humans, we have that ability. It’s a big difference.”
1. What can we learn about the chimps from Goodall’s observation?| A．They kept a distance from one another. |
| B．They became aggressive when infected. |
| C．The infected avoided contact with others. |
| D．The infected were forced to leave the group. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Cure. | C．Get rid of. | D．Get along with. |
| A．Humans are more sensitive to virus. |
| B．Humans are less likely to get infected. |
| C．Humans treat infectious diseases in a wiser way. |
| D．Humans can detect chemical signals more quickly. |
| A．Help Me Out |
| B．Leave Me Alone |
| C．Stay Away From Us |
| D．Stay Home Stay Healthy |
3 . My guide Farah, a tall, slim woman in her late 30s, wears jeans and a simple manteau. In public, wearing this robe(长袍）,covering neck to knee is a must for women in Iran. Her long, straight black hair is hidden beneath her headscarf.
We're heading to Tajrish Bazaar in north Tehran, to explore ten different kinds of dried plums and other goodies. We choose the Metro- Farah for its convenience, and I, for a chance to go underground in the capital of Iran, because it provides a picture of the city most tourists never see.
Women and men sit separately on the train, but the rule is relaxed during busy times, like now. We, along with a few other women, clasp(握紧）our hands around a pole, standing next to men, young and old. Two stops later, and about 20 commuters（通勤者）fewer, segregation happens naturally-women at one and,men at the other, still within view,but separate.
A handful of fashionable girls admire their own reflections in the window. They wear tight leggings under their brightly colored robes, pushing back headscarves and boundaries. We find seats next to a group of conservative women dressed in black cloaks（斗篷）called chador. They are nothing like the other women I have met, most of them liberal.
＂We're a nation with one language," Farah says, “divided in two-traditional and modern."She tells me that it' all began, not with imports from the West, but with the 1979 revolution. A combination of education and a bad economy created a society where women now have independence, careers, and husbands feel obliged to help with household chores.
1. Why did the author choose to take the Metro?| A．Because it was accessible and convenient. |
| B．Because she would see a more realistic city. |
| C．Because she could sit separately on the train. |
| D．Because she would travel markets for goodies. |
| A．In rush hours. | B．At dawn. | C．At midday. | D．At midnight. |
| A．Conflict. | B．Isolation. | C．Combination. | D．Discrimination. |
| A．Iranian girls can dress as freely as they like. |
| B．Iran has strict rules for seating arrangements. |
| C．Iranian men never offer help with housework. |
| D．Wearing a robe is a daily routine of Iranian women. |
4 . I've handled chopsticks skillfully for decades. While it used to amuse me, it mildly annoys me now that Chinese react with astonishment to see a foreigner handle them — as if someone from a country that put a man on the moon would somehow be incapable of handling two simple sticks. As you can see, China's influence stretched far and wide long before opening-up in the late 1970s or today's Belt and Road Initiative. So the idea that most foreigners cannot use chopsticks is, simply put, fiddlesticks.
My first exposure to chopsticks came way back in the 1960s via the elementary piano tune known as Chopsticks, which aroused my curiosity as to what the word meant. Not long afterward, my parents introduced me to Chinese food at King Fong Cafe in Omaha, Nebraska, which, I only learned recently, was among the landmarks of the heartland city's once-thriving Chinatown in the early 1900s.
In fact, I have undergone special kuaizi training (improving skills, for example, by constantly picking up peanuts when I lived with my Chinese tai chi master) and experimentation (exploring the use of chopsticks to snap up popcorn and donuts；I'm working on ice cream).
But there's one western food for which chopsticks are truly a godsend： salads. After moving to China in 2014, I bought a salad at a convenience store, and the clerk handed me kuaizi. I refused at first, but then thought, “All right” and gave it a try.
Amazingly useful! I could pick and choose each small piece much more carefully, without having to move awkwardly trying to spear the crispy carrot or cherry tomato and then move it mouth ward.
Another clear advantage of these simplest of tools is that they regulate the pace and volume of eating. It's much harder to “pig out” by shoveling food with chopsticks than with a fork and spoon.
However, in the spirit of globalization, let's not overlook the finer points of knife and fork. In fact, a handy thing about the fork is that everyone can basically use it with each hand. I dare to say that, for Chinese and foreigners alike, switching hands while using chopsticks is not so readily done with confidence.
1. What makes the writer feel unhappy about using chopsticks?| A．People's finding it amusing. |
| B．Not being able to handle them easily. |
| C．Feeling as if he/she was on the moon. |
| D．Chinese strange look on seeing him/her using them. |
| A．A norm. | B．A nonsense. | C．A joke. | D．A shame. |
| A．He/She first learnt to use them when listening to a piano tune. |
| B．He/She can use chopsticks to eat ice cream skillfully. |
| C．Chopsticks prove useful in eating any western food. |
| D．Using chopsticks limits one's intake of food. |
| A．How to Use Chopsticks |
| B．Chopsticks VS Knife and Fork |
| C．My Experience with Chopsticks |
| D．The Globalization of Chopsticks |
5 . The world’s first fully electric plane has flown successfully for almost 15 minutes. The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft took its first test flight on Tuesday, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and offering hope that airlines may one day end their polluting emissions.
“This proves that commercial airmail in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, CEO of Seattle-based engineering firm MagniX. The company designed the plane’s motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air, which carries half a million passengers a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and coastal communities. Ganzarski said the technology would mean significant cost savings for airlines—not to mention zero emissions. “This signifies the start of the electric airmail age,” he told reporters.
Civil airmail is one of the fastest growing sources of carbon emissions as people increasingly take to the skies and new technologies have been slow to make remarkable progress. At 285 grammes of CO2 emitted per kilometre (mile) travelled by each passenger, airline industry emissions far exceed those from all other transport, according to the European Environment Agency.
The e-plane—a 62-year-old, six-passenger DHC –2 de Havilland Beaver seaplane improved on with an electric motor—was piloted by Greg McDougall, founder and CEO of Harbour Air. “For me that flight was just like flying a Beaver, but it was a Beaver on electric steroids (电动兴奋剂). I actually had to turn off the power button,” he said. McDougall took the plane in a short circle along the Fraser River near Vancouver International Airport in front of around 100 onlookers soon after sunrise.
1. What can we know from the first fully electric plane’s success?| A．The flying time of e-plane is 15 minutes at most. |
| B．The fully electric commercial airmail has functioned. |
| C．Airlines may realize the goal of zero emissions. |
| D．The fully electric plane never does damage to the environment. |
| A．Means. | B．Proves. | C．Changes. | D．Follows. |
| A．The pollution caused by passengers. | B．The backward airmail technology. |
| C．The current situation of civil airmail. | D．The growing sources of carbon emissions. |
| A．Shocked. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
6 . Anyone caring about their health will be able to speak out a few of the major vitamins, and possibly take an educated guess at what they do. Vitamin C, found in oranges and other fruit and vegetables, is important for wound repair. And the much-talked-about “sunshine” vitamin D, produced by the skin in response to UV light, is essential for strong bones.
But what about vitamin P? It might well have you scratching your head. And that's not surprising: the term was first coined in the 1930s to describe a small group of compounds that provide pigment (天然色素) to plants, and were believed to have health benefits. A century later, these compounds are now better known as flavonoids (类黄酮)．
Today, scientists have identified between 4,000 and 6,000 different kinds and we now know they are responsible for many of the flavors and smells of fruit and vegetables and also that they protect them from invaders such as pests and bacteria.
They are equally important nutrients for the body, helping maintain bones and teeth, and for the production of the protein collagen (胶原), which provides structure to blood vessels, muscles and skin.
They are also said to help the body deal with some of the key drivers of illness, including oxidation (氧化), a natural process by which the body's cells age and can become damaged and defective. That means they could help to protect against chronic diseases including cancer and heart disease.
1. What do we know about vitamin P?| A．We would scratch our head if we took it. |
| B．It refers to the compounds also called flavonoids. |
| C．It was made into a coin in the 1930s. |
| D．People didn't think it beneficial in the past. |
| A．Helping maintain bones and teeth. |
| B．Assisting in producing protein collagen. |
| C．Accelerating the circulation of the blood. |
| D．Aiding the body to handle the main factors of illness. |
| A．Harmful. | B．Discouraged. |
| C．Vague. | D．Deficient. |
| A．By fighting against oxidation. | B．By maintaining bones. |
| C．By strengthening muscles. | D．By protecting against chronic diseases. |
7 . I was in the seventh grade, and we had moved to New Jersey in November. By then, everyone already had had their own friends, and no one wanted to talk to a new girl. To make things worse, they put me in ''Section L''. I found out later that everyone called Section L ''Loserville''. It was sort of an open secret that it was the section for troublemakers and not-so-smart kids. When I found out, I wanted to scream. I had always been a good student and had amazing friends, and now everyone thought I was a loser!
I did text my friends in Illinois almost every night, especially my best friend, Ana. At first my friends wanted to hear all about it. But then some stopped texting back once I said something about how miserable I was. One night when I was texting with Ana, I complained about another friend who had just done that. Anas texts came really fast for the next few minutes and they surprised me. She said that she was tired of hearing about how bad everything was in New Jersey, too. She said she did not want to hurt my feelings but that I needed to stop feeling so sorry for myself all the time, and I had to try to make things better.
The next day, I thought a lot about what Ana had said. She was right!
I wish I could say that everything changed overnight after that, but it didn't, I was still stuck in ''Loserville'', and some people were still mean (苛刻) to me, even though I tried to just stay out of their way.
But what did change was me — I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and did something about making friends. I signed up to make sets for the school play. I met a lot of new people there, and suddenly I had friends to say hi to in the halls!
I still miss Illinois sometimes, but life in New Jersey isn't so hard anymore. Even though I couldn't change my situation, I could change my attitude — and that made all the difference.
1. ''Loserville'' is a section for ________.| A．smart students | B．low achievers |
| C．class leaders | D．new comers |
| A．Ana didn’t text back to her | B．she was a good student |
| C．her friends hurt her feelings | D．she was unfairly treated |
| A．She managed to go back to Illinois. | B．She ended the friendship with Ana. |
| C．She began to make friends with others. | D．She fought back with her classmates. |
| A．Everlasting Friendship | B．Say Goodbye to ''Loserville'' |
| C．An Incident at School | D．Unhappiness in ''Loserville'' |
8 . It was late, about 10:15 p.m, when Janice Esposito arrived at the New York train station and began the 20-minute drive home. She had traveled the route so many times that she almost drove on autopilot (自动驾驶):a left onto Station Road, then a left on Montauk Highway, and then-bang! Out of nowhere, a car T-boned Janice’s car, pushing her backward onto the railroad tracks.
As it happened, Pole DiPinto was gelling ready for bed. He'd just closed his book when he heard the loud crash not far outside his bedroom window. A volunteer firefighter and retired teacher, 64, never stopped to think, He grabbed a flashlight and still in his pajamas (睡衣), ran out the door. “Any firefighter would have? done what I did,” he said, “We're always on duly.”
The first car he came upon was the one that had hit Janice. Once DiPinto concluded the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Janice's car lay across the railroad tracks. And then he heard a terrible sound: the bells signaling an on-coming train.
DiPinto rushed to Janice's cur and banged on the driver's side window. She just looked at him, her eyes unfocused. “I don't know where I am,” she said. She seemed unhurt. “Honey, you're on the railroad tracks,” DiPinto shouted, “We have to get you off right now!” He pulled hard on the door handle, but it didn't work. The heavy train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was heading toward them. DiPinto ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. “Please, God, don't let her be trapped”, he thought. He pushed aside the airbags, grabbed Janice's arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he could help her out and walk her to safety. Within six seconds, he estimated, the train crashed into the car.
“It was like a Hollywood movie,” DiPinto told reporters the next day. But this one had a difference. That night, the hero arrived in pajamas, not in a fire truck.
1. Which of the following words can best replace the underlined word "T-boned" in Paragraph 1?| A．Crashed into. | B．Came across. |
| C．Pushed forward. | D．Scratched the side of. |
| A．He was the volunteer firefighter who was on duty that night. |
| B．He wasn't aware of the coming train when he was rescuing Janice. |
| C．He was in sound sleep in his bedroom when the accident happened. |
| D．He first confirmed the other driver before he came to Janice's rescue. |
| A．Janice didn't know where she was. |
| B．The airbags protected her in some way. |
| C．DiPinto rescued Janice without difficulty. |
| D．All the doors of Janice's car were in good condition. |
| A．A Hero in Pajamas. | B．A Hollywood Movie. |
| C．A Dangerous Heavy Train. | D．A Horrible Car Accident. |
9 . It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child's bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle. After a while the whistle blew. It was like throwing a basket of chum into a tank of sharks. I told my wife that if we obtained a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.
As the boxes of bikes began to gradually decrease, I saw my opportunity to wrap my hands around the corner of one of them. I lifted it off and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up to see one of the largest men I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not enough to describe his presence. He was decorated with numerous leather belts with metal buttons around both arms and even his neck. Tattoos (纹身) were an obvious passion of his.
I started to loosen the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Merry Christmas.”
My wife and I went to the checkout, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a human heart in a simple act of a stranger broke all preconceived notions (先入为主) I may have had. I will never forget it.
1. What does the underlined word “chum” mean in Paragraph1?| A．Gifts. | B．Food. |
| C．Goods. | D．Souvenirs. |
| A．The author didn't want to buy it. | B．The man needed it more. |
| C．The author was frightened by the man. | D．The man got the box first. |
| A．The Best Christmas Gift. | B．The Largest Man I Have Ever Seen. |
| C．An Unforgettable Bike. | D．A Shopping Experience. |
10 . Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1. Which of the following is an example of the “extra minute” rule?| A．Start the car the moment everyone is seated. |
| B．Leave the room for a minute with the iron working. |
| C．Wait for an extra minute so that the steak tastes better. |
| D．Move an object out of the way before it trips someone. |
| A．keep her appointment with the eye doctor |
| B．meet her father who was already an old man |
| C．join in the holiday celebration of the company |
| D．finish her work before the deadline approached |
| A．abandoned | B．lacked |
| C．avoided | D．taken |
| A．To Keep Emotional Well-being | B．To Prevent “If Only” Moments |
| C．To Follow the Most Useful Rule | D．To Achieve the Peace of Mind |
