1 . Qomolangma is the world’s highest mountain. You may have learned from your textbooks that its height is 8,844 meters. But not all sides are in agreement on this. Different researchers have given different results. In addition, the height of the mountain can change over time.
That’s why a 30-member Chinese survey team set out to reach the peak of Qomolangma to re-measure its height on May 6. They are equipped with the latest technology. It is not an easy task. The average air temperature on the mountain is-29℃-four degrees lower than in Antarctica-and powerful winds blow all the time. In such bad conditions, surveying drones (无人机) cannot work at the peak of the mountain. That’s why it’s still necessary to send human experts to the peak to get reliable results.
But does a difference of a few meters really matter when it comes to a high mountain?
In fact, measuring the height of Qomolangma is about more than just getting one exact number. Mount Qomolangma is at the point where the Eurasian plate (欧亚板块) meets the Indian plate. It formed 38 million years ago as the two plates hit each other. Changes in the peak’s height can show whether the two plates are heading toward or away from each other. This can help us understand the movement of Earth’s crust (地壳).
The survey team will also get firsthand information about environmental conditions at the top of the mountain. This will help us understand how climate change has affected the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau (青藏高原).
1. Which statement is true according to the first paragraph?| A．Researchers measures the height of Qomolangma every year. |
| B．There is no agreed-upon height of Qomolangma at present. |
| C．It’s easy to measure the height of Qomolangma. |
| D．The height of Qomolangma increases every year. |
| A．point | B．top | C．base | D．edge |
| A．A lack of water. | B．Dangerous animals. |
| C．Bad weather conditions. | D．The movement of Earth’s crust. |
| A．Why measuring the height of Qomolangma is important. |
| B．What is the height of Qomolangma. |
| C．How Qomolangma became the highest mountain. |
| D．How plate movements have affected the height of Qomolangma. |
2 . I have been receiving so much kindness. It was difficult for an independent girl like me to accept it at first. At times, my financial situation is not the best. But with that comes a great lesson in appreciation, budgeting, and deciding what is and what isn't important.
A few times I've had to put off or even give up things. Because of my scarcity on money, I had to give up a keep-fit exercise, which is something I like to treat myself regularly. When my coach Lisa heard about this, she offered me training at a highly discounted price. At first this made me very uncomfortable. I feared that she would wrongly think that I was going to bargain and of course I wasn't. Instead, I was just being honest about my situation— being short of money. I finally accepted her offer, remembering that I deserve kindness, too.
Another time, I noticed a friend of mine selling his old exercise bike, which was perfect for me, as I was looking to replace my broken one. I told him that I would take it when I had the money, but then life got in the way. When I finally got the time to pick it up, I realized my financial shortcomings again. I asked him if he could hold onto it for one more week, as then I'd have the funds again. He was happy to do this, but instead he insisted on offering me the bike as a gift. Another opportunity presents itself to teach me how to receive with dignity.
I continue to slowly learn how to accept the kindness from others. In fact, the relationship between giving and receiving is closely linked. When you accept the kindness from others with joy, they will feel happy, too.
1. How did the author feel at first when she received kindness from others?| A．Happy. | B．Unfair. | C．Proud. | D．Unacceptable. |
| A．Scare. | B．Independence. | C．Lack. | D．Principle. |
| A．Being punished. | B．Being misunderstood. |
| C．Accepting her coach's strict training. | D．Giving away the secret of her being short of money. |
| A．She got it for free. | B．She paid much money for it. |
| C．She bought it from her coach. | D．She borrowed it from her friend. |
3 . When I was six, I was so desperate to be out in nature. I’d be transported through David’s documentaries (纪录片) to all these amazing places. I did a PhD studying ants and butterflies, before getting a call from the BBC asking about my work for a show called Life in the Undergrowth. I was so excited and immediately begged, “Please let me help!”
Sir David himself came to film with me, so I got to meet him early on, and he is the loveliest person. Something was wrong with the car. He dived straight under it to try to fix it. His enthusiasm and passion was so real. The first trip I did with him was to Israel as an assistant producer, then in Madagascar. My dream came true.
Usually, we spend six weeks filming for about three minutes of TV. What usually happens is that we’re going to film one thing but the animal ends up doing something else. We stay in whatever basic accommodation is the closest, because we can’t waste time on the way. So it’s rare that we stay in a hotel. Patience is the key, then learning and listening.
Of course you encounter animals that could hurt you. There was a moment on Planet Earth where a wolf approached me and we had to push it off with a camera. During filming for Seven Worlds we came across a beautiful but deadly snake, which casually came into our room. I took it up in a hat and put it back into the jungle. I still remember the chimps in Senegal jumped on a tree next to me and pushed it to the ground. He was like saying, “You can stay here, but if I wanted to crash you, I could.”
When we film certain animals, like lions for example, we must be vigilant. We know they will attack other creatures for their territories, but there’s something fascinating in the small creatures. I’ve always cared about these beautiful lives and the planet. I desperately want to preserve the creatures in the natural world.
1. Why did the author agree to work for BBC?| A．He could work with David. | B．He would travel abroad. |
| C．He could study more animals. | D．He would become famous. |
| A．Enthusiasm. | B．Listening. | C．Patience. | D．Observation. |
| A．Clever avoidance keeps animals away. | B．Filming in nature has potential danger. |
| C．The author prefers strange experiences. | D．Violent behaviors are common in the wild. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Strict. | C．Energetic. | D．Powerful. |
4 . Genetic modification (基因改良) dates back to ancient times, when humans influenced genetics by selectively breeding organisms (培育生物) according to an article by Gabriel Rangel, a public health scientist at Harvard University. When repeated over several generations, this process leads to great changes in the organisms.
Dogs were likely the first animals to be purposefully genetically modified, with the beginnings of that effort dating back about 32,000 years, according to Rangel. Wild wolves joined our hunter-gatherer ancestors in East Asia, where the aggressive canines were kept in the household and bred to become docile and easier to get along with. Over thousands of years, people bred dogs with different desired character and physical characteristics, eventually leading to the wide variety of dogs we see today.
The earliest known genetically modified plant is wheat. This valuable crop is thought to have originated in the Middle East and northern Africa in the area known as the Fertile Crescent, according to a 2015 article published in the Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine. Ancient farmers selectively bred wheat grasses beginning around 9000 B. C. to create improved varieties with larger grains and hardier seeds. By 800 B.C., the cultivation (培养) of improved wheat had spread across Europe and Asia. The continued selective cultivation of wheat resulted in the thousands of varieties that are grown today.
Corn has also experienced some of greatest genetic changes over the past few thousand years. The main crop was changed from a plant known as teosinte, a wild grass with tiny ears and only a few seeds. Over time, farmers selectively bred the teosinte grasses to create corn with large ears bursting with seeds.
Beyond those crops, many of the fruit and vegetables we eat today, including bananas, apples and tomatoes, have experienced several generations of selective raising, according to Rangel.
In 1973, researchers also modified bacteria to be used as drugs. In 1982, human insulin (胰岛素) made from genetically engineered bacteria, became the first genetically engineered human drugs approved by the FDA.
1. What does the word “docile” in paragraph 2 most probably mean?| A．Gentle. | B．Loyal. | C．Smart. | D．Ambitious. |
| A．Through selective cultivation. | B．By editing its genes constantly. |
| C．Through mixture with teosinte. | D．By planting it in large numbers. |
| A．It is rarely seen in daily life. | B．It was quite difficult to accept. |
| C．It is hardly influenced by humans. | D．It played a role in medical field. |
| A．Health. | B．Lifestyle. | C．Science. | D．Agriculture. |
5 . Kong Zhenlan, a 71-year-old woman from China’s Shanxi Province, has devoted the last four decades of her life to adopting orphans（孤儿）, making sure that they had food on the table and got access to education.
Even though she could only afford to support herself on a modest income, Kong Zhenlan couldn’t bear to walk by the orphanage in Jixian County every day and see so many children struggling in poverty. One day, she stopped by and picked one of the orphans in her arms. That’s when she knew she had to do something to make their life better. The modest woman started adopting these abandoned children and nurturing them as her own. Over the last 47 years, she has adopted 45 orphans, some of whom grew up to become doctors and lawyers.
Kong’s oldest adopted child is 45-years-old, while her youngest is 9-months-old. Today, her adult children donate some of their monthly salaries to help bring up their younger siblings（兄弟姐妹）, but in the beginning, the woman had to make due with what she had. And it wasn’t much. She would spend all her money making sure the children had milk to drink, and if there was none left for her, she would look for leftovers in local garbage cans.
The modest woman recently told Pear Video that over the last 40 years she has only been getting 2 hours of sleep per night. She goes to sleep at around midnight, after putting the children to sleep and finishing up her chores（家务）, and gets up around 2 am to check if they’re all still covered with blankets. She has gotten used to it and said that a short sleep was a small price to pay for making sure the children grow up healthy and happy.
1. What does the underlined word“nurturing”in paragraph 2 probably mean？| A．Examining. | B．Observing. |
| C．Raising. | D．Preferring. |
| A．Support her financially. | B．Raise money every month. |
| C．Sell milk in the midnight. | D．Pick up leftovers when free. |
| A．Her desire to get rid of loneliness. | B．Her eagerness to get fame and wealth. |
| C．Her wish to find a better job in this way. | D．Her hope for the children to have a happy life. |
| A．Easy-going. | B．Kind. |
| C．Creative. | D．Reasonable. |
6 . Dogs certainly need to bark (犬吠) every now and then, but if your neighbor's dog is getting in the way of your daily life, you need to do something.
“Before you take action, you should record the dates and times that the barking happens to find out any patterns,” says Schweitzer, who is a dog owner. You might notice the barking only happens when the owners are at work, or during thunderstorms.
After two to three weeks of observing, go to your neighbors with the facts. Wait for a time when the barking is over. “Since you're trying to keep a good relationship, you can't go when you're angry and upset,” says Schweitzer. Besides, your neighbors might not even realize the barks are a problem, especially if the worst barking happens when they're not at home.
Politely explain the times when the barking gets bad, and then suggest a way of solving the problem. Ask if the dog can stay inside during storms, or offer a dog training class.
Making friends with the dog could help you gain some peace and quiet. If your neighbors introduce you to their dog, you should give the dog a treat. “If they become more comfortable seeing you, they're less likely to bark when they see you or when they're in the backyard,” says Schweitzer.
Whatever you do, don't talk with your other neighbors about the problem or start a petition (诉状) to get the dog to quiet down. “Those make people feel angry,” says Schweitzer. “That's when things escalate.”
If weeks go by and you still aren't seeing a difference, follow up with a note. Tie a dog treat on the note to build trust with your neighbors, and make a copy before dropping it off. That way, you'll have evidence (证据) that you've discussed it before and followed up politely if you need to bring in a third party, says Schweitzer.
1. What should people do first according to Schweitzer?| A．Record when the dog barks. | B．Find out why the barking happens. |
| C．Find out if the dog is really dangerous. | D．Record when the neighbor is usually out. |
| A．When the dog is barking. | B．When you are feeling calm. |
| C．When you've found a problem. | D．When your neighbor is walking the dog. |
| A．Become familiar. | B．Become worse. |
| C．Get interesting. | D．Get personal. |
| A．How to teach your dog to be quiet. | B．What to do when your neighbor has a dog. |
| C．How to deal with a neighbor's noisy dog. | D．What to do if your neighbor makes you angry. |
7 . Rich, heavy food is a major part of the end of the year holidays in the United States. People in the U. S. celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November. People around the world celebrate Christmas on December 25. Both holidays involve(包含) traditions of cooking very large meals. The food at these meals usually has lots of sugar, salt, and butter in it. Turkey and pie are some of the most common foods in these holidays.
Terri Price has hosted a holiday party on the last Saturday before every Christmas for 30 years. It started when her children were very, very small. She has been preparing many of the dishes for most of the 30 years.
But over time, some traditions do change. The Neveldines are a family who hope to be healthier by changing what they eat. Mick Fury, the Neveldine’s oldest child, said this change is important during the holidays and the rest of the year, too.
Mick and his wife, Michelle, try to eat only organic food. Organic food is any plant or animal food product made without the use of unnatural chemicals or processes. But, Mick is not the only Neveldine who changed their diet. Felicia Neveldine, Mick’s sister, decided nine years ago to become a vegan. A vegan is a person who does not eat or use animal products of any kind.
Felicia became a vegan because of her concern for the treatment of animals and the environmental effects of animal farming. She said that her change in diet also improved her health.
Choosing these special diets means the Neveldines choose their foods carefully. Mick grows a garden behind his house where he gets fresh vegetables.
Holiday traditions may not change, but the way these traditions happen just might.
1. Which of the following best describes the food in American traditional holidays?| A．Delicious to eat and welcome by all. |
| B．Traditional in holidays but too wasteful. |
| C．Too rich in nutrition and large in quantity. |
| D．Good in taste and beneficial to health. |
| A．They have turned healthier. | B．They have become less tasty. |
| C．They have remained the same. | D．They have grown unhealthy. |
| A．Convenience. | B．Safety. |
| C．Cost. | D．Taste. |
| A．健康 | B．志愿者 |
| C．语言 | D．素食主义者 |
8 . When I was a child, my parents often took me to an old house in a thick forest. No other children ever stayed there. I didn’t even have the choice of playing with a brother or sister.
I could never understand what the attraction of the house was, even for my parents, who enjoyed nothing better than to sit in silence with a good book. The woman in the house, my father’s distant cousin, was a terrible cook and her food was inedible.
One day, when I was wandering around the garden behind the house, I noticed a wooden house which had clearly been abandoned (被遗弃的). As I walked towards it, I heard a noise, like an animal moving hurriedly away. Then I saw a man with a long beard (胡须) standing at the door. I was greatly surprised.
“Please don’t tell them you saw me,” he said. “They never use this place, and I have nowhere else to live.” “Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t tell anyone. But are you all right out here? I mean — do you have enough to eat?” The old man shook his head.
The same evening, I took a small plastic bag into the dining room and, while no one was looking, emptied some of the food into it. Later, I got out of the back door secretly and gave the food to the old man, whose name I had discovered was Tom.
I have never seen anything else as lovely as the smile of satisfaction on Tom’s face when he ate the food. From then on, my visits to the old house had a purpose, and I enjoyed every minute of the rest of my stay.
1. How did the writer feel about staying in the old house at first?| A．He felt very lonely. | B．He was happy to be with his parents. |
| C．He was pleased with the woods. | D．He enjoyed reading good books there. |
| A．nice to look at | B．too bad to eat |
| C．not enough to eat | D．as delicious as usual |
| A．He liked to play computer games. | B．He helped to repair the old house. |
| C．He was poor and hungry. | D．He raised many animals. |
| A．It’s valuable to help others. | B．It’s good to live in the forest. |
| C．It’s comfortable to live in the old house. | D．It’s nice to raise wild animals. |
9 . For those who can stomach it, working out before breakfast may be more beneficial for health than eating first, according to a study of meal timing and physical activity.
Athletes and scientists have long known that meal timing affects performance. However, far less has been known about how meal timing and exercise might affect general health.
To find out, British scientists conducted a study. They first found 10 overweight and inactive but otherwise healthy young men, whose lifestyles are, for better and worse, representative of those of most of us. They tested the men’s fitness and resting metabolic (新陈代谢的) rates and took samples (样品) of their blood and fat tissue.
Then, on two separate morning visits to the scientists’ lab, each man walked for an hour at an average speed that, in theory, should allow his body to rely mainly on fat for fuel. Before one of these workouts, the men skipped breakfast, meaning that they exercised on a completely empty stomach after a long overnight fast (禁食). On the other occasion, they ate a rich morning meal about two hours before they started walking.
Just before and an hour after each workout, the scientists took additional samples of the men’s blood and fat tissue.
Then they compared the samples. There were considerable differences. Most obviously, the men displayed lower blood sugar levels at the start of their workouts when they had skipped breakfast than when they had eaten. As a result, they burned more fat during walks on an empty stomach than when they had eaten first. On the other hand, they burned slightly more calories (卡路里), on average, during the workout after breakfast than after fasting.
But it was the effects deep within the fat cells that may have been the most significant, the researchers found. Multiple genes behaved differently, depending on whether someone had eaten or not before walking. Many of these genes produce proteins (蛋白质) that can improve blood sugar regulation and insulin (胰岛素) levels throughout the body and so are associated with improved metabolic health. These genes were much more active when the men had fasted before exercise than when they had breakfasted.
The implication of these results is that to gain the greatest health benefits from exercise, it may be wise to skip eating first.
1. The underlined expression “stomach it” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “______”.| A．digest the meal easily | B．manage without breakfast |
| C．decide wisely what to eat | D．eat whatever is offered |
| A．Their lifestyles were typical of ordinary people. |
| B．Their lack of exercise led to overweight. |
| C．They could walk at an average speed. |
| D．They had slow metabolic rates. |
| A．They successfully lost weight. | B．They consumed a bit more calories. |
| C．They burned more fat on average. | D．They displayed higher insulin levels. |
| A．A workout after breakfast improves gene performances. |
| B．Too much workout often slows metabolic rates. |
| C．Lifestyle is not as important as morning exercise. |
| D．Physical exercise before breakfast is better for health. |
10 . Nowadays, many parents are so busy that they seldom have family meals with their children. But this is wrong.
A Harvard study found that families that eat together are twice as likely to eat their five servings of fruits and vegetables a day as families who don't eat together. Families also eat less fried food when they eat together. Finally, children who regularly eat with family have diets higher in fiber, calcium, iron, and vitamins B6, B12, C and E.
During family meals, parents can set a good example of healthy eating that children may follow. They also display polite table manners. Family meals teach children important skills.
When a family eats together, kids can learn about nutrition and healthy eating. In many studies of schoolaged children, those who eat family meals have a higher level of nutrition knowledge.
When a family eats together, kids learn about food safety, like hand washing before eating.
Children who have company at meals are slimmer than those who eat alone. That's because they eat less, eat more slowly, and talk more. This is a good way to deter obesity in children.
Family meals can help children build vocabulary. Studies showed kids who ate with their families performed better at school and had a broader vocabulary. Family meals offer an opportunity for conversations where kids learn vocabulary—building words to help them read and communicate better.
Children gain a better sense of belonging within the family when they eat together with their parents at home. Family meals offer a time for a family to come together as a group and develop a feeling of belonging. That sense of belonging leads to better selfesteem.
In conclusion, family meals are very important.
1. The writer wants to tell us that .| A．eating together with family is a good chance to teach children |
| B．it's more advantageous for children to eat with their families |
| C．it's desirable for children to eat more regularly |
| D．enjoying family meals is equal to eating a big and delicious dinner |
| A．Having a company meal is easy to become fatter and fatter. |
| B．In the mealtime, parents should set a good example of healthy eating. |
| C．Family meals can help children with a higher level of nutrition knowledge. |
| D．Family meals can make children form the good habit of eating. |
| A．Find. | B．Replace. |
| C．Prevent | D．Improve. |
| A．Why family is important to kids. | B．How to eat in a healthy way. |
| C．How to raise children well. | D．Why family meals are important. |
