1 . Avi Loeb, a scientist, believes that we are not alone in the universe. The belief fits with Loeb’s alien (外星的) spaceship theory that at least one alien spaceship might be flying over the orbit (轨道) of Jupiter, which won the international attention last year.
Astronomers in Hawaii found the first known interstellar (星际的) object in late 2017. It was a bit of light moving so fast past the sun that it could only have come from another star. Almost every astronomer on the planet was trying to figure out how the object, called “Oumuamua” got to our far-away, part of the Milky way galaxy. “One possibility is that ‘Oumuamua’ is debris (碎片) from an advanced technological equipment,” Loeb said. “Technology comes from another solar system just showed up at our door.”
“‘Oumuamua’ is not an alien spaceship,” Paul Sutter, another scientist wrote. He suggested Loeb was seeking publicity. Most scientists think “Oumuamua” is some sort of rock. They think it could be an icy wandering comet.
Loeb says that “Oumuamua’s” behavior, means it can’t be a block of rock shaped like a long photo. He thinks it's more likely an object that’s very long and thin, perhaps like a long pancake or a ship’s sail. Loeb says that if someone shows him evidence that contradicts his beliefs, he will immediately give in.
Loeb believes himself a truth-teller and risk- taker in an age of very safe, too-quiet scientists. “The worst thing that can happen to me is that I would be relieved of my management duties, and that would give me even more time to focus on science,” Loeb says. He said he wouldn’t mind giving up all the titles he had and returning to the Israeli farming village where he grew up.
1. What does Loeb say about “Oumuamua”?| A．It is an icy comet. |
| B．It looks like a long photo. |
| C．It is actually some sort of rock. |
| D．It may come from another alien civilization. |
| A．Searches for. | B．Depends on. |
| C．Turns to. | D．Goes against. |
| A．He is foolish. |
| B．He is unsatisfied with his titles. |
| C．He is a firm believer in scientific truth. |
| D．He is uncertain about his career future. |
| A．Have Aliens Paid a Visit in Spaceships? |
| B．Do We Really Know about Space Theory? |
| C．Scientists Are Working on High Technology |
| D．Astronomers Are Encouraging Space Travel |
2 . One day, Amanda was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer of an early stage. During this time, she was admitted to a college. She planned to save money to meet the college expense and then seek medical treatment for the cancer.
Her father, Clint and her friends didn’t want her to put off her treatment due to the expense. They took matters into their own hands and started a GoFundMe campaign. A longtime friend of the family was cofounder of a group named Praynksters, known for random acts of kindness. The friend decided to use their own group to help the family. The group came up with the creative idea to spread the word and invite families, friends, and strangers who wanted to help to take part in a donation activity. The event induced the enormous assistance from the local community.
Clint and Amanda were moved as the crowd passed by and the donations poured in. The event brought the family over $13, 000 in donations to go towards her medical treatments. The generous act of kindness gave the family a comforting, and optimistic feeling during a time when all hope seemed lost. Clint said that Amanda struggled with the idea of asking for help. She felt guilty and undeserving compared to others who are also struggling. She is still humbled by it all.
After several months of treatment, life for the family has started getting back to their normal routine. Once Amanda got her strength back, she returned to school and completed her bachelor's degree. The family is now inspired to volunteer in their local neighborhood and contribute to crowdfunding (众筹) efforts. They are grateful for the opportunity to give back and help others as many have helped them.
1. Why did Amanda postpone her treatment of cancer?| A．She didn't care about her disease. |
| B．She had to take care of her family. |
| C．She was in a bad economic situation. |
| D．She couldn’t find an effective treatment. |
| A．Brought about. | B．Made up. |
| C．Gave away. | D．Set about. |
| A．Shameful but caring. |
| B．Kind-hearted and grateful. |
| C．Curious and warm-hearted. |
| D．Hard- working and humorous. |
| A．It's quite easy to cure Amanda’s cancer. |
| B．Praynksters is a nonprofit organization funded by Clint. |
| C．Volunteering is very popular in Amanda's community. |
| D．A GoFundMe campaign is actually a crowdfunding activity. |
3 . Are you wondering whether it’s worth going for a little jog? Don’t hesitate, and get your sports shoes on. A new study shows that proper running lowers the risk of premature (过早的) death.
In an analysis of 14 previous studies from the US and Denmark, the group of researchers from institutes in Australia and Finland concluded that increasing running participation would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity. The studies involved 232,149 participants over time periods ranging from 5.5 to 35 years.
Overall, people running any distance were associated with a 27% lower risk of death from all causes than those who did not, the analysis shows. Running was also associated with a 30% and 23% lower risk of death from cardiovascular (心血管的) disease and cancer, respectively.
Previous studies had concluded “inconsistent findings” about whether running could lower the risk of premature death, according to the researchers. Lead researcher Jim White, a professor at Victoria University in Melbourne, told CNN, “Our recent findings may motivate physically inactive individuals to take up running and those who already run to keep on doing it.”
He added that doctors may be encouraged by our findings to promote running as a part of “lifestyle medicine”. In their paper, which will be published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers say health professionals are sometimes wary of promoting running because vigorous (剧烈的) use of it has been linked with sudden cardiac death.
Jim and his team countered this by noting that the benefit of running outweighs the risk. However, they did say advice should be given on a case-by-case basis, as running might not be appropriate for everyone. Although running has a clear overall health benefit, the researchers point out that higher “doses” of running may not reduce the risk of premature death further. According to the WHO’s guidelines, adults aged between 18 and 64 should take 150 minutes of gentle exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week.
1. What did the new study focus on?| A．The benefit of jog. | B．People’s lifestyles. |
| C．People’s living conditions. | D．The popularity of jog. |
| A．Researchers’ promotion of sport. |
| B．People’s involvement in running. |
| C．Doctors’ quicker treatment. |
| D．People’s losing weight. |
| A．Certain. | B．Capable. |
| C．Confident. | D．Cautious. |
| A．The risk of exercising vigorously. |
| B．The suggestion on running appropriately. |
| C．The reason why people should keep running. |
| D．The argument about whether running benefits people. |
4 . You might think male models lead glamorous lives, filled with endless travel and invitations to socialize with the rich and beautiful. Almost everyone has formed an unrealistic picture of their lives, believing that they spend one afternoon beside the Mediterranean Sea sipping coffee and getting suntanned and the next moment they are on board flying to Rome. However, according to a 2016 documentary made by the pop culture news site Fusion, the financial reality of male models is not very pretty.
The main subject of the documentary, titled Unglamorous, is a male model named Cameron Keesling who went to New York to start his career, hoping to make a fortune in the world of models. Keesling is not a supermodel but he has certainly made his name known in the industry. He was “working in the industry for about a year before landing the cover of Italian Vogue” in 2014. But “Keesling and his companions were paid nothing for the efforts”, Fusion reporter Nikita Redkar wrote.
Keesling also appeared at Paris Fashion Week and won lots of praise, while his compensation wouldn’t even cover the cost of traveling to and from Paris.
According to the documentary the most common way models get paid is by receiving free clothes, rather than money. In order to make ends meet, consequently, many of them have to take another job simply to make a living. Many of these models are in debt. Once they find an agency to represent them, a living income is provided by the agency to accommodate their rent, food, clothing and other expenses. Models are expected to pay off these costs once they find work, but many of the industry’s jobs don’t pay at all. Believe it or not, there is a pay gap between male models and female counterparts. Based on a survey conducted by Fortune.com, female models can make millions more than males, especially if you compare the top ten earners of each gender.
1. In common people’s eyes, male models are living __________.| A．a busy and simple life | B．a tiring and dull life |
| C．an easy and comfortable life | D．a hard and embarrassing life |
| A．To introduce his real life |
| B．To explain why he went to New York |
| C．To illustrate the hardship of male models’ lives |
| D．To encourage models to make a fortune in New York |
| A．Friends | B．Peers |
| C．Schoolmates | D．Opponents |
| A．Supportive | B．Doubtful |
| C．Critical | D．Objective |
5 . China has entered the cinematic(电影制作的) space race. Wandering Earth, the country’s first blockbuster science fiction film, is on track to be one of the highest grossing (票房收入) films in China’s history.
The film has brought in more than 2bn yuan (£232m) in the six days since its release on February 5. So far, it is the highest-grossing film released over the holiday season, a peak time for the Chinese box office（票房收入）.
Wandering Earth is based on the work of Liu Cixin, the author of the Three-Body Problem series and the first Chinese author to win a Hugo award.
“Wandering Earth fills the gap in Chinese science fiction movies. It means that China’s science fiction movies have officially set sail,” one fan of the film wrote on the review site Douban.
The film is seen by some as the dawn of Chinese sci-fi — a genre(类型；体裁) that has long been led by Hollywood. Several other Chinese-made sci-fi films are due to debut (首映) this year, including Shanghai Fortress, about an alien invasion, and Pathfinder, which follows a spaceship that has crashed on a deserted planet.
Frant Gwo, the director of Wandering Earth, said, “2019 could be remembered as year zero of Chinese science-fiction blockbusters. It is not just about one successful movie but about multiple films.”
Critics of the film have pointed out the plot holes（剧情漏洞） and cloying of sentimentality（刻意煽情） — something Wandering Earth shares with its Hollywood peers.
In response to plot criticisms about the necessity of ejecting (喷射) Earth from the solar system, Liu said: “Of course we don’t need to escape soon. That’s why it’s a movie instead of a real-life crisis.”
1. What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined word?| A．非常成功的事物 | B．非常成功的人 |
| C．外星人 | D．英雄人物 |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. |
| C．Positive | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Shanghai Fortress | B．Wandering Earth |
| C．Pathfinder | D．Avatar |
| A．The theory. | B．The ending. |
| C．The special effects. | D．The plot holes. |
6 . Does anything symbolize the throwaway culture better than coffee chains? Everyone is piled high with by-products of a culture which in the past 10 years has gone from thinking that a cup of coffee is best enjoyed sitting down, in a break from a busy day, to one where if you’re not constantly rushing, you may get to work to find your desk gone. Gone are the thick white mugs, washed and reused until they broke. Instead, we’ve a vast new industry of disposables (一次性用品) for coffee on the go.
Cosla Coffee alone uses more than 100 million disposable coffee cups a year. Add to that Starbucks, Caffe Nero and other coffee shops; and you get something approaching 500 million paper cups and a billion napkins, plus plastic knives, spoons and sandwich boxes to get rid of, just in the UK, every year.
There are no regulations determining what materials they use or how they dispose of any of it. So they do what they like, which turns out to vary wildly. One reason may be that three different government departments are in charge of waste management. Communities Secretary is responsible for local rubbish collection, Environment Secretary for waste policy, and Energy and Climate Change Secretary the aspect of, well, dealing with climate change. When I1 asked the major chains about their recycling policies, Starbucks said, “We’re aiming to make our cups recyclable in the near future.” Its salad containers are biodegradable (可生物降解的) and its sandwich containers, being a sandwich themselves of paper and film, are only recyclable once they’re torn apart. However, you don’t see many people doing that.
Costa’s cardboard cups can’t be recycled, because although the cardboard is recyclable, the ink and the glue aren’t. So it’s planning to use vegetable ink and degradable glue on its cups.
1. Why does the author compare the old days with today in the beginning?| A．To present a busy day. | B．To recall the sweet past. |
| C．To introduce the main topic. | D．To show the symbol of a culture. |
| A．bowls | B．bags |
| C．chopsticks | D．cups |
| A．The problem of wasting has been under control. |
| B．There are clear rules about materials disposables use. |
| C．The sandwich containers of Starbucks can be recyclable. |
| D．Communities Secretary is responsible for local rubbish recycle. |
| A．The Culture of Westerners | B．The Future of Coffee Chains |
| C．The Change of Mankind’s Lifestyle | D．The Environment Cost of Takeaway Coffee |
7 . In the space of just two years, the app Douyin, created by Beijing-based company ByteDance, has gathered more than half a billion users—around 40%of them outside China—who share short videos of themselves lip-syncing( 假唱), cooking, dancing or just being silly. What sets ByteDance apart is its success in the social media category, which is controlled by Facebook, Twitter and Snap—all Western companies.
ByteDance calls itself an artificial intelligence company. It uses machine learning and algorithms ( 算法) to figure out what people like most and give them more of what they want to see. On Douyin, people can edit and beautify 15-second videos before posting them online. The app has even made a phrase to describe people glued to their customized feeds: “shua Douyin” or “scrolling through Douyin”. Last year, the company released TikT
ok, the overseas version of Douyin. ByteDance’s growing video empire has made it the world’s fifth biggest app maker. ByteDance says TikTok and Douyin together have more than 500 million monthly active users.
Investors like ByteDance because its hundreds of millions of users attract a lot of advertising money. The video apps are lucrative because they attract a lot of users in their teens and 20s, who are more generous with the money. ByteDance also makes money through income sharing deals. People on TikTok, for example, can buy digital coins to give to other people on the app—like throwing money in a performer’s tip jar. ByteDance takes a cut of those earnings.
ByteDance’s founder and CEO is Zhang Yiming, a 35-year-old former Microsoft employee. People who have worked with Zhang describe him as someone who thinks deeply about technology and spends much of his free time writing code.
Like Facebook and Twitter, ByteDance is also battling fake news and inappropriate content. ByteDance promises to add thousands more employees to review content on Douyin.
1. What makes ByteDance so special?| A．It is the biggest artificial intelligence company on the earth. |
| B．Its app challenges similar companies’ rule in Western world. |
| C．It invented the social media app initially in the world. |
D．It has controlled Facebook, Twitte r and Snap. |
y is Douyin so popular?| A．It is a new generation hi-tech product. |
| B．It has both home and overseas version. |
| C．It meets the demand of people individually. |
| D．It is easy and totally free to operate online. |
| A．By charging the users. |
| B．By selling its artificial intelligence. |
| C．By forcing the users to donate. |
| D．By charging the advertisement. |
| A．expensive | B．profitable |
| C．popular | D．creative |
8 . The castle had two floors. We were ten years old and sat around the coffee table, drinking from coffee cups filled with water. We talked about our future good friends, girls' dress, make-ups and well-behaved classmates at our daily meeting. We promised each other that this was how our lives would be.
Then we got a little older. I was graduating from the eighth grade. This time we were in a real coffee shop. We were growing up, drinking hot chocolate instead of water, but our conversation hadn't changed. We were going to go to college together. Then we would open a business in the city. We promised each other this was how it would be.
My interests and areas of study have changed many times. I've become involved in many activities that have opened my eyes to new possibilities. My friends are part of my life. I would do anything for them. I know they would do the same for me. In the case of a broken heart, a silly argument, or a difficult test, I am always the first to help. Being there for my friends comes first no matter what else I have to do.
I'm growing up fast. Junior year has almost terminated. College is just around the corner, but our childish talks and plans don't seem so long ago. In fact, we're still having the same discussions. We probably won't go to the same college but would be in the same state. We will talk every day, meet on weekends and come home on holidays. This plan is just as good.
Now I am ready for college. I will meet new people, have new experiences in new surroundings and live on my own. But I will not leave my friends. I won't see them on weekends, but maybe on holidays. I will be making new ones at college. I hope I will become as close with them as I am with those old friends. Maybe if I'm lucky I will meet a few with whom I can sit and share a cup of coffee.
1. What did the author and her friends often talk about when they were ten years old?| A．Their rapid progress. | B．Their great imagination. |
| C．Their childish plans. | D．Their good living conditions. |
| A．She is looking forward to her future college life. |
| B．She plans to run a coffee bar when she begins to work. |
| C．She took part in many activities in order to make new friends. |
| D．She used to ask her friends to help with her difficult tests. |
| A．finished | B．collected | C．closed | D．formed |
| A．The author's relationship with her friends. |
| B．The author's achievements. |
| C．The author's ideas of friendship. |
| D．The author's experiences of her study. |
9 . History of amusement parks takes us back to the bar-periodic fairs, like the Bartholomew Fair which started in England. These can be considered a parent for the modern amusement park. Opening in the Elizabethan period, the fair had developed as a center of amusement with entertainment with fun, food, games, and many other attractions. The beer festival held in Munich, Germany which started in 1810 and the country and state fairs in the US, also played a part in the brief history of amusement park. Unlike the Bartholomew Fair, these annual events were usually held during an important time when crops were ripe, which deserved to be marked.
Amusement parks are also known to have grown out of the pleasure gardens that became very popular at the start of the Industrial Revolution. These were the zones where one could shun the dull urban life for a short while. We can find the oldest and still-surviving amusement park in the world: Bakken in Denmark, which opened in 1583. These parks consisted of fireworks displays, rides and the modern railroad to accommodate the growing expectations from their customers.
Another turning point in the history of amusement parks was the world’s fairs which began in 1851. The Crystal Palace in London, England was a landmark and celebrated the industrial achievements of the world. These were seen as symbols of economic and industrial success. In the last decade of the 19th century, the electric trolley lines became extremely popular. Mechanical amusements, dance hall, sports fields, and restaurants were included as regular entertainments, as the history of amusement parks reflects.
The golden age in the brief history of amusement parks didn’t appear until people especially Americans spent less time on work and got a steady rise in their personal income. A number of amusement parks including the Kiddie Park were set up outside major cities and in the countryside, to make full use of this new economic opportunity. The original Kiddie Park is located in San Antonio, Texas and is still in operation today.
1. What was the purpose of the early Munich beer festival?| A．To show local attractions. | B．To celebrate harvest together. |
| C．To found a center of amusement. | D．To create a stable agricultural market. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Tolerate. |
| C．Experience. | D．Complain. |
| A．The Industrial Revolution. | B．More time and money for fun. |
| C．Advances in technology. | D．Development of the world’s fairs. |
| A．Bakken was originally opened in 1583 in London. |
| B．The Crystal Palace is the oldest amusement park in the world. |
| C．The Kiddie Park located in San Antonio is still open at present. |
| D．The Bartholomew Fair was seen as economic and industrial success. |
10 . When you’re sitting in class or behind your desk waiting for the clock to strike a time when you can go home, it is natural that your mind should wander (走神) a bit. It is common for your mind to wander to a vacation and even travel around the world. What if there is a way that you can travel around the world without having to pay any money?
A person that managed to make it around the world without spending much was Shantanu Starick. How did he trade off his service? Starick realized that as a photographer he had a service that people would usually be willing to pay money for, but he would instead offer his photography service to anyone who could provide him with food, shelter (住处) and transportation. Starick has been traveling for a surprising 30 months and has visited countries ranging from the United States to Ecuador.
In English-speaking countries, trading off services and communicating aren’t difficult for Starick. However, in farther areas where there isn’t an English- speaking person in sight it can be quite difficult. More than anything, the locals appreciate (欣赏) the effort behind trying to speak their language, even if you don’t exactly sound like a native speaker.
You can do it too!
Honestly, with a bit of confidence, drive and a skill you can trade, you’ll be able to do exactly the same as Starick.
Start thinking about what you can do to get around the world without paying money. With our social networks and the connectivity our world has, you can easily connect with and market yourself to people across the world without any effort.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To describe students in class. |
| C．To give an example for the text. |
| D．To show people’s state of mind. |
| A．Join. | B．Exchange. |
| C．Stop. | D．Improve. |
| A．The skills. |
| B．The confidence to succeed. |
| C．The bravery to travel. |
| D．The effort to speak the local language. |
| A．His job is only traveling around the world. |
| B．He is too poor to afford the travels. |
| C．He has a skill to travel without paying much money. |
| D．He doesn’t hear of other languages except English. |
