1 . Experts are warning about the risks of extremely picky(挑剔的)eating after a teenager living on a diet of chips and crisps developed lasting sight loss. Eye doctors in Bristol cared for the 17-year-old after his sight had gone to the point of blindness. Tests showed he had serious vitamin deficiency(缺乏). Dr. Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said, “His diet was basically a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps and sometimes white bread and ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”
The teenager saw his doctor at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he suffered from vitamin B12 deficiency, but he did not stick with the treatment or improve his poor diet. Three years later, he was taken to the Bristol Eye Hospital because of progressive sight loss.
He was not overweight or underweight, but he had lost minerals from his bones, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age. In terms of his sight loss, he met the standards of being blind. “He had blind spots right in the middle of his sight,” said Dr Denize Atan, “That means he can’t drive and would find it really arduous to read, watch TV or recognize faces.”
Dr Denize Atan said that parents should learn about the harm that can be caused by picky eating, and turn to experts for help. For those who are concerned , she advised, “It’s best not to be anxious about picky eating , and instead calmly introduce one or two new foods with every meal.” She said multivitamin tablets can supplement(补充) a diet, but cannot take the place of eating healthily. “It’s much better to take in vitamins through a varied and balanced diet,” she said, adding that too many certain vitamins , including vitamin A, can be harmful ,“so you don’t want to overdo it.”
1. What does Dr Denize Atan imply in paragraph 1?| A．The diet of the boy is not balanced. |
| B．Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins. |
| C．Picky eating is common among teenagers. |
| D．The cause of the boy’s disease is unknown. |
| A．To improve his poor diet. |
| B．To get some help to lose weight. |
| C．To be treated for his discomfort. |
| D．To slow down his progressive sight loss. |
| A．Important. | B．Easy. | C．Necessary. | D．Difficult. |
| A．Reasons why the boy is seriously ill. |
| B．Suggestions for the boy’s family to care for him. |
| C．Advice for parents worried about picky eating. |
| D．Ways of taking in enough vitamins and minerals. |
2 . It is good news that you didn't get hit by China's Tiangong-1 space station when it fell to Earth on April 1. The not-so-good news is that there's a lot more space debris (碎片) where that came from.All the same, you can take off your hard hat, because your chances of getting struck are extremely small.
At any moment, there are more than 500,000 pieces of space debris orbiting(沿轨道运行) Earth. Some are no bigger than a millimeter or two; others—like Tiangong-1, which was the size of a school bus—are a potential threat. But the reason why none of these presents a danger is that when satellites reach the end of their useful lives, they can be controlled and sent on dives to the middle of the ocean. It's when something goes wrong—when communications are lost or fuel is exhausted—that re-entry becomes a crapshoot (运气). That's what happened when NASA's Skylab space station fell to Earth in 1979. Even in those situations, the odds are very much on safety's side. Roughly 70% of Earth's surface is water, and much of its landmass is unpopulated.
If you're still worried, take comfort in some numbers: in the long history of spaceflight, only one person has ever gotten on the wrong side of a piece of falling space junk.That was Lottie Williams of Tulsa, Okla, who was conked on the shoulder by a piece of a Delta II rocket in 1997. She was unhurt.
According to the Aerospace Corp, a nonprofit group that tracked Tiangong-1's fall, the likelihood of an individual being hit by space debris is less than 1 in 1 trillion.The European Space Agency says getting struck by lightning is 10 million times as likely as the 1-in-300 trillion odds of being hit by space debris.
1. What does the second paragraph talk about?| A．Different sizes of space debris and where they land |
| B．Causes of the space debris orbiting the earth |
| C．reasons for not fearing being hit by space debris. |
| D．Effects of space debris not diving to the ocean |
| A．struck | B．cooked | C．hurt | D．fell |
| A．Doubtful | B．Uncaring | C．worried | D．relaxed |
| A．Falling space debris: a threat to our life |
| B．Falling space debris: stop fearing being hit |
| C．Falling space debris: put on your hard hat |
| D．Falling space debris: get on the right side |
3 . Besides the excitement of travel, one reason to study abroad is that you will experience new customs, holidays, foods, art music and politics firsthand.
“I learned the language and am now fluent, but perhaps more important was how much I learned about cultures, people and myself. I learned this from the viewpoint of an active member of the community and my host family , not from the tourists’ point of view，," said Andrew, who studied in Poitiers, France.
Another reason for studying abroad is that you'll gain self-confidence. Christina studied in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 10 million people and a huge change from her hometown of 35,000! Christina says she learned how to better stand up for herself and her beliefs and to express herself in another language. What could make you more confident than that?
Living away from home can also help you adjust in the transition (过渡)to college and adulthood .Matthew says he returned from studying in Australia with confidence and a real interest in international affairs that really set him apart from his peers. "After having gone abroad in high school, I found the transition to college to be a breeze——moving 560 miles from home didn’t seem particularly frightening after having lived thousands of miles away.”
And speaking of college, improving your language skills might help you get into dream colleges and even land future jobs. Colleges and employers know that studying abroad provides leadership skills in a world that is increasingly globally interconnected.
Most of all, it's fun! You're not likely to suffer from general boredom while you're studying in a different learning environment.
1. What did Andrew pay special attention to while studying abroad?| A．The foreign fooD. | B．The foreign culture. |
| C．The foreign customs. | D．The foreign language. |
| A．change our habits | B．offer us opportunities |
| C．increase our knowledge | D．give us self-confidence |
| A．His fluent English | B．His special character |
| C．His ability to deal with people | D．His interest in the world events. |
| A．Something very important. |
| B．Something very interesting. |
| C．Something very easy |
| D．Something very hard |
4 . The 64-year-old Mahendra, the Secretary at People for Animals (PFA), talks about his disabled and wounded dogs like a father talks about his children—with the same love, affection and warmth. It was this love that led him to establish India's first shelter home for dogs living with disabilities.
It all started in 1998. While taking a midnight walk, Mahendra came across a very weak dog on the street, whose bones were visible under its skin. Mahendra decided to feed it and for the next couple of days it became the centre of his life, until the night when he found it dead.
After that, Mahendra started providing treatment to all wounded and sick dogs he came across. Some time later, someone told Mahendra about PFA, India's largest animal welfare organization, chaired by Mrs Maneka Gandhi. Mahendra contacted her and she was impressed by the work he was doing. Mrs Gandhi asked him to start a PFA chapter in Ahmedbad.
Thus, in 2004, he started the shelter. It took a long time for Mehendra to find the land where the shelter could be set up. Finally, Ramesh Bhai Patel, a native farmer from a village named Jundal, agreed to give his land for nothing. Along with a team of four doctors and many volunteers, the shelter now has 25 dogs that were unable to walk at all when they were brought in. Today, they' re slowly healing. Dogs that have healed with proper treatment are sent back to where they came from if the environment there is safe. However, the shelter will be home to the blind dogs for all their lives, says Mahendra.
The shelter runs on money coming from Mahendra's own pension of Rs. 45,000. There have been some financial crunches now and then, but Mahendra is determined that no matter what challenge comes their way, they' ll fight through.
1. What made Mahendra decide to do something for disabled and sick dogs?| A．His contact with PFA. | B．The encouragement of Gandhi. |
| C．A walk with a sick dog of Gandhi. | D．The death of a homeless sick dog. |
| A．He secured government funds. |
| B．He got a land from a local farmer for free. |
| C．He learned medical knowledge from doctors. |
| D．He met with much difficulty in finding volunteers. |
| A．Advantages. | B．Crisis. |
| C．Services. | D．Details. |
| A．Kind-hearted. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Open-minded. | D．Modest. |
5 . The world has many beautiful sounds. we can hear the songs of birds and laugh of people. We can listen to cool music and news reports. And all this is due to(归功于) our ears! They bring us a world of sounds.
But some people can’t hear any sound at all. Some are born deaf. Others can hear well in their childhood, but too many loud sounds hurt their ears later on.
In China, 6 children out of 1000 have hearing problems when they are born. They can not hear ordinary sounds clearly. Children who have hearing problems usually also have learning problems at school.
A lot of things can cause hearing problems. For example, too much earwax is not good for our hearing and noise louder than 85 decibels(分贝) can hurt our ears and make us lose our hearing for a short time or even forever.
Hearing is a problem for all of us. So we should do our best to give our ears special care. Don't forget the following:
Try to stay away from places with too much noise. If you have to go, wear earplugs(耳塞). A pair of earplugs can cut the noise by 30 decibels. When swimming, remember to put earplugs into your ears to stop water from getting in. Never put anything sharp into your ears. If you think you have too much earwax, ask your parents to help you clean it out.
Keep these things in mind! Then you won’t ask “WHAT?” when you are older.
1. In the first paragraph, the writer wants to .| A．tell us many beautiful sounds. | B．describe the sounds. |
| C．teach us how to use ears. | D．show the importance of ears |
| A．耳膜 | B．耳鸣 | C．耳垢 | D．耳疾 |
| A．a little earwax | B．learning problems at school |
| C．noise louder than 85 decibels | D．earplugs that can only cut noise by 15 decibels |
| A．Hearing problems caused by diseases(疾病). | B．People with hearing problems. |
| C．Ways to protect our ears. | D．Danger of loud noise |
6 . I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. "But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth."
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us, I was "too emotional". But she lived "on the surface".
As years passed, I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family, I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
I posted the letter and waited for her answer; none came.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace. It seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of Her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one — page letter, folded and refolded many times.
Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.
1. The passage shows that___________.| A．Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to the author |
| B．Mother was too serious about everything the author had done |
| C．Mother cared much about the author in words |
| D．Mother wrote to the author in careful words |
| A．deep understanding | B．difference between ideas |
| C．free talks | D．part of the sea |
| A．She had never received the letter. |
| B．For years, she often talked about the letter. |
| C．She didn't forgive her daughter at all in all her life. |
| D．She read the letter again and again till she died. |
| A．My letter to Mother | B．Mother and Children |
| C．My Mother's Desk | D．Talks between Mother and me. |
7 . Plenty of science fiction (sci-f) movies over the decades have shown us different versions of Mars. The truth about the Martian surface might be exciting because it's real. And with NASA' s Mars 2020 mission set to launch this summer, we're facing more discovery.
So far, thanks to a decade of research enabled by NASA's Curiosity rover, we've learned that lakes, rivers streams and likely oceans used to appear on Mars. While its water disappeared over three billion years ago, it tells us that Mars used to be habitable. This knowledge confuses us because so far, we've seen no clear evidence of life there, not even a virus. But if Mars was once habitable, wouldn't it have life?
NASA is now prepared to take the next step to answer this question with the launch of another rover, Perseverance. Every time a rover goes to Mars, it just stays there, with no way to fly back home. So we have never brought rock or soil samples back from Mars.
Perseverance rover will change this. Its primary and unique purpose is to collect samples that a future spacecraft can return to Earth. These samples will tell us more about the geologic history of Mars than anything we've learned, which is already a lot. Since 2012. the Curiosity rover has traveled more than a dozen miles, making observations along the way with its 10 instruments.
Thanks to data from the Curiosity rovers Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, we know that Mars does indeed have organic materials. That’s more complex than we expected to find on the surface of Mars. And that's exactly why we want to gather the most interesting samples and bring them back to Earth. We expect to find out much more about Mars once we get samples back from the Mars 2020 mission.
1. What is the purpose of Mars 2020 Mission?| A．To explore the Martian surface. | B．To travel around the universe. |
| C．To show the power of NASA. | D．To study the life on Mars. |
| A．Enjoyable to visit. | B．Suitable for living. |
| C．Ready for changes. | D．Convenient to travel. |
| A．The rovers could not reach Mars. |
| B．Observations were hard to make. |
| C．Samples on Mars couldn't be brought back. |
| D．Study instruments got lost in the space station. |
| A．New Mars rover to be launched | B．Sei-fi movies on Mars to be made |
| C．Curiosity to bring back Mars samples | D．NASA to send manned rover to Mars |
8 . After bikes and umbrellas are made sharable across China, some companies started eyeing the fitness market, so shared gym rooms have hit the streets in Beijing.
Unlike regular gyms that provide large, open spaces for many members to share at the same time, the newly built shared gym rooms are small, stand-alone rooms for a person to use, often set up near living communities.
Every four-square-meter room is equipped with a treadmill (跑步机), an air cleaner, a mirror, a television and an air conditioner, and users can let down the curtains for privacy. When exercising, users can listen to music, watch movies and check emails by connecting to the Internet by the screen fixed on the treadmill. There’s no shower or washbasin.
Similar to using a shared bike, users can locate a shared gym room by smartphone application, book a room in advance and then need to scan (扫描) a QR code for use. A refundable deposit (保证金) of 99 yuan is required, and users are charged 0.2 yuan per minute.
The shared gym rooms are created by Misspao, a Beijing-based technology company founded in July. Within two weeks since it was founded, the company has already got two rounds of funding valued over 100 million yuan, Yicai Global reports. The idea of the shared fitness experience is not entirely nascent. Last December, the Shanghai-based technology company VRUN set up shared treadmills in office and apartment buildings.
The sharing economy is still becoming popular in China. According to Yicai Global, confident investors are pouring millions into sharing start-ups. In March, the State Information Center published a report which predicts that the total value of China’s sharing economy will see a yearly growth of 40% in the coming years, and it is expected to contribute around 10% to the country’s GDP by 2020.
1. What makes the shared gym room different from the regular one?| A．Offering open spaces. | B．Standing in the living zone. |
| C．Holding one person at a time. | D．Having some advanced equipment. |
| A．Users can have a shower in it after exercise. |
| B．Users who want to use it need a smartphone. |
| C．Users who use it first need to pay for 99.2 yuan. |
| D．Users’ privacy can’t be protected while they are exercising. |
| A．Simple. | B．Popular. | C．Satisfying. | D．New. |
| A．To introduce shared gym rooms. |
| B．To advertise a technology company. |
| C．To predict the future of the sharing economy. |
| D．To persuade people to support the sharing economy. |
9 . Volunteering Is Fun
One afternoon I was sitting at home feeling so bored. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I wanted to meet people and have new experiences so I decided to start volunteering. I searched on my computer and found a website where I could volunteer on a farm in France.
My time working on a farm was a new experience for me. It was basically a free holiday as food and accommodation were provided. However, it was not my typical holiday as I had to look after fifteen horses and sleep at the top of a tower in a castle! I was an awful farmer but it did not matter because I made some great friends. However, you do not need to go abroad to volunteer. I have had plenty of adventures at home as volunteering can become a hobby. For example, I love singing so I had a good laugh waving my arms in an attempt to conduct my local choir. I did slowly improve and it felt great to conduct the choir in a concert. At university, I organized a concert for charity with my friends. It was really fun finding bands and raising money for a cause we believe in.
It is true that you feel good volunteering but there are also other advantages. I once volunteered as a server at a charity sports event where the organizers gave me cupcakes to thank me for my services. I also volunteered in a charity shop so I found loads of nice cheap clothes to update my wardrobe(衣柜).
While this is all fun, my favorite aspect of volunteering is creating and sharing stories. My terrible attempts at farming have given me hilarious stories to tell! Talking to volunteers from different countries and backgrounds has also helped me learn more about the world. I feel thankful to have had so much fun with many nice people thanks to volunteering.
1. Why did the author want to be volunteer?| A．He wanted to taste new life and make friends. |
| B．He felt ashamed of himself. |
| C．He wanted to be a farmer. |
| D．He wanted to go abroad. |
| A．sad | B．critical | C．awful | D．funny |
| A．Taking care of sheep. | B．Helping in an Italian farm. |
| C．Helping in a charity shop. | D．Conducting a choir in a sports event. |
| A．Curious. | B．Anxious. | C．Grateful. | D．Cautious |
10 . Many people enjoy the beauty of the snow. But do you really know the snow? Here are three biggest snow myths that will surprise you.
First of all, it’s a myth that no two snowflakes are the same. In 1988, a scientist found two identical snow crystals that had both formed in a snow storm in Wisconsin, USA. Since then scientists have come to learn that snowflakes can only form into 35 different shapes. Although scientists are also unsure why exactly the various shapes of snowflake form, they have identified eight major shapes, with each of these eight shapes having several different variations.
“Snow is white” is the second biggest myth. It’s actually colorless. Snow is made up of ice particles, and ice is translucent, which means that light does not pass through it easily, but rather it gets reflected. When light hits a snowflake, it gets reflected back from the snowflake’s many surfaces, often bouncing between these surfaces, and because of this that light is reflected back to our eyes as the color white. This is why, up close or magnified, a snowflake always looks clear, yet in reality appears as white.
Lastly, snow doesn’t always appear to us as the color white. Not counting the infamous yellow snow that everyone knows never to eat, you can also get naturally blue snow or even pink snow.
Deep snow can sometimes appear blue in color because the extra layers of snow create a filter for light, which causes more red light to be absorbed by the snow than blue light, meaning that it looks blue.
Likewise, snow can sometimes appear pink in mountainous regions or coastal Polar Regions due to it containing cryophilic fresh-water algae that have a red pigment in them.
As an interesting bonus fact, the fur of Polar Bears is actually made up of translucent fibers, trapping light between its many surfaces and making the Polar Bear look white, when in actuality if you were to examine a single piece of Polar Bear fur up close it would look clear – just like a snowflake.
It’s also a commonly known fact that, if shaved, a Polar Bear would be black in color. The reason a Polar Bear’s skin is black is because black is the color which locks in the most heat.
1. According to the passage, the underlined word “myth” means _________.| A．tale | B．riddle |
| C．mystery | D．misunderstanding |
| A．Because snow is white. |
| B．Because snow is made up of ice particles. |
| C．Because ice is translucent, light does pass through it easily. |
| D．Because the lights reflect back and forth between the snowflakes’ surfaces. |
| A．Polar Bears’ black skin can help them keep warm. |
| B．The color of the snowflakes are white, yellow, blue and pink. |
| C．Scientists have identified eight minor shapes of the snowflake. |
| D．The snow absorbs more blue light than red light, making it look blue. |
| A．Snow is white | B．Snow always looks white |
| C．No two snowflakes are the same | D．Polar Bear fur looks clear--just like a snowflake. |
