1 . Think of Japan in the spring, and the image that comes to mind is likely the country’s famous cherry blossoms, which experience a “peak bloom (开花)” that only lasts a few days and have been honored in Japan for more than a thousand years. But this year, the cherry blossom season has come and gone in the blink of an eye, in one of the earliest blossoms on record -- and scientists warn it’s a symptom of the larger climate crisis threatening ecosystems everywhere.
Yasuyuki Aono, a researcher at Osaka Prefecture University, has gathered records from Kyoto back to 812 AD from historical documents and diaries. In the central city of Kyoto, cherry blossoms peaked on March 26, the earliest in more than 1,200 years, Aono said. And in the capital Tokyo, cherry blossoms reached full bloom on March 22, the second-earliest date on record.
The peak bloom dates shift every year, depending on numerous factors including weather and rainfall, but have shown a general trend of moving earlier and earlier. “Cherry blooms are very temperature sensitive,” said Aono. “Flowering and full bloom could be earlier or later depending on the temperature alone,” he said. This year’s seasons in particular influenced the blossom dates, he added. The winter was very cold, but the spring came fast and unusually warm, so “the buds are completely awake after enough rest.”
Their early bloom, however, is just the tip of the iceberg of a worldwide phenomenon that could make natural systems and countries’ economies unstable, said Amos Tai, assistant professor of earth science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. There are two sources of increased heat, which is the main factor making the flowers bloom earlier: urbanization（城市化）and climate change. With increased urbanization, cities tend to get warmer than the surrounding rural area, in what is called the heat island effect. But a bigger reason is climate change, which has caused rising temperatures across the region and the world.
These earlier dates aren’t just a matter of tourists scrambling to catch peak bloom before the petals all fall-- it could have a lasting impact on entire ecosystems, and threaten the survival of many species.
1. What is the purpose of mentioning the dates and figures in paragraph 2?| A．To present “peak bloom” in Tokyo came earlier than in Kyoto. |
| B．To suggest when cherry blossoms will bloom next year. |
| C．To report the dates of “peak bloom” in different Japanese cities. |
| D．To show cherry blossoms came out earlier this year than in the past. |
| A．The blossom season this year is a sign of a larger global crisis. |
| B．The weather will be too cold for the blossoms to last long enough. |
| C．The earlier peak bloom will threaten the survival of many species. |
| D．The earlier bloom could affect natural systems and countries’ economy. |
| A．Deciding. | B．Managing. | C．Rushing. | D．Marching. |
| A．The Japanese Climate Crisis |
| B．Sooner’s Not Always Better Than Later |
| C．Cherry blossoms and Their Impact |
| D．The Early Blooming of Cherry Blossoms |
2 . A sleepover (过夜) program, which is designed to make kids believe that their favorite toys enjoy reading, can help encourage children to pick up more books, a new study suggests.
Toys sleepover programs are designed to get children interested in books. Children take their toys to a library for the night. At this point, workers and volunteers take photos of the toys which explore the library and read books. The next day, the children collect their toys and the photos of what the toys did during the night. They are given the books their toys chose to read.
It was found that before the sleepover the children did not spend time looking at the books in their play area at preschool. Immediately after the sleepover, the number of children who read to the toys was higher than the number who did not, but after three days the effect decreased gradually.
The researchers also tested a method for sustaining the effect. They reminded the children of the sleepover a month later, by hiding the toys and showing them the photos again the next day. This simple method brought an increase in the number of children reading to their toys.
The study proves for the first time that children who take part in sleepover programs read picture books to their toys more. “We wanted to know if there really was an effect, and if so, how long it lasts. Surprisingly, not only did the children show interest in the books, but they also began to read to their toys. This means that a new behavior pattern appeared that the children hadn’t had before. We did not expect anything like this,” said one of the researchers.
Reading is important for the development of children’s language skills and imagination. When parents read to their children, it is a passive way of reading for the child. However, when children read to their toys, it is a more active, self-directed way of reading, helping them develop into more active readers, researchers said.
1. What is the purpose of the sleepover program?| A．To develop children’s language skills. |
| B．To help children to sleep well. |
| C．To encourage children to read more. |
| D．To guide children to form a good sleeping habit. |
| A．Go around the library with their toys. |
| B．Sleep with their toys. |
| C．Read together with their toys. |
| D．Take their toys to the library. |
| A．keeping | B．testing | C．surveying | D．showing |
| A．Children showed no interest in the books. |
| B．The effect of the sleepover program could last long. |
| C．Children began to read to their toys on their own. |
| D．Whether the sleepover program had an effect remained unknown. |
3 . We all know it is important for students to get a good night’s sleep every night. They aren’t able to do their best unless they sleep well. Most experts agree that the proper number of hours is eight, and this has been accepted as common sense for as long as I can remember. However, I was young once and I know that most of you get much less sleep than that-and sometimes this affects your schoolwork.
I read an article in a teachers’ magazine recently. They did a study of 848 students in a senior school. Worryingly, the results suggested that teenagers are facing a new problem. They may go to bed and get up at proper times but a growing number wake up in the middle of the night, not to use the bathroom or have a snack but because of FOMO-the fear of missing out!
According to the article, schoolchildren suffer because of an increasing trend to wake up during the night to check social media. Afraid of missing a message or chance to take part in a discussion, teens wake up at all times of the night to go online and join up with social groups. All this happens when they should be sound asleep.
The report gives some worrying numbers. 23% of 12-to 15-year-olds wake up nearly every night to use social media. Another 15% wake up at night once a week for the same reason. As a result, one in three students are constantly exhausted and unable to do well at school.
So, I’d like to ask you to be responsible when it comes to social media. Be brave and turn off your phones and computers at night. The world won’t end and your social media will be waiting to greet you in the morning. I give you my word that you won’t have missed anything important.
1. What is the new trend among teenagers?| A．They get up too early in the morning. |
| B．They wake up at midnight to go online. |
| C．They wake up at night to get something to eat. |
| D．They have difficulty in falling asleep again at night. |
| A．A fear of going online. |
| B．A need to go out all the time. |
| C．A fear of losing touch on social media. |
| D．A need to use the latest technology. |
| A．disappointed | B．surprised | C．confused | D．tired |
| A．Uninterested | B．Supportive | C．Concerned | D．Doubtful |
4 . There is more that comes with older age than greying hair and wrinkled skin When humans reach their later years, they favour more established friends and their social circle is reduced.
Now, for what appears to be the first time, scientists have seen the same behaviour in another species. Twenty years of observations of chimpanzees (猩猩) reveal that older males choose to hang out with their long-term friends at the expense of other relationships.
The researchers studied 78, 000 hours of observations made between 1996 and 2016 that followed the social interactions of 21 male chimpanzees between the ages of 15 and 58 years old. They classified the chimps’ relationships depending on the amount of time they sat with others and groomed (梳毛) them. They then rated the various pairings as mutual (相互的) friendships, where both chimps seemed to enjoy the relationship; one-sided friendships, where one chimp was more keen to be friends than the other; and non-friendships, where neither chimp showed interest in the other.
When the scientists looked at the patterns of friendships, they found that the older chimps had more mutual friendships and fewer one-sided friendships than younger chimps. Another feature seen in older humans was also spotted in the chimps. As the males got older, their levels of aggression (挑衅) tailed off, meaning they started fewer fights and tended to intimidate others in their group less often.
The observations have left the researchers puzzled. According to an idea in psychology known as socioemotional selectivity theory, or SST, older humans prefer more positive relationships because they are aware time is running out. But many animal experts argue that chimpanzees lack the human sense of mortality (死亡), suggesting something else is driving the behaviour.
Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, said in humans, the decline in social circles with age is due to declining social motivation to get out and meet people combined by lack of opportunity. In chimpanzees, as older males compete less for mates, they may focus on close, reciprocal (互惠的) relationships with trusted partners, she said.
1. What do older male chimpanzees favour?| A．Old friendships. | B．New bonds. |
| C．Greying hair. | D．Wrinkled skin. |
| A．By turning to other scientists. |
| B．By introducing a new concept. |
| C．By forming relationships with them. |
| D．By analyzing two decades’ observations. |
| A．Threaten. | B．Motivate. | C．Defend. | D．Accompany. |
| A．Awareness of time. | B．Less competition for mates. |
| C．Low motivation for socialization. | D．Lack of the human sense of mortality. |
5 . Guests arriving at the Aloft Hotel in Manhattan or one in Silicon Valley will soon be able to do something hotels have dreamed about offering for years: walk past the check-in desk and enter their rooms by using a smartphone as a room key. The boutique hotel brand from Starwood to Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. plans to offer this feature at two hotels before the end of the quarter.
Starwood officials are hoping this will be one of the biggest technological changes in the industry since free Wi-Fi. “We believe this will become the new standard for how people will want to enter a hotel.” says Frits van Passchen, Starwood’s CEO.
Not everyone is so sure. Past attempts to use technology to streamline the check-in process have had mixed results. Robert Habeeb, president of the First Hospitality Group, says he pulled out check-in desks at two of his Holiday Inn hotels after finding that most guests ignored them. He found that many travelers will talk with a staff member and ensure their room has the right view or location, or to try for an upgrade. Other guests may still want to be greeted when they arrive.
Hotels have never been known for being in the forefront of technology, partly because many hotels are owned and managed by small companies. Many hotel operators, though, have been searching for ways to remove the bottlenecks (瓶颈) at a hotel’s front desk. “Everybody has to check in, but we are all doing it pretty much the same way we were 100 years ago,” says Christopher Nassetta, CEO for Hilton Worldwide holdings Inc. “It’s something we are seriously addressing.”
Yet it is still not clear that virtual keys will do better than previous attempts to beat traditional check-ins. An effort several years ago to allow guests to enter rooms with the magnetic strip (磁条) on their credit cards never became popular. Guests worried about security and were unwilling to give their kids credit cards instead of room keys.
1. According to the first two paragraphs, which of the following is NOT true?| A．The new room key may become a new standard of choosing a hotel. |
| B．Hotel officials hope the new room key will be a great change in hotel industry. |
| C．Aloft of Hotel in Manhattan will allow guests to use a smartphone as a room key. |
| D．All Starwood Hotels plan to offer the new room key before the end of the quarter. |
| A．unify | B．identify | C．simplify | D．beautify |
| A．it’s a good idea to cancel check-in |
| B．the way of check-in needs to be changed |
| C．the management of hotel needs to be improved |
| D．it depends on the hotel operators to update technology |
| A．secure | B．negative | C．bright | D．uncertain |
6 . In 2019, Tan Zhouhai was a villager in Hunan Province , shooting short videos of his everyday life and uploading(上传) them to the Internet to attract potential customers for farm products.
Tan was used to his videos receiving dozens, sometimes a few hundred, likes from his audience on Chinese social media such as Douyin. That changed when he uploaded a video of his 83-year-old grandfather who was dancing along to a popular song called Little Apple gained 10,000 likes.
Inspired by this unexpected success, Tan asked his grandfather to perform often so that we could see the 30-year-old cooking for the elderly man, who has lost all his teeth, wearing a pair of round sunglasses for added comic effect. The account now has 1.6 million fans and has received at least 3 million likes.
"Before my grandfather joined me, my account（账户） was just an ordinary one about food and was unnoticed on the internet," Tan told the South China Morning Post. "After my grandfather joined, many of my fans have said they were touched. They said they liked my grandfather and think he is so cute."
The country's top two short video apps Douyin and Kuaishou each have more than 400 million monthly active users. More than 70 percent are younger than 35. Tan's grandfather is just one of a number of elderly people.
One online favourites include a 79-year-old woman known as Granny Wang Who Only Wears High-heeled Shoes and Yaoyang's Grandfather, an 80-year-old man who shares humorous stories of his everyday life in the dialect of northeastern China. They have 16 million and 13 million subscribers（订阅）, respectively.
Chen Duan, a data economy expert from Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, said developments in technology had made it easier for elderly people to use digital tools, leading to more of them becoming fans and bloggers of short videos.
"Not every old person can be popular on the internet. It depends on their media sense, their feel in front of the camera and their acting skills," Chen said.
1. What does the underlined word "perform" in Paragraph 3 mean?| A．To make an audience happy by acting, singing or dancing |
| B．To do something such as a piece of work, task or duty |
| C．To move data to a large computer system |
| D．To become annoyed |
| A．His grandfather is very cute |
| B．His videos moved his fans after his grandfather joined him,and he changed the content. |
| C．He saw the video, we showed a dancing old man who has lost all his teeth wearing a pair of round sunglasses for added comic effect. |
| D．His grandfather joined him. |
| A．Every old man can become popular online. |
| B．Tan was not popular before his grandfather took part |
| C．Most of active users in Douyin are young man. |
| D．Development in technology changed old people's life. |
| A．Elderly video stars in China |
| B．The young help the old become popular online |
| C．How to become popular on the Internet |
| D．Not every old person can be popular online |
7 . Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “The British are the only people who like to be told how bad things are.” This is definitely (绝对地) true of British comedy. Most people think humor is about happy things, but for the British, the opposite is true. We love to use our cruel sense of humor to complain and be negative (消极的).
British comedy, for example, draws a fine line between comedy and tragedy (悲剧). BBC’s The Office is a TV show, famous for its dry humor. The main character, David Brent, is a foolish man, and the show’s comedy comes from his delusions. For example, he often tells himself that he is loved by everyone but the viewer can see that everyone hates him.
Stupid characters for the audience to laugh at are an old tradition in Britain. In Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, the character Malvolio is an old man whom people play tricks on. The audience will laugh away, although the reality is that this man is a truly tragic individual (个体).
This side of British humor is reflected (反映) in friendships as well. At university, my friends and I would always laugh at one another. I had an American friend who actually found this sarcasm (挖苦) quite upsetting. She didn’t realize that in Britain, the better friends you are with someone, the more you laugh at them.
This approach – laughing at everything – may sound rather depressing (让人郁闷的), but our strange humor played a big part in British history. In World War II, along with a stiff upper lip (坚定沉着), the British got through it by laughing. What else was there to do?
There is a saying in English: “Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone.” If you are ever on the receiving end of British sarcasm, you may feel like crying, but it’s best to just laugh it off!
1. How is British comedy different from other types?| A．It is often surprising and boring. |
| B．It often laughs at human nature. |
| C．It is often about negative things. |
| D．It often makes people feel depressed. |
| A．strong abilities |
| B．fun characters |
| C．incorrect beliefs |
| D．deep confidence |
| A．To show one of the best examples of British comedy. |
| B．To explain how Shakespeare’s comedy is different. |
| C．To show how difficult it is to make people accept British comedy. |
| D．To prove Britain has a long tradition of laughing at stupid characters. |
| A．Learn from it. |
| B．Don’t take it seriously. |
| C．Reply sarcastically. |
| D．Be careful not to make stupid mistakes. |
8 . The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow﹣moving river 80 kilometers wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a "river of grass" because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes ﹣and skin!
Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So， we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat， open boat. Like an airplane， it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a loud noise but it does the job. The boat skims along the water's surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat， at least we are above the alligators （短吻鳄）.
For a long time， dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900， some people felt this precious wetland should be drained（排干）. They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s， there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere， including in the Everglades. They built canals， levees， and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories poured poisonous waste that damaged the environment of the everglades.
People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.
Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s，people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However， the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these trees or spraying them with herbicides to kill them.
1. What possibly cause（s） airboats to get lost in the Everglades？| A．The sawgrass. |
| B．The vast river. |
| C．The alligators. |
| D．The shallow water. |
| A．Because they can move faster. |
| B．Because their noise frightens the alligators. |
| C．Because they have flat bottoms. |
| D．Because they carry more passengers. |
| A．By cutting down trees |
| B．By building factories. |
| C．By growing sawgrass. |
| D．By digging water channels. |
| A．Seeds. |
| B．Poisons. |
| C．Crops. |
| D．Paints. |
9 . A KidZania opened in Frisco, Texas on November 23, 2019. The indoor play area is unique because it promises to teach children about the real world—while they have a great time!
A KidZania is an interactive mini-city created for children between 4 and 14 years old, where they can walk freely, exploring various activities. The goal is for them to learn about the world through realistic role-play. That's why you'll find theaters, shops, and office buildings inside the city walls along with pedestrians and tiny vehicles.
At these places, kids can spend about 20 minutes per session being firefighters, mail carriers, construction workers, dentists, nail technicians, bankers, or even broadcast journalists.
If a kid wants to be a doctor or see what it's like to be a veterinarian（兽医）, they can get a taste of it, said Mike Laudizio, KidZania's” mayor （市长）”and general manager.
They get their hands in it, and it really gives them the freedom to explore the city.”
Since children learn best by doing, they are more likely to leave KidZania with a newfound appreciation for different jobs and a better grasp of how the world works. Best of all, while the kids work, they earn KidZos by doing their jobs well or by achieving small goals like washing their hands or participating in branded activities. They have the choice of cashing in for toys and candy at the gift shop or saving up in the KidZania bank for another day.
Our only question is when one of these will open for adults. This place looks great fun, and it can teach kids important lessons about the world we live in. Let's hope more KidZanias open in the U. S.
1. What is a KidZania?| A．A mini-city. | B．A kid-care center. |
| C．An interesting play. | D．A charity project. |
| A．Work as mayor of a city. |
| B．Learn through realistic role-play. |
| C．Shadow people in different occupations. |
| D．Attend lectures about how the world works. |
| A．A brand name. | B．A kind of business. |
| C．Toys sold in the shop. | D．Money in the mini-city. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Curious. | C．Admiring. | D．Worried. |
10 . Have you ever wanted to feel like you were in a western film? Or maybe you wanted to feel like you were a pioneer traveling the west? It is possible to experience such things during a Wild West vacation! Here are four of the best Wild West vacation locations available:
Walk the Lewis and Clark Trail
Walk some or all of the 3,700 miles trail that was traversed by Mariwether Lewis and William Clark, two of the world's greatest explorers. Though not all the trails are marked, there are various stops that have been preserved by various historic societies. There is also a coach (长途客车)that makes a 16-day trek following the trail. This begins in St. Louis, Missouri, and ends in Astoria, Oregon.
Venture Route 66
Take a tour or go to see it yourself-ride on the famous Route 66. The road is nearly 2, 500 miles long. Harley Davidson offers motorcycle tours that last two weeks. Route 66 will provide an experience that may only be found on the open road. The historic road is still well taken care of.
Visit the Grand Canyon
Visit the most immense (巨大的)canyon in the world, located in Northern Arizona. Raft down the Colorado River, or hike the various trails that run throughout the canyon. If walking is not your thing, there are donkey and horse riding adventures available. In addition, there are motorized boats that float down through the canyon in a week's time.
Visit Deadwood
Located in South Dakota, Deadwood is a historic landmark. It is the kind of town that comes to mind when one thinks of an old western film. Actors who act as gunslingers (杀手）will often be seen in the streets playing their roles. Winter activities are popular in this old town, and there is always something to do.
1. What do we know from the passage?| A．None of the trails in the west are marked. |
| B．A number of historic stops aren't preserved well. |
| C．Western films are the most popular among Americans. |
| D．William Clark was a pioneer who explored the west. |
| A．long and hard journey | B．traveling information |
| C．beautiful scenery | D．pleasant holiday |
| A．A horse riding adventure. |
| B．A coach riding adventure. |
| C．A motorcycle riding adventure. |
| D．A donkey riding adventure. |
