GETTING A GRANT Who pays? The local education authority (LEA) for the area in which the student is living. Who can get this money? Anyone who gets a place on a first degree course, although a student who has already attended a course of advanced further education may not. Students must also have been resident in the UK for at least three years, which can exclude some students from overseas. |
| SPECIAL CASES |
| If a student has worked before going to college? A student who is 26 or more before the course starts and who has worked for at least three of the previous six years will get extra money – £155 a year if 26, increasing to a maximum of £615 at 29 or more. If a student is handicapped? LEAs will give up to £500 to help meet extra expenses – such as buying a tape recorder for a blind student, extra heating or special food. Banking? Most of the big banks offer special services to students who open accounts (in the hope that they will stay with the bank when they become rich officials). A student won’t usually have to pay bank charges as long as the account stays in credit. Some banks allow students to overdraw by £100 or so, and still don’t make charges (though they do charge interest). |
1. The phrase “a grant” in the first line most probably means _____.
| A．bank interest | B．a credit card |
| C．an education fee | D．financial aid |
| A．be unable to get money from any LEA |
| B．get money if taking a first degree course |
| C．get money from LEA when finishing his course |
| D．have to open a bank account before getting money |
| A．None. | B．£155. | C．£615. | D．£515. |
2 . You probably know a dog named Snoopy,but you may not have heard who created the character.As a matter of fact,the creator was a terrible underachiever when he was a boy.While in the eighth grade,he failed subjects repeatedly.High school wasn’t much better；he flunked Latin,algebra,English,and received a grade of zero in physics.
He suffered many losses and rejections-just as people sometimes did in real life.Out of all the failures in his life,there was something that did hold great importance to this boy,his love of drawing.Although in high school,the cartoons he submitted to the yearbook were rejected,once out of school,the boy was so sure of his artistic talent that he approached Walt Disney Studios with drawing works.I wish I could say the studios loved his work and immediately hired him,but such was not the case；another huge rejection.
Despite his lack of successes,this boy did not give up.He then decided to write his own autobiography in cartoons,about a little boy who was regarded as a loser and a nobody.The name of this boy was Charles Schulz,the creator of the comic dog Snoopy.
In life,it is sometimes easy to feel like a nobody,We pass hundreds of people on the street on our way to work,or walk through a faceless crowd in a mall,and no one seems to notice or care.Deep inside,we may know we are special and unique and have lots to offer,but unless someone takes the time to look our way and give us a chance,we may feel worthless.
Just as Charles Schulz had faith in his artistic talent,so too,we must realize that nobody is a nobody.
1. Which of the following best explains”flunked”underlined in Paragraph 1?| A．Failed. | B．Defeated. |
| C．Attained. | D．Misunderstood. |
| A．Be acquainted with more people. | B．Offer more special and unique skills. |
| C．Ask for others’appreciation. | D．Believe we can make some difference. |
| A．The Story of a Hard-working Boy | B．Nobody is a Nobody. |
| C．The Dream of Snoopy’s Creator | D．Success is Built upon Failure. |
3 . Scientists have created the world’s first living, self-healing (自愈) robots using stem cells from frogs. Named after the African clawed frog from which they take their stem cells, xenobots are less than a millimeter wide (0. 04 inches) — small enough to travel inside human bodies. They can walk and swim, survive for weeks without food, and work together in groups. These are “entirely new life-forms,” said project co-leader Michael Levin, director of the Allen Discovery Center.
The researchers removed living stem cells, which have the ability to develop into different cell types, from frog embryos (胚胎), and left them to incubate (孵化). Then, the cells were cut and reshaped into specific “body forms” designed by a supercomputer.” They’re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal,” said robotics expert Joshua Bongard. The cells then began to work on their own and even have the regenerative power; when the scientists cut the living robot almost in half, its cells automatically zippered its body back up.
Xenobots don’t look like traditional robots-they have no shiny clothing or robotic arms. Instead ,they look more like a tiny drop of moving pink flesh. The researchers say this is deliberate-this biological machine can achieve things typical robots of steel and plastic cannot do.” Traditional robots degrade (降解) over time and can produce harmful ecological and health side effects,” researchers said in the study. As biological machines, xenobots are more environmentally friendly and safer for human health, the study said.
Research is being done into using the robots to clean up radioactive waste or even microplastics from the oceans. Scientists are also trying to include a greater variety of cells; a new nervous system for example. However, some people argue that the addition of nerve cells would cause moral problems. The general public have also expressed concern that humans would be taken control of by robots. However, Michael Levin thinks there’s no need to worry. “Xenobots have no ability to reproduce or evolve. The supercomputer which is used to produce them does use artificial intelligence. But for now, all is fine,” said Levin.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．The advantage of AI technology. | B．The introduction of a latest robot. |
| C．The medical value of African frogs. | D．The application of robots in medicine. |
| A．Healing by itself. | B．Replacing old cells. |
| C．Living much longer. | D．Defending against attacks. |
| A．They can break up steel and plastic while degrading. |
| B．They can do everything that traditional robots can do. |
| C．They do less harm to the environment and human health. |
| D．They often change their color deliberately while moving. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Positive. |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Cautious. |
4 . At Englands University of Plymouth, Professor Eduardo Miranda has been programming pairs of robots to compose music. Miranda's robots have simple “ vocal cords”(声带)and are programmed to sing and to listen to each other. The robots' unique warbling sounds (颤音) do not perfectly match the human voice, but each machine is exactly sharing music with the other in a new and unique way.
Each robot is equipped with speakers, software that mimics the human voice, a mouth that opens as it “sings,” a microphone for ears, and a camera for eyes. The robots also move. Miranda hopes that by studying his robot vocalists, he can discover something about how and why humans create, perform, and listen to music.
When the robots sing, first one robot makes six random sounds. Its partner responds with more sounds. The first robot analyzes the sounds to see if their sequences (序列)) are similar. If they are, it nods its head and commits the sounds to memory, and the second robot notices and “memorizes” the musical sequence, too. If the first robot thinks the sounds are too different, it shakes its head and both robots ignore the sounds. Then the process continues.
Miranda set up an experiment in which he left the two robots alone in his study for two weeks. When he returned, his little warblers had, by imitating each other, not only shared notes but combined them. The product of their cooperation was far from symphonic, but the robots had begun to combine the notes into their own self-developed “songs”.
With the help of his warbling robots, one of Miranda's goals is to create music that no human would ever compose. Miranda believes the robots are ideal for this purpose because they would not be influenced by any existing musical styles or rules.
1. Which is closest in meaning to the underlined word “mimics” in Paragraph 2?| A．Substitutes. | B．Interrupts. |
| C．Controls. | D．Copies. |
| A．They interacted with each other. |
| B．They ignored the unique sound. |
| C．They learned to sing better than humans. |
| D．They committed random sounds to memory. |
| A．Sing as well as humans do. | B．Create new styles of music. |
| C．Memorize a variety of music. | D．Promote traditional musical forms. |
| A．Future robots. | B．Special songs. |
| C．Music by robots. | D．Experiments by Miranda. |
5 . It happens from time to time that after a whole morning of studying, you are tired in the afternoon. It’s then that you might want to eat something sweet, perhaps a Coke or a chocolate bar, to lift your mood. After all it’s popularly believed that a “sugar rush” gives us energy.
But a study published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews in April suggests that sugar can make us feel worse rather than boost our moods.
The German and UK researchers collected data from 31 studies involving nearly 1,300 adults. They studied the effect of sugar on various aspects of mood, including anger, alertness, depression and tiredness.
They found that people who have too much sugar become more tired and less alert within an hour and that these feelings become more intense over time.
According to the researchers, when people take in sugar their blood sugar levels rise rapidly, leading to a burst of energy and a short “feel good” period. However, as they begin to digest the sugar, their blood sugar levels decrease quickly leading to a bad feeling.
To remain on a “high” people are likely to eat more and more sugar until they become addicted to it. As with caffeine, this prevents the body from relaxing, leaving people feeling tired and less alert.
But the study findings needn’t make us think we must give up sweet food altogether. According to the World Health Organization, it is healthy to have the sugars found naturally in fruit, vegetables and milk so long as these make up less than 5 percent of daily total energy intake.
So the next time you feel tired and can’t concentrate, perhaps you should think twice before you bite into a chocolate bar. Maybe a spot of exercise at midday would be a better idea!
Tips for beating afternoon fatigue.
* Head outside and sit in the daylight for 10 minutes.
* Get into the routine of a mid-afternoon cup of tea.
* Plan group activities for midday.
* Add variety to your routine.
1. What does the underlined word “boost” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．harm | B．improve | C．control | D．change |
| A．They felt more tired. | B．They felt relaxed. |
| C．They were more alert. | D．They felt energetic. |
| A．Our mood is connected to our blood sugar levels. |
| B．Taking in more sugar benefits mental health. |
| C．Getting caffeine is another way to relax. |
| D．Sugar and caffeine are all the same. |
| A．Give up sweet food. | B．Have a bar of chocolate. |
| C．Do an hour of exercise. | D．Eat foods with natural sugars. |
6 . An extraordinary new restaurant in Semarang, Indonesia is on a mission (使命) to support locals trapped in poverty, many of whom are earning less than $25 a month, by providing them with an alternative way to pay for their food.
The Methane Gas Canteen, run by husband and wife team Sarimin and Suyatmi, is located in an unexpected place for an eatery — Jatibarang Landfill. The landfill is a mountain of purifying waste, where poor locals spend their days collecting plastic and glass to sell. Meanwhile, the couple, who spent 40 years collecting waste before opening the restaurant, is busy cooking.
What makes the restaurant unusual, aside from its location, is that no cash is required to pay for meals. Poor people have the option to pay for their food with recyclable waste instead of cash. Sarimin weighs the plastic customers bring in, calculates its worth, and then deduct that value from the cost of the meal, giving any extra value back to the customer. The scheme is part of the community’s solution to reduce waste in the landfill and recycle non-degradable plastics.
“I think we recycle 1 ton of plastic waste a day, which is a lot. This way, the plastic waste doesn’t pile up, drift down the river and cause flooding,” said Sarimin in an interview with Channel News Asia. “It benefits everyone.”
The restaurant seats about 30 people and serves meals that cost between $0.40 and $0.80 each. Since opening the canteen Sarimin and Suyatmi have seen their daily income more than double to $15 a day.
“I’m happy to see our customers enjoying their meals,” Sarimin told NHK World. “The poor must also have the right to enjoy healthy eating. I want to give them that chance as much as possible.”
1. What do we know about Jatibarang Landfill?| A．An unusual restaurant for people to eat free meals. |
| B．A mountain where the locals live on selling waste. |
| C．A place where poor locals collect waste to sell. |
| D．A plant where waste is recycled. |
| A．To double their daily income and profit. |
| B．To prove waste is a valuable thing. |
| C．To provide food for locals trying to survive. |
| D．To help settle the issues of poverty and trash. |
| A．Increase | B．Replace |
| C．Remove | D．Equal |
| A．An unusual way to pay for meals. |
| B．A local mission to help get rid of poverty. |
| C．A different scheme to reduce waste. |
| D．A new restaurant getting double income. |
7 . In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their selfworth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often lifeanddeath affairs. In their singleminded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn't matter because I really didn't try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one's selfrespect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1. What does this passage mainly talk about?| A．Competition helps to set up selfrespect. |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people. |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development. |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition. |
| A．those who try their best to win |
| B．those who value competition most highly |
| C．those who are against competition most strongly |
| D．those who rely on others most for success |
| A．One's worth lies in his performance compared with others'. |
| B．One's success in competition needs great efforts. |
| C．One's achievement is determined by his particular skills. |
| D．One's success is based on how hard he has tried. |
| A．Every effort should be paid back. |
| B．Fear of failure should be removed in competition. |
| C．Winning should be a lifeanddeath matter. |
| D．Competition should be encouraged. |
8 . On average ,Americans spend about 10 hours a day in front of a computer or other electronic devices and less than 30 minutes a day outdoors. That is a claim made by David Strayer, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah. In his 2017 TED Talk , Strayer explained that all this time spent with technology is making our brains tired.
Using an electronic device to answer emails, listen to the news and look at Facebook puts a lot of pressure on the front of the brain, which, Strayer explains , is important for critical (有判断力的)thinking , problem-solving and decision-making.
So, it is important to give the brain a rest. And being in naure , Strayer claims , helps get a tired brain away from too much technology. More than 15,000 campers from around the world attended an international camping festival in September. That is when friends and family take time off and escape to nature for several days. They take walks, climb, explore , swim, sleep, eat and play. Camping may be just what a tired brain needs.
Take Carl for example .He lives in West Virginia and enjoys camping . He says that staying outdoors makes him feel at ease. It also prepares him for the work he must do. Kate Somers is another example who also lives in West Virginia. She says she enjoys camping with her husband and two children . She calls it a “regenerative” experience.
At the University of Utah , David Strayer has studied both short-term and long-term exposure to nature. He found that spending short amounts of time in nature without technology does calm the brain and helps it to remember better. However ,he found , it is the long-term contact with nature that does the most good. He and his research team found that spending three days in nature without any technology is enough time for the brain to fully relax and reset itself.
1. What is David Strayer’s opinion ?| A．Americans dislike outdoor activities |
| B．Electronic equipment should be quitted |
| C．New technologies are a double-edged sword |
| D．Electronic equipment brings great convenience |
| A．To try another lifestyle | B．To refresh our brain |
| C．To make better decisions. | D．To play with our family and friends |
| A．Reborn | B．Memorable | C．Remarkable | D．Tiring |
| A．Electronic Equipment Harms the Brain |
| B．Good Rest Develops Good Memory |
| C．Tips on Using New Technologies |
| D．Being in Nature Is Good for the Brain |
Whenever human populations have lived in forest areas, they have always cut down trees which they used for a number of purposes, for housing and ships and served as a source of heating fuel and timber. Growth of cities often meant expansion into forest areas, while even more trees were removed to provide space for agriculture. With the growing demand for paper, vast quantities of trees have also been cut down for paper production. These factors, along with many others, have been contributing to a dangerous phenomenon known as deforestation.
In the last 5,000 years, humans have reduced forest from roughly 50 percent of the earth’s land surface to less than 20 percent. Most of this original, or old growth, forest cover is concentrated in three large areas: the Canadian and Alaskan boreal forest, the boreal forest of Russia, and the tropical forest of the northwestern Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield. These areas comprise almost 70 percent of the world’s remaining original forest cover. In most places, the rate of deforestation is increasing, with the alarming result of 16 million hectares disappearing worldwide every year.
Loss of forest does not just mean the decline of natural resources. There are several other factors that make deforestation seriously harmful to both the human and natural worlds. One of them is changes in the global climate. For example, forest clearance is releasing substantial volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere as vegetation is burnt or decays. It has been suggested that this is a significant factor in global warming. Moreover, about 10 percent of the world’s tree species are in danger of extinction as a result of deforestation. Deforestation also threatens biological diversity through the destruction of wildlife habitats, which endangers a number of animal species and leads to their potential disappearance. Species are particularly easy to extinction in tropical rainforests because many species have few individuals per unit area, which makes reproduction more difficult. Finally, since forests play an important role in storing water and stabilizing soil, deforestation and the resulting change in land use cause soil erosion(腐蚀) and other forms of land degradation.
1. The passage discusses all of the following EXCEPT the ________.| A．causes of deforestation | B．consequences of deforestation |
| C．management of deforestation | D．rate of deforestation |
| A．variety | B．expansion |
| C．development | D．advantage |
| A．To explain the rate of deforestation. |
| B．To compare them with housing and ships. |
| C．To show the dangers of deforestation. |
| D．To illustrate the causes of deforestation. |
| A．Deforestation threatens biological diversity. |
| B．Deforestation has many harmful consequences. |
| C．Deforestation causes changes in global climate. |
| D．Deforestation should be stopped. |
