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 . Children's average daily time spent watching television or using mobile device increased from 53 minutes at 12 months old to more than 150 minutes at 3 years old, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Children aged 7 were more likely to spend the highest amount of screen time if they had been in bad home-based childcare or were born to first-time mothers.
“Our results indicate that screen habits begin early,” said Edwina Yeung, an investigator in National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), “This finding suggests that interventions to reduce screen time could have a better chance of success if introduced early.”
In the research, mothers of 4,000 children responded to questions on their kids' media habits when they were 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding digital media exposure for children under 18 months of age, introducing children 18 to 24 months of age to screen media slowly, and limiting screen time to an hour a day for children from 2 to 5 years of age. In the current study, researchers found that 87% of the children had screen time exceeding these recommendations. However, while screen time increased throughout infancy, after 8 years of age, screen time fell to under 1. 5 hours per day. The researchers believe this decrease relates to time consumed by school-related activities.
The study authors classified the children into two groups based on how much their aver- age daily screen time increased from age 1 to age 3. The first group, 73% of the total, had the lower increase, from an average of nearly 51 minutes a day to nearly an hour and 47 minutes a day. The second group, 27% of the total, had the higher increase, from nearly 37 minutes of screen time a day to about 4 hours a day. Higher levels of parental education were associated with the lower odds of inclusion in the second group.
1. Which of the following is a reason for children's addiction to the media?| A．Low economic level. | B．Poor family education |
| C．The media's attraction. | D．The shortage of parents' love. |
| A．To stop children using the media. | B．To help parents care for children well |
| C．To reduce children's screen time earlier | D．To increase intervention to children |
| A．By giving some examples. | B．By showing some data. |
| C．By analyzing some reasons. | D．By concluding some results. |
| A．Probability. | B．Price. | C．Cost. | D．Income. |
3 . Just one in five workers use their lunch break to actually eat every day-with most using the time to catch up on personal things and play social media instead. A study of 2,000 UK professionals found 79% will have their food as they work, so they can use their “lunch” to do other things. Watching YouTube videos, walking the dog and playing with apps on their phones are also among some of the ways people spend their lunch break.
The study, conducted by Samsung KX, is designed to inspire people to reclaim their lunch breaks. “We all need to make time for ourselves and our research has shown how few really are,”said Tanya Weller, director of Samsung Showcase KX. “It’s easy to get caught up in a piece of work, but people aren’t even giving themselves a moment to eat—let alone do anything else.”
According to the study, approximately 40% of respondents would like more time to pursue hobbies and interests during their lunch break, as they feel work has completely taken over. But 67% will frequently skip their meal altogether, with the average person only managing to take a proper break from their work three days a week.
But 37% said they don’t know what to do with their time, so they just don’t bother to take a lunch break. It also showed that 43% will usually spend their allocated break time at their desk, with just a fifth stepping away to rest on the sofa. As a result, around 70% confessed to checking work emails or taking calls during their lunch time, rather than enjoying themselves. Participants said they would prefer to spend their downtime watching episodes of their favourite TV shows, playing computer games or even getting creative by painting, drawing or making music on a device.
1. What will most of people during their work do ?| A．Eat food. | B．Watch videos. |
| C．Check the email. | D．Download some apps. |
| A．Make fun of. | B．Make use of. |
| C．Come up with. | D．Keep up with. |
| A．They feel their life is fully occupied. |
| B．They find their good jobs in their free time. |
| C．They expect to have no more time to have lunch. |
| D．They think their work is too tiring to go out to play. |
| A．They have fun. | B．They’re fond of working. |
| C．They send emails. | D．They don’t know what to do. |
4 . I stood behind the curtain, my hands shaking. As I listened to the crowd laugh at the host's jokes, I thought about why I believed I could do that. Two months earlier, I had signed up for improv（即兴表演）classes at a local theater, along with four other graduate students.
When I first heard about the improv classes, I was torn. I feared getting on stage and performing in front of strangers. However, I knew I wanted to work as a science communicator after finishing my Ph.D., so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to improve my communication ability and gain confidence thinking on my feet.
During our first class, we learned the key concept of improv: “yes, and”. If someone says that rhinos are librarians, for example, then rhinos are librarians. We don't question the logic; we say “yes” and continue with the scene as if nothing is wrong. To do this effectively, we have to avoid second-guessing ourselves. Sometimes scenes go in unexpected directions. The best improv happens when performers stay open to different possibilities. Over time, I started to enjoy our classes. I also became better at listening and communicating clearly in the moment.
That training came in handy 6 months ago, when I was giving a seminar about my science research. An audience member surprised me with a question that didn't grow out of the information I had presented. Instead of getting perplexed, I used that approach, and it helped me find an appropriate answer.
Last year, I used that approach when dealing with confusing data. Instead of getting discouraged, I kept exploring the data and ended up identifying a new type of cell — one that wasn't behaving as expected. If I hadn't stayed open to the possibility that the results were real, I would have missed out on the most exciting finding of my Ph.D. program so far.
1. The author expected that the improv classes could help him ________.| A．gain better skills in communicating |
| B．rid his fear of appearing on the stage |
| C．recover from a mental illness |
| D．learn how to think independently |
| A．Pretending to be clever. |
| B．Understanding different scenes. |
| C．Accepting unexpected possibilities. |
| D．Asking others some questions. |
| A．Amused. | B．Confused. |
| C．Surprised. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．He failed in exploring the new cell. |
| B．He got stuck after finding unexpected data. |
| C．Science research made him more confident. |
| D．The improve skill helped him a lot in his Ph.D. studies. |
