1 . 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. |
2 . Most of us marry creativity to our concept of self either we're "creative" or we aren't, without much of a middle ground. "I'm just not a creative person!" a frustrated student might say in art class, while another might blame her talent at painting for her difficulties in math, giving a comment such as, "I'm very right-brained."
Dr. Pillay, a tech entrepreneur and an assistant professor at Harvard University, has been challenging these ideas. He believes that the key to unlocking your creative potential is to ignore the traditional advice that urges you to "believe in yourself." In fact, you should do the opposite: Believe you are someone else.
Dr. Pillay points to a 2016 study demonstrating the impact of stereotypes on one's behavior; The authors. educational psychologists Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar, divided their college student subjects into three groups, instructing the members of one to think of themselves as "romantic poets" and the members of another to imagine they were "serious librarians" (the third group was the control). The researchers then presented all the participants with ten ordinary objects, including a fork, a carrot, and a pair of pants, and asked them to come up with as many different uses as possible for each one. Those who were asked to imagine themselves as romantic poets came up with the widest range of ideas, whereas those in the serious-librarian group had the fewest. Meanwhile, the researchers found only small differences in students' creativity levels across academic majors.
These results suggest that creativity is not a fixed individual characteristic but a "malleable product of context and perspective, as long as he or she feels like a creative person. Dr. Pillay argues that, besides identifying yourself as creative, taking the bold, creative step of imagining you are somebody else is even more powerful. So, wish you were more creative? Just pretend!
1. According to the passage， who is more likely to unlock his creative potential?| A．An art major who always believes in himself. |
| B．A math major who has excellent academic performance |
| C．A physics major who likes to imagine himself as a poet. |
| D．A history major who works as a librarian on weekends. |
| A．The creativity of the college students. |
| B．The stereotypes of the college students. |
| C．The impact of stereotypes on one's behavior |
| D．The influence of creativity on one's behavior. |
| A．stable | B．sustainable | C．predicable | D．changeable |
| A．there is no doubt that we are either creative or not |
| B．a student who doesn't do well in art class is not creative |
| C．right brain determines whether a person is creative or not |
| D．if we pretend to be creative， then we might be really creative |
3 . GPS has completely transformed how we get around. But other animals have long had their navigation (领航) systems built right in.
“We know their eyes are quite sensitive to polarized (偏振的) light and the sky has a particular pattern of polarized light relative to the position of the sun,” Barbara Webb, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, says.
You can see polarized light firsthand if you take a pair of polarized sunglasses and spin them against the sky-the light passing through the glasses changes. Webb says the insects have polarization like that built into their many eyes. “You can think of it as having lots of sunglasses pointing in different directions.”
But Webb was curious whether there’s really enough information in the sky to give insects an accurate sense of direction. So her team built a sensor (传感器) modeled after a desert ant eye and put it under artificial light meant to simulate the sky. They then put that sensor into a model meant to model the brains of desert ants and other insects. And they found that with the insects’ sensing and processing equipment, they can likely sense direction down to just a couple degrees of error.
A system based on that of insects could someday be a cheap, low-energy choice to GPS. Insects have very tiny brains. A brain the size of a pinhead that’s using hardly any energy. And yet they’re still able to navigate better than we can with GPS, which is surprising. Webb is now working on building a robot that can use light to get its directions.
1. What can we learn from the text?| A．GPS is not accurate enough. |
| B．Insects have better eyes than humans. |
| C．Light changes passing through polarized sunglasses. |
| D．Insects have tiny brains that use no energy. |
| A．Pretend. | B．Cover. |
| C．Block. | D．See. |
| A．Insects can’t find their ways during nights. |
| B．Insects can find directions with little mistakes. |
| C．Insects always make mistakes finding directions. |
| D．Insects have sensing and processing equipment in their eyes. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Interesting. |
| C．Amazing. | D．Confusing. |
4 . The spiders have long, scary legs. Some spiders even bite. But Spider-Man is another story. He might help people see spiders less negatively, a new study finds.
After Menachem Ben-Ezra, a proud fan of the Marvel (漫威漫画公司)films and also a psychologist. saw the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp (黄蜂), lie walked out with a sudden scientific idea that he should measure people before they went into the theater, and afterwards to see if the fear of ants would be reduced or changed.
Ben-Ezra and his colleagues asked 424 people questions, about one-quarter of them about spiders, such as “Did they find them scary?” “Did seeing one make their hearts race and palms sweat?” A second group received similar questions, this time about ants. The last two groups got the same questions about other insects. Afterward, everyone watched videos. Group one got a Spider-Man movie. Group two saw Ant-Man and the Wasp. Groups three and four watched unrelated video-wheat waving peacefully in the breeze.
After viewing the movie, Ben-Ezra again asked the participants how they felt about spiders, ants or insects in general-and found the ant and spider exposures seemed to make people insensitive and less afraid. Between 3.5 and 6.1 percent of people experience such a phobia (恐惧症) of spiders. Phobias can stop people from traveling, working and enjoying their lives.
Ben-Ezra hopes that their movie research might help people with phobias. But they caution that people with phobias shouldn’t just run out and watch movies and expect their fears to go away. “What we did is only the first step in a very long road.” Ben-Ezra says. “We didn’t say you’ll be cured. We don’t have evidence for that.” But eventually, presenting people’s fears in a positive context-such as a superhero movie—might help people surmount their fear or disgust. After all, if spiders produce Spicier-Man, maybe they’re not so bad.
1. How did Ben-Ezra conduct the study?| A．By doing lab experiments. | B．By asking questions. |
| C．By analyzing former data. | D．By observation. |
| A．Delete. | B．Regain. |
| C．Discover. | D．Overcome. |
| A．They should not try to face their phobias. |
| B．They should travel, work and enjoy their lives. |
| C．They should adopt a positive attitude to their fear. |
| D．They must keep away from the insects they fear. |
| A．The Movies about the Insect Fear |
| B．The Positive Energy of Superheroes |
| C．The Cartoon Characters Made by Marvel |
| D．Fighting Spider Fear with Spider-Man |
5 . Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only(要是……就好了)”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he was 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1. Which of the following is an example of the “extra minute” rule?| A．Start the car the moment everyone is seated. |
| B．Leave the room for a minute with the iron working. |
| C．Wait for an extra minute so that the steak tastes better. |
| D．Move an object out of the way before it trips someone. |
| A．take up | B．stay away |
| C．run out of | D．give up |
| A．keep her appointment with the eye doctor |
| B．meet her father who was already an old man |
| C．join in the holiday celebration of the company |
| D．finish her work before the deadline approached |
| A．The Peace of Mind | B．The Most Useful Rule |
| C．The Two Saddest Words | D．The Emotional Well-being |
6 . “Birds” and “airports” are two words that, paired together，don’t normally paint the most harmonious picture. So it really raises some eyebrows when China announces plans to build an airport that is for birds.
Described as the world’s first-ever bird airport, the proposed Lingang Bird Sanctuary(保护区）in the northern coastal city of Tianjin is, of course,not an actual airport. Rather，it's a wetland preserve specifically designed to accommodate hundreds-even thousands-of daily takeoffs and landings by birds traveling along the East Asian-Australian Flyway. Over 50 species of migratory (迁徙的）water birds，some endangered, will stop and feed at the protected sanctuary before continuing their long journey along the flyway.
Located on a former landfill site，the 150-acre airport is also open to human travelers.(Half a million visitors are expected annually.) However，instead of duty-free shopping，the main attraction for non-egg-laying creatures at Tianjin’s newest airport will be a green-roofed education and research center, a series of raised “observation platforms” and a network of scenic walking and cycling paths totaling over 4 miles.
“The proposed Bird Airport will be a globally significant sanctuary for endangered migratory bird species, while providing new green lungs for the city of Tianjin.” Adrian McGregor of an Australian landscape architecture firm explained of the design. Frequently blanketed in smog so thick that it has shut down real airports, Tianjin is a city---China’s fourth most populous----that would certainly benefit from a new pair of healthy green lungs•
1. The underlined phrase “non-egg-laying creatures” in Paragraph 3 refers to?| A．Visitors. | B．Designers. |
| C．Endangered water birds. | D．Planes. |
| A．People cannot watch birds up close here. |
| B．It is located on a 150-acre landfill site. |
| C．It functions as an actual airport and a wetland preserve. |
| D．It provides migratory birds with food and shelter. |
| A．The airport will become a permanent home for birds. |
| B．Tianjin will win worldwide fame in the future. |
| C．Tianjin’s air quality will improve thanks to the airport. |
| D．Tianjin will be able to accommodate more people. |
| A．Airports shut down and open up. |
| B．China is to open the first Bird Airport. |
| C．Airports turn into green lungs. |
| D．Birds are no longer enemies to airports. |
True friends are people who like us though we made mistakes and who listen to us and tell us the truth. Friends support our decisions and tell us when we’re foolish. They laugh with us and share our sadness. They are our partners and share interests with us. They stimulate us when we are feeling down. They are people we aren’t afraid of telling our secret wishes to or what is really on our minds.
Friends are our supporters. When you can depend on friends, you feel safe and warm. Friends offer acceptance and emotional(情感的)support. At times, they also help with our everyday lives, cooking a meal, doing chores, or giving us a lift when we need one. Friends also are there to offer advice, an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on.
Friends also help us reduce stress. Not only do they listen to us when we feel stressed, but they also discuss what is stressing us. Sharing interests and doing activities with friends help us forget about problems at work or at home. For a short time, we can lose ourselves in a pleasant activity and perhaps laugh and breathe more easily.
1. What is the best title for the passage?
| A．How to Reduce Stress |
| B．How to Make New Friends |
| C．The Importance of Friends |
| D．The Qualities of Good Friends |
| A．educate | B．encourage |
| C．surprise | D．dislike |
| A．laugh at us when we’re foolish |
| B．tell us other people’s secrets |
| C．share our sadness and interests |
| D．support us when we need help |
| A．people should make friends anytime |
| B．friends are people who allow you to cry |
| C．a friend helps you in many ways |
| D．good friends are always difficult to meet |
8 . Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately：the air you breathe.
Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露) to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problems，but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风) within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物) were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)considers to be of “moderate” (良好) quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.
The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.
1. The text mainly discusses the relationship between ________.| A．heart problems and air quality |
| B．heart problems and exercising |
| C．heart problems and smoking |
| D．heart problems and fatty food |
| A．relatively high | B．extremely low |
| C．relatively low | D．extremely high |
| A．Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart. |
| B．The EPA conducted many studies on air quality. |
| C．Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking. |
| D．Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made. |
| A．inform | B．persuade |
| C．describe | D．entertain |
Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.
Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution.” The whole world became quite! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?
Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!
1. What did the author’s classmates think about his report?
| A．Controversial. | B．Ridiculous. |
| C．Boring. | D．Puzzling. |
| A．He was unfamiliar with American history. |
| B．He followed the advice and flipped a coin. |
| C．He forgot his teacher’s instruction. |
| D．He was new at the school. |
| A．annoyed | B．ashamed |
| C．ready | D．eager |
| A．by redoing his task |
| B．through his own efforts |
| C．with the help of his grandfather |
| D．under the guidance of his headmaster |
