1 . The world can be a scary place when you' re young. It can be even scarier when you' re a young little blue penguin(企鹅) , the tiniest of the penguin species. Luckily, there are some humans willing to help. They stepped in to protect Billy, a blue penguin that appeared on a beach in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Spotted on November 29 at the slipway at Moncks Bay, near Sumner，in Christchurch，the little penguin immediately attracted a small crowd. Jeff Mein Smith saw the crowd while he was bicycling that afternoon, and he biked home to get his camera. When he returned to the scene，he found that the penguin had received a little sign, one that read “Hi, I'm waiting for my mum to come back. DOC(Department of Conservation) knows I'm here. Please leave me alone. Keep your dog away. Thanks, Billy the baby blue penguin.”
Billy didn't move away from the sign. The DOC arrived later that afternoon to pick up Billy, though they were surprised to see it on the beach. “It's unusual for a blue penguin to be out in the open on the beach during the day, ”Anita Spencer, a DOC senior ranger, told Stuff.
Billy was taken to the Christchurch Penguin Rehabilitation Center after being retrieved from the beach. Volunteers believe the bird may actually be a female penguin, and is around 2 months old. The chick weighs a mere 550 grams, less than a standard basketball. A blue penguin should weigh around 900 grams at this age. Most little penguins grow up to weigh 1 kilogram.
The center will help the little penguin gain some weight by feeding it fish juice, before it's set free into the ocean.
1. Why can the world be frightening to a young penguin?| A．It is a rare species. |
| B．It faces potential danger. |
| C．It is surrounded by the crowd. |
| D．It is threatened by dogs. |
| A．is a male penguin |
| B．has expressed its thanks |
| C．weighs less for its age |
| D．prefers living on the beach |
| A．Ignored. | B．Cured. |
| C．Given away. | D．Brought back. |
| A．It will be reported to Stuff. |
| B．It will be visited by the locals. |
| C．It will be taken good care of. |
| D．It will be fed with fruit juice. |
2 . The first time I used the TV to distract my daughter, I felt like a bad parent; I convinced myself I was a “bad” mom-these days I believe the opposite to be true. Screen time makes me a better mom.
Now I know what most of you might be thinking: That's ridiculous. Only irresponsible parents rely on the screen to care for their kids. Then again, experts suggest parents limit media use. And while I am not sceptical about experts, there are things they fail to consider.
Like most 6-year-olds, my daughter gets worked up and excited easily and watching a cartoon gives her a chance to shut off her mind. And there are other reasons-more selfish reasons. I am a work-from-work mom, and giving her screen time gives me “me” time. I'm able to write while she watches TV. And while this may sound bad. I believe I am helping my daughter realize she should rely on herself. When Mommy works, she gets her own snacks, drinks and toys.
There are other benefits, too. TV has also taught my daughter. Thanks to “Super Why”, she knew her alphabet at 2, and thanks to “Sesame Street”, she was able to count to 20 by age 3. And I use the screen as a great incentive. My daughter earns “tablet time” when she completes tasks, e.g., making her bed earns 15 minutes while doing her homework gets her 30.
Of course, I have a few rules. During meals, the TV is off; all programs must be monitored; on weekdays, she is limited to two hours maximum. So remember: It doesn't matter what our kids watch; it matters what they do, what they say, what they feel and how they act, and only you know what is best for them.
1. What does the author think about giving her child screen time?| A．It makes her a bad parent. |
| B．It is thought to be true. |
| C．It challenges a popular belief. |
| D．It is in line with experts. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Motivator. | B．Entertainer. |
| C．Idea producer. | D．Learning tool. |
| A．Kids are the most important. |
| B．Parents know their children best. |
| C．No rules, no successes. |
| D．TV is not necessarily good or bad. |
3 . Fired bricks are a universal building material, produced by thousand-year-old technology, which throughout history has seldom served any other purpose. But researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found a new use for bricks:as energy storage units. A team of engineers and chemists have found a way to transform an ordinary house brick into a battery (电池) — allowing it to conduct (传导) and store electricity.
The researchers connect an LED light bulb (灯泡) to the bricks. They are powerful enough to illuminate it and cost only about $3 to make.
“I love the idea of adding value to things that are inexpensive, things that are affordable, things that we see every day,” said Julio D'Arcy, an assistant professor of chemistry at Washington University and one of the researchers on this project.
The new invention relies on something known as iron oxide, a form of matter in bricks that gives them their red colour. The scientists pumped the bricks with several gases that react with iron oxide to produce a network of plastic fibres. These fibres coat the empty spaces inside the bricks — and conduct electricity.
“What we’re trying to do is:we're trying to make specialized plastics and then we can actually put those plastics inside construction materials,”D’Arcy says. “In the future, a brick wall could potentially serve two purposes at one time:providing structural support and storing electricity produced from renewable energy sources,such as solar panels.”
The technology is still at least a few years away from being ready for the market. And right now the energy that the bricks can store is still not much. Hut the team is now testing ways to improve brick performance — because it looks like you can find a new purpose for an old brick.
1. What did the researchers turn bricks into?| A．Lighting equipment. | B．Construction materials. |
| C．An electricity-storage item. | D．A new form of green energy. |
| A．Store. | B．Light. | C．Conduct. | D．Transform. |
| A．Iron oxide. | B．The stored gases. |
| C．The produced fibres. | D．The empty spaces. |
| A．Old Bricks, New Tricks | B．A Bright Future Is on the Way |
| C．A New Way to Produce Electricity | D．Recycled Batteries,Renewable Energy |
4 . Now, chemists have discovered new potential in abundant building blocks: Through a series of reactions, scientists have shown that conventional bricks can be transformed into energy storage devices powerful enough to turn on LED lights. “What we have demonstrated in our paper is sufficient enough for you to light up emergency lighting that's in a hallway or sensors that could be put inside the walls of a house, "said Julio M. D’ Arcy, an assistant professor of chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and one of the study's authors. "The next step is trying to store more energy, so that you can power bigger devices--like maybe a laptop--directly from the walls of the house. ”
“Bricks have been prized by architects for their capacity to store heat, but using them to hold electricity has never been tried before, "D'Arcy said. To allow the bricks to store electricity, the researchers pumped a series of gases inside the brick. "The gases react with the brick's chemical components, coating them with a web of plastic nanofiber (纳米纤维）known as a PEDOT, which is a good conductor of electricity, "he said. Though PEDOT can store large amounts of energy, this supercapacitor (超级电容器）cannot hold onto that charge or deliver sustained energy over long periods of time like batteries can. “A battery will give you energy density that will allow you to drive 300 miles, but a supercapacitor will allow you to accelerate very quickly at a red light,” D’ Arcy said.
Still, scientists see potential in the bricks as a possible green energy solution. Right now, these "smart bricks" cannot compete with the energy storage potential of the lithium-ion (锂离子）batteries used in many solar power systems. However, there is hope that this new technology could be developed to provide a new storage method using readily available materials.
“The performance is a long way short of custom-made supercapacitors, but the principle is proven and there is significant room for improving the storage characteristics by optimizing the structure and chemistry of the bricks,” said Dan Brett, a professor of electrochemical engineering at University College London, who was not involved in the study.
1. What will the scientists do about the bricks next according to M. D'Arcy?| A．Put the bricks into commercial use. |
| B．Refer their paper to academic journals. |
| C．Expand the bricks' ability of storing power. |
| D．Develop new smart laptop with powered bricks. |
| A．It allows bricks to take up less space. |
| B．It can protect bricks with a powered coat. |
| C．It helps bricks store and conduct electricity. |
| D．It can make the powered vehicles travel farther. |
| A．They need much more development. |
| B．They are more environmentally-friendly. |
| C．They will be released into the market soon. |
| D．They can be made according to consumers' requirements. |
| A．Making the most of. | B．Trying out for. |
| C．Breaking up with. | D．Breaking away from. |
5 . This is the moment a cleaner at a British university burst into tears after students raised $ 2,063 to send him to Jamaica on vacation to see family.
Herman Gordon, who has worked at Bristol University for more than a decade, is described as “one of the most loved” members of its cleaning staff. He is so well liked that a group of students raised money to give him a holiday. A video shows a student hands an envelope of cash to the surprised Gordan with tears rolling down his cheeks. He wipes away tears with a cleaning cloth and hugs the student who gave it to him. Gordan said: “I want to thank every one of you and God bless every one of you.”
The group of students started the fundraising because they liked Gordon so much. A post said: “The Jamaican cleaner in the biomedical library is the jolliest man I have ever met; he makes me smile even when I’m in the deepest depths of sorrow, if you want a reason to smile, go talk to him for a minute or two.”
Anyone who has been to the biomedical library knows who Herman the cleaner is. Simply put, Herman is the epitome（典范）of happiness, “All year round, this man works hours on end to provide us with a clean working space in which to study. But most importantly, his everlasting positive attitude has managed to turn many students’ dark days into positive ones filled with joy,” said a student. Whether you’re just feeling generally down or stressed out due to exams, Herman is always there to encourage you.
This legend proves that happiness is not about what you own, what job you have or how much money you’ve got, but about appreciating what you currently have in life even if it’s small.
1. What was Herman Gordon’ reaction when receiving the fundraising?| A．grateful. | B．stressed. | C．delighted. | D．astonished. |
| A．most miserable. | B．most cheerful. | C．most generous. | D．most glorious. |
| A．Building confidence. | B．Developing exam skills. |
| C．Learning self-control. | D．Gaining biomedical knowledge. |
| A．A biomedical library cleaner. . | B．A group of warm-hearted students. |
| C．Money-raising to send a cleaner on vacation. | D．The most loved cleaning staff. |
6 . As heat waves continue to ravage the planet, air conditioners are becoming more and more common. However, these "active" cooling devices are posing problems because the electricity consumption which most people are concerned about and the release of ozone-damaging chemicals worsen the greenhouse gas effect, resulting in the creation of heat islands and further thermal pollution. Therefore, "passive" cooling, which doesn't have such effects, has attracted considerable attention from both scientists and ordinary people in recent years.
In a recent study, a team of researchers from China and US presented an eco-friendly, low-cost smart coating to keep buildings cooler while consuming zero electricity. Infrared radiation-based passive cooling has been investigated since 2014, but challenges, mainly the expensive and unsustainable design, have greatly limited their large-scale and widespread application. Besides, the imbalance in cooling ability of these coatings during the day and night tends to lead to great day-night temperature differences as more heat is lost than gained at night.
The solution therefore requires a "smart" mechanism that can both enhance daytime cooling and minimize nighttime heat loss. To do this, the researchers created a new smart coating comprised of conventional building materials, including titanium dioxide nanoparticles, fluorescent microparticles, and glass microspheres that were engineered to reflect most of the sunlight. Specifically, the titanium dioxide particles effectively reflect sunlight through light scattering（撒播）while the fluorescent particles increase the amount of reflection by changing the absorbed sunlight into fluorescence emissions, which drive more heat away from the building. Meanwhile, the glass microspheres re-send mid-infrared broadband radiation, allowing not only heat loss, but allowing heat exchange to take place between the building and the sky.
The coating was tested on a model concrete building. Through this efficient heat exchange with the sky, daytime cooling was strengthened while nighttime cooling was reduced. The building's inside temperature was always maintained at around 26℃, even when the out-side temperature varied from 24℃ to 37℃ during the day. We believe this new coating will make it to commercialization soon, enabling a sustainable, passive cooling technology that could help to fight climate change and the global energy crisis.
1. What is the virtue of passive cooling?| A．It is simple to design. | B．It uses no chemicals. |
| C．It is smart. | D．It uses no power. |
| A．It was hard to design. |
| B．Its material was hard to produce. |
| C．Its heat loss and cooling are imbalanced. |
| D．It wasn't tested on a model concrete building. |
| A．Metal. | B．System. | C．Platform. | D．Building. |
| A．The principle of air-conditioning. |
| B．The differences between active and passive cooling. |
| C．A new coating to keep buildings cool without electricity. |
| D．A new building to maintain its inside temperature without electricity. |
7 . Most people have been taught that losing weight is a matter of simple math. Cut calories—specifically 3,500 calories, and you’ll lose a pound. But as it turns out, experts are learning that this decades-old strategy is actually pretty misguided. “This idea of ‘a calorie in and a calorie out’ when it comes to weight loss is not only outdated, it’s just wrong,” says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity specialist at Harvard Medical School. The truth is that even careful calorie calculations don’t always yield(产生) uniform results.
How your body burns calories depends on a number of factors. Three factors affect how your body processes calories.
Your gut microbiome (肠道微生物). Trillions of organisms live in your gut, and the important types may influence how many calories your body absorbs from food. This may occur because some types of organisms are able to break down and use more calories from certain foods than other types of organisms. Researchers have found that people who are naturally thin have different types of organisms living inside them than those who are overweight.
Your metabolism (新陈代谢). Each body has a “set point” that governs weight, says Dr. Stanford. This set point reflects several factors, including your genes, your environment, and your behaviors. A region at the base of your brain stands guard to keep your body weight from dipping below that set point—which is not really a bonus if you’re trying to lose weight.
The type of food you eat. Your food choices may also influence your calorie intake, and not just because of their specific calorie content. One 2019 study published in Cell Metabolism found that eating processed foods seems to spur people to eat more calories compared with eating unprocessed foods.
If counting calories isn’t a dependable way to manage your weight, what can you do to shed extra pounds? Dr.
Stanford recommends the following.
Focus on diet quality. When planning your meals, focus on choosing unprocessed foods, including lean meats, whole grains, and lots of fruits and vegetables in their natural form.
Exercise regularly. Aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. Moderate exercise is done at a level where you can talk, but not sing.
Consult a professional. “A lot of people believe it’s a moral failing if they are unable to lose weight,” says Dr. Stanford. But it’s not. As with other medical conditions, many people will need help from a doctor. Successful weight loss may require more than just diet and exercise. “Only 2% of people who meet the criteria for the use of anti-obesity medications actually get them. This means that 98% of people who could be treated aren’t,” she says, “Don’t be afraid to seek help if you need it.”
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Old theories actually mislead us. |
| B．Losing weight lies in losing calorie. |
| C．Calorie calculations lead to good results. |
| D．Losing weight by losing calorie is outdated. |
| A．choose the types of food you consume |
| B．focus on the quality of your diet |
| C．adjust your brain to the “set point” |
| D．reduce the organisms living in your gut |
| A．weigh | B．produce |
| C．lose | D．cost |
| A．cutting calories is essential for weight loss |
| B．losing weight can be double-edged |
| C．healthy eating keeps you losing weight |
| D．a healthy lifestyle is key to weight loss |
8 . If a president, a philosopher, and ,and one of the best-selling authors of all time praised the same secret for their success, would you try to follow it too? In fact, you probably do it every day. Here's what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth." Thomas Jefferson:“Walking is the best possible exercise. Adapt yourself to walking very far." I totally agree that this habit isn't a habit but a necessary factor of creative process.
Are you still sitting there reading this? Get walking!
The movement aspect of walking is obvious key.You've probably heard the phrase- exercise your creativity, which refers to the brain as muscle.Our creative mindset(思维模式） is triggered(触发）by physical movement, which is exactly why walking-with your dog, a friend, or alone-helps creative thinking.Researchers have discovered a lot of connections between walking and producing ideas.A Stanford University study found that participants(参与者），were 81% more creative when walking as opposed to sitting.
Besides, the scenery is almost as important as the sweat. Walking can be a catalyst for gaining fresh understanding of problems. Just by going outside,you are stepping out of your familiar surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if your want to open your mind to new possibilities.You can walk through a tree-filled neighborhood. You can walk through a park and observe people hanging around or birds singing. Even when you walk down a busy street,you can't help but notice the sweet smells flowing from a food cart or the child pointing to a building you hadn't even paid attention to before.
Finally, our brains work harder to process in different environments, so walking outside strengthen our ability to collect new ideas, to take in new sights, sounds and smells."Forest bathing",is a common form of relaxation and medicine in Japan.Recent studies show that being in the forest Towers your stress levels. The effects are so powerful that "Forest bathing" is now a government-proved policy in Japan., But you don't have to live near a a forest to receive the psychological(心理的）benefits.Research has shown that immersion(沉浸）in nature,and the disconnection from multimedia and technology increase performance on a creative problem-solving task by a full 50%.
So instead of setting a fitness goal, why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking, Engage more closely with your surroundings.Turn off your phone and give yourself the chance to hear conversations and natural sounds, to notice the way people move ,the way the sun reflects in a puddle.Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.
1. Why does the author mention what the two famous men said in Paragraph 1?| A．To provide basic information. |
| B．To show the author's attitude. |
| C．To introduce the topic. |
| D．To present some reasons. |
| A．Promoter. | B．Cure. | C．Hope. | D．Must. |
| A．Taking a bath in the forest is relaxing and medically beneficial. |
| B．Walking in the woods is an effective way to get light-hearted. |
| C．The Japanese government encourages everyone to live near a forest. |
| D．Keeping away from multimedia and technology can greatly improve your creativity. |
| A．Setting a fitness goal. |
| B．Solving problems creatively. |
| C．Walking for creativity. |
| D．Exploring new possibilities. |
| A．Benefits of walking in nature. |
| B．Secret to success of famous men. |
| C．Ways of building up your creativity. |
| D．Keys to stepping out of the comfort zone. |
9 . Some hot dog lovers may feel guilty when they enjoy their favorite food. They even exercise excessively(过分的)to burn off calories afterward. Now they can relieve the pain. A company in Norway develops a product made from trees. It can replace fat in foods like hot dogs but has no calories.
A product named SenseFi is introduced to the public by a Norwegian biorefinery company, Borregaard. Though its taste and feel are similar to those of fat, no calories are contained in it.
The material used to create this product is microfibrillated cellulose(MFC), which is a waste product that trees produce when they are cut and prepared for use. Every year there is over a hundred billion tons of cellulose(纤维素) produced by plants, among which only a small part is now useful to humans.
According to a report from the Norwegian daily newspaper Dagbladet, Borregard has spent $36.3 million on developing SenseFi. This project went through a 10-year study conducted by the Paper and Fibre Research institute in Trondheim, Norway. It successfully entered the U.S. market and the company opened a plant in Wisconsin. The food industry there was expected to embrace the arrival of SenseFi.
The company is speaking highly of this product for its incredible effect on fighting against obesity(肥胖). “We're rolling it out primarily in the U.S., where it has been approved. Sales are just about underway, and there is a lot of focus on fighting obesity," said the company's Business Director Harald Ronneberg.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that about 40 percent of adults are overweight, and in 2008, the cost of medical treatment of obesity was $147.
With the help of SenseFi, meat used for making foods like hot dogs can be recreated. Not only does it keep the flavor of fat, but it also reduces calorie intake while providing the body with more fiber, which helps people fill themselves up and digest more effectively.
1. What do we know about the raw material of SenseFi?| A．It helps cut trees. |
| B．It comes from trees. |
| C．It is similar to hot dogs in taste. |
| D．It exists in a small amount. |
| A．Spread. | B．Increase. | C．Welcome. | D．Praise. |
| A．It doesn't have any calories. |
| B．It keeps the feel and flavor of fat |
| C．It provides different kinds of nutrition. |
| D．It is based on a 10-year study. |
| A．It opened a plant in Wisconsin. |
| B．The food industry in America is booming- |
| C．Most Americans think highly of the products. |
| D．Many Americans suffer from problems linked to obesity. |
10 . Social Networking Sites: Are They Changing Human Communication?
It is hardly news that people are using the Internet to communicate with others more and more. Some people fear that someday we will no longer feel the need to talk to one another face to face. However, some recent studies suggest that people communicate, or stay in touch, even more than they used to. Whichever side you fall on, what is clear and without a doubt is that human communication has changed in the 21st century. But results of recent scientific studies may have us reconsider just how much our new communication forms have changed our world.
In June 2008, a British psychiatrist, Himanshu Tyagi, warned that communicating on social networking sites could have a negative effect on the generation of people born after 1990. This generation has never known a world without the Internet. Tyagi says that these people use the Internet to communicate with others so much that they may have trouble forming real relationships. Tyagi is concerned that people may start and end relationships over the Internet. Describing the Internet he said, “It’s a world where everything moves fast and changes all the time, where relationships are quickly ended at the click of a mouse.”
Another psychologist, Dr. Aric Sigman, warned of the physical effects that come with using social networking sites. He suggests that the reduction in the amount of time we spend interacting (互动交流) with people face to face could have biological effects on the human body. The results of his study suggest that, without real personal interaction, the body does not react the same way it would if people were meeting face to face. As a result, immune responses, even hormone levels, can be changed. These changes may lead to the development of illnesses, such as cancer.
Despite these warnings, studies can be found that show the positive sides of social networking sites. The results of one study show that using social networking sites has increased the self-esteem (自尊心) of young adults. Another suggests that college students using these sites feel more “connected” with people when they use them. In addition to scientific studies, there are many who feel that the benefits of social networking sites outweigh the possible negative sides. Many people, especially those who spend a lot of time at home, for various reasons, find the Internet a lifeline. They are able to communicate with many people using these sites.
Perhaps the key to this new communication style is self-control and common sense. If someone spends all of his time on the Internet, and never actually sees friends face to face, that seems like an unhealthy way to live. But if someone spends time on the Internet, some of which is spent arranging meetings for “real” time together, then it seems almost complementary (互补的). Balance is the key to keeping communication alive and well in the 21st century.
1. Which of the following ideas may Himanshu Tyagi agree with?| A．Social networking sites harm people of all ages. |
| B．The Internet weakens young people’s relationships. |
| C．The use of the Internet improves people’s immune system. |
| D．The online world pushes people to live a faster and better life. |
| A．It will stop the face-to-face interaction. |
| B．It reduces the self-esteem of young adults. |
| C．It may cause some serious health problems. |
| D．It makes people feel less connected with others. |
| A．Are greater than. | B．Are heavier than. |
| C．Are more effective than. | D．Are more difficult than. |
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub-point(次要点) C: Conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
