Now rewind this picture 1,839 years. You are in the same seat, only you are watching classical Greek entertainment.
The city of Athens is a fun mix of the old and the new, the classic and the modern. Often a little shop is located next to the ruins of a temple, which is only a block from a large, air-conditioned hotel. The great city of 2,500 years ago is still visible today.
Ruins are the most obvious sign of ancient Athens, and the most famous of these is the Acropolis(卫城). The Acropolis is a large hill that was the center of life in Athens. On its slopes were temples, monuments, and theaters. From the top, you can see how the urban area of Athens stretches out in every direction.
On the top of the Acropolis is the Parthenon. This was once a huge temple to Athena, the city’s patron. It was first completed in 432 B.C., but has been damaged and destroyed several times. However, visitors can still see the “tricks” used in building the Parthenon. The columns along the outside lean inward, and are slightly fatter in the middle. The temple is also higher in the middle than on the sides. All these effects make the Parthenon look perfectly straight from a distance.
Only a block away from the Acropolis is the neighborhood of Plaka. The area, with its little shops and restaurants, is very popular with both tourists and locals, and is an important part of modern Athenian culture. Many great thinkers, writers, and political leaders lived in ancient Athens. The ruins of their homes and favorite spots are scattered throughout the busy port city. The hill where St. Paul addressed early Christian Athenians is located near the Acropolis. Great thinkers such as Perikles and Demosthenes spoke to the civil assemblies held at the Pnyx Hill. Today the Pnyx is an open-air theater for light and sound shows.
Tourism is very important to people who live in modern-day Athens. Thousands of people come every year to see these ruins and to tour the many museums that house artifacts from ancient times. This provides many jobs and brings money into Athens, which helps the city pay for improvements. Athenians take pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors, and people from all around the world come to admire them. By looking around the city today, we can imagine what life was like in ancient Athens.
1. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about the city of Athens?| A．The culture of the city is a mixture of the old and modern. |
| B．Traces of the ancient city can still be found |
| C．Ruins and modern hotels co-exist in the city. |
| D．All the temples are not far away from air-conditioned hotels. |
| A．naughty acts | B．confusing constructing skills |
| C．skillful constructing methods | D．constructing materials |
| A．offering job opportunities to Athenians |
| B．enriching Athenians by providing accommodation for tourists |
| C．enabling Athenians to improve the infrastructures |
| D．making Athenians proud of their ancestors |
| A．Tourism in Athens | B．Athens: Then and Now |
| C．Historic Interests in Athens | D．The Magic of Ancient Athens |
2 . As reported in JAMA Surgery, the researchers discovered that e-scooter(电动摩托车) injury rates had increased dramatically in just four years, rising from 6 per 100,000 in the population to 19 per 100,000. Of the estimated 14,651 e-scooter-related injuries in 2018, 4,658, or 32%, involved the head. “While most people recover from head injuries, there is going to be a subset with long-term disability and life changes,” said Dr. Benjamin Breyer.
Dr. Benjamin Breyer of the University of California, Los Angeles, pointed to a 2019 analysis of the data from two hospitals in Southern California, which found just 4.8% of injured e-scooter riders were wearing helmets.
Dr. Joann Elmore, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, believed that most e-scooter users are probably unaware of the risks. To make the point, she described a photo taken by a colleague. “There were two riders on an e-scooter,” she said. “No one had shoes on. There were no helmets. And the woman in front had a baby in a baby carrier.”
The new report highlights the need for more research on new technologies, said Dr. Guohua Li, a professor of epidemiology(流行病学).
“Just as there is a global network of experts working on infectious diseases, there needs to be a similar program devoted to the surveillance(监视，监察) and prevention of injuries caused by merging technologies products and lifestyles, such as e-scooters, e-sports, etc.,” Li said in an email.
“The challenge for researchers and policymakers is to keep up with the ever-changing society and protect the public from unnecessary harm caused by new technologies and products without hindering innovation,” he added.
1. What can we know from the passage?| A．E-scooter injury rates had increased due to speeding. |
| B．32% of injured e-scooter riders weren’t wearing helmets. |
| C．There is a program devoted to the prevention of injuries caused by advanced technologies. |
| D．Protection and innovation are of equal importance. |
| A．She is an anti-scooter. |
| B．The woman in front was pregnant. |
| C．She is concerned about the e-scooter users. |
| D．Most e-scooter riders often drive at high speed. |
| A．Preventing. | B．Limiting. |
| C．Developing. | D．Making progress. |
| A．To arouse people’s awareness of the risks and self-protection. |
| B．To introduce a new way of transport — e-scooters. |
| C．To ask people not to ride e-scooters any more. |
| D．To urge policymakers to make laws as soon as possible. |
3 . “All puppies are cute,” explains Clive Wynne, the head of Arizona State University’s canine-science laboratory. “But not all puppies are equally cute." Indeed, recent research indicates that peak puppy cuteness serves important purposes and might play an important role in binding dog and owner together.
In a study，Wynne and his colleagues sought to pin down, scientifically, the timeline of puppy cuteness. Their finding was: People consistently considered dogs most attractive when they were six to eight weeks old. This age, Wynne says, is an important developmental period: Mother dogs stop nursing their young around the eighth week, after which puppies rely on humans for survival. Peak cuteness, then, is no accident.
Humans seem to be especially vulnerable (脆弱的) to cute things. Research dating back to the 1940s shows that almost any creature with babylike features — large eyes, a bulging forehead, short limbs — is able to draw our liking. But puppy cuteness is uniquely human-directed. Other research makes clear just why dogs seek to command our attention. Oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, has been found to suddenly increase in dogs and their owners after they look in each other’s eyes. In other words, the more dogs get us to look at them, the more tightly bonded (联系) to them we grow.
Born blind and basically deaf, puppies aren’t interactive (互动的) in their first weeks of life, and Wynne notes that many people find animals in this stage alien and unattractive. A recent study focused on humans showed that, similar to six-week-old puppies, six-month-old babies are seen as significantly cuter than newborns, which inspires a flood of social interactions, such as petting, playing, and baby-talking. These acts are developmentally fundamental to both babies and puppies.
1. From Wynne’s research we can learn that cuteness is something____.| A．puppies are born with | B．that helps puppies survive |
| C．that increases steadily as puppies grow | D．that helps puppies to defend against danger |
| A．Oxytocin is a hormone that will inspire love. |
| B．Oxytocin is a hormone that only exists in dogs. |
| C．Oxytocin can be increased by constant touch. |
| D．Oxytocin will increase greatly when dogs stare at us. |
| A．unique | B．lovely | C．strange | D．dangerous |
| A．From ugly to cute | B．Man’s best friend |
| C．Survival of the cutest | D．Loveliest animals: puppies |
4 . Described as the world’s most environmentally friendly protein, Solein is made by applying electricity to water to release bubbles of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Living microbes(微生物) are then added to the liquid to feed on the carbon dioxide and hydrogen bubbles and produce the Solein, which is then dried to make the powder. It’s a natural fermentation(发酵) process similar to beer brewing. The dried Solein has a protein content of 50 percent and looks and tastes just like wheat flour.
“It is a completely new kind of food, a new kind of protein, different to all the food on the market todav in how it is produced as it does not need agriculture.” Dr Pasi Vinikka, the chief executive of Solar Foods told The Guardian. The process used to produce Solein — converting hydrogen and carbon dioxide to calories — is amazing, as the wonder food can be produced anywhere in the world. It’s also 10 times more energy-efficient per hectare than photosynthesis (光合作用), and 10 to 100 times more environment and climate-friendly in water use than animal or plant based food production.
“Solein also contains all the essential amino acids(氨基酸), but because it is produced using carbon dioxide and electricity, it does not require large amounts of land to produce,” the Solar Foods website explains. “Another unique characteristic of Solein is that it is able to take carbon directly from carbon dioxide without needing a source of sugar.”
While Solar Foods does not expect Solein to challenge conventional protein production methods in the next two decades, it does expect it to become a “new harvest” for humanity, which is significant considering so far we have only relied on plants and animals for sustenance. The Helsinki-based company plans to open its first Solein factory at the end of 2021 and scale up production to two billion meals per year by 2022.
1. Which of the following statements best describe the features of Solein?| A．It is a new kind of food containing all the nutrition. |
| B．It is made from water and carbon dioxide by applying electricity. |
| C．It is produced without consuming much land and energy. |
| D．It is a kind of man-made wheat flour. |
| A．relating | B．changing |
| C．contributing | D．adapting |
| A．The company thinks Solein would have a rewarding future. |
| B．Solein is supposed to challenge traditional protein production. |
| C．There is still a long way for Solein to be put into production. |
| D．Humans can completely rely on Solein to survive. |
| A．To promote a new kind of technology. |
| B．To introduce a new kind of food. |
| C．To make an ad for a new kind of protein. |
| D．To call on people to protect the environment. |
5 . Rachel Carson was concerned about what was happenig to the environment. So in her book Silent Spring, she warned that some chemicals were poisoning the air, the water, the earth, and all its creatures. She imagined a time when spring would not bring the rebirth of flowers, trees, and the songs of birds. The book became a bestseller, and Ms. Carson was in great demand as a speaker. People lisened to her because what she said made sense, and because she was a scientist who knew her facts.
Rachel Carson was primarily interested in the world of sea and shore, so she became a marine biologst for the government. She studied and recorded facts about the sea' s plant and animal life, their special characteristics, and the nature of their environments. In 1951, she wrote The Sea Around Us, which brought her honors, fame, and respect around the world.
Ms. Carson then devoted herself full-time to research and writing. One thing much on her mind was the effect of modern technology on the natural environment. One day, a distressed friend wrote her to say that a plane spraying(喷洒) DDT had flown over her yard, and the next day several birds lay dead. Carson decided to act.
For four years she studied the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in the United States, and then she wrote Silent Spring.
In her book Ms. Carson said that these pesticides would harm much more than insects. She explained that these poisons would pollute the environment. “Even if their effects are not immediately observable, they remain for years in the water and the soil, and they become part of the food eaten by animals and humans.
Besides, after a time, insects develop immunity to pesticides,” she said.
Recent studies have shown that pesticides can affect human brainwave activity and cause loss of memory and inability to concentrate. We should still remember Rachel Carson’s words, “I think we are challenged as we have never been challenged before to prove our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
1. Silent Spring is a book that__________| A．aims to raise people’s environmental awareness |
| B．stresses the importance of the cycle of nature |
| C．describes the author' s childhood experiences |
| D．asks people to enjoy the beauty of spring |
| A．curious | B．humorous | C．excited | D．worried |
| A．became world-famous due to Silent Spring |
| B．warned against the use of chemicals to kill insects |
| C．had a good knowledge of the planets in the universe |
| D．created a system for improving human brainwave activity |
| A．we should prove ourselves to be the ruler of this world |
| B．it's a chance for us to prove our mastery of nature |
| C．it's time for us to think about what we have done |
| D．settling on the earth is a challenge for humans |
6 . The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
——By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The tide rises, the tide falls,
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but never more
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tides rises, the tide falls.
1. What is the figurative meaning of the title “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” indicate?| A．The change of the ocean | B．the sequence of human history |
| C．the coming and going of travelers | D．the eternity of the natural world |
| A．The tide rises, the tide falls |
| B．The twilight darkens, the curlew calls |
| C．Along the sea-sands damp and brown |
| D．The traveler hastens toward the town |
| A．Draw | B．engrave |
| C．erase | D．impress |
| A．Time hustles; people bustle |
| B．The traveler comes to the town just once |
| C．People will die while time goes on |
| D．If time had feelings, people would stay |
7 . It was April 14, 2016. It was the first full day of Kobe Bryant’s new chapter as a retired NBA player. All he had done the night before was score 60 points in his farewell game, not getting out of Staples Center until around midnight.
His staff at Kobe, Inc. were certain they would beat their boss to the office that morning. They were wrong. He beat everyone there by two hours. “We have a lot of work to do,” Bryant told them. Even in retirement, Bryant found no substitute for hard work. Kobe Bean Bryant was many things: one of the greatest players in basketball history, a five-time NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, a fluent speaker of multiple languages, a resident of the world, an Oscar winner, the self-described Black Mamba that started as a nickname and became his brand, someone so good he had two numbers retired by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Tears, as would be expected once the news broke of Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday, flowed freely in the NBA world. The best ones, the ones like James and Leonard and lonescu and Neymar, were all like Bryant. Driven. Obsessed with their skill. Those are the sort of people Bryant enjoyed most. He didn't have much patience for any thing else.
His toughness was legendary (享有盛名的). Bryant hurt his knees on a play in 2013 but he played through the game because the game was so important in the playoff race. “We were down two. Had to tie the game first.” Bryant said years later, when asked why he stayed in the game.
His commitment (敬业) was legendary. There was a game in 2011 in Miami where the Lakers lost by six, and Bryant was so displeased with his performance that he went back to the court for 90 minutes of uninterrupted shooting that went on until after midnight. His teammates were on Miami Beach for dinner. Bryant was working instead. “It’s my job,” Bryant said.
He was as driven in his storytelling life as he was in his playing days. Kobe, Inc. wasn’t just a cool name. It was his world. He wanted to inspire kids through books that combined the worlds of sports and story. He was considering the idea of taking his stories to Broadway. He won an Oscar for “Dear Basketball,” a short film in 2018 that had been converted from a poem that he penned when he decided it was time to retire from playing the game.
He wasn’t joking when talking to his staff on April 14, 2016. Kobe Bryant still had a lot of work to do. The tribute (悼念) will continue, though at last fade away. The influence will be forever.
1. The underlined word “converted” in paragraph 6 can be replaced by_____.| A．adapted | B．adopted | C．accepted | D．achieved |
| A．It was the common practice to do so in NBA. |
| B．It was the reward for his excellent performance. |
| C．The numbers once used are not accepted by others. |
| D．The numbers are forever in memory of his death. |
| A．Kobe’s spirits will be long-lasting after his death. |
| B．Kobe never goes out dining with his teammates. |
| C．Kobe got the nickname Black Mamba from his fans. |
| D．Kobe had a good relax after his farewell game. |
| A．Current Affairs. | B．Global Personage. | C．Financial window. | D．Culture Online. |
8 . Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.
Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.
“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.
Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.
Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”
“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”
1. What does the underlined word “ indigenous” probably mean in Paragraph 2？| A．Social. | B．Native. |
| C．Protected. | D．Threatened. |
| A．National parks are even higher in species diversity. |
| B．Indigenous communities overhunted on their lands. |
| C．Some preserves almost have no formal protection. |
| D．Indigenous lands do better in keeping bio－diversity. |
| A．Species diversity depends on geographical positions. |
| B．Humans’ everyday activities are no longer sustainable. |
| C．Indigenous groups have a close bond with their lands. |
| D．Protected areas work perfectly in wildlife protection. |
| A．Beating back extinction. | B．Dealing with environmental problems. |
| C．Setting up nature reserves. | D．Fighting against unsustainable behaviors. |
9 . Alida Monaco doesn’t spend her summers doing the usual teenage work, like working at the mall. Instead，she ‘ s studying.
It used to be that a summer job was considered a teenage thing. Today, Monaco ,who has never had a summer job, is part of growing trend (趋势)teenagers focusing on their studies, even during the summer. That’s down from 72% of Americans aged 16 to 19 who worked in July of 1978, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Fierce (激烈的)competition, older workers returning to the workforce and weak economic growth are all adding to the decrease of teenagers in the workforce. But as schoolwork grows increasingly heavy and homework eats up more time, data suggest the biggest reason why some teens won’t be working this summer is that they simply don’t1 have time.
For college - bound teens, some teachers even advise students not to waste time on a summer job. “ Some of my students only have about six weeks off in the summer,” said Shannon Reed, a lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh and a former high school English teacher.” I could never advise that they get jobs during that short break. ”
Young people who don’t work may miss out on valuable skills that they’11 need control and help people learn to deal with adult situations. But Monaco, who plans to attend Harvard, isn’t fazed by her lack(缺乏)of work experience. “Maybe I have missed out on a couple of life skills, “she said. “ But I don’t think it will harm me in way .”
1. What is the trend of American teenagers?| A．They are becoming lazy. |
| B．They are fond of doing holiday jobs. |
| C．They are focusing more on studies than on jobs. |
| D．They are becoming particular about (挑剔)holiday jobs |
| A．The reasons for teenagers giving up work. |
| B．The fierce competition teenagers face. |
| C．The structure (结构)of America’s workforce. |
| D．The effects of America9 s weak economy. |
| A．uncaring. | B．favorable(支持的). | C．worried. | D．doubtful. |
| A．supported. | B．helped. | C．upset. | D．confused. |
10 . Computer scientists have hoped to give robots technical skills to help them recognize, process and react to humor. But these attempts have mostly failed. AI (人工智能) experts say that in many cases, attempts to make robots understand humor end up producing funny results, but not in the way they were supposed to.
Tristan Miller studied more than 10,000 puns (双关语) in one research project. The pun is a kind of joke that uses a word with two meanings. For example, you could say, “Balloons do not like pop music.” The word “pop” can be a way of saying popular music; or can mean the sound a balloon makes when it explodes. But a robot might not get the joke. Tristan Miller says that is because humor is a kind of creative language that is extremely difficult for computer intelligence to understand.
Allison Bishop is a computer scientist and she also performs stand-up comedy. She explained that machines are trained to look for patterns. Comedy, on the other hand, relies on things that stay dose to a pattern, kit not completely within it. To be funny, humor should also not be predictable, Bishop said. This sets a great obstacle for a machine to recognize and understand what is funny.
Bishop says since robots have great difficulty understanding humor, she feels like it gives her better job security as a comedy performer. It even made her parents happy when her brother decided to become a full-time comedy writer because it meant he wouldn’t be replaced by a machine, she added.
Despite the difficulties, Darmstadt University’s Miller says there are good reasons to keep trying to teach humor to robots. It could make machines more relatable, especially if they can learn to understand sarcasm (讽刺), he noted. Humans use sarcasm to say one thing but mean another. But Kiki Hempelmann thinks differently. “Teaching AI systems humor may make them find it where it isn’t, and they may use it where it’s inappropriate,” he said. “Maybe bad AI will start killing people because it thinks something is funny,” he added.
1. What does the author most probably want to show in Paragraph 1?| A．Robots’ influence on the scientific development. |
| B．Robots’ challenges of making sense of humor. |
| C．Computer scientists’ devotion to technical skills. |
| D．Computer scientists’ concern about AI’s development. |
| A．prove robots do poorly in funny work |
| B．explain robots aren’t as intelligent as humans |
| C．describe language is complex and changeable |
| D．show language can’t be taught in a set pattern |
| A．Barrier. | B．Record. |
| C．Message. | D．Possibility. |
| A．It will end up in vain. |
| B．It may be a double-edged sword. |
| C．It may help improve humans’ humor. |
| D．It will attract more computer scientists. |
