1 . Luke Grenfell-Shaw has developed a rare form of cancer. It started as a pain in his shoulder and the tumor（肿瘤）spread to his lungs, making it stage four. The Oxford graduate was teaching English in Siberia when he suffered shoulder pain and consulted the school nurse. It was her reaction to a lump on his back that sent him back home to Bristol. "I was 24 years old. I had done an ultra-marathon," Luke said. "48 hours later, I was back in hospital in the UK." On 19 June 2018, doctors informed Luke that he had cancer.
"I had kind of worked out that it was cancer, but what kind of blew me away was the fact that it was stage four cancer," said Luke. "That day, I felt like my life was disintegrated. My life had been comfortable and conventional. I worked hard and got rewards in terms of education, jobs, things like that. That was all taken away." On the day of his diagnosis(诊断), Luke had one clear thought in his mind that he wanted to cycle around the world. It was something he had always hoped to do, but the cancer news made him realize that he couldn't put it off.
"I realize that the future had to become now," Luke explained. He decided to cycle from Bristol to Beijing --- more than 5,000 miles --- on a tandem bike, because he wants to bring people along to share the experience with him. Luke will not only be joined by his family and friends for certain legs of his trip, but also by other young people who are living with cancer. "This trip is something I'm going to enjoy," said Luke. "It's bound to be the richest and most fulfilling experience that I can have."
1. What can we infer from what Luke said in paragraph 1?| A．He doubted the previous examination. | B．He had suffered from unbearable pains. |
| C．He regretted running the ultra-marathon. | D．He hadn't expected such serious condition. |
| A．Broken. | B．Controlled. | C．Adjusted. | D．Brightened. |
| A．To realize his dream on the wheels. |
| B．To win the battle against his cancer. |
| C．To enjoy the rest of his life peacefully. |
| D．To draw worldwide attention to cancer. |
2 . Social distancing is not a new concept in the natural world, where infectious diseases are commonplace. Through specialized senses animals can detect certain diseases and change their behavior to avoid getting ill.
In 1966, while studying chimps (猩猩) in a Tanzanian national park, zoologist Jane Goodall observed a chimp named McGregor who had caught a highly infectious virus. His fellow chimps attacked him and threw him out of the troop. In one instance, McGregor approached chimps in a tree. He reached out a hand in greeting, but the others moved away without a backward glance.
“For a full two minutes, old McGregor sat motionless, staring after them,” Goodall notes in her 1971 book In the Shadow of Man. “It’s really not that different to how some societies react today to such a tragedy.”
Not all animals are so aggressive toward their ailing neighbors. Sometimes it’s as simple as avoiding those who may infect you.
When Kiesecker, a lead scientist in America, studied American bullfrog in the late 1990s, he found that bullfrogs could not only detect a deadly smell of infection in other bullfrogs, but healthy members actively avoided those that were sick. Bullfrogs rely on chemicals signals to determine who is sick or not.
Caribbean lobsters also shun diseased members of their community, well before they become infectious. It takes about eight weeks for lobsters infected with the deadly virus Panulirus argus mininuceovirus to become dangerous to others. Normally social animals, lobsters begin keeping away from the diseased as early as four weeks after infection – once the lobsters can smell certain chemicals released by sick individuals.
Overall, it’s important to note that, unlike us, animals don’t realize if they stay home, they might actually reduce the infection rate,” Kiesecker explains. “As humans, we have that ability. It’s a big difference.”
1. What can we learn about the chimps from Goodall’s observation?| A．They kept a distance from one another. |
| B．They became aggressive when infected. |
| C．The infected avoided contact with others. |
| D．The infected were forced to leave the group. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Cure. | C．Get rid of. | D．Get along with. |
| A．Humans are more sensitive to virus. |
| B．Humans are less likely to get infected. |
| C．Humans treat infectious diseases in a wiser way. |
| D．Humans can detect chemical signals more quickly. |
| A．Help Me Out |
| B．Leave Me Alone |
| C．Stay Away From Us |
| D．Stay Home Stay Healthy |
3 . Do you like running enough to make it a habit? Tierney Wolfgram does; she has made running a lifelong career and isn't stopping.
In February, the 16-year-old from a high school, US, competed at the 2020 US Olympic Trials. She finished the marathon(42.195 km)with a time of 2:42:47 as the youngest competitor in the race and ranked 76th out of 390 runners. However, the cross-country(越野的)season was postponed to winter because of the COVID-19. So she jumped at the opportunity to train for another race-the Parkway Marathon in California. In November, Wolfgram broke the Women's American Junior marathon record with her time of 2:31:49. The old record was 2:34:32, which had stood since 1984.
“I'm completely stunned, ”said Wolfgram's coach. “I knew she was going to break it, but she really showed out！”
During the run, Wolfgram once hit a wall pretty hard, but she overcame it to finish. “I guess I can say I gave it my all, ”she told Runner's World. “When I finished, all I was thinking was I felt super happy,” Wolfgram said This was only her third marathon. In 2018, when Wolfgram was 15 years old, she ran her first marathon just because she wanted to see if she had the ability to do it. “I believed that I would get faster as the distances got longer. . . I'm still glad that I did it. ”
When preparing for that first marathon, she ran up to 120 miles per week. Although her parents didn't have any background in running, they helped Wolfgram train. At first, her dad would take her out in the morning and run about 13 miles. The distance would gradually increase each day. On top of her runs in the morning, she would do cross-country practice after school.
Now Wolfgram will consider attending the Olympics Games in 2024 after it's scheduled.
1. What can we learn about Wolfgram from Paragraph 2?| A．She was the champion at the 2020 US Olympic Trials. |
| B．She put off the cross-country season for the COVID-19. |
| C．She broke an Olympic marathon record in November. |
| D．She prepared for the Parkway Marathon in California. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Worried. | C．Shocked. | D．Interested |
| A．Her parents' encouragement. | B．Her desire to prove she could do it. |
| C．Her coach's support and help. | D．Her hope to break the national record |
| A．Sports. | B．Lifestyle | C．Culture. | D．Opinion |
4 . Can you imagine being able to remember every single experience of your life, every conversation you have ever had, every meal you’ve eaten, every word in your favorite book and even the feel of the clothes you wore on your very first birthday? That’s what Rebecca Sharrock’s life is like, and as amazing as that ability sounds, she says it can also be quite terrifying at times.
Three years ago, Rebecca Sharrock was reading a newspaper article which mentioned that it was impossible for people to remember details of their lives that had occurred during the first four years of their existence. “What absolute nonsense,” she thought to herself, because she could clearly remember her life all the way back to when she was just 12 days old. She was just one of the only 80 known people suffering from a mysterious condition called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) (超忆症).
Like Jill Price, the woman who cannot forget, 27-year-old Rebecca Sharrock, from Brisbane, Australia, remembers all the details of her life but what really makes her special is how far back her memories go: Jill and other HSAM sufferers only remember details of their daily lives from when they were 10-14, but Sharrock remembers specific moments of her infancy. She remembers the dress she wore on her first birthday and how uninterested she was in her baby sister at first.
Rebecca Sharrock’s unusual case was recently featured on “60 Minutes”, where the reporter Allison Langdon put her ability to the test, by asking her questions about her favorite book series, “Harry Potter”. “I tested her on the books because she says she can remember every single word from every single book,” Langdon said. “So I would pick up a book and open a page and read her a line and immediately she would name the book, chapter number, chapter name and could recite every word until I told her to stop.”
Being able to remember every little detail about most of your life is a surprising ability, but as every HSAM sufferer will tell you, it can be very difficult to deal with. Forgetting is one of the mechanisms (机制) we use to get over sad experiences in our lives, but it’s something that people like Rebecca Sharrock or Jill Price are unable to do.
1. We can infer from the passage that _____.| A．HSAM sufferers aren’t bothered by their ability |
| B．having HSAM isn’t always a good thing |
| C．HSAM happens to people commonly these days |
| D．people with HSAM are the dangerous group |
| A．She can remember how uninterested she was in her baby sister. |
| B．She can remember earlier things than Rebecca Sharrock. |
| C．She can remember the dress she wore on her first birthday. |
| D．She can remember something detailed in her teenage time. |
| A．Youth. | B．Success. | C．Babyhood. | D．Hardship. |
| A．Because she was curious about her preference. |
| B．Because she wanted to improve her vocabulary. |
| C．Because she wanted to test Rebecca's ability of remembering. |
| D．Because “Harry Potter” was her favorite book. |
| A．An Introduction to HSAM. |
| B．An Interview about Surprising Woman. |
| C．How to Have an Amazing Memory? |
| D．A Woman Can Remember Everything She Has Experienced. |
5 . China will have the most 5G connections of any nation by 2025, according to a new study, while Europe will fall behind Korea, the United States and Japan in terms of 5G penetration (渗透) by that year.
5G is the fifth generation of network technology. It is expected to bring unbelievable speeds to Internet users, with some operations running 10 times faster than on 4G networks. 5G is also expected to unlock the potential in a lot of new services, including artificial intelligence, science of robots self-driving cars, and the Internet of things.
The GSMA said that China's three major mobile operators--China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom--are already moving ahead with 5G networks. While most nations will have 5G by updating existing foundations, the study noted that China plans to build part of its 5G networks.
One of the most distinguishing actors between Chinese mobile operators and those in the rest of the world is the intention to erect the new and independent 5G networks. That is, China is determined to build a completely advanced 5G. The high cost underlines China's seriousness about paying whatever it takes.
Korea will lead the world in terms of 5G penetration in 2025, when 66 percent of the nation's total connections will be 5G, according to GSMA. This compares to 50 percent in the US, 49 percent in Japan, 36 percent in China, 30 percent in Europe, and a global average of 18 percent. Out of the five economies leading on 5G, Europe will have the lowest participation in 2025, as the area is moving more slowly in having its 5G networks.
1. What will 5G bring?| A．A completely new pattern for daily life. |
| B．Realizing the potential in many new services. |
| C．Excellent networks and national safety. |
| D．Amazing speeds for public transportation. |
| A．It may be lack of government support. |
| B．It will move forward slowly. |
| C．It will develop rapidly. |
| D．It may fall behind Europe. |
| A．set up | B．bring up | C．turn up | D．pick up |
| A．Chinese cannot own 5G in 2025. |
| B．More than half Koreans use 5G in 2025. |
| C．Only five countries will have 5G in 2025. |
| D．Europe will pay little attention to 5G in 2025. |
6 . Since I graduated from high school, I’ve worked in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer. However, making the transition (转变) between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier. For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be uncivilized, getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning is a torture.
There’re few people as self-confident as a college student who has never been out in the real world. People of my age always seem to overestimate the value of their time and knowledge. In fact, all the classes did not prepare me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant, which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part backward or upside down.
The most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear overnight. Issues like downsizing (裁员) and overseas relocation always seemed distant to me until my co-worker told me that the unit I was working in would shut down within six months and move to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour.
After working 12-hour shifts in a factory, the other options have become only too clear. When I’m back at the university, skipping classes and turning in lazy rewrites seem too irresponsible after seeing what I would be doing without school. All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound stale (out of date) now ring true.
These lessons I’m learning, however valuable, are always tinged (带有) with a sense of guilt. Many people pass their lives in the places I briefly work, spending 30 years where I spend only two months at a time. “The job pays well, but it is very hard,” said one co-worker. “Study hard and keep reading,” she added.
My experiences in the factories have inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the real world for good.
1. The underlined word “torture” in Paragraph 1 most probably means__________.| A．Misery | B．Fortune | C．Anxiety | D．Acceptance |
| A．They expect too much from the real world. |
| B．They think too highly of themselves. |
| C．They have little interest in blue-collar life. |
| D．They are confident of their future. |
| A．They do not get good pay. |
| B．They have to work 12-hour shifts. |
| C．They do not have job security. |
| D．They have to move from place to place. |
| A．He learned to be more practical. |
| B．He came to respect blue-collar workers. |
| C．He acquired a sense of urgency. |
| D．He came to appreciate his college education. |
7 . Since apps like Uber and Lyft came on the scene, ridesharing services have dramatically changed the way people get around. A new study out of Columbia University reveals a downside of these services. It turns out that ridesharing trips cause an increase in the number of accidents involving motorists and pedestrians at pick-up and drop-off locations.
Previous studies on the relationship between ridesharing services and vehicle crashes compare cities where ridesharing services are available with cities where they are not, and this makes results somewhat ambiguous. In this study researchers analyze individual trips to make the picture a little clearer.
Researchers analyzed data from 372 million ridesharing trips in New York City between 2017 and 2018. Whenever a crash occurred in the city, they calculated the number of ridesharing trips that began or ended in the area at the time of the accident. They compared this with the number of trips that took place in the same location one week before and one week after the crash. Researchers did the same calculations for regular taxi rides as part of their analyses. Also, separate analyses were performed based on the type of people injured in the crash: pedestrians, motorists or cyclists.
The results of the analyses show that the rise in ridesharing trips is associated with an increase in the number of accidents involving pedestrians and motorists, but not cyclists. Furthermore, they did not find this same association between taxi trips and accidents.
“Ridesharing is changing the way we move around cities.” says first author Christopher Morrison. “It is becoming clear that the technology reduces alcohol-related crashes, but these benefits do not seem to extend to the overall number of crashes. These findings help explain why that might be---- because the reductions in alcohol-related crashes are offset (抵消) by increases in other types of crashes.”
Researchers hope that cities and ridesharing services will use the results of this study to take measures that might reduce the number of crashes. “In crowded areas with large numbers of rideshare pick-ups and drop-offs, cities could consider building taxi-rank style infrastructure (基础设施) to protect pedestrians and prevent crashes, ”concludes Morrison.
1. What do we know about previous studies on ridesharing services?| A．Their analysis is hardly reliable. |
| B．Their findings are rather ridiculous. |
| C．Their research method is out-of-date. |
| D．Their research sample is not wide enough. |
| A．The increase in ridesharing trips can lead to an increase in accidents between cyclists and pedestrians. |
| B．When there is a high number of ridesharing trips, there is usually an increase in the number of accidents. |
| C．Ridesharing is changing the way we move around cities. |
| D．Cyclists are always safe. |
| A．Ridesharing reduces alcohol-related crashes. |
| B．Ridesharing doesn’t increase accidents involving cyclists. |
| C．Various types of crashes increase with ridesharing services. |
| D．Overall crashes don’t decrease along with alcohol-related crashes. |
| A．Improving infrastructure to expand taxi services. |
| B．Banning ridesharing services in crowded places. |
| C．Constructing some stops for ridesharing vehicles. |
| D．Reducing the number of pick-ups and drop-offs. |
8 . A thief who dropped a winning lottery ticket at the scene of his crime has been given a lesson in honesty.His victim,who picked up the ticket and then claimed the $25,000 prize,managed to trace him,and handed over the cash.The robbery happened when maths professor Vinicio Sabbatucci,58,was changing a tire on an Italian motorway.Another motorist,who stopped “to help”,stole a suitcase from his car and drove off.The professor found the dropped ticket and put it in his pocket before driving home to Ascoli in eastern Italy.
Next day,he saw the lottery results on TV and,taking out the ticket,realized it was a winner.He claimed the 60 million lire(里拉) prize.Then he began a battle with his conscience.Finally,he decided he could not keep the money despite having been robbed.He advertised in newspapers and on the radio,saying,“I’m trying to find the man who robbed me.I have 60 million lire for him—a lottery win.Please meet me.Anonymity(匿名) guaranteed.”
Professor Sabbatucci received hundreds of calls from people hoping to trick him into handing them the cash.But there was one voice he recognized and he arranged to meet the man in a park.The robber,a 35-year-old unemployed father of two,gave back the suitcase and burst into tears.He could not believe what was happening.“Why didn’t you keep the money?”he asked.The professor replied,“I couldn’t because it’s not mine.”Then he walked off,spurning the thief’s offer of a reward.
1. The underlined sentence “Then he began a battle with his conscience.” in Paragraph 2 implies all of the following except that .| A．he knew what he should do as soon as he saw the lottery results |
| B．he hesitated about keeping the money for sometime |
| C．he thought for a moment of avenging himself on the robber |
| D．he came to realize that honesty is more important than money |
| A．wanted to make fun of him | B．hoped to get the money |
| C．knew who the robber was | D．lost the lottery ticket |
| A．Excited. | B．Frightened. |
| C．Ashamed. | D．Incredible. |
| A．accepting | B．claiming |
| C．rejecting | D．cancelling |
| A．A Thief’s Lucky Day | B．A Popular Maths Professor |
| C．A Magic Lottery | D．A Reward of Honesty |
9 . A deadly virus is spreading from state to state and has infected 26 million Americans so far, killing at least 14,000 people this season alone. It’s not a new pandemic (传染病) – it’s influenza.
The 2019-2020 flu season, which began September 29, is projected to be one of the worst in a decade, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. At least 250,000 people have been hospitalized with symptoms from the flu, and that number is predicted to climb as flu activity spreads quickly.
Dr. Nathan Chomilo, an assistant professor at University of Minnesota Medical School, said that the commonness of the flu often underplays its severity, but people should take it seriously.
The flu becomes dangerous when secondary infections emerge, the result of an already weakened immune system. Bacterial and viral infections worsen the flu’s symptoms. People with chronic illnesses are also at a heightened risk for flu complications.
Those complications include pneumonia(肺炎), inflammation in the heart and brain and organ failure – which, in some cases, can be deadly.
Influenza is tricky because the virus changes every year. Sometimes, the dominant strain in a flu season will be more virulent than in previous years, which can impact the number of people infected and the severity of their symptoms.
Most of these changes in the virus are small and insignificant, a process called antigenic drift. That year’s flu vaccine is mostly effective in protecting patients in spite of these small changes.
Occasionally, the flu undergoes a rare antigenic shift, which results when a completely new strain of virus emerges that human bodies haven’t experienced before.
This flu season, there’s no sign of antigenic shift, the most extreme change. But it’s happened before, most recently in 2009 with the H1N1 virus. It became a pandemic because people had no immunity against it, the CDC reported.
1. What do the numbers indicate in the first two paragraphs?| A．The flu is rather serious. | B．The flu is quite common. |
| C．The flu is easy to control. | D．The flu season lasts long. |
| A．There appear new symptoms of flu owing to antigenic shift. |
| B．The number of patients becomes large with the virus spreading. |
| C．Relative infections turn up because of the weaker immune system. |
| D．The virus changes its form with no immunity against it. |
| A．changeable | B．deadly | C．peaceful | D．different |
| A．To warn people that the antigenic shift is impossible. |
| B．To inform people that the virus can be cured. |
| C．To show people that the vaccine is effective. |
| D．To remind people that the virus can be changed. |
10 . Living on an island might sound wonderful. But what if you left for a trip and found you could never return? What if your home, and even the land it stood on, was gone forever? For people living in the Pacific Islands, this is really possible.
Why? Climate (气候) change. Climate change is causing the sea to rise. That's bad news for the Pacific Islands. Young people on the islands are even starting to wonder: Will they be the last generation (一代人)?
Not if the islanders have anything to do about it. These people are deeply connected to their homelands. The Pacific Islands are made up of 11 different countries: the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Samoa, and others. But now, those countries are working together. They're joining forces to fight climate change.
Why is climate change such a huge threat to this part of the world? Islands are low elevations (海拔). So they are among the first places influenced by rising sea levels. That's why countries of the Pacific Islands are working together to do their part.
But these are small countries. When it comes to climate change, can they make a big difference? They can, because most of the things that people on islands buy are brought by ships. This is very harmful to the environment. After all, ships put out almost 3 percent of the world's carbon emissions (碳排放). That makes climate change worse.
Pacific Islanders realize the problem. So, in 2019, six countries got together: Fuji, the Marshall islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. They came up with a plan. They agreed to cut carbon emissions from shipping by 40 percent by 2030. And by 2050, they expect zero-carbon shipping.
How will they pull this off? They plan to use some really cool carbon-free technologies. They'll make use of solar and wind energy.
Sea levels are rising, but hopes aren't sinking in the Pacific Islands.
1. What is the bad news for the Pacific Islands according to the passage?| A．Some Pacific Island countries have disappeared. |
| B．The sea level is going up because of climate change. |
| C．All the shipping to the Pacific Islands has been stopped. |
| D．The Pacific Islanders have nothing to do about the climate change. |
| A．risk | B．step | C．project | D．development |
| A．there will never be zero carbon emissions from shipping |
| B．solar and wind energy will make climate change worse |
| C．all the Pacific Islanders may leave their homelands by 2050 |
| D．some Pacific Island countries may have hopes to make a difference |
| A．why other countries are helping the Pacific Islanders fight climate change |
| B．how some countries are working hard to develop carbon-free technologies |
| C．how Pacific Island countries are working together to fight shipping pollution |
| D．why Pacific Island countries put out so much of the world's carbon emissions |
