1 . Kyle Cassidy and three other members of the Annenberg Running Group were stretching on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania, waiting for a few latecomers. The Penn colleagues and other community members meet three days a week for a roughly 30-minute jog and an occasional lecture. That's right― during some runs, one of them delivers a talk. Topics range from the brain to Bitcoin.
But on this day last January, it would not be their normal run. The first clue that something was off was the man who sprinted past them. "Running at an amazing pace," Cassidy told Runner's World admiringly. Cassidy discovered why the sprinter was so fleet of foot when another man ran by, yelling, “Help! He took my phone and laptop!"
At that, the group did what running clubs do: They ran, trailing the suspect down the streets of Philadelphia until he ducked into a construction site. The runners split up. Cassidy ran around to the far side of the site to cut the thief off while the others wandered the neighborhood hoping he had dumped the loot （赃物）in a backyard.
No luck. So they decided to ask residents whether they'd seen the guy. When they knocked on the door of one row house, they were in for a surprise. Unknown to them, he had already emerged from the construction site—and was hiding behind a bush by that very house. As the owner opened the door, the suspect darted out from behind the bush ... and right into the arms of campus police, who'd joined the chase shortly behind the runners.
The members of this running group are not hard-core athletes. But they do understand the benefit of a little exercise. ''Running is typically a useless sport where you turn fat cells into heat," Cassidy told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "But occasionally it can be useful, and here was one of those opportunities."
1. Why do the group members gather together?| A．To do some stretching. | B．To have a regular run. |
| C．To deliver a lecture. | D．To cover some topics. |
| A．Dashed. | B．Pushed. |
| C．Jumped. | D．Escaped. |
| A．the assistance of the runners | B．the owner of the row house |
| C．the campus police on patrol | D．the joint efforts of the people |
| A．Athletic and generous. | B．Courageous and ambitious. |
| C．Helpful and humorous. | D．Thoughtful and demanding. |
2 . More and more travellers in China nowadays prefer homestays rather than traditional hotels, as they seek private living experiences. The house-sharing model was first introduced by the website Couchsurfing.com in 2003. It is still the largest website for travellers to find accommodation (住宿) without much money to spend.
Encouraged by her great experience of homestays in France, Maggita, 30, considered short-term hire as her first choice in her future trips. She later went back to her hometown Shanghai and ran a "shared accommodation" business.
The short-term hire idea has been a win-win business model. For travellers, they can rent a special room at a reasonable price and also enjoy a firsthand experience of the local culture, compared with traditional hotels. For owners, they can gain much with daily rental. Now Maggita has quit her last job in an IT company and become a host of some 20 homestays, which enables her to earn a monthly income of around 40,000 — 50,000 yuan.
In recent years, China has seen many homestay booking websites such as Xiaozhu and Tujia. Chen Chi, the founder and CEO of Xiaozhu, said the model is to share rooms or apartments that are not in use with people who need them. Instead of the traditional view that Chinese people feel uncomfortable living with strangers, Chen found that a large number of travellers got along well with house owners.
However, experts have pointed out a series of problems brought about by the fashion. Lacking supervision (监管) to those accommodation sharing websites, the service quality and accommodation safety cannot be guaranteed (保障).Experts suggest that the online websites should closely work together with communities and local police stations to improve the services.
1. What can we learn about homestays from the first paragraph?| A．They started in China. | B．They offer the best service. |
| C．They can be money-saving. | D．They are popular with the youth. |
A．Taken up.  | B．Given up. |
| C．Looked for. | D．Gone for |
A．Useless.  | B．Relaxing. |
| C．Well-accepted. | D．Uncomfortable. |
| A．Homestays need to be improved. |
| B．Some experts don't support homestays. |
| C．Lacking supervision is the biggest problem of homestays. |
| D．The police should manage the homestay services. |
3 . Learning a second language is tricky at any age and it only gets tougher the longer you wait to open that dusty French book. Now, in a new study, scientists have pinpointed the exact age at which your chances of reaching fluency in a second language seem to plummet: 10.
The study, published in the journal Cognition, found that it’s “nearly impossible” for language learners to reach native-level fluency if they start learning a second tongue after 10. But that doesn’t seem to be because language skills go downhill. “It turns out you’re still learning fast. It’s just that you run out of time, because your ability to learn starts dropping at around 17 or 18 years old,” says study co-author Joshua Hartshorne, an assistant professor of psychology at Boston College.
Kids may be better than adults at learning new languages for many reasons. Children’s brains are more plastic than those of adults, meaning they’re better able to adapt and respond to new information. “All learning involves the brain changing,” Hartshorne says, “and children’s brains seem to be a lot more skilled at changing.”
Kids may also be more willing to try new things (and to potentially look foolish in the process) than adults are. Their comparatively new grasp on their native tongue may also be advantageous. Unlike adults, who tend to default (默认) to the rules and patterns of their first language, kids may be able to approach a new one with a blank slate (石板).
These findings may seem discouraging, but it was heartening for scientists to learn that the critical period for fluent language acquisition might be longer than they previously thought. Some scientists believed that the brief window closes shortly after birth, while others stretched it only to early adolescence. Compared to those estimates, 17 or 18 — when language learning ability starts to drop off — seems relatively old.
“People fared better when they learned by immersion (沉浸), rather than simply in a classroom. And moving to a place where your desired language is spoken is the best way to learn as an adult. If that’s not an option, you can mimic an immersive environment by finding ways to have conversations with native speakers in their own communities,” Hartshorne says. By doing so, it’s possible to become conversationally proficient — even without the advantage of a child’s brain.
1. The underlined word “plummet” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “__________”.| A．decrease | B．rise |
| C．end | D．vary |
| A．Children are too young to grasp a second language. |
| B．Age 10-18 is the best time to learn a second language. |
| C．Adults go beyond the critical period for learning a second language. |
| D．Communicating with native speakers enables you to master all the language skills. |
| A．Adults are less influenced by their mother tongues. |
| B．Adults spend more time responding to new information. |
| C．Adults are only too willing to experience something awkward in the process. |
| D．Adults prefer an immersive environment to a classroom in learning a second language. |
| A．the best age to learn a second language |
| B．the approaches to learning a second language |
| C．why kids learn a second language more easily than adults |
| D．whether adults can learn a second language like their younger selves |
4 . These days, it's not unusual to see middle-aged men collecting Star Wars action figures, office workers wearing Hello Kitty accessories, or celebrities like David Beckham playing with Lego bricks. It's becoming more and more common to see adults taking an interest in toys, comic books and the activities that are traditionally associated with children. This phenomenon has given rise to a new word: kidult.
What lies behind the phenomenon? One is about adults' nostalgia （怀旧之情）for the carefree days of childhood, and this is especially true with today's fast-paced, stressful lifestyles. Another is about a societal change in recent decades where people are starting families later. As a result, they have more time and money to spend on themselves. Some adults could only window-shop for their dream toys when they were kids, but now they can afford that radio controlled car or high-priced doll they have always wanted.
Businesses have been quick to exploit the kidult trend, and the number of toy stores that target adults has risen. Companies are repackaging products from past decades and also bringing out new ones for adults. Lego, for example, has brought out an architectural series featuring landmarks from around the world.
Society traditionally disapproves of adults who refuse to put aside childhood interests, viewing the refusal as a sign of social immaturity and irresponsibility. Those who agree with this view sometimes claim that kidults are suffering from the pop-psychology concept known as Peter Pan Syndrome, an anomaly （异常）that people remain emotionally at the level of teenagers. On a grander scale, these kidult opponents （对手）argue that such delayed adulthood causes couples to marry later and have fewer children. This in turn can lead to shrinking national economies, for there needs to be a generational replenishment （补充）
of the workforce.
From the standpoint of kidults, though, this phenomenon is seen as nothing but harmless fun. Kidults insist that having youthful interests keeps them young, happy and creative, and their refusal to conform to society's acceptable tastes shows independent thinking. Besides, they argue that being part of the social trend of delayed adulthood is not purely a personal choice. The real causes include expensive housing, increased educational requirements for employment and poor work opportunities.
Whether the kidult phenomenon will continue to grow or prove to be a passing trend is anyone's guess. As the debate about it continues, remember that there is nothing wrong with being young at heart.
1. What does the kidult phenomenon refer to?| A．Adults act like children. |
| B．Adults have child-like tastes. |
| C．Adults go in for collecting toys. |
| D．Adults like playing with children. |
| A．Different living conditions. |
| B．More choices about toys. |
| C．High pressure of modern life. |
| D．Good memories of childhood. |
| A．Get used to. |
| B．Look forward to. |
| C．Take advantage of. |
| D．Make way for. |
| A．By strongly opposing kidult opponents. |
| B．By convincing readers to accept kidults. |
| C．By refusing to take a stand on the issue. |
| D．By presenting both sides of the argument. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Uncaring. |
5 . Pangolins (穿山甲) are the most trafficked (非法交易) mammals in the world and are facing extinction. To draw attention to these scaly (有鳞片的), anteater-like animals, a new wildlife documentary, Eye of the Pangolin, is attempting a unique way to inspire action and conservation. Partnering with the non-profit organization Pangolin. Africa, the documentary was made available on YouTube in May 2019. The intention is to reach communities wherever the Internet is available, especially African communities, who live near the animal’s habitats.
Over two years, the documentary crew traveled to South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic and Gabon in search of the four unique species of pangolin, which has never been achieved before. Filmmakers Bruce Young and Johan Vermeulen say that they went into the shoot knowing relatively little about pangolins, but grew to respect and appreciate the animals. Getting close to the creatures over two years was a crash course in these secretive creatures. Johan Vermeulen said, "One thing however that might seem unimportant is that they are actually quite fussy eaters. You would think they would eat any type of ant, but they all prefer a specific type ant."
Pangolins are hunted illegally across Africa for their scales, which are used for traditional medicine, and their meat. In April 2019, Singaporean customs officials conducted two separate seizures of 24 tons of pangolin scales, which equals to the death of 69,000 pangolins.
Though the documentary focuses less on the trafficking of pangolins, and more on the animals in their natural habitat, the aim of the documentary is to inspire viewers around the world to call for action to end trafficking and protecting these unique creatures.
Filmed on location in South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic, and Gabon, this powerful documentary is the story of two men on a mission to get all four species of African pangolin on camera for the very first time.
1. What is the purpose of the documentary?| A．To study the situation of pangolins. |
| B．To collect fund to protect pangolins. |
| C．To raise awareness of pangolin protection. |
| D．To propose setting up pangolin reserves. |
| A．Picky. | B．Messy. |
| C．Showy. | D．Heavy. |
| A．The illegal trade of pangolins. |
| B．The medical function of pangolin's scales. |
| C．The life of pangolins in their natural habitats. |
| D．The efforts of Pangolin, Africa to save pangolins. |
| A．A brochure. | B．A diary. |
| C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
6 . Confused by food nutrition labels? You’re not alone. Now, researchers have suggested an alternative: labelling the amount and type of exercise needed to burn off the calories.
Current food and drink labels display nutritional information such as the amount of calories and fat. However, researchers led by Prof. Amanda Daley at Loughborough University say that these labels are having a limited effect on changing buying habits. Instead, they propose a labelling system called ‘physical activity calorie equivalent or expenditure’ (PACE) (体育活动热量当量), which shows how many minutes or miles of physical activity are needed to burn off the calories. For example, a small bar of milk chocolate contains 230 calories, which would take about 42 minutes of walking, or 22 minutes of running, to burn off.
They pooled the data from 14 previous studies which compared the impact of PACE labelling with that of other types of food labelling, or with no food labelling at all. They calculated that PACE labelling could cut a person’s daily calorie intake by up to 200 calories. “Public health agencies may want to consider the possibility of including policies to promote PACE food labelling as a strategy that contributes to the prevention and treatment of obesity (肥胖) and related diseases,” said the researchers.
The UK’s Royal Society for Public Health has already called for PACE labelling to replace the current system. However, not everyone is convinced. A spokesperson for the eating disorder charity Beat said: “We believe that anti-obesity campaigns that focus on weight instead of health are ineffective and that recommending more exercise is an ineffective and over-simplistic approach to a complex problem. Most urgently, public health campaigns must consider people’s mental as well as their physical health, moving from obesity-shaming to evidence-based campaigns that build confidence and support healthy eating.”
1. What additional information can you get from PACE labels compared with the current ones?
| A．Exercise advice | B．Fat content |
| C．Nutrition facts | D．Calorie content |
| A．collected | B．distributed | C．deleted | D．proved |
| A．Obesity is a physical problem and can be solved by increasing exercise. |
| B．Obesity is related to eating habits and can be tackled by cutting calories. |
| C．Obesity is no simple problem but can be settled by focusing on weight. |
| D．Obesity is complicated and should be tackled physically and mentally. |
| A．PACE: A new labelling option |
| B．Nutrition: A basic step towards health |
| C．Labelling: A smart advisor for shopping |
| D．Excise: An effective treatment for obesity |
7 . With around 100 students scheduled to be in that 9:00 am Monday morning lecture, it is no surprise that almost 20 people actually make it to the class and only 10 of them are still awake after the first 15 minutes; it is not even a surprise that most of them are still in their pajama’s(睡衣). Obviously, students are terrible at adjusting their sleep cycles to their daily schedule.
All human beings possess a body clock. Along with other alerting systems, this governs the sleep/wake cycle and is therefore one of the main processes which govern sleep behaviour. Typically, the preferred sleep/wake cycle is delayed in adolescents, which leads to many students not feeling sleepy until much later in the evenings. This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the “night owl” schedule of sleep.
This is opposed to the “early bird” schedule, and is a kind of disorder where the individual tends to stay up much past midnight. Such a person has great difficulty in waking up in the mornings. Research suggests that night owls feel most alert and function best in the evenings and at night. Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people can be classified as “night owls” and only 10 percent can be classified as “early birds” ------ the other 70 percent are in the middle. Although this is clearly not true for all students, for the ones who are true night owls, this gives them an excellent excuse for missing their lectures which unfortunately fall before midday.
1. What does the author stress in Paragraph 1?| A．Many students are absent from class. |
| B．Students are very tired on Monday mornings. |
| C．Students do not adjust their sleep patterns well. |
| D．Students are not well prepared for class on Mondays. |
| A．Most students prefer to get up late in the morning. |
| B．Students don’t sleep well because of alerting systems. |
| C．One’s body clock governs the sleep/wake cycle independently. |
| D．Adolescents’ delayed sleep/wake cycle isn’t the preferred pattern. |
| A．Criticized | B．Grouped | C．Organized | D．Named |
| A．Functions of the body clock. |
| B．The “night owl” phenomenon. |
| C．Human beings’ sleep behaviour. |
| D．The school schedule of “early birds”. |
8 . There are many therapies (疗法) for depression, including medical treatment, psychotherapy and talk therapy. Having a range of treatment choices is a good idea because no single treatment works equally well for each of millions of sufferers. Choosing the most suitable treatment is important to them. Now researchers say a new therapy proven to relieve depression should be added to the established treatments. It's called nature therapy. "Interacting with nature can have positive effects on those with depression," says Ethan Kross, PhD, an expert who has studied the nature depression link.
A little exposure to nature helps all of us get our energy back, and it may have special benefit for those who are depressed.“It seems that, from our work, the restorative effect of nature seems to be stronger for individuals with depression," says Marc Berman, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. That might be because they feel mentally exhausted, and being in nature re energizes them. However, Dr Berman has a strong warning. “We're not arguing that interacting with nature should replace clinically proven treatments for depression," he says, “Nor should those with clinical depression try to treat themselves.”
However, Berman and others say, interactions with nature could serve as a very effective supplementary treatment. Compared to adults with depression walking for 50 minutes in an urban setting, those who took a 50 minute walk in a natural setting were less depressed and had better memory skills.
Why does nature hold this special effect? Berman says, “In a natural environment, we can choose to think or not, and this choice is believed to help us rest our brains. You can then pay attention later, when you need to.”He adds, “It gives people more ability to concentrate, which is a big problem for those with depression. ”Nature provides an effective setting for resting our brains, unlike urban setting. Even in the most peaceful urban environment, you have to pay attention to such things as traffic and stoplights.
1. What can we learn about depression therapies from paragraph 1?| A．They focus on physical activity. |
| B．They pay no attention to interactions. |
| C．They mainly depend on natural environment. |
| D．They need to be tailored to different patients. |
| A．By making them feel energetic. | B．By reminding them to rest in time. |
| C．By taking the place of clinic treatment. | D．By covering up their mental problems. |
| A．Additional. | B．Traditional. | C．Controversial. | D．Essential. |
| A．An urban setting of restoring energy. |
| B．The positive role of nature in treating depression. |
| C．The popularity of using multiple ways to treat diseases. |
| D．An effective replacement of clinical therapy for depression. |
9 . We all do it. We put off that dreaded task for five more minutes, then for thirty minutes, then for another hour, until it doesn’t get done at all. And the worst part is we still weren’t able to enjoy our day. We spend so much time stressing over that looming task that it deprives us from actually being able to focus on other tasks.
Why do we do it? We know it never ends well. The problem is that the cycle can feel nearly impossible to break. We get so caught up in the cycle of procrastination that we almost forget how to effectively tackle hard tasks.
Here are five tips for nipping procrastination in the bud and taking back control over your daily life.
Tackle the most difficult task first.
You’re probably thinking “Duh, I already knew that.” But you may not have realized that there’s scientific backing for this suggestion. We only have a limited supply of willpower. Once it’s been used up for the day, chances of us tackling hard tasks are pretty slim. Dive into your hardest task when your energy level is at its highest. This will ensure the best results.
When we push the hard tasks to the end of the day, it takes a toll on our energy all day long. In the end, stressing for hours over the task we’re procrastinating negatively affects all the other tasks on our list.
So next time you’re scheduling the items on your list, make sure to start out with worst one. It may not necessarily be the largest, but it should be the one you’re dreading the most. By accomplishing it so early in the day, you will feel energized and productive. You’ll know the rest of the day is all downhill and cruise through the list with remarkable speed.
Divide the task into smaller tasks.
We tend to get overwhelmed when a giant project looms ahead of us. We don’t know where to start or what to do first. Keep in mind that forests are made up of individual trees. Though you may not be able to take down a whole forest at once, you could certainly start with one tree (or even a branch).
If you need to organize your entire kitchen, start by working on just one cupboard. Organizing one cupboard is much more feasible than trying to get everything done in one swoop. Make a commitment to complete a small step each day, and you’ll find the task becoming less and less daunting with each new task that you accomplish.
Set a mid-day alarm.
There’s nothing more guilt-inducing than ending a day and realizing you haven’t accomplished a single task. We can avoid this rut by setting an alarm on our phone to ring every day around 1 p.m. When the ringer goes off, assess how many things on your list have been attended to.
Re-plan your schedule for the remainder of the afternoon and shift it around to take care of the most important item first. If necessary, you can indulge in a second cup of coffee to jumpstart your “second morning.” By doing this, you will avoid going to bed at night mulling over all the things you didn’t get done.
Dedicate yourself for a small period of time.
To stimulate productivity, there’s an old trick of setting a timer for ten minutes. By frantically racing the clock for that short period, you’ll likely find you become engrossed in your tasks and continue working.
The feeling of dread that has been on your mind will quickly be replaced with a sense of pride and satisfaction. Seeing what you can accomplish in ten minutes when you put your mind to it is quite motivating.
Schedule your tasks on the calendar.
Creating a game plan will help you move past the initial paralysis you feel. Instead of just writing the tasks down in a to-do list, take it a step further and identify when and how you’ll accomplish it.
For example, plan to go to the grocery store at 4:00 p.m. and start cooking dinner promptly at 4:30. By clearing up the anticipatory stress, you’ll avoid a large part of the dread that holds you back. Creating the plan is half the battle!
Though it feels impossible, you have it in you to accomplish everything that you need to every single day. With a fresh perspective, a little prodding (敦促), and a detailed plan, you’ll be well on your way to ending the procrastination cycle once and for all.
1. The word “procrastination” most likely means _______.| A．hesitation | B．delay | C．distinction | D．diminution |
| A．fully realize the importance and severity of the problem of procrastination |
| B．make an effort to keep the problem of procrastination well under control |
| C．take our time to identify the root problem of the habit of procrastination |
| D．prevent and cope with the issue of procrastination in the early stage |
| A．If we put off the hardest task to the end of the day, we can be more energetic. |
| B．It is of greater importance for us to see the “forest” than attend to the “tree”. |
| C．A small and steady step on the daily basis will make the task less overwhelming. |
| D．Having a second cup of coffee will help you compete morning commitment better. |
| A．trick you into being more anxious and desperate |
| B．keep you more concentrated and productive |
| C．help you move past the initial paralysis you feel |
| D．prevent you from feeling guilty when going to bed at night |
| A．Many people have slim hope to completely get rid of procrastination circle |
| B．creating a good plan can help you win the battle against procrastination |
| C．everybody may tend to procrastinate and there is little need for guilt |
| D．it is more than hopeful to conquer procrastination with the listed requirements |
10 . The New South Wales government used planes to drop more than 4,000 pounds of carrots and sweet potatoes, to the forests which are damaged by the recent wildfires. The fires are reported to have killed more than a billion wild animals and destroyed a land of more than 84 thousand square kilometers—about twice the size of Maryland. What is worse, most Australians are worrying about when the wildfires will be fully put out.
“The home of several important wallabies (沙袋鼠) was burnt in the recent fires,” New South Wales Environment Minister Matt Kean said on Sunday. Kean said the drops are what wallabies need. The plan is designed to help wallabies and allow them to recover.
Fire seasons often take place in the country, but this year the fires have been quite devastating. The country experienced one of its hottest and driest years, which made it harder to put out the fires. Besides wild animals, the fires have taken the lives of at least 25 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.
“I think there’s nothing to compare with the damage that’s going on over such a large area so quickly. It’s a big event in terms of geography and the number of wild animals,” Dickman, an animal protection expert, said in an interview with NPR last week.
“We know that the number of Australian wild animals has been going down over the last several decades, and it’s probably fairly well known that Australia’s got the world’s highest rate of extinction of animals,” he added. “It’s events like this that may increase the speed of extinction of a lot of other animals. So, it’s very sad time. Everyone has to try their best to do something for them.”
1. Why did the Australian government drop potatoes?| A．To feed the animals. | B．To trap the animals. |
| C．To plant potatoes there. | D．To help the people. |
| A．Damaging. | B．Interesting. |
| C．Surprising. | D．Tiring. |
| A．They have been under control. |
| B．The weather is helpful in putting out them. |
| C．They have killed a small amount of wildlife. |
| D．They have greatly influenced both people and animals. |
| A．Australia has a lot of wildlife. |
| B．Australians have suffered a lot. |
| C．Australians should protect the wildlife. |
| D．The government is responsible for the wildfires. |
