1 . Experts are warning about the risks of extremely picky(挑剔的)eating after a teenager living on a diet of chips and crisps developed lasting sight loss. Eye doctors in Bristol cared for the 17-year-old after his sight had gone to the point of blindness. Tests showed he had serious vitamin deficiency(缺乏). Dr. Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said, “His diet was basically a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps and sometimes white bread and ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”
The teenager saw his doctor at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he suffered from vitamin B12 deficiency, but he did not stick with the treatment or improve his poor diet. Three years later, he was taken to the Bristol Eye Hospital because of progressive sight loss.
He was not overweight or underweight, but he had lost minerals from his bones, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age. In terms of his sight loss, he met the standards of being blind. “He had blind spots right in the middle of his sight,” said Dr Denize Atan, “That means he can’t drive and would find it really arduous to read, watch TV or recognize faces.”
Dr Denize Atan said that parents should learn about the harm that can be caused by picky eating, and turn to experts for help. For those who are concerned , she advised, “It’s best not to be anxious about picky eating , and instead calmly introduce one or two new foods with every meal.” She said multivitamin tablets can supplement(补充) a diet, but cannot take the place of eating healthily. “It’s much better to take in vitamins through a varied and balanced diet,” she said, adding that too many certain vitamins , including vitamin A, can be harmful ,“so you don’t want to overdo it.”
1. What does Dr Denize Atan imply in paragraph 1?| A．The diet of the boy is not balanced. |
| B．Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins. |
| C．Picky eating is common among teenagers. |
| D．The cause of the boy’s disease is unknown. |
| A．To improve his poor diet. |
| B．To get some help to lose weight. |
| C．To be treated for his discomfort. |
| D．To slow down his progressive sight loss. |
| A．Important. | B．Easy. | C．Necessary. | D．Difficult. |
| A．Reasons why the boy is seriously ill. |
| B．Suggestions for the boy’s family to care for him. |
| C．Advice for parents worried about picky eating. |
| D．Ways of taking in enough vitamins and minerals. |
2 . Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.
Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects' lives, the researchers said. "We strongly believe artificial light at night — in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution.invasive (入侵的) species, and climate change — is driving insect declines, " the scientists concluded after assessing more than 150 studies.
Insect population collapses have been reported around the world, and the first global scientific review published in February, said widespread declines threatened to cause a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems".
There are thought to be millions of insect species, most still unknown to science, and about half are active at night. Those active in the day may also be disturbed by light at night when they are at rest.
The most familiar impact of light pollution is moths (飞蛾) flapping around a bulb, mistaking it for the moon. Some insects use the polarisation of light to find the water they need to breed, as light waves line up after reflecting from a smooth surface. But artificial light can scupper (使泡汤) this. Insects are important prey (猎物) for many species, but light pollution can tip the balance in favour of the predator if it traps insects around lights. Such increases in predation risk were likely to cause the rapid extinction of affected species, the researchers said.
The researchers said most human-caused threats to insects have analogues in nature, such as climate change and invasive species. But light pollution is particularly hard for insects to deal with.
However, unlike other drivers of decline, light pollution is relatively easy to prevent. Simply turning off lights that are not needed is the most obvious action, he said, while making lights motion-activated also cuts light pollution. Shading lights so only the area needed is lit up is important. It is the same with avoiding blue-white lights, which interfere with daily rhythms. LED lights also offer hope as they can be easily tuned to avoid harmful colours and flicker rates.
1. What is discussed in the passage?| A．Causes of declining insect populations. |
| B．Consequences of insect population collapses. |
| C．Light pollution: the key bringer of insect declines. |
| D．Insect declines: the driver of the collapsed ecosystem. |
| A．How light travels in space. |
| B．How light helps insects find food. |
| C．How the food chain is interrelated. |
| D．How light pollution affects insects. |
| A．Selective things. | B．Similar things. | C．Variations. | D．Limitations. |
| A．To offer solutions. |
| B．To give examples. |
| C．To make comparisons. |
| D．To present arguments. |
3 . The over 48,000 orange trees that are distributed at all corners of Seville, Spain, not only fill the city's air with the pleasant smell of their flowers in spring, they also produce over 16, 500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that makes the city Europe's top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh. While some of the produce is used to make orange juice, most of it ends up in Seville's landfills. However, that may change soon thanks to a creative idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.
In the pilot program, juice from 38. 6 tons of oranges will be left to ferment (发酵)in an existing biogas facility. The juice is fructose (果糖)made up of very short carbon chains, and the energetic performance of these carbon chains during the fermentation process is particularly high. The gas released from the fermented liquid will be used to drive a generator to produce clean power. The officials estimate the test run will generate about 1,500 kWh of energy—enough to run a water purification plant. "It's not just about saving money. The oranges are a problem for the city, and we're producing added value from waste,M said Benigno Lopez, the head of Emasesa's environmental department.
If successful, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity generated back to its grid (电网). In trial runs, 1,000 kilos (2,200 pounds) of oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy一enough to meet the daily electricity needs of five homes. The project team estimates that if all the fruit is recycled, it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000 residences.
The latest effort is among the many programs implemented in Spain to achieve the country's goal of switching its electricity system to renewable sources by 2050—and if everything goes according to plan, fully decarbonizing its economy shortly after that.
1. What problem does Seville face?| A．It is short of energy. | B．Most oranges are wasted. |
| C．Fruit production is falling. | D．Trees take up much space. |
| A．Fructose. | B．Carbon chains. | C．Clean power. | D．Gas. |
| A．Conducted. | B．Assumed. | C．Popularized. | D．Completed. |
| A．To prove a theory. | B．To raise a problem. |
| C．To introduce a project. | D．To comment on an idea. |
4 . JeffBezos has a rule at Amazon, or perhaps more appropriate a philosophy. If a team cannot be fed by two pizzas then that team is too large. The reasoning is quite straightforward and basic. More people means more communication, more bureaucracy, more chaos, and more of pretty much everything that slows things down, hence why large organizations are oftentimes considered as being so inefficient.
In 2013 Gallup released a report called “The State of The American Workplace", in which they found that smaller companies had more engaged employees. In fact,42% of employees working at companies of 10 or fewer were engaged at work versus only 30% of employees at large companies.
Most people are not familiar with the Ringelmann Effect which is the tendency for individual members to become less productive as the size of a group increases. This concept was named after Maximilien Ringelmann, a French professor of agricultural engineering who passed away in 1931.In one of his experiments he asked volunteers to perform a very simple task, to pull on a rope. He found that when only one person is pulling on the rope they give 100% of their effort; however, as more people are added the individual effort goes down.
This experiment was recreated in the 1970's by Alan Ingham who came up with the concept of “social loafing” which helps us understand why the individual effort decreases as the team size increases. So why does this happen? Because it becomes harder to extract the individual contributions and performance of each person.
Organizations should really think about what their team structures look like and create and follow similar “two pizza rules”. It's no coincidence that smaller organizations are oftentimes more nimble while large organizations look like they are stuck in the mud.
1. What is the author's purpose of mentioning “two pizza rules” in paragraph 1?| A．To make a comment. |
| B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To provide an example. |
| D．To analyze a phenomenon. |
| A．It repeated the Ringelmann Effect experiment. |
| B．It was based on a simple task of pulling a rope. |
| C．It aimed to explore the reason behind the phenomenon. |
| D．It revealed the link between team size and individual effort. |
| A．Balanced. |
| B．Complicated. |
| C．Simple. |
| D．Flexible. |
| A．What Makes a Team More Productive? |
| B．Why Are Smaller Teams Better Than Larger Ones? |
| C．How Can Two Pizzas Be Shared by One Team? |
| D．Which Is More Important: Individual Effort r Team Size? |
5 . I first began to wonder what was doing on a college campus when my parents drove off, leaving me alone in a parking lot, wanting nothing more than to find my way safely to my dorm room. The fact was that no matter how mature I liked to consider myself, I was feeling just a bit first-gradish. Adding to my distress was the impression that everyone on campus was watching me. My plan was to keep my ears open and my mouth shut and hope no one would notice I was a freshman.
With that thought in mind, I raised my head, squared my shoulders, and set out in the direction of my dorm, glancing at the campus map in my hand. And then I spent the afternoon seeking out each of my classrooms so that I could make perfectly timed entrance before each lecture without having to ask silly questions about its whereabouts.
The next morning, I found my first class and marched in. I chose a seat in the first row and to the side. I was in the front, but out of the professor's direct line of vision. Then I opened my anthology（选集）of American literature and looked at the date at the top of a page. "Welcome to Biology 101," the professor began. Cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. I got out my schedule and checked the room number. I was in the right room. Just the wrong building!
So now what? Get up and leave in the middle of the lecture? Wouldn't the professor be angry? Wouldn't they all stare at me? Forget it, I settled into my chair.
1. What does the underlined word "that thought" in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．missing her parents | B．working hard in college |
| C．showing maturity | D．being first-gradish |
| A．She would do the same as the other students in the room. |
| B．She would leave the room in the middle of the lecture. |
| C．She would ask the professor for a leave. |
| D．She would explain the mistake to the professor. |
| A．My college | B．A Mistake | C．Fresh Start | D．A Freshman |
6 . At first I told only those closest to me, but soon it became clear that I would need more support. And isolating myself, I suspected, was partly to blame for being depressed in the first place. As I started to open up and share the news, I began to feel more like myself-someone who isn’t embarrassed by life’s setbacks, who handles difficult situations with humor and honesty.
No surprise, the wonderful people in my life have all been very kind and sympathetic, but overall, people’s reactions have varied. Most people who don’t believe in depression also don’t believe in being medicated for it. Their warnings ranged from mindful caution to downright fear that I’d become addicted to pills and turn into a dull lifeless person.
Many reacted to the D-bomb the same way I did. “You’re depressed?! But you’re one of the happiest people that I know! You hula-hoop in Walmart!”（I really do-every time I go.）These are the people I wanted to hug, they made me feel like I hadn’t turned into Debbie Downer.
The third, and perhaps most popular, reaction to my dropping the D-bomb has been the chains of friends revealing personal connections to mental illnesses. “My mom is bipolar（双相型障碍）... My uncle has been clinically depressed for years.” I was dumbfounded. Why isn’t anyone talking about the illnesses that affect our most important body part-our brain?
Admitting I have depression and anxiety has, at times, made me feel like admitting defeat. I’m angry that despite having every reason to be happy, sometimes I’m not. I don’t know why I’m sad. I just am. And I so wish I wasn’t. I’d like to think, though, that even at my worst, I’m worthy of honesty, compassion and understanding. I struggle with my brain the way others struggle with their heart. I have deeply and laugh loudly. I work hard; I play harder. And I always hula-hoop at Walmart.
1. What does the expression “Debbie Downer” probably mean?| A．A kind and sympathetic person. | B．A negative or pessimistic person. |
| C．A person easily admitting defeat. | D．A person suffering from mental illness. |
| A．Sad but strong. | B．Dull but optimistic. |
| C．Anxious but relieved. | D．Defeated but happy. |
| A．What are the ways to defeat depression? |
| B．How a depressed person can get more support. |
| C．How one self-declared optimist deal with depression. |
| D．What’s the difference between depression and brain disease? |
7 . Technology may have made working from home easier than ever, but according to a new study, staff who are out of sight may not perform as well as those in the office. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, wanted to find out whether being watched while undertaking a task made a diffrence to its outcome.
Many people believe that being under constant observation damages their creativity while others live in fear of freezing in front of an audience during a public event. But the findings suggest that the pressure of others actually makes people achieve more. "You might think having people watch you isn't going to help, but it might actually make you perform better," said lead author Vikram Chib, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. “An audience can serve as an extra bit of incentive.” When people know they are being observed, parts of the brain associated with social awareness and reward stimulate a part of the brain that controls motor skills, improving their performance at skilled tasks.
In the new experiment, Dr Chib and colleagues asked 20 participants to play a game on a Nintendo Wii or Xbox Kinect. The participants performed the task both in front of an audience of two and with no one watching. Their brain activity was monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging (磁共振成像). While people were watching, participants were an average of five percent better at the video game—and as much as 20 percent better. Only two participants didn't perform better in front of others. But if the audience was a lot bigger, and the stakes (赌注) higher, the results could have gone the other way. “Here, people with social anxiety tended to perform better," added Dr Chib. “But at some point, the size of the andience sould increase the size of one's aniery. We still need to figure that out."
The research was published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
1. People usually believe that being watched while undertaking a task can_________.| A．slower their reaction | B．result in better achievement |
| C．encourage their creativity | D．increase their fear of getting cold |
| A．observation | B．association | C．improvement | D．encouragement |
| A．Socially anxious people performed worse with others watching. |
| B．Being under observation helped most participants' performance. |
| C．The size of the audience increased the size of one's anxiety. |
| D．Functional magnetic resonance imaging could monitor brain activity. |
| A．Working at home is more efficient than in the office. |
| B．Reasonable amount of pressure from others promotes performance. |
| C．The larger the audience is, the better the performance will be. |
| D．People tend to perform better at all tasks when being watched. |
8 . By now, most of us have picked up at least one pandemic hobby. And there's a seemingly common pandemic hobby trend: People who haven't been able to go anywhere are making imaginary travel plans. Maybe you're among those who have spent hours researching locations-even though you're not actually planning to travel.
It turns out that you aren't alone. People who seem to be sticking to public safety recommendations are still planning trips they don't intend to book. And, when I suddenly found myself addicted to an imaginary girls' trip to Joshua Tree, I wondered whether this was a healthy distraction.
"It's an escapist imagination," said Regine Galanti, a psychologist, adding that there's nothing wrong with escapism during a global pandemic.
On the one hand, distractions are often beneficial right now. We are a full year into living with COVID-19 as a pandemic, and that means you've probably had to navigate a range of emotions like discomfort, sadness, or even boredom. So any hobby that doesn't harm anyone or endanger your well-being is probably a worthy attempt.
Even if vacation planning is your happy place, Dr. Galanti suggests you "actually think about what you're trying to achieve." Why? "Maybe what you're saying is, I need a vacation from work," Dr. Galanti explains. "Then take three days off even if you are not going anywhere. "When you figure out what you're looking for, you might be able to find a small socially distanced adventure in your backyard or a quiet place. Vacation planning is a good way to spend some time, but there might be an even better way to get what you're desiring.
Anyway, when uncertainty is all around us, creating things to look forward to isn't a terrible idea. And when things are safer, you'll have all your plans in place.
1. Why do people make imaginary travel plans during the pandemic?| A．To develop a new hobby. | B．To stay safe and sound. |
| C．To be distracted from reality. | D．To get ready for future travel. |
| A．Express. | B．Balance. | C．Adapt to. | D．Deal with. |
| A．Objective. | B．Negative. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Figures. | B．Lifestyle. |
| C．Food and recipe. | D．Science and technology. |
9 . The COVID -19 pandemic has changed life as we knew it just a few weeks ago. Millions of people worldwide are now under required or voluntary lockdowns. All public attractions, including museums and aquariums, are closed, and the usually crowded streets of popular tourist destinations are empty. An unexpected silver lining during these challenging times for humans is that many animals are finally getting a chance to leave their normal habitats and move about freely.
The first animals to take advantage of human absence were Annie and Edward, two penguins who live at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. A video released on March 15, 2020, showed the couple eagerly duckwalking around, exploring the aquarium's various exhibits. The video, which instantly became popular, inspired other institutions to share short videos of their four-legged creatures playing as well.
The Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio joined the fun trend on March 16, 2020，with a “Home Safari” live-stream series-the first staring its adorable baby panda，Fiona. “Let us help make your children's hiatus from school fun and educational,” zoo officials announced. “Join us for a Home Safari Online Live each weekday at 3 pm，where we will highlight one of our amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home.
Meanwhile，the San Diego Safari Park has kept their webcams（网络摄像头）rolling，allowing fans to enjoy lovable animals without leaving home. Animals in the wild are also lively as humans stay indoors. The absence of cruise ships is bringing large numbers of dolphins to a port in Cagliari，while groups of wild turkeys are happily walking on the streets of Oakland.
Though the animals indeed appear to be having a good time，the heartwarming videos and images shared on social media, are also bringing much -needed cheer to millions of humans worldwide. Stay strong and healthy! We are all in this together!
1. What changes has the COVID-19 pandemic caused to the zoo animals?| A．They are now under required or voluntary lockdowns. |
| B．They can enjoy a free life without tourists' disturbance. |
| C．They will be faced with unexpected existing challenges. |
| D．They get a chance to wander about freely in the wild. |
| A．Courses. | B．Sightseeing. | C．Activities. | D．Interruption. |
| A．To enable people to admire animals at home. |
| B．To film the animals wandering about in the zoo. |
| C．To compete for more viewers online. |
| D．To record people's life in the COVID-19 crisis. |
| A．The Pandemic Affects the World |
| B．Lovely Animals Bring fun to People |
| C．Animals Play in the Absence of Humans |
| D．Stay Strong and Healthy in the Pandemic |
10 . Albert Einstein’s 1915 masterpiece “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity” is the first and still the best introduction to the subject, and I recommend it as such to students. But it probably wouldn’t be publishable in a scientific journal today.
Why not? After all, it would pass with flying colours the tests of correctness and significance. And while popular belief holds that the paper was incomprehensible to its first readers, in fact many papers in theoretical physics are much more difficult.
As the physicist Richard Feynman wrote, “There was a time when the newspapers said that only 12 men understood the theory of relativity. I do believe there might have been a time when only one man did, because he was the only guy who caught on, before he wrote his paper. But after people read the paper a lot understood the theory of relativity in some way or other, certainly more than 12.”
No, the problem is its style. It starts with a leisurely philosophical discussion of space and time and then continues with an exposition of known mathematics. Those two sections, which would be considered extraneous today, take up half the paper. Worse, there are zero citations of previous scientists’ work, nor are there any graphics. Those features might make a paper not even get past the first editors.
A similar process of professionalization has transformed other parts of the scientific landscape. Requests for research time at major observatories or national laboratories are more rigidly structured. And anything involving work with human subjects, or putting instruments in space, involves piles of paperwork.
We see it also in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Nobel Prize of high school science competitions. In the early decades of its 78-year history, the winning projects were usually the sort of clever but naive, amateurish efforts one might expect of talented beginners working on their own. Today, polished work coming out of internships(实习) at established laboratories is the norm.
These professionalizing tendencies are a natural consequence of the explosive growth of modern science. Standardization and system make it easier to manage the rapid flow of papers, applications and people. But there are serious downsides. A lot of unproductive effort goes into jumping through bureaucratic hoops(繁文缛节), and outsiders face entry barriers at every turn.
Of course, Einstein would have found his way to meeting modern standards and publishing his results. Its scientific core wouldn’t have changed, but the paper might not be the same taste to read.
1. According to Richard Feynman, Einstein’s 1915 paper ________.| A．was a classic in theoretical physics |
| B．turned out to be comprehensible |
| C．needed further improvement |
| D．attracted few professionals |
| A．Unrealistic. | B．Irrelevant. |
| C．Unattractive. | D．Imprecise. |
| A．The application of research findings. |
| B．The principle of scientific research. |
| C．The selection of young talents. |
| D．The evaluation of laboratories. |
| A．What makes Einstein great? |
| B．Will science be professionalized? |
| C．Could Einstein get published today? |
| D．How will modern science make advances? |
