1 . A sleepover (过夜) program, which is designed to make kids believe that their favorite toys enjoy reading, can help encourage children to pick up more books, a new study suggests.
Toys sleepover programs are designed to get children interested in books. Children take their toys to a library for the night. At this point, workers and volunteers take photos of the toys which explore the library and read books. The next day, the children collect their toys and the photos of what the toys did during the night. They are given the books their toys chose to read.
It was found that before the sleepover the children did not spend time looking at the books in their play area at preschool. Immediately after the sleepover, the number of children who read to the toys was higher than the number who did not, but after three days the effect decreased gradually.
The researchers also tested a method for sustaining the effect. They reminded the children of the sleepover a month later, by hiding the toys and showing them the photos again the next day. This simple method brought an increase in the number of children reading to their toys.
The study proves for the first time that children who take part in sleepover programs read picture books to their toys more. “We wanted to know if there really was an effect, and if so, how long it lasts. Surprisingly, not only did the children show interest in the books, but they also began to read to their toys. This means that a new behavior pattern appeared that the children hadn’t had before. We did not expect anything like this,” said one of the researchers.
Reading is important for the development of children’s language skills and imagination. When parents read to their children, it is a passive way of reading for the child. However, when children read to their toys, it is a more active, self-directed way of reading, helping them develop into more active readers, researchers said.
1. What is the purpose of the sleepover program?| A．To develop children’s language skills. |
| B．To help children to sleep well. |
| C．To encourage children to read more. |
| D．To guide children to form a good sleeping habit. |
| A．Go around the library with their toys. |
| B．Sleep with their toys. |
| C．Read together with their toys. |
| D．Take their toys to the library. |
| A．keeping | B．testing | C．surveying | D．showing |
| A．Children showed no interest in the books. |
| B．The effect of the sleepover program could last long. |
| C．Children began to read to their toys on their own. |
| D．Whether the sleepover program had an effect remained unknown. |
2 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.
But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.
One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.
“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”
Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.
1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?| A．To prevent natural disasters. | B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions. |
| C．To imitate volcanic eruptions. | D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels. |
| A．More volcanoes will throw out. |
| B．More solar energy will go into space. |
| C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world. |
| D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm. |
| A．He thinks more research remains to be done. |
| B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth. |
| C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production. |
| D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention. |
| A．The rainfall pattern of a region. |
| B．The modest drop in temperature. |
| C．The number of extreme weather events. |
| D．The injection amount of aerosol. |
3 . What happens when you cross stem cells from a frog heart and frog skin? Not much-that is, until you program those cells to move. In that case, you've created a xenobot, a new type of organism that's part robot, part living thing.
Now a team of scientists has used living cells from frog embryos and assembled them into entirely new life-forms. These millimeter-wide xenobots can move toward a specific target and pull themselves through after being cut.
These are novel living machines," says Joshua Bongarch a computer scientist and robotics expert at the University of Vermont who co-led the new research. "They're neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It's a new living, programmable organism.
Xenobots borrow their name from Xenopus laevis, the name for the African clawed frog from which the researchers harvested the stem cells. They combined together well two different kinds of cells-heart and skin cells. The heart cells are competent in expanding and contracting, which aids the xenobot in locomotion, and the skin cells administer structure. Besides, they can't accomplish tasks without the help of computers.
By studying these curious organisms, researchers hope to learn more about the mysterious world of cellular communication. Plus, these kinds of robo-organisms could possibly be the key to drug transmission in the body or greener environmental clean-up techniques.
“Most technologies are made from steel, concrete, chemicals, and plastics, which degrade(降解)over time and can generate harmful ecological and health side effects the authors note in a research paper. "When these xenobots finally do stop working, they fall apart harmlessly.
“Promising as these organisms are, when we start to mess around with complex systems that we don't understand, we're going to get unintended consequences Michael Levin, a biophysicist and co-author of the study, says in a press statement.
1. What do we know about the xenobot?| A．It is not easy to degrade over time. |
| B．It can recover itself after being cut. |
| C．It will never die with a computer inside. |
| D．It is named after a kind of American frog. |
| A．Appearance. | B．Position. |
| C．Application. | D．Movement. |
| A．recycle waste in nature. |
| B．replace certain damaged organs. |
| C．deliver medicine inside patients. |
| D．improve communication technology. |
| A．Xenobots can be put into the market soon. |
| B．Xenobots are created totally by accident. |
| C．More research should be done on xenobots. |
| D．It is hard for people to understand xenobots. |
4 . Garbage often has negative associations with germs (细菌)，dirt and useless junk. However, a recent art exhibition proved that “useless” things can have practical significance.
Dear Pretty Rubbish, an art event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN) and digital media art company Blackbow, was held in Beijing. It looked at wasteful consumption (消耗) and asked questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage.
“We hope that everyone who visited the show can think about how ‘useless things’ are produced, why they are tossed out (扔走), and whether ‘useless things’ are really useless,” said Cao Yujia, the design director of Blackbow.
The organizers said that all the raw materials for the exhibition were collected from community garbage cans.
Artists Zhou Yuxuan and Liu Yifan collected nylon cable ties (尼龙扎带), LED lights and beverage bottles from designers’ workshops to create a work where plastics, in the shape of cells, “grow” in a corner. There, the lights blink (闪烁) regularly to imitate (模仿) “breathing”. When people walk near it, the work responds by forming light patterns, as if communicating with the visitors.
Speaking about the work, Zhou said: “It’s like some kind of communication between humans and plastics.”
Plastic has a life longer than almost any creature, taking centuries to decompose. Though people blame plastics for damage to the environment, they are a big part of our daily lives.
“So we want to ask the question: Although the damage continues, whether there is a way for humans to reconcile (调和) with plastics,” said Zhou.
Liu said that plastic waste can be used to make clothes and ornaments (装饰品). “Re-use of plastics will be a future trend,” he said.
Cable ties are a useful and common material for fastening. Many people will buy a large bundle of them but only use a few pieces. The rest of cable ties could be re-used as a decoration in handicrafts.
“This exhibition calls for everyone to re-think their wasteful lifestyle full of single-use plastics and make changes,” said Cao.
1. What was the purpose of Dear Pretty Rubbish?| A．To call on people to reduce waste. |
| B．To remind people to live healthily. |
| C．To encourage people to use more plastic. |
| D．To teach people how to recycle different kinds of garbage. |
| A．dry up | B．break down |
| C．be discovered | D．be broken |
| A．Communication is important for everyone. |
| B．A community’s garbage is full of hidden treasures. |
| C．Creativity can change your life. |
| D．Plastics could be reused to reduce pollution. |
| A．An art exhibition held in Beijing. |
| B．The rise of a new lifestyle. |
| C．The many uses of plastics. |
| D．An introduction of two artists and their works. |
5 . While traditional wisdom tells us that we should eagerly catch every opportunity that comes our way, playing a little hard to get has its advantages. Studies have shown that opportunities are seen to be more valuable as they become less available, according to Robert Cialdini, a leading expert on influence, who said “What the scarcity principle says is that people are more attracted to rare opportunities.”
Appearing available can work against you, according to Jeremy Nicholson, a social psychologist. If you're excited about a work opportunity, it indicates that you are in low demand.
“Making something harder to get,” Dr. Nicholson said, “tends to increase at least the perception of value.” If you are meeting with hiring managers or potential clients, Dr. Nicholson recommends that responding in a way that respects their interest without being too eager. Dr. Nicholson advises, with responses like: “I do have a couple of other projects to deal with. However, I could do this for you if you want.”
“It's easy to become excited when an opportunity presents itself,” Ms. Ryan, founder of Human Workplace, said, “but remember that your power in any negotiation is related to your ability to walk away. Don't accept an offer before fully considering the opportunity.” Once you have interest, turn that into diligence. Ms. Ryan recommends reading up on the organization from third-party perspectives, and checking out job-search websites to see what employees and ex-employees say about it. Keep in mind: The goal is to approach any negotiation cautiously and with a clear head.
Appearing less available isn't about limiting our enthusiasm, but about trusting in our own self-worth so we can be proactive, experts say. This means mindfully transforming our excitement into strategy. “Emphasizing the uniqueness of your resources and your cooperative approach can help you more quickly advance your goals,” said Shirli Kopelman, a professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
1. Why is it necessary for us to appear scarce when we face opportunities?| A．Because we should strictly follow the principle about scarcity. |
| B．Because we should eagerly grasp opportunities coming our way. |
| C．Because we should value opportunities in the competitive society. |
| D．Because we should show rare opportunities to increase our advantages. |
| A．Accessible. | B．Strategic. | C．Enthusiastic. | D．Limited. |
| A．Being eager enough and ready. | B．Being cautious and clear headed. |
| C．Being confident and interested. | D．Being skillful and accomplished. |
| A．Not being too hard on our career. | B．Noting controlling our enthusiasm. |
| C．Applying excitement to negotiations. | D．Stressing scarcity and cooperation ways. |
6 . WASHINGTON—US President Donald Trump on August 6,2020 issued an executive order banning any U.S. transactions with Chinese tech firm ByteDance, owner of popular video-sharing app TikTok, starting in 45 days, a controversial move widely criticized by experts.
The app has been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States and over one billion times globally, according to the executive order, which says that the app automatically captures “vast information” from its users, posing risks to U.S. “national security.”
A similar executive order has also been issued for WeChat, a messaging and social media app owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.
At a White House briefing earlier this week, Trump told reporters that he is open to a deal in which Microsoft Corp. or another U. S. company buy TikTok, setting Sept 15 as the deadline.
During a news briefing while commenting on the issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin said Tuesday that China firmly opposes the U. S. side’s blatant bullying of certain non-U.S. enterprises in violation of market economy rules and the World Trade Organizations principles of openness, transparency and non-discrimination.
“It is a blatant act of bullying, to which China firmly opposes. We have noticed that it has also drawn a lot of criticisms and doubts in the united states and from the international community,” Wang added.
1. Why are the two numbers mentioned in Para. 2?| A．To show that the app is very easy to use. | B．To show that the app can operate so well. |
| C．To show that the app can be of great value. | D．To show that the app is quite popular worldwide. |
| A．To sell it to an American company. | B．To donate it to an American company. |
| C．To rewrite the app in case of posing risks. | D．To give it up to the American government for free. |
| A．Become aware of something or learn of it. |
| B．Accept something although you do not particularly like it. |
| C．Disagree strongly with and try to change it or prevent it from succeeding. |
| D．Consider it carefully or use statistical methods in order to fully understand it. |
| A．US side’s violation of market economy rules in dealing with TikTok |
| B．Chinese tech firm ByteDance-owner of popular video-sharing app TikTok |
| C．Trump issues order banning US transactions with TikTok in 45 days |
| D．Trump’s order says TikTok automatically captures “vast information” from its users |
7 . With attractiveness in its structure (结构) and in its presence, the Eiffel Tower has become a great site of France and Gustave Eiffel's architectural wonder. Also known as La Tour Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower is climbed by millions of visitors every year. Do you know how tall the Eiffel Tower is? Standing at 1, 063 feet tall, this is the second tallest building in France after the Millau Viaduct, a road bridge across the river Tarn. Nicknamed La Dame de Fer, or the iron lady, this tower is a symbol of France even today.
The tower was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance for the World Fair. This event was to mark the 100th celebration of the storming of the Bastille and the French Revolution. Ironically, at first, the tower was considered unpleasant by a lot of art enthusiasts. Several members from the arts community said it only ruined the empty skyline of the Paris city. French novelist Guy de Maupassant expressed his dislike for the tower by eating lunch every day at the tower's restaurant — his explanation was that it was the only place in Paris where one could not see the structure! Whatever may have been the opinion about the structure at the time, the fact remains that it became an object that attracted many people around the world.
The tower, weighing 10, 000 tons, includes several non-metallic (非金属的) parts as well. The metallic parts used in the structure weigh 7,300 tons, which, if melted (熔化), will fill up a 125-meter square with a depth of 6cm. At the time when the tower was built, the great structure amazed lots of engineers and common people. The Eiffel Tower needs 50~60 tons of paint every seven years to keep the rust (铁锈) away.
The structure decorates the Parisian skyline. Being one of the most visited sites in the world, the Eiffel Tower still remains an architectural wonder!
1. What does “the iron lady" refer to in paragraph 1?| A．Gustave Eiffel. | B．The Eiffel Tower. |
| C．Millau Viaduct. | D．The river Tarn. |
| A．impolitely | B．impossibly | C．unexpectedly | D．cautiously |
| A．170 tons. | B．220 tons. | C．5,500 tons. | D．10,000 tons. |
| A．To show how huge the Eiffel Tower is. |
| B．To show the Eiffel Tower is a good entrance. |
| C．To show the materials used to build the Eiffel Tower. |
| D．To show how difficult it is to clean the Eiffel Tower. |
8 . This may be the 21st century but when it comes to information communication technology (ICT), the gender divide between boys and girls, shows no sign of closing.
This is bad news for the ICT industry where men outnumber women by over five to one. The industry needs at least an extra million recruits(新成员) over the next five years. Obviously, women as well as men are going to have to fill these recruitment gaps. The ICT companies are worried about the shortage of men and women to fill their vacancies(空缺) in the future.
It is believed that women are very well suited to working in ICT. They enjoy working in teams and like looking for creative connections. Many women have the kind of personal skills which are considered essential in developing “new technology”. Professionals who work in Information Technology are constantly creating the world around us, and this can’t be done if you don’t know how people work and how they play. To come up with ideas that will actually make a difference to modern life, you have to understand how people live and work.
In spite of the fact that ICT jobs are well paid and women tend to do well in them, research shows that girls’ opinions of the industry are uniformly negative. Only 5% would consider entering the ICT industry compared to 14% for law and 26% for medicine. Up to the age of 11 girls see ICT as entertaining and interesting but after that age negativity sets in. By the age of 13 this negative view of ICT is confirmed.
After school activities encourage some girls to use Information Technology, and getting ICT staff and other teachers together helps to develop imaginative use of ICT. Imaginative use of ICT especially in music, art, drama, geography and media studies, all helps to open girls’ eyes to the fact that careers in computing can cut across so many different areas.
There is a significant difference in the learning styles between boys and girls. The ICT class in schools is often an exercise where every student completes the same class assignment largely by rote(死记硬背). Although girls follow successfully, they will achieve enjoyment and excellence if allowed to diversify and be creative. For girls, just pressing buttons is not enough.
Another initiative is setting up computer clubs aimed at younger girls aged 8 to 14. This is known to inspire girls to develop their ICT skills and to show them that ICT can be both creative and interesting.
We can’t afford to have girls missing out.
1. Why are girls fit for the job in information communication technology?| A．Because they prefer independent and fresh working style. |
| B．Because they want to succeed and enjoy working with creative teammates. |
| C．Because they like cooperating with teammates and exploring new things. |
| D．Because they are interested in music, art, geography and media studies. |
| A．positive. | B．uninterested. |
| C．serious. | D．disappointed. |
| A．method | B．skill |
| C．behavior | D．situation. |
| A．We find more men in ICT industry mainly because of their interest. |
| B．Now people can’t find difference between boys and girls in ICT industry. |
| C．Girls aren’t willing to choose ICT as a career for they can’t get high salary. |
| D．It is time for us to take measures to make more girls come into ICT fields. |
9 . An architecture class at WSU will present their ideas for a small luxury hotel to upgrade Pullman's downtown during the Town and Gown Collaborative meeting which will be held from 7:30-9 a.m. on Oct.22 in the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Event Center．The Collaborative is a joint committee between the city of Pullman, Pullman Chamber of Commerce and WSU．Its purpose is to strengthen ties between the city and the university and to foster a strong relationship to create a special college town．
As part of the third-year class, seven student teams each designed a five-star luxury boutique hotel in Pullman located on the former Mimosa Cafe site on Main Street．Out of seven hotel designs produced, the class will put forward three of the most pioneering solutions to the city of Pullman during the Collaborative meeting．
WSU Architecture Professor Paul Hirzel said that the 5-star luxury hotel choice is absent in the Palouse and a rarity in Eastern Washington, giving his students a unique challenge．Features of their projects include 16-luxury rooms, a roof top swimming pool, loft suites with balconies overlooking the river, and a ground level cafe with sidewalk and riverside courtyards．The project explores a current trend in college towns of providing the five-star boutique hotel choice to the more typical franchise hotel choices．
The presentation to the city gives the students a valuable real-world opportunity to present their projects to potential stakeholders and to advocate for their designs to nonarchitects, Hirzel said．Goals for the project also included exposing his students to the realities of structure and material choice as well as a challenging site condition fronting on both a river(that floods) and a main street．
"When students can achieve beyond their expectations in creating a new vision for downtown Pullman, both the students and the Pullman downtown community will benefit．" he said．
1. What does the underlined word "foster" in the first paragraph mean?| A．Prove． | B．Change． | C．Weaken． | D．Promote． |
| A．Beauty． | B．Comfort． | C．Creativity． | D．Convenience． |
| A．Sizes of the hotel rooms． | B．Detailed design requirements． |
| C．Service facilities around the hotel． | D．Lack of 5-star luxury hotels in cities． |
| A．It is a win-win project． |
| B．It is beyond the students' ability． |
| C．It shows the students' intelligence． |
| D．It enables students to realize the challenges． |
10 . We recognize our friends’ faces. And we’re not alone. Many social animals can identify individuals of their own species by features of their faces. That's important, because they need to be able to change their behavior depending on who they meet. And a recent research has shown that some species of monkeys, birds, and domesticated (家养的) animals can even tell different faces apart by looking at photographs alone.
Ethologist Léa Lansade of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment did an experiment to find out how well horses can recognize individual people in photographs.
She and her team first taught the horses how to “choose” between two side-by-side pictures by touching their noses to a computer screen. The horses were then shown photos of their present keeper alongside faces of unfamiliar humans. They had never seen photos of any of the people before. The horses correctly identified their current keeper and ignored (忽视) the stranger’s face about 75%of the time. In fact, even though the horses didn't get it right every single time, they were at least as correct in picking out their earlier keeper as they were at identifying their present one.
The results suggest that not only can horses differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar human faces, they also naturally understand that photographs are two dimensional representations (二维呈现) of real life, without any other intimations such as smell or sound. And they’re even better at this than our oldest animal parter, the domestic dog.
In addition, horses seem to have a strong long-term memory for human faces, like their long lifespan and history of domestication. In future experiments, the researchers would like to test whether looking at photos of people that they have had bad experiences with in the past might cause horses to act anxious or even avoidance. So maybe think twice before doing anything that might give a horse a long face.
1. Why did researchers show the horses both the keeper’s photos and the strangers’?| A．To find out what horses would do in the experiment. |
| B．To see why horses could recognize the keeper in the pictures. |
| C．To test whether horses could recognize the strangers in pictures. |
| D．To study to what degree horses can make out different people in pictures. |
| A．Clues. | B．Differences. |
| C．Photographs. | D．Senses. |
| A．Whether horses can live longer than other animals. |
| B．Whether horses can remember human's faces for a long time. |
| C．Whether horses can show their emotions at the sight of photos. |
| D．Whether horses are better at recognizing photos than other animals. |
| A．To talk about animals’ species. |
| B．To explain animals’ facial features. |
| C．To show animals’ behaviour for adaptation. |
| D．To introduce animals’ ability to identifying faces. |
