1 . Forty-nine years ago, on April 22,1970, twenty million Americans took to the streets to voice their concern about the deteriorating environment. The movement led to Earth Day.

Unfortunately, our planet is in worse shape now than it was when Earth Day was first celebrated. The good news is that it’s still not too late to reverse (转变) climate change if we all do our part. This Earth Day, take the first step towards helping our planet by participating in one of these fun activities.

NASA is putting our planet up for adoption so you and your friend can claim a portion of the planet as your own. The space agency has divided the globe into 64,000 sections, each about 55 miles wide. All you have to do is type your name into NASA’s “Adopt the Planet” site to claim a certificate that will give you the location of your slice of paradise (天堂) complete with details of its environment. NASA hopes that this exercise will stimulate interest and care in our planet.

Search giant Google is also trying to engage the public with an updated Google Earth focused around Earth Day events. Through a new Voyager feature, users will be able to discover stories from around the world, learn about new places by reading “Knowledge Cards” and send postcards.

If you happen to be anywhere near the nation’s capital on April 22, join the millions that are expected to participate in the Earth Day March at the National Mall. The mission of the event that will feature guest speakers and musical performances is to mobilize (动员) citizens into taking action by promoting this year’s Earth Day theme: climate and environmental science literacy.

While participating in the above-mentioned activities is a great idea, it is just the beginning. All that is required are small lifestyle changes. Planting a tree or two, going meatless just one day a week, or switching your plastic water bottle for a reusable one will go a long way to help reverse the damage we have caused.

1. The underlined word “deteriorating” is the closest in meaning to ________.

A．cleaner	B．better
C．worse	D．colder

2. If you participate in the activity of “Adopt the Planet”, you will be probably provided with your slice's information about ________.

A．air quality	B．ancient history
C．local customs	D．tourist attractions

3. Through Voyager on Google Earth, what can users do?

A．They can create “Knowledge Cards” online.

B．They can discover stories from around the world.

C．They can receive postcards coming from Google.

D．They can adopt a slice of paradise in the world.

4. In the last paragraph, the writer calls on people to ________.

A．dream big	B．fly high
C．go meatless	D．start small

2 . Americans are now allowed to get a COVID-19 vaccine （疫苗）. But the process in America is not going as smoothly as some had hoped. Many people are still facing a wait for their first shot. Moreover, the vaccines aren't available to kids under 16 yet. That's because scientists have only tested if the vaccine works in adults.

The good news is that there are two companies, Moderna and Pfizer, making COVID-19 vaccines. They are now running clinical trials（临床实验）to test their vaccines in teens and kids. Volunteers are given a treatment plan and then evaluated after.

Clinical trials are designed with safety in mind and usually done in adults first. They work like this: volunteers get placed into one of two groups. One group receives the vaccine. The other group gets a placebo. This is a shot given in the same way as the vaccine but with no effect. Scientists can compare the effects of the real vaccine against the placebo to see if the vaccine works. Researchers want to know everything that a person experiences when they get the shot, so they can detect any harmful effects. If anything did happen, the trial would stop immediately.

Some teens are eager to volunteer because they want to help people. Maybe you're the right age to be part of a clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine. Why not volunteer For A Vaccine Trial? Interested kids should read about the trials because every trial has risks. They should talk to their doctor and weigh the benefits and risks. Every vaccine has rare side effects in a few patients.

If you want to participate in a trial, you can try to sign up online by just clicking here, clinicaltrials gov. which lists every clinical trial in the US, including COVID-19 vaccine trials.

1. Why kids under 16 can't get a COVID-19 vaccine?

A．Because the vaccine is too hard to get.

B．Because the vaccine is too expensive for them.

C．Because they are not at the risk of getting COVID-19.

D．Because the effectiveness of the vaccine for kids hasn't been tested .

2. What does the underlined word "placebo" in paragraph 3 refer to ?

A．A substance to comfort patients	B．A pill to treat patients
C．A prize to award patients	D．A way to cure patients

3. What's the purpose of this article?

A．To tell American adults they can get a COVID-19 vaccine.

B．To inform that American children can't get a COVID-19 vaccine.

C．To give information about clinical trials of vaccines in teens and kids.

D．To provide information for potential volunteers on trials.

4. Where does this passage probably come from?

A．Newspapers.

B．Magazines.

C．Internet.

D．Textbooks.

4 . They say, “Online retailers (零售商) try to show you things that you wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. But we don’t think it compares to the experience of walking into a store and seeing things you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.”

That’s hardly an old-fashioned view. One of the misunderstandings in retail is that because younger customers are comfortable with digital technologies, they’re less interested in shopping in person. In fact, researchers have found that both millennials (千禧一代) and the generation born after 1995 prefer brick-and-mortar shopping to buying online.

Now in the pandemic age, retailers are working on making ordering online and picking up at the store a seamless (无缝衔接的) process. And that could be just the start. Other mixed models will appear, especially as retailers get rid of delays from the system, says Kirthi Kalyanam, executive director of the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University in California. Amazon, which already provides free two-day delivery to prime members, now offers one-day delivery nationwide for a fee and same-day delivery on select items in several cities. Its Amazon Fresh grocery service lets shoppers choose delivery within two to three hours.

Stores will increasingly become places to show products rather than to store inventory (存货), says Mr. Kalyanam. Online retailers will re-create their online image in a real space: Think Apple stores or Lululemon. And consumers will have multiple ways to buy their goods. Stores might not even carry inventory, but promise to deliver your purchase from a nearby warehouse in a half-hour.

1. What is the speakers’ attitude to buying online in Paragraph 1？

A．Negative.	B．Positive.
C．Indifferent.	D．Unknown.

2. What does the underlined word “brick-and-mortar” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Imaginative.	B．Physical.
C．Virtual.	D．False.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A．Amazon never connects the sales to the delivery.

B．Delivery service of goods online is being improved.

C．All retailers are considering picking up at the store.

D．Retailers can’t remove the delays from the delivery system.

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．Amazon offers one-day delivery nationwide for free.

B．Younger customers are less interested in shopping in person.

C．Instead of storing inventory, stores will become places to show products.

D．Online retailers don't show the things that customers haven't discovered.

6 . When whales die and sink to the ocean floor, their bodies -known as whale falls -provide rich nutrients for other creatures of the deep.

Chinese scientists found a whale fall in the South China Sea during a recent scientific research voyage. It was the first time that Chinese researchers had run across this rare type of ecosystem. It was an important finding, showing China's progress in deep-sea exploration technology, Xie said, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University.

During the 22-day deep-sea exploration from March 10 to April 2. 60 scientists conducted 22 dives and successfully completed a number of scientific tasks. The research aimed to gather information about the key processes of typical seamount ecosystems in the Western Pacific: Ocean. The whale fall was found in a seamount 1,600 meters deep in the central South China Sea. Though the whale fall was only about 3 meters long, it was of great importance in understanding the sea ecosystems, Xie said.

There were dozens of white armored shrimp, red shrimp and several eels found near the whale fall. The eels were eating the tail muscles of the whale fall. This shows that the whale died not long ago and that the whale fall was still in the first stage of decomposition and thus had rare value for long-term observation, Xie said.

Like cold springs, whale falls are homes for creatures of the deep. In the northern Pacific Ocean, they have supported the survival of at least 12,490 kinds of organisms—classed in 43 species—and promote prosperity far beneath the surface, according to data from the university.

1. What do we know about the whale fall in the South China Sea?

A．It is found on March 10.	B．It is a rare sea ecosystem.
C．It is a kind of cold springs.	D．It is found 3 meters deep in the sea.

2. How is the Paragraph 3 organized?

A．By giving data.	B．By giving examples.
C．By giving definitions.	D．By making a contrast

3. What does the underlined word "prosperity" in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Change

B．Disappearance.

C．Richness.

D．Tourism.

4. What does the text mainly tell about?

A．A deep-sea exploration led by China.

B．A whale fall found in the South China Sea.

C．China's progress in deep-sea exploration technology.

D．The protection of deep-sea biodiversity resources in China.

7 . Television is a central part of many people’s lives. There are very few places in the world where one cannot find a television set. Some sporting events, such as the Olympic Games or the football World Cup, can attract audiences of many millions. But is television a good or bad influence on young people in the modern world?

Thomas Murray, president of the British Parents Against Television Society, believes that it has not improved young people’s lives. “Television damages family life,” he argues. “At mealtime, families no longer talk to each other. In the evenings, youngsters do not spend good quality time with family members. Instead, they watch television.” Murray says that this lack of communication leads to social problems.

Murray also believes that the content of television programmes provides young people with poor role models. “There is so much violence(暴力) on TV—guns, kung fu fighting, and so on. Young people think that all problems should be solved by aggression.”

It is not just young people’s mental health that worries Murray. “Teenagers don’t get enough exercise because they spend so many hours watching television. They also develop back problems from sitting down for so long, and eye strain from the effort of watching.”

Murray would like to see changes to television habits. “Programmes should be educational. Their contents should be nonviolent and healthy. There should be no programmes after ten o'clock in the evening. Parents should teach their children to enjoy their spare time by playing sports or games. And certainly, the television should be switched off during meal time.

Susan Taylor is a television producer. She believes that television is a good influence on young people. “Television brings the outside world to youngsters. It even brought us pictures from the moon! And look what happens after the Olympic Games or the World Cup matches have been shown on TV. People start to take more exercise. Also, there are a lot of programmes about healthy eating and keeping fit.”

However, Taylor agrees with Murray’s point of view concerning parents. “Of course parents have a role to play in educating their kids. They should turn the TV off during mealtime and they should talk with their children as often as possible.”

1. The article is mainly about ________.

A．that TV is a central part of many people’s lives

B．that Murray would like to see changes to television habits

C．whether TV is a good or bad influence on young people in the modern world

D．that parents should turn the TV off during mealtime and talk with their children

2. Which of the following statements is True?

A．Teenagers will get backache for sitting down for a long time.

B．Murray only worries about young people’s mental health.

C．TV programmes are nonviolent and educational.

D．Teenagers don’t like doing exercise at all.

3. What leads to social problems in Murray’s opinion?

A．The lack of communication.

B．Young people watching too much TV.

C．So much violence on TV.

D．Not enough exercise.

4. The underlined words “eye strain” in paragraph 4 probably means ________.

A．eye sickness

B．blindness

C．eye tiredness

D．far-sightedness

5. We can infer from this passage that _________.

A．Murray is president of the British Parents Against Television Society

B．Susan Taylor completely disagrees with Murray on TV

C．there are both good and bad programmes on TV

D．Susan Taylor is a television producer

8 .
1. According to the job advert, the website is looking for a person __________.

A．who has high calibre(能力)

B．who gets careers advice for young people

C．who allows university graduates to find jobs

D．who will be in charge of web pages for graduates’ CVs

2. What do the underlined words “Java, Unix, Oracle” stand for?

A．Common types of software.

B．Phone number, address, e-mail.

C．Some websites.

D．Some kinds of languages.

3. What will they offer to the job hunter？

A．Attractive salary.

B．Ordinary conditions.

C．High pay and good conditions.

D．Attractive salary and health benefit.

4. When and where will the job hunter send their CVs to?

A．Iwanttobe.com.cn/ before 21 March.

B．Iwanttobe.com.cn/ on 21 March.

C．Jobs@iwanttobe.com.cn/ on 21 March.

D．Jobs@iwanttobe.com.cn/ before 21 March.

5. The website is NOT useful for_______.

A．young people to get career advice

B．university graduates finding jobs

C．young people to find friends

D．employers finding candidates

9 . Patients often come into my office and ask, “How can I look younger?” While I always suggest healthy living — a balanced diet and regular exercise — in order to look and feel younger, I have never thought of facial exercises as part of that plan. That is, until a recent study, published in JAMA Dermatology (皮肤学), showed promising results that routine facial exercise may slow the merciless tide of time.

The theory behind the study originates from the fact that a major part of facial aging is due to the loss of fat and soft tissue, which leads to the growth and spread of wrinkles. If we can lift weights at the gym and enlarge muscles in arms, why couldn’t the same be done for muscles in our faces, therefore to create a more youthful face?

The concept of facial exercise is not a new one. A simple Internet search will produce a lot of blog posts and books on the subject, as well as various programmes that promise to be the next fountain of youth. What the JAMA Dermatology researchers did in their study, which was the first of its kind, was to examine this question from a more strict scientific aspect. They enrolled 27 women between the ages of 40 and 65 to perform daily, 30-minute exercises for eight weeks, and then continue every other day for a total of 20 weeks.

Dermatologists who did not know the participants were asked to rate their photographs before and after the exercise. The dermatologists found an improvement in cheek fullness and estimated the age of the participants at 51 years of age at the start of the programme and 48 at the end of the 20-week study. Furthermore, all the participants felt improvement in their own facial appearance at the end of the study.

While these results seem exalting, the study has some obvious limitations. Of the 27 patients involved, 11 gave up before completing the study. One reason may be that the programme was to time-consuming, clocking in at 30 minutes a day. The overall small size of the study also limits its generalizability to the larger population. In addition, there was also no control group, which would have helped reduce the possibility that this improvement happened by chance.

It’s also hard to draw conclusions about the longevity of these results. Probably the exercises must be continued to keep their effects. But for how long? And how frequently? Which exercises are most effective? Most studies are need to answer these questions.

1. According to the passage, which statement is true?

A．Though the concept of facial exercise is new, much information about it can be found on the Internet.

B．Some participants did not feel improvement in their facial appearance at the end of the study.

C．If there is a control group, the possibility that the improvement in the facial appearance happened by chance will be increased.

D．The reason why some participants quit the study before it was completely may be that they had not enough time.

2. What does the underlined word exalting mean?

A．Calming.

B．Challenging.

C．Frustrating.

D．Exciting.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards the study published in JAMA Dermatology?

A．Doubtful.

B．Positive.

C．Opposed.

D．Indifferent (中立的).

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The study published in JAMA Dermatology is not reliable.

B．Healthy living is the only way to make someone look and feel young.

C．More studies are needed to further the present study on facial exercises.

D．As a dermatologist, the author was involved in the research project on facial exercises.