1 . "True friendship is like sound health. The value of it is seldom known until it is lost," Charles Caleb Colton said. Just like in any other relationship, arguments and fights are also part of friendship. You will hardly find friends who have never fought with one another. Whatever the reason is, if a person feels that he is responsible for causing the differences, it is important that he should apologize to his friend.
Though you can use the email, text messages or chat for expressing your apology, the good old way of saying sorry to your friend through a letter will surely have a great effect on him. This will make your friend realize that your efforts of saying sorry are genuine and that you really care about him.
Points to Remember:
Timing: Write the letter at the proper time. It is not advisable to put it off for too long.
Words: While you are writing the letter, what matters most is that you truly feel sorry.
Sequence: Always begin by apologizing and saying sorry for your mistake. Then explain to him your side of the story. In the third and last paragraph, talk about what his friendship means to you and make a promise of not repeating the mistake.
Delivery: You should either post the letter or deliver it personally or through someone else. You can also keep it at a location where your friend will be able to find it easily.
Some people may try to point out the friend's mistake while writing the letter. Avoid this completely, as it can make matters worse. The letter has to be brief and should only talk about the subject that has led to your apology. Keep patient and do not expect immediate results. In some cases, it may take time for the person to forgive and forget.
1. What is the author's purpose of mentioning the saying in the first paragraph?| A．To let readers study the famous saying. |
| B．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| C．To show who is Charles Caleb Colton. |
| D．To tell readers the importance of health. |
| A．sincere | B．general |
| C．open | D．careful |
| A．Sending an email. | B．Sending text messages. |
| C．Chatting online. | D．Writing a letter. |
| A．Try to point out the friend's mistake. |
| B．Make the letter long and interesting. |
| C．Begin by apologizing and saying sorry for your mistake. |
| D．Write the importance of your friendship in the first paragraph. |
2 . Linda Tutt High School opened a unique grocery store in the city of Sanger, where instead of paying for products with cash, their community can earn points which they then trade in. How do they gain points? By performing good deeds! All students, staff members and families in the school district have access to the daily goods they need to get through COVID-19——free of charge.
The store is supplied through a partnership with First Refuge Ministries, Albertsons grocery store, and Texas Health Resources. It is open three days a week. They even offer a COVID-friendly curbside(路边) pickup on Tuesday nights! It is meant to provide necessary daily goods for families in need. Families are automatically awarded points based on their family size, but students can help the families earn more by helping out around the school, cleaning, or getting good referrals(推荐) from their teachers. Headmaster Anthony Love called it “the ingenious method” , compared with the traditional approaches used to make students help others.
The store is operated and managed entirely by the students. Not only are they encouraged to show others kindness, but they also have a sense of control during this uncertain time. “Many of them come from low-income families that need just a little extra support with food,” Anthony added.
So the store has the extra profit of giving its student employees valuable experience. “I think this is the most exciting part of it, which they can carry with them as they graduate from high school and move on into the world,” Anthony said.
What a brilliant way to support their community! Between providing daily goods for families, giving kids experience concerned, and making their school a better place through good deeds, traditional businesses could learn a thing or two from this approach!
1. What is special about the grocery store?| A．Its owner is a local school. |
| B．It is open three days a week. |
| C．Students rent it free of charge. |
| D．Good deeds can be exchanged for its goods. |
| A．To help people in need. |
| B．To get some incomes. |
| C．To keep people at home. |
| D．To offer students paid jobs. |
| A．Careful. | B．Strict. | C．Creative. | D．Flexible. |
| A．It makes more families get goods. | B．It provides students with job skills. |
| C．It encourages students to graduate. | D．It saves more traditional businesses. |
3 . When I first started using Chinese websites, I was a bit confused by their design. Popular sites like Taobao and Jingdong are very “busy”—they are covered in dozens of links and flashing banners(闪烁的横幅广告). They often include a wide variety of bright colors as well, contrasting with the simple colors of most Western websites
So why are Chinese sites designed this way? Some say that Chinese web design hasn’t “caught up” to standard Western web design practices. But I don’t think this quite explains it. Some Chinese sites are starting to look more minimal, such as Baidu, which are quite clean-looking.
A more convincing theory has to do with the Chinese language. There are no capital letters or spaces in Chinese writing—foreigners who are used to seeing these things might think that Chinese text looks very crowded.
Another thing that makes Chinese website look so busy is the large number of links. Some sites might have hundreds of links on their front page. Again, there is a language-related explanation.
It is difficult to type Chinese characters on a Roman alphabet-based keyboard. You have to type out each character using pinyin, which can be inconvenient. So it’s easier to just click the link you want, instead of typing what you’re looking for.
Or perhaps it could just be that sometimes people prefer flashy, busy websites. Browsing Jingdong is like stepping into a noisy, brightly-lit street market. So in this way, Chinese internet users might feel right at home when using these sites.
1. How does the author describe most Chinese websites?| A．They have many links. | B．They have simple designs. |
| C．They have simple colors. | D．They are quite clean-looking. |
| A．Because they haven't caught up with Western standards. |
| B．Because they are based on the use of the Roman alphabet. |
| C．To make them easier to use for Chinese speakers. |
| D．To create a noisy online street market. |
| A．Relaxing. | B．Popular. | C．Simple. | D．Flashy. |
4 . Remember when your mom told you not to eat too many candy bars or sweets because they can cause tooth decay (蛀牙)? However, it turns out that chocolate can be more salutary to your teeth than you might expect. Recent studies show that chocolate can effectively fight against tooth decay, as if we need another excuse to eat chocolate.
Chocolate offers protection like fluoride, a main ingredient in most household toothpastes. Not only does chocolate protect our teeth, but it can do so very effectively. Studies show that chocolate has compounds that provide strong protection for teeth. One of the compounds in chocolate, CBH, is shown to protect even more effectively than fluoride.
Tooth decay happens when bacteria work to turn sugar into acids in our mouth. This is why eating foods with high sugar content can lead to more tooth decay. The compounds in chocolate, however, are anti-bacteria and can fight against bacteria in your mouth. The CBH compound in particular also works to strengthen tooth enamel (牙釉质), and protects against tooth decay.
Does this mean you can cat as much chocolate as you want without worrying about your teeth? It depends on the types of chocolate that you like. The protective effect of chocolate is most effective when you chew on cocoa beans. Of course, this option is not very appealing to; most people. A more tasty option is to choose dark chocolate with little sugar content, ideally no more than 6 to 8 grams per serving. For other types of chocolate with higher sugar content, the effect will be lessened. However, because of the protective compounds, it is still better for your teeth than other sweets and desserts containing the same amount of sugar.
1. The word “salutary” in paragraph 1 means?| A．Beneficial. | B．Harmful. | C．Familiar. | D．Useless. |
| A．It can help chocolate cure tooth decay. |
| B．It can effectively stop teeth from decaying. |
| C．It may protect teeth better than toothpastes do. |
| D．It may soon replace most household toothpastes. |
| A．By breaking down acids. | B．By building up compounds. |
| C．By fixing up tooth enamel. | D．By fighting against bacteria. |
| A．Chocolate plays the role of toothpaste. |
| B．Chocolate protects against tooth decay. |
| C．Chocolate is the best choice for teeth protection. |
| D．Chocolate is healthier to teeth than other sweets. |
5 . A new study, published this week in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, reveals that non-human animals' tears are not so different from our own. The chemical similarities are so great, in fact, that the composition of other species' tears—and how they're adapted to their environments-may provide insights into better treatments for human eye disease.
Previously, scientists had studied closely only the tears of a handful of mammals, including humans, dogs, horses, camels, and monkeys. In the new study, Brazilian veterinarians analyzed the tears of reptiles and birds for the first time , focusing on seven species.
Tears, which are released from tear tubes, form a film over the eye that's composed of three ingredients: mucus, waler, and oil. The mucus coats the eyes surface and helps to attach the film to the eye, the water is a natural salty solution containing crucial proteins and minerals, and the oil prevents the eye from drying out.
Humans are the only known species to produce emotional tears; the expression "crocodile tears," which refers to a person's phony display of emotion, comes from the mysterious tendency of crocodiles to release tears as they eat.
But tears play key roles beyond weeping, notes Lionel Sebbag at Iowa State University, who was not involved in the new research. They help with vision by lubricating and clearing the eye. They also protect the eye against infection and provide nutrition to the cornea, the eye's clear outer layer, which lacks blood tubes, he says.
Learning how reptiles and birds' use tears may also inspire new medications for conditions such as dry eye, which occurs when tear tubes don't produce enough oil. The disease, common in cats, dogs, and people, can sometimes lead to blindness.
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．The source of tears. | B．The composition of tears. |
| C．The classification of tears, | D．The definition of tears. |
| A．Tricky. | B．Regretful. | C．Cold. | D．False. |
| A．Weeping contributes to eye disease. | B．The cornea has rich blood tubes. |
| C．Tears oil and clear the eyes. | D．More tears mean better vision. |
| A．Tears, a barrier to eyes | B．A better treatment for eye disease |
| C．Non-human tears promise new cures | D．Other species’ tears are similar to humans' |
6 . Some people like to listen to the Beatles, while others prefer Gregorian chants. When it comes to music, scientists find that nurture (培养) can overpower nature.
A study shows musical preferences seem to be mainly shaped by a person’s cultural upbringing and experiences rather than biological factors. “Our results show that there is a profound cultural difference in the way people respond to consonant (和谐的) and dissonant (不和谐的) sounds, and this suggests that other cultures hear the world differently,” says Josh McDermott, a scientist in Cambridge.
Some scientists believe that the way people respond to music has a biological basis and that this would overpower any cultural shaping of musical preferences, effectively making them a universal phenomenon. Some musicians, by contrast, think that such preferences are more a product of one’s culture. If a person’s upbringing shapes their preferences, then they are not a universal phenomenon.
The trick to working out where musical preferences come from was to find and test people who hadn’t had much contact with Western music. McDermott and his team travelled by aeroplane, car and canoe (独木舟) to reach the remote villages of the Tsimane people, who are largely isolated from Western culture.
In their experiments, McDermott and his colleagues investigated responses to Western music by playing combinations of notes to three groups of people: the Tsimane and two other groups of Bolivians that had experienced increasing levels of exposure to Western music. The researchers recorded whether each group regarded the notes as pleasant or unpleasant.
The Tsimane are just as good at making acoustic (声响的) distinctions as the groups with more experience of other types of music, the scientists find. Most people prefer consonant tones, but the Tsimane have no preference between them. “This pretty convincingly rules out that the preferences are things we’re born with,” McDermott argues.
“Culture plays a role. We like the music we grew up with,” agrees Dale Purves, a scientist at Duke University. “Nature versus nurture is always a fool’s errand. It’s almost always a combination,” he adds.
1. Why does the author mention Beatles in the first paragraph?| A．To compare people’s preferences for music. |
| B．To stress the importance of music. |
| C．To introduce the topic to be discussed. |
| D．To encourage readers to listen to their music. |
| A．people’s music preference is a universal phenomenon |
| B．Chinese and Japanese have different music preferences |
| C．the way people respond to music is biologically decided |
| D．parents have nothing to do with children’s music preference |
| A．They prefer consonant tones. |
| B．They are born with excellent music talent. |
| C．They do well in telling acoustic distinctions. |
| D．They have never had contact with Western music. |
| A．Something meaningless. | B．Something significant. |
| C．Something reliable. | D．Something sensitive. |
7 . What does being happy have to do with luck? To answer the question, a team of researchers from the UK and Hong Kong gave surveys to 844 English-speaking university students in Hong Kong. The survey questions measured their thoughts about luck and their happiness levels.
The researchers observed that less happy people believed in external (外在的) luck—the “Good luck with that!” variety that controls our good or bad. The authors point out that blaming “luck” for events and experiences makes people lose personal self-determination, which diminishes their sense of purpose and, in turn, their happiness. Believing we need luck to be successful may make us less determined to reach goals and take risks.
On the other hand, happier people believed themselves to be personally lucky. Viewing yourself as lucky, the researchers suggest, shows an active and positive attitude that develops hope and self-acceptance. Personally lucky people may feel more confident to try new things or act in ways that help others.
How does luck influence those people? Next, the research team asked those people to fill another survey. They found that people who believed in external luck were more likely to be less active, and in turn were less happy. Those who believe they’re especially lucky suffer less of a hit to happiness.
This study has its value. However, the data all come from surveys filled out by those surveyed, which means the responses may be too personal. Moreover, the use of a one-time survey means we cannot say that one thing causes another.
Although there are some limits, this study stresses the value of thinking about luck as something that benefits us. Moreover, this study helps explain why we call people “happy go lucky”—because happy is how we feel when we focus on how personally lucky we are.
1. What does the underlined word “diminishes” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Explains. | B．Reduces. | C．Develops. | D．Balances. |
| A．They are always helped by others. | B．They have a preference for the past. |
| C．They have confidence in themselves. | D．They like changing their own goals. |
| A．Its findings are unreliable. | B．It has space for improvement. |
| C．It is actually of little value. | D．Its research method is perfect. |
| A．The Connection Between Happiness and Luck |
| B．Being Happy Has Nothing to Do With Luck |
| C．How Less Happy People Can Become Luckier |
| D．The Latest Study on People’s Happiness Levels |
8 . There are many reasons to skip deep-fried fast food, one of which is the challenge of dealing with used cooking oil. But researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered amusing method of transforming this useless waste product into an affordable plastic ink for 3D printers. And there’s more good news! The ink can breakdown naturally, unlike conventional 3D printing resins (树脂).
Professor Andre Simpson is director of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. He first became interested in the idea when he got a 3D printer around three years ago. After noticing that the molecules (分子) used in commercial resins resembled fats found in cooking oil, he wondered whether such a molecule could be created using waste cooking oil.
Using old cooking oil from a local McDonalds restaurant close to a campus, Professor Simpson and his research team applied a one-step chemical process in the lab, using about one liter of used cooking oil to make just under half of that amount in resins. The resin was then used to print a plastic butterfly that was structurally and thermally (热地) stable. This means that it won’t crumble or melt above room temperature.
Speaking to Goodnet, Professor Simpson outlined his high hopes for the creative and cheaper route to recycling that waste cooking oil: “Normally 3D printing resins come from fossil fuels, but by recycling used cooking oil into a high value product, we hope it will reduce the financial barriers, which should be a win-win for the environment.
Professor Simpson is also excited that the new lower cost of this 3D printing material will open up access to the near-limitless creative opportunities. “We hope that as the resin can be made very cheaply, it could reduce the 3D printing cost, so the technology is available to everyone,” he explains.
1. How do the researchers deal with the waste cooking oil?| A．Produce 3D printers from it. |
| B．Make plastic inkfor3D printers from it. |
| C．Throw it away as waste products. |
| D．Use it as 3D printing resins directly. |
| A．Swell up | B．Get up | C．Break up | D．Heat up |
| A．They are much stronger. | B．They can be recycled easily. |
| C．They are lower in cost. | D．They won’t breakdown naturally. |
| A．Researchers Invent New 3D Printers. | B．Waste Cooking Oil Finds a New Life. |
| C．3D Printing Resins Bring More Hopes. | D．A High-tech Product Changes Our Lives. |
9 . Social distancing is not a new concept in the natural world, where infectious diseases are commonplace. Through specialized senses animals can detect certain diseases and change their behavior to avoid getting ill.
In 1966, while studying chimps (猩猩) in a Tanzanian national park, zoologist Jane Goodall observed a chimp named McGregor who had caught a highly infectious virus. His fellow chimps attacked him and threw him out of the troop. In one instance, McGregor approached chimps in a tree. He reached out a hand in greeting, but the others moved away without a backward glance.
“For a full two minutes, old McGregor sat motionless, staring after them,” Goodall notes in her 1971 book In the Shadow of Man. “It’s really not that different to how some societies react today to such a tragedy.”
Not all animals are so aggressive toward their ailing neighbors. Sometimes it’s as simple as avoiding those who may infect you.
When Kiesecker, a lead scientist in America, studied American bullfrog in the late 1990s, he found that bullfrogs could not only detect a deadly smell of infection in other bullfrogs, but healthy members actively avoided those that were sick. Bullfrogs rely on chemicals signals to determine who is sick or not.
Caribbean lobsters also shun diseased members of their community, well before they become infectious. It takes about eight weeks for lobsters infected with the deadly virus Panulirus argus mininuceovirus to become dangerous to others. Normally social animals, lobsters begin keeping away from the diseased as early as four weeks after infection – once the lobsters can smell certain chemicals released by sick individuals.
Overall, it’s important to note that, unlike us, animals don’t realize if they stay home, they might actually reduce the infection rate,” Kiesecker explains. “As humans, we have that ability. It’s a big difference.”
1. What can we learn about the chimps from Goodall’s observation?| A．They kept a distance from one another. |
| B．They became aggressive when infected. |
| C．The infected avoided contact with others. |
| D．The infected were forced to leave the group. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Cure. | C．Get rid of. | D．Get along with. |
| A．Humans are more sensitive to virus. |
| B．Humans are less likely to get infected. |
| C．Humans treat infectious diseases in a wiser way. |
| D．Humans can detect chemical signals more quickly. |
| A．Help Me Out |
| B．Leave Me Alone |
| C．Stay Away From Us |
| D．Stay Home Stay Healthy |
10 . With races delayed and outdoor exercise limited, COVID-19 has put the brakes on China’s previously booming marathon industry as event organizers struggle to make ends meet during the crisis. The sparse turnout（到场人数）of runners at Beijing’s Olympic Forest Park these days bears witness to the decline.
Despite the successful containment of the outbreak in China, fears over the potential risks of mass gatherings clearly remain within the running community, while the virus-enforced business shutdown has created a severe challenge to organizers and promoters involved in the sport. Event organizers are struggling to survive through the crisis with the majority of their source of income dried up.
Last Thursday’s cancellation of the 2020 Chengdu Panda Marathon showed that local governing bodies and organizers remain cautious against the virus despite a growing urge among the running community to get back to normality. With this year’s emptied spring schedule, industry experts expect that businesses face a daunting（令人生畏的）second half of the year even if races are allowed to restart.
“Due to the delay of events originally scheduled in the first half, the number of races will skyrocket in the second half if the government gives the green light,” said Chen Guoqiang, a sports sociology researcher at Shanghai University of Sport. “Event organizers will have to compete harder against each other to attract enough runners, sponsors and media exposure to make their races profitable.”
Bao Mingxiao, director of the China Sports Economic Research Center, suggests that race organizers and promoters should focus on improving race quality by providing more professional services and better online interactions with participants whenever events restart. “The rising public awareness of having a healthy lifestyle will only be strengthened after the coronavirus(冠状病毒) crisis,” Bao said during an online forum(论坛) earlier last month. “For the long term, the sport participation and consumption will be very likely to bounce back.”
1. What problem does the author talk about in Paragraph 1?| A．The marathon industry is suffering. |
| B．People are living beyond their income. |
| C．People’s health is worsening over time. |
| D．The popularity of outdoor sport is declining. |
| A．Recovery. | B．Treatment. |
| C．Control. | D．Prediction. |
| A．Most industries are facing difficulties. |
| B．The coronavirus is still very serious. |
| C．Less and less runners are interested in the races. |
| D．The government is still careful about the coronavirus. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Positive. |
| C．Negative. | D．Doubtful. |
