1 . Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, this week expressed optimism for a glorious Summer Games this year in Tokyo, where the world, in his view, will reunite after defeating the coronavirus pandemic.
Yet nine months after the IOC and organizers in Tokyo agreed to postpone (推迟) the 2020 Summer Games for one year, the level of uncertainty surrounding the event has hardly waned, despite the fact that hopes for a successful Olympics have never been higher.
Will Japan open its borders (边境), which have been largely closed since April, and allow the friends and families of Olympians, or any fans for that matter, to attend the Games? Will the Olympic Village, where most of the athletes and support staff usually live during the Games, function as a kind of bubble, with access to the city cut off? Will athletes have to quarantine (隔离) either in their home countries ahead of the Games or in Japan once they arrive?
Japan has spent more than $12 billion preparing for the Olympics, although some estimates have put the actual figure at roughly $26 billion, including infrastructure projects (基础建设工程). Postponing the Games for a year has cost organizers more than $1 billion. The IOC doubled its contribution to Tokyo organizers to $1.6 billion, to help cover the costs.
The overall budget includes $800 million from sales of some 7.8 million in tickets. For a typical Summer Games, overseas customers can account for about 30% of ticket sales. It’s hard to predict just how much financial loss Japan will suffer with a lack of overseas travelers to the Olympics.
1. Which of the following statements will Thomas Bach agree with?| A．The Summer Olympic Games is unlikely to be held. |
| B．The Summer Olympic Games will be held this year. |
| C．The Summer Olympic Games is supposed to be put off for one more year. |
| D．The Summer Olympic Games shouldn’t be held because of the coronavirus pandemic. |
| A．Reduced. | B．Strengthened. | C．Widened. | D．Enriched. |
| A．All the borders of Japan have been closed since April. |
| B．Overseas customers account for most of ticket sales. |
| C．Japan has suffered a lot from postponing the Games for a year. |
| D．The Olympic Village is usually used to quarantine athletes and staff. |
| A．Newspaper. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A historic book. | D．A geography magazine. |
2 . In 2000, when I was around seven years old, my parents, sister, brother, and I were coming back from a T-ball game. There, in our driveway, we saw two adult geese and a small gosling （幼 鹅）. The adults were startled by our return and flew away, but their baby was still too young to fly and couldn't follow. Hours passed, and night fell. The tiny little thing was wandering around our yard, unaware of what could happen.
And then another morning. And still another. Each morning, we would try to drive the goose over to his parents, who kept coming back to our yard. He wouldn't go to them, though, and they wouldn't come close enough to collect him. My sister Joanna decided to call the little guy Peeper, because he would follow us around the yard making a peeping noise, nonstop.
Almost a year passed. My family filled our days with feathery hugs and my dad would throw Peeper up into the air so he could fly a circle around the house.
One evening, my uncle came, and my dad wanted to show him Peeper's circle. He threw him up in the air, but this time, Peeper just flew off. Everyone was very, very sad. We looked for him for days, calling his name, but he didn't come back. Twenty years passed, and Peeper became a fond memory for my family.
Geese are very loyal, and never forget their first home. Even so, it came as a total shock to me when, in 2019,an aging adult goose came to my home. At first, I assumed it was just another goose. After two weeks of the goose coming back repeatedly, it became clear to me that this wasn't a random goose. My old best friend returned, 20 years later.
People desire connection with the natural world. Through Peeper, I have learned so much about myself and about the nature of love.
1. What does the underlined word “startled" in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Moved. | B．Attracted, |
| C．Confused. | D．Frightened. |
| A．Peeper left our family a sweet memory. |
| B．Peeper's peeping noise made the family annoyed. |
| C．My father would throw Peeper into the air to drive him away. |
| D．The adult geese flew away because they didn't love Peeper any more. |
| A．Dad Trained Goose | B．The Love for Nature |
| C．My Goose Returned Home | D．A Friendly Goose |
3 . We’ve all heard exercise helps you live longer. But a new study goes one step further, finding that a sedentary(久坐不动的) lifestyle is worse for your health than smoking and heart disease.
Dr. Wael Jaber, a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic and senior author of the study, called the results "extremely surprising."
"Being unfit in an exercise stress test has a worse prognosis(预后), as far as death, than being a smoker," Jaber told CNN. "We've never seen something as noticeable as this and as objective as this. "
"It should be treated almost as a disease that has a prescription, which is called exercise," he said.
Researchers studied 122,007 patients who took exercise stress tests at Cleveland Clinic between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 2020 to measure death rate relating to the benefits of exercise and fitness. Comparing those with a sedentary lifestyle to the top exercise performers, he said, the risk associated with death is "500% higher. "
What made the study so unique, beyond the number of people studied, he said was that researchers weren't relying on patients self-reporting their exercise. "This is not the patients telling us what they do," Jaber said. "This is our testing them and figuring out objectively the real measure of what they do. "
Researchers have always been concerned that "ultra(高强度的)" exercisers might be at a higher risk of death, but the study found that not to be the case.
The benefits of exercise were seen across all ages and in both men and women, "probably a little more noticeable in females," Jaber said. "Whether you’re in your 40s or your 80s, you will benefit in the same way. "
1. Which statement is true according to the study?| A．High levels of exercise can cause higher death rate. |
| B．The death rate of those with lowest exercise is 12%. |
| C．Being unfit has higher risks of death than smoking. |
| D．Sedentary lifestyle is the major cause of heart disease. |
| A．a habit hard to remove | B．a method to solve a problem |
| C．a treatment given by a doctor | D．a plan to take exercise regularly |
| A．The long period of the tests. | B．The number of the researchers. |
| C．The objective tests and calculations. | D．The self-reporting of the participants. |
| A．Ultra exercise does no good to our health. | B．Women should take more exercise than men |
| C．Exercise is the best way to treat heart disease. | D．Patients should be encouraged to exercise daily. |
4 . Shanghai residents passing through the city's eastern Huangpu district in October might have astonished at an unusual sight: a “walking” building. An 85-year-old primary school has been lifted off the ground and relocated using new technology named the “walking machine.”
In the city's latest effort to preserve historic structures, engineers attached nearly 200 mobile supports under the five-story building, according to Lan Wuji, chief technical supervisor (技术总监) of the project. The supports act like robotic legs. They're divided into two groups which alternately rise up and down, imitating the human pace. Attached sensors help control how the building moves forward, said Lan.
In recent decades, China's rapid modernization has seen many historic buildings razed to clear land for high-rise buildings. But there has been growing concern about the architectural heritage lost as a result of destruction across the country. Some cities have launched new preservation and conservation campaigns including, on occasion, the use of advanced technologies that allow old buildings to be relocated rather than destroyed.
Shanghai has possibly been China's most progressive city when it comes to heritage preservation. The survival of a number of 1930s buildings in the famous Bund district and 19th-century “Shikumen” houses in the rebuilt Xintiandi neighborhood have offered examples of how to give old buildings new life. The city also has a satisfying record of relocating old buildings. In 2018, the city relocated a 90-year-old building in Hongkou district, in what was then considered to be Shanghai's most complex relocation project to date.
The Lagena Primary School, which weighs 7,600 tons, posed a new challenge-it's T-shaped, while previously relocated structures were square or four-sided. Experts met to discuss possibilities and test a number of different technologies before deciding on the “walking machine”, Lan said. However, he couldn't share the exact cost of the project, and that relocation costs will differ case by case. “It can't be used as a reference, because we have to preserve the historical building no matter what,” he said. “But in general, it's cheaper than destroying and then rebuilding something in a new location.”
1. How does the “walking” machine work?| A．It uses hundreds of ropes to lift up the entire building. |
| B．It uses many wheels to roll the building to the new place. |
| C．It lifts off the building story by story with the robotic legs. |
| D．It uses sensors to control the movement of mobile supports. |
| A．replaced | B．burnt | C．protected | D．destroyed |
| A．The use of advanced technology leads to growing concern. |
| B．Shanghai is the pioneer in preserving architectural heritage. |
| C．The local government has already taken action since the 1930s. |
| D．It consequently holds back the progress of modernization. |
| A．New preservation campaigns are launched in China. |
| B．Modernization poses threats to historic buildings. |
| C．A building in Shanghai “walks” to a new location. |
| D．“Walking machine” makes heritage protection cheaper. |
5 . You may have come across several “strange” cultural practices; some would grip you with fear, while others would leave you astonished. The wife-carrying competition in Finland falls into the latter category.
Strange as it might sound, wife-carrying is a real sport in Finland. In fact, it is a highly competitive sport in which male competitors race while each carrying a female teammate. The objective is for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track in the fastest time. The length of the official track is 253.5 metres with two dry obstacles (障碍) and a water obstacle about one metre deep.
The first modern-day wife-carrying event was held in Finland in 1992 and foreign competitors gained admission in 1995. This event is now held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland as the World Championship.
Although many might consider the sport a joke, competitors take it very seriously. Like every serious sport, the wife-carrying competition also has its guidelines which are set by the International Wife-Carrying Competition Rules Committee. While the International rules are the basis for all competitions, rules and prizes do vary for each competition.
It is not mandatory that you must be legally married to the “wife” to be carried, she may even be your neighbour’s wife or even someone you met during the competition; she must, however, be over 17 years of age. And her minimum weight must be 49 kilograms; otherwise, she will be burdened with a rucksack containing additional weight to bring the total load to be carried up to 49 kg. All participants must enjoy themselves. Yes, that is also one of the rules.
Special prizes go to the most entertaining couple, the best costume, and the strongest carrier. And for the grand prize, the wife’s weight in beer goes to the couple who completes the course in the shortest time. Whether you win or lose, the good thing is the sport encourages team spirit among couples.
1. Which can’t be used to describe the wife-carrying competition?| A．Fearful. | B．Astonishing. |
| C．Competitive. | D．Serious. |
| A．The first event was in 1992. |
| B．The rules are flexible for each competition. |
| C．The official track is 253.5 metres long and 1 metre deep. |
| D．By no means can wives weighing less than 49 kg participate in it. |
| A．Important. | B．Necessary. |
| C．Strange. | D．Possible. |
6 . Yawning is something we all do -- maybe because we're bored carrying out boring tasks or because we're tired. Sometimes, just seeing other people yawn can set you off. But is this biological function really contagious, and why do we do it in the first place?
Many of us think we open our mouths when we yawn to take in more oxygen, but in fact it appears there is no clear biological reason. According to BBC Bitesize, new research suggests it might be because yawning cools the brain down and prevents it from overheating, much like the fan in your laptop. This might be why we're more likely to feel sleepy and yawn in warm temperatures.
What is clear is that we yawn more when we're exhausted and ready for a nap, and we can't control when we do it -- once we start, there's no stopping us! But it's also true that yawning is a very contagious behavior. John Drury, a researcher from Sussex University found in his research that there is a connection with our social group and how close we are to the people in it. If we identify with the person who exhibits the behavior, we are likely to copy it too.
Another research by the University of Nottingham in 2017 found similar results. They asked volunteers to watch other people yawn. They found their ability to resist yawning when others around them yawned was limited. And the urge to yawn was increased when people were told they couldn't. They also found, when using electrical stimulation, that they were able to increase people's desire to yawn. These findings, they say, could be useful in treating other conditions like Tourette's, which involve the same area of the brain.
What is certain is that a yawn can creep up on us at any time even when we think we're not tired --but, I hope, not when you're reading this article!
1. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “contagious”？| A．Infectious. |
| B．Active. |
| C．Dangerous. |
| D．Efficient. |
| A．we are too exhausted. |
| B．our brain needs more oxygen. |
| C．we are bored with difficult tasks. |
| D．our brain needs to be cooled down. |
| A．Humans can't stop yawning as it is beneficial. |
| B．When told not to yawn, we will yawn less frequently. |
| C．Using electrical stimulation can stimulate people to yawn. |
| D．We are more likely to yawn when someone around us yawns. |
| A．The reasons for yawning. |
| B．The benefits of studying yawning. |
| C．The necessity of yawning. |
| D．The similarity of the studies on yawning. |
7 . Sometimes pets are more than we can handle, like when a small puppy grows up to be a huge dog. People can usually find a new home for a big dog, but a giant pet snake is not so easy to give away. As a result, some people in Florida have released their pet pythons into the wilderness of the Florida Everglades. Problem solved? Only for the pet owners.
The snakes that are the biggest problem are Burmese pythons. These snakes are not native to the Everglades. Pet dealers originally brought them to the United States from Southeast Asia. Because Burmese pythons are not native, they disrupt the natural order of the Everglades’ ecosystem.
The snakes’ size and strength are also a problem. Burmese pythons can grow to be 20 feet long. There are reports of terrifying battles between pythons and alligators in the Everglades. Even more worrisome is the impact on creatures that are no match for the monster snakes. For example, biologists have discovered endangered birds, bobcats, and wood rats in pythons’ stomachs.
Another effect of python dumping is the spread of these snakes beyond the Everglades. Pythons swim well and can move more than a mile a day on land. In addition, one snake can produce nearly 100 eggs. Their wide range of movement and high rate of birth means that the snakes can quickly overrun a habitat.
As a result of this scary scenario, Florida park rangers, wildlife officials, and others are on “python patrol.” They capture and kill Burmese pythons to try to keep the numbers under control. There is also a greater effort to teach people about the responsibilities of keeping a python.
1. Which of these has caused Burmese pythons to be found in the Florida Everglades?| A．Pet owners who let them go. | B．Pet dealers who released them into the wild. |
| C．The large number of eggs the snakes produce. | D．The snakes’ ability to swim and move well. |
| A．they can even grow to 20 feet long | B．they put endangered animals at greater risk |
| C．biologists can study them in the natural habitat | D．they control the alligator population |
| A．selling unwanted goods very cheaply | B．moving information from a computer |
| C．putting something down carelessly | D．getting rid of something unwanted |
| A．Pythons are not native to the Everglades. | B．Burmese pythons can grow to 20 feet long. |
| C．Pythons can swim and move well on land. | D．Florida park rangers are on "python patrol". |
| A．Pythons will grow too big to handle at home. | B．Owners will become educated about pythons. |
| C．People will no longer get pythons as pets. | D．Pet dealers will stop bringing pythons here. |
8 . When a corporation(公司) is formed, it issues stock (股票), which is sold or given to individuals.Ownership of stock entitles you to vote in the election of acorporation’s directors, so in theory holders of stock control the company. In practice, however, in most large corporations, ownership is separated from control of the firm. Most stockholders have little input into the decisions a corporation makes. Instead, corporations are often controlled by their managers, who often run them for their own benefit as well as for the owners. The reason is that the owners’control of management is limited.
A large percent of most corporations’ stock is not even controlled by the owners; instead, is controlled by financial institutions such as mutual funds (financial institutions that invest individuals’money for them) and by pension funds (financial institutions that hold people’s money for them untilit is to be paid out to them upon their retirement). Thus, ownership of I Corporations is another step removed from individuals. Studies have shown that 80 percentof the largest 200 corporations in the US are essentially controlled by managersand have little effective stockholder control.
Why is the question of who controls a firm important? Because economic theory assumes the goal of business owners is to maximize profits, which would be true of corporations if stockholders made the decisions. Managers don’t have the same motivation to maximize profits that owners do. There’s pressure on managers to maximize profits, but that pressure can often be weak orineffective. An example of how firms deal with this problem involves stock options. Many companies give their managers stock options-rights to buy stock at a low price - to encourage them to worry about the price of their company’s stock. But these stock options dilute the value of company ownership and profits per share and can give managers an incentive (激励, 刺激)to overstate profits through accounting tricks, as happened at Enron, Xerox, and a number of other firms.
1. Why can’t the stockholders control the company?| A．Because they are separated from the managers. |
| B．Because they havea little input in making decisions. |
| C．Because they are limited in the control of management. |
| D．Because they are restricted to the ownership of the company. |
| A．Ownership is controlled by managers. |
| B．Ownership is separated from control of the company. |
| C．Ownership is removed from the stockholders. |
| D．Ownership is controlled by financial institutions. |
| A．maximize | B．arouse | C．decrease | D．ease |
| A．Stock option. | B．The right to own stock. |
| C．Controlling power. | D．Effective stockholder control. |
| A．Who Controls Corporation? | B．When should the Stock be Issued? |
| C．Importance of Financial Institutions | D．Stockholders and Managers |
9 . I was still a student pilot at the time, and only my instructor and I were on board. While I was doing a random session of instrument training, I had my blinder goggles down. For those of you wondering, this literally means I cannot see out the windows and can only see down to my instrument panel.
My instructor was giving me instructions, and I was to only rely on the instruments---which also meant that he was my only eyes. So if, for any reason, he saw something he didn’t like, he’s say, “MY PLANE” and take control. Well, we were flying along, and he’s having me perform various tasks with the blinders down, to teach me about trusting instruments. At one point, my blinder goggles slipped down my nose a little, and I caught a quick glance out the side windows. About 40 feet off my wing was a skydiver with parachute open. I immediately took my goggles off and screamed, “skydivers!” and my instructor had no idea. He was my only eyes during my training flight, but he had me fly right into the path of skydivers without knowing it. There was a small grass land nearby that sometimes had skydiving flights in the late summer. Thankfully, he quickly pulled the yoke and flew us out of the immediate area, but it still scared me.
Needless to say, he was extremely embarrassed afterward and kept telling me “ It was an accident and I seriously didn’t see them.” I very well could have killed someone without even knowing it. It gives me a sudden fear every time I think about it.
1. It can be inferred from the passage that .| A．a skydiver might have been killed due to the instructor’s carelessness |
| B．a skydiver got into the wrong path of the training plane accidentally |
| C．The instructor always liked to take control of the plane during flights |
| D．The instructor performed various tasks with the students’ blinders down |
| A．The accident made the author lose face |
| B．The author was unwilling to trust the instructor |
| C．The author regretted killing someone accidentally |
| D．The experience left a long-term influence on the author. |
| A．To see is to believe |
| B．One can never be too careful |
| C．Everything comes to him who waits |
| D．God helps those who help themselves |
| A．theoretically | B．really | C．possibly | D．finally |
10 . No. It’s a simple word, but it can be so difficult to say. Whether it’s a favor asked by a friend, or even an unethical request from a colleague, many people will say “yes” because they hate to let others down and saying “no” makes them feel uncomfortable.
And we worry that saying no will change the way the other person views us. If you have a reputation of being a helpful and accommodating person, it is even harder to say no because you don’t want to hurt that good reputation, says Adam Grant, a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Every ‘no’ is a missed opportunity to make a difference and build a relationship,” Grant wrote in a column for The Huffington Post.
Saying no is a rejection and a lot of times it does hurt feelings. But even so, psychologists say, most people probably won’t take our “no” as badly as we think they will. That’s because of something called a “harshness bias (严重性偏向心理)” —our tendency to believe others will judge us more severely than they actually do. For those people pleasers, Grant says there’s a big difference between pleasing people and helping them. “Being a giver is not about saying yes to all of the people all of the time to all of the requests. It’s about saying yes to some of the people (generous givers who will return your favor, but not necessarily the selfish takers) some of the time (when it won’t compromise your own goals and ambitions) to some of requests (when you have resources or skills that are uniquely relevant).”
Always saying yes can make us overcommitted and put us under too much pressure. Saying no helps us protect our own priorities, psychologist Judith Sills told The Wall Street Journal. Another important reason to say no, Sills says, is it keeps us from giving in to peer pressure. “To have your own values, sometimes you have to say ‘no’ to people with whom you don’t agree,” Sills says.
1. The underlined word “unethical” in paragraph 1 is closet in meaning to __________.| A．proper | B．unacceptable | C．moral | D．illegal |
| A．Saying yes is not necessarily satisfactory. |
| B．We should always say yes to the generous givers. |
| C．We should say yes to some requests from some of the people sometime. |
| D．Saying yes to other people’s requests should be forbidden for your own benefits. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Suspicious. | C．Supportive. | D．Optimistic. |
