1 . Motion sickness is an uncomfortable feeling. The sickness it causes can strike people on an airplane, playing video games, or, commonly, when riding in a car. In a future where people may find themselves running around streets in self-driving vehicles, the problems could get worse.
We typically sense our physical position and movement in the world by relying on our eyes, the feeling we get in our body, and our inner ear. Motion sickness may develop when there's disagreement between what your eyes see and what your inner ear senses. If you're looking at your phone in a moving vehicle, your eyes see a stationary screen but your inner ear feels that you're moving. The result of that dissonance can cause sickness. The common-sense solution is to just stop looking at your phone, but some of the appeal of self-driving cars is that you could use the time to be productive or entertained by what's on a screen.
Researchers of a car-making company and a video game company have been studying ways to address these issues. And their solution uses an interesting medium: sound. The research had two goals: to explore if sound could help relieve motion sickness, and to help people trust self-driving cars more. They experimented with two different categories of sound: tips that tell passengers what's about to happen, and noises that alert passengers when the device has noticed something, like a pedestrian.
The most convincing experiment took place on a closed airport runway in Sweden, near Gothenburg, in August of last year. On that track, brave participants had to ride in the backseat of a car driven by a human and read from a tablet while the car navigated the course. With just 20 people, the study was small, but according to researchers, the presence of sound tips made people report that they felt less ill. Participants said the sounds helped prepare them physically, or adjust their bodies for what was about to happen.
1. When does motion sickness usually happen?| A．Sleeping during travels. | B．Closing eyes on vehicles. |
| C．Driving vehicles speedily. | D．Riding in moving vehicles. |
| A．Confusion. | B．Potentiality. | C．Randomness. | D．Disagreement. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Optimistic. | C．Concerned. | D．Dissatisfaction. |
| A．A study of motion sickness. | B．Self-driving vehicles. |
| C．A convincing experiment. | D．The cause and handling of motion sickness. |
2 . 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. |
3 . 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. |
4 . 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 |
5 . 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. |
6 . If you cannot afford to travel in any class above economy, flying generally sucks (恶心), either a little or a lot, depending on your tolerance level. But it especially sucks if you are too wide for the airlines design.
Just getting to your seat can be a challenge, as your hips (臀部) bounce from seat to seat on each side of the aisle(过道). If someone is standing up to put things in the overhead locker, there is a decision to be made about whether it’s worth trying to squeeze past. Everything is just slightly too small: the seats, the overhead lockers, even the bathrooms—and those, it seems, are getting even smaller.
The Washington Post recently reported that, on some newer planes flown by American, Delta and United airlines, the bathrooms in economy class are just 61 cm wide: about 25 cm narrower than the average portable toilet, and roughly the width of the average dishwasher. Your face might be the only thing you can poke in there comfortably—which makes it a poor design, considering what a passenger is likely to need the bathroom for.
According to the manufacturer, these “Advanced Spacewell” bathrooms make space for six additional passengers, which is great for the airlines’ financial bottom line. But what about the other bottom line? Concerning, well, bottoms(臀部) that can’t fit into their planes’ bathrooms?
As bodies get bigger and aeroplane spaces get smaller, fat people among us have come up with solutions. Armrests that turn us into sausages (香肠) can be pulled up, or slowly encased (围住; 包起) into the soft flesh of our sides until we go numb(麻木的). We can ask the flight attendant to get us a seat-belt extender, if security has confiscated the one we brought with us, as can sometimes happen. But squeezing into a tiny toilet and closing the door behind us? Not workable.
Unlike the impossible task of squeezing down the aisle to your seat, or the side-to-side dance necessary to get big hips past the armrests, fitting into a space just 61 cm wide is not just a challenge—it is almost impossible. It is not like missing out on an option for the in-flight meal—a bathroom is as essential as a safety-compliant seat belt, or the air that is pumped into the cabin(飞机舱). If airlines are not willing to make space for us，bigger passengers may have no option but to reconsider booking a flight at all.
1. What is the advantage of the new toilets?| A．All passengers can use them at the same time. |
| B．They are more comfortable. |
| C．The airlines can increase their profits. |
| D．They are practical and convenient. |
| A．Taken. | B．Questioned. |
| C．Checked. | D．Provided. |
| A．Fat people can deal with many problems they face on planes. |
| B．Flight attendants are likely to be helpful when asked for assistance. |
| C．Flying is pleasant for overweight people at present. |
| D．People’s bodies are getting bigger year by year. |
| A．will have to find more creative solutions in the future |
| B．might be unable to travel by air in the future |
| C．should miss out on the option for the in-flight meal |
| D．should grasp the chance to lose weight before flying |
7 . In the space of just two years, the app Tik Tok, created by Beijing-based company Bytedance, has gathered more than half a billion users—around 40% of them are outside China—who share short videos of themselves lip-syncing (对嘴), cooking, dancing or just being silly. What sets Bytedance apart is its success in the social media category, which is controlled by Facebook, Twitter and Snap— all Western companies.
Bytedance calls itself an artificial intelligence company. It uses machine learning and algorithms(算法) to figure out what people like and give them more of what they want to see. On Tik Tok, people can edit and beautify 15-second videos before posting them online. The app has even spawned(引发) a phase to describe a kind of behaviour of people glued to their customized feeds: “shua Tik Tok” or “scrolling through Tik Tok”. Last year, the company released Tik Tok, the overseas version of Tik Tok. Bytedanee’s growing video empire has made it the world’s fifth biggest app maker. Bytedance says Tik-Tok has more than 500 million monthly active users.
Investors like Bytedance because its hundreds of millions of users attract a lot of advertising money. The video apps are lucrative because they attract a lot of users in their teens and 20s, who are more generous with the money. Bytedance also makes money through income sharing deals. People on Tik Tok, for example, can buy digital coins to give to other people on the app—like throwing money into a performer’s tip jar, Bytedance takes a cut of those earnings.
Bytedance’s founder and CEO is Zhang Yiming, a former Microsoft employee. People who have worked with Zhang describe him as someone who thinks deeply about technology and spends much of his free time writing code.
Like Facebook and Twitter, Bytedance is also battling fake news and inappropriate content. Bytedance promises to add more employees to review content.
1. How many overseas users does Tik Tok have?| A．Under 20 million. | B．Over half a billion. |
| C．Around 400 million. | D．About 200 million. |
| A．It is a new generation of hi-tech product. |
| B．It meets the demand of most people. |
| C．It is easy and cheap to operate online. |
| D．It has both a home and an overseas version. |
| A．Professional. | B．Expensive. |
| C．Profitable. | D．Challenging. |
| A．When to introduce their new version. |
| B．What to do with fierce competition . |
| C．Where to find much new investment. |
| D．How to keep their content positive. |
8 . There are almost limitless things to do at the seaside. For an enjoyable summer day or night, some that are the most fun can be simple, inexpensive or absolutely free.
Frolic: Summer at the seaside is for as many activities as you can stand in the sand. Play frisbee(飞盘), sand volleyball or any beach-free sport. Jog or run while you feel the soft sand each step. If it’s nice and windy, go fly a kite!
Picnic: If you’re a bit lazy as you sun and relax on the beach, you can buy takeout(外卖食物)from nearby shops. If you’re there with a big family outing, you may prefer to pack and bring baskets of your favorite foods and drinks.
Sand castles: For anyone who wishes they were still kids, building castles in the sand is fun at the seashore. If you’re feeling really creative, add fishes, frogs and whatever else your modeling skills can construct.
Explore: If there are hiking or biking trails along the shore or nearby, take an action to discover what’s around to be collected. Seashells and washed-up ocean flora(植物群) are fun to hunt, although finding a valuable diamond ring in the sand is much more satisfying.
Socialize: Meet all kinds of people. If kids are with you, they’re natural socializers, and will easily join others in games and other fun things to do together. Set up a volleyball net on the beach, and soon others will join the game.
Nothing: For some people the top activity at the seaside is inactivity. That means doing absolutely nothing. After all, you’ve come to the beach to relax on the warm sand, and nowhere in the world is a more comfortable place.
1. In the first paragraph the author ______.| A．advertises a scenic spot |
| B．describes the beautiful seaside |
| C．introduces the things that can be brought to the seaside |
| D．shows that visitors can do many things at the seaside |
| A．Tips on safety. | B．Lively and enjoyable activities. |
| C．Famous players. | D．Full preparation. |
| A．Having a picnic with your family. |
| B．Making friends with all kinds of people. |
| C．Searching for valuable jewelry in the sand. |
| D．Playing many kinds of games at the beach. |
| A．you can still relax yourself |
| B．you might feel uncomfortable |
| C．you miss a chance to enjoy yourself |
| D．you are not advised to go to the seaside again |
9 . Dogs have complex emotions such as jealousy (嫉妒) and pride, according to a scientific research that throws new light on their relations with humans.
Animal psychologists previously believed most animals lacked the “sense of self”, which is needed to experience secondary emotions such as jealousy, embarrassment or guilt. These emotions are more complex than instant reactions such as anger or joy.
Professor Friederike Range, from the University of Vienna, has shown that dogs are jealous when they feel unfairly treated compared with other dogs. “Dogs show a strong reaction to inequity (不公平),” she said. “If one dog gets something, you’d better believe another will demand something as well.”
But, her study points out that it doesn’t matter if one gets a better treat and only that the distribution is fair.
The dog study is the latest into several species, including cows, horses, cats and sheep, which have shown that animals are far more self-aware than they were thought. Paul Morris, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth who studies animal emotions, told The Sunday Times, “We are learning that dogs and horses are far more emotionally complex than we ever realized. They can suffer simple forms of many feelings we once thought only primates (灵长类) could experience.”
In research among dog owners, Morris found almost all of them reported jealous behavior by their pets. The dog often tried to get their owner away from a new lover in the early days of a relationship.
Behavior experts suggest owners keep their dogs away as much as possible from a new partner or child. This helps to prevent jealous activity of the dog such as interruptions with barking or whining (哀号).
1. What’s the best title for this passage?| A．Animals Have Complex Feelings |
| B．A New Research |
| C．How to Prevent Jealous Activity from a Dog |
| D．Dogs Can Be Jealous |
| A．Only advanced animals have complex feelings. |
| B．Most animals lack the sense of self. |
| C．Experts used to believe that most animals lack complex emotions. |
| D．The best way to prevent jealousy is to treat all the animals fairly. |
| A．The owner of the dog can do what he likes without considering the feeling of dogs. |
| B．We have already realized that animals are self-aware. |
| C．Dogs will get jealous if they find they are treated unfairly. |
| D．The best way to prevent dogs’ jealous activity is to give whatever they like to eat. |
| A．Complicated. | B．Difficult. | C．Easy. | D．Positive. |
10 . 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. |
