1 . With severe mental challenges and amblyopia (弱视), Xu Haofang’s idea of the world was limited to her home. Apart from her parents, interacting with others often proved to be a painful experience.
But Xu’s reality was changed when she started receiving help from the Zhang Xinya Rehabilitation (康复) Center in Shanghai. “She used to be totally dependent on us and barely spoke. Now, she has learned how to write in Chinese, how to wash the dishes and how to do the laundry herself,” says Yan Ping, Xu’s mother.
Founded in 2012 by Zhang Xinya, the center since its establishment has helped dozens of individuals like Xu with 21 of them eventually securing a job. Besides those having challenges, the center also provides assistance to those who are visually or hearing impaired (受损的). “We can unearth their potential and teach them the ability to take care of themselves,” says the 73-year-old, “By doing this, I also hope that their parents can be hopeful of their children’s future.”
Zhang Xinya herself is also a mother to a girl with mental challenges. To help her daughter build meaningful connections with society, Zhang took her to a government-funded center to learn physical exercises that would improve her motor sills Zhang later decided to volunteer at the center, which eventually inspired her to open her own rehabilitation facility (场所).
The center provides various classes conducted by professional teachers and psychological counselors and everyday skills are included in the syllabus (教学大纲). More than 400 lawyers, public health professionals and doctors have been invited to the station to give lectures. These individuals with special needs also receive heath checks at Zhang’s center.
“Many of the individuals could not take care of themselves when they first came, but now they can hold chopstick or spoon and eat by themselves. Some used to remain silent all the time but they can now sing and dance,” says Zhang. “Seeing them make progress is what makes this all worthwhile. This is what drives me to keep going.”
1. What’s the challenge in her life before Xu Haofang went to the center?| A．Her unemployment. | B．The pressure from the society. |
| C．Her disability and dependence. | D．Lack of trust in others. |
| A．discover | B．remove |
| C．change | D．admire |
| A．Her desire to see the disabled make progress in daily work. |
| B．Her experience as a volunteer in a government-funded center. |
| C．The encouragement she got from parents of those with special needs. |
| D．Her intention to help her daughter build meaningful connections with society. |
| A．the center mainly helps those who have mental challenges |
| B．all of the classes in the center are given by professional teachers |
| C．the center will secure jobs for the individuals with special needs |
| D．many individuals in the center have made progress in many aspects |
2 . The philosopher, Martin Buber, is most known for his work on “I-Thou/You” relationships in which people are open, direct, mutually interested in each other. In contrast, “I-It” relationships are those in which we use the other, like an object, to solve our problems and fulfill our needs and purposes.
It is not our fault that many of our relationships are or become “It” relationships because most of what we feel, think and do is motivated by unconscious memories of how to survive the environment into which we were born. Thus, one of the reasons we use other people to help us feel better about ourselves and cope in the world is that using people was once necessary and it worked. When we were small and helpless, “It” came and fed us, and held us, and set us on our way. We didn’t have to reciprocate and care for “It”. Even when the care and attention of “It” was minimal or unpredictable, if we got out of childhood alive, somewhere along the way “It” was involved.
Freud called this stage of early life “primary narcissism”, which is our instinct (本能) for self-preservation and is a normal part of our development. While most of us grow out of it，we still hold a survival fear, which motivates us to escape danger and to stay alive, and we all need this fear in healthy measure.
The problem is that too many of us, too much of the time, are in a constant state of threat—and we often don’t know it. We imagine people are talking about us behind our backs, that we have cancer, that we are inadequate, and vulnerable to more than our share of bad luck. As our brains have grown in size and complexity, so has our ability to scare ourselves.
This causes many problems. For example, our stress levels increase, our digestion is impaired and our thinking becomes restricted. Our threat response stops any bodily function, feeling, thought and behavior that might “waste” energy and detract from fighting or escaping danger. Thus, when in threat, our emotional, cognitive and behavioral range is significantly reduced.
And in this reduced state, one of our solutions is to find someone who can save and comfort us. Instead of enabling us to be open, direct and mutual, fear and anxiety lead us towards conversations and choices in our relations with others that are orientated towards surviving—not thriving (茁壮成长). Threat-motivated relationships are characterized by need, dependency, control, demand, dishonesty, and self-interest.
We cannot form the “I-Thou” relationships that Buber speaks of until we have learned to notice, comfort, and understand the emotions and patterns of our threat brain. When in threat, we tend to use other people as objects who can save and protect us, or who we can blame for our problems.
1. What does the underlined word “reciprocate” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Return the favour. | B．Ask for some advice. |
| C．Convey an apology. | D．Make some comments. |
| A．It leads to our survival fear. | B．It is normal and usually temporary. |
| C．It impacts our growth negatively. | D．It lays the foundation for Freud’s theory. |
| A．Comforting an upset friend. | B．Feeling sorry for your mistakes. |
| C．Trying hard to be independent. | D．Asking others to take on your task. |
| A．How We Can Form the “I-Thou” Relationships |
| B．How We Can Get Out of the “I-It” Relationships |
| C．Why We Treat Others as Objects Rather Than Individuals |
| D．What Helps Us Survive and Thrive in Early Stages of Life |
3 . In a large survey of people's first memories, nearly 40% of participants reported a first memory that is likely to be fictional, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Current research indicates that people's earliest memories date from around 3 to 3. 5 years of age. However, the study from researchers at City, University of London, the University of Bradford, and Nottingham Trent University found that 38.6% of 6, 641 participants claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger, with 893 people claiming memories from age 1 or younger. This was particularly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults.
As many of these memories dated before the age of 2 and younger, the authors suggest that these fictional memories are based on remembered fragments(碎片) of early experience—such as a pram(婴儿车)，family relationships and feeling sad—and some facts or knowledge about their own infancy or childhood which may have been derived from photographs or family conversations.
“Further details may be unconsciously inferred or added, e. g. that one was wearing nappy when standing in the cot(幼儿床)," added Shazia Akhatr, first author on the study and Senior Research Associate at the University of Bradford.
“When we looked through the responses from participants we found that a lot of these first 'memories' were frequently related to infancy, and a typical example would be a memory based around a pram," explained Martin Conway, Director at the Centre for Memory and Law at City, University of London and coauthor of the paper.
“For this person, this type of memory could have resulted from someone saying something like 'mother and a large green pram'. The person then imagines what it would have looked like. Over time these fragments then become a memory and often the person will start to add things in such as a string of toys along the top," he added.
"Crucially, the person remembering them doesn't know this is fictional," Conway noted. "In fact when people are told that their memories are false they often don't believe it. This partly due to the fact that the systems that allow us to remember things are very complex, and it's not until we're 5 or 6 that we form adult-like memories due to the way that the brain develops and due to our maturing understanding of the world.
1. What does the underlined word "prevalent" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Unique. | B．Crazy. | C．Common. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Some people have clear knowledge about their own infancy. |
| B．Added details are an important clue to recall the childhood. |
| C．Most people claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger. |
| D．Talks between family members influence the earliest memories. |
| A．By making comparison. | B．By setting examples. |
| C．By analyzing data. | D．By referring to documents. |
| A．Many people's earliest memories may be fictional. |
| B．People's earliest memories can date back to 2 or younger. |
| C．The middle-aged and adults specialize in detailing their first memory. |
| D．Memories develop due to our maturing understanding of the world. |
4 . Fou Ts'ong, a Chinese-born pianist known for his sensitive interpretations of Chopin, Debussy and Mozart.died on Monday at a hospital in London, where he had lived for many years. He was 86.
A lover of classical music from a young age, Mr. Fou began taking piano lessons when he was 7. Mr. Fou made his first stage appearance in 1952. The concert caught the attention of officials in Beijing, who selected him to compete and tour in Eastern Europe. Mr. Fou soon moved to Poland, where he studied at the Warsaw Conservatory(音乐学校)on a scholarship. To prepare for the fifth Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1955.he practiced so diligently that he hurt his fingers and was nearly cut from the first round of the competition.
Mr. Fou was one of the first Chinese pianists to achieve global prominence when he took the third place in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955. He also won a special prize for his performance of Chopin's mazurkas(马祖卜舞曲). Almost overnight, he became a national hero. To China, Mr. Fou's recognition in a well-known international competition was proof that the country could stand on its own artistically in the West. Chinese reporters flocked to interview Mr. Fou, while many others sought out his father, Fu Lei, for advice on child-rearing.
In 1981, a volume of letters written by his father, primarily to Mr. Fou, was published in China. Full of advice, encouragement, life teachings and strict paternal love, the book Fu Lei's Family, Letters became a best-seller in China. Besides influencing a generation of Chinese, Mr. Fu's words resonated(共鸣)long after his death with the person for whom they were intended.
"My father had a saying that 'First you must be a person, then an artist, and then a musician, and only then can you be a pianist.'" Mr. Fou once recalled in an interview. "Even now, I believe in this order-that it should be this way and that I am this way."
1. What can be learned from Paragraph 2?| A．Fou Ts'ong competed and toured in Beijing. |
| B．Fou Ts'ong first performed on the stage at 7. |
| C．Fou Ts'ong made great efforts for competitions. |
| D．Fou Ts'ong started learning music in Eastern Europe. |
| A．It earns Chinese art a place in the West. |
| B．It promotes the spread of Chinese culture. |
| C．It proves Chinese people's talent for music. |
| D．It enables Chinese art education to be recognized. |
| A．Mr. Fu's words. | B．Young Chinese. |
| C．Fou Ts'ong and his family. | D．Readers of Fu Lei's Family Letters. |
| A．Pursuing art is a long and painful process. |
| B．It requires various qualities to be a pianist. |
| C．Everyone should develop an interest in art. |
| D．Talent is of the greatest importance for a pianist. |
5 . Waterbuurt is a residential(住宅的) development in Amsterdam, which consists of nearly 100 floating homes on Lake Eimer.
The floating homes are not ordinary houseboats but real floating houses. They only move with the changing tide(潮水). Designed by Dutch architect Marlies Rohmer, the houses have a basic design but are also comfortable. Although Waterbuurt is still a work in progress, there are some of the houses where there are already residents.
Two thirds of the Netherlands’ people live below sea-level, and with the flooding(发洪水) becoming a serious concern, there are many who believe that living on water in the European country is much safer than living on land. The prices of land homes in large city centers like Amsterdam has risen in recent years. But water is not that expensive.
“Moreover, houses in the cities have to stay there for 50 or 70 years,” Dutch architect Koen Olthuis said. “And as cities change, the only choice is to demolish these houses and build new ones. But floating buildings can be moved and adapted.”
The floating homes are built atop underwater platforms, and consists of a light steel frame(钢架) and wooden walls and paneling(嵌板). The bedrooms and bathroom are located on the lower floor, which is partially flooded. The kitchen and dining room are located on the higher ground floor, while the main living area and the outdoor terrace are on the top level.
All floating homes are designed with a lot of extras that buyers can choose, like floating terraces,a second entry, or a boardwalk around the house.
Waterbuurt is set to become the largest water settlement in the history of the Netherlands. Apart from floating houses, it will include floating parks and even floating high buildings. It is sure to meet even the most difficult buyers and win more acceptance from local people.
1. What can we infer about the floating houses?| A．The prices are slightly lower. | B．They are free from flooding. |
| C．They are easy to take down. | D．The total completion is done. |
| A．Build. | B．Destroy. | C．Design. | D．Buy. |
| A．Waterbuurt can exist for 50 to 70 years in total. |
| B．Waterbuurt is very common in Amsterdam now. |
| C．People are unwilling to accept this new kind of house. |
| D．Floating houses have as many functions as traditional houses. |
| A．Curious. | B．Optimistic. | C．Indifferent | D．Pessimistic. |
6 . Many hosts of shows become popular for their ability to eat large amounts of food. But these shows have also received criticism for their waste of food. While some hosts actually do consume the amount of food shown, others may pretend it.
On Aug 12, CCTV exposed several Chinese hosts who were pretending to eat large amounts of food while on camera, but actually later threw it away.
To discourage this practice, many video and livestreaming platforms, including Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili, have removed videos that show food waste, and have promoted messages to “stop food waste and eat reasonably”.
In June 2020, the United Nations warned that the world is on the verge of the worst food crisis in 50 years. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about a third of the world’s food — 1.3 billion tons — is wasted every year. In China alone, 50 million tons of food ends up in landfills every year, according to Beijing News.
Recently, campaigns against food waste have been further promoted. In August, President Xi Jinping stressed the need for protecting food security and stopping food waste.
According to China Daily, restaurants and catering associations in more than 18 provinces and all 4 municipal cities have issued guidelines to control food waste.
In Shanxi province, local restaurants have been asked to serve half portions to avoid waste. The Wuhan Catering Association proposed that restaurants adopt the “N-1 mode”. For example, a group of 10 diners should only order enough for nine people at first. More food is only brought to the table if required.
In addition, a nationwide “Clear Your Plate” campaign has been launched online. Users of Sina Weibo are encouraged to share photos or videos of empty plates after finishing their meals.
Meanwhile, new laws are also being considered, according to China Daily. “We will make new laws that give clear instructions on avoiding food waste,” said Zhang Guilong from the Legislative Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress. The instructions will be detailed in every part of food production, purchasing, storage, transportation, processing and consumption, according to Zhang.
1. What does the underlined word “verge” in Paragraph 4 mean?| A．Limit. | B．Guidance. | C．Edge. | D．Influence. |
| A．3.9 billion tons. | B．0.4 billion tons. | C．50 million tons. | D．16 million tons. |
| A．all the provinces have already taken some measures |
| B．“Clear Your Plate” campaign is being carried out online |
| C．laws have been made to stop waste food |
| D．people have a good sense of saving food |
| A．The more saving, the better | B．Stop wasting — you can do it |
| C．Food crisis — you have to face it | D．Online campaigns welcome you |
7 . Shoppers around the world are crazy buying because of fears over the coronavirus(新型冠状病毒), which caused a critical plague in China and even other countries at the beginning of 2020. People in countries such as England, Japan, Singapore and Australia have been emptying supermarket shelves of toilet paper, face masks, hand wash products and dried and canned food. Photos and videos of shoppers in Australia quarreling over the last pack of toilet roll in a supermarket have spread across social media swiftly.
However, governments have advised their citizens that there is no need to "panic buy". They added that panic buying would only reduce the supply of products needed by patients and medical staff, which could exacerbate the problems the COVID-19 virus is causing. Singapore's prime minister comforted Singaporeans that: "We have enough supplies. There's no need to stock up." A week after the panic buying fever, things have calmed down and shoppers have gone back to purchasing items in normal quantities.
Psychologists say panic buying is an "unwise" behaviour that is part of a condition called FOMO一the fear of missing out. Dr. Katharina Wittgens said a herd mentality(从众心理)sets in during disasters that causes people to copy the actions of others. People watch the news of items being bought in quantity and immediately rush out to the stores to do the same. She said people were taking on too much the risks of dying from the coronavirus. She said: "Far more people die in car accidents or household accidents per year but we don't panic about these things in the morning before we go to work."
1. What is the reason for shoppers in different countries crazy buying?| A．The approach of 2020 New Year's Day. |
| B．The shortage of resources and supplies in their nations. |
| C．The discount from supermarkets. |
| D．Their concern about the virus. |
| A．release | B．worsen |
| C．solve | D．quicken |
| A．People think no one needs the supplies. |
| B．People do not believe what others said. |
| C．People tend to follow others' actions in the period of disaster. |
| D．People are wiser in making decisions. |
| A．People should not panic over the virus. |
| B．People want to do something different from others. |
| C．People buy little when they go to the stores. |
| D．More people die from car accidents. |
8 . The next time a giant Big Mac or Coke flashes into your mind when you’re walking home from the pub, you may not simply have the snacks.
A British hi-tech company has created a new advertising system that uses lasers (激光) to project images up to 200 metres tall from the sides of tall buildings, enabling advertisers to reach people from virtual billboards in the sky. Passers-by will see each image for only between one tenth and quarter of a second, as their eyes catch the light from certain angles.
Advertising agencies and big businesses have already signalled their interest, but Skyline campaigners have branded the technology “greedy” and said that it could fill our skies with showy and tasteless brands.
The Echo system uses a high laser projector to bounce light off a narrow reflective strip fixed to the side of a building, visible up to 1km away. This creates large-scale images that are captured briefly in the viewer’s eye as a result of the “persistence of vision” effect: the same effect that leaves an imprint (印记) of a light source on your vision after you’ve turned away.
Daniel Siden, the technology’s inventor, explained: People often think this could be subversive, but it’s actually less invasive and more fun than traditional advertising. Mr.Siden said that the system was safe because of the distance between the projector and passers-by. And images would be above the line of sight of drivers and cyclists and below the field of vision of airline pilot. The images have been tested and shown not to cause epileptic seizures (癫痫发作).
Because it uses only one strip of reflected light, the system needs a small amount of the power, about one-twentieth of a standard 96-sheet digital outdoor display for an image of the same height.
Still, some Skyline campaigners dislike the technology and believe it delivers subliminal advertising (隐形广告). Barbara Weiss of the Skyline Campaign, said: “It’s actually offensive. London’s latest tall buildings are not particularly well-built or well designed, but unfortunately people are forced to look at them. Adding stupid advertising that’s invasive in its nature will only make it worse.”
1. Why does the writer use the example of Big Mac, Coke in paragraph 1?| A．Because he attempts to promote these products to potential consumers. |
| B．Because he wants to introduce a new advertising technology to readers. |
| C．Because he studies the association between products and images in advertising. |
| D．Because he tries to illustrate the effectiveness of flashing images of advertised goods. |
| A．Pedestrians can see the flashing images from specific angles. |
| B．It’s a new system developed by an advertising agency. |
| C．The image will no longer exist in vision after you’ve turned away. |
| D．The system consists of a laser projector, a reflective strip and a physical billboard. |
| A．subconscious | B．damaging | C．harmless | D．imaginative |
| A．Environmentalists worried about energy consumption. |
| B．Drivers, cyclists and pilots whose sight might be affected. |
| C．The Skyline Campaign regarding the technology as flashy. |
| D．The patients who suffer from epileptic seizures. |
9 . It is among nature’s greatest spectacles. Each year, thousands of sea turtle mothers clamber ashore, dig into the sand to lay their eggs, and then return to the sea. After being incubated（孵）for around two months, the eggs hatch and the tiny turtles strive to reach the water.
Approximately 90 percent of the sea turtle nesting in the United States happens on Florida's beaches , according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, a Gainesville-based research and conservation organization. During the nesting season, which runs from March through October, the sands are normally crowded with humans. However, this year the coronavirus pandemic severely reduced travel and required some states to close their beaches for weeks. While this sounded disappointing to the visitors, it may have been a boon to the sea turtles.
For turtle mothers, there can be " false crawls" , in which a female encounters a distraction between the water and a potential nesting site. The crowded beaches would interrupt the sea turtles' plan, sending them back to the ocean without laying eggs.
“ In terms of a successful rate of nesting, we actually did find a significant difference during the beach closures and then after," says Justin Perrault, director of the organization, “We have observed approximately 17,000 nests along Juno, Jupiter-Carlin, and Tequesta beaches this year. During the closures, loggerheads, one of the commonly seen turtles on Florida's beach, successfully nested 61 percent. When the beaches reopened, that number dropped to 46 percent. ”
Jimena Gutierrrez, a Sea Turtle Conservancy biologist also expresses her opinion, “ Normally the turtles are conserved because we have a lot of people coming to see them. With fewer tourism dollars supporting local workers, we are worried about the conservationists as well as the turtles. But maybe in the long run, we will see good numbers because there is less boat traffic in the ocean.
1. What does the underlined word “boon” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Cure. | B．Option. |
| C．Blessing. | D．Challenge. |
| A．Closures should be expanded for turtles, nesting. |
| B．This year has witnessed the highest nest rate in history. |
| C．The nest rate has remained steady over the whole nesting season. |
| D．Less human disturbance has led to more successful nesting. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Indifferent. | D．Objective. |
| A．www. sealifeconservation. com. | B．www. worldissues. com. |
| C．www. scienceforstudents. com. | D．www. newsflash. com. |
10 . To develop one's taste in English, the most effective way is to read English books extensively. Yet one may be at a loss to choose the appropriate books, especially as a beginner. As a native Spanish, I would like to share some of my experience.
My first English novel was Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, recommended by many English teachers and professors as an ideal book for English learners. But my experience was somewhat disastrous. I had great difficulty in understanding the novel, let alone enjoying it. It's not the vocabulary that troubled me, but rather the way Austen constructs sentences, and her way of thinking, which seemed too remote to me at that time. My fading enthusiasm was much recovered after reading Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms. No long and complicated sentences. And I particularly liked his brief and straightforward (简洁的) style. So my first suggestion is, as a beginner, you'd better choose contemporary novels instead of classical ones.
However, if you restrict yourself to novels you will miss a lot of treasures. English essays can at once inform you, entertain you, and improve your taste in English. The best example is Bertrand Russell's work. Its language is plain, yet you cannot help feeling the elegance and the peculiar sense of humor. His simple language enables his philosophy within the reach of ordinary people. Here comes my second suggestion — essays are indispensable.
Never follow others' recommendations and opinions blindly, however famous or influential (有很大影响的) the person might be. We should be open to various ideas, but always think and determine for ourselves. As a saying goes, one man's meat is another man's poison. With that in mind, we are bound to find out our favorite writers through reading and develop our fine taste in English.
1. What made the first English novel that the author read hard to understand?| A．Complicated conversations. |
| B．Sentences and Austen's thinking pattern. |
| C．The old-fashioned vocabulary. |
| D．Not knowing the social background. |
| A．Necessary | B．Challenging | C．Relevant | D．Inspirational |
| A．Choose books that challenge us most. |
| B．Read books that are instructive. |
| C．Don't be affected by others' choices. |
| D．Compare books before buying. |
| A．Give comments on literature works. |
| B．Tell beginners how to choose English books. |
| C．Encourage people to read more English books. |
| D．Recommend first class books to English learners. |
