1 . A thief who dropped a winning lottery ticket at the scene of his crime has been given a lesson in honesty. His victim, who picked up the ticket and then claimed the $25,000 prize, managed to trace him, and handed over the cash. The robbery happened when maths professor Vinicio Sabbatucci, 58, was changing a tire on an Italian motorway. Another motorist, who stopped “to help”, stole a suitcase from his car and drove off. The professor found the dropped ticket and put it in his pocket before driving home to Ascoli in eastern Italy.
Next day, he saw the lottery results on TV and, taking out the ticket, realized it was a winner. He claimed the 60 million lire(里拉) prize. Then he began a battle with his conscience. Finally, he decided he could not keep the money despite having been robbed. He advertised in newspapers and on the radio, saying, “I’m trying to find the man who robbed me. I have 60 million lire for him—a lottery win. Please meet me.Anonymity(匿名) guaranteed.”
Professor Sabbatucci received hundreds of calls from people hoping to trick him into handing them the cash. But there was one voice he recognized and he arranged to meet the man in a park. The robber, a 35-year-old unemployed father of two, gave back the suitcase and burst into tears. He could not believe what was happening. “Why didn’t you keep the money?” he asked. The professor replied, “I couldn’t because it’s not mine.” Then he walked off, spurning the thief’s offer of a reward.
1. The underlined sentence “Then he began a battle with his conscience.” in Paragraph 2 implies all of the following except that ________.| A．he knew what he should do as soon as he saw the lottery results |
| B．he hesitated about keeping the money for sometime |
| C．he thought for a moment of avenging himself on the robber |
| D．he came to realize that honesty is more important than money |
| A．wanted to make fun of him | B．hoped to get the money |
| C．knew who the robber was | D．lost the lottery ticket |
| A．Excited. | B．Frightened. |
| C．Ashamed. | D．Incredible. |
| A．accepting | B．claiming |
| C．rejecting | D．cancelling |
2 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.
But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.
One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.
“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”
Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.
1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?| A．To prevent natural disasters. | B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions. |
| C．To imitate volcanic eruptions. | D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels. |
| A．More volcanoes will throw out. |
| B．More solar energy will go into space. |
| C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world. |
| D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm. |
| A．He thinks more research remains to be done. |
| B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth. |
| C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production. |
| D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention. |
| A．The rainfall pattern of a region. |
| B．The modest drop in temperature. |
| C．The number of extreme weather events. |
| D．The injection amount of aerosol. |
3 . Honeybees can’t swim, and when their wings are wet, they can’t fly, either. But Chris Roh and other researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that when bees drop into bodies of water, they can use their wings to produce little waves and slide toward land—like surfers who create and then ride their own waves.
As with many scientific advances－Isaac Newton’s apple or Benjamin Franklin’s lightning bolt—Dr. Roh’s experiment began with a walk. Passing Caltech’s Millikan Pond in 2016, he observed a bee on the water’s surface producing waves. He wondered how an insect known for flight could push itself through water.
Dr. Roh and his co-worker, Morteza Gharib, used butterfly nets to collect local Pasadena honeybees and observed their surf-like movements. The researchers used a wire to restrict each bee’s bodily movement, allowing close examination of their wings. They found that the bee bends its wings at a 30-degree angle, pulling up water and producing a forward force. Bees get trapped on the surface because water is roughly three times heavier than air. But that weight helps to push the bee forward when its wings move quickly up and down. It’s a tough exercise for the bees, which the researchers guess could handle about 10 minutes of the activity.
The researchers said the surf-like movement hasn’t been documented in other insects and most semiaquatic insects use their legs for propulsion, which is known as water-walking. It may have evolved in bees, they predicted.
Dr. Roh and Dr. Gharib have imagined many practical applications for bees’ surfing. One plan is to use their observations to design robots able to travel across sky and sea. “This could be useful for search and rescues, or for getting samples of the surface of the ocean, if you can’t send a boat or helicopter,” Dr. Gharib said.
1. What does the author intend to show by mentioning Newton and Franklin?| A．Roh’s admiration for them. | B．Roh’s chance discovery about bees. |
| C．Their outstanding talent for science. | D．Their similar achievements in discovery. |
| A．The air weight. | B．Its leg extension. |
| C．The water movement. | D．Its continuous wingbeat. |
| A．Fast flight. | B．Driving force. | C．Pulling speed. | D．Explosive power. |
| A．designing robots with the ability to travel across both sky and sea. |
| B．Rescuing ships or saving sailors trapped in the ocean. |
| C．Acquiring knowledge of moving samples of the surface of the ocean. |
| D．Making helicopters in the shape of bees. |
| A．Honeybees can surf to safety. | B．Bees help scientists make inventions. |
| C．Insects can adapt to the environment. | D．Nature is a helpful guide for discovery. |
4 . Killer whales, or orcas, are known for their severe attacks on sea animals but they have never posed a threat to humans. However, since late July, the normally social animals have been intentionally attacking sailboats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal.
The strange behavior first surfaced on July 29, 2020, when a 46-foot boat was repeatedly attacked for almost an hour by nine orcas, causing the boat to rotate(旋转) 180 degrees and having its engine switched off. Since then, over 30 more similar incidents have been reported. On September 23, 2020, Spain's government banned boats of less than 50 feet in length from sailing in the 60-mile stretch of the Atlantic coastline between Ferrol and the Estaca de Bares Cape, where the attacks have been occurring.
Researchers across the world are trying to explain the orcas' behavior. Some believe it could be a result of the overfishing of the bluefish tuna - the orcas' primary food source -which has left the area's killer whales starving and unable to feed their babies. "I saw them look at boats carrying fish. I think they know humans are somehow related to food shortages, "says Ken Balcomb, senior scientist at the Center for Whale Research in Washington, USA. The environmentalists believe the sudden increase in boat traffic and fishing activities, after months of absence due to restrictions on human activity last spring, could also be contributing to the agitation.
However, Alfredo López, a biology professor in Galicia, Spain, thinks the attacks are defensive measures the orcas adopted to protect themselves against boat injuries. The researcher came to this conclusion after looking at the of the videos of a few incidents and noticing that two of the young killer whales involved had serious injuries. Hopefully, the experts will be able to find a way to restore the harmony between the animals and the humans soon.
1. What do we know about orcas in paragraph 1?| A．They are friendly to humans. | B．They have changed their behavior. |
| C．They are famous for hunting skills | D．They have met tough living conditions. |
| A．Ken Balcomb. | B．The environmentalists. |
| C．Alfredo López. | D．Spain's government. |
| A．The attacks. | B．Food shortages. | C．The overfishing. | D．Human activities. |
| A．How do killer whales attack humans? |
| B．Why Are Killer Whales attacking Boats? |
| C．How can we live in harmony with animals? |
| D．Why are boats banned from sailing on the sea? |
5 . “A CAREER BOOK about Asians? Aren’t they doing fine…?” So begins Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, a very large scholarly book by Jane Hyun published in 2005. Because Asian-Americans had higher incomes and education levels and committed fewer crimes than their average countrymen, they were seen as a model minority. Despite this, they rarely rose to the top of companies. A mix of individual, cultural and organizational barriers — the “bamboo ceiling” of the book’s title — seemed to prohibit them from rising.
Fifteen years later Asians are still under-represented. In the technology sectors, Asians make up over 30% of the workers but less than 15% of bosses. In 2017 Asians made up roughly 6% of the country’s population but only 3% of the bosses of S&P 500 (标准普尔 500 指数) firms.
Some prominent Asians run big companies. Arvind Krishna is IBM’s new boss. Satya Nadella runs Microsoft and Sundar Pichai leads Alphabet. But few other Asians have joined their ranks — and, revealingly, these stars all have Indian roots. There are fewer South Asians in America than East Asians, but they still made up 13 of all 16 Asian S&P 500 CEOs.
Why are there so few Asians among America’s business elite? And if a bamboo ceiling is to blame, why do South Asians break through more easily? These questions are the focus of a study by Jackson Lu of MIT Sloan School of Management and colleagues, who surveyed hundreds of senior executives and business-school students. They found that while discrimination exists, it is not destiny. South Asians endure greater racism than East Asians but still outperform even whites (if success is weighed against share of population). Their research also rules out lack of ambition: a greater share of Asians than whites endeavor for high-status jobs.
That leaves culture. The researchers conclude that South Asians tend to be more determined and confident than East Asians in how they communicate at work, which fits Western concepts of how a leader should behave. The same tendency for confident remarks featured in “The Argumentative Indian”, a book by Amartya Sen, a Nobel-prize winning economist. The researchers owe East Asians’ silence to Confucian values of modesty and respect for social ranking. Sometimes bravery and bombast are needed to break bamboo.
1. What does “bamboo ceiling” refer to?| A．The top of an American technology company. |
| B．A roof made of bamboo typical of Asian buildings. |
| C．Promotion obstacles facing Asian employees in America. |
| D．The invisible discrimination against Asians in the USA. |
| A．Lacking representatives. | B．Hard to show their talents. |
| C．Being underestimated. | D．Unable to land a job. |
| A．A small population. | B．Discrimination. | C．Lack of ambition. | D．Culture. |
| A．Western people prefer modesty to confidence in communication. |
| B．The confidence they demonstrate consists with Western leadership. |
| C．They endure greater racism and become more ambitious. |
| D．Their ambition urges them to endeavor for high-status jobs. |
6 . An electric flying vehicle called Skai was on display yesterday near Los Angeles， California． Skai is made by Alaka'i Technologies． The vehicle has six rotors（旋翼） on top． Inside， there are seats for five passengers． To many people， Skai looks like a cross between a giant drone（无人机） and a car． Alaka'i Technologies hopes the vehicle will one day serve as a flying taxi， a cargo carrier， and an ambulance．
Other companies， such as Boeing and Airbus， are also designing electric aircraft． They are using batteries to power them． But batteries can weigh the vehicles down．
Skai uses hydrogen fuel cells to power its rotors． Hydrogen fuel cells are a lighter alternative to batteries． They allow the vehicle to transport 1，000 pounds． They might also be less damaging to the environment． "It's the cleanest form of energy on the planet，" Bruce Holmes told Digital Trends， a technology news website． Holmes is on the board of Alaka'i Technologies．
A test flight will take place near the company's Massachusetts headquarters． But it may be years before the autonomous aircraft is cleared to carry passengers． Skai must first meet regulations． These regulations are set by the Federal Aviation Administration （FAA）．
"The technology is interesting， but the regulatory （监管的） road will be very long，" Thaddeus Lightfoot said． Lightfoot is a lawyer． He helps companies deal with FAA rules．
Alaka'i Technologies is hopeful that Skai will get FAA approval to fly passengers soon． In the meantime， the company's CEO， Stephen Hanvey， says the craft could be used to transport food and water． It could also serve as a mobile cell tower in places struck by natural disasters．
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word "cross" in paragraph 1？| A．mixture． |
| B．container． |
| C．equipment． |
| D．instrument． |
| A．It costs a lot． |
| B．It saves energy． |
| C．It is not readily available now． |
| D．It will soon get approved by FAA． |
| A．It is quite light． |
| B．It uses batteries． |
| C．It transports food and water． |
| D．It lands autonomously． |
| A．Car with wings． |
| B．Car of less weight． |
| C．Car with hydrogen fuel． |
| D．Car in the sky． |
7 . Great work is work that makes a difference in people’s lives, writes David Sturt, Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Institute, in his book Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. Sturt insists, however, that great work is not just for surgeons or special-needs educators or the founders of organizations trying to eliminate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The central theme of Great Work, according to Sturt, is that anyone can make a difference in any job. It’s not the nature of the job, but what you do with the job that counts. As proof, Sturt tells the story of a remarkable hospital cleaner named Moses.
In a building filled with doctors and nurses doing great life-saving work, Moses the cleaner makes a difference. Whenever he enters a room, especially a room with a sick child, he engages both patients and parents with his optimism and calm, introducing himself to the child and, Sturt writes, speaking “little comments about light and sunshine and making things clean.” He comments on any progress he sees day by day (“you’re sitting up today, that’s good.”) Moses is no doctor and doesn’t pretend to be, but he has witnessed hundreds of sick children recovering from painful surgery, and parents take comfort from his encouraging words. For Matt and Mindi, whose son McKay was born with only half of a heart, Moses became a close friend. As Sturt explains, “Moses took his innate (与生俱来的) talents (his sensitivity) and his practical wisdom (from years of hospital experience) and combined them into a powerful form of patient and family support that changed the critical-care experience for Mindi, Matt and little McKay.”
How do people like Moses do great work when so many people just work? That was the central question raised by Sturt and his team at the O.C. Tanner Institute, a consulting company specialized in employee recognition and rewards system.
O.C. Tanner launched an exhaustive Great Work study that included surveys to 200 senior executives, a further set of surveys to 1,000 managers and employees working on projects, an in-depth qualitative study of 1.7 million accounts of award-winning work (in the form of nominations (提名) for awards from corporations around the world), and one-on-one interviews with 200 difference makers. The results of the study revealed that those who do great work refuse to be defeated by the constraints of their jobs and are especially able to reframe their jobs: they don’t view their jobs as a list of tasks and responsibilities but see their jobs as opportunities to make a difference. No matter, as Moses so ably exemplifies (例证), what that job may be.
1. According to Sturt, which of the following is TRUE?| A．It’s not the nature of the job, but what you do that makes a difference. |
| B．Anyone in the world is responsible to delete poverty and change the world. |
| C．Anyone can make a difference in people’s lives no matter what kind of job he does. |
| D．Surgeons, special-needs educators and founders of organizations can succeed more easily. |
| A．By keeping optimistic and calm when facing patients and their parents at hospital. |
| B．By showing his special gift and working experience when working at hospital. |
| C．By showing his sympathy and kindness to patients when entering their rooms. |
| D．By pretending to be a doctor or nurse when entering a room with a sick child. |
| A．demands | B．advantages | C．disadvantages | D．limitations |
| A．Great work is work that makes a difference in people’s lives no matter what you do. |
| B．If a boss has trouble recognizing his employees, he can ask O. C. Tanner for advice. |
| C．Moses makes a difference through his sensitivity and his practical wisdom. |
| D．Those who do great work are never defeated by others or their jobs themselves. |
8 . “We give our girls the power (力量) to believe in themselves, go to college, and become tomorrow’s leaders,” says Felicia Gibson Jaycox, the founder (创立者) and chief executive officer of The Power of You Teens (POYT). The organization is based in Harlem, a historic African-American neighborhood in New York City.
Founded in 2014, POYT offers educational chances and positive role models for teenage girls growing up in Harlem. These “Power Girls” take part in dance, summer camp, and STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), among other programs. The purpose, according to the group, is to empower teenage girls to help them “dream big and to inspire them to achieve the most that they are capable of.”
POYT held its sixth yearly Empowerment Event in the fall of 2019 in New York City. The theme of “Girl Boss” encouraged girls to show their inner boss spirit. Miss Teen USA Kaliegh Garris was the keynote speaker.
Kaliegh said that she and other beauty competition winners are helping to reshape traditional images of beauty and showing that women of color are not just beautiful — they also are driven, wise women whom little girls can look up to.
I asked Ashley McFarlin Buie, POYT co-director, what inspired founder and CEO Felicia Gibson to start the organization. Gibson saw the plight that girls of color are in. For some historical reasons, many girls of color are growing up in terrible neighborhoods. They seldom see people like themselves showed positively in movies, books, TV shows, and other media.
“Powerful girls grow up to be dependable and confident women, preparing for their futures as creative leaders,” Buie said. POYT centers on saving the mind, body, and spirit of Black girls through love and support, she added.
What do the girls get out of the group? “We offer chances,” Buie said, “to break barriers (屏障).”
1. What do we know about POYT?| A．It is run by teenage girls. |
| B．It was started about 6 years ago. |
| C．It provides services all around America. |
| D．It was first started in African-American neighborhoods . |
| A．Speak for women of color. |
| B．Change people’s traditional ideas of beauty. |
| C．Call on girls to be positive role models. |
| D．Encourage girls to go into business in the future. |
| A．Sad feeling. | B．Difficult task. |
| C．Bad situation. | D．Uncertain future. |
| A．Dream big | B．Power Girls |
| C．Teenage Power | D．Breaking barriers |
9 . From linguists’ point of view, grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases or clauses, whether in spoken or written. Different languages have different patterns. Some scholars have tried to identify patterns common to all languages. But apart from some basic features, few of these so-called linguistic universals have been found.
The study of these patterns open up “an ongoing debate” between two positions, known as prescriptivism and descriptivism. Prescriptivism thinks a given language should follow consistent rules, while descriptivism sees variation and adaptation as a natural and necessary part of language.
Language purists(纯化论者) worked to establish and promote this standard by detailing a set of rules that reflected the established grammar of their times. And rules for written grammar were applied to spoken language as well. Speech patterns that deviated from the written rules were considered signs of low social status. And many people who are grown-ups speaking in these ways were forced to adopt the standardized form.
More recently, however, linguists have understood that speech is a separate phenomenon from writing with its own regularities and patterns.We form our spoken skills through unconscious habits, not memorized rules. And because speech also uses mood and intonation for meaning, its structure is often more flexible, adapting to the needs of speakers and listeners. This could mean avoiding complex clauses that are hard to understand in real time, making changes to avoid awkward pronunciation or removing sounds to make speech faster.
But while the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism continues, the two are not mutually exclusive. Like language itself, it’s a wonderful and complex fabric woven through the contributions of speakers and listeners, writers and readers, prescriptivists and descriptivists from both near and far.
1. What does the underlined word“deviated”in Paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．copied | B．updated | C．differed | D．originated |
| A．focuses on established language patterns | B．accepts the differences between languages |
| C．follows the innovations in language patterns | D．attaches more importance to written language |
| A．A new understanding of language. | B．The beliefs held by prescriptivists. |
| C．The impact of grammar on language. | D．The ongoing debate between linguists. |
| A．The Importance of Grammar. | B．The History of Grammar. |
| C．Grammar: Rules or Habits. | D．Grammar: Writing Rules. |
10 . Recently, as I watched my son Nathan play basketball for his school team, I was feeling sorry for myself and for him. His team was facing adversity(困境) on the court, trailing for three quarters of the game. As for me, I had just been dismissed from my job.
As I watched what my son was experiencing, I recalled the events earlier in the day—packing up everything in a box and saying goodbye to my colleagues. During the drive home, I kept telling myself that I will find work again—I am confident in my experience and abilities, but self-doubt was still sticking its foot in the door.
The game entered the fourth quarter with Nathan’s team still trailing. I saw the determination on his back to not only tie the game, but then go ahead by three points. Then, a player from the other team made an unbelievable shot to tie the game up again. With a tie game and seconds on the clock, Nathan found himself with the ball and with skill and confidence, he made the basket with a defender hanging all over him. The other player was called for a foul(犯规).
As Nathan stood preparing for a shot that would put his team up by three points, I saw the focus and determination on his face, with no room for self-doubt. After he made the free throw, his team managed to stop the other team from scoring, winning the game and moving on to the finals.
As I sat there, my heart bursting with pride, it dawned on me. I had taught him perseverance(毅力) in the face of adversity, and he had just taught me the same lesson. That brief moment of self-doubt and feeling sorry for myself was blown away by the actions of my son on the basketball court. He will play in the finals, but it doesn’t matter if he wins or loses. At this moment, we both won.
1. We can learn from the text that ________.| A．I lost my job for lack of experience and abilities. |
| B．Nathans team won a narrow victory in the basketball game. |
| C．I was proud of Nathan because he won the game in the finals. |
| D．Nathan had never doubted himself whenever he was in trouble. |
| A．losing | B．falling behind |
| C．being defeated | D．winning |
| A．My son would win in the finals and I would find a job soon. |
| B．I had once taught my son face to face that we should never give up. |
| C．It was my encouragement and help that made my son win the game. |
| D．I would become more confident about my future after this experience. |
| A．An Inspiring Game | B．A Moment of Self-doubt |
| C．Lesson from My Son | D．An Unforgettable Experience |
