1 . If you're planning to go on a diet, or if you suffer from serious conditions like diabetes (糖尿病), knowing exactly what and how much you're eating is essential. In this day and age, we have calorie and nutritional calculators even on our smartphones, but they act only as guides, whereas Panasonic's revolutionary new device, CaloRieco, actually analyzes the food on your plate and provides accurate information about in just a few seconds.
You've probably used calorie calculators before, and you know that they only offer general information. For example, a calculator will tell you the average number of calories in a hamburger, but it can't tell you exactly how many calories are in the hamburger. The same goes for nutrients like protein or fats. And this is what makes the new CaloRieco so special.
Displayed at a recent tech show, CaloRieco is a high tech device that uses light reflection technology to determine the nutritional values of almost any food and also provide accurate calorie estimates. All you have to do is put your plate in the box-shaped device and wait between 10 and 20 seconds for it to analyze all the food on there.
Once it's done analyzing the various ingredients in your meal, CaloRieco displays the number of calories, as well as the nutritional content on an LED display. According to Panasonic, the device is able to recognize the vast majority of foods, except soups and very dark dishes.
CaloRieco can also connect to your smartphone via an app, and send all the data about analyzed foods to your handheld, so you can access it whenever you need.
Panasonic said that its outstanding invention is aimed at dieters and diabetes sufferers, both of which make up a sizable market. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a bit longer to get your hands on your very own CaloRieco, as the device presented at the show is just a prototype (样品) which needs to be improved. It's scheduled to hit the market sometime in the next few years, but the price remains a mystery.
1. What is special about CaloRieco?| A．It is a high-tech device working as a guide. |
| B．It makes use of light reflection technology. |
| C．It only offers general information of food. |
| D．It can present the exact data of analyzed food. |
| A．It needs a long time to analyze the food. |
| B．It can count the calories of all kinds of food. |
| C．It can display the food data on the smartphone directly. |
| D．It may be well received among dieters and diabetes sufferers. |
| A．Smartphone. | B．App. | C．Data. | D．Food. |
| A．It's perfect. | B．It's promising. | C．It's costly. | D．It's portable. |
2 . Social media is taking over our lives: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now, TikTok. These social media platforms have transformed from a way to stay connected to an industry where even kids can make money of their posts. While this may seem like another opportunistic innovation, its really full of hidden false realities.
The median income（中位收入） recorded in the United States of America was about $63,000 in 2018. TikTokers with over a million followers can make up to $30,000 a month ---$360,000 a year. They are making more than the average person trying to feed their family and keep a roof over their heads, simply by posting a 15-second video.
Not only is it an overpaid “job”, it also promotes undeserved admiration from viewers and a false sense of reality. Many of these famous TikTokers are still teens, and the effects of fame at such an early stage in life might cause issues later in life, such as mental influenced by what they are watching. They can put a false sense of self-value into who they look up to and what they represent: money, fame, being considered conventionally attractive.
While TikTok has become a great tool for marketing, it’s important to understand how this content affects young viewers. If we’re constantly consuming content that shows us all we need to do to be successful is be conventionally attractive and post a 15-second video featuring a new dance, it will challenge our knowledge of what really makes someone successful and will in turn affect our individual work ethics（伦理）. What about the people who miss birthdays and family holidays due to their jobs and aren’t getting paid nearly as much as these TikTokers?
Richard Colyer, president and creator of Metaphor, Inc., had his own view on this issue. “It sounds great that kids can make money for doing the latest dance moves in a 15-second video, but we should feed the minds of kids and not just their bank accounts. TikTok can be great if used properly. Money alone is not good, technology alone is not good and connectedness can be bad if it’s only online.”
1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．social networking | B．staying connected to the Internet. |
| C．a job offered by TikTok. | D．making money on social media. |
| A．They tend to live an adult life too soon. |
| B．They are forced to pay for certain services. |
| C．They are likely to develop false values |
| D．They may abandon other social media |
| A．Young TiKTokers should be banned from making money. |
| B．TikTok can be a positive influence if teens employ it wisely. |
| C．It is better to involve education on investment in TikTok videos. |
| D．Contents of videos need checking before their release online. |
| A．A Job Vs An Entertainment | B．Join Young TikTokers |
| C．TikTok---A Mine of Money | D．Say No to TiKTok |
3 . I dropped off a bag of my children’s worn-out jeans to a local tailor and when she returned them with brightly colored, patterned patches(补丁) on all the knees, their lives unexpectedly became longer by several more years. Both my kids and I loved those pants, so unique and impossible to buy. This was my first experience with “visible mending”.
Visible mending(VM) is different from traditional mending in that it makes the repair a central point, rather than combining it into the original clothes. There are many reasons for this, from drawing attention to the fact that clothes’ lifetimes have become long and challenging the idea that secondhand clothes are only worn by the poor, to simply adding a personalized touch.
Kate Sekules is a well-known advocate for visible mending. The British-born, Brooklyn-based writer, clothes historian and mending instructor has a new book coming out in September. It is a call to action for clothes lovers of all skill levels to take needles and threads to their beloved clothes. She reassures readers that anyone can do it.
“The skills are easy to pick up: visible mending is for everyone. The only way to go wrong is to say, ‘I can’t. ’It is a skill, but of a modern way. There are many ways to create VM, and there will never be another one like yours. Though you will never sew two mends the same, you will develop a style of your own.”
Sekules spends the first several chapters explaining why practicing visible mending matters so much. She writes about the current fashion industry, and how destructive it is, from the vast quantities of textiles(纺织品) and plastic waste and poisonous runoff poisoning rivers around the world, to the terrible conditions in which clothes workers work. So, rather than waiting around for the companies to clean up their acts, we individuals can effect tiny yet meaningful changes by picking up our needles and threads and wearing our clothes for longer.
1. How did the author feel about visible mending?| A．A little puzzled. | B．Very satisfied. |
| C．Pretty shocked. | D．Rather disappointed. |
| A．Focusing on the repair. | B．Adding a personalized touch. |
| C．Combining it into the original one. | D．Looking for the original materials. |
| A．When we need to do visual mending. |
| B．How we can master the unusual skill. |
| C．What we should do when sewing. |
| D．Why visual mending is special and easy to learn. |
| A．It is difficult to keep up with the newest fashion. |
| B．Fashion connects with social development closely. |
| C．It is surprising how fashion changes over the years. |
| D．The fashion industry can be harmful to the environment. |
4 . Since her first publication in 1968, Louise Cluck has been no stranger to awards over her long and well-known career. In 1993, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poems, The Wild Iris. And on October 8, she became the 16th woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
Often said to be an autobiographical（自传体的）poet, drawing from the inner parts of her life, “Gluck is not to be regarded as a self-reflecting poet. she seeks the universal,” Nobel Committee Chair Anders Olsson said in a statement. Gluck, 77, the author of 12 poetry collections, has been able to turn her life experiences into universal themes covering death, loss, and isolation. Because ofthis, readers have often found her poetry to be “dark”.
However, there is much more than darkness in her voice, as noted by Olsson. “It is straightforward and… also a voice full of humor and insight,” said Olsson. In her poem Snowdrops, Gluck uses the coming of spring after winter to show rebirth of life after death. She leads readers down a depressing path only to reconnect with the light at the near end. At the conclusion of the poem, readers are left to feel the “raw wind of the new world” as they watch a new spring. This is often the case in Gluck’s poetry, being able to feel joy even after not having done so for a long time.
Although she’s already a well-known writer, experienced in exploring trauma（创伤）and healing, Gluck did feel honored to be given the Nobel award. However, when asked what the prize means to her, the lyric poet responded by saying, “It’s too new… I don’t know really what it means. My only hope is to preserve my daily life.”
1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Combining daily life with literature. |
| B．Making individual existence universal. |
| C．Deepening the meaning of being positive. |
| D．Turning simple language into poetic voice. |
| A．display the process of Gluck’s writing |
| B．interpret what a poem can bring about |
| C．illustrate Gluck’s unique writing style |
| D．show how Cluck keeps her own style |
| A．She is self-centered. | B．She is well-mannered. |
| C．She seeks for truth of life. | D．She has a low-key attitude. |
| A．A woman’s fight for fame. | B．A famous poet’s career. |
| C．What hard work can do. | D．How a poet was shaped. |
5 . As much as we may want to protect children from all the terrible, horrible and very had things in life, too often we don’t get a choice. These four new kids’ books serve as guides for a variety of difficulties and as important reminders that we have a choice in how we react to such trails
| The Secret Horses Of Briar Hill By Megan Shepherd Twelve-year-old Emmaline has a secret: she can see winged horses in the mirrors at Briar Hili hospital, a British hospital for children during World War Ⅱ. The magical adventures of the horses come to life as Emmaline recovers from her illness and must face the sickness of those she loves. | Goodbye Days By JeffZentner Carver Briggs blames himself for the deaths of his three best friends(he sent the text message that likely caused the car accident resulting in their deaths). What’s more, he could face a criminal investigation into his role. The novel follows his journey as he tries his best to make peace with his loss and guilt. |
| StefSoto, Taco Queen | Why Can’t Grangma Remember My Name? |
| By Jennifer Torres Now in middle school, Estefania Stef Soto has become embarrassed by her Mexican-American family’s food truck and is tired of being joked at school as the “taco（墨西哥煎玉米卷）queen.” But when the family business is threatened, she becomes one of its biggest protectors and learns to accept her identity. | By Kent L Karosen, Illustrated by Chana Sticfel Driven by questions from Ashley, a child whose grandmother has Alzhelmer’s （早老性痴呆病）, this book offers an outline for families dealing with the illness. Drawings in this book are done by children and by Alzheimer’s patients |
1. “Such trials” in paragraph 1 most probably refers to ______.
| A．creative processes | B．lovable characters |
| C．painful reminders | D．difficult experiences |
| A．The Secret Horses Of Briar Hill |
| B．Goodbye Days |
| C．Stef Soto, Taco Queen |
| D．Why Can’t Grandma Remember My Name? |
| A．share some new parental skills with parents |
| B．teach kids how to write some dramatic stories |
| C．start a discussion on the topics of the new books |
| D．introduce some newly published books for kids |
