1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. acquisition             B. advocates             C. decision-making              D. displeasure              E. distinguish F. evidence             G. exhibit                    H. frustrating                    I. messier             J. puzzled              K. undeveloped

Nobody who has witnessed a young child splashing in the bath or reaching out to grab a bunch of shiny keys will be in any doubt that kids love to use their senses, and do so without any inhibitions! But it’s not just about having fun. Sensory play is a vital part of a child’s physical and psychological development, contributing to a range of skills such as hand-eye coordination, concentration and    1    .

Even the sensory skills of newborn babies are nowhere near as    2    as we might imagine. Although their sight is not good, we know that they are comforted by the feeling of being cuddled and rocked, and they also    3    marked reactions to music or strong smells. In addition, they will already have begun to hear sounds while still in the womb and — incredibly — are able to    4    their mother’s voice from other voices at birth.

Their sensory reactions also cause them to exhibit    5    , for example, at the feel of a wet nappy against their skin, or the unfamiliar texture of a new kind of food. Failure to recognise the cause of the ensuing screaming can be extremely    6    for the parent or carer as well as the child. That is why more and more parents are turning to a form of ‘baby sign language’, which can be taught from the age of six months. Not only, say its    7    does it eliminate the need for guesswork when your baby is awake and crying at 3 a.m., but it also results in higher educational attainment in later life.

Sensory play can also help with language    8    , particularly if the parent explains clearly what is going on: ‘Can you feel the fur? Hmm, smell this soap.’ And of course, from the moment children begin to speak, they bombard their parents with questions, all of which contributes to their speech and learning.

It’s obvious that children enjoy using their senses, and all the    9    points to the fact that we should allow them the freedom to do so. Sand, mud, water; think of them as educational tools: the    10    the better!

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. struggling       B. focused       C. threatened       D. release       E. predict     F. alarming G. maintained     H. dramatically       I. approaches       J. concerned       K. entirely

The Future of Publishing: E-publish or die?

The iPad and its kind are both good and bad for book publishers.

Like many other parts of the media industry, publishing is being     1     reshaped by the growth of the Internet. For years, e-books have     2     to cut sales of the old-fashioned kind. In response, publishers are trying to support their traditional business while preparing for a future in which e-books will represent a much bigger chunk of sales.

For some time, publishers have operated a “wholesale” pricing model with Amazon. This has enabled Amazon to set the price of many new e-books at $9.99. Amazon has     3     prices low in order to boost demand for its Kindle.

However, publishers are     4     that this may make consumers expect lower prices for all kinds of books. And they worry the downward trend will further cut their thin margins and make     5     bricks-and-mortar booksellers(实体书商)suffer more. Some in the industry even     6     that publishers will suffer a similar fate to that of music companies, whose fortunes disappeared when songs can be cheaply sold online. This is particularly     7     for publishers because digital margins are almost as thin as print ones.

Some publishers try delaying the     8     of electronic versions of new books for months after the print launch to increase print sales. Some are starting to build their own online target reader groups. Sourcebooks, a medium-sized publisher that has developed an online group     9     on poetry, found that book sales rose by 50% after poems had featured on the site.

The publishing firms that survive the tough transition will be those who use flexible     10     and learn quickly to think. Not all of them can turn that particular page successfully.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blanks with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need. (E=AB, F=AC, G=AD, H=BC, I=BD)

A. assessed       B. aware        C. emerged       D. identified     E. ordinary F. replicated       G. reward       H. responsibility       I. survivors

We Could Be Heroes

Altruism has long been an evolutionary mystery. Why would anyone choose to help somebody not related to them, with no promise of     1    ? The usual answer is that such behaviour is an adaptation: for example, groups in which it     2     would have been more united, and hence more successful. But what about acts of extreme altruism? Can we ever understand why some people risk — and sometimes lose — their lives for a stranger?

To try to answer this question, Samuel Oliner, a sociologist, and his wife Pearl set up the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute at Humboldt State University in 1982. In one of their first studies, still the largest of its kind, they interviewed and psychologically     3     406 people who had risked their lives to rescue Jew in Nazi-occupied Europe, along with 72 people who had lived in occupied areas but had done nothing out of the     4    . A number of things became clear. The rescuers were much more sympathetic than the non-rescuers, and they also supported values of fairness, compassion and personal     5     towards strangers that they said they had learned from their parents.

What’s more, they were unusually tolerant: the people they     6     as their “in group” consisted of the whole of humanity, not just their own kind. As Kristen Monroe at the University of California, Irvine, who has studied the psychology of Holocaust rescuers, puts it: “Where the rest of us see a stranger, an altruist sees a fellow human being.”

Samuel Oliner says his finding has held up in all their follow-up studies. It has also been     7    by psychologists Eva Fogelman, whose father, too, owed his wartime survival to the generosity of Polish farmers. Fogelman has spent much of her career studying the psychological effects of the Holocaust on     8     and their families. In her book Conscience and Courage, she recalls her conversations with about 300 rescuers of Jews: I began after a while to wait for the recital of one or more of those well-known passages: a loving home; an altruistic parent or beloved caretaker who served as a role model for altruistic behavior, a tolerance for people who were different.”

4 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. coated B. dulled C. evolutionary D. hit E. originally F. gazes G. newly-discovered H. secured I. tribes J. ultimately K. enthusiasts

Lao Gan Ma: The Chinese Chilli Crisp Hot in the West

For some, cooking during lockdowns was a chance to try out the kind of time-consuming, complicated food preparation that the rush of ordinary life makes impossible. For others, it was an experience of boredom. Making three meals a day, especially if your diners included small children, was a yawn defined.

Enter condiments (酱料). They satisfied both     1    . For the     2    , it was a chance to make the sauces usually provided by the local shops that sell cooked foods. For the weary, a jar of something spicy or sour was an easy way to enliven the cheese toasties. Chilli crisp—a glowing red oil, heady with chilli and heavy with crisp pieces of garlic as well as black beans and sesame—became the sauce of the moment. The place it has     3     in many fridge doors since then hints at how foods become fashionable.

People in China may have been confused by the     4     joy with which those in countries such as America seized on chilli crisp. They have been eating varieties of the stuff for centuries. Lao Gan Ma, made in the south-western province of Guizhou, is the most famous brand. Its founder, Tao Huabi, started selling noodles     5     with the sauce in 1989, setting up a factory a few years later. Her face     6     out seriously from every label on the 1.3m bottles the company says it now produces a day.

It took a pandemic to bring the delicacy to the rest of the world’s attention. Chilli crisp had many of the necessary characteristics to be a(n)     7    . It is spicy, but not overly so. It is spread out on noodles, as     8     intended, but it can also be added to fried eggs and other dishes familiar to Americans. It satisfies humans’ love of crispy foods, rooted in a(n)     9     preference over many generations since crispness is often an indicator of freshness.

Today’s question is not whether people will keep eating it. The liberation of post-pandemic dining has not     10     the delight of the condiment. The East Asian population in America and Britain is growing. Many new brands have joined Lao Gan Ma. Like salsa, which once seemed exotic, chilli crisp is set to become a cupboard staple.

5 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. addresses             B. announce             C. estimated             D. publisher             E. claims F. authoritative          G. unconfirmed            H. sources                  I. literacy             J. spot K. intention

With so much fake news online, it can sometimes be hard to figure out the truth. Concern about the phenomenon led some tech companies to     1     that they’ll crack down on fake news sites.

Fake news is a(n) common occurrence — you see it on your social media feeds, and even on forwarded messages on your phone’s group chat. There’s always one person in your group who likes to send     2     news from what can only be described as doubtful origins.

It was even named 2017’s word of the year by dictionary     3     , Collins, which describes fake news as “false, often sensational, information spread under the guise of news reporting”.

Here’s our advice on how to     4     a fake.

First, check the website and quality of the articles. Look at the     5     of the story and read other articles on the site — are they well written with proper citations or are they full of grammatical errors? You should also make sure that you’re on a legal news site. Some fake sites use     6     and even logos that are similar to those of real news organizations. For example, abcnews.go.com is real, while abenews.com. co is not.

Second, is it the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Sometimes a fake news story can have a sliver of truth to it, but most of the facts and figures are plotted from imagination. To make sure, search for the same story on several     7     websites to ensure nothing has been misrepresented.

Third, make sure it’s not satire (讽刺). If the story is on a satirical website, you should be aware that the     8     is humour and satire, and not misled

Being able to detect fake news is a crucial part of digital     9     and is an important aspect of life in the digital age. However, not all of the misinformation being passed along online is completely fictional, though some of it is. Snopes. com has been exposing false viral     10     since the mid-1990s, whether that’s fabricated (编造的) messages, distortions containing bits of truth and everything in between. Founder David Mikkelson warned in a Nov. 17 article not to sort everything into the “fake news” category. In one word, stay alert and objective.

6 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. acquiring             B. popularity             C. frequently             D. contribute             E. unrelated F. slightly                 G. valuable               H. explore                 I. majors                    J. further K. volunteering

Gap year in your style

What exactly is a gap year? Well, people don’t entirely agree. Most commonly, it’s a year off between high school and college. But it could also be spending a year doing something    1    to education or one’s future career.

Like    2     schooling, a gap year usually means leaving one’s hometown. Many who take a gap year go to a far-off country. In most cases, the time is spent working or    3    . Whatever one is engaged in, this year gives young adults a chance to    4    the world. They meet new people and try things they wouldn’t normally get to do.

Recently, many young people have chosen to take a “working holiday,” which is    5     different from a gap year. After graduating from university, some people make up their minds to live abroad for a year, working in a foreign language environment. Depending on the country and the job, some graduates might live off their earnings and even save money. But often, the cost of living and travel makes saving difficult for people working abroad. Yet the idea continues to grow in    6    . Perhaps it isn’t about earning money, but getting a taste of freedom.

For those thinking about their future job or career, a gap year could mean idling a year away. But for those who aren’t sure what they want to do, a gap year offers many benefits.

If you want to put more emphasis on your career development, you need to think thoroughly about how a gap year can    7     to your résumé(履历). Find an experience that can strengthen your practical skills. That could mean working as an intern(实习生)or    8    a new language.

For those who haven’t designed a career plan, a gap year makes a lot of sense. Almost 80% of American university students change    9    at least once, so a gap year before, during, or even after university could be a good way to help you get future plans in focus. If you can find your calling by taking time off, it will prove to be a very    10    experience.

7 . Direction: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. short               B. flavor               C. specifically               D. impressive             E. efficiently AB. emphasis               AC. stuck             AD. involved             AE. consumed               BC. impact BD. decline

There’s no cure or proven way to prevent dementia (痴呆), but a number of studies have said that following a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of developing the condition.

The Mediterranean diet has a(n)     1     list of science behind it. This way of eating can prevent cognitive (认知的)     2     but also help the heart, reduces diabetes, prevent bone loss, encourage weight loss and more, studies have found.

A study published on March 8 revealed people who     3     foods from the Mediterranean and brain-focused MIND diets had fewer of the typical signs of Alzheimer’s. The MIND diet is     4     for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.

The Mediterranean diet focuses on plant-based cooking. The majority of each meal should be fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds, along with a few nuts. There is a heavy     5     on extra-virgin (特级初榨的) olive oil.

Meat can make a rare appearance and usually only to     6     a dish. Instead, meals may include eggs, dairy and poultry, but in much smaller portions than in the traditional Western diet.

Participants who     7     most closely to the diet were more likely to be female, have a BMI within the healthy range, have a higher educational level, and be more physically active than those with lower persistence in the diet.

David Curtis, an honorary professor at UCL Genetics Institute in London, who was not     8     in the research, noted that the latest study was observational and did not uncover cause and effect. The finding could reflect a generally more healthy lifestyle, he said.

“It is not clear that such a diet itself reduces dementia risk, although it is reasonable that it might do so. It is important to note that the study concerns all forms of dementia, not     9     Alzheimer’s disease. In my opinion, if there is an effect of diet then it is more likely to be on cardiovascular (心血管的) health in general and hence to     10     dementia due to disease of blood vessels rather than Alzheimer’s disease.”

8 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. automatically       B. coexist       C. concept       D. discontinued       E. discouraged F. necessarily       G. optimism       H. priced       I. profit-generating       J. promotional K. trash

Too Good To Go

Around the country, apps that connect customers to businesses with leftover food have begun to spread. The     1     is simple: Restaurants and grocery stores throw away huge amounts of food every day. Rather than     2     it, apps like Too Good To Go and Flashfood help businesses sell it at a reduced price. They claim that the businesses and buyers are helping the environment because the food would otherwise become food waste, a big contributor to climate change.

In the United States, customers in 12 cities can look through restaurants and stores on Too Good To Go, then reserve “surprise bags” that typically cost about $4 to $6 and contain food that would have been     3     at roughly three times that amount.

Several food waste experts expressed     4     that these types of apps could help limit the amount of wasted food. And even though charitable organizations often redirect unwanted food from restaurants and grocery stores to food banks and community kitchens, there’s space for all of these kinds of solutions to     5    .

One complication is that, according to interviews with several companies selling on Too Good To Go, at least a few items for sale there aren’t     6     what buyers might think of as “food waste.” The owner of a Baltimore dessert shop said she considered the app a(n)     7     tool to reach new customers by selling what she called “little samples.” A beer company owner said he used the app to sell     8     products, but also sold new flavors there in hopes of attracting new customers.

Mr. Crummie, the Too Good To Go director, said the app     9     this type of behavior. “If somebody is paying $5, they should be receiving $15 worth of food,” he said. “So it’s not a(n)     10     platform.”

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. alternatives       B. assess       C. courageous       D. demonstrate       E. dynamic       F. generates G. inconsiderately       H. potential       I. regulators       J. significant       K. unreservedly

Trust in your scientific instincts and never stop moving forward

I’ve studied biology, biochemistry, math, and computer science, and received my Ph.D. from Cambridge University. In 2008, when I learned Philip Morris International (PMI) was building a new laboratory to    1     the products that would form part of a smoke-free future, I said, “I’m in.”

Seeing the positive results from the first studies looking at the differences between cigarette smoke and aerosol (气溶胶) from our smoke-free nicotine (尼古丁) products was stimulating. There were so many positive findings, and yet we were still in the building phase. What would happen next? We had to tell ourselves to be    2    : Don’t worry, just look at the data.

Systems toxicology (系统毒理学) is an exciting and     3     field to work in. However, it    4     massive amounts of data, as it combines standard toxicology with new and diverse techniques to help give us a bigger and more detailed picture of how toxic substances affect the body. Working with such giant blocks of data is a challenge for all applications of systems toxicology, not just tobacco harm reduction. This is why we share our data and methods     5    . It is not only in our best interest to     6     openness to the world at large, but it’s also important to engage the global scientific community in order to always be moving the science forward.

The     7     public health impact of science-backed smoke-free products is considerable. And while these products are not risk-free and deliver nicotine—which is addictive—the breakthrough is     8    . And I feel an enormous sense of accomplishment with what we’ve achieved so far.

Of course, we still have important work to do. We will continue to provide information to     9    , scientists, public health organizations, and policymakers about the potential of smoke-free products. We will continue to share our science. And we will continue working to deliver smoke-free     10     for the world’s adult smokers who don’t quit tobacco and nicotine altogether. But this is a marathon, and we’re in this for the long term.

10 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. disadvantage B. notably     C. energetic   D. insufficient   E. alternate F. evolved     G. contribution   H. periodic   I. withdrawal   J. coexist     K. adjusted

The degree to which seasonal changes affect mood, energy, sleep, appetite, food preference, or the wish to socialize with other people has been called seasonality. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition where depressions in fall and winter     1     with non-depression periods in spring and summer, is the most marked form of seasonality.

The typical symptoms of     2     winter depression include lowered mood, social     3    , increased appetite and weight gain. Mild or no symptoms often occur in spring and summer. It is argued that such pattern of depression occurrence forms an adaptive mechanism which enhances the likelihood of reproductive success, most     4     for females, among populations living at temperate latitudes(纬度). Women are more likely to become pregnant in the summer and thus to give birth at a time of year when their babies have a higher chance of survival. Low chance of summer depression also indicates     5     individuals and promotes healthier pregnancies, which increase the survival chances of both mothers and babies. In the modern era, it is probable that repeated winter depression is becoming a reproductive     6    .

Several lines of evidence also suggest that genetic factors play an important role in the seasonality and SAD. Millions of years of evolution had     7     human biochemical systems for survival under equatorial(赤道的) environmental conditions. Modern humans began to move out of Africa only about 150,000 years ago. Little change in our ‘equatorial’systems might have been expected over this relatively short evolutionary span. And a genetic defenselessness against seasonal changes in mood and behavior is out of     8     adaptation to the new living conditions.

Today, more studies of SAD and seasonality are receiving considerable attention. Studies on relatives of patients with SAD also suggested a familial     9     to the development of SAD. Researchers are trying to find out whether SAD and seasonality are acquired at birth as a composite entity(实体) or whether the two are separate acquired traits that happen to     10     in certain individuals.