1 . Time zones were created by railroad officials to deal with a major headache. It was becoming impossible to know what time it was. At that time each town or city in the US kept its own solar time. “Fifty-six standards of time are now employed by the various railroads in preparing their schedules of running time,” reported The New York Times on April 19, 1883.

In 1883, railroad representatives attended the General Railroad Time Convention. On April 11, railroad officials agreed to create five time zones in North America. And the new standard took effect on November 18, 1883.

Though the new time standard was not sanctioned by the federal government, the Naval Observatory in Washington offered to send, by telegraph, a new time signal so people could synchronize (同步) their watches. Most people had no objection to the new time standard. An article in The New York Times on November 16, 1883 noted, “The passenger from Chicago to New Orleans, can make the entire run without changing his watch.”

As the time change was instituted by the railroads, and voluntarily accepted by many towns and cities, some incidents of confusion appeared. A report in The Philadelphia Inquirer on November 21, 1883, described an incident where a debtor had been ordered to report to a Boston courtroom before 10:00. He appeared at 9:48, standard time, but was ruled that it was after 10:00.

Incidents like that demonstrated the need for everyone to adopt the new standard time. However, there were objections. An item in The New York Times on June 28, 1884, detailed how the city of Louisville had given up on standard time. Louisville set all its clocks ahead 18 minutes to return to solar time.

By the 1890s, standard time and time zones were accepted as ordinary. The successful adoption in the US in 1883 set an example of how time zones could spread across the globe. The following year, a conference in Paris created the time zones worldwide and eventually they came into use.

1. What was the headache of the railroad officers?

A．Various railroads.	B．Different solar times.
C．Endless conferences.	D．Frequent press coverage.

2. What does the underlined word “sanctioned” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Approved.	B．Replaced.
C．Tested.	D．Raised.

3. Evidence of opposition to standard time was available in __________.

A．The New York Times (April 19, 1883)

B．The New York Times (November 16, 1883)

C．The Philadelphia Inquirer (November 21, 1883)

D．The New York Times (June 28, 1884)

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The US simplified time zones.	B．Paris created its time zone.
C．Time zones went worldwide.	D．Time zones proved effective.

2 .

Letter 1 Your article (November) mentioned a doctor's visit for “heat and compression” treatment. I bought an inexpensive microwavable moist-heat eye compress online and use it for several minutes at bedtime to help open the oil glands. Plus, the warmth and ritual help me relax and fall asleep. No more messy washcloth compresses for me! —Julie Evans Minneapolis, Minnesota

Letter 2 The Quality Inn in Kodak, Tennessee, turning into a shelter during a historic winter storm showed so much kindness that I read the story twice (November). For Sean Patel to open his hotel to locals in need during the storm and power outage, at Christmastime and for just $25 (the lowest price the corporate regulations would allow), was priceless. The town is a better place because of Patel and his staff. —Annette Wolfe Shelton, Connecticut

Letter 3 You suggested using toothpicks to raise a pot lid and prevent the pot from boiling over (October). I prevent boilovers by just laying a wooden spoon over the open pot. The spoon will pop most of the bubbles on contact — hasn't failed me yet! —Pam Snellgrove LaGrange, Georgia

Letter 4 The story about a snorkeler, Carter Viss, who lost his arm after getting hit by a speedboat (October) — and then forgiving the driver — was among the most compelling I've ever read. Here was a story of health and loss, sea and shore, healing and the hope to endure out of the darkness into the light. Simply marvelous! —Leander Jones Northport, Alabama

1. Which of the following highlights Letter 1?

A．We Found a Fix.	B．Dealing with Dry Eye.
C．Run Over by a Speedboat.	D．So Nice You Have to Read It Twice.

2. Who forgave the driver after an accident?

A．Annette Wolfe.	B．Pam Snellgrove.
C．Carter Viss.	D．Leander Jones.

3. What do these four letters have in common?

A．They are notes on past issues.	B．They give advice on how to read.
C．They are remarks on human virtues.	D．They offer information about health.

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

It’s a beautiful sunny day. The Bonds boarded their boat for a carefree day trip to Dove Island for some fishing as a family custom. Thomas Bond, a 30-year-old construction worker, loved the sport, especially catching bass (鲈鱼) and had impressed on his oldest daughter, Lizzy, a love of the outdoors, teaching her how to bait (下诱饵) a hook and cast a line and brave the waves.

The family spent the day fishing in the vast ocean, and then left the island in the early evening. Upon setting off from the shore, they found thick fog rolling in. Lizzy fell into a light sleep beside her five-year-old sister, Molly, at a table on the boat’s lower deck (甲板). Their father’s sharp orders woke her up: “Get out of the boat. The boat’s sinking!” Lizzy pushed her sister into the cold, dark water. Both girls wore life jackets. The adults did not. The girls were followed by their mother, Petra Bond, who was expecting a baby at that time. Within seconds, the boat was damaged and was left just the tip of its bow in the air.

Looking into the faces of her father, mother, and sister, Lizzy wasn’t frightened. After some time, her father told them he would swim for help. “I’ll be back,” he said before disappearing into the darkness.

“Dad is like the superhero to me. I believe he will get help to rescue us,” Lizzy said to herself. After some time, her mother became quiet and stopped swimming. Lizzy wrapped a rope around her mother’s chest and tied her to the boat so she wouldn’t float away. Then her sister fell quiet too and she stayed beside her.

To keep herself awake, Lizzy daydreamed about what they would do after they were rescued. They would stay in a hotel, order room service, and lie comfortably under the blankets in bed, cozy and warm.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

After several hours, Lizzy heard her name called in the distance.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the coast, an ambulance was waiting for them.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Malat Leuth Wei, 25, loves being in the gym, flying across the court in a specialized wheelchair. The games are incredibly ______, with screeching (刺耳的) tires, crashing metal and the impressive teamwork and courage of the athletes ______.

Wei was born in what is now South Sudan and had polio (小儿麻痹症) at age 3. Worse still, his father went ______ during the civil wars leading to the country’s eventual independence in 2011. During those unsettled times, Wei and his mother ______ at a camp in Ethiopia, where Wei remembers crawling around on his arms on dirt roads before getting a ______. When he was 12, they moved to Houston.

He had a tough time ______ in the United States. It was quite late in his childhood to make such a huge move, and he was ______ in sixth grade despite knowing very little English. Some kids made fun of him, but a more ______ group introduced him to the ______ that would change the direction of his life.

Wei went to the park with all the children in the ______ to go play basketball with them. He was the only one ______ from a wheelchair. The fact that they actually treated him as equal and not somebody ______ turned out to be where everything started.

Wei ______ every opportunity to play and compete with them. “It means the world to me just to share my ______ with the world, of what I have accomplished in life, from where I came from, with ______, not knowing how to read or write English.” says Wei.

1.

A．easy

B．intense

C．complex

D．close

2.

A．in vain

B．in style

C．on display

D．on line

3.

A．missing

B．fighting

C．starving

D．begging

4.

A．wandered about

B．turned up

C．ended up

D．dropped by

5.

A．shelter

B．passport

C．walking-stick

D．wheelchair

6.

A．training

B．schooling

C．adjusting

D．travelling

7.

A．assigned

B．appointed

C．admitted

D．ranked

8.

A．inspiring

B．interesting

C．challenging

D．accepting

9.

A．legend

B．motto

C．sport

D．culture

10.

A．neighborhood

B．camp

C．city

D．country

11.

A．shooting

B．rising

C．chasing

D．kicking

12.

A．more

B．better

C．less

D．worse

13.

A．loses

B．treasures

C．deserts

D．doubts

14.

A．message

B．victory

C．emotion

D．failure

15.

A．everything

B．nothing

C．anything

D．something

5 . You improve your robot’s software by improving its software. Agrim Gupta of Stanford University, however, begs to differ. He thinks you can also improve a robot’s software by improving its hardware. He and his colleagues have invented a way of testing this idea.

They brought to their robots, unimals, the principles of evolution (进化) by natural selection. Unimals, with globes for heads and sticks for arms and legs, are software beings interacting with a virtual environment. The environments where they wandered were in three varieties: flat grounds, grounds with hills and steps, and ones that had the complexities of the second sort, but with added objects.

To begin with, the unimals were randomly assigned various shapes, but with identical software— derl. Newly created unimals learned to face the challenges in a virtual bootcamp. They were then entered into tournaments in groups. Each group winner was awarded one mutation (变异) —one extra arm or leg, or one extra turning in a joint. The new replaced the oldest unimal and then was assigned to a new group, and the process repeated. About 4,000 varieties of them underwent training.

The team were surprised by the diversity of shapes that evolved. Crucially, though, the researchers found the most successful unimals learned tasks in half the time their oldest ancestors had taken, and that those evolving in the toughest grounds were the most successful.

In this evolution of unimals’ morphology (形态) to promote the ability to learn, Dr Gupta sees a version of something called the Baldwin effect. In 1896 James Baldwin, a psychologist, argued that minds evolve to make the best use of the morphologies of the bodies. What Dr Gupta has shown, though in software, is that the opposite can also be true — changes in body morphology can improve the way minds work. Even though he held the software constant, it became more efficient at learning as the unimals’ bodies evolved.

Whether that discovery can be turned to account in the way robots are developed remains to be seen. But the way of testing is certainly an out-of-the-box idea.

1. How was the test conducted?

A．By promoting Unimals’ learning.	B．By adjusting the environments.
C．By proving the evolution theory.	D．By stimulating unimals’ mutation.

2. What turned out to be surprising in the test?

A．The number of trained unimals.	B．The decline in time for learning tasks.
C．The variety of evolved shapes.	D．The replacement of old unimals.

3. What can be concluded from the test?

A．Mind evolution affects body shaping.

B．Body changes better mind work.

C．Hardware changes do not impact software.

D．The discovery is useful in robot development.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to the finding?

A．Negative.	B．Objective.
C．Indifferent.	D．Approving.

6 . Often when we think of taking some time out and having a little R&R, the image that comes to mind is that of being very still with the aim of moving as little as possible. Rest, we have come to learn, means sitting down, putting our feet up and unburdening ourselves.

This is all good and well, and as a working mother of two, I completely appreciate the physical exhaustion that comes from standing for literally hours followed by the cool wave of relief that radiates from the soles of my feet upwards when I finally sit down. What better way to do that than a day spent doing nothing?

So why, then, do I still find myself exhausted in the evening? I’ve done hardly any physical activity at all, and how can I possibly be this tired? The answer, I realized, is down to the fact that I wasn’t getting enough cognitive rest. Surfing, texting and answering emails, engaging with people online, the news cycle and the endless worries, all of this can take place while a person is fully curled up on the sofa in pajamas. All these things inhibit us from receiving enough mental rest.

I caught up with CBT therapist Charlotte Luscombe who shared with me the importance of switching off mentally as well as physically. She explains, “We can be physically still and resting but that does not mean our bodies are in a relaxed state. Our minds can continue to race and can cause anxiety when doing so.”

And what suggestions does Charlotte have for busy-minded individuals like me? “Active rest,” She tells me, “activities that help you to engage your mind can help you to relax even if you are physically doing something, as this encourages cognitive rest. They can be yoga, walking, reading, coloring etc. Even doing something active with your mind engaged will be more restful than sitting down but worrying for hours.”

1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?

A．The manner of sitting.	B．The common sense of rest.
C．The definition of a still life.	D．The physical tiredness.

2. What does the underlined word “inhibit” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Protect.

B．Prevent.

C．Separate.

D．Save.

3. How can a busy-minded person stay more relaxed according to Charlotte?

A．Interacting online.	B．Doing nothing at home.
C．Focusing on reading.	D．Going to a therapist.

4. What would be the best title for this text?

A．How to Correctly Sit Down	B．How to Timely Deal with Worries
C．How to Properly Rest Your Brain	D．How to Fully Engage Your Mind

7 . According to Gelb, although not everyone is born with the gifts and the capacities of Leonardo Da Vinci, it is possible for any person to use the fundamentals of Da Vinci’s approach to learning to guide us toward the realization of our inner Da Vinci. One typical fundamental is curiosity. Curiosity is “The desire to know is natural to good men.” — Leonardo Da Vinci

The young Leonardo loved being in nature, showed an early gift for drawing and was fascinated by mathematics. Young Leonardo’s Curiosity regarding education and mathematics especially often raised constant unsureness and difficulties for the teachers who taught him and continuously proved them to be wrong. Most children have in them endless amounts of curiosity and sense of wonder. Unfortunately for multiple reasons these qualities are lost as children reach adulthood, not Leonardo though. Perhaps one of his greatest characteristics was his willingness to question accepted knowledge. Leonardo’s Curiosity never faded and fueled the lake of his genius for his entire life. Leonardo’s motives were not money, women or loyalty to any church or person. His pursuits were pure: the long search for beauty and above all: truth.

Leonardo would wonder around asking questions he did not himself yet understand. He always carried a notebook with himself so that he could quickly write down hundreds of questions, ideas, thoughts, impressions and observations as they occurred. He was expectant and reliant only upon himself to answer his own questions. Being modest, he was not afraid to make mistakes and appear foolish. Leonardo accepted the feelings of unfamiliarity and foolishness.

His questions led him to designing a snorkel (水下呼吸器) as well as diving equipment and even a submarine and also inventing flying machines and a parachute. His curiosity took him under the water and into the sky.

1. What does the underlined words “Da Vinci” refer to?

A．Potential.	B．Curiosity.
C．Honesty.	D．Motive.

2. What was most typical of the young Leonardo?

A．Educating kids.	B．Seeking for love.
C．Appreciating nature.	D．Questioning his teachers.

3. What can be learned about Leonardo’s sense of curiosity from the text?

A．It fooled himself.

B．It made him independent.

C．It inspired his whole life.

D．It disappeared in his adulthood.

4. Which saying can best reflect Leonardo Da Vinci?

A．An idle youth, a needy age.

B．First come, first served.

C．Stay hungry, stay foolish.

D．Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

8 . Most young people are always on their phones, which may upset many people. ___________, a group called Girl Scouts are receiving _________ for setting up their first walk-in clinic for elderly people, who have difficulty understanding how to ___________ the secrets of their smart phones.

Each teen spent at least an hour of one-on-one time with their oldsters. Based on their _________ knowledge, each Girl Scout was assigned to ___________ different aspects of Android and Apple phones.

Some of the oldsters actually wanted to take part in e-commerce (电子商务), and needed help to _________ a payment account on their smart phones while others simply had _________ when learning how to send messages to their family members. "I was teaching this older woman how to _________, and the first thing she did was to send a message to her daughter,” one of the Scouts said. “How ___________ it was! It just made me feel really, really happy.”

In addition to arranging group lessons for all of the seniors to ____________ together at the end of the clinic, the youngsters even printed out brochures and guides for the seniors to take home in case ____________ seniors would encounter problems with their smart phones in the future.

The eighth graders earned their “Silver Award,, for their job. After experiencing the ____________ of their project, the girls hope to organize more ____________ in the near future. “Those girls were just great,” said Nancy, a great-grandmother who once ____________ the clinic. “They were ready for us and had a very mature attitude about answering our questions, and they ______________ the praise.

1.

A．Otherwise

B．Therefore

C．However

D．Besides

2.

A．service

B．praise

C．invitation

D．donation

3.

A．keep

B．untie

C．share

D．unlock

4.

A．technological

B．medical

C．psychological

D．physical

5.

A．record

B．teach

C．recall

D．investigate

6.

A．get back

B．set up

C．check out

D．pay off

7.

A．patience

B．luck

C．fun

D．trouble

8.

A．write

B．phone

C．text

D．read

9.

A．sweet

B．simple

C．rare

D．common

10.

A．play

B．live

C．talk

D．review

11.

A．amazed

B．experienced

C．confused

D．respected

12.

A．success

B．arrangement

C．change

D．pressure

13.

A．performances

B．clinics

C．clubs

D．competitions

14.

A．organized

B．managed

C．visited

D．funded

15.

A．needed

B．refused

C．enjoyed

D．deserved

9 . Oscar Wilde once said, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Art provides a way to communicate experiences when people lack verbal skills.     1    Art therapy is founded on the assumption that everyone is creative and capable of self-expression.

    2     As a restorative practice, it allows people to express themselves in non-verbal ways, such as drawing and painting. Even a 45-minute creative activity can change a person's mental state. Working with an art therapist does even more:     3    

Young children typically draw and sing and dance without worrying about their abilities. Adults, however, often have complex feelings about art and art making. They begin to evaluate the quality of their art instead of focusing on self-expression itself.     4     However, art therapists can guide people in expressing themselves without concerning whether their artwork is technically brilliant, so that they can connect or reconnect with the artworks that help them deal with life challenges.

What are art therapists’ superpower? They can channel dangerous thoughts into imaginative artworks. For instance, people with violent tendencies might let out their anger by hitting another human being.     5     These artistic choices satisfy the brain's desire for novelty without compromising personal safety.

A．Art therapy is a double-edged sword.

B．Thus, the many benefits of creative self-expression are lost.

C．They develop art as an expressive skill for solving problems.

D．But, obviously, releasing their anger in this way isn't a good choice.

E．Art therapy, in its own ways, can influence a range of human functioning.

F．It can significantly enhance positive moods and boost measures of well-being.

G．However, with art therapists’ help, their energy could be changed into creative products.

10 . The robots are alive, and now they can reproduce.

That’s not a continuation to “The Terminator” It's the latest result of research among scientists at Harvard and the University of Vermont. These xenobots, named for the African frog Xenopus laevis, could move around and display collective behavior.

The researchers took stem cells (干细胞) from the skin of frog and put them in salt water, where they came together into balls with a covering of cilia, which are similar to small hairs and enable the organisms (生物体) to move. The scientists noticed that these organisms, xenobots, would collect any particles (粒子) placed in the dish to make piles. They started to wonder whether the tiny robots would do the same thing with individual stem cells, so they conducted a test.

Knowing that xenobots5 shapes affect their behavior, the researchers tried to figure out which form would help the organism to reproduce repeatedly. They discovered that a “C” shape seemed to be the best. The C-shaped xenobots gathered individual stem cells into groups, which became xenobots of their own. This type of reproduction is based on the organisms’ movement, rather than growing and then forming a new being as other animals and plants do.

Xenobots are on an unusual line between living organisms and robots. They are organisms because they are made of stem cells and can reproduce. But they are also robots because they can move on their own and perform physical labor. Although most robots are made of metal, robots are given the definition not by their material, but by what they can do.

Before now, Kriegman, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, said, “no one has been using living materials as self-moving, self-powered robots.” The researchers hope that the xenobots can help them better understand the process of reproduction —a fundamental quality of life —and how to control it. Faced with a world full of self-reproducing problems, such as Covid-19, Kriegman said studying xenobots could lead scientists closer to solutions.

1. What inspired the researchers to perform an experiment?

A．The position of particles.	B．The gathering of stem cells.
C．The movement of organisms.	D．The collective ability of xenobots.

2. What is special about the C-shaped xenobots reproduction?

A．It's repeated constantly.	B．It generates new beings.
C．It separates individual stem cells.	D．It's based on xenobots’ motion.

3. How are xenobots defined as robots?

A．By their function.	B．By their reproduction.
C．By their unique component.	D．By their physical appearance.

4. What can be inferred about the research from the last paragraph?

A．It could make a breakthrough.	B．It would bring scientists closer.
C．It could find the secret of reproduction.	D．It would discover the solution to Covid-19.