1 . If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter density (灰质密度). This is the area of the brain which processes (加工) information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles. The study also found the younger people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London (UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists. It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible.” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learnt English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.
1. Why does the writer mention “exercise” in the second paragraph?| A．To make people believe language learning is helpful for their health. |
| B．To suggest language learning is also a kind of physical labor. |
| C．To prove that one needs more resources when he/she is learning a language. |
| D．To tell us that learning a language can train your brain effectively. |
| A．The ability of learning a second language is changing all the time. |
| B．The earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is. |
| C．The experience of learning a second language has a bad effect on brain. |
| D．There is no difference between a later second language learner and one without a second language. |
| A．early learning of a second language helps in studying other subjects |
| B．learning a second language is the same as studying maths |
| C．Italian is the best choice for you as a second language |
| D．you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language |
| A．Language learning is closely connected with maths study. |
| B．Man has a great ability of learning a second language. |
| C．Studying a foreign language can improve man’s ability to think. |
| D．The study done by the researchers from UCL is failed finally. |
2 . When Antonio Gwynn Jr. saw the rubbish from a parade (巡游) in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, he picked up a broom, bought some trash bags and started cleaning the streets by himself.
Gwynn is an 18-year-old high school senior. He started at 2 a.m. on Monday and didn’t stop cleaning for the next 10 hours. He told CNN that he “knew people needed to use that street to get to work in the morning.”
When word spread of how Gwynn single-handedly took action, his community responded. Matt Block saw Gwynn’s story on the news and decided to give him his 2004 red Mustang convertible (敞篷汽车). Block, 27, said the car is one he wanted since he was a child, but these days he is only using it occasionally. He saw Gwynn ask for some car buying advice on Facebook, and Matt decided to offer up his sports car.
It turns out that gift has more meaning than Block ever imagined. Gwynn’s mother, who passed away last year, also drove a red Mustang. When he realized the coincidence, Gwynn says that he was so shocked he “didn’t have any words.”
After high school, Gwynn had planned to go to trade school while saving up to go to college. Upon hearing Gwynn’s story, Medaille College in Buffalo offered him a full scholarship where he plans to study business starting this fall. One of his many goals is to open a cleaning business.
This is the first time Gwynn received this type of recognition for his good deeds, but this is not the first time he stepped up to help others. He is a member of Kappa Phi where he enjoys doing community service, and he helps out at churches.
Gwynn is thankful for the community response, saying, “I appreciate everything everyone is doing for me.”
1. Why did Gwynn clean the street?| A．He dropped a lot of rubbish there. | B．He liked to help people. |
| C．He wanted to get paid by cleaning. | D．He had a cleaning business. |
| A．From social media. | B．By asking him directly. |
| C．From his own experience. | D．By reading the news. |
| A．Stubborn. | B．Honest. | C．Generous. | D．Warm-hearted. |
| A．A good beginning is half done. | B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．A good turn deserves another. | D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
3 . It is generally assumed that one can’t have too many friends. But it seems that there is a natural limit to the number of people we stay in touch with. A study found that when we make new friends, by starting a new job or going to university, we downgrade or even drop old ones. And while the friends may change, the number stays almost the same.
Oxford University researcher Felix Reed-Tsochas asked 24 students in the final months of school to list all their friends and relatives and say how close to them they were. The pupils filled in the questionnaire (问卷) twice more after starting work or going to university. They were also given free mobile phones and agreed that researchers could use their bills to work out who they called, when and for how long.
Putting the two pieces of information together showed, unsurprisingly, that most people have a small circle of close friends, who they spend most of their time talking to. This inner circle is surrounded by group after group of ever more distant friends. As the volunteers’ lives changed, this overall pattern, including the number of best friends, remained almost the same, meaning that some close friends from childhood were dropped or downgraded as new friendships were built.
Dr Reed-Tsochas said, “Maybe my best friend is no longer the same person but the amount of time I allocate (分配) to my best friend is still the same.” He added that this finding suggests that even with the coming of modern technology we are only capable of forming a limited number of true friendships.
Chester University researcher Dr Sam Roberts said, “Our results are likely to reflect limitations in the ability of humans to keep emotionally close relationships both because of limited time and because the emotional capital (情绪资本) that individuals can allocate between family members and friends is limited.”
1. According to Paragraph 1, what is a popular belief about making friends?| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | B．We should treat friends as our family. |
| C．The more friends we make, the better. | D．A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. |
| A．Checking the volunteers’ call records. | B．Learning about the volunteers’ hobbies. |
| C．Tracking the volunteers’ job performance. | D．Interviewing the volunteers’ schoolmates. |
| A．One’s attitude to friendship remains the same. |
| B．People attach great importance to friendships. |
| C．People rarely drop their old friends to make new ones. |
| D．The number of one’s best friends doesn’t change much. |
| A．To add background information. | B．To give a possible explanation. |
| C．To offer some suggestions. | D．To introduce a new topic. |
1.写信目的；
2.自身优势；
3.服务承诺。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：第9届亚洲冬季运动会the 9th Asian Winter Games
Dear Sir/Madam,
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Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
5 . National Parks in Utah
Zion National Park
It’s perfect for scenic drives and outdoor adventures. One of the park highlights is the Zion Canyons, which offers different hiking (远足) opportunities. Late spring or early fall is the best time to visit Zion National Park, since most facilities are open during this time. However, if you don’t mind cold weather, visit during the late fall and winter.
Bryce Canyon National Park
It’s home to the greatest number of hoodoos (石林) on earth, which are one of the natural wonders of the world. You can see most of Bryce Canyon’s highlights in one day by taking the scenic drive and making stops at various views. Most people visit the park between May and September since the weather is warmer.
Canyonlands National Park
Although it’s the 23rd largest National Park in the US, Canyonlands is the largest out of the four national parks in Utah. The best time of the year to visit is when the weather is pleasant in the spring and fall. The park has four main parts: The Maze, Island in the Sky, The Needles, and Horseshoe Canyon. If you plan to visit every part, you can go on a boat tour to explore it.
Arches National Park
Known as a red-rock wonderland, Arches National Park is popular for its stone arches (石拱).The park has over 2,000 stone arches, with Landscape Arch the largest. The park is busiest from March through October. However, the spring and fall temperatures are the most comfortable. So, the best time to visit is April, May, September and October.
1. When is the best time to visit Zion National Park?| A．Late spring. | B．Early summer. | C．Late fall. | D．Early winter. |
| A．It features hike programs. | B．It is known for stone arches. |
| C．It is the largest one in Utah. | D．It requires advance bookings. |
| A．Take a journey down a river. | B．Explore the Zion Canyons. |
| C．Tour Island in the Sky. | D．Admire the red rock. |
6 . Some Winter Activities
Winter activities are underestimated (低估). The days may be shorter, but the list of fun activities isn’t. Don’t let the winter blues take over.
Finding your favourite.
Walking on snow.
Skiing. Those that love it really love it. Hitting the ski hills is an old wintertime tradition. It gets you outside, boosts your mood, and serves as a core workout. You don’t need the latest gear (设备) to be able to have fun.
| A．Go to the gym. |
| B．Learning something. |
| C．Most ski fields rent gear too. |
| D．Be active and try these winter activities. |
| E．The following are things you can do at home. |
| F．You needn’t be an athlete to enjoy this seasonal activity. |
| G．The key to keeping healthy is finding what you enjoy doing. |
7 . After graduation, I decided to take the gym seriously. Accompanied by a friend, I
One day, he suggested that we
But several weeks later, he managed to
“We’re not getting enough
“Tennis? I can’t play tennis! That
However, weeks later, I started playing tennis. After several months of
I learned a valuable
| A．quit | B．changed | C．started | D．designed |
| A．confident | B．familiar | C．careful | D．satisfied |
| A．take up | B．focus on | C．make up | D．check in |
| A．admired | B．supported | C．revised | D．refused |
| A．remind | B．persuade | C．attract | D．request |
| A．wanted | B．imagined | C．scheduled | D．arranged |
| A．fluent | B．skillful | C．curious | D．impressive |
| A．movement | B．adventure | C．exercise | D．time |
| A．includes | B．requires | C．improves | D．explores |
| A．suggestion | B．strategy | C．behaviour | D．goal |
| A．hopeful | B．careful | C．painful | D．harmful |
| A．obviously | B．formally | C．actually | D．finally |
| A．lecture | B．message | C．lesson | D．responsibility |
| A．flash | B．follow | C．narrow | D．contact |
| A．positive | B．calm | C．confused | D．interested |
(1)你推荐的城市；
(2)推荐的理由（不少于两条）；
(3)美好祝愿。
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1. 时间和地点；
2. 剪纸艺术展览的目的和意义等。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Mike,
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Yours,
Li Hua
10 . With a relatively small population, pandas are not out of the woods or the bamboo forest just yet. The biggest threat to the wild panda population is habitat loss. And while around 34%0f its wild habitat is protected, these areas are still vulnerable to natural disasters, such as wildfires. To protect panda habitat, the Digital Panda System, developed by the Sichuan Forest and Grassland Administration and Chinese technology giant Huawei, was used effectively across forest and grasslands in Sichuan Province
The instant reporting system helps to detect wildfires in hard-to-reach areas, alerting fire departments so they can react quickly, as well as monitoring wildlife. Meanwhile, another smart technology-facial recognition could help identify individual pandas more accurately. Each panda has a unique facial structure and hair pattern. To the human eye, their fur-covered faces all look the same, but computer programs are able to distinguish the differences.
The system collects data from over 600 cameras, drones (无人机) and satellites, which it stores in the cloud. Researchers use this data to monitor, track and study wildlife as well as detect wildfire hotspots. Because the cameras are used in remote areas where there is little or no electricity, the system is solar-powered and uses microwave transmission (传送), which doesn’t require cables (电缆).
The system assists 140,000 forest rangers, grassland managers, conservationists and researchers in Sichuan. In its first five months of operations, it detected 651 wildfire hotspots, reducing forest fires by 71.6% compared to the same period the previous year.
Despite its name, the Digital Panda System offers protection to more than just pandas. The system covers the Sichuan section of the newly established Giant Panda National Park. The park is home to most of China’s 1800 wild pandas along with a further 8,000 animal and plant species. In the future, the digital panda system could be extended across the sections of the national park that lie in Shanxi and Gansu provinces, creating more success stories for other endangered species.
1. Why was the Digital Panda System built?| A．To record wildlife population. |
| B．To protect wild pandas from losing habitat. |
| C．To increase forest and grassland coverage. |
| D．To provide pandas with more bamboos as food. |
| A．Computer programs identify pandas by size. |
| B．The data collected is mainly stored in cameras. |
| C．Smart technology plays an important role in its operation. |
| D．The system fails to collect data in areas without access to electricity. |
| A．To prove the effectiveness of the system. |
| B．To show the various functions of system. |
| C．To illustrate the data collection process of the program. |
| D．To compare the advantages and disadvantages of the system. |
| A．The system aims at saving pandas only. |
| B．The system has already gone into service nationwide. |
| C．The system is likely to benefit other animals facing extinction. |
| D．The system offers protection to all the species in Sichuan Province. |
