1 . Ugandan student’s study and adaptation of traditional Chinese craft helps build bridges through art. With its balanced, rounded pot and cups, the tea set seems like Chinese ceramic (陶瓷) at first glance. But closer inspection of its pattern reveals an ancient Ugandan design. “My projects always aim to join some aspects of Chinese and Ugandan culture together,” says the tea set’s creator, Ocen Robert.

In 2015, Robert arrived in China from the East African nation to pursue a higher education in ceramic arts at Jingdezhen Ceramic University in East China’s Jiangxi province. The Ugandan is enrolled in a PhD program focusing on design, with his art pieces sold at national-level exhibitions in China.

He says, “I love it here not only because of its safety, but the raw materials and the production techniques for ceramics here are also among the best in the world.” During his time in China, Robert was given many opportunities to participate in ceramic production, exhibitions and even access to experts — all helping to grow the space where he could express his creativity.

To deepen his understanding and passion for traditional Chinese culture, Robert spends most of his free time in local museums’ culture and history sections. He also gets to know Chinese professionals inside and outside the ceramic world. “I would love to solidify my career as an artist here while helping to link Uganda and China,” Robert says.

“Ugandans are thankful, curious, and passionate about Chinese culture. I would love to introduce the artists back home to study and create ceramic artworks in China and promote them to the world.”

Robert says, “To be a modern artist in Chinese ceramics, one needs to comprehend the full flow of production, which requires years of practice and learning.” One of the most challenging areas of creating his pieces involves creating the “ideal shape and thickness”. He says “I fail at times, but I always practice and try again and again.” Robert has attained the essential spirit of Chinese ceramic arts — accepting and integrating the differences.

1. What is the goal of Robert’s art projects?

A．To promote traditional Chinese ceramics in Uganda.

B．To combine elements of Chinese and Ugandan culture.

C．To compete in the international exhibitions.

D．To restore and preserve ancient Ugandan arts.

2. What does the underlined part “is enrolled in” mean in paragraph 2?

A．joins

B．entitles

C．declares

D．extends

3. What words can best describe Robert?

A．Creative and perseverant.	B．Kind and knowledgeable.
C．Humorous and passionate.	D．Courageous and intelligent.

2 . We were sitting in the doctor’s waiting room when my father said something that ________ me. “Are you my daughter or my sister?” My heart broke as I stared at him.

The doctor told us my father had Alzheimers (阿尔茨海默病). It was a big ________ for me. I was facing a battle on two fronts, emotional and physical, and I was ________for it. The disease didn’t take him away suddenly. Instead, it slowly ________him. It made me sad to watch my father hide his _______ to read the clock.

As the disease continued to progress, his behaviors became ________. We had to face another painful truth — we could no longer provide my father with the level of ________to keep him safe at home. He ________ to move to a skilled nursing facility.

Babies are born helpless; parents keep on ________. Children grow up and learn that relationships are reciprocal (相互的). However, the parent-child relationship isn’t ________. The parents remain the giver, and the children remain the taker. That is the natural order of the world — ________the child becomes the parents’ caregiver.

When a(n)________appears, we can do something to change the fact.________my father is alive and taken good care of in the nursing home. If he can ________ the illness, then I can make it. I will give him everything he deserves to have as a great father. And we will be _______with a bright future by doing our best.

1.

A．disappointed

B．shocked

C．delighted

D．satisfied

2.

A．chance

B．goal

C．challenge

D．plan

3.

A．ready

B．brave

C．unsuitable

D．unprepared

4.

A．took hold of

B．got rid of

C．paid attention to

D．got used to

5.

A．unhappiness

B．inability

C．courage

D．power

6.

A．normal

B．regular

C．strange

D．patient

7.

A．care

B．advice.

C．intention.

D．trust

8.

A．expected

B．refused

C．feared

D．needed

9.

A．complaining

B．wondering

C．explaining

D．giving

10.

A．following

B．connecting

C．changing

D．spreading

11.

A．since

B．if

C．although

D．until

12.

A．mistake

B．problem

C．mission

D．object

13.

A．Obviously

B．Universally

C．Fortunately

D．Generally

14.

A．get through

B．learn from

C．turn down

D．make out

15.

A．provided

B．presented

C．rewarded

D．responded

3 . Named “America’s Finest City” due to its hospitality, beauty and ideal climate, San Diego is located on the border with Mexico. The residents are so active outdoors that it is called “Sportstown, the U.S.A.”. San Diego’s 70 miles of beaches are a heaven for swimmers, surfers, divers, boaters and sunbathers. Another favourite outside activity is golf. With 100 courses (about 50 of them public), San Diego is a golfers’ paradise. Many San Diego residents came here first as tourists, who were attracted by San Diego’s sunny beaches, nearby mountains and deserts, plus the cultural delights of any big city. The world-famous San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld Adventure Park, Wild Animal Park, museums and other attractions attract visitors from around the world.

The zoo is home to some 4,000 animals, including the world’s largest group of parrots. Animals are displayed in natural settings, and there is a petting zoo for children. By contrast, the Wild Animal Park is a wildlife preserve with an area of over 2,000 acres and more than 3,000 free-roaming (自由漫步的) animals in natural habitats.

In addition to housing the zoo, Balboa Park is home to several museums and attractions, including an aerospace museum, an art and history museum, the Old Globe Theatre, science museums and even a railroad museum. Free concerts are offered frequently. Another popular attraction is the SeaWorld, a 190-acre marine park.

San Diego’s varied attractions, as well as its business climate, offer many opportunities for students to explore the local culture, meet people from around the world, and gain business experience. At San Diego State University, for example, students in the American Language Institute’s study tour program learn English both in the classroom and while sightseeing.

1. What do the residents of San Diego probably like to do?

A．Have sports outdoors.	B．Travel to other places.
C．Stay at home.	D．Stay outdoors all day.

2. Why do many San Diego residents come to settle down here?

A．Because it is more convenient to live here.

B．Because they are attracted by its beauty and culture.

C．Because they can make money from tourism here.

D．Because it is a quiet place to enjoy themselves.

3. Which of the following most attracts children?

A．The SeaWorld Adventure park.	B．The art and history museum.
C．The petting zoo.	D．The Old Globe Theatre.

5 . Science fiction pioneer and writer Wu Yan won the National Outstanding Children’s literature Award for his latest work China Orbit. The book focuses on the development of the Chinese aerospace industry, and it was inspired by the planning and preparation for China’s first but canceled manned spacecraft, “Shuguang 1”, also known as Project 714, during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“I collected many historical documents and stories and started writing decades ago, Wu remembered. Partly based on Wu’s own experiences in the 1970s, the book is a combination of reality and fiction, and in some ways his own memoir (传记) was added into the science fiction. This innovative and unique writing method makes the book stand out and has even stirred up a debate on how to categorize it. Is it science fiction, popular science, children’s literature, or aerospace literature?

His fellow science fiction writer Liu Cixin, author of The Three-Body Problem, sees it more deeply, and believes China Orbit is not really children’s science fiction or popular science. He thinks it is too complicated to be classed under a single category. He speaks highly of China Orbit as a unique science fiction novel that vividly shows a child’s real-life experience in a military of a specific era.

In Wu’s opinion, China is a big market for children’s science fiction, but it still lacks extraordinary works. He warned people not to try to earn quick money from it after The Three-BodyProblem frenzy (狂热) and movie blockbuster (轰动) The Wondering Earth because Chinese science fiction still has a long way to go. We need to build Chinese science fiction step by step, with an accumulation of really great works. We need to innovate, and treat it as part of building China’s new culture.

1. What is the book China Orbit mainly about?

A．The space industry in China.

B．The introduction to Project 714.

C．Stories about Chinese outstanding astronauts.

D．Preparations for China’s first manned spacecraft.

2. What is Wu’s approach to writing China Orbit?

A．He organizes the writing by time.

B．He tells the story in the form of debate.

C．He focuses on creating the role of children.

D．He combines his personal experiences with fiction.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．China Obit has great commercial value.

B．Chinese science movies are of poor quality.

C．Innovation is crucial to Chinese science fiction.

D．Wu Yan is disappointed at the Chinese film market.

6 . If you think of the jobs robots could never do, you would probably put doctors and teachers at the top of the list. It’s easy to imagine robot cleaners and factory workers, but some jobs need human connection and creativity. But are we underestimating (低估) what robots can do?     1     Also, some patients might feel more comfortable sharing personal information with a machine than a person.    2    

British education expert Anthony Seldon thinks so. And he even has a date for the robot takeover of the classroom: 2027.     3     And teachers will be like assistants. Intelligent robots will read students’ facial expressions, body movements and maybe even brain signals. Then they will adapt the information to each student. It’s not a popular opinion and it’s unlikely robots will ever have empathy (同感) and the ability to really connect with humans like another human can.

One thing is certain, though.     4     In some parts of the world, there aren’t enough teachers and 9-16 percent of children under the age of 14 don’t go to school. That problem could be partly solved by robots because they can teach anywhere.

Teachers all over the world are leaving because it is a difficult job and they feel overworked. Perhaps the question is not “Will robots replace teachers?” but “How can robots help teachers?” Office workers can use software to do things.     5     If robots could cut the time teachers spend marking homework and writing reports, teachers would have more time and energy for the parts of the job humans do best.

A．Teachers can be replaced by robots.

B．A robot teacher is better than no teacher at all.

C．Teachers waste a lot of time doing non-teaching work.

D．He predicts robots will do the main job of transferring information.

E．Could there be a place for robots in education after all?

F．Robots can save time that teachers spend in teaching in classroom.

G．In some cases, they already perform better than doctors at diagnosing (诊断) illness.

7 . Each year, the world loses about 10 million hectares of forest—at area about the size of Iceland — because of cutting down trees. At that rate, some scientists predict the world’s forests could disappear in 100 to 200 years. To handle it, now researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have pioneered a technique to generate wood-like plant materials sin a lab. This makes it possible to “grow” a wooden product without cutting down trees.

In the lab, the researchers first take cells from the leaves of a young plant. These cells are cultured in liquid medium for two days, then moved to another medium which contains nutrients and two different hormones (激素). By adjusting the bormone levels, the researchers can tune the physical and mechanical qualities of the cells: New the researchers use a 3D printer to shape the cell-based material, and let the shaped material grow in the dark for three months. Finally, the researchers dehydrate (使脱水) the material, and then evaluate its qualities.

They found that lower bormone levels lead to plant materials with more rounded, open cells of lower density (密度), while higher hormone levels contribute to the growth of plant materials with smaller but denser cell structures. Lower or higher density of cell structures makes the plant materials softer or more rigid, helping the materials grow with different wood-like characteristics. What’s more, it’s to be noted that the research process is about 100 times faster than the time it takes for a tree to grow to maturity!

Research of this kind is ground-breaking. “This work demonstrates the great power of a technology,” says lead researcher, Jeffrey Berenstab. “The real opportunity here is to be at its best with what you use and how you use it. This technology can be tuned to meet the requirements you give about shapes, sizes, rigidity, and forms. It enables us to grow’ any wooden product in a way that traditional agricultural methods can’t achieve.”

1. Why do researchers at MIT perform the research?

A．To grow more trees.	B．To reduce tree losses.
C．To protect plant diversity.	D．To predict forest disappearance.

2. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about the lab research?

A．Its scientific origins.	B．Its theoretical basis
C．Its usual difficulties.	D．Its main processes

3. What does the finding suggest about the plant materials?

A．They are better than naturally grown plants.

B．Their growth speed determines their characteristics.

C．The hormone levels affect their rigidity.

D．Their cells’ shapes mainly rely on their density.

4. Why is the research path-breaking according to Berenstain?

A．It uses new biological materials in lab experiments.

B．It has a significant impact on worldwide plant growth.

C．It revolutionizes the way to make wooden products.

D．It challenges traditional scientific theories in forestry.

10 . As a boy, I knew little about baseball. Yet I later became the father of two boys, Will and Tim, who were both interested in baseball. On Saturday mornings, I’d take Will out to the playground and play catch with him. Because of my weak arm, the ball often dropped before he could catch it. After many misses, he said one day, “How am I ever going to make the major leagues (联盟)?” “You have the wrong dad, kid,” I thought. Baseball isn’t my thing.

Still, I wanted to give my kids confidence on the field. There was an official Little League in our area, but it was super-competitive and only catered to older boys. I really hoped we had something less competitive, something that welcomed younger boys and girls.

I shared the idea with some neighbors. “That would be great!” they said. Now who could organize such a thing? Not me. I tried to put the idea aside, but it wouldn’t leave me. I finally decided that I must do something about it. So I called the city government, explaining that some families wanted to start a baseball league in our neighborhood. Were there any fields for that? When I had to speak to the official in charge, I got butterflies in my stomach. What if he said no? “Yes, we have two fields for four hours every Sunday morning,” the man said hearing my request. Our league was founded. What a joy it was to sit on the benches, watching Will and Tim playing baseball! And I became the most unlikely baseball commissioner (专员) ever.

Many years have passed. Now Will and Tim are new dads, and I can’t want to see what they’ll have to do. I know better than anyone: Parenthood calls you to do the most unlikely things.

1. Why did the author think his son Will had the wrong father?

A．He had poor baseball skills.

B．He had no confidence in his son.

C．He wouldn’t play catch with his son.

D．He didn’t know what his son’s dream was.

2. How did the author probably feel while talking to the official?

A．Confident.

B．Peaceful.

C．Nervous.

D．Proud.

3. What does the author want to stress in the text?

A．The need to challenge oneself.

B．The greatness of parental love.

C．The role of sports in kids’ growth.

D．The relationship between parents and kids.