1 . A company called Compass Pools has some good news for height and swimming enthusiasts.Recently，the company announced their novel design—a first of its kind 360­degree pool which is set to be placed on a skyscraper in London.The Infinity London will be the first and only building in the world to include this cutting­edge pool design.The pool will be laid on top of a 55­story skyscraper and will allow people to float over 200 meters above the London skyline with unobstructed(没有障碍的) views of the city.

The entrance to the pool is hidden.People began to raise questions about how anyone would get inside the pool.Compass Pools explains：“Swimmers will access the pool through a rotating spiral(螺旋形的) staircase based on the door of a submarine，rising from the pool floor when someone wants to get in or out.”

But that is not the only unique technology of the pool.The designers found a way to make sure the wind doesn't blow the water down to the streets.They included a built­in anemometer(风力计) to monitor the wind speed.It is linked to a computer­controlled building management system which will also take care of the temperature of the water.

Alex Kemsley promises that this unique pool will surpass everyone's expectations.“It's quite a strange feeling to swim in the SkyPool at The Shard and have helicopters flying past at your level but this pool takes it a step further，”he says.“Putting your goggles(游泳镜) on and with a 360­degree view of London from 220m up，it really will be something else—but it's definitely not one for the acrophobic(恐高的)！”

While the exact date of the construction is not clear yet，if things go well，it may begin in 2022.The location has yet to be confirmed too.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．The Infinity London is the only building to swim in.

B．Swimmers can enjoy the views of London in the pool.

C．The pool is located on the first floor of a skyscraper.

D．Compass Pools has built many 360­degree pools in the world.

2. What does the underlined word“that” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．How to get a view of London.

B．How to monitor the wind speed.

C．How to get into or out of the pool.

D．How to keep the water in the pool.

3. Who might not be suitable to swim in the SkyPool?

A．People who enjoy flying.

B．People who lose weight.

C．People who fear heights.

D．People who have poor sight.

4. What can we know about the SkyPool at The Shard?

A．It is not certain when people can swim in it.

B．The exact location of the construction is clear.

C．Swimmers can expect its designs easily.

D．It's impossible to monitor the temperature of the water.

2 . As scientists probe(探究) the mysteries inside our heads, their discoveries are proving new insights into how we can all sharpen our mental machinery.

Your brain is fat

In fact, you brain is the fattiest organ in your body, consisting of a minimum of 60 percent fat. Fat carries, absorbs and stores vitamins in your bloodstream.    1    .

We can get smarter as we get older

Rawan Tarawneh, an assistant professor, points out that although some mental processes decline as we age, not all does.    2    , On the other hand, language functions tend to remain well preserved as we get older, peaking even into our early 70s.

    3    

Comparing the brains of great thinkers, writers, and mathematicians hasn’t yielded conclusive evidence that the size of the brain has a connection to intelligence.

Intelligence might start with ignoring distractions

Intelligent people were better at detecting movements of small objects on a screen but worse at movements of large background objects. This may be because in nature, large movements such as the wind in the trees are irrelevant, but the harder-to-see animals is essential.    4    

    5    

For example, experiments have shown that people who were born blind use the visual parts of their brains for tasks other than seeing.

A．Fat is essential for brain.

B．In our information-laden world, focusing on only what’s important may give some people an edge (优势).

C．The close connection between brain’s size and intelligence.

D．It also helps the immune system function properly.

E．You brain can adapt itself.

F．Some of our brain functions, such as short term memory show some decline with aging.

G．Bigger isn’t necessarily better.

3 . As the commercialization of 5G accelerates in China, more companies are exploring what smart cities will look like in the 5G times.

US chip giant Intel Corp, for instance, is teaming up with partners such as China Unicom to build a 5G smart park in Nanjing, to offer a peek into the future of such smart cities.

The future smart city must be data-centric (以数据为中心) and intelligently interconnected. So how to better capture, transmit, store and analyze data will be the center of the future. Intel’s advantages can be found in its hardware and software solutions which can meet demands of multiple scenarios (多情景分析). The company will be devoted to opening cooperation, creating an innovative ecology and working with partners to create an intelligent future.

The company’s project, the Future Technological Smart Center in Nanjing, aims to gather a wide range of domestic and foreign partners around artificial intelligence, internet of things, 5G, cloud computing and other technological innovations to explore what future cities will look like. Intel said the Nanjing project is designed to build industry benchmarks, implement excellent solutions, and offer experience for the construction of smart cities and parks in the Yangtze River Delta region and even the entire country.

A Deloitte report said that China has already included the smart city initiative in its national strategy and made significant investments in these projects.

Both first-tier cities and small and medium-sized cities are home to smart city projects. The nation has formed many smart city groups across the eastern and southern coastal areas of China, Deloitte said.

Deloitte senior partner Ma Jionglin said in an earlier interview that China is one of the most active countries in the world in building smart cities. With advances in urban management and the increasing emphasis on the work and lifestyle of people, smart cities will be entering a new stage of development.

1. Why is the US Intel company mentioned?

A．To show Intel is a high technical company.

B．To accelerate 5G commercialization in China.

C．To offer a peek into the future of such smart cities.

D．To prove many companies are exploring 5G smart cities.

2. How will Intel Corp create an intelligent future?

A．Through intelligent interconnection.

B．Through the help of foreign partners.

C．Through teamwork and innovative ecology.

D．Through advanced hardware and software technology.

3. What’s Ma Jionglin’s attitude towards building smart cities in China?

A．Negative.

B．Positive.

C．Critical.

D．Indifferent.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The construction process of smart cities.

B．Intel’s exploration to build smart cities in China.

C．Chinese national strategy and investments on smart cities.

D．China’s leading role in building 5G technology in the world.

4 . Have you ever been to a music festival? Well if you live in the UK, the answer is probably yes. The number of festivals has grown greatly over the last few years and now there are around 200 every summer. So let’s look at the history of four famous festivals.

The Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary(当代的) performing arts held most years in Somerset, in the south-west of England. There are a rock and pop stage, a jazz stage, the Avalon stage, a theatre comedy stage, a cinema tent, a dance tent and a circus(马戏团). The festival started in1970and about 120,000 people go to it every summer.

The Reading Festival is truly world-class with rock and pop bands(乐队) appearing from all over the world, particularly(尤其) the USA. About 80,000 music fans go to Reading every August Bank Holiday. The festival first came to its present site on the banks of the River Thames in Reading in 1971, when it moved from Plumpton in Sussex. It is still on the same site over 47 years later!

WOMAD stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance and was the idea of rock musician Peter Gabriel to promote(宣传) world music. The WOMAD Festival started in 1982 and takes place in July at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, and you can see different bands and musicians from all over the world. The festival welcomes over 26, 000 visitors each year.

The one-day Monsters of Rock Festival at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes was first held in 1980 and gave visitors the chance to hear the very best of hard rock and heavy metal. There were no festivals between 1996 and 2003 as a result of changing musical fashions, but now it has returned and grown into a two-day festival with a campsite for the 30,000 people who go there in summer days.

1. Which festival draws the largest number of fans every year?

A．The Reading Festival.	B．The WOMAD Festival.
C．The Glastonbury Festival.	D．The Monsters of Rock Festival.

2. What can we learn about the Reading Festival?

A．It mainly attracts rock music fans.

B．It is especially popular with local bands.

C．It is named after the place where it is held.

D．It has been held in the same site since it started.

3. What do the four festivals have in common?

A．All last five days.	B．All are held in the summer.
C．All take place every year.	D．All are held near the River Thames.

5 . A young man was one day taking a walk with his professor, who was well-known for his kindness to everyone. As they went along, they saw a pair of old ____, which belonged to a poor man who had almost____ his day’s work on the field.

The student ____ to the professor, saying: “Let us play the man a ____; we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those trees, and wait to see his ____ when he can not find them.”

“My young friend” answered the professor, “we should never do it at the ____ of the poor man. Please put a coin into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery ____ him.”

The student ____so, and they both hid behind the trees close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came to the place ____ he had left his coat and shoes. While____ on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes; but feeling something hard, he ____ down to see what it was, and found the____. An expression of ____ was seen upon his face. He looked at the coin, turned it round, and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and ____to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding ____ coin. His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and ____, and his children without bread, whom the timely help, from some unknown hand, would save from starving.

The student stood there ____affected(受打动), and his eyes filled with tears. “Now”, said the professor, “are you not much more ____ than if you had played your trick?”

The youth answered, “You have taught me a ____ which I will never forget. I feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before: “It is more blessed to give than to ____.”

1.

A．trousers

B．shoes

C．coats

D．coin

2.

A．finished

B．started

C．begun

D．left

3.

A．came

B．arrived

C．turned

D．reached

4.

A．fun

B．fool

C．laugh

D．trick

5.

A．happiness

B．pleasure

C．excitement

D．anxiety

6.

A．end

B．cost

C．beginning

D．age

7.

A．goes

B．comes

C．influences

D．happens

8.

A．made

B．did

C．got

D．told

9.

A．where

B．which

C．that

D．there

10.

A．dressing

B．having

C．wearing

D．putting

11.

A．lay

B．stood

C．fell

D．bent

12.

A．note

B．money

C．coin

D．dollar

13.

A．happiness

B．joy

C．wonder

D．sadness

14.

A．started

B．continued

C．finished

D．stopped

15.

A．the other

B．another

C．other

D．others

16.

A．useful

B．useless

C．helpful

D．helpless

17.

A．wide

B．widely

C．deeply

D．deep

18.

A．surprising

B．pleased

C．pleasant

D．surprised

19.

A．lesson

B．course

C．class

D．promise

20.

A．refuse

B．receive

C．forget

D．own

6 . Love to write? Want to see your work published and win some cash along the way? Then read on. The national Spark a Story writing contest is calling in all young storytellers!

Who can participate?

The contest is open to students in grades 9, 10, 11 or 12, or those who are being home-schooled in the United States.

Deadline and requirements

You’re able to send your short story up to October 7th. It will be judged on creativity, originality and overall quality of writing. Your story must be original works and should be no longer than 5000 words. There is no minimum length requirements.

How can I send my short story?

There are three easy ways to send your short story:

*Online at http: // learn. hmhco.com / hmhsparkamind

*Send your short story as a PDF or Microsoft word document to Sparka@hmhco.com

*Send your short story via U.S. Mail to: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

222 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116

What will I win?

The best stories will be published next year. Winners will receive a free copy of the book and cash price of $100.

1. The passage is written for _______ to read.

A．students

B．teachers

C．parents

D．foreigners

2. Which of the following children can take part in the contest?

A．Maria, grade 7, from New York.	B．Justin, grade 9, from London.
C．Catherine, grade 11, from Washington	D．C. D. Bastian, homeschooled from Paris.

3. Your story will not be acceptable if it is ________.

A．longer than 5000 words	B．shorter than 5000 words
C．an original work	D．sent before October 7th

4. Which of the following ways is not a correct way to send your story?

A．Sending it online.	B．Sending it by email.
C．Sending it by US mail.	D．Sending it by fax.

7 . What are the speakers mainly talking about?

A．A festival.

B．Foods.

C．TV programs.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Do you Douyin？

Got a moment – or, perhaps, 15 seconds? In the age of fragmented(碎片化的) time, Douyin, which is a massive hit in China right now, can perfectly fill in the gaps when people have nothing     1    (good) to do between two events; its daily plays     2     (spread) over one billion in the past few years. The Vine-like app allows users to produce creative short videos that combine music with mouth shapes or body moves. They can dance, sing, cook or   do     3     their hearts desire.

    4     (launch) in September 2016, Douyin is owned by Zhang Yiming, one of China's top tech leaders; he chairs ByteDance. Similar to how Vine worked    5    a time-limited video platform, Douyin is a     6     (collect) of brief 15-second music videos, mainly focused on young people,    7    it's certainly suitable for all ages.

On the platform, childish and strange behaviours are     8     (total) acceptable. In high-pressure world, it is no surprise that Douyin has become so successful – all you need to do is pick up your phone and open     9     app to relieve some stress and relax yourself. It pushes related videos and products based on users' preferences and consequently, Douyin can be quite addictive – many people just want to enjoy a few minutes at first, but end up     10       (consume) several hours' video time.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What happened to the man?

A．He had a terrible weekend.

B．He was hit by a car.

C．He fell off his bike.

2. How is the bike now?

A．It is in good shape.

B．It is under repair.

C．It is completely damaged.

10 . “If you don't behave, I'll call the police”is a lie that parents might use to get their young children to behave. A new psychological(心理学的) study led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore suggests that it is connected with harmful effects when the children become adults.

The research team asked 379 Singaporean young adults whether their parents lied to them when they were children, how much they lie to their parents as adults, and how well they respond adulthood challenges.

The first questionnaire asked these young adults to recall if their parents told them lies about eating, leaving or staying, spending money and so on. Some examples of such lies are “If you don't come with me now, I will leave you here by yourself”and“I don’t bring money with me today, we can come back another day”.The second questionnaire included questions that could show how often they lie to their parents as adults. Lastly, these young adults filled in two other questionnaires that asked them about their psychological problems and tendency (趋势)to behave selfishly and impulsively(冲动地).

Adults who reported being lied to more as children were more likely to report lying to their parents in their adulthood. They also said they faced greater difficulty in meeting psychological and social challenges.

Lead author Setoh Peipei from NTU Singapore's School of Social Sciences said, “Parenting by lying can seem to save time, especially when the real reasons behind why parents want children to do something are difficult to explain. When parents tell children that‘honesty is the best policy’，but display dishonesty by lying, such behavior can send negative messages to their children. Parents' dishonesty may finally erode trust and encourage dishonesty in children”

“Our research suggests that parenting by lying is a practice that has negative influence on children when they grow up. Parents should be aware of these possible risks and consider other ways to replace lying, such as knowing children's feelings, giving information so children know what to expect, offering choices and solving problems together, to encourage children to have good behavior, ”said lead author Setoh Peipei.

But the study has its limitations. Some limitations of the study include depending on what young adults report about their parents' lying. “Future research can explore using many informants(提供信息的人), such as parents, to report on the same thing”suggested Setoh.

1. What did the research team do during the study?

A．They turned to 379 Singaporean children

B．They looked for questionnaires on the Internet.

C．They collected answers to some sets of questions

D．They asked the young adults parents for information

2. What does the underlined word“erode”in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．build

B．enhance

C．destroy

D．recover

3. Which of the following might Setoh Peipei agree with?

A．Parents can sometimes tell harmless lies to their kids

B．Parents had better explain to their kids why they’ve lied

C．Parents who like lying are more likely to behave selfishly

D．Parents should use positive ways instead of lying during parenting

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Parents 'lying to children can influence them negatively

B．Parents lie to children to save themselves some trouble.

C．Children's behavior can be affected by their parents

D．Children may lie more if their parents often lie.