2 . Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic medicine many of us dream it could be.

In a new study, researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being, but only up to a point.

People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.

Part of finding the “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have. The researchers conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3½ to seven free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV). Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day, but only if they used it unproductively. In other words, how people use their free time matters.

Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you. If watching two hours of Real Housewives in your free time increases your happiness, you should do that. And even more traditionally productive or purposeful activities can be easy and fun. Engaging in a bit of low-key cardio, like walking, can help burn stress. Free-time activities like reading, cooking or gaming are also known to put people in a state of flow.

In cases when people do find themselves with huge amounts of free time, such as retirement or having left a job,” Sharif said, “our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”

1. According to the study, how many hours of free time brings the best feelings?

A．3 to 7 hours.

B．5 hours or more.

C．Up to 2 hours.

D．2 or 3 hours.

2. Which of the following may the author agree with?

A．The busier, the happier.

B．The more free time, the better.

C．Purposeful activities increase happiness.

D．Retirement makes people depressed and unhappy.

3. Which of the following can put people in a state of flow?

A．Getting stuck in silence.	B．Having a poor-quality sleep.
C．Struggling with a dull book.	D．Enjoying classic music.

4. What’s Sharif’s advice for retirees?

A．To make a new schedule.	B．To do more housework.
C．To watch more TV.	D．To find a new job.

5. Which section of a newspaper can we find this passage?

A．Stories.

B．Life.

C．Science.

D．Sports.

3 . There’s been lots of concern recently about the potential dangers of microwave popcorn (爆米花), but is this concern founded, or just overmuch fear-spreading? The answer is that many of the chemicals that caused worry in earlier decades have been removed from microwave popcorn, but some critics still are not satisfied.

“You may consider popcorn to be a low-calorie, high-fiber snack, but microwave popcorn isn’t a healthy choice,” explains nutrition expert Dan DeFigio. That’s because microwave popcorn bags were coated with perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) to prevent oil substance from leaking out. One particular type of PFC, known as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has been linked to certain cancers, but the American Cancer Society says the evidence is unsure and more research is being done about this.

Nevertheless, in response to concerns about PFCs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) worked with popcorn makers back in 2011 to remove PFOA from their packaging. Three more PFCs were banned in the next five years. So today’s microwave popcorn doesn’t have these chemicals, but critics say that the alternatives could cause problems as the old ones, but less is known about them.

That’s not the only problem, however. The chemical that for decades lent buttery deliciousness to popcorn has also been connected in rare cases with major lung damage. Known as diacetyl (二乙酰), it’s long been a documented problem with workers in popcorn making facilities, but also can be risky for people who just eat the snack a lot. A 2007 study published in the journal Critical Reviews found that more than 80 percent of chemical release happened when the bag was opened post-popping. Although diacetyl has been removed from most products, some critics claim that the alternative to diacetyl is also harmful.

Most of the exposure to diacetyl came from inbreathing rather than eating popcorn. Therefore, experts recommend at least waiting for the bag to cool before you open it to reduce potentially harmful chemical exposure. Better yet, make your own fresh at home with an air popper. If you like to flavor it, add organic butter or some cheese.

1. What can we know about PFOA from the text?

A．PFOA doesn’t exist in Popcorn bags in America currently.

B．PFOA can stop the leak of nutrition.

C．PFOA in popcorn bags leads to cancer.

D．PFOA has been removed from PFCs.

2. According to the text, who are most probably exposed to diacetyl?

A．Critics claiming diacetyl is harmful.

B．Workers making popcorn in factories.

C．People making popcorn with an air popper.

D．Consumers eating microwave popcorn occasionally.

3. What does the last paragraph intend to tell us?

A．How to flavor popcorn.

B．How to make popcorn at home.

C．How to make popcorn safer.

D．How to find alternatives to diacetyl.

4. What is the topic of the text?

A．Is Popcorn a Healthy Choice?

B．Should We Ban Microwave Popcorn?

C．Should PFCs Be Removed from Microwave Popcorn?

D．Is Microwave Popcorn Really Dangerous?

4 . A common claim states that a sheet of paper cannot be folded in half more than seven times. But is this true?

In 2002, Britney Gallivan, then a junior in high school in Pomona, California, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most times to fold a sheet of paper in half.

The prompt that led Gallivan to accomplish these feats was an extra-credit challenge in math class to fold anything in half 12 times. Her teacher asked the students to fold something thicker: a piece of paper.

Gallivan said “it was very frustrating, as I had many unsuccessful attempts at trying to fold different papers in half. I began to question if folding paper in half more than eight times could be impossible.” However, Gallivan recalled. “I knew I needed to understand what was limiting the folding progression.”

The equations that Gallivan came up with calculated how many times a sheet of paper could be folded. She found that in order to fold many times, a long thin sheet is needed — the more a sheet is folded, the thicker the resulting stack becomes, and once the stack becomes thicker than it is long, there is nothing left to fold. She ultimately set her record with a sheet of tissue paper she found online that was 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) — more than three-quarters of a mile, or over a kilometer — long, Guinness World Records noted.

“Working on the problem took a tremendous amount of time and effort,” Gallivan said. “As frustrating as it was at times, I learned an immense amount from the experience, which has been valuable to me throughout my life in more capacities than one would expect.”     

Since Gallivan set her record, others have made claims of folding a sheet of paper more than 12 times. Still, “I anticipate that my current record will be surpassed,” Gallivan said.

1. Which was commonly considered the most times that paper can be folded in half?

A．7.

B．8.

C．9.

D．12.

2. It is impossible to fold a paper in half more times when _____.

A．the stack is as thick as its length	B．the paper is neither long nor thin
C．the stack is thicker than its length	D．the paper is longer than its thickness

3. What can we learn about Gallivan’s attempts?

A．It’s risky.

B．It’s fruitless.

C．It’s meaningless.

D．It’s energy-consuming.

4. What does Gallivan think of her experience?

A．Worthwhile.

B．Unsuccessful.

C．Miserable.

D．Regretful.

5. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Gallivan’s record is impossible to break.

B．Folding paper in half is merely a math problem.

C．Folding things in half may not be limited to 12.

D．Folding paper 12 times is a required credit in maths class.

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

There was a state     1     (call) Zhou (周) in the Chinese history. One day, the king of Zhou asked his officials for advice on     2     (deal) with prisoners of war. An official said, “If you love someone, you     3     (suppose) to love even the crows on the roof of his house. The prisoners of war are enemies fighting     4     us. In my opinion, we’d better kill them all.”

But the king didn’t agree with him. “I think we should treat the prisoners of war     5     (different) by differing them into those     6     are guilty or not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters.”

Then another one said, “Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support     7     (them) by their own labor.     8     , you should keep strictly the rules for reward and     9     (punish). The people are sure to believe in you if you govern our country by morals and laws.”

The king thought the official’s proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it. As a result,     10     domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became stronger.

7 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填人1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

As people across the country watched the launch of China’s Shenzhou-14 spaceship,     1     pen floating in the capsule (太空舱)     2     (catch) the attention of many people.

The pen was produced by Shaoguan Shengyi Stationery Co., Ltd., which is a pioneer in making pens     3     (use) in outer space.

The space pen is different     4     a common pen. A common pen can neither withstand the influence and vibration (震动) experienced by the spaceship during rocket launch (发射) nor write     5     (proper) in an environment of outer space. The pen     6     (have) a head made of special materials to make it possible to write in outer space. The ink within the pen is also a special liquid with high viscosity (黏性),     7     (make) writing stick to surfaces instead of flying off as dangerous drops. What’s more, the head     8     is less sharp than the head of a normal pen can be safely used in the cabin.

A space pen developed by the company     9     (send) into space aboard the Shenzhen-10 spacecraft in 2013, which made China the     10     (two) country in the world able to independently produce a pen that could be used in space.

8 . 《鲁宾逊漂流记》是英国作家丹尼尔·笛福(Daniel Defoe)写的一部著名小说。请根据下列要点写一篇简短的书评。

1. 该书出版于1719年，它是一本最流行的历险小说之一；

2. 简述小说的主要故事情节；

3. 该书一部分是根据18世纪苏格兰水手Alexander Selkirk的事迹写的；

4. 小说描写细致，引人入胜。

注意：

1. 词数80左右；2. 标题和开头已给出，不计入总词数。          

参考词汇：自给自足的self-sufficient；食人肉的野人cannibal

A Book Review of Robinson Crusoe

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式

The Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee     1    (announce) on Feb 12 last year that 6G technology would be used in the 19th Asian games in Hangzhou, capital of China’s     2    (east) province of Zhejiang,     3     (aim) to create a high-tech and intelligent sports event.

The technology refers     4     reconfigurable intelligent surfaces,     5     AI-empowered artificial material. It is a smart platform enable various     6     (function) such as data mining, communication, energy harvesting, and sensing by directly processing illuminated information-carrying waves at a physical level.

“It was     7     (independent) developed by China and boasts low energy consumption     8     high efficiency,     9     can reduce power consumption while increasing the signal transmission efficiency,” said an expert. The technology is still undergoing research and     10     (develop) and is expected to be demonstrated to the public during the Hangzhou Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8.

10 . For most people, having things stolen feels like an offence. Robbie Pruitt admitted that he got _________ when he discovered the theft of his mountain bike last September. But soon enough, his _________ took a turn. After letting go of his anger and frustration, he found himself on a road to sympathy _________.

For Pruitt, a keen bicyclist, the first thing to do was _________ his stolen bike. But when he went bike shopping, he found few available, which got him thinking: What if the _________ of bikes was Covid-19 related, and what if the person who’d taken his bike really needed transportation to get to work?

With that thought in mind, Pruitt _________ a plan and posted it on the community website. He _________ to fix bikes free of charge for anyone who needed it. He also asked for unwanted bikes, which he would repair again for free. And then he would donate them to folks who could truly use them but didn’t have the _________ to buy one.

The day the post went live, Pruitt received thirty _________ bicycles. Then came more than 500 enquiries for detailed information. By the end of 2020, Pruitt had repaired more than 140 for donation or to be __________ to their owners.

Pruitt tries to give his donations to families that are __________ struggling. __________ simply satisfying a material need, he has provided an opportunity for kids in his neighborhood to learn how to fix their own bikes.

In addition to practical skills, Pruitt’s lessons teach teamwork, encourage self-worth, and promote feelings of community. Meanwhile, the kids have gained a sense of accomplishment.

“It’s a really great __________ for kids,“ said a neighbor in an interview with the local newspaper. “Pruitt is certainly providing a __________, but it’s not just the bikes. It’s the relationships in the community. It’s the __________ that he can make on people.”

1.

A．shocked

B．mad

C．curious

D．frightened

2.

A．emotions

B．accesses

C．occupations

D．routines

3.

A．ever

B．together

C．instead

D．yet

4.

A．ride

B．fit

C．repair

D．replace

5.

A．lack

B．variety

C．increase

D．quality

6.

A．came up with

B．stuck to

C．gave up

D．kept away from

7.

A．remembered

B．refused

C．hesitated

D．offered

8.

A．profit

B．budget

C．courage

D．commitment

9.

A．shared

B．used

C．expensive

D．modern

10.

A．fetched

B．sold

C．lent

D．returned

11.

A．hardly

B．slightly

C．truly

D．instantly

12.

A．Without

B．Beyond

C．Upon

D．Among

13.

A．promise

B．celebration

C．comfort

D．experience

14.

A．competition

B．service

C．ceremony

D．suggestion

15.

A．influence

B．impression

C．impact

D．progress