1 . Nostalgia (怀旧) has become increasingly common in our current climate of unexpected, fast-paced change. More and more people are turning back with longing for what feels like simpler, sweeter times. They collect cassette tapes, manual typewriters even decades-old video games.
Is it a mistake to get too obsessed with the past? Some psychologists warn that too much devotion to the so-called good old days is an escape from reality; it can indicate loneliness or that a person is having a difficult time coping in the present. Psychologist Stephanie Coontz argues that nostalgia distracts us from addressing the problems of modern life and contributes to anxiety, depression, insomnia etc.
But new studies suggest that a modest dose of nostalgia is not only harmless, but actually beneficial. They suggest it helps strengthen our sense of identity and makes us feel more optimistic and inspired. It is also a tool for self-discovery and memories are a psychological immune response that is triggered when you want to take a break from negativity. Interestingly, those happy memories can be particularly beneficial both to kids in their teens and to society’s elders. Recalling our childhood reminds us of “the times when we were accented and loved unconditionally,” says Krystine Batcho, a psychologist. “That is such a powerfully comforting phenomenon, knowing that there was a time in life when we didn’t have to earn our love.” Nostalgia can transform even the most ordinary past into legends which warms the heart and the body. Let’s not forget that nostalgia has been a source of inspiration to innumerable American writers. Mark Twain recalled his boyhood, writing, “after all these years, I can picture that old time to myself now, just as it was then: The white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer’s morning.”
So go ahead, daydream a little about your best childhood friend, your first car, a long-gone family pet. As Dr. Sedikidessays, “Nostalgia is absolutely central to human experience.” But at the same time, keep these words of wisdom from the great inventor Charles Kettering in mind as well: “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.”
1. What did some psychologists in paragraph 2 probably agree?| A．Nostalgia can cause some mental problems. |
| B．Nostalgia makes us devoted to the present life. |
| C．Nostalgia shows you are trying to get rid of loneliness. |
| D．Nostalgia helps us cope with the difficult time we are going through. |
| A．It can enable us to know ourselves better |
| B．It can bring us some comfort when we recall |
| C．We are likely to gain attention if we recall the happy childhood |
| D．We can sometimes break away from negativity with happy memories |
| A．The reasons why we should avoid nostalgia. |
| B．The great changes nostalgia will bring to you. |
| C．The bad memories that always stick around you. |
| D．The bad influence of too much devotion to nostalgia. |
| A．People tend to be lost in nostalgia. |
| B．People actually benefit from nostalgia. |
| C．Childhood memories influence present life. |
| D．There are some periods when people look back. |
2 . For many, Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer and an opportunity to host a socially-distanced barbecue (an outdoor meal). But this national holiday—celebrated every year in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September—has revolutionary (革命性的) origins.
By the late 19th century, the Industrial Revolution had made working life miserable for people around the world. In many places, workers toiled for at least 12 hours a day six days a week in mines, factories, railroads, and mills. This holiday actually originated in the US on May 1, 1866, in what came to be known as the Haymarket Riot, workers flooded Chicago streets to demand an eight-hour workday.
It would take another conflict in the American Midwest to make Labor Day a national holiday. On May 11, 1894, workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company, a railroad car manufacturer near Chicago, went on strike to protest their low wages and 16-hour workdays. In August 1893, James Kyle introduced federal legislation (立法) to make Labor Day a public holiday, but for ten months the legislation was put on hold. To quiet the strikers and their supporters, the Senate quickly passed the bill on June 22. The bill passed the House four days later and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law on June 28, 1894.
The holiday is more information May Day labor celebrations. Many observers relax at home or head to outdoor recreational activities, such as boating, barbecues, and camping. It may also be marked with fireworks shows and other events. Labor Day has also become associated with retail sales, as many shop owners try to take advantage of the customers’ day off. It is one of the largest sales events of the year. meaning retail employees actually have to work more on this day. Parades are the most common model of celebration, which often feature processions of labor groups.
1. What do we know about the workers in the late 19th century?| A．They were paid well. | B．They had long workdays. |
| C．They often had a barbecue. | D．Their contributions were recognized. |
| A．Put off. | B．Introduced. | C．Got through. | D．Protected. |
| A．On May 1, 1886. | B．On August 22, 1893. | C．On May 11, 1894. | D．On June 28, 1894. |
| A．The origins of Labor Day. | B．The labor groups achievements. |
| C．The ways to celebrate Labor Day. | D．The official activities on Labor Day. |
3 . It might seem like something from a science fiction movie, but scientists today are working on ways to combine certain kinds of bacteria with tiny robots. Scientists want to use these creations to improve the way we give medical treatment. They claim that drug therapy (疗法), disease diagnosis, and even surgery could be greatly aided by the use of nanobiotechnology. Nano-means “tiny”, and bio-means “life”. This tiny technology will use living organisms in combination with electronics.
Electronics makers already use tiny robots to build complex but very tiny circuits. Medical scientists want to use these robots to repair patients’ damaged organs or to direct medicines to affect specific cells. For example, tiny robots could be engineered to deliver chemotherapy (化疗) directly to cancer instead of to the entire body.
Existing electronics are the right size, but they lack practical use. Robots that can be built small enough to enter a person’s cells would be too tiny to move on their own. Therefore, scientists want to use tiny organisms such as bacteria to act as vehicles for the robots. The bacteria will be “driven” through the bloodstream by magnetic pulses (磁脉冲). Once the bacteria are in the correct locations, the robots will be able to do their jobs. In theory, these robots will cause less damage to the body than traditional methods of delivering medicines or performing surgeries.
Nanobiotechnology has yet to be put into practice, but many people already have concerns about its use. Some people worry about the ethic (道德标准) involved with controlling live organisms—and the possible side effects for their human hosts.
1. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?| A．The application of tiny robots. | B．The influence of tiny robots. |
| C．The operation of tiny robots. | D．The origin of tiny robots. |
| A．Cheaper medicine. | B．Less harm to the body. |
| C．Longer life expectancy. | D．Faster performance of surgeries. |
| A．can locate he bacteria. | B．are driven by medicine. |
| C．can act as vehicles. | D．are carried by bacteria. |
| A．A computer textbok | B．A life magazine |
| C．A science magazine | D．A biology textbook |
4 . About 20 years ago Nissan introduced the world's first "talking car". Actually, it was just a recorded voice that would tell you that your door was open, and would continue talking to you until you closed it. Of course, it never caught on.
Times have changed and the talking car of the near future is a car that you talk to, rather than a car that talks to you. You'll be able to control your radio by giving voice orders, get traffic reports and directions, and send and receive e﹣mails. To do this, you needn't push a button at all.
This is good news for those who spend more and more of their lives in their cars. In fact, the new type of cars will be more like offices on wheels, with computers, wireless Internet access, and satellite radio inside. Companies are hoping that time wasted in traffic could be put to better use. If workers are able to check their e﹣mails, faxes, and meeting time on the way to work, they can spend more time at the office doing more important tasks.
Microsoft, of course, is hoping that every one of those mobile offices will use Windows. "It's a great goal. " says Dick Brass, VP of Microsoft's automotive division, "But we'd like to have one of our operating systems in every car on earth. " There are already 650 million cars in the world, and every year about 50 million new cars roll off the production lines. If Brass' wish came true, cars could become a bigger business for Microsoft than computers.
1. Which is TRUE about the world's first "talking car"?| A．Nissan invented it. |
| B．It was introduced in the late 20th century. |
| C．It could record voices. |
| D．It could not only record but also talk itself. |
| A．traffic reports | B．voice orders |
| C．light signals | D．electricity energy |
| A．much time will be wasted in traffic |
| B．their workers will get to the office earlier |
| C．their workers will have more time to do more important work |
| D．their workers will check e﹣mails, faxes, and meeting time at home |
| A．turned on | B．took off |
| C．become popular | D．was colourful |
| A．all of the mobile offices will use Windows |
| B．about 50 million new cars are produced every year |
| C．the new type of talking car has a recorded voice inside |
| D．the talking car of the near future is a car that talks to you |
1.询问当地的天气情况以及你要的准备的东西；
2.询问当地的景点以及收费情况；
3.请Bob帮你在宾馆预定一个房间；
4.询问Bob 当地的法规以防出错。
Dear Bob,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
6 . Last summer, my 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, joined a volleyball league. Due to her excellent performance, her coach
My wife and I
Yesterday, Hannah invited me to watch a volleyball tournament. Hannah’s team played against four other teams. But Hannah just stood on the sidelines,
I was really
On the way back home, I asked her
“Dad, absolutely not,” she replied. “Being part of the team is participating in the
I was speechless. I had thought the
My 14-year-old daughter showed me what it
| A．promised | B．required | C．suggested | D．expected |
| A．hesitated | B．regretted | C．confirmed | D．debated |
| A．Otherwise | B．Besides | C．Moreover | D．However |
| A．defeat | B．benefit | C．protect | D．discourage |
| A．cheering | B．preparing | C．waiting | D．accounting |
| A．set a goal | B．acquire the ability | C．have the chance | D．make an effort |
| A．positive | B．upset | C．stressed | D．excited |
| A．reformed | B．profited | C．scored | D．developed |
| A．once | B．where | C．though | D．when |
| A．carefully | B．casually | C．confusedly | D．surprisedly |
| A．mood | B．game | C．team | D．position |
| A．experiments | B．challenges | C．presentations | D．adventures |
| A．sharing | B．assisting | C．playing | D．watching |
| A．mistakes | B．crises | C．attempts | D．secrets |
| A．escape | B．quit | C．improve | D．guide |
| A．showed up | B．given up | C．hurried up | D．caught up |
| A．curiosity | B．smile | C．concern | D．silence |
| A．loyal | B．right | C．sure | D．wrong |
| A．expects | B．means | C．proves | D．decides |
| A．calmer | B．wiser | C．bigger | D．firmer |
7 . On the night of 14th June 1904, New York’s Chinatown was in a deep gloom (低迷). For the past 20 years, the restaurants were filled with those crazy about a taste of real Chinese cooking “chop suey”. But suddenly, all that seemed at risk. A few days earlier, a chef named Lem Sen had arrived, saying he had invented it a decade before while working at a restaurant in San Francisco. His recipe had been stolen by an American diner to make money. Through his lawyer, he demanded restaurants pay him for using his recipe.
Chop suey was first mentioned by Chinese-American journalist Wang Chin Foo in a list of common dishes he thought most attractive to Western tastes. As he explained, “each Chinese cook has his own recipe. The main parts are pork, bacon, chicken, mushroom, bamboo shoots, onion, and pepper, while accidental ones are duck, beef, salted black beans etc. Yet it is often considered by Westerners that this is a ‘national dish of China’ more than any other dish they’ve known.”
Although a hyperbolic way to introduce this dish, it clearly showed that chop suey was indeed of Chinese origin. Where exactly its roots lay has been debated; but it was probably first cooked in Taishan, Guangdong, where most early immigrants to America had grown up. In 1866, the journalist Allan Forman noticed it as a delicious dish despite its “mysterious nature”, and nine years later, the first recipe appeared in magazines, with some un-Chinese ingredients thrown in.
It was not long before a myth making began. In 1896, Li Hongzhang visited New York, and newspapers mistakenly reported that while refusing Western dishes at a banquet (宴会), he had enthusiastically accepted a plate of chop suey. This caused a great hit, and many who never heard of it before simply assumed that it was introduced to the US by Li Hongzhang, which accidentally promoted the dish’s popularity.
1. What is the purpose of a chef’s story in paragraph 1?| A．To describe food history. | B．To bring out chop suey. |
| C．To show risky business world. | D．To introduce a law case. |
| A．Fixed ingredients. | B．Its popularity overseas. |
| C．Un-Chinese nature. | D．Mixed national identities. |
| A．remarked beyond reality | B．explained in greater details |
| C．praised in something common | D．commented based on the origin |
| A．Li Hongzhang promoted this dish. | B．Its popularity was based on facts. |
| C．Mass media belonged to the root cause. | D．Public opinions voiced acceptance. |
Peru, a county
If you are to visit Peru, you may consider spending a day or two
9 . More and more Chinese are having English names, but not everyone is good at finding one. Why not offer them some help? An American girl called Lindsay Jernigan is now teaching people how to get better English names.
While working in Shanghai, Lindsay met many Chinese people with strange English names. Some of them chose a lucky number of “Seven,” a favorite fruit, “Apple,” and a cartoon character, “Snow White.” Others had names like “July” and “Rabbit.”
After noticing the problem, Lindsay had an idea. She quit her job and set up a website (bestenglishname.com) to help Chinese people get better English names.
The website helps people in two ways. After they take an online quiz, people will get five English names based on their personal information, such as age, job and even future plans. This costs 18 yuan. People can also meet with Lindsay to talk about their English name. But that costs more.
Now, about 2,000 people each day visit the website. Most of them are preparing to study or work abroad. Lindsay is planning to offer them more help, such as helping them write resumes (简历).
1. What does Lindsay think of the name of “Rabbit”?| A．Wonderful. | B．Strange. | C．Creative. | D．Boring. |
| A．continued | B．asked | C．picked up | D．gave up |
| A．18 yuan | B．less than 18 yuan |
| C．more than 18 yuan | D．more or less than 18 yuan |
| A．Her website mainly helps the English-speaking people. |
| B．Her idea came from his work experience in China. |
| C．She plans to provide more service for the customers. |
| D．She can help the people to get name in two ways. |
| A．A hard-working American girl |
| B．How to find an good English name |
| C．Don’t choose English names without thinking |
| D．An American girl helps to choose an English name |
10 . You have probably read about robots replacing human labour as a new era of automation takes root in one industry after another. However, a new report suggests humans are not the only ones who might lose their jobs.
In New Zealand, farmers are using drones（无人机）to herd and monitor cows and sheep, taking up the position that highly intelligent dogs have held for more than a century. The robots have not replaced the dogs entirely, Radio New Zealand reports, but they have appropriated（盗用）one of the animal's most powerful tools: barking. The DJI Mavic Enterprise, a $ 3,500 drone favored by farmers, has a feature that lets the machine record sounds and play them over a loudspeaker, giving the machine the ability to imitate its canine counterparts.
Corey Lambeth, a shepherd on a farm, told RNZ the machines are surprisingly effective. “That's the one thing I've noticed that when you're moving cows the old cows stand up to the dogs, but with the drones, they've never done that,” he said, noting the drones move cows faster, with less stress, than the dogs do.
The drones come in handy for more than just herding cows and sheep. The robots allow farmers to monitor their land from afar, monitoring water and feed levels and checking on the animals' health without disturbing them. Jason Rentoul told RNZ that a two- hour herding job that used to require two people and two teams of dogs could be accomplished in 45 minutes using a single drone. “On a hilly farm where a lot of stuff is done by farmers on foot, the drones really save a lot of man hours,” he said.
For now, farmers say, there is still a need for herding dogs, primarily because they have a longer lifespan than drones, can work in bad weather and do not require an electrical socket every few hours to recharge.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Farmers. | B．Dogs. | C．Sheep. | D．Loudspeakers. |
| A．Herding dogs will gradually lose their position on the farmland. |
| B．The drones can help monitor weather conditions with the current technology. |
| C．The drones are multifunctional and leave the animals undisturbed. |
| D．The market for the DJI Mavic Enterprise is pretty small because of its high price. |
| A．The drones can't bark as loudly as the dogs do. |
| B．Cows are not used to seeing the drones. |
| C．The drones are much more expensive. |
| D．The drones' power is limited and they need charging. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Objective. | C．Critical. | D．Doubtful. |
