1 . Despite the fact that motherhood has not been easy, Maxi Aubi believes that her son, Gianluca, has taught her much.
Gianluca was born 13 years ago with Angelman Syndrome(天使综合症), a genetic disease. Maxi was never afraid about the fact that she did not know what this condition was about. She had to get out there and face the music. “When he was a newborn baby, he used to cry all day long. He wouldn’t eat or sleep. It was an endless cycle. We ran some tests and doctors told us his progress depended on us. But it was clear that something was wrong with him. So we visited several doctors and ran some other tests until he was five,” she explains.
Despite all of this, Maxi designed a treatment plan for Gianluca. It did not matter what he was suffering from; she believed love was the “medicine” that could cure him. She formed a group of ten people of different ages outside her family who were willing to help Gianluca’s development. These people would come to her house in shifts from 9 AM to 7 PM with only one goal: to show Gianluca that he could achieve whatever he wanted. “We started encouraging him with games. During those two or three years, he learnt how to walk and he made huge progress,” she remembers.
Learning about her child’s diagnosis(诊断) was a starting point for Maxi. To help relieve the pain of parents whose children suffered from the same condition, she created the Association for Parents coping with Angelman Syndrome (APSA) which currently has about a hundred families. Living with these children is very enriching. This is why the association is not only working to provide support and guidance for the families of children with this condition; it also wants to tell people that they can also learn from these children. “We want them to come and experience what we learnt from our children,” she says.
1. What does the underlined phrase “face the music” in the second paragraph probably mean?| A．Enjoy the music. |
| B．Accept the situation. |
| C．Finish one’s work. |
| D．Share the burden. |
| A．She was afraid. |
| B．She felt helpless. |
| C．She cried a lot about her son’s suffering. |
| D．She made a treatment plan for her son. |
| A．visited Maxi’s house to look after Gianluca in turn |
| B．were Maxi’s relatives and friends |
| C．helped Gianluca to design a study plan |
| D．were doctors contributing to the treatment of rare diseases |
| A．He complained his mother a lot about Angelman Syndrome. |
| B．He liked playing games with people. |
| C．He made great progress because of love. |
| D．He ate and slept well when he was a baby. |
2 . In “Social Robots for Education”, a study published last August in Science Robotics, the summary is: “Social robots can be used in education as private teachers or peer learners. They have been shown to be effective in increasing cognitive（认知的） and emotional results and have achieved results similar to those of human teaching on some tasks. This is largely because of their physical presence, which traditional learning technologies lack.”
The study showed a few reasons why educational robots are becoming a teaching fashion. Firstly, they can help cut school budgets. Secondly, teachers seem at a loss as there are growing numbers of students per classroom. Besides, educational robots can meet the demand for greater personalization of students. Instead of just seating students in front of a computer screen with software to teach them，many teachers can choose a more interactive（互动的） educational experience through robots.“Robots are an ideal choice when the material to be taught requires direct physical presentation. For example, teaching physical skills, such as handwriting or basketball free throws, the study expressed. But, don’t expect Siri or Alexa to replace real teachers right away.
“Although robots can operate independently in certain contexts, fully autonomous social teaching behavior in all environments remains difficult to achieve,” the study said. “Although automatic speech recognition and social signal processing have improved in recent years, speech recognition for younger users, for example, is still not strong enough for most interactions.”
Robots are already used for science, technology, engineering and math, which is called STEM education. “More and more educational robots are being developed because they’ve been largely effective in teaching users topics like computer programming, AI and engineering, in a handson, engaging way,” said Maria Jung, product public relations manager at DJI, developer of the RoboMaster S1.
She said the Rob Master educational robot was created with the purpose of benefiting middle to high school students learning, both inside and outside of the classroom. It helps students become familiar with the basics of robotics through simple controls.
“The main functions of an educational robot are to provide an opportunity to see lessons come to life, educate users in an interesting way and provide an on going stream of learning with new content,” she added.
1. According to the passage, what can we know about educational robots?| A．They keep students learning in front of a computer screen. |
| B．They can be fully independent in recognizing speech. |
| C．They can carry out autonomous social teaching wherever possible. |
| D．They provide a more interactive educational experience for students and teachers. |
| A．Teachers won’t be needed anymore. |
| B．More subjects can be taught in an effective way. |
| C．Students will be disturbed by the educational robots. |
| D．Students can have free communication with the robots. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Disapproving |
| C．Objective | D．Supportive |
3 . World’s loneliest marathon
Many of us know about Russia’s Lake Baikal from our textbooks, or by listening to Chinese singer Li Jian’s hit song, Lake Baikal. But over the past decade, the world’s deepest freshwater lake has been in the spotlight for an extreme sport.
Each March since 2005, about 150 people from around the world sign up for the Baikal Ice Marathon. They come to explore the lake’s breathtaking beauty and challenge themselves in unpredictable conditions.
The 26-mile (41.84-kilometers) journey starts on the lake’s eastern shore. In March, the ice is a meter thick and iron-hard. Runners cross this frozen surface, finishing on the western side of the lake.
Known as the “blue eye of Siberia”, Lake Baikal has exceptionally clear waters. This means its ice is almost perfectly transparent. “Seen from above, a runner on the ice looks as if he or she is jogging through space,” The New York Times noted.
The landscape might be beautiful, but it’s also harsh. Strong winds blast across the lake and frostbite can occur within half an hour. Runners say the cold climate is what draws them. They want to test their limits.
“When you are in such an environment, you don’t have cars around you, you don’t have the noise around. I think these extreme races allow you to be alone with nature,” Alicja Barahona, a 64-year-old runner from the US, told ABC News.
The location offers some strange and unique characteristics for this marathon. The finish line is visible from the start, but the endless white offers no progress markers. The race also ends with little fanfare (喧闹). Tourists crowding the ice are mostly addicted to snapping selfies (自拍) and just ignore the runners.
For some runners, the absence of spectators (观众) makes the race more challenging, because it’s lonely. They must fight with themselves. “You are alone on Baikal. It is your race. You are alone with yourself. All you need to do is to defeat yourself,” Veronique Messina, a French runner, told the Telegraph.
1. What can we know about the Baikal Ice Marathon from the article?| A．It takes runners from the northern end to the southern end of the lake. |
| B．It involves extreme weather and beautiful scenery. |
| C．It attracts more and more participants each year. |
| D．It is about 26 kilometers in length. |
| A．interesting | B．mysterious |
| C．severe | D．safe |
| A．Only men are allowed to run in this race. |
| B．The runners can see the finish line from the start. |
| C．The runners are often distracted by tourists. |
| D．There are many progress markers on the ice. |
| A．Loneliness. | B．The long distance. |
| C．The cold climate. | D．Noisy surroundings. |
4 . Surfer Dudes to the Rescue!
About 50 feet from shore of the Northern California’s Trinidad State Beach, two brothers were fighting for their lives. They had been swept out to sea in a rip current (激流), their mouths barely able to stay above the water. Thick fog made it difficult for beachgoers to see the guys, but the screams were unmistakable. And every second counted. The brothers, ages 15 and 20, were wearing shorts and T-shirts, unsuitable for a November day, let alone the freezing water. Keven Harder, a supervising ranger (巡查员), told the North Coast Journal in nearby Eureka that swimming in such a temperature “takes the fight right out of you.”
Luckily, four surfers in wet suits were nearby. Narayan Weibel, Spenser Stratton, and Adrian York, all 16, along with Taj Ortiz-Beck, 15, were on their surfboards riding up and down the coast on five-foot waves when they heard the cries. They turned and saw two bobbing heads and four struggling arms. “We looked at each other and knew these guys were about to drown,” Weibel told the Washington Post.
Weibel, Stratton, and Ortiz-Beck paddled toward the distressed swimmers while York headed to shore to warn someone to call 911. He then dived back in to help his friends.
As the surfers drew close, the brothers were still fighting hard for their lives. “It was pretty stressful, but there wasn’t any time to think about it, and that helped me keep my cool,” Ortiz-Beck says.
Ortiz-Beck pulled up alongside the younger brother. Grabbing him under his arms, he raised him up onto his board. Stratton and Weibel, meanwhile, hurried to help the older brother. He was large, 250 to 300 pounds, and he was panicked.
“I told them, ‘Calm down—we got you!’” says Weibel. “They thought they were going to die.”
York arrived in time to help get the older brother atop the second board. The surfers then paddled several minutes through choppy water to the medical help waiting onshore. The brothers were scared but fine.
“When we get a call like this one, it’s usually too late by the time we get there,” says Dillon Cleavenger, a first responder. “I can’t say enough about what these boys did. They were willing and prepared to risk their lives.”
1. What can we know from the first paragraph?| A．Two brothers were almost drowned in the sea. |
| B．Beachgoers happened to meet the two brothers. |
| C．The supervising ranger warned them not to swim then. |
| D．Surfers barely wore T-shirts and shorts in such weather. |
| A．Swimming in a rip current. | B．Surfing on high waves. |
| C．Struggling with their arms to shore. | D．Practising diving in the sea. |
| A．Andrian York dived back to call the police |
| B．Keven Harder played the most important role |
| C．Narayan Weibel tried to calm down the brothers |
| D．Ortiz-Beck saved the larger and panicked brother |
| A．Hardworking and friendly. | B．Kind and humorous. |
| C．Devoted and talented. | D．Brave and determined. |
5 . An audience of patients with Alzheimer’s(老年痴呆症) disease listens with concentrated attention as a young woman sings the French song “Beau Soir”. Despite his failing mind, one of the men in the crowd, Les Dean, translates the words into English for a friend.
Dean, 76, once taught music at Chicago’s Senn High School, invented and sold his own music education system and sang with the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Now, like many patients with Alzheimer’s, he is, to some extent, lost in the past, a stranger to the present. But when the music plays, he smiles and is transported to a place of beauty, where everything still makes sense.
In recent years, music therapy(疗法) has grown in popularity for its seeming ability to help calm people with dementia(痴呆) and reconnect them with their memories. Now a Northwestern University researcher is testing whether music played for residents of a suburban nursing home can be therapeutic, whether it can improve cognition（认知）, conversation and relationships.
A person with dementia can recede(倒退) so far that he or she is no longer responsive, suggesting personality and consciousness（意识）have been lost. But in his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, the well-known neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks wrote that he’d seen such patients shake or weep while listening to music. “Once one has seen such responses,” he wrote, “one knows that there is still a self to be called upon, even if music, and only music, can do the calling.”
For some people with dementia, music therapy has been shown to enhance attention and cognition to improve behavior while reducing the use of drugs and to reduce anxiety and depression. Singing songs can help refresh specific memories that otherwise might have been forgotten completely, experts say. Also, some patients are so nonresponsive, they may need music wake them up and get them moving.
Attracted by the potential benefits, Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour, a neurologist with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, put together a music therapy study at Silverado Orchard Park Memory Care Community.
Each week for 12 weeks, the nonprofit Institute for Therapy Through the Arts held concerts for 10 Silverado residents. The musicians are specially trained to apply their skills to therapy, often by interacting with patients during performances and getting them to beat on drums, sing and dance.
A similar group of residents in another nursing home went without the therapy to compare results. Since finishing the initial study period, researchers are analyzing the results and hope to try the same treatment for the opposite group in the future.
“Music therapy is gaining more confidence now as an intervention(介入), so this is a very exciting time,” Bonakdarpour said. “We thought when people get Alzheimer’s, they’re done because there’s no medicine to cure it. But there's so much we can do to have an impact and improve their quality of life.”
1. Why is Les Dean mentioned at the beginning?| A．To present his amazing life before he got the Alzheimer’s disease. |
| B．To inspire the people who also suffered from the disease. |
| C．To tell the readers that he was a music lover. |
| D．To show the surprising function of music. |
| A．Dr. Oliver Sacks believed music could call upon a self in Alzheimer’s patients. |
| B．When patients are nonresponsive, music could hardly have any effect on them. |
| C．Northwestern University has tested music can improve the patients’ conversation. |
| D．It is obvious that singing can make the patients’ memories back to normal. |
| A．the music therapy study has been successfully completed. |
| B．the patients show no interest in music therapy. |
| C．music therapy can help to improve the patients’ life quality. |
| D．music therapy have a negative effect on the patients as an intervention. |
| A．The terrible disease can be cured by music therapy. |
| B．Music is beneficial to the people lost in Alzheimer’s darkness. |
| C．People gradually realize the benefits of music. |
| D．Everyone should fall in love with music. |
6 . In midair I guessed whether I should do this. I fell. My knees hurt, but I
A standing back tuck — the most challenging skill in cheerleading. For me it is very difficult. Perhaps it is the mental
The practice almost ended in tears because of the great disappointment. I admitted that I felt like
“Five, six, seven, eight,” my coach said rhythmically. My body sprung into motion, and I landed on the floor. The feeling of accomplishment went beyond my body. The previous defeats meant nothing because I have
| A．enjoyed | B．stopped | C．kept | D．forgot |
| A．clapped | B．cheered | C．shouted | D．fell |
| A．disappointment | B．patience | C．embarrassment | D．surprise |
| A．power | B．pain | C．mistake | D．fear |
| A．lacked | B．owned | C．appreciated | D．discovered |
| A．sleeping | B．asking | C．quitting | D．relieving |
| A．moved | B．discouraged | C．strengthened | D．scared |
| A．allowed | B．wished | C．pushed | D．invited |
| A．master | B．show | C．test | D．teach |
| A．expected | B．tolerated | C．waited | D．succeeded |
7 . Sledding in the Forest Preserves
One of the benefits of winter in Cook County is zooming down the gently sloping hills in the forest. Another benefit? Four locations have lights on the hill, so you can keep the sledding fun going despite the early sunsets. The four forest hills are open until 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. and, of course, if there's enough snow. Please note you cannot bring your own sled. Sledding rentals are $15 for a half day, $25 for the full day. There is no additional charge for use of the sloping hills. Check site for contact numbers and snow conditions. fpdcc. com/things-to-do/sledding
Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink
The area near West Community has one of the biggest wintertime draws for families who want to hit the ice. Cicero's outdoor rink offers a range of frozen fun, including skating lessons, open skates and the chance to practice skills. Visit the rink's Facebook page for schedule details. Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink, 3400S. 53rd Ave, Cicero. $12 for open skates, S3 skate rental; cash only. http://facebook. com/bobbyhullcommunityicerink
Mount Hoy Snow Tubing
The trip down Mount Hoy is a lively one: 800 feet from top to bottom. And as long as it's covered in three or more inches of snow, you' re welcome to rent a tube and zoom down. The hill is open 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. weekends and holidays through Feb. 23; tube rentals end at 3:30 p.m. At Blackwell Forest Preserve, Butterfield Road between Winfield Road and Route 59, Warrenville. Admission is free, but personal tubes are not allowed. $ 10 rental per tube. https://tinvurl.com/y9nox4et
Winter Wonderland and Ice Rink
Haven't gotten your fill of the brisk cold hitting your face as you practice your double salchows and triple lutzes on the ice? Don't worry! The Village of Orland Park's rink is open seven days a week, starting at 4 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends. The rink offers free helmet rentals, plus a warming house for those who prefer to cheer from the sidelines. Winter Wonderland Ice Rink, 15600 West Avenue and Fun Drive, Orland Park. Admission: $20 Adult, $15 Student 5-17; S3 for skate rental. http://orlandpark. org/services/parks/ice-rink
1. If you want to take ice skating lessons, visit _____________________ for more information.| A．https://tinyurl.com/y9nox4et |
| B．http://fpdcc.com things to-do/sledding |
| C．http://orlandpark. org/services/parks/ice –rink |
| D．http://facebook.com/bobbyhullcommunityicerink |
| A．Mount Hoy Snow Tubing | B．Sledding in the Forest Preserves |
| C．Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink | D．Winter Wonderland and Ice Rink |
| A．The opening hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day till Feb.23 at Mount Hoy. |
| B．Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink is an attraction near West Community. |
| C．No warming house is available at the Village of Orland Park's rink. |
| D．There is always enough snow for sledding in the forest preserves. |
8 . Big Problems, Simple Solutions
Inventions are improving health and well-being in communities around the world. Speakers at recent TED events have shared simple and inexpensive solutions that can solve everyday problems.
FUEL BRIQUETTES （燃料砖）
In the developing world, smoke from indoor cooking kills more than 2 million children each year. In fact, it’s the number one cause of death of children under five. Amy Smith, founder of D-Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), discovered a way to make a safe cooking fuel. The material she uses is also free and plentiful: farm waste.
Smith invented a low-cost device that turns farm waste into fuel briquettes. These briquettes produce smoke that is less dangerous than the smoke from other fuel. They also burn hotter and last longer. Farmers can make these briquettes from readily available waste. This invention has an economic benefit, too. Farmers can buy the device for $2 and sell briquettes they don’t use. Smith estimates (估算) that this can increase a farmer’s income by $500 a month.
DISASTER SHELTERS
Over 31 million people worldwide lose their homes every year due to natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. After these disasters, many people live in terrible conditions—in tents or in large stadiums with no privacy. Graphic designer Michael McDaniel invented inexpensive and temporary housing for people in these situations.
Called the Reaction Ex, these shelters are small, one-room houses that comfortably hold up to four people. They’re made from a plastic that is strong, recyclable, and super light. In fact, they’re so light that they can be lifted by hand and are very portable as well. McDaniel hopes that his invention will provide an affordable solution to help people rebuild their lives after a natural disaster.
1. The key goal to invent the fuel briquettes is to________.| A．increase family income |
| B．make full use of farm waste |
| C．get free and plentiful cooking fuel |
| D．protect kids from dangerous cooking smoke |
| A．Light and affordable. | B．Heavy and recyclable. |
| C．Big and comfortable. | D．Small and breakable. |
| A．To explain design methods. | B．To introduce new inventions. |
| C．To report research findings. | D．To advertise latest products. |
9 . Farms of the Future
Skyscrapers(摩天大楼) are the ultimate symbol of urban life. By 2050, almost 80 percent of the earth’s population could live in cities. The human population could increase to 9.1 billion people yet the amount of land available for farming will be the same.
Vertical farms, where farmers could grow crops in environmentally friendly skyscrapers, could be the solution. In spite of concerns over high costs, experts want to make these urban farms a reality and use these skyscrapers to grow crops.
Vertical farms would have many advantages, experts say. The food would be grown with minimal effects on the environment. Unlike traditional farming, vertical farming would not force animals out of their habitats by taking over large areas of land, nor would it pollute the air with the use of heavy farming equipment.
Growing prosperity has led to many people demanding that all foods are available all year round. Indoor farming could produce crops constantly and crops would not suffer from weather-related problems like drought or flooding. In addition, the use of agricultural chemicals for controlling insects would be minimal.
Experts agree that the new farming practices are needed to support the planet’s need for more and more food at affordable costs, both to the farmer and to the consumer. Vertical farms may be a small-scale answer, but the best ideas could be yet to come.
| A．Still, there are some people who are critical of vertical farms. |
| B．That is where vertical farms are often needed for year-round crops. |
| C．So how to meet the increasing food needs of our planet could be a big problem. |
| D．For these reasons, natural light cannot be a workable solution for vertical farms. |
| E．Vertically grown food is grown in environmentally controlled conditions in big cities. |
| F．Those farms would also reduce the cost and negative effects of transporting food over distances. |
| G．They believe that we can increase the food production by changing our thinking from out to up. |
| athlete destroy shelter creative unique recommend adult emergency organize volunteer |
At age 15, Shreyaa Venkat has done more to help the planet and the people living on it than many
