1 . When Aadeel Akhtar was 7 years old, he met a little girl who changed his life. His parents took him to see family in Pakistan, where they’d been born, and they were walking into a store when he saw her. She was missing her right leg. “That was actually the first time I had met someone with a leg difference,” he says. “She was about my age, using a tree branch as a walking stick, living in poverty.”
He never learned her name, never spoke to her or saw her again. But he never forgot her. Now he is founder and head of an Illinois company called Psyonic. He and his team of about 30 make prosthetic limbs (义肢) that are smart, durable, responsive to their users’ needs and—this is key—affordable. In the U.S., Medicare will cover the cost of Psyonic’s prosthetic limbs, and other insurers will probably follow. It’s estimated that at least 1.6 million Americans live with the loss of a limb, and only 10 percent of those who needed prosthetic limbs in the past could afford them. Medicare’s approval should ultimately increase that to 75 percent.
Psyonic put its first commercial product, called the Ability Hand, on the market nationally in September. In size and design, it is like a natural hand with batteries and electronics packed inside. The fingers come close to copying the movements of human fingers, and they give instant response—the limb shakes when its fingers meet resistance, signaling that if you’re holding something delicate (say, an egg or your child’s hand) you should stop pressing hard. Electrodes (电极) in the base of the hand sense when you tighten existing muscles and use those signals to make the fingers move.
Other prosthetics on the market tend to be expensive (up to $70,000). Akhtar says the Ability Hand costs $10,000 to $20,000, depending on the user’s needs. While much of the hand is made from carbon fiber, many parts use materials which are both cheap and flexible.
1. What might be the reason why Akhtar founded Psyonic?| A．His visit to Pakistan. | B．His parents’ support. |
| C．His guilt about being poor. | D．Medicare’s approval. |
| A．They are smart. | B．They are cheap. | C．They can last long. | D．They can react quickly. |
| A．Small in size. | B．Difficult to hold. |
| C．Easily damaged or broken. | D．Extremely soft and smooth. |
| A．It increases the cost. | B．It meets the users’ need. |
| C．It is getting increasingly popular. | D．It makes the product easy to bend. |
2 . Humans are very social creatures. In addition to verbal (语言的) communication, we also use our bodies to help us better express our thoughts and feelings. This non-verbal communication is known as body language.
Body language includes things like facial expressions, eye contact and posture (姿势). It actually developed as a form of communication before humans could speak or write. We can tell a lot about what a person is thinking or feeling just by looking at them.
In fact, body language is so common that you may not even realize that you are communicating many messages to others every day without even using words. For example, you might move your head from side to side to express the word “no” instead of actually saying the word. Or, you might give a “thumbs (拇指) up” to show that you like or agree with something.
But now that we are spending more time online, we may not have as many in-person interactions as before. Because of this, our means of non-verbal communication has changed, but is still an important way to express our thoughts.
Our “digital body language” is becoming increasingly important as we change how we communicate. Instead of using voice messages, we can video chat with our friends to show them our smiling face. Another way to express our emotions digitally is through emojis (表情符号). When we are communicating online, we are only revealing the content and leaving out tones and facial expressions. That’s when emojis can help in communication.
Whether using video chat to show our expression or sending an emoji, don’t forget the importance of digital body language and non-verbal communication.
1. What does the author mean by saying “Humans are very social creatures”?| A．Humans like living in groups. | B．Humans need to communicate. |
| C．Humans depend on each other. | D．Humans differ from other beings. |
| A．To explain how to express no. | B．To prove how much one likes something. |
| C．To demonstrate how to communicate messages. | D．To show how much we underestimate body language. |
| A．The way of communication. | B．The voice messages we use. |
| C．The time we spend online. | D．The invention of emojis. |
| A．By revealing the content. | B．By helping us video chat. |
| C．By expressing our emotions. | D．By leaving out facial expressions. |
3 . You’re fed up with the never-ending festivals of cinema, theater, music … in place of events you’ll really remember? Unusual, dangerous, or horrible, there’s something for everyone!
The Redhead Festival—Melbourne, Australia
Allowing those who are different to band together, Melbourne annually gathers 2% of the world’s redheads! In reality, redheads are superheroes! I mean, like Spiderman, they have a gene that changed! Calling all redheads: set off and find your fellow carrots in Melbourne on April 29.
Mule Day—Columbia, United States
There’s no reason why horses should be the only one to be appreciated. The lower class of Equidae will have its moment! Ride in on your best mule for races, sales, local products, parades and the election of the Queen of Mules (a real woman, but what bad taste!) await you from March 27 to April 2.
The Mud Festival—Boryeong, South Korea
The last one to get dirty loses! On Daecheon Beach in South Korea, once a year the local people rush into big inflatable (可充气的) rooms filled with mud. There’s magic in this mud because it’s full of nutrients and minerals. It makes the skin as soft as a baby’s bottom! Mud races, wrestling competitions, concerts, mud slides, mud baths, and massages (按摩) await the biggest dirtbags from July 21 to 30.
The Baby-Jumping Festival—Murcia, Spain
On the second Sunday of June every year, Murcia celebrates an interesting tradition: jumping over babies. The basic idea is that a man is dressed up in a red and yellow costume and jumps like a flying eagle over babies lying on a bed in the street. The goal is to purify (净化) the newborns and protect them from the evil.
1. Which festival can you join in if you are free in March?| A．The Redhead Festival. | B．Mule Day. | C．The Mud Festival. | D．The Baby-Jumping Festival. |
| A．Join in a mule race. | B．Enjoy a parade. | C．Attend concerts. | D．Dress up babies. |
| A．To find fellow carrots. | B．To have fun with babies. |
| C．To make baby skin soft. | D．To guard babies against evil. |
4 . Online scams (诈骗) are targeted at people from all walks of life.
1. Accept that online scams exist
Every time you start dealing with an unknown person or a contact online, you must consider it a possibility that you're dealing with a scammer.
2.Choose passwords carefully
You must choose difficult passwords while updating them from time to time.
3. Don't click what you don't know
A classic style followed by scammers is to send you Trojan horses in emails or messages.
4.
If you ever have doubts in your mind about the intentions of an unknown person, you should first carry out an in-depth search online based on the basic information they share. If you ever receive a request for money from a friend, always call them up to check first.
| A．Don't trust strangers |
| B．Dig deeper before continuing |
| C．Don't share private information online |
| D．All of us are equally open to online scams |
| E．Don't believe something that sounds too good |
| F．Thus, you must avoid opening anything you are not sure about |
| G．It's better to use a mix of numbers, letters, and special symbols |
5 . English and Chinese have for a long time been the languages most studied around the world but the line up of other languages of study is ever-changing.
In 2020, Spanish overtook French as the second most learned language on the popular language learning app Duolingo. This could be explained by a number of factors. The Spanish-speaking community is increasingly influential in the US and Latin America is seen as increasingly influential worldwide. It could be that for many people in the US there's a practical need to speak Spanish domestically (国内地) that has overridden the wish to speak French for travel.
Asian languages are also increasing in popularity. There's recently been great interest in Japanese from China, as well as from some African countries including Chad and Ethiopia. We can mainly relate this growing interest to Japan's cultural output and general attraction to its unique culture. Not to mention the Olympics getting the interest of language learners from around the world.
What's striking is that Chinese is now a more popular choice than Russian for language learners.That's probably because the increasing global influence of China means it is seen as a more useful language to speak compared to Russian. Over 100 million learners are thought to be studying Chinese worldwide with interest from the UK, US, India and Africa. It's interesting to see a relatively new superpower overtake a more established one — in language terms at least.
It's hard to judge the cultural influence of a country but the number of people spending time learning more about it through its language is surely a sign that it is exerting influence.
1. What can we infer about Latin Americans?| A．They often travel to France. | B．They mostly speak Spanish. |
| C．They influence the USA most. | D．They learn the most languages. |
| A．Culture. | B．Tourism. | C．The Olympics. | D．The global influence |
| A．Interested | B．Shocked. | C．Proud. | D．Anxious. |
| A．Languages most studied | B．The app most downloaded |
| C．Changes in language learning | D．The battle between English and Chinese |
6 . When everything is going wrong, there's nothing like listening to a few bars of your favorite sad song. But why do we find pleasure in sad music? This puzzled two researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany who set out to explore our strong feeling for sad songs in a world where entire industries exist to help us remove sadness from our lives.
Their study — based on a survey of more than 770 people around the world and published this month in the journal, PLOS ONE — discovered sad music can create positive emotions, like peacefulness and kindness, and that choosing the tearful ballad on your music player offers three benefits.
The biggest turned out to be that sad songs allow you to feel sadness without any of its “real-life contexts.” In other words, you can safely explore what it's like to be a little blue without experiencing the great pain of losing a loved one, for example.
“Emotion control” was another important benefit. Many of those surveyed said that when they were in a bad mood (情绪), experiencing sadness through music made them feel better afterwards and provided an emotional improvement. That may be because the songs help them to express and let go of their emotions, researchers noted. “Sad music promotes and creates a space for reflection and reexamination of personal experiences, thoughts and feelings,” one of the researchers added
The benefit of “empathy” (同理心) made the listener feel good by allowing him to share the sadness of another human being through the song. When we're having social problems, like when we're feeling lonely, homesick or missing someone, the sad songs can offer comfort by showing someone else shares our state of mind, the study found.
So it turns out that Elton John was right: Sad songs do say so much.
1. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．When things go wrong. | B．What to explore in sad songs. |
| C．Why sad music brings us joy. | D．How to remove sadness from life. |
| A．Benefits of sad music. |
| B．Strong feelings in sad music. |
| C．Real-life contexts of sad music. |
| D．Empathetic comforts from sad music. |
| A．By freeing us from bad moods. | B．By bringing great pain to us. |
| C．By helping us reflect on exams. | D．By providing a space for us. |
| A．To prove Elton John was right. | B．To show Elton John wrote songs. |
| C．To make the readers think deeply. | D．To stress the point of the passage. |
7 . As the temperatures drop, now is the perfect time to start thinking about a winter snow holiday. As you'll want to know the places where snow falls during the coldest months, we're here to help with our pick of the best snowy places to visit this winter.
LOFOTEN, NORWAY
With much fewer people around, it's a great time of year to experience the fishing villages. There's plenty going on, too. Take a wildlife and nature trip to experience spectacular landscape and birdlife and join in a Northern Lights hunt after the sun sets.
WHISTLER, CANADA
If you want snow, the Whistler town is your place. The largest skiable area in North America, Whistler covers 32 square kilometers over 2 mountains. It's so perfect for snow activities that it co-hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics.
HARBIN, CHINA
Nowadays, there are many artists, sculpture (雕刻) fans from Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Oceania gathering in Harbin to join in sculpture competitions. The sizes of the sculptures keep growing. Almost half century, the city's natural resource of ice and snow has been fully explored to provide joy and fun for visitors to the city.
LAPLAND, SWEDEN
Of course, this list wouldn't be complete without a shout out to Lapland. Deep inside the Arctic (北极的) Circle，Lapland makes for a perfect family winter getaway. It’s home to the unusual Ice hotel where you can sleep on a bed made of ice in a hotel constructed entirely out of, you guessed it, ice! It's also the location of the Abisko National Park, known as one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights.
1. When is a best time to visit the fishing villages in Lofoten?| A．Spring. | B．Summer. | C．Autumn | D．Winter. |
| A．Lofoten. | B．Whistler. | C．Harbin. | D．Lapland. |
| A．They are both intended for family trips. |
| B．They are both fantastic fishing destinations. |
| C．They are both perfect bird-watching places. |
| D．They are both suitable for a Northern Lights hunt. |
8 . Summer is a great time to go on holiday in Australia, especially after the long lockdown. Since overseas travel is still impossible, local spots have become hot destinations. In January, my friends and I went to the Great Ocean Road for three days’ trip and it was an amazing trip!
The Great Ocean Road is known for its beautiful coastline. During our trip, we enjoyed an amazing view of the ocean. On the first day, we went to the Split Point Lighthouse at the start of the road. The lighthouse has a “red hat” on the top. After climbing to the top, we could enjoy a breathtaking view. Looking from above, the waves lapping the shore divided the ocean and land into two halves.
Although the road hugs the coastline for its full length, the landscape (地形) changes from area to area. At first, we saw many surfers, swimmers, and other beachgoers. There are lots of beaches where people can enjoy the water. Right next to the beaches are small towns equipped with holiday houses and seafood restaurants, so it’s convenient for people who want to stay there for a few days with their family.
However, as we explored the Great Ocean Road further and reached the area around Port Campbell, we saw its famous limestone structures. People gave them names based on their shapes, such as the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge. The stones might have been accidentally sculptured by nature into certain shapes, but it was the human imagination that gave them a soul!
1. What is the Great Ocean Road famous for?| A．The limestone structures. | B．The coastline. |
| C．The Split Point Lighthouse. | D．The beaches. |
| A．The sculptor’s imagination. | B．London Bridge. |
| C．Its appearance. | D．Port Campbell |
| A．The author stayed in the holiday house at night. | B．Visitors weren’t allowed to swim in the ocean. |
| C．Australian don’t like to travel abroad. | D．The weather was cold in January. |
| A．A trip to Port Campbell. | B．An amazing coastline. |
| C．Beaches and ocean. | D．A trip to the Great Ocean Road. |
9 . For ten years, Hingorani and I have shared a wall. In all these years, we shared nothing more than that wall.
Hingorani lost her husband around eight months ago. Now, the 82-year-old former headmaster of Mumbai’s Jai Hind College lives alone in the apartment next door.
Knowing it would be difficult for her to manage things without any help, I started dropping by. When I found out that she loves meat and chicken, I went with a plate of butter chicken and kulchas. And we started to talk of course.
As we started to talk, I realized how different she was from what I had thought. And that’s where our friendship really began. I found that she related to me in a lot of ways — both of us married of our own free will, and she, too, was a working mother, We spoke about her relationship with her two sisters who live abroad and how they connect with each other every day.
Her liberal thinking, the way she raised her daughter, her love for her culture and stories of her teaching days — including how the boys at her college gave her a hard time — all made for great conversation. I never felt we were generations apart. She, too, loves my company and looks forward to my crazy stories without judgment. I tell her about the challenges I face when raising a child. A chat with her is like a warm hug at the end of a bad day.
Hingorani has become part of my daily life. I look forward to either having a cup of tea with her on her balcony or enjoying a glass of wine on a Saturday night. Our connection is pure. Our friendship is not limited by age. Instead, it is strengthened by the circumstances.
1. Why did the author begin to visit Hingorani?| A．She felt lonely living alone. | B．She was curious about the neighbor. |
| C．She had extra food to share with the neighbor. | D．She wants to lend the neighbor a hand. |
| A．They had a lot in common. | B．They both had two sisters. |
| C．They had different thoughts. | D．They had known each other for years. |
| A．She lives a very relaxing life. | B．She is good at raising children. |
| C．She enjoys the old lady’s company. | D．She has no other friends except the old lady. |
| A．I Found a Great Friend Beyond Age | B．I Saw Cooking as a Useful Bonding Tool |
| C．A Great Conversation Saved My Life | D．My New Friend Taught Me to Cook |
10 . A new study shows that eating nuts and peanut butter may help prevent one form of the disease diabetes (糖尿病). Adult-onset or Type Two diabetes affects about 135 million people around the world. The disease results when the body cannot produce or use a substance called insulin (胰岛素). Insulin is produced in the organ (器官) called the pancreas. Insulin helps turn sugar in foods into energy.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published the findings. Scientists from the Harvard University School of Public Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts completed the research. They studied more than 83,000 women for 16 years. The women were 34 to 59 years old. None of the women had diabetes, cancer or heart disease when the study began. During the study, more than 3,000 women developed diabetes.
The women answered questions every four years between 1980 and 1996. The researchers asked what they ate, including information about nuts and nut products. Some of the women ate nuts five days a week. The size of each serving weighed about 30 grams. Or, they ate a serving of peanut butter five days each week. Other women in the study did not eat nuts or peanut butter. Those who ate nuts five times a week were more than twenty percent less likely to develop Type Two diabetes than the women who did not eat nuts.
Although the study involved only women, the researchers believe eating nuts would also be good for men. The scientists say more research is needed to confirm the findings. But the study suggests that the fats in nuts may improve the way the body makes and uses insulin.
Nuts contain magnesium, which helps balance insulin and levels of sugar in the blood. The fats in nuts also may improve the body’s ability to process sugar in the blood. People who suffer from diabetes have too much sugar in their blood and urine, the body’s liquid waste.
1. What can we learn about the women involved in the new research?| A．All the women had to answer questions every week. |
| B．Some women were not allowed to eat nuts on purpose. |
| C．Some of them suffered from diabetes because of the research. |
| D．Women who ate nuts regularly had lower risk of having diabetes. |
| A．Who did the findings. | B．What happened to the women. |
| C．How the research was carried out. | D．How much nuts women should eat. |
| A．Insulin in nuts. | B．The fats in nuts. | C．Sugar in the blood. | D．People’s urine. |
| A．To show the importance of insulin. | B．To introduce a new study about eating nuts. |
| C．To introduce a new way to deal with diabetes. | D．To encourage people to eat as many nuts as possible. |
