However, the possibility of air vehicles over New York already represents a clear and present danger to public safety. New York skies are already filled with helicopters. Since 1983, there have been at least 30 helicopter crashes in the city. "There are several challenges to overcome before commuters（上下班往返的人）are flying through the air," said Dalvin Brown in USA Today. Many of the vehicles now being imagined require "magical electric batteries that doesn't exist—yet." The best that anyone can do right now with an electric battery is 20 minutes of flight. An even bigger obstacle（障碍）is gaining approval（批准）from the FAA（American Federal Aviation Administration）, which has strict rules and guidelines for small aircraft, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
That's why the first practical commercial tests of autonomous taxis are likely to be outside the US, said Jeremy Bogaisky on Forbes.com. "EHang became the first company to receive approval from Chinese aviation regulators to establish an autonomous air-taxi service in Guangzhou." To succeed in the US, air taxi companies will need much more than that. Taking a small aircraft through the regulatory forest of safety certification to production can cost US $75 to US $100 million.
1. Which is special about the Lilium prototype jet，according to the passage?| A．It's the most expensive model. |
| B．It's already available on the market. |
| C．It's suitable for midtown Manhattan. |
| D．It's suitable to be used in cities. |
| A．The problems to overcome. | B．Public concerns about safety. |
| C．Related official policies. | D．Potential market risks. |
| A．Quick and economical. | B．Strict and expensive. |
| C．Difficult and time-saving. | D．Unsafe and impractical. |
2 . This heartwarming story began unfolding on Father's Day. It might have been a(n)
Rosario Del Real had been working as a carpenter (木匠) from home. But an injury
Since Oscar Gonzalez and his friend Victor Dominguez were
One of their friends
Even before learning that his new friends had
| A．stage | B．holiday | C．accident | D．challenge |
| A．or | B．so | C．but | D．and |
| A．packing | B．cleaning | C．wearing | D．trying |
| A．pushing | B．selling | C．repairing | D．observing |
| A．calm | B．sweet | C．energetic | D．graceful |
| A．finally | B．actually | C．extremely | D．usually |
| A．shelter | B．success | C．company | D．retirement |
| A．forced | B．requested | C．enabled | D．permitted |
| A．partners | B．carpenters | C．neighbors | D．colleagues |
| A．hosting | B．donating | C．visiting | D．filming |
| A．hire | B．join | C．support | D．represent |
| A．cart | B．office | C．apartment | D．neighborhood |
| A．found | B．explored | C．attracted | D．recorded |
| A．sent | B．tapped | C．posted | D．updated |
| A．see | B．help | C．hear | D．make |
| A．goal | B．reaction | C．process | D．impact |
| A．honest | B．confident | C．generous | D．humorous |
| A．owning | B．saving | C．borrowing | D．contributing |
| A．selected | B．collected | C．rejected | D．expected |
| A．capable | B．powerful | C．suitable | D．grateful |
3 . On Friday morning when 53-year-old Thong Pham broke into the house through the unlocked back door, he took a steak knife from the kitchen.
It was dark, and the family didn't know what Marley was barking (吠) at. Taylor, Amber and their girls Finley, 6, and Sadie, 4, soon woke up and came downstairs, too. “Well, it was dark so we couldn't see anything, only could hear Marley,” Amber recalled, saying her husband then went for the lights. “And once he turned the hall light on, we realized that the guy was holed up in the corner trying to hide.”
“So I think he got to the front door and realized he couldn't get out, and by that point in time, Marley's got him cornered,” Taylor said. Pham slashed (砍) both Marley and Taylor, and blood went everywhere. Taylor shared a video summary to his Facebook page, where he said Marley was stabbed (刺) up to six times, mostly around the head and neck area. “And as I pulled back, blood shot out of my arm,” Taylor continued. “She got him pretty good and I got him pretty good in the face.”
“But it was really hard because I was trying to make sure that my husband wasn't going to die,” Amber explained, adding that she was trying to protect their two girls. “When he realized that the two girls were in the house, that's when he kind of backed up and started running. "
Taylor expressed gratitude to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. And the family is thankful for their dog Marley.
“She's our hero,” Amber said. “If it hadn't been for her, that guy could have gone in the...he could have gone to their rooms or something.” Taylor added, “Yeah, I mean, the story plays out very differently if Marley's not there.”
1. Why did the family come downstairs before daybreak?| A．To stop a break-in. | B．To lock the back door. |
| C．To check on Marley. | D．To turn the hall light on. |
| A．Pham dug a hole in the corner. |
| B．Marley was injured but bit back. |
| C．Taylor had a backup from neighbors. |
| D．Amber fought back to protect her girls. |
| A．Forgiveness. | B．Concern. | C．Anger. | D．Appreciation. |
4 . The Benefits of Digital Art
Digital art is the process of creating artwork using computers and software.
Digital art is often quicker to finish.
Take oil paintings for example. If you create one in the traditional way, you will need all kinds of tools like paper, water, paints, etc.
A computer with the right apps and software might cost you $1, 000, but physical art is pretty expensive. Pencils, paper, paints, paintbrushes and all of the other things you need soon get expensive. And they all need replacing — things can easily reach that $1, 000 and beyond.
Digital art avoids using much space of your room.
Drawings and paintings can take up lots of physical space. I have many physical drawings which are stored in boxes in my room. Some of the drawings took me weeks to complete.
Digital art makes it easy to deal with mistakes.
Digital art gives you the wonderful ability to correct your mistakes. Any time you make a mistake, you can step back from it right away with a push of a button. As for traditional art, it’s not easy to correct a mistake. For example, when your pen accidentally falls on your painting, you may not be able to deal with it.
| A．Digital art helps save money. |
| B．These tools can be very important. |
| C．It takes time to prepare all of these. |
| D．And your painting will be destroyed. |
| E．Digital art will never be a paper killer. |
| F．But they never see the light of day now. |
| G．Compared with traditional art, digital art has some advantages. |
5 . “Your mind is a garden; your thoughts are the seeds. The harvest can either be flowers or weeds,” William Wordsworth wrote. In the above quote, William suggests that the process of gardening mirrors human life. Depending on what we “plant” in our lives, we bloom (生长茂盛) or don’t. Before you start to work in your garden, it’s necessary to have a vision for it. Thinking of what you want to grow in your garden and how to lay it out is a good first step in making your vision a fruitful reality. In life, you should consider what you want to create and what you want to achieve, because your mind-garden is like the white paper and the possibilities are endless.
Regardless of what you choose to plant, poor soil isn’t suitable for growth. This is why gardeners take the time and energy to upgrade the soil before planting. So, creating the right soil is important to the realization of your goals and dreams. Fortunately, there are countless ways to make your personal bedrock better. Getting an education is one of the most effective ways, which can help you enrich your life’s soil.
You don’t have to be an enthusiastic gardener to understand the meaning of “You reap(收获) what you sow.” When a gardener wants tomatoes, they just need to plant tomato seeds. It’s a very clear act that produces an expected result. Each of us has the power to decide which “life seeds” to plant. For example, if you plant ill seeds, it's likely that you’ll experience pain in return. Contrarily, if you plant seeds of kindness and understanding, your life will bloom with happiness and love.
A gardener’s truly arduous work begins after the seeds are in the ground because a garden requires a lot of care and attention. Regular watering and weeding are required for a healthy garden. So, to ensure your dreams take root, you should be devoted, aware, and present. After countless hours and energy spent, the crops have grown well and are finally ready to be harvested.
1. What is important before gardeners break ground in their gardens?| A．Receiving some training in planting. |
| B．Drawing up a good plan for their gardens. |
| C．Having the courage to accept the worst outcome. |
| D．Doing research on the common local garden plants. |
| A．Improving the condition of the soil. | B．Growing your most favorable plants. |
| C．Taking care of the plants in your garden. | D．Selecting proper goals in gardening work. |
| A．Your quality of life depends on your positive action. |
| B．Your experience can help you understand plants better. |
| C．Your choice of soil is an important part in your gardening. |
| D．Your knowledge of planting will make you a successful gardener. |
| A．Beneficial | B．Creative | C．Boring. | D．Tough |
6 . Loneliness is a widespread problem with complex roots.
There has been a quiet pandemic developing while most people's attention has been on covid-19. The lockdown has worsened a problem that has been spreading in many developed nations for decades: loneliness.
It is a complex issue which covers not only social lives, but the way you work and the way you vote. Noreena Hertz, an academic, deals with the subject in an important new book, "The Lonely Century". Loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, strokes and dementia(痴呆症). Those who say they are lonely are likelier to be depressed five years later. In addition, lonely people can become more hostile towards others and more attracted to extremist politics.
Part of the problem stems from contemporary employment. Globally, two in five office workers feel lonely at work. This rises to three in five in Britain. Gig-economy(零工经济)jobs can leave people with insecure incomes and without the companionship of colleagues. The pandemic has made it more difficult to make, and maintain friendships, particularly for new employees.
Ms.Hertz points her finger at other recent developments. One of them is social media. The internet has led to much cyber-bullying (although it has also been a source of companionship during the lockdown). And people glued to their smartphones spend less time interacting socially.
Some changes in behavior are caused by individual choice. Before the pandemic no one was stopping people going to church or taking part in sports. They simply preferred to do other things. American fathers spend three times as much time with their children as they did in the 1960s. That is surely a welcome development.
So recreating a communal society may be difficult. When the pandemic ends, people may enjoy the chance to be with their neighbors and colleagues for a while. But the trend is clear. Technology means that people can get their entertainment at home, and work there, too. It is convenient but it also leads to loneliness.
1. What does the underlined phrase "a quiet pandemic" refer to in the second paragraph？| A．Covid-19. |
| B．Loneliness. |
| C．The lockdown. |
| D．A complex issue. |
| A．To show the seriousness of loneliness. |
| B．To advertise a new book. |
| C．To give an example of loneliness. |
| D．To introduce what to be discussed. |
| A．Contemporary employment. |
| B．Social media. |
| C．Individual choice. |
| D．Extremist politics. |
| A．Loneliness: Good or Not？ |
| B．A Common Disease. |
| C．Loneliness: A Clear Trend. |
| D．Pandemic and Loneliness. |
7 . When in space, astronauts typically eat dehydrated (脱水), nutrient-rich food, but when it comes to longer space missions, that can become a problem as they'll eventually lack nutrients from fresh vegetables. However, Ying Diao, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor will be researching ways astronauts can grow their own fresh vegetables more efficiently during space missions.
Diao's goal for this research is to develop wearable sensors for plants so that their health and stress levels are detected autonomously, with no need for humans to do the testing. Then, a “smart” plant chamber will be developed that can identify the best conditions for a plant to grow in to reduce its stress. Diao also wants to develop another sensor that will continuously monitor a plant's growth over its lifetime. “We're helping the astronauts to be more healthy during space missions, by improving the health of the plants they grow,” Diao said. “So the bigger impact could also be that it helps future human colonization on Mars or on other possible habitats.”
Although the ultimate goal for this project and research is to help people in space, it could also be used back on Earth in addressing climate change.
“During climate change, a plant experiences a lot of stress, but we need a plant to be more productive without increasing the footprint of the agriculture land to feed the growing population of our planet,” Diao said. “To address this conflict, we could potentially help decipher(破译)how the climate change and the microenvironments are impacting the plant stress and then we are better equipped to help plants adapt to a changing environment.”
“Most of the technology in my field is developed for human health but we've been ignoring plants for too long,” Diao said. “I think it's a new frontier that I want to go into and it is just part of a smart agriculture movement.”
1. What troubles astronauts with longer missions?| A．The way to grow fresh vegetables. |
| B．A shortage of nutrients from fresh vegetables. |
| C．A decrease in dehydrated, nutrient-rich food. |
| D．The balance between work and growing vegetables. |
| A．To find possible habitats for people. |
| B．To deal with climate change on earth. |
| C．To decrease the footprint of agriculture. |
| D．To help people to stay healthy in space. |
| A．Technology for plants. |
| B．Sensors for space use. |
| C．A smart agriculture movement. |
| D．Research into human health. |
8 . The day before my daughter Norah's fourth birthday, something she said predicted an amazing event that happened later.
I had just
The following day-her birthday-again on the way home from school, she asked if we could
The man was elderly. stone-faced and furrow-browed.
After
There was
| A．looked after | B．dropped off | C．brought up | D．picked up |
| A．mind | B．stop | C．admire | D．support |
| A．quickly | B．frequently | C．slowly | D．calmly |
| A．puzzled | B．struck | C．attracted | D．bothered |
| A．doubt | B．sense | C．idea | D．control |
| A．caught | B．made | C．knew | D．meant |
| A．stop | B．arrive | C．look | D．meet |
| A．candles | B．cookies | C．candies | D．cakes |
| A．shyly | B．excitedly | C．unwillingly | D．coldly |
| A．Besides | B．Therefore | C．Instead | D．However |
| A．softened | B．deepened | C．disappeared | D．remained |
| A．standing | B．playing | C．chatting | D．laughing |
| A．picture | B．walk | C．seat | D．break |
| A．relaxed | B．satisfied | C．worried | D．delighted |
| A．danced | B．posed | C．jumped | D．cried |
| A．aimed | B．stared | C．pointed | D．waved |
| A．magic | B．progress | C．change | D．recovery |
| A．patted | B．thanked | C．admired | D．kissed |
| A．came across | B．turned to | C．cared about | D．looked for |
| A．happy | B．proud | C．mad | D．sad |
9 . On a cold winter day, many years ago, a French art teacher named Pierre Chevalier got on a train in Lyon to go to Paris. When he started his journey, he did not know that it was the beginning of almost 40 years of accidents and near death experiences.
During the journey, the train fell into an icy river, killing 12 passengers. Chevalier managed to swim back to the river bank. He only had a broken leg.
Two years later, Chevalier was on a plane from Paris to Moscow when a door suddenly opened and he fell out. A few minutes later, the plane crashed; 27 people were killed. Chevalier was so lucky that he landed in a haystack(干草堆).
A few years later, he was hit by a bus, but again had no serious injuries. Then a year after that, he was driving on a mountain road when he saw a truck coming straight at him. He drove the car off the road, jumped out, landed in a tree--and watched his car fall 100 meters down the mountain.
"There are two ways you can look at it," Chevalier said. "I' m either the world' s unluckiest man, or the world' s luckiest." When a reporter asked Chevalier what he thought, he chose the "luckiest" one.
Two years ago, aged 71, Chevalier bought his first lottery ticket(彩票) in 50 years and won more than 2 million. After this, a TV company in America said they wanted him to make an advertisement. At first he accepted, but then he changed his mind. Chevalier said he would not fly to Los Angeles for the filming, because he did not want to push his luck. Who knows? If he had accepted the invitation, maybe he would have had another accident. But Mr. Chevalier is a lucky man. If he had had another accident, he probably would have survived that too!
1. In the train accident many years ago, Chevalier______.| A．didn't get injured at all | B．was finally pulled out of the river |
| C．was lucky enough to be alive | D．was the only passenger to survive |
| A．Because he had won ￡2 million. | B．Because he didn’t want to risk his life. |
| C．Because he didn’t want to leave home. | D．Because he didn't like the TV company. |
| A．a man with nine lives | B．the unluckiest man in the world |
| C．a man who traveled around the world | D．a man who earned ￡2 million in a lottery |
10 . Running and walking are both excellent forms of exercise. Those who regularly do either usually have healthier hearts, stronger bones and lower body weights than those who do little exercise. But does it matter whether you spend time walking or running? Arguments can be made for both, and which is right for you depends on your goals and your present fitness level.
“The key difference between running and walking is how many calories you are burning—not per mile, but per minute of exercise says Paul D. Thompson, a doctor at Hartford Hospital.” “Running is a more-efficient (高效的) movement and it’s more demanding on the body, so it bums more calories per minute,” Thompson says. “But if you’ve got the time to walk long enough to bum the same amount of calories, then walking is fine.” That said, if your final goal is to lose weight, chances are that neither running nor walking alone is going to do the trick. Research has shown that it needs to be done along with calorie control.
In a recent study that analyzed data from nearly 50,000 people, researchers found that runners’ risk of heart disease was 4.5 percent lower than that of those who were inactive. But walkers who burned the same amount of calories daily had a risk level that was 9 percent lower than those who were inactive.
“Running gets the reputation (名声) for causing injuries because many people who are just starting to run try to do too much too quickly,” says Carol Ewing Garber, a professor at Columbia University. “And they often get injured as a result. If you want to progress from walking to running, do it slowly, gradually increasing your speed, distance and the frequency of your rums.
Running may be more highly-intense (高强度的) and calorie-burning than walking, but walking is a great way to ease into exercise and make sure you are staying physically active every day. The bottom line is that getting exercise of any kind is beneficial—if you keep doing it.
“The best exercise is the one you are going to do,” Thompson says. “There are extra benefits to be gained from running, but what’s most important from a public health point of view is that everyone gets out and does some kind of exercise?”
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．Exercise on its own is not enough to lose weight. |
| B．Walking is better than running for busy people. |
| C．Running can reduce people’s fat quickly and safely. |
| D．Walking is more demanding on the body. |
| A．Running bums fewer calories than walking. |
| B．Walkers are more likely to get heart disease than runners. |
| C．Walking can reduce the risk of having heart disease. |
| D．Inactive people are free from heart problems. |
| A．We’d better walk slowly. | B．Just walk before you run. |
| C．We’d better choose to run. | D．Any exercise is better than none. |
