1 . I still remember my first time going to the Chinese company's canteen. When I stepped onto the elevator, each one was full of people.
When I stood in the doorway, I realized I had to act fast or I would be left behind.
As I was pushed along the line, I saw dishes I didn't recognize and as people cut in line and picked up dishes left and right,
I have been at my company for over a year and a half.
I am still getting used to eating lunch at "lunchtime", but I think the schedule definitely helps keep me on track during the day. I wish there were something like this at offices in my hometown.
| A．I thought I had missed a fire drill. |
| B．There was no emergency; it was just lunchtime. |
| C．I noticed things at lunchtime were a bit different. |
| D．I felt that I needed to make some quick decisions. |
| E．The canteen reminded me of my school lunchroom. |
| F．And now I am glad to say I am more confident in the canteen. |
| G．I was not very familiar with the local food or restaurants in China. |
2 . When baby turtles first come out of eggs, they head to the sea by nature. The beach surface goes down, which is one directional clue they follow. Another is light: The horizon (地平线) over the sea is brighter than the horizon over land.
But lights from towns and beach developments can confuse the baby turtles. The sky shining above a city can mislead them to wander. And particularly bright lights can draw them away from the sea.
You’d think the extra time crawling (爬行) might wear out baby turtles, which need energy once they get in the water to swim for about a day to get to their destination in the sea. In a normal trip from nests to waves, the babies build up chemicals that show they have been pushing themselves.
Some researchers took the baby turtles to a lab, where they ran on a treadmill and swam in a tank while their blood and breathing were monitored. The finding is surprising: even after hours of crawling, the turtles were fine by all measures and swam as well as turtles that didn't have an extra crawling period.
The reason is that they often stop while crawling if they are doing U for a long time, unlike the disturbed trip they make when heading straight to the water. So misled turtles are not worn out.
But the misleading lights are still a problem for the babies. The longer they spend on the beach wandering, the more they are exposed to natural enemies. They can also end up losing their lives in the heat of the sun.
1. What attracts the baby turtles away from the sea?| A．Bright lights. | B．Vast beaches. |
| C．Buildings in cities. | D．Noises from towns. |
| A．Chemicals. | B．Nests. |
| C．Waves. | D．Baby turtles. |
| A．They travel by night. | B．Their trip is undisturbed. |
| C．They take frequent breaks. | D．They are refreshed by city lights. |
| A．They are in great danger. |
| B．They avoid their natural enemies. |
| C．They will wander on the beach for a while. |
| D．They are more likely to find the destination. |
3 . More than one million single-use straws (吸管), most of them plastic, are used in the United States each day. They end up in waterways, harm sea animals, and break down into micro-plastics. Quantities of places have passed plastic-straw bans as a way to start handling the global plastic waste problem.
Straw materials: advantages and disadvantages
1. Metal
Made of stainless steel, aluminum, or even titanium, metal straws have become popular. They draw some criticism for having a metallic taste and conducting heat from a hot drink, but they’re strong and can be reused.
2. Paper
Paper drinking straws, which date from the late 1800s, often absorb liquid over time and can leave a taste or fibers in drinks. They’re the most popular throwaway choice in places with plastic-straw bans.
3. Glass
Though glass straws may be more breakable and thus less portable than reusable straws of other materials, they hold up well to washing and reuse. Some straws are made to look artistic, with colors and blown-glass designs.
4. Bamboo
This natural material can be sustainably produced and is a plant-based replacement of plastic straws. Bamboo straws are easily disposed of and turned into fertilizer. They are reusable but can be hard to clean completely and may absorb flavors.
1. What is the major problem with plastic straws?| A．Function. | B．Flavor. |
| C．Weight. | D．Pollution. |
| A．Metal straw. | B．Paper straw. |
| C．Glass straw. | D．Bamboo straw. |
| A．It can become fertilizer. | B．It is easy to clean. |
| C．It is portable and bendable. | D．It has different designs. |
4 . Here’s an imaginary question for you：would you rather leave your home country and never be allowed to return，or never leave your home country ever again?
It’s a difficult one!Let’s consider the beauty of being at home and the thrill of travelling. I left my home country，Germany，when I was seven to move to England with my family. Now at the age of 21，I’ve left my second home country，England，to work as an English language assistant in Switzerland.
●New friends
I don’t know about you，but I love getting to know new people. Moving abroad is the perfect opportunity to extend your friendship circle and make it global.
●
You may learn a language in the classroom environment and learn it well，but nothing compares to fully burying yourself into a foreign language，participating in real-life conversations and picking up authentic slang and sayings from the locals.
●Food，glorious food!
The world has so much to offer when it comes to food，so make the most of this new cultural experience and let your stomach guide you. Why not try something completely new?Tingle those taste buds.
| A．The opportunity to master a new language. |
| B．The advantage of mastering a new language. |
| C．Is it always an exciting experience moving abroad? |
| D．Even better still，let the locals teach you how to make it. |
| E．You also fully experience the culture tied to the language. |
| F．These new friends will show you the most fun things to do in your new home. |
| G．What are the benefits of leaving the home country for a new adventure abroad? |
5 . Coral reefs (珊瑚礁) are an integral part of sea life and sustain it by providing shelter and habitat to various organisms. They also supply and recycle nutrients as well as enable a growing fish population, along with other species, for a healthy and diverse ecosystem. However, the rise in average water temperatures due to climate change has resulted in more frequent and longtime coral bleaching (白化现象) events that damage their health, causing fish and other sea species to abandon them.
In order to restore this delicate ecosystem, scientists from the UK and Australia conducted a study that involved using loudspeakers underwater near damaged coral reefs to make them sound healthy and attract fish, potentially kick-starting the natural recovery process of coral reefs and their dependent life forms. The location for this experiment was the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea, found alongside the east coast of Queensland, Australia. The site is noted to have the largest coral reef system in the world.
“Healthy coral reefs are remarkably noisy places-the crackle of snapping shrimp and the whoops and grunts of fish. Young fish concentrate on these sounds when they're looking for a place to settle,” said Steve Simpson, study co-author and a professor at the University of Exeter, UK.
By using loudspeakers to copy such sounds, parts of dead coral reefs were found to attract twice as many fish, compared to places where no sounds were played. “These returning fish, are crucial for coral reefs to function as healthy ecosystems. Boosting fish populations in this way could help to kick-start natural recovery processes, preventing the damage we're seeing on many coral reefs around the world,” said lead author, Tim Gordon.
1. What causes the phenomenon of coral bleaching?| A．Diverse species. | B．Noise pollution. |
| C．Fishing industry. | D．Climbing temperatures. |
| A．Removing damaged coral reefs. | B．Using loudspeakers to keep fish away. |
| C．Building new homes for sea species. | D．Playing certain sounds to appeal to fish. |
| A．To provide some findings of the study. | B．To show the progress of the experiment. |
| C．To explain reasons for the new approach. | D．To give another solution to the problem. |
| A．The attempts are in vain. | B．Natural recovery is impossible. |
| C．Initial success has been achieved. | D．The coral reefs have returned to normal. |
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I’m not so good with tech, so I was nervous about figuring out how to use it, but this device is so simple to use that even someone like me had absolutely no problem. I have started to sleep better as well ,and that was one of the most surprising benefits of the Neck Massager!- Pat Sullivan
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| A．Its working methods. | B．Its well-designed look. |
| C．The 2 AAA batteries. | D．The long working time. |
| A．It is light. | B．It is oversized. |
| C．It is simple to use. | D．It is safe to operate. |
| A．£23. | B．£46. | C．£69. | D．£92. |
7 . The sound that woke Damian Languell at 8:15 in the morning was so loud he assumed it came from inside his house in Wade, Maine. As he got up to investigate, he heard another sound, this one coming most definitely from outside. Looking out of his bedroom window, he noticed a tree enveloped in smoke about 500 yards away. A car wrapped around the tree's base, its engine on fire.
Grabbing buckets of water, he and his wife ran to the crash site. Up close, the accident looked worse. The car was split nearly in two, and the tree was where the driver's seat ought to have been, as if planted there. No one should have survived this crash, and yet there was 20- year-old Quintin Thompson, his terrified face pressed against the driver's side window, in visible pain.
Languell tried putting out the fire with his buckets of water but failed. When the flames got into the front seats, he knew he had to get the young man out. So Languell opened the car's back door and climbed in. Using a pocket knife he'd brought with him, he cut through Thompson's seat belt. Now that Thompson was free, Languell pulled him out, and dragged him to safety before the entire car was in flames.
It is empathy that drove Languell to help, just as he said, "My heart goes out to Thompson. When you are that close to that level of hurt, you feel it so directly." For his heroic action, Languell was added to the list of real-life heroes changing the world.
1. Where was the first sound actually from?| A．A house on fire. | B．A car crash. |
| C．The bedroom window. | D．The basement. |
| A．He saved his car from fire. | B．He was successfully rescued. |
| C．He remained calm all the time. | D．He was capable of helping himself out. |
| A．Honesty. | B．Wisdom. | C．Sympathy. | D．Responsibility. |
| A．Daring and generous. | B．Caring and grateful. |
| C．Courageous and noble. | D．Ambitious and reliable. |
8 . I arrived in my Chinese classroom, ready to share my vast knowledge and experience with the 75 students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in the USA for 17 years, I had no worry at all about my ability to plant in my students enthusiasm for the literature of my mother tongue.
I was really shocked when the monitor shouted “Stand up” and the entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat confused and anxious about how to get them to sit down again, but once that embarrassment was over, I quickly calmed down and launched into what I thought was a fact-packed lecture, sure to gain their respect-perhaps even their admiration. I went back to my room radiating that rosy glow (光泽) that comes from a sense of significant accomplishment.
My students kept journals, however, and as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually replaced by an overwhelming sense of frustration. The first journal said, “Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today. Perhaps her next lecture will be better.” Heartbroken, I read journal after journal, each expressing a similar theme. Didn’t teach them anything? I sketched the entire philosophical framework of thought AND laid the historical background for all the works we’ll study in class.” I complained, “How can they say I didn't teach them anything?”
Determined to clear myself, I dug out all my reference books, adding background material to my next lecture, researching into the sociological setting and even the psychological state of the author. After the second class, I eagerly opened the journals, expecting enthusiastic reviews at last. Again, I was crushed by their continuing comments that I was going too slowly without giving meaningful details.
More determined than ever. I dived into sources of criticism, deciding to devote more time to the texts by providing summaries of all the interpretations I could find of each work. This material would give my students ample information for drawing their own conclusions about the work’s meaning, “Our teacher seems confused about the real meaning of the works,” the journals said. “One minute she gives one interpretation; the next minute she gives another. Then she asks for our opinions. We’re the students. She’s the teacher. She should tell us what the works mean.”
It was a long semester, and it gradually became clear to me that my ideas about education were purely Western, and that Chinese ideas differed significantly. I thought a teacher’s job was to raise interesting questions and provide enough background so that students could draw their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide accurate information as directly and concisely as possible. Americans wanted to interpret and experience. The Chinese wanted to master and memorize.
1. How did the writer feel before he began his teaching in China?| A．Worried. | B．Confident. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Confused. |
| A．The students intended to scare their new foreign teacher. |
| B．The students refused to stand up before their new foreign teacher. |
| C．The writer was a little shy and felt embarrassed when he entered the classroom. |
| D．The writer didn’t know much about the Chinese classroom and that was totally unexpected. |
| A．He wanted to better understand the students’question. |
| B．He wanted to prove his ability in teaching the course. |
| C．He was a little bit angry with the students. |
| D．He was very disappointed with himself. |
| A．Chinese and Western ideas about education are slightly different. |
| B．A teacher’s job is to make students think and have their own opinions. |
| C．Teaching is to provide accurate information directly and clearly. |
| D．Both Americans and the Chinese tend to draw conclusions by themselves. |
9 . The dictionary isn’t forever. What happens to a word when its popularity starts to decline? Here’s how the process of deleting a word from the dictionary works.
The dictionary is actually a steadily enlarging volume.
Who decides which words to delete?
The Oxford English Dictionary covers the English language over the last 1,000 years, and it’s considered definitive and authoritative.
| A．Some new words might be out of date one day. |
| B．As a result, words get removed from the dictionary. |
| C．Dictionary additions and deletions reflect social changes. |
| D．It’s up to the dictionary editors to make the final decision. |
| E．That’s because the English language constantly develops and changes. |
| F．These are often the types of words that will make it into dictionaries. |
| G．However, there are many other dictionaries that are reliable and trustworthy. |
10 . I was given the book Running on Faith written by Jason Lester as a birthday gift last month. After I started reading, I really couldn't keep my eyes off it. It is always inspiring to read a story of someone who has gone through obstacles to reach his goals.
Jason Lester is a disabled (残疾的) extreme athlete. When he was twelve years old, a fast car ran a red light and hit him. Then he was sent into the hospital with twenty broken bones and . a famous baseball player, but at that a seriously injured arm. Jason had always wanted to become a time that dream was gone.
However, Jason loved sports and he still wanted to be a good athlete. He began running and taking part in duathlons( 铁人两项) in high school. Years later in 2004, he decided to start training for the Ironman, and has competed in many extreme races since then. In 2008, Jason became the first disabled athlete to complete the Ultraman (320 miles of biking, swimming and running) ,and it led him to an ESPY award ( 奖项) for Best Male Athlete with a Disability in 2009.
If you are in a bad situation and don't know what to do now, Running on Faith is a good book for you. If you love running and want to reach some race goals, this book is good for you, too. Anyway, this book is worth reading for everyone who loves reading and wants to turn dreams into reality.
1. What does the underlined word "obstacles" in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Arrangements. | B．Worries. |
| C．Difficulties. | D．Experiences. |
| A．He ran a red light and got injured. |
| B．He was seriously hurt in the accident. . |
| C．He lost the courage to be an extreme athlete. |
| D．He decided to play baseball after the accident. |
| A．Taking part in duathlons. |
| B．Training himself in running. |
| C．Competing in many extreme races. |
| D．Completing the Ultraman. |
| A．To show how dreams can come true. |
| B．To explain why Running on. Faith is popular. |
| C．To recommend reading Running on Faith. |
| D．To explore the way to be a good athlete. |
