1 . The 1975 film Jaw s tells the story of a great white shark that attacks and kills swimmers. Jaws was a great success. It strengthened people’s long-held idea of the great white shark as a dangerous animal.
People have always been scared of sharks, but Jaws made things worse. It made people frightened of sharks. Many people started to believe that sharks were bad animals that ate humans. Some people stopped swimming in the sea. Other people started fishing for sharks, killing as many as they could. At that time, nobody cared if sharks were killed, or how many were killed. People just wanted them killed.
After 1975, the number of large sharks around America fell quickly, and soon fell around the world. This was not only due to fear of sharks, but also finning. Finning is a type of fishing where sharks are caught and their fins are cut off. The sharks are thrown back into the sea where they die slowly and painfully. Finning kills millions of sharks a year.
Finning would have an unexpected effect upon Peter Benchley, the man who wrote the book that the film Jaws was based on. In 1980, Benchley was diving when he came across an awful sight. It was an area where fishermen were finning, and the sea floor was covered with dead sharks. Benchley saw sharks being killed and this caused a deep change in him. He came to see people as a danger to sharks, rather than the other way round. From that day on, he fought to protect sharks. He admitted that his book was wrong about sharks’ behaviour. “Sharks don’t target humans,” he said. Experts have proved that sharks do not see people as food, and they attack us by mistake.
Fortunately, not everyone who watched the film Jaws became afraid of sharks—some became interested in understanding them. Today, as we learn more about sharks, more people than ever want to protect them from extinction.
1. How have people’s attitudes towards sharks changed after the film Jaws?| A．They become proud of sharks. |
| B．They are more frightened of sharks. |
| C．They begin to realize their importance. |
| D．They have the same attitude to sharks. |
| A．He became more afraid of sharks. |
| B．He continued to support shark finning. |
| C．He recognized humans as a danger to sharks. |
| D．He understood sharks are dangerous to humans. |
| A．To comment on Peter’s book. |
| B．To tell the success of the film Jaws. |
| C．To recommend a film to readers. |
| D．To raise awareness of shark protection. |
2 . Websites aim to be easily found by people who seek their products or services. One way people may find websites is through a search engine. Therefore, many companies obviously want to make their websites attractive to search engines.
Now famous search engines like Google prefer mobile-friendly sites in their rankings (排名). So, if your site doesn’t work well on phones, you are offering a less pleasant experience to some users.
Page speed is also important for search engine rankings. If your site is loaded with too many videos, it will take a long time to load.
For a popular website, it’s important to update it regularly.
Finally, don’t look down on customer experience. Remember that adding something fun can be really good too.
| A．It will give users much more viewing time. |
| B．To achieve this, website content should be unique. |
| C．This might affect your search engine ranking negatively. |
| D．Slow loading will upset and finally drive away visitors. |
| E．First of all, always be a polite user when visiting a website. |
| F．This sharing helps increase your search engine ranking. |
| G．Fresh content keeps users interested so they don’t get bored and leave. |
3 . In a classroom in rural Kenya’s Rift Valley, a student, Priscilla Sitienei, takes notes alongside her fellow classmates. She wears the same school uniform. However, there is something different.
Sitienei is more than 80 years older than them. February 11 was Sitienei’s ninety-ninth birthday. “The main reason for my returning to school was that I would like to become a doctor because I used to be a midwife (助产士),” she said. She added that her children supported her decision.
Back in 2003, the government of the East African country began helping to pay for the cost of primary schooling. This has allowed some older members of society, who had missed out on education in their younger days, to go back to school.
This has given Sitienei more than an education. She has become a film star. Sitienei travelled to Paris last year for the launch (发布) of a film about her journey. It is titled Gogo, which means grandmother in her native Kalenjin language. She will also be heading to New York City soon for a showing of the film there.
Sitienei is in her sixth year of primary school. She said her aims were far more practical than becoming a movie star. She said, “I also enjoy school activities, including physical education classes. They keep me fit. I get to jump around, even though not as much as they do, but I at least move my body. That is my joy.”
Sitienei shares her wide experience and knowledge with the children. Her teachers also use her experience to keep the peace during lessons. Her class teacher, Leonida Talaam, said, “I use Sitienei to help control the class. And it works! When I go outside, the class remains silent.”
1. What does Sitienei mainly intend to do by going to school?| A．Take up a new career. | B．Make herself popular. |
| C．Have more classmates. | D．Return to society. |
| A．She wanted to meet her grandma. | B．She wanted to learn the native language. |
| C．Her movie would come out there. | D．Her new journey plan was to be announced. |
| A．Dependent. | B．Creative. | C．Honest. | D．Energetic. |
| A．Keep order in class. | B．Organize school activities. |
| C．Stop the students going out. | D．Inspire the students to work out. |
4 . Paul Farmer was born in Western Massachusetts, the second of six children. When he was seven, his father moved the family to Birmingham, Alabama, and five years later, to Brooksville, Florida. There his father housed the family in an old school bus, and in the bus, they moved from one trailer park to another. Years later he moved his family to a houseboat in the Gulf of Mexico. Both of his parents enjoyed reading serious literature (严肃文学) to their children and encouraged them to take an interest in the wider world.
Paul excelled in school. He went to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. At Duke, he discovered the writings of Rudolf Virchow, the 19th-century German scientist who pioneered the practice of public health medicine. Paul’s attention also turned to the local migrant labor ( 流 动 劳 工) camps, where a friend from Belgium, Julianna De Wolf, was working to improve the living conditions of the laborers. Through Julianna he came to know many Haitian migrants. He was attracted by their stories and began to learn everything he could about Haiti, studying the Creole language and interviewing migrant workers.
After graduation, he traveled to Haiti, where he planned to spend a year working in public health clinics (诊所). From the capital of Port au Prince, he visited many village communities. The number of doctors, nurses and public health workers was far from meeting locals’ needs and very few organizations provided basic medical training. In the company of a Haitian humanitarian (人道主义者), Fritz Lafontant, Farmer traveled to the island’s central area, where Lafontant had set up a small clinic in the town of Mirabelais.
Then Farmer visited the village of Cange. People were living in dirty huts ( 简 陋 的 棚 屋), without clean drinking water or medical care. Diseases were spreading. In Cange, among the poorest and sickest of the poor, Farmer found his calling. He decided to build a clinic there, one that would treat all comers, and that would train local health care workers.
Along with Lafontant, Farmer set up a community-based health project, known as Zanmi Lasante. Today, it has become Haiti’s largest health care provider outside of the government.
1. What can we learn about Paul Farmer as a child?| A．He led a wealthy life. |
| B．He lived close to a school. |
| C．He disliked reading very much. |
| D．He moved from one place to another. |
| A．He was advised to study public health medicine. |
| B．He was encouraged to travel around the world. |
| C．He was first introduced to Haitian culture. |
| D．He was guided into literature. |
| A．Haitians were warm and friendly. |
| B．Many humanitarians worked in the clinics. |
| C．It was difficult for migrants to land a job there. |
| D．It was hard for villagers to get basic health care. |
| A．He had excellent social skills. |
| B．He was creative and imaginative. |
| C．He worked to help people in need. |
| D．He was a high achiever in foreign languages. |
5 . On the Atrai River in the northwest of Bangladesh, a small boat is tied up in tall grass that lines the riverbank. Inside the boat are narrow benches (狭窄的长椅) which in turn are filled with children. There are 29 kids in this third-grade class. The kids sit shoulder-to-shoulder facing a blackboard at the back of the boat. When the teacher asks for a volunteer to read a poem, a girl holds up her hand.
Educators in Bangladesh not only face many of the same challenges as teachers in other poor countries, they also have to worry about monsoon rains. Flooding (洪灾) is so common in Bangladesh that students often can’t get to the classroom. So Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, one local non-profit (非营利的) organization, has decided to take the classrooms to the students in the form of schools on boats.
This boat is one of 23 floating (漂浮的) year-round schools in this part of Bangladesh run by Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha. Each morning the boat goes along the river picking up students. Once the whole class is on board, they pull over to the riverbank and school starts for the day.
Mohammed Rezwan, the founder of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, was born and brought up in this part of Bangladesh. He was lucky as he didn’t miss school in the rainy season thanks to his family’s boat, unlike many of his friends. While at university, it hit him that if children couldn’t make it to school, their classroom should go to them. Rezwan set up Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha in 1998.
His organization now runs 23 boat schools in this part of Bangladesh. Rezwan refers to the floating classrooms as a combination (结合) of “school bus and school room.”
He says these schools have another benefit in rural Bangladesh.
“In rural areas, the parents are mostly worried about the safety of the girls,” he says. “If girls have to travel a long way to go to school, then the parents would not let them go to school. But here the education comes to their doorsteps so they’re not worried about their safety.”
1. What do the kids do in the small boat?| A．They have classes. |
| B．They watch a show. |
| C．They do volunteering. |
| D．They take part in a competition. |
| A．His parents could afford his education. |
| B．His parents were supportive of his choice. |
| C．He had the chance to do some traveling as a child. |
| D．He could continue to go to school during the rainy season. |
| A．Problem. | B．Rule. | C．Advantage. | D．Project. |
| A．Boat Schools Bring Classrooms to Students |
| B．Educational Travel Helps Students Develop Skills |
| C．Knowledge and Safety Are Important to These Children |
| D．This Organization Introduces Technology to Children in Poor Areas |
6 . My husband Wes and I and our two dogs have spent several years living in an RV (野营车) — calling it home and driving it all around the United States.
Wes and I had just sold our house outside of St. Louis, Missouri and moved to a town in Colorado. Though we enjoyed our new state, we were traveling back home for visits often. So at first the RV was intended for traveling in comfort: We could save money on hotels, travel at a more relaxed pace, avoid packing (打包行李) and unpacking, and be able to take our dogs with us. Plus, my husband had always wanted one.
We bought the first RV in July 2015 and by September of that year we were already considering living in it full time. Wes and I love traveling and being “location independent,” and our jobs allow us to work from anywhere. At first it did seem strange to live on the road, but once we officially made the decision, in February 2016, we never looked back.
I absolutely love living in an RV, so my list of “advantages” is long. I love being able to park my home right next to the best biking trails (小路), change the view from the windows, follow the good weather, and explore unusual destinations (目的地).
The biggest “disadvantage” is the planning that’s necessary. You do have to plan ahead where you are going to park because sometimes places are full. As a full-time traveler, you are often planning, moving, and trying new things. So once you arrive somewhere, it’s nice to stay a while and just sit still. That’s why I suggest that RVers park their RV every once in a while, or move a little slower.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about the author and her husband?| A．Why they bought their first RV. |
| B．Where they traveled in their RV. |
| C．How they went on holiday in an RV. |
| D．How they gave up their house to get an RV. |
| A．They moved to a new city and found new jobs. |
| B．They began living in their RV full time. |
| C．They rebuilt their house in Colorado. |
| D．They sold their first RV. |
| A．It is busy and challenging. |
| B．It still needs some changes. |
| C．It is comfortable and satisfying. |
| D．It has made her more independent. |
| A．Try new types of RVs. |
| B．Head for thinly populated places. |
| C．Slow down and relax on the road. |
| D．Avoid making many plans ahead. |
7 . I was born with a rare disease that prevented the normal growth of my right arm. I was heart-broken at school. Those cruel experiences won’t affect me now, but back then they struck me very hard.
My parents realised playing with Lego was a great way to improve my flexibility, so they bought me a set when I was five. I built planes and cars, and even a prosthetic (义肢的) arm, though I had already decided I didn’t need a prosthetic arm — it was very expensive, and I was doing just fine.
I made one because it’s fun. I have since made several new versions. And my latest model is the most advanced and comfortable. It has a control unit that can send and receive orders from sensors on the arm to the motors, with cables that contract like muscles.
A lot of people don’t have the ability to buy a prosthetic. I hate it when people have to pay up to €100,000 for a prosthetic. They shouldn’t pay that much — it’s not a luxury. My goal is to try to make some that more people can afford.
When I was 19, the parents of an eight-year-old boy got in touch to ask if I could build him a prosthetic. His arms and legs are underdeveloped as part of his condition, so I made two prosthetic arms using Lego units costing only €15. His smile when he used them for the first time was very encouraging.
To me, my creations don’t necessarily tell the story of how I overcame my condition with Lego; they’re about how I overcame the tough period almost every day at school.
1. Which word best describes the author’s school life?| A．Rewarding. | B．Demanding. | C．Unpleasant. | D．Satisfactory. |
| A．To make them reliable. | B．To make them advanced. |
| C．To make them flexible. | D．To make them affordable. |
| A．He has gained great popularity. | B．He has become more optimistic. |
| C．He has enjoyed his school life. | D．He has recovered his flexibility. |
| A．He is sympathetic and creative. | B．He is outgoing and adaptable. |
| C．He is patient but aggressive. | D．He is ambitious but proud. |
8 . Who has no regrets about things done in the past? Wouldn’t it be nice if, somehow, we could go back to change a couple of bad decisions? This sounds like science fiction.
The laws of physics prohibit traveling back in time for many reasons. If we did travel back in time and changed the course of events, we would be altering the course of history. An example often cited is the grandfather’s paradox (悖论): If your grandfather died when he was still a high school student, he wouldn’t have met your grandmother and your father and you wouldn’t exist.
Putting humans or consciousness traveling back in time aside for the moment, is there anything in science even similar? Surprisingly, yes. At the level of quantum particles (量子粒子), there is something called Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiments that show that actions in the present can influence the past. The experiments use something called the wave-particle duality (波粒二象性) of light and of matter. The fact that the physical nature of quantum objects is undetermined until it is measured. In other words, this means that a particle of light or of matter can behave either as a wave (spreading out in space) or as a particle (staying together) depending on the measuring devices. Long and ongoing discussions about the nature of quantum physics are still trying to work out what this actually means. Do our minds determine the nature of physical reality?
Should we offer food for thought for the future or the past? Unfortunately, these experiments say very little about how we could interfere with the past in events relevant to the human scale. Better to think carefully about decisions than to try to fix them backwards.
1. What’s the purpose of mentioning the paradox?| A．To show it is interesting. |
| B．To explain Wheeler’s tests. |
| C．To demonstrate time is different from what we have known. |
| D．To show it’s impossible to travel back in time. |
| A．Consciousness traveling back in time was tried in the experiments. |
| B．Different measuring devices have the same result. |
| C．More research is needed in the future. |
| D．These experiments can determine the nature of matter. |
| A．We should focus on the present. |
| B．The future food is more nutritious. |
| C．We can change the past from the experiments. |
| D．It is never too late to make up for mistakes. |
| A．Is changing the past wise? |
| B．Can we change the past? |
| C．Do our minds determine the future? |
| D．Do the laws of physics ban traveling back? |
9 . Research suggests that parental favouritism is surprisingly common, and can actually be very harmful.
However, siblings (兄弟姐妹) in the same family may disagree over whether their family is even affected by it.
In a small Canadian study of eight homeless teenagers, seven said they felt that their parents had favoured a sibling over them while they had always been the “problem children”.
| A．Being the favourite can also come with pain |
| B．That’s because feeling less-favoured can be very subjective |
| C．This could mean devoting more time, attention or affection |
| D．They believed this had contributed to the breakdown of family ties |
| E．This may not be the same observation that the other siblings encounter |
| F．For those who feel they are treated as second-best, the consequences can be serious |
| G．It occurs in around 65% of families, and has been studied across different cultures |
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STEP TWO: Your training
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STEP THREE: Your membership
Membership works on a month-to-month basis. There are no sign-up fees and no cancellation fees. Start and stop whenever you want. And the best part? Our fees are the most competitive in the whole downtown area.
STEP FOUR: Your community
At Best Body Fitness, we see everyone as part of a big team. And when you work with a team, you can do great things. Join any of our specialized classes, led by expert trainers. Come to our nutrition classes. Participate in our regular social events. Everything is included in your fee.
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Come and visit us for a personal tour!
1. What can one do in the second step?| A．Have a full assessment. | B．Work with a team. |
| C．Learn from the private trainer. | D．Make a training plan. |
| A．get refund when you cancel your membership |
| B．get expert training but you need to pay extra fee |
| C．go to the gym only from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm |
| D．go to the gym only from Monday to Saturday |
| A．A story book. | B．A science magazine. |
| C．A TV show. | D．An advertisement. |
