1 . It’s 2035. You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 years old! Welcome to your future life.
Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror. “Turn red,” you say. Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red.Tiny preprogrammed electronics (智能电子元件) are rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe you’re 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old. You’re not even middleaged!
As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal into a bowl, you hear, “To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that!” from your shoes. They read the tiny electronic code(电子源码) on the cereal box to find out the nutrition details. You decide to listen to your shoes. “Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?”A list of possible foods appears on the counter as the kitchen checks its food supplies.
“Ready for your trip to space?” you ask your son and daughter. In 2015 only specially trained astronauts went into space—and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for day trips or longer vacations. Your best friend even works in space. Handing your children three strawberries each, you add, “The doctor says you need these for space travel.” Thanks to medical advances, vaccination shots (防疫针) are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods contain special vaccines. With the strawberries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.
It’s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. “My office. Autopilot,”you command. Your car drives itself down the road and moves smoothly into traffic on the highway. You sit back and unroll your enewspaper. The latest news downloads and fills the viewer. Looking through the pages, you watch the news as video film rather than read it.
1. What changes the color of your shirt?| A．The mirror. |
| B．The preprogrammed electronics. |
| C．The sunlight. |
| D．The medicine. |
| A．By pouring the breakfast into a bowl. |
| B．By getting the doctor’s advice. |
| C．By testing the food supplies in the kitchen. |
| D．By checking the nutrition details of the food. |
| A．breakfast | B．lunch |
| C．vaccines | D．nutrition |
| A．In order of time. |
| B．In order of space. |
| C．In order of preference. |
| D．In order of importance. |
2 . Teenagers who spend more time on after-school activities and less than two hours of screen time after school are more mentally (心理上) healthy, according to a study published in the journal Preventive Medicine. The new study was carried out by researchers from the University of British Columbia.
The study used information collected from more than 28, 000 seventh-grade Canadian students between 2014 and 2018. The students first answered questions about their usage of screen time after school, including how much time they spent watching TV, Netflix or something else. Then, students reported how many days they had taken part in after-school activities such as sports or arts programmes. After that, researchers asked students to describe their state of mind. For example, when given a statement such as “I start most days thinking that I will have a good day”, they could choose to what level they agreed with it on a scale (等级).
Some of the results were expected, researchers said in the study. Students with no after-school activities usually had high levels of screen time, for example. And they expected girls would score higher on negative indicators (消极指标) of mental health, as earlier research had found that they tended to have higher levels of anxiety (焦虑) compared to boys.
What was noteworthy, researchers say, is that even among students who took part in after-school activities, 46% still went beyond the recommended screen time of two hours. At the same time, 67% of students who didn’t take part in after-school activities also had more than two hours of screen time. Together, this suggests high screen time among teenagers generally.
“The findings suggest that after-school activities are valuable for the happy growing of teenagers,” the study said. “While past studies have proved the importance of after-school activities for social and academic (学业的) development, the present study shows their importance for good mental health results.”
1. Which of the following came last when students took part in the new study?| A．Talking about their lifestyles. | B．Introducing their after-school activities. |
| C．Reporting their mental states on a scale. | D．Answering questions about screen time use. |
| A．They often have higher levels of satisfaction. |
| B．Few of them take part in after-school activities. |
| C．Anxiety has become a serious problem among them. |
| D．Too much screen time may be more harmful to them. |
| A．Earlier findings about screen time are wrong. |
| B．High screen time is common among teenagers. |
| C．No after-school activities mean no screen time. |
| D．Screens attract teenagers more than after-school activities do. |
| A．They are good for teenagers’ physical health. |
| B．They help to improve teenagers’ mental health. |
| C．They encourage teenagers’ social development. |
| D．They allow teenagers to become better learners. |
3 . I remember that it was a fall morning when the orchestra (管弦乐队) teachers came into Miss Newell’s third-grade classroom. “You have hands for the viola (中提琴),” Miss Ciano told me. I was excited because my hands were finally good for something. I told my parents I wanted to play, and naturally, they agreed.
Since I first touched the viola, I haven’t been able to put it down. Ignoring the difficulty, I am pulled closer to it each day.
Classical music is truly my best friend. It is the trusted friend of every man, woman and child. Various feelings are expressed in classical music. I discovered that when I was eleven and played a cello concerto (大提琴协奏曲) of Bach in a competition, the first movement was joyful, but the second movement was mysterious and full of pain. From the piece, I learned that music expresses not only feelings, but also sudden mood changes. By listening to classical music, I know that someone else shares these feelings. Since I am lucky enough to be able to play classical music, I am comforted by it when I am upset. It gives me a way to escape from my problems for a short period. Classical music can express my joy, sadness and anger.
Now look back at that fall day in the third grade and think how gullible I was for believing that anyone, even music teachers, could tell whether hands were perfect for a certain instrument. I’m certain they told me I had “ viola hands” not because they were fortune-tellers (算命师), but because there was a lack of violists in our district. Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way, it will become your friend for life.
1. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the first and second paragraphs?| A．To introduce an interesting musical class. |
| B．To offer the evidence of her gift for music. |
| C．To show the importance of proper guide. |
| D．To tell the power of support from parents. |
| A．By developing social skills. | B．By improving mental health. |
| C．By broadening life experience. | D．By building close relationship. |
| A．Easily tricked. | B．Firmly loved. |
| C．Greatly challenged. | D．Secretly hidden. |
| A．Special event, sweet memory. | B．Classical music, endless friendship |
| C．Lifetime dream, great effort. | D．Happy childhood, unforgotten experience. |
4 . Communication Tips
Here are some suggestions about making your talk with your parents turn out for the best.
Be honest.
If you’re always honest, your parents will be likely to believe what you say. If you sometimes hide the truth, parents will have a harder time to believe what you tell them.
Be brave and start talking.
It’s easy to say “Hi, Mum” or “Dad, can you pass the potatoes?”
If you have a disagreement, can you consider things from your parents’ points of view? If you can, telling your parents you understand their views and feelings helps them be willing to understand yours, too.
Try not to argue.
Using a friendly and respectful tone makes your parents more likely to listen to you and take what you say seriously.
What if it doesn’t work? If you still can’t talk to your parents, seek other adults’ help.
| A．Explain your situation. |
| B．Try to understand them. |
| C．If you lie, they’ll find it hard to trust you. |
| D．Parents are the most important people in your life. |
| E．But it can be harder to start talking about personal topics. |
| F．It also makes it more likely that they’ll talk to you in the same way. |
| G．Find a relative or a teacher who will listen to, understand and care about you. |
5 . I was never very neat while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but my always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Overtime, Kate got neater and I got my merriser. She moved to push my dirty clothing over and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
Who broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! why under my bed!” Suddenly I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up. She quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, crying. Obviously. that was something she could not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bad. Cleaned the suckers and swept the floor even on her side. I got so absorbed into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching. Her tears dried and her expression was such disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.
1. What made Kate so angry one evening?| A．She couldn’t find her books. |
| B．She heard the writer shouting loud. |
| C．She got the news that her grandma was ill. |
| D．She saw the writer’s shoes beneath her bed. |
| A．Because she was scared by Kate’s anger. |
| B．Because she hated herself for being so messy. |
| C．Because she wanted to show her care. |
| D．Because she was asked by Kate to do so. |
| A．By analyzing courses. |
| B．By showing differences. |
| C．By describing a process. |
| D．By following time order. |
| A．My Friend Kate. |
| B．Hard Work Pays off. |
| C．How to Be Organized? |
| D．Learning to Be Roommates. |
6 . Ranjan and Summer were good friends. They went to the same school and were in the same class.
Ranjan was not strong. He could not play football or other games with boys of his age. All that he did was to watch Summer and other boys play. He usually went with them to the playground. When they ran off to play, he would sit under a tree and read storybooks. Books became his best friends. The reading made him successful in all the exams. He always stood first in the class.
Summer was tall and strong. He spent most of his time running, swimming or riding bicycles. He was an extremely good player in every game. He was a member of the school’s football team and cricket team. The PE teacher thought he would make it big in the game when he grew up.
One day, the two friends went for a walk. Ranjan got tired soon. “I have no strength. What is the use of all this knowledge if I am not healthy? I would give away all my knowledge if I could be half as healthy and strong as you,” said Ranjan.
Summer was surprised and replied, “So you are not happy with yourself too? I always wished I could have done as well as you did in the studies. I even thought I could have given away my sporting skills for better grades in those exams.” The two friends looked at each other and cried out at the same time. “The grass looks greener on the other side of the hill.”
1. What did Ranjan usually do when he went to the playground with Summer?| A．He studied for the exams. |
| B．He played with his friend. |
| C．He read his favorite books. |
| D．He took care of the clothes. |
| A．Summer was very tall. |
| B．Summer was very strong. |
| C．Summer was good at doing sports. |
| D．Summer spent a lot of time playing sports. |
| A．Ranjan was proud of his knowledge. |
| B．Summer was unhappy with his studies. |
| C．Summer could do as well as Ranjan did in the studies. |
| D．Ranjan and Summer decided to learn from each other. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. |
| B．Nobody knows his own advantages. |
| C．Grass usually appears greener in faraway places. |
| D．We always want something better and feel unhappy. |
7 . A British friend told me he couldn’t understand why Chinese people love eating sunflower seeds (嗑瓜子) as a snack so much. “I’ve met a lot of older Chinese and many have a crack in their front teeth, I believe that’s from cracking the seeds,” he said.
I had never noticed the habit, but once he mentioned it, I suddenly became more aware. I realized that whenever I’m watching TV or typing a report, I always start mindlessly cracking sunflower seeds. My friend doesn’t like sunflower seeds, and, to him, it seems unnecessary to work so much just to get one small seed.
When we were young, the whole family would usually get together for Chinese New Year. Then, we all lived close to one another, usually in a small city, and sometimes even neighbors would go door-to-door on Chinese New Year’s Eve to check out what every family was making.
I remember my parents would be in the kitchen cooking. Out in the living room, a large table would already be laid out, complete with fancy tablecloth, ready-made dumpling fillings, and dishes full of candy, fruits and sunflower seeds. Some of the dishes were to be offered to our ancestors later, while others were for neighbors and children to eat before the evening feast. I must have learned how to crack sunflower seeds back then.
I don’t think it’s right to criticize (批评) one’s choice in food or eating habits, no matter how strange they may seem.
It’s not only in China. When I went abroad, I found people had all sorts of strange habits when it came to food. In Denmark, they put salted red fish on bread and eat it for dinner, no matter how much it ruins your breath. They think it’s delicious, and it’s connected to their certain culture. I think it’s a wonderful tradition.
1. Why can the British friend not understand when he found Chinese love eating sunflower seeds?| A．Because the seeds are too hard to crack. |
| B．Because he thinks they are harmful to teeth. |
| C．Because he doesn’t think the seeds are worth eating. |
| D．Because he doesn’t think the seeds are good. |
| A．The families get together for it. | B．Children can eat delicious food on that day. |
| C．The traditions of celebrating it disappear. | D．Eating sunflower seeds is related to it. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Negative. | C．Understandable. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Eating habits come from a certain culture. |
| B．It is good to form healthy eating habits. |
| C．Changing your eating habits will change your life. |
| D．One kind of food doesn’t necessarily suit everyone. |
8 . People will tell you the only way to really learn a language is to completely immerse(浸入)yourself in a country where that language is spoken. Not all language learners, of course, will have the opportunity to spend some time in an immersion environment. But if you can't actually fly across the world to learn a new language, you can always create an immersion environment where you can talk to native speakers.
That's where Babbel comes in. Babbel is one of the most popular language learning apps on the market for studying new languages at your own pace. The app emphasises real-life conversational skills, so you won't be stopped by grammatical structures and verb patterns.
And right now, you can get 15%off a lifetime subscription (订阅)to Babbel Language Learning（$150; stacksocial. com）.A lifetime subscription is huge when it comes to getting the most out of the app, since you'll be able to return to lessons time and time again and brush up on whichever section or topic you might need.
So how does it all work? First, you'll choose one of the 14 languages. While Babbel offers familiar languages like Spanish and Italian, it also offers less commonly studied ones like Polish, Indonesian and more. Once you pick your language, you'll choose a wide range of real-life topics. Each course takes about 10 to 15 minutes, so you can pick one up on the way to work, during your lunch break, or really at any point you have some time to kill.
Beyond this, Babbel includes a ton of additional features tailored to making sure you learn the language in a real, practical and accurate way. The app uses speech recognition technology to make sure your pronunciation is accurate compared with how native speakers would say certain words.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly tell us?| A．The terrifying experiences of travelling. | B．The importance of language learning environment. |
| C．Different ways to learn a new language. | D．Opportunities to communicate with native speakers. |
| A．It's a tool for learning languages. | B．It is designed in various types. |
| C．It focuses more on grammar structures. | D．It's the most popular app in the market. |
| A．Choose the place to learn a course. | B．Pick the language they want to learn. |
| C．Calculate the reading time. | D．Choose a proper topic. |
| A．To represent its additional features. | B．To meet the needs of native speakers. |
| C．To compare differences between words. | D．To make the pronunciation correct. |
9 . It was a February afternoon in a Brooklyn classroom. Sixteen-year-old Taylor Engler came face to face with a cow. But it was all in her head. She was transported by a virtual reality (VR) headphone. It took the Berkeley Carroll School junior and eight other classmates to a northern New York farm. The farm was 250 miles away. For students, the technology means field trips are no longer kept within the length of a bus ride.
It's unknown how many classrooms have or will use the technology, but experts say few classrooms do or will do. Headphones that require a user's phone can cost as little as $20 or $30, but systems and software for classes run into thousands of dollars. The problem of not having good software is disappearing as more companies enter the market. But the rules for use haven't kept abreast of the development of the technology. In New York, for example, virtual reality lab experiments are not included in the state's hands-on lab time requirements.
Experts say science classes are where virtual reality holds promise for classrooms. “The biggest problem, I think, is going to be how closely it mimics the real world." That's according to David Evans, the director of the National Science Teachers Union. However, he said, “The ability to do dangerous things and to run many, many more cases in a virtual space as opposed to the real physical space stands for a huge learning chance.”
Lamb taught chemistry and he agreed. “Too often in schools, when you do experiments in labs, you mix these together, you mix those together and you get this result. And if you don't get that result, you have done something wrong. But we don't have enough resources for you to redo it, “he said. “In virtual reality, all I do is hit reset on the computer. I don't have to actually use chemicals.”
1. What was Taylor Engler doing?| A．Riding a bus. | B．Giving a lesson. | C．Designing a farm. | D．Experiencing VR. |
| A．Led to. | B．Focused on. | C．Caught up with. | D．Broken away from. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Troublesome. | C．Interesting. | D．Challenging. |
| A．To point out the importance of practice. | B．To introduce the use of VR in teaching. |
| C．To give information about modern schools. | D．To show the appearance of VR technology. |
10 . What do you plan to do when you retire? Keep working? Get more exercise? Or learn something new? You may put them on hold. There's a chance that, sooner or later, you might have to move further than you were thinking, as far as Mars.
On Thursday, National Geographic will show the first-ever Mars show home, giving earthlings (地球人)an idea of what their life could look like on the Red Planet. In the not-so-distant year of 2037, the igloo-shaped structure could be the home of your future.
It shows a house built using recycled spacecraft parts and Martian soil, called regolith, which has been microwaved into bricks. Some parts of the home are recognizable — a kitchen, a bedroom — but there are fundamental differences that are important to human survival.
As the Martian atmosphere is around one hundredth as thick as the Earth’s, people will need permanent (永久的) shelter from the sun；society will move largely indoors. Most buildings will be connected by underground passages and the houses won't have windows. The homes will have simulated solar lighting, or natural light that has been bent several times. Walls will need to be 10 to 12 feet thick, to protect people from dangerous rays (光线)that can pass through six feet of steel, and a double air-locked entrance to keep the home under proper pressure.
"We don’t think of our houses as things that keep us alive, but on Mars your house will be a survival centre, 99 says Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars. This is not just the stuff of sci-fi. “10 to 20 years from now there will certainly be people on Mars,” Petranek says.
“We’ve had the technology for 30 years to land people on Mars, but we haven’t had the will, ”Petranek says. But two main factors have “completely swung public attitudes”.
The private companies’ participation has forced government agencies to speed up their game, and influential films such as Gravity and The Martian have caught society’s eye.
1. What do the underlined words "put them on hold" in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Put them off. | B．Give them away. |
| C．Carry them through. | D．Take them seriously. |
| A．It has no windows or doors due to security concern. |
| B．Its design presents the idea of environmental protection. |
| C．It has thick walls keeping the home under propel pressure. |
| D．Its underground passages connect all the buildings together. |
| A．The development of related technology. |
| B．The competition from private companies. |
| C．The great influence of the Mars show home. |
| D．The popularity of influential books on Mars. |
| A．Living on Mars: Possible or Not | B．Sending People to Mars: Yes or No |
| C．First-Ever Show Home: How Is It Made | D．Future Home on Mars: What Will It Be like |
