1 . Acupuncture (针灸) is a traditional Chinese medical practice of treating various physical and mental conditions. It won respect and interest in the United States after New York Times reporter James Reston visited China with President Nixon and needed an operation.
Chinese doctors used acupuncture on James after surgery (外科手术) to reduce his pain, and his recovery was quick. Curious about this, James was allowed to watch surgery on patients who received acupuncture for anesthesia (麻醉). Patients talked with their doctors during the operation and then walked back to their rooms on their own.
Acupuncture left James such a deep impression that he wrote a front-page article in New York Times about his operation upon returning to the United States. “A leading medical expert sent by Premier Zhou Enlai removed my appendix (阑尾). I was awake in the whole process.”
The National Institutes of Health began to organize some of their top doctors to visit China to investigate acupuncture and its possible functions in western medicine. With years going by, acupuncture has become popular across the world with magical effect.
1. What did James Reston do?| A．A reporter. | B．A doctor. | C．A translator. | D．A scientist. |
| A．Receive. | B．Study. | C．Create. | D．Develop. |
| A．It is a traditional Chinese medical practice. |
| B．It treats physical and mental conditions. |
| C．It is a kind of surgery to reduce pain. |
| D．It is popular for its magical effect. |
The best time to visit Toronto is typically in the spring (April and May) or during the fall (September to early November). At these times, you’ll likely find fewer crowds, cheaper accommodations, and the best weather for sightseeing as it is neither too hot nor too cold.
Getting AroundThe Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) makes it easy to get around the city via many buses, subway, and streetcars. Figuring out how to get where you want to go is easily done using the TTC’s convenient Trip Planner.
Travel TipWhile you may choose to base yourself near many of the city’s main landmarks, it’s also worth taking some time to explore some great neighborhoods that each offer their own unique charms, including colorful Kensington Market, the Junction, Leslieville, and Little India.
Things to DoGet a Dose of Art & Culture: The Royal Ontario Museum is Canada’s largest museum and showcases everything from art and archaeology to natural science in over 30 galleries. Or, stop by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), one of the largest art museums in North America with a collection of more than 90,000 works of art.
Take in the Views From the CN Tower: High-speed elevators send visitors to the top of the tower in just 58 seconds for full views over the city. You can even try EdgeWalk to experience a hands-free walk around the main pod of the tower, 116 stories above the ground.
Spend a Day in the Distillery District: Explore the historic Distillery District to walk casually among Victorian-era buildings on pedestrian-only cobblestone streets filled with shops, cafes, and restaurants.
1. If a tourist travels to Toronto in October, what is he likely to find?| A．Free attractions. | B．Discounted hotels. |
| C．Extreme weather. | D．Crowded scenic spots. |
| A．Help people buy tickets. | B．Help tourists in urgent situations. |
| C．Guide people to their destinations. | D．Introduce scenic spots to tourists. |
| A．It is home to over 90,000 artworks. |
| B．It’s noted for its Victorian-era buildings. |
| C．It’s one of the largest museums in Canada. |
| D．Its displays range from art to natural science. |
| A．Little India. | B．EdgeWalk. | C．The Junction. | D．The Distillery District. |
| A．Planning Your Trip in Toronto |
| B．Some Hidden Truth about Toronto |
| C．The Main Tourist Attractions in Toronto |
| D．The Reasons for the Popularity of Toronto |
3 . Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic medicine many of us dream it could be.
In a new study, researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being, but only up to a point.
People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.
Part of finding the “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have. The researchers conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3½ to seven free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV). Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day, but only if they used it unproductively. In other words, how people use their free time matters.
Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you. If watching two hours of Real Housewives in your free time increases your happiness, you should do that. And even more traditionally productive or purposeful activities can be easy and fun. Engaging in a bit of low-key cardio, like walking, can help burn stress. Free-time activities like reading, cooking or gaming are also known to put people in a state of flow.
In cases when people do find themselves with huge amounts of free time, such as retirement or having left a job,” Sharif said, “our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”
1. According to the study, how many hours of free time brings the best feelings?| A．3 to 7 hours. | B．5 hours or more. | C．Up to 2 hours. | D．2 or 3 hours. |
| A．The busier, the happier. |
| B．The more free time, the better. |
| C．Purposeful activities increase happiness. |
| D．Retirement makes people depressed and unhappy. |
| A．Getting stuck in silence. | B．Having a poor-quality sleep. |
| C．Struggling with a dull book. | D．Enjoying classic music. |
| A．To make a new schedule. | B．To do more housework. |
| C．To watch more TV. | D．To find a new job. |
| A．Stories. | B．Life. | C．Science. | D．Sports. |
4 . A common claim states that a sheet of paper cannot be folded in half more than seven times. But is this true?
In 2002, Britney Gallivan, then a junior in high school in Pomona, California, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most times to fold a sheet of paper in half.
The prompt that led Gallivan to accomplish these feats was an extra-credit challenge in math class to fold anything in half 12 times. Her teacher asked the students to fold something thicker: a piece of paper.
Gallivan said “it was very frustrating, as I had many unsuccessful attempts at trying to fold different papers in half. I began to question if folding paper in half more than eight times could be impossible.” However, Gallivan recalled. “I knew I needed to understand what was limiting the folding progression.”
The equations that Gallivan came up with calculated how many times a sheet of paper could be folded. She found that in order to fold many times, a long thin sheet is needed — the more a sheet is folded, the thicker the resulting stack becomes, and once the stack becomes thicker than it is long, there is nothing left to fold. She ultimately set her record with a sheet of tissue paper she found online that was 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) — more than three-quarters of a mile, or over a kilometer — long, Guinness World Records noted.
“Working on the problem took a tremendous amount of time and effort,” Gallivan said. “As frustrating as it was at times, I learned an immense amount from the experience, which has been valuable to me throughout my life in more capacities than one would expect.”
Since Gallivan set her record, others have made claims of folding a sheet of paper more than 12 times. Still, “I anticipate that my current record will be surpassed,” Gallivan said.
1. Which was commonly considered the most times that paper can be folded in half?| A．7. | B．8. | C．9. | D．12. |
| A．the stack is as thick as its length | B．the paper is neither long nor thin |
| C．the stack is thicker than its length | D．the paper is longer than its thickness |
| A．It’s risky. | B．It’s fruitless. | C．It’s meaningless. | D．It’s energy-consuming. |
| A．Worthwhile. | B．Unsuccessful. | C．Miserable. | D．Regretful. |
| A．Gallivan’s record is impossible to break. |
| B．Folding paper in half is merely a math problem. |
| C．Folding things in half may not be limited to 12. |
| D．Folding paper 12 times is a required credit in maths class. |
5 . Our mother has to leave home every day before we go to school. She has to walk twelve blocks to take the bus to work. We think it’s terrible that there is no bus that comes closer to our street.
I said to my mother, “This is a public transportation system. It is our system. It should come closer to our home. I do not want you to walk that far to get to the bus.” She agreed, but she said it would take more than one family to get the bus line to change. I told my mother I would ask my teacher about it. We could do a study and maybe start a petition (请愿书).
My teacher liked the idea. He said we could do the survey. So our class surveyed all our parents. We collected our survey data and made a table. We found that 90% of all the parents would use the bus more if it was easier to get to. We also found that only 20% of the parents could get to it easily, just by walking five blocks. For all the others, it took between 6 and 12 blocks.
We made a map to show how the bus route (路线) could be changed to reach people in our community more easily. Then my teacher called the alderman (市议员) to see if we could meet to talk about our study.
The alderman was impressed. She said we had done a really good job of thinking out the problem and a solution. She promised she would talk with the head of the transportation system about it.
Now my mother can leave later, and she only has to walk four blocks to get to the bus. When she leaves in the morning, she always says, “Son, I’m so glad you got the bus route changed.”
1. According to the first two paragraphs, the author wanted to ______.| A．get the public transportation system improved |
| B．walk with his mother to the bus stop |
| C．invite more families to take the bus |
| D．ask his teacher about a study plan |
| A．90% of the parents took the bus to work because it was easier to get to. |
| B．20% of the parents lived within five blocks to the bus stop. |
| C．Most parents used to wait for the bus to pick them up. |
| D．Only a few parents sent their kids to school by bus. |
| A．Worried. | B．Annoyed. |
| C．Moved. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．We should take notice of our family life. |
| B．We should communicate with others. |
| C．The harder we study, the greater progress we’ll make. |
| D．As long as we make efforts, we’ll make a difference. |
 Learn With Homer Price: Free Skill: Comprehension, Phonics(拼读法) Grade level: Pre-K, K Device: iPad |
It’s a learn-to-read app for kids aged 3-6 that includes drawing, voice recording, songs, ad more, along with traditional phonics exercises. This app can be helpful for kids who have production problems and language organization problems. |
 Inspiration Maps Price: $9.99 Skill: Comprehension, Writing Grade level: 4th and above Device: iPad |
It is a mind-mapping tool that helps kids visually(视觉上) organize ideas. They can create maps, organizers, brainstorms and text outlines. Outlines can be changed to maps, and maps can be changed to outlines. Users can share creations by emailing, printing, or saving to iTunes, Dropbox, Photos or the app (as PDF or PNG files). The lite version (简化版本), which is free, lets kids create up to five mind maps with no sharing choices. |
 Aesop’s Quest Price: $0.99 Skill: Comprehension Grade level: 2nd, 3rd, 4th Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch |
Aesop’s Quest, based on Aesop’s Fables, is a learning game where the student must remember parts of a story to complete a level. At the end of each story level, the student is rewarded with tests. After solving the tests, the story is complete and the student can continue to read the next story. Developed together with the Virginia Department of Education. |
 LightSail Price: Free Skill: Comprehension Grade level: Pre-K, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and above Device: iPad |
LightSail is an e-reading platform that helps teachers support their students’ independent reading. Students can use LightSali to check out texts from their schools’ online libraries and read the books directly on their iPad. As students progress through a book, questions appear to check their comprehension. As students complete these assessments(评定), they earn prizes. |
| A．singing songs | B．reading stories |
| C．making speeches | D．learning foreign languages |
| A．Aesop’s Quest. | B．Learn With Homer. |
| C．LightSail. | D．Inspiration Maps. |
| A．Remember every part of the previous story. |
| B．Retell the previous story completely. |
| C．Solve the tests of the previous story. |
| D．Finish reading the previous story. |
| A．It is developed mainly for teachers. |
| B．It has no access to school libraries. |
| C．It helps users complete school assessments. |
| D．It develops users’ comprehension through games. |
7 . You can’t buy much for a dollar these days, but when everybody pools their dollars together for a good cause, amazing things can happen.
That is the idea behind Anthony Talley’s $1 Thursday campaign. The Georgian man believes that the world will be changed for the better if everyone just contributes one dollar at a time.
Last year, Anthony Talley managed to raise $8,000 to help a local man who lost everything in a house fire. And he did it all by asking people to donate just one dollar each.
Anthony Talley uses his social media page to raise money. On $1 Thursdays, he tells his friends and fans what goal they’re working toward that week and asks them to contribute just a single dollar to the cause.
Some of the acts of kindness he has been able to perform include helping kids to buy shoes and clothes and even buying ice cream for every primary school student in the city of LaGrange, Hogansville, and West Point!
One of their most recent missions was to raise enough money to help a mother with 10 kids who badly needs a new car. So far, they have raised $576!
You can support his mission through mobile payment services, Cash App or Venmo.
It really does take a village! Anthony is finding a way to allow every single person in his community to become a hero in their neighbors’ lives. After all, it’s only a dollar!
1. According to the text, the $1 Thursday campaign was started by ______.| A．a Georgian man | B．an American woman |
| C．a community worker | D．a primary school student |
| A．He contributed one dollar at a time. | B．He managed to collect 8,000 dollars. |
| C．He asked people to donate as much as possible. | D．He changed the man’s social media page. |
| A．Artworks. | B．Reasons. | C．Tasks. | D．Dreams. |
| A．Dollars changing the world for the better | B．Acts of kindness aiming to help kids |
| C．Anthony Talley and his community | D．Anthony Talley and his $1 Thursday campaign |
8 . September 5 is the “Charity Day” in China. It started because of China’s charity law, which came into effect seven years ago. This year, China has witnessed how technology plays a bigger role in the country’s charity career.
There are over 85 million disabled people in China. With the development of technology in the country, more charity organizations and people have realized the importance of using it to help people in need.
Huang Shuai is the director of Chuangshan Community. He is running special projects to create mobile apps and provide help for people with physical challenges. “For a lot of disabled people, daily actions that are necessary in today’s world, like using a mouse, typing on keyboards or using smartphones, can be very hard to finish,” he said. In Chuangshan Community, many of the volunteers are middle school students. They try their best to solve the problem for people in local charity houses.
Tech professionals have realized that technology is a game changer in the world of charity. Tencent started a charity activity called “99 Giving Day” and set up programs for donations to deal with all kinds of challenges that cause problems for the local and international community. They’ve offered all kinds of tech kits (装备) and cloud services to many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) , local communities and colleges. Engineers can go and work as technology officers at NGOs and provide hands-on technology support.
Technologies, especially those that can be used by NGOs, and disabled people, will not only make our lives more convenient, but will also bring power and courage to people and connect our communities together.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refer to?| A．Organization. | B．Charity. | C．Development. | D．Technology. |
| A．They help do cleaning. | B．They show their talent. |
| C．They talk with the disabled. | D．They provide technology support. |
| A．Technology has brought trouble to the disabled. |
| B．Technology has entered people’s everyday life. |
| C．Disabled people tend to resist new technology. |
| D．Many people can’t afford new technology. |
| A．Kindness Goes Further | B．Charity, a Game Changer |
| C．Charity And Technology | D．Technology Brings Us Convenience |
9 . Gary McKee, 53, from Cleator Moor in Cumbria, raised his arms and was cheered by a crowd of people as he completed his 365th marathon of the year on New Year’s Eve. As of 4 pm on Saturday, he had raised more than £890, 000 for the charities Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria. The father of three has gone through 22 pairs of sports shoes and has run 9, 563 miles in rain, snow and sunshine to raise money.
“The support has been amazing and it always is and the West Cumbrians get behind us, but cancer is scary so it isn’t just a West Cumbrian thing, it’s a national thing,” said Gary. “I just hope that people do get behind us and we do raise that million pounds.” Gary has not only raised money for two fantastic charities, but he has also sprinkled magic on the local community and brought people together supporting him with the challenge.
Chris Young, 29, who ran 90 marathons with Mr McKee, said: “Gary set a good example to me this year when I began running often with him. He has given me both physical and mental confidence that I don’t know if I would have ever discovered in myself in a million years. I know I don’t just speak for myself on that front as he has inspired not just me or the few, but the whole local community and beyond,” said Chris. “This challenge has raised a great amount of money for two fantastic charities, but the influence Gary has provided to the community and people around him is immeasurable.”
1. Why does Gary raise money?| A．To raise people’s awareness of sports. | B．To promote marathon. |
| C．To help people with cancer. | D．To raise his family. |
| A．It was not easy for Gary to raise money. | B．Gary won the marathon. |
| C．People were moved by Gary’s kindness. | D．Gary struggled to raise his family. |
| A．Gary feels connected with the community. | B．Local people are inspired by Gary. |
| C．Local people think Gary unbearable. | D．Gary often works as a volunteer. |
| A．He used to lack confidence. | B．He used to be unhealthy. |
| C．He admires Gary’s talent in sports. | D．He can’t find a better coach than Gary. |
10 . The only science fiction that ever really caught my attention when I was growing up, besides Star Trek and Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, was the novel Contact by Carl Sagan. When I was 15, I saw the 1997 film version of this. Later, as a 17-year-old adapting to my first semester (学期) at university, I read the book. Contact eventually became the gateway for me to try more popular science books.
One thing that interested me was the bitter fights the researchers got into with one another about their different ways of measuring the expansion rate of spacetime. On second thoughts, maybe this was a lesson I was supposed to draw from Contact, but, at the time, I didn’t regard such politics as a scientist problem. Instead, what caught my attention was the portrayal of Eleanor “Ellie” Arroway, a scientist who searched for alien intelligence. In the film version, Ellie is seen listening to space using a pair of headphones connected to the Very Large Array (VLA)—a real facility in New Mexico.
Astronomers don’t really do this for the purposes of actual research because there is rarely any point. This is the kind of detail that is unimportant for the film of Contact, but how it portrays radio astronomy is one of the inaccuracies I occasionally hear scientists complain about. I was lucky enough to observe the behaviour of some water molecules (分子) in the Orion nebula (猎户座星云) using the VLA for my thirdyear lab course. We didn’t listen to the data. Instead, we processed it so that we could look at it.
That was probably the only time I ever excelled in the lab, and I was so excited to be a reallife Ellie Arroway. Later, I was forced to think more about the human aspects of my working experience. I witnessed unnecessarily heated arguments between scientists, complete with shouting and chalkboard punching (用拳猛击). But, thankfully, Contact had not only introduced me to the idea of radio astronomy as a possible career path, it had also given me a road map for remaining calm in the confused conflict of astronomical wonder and human politics.
1. What can be learned about the author in his teenage years?| A．He watched Contact’s film version in his freshman year. |
| B．His interest in science was inspired by Contact. |
| C．He read a wide range of science fiction books. |
| D．His favourite science fiction author was Robert Heinlein. |
| A．Detecting the sound of space. | B．Searching for alien intelligence. |
| C．Communicating with nonexperts. | D．Visiting the VLA in New Mexico. |
| A．To demonstrate his strong interest in lab projects. |
| B．To explain why scientists sometimes make complaints. |
| C．To show his observations had achieved positive results. |
| D．To prove the film of Contact presented radio astronomy incorrectly. |
| A．How to grasp career opportunities. |
| B．How to get an excellent score on a lab course. |
| C．How to deal with conflicts between scientists. |
| D．How to explain the science of radio astronomy. |
