1 . People are often surprised by my fear of blood and needles. Working in a public health unit, I probably have more daily interaction with syringes (注射器) than the average person. But the truth is, having my blood drawn scares me.
When I was 9, I had an extremely high temperature. A nurse rudely stuck the needle into my arm, causing a sharp pain. I avoided having blood taken from my body for the next years. A few months before I turned 30, my doctor ordered a blood test as part of my physical exam. I am frightened. Sensing my fear, she gently suggested I see a psychiatrist (精神科医生). “Dr. M helped my other patients with the same fear,” she said.
When Dr. M called to set up an appointment, I hesitated. Talking about personal problems to a medically licensed stranger was uncommon in my family. “A psychiatrist?” Mother asked. “He’ll just put you on drugs. Can’t you get over this yourself?” I almost listened. But I went to Dr. M’s clinic finally. “Phobias (恐惧症) are pretty easy to treat,” he said. I wasn’t convinced of his words. But despite my doubts, I was running out of options.
We started with basic exposure treatment. I watched videos of blood being drawn every day. As I started to feel more at ease with needles, Dr. M suggested drawing blood. As he gently pressed the needle into my flesh, I felt dizzy and breathed deeply. After a few minutes, I looked at the needle. It wasn’t so bad. I didn’t pass out.
I still find it unpleasant getting blood drawn, but thanks to several months of treatment, I’m less scared. I hate to admit it, but Dr. M is right — phobias can be treated. Sometimes, we have to leave our comfort zone and face our fears. And this can lead to freedom in the end.
1. What caused the author’s phobia?| A．Her sensitivity to pains. |
| B．Her bad blood drawing experience. |
| C．Her anxiety about the physical exam. |
| D．Her regular contact with syringes. |
| A．Positive. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Negative. | D．Objective. |
| A．It cost the author a great deal of money. |
| B．It eased the author’s pain totally. |
| C．It centered on watching videos. |
| D．It was smoother than expected. |
| A．Bravery brings us a happier life |
| B．Walk toward what scares us |
| C．Ups and downs make one strong |
| D．Nurse our mental health carefully |
2 . Amazon’s Alexa might soon replicate the voice of family members — even if they’re dead. The capability, announced at Amazon’s Re: Mars conference in Las Vegas, is in development and would allow the virtual assistant to reproduce the voice of a specific person based on a less than a minute of provided recording.
Rohit Prasad, senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa, said at the event Wednesday that the desire behind the feature was to build greater trust in the interactions users have with Alexa by putting more “human qualities of empathy and affect.”
“These qualities have become even more important during the ongoing pandemic when so many of us have lost ones that we love,” Prasad said. “While AI can’t get rid of that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last.”
In a video played by Amazon at the event, a young child asks “Alexa, can Grandma finish reading me the Wizard of Oz?” Alexa then acknowledges the request, and switches to another voice imitate the child’s grandmother. The voice assistant then continues to read the book in that same voice.
To create the feature, Prasad said the company had to learn how to make a “high-quality voice” with a shorter recording instead of hours of recording in a studio. Amazon did not provide further details about the feature, which is bound to spark more privacy concerns and moral questions.
1. Which one can best replace the underlined word in paragraph one?| A．reproduce | B．reduce | C．rebuild | D．review |
| A．To make Alexa easier to use. |
| B．To get rid of users’ pain of losing their family member. |
| C．To develop more trust in the communications between users and Alexa. |
| D．To make Alexa more like human. |
| A．To tell the reader how the child misses his grandma. |
| B．To show Alexa can read stories for young children. |
| C．To show the significance of Alexa during the pandemic. |
| D．To give an example on how the new feature works. |
| A．Amazon’s Alexa will bring back your lost beloved ones. |
| B．Amazon’s Alexa will replicate the voice of lost family members. |
| C．Amazon’s Alexa will make your memories last. |
| D．Amazon’s Alexa will get rid of your pain of loss. |
3 . Large numbers of employees in the United Kingdom will begin a four-day work week from Monday without cutting their pay in the largest trial of its kind. The pilot, which will last for six months, involves 3,300 workers spanning 70 companies, ranging from providers of financial services to a fish-and-chip restaurant.
During the program, workers receive 100% of their pay for working only 80% of their usual week, in exchange for promising to maintain 100% of their productivity. The program is being run by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford3 University and Boston College.
Sienna O’Rourke, brand manager at Pressure Drop Brewing, an independent brewery5 in London, told CNN Business that the company’s biggest goal was to improve the mental health and well-being of its employees. “The pandemic has made us think a great deal about work and how people organize their lives,” she said. “We’re doing this to improve the lives of our staff and be part of a progressive change in the world.” Given the company manufactures and ships products, workers have less flexibility about when and where they work, O’Rourke said. But any difficulties in navigating holiday and sick leave would be tackled as a team.
Until now, Iceland had conducted the biggest pilot of a shorter working week between 2015 and 2019, with 2,500 public sector9 workers involved in two large trials. Those trials found no corresponding drop in productivity among participants, and a dramatic increase in employee well-being.
Calls to shorten the working week have gathered steam in recent years in several countries. As millions of employees switched to remote work during the pandemic — cutting onerous commuting time and costs — calls for greater flexibility have only grown louder.
Government-backed trials are set to take place in Spain and Scotland later this year, the 4 Day Week Campaign said in a press release.Joe O’Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, said that the workers have shown they can work “shorter and smarter.”
1. What does the underlined part refer to in paragraph 1?| A．The trial to carry out a four-day work week in large scales. |
| B．The trial to cut workers’ pay. |
| C．The trial to increase workers’ productivity. |
| D．The trial to defeat the pandemic. |
| A．To allow workers to work more flexibly. |
| B．To decrease workers’ time and costs in traffic. |
| C．to improve workers’ mental fitness and boost their happiness. |
| D．To cut workers’ work hours and pay. |
| A．UK | B．Scotland | C．Spain | D．Iceland |
| A．culture | B．society | C．politics | D．sports |
4 . Liu Shuqi broke up with her boyfriend two months ago and has now found a new companion.
The handsome “man” is dressed in a white suit with a stylish haircut. He understands her emotions and feelings perfectly and gives her comfort, encouragement and support. “He is very humorous and offers some comfort when I am in a bad mood,” the 26-year-old bank employee said. The only problem is he is a virtual being and not a real boyfriend.
Liu is not alone in her choice of companion. In a digital era where people are heavily reliant on their smart devices, many of those who live alone increasingly turn to the virtual field to seek companions.
The artificial intelligence-powered digital humans, who are similar to real humans in appearance and behavior, are capable of providing 24-hour online companionship, humanlike conversation and emotional support.
They will likely become an essential part of people’s daily lives, industry experts said. Lin Kaikai and Ye Youyou, two companion-oriented virtual beings, were recently launched by Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc. Powered by Baidu’s Plato, an AI model for dialogue generation that is trained on over 10 billion parameters collected from social media conversations in both English and Chinese, the two digital humans have a smooth, more humanlike interaction.
For instance, they can participate in conversations through various forms such as texts, voice and emojis. They offer customized wake-up call services and learn about the preferences of their users, mainly through increased frequency of chats and interactions, Baidu said.
Other tech companies have also jumped on the companion-oriented virtual being trend.
Xiaoice is an AI-powered chatbot that seems to redefine the conceptions of romance and relationships among young Chinese. It has helped to comfort lonely hearts through more than 17 million virtual “girlfriends” and “boyfriends” in China.
“The rise of digital humans that serve as emotional companions is a result of technological innovation, such as the improvement in appearance, functions and interactive experience of digital humans, fueled by the enhanced deep-learning capacities based on massive user data,” said Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.
A set of problems though have also emerged. They include ethics, morals, data security and personal privacy protection in the industry, Chen said, while calling for efforts to formulate relevant laws and regulations on the ownership of digital characters and standardizing their behaviors.
1. What is Liu’ new companion like according to Liu Shuqi herself?| A．Handsome and stylish | B．Humorous and helpful |
| C．Perfect and supportive | D．Clever and understanding |
| A．Because virtual companions look very like real humans. |
| B．Because virtual companions can offer a whole-day online companionship. |
| C．Because these people rely on their digital devices heavily. |
| D．Because these people need emotional support very much. |
| A．Texts | B．emojis | C．voice | D．eye-contact |
| A．Making relative rules and laws. | B．Regularize the behaviors of virtual companions. |
| C．Stop producing virtual companions. | D．Both A and B. |
5 . Pacific Coast Holiday
4 Days Coach Tour of Los Angeles - Malibu - Santa Barbara - Central Coast - Monterey - San Francisco
Day 1 Arrival in Los Angeles
Thanks for choosing us and welcome to join our USA group tours. After arriving in Los Angeles, the “City of Angels”, please go to our pre-booked hotel and check in by yourself. In the evening, meet our tour director and fellow travelers at the hotel. The tour director will give a brief introduction about the following schedule.
Accommodation: Sonesta Los Angeles Airport LAX 
Day 2 Have a leisure day in Los Angeles
You are free to travel around throughout the day. Griffith Observatory, Getty Center, Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens, and Hollywood Bowl are all popular attractions. Besides, Grand Central Market is a great place to enjoy the food and get cheap pupusas, carnitas tacos and aguas frescas. You can also choose to take an optional full-day tour to the world’s largest film studio and theme park: Universal Studios. There, you may take a look at Wisteria Alley in the hot-selling TV series “Desperate Housewives”, visit the actual behind-the-scenes production and special photography skills of the movie, and take the tour bus on the spot to experience the exciting scenes in the movie and other interesting activities.
Meals: Breakfast.
Day 3 Transfer to visit Malibu, Santa Barbara and Central Coast
On the third day, enjoy a motor coach tour. We’ll head north along the beautiful Pacific coast, pass by the famous Santa Monica and Malibu beaches, and have a stop at the historic end of the Route 66 - Santa Monica Beach. Route 66 established on November 11, 1926, popularly known as the Mother Road, holds a special place in American consciousness. The highway ultimately stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Remember to take a photo in front of the California Lifeguard Tower, which is famous for “Beach Ambulance”. Then, we’ll arrive in Santa Barbara, where a walkway lined with palm trees meets the white sandy beach in distance. After, enjoy the self-paid lunch and admire the Spanish architecture of the city, and then continue going to a quaint central coast town and stay for one night there.
Meals: Breakfast.
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Santa Maria 
Day 4 Continue the journey to Carmel and Monterey, Get to San Francisco and say goodbye
This is the last day of the tour. We will head north to Carmel to visit the shops and galleries where famous artists gather. Then, continue northward to visit the old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey. Stroll along the wharf to Cannery Row, famous for the novel by John Steinbeck. In the afternoon, we will drive through the fertile Casterville and Santa Clara Valleys to the “city of the bay” — San Francisco.
The trip will be over after we arrive in San Francisco. If you need, we can book a hotel in San Francisco or arrange other visits for you. Hope you have had a wonderful time with us and look forward to serving you again in the near future.
Meals: Breakfast.
1. Which statement is not true according to the passage?| A．Only breakfast will be served by the tourists agency. |
| B．The travelers will go to the pre-booked hotel and check in guided by their tour director on Day 1. |
| C．Day 3 will be ended in a quaint central coast town. |
| D．San Francisco is the last stop of this travel. |
| A．Appreciate some art works. |
| B．Enjoy the food in Grand Central Market. |
| C．Play a role in the TV series “Desperate Housewives”. |
| D．Experience some exciting scenes in the movie. |
| A．Day 1 | B．Day 2 | C．Day 3 | D．Day 4 |
6 . Hearing aids will become more accessible thanks to a new rule. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday that people can now buy hearing aids directly from a store or online, said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf. Before, Americans could only get a hearing aid with a prescription, visiting a hearing health professional and having a custom fitting. The new rule will help those with hearing loss to buy hearing aids over the counter.
Dr. Robert Califf said, “Today’s action will not only help those with hearing loss gain access to more affordable and innovative production options, but it’ll release the power of American industry to improve the technology in a way it’ll impact the heavy burden of disability from hearing loss that affects the world.”
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) lauded the new rule made by the FDA. “ASHA fully supports the creation of this new category of over-the-counter hearing devices, which will increase the availability and affordability of hearing aids for many Americans,” said Janice R. Trent, a leader of ASHA.
The new rule still doesn’t ensure hearing aids are covered by insurance. Hearing aids often burn a huge hole in people’s pockets with a pair costing $4,000, according to a study published in JAMA. Considering that five large companies control 90% of the global marketplace for hearing aids, FDA is counting on the new rule to bring down prices by inviting more players into the market.
“I have a big smile on my face right now,” said Dr. Frank Lin, director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health. “In 1977, the only way for hearing aids to be safe and effective was that they were programmed, fitted and professionally adjusted by a licensed provider. Now the new rule could change the market. This allows more companies that are already making innovative earbuds to enter the market.”
1. What does Dr. Robert Califf focus on about the new rule in paragraph 2?| A．The background of making it. | B．Its possible positive influences. |
| C．His worries over its acceptance. | D．His explanations of its contents. |
| A．Challenged. | B．Rejected. | C．Praised. | D．Adjusted. |
| A．There is little competition. | B．They are in great demand. |
| C．They are of excellent quality. | D．More insurance is required. |
| A．More and more companies will be well monitored. |
| B．Hearing aids will be much safer and more effective. |
| C．The market of hearing aids will be more dynamic. |
| D．The process of making hearing aids will be simpler. |
7 . Please sit and click through the following online shopping websites to find the items you have been wanting to get but haven’t had time to leave the house for.
Overstock
Overstock holds tons of items in categories like furniture, home improvement, outdoor, clothing, kitchen, and many other departments. Visit the home page to see featured sales and top deals. Once you’re viewing all the items from a search or other sections of the site, there’re many relevant filtering (筛选) options. For example, if you’re looking for dining room tables, you can filter them by price, shape, material, color, brand, rating, and more.
Etsy
Anything from homemade soap to handcrafted (手工制作的) necklaces can be found at this global marketplace. You won’t find the latest movies on Etsy, but you can certainly find innovative crafts made by people in their homes. Moreover, Etsy is a great way for people who craft marketable items to make a little money on the site.
Zappos
Zappos originally started with just shoes but has since expanded to offer all sorts of items, everything from women’s clothing to kids’ clothing, accessories for men and handbags. The website is organized well with Women, Men, Kids, Brands, Departments, and Sale being the major menu items. The website is particularly well-known thanks to countless customer-submitted stories of Zappos’ employees going above and beyond to ensure their customers’ shopping experiences are good.
Wish
Known by many as a cheap online shopping website, Wish is the place to go if you’re looking for extraordinary deals. If you can deal with the occasional long waits to get your items, the deals might be worth it. Some of the categories you can browse through include toys, gadgets, home decoration, fashion, shoes and phone upgrades. Blitz Buy is a section of this shopping website where you can spin a wheel to get money off your purchase.
1. Which website is the best choice for craftsmen wanting to set up their own storefronts?| A．Overstock. | B．Etsy. | C．Zappos. | D．Wish. |
| A．Its filtering options. | B．Its influential advertising. |
| C．Its customer service. | D．Its frequent discounts. |
| A．It helps you save money. | B．It provides fast delivery. |
| C．It offers the latest products. | D．It shares good shopping tips. |
8 . Sunflower season is right around the corner. Here are several most beautiful golden fields near London.
Garsons Farm
At Garsons Farm you will find three separate sunflower fields across its 155 acres. You’ll need to purchase a crop farm pass (£4 for adults, £1 for kids) in advance and pay 99 pence per flower. This farm is also home to over 75 varieties of fruits, vegetables and plants that can be picked during your visit, but be sure to check crop availability on its website beforehand.
Hitchin Lavender Farm
This spot is most famous for its purple crops of lavender (熏衣草), but it is also home to dozens of sunflowers! You will be charged £6 for your entry to the farm, and 50 pence per stem. And for £50 you can hire a personal photographer and have your very own photos with the plants.
Cotswold Farm Park
Cotswold Farm Park was founded to help protect rare species of farm animals in 1971. You will not only find flowering sunflowers but plenty of furry four-legged friends, too. The park also contains several photo stations throughout the field. Tickets must be booked in advance and cost £7 per adult.
Broomfield Farm
This fruit farm is open every Saturday and Sunday for those who want to see sunflowers on their weekends! It produces all kinds of fruits, vegetables and flowers that you can purchase in their farm shop or pick yourself during your visit. You are allowed to bring a picnic with you and the £4 entry is taken off your “pay and weigh” bill at the end.
1. What’s the entry fee for a couple and two kids if they go to Garsons Farm?| A．£6. | B．£7. | C．£8. | D．£10. |
| A．At Garsons Farm. | B．At Bromfield Farm. |
| C．At Cotswold Farm Park. | D．At Hitchin Lavender Farm. |
| A．Sunflower lovers. | B．Holiday campers. | C．Field researchers. | D．Nature photographers. |
9 . A method to transform a commonly thrown-away plastic to a resin (树脂) used in 3D printing could allow for making better use of plastic waste. A team of Washington State University researchers developed a simple and efficient way to transform polylactic acid (PLA)(聚乳酸), a bio-based plastic used in products such as filament, plastic silverware and food packaging to a high-quality resin.
“We found a way to immediately turn this into something that’s stronger and better, and we hope that will provide people the inspiration to upcycle this stuff instead of just throw it away,” said Yu-Chung Chang, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and a co-corresponding author on the work. “We made stronger materials just straight out of trash. We believe this could be a great opportunity.”
Although it’s bio-based, PLA, which is categorized as a number 7 plastic, doesn’t break down easily. It can float in fresh or salt water for a year without degrading (降解). It is also rarely recycled because like many plastics, when it’s melted down and re-formed, it doesn’t perform as well as the original version and becomes less valuable.
“It’s biodegradable and compostable, but once you look into it, it turns out that it can take up to 100 years for it to rot away in a landfill,” Chang said. “In reality, it still creates a lot of pollution. We want to make sure that when we do start producing PLA on the milliontons scale, we will know how to deal with it.”
While the researchers focused on PLA for the study, they hope to apply the work to poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET) (涤纶树脂), which is more common than PLA and has a similar chemical structure and presents a bigger waste problem. They have filed a temporary patent and are working to further optimize (优化) the process. The researchers are also looking into other applications for the upcycling method.
1. What can the method help do according to paragraph 1?| A．Solve financial crisis. | B．Change waste into wealth. |
| C．Control plastic production. | D．Determine 3D printing skills. |
| A．Promising. | B．Unrealistic. | C．Imaginable. | D．Reliable. |
| A．Invaluable to recycle. | B．Easy to deal with. |
| C．Hard to break down. | D．Difficult to sort out. |
| A．Applications for an upcylcing method. |
| B．A better method to break down plastic. |
| C．3D printing with newly found materials. |
| D．A new way to turn plastic into valuable products. |
10 . Have you ever wondered how astronauts clean their clothes in space? You may find the answer surprising—they do not.
They wear their clothes until they cannot take the dirt and smell anymore. Then, they throw them away.
NASA wants to change that—if not at the International Space Station (ISS), then the moon and Mars. This would mean the end to throwing away lots of dirty clothes every year. Up to now, they simply had to put them with other waste in old supply ships to burn up in the atmosphere. NASA is working with the U. S. company, Procter & Gamble (P&G), to learn how best to clean astronauts’ clothes in space. They could use the clothes for months or even years, just like on Earth.
NASA says rocket storage space is small and costly. So, why waste it on new clothes if they could keep their old clothes looking and smelling fresh? An astronaut needs 68 kilograms of clothes in space per year. The clothes would use a lot of storage space, especially on a three-year Mars mission.
There are also the problems of health and comfort.
Space station astronauts exercise two hours every day to fight the effects of weightlessness on their bodies. Leland Melvin, a former NASA astronaut, says their exercise clothing becomes so unpleasant that they use a new set every week, and that while NASA and the other space station partners have researched ways to lengthen wear time with special clothes, that is not a long-term solution.
In its first experiment, P&G will send up detergent(洗涤剂) made just for space in December. Scientists will then see how the compounds in the detergent react to six months of weightlessness. Next May, they will send stain-removal pens and cloths to the ISS for testing by astronauts. At the same time, P&G is developing a washer-dryer machine that could operate on the moon or even Mars. It would use small amounts of water and detergent. Such a machine could also be useful in dry places here on Earth.
1. What problem in space do NASA and P&G aim to solve?| A．Lack of detergents. | B．Lack of comforts. |
| C．Lack of space. | D．Lack of fund. |
| A．Exercise in space is physically demanding. |
| B．Lengthening wear time of clothes in space is practical. |
| C．The cooperation between NASA and P&G is workable. |
| D．New clothes are of benefit compared to used clothes. |
| A．Send detergent into space. |
| B．Send stain-removal pens and cloths into space. |
| C．Develop a washer-dryer machine using little water. |
| D．Operate a machine on the moon or even Mars. |
| A．Science. | B．Education. | C．Culture. | D．Politics. |
