1 . When you are little, it’s not hard to believe you can change the world. I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed the people at the Rio Earth Summit. “I am only a child,” I told them. “Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this world would be. In school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share. not to be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the thing you tell us not to do? You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make our actions reflect your words.”
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur (激励) action. Now, ten years from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I’m learning that as we have to make choices-education, career, lifestyle-life gets more and more complicated. We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful. We are taught that economic growth is progress, but aren’t taught how to pursue a happy, healthy or sustainable (可持续的) way of living. And we are learning that what we wanted for the future when we were 12 was ideal and innocent.
Today I’m no longer a child, but I’m worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change.
1. The purpose of what the speaker said at the age of 12 was to ________.| A．end poverty and make school beautiful |
| B．end poverty and solve the problems about environment |
| C．find a wonderful place and clean it up |
| D．find environmental answers and keep the words that they always told themselves |
| A．a long period of laughing | B．a warm welcome |
| C．a long period of clapping and applauses | D．an expression used for greeting |
| A．in his teens | B．in his forties | C．in his thirties | D．in his twenties |
| A．the writer thinks what he thought at the age of 12 is mature. |
| B．the writer’s children will certainly live in an ideal environment. |
| C．the writer’s confidence in the people in power has deeply shaken their voice. |
| D．the writer’s belief does not change when he grows up. |
2 . We must face the fact that there are many aspects of the Information Ages. All information makes us anxious. Over some of these, we have little or no control. On the other hand, there are steps we can take to eliminate much of
To some extent, we are all receivers and givers of information. Our brain, however, receives and processes information in different ways. One way involves the amazing capacity of the brain to process information subconsciously.
Another way involves
Information gathered by reading is processed consciously and
How can we
To cut through confusing information,
| A．curiosity | B．trouble | C．interest | D．anxiety |
| A．donating | B．rewarding | C．interesting | D．searching |
| A．sensitive | B．conscious | C．unconscious | D．reasonable |
| A．energy | B．wealth | C．power | D．health |
| A．expanding | B．surviving | C．stretching | D．bearing |
| A．still | B．however | C．hence | D．yet |
| A．cooperating | B．finding | C．removing | D．stimulating |
| A．think of | B．deal with | C．do with | D．rule over |
| A．recreational | B．professional | C．humorous | D．traditional |
| A．break into | B．bring about | C．get rid of | D．come to |
| A．catch | B．offer | C．abandon | D．apply |
| A．rank | B．limit | C．field | D．lane |
| A．received | B．supplied | C．labeled | D．recommended |
| A．offered | B．stated | C．declined | D．opposed |
| A．maximum | B．minimum | C．quantity | D．presence |
3 . Virtual reality: Is this really how we will all watch TV in years to come? Virtual reality (VR) is often used to illustrate the concept of being trapped within the cyberspace, or as a form of advanced technology. This technology
In 2017, these cultural touchstones are freshly in mind for the
The promise connect a headset to a computer or your smartphone and you can watch video, play games and
VR experiences in their current form
TV firms want to know more. At this month’s MIPTV industry conference in Cannes’ VR was a major
Still, with research company Green-light Insights
This is as much a creative
Good VR has a value that is
| A．secured | B．occupied | C．reserved | D．made |
| A．adopting | B．collecting | C．adapting | D．revising |
| A．investments | B．visions | C．promotions | D．chances |
| A．advertising | B．business | C．tourist | D．television |
| A．create | B．explore | C．shape | D．dominate |
| A．develop | B．come | C．range | D．escape |
| A．theme | B．argument | C．industry | D．worry |
| A．conscience | B．tool | C．money | D．technology |
| A．production | B．movement | C．medium | D．market |
| A．predicting | B．quoting | C．considering | D．finding |
| A．searching | B．experimenting | C．investigating | D．cooperating |
| A．challenge | B．ability | C．art | D．energy |
| A．intelligence | B．force | C．potential | D．talent |
| A．similar | B．contrary | C．different | D．unique |
| A．area | B．destination | C．test | D．skill |
4 . Recently-leaked historical documents revealed that there were dozens of attempts by German Resistance almost killing Hitler.
If the Munich agreements of Sept. 29, 1938 had not given Hitler the fruits of war with Czechoslovakia without war, some generals might have
Eight days later, as Hitler entered a military exhibition, an officer
A 24-year-old captain shocked by Nazi’s cruelty, instantly
If it had not been unusually hot on July 20, 1944, Hitler’s conference with Stauffenberg and others would have been held in a concrete basement, which would have
| A．resigned | B．rejected | C．rebelled | D．retired |
| A．force | B．strength | C．power | D．energy |
| A．prepared | B．assigned | C．suggested | D．scheduled |
| A．regulation | B．security | C．management | D．atmosphere |
| A．aboard | B．around | C．along | D．across |
| A．plane | B．fuse | C．bomb | D．cargo |
| A．set | B．opened | C．pulled | D．lit |
| A．nature | B．instinct | C．character | D．intelligence |
| A．agreed | B．decided | C．declined | D．admitted |
| A．in | B．by | C．at | D．on |
| A．leap | B．look | C．call | D．lean |
| A．postponed | B．canceled | C．extended | D．delayed |
| A．prevented | B．strengthened | C．reserved | D．improved |
| A．Meanwhile | B．Still | C．Instead | D．Furthermore |
| A．died | B．remained | C．departed | D．survived |
| A. supervising B. serious C. hit D. illustrate E. transformed F. practiced G. contrasted H. landscape I. comparing J. critical K. starts |
If Stan Lee revolutionized the comic book world in the 1960s, which he did, he left as big a stamp on the even wider pop culture
Mr. Lee was a central player in the creation of all properties of Marvel Comics. Indeed, he was for many the father of Marvel,
Stan Lee was born on Dec. 28, 1922, in Manhattan, the older of two sons born to Jack Lieber, and Celia Lieber, both immigrants from Romania. When graduated at 17 from high school, he aspired to be a writer of
In 1961, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kirby produced the first issue of The Fantastic Four, about a super-powered team with humanizing dimensions, which was a
Mr. Lee
Under Mr. Lee, Marvel
6 . It’s a common belief that over time, pet owners start to look like their animals, and vice versa (反之亦然). Now comes the terrifying news that cats look up to their owners as role models and copy their behavior. Next time you reach for your fridge, think twice. If your kitty is watching, she is likely to overeat as well.
What is your cat’s IQ?
In a new study from the University of Messina, it turns out that indoor cats who live closely to their owners “mirror” the lives of their caregivers. They sleep at the same time, eat at the same time, and can even become more or less social depending on the behavior of their owners.
“Cats are intelligent animals with a long memory, ”Jane Brunt, the executive director of the Catalyst Council, told Discovery News. “They watch and learn from us, noting the patterns of our actions, knowing where their food is kept and what time to expect to be fed, how to open the cupboard door that's been improperly closed, and where their feeding and toileting areas are. “Because cats copy our habits, if you spend a lot of time raiding the fridge, your cat will return to its food bowl for that midnight snack, too. According to the study, this explains why “human and cat overweight rates often seem to match”．So, if you feel guilty about leaving your precious kitty at home while you go to work, now you can feel even worse：you are making your cat fat!
There’s no word if drinking green tea and making sure you go to yoga will benefit your cat, but based on the study, it sounds like sticking to a healthy eating and sleeping schedule is best for both of you.
There’s a lot we can learn from our cats in return. “When they sit on our laps softly purring with rhythmic breathing and half-closed eyes, the sense of peace and calm that comes over us is like a private lesson in inner meditation (冥想),” Brunt said. Sure. But cats don’t have to sit in rush hour traffic for an hour a day or worry about their in-laws. They’re probably pretty good at remaining calm.
So, according to science, even though we assume that cats are not close to us all these years, it turns out they are in fact learning from us and looking up to us. Scary, huh?
1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 5 refer to?| A．Humans’ keeping searching the fridge. |
| B．Cats’ going to their owners for food. |
| C．Cats’ copying humans’ habit of looking for food. |
| D．Humans’ leaving cats home while working. |
| A．To remain calm. | B．To be able to copy. |
| C．To stay proud. | D．To look up to friends. |
| A．Your cat can bring you pleasure | B．You are copying your cat |
| C．You can make your cat social | D．Your cat is copying your habit |
| A. physical B. practical C. popular D. capable AB. range AC. blame AD. return BC. concerns BD. dropped CD. shared ABC. improvements |
Born and raised in a digital age, today’s young people are generally tech savvy （技术娴熟的). But when it comes to basic life skills, they are less
According to a recent study by YouGov, a UK-based market research firm, 69 percent of 18-24-olds in the UK have no idea how to bleed a radiator (暖气片换水). About 35 percent of them don’t know how to sew on a button, while about 11 percent don’t understand how to change a light bulb or iron clothes.
In fact, the problem is
Technology may be to
Indeed,
However, this change has raised
That’s why there’s an increasing call for the
8 . When it comes to nutrition, people in the United States often make poor choices. Sometimes bad eating habits are not the consequence of a lack of nutritional information or the unavailability of nutritious foods; some people simply choose to eat
Proper nutrition begins with
According to the Pyramid, Americans should get most of their daily calories intake from bread, cereal, rice, and pasta, eating 6 to 11 servings of these foods per day. Whole-grain products are the best. The larger numbers of servings are only
There are many risk factors that
| A．properly | B．poorly | C．healthily | D．hungrily |
| A．impressions | B．benefits | C．solutions | D．consequences |
| A．Furthermore | B．However | C．Therefore | D．Otherwise |
| A．enjoying | B．shaping | C．maintaining | D．risking |
| A．traditions | B．resistance | C．knowledge | D．preferences |
| A．stored | B．summarized | C．planned | D．applied |
| A．returned to | B．ignored by | C．intended for | D．connected with |
| A．consumption | B．production | C．precession | D．digestion |
| A．questions | B．discusses | C．denies | D．emphasizes |
| A．functions | B．recommendations | C．warnings | D．elements |
| A．deal with | B．take on | C．result from | D．contribute to |
| A．inadequate | B．moderate | C．mental | D．vigorous |
| A．Apart from | B．With regard to | C．In spite of | D．Rather than |
| A．spread | B．detected | C．caught | D．cured |
| A．smart | B．free | C．economical | D．nutritional |
| A. appreciate B. artificial C. proportions D. summarized E. wealth F. circumstances G. contributions H. documentary I. civilization J. innovators K. mark |
If you had to pick one, who do you think is greater in terms of their
But somehow, when choosing a major in college, the line between the two areas of study couldn’t be clearer. Science majors -- the likes of technology, engineering, math -- are considered to be more practical choices because of the
But perhaps we should look at liberal arts studies in another way to understand its value. In the BBC’s
To Simon Schama, one of the presenters, human
By comparing science and liberal arts, we’re drawing “an
Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was just as successful a scientist as he was a painter. He was so interested in biology and anatomy that he drew the famous Vitruvian Man, part of his study of the
10 . Federal efforts to aid minority businesses began in the 1960’s when the Small Business Administration (SBA) began making federally guaranteed loans and government-sponsored management and technical assistance available to minority business enterprises. While this program enabled many minority entrepreneurs to form new businesses, the results were disappointing, since managerial inexperience, unfavorable locations, and capital shortages led to high failure rates. Even 15 years after the program was implemented, minority business receipts were not quite two percent of the national economy’s total receipts.
Recently federal policymakers have adopted an approach intended to accelerate development of the minority business sector by moving away from directly aiding small minority enterprises and toward supporting large, growth-oriented minority firms through intermediary companies. In this approach, large corporations participate in the development of successful and stable minority businesses by making use of government-sponsored venture capital. The capital is used by a participating company to establish Minority Enterprise Small Businesses Investment Company or MESBIC. The MESBIC then provides capital and guidance to minority businesses that have potential to become future suppliers of customers of the sponsoring company.
MESBIC’s are the result of the belief that providing established firms with easier access to relevant management techniques and more job-specific experience, as well as substantial amounts of capital, gives those firms a greater opportunity to develop sound business foundations than does simply making general management experience and small amounts of capital available. Further, since potential markets for the minority businesses already exist through the sponsoring companies, the minority businesses face considerably less risk in terms of location and market fluctuation. Following early financial and operating problems, sponsoring corporations began to capitalize MESBIC’s far above the legal minimum of $500,000 in order to generate sufficient income and to sustain the quality of management needed. MESBIC’s are now emerging as increasingly important financing sources for minority enterprises.
Ironically, MESBIC staff, which usually consist of Hispanic and Black professionals, tend to approach investments in minority firms more practically than do many MESBIC directors, who are usually senior managers from sponsoring corporations. The latter often still think mainly in terms of the ‘social responsibility approach’ and thus seem to prefer deals that are riskier and less attractive than normal investment criteria would allow. Such differences in viewpoint have produced uneasiness among many minority staff members, who feel that minority entrepreneurs and businesses should be judged by established business considerations. These staff members believe their point of view is closer to the original philosophy of MESBIC’s and they are concerned that, unless a more careful course is followed, MESBIC directors may revert to policies likely to re-create the disappointing results of the original SBA approach.
1. According to the passage, the MESBIC approach differs from the SBA approach in that MESBIC’s ________.| A．seek federal contracts to provide market for minority businesses. |
| B．encourage minority businesses to provide markets for other minority businesses. |
| C．attempt to maintain a specified rate of growth in the minority business sector. |
| D．rely on the participation of large corporations to finance minority businesses. |
| A．The maximum term for loans made to recipient businesses was 15 years. |
| B．Business loans were considered to be more useful to recipient businesses than was management and technical assistance. |
| C．The expected failure rate for recipient businesses was significantly lower than the rate that actually resulted. |
| D．Recipient businesses were encouraged to relocate to areas more favorable for business development. |
| A．broaden the scope of the discussion to include the legal considerations of funding MESBIC’s through sponsoring companies. |
| B．call attention to the fact that MESBIC’s must receive adequate funding in order to function effectively. |
| C．show that sponsoring companies were willing to invest only $500,000 of government- sponsored venture capital in the original MESBIC’s. |
| D．compare SBA and MESBIC limits on minimum funding. |
| A．The use of MESBIC’s for aiding minority entrepreneurs seems to have greater potential for success than does the original SBA approach. |
| B．There is a crucial difference in point of view between the staff and directors of some MESBIC’s. |
| C．After initial problems with management and marketing, minority businesses have begun to expand at a steady rate. |
| D．Minority entrepreneurs wishing to form new businesses now have several equally successful federal programs on which to rely. |
