1 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in NO MORE THAN 60 WORDS. Use your own words as far as possible.

The lost art of listening

Do you think you’re a good listener? Chances are that you do. But studies show that most people seriously overestimate their ability to listen. The truth is we are generally not good at listening, and our listening comprehension declines as we age.

This was proven by Dr. Ralph Nichols, who conducted a simple experiment to test students’ listening skills. He had some Minnesota teachers stop what they were doing mid-class, and then asked students to describe what their teachers had been talking about. While older kids with more developed brains, are usually assumed to be better listeners, the results, however, showed otherwise: While 90 percent of first-and second-graders gave correct responses, this percentage dropped rapidly as the students got older.

One reason for our poor listening concerns the speed at which we think. The adult brain can process up to around 400 words per minute, more than three times faster than the speed an average person speaks. This means we can easily think about something else while someone is talking to us, allowing our mind to wander or get sidetracked. The younger students in Dr. Nichols’s experiment were better listeners partly because their brains were less developed — they lacked the extra brain power to be distracted.

Another factor that contributes to our poor listening is our ever-decreasing attention span. According to a Mircrosoft study, the age of smartphones has had a negative impact here. In 2000 — around the time the mobile revolution began — the average human attention span was 12 seconds; by 2013, it had fallen to 8 seconds. Even a goldfish — with an average attention span of 9 seconds — can hold a thought for longer!

More and more people now realize that listening is a skill that can be developed through practice. Learning to observe a speaker’s body language and emotions, for example, can improve our active listening. Even the simple act of note-taking or making eye contact can help us stay focused while listening.

2 . An analysis of foods we eat every day such as bread, coffee, milk, meat and tap water has expel our exposure to chemicals. The 24^th Australian Total Diet Study by Food Standards Australia New Zealand tested 94 commonly consumed foods and drinks. The first part of the study tested three food chemicals: acrylamide, aluminum and perchlorates.

While the result fell within the safe range overall, levels of acrylamide appeared to be of possible concern to human health. Acrylamide forms naturally in carbohydrate-rich foods when they are heated at high temperatures by roasting, baking, grilling, toasting and frying.

“The acrylamide is formed in natural chemical reactions between food components(组成部分) that also give us tasty browning and crunchy texture,” says Professor Ian Rae, an honorary professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne.

The chemical is known to cause cancer in animals, but in humans the exposure “threshold” is unknown, say the World Health Organization. “There is no direct evidence acrylamide causes cancer in humans, but food regulators, including FSANZ, agree that we should reduce our exposure,” the study’s authors say.

They found that cereals and grain-based foods were the main sources of acrylamide in our diets, followed by snacks, condiments, fried potato products and meat.

Surprisingly high levels of the chemical were found in fried beef mince, fresh and fried onions, while pre-packaged olives, chocolate-flavoured energy drinks, grilled asparagus, baked beans and prune juice also rated a mention.

“Beef mince has a high surface area which would allow acrylamide to form if the appropriate precursor chemicals(易制毒化学品) were present,” the authors say. Similarly, onions have a relatively low sugar content compared to many other starchy vegetables. The results indicate that the cooking method and surface area of the food may be a contributing factor for acrylamide formation.

Also confounding expectations were pizza and coffee, which did not have detectable levels of the chemical. Fresh fruit and vegetables were not tested. “The formation of acrylamide in raw fruit and vegetables is unlikely,” the authors say.

In all tested foods, the acrylamide levels “were generally lower than, or comparable to, those reported in Australian and international studies”. However, the authors acknowledge that based on WHO estimates “the acrylamide exposure of Australian consumers is consistent(与.….保持一致) with those considered to be of possible concern to human health”.

Dr Tan Musgrave. a senior lecturer in the school of medical sciences at the University of Adelaide, responded to the study’s results saying: “Our foods are of international quality and indeed perform better in some aspects compared to international standards.”

1. According to Australian studies, acrylamide is a chemical that ________.

A．could bring about cancer to animals and human beings.

B．is formed naturally in carbohydrate-rich foods in boiling them.

C．should be reduced with regard to human exposure.

D．is formed in artificial chemical reactions between food components.

2. Beef mince is used as an example to explain________.

A．surface area might result in acrylamide formation

B．fresh food is unlikely to form acrylamide

C．cooking method is a contributing factor for acrylamide composition.

D．food with relatively low sugar content will not form acrylamide.

3. According to the passage, in all tested foods, aluminum levels were generally lower than________.

A．the world average	B．those in international studies
C．WHO standards	D．those consumed by Australians

4. The passage is mainly concerned with________.

A．how to detect and reduce acrylamide

B．how to reduce acrylamide levels in our foods.

C．whether levels of acrylamide are doing harm to human health.

D．whether the food chemical acrylamide is within safe range

3 . During his first years in Paris, Capa worked mainly on local photo stories. It was not until 1936 that he got his big breakthrough. He was sent to cover the Spanish Civil War and, as a result, his work started to appear regularly in top magazines and newspapers. It was his picture of a Loyalist Soldier Falling to His Death that brought him international reputation and became powerful symbol of war.

In 1936, shortly after the Spanish War, Capa worked in New York for a while. However, he quickly returned to Europe on the outbreak of World War II and stayed there for six years. His photographs of the Normandy Invasion became some of the most memorable war photographs in history, and he received the Medal of Freedom Citation for his work.

Capa’s job as a war photographer often put him in great personal danger, but despite the risks his motto was always: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” However, on 25 May 1954, Capa’s luck ran out. He was working on an assignment in French Indochina when he stepped on a land mine. He was killed instantly.

Today Robert Capa is considered one of the finest war photographers of all time. He was an exceptional photojournalist who used his camera to express and record the horror of the events around him. Not surprisingly Capa hated war, especially his often passive role in it. “It’s not always easy to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the sufferings around one.” he said.

1. How did Robert Capa get his “big breakthrough”?

A．He went abroad and commanded the Spanish Civil War.

B．He began to write for top magazines and newspapers.

C．Before 1936 he was well received as war photographer.

D．He became very famous as a war photographer.

2. Why was Robert Capa given the Medal of Freedom Citation?

A．Because he joined the Second World War bravely.

B．Because of his photographs taken during the war.

C．Because he worked in Europe where he stayed for about 6 years.

D．Because he died from stepping on a land mine.

3. By saying “If your picture aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” Capa wanted to tell others ________.

A．to take pictures good enough, you can’t avoid going to the front at the risk of losing your own lives

B．to be a good photographer. you are never too close to nature

C．it is important to be close enough to the objects when pictures are taken

D．it is not their fault not to have some good pictures to be praised

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Capa is well known as one of the finest war photographers.

B．Capa felt sorry for the horror and suffering caused by the war and not being able to help.

C．Capa felt sorry to be a war photographer and suffered a lot from the job.

D．Capa hoped there wouldn't be any war in the world in future.

4 . In 2008, the US Department of Homeland Security asked Scot Borg at the United States Cyber Consequences Unit, a non-profit organization to look into what might happen if the Internet went down. Borg and his colleagues analyzed the economic_________of computer and Internet outages (中断) in the US from 2000 onwards. Looking at quarterly financial reports from the 20 companies that claimed to be most affected in each case, as well as more general economic statistics, they discovered that the financial impact of the an outage was surprisingly_________—at least for outages that lasted no more than four days, which is all they studied.

“These were instances where_________losses were being claimed — in the hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars.” Borg says. “But while some industries like hotels, and airlines firms suffered a bit, even they didn’t_________very big losses.”

It turned out that losing Internet_________for a few days just made people_________their work. “People carried out all the same activities they would have done had the internet been up, but they just did it two or three days later.” Borg says.

In some cases, shutting down the Internet for a short time might even_________productivity. In another study, Borg and his colleagues analyzed what happened when a company suffered an Internet outage that lasted four hours or more. Rather than use their thumbs, employees did things that they would_________put off, such as dealing with paperwork. The result was a boost for_________. “We jokingly suggested that if every company__________their computers for a few hours each month and make people do the tasks they__________, there’s be an overall productivity benefit,” Borg says. “I see no reason why that wouldn’t also__________to basically the whole economy.”

Travel probably would not be affected too much__________, either — so long as the blackout lasted no more than a day or so. Planes can fly without the Internet, and trains and buses would continue to run. Longer outages would start to have an effect on logistics (物流), however. Without the Internet it would be__________for businesses to operate. “I’ve suggested that people and businesses should have a plan__________Internet loss, but I haven’t heard of anyone doing that yet.” Eagle-man says.

1.

A．effects

B．powers

C．solutions

D．consumptions

2.

A．challenging

B．insignificant

C．important

D．satisfying

3.

A．leading

B．minor

C．various

D．enormous

4.

A．handle

B．compare

C．compose

D．experience

5.

A．entry

B．outlook

C．access

D．process

6.

A．fall behind on

B．catch up with

C．give way to

D．live up to

7.

A．decline

B．reduce

C．increase

D．prevent

8.

A．previously

B．normally

C．potentially

D．regularly

9.

A．workforce

B．Internet

C．study

D．business

10.

A．switched on

B．gave up

C．turned off

D．closed down

11.

A．postponed

B．assigned

C．committed

D．challenged

12.

A．apply

B．devote

C．lead

D．turn

13.

A．in the short term

B．in the long run

C．in future

D．in advance

14.

A．convenient

B．efficient

C．hard

D．easy

15.

A．in exchange for

B．instead of

C．in case of

D．for the sake of

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below. fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Helping Children Learn Better Through Lego

Wei Wei Gluckman didn’t get to play with Lego during her childhood years in China. However,     1     (follow) a chance to encounter with the brand more than a decade ago, Gluckman is now not just an enthusiast—she’s one of the only two Lego Certified Professionals on the Chinese mainland.

    2     (train)as an architect in a US university and currently working as a curator(管理者) of architecture-related cultural events, Gluckman said she learned about Lego first in 2006.

She recalled that a US magazine     3     (approach) her with the idea of organizing exhibitions that would feature Lego installation. “I was fascinated.     4     you start playing, you begin to understand the power of the blocks. They require concentration, craftwork and logical thinking.” said Gluckman. “Playing with Lego also helps people to understand how and hwy they think the way they do.” she said.

Her fascination with Lego led her to start the “Brick by Brick” series in 2006. The event encourages both children and adults to use Lego bricks to express     5     they think of their home city.

Throughout the past decade, Gluckman has toured many Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong     6     (hold) “Brick by Brick” events, which are always free and open to the public. Each event features a unique theme     7     aims to get children to think critically about societal matters.

“I prefer collective pieces of work as they are     8     (powerful).” said Gluckman. “I’m more like an activist. I promote learning through play     9     organizing such public events and the play experience that I design is aimed at empowering the participants in the end.”

“Open play is key. There is no right or wrong, no rules, and no winning or losing. The key point here is that children can decide for     10    . Creativity happens when they are allowed to develop their own rules and approach to building.

6 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. accounts       B. determine       C. sites            D. halves               AB. handy       AC. processing AD. simply       BC. statues        BD. pouring       CD. confusing       ABC. case

Egyptian Pyramids

Researchers have uncovered one of the key methods the Egyptians used to build the pyramids. They have long been confused by exactly how workers were able to transport large blocks of stone of construction    1    . Now, they say the key was simple-wet sand.

“For the construction of the Pyramids,the ancient Egyptians had to transport heavy stone blocks and large    2    across the desert.” researchers at the University of Amsterdam said. The team tried to repeat this—and found wet sand was the key. The Egyptians therefore placed the heavy objects on a sledge(雪橇) that workers pulled over the sand.

Research from the University of Amsterdam has now revealed that the Egyptians probably made the desert sand in front of the sledge wet. Experiments have demonstrated that the correct amount of wetness in the sand    3    the pulling force required. To test the theory. the physicists placed a laboratory version of the Egyptian sledge in a tray of sand. They decided both the required pulling force and the stiffness(硬度) of the sand as a function of the quantity of water in the sand. To    4    the stiffness, they used a rheometer, which shows how much force is needed to deform a certain volume of sand. Experiments revealed that the required pulling force decreased proportional to the firmness of the sand. “In the presence of the correct quantity of water. wet desert sand is about twice as firm as dry sand.” the team said. A sledge glides far more easily over firm desert sand    5    because the sand does not pile up in front of the sledge as it does in the    6    of dry sand. They also believe a painting reveals the trick. “The Egyptians were probably aware of this    7    trick.” they said. “A wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep clearly shows a person standing on the front of the pulled sledge and    8    water over the sand just in front of it.”

The research results could therefore be useful for examining how to make full use of the transport and    9    of grand material,which at present    10    for about ten percent of the worldwide energy consumption.

7 . How do you get your information when you go online? Are you ever worried that you might only be seeing a limited view? Part of the reason for this is the increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and algorithms that make sure we only see things that interest us.

The phrase “echo chamber” has become widely used since events like the election of Donald Trump as the US president. It means that users of social media websites such as Facebook only read their own opinions or ones they agree with.

Algorithms, like the kind used by Facebook, often point us toward articles that show our own ideas, and search results usually give us what we already know and like.

As a result, social network users are likely to fall into the “Relevance Paradox”, which happens when people only read information that is relevant to them, according to The Huffington Post. And in many cases, people don’t even realize this is happening. They stop looking for fresh, new information from different points of view because of a lack of experience and knowledge of other opinions.

This means some of us unknowingly live in an echo chamber. This then continues because people in the same social group agree with us too. In other words, the echo chambers stay because they tell us that we are right, even if we are not.

As websites get to know us better, they get better at showing us things that interest us, while also removing things we don’t really like, Eli Pariser, CEO of news website Upworthy told the US radio station NPR.

“What most algorithms are trying to do is to increase the amount of attention you’re spending,” he said. And while it helps us deal with the large amount of information on the internet, that algorithm also has some downsides. “The danger is that you end up not seeing what people who think differently see and, in fact, not even knowing that it exists.

So here comes the burning question — is there a way out?

“The way to break free from this is to start understanding how algorithms work, and to manually seek out others with different viewpoints,” Theo Priestley, CEO of Cronycle, a web platform told The Huffington Post.

1. According to the article, people in an echo chamber ________.

A．are more willing to accept different ideas

B．prefer to look for fresh, new information

C．only recognize information they are willing to accept

D．only trust information from well-known sources

2. According to the article, algorithms used by most social media ________.

A．fail to draw most people’s attention

B．are slow in dealing with information

C．are good at showing people a variety of viewpoints

D．may make people narrow-minded without them noticing

3. Which of the following statements would Theo Priestley probably agree with?

A．Social media should use less AI and algorithms.

B．People should actively look for different ideas themselves.

C．It is impossible for people to escape from echo chambers.

D．Algorithms that attract readers’ attention should not be used.

4. What is the article mainly about?

A．The idea of echo chamber and how to avoid it.	B．How algorithms deal with information.
C．The latest development in artificial intelligence.	D．The best way to search information online.

8 . There are often many assumptions made about young people aged 15 to 21, but only a few can be proved with hard evidence. Now, new research has been published to help people get a better idea of these _________ young people.

According to an international survey in 2016, young people in emerging (新兴的) economies like China and India have a _________sense of hope about the future, compared with those living in Europe, North America and Australia.

The survey was _________ between September and October by the Varkey Foundation, a UK-based non-profit organization. It surveyed 20,000 young people who were born between 1995 to 2001 in 20 countries. They were asked questions about their hopes, ambitions, personal views and community values.

It was found that 53 percent of those questioned in China thought the world was becoming a better place – the highest percentage among the countries surveyed. Some 93 percent of them also felt _________ for the future because of advances in technology, such as in medicine, renewable energy and computing.

Indian youth were the second most_________, with 49 percent taking a positive view of the world’s prospects.

_________, young people in France, Italy and Turkey had the most negative outlook on the future, with fears about extremism and the rise of global terrorism.

“At a time of nationalist and populist (民粹主义的) movements (such as Brexit (脱欧) or US President Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall along the US border) that focus on the _________between people, the evidence shows that young people share a _________ similar view of the world,” Vikas Pota, chief executive of the Varkey Foundation, told The Guardian.

“They are a generation that is deeply _________ about the future of the world,” he added.

As for young people in China, what they __________ most is the impact of climate change — some 82 percent of those who responded to the__________ said so.

Pota said it was __________ that young people in China were aware how serious the problem of climate change is.

“This is surely a hopeful development. The young population of China is more aware than anyone of the seriousness of the climate crisis – and will be__________ for change,” he told South China Morning Post.

The overall survey showed a sense of optimism in the __________ and opinions of the generation that is likely to shape the next few decades, according to Pota.

“They are more likely to travel, to migrate across borders and to forge (建立) friendships in other countries than any __________ generation,” he said. “Global citizenship is not dead. It could just be getting started.”

1.

A．undereducated

B．misunderstood

C．overestimated

D．well-disciplined

2.

A．greater

B．fainter

C．simpler

D．safer

3.

A．enforced

B．operated

C．demonstrated

D．conducted

4.

A．hopeful

B．fearful

C．concerned

D．eager

5.

A．fantastic

B．realistic

C．optimistic

D．enthusiastic

6.

A．As a result

B．Without doubt

C．Beyond that

D．In contrast

7.

A．exchanges

B．agreements

C．differences

D．similarities

8.

A．routinely

B．traditionally

C．surprisingly

D．slightly

9.

A．pessimistic

B．optimistic

C．excited

D．passionate

10.

A．fear

B．suffer

C．consider

D．expect

11.

A．question

B．survey

C．attitude

D．movement

12.

A．amazing

B．encouraging

C．depressing

D．puzzling

13.

A．preparing

B．looking

C．pressing

D．waiting

14.

A．attitudes

B．emotions

C．dreams

D．interests

15.

A．original

B．present

C．next

D．previous

9 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Are User-friendly Passwords on the Horizon?

Imagine a whole new type of password----one that lets you no longer use all those numbers, letters and symbols, but is still unavailable to attackers.

Researchers     1     (create) a new password system that can one day allow users to access their bank accounts, phones or favorite websites simply by picking out a familiar face from a grid (网络)of nine faces, four times in a row.

They call the system Facelock,     2     , according to a new study, is full of benefits.

Facial recognition

    3     Facelock, the images in the system are always changing ----even the image of the familiar face.

The research team explains that people do not recognize all faces equally. We have no trouble     4    (identify) a familiar face across a series of different images that range in quality. On the other hand, when a face is not familiar to us, we are     5    (likely) to think that different images of the same person are actually images of different people.

The well-studied psychological phenomenon can be frustrating to police when they ask a witness to identify a person     6     (catch) in an unclear security camera tape, but in the case of Facelock, the researchers were able to exploit it for the good of frustrated password users.

The Success Rate

The researchers looked at     7     vulnerable(易受攻击的)the Facelock system is to attack by strangers, as well as people who are close to the users, such as a spouse or other family members.

Facial Recognition System is hard     8     ( break) by people who don’t know the users. Even people who were very close to the users were only able to get through all four grids successfully 6.6percent of the time.

“     9     (take ) into account the success rates of account holders (97.5 per cent ), random zero-acquaintance attackers (less than 1 per cent), and nominated high-acquaintance attackers(6.6 per cent), we hold a firm belief     10     it is a promising stating point”, the researcher wrote.

10 . There will eventually come a day when the New York Times ceases to publish stories on newsprint. Exactly when that day will be is a matter of debate. “Sometime in the future,” the paper’s publisher said back in 2010.

Nostalgia (怀旧) for ink on paper, there are plenty of reasons to abandon print. The infrastructure (基础设施) required to make a physical newspaper — printing presses, delivery trucks — isn’t just expensive; it’s excessive at a time when online-only competitors don’t have the same set of financial restrictions. Readers are migrating away from print anyway. And though print ad sales still overshadow their online and mobile counterparts, revenue (收入) from print is still declining.

Cost may be high and circulation lower, but rushing to eliminate its print edition would be a mistake, says BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti.

Peretti says the Times shouldn’t waste time getting out of the print business, but only if they go about doing it the right way. “Figuring out a way to accelerate that transition would make sense for them,” he said, ‘‘but if you discontinue it, you’re going to have your most loyal customers really upset with you.”

Sometimes that’s worth making a change anyway. Peretti gives the example of Netflix discontinuing its DVD-mailing service to focus on streaming (流媒体). “It was seen as a mistake,” he said. The move turned out to be foresighted. “If I were in charge at the Times, I wouldn’t pick a year to end print,” Peretti said “I would raise prices and make it into more of a legacy product.”

The most loyal customers would still get the product they favour, the idea goes, and they’d feel like that they were helping maintain the quality of something they believe in. “So if you’re overpaying for print, you could feel like that you were helping,” Peretti said. “Then increase it at a higher rate each year and essentially try to generate additional revenue.” In other words, if you’re going to print product, make it for the people who are already obsessed with it, which may be what the Times is doing already. Getting the print edition seven days a week costs nearly $500 a year -- more than twice as much as a digital-only subscription.

“It’s a really hard thing to do and it’s a tremendous luxury that BuzzFeed doesn’t have a legacy business,” Peretti remarked. “But we’re going to have questions like that where we have things we're doing that don't make sense when the market changes and the world changes. In those situations, it's better to be more aggressive than less aggressive.

1. The New York Times is considering ending its print edition partly due to ________.

A．the high cost of operation	B．the pressure from its investors
C．the complaints from its readers	D．the increasing online ad sales

2. Peretti suggests that in face of the present situation the Times should ________.

A．seek new sources of readership	B．end the print edition for good
C．aim for efficient management	D．make strategic adjustments

3. Peretti believes that in a changing world ________.

A．legacy businesses are becoming outdated

B．cautiousness helps problem-solving

C．traditional luxuries can stay unaffected

D．aggressiveness better meets challenge

4. Which of the following would be the best title of the text?

A．Shift to Online Newspapers All At Once.

B．Cherish the Newspapers Still in Your Hand.

C．Make Your Print Newspapers a Luxury Good.

D．Keep Your Newspapers Forever m Fashion.