1 . The inside story of how a “band of misfits” saved Lego

When executives at toymaker Lego first learned that adults were buying large quantities of their interlocking plastic bricks and getting together to build Lego creations of their own, “they thought it was very strange,” says Paal Smith-Meyer.

    1     “Leadership actually thought ‘adults’ were taking away from the brand.”

Thanks to a handful of employees who worked to change attitudes inside the company, Lego is no longer embarrassed by its adult fans.     2     The bygone slogans “Just Imagine... ” and “Play On” have been overshadowed by Lego’s newest marketing motto: “Adults Welcome”. Even superstar athletes and entertainers like Ed Sheeran, Dwight Howard, and David Beckham boast openly about their affection for Lego building sets.

Today Lego is the world’s largest and most profitable toymaker. The Lego brick was named “Toy of the Century” in 1999, and in 2014 Time magazine crowned it the “Most Influential Toy of All Time”, ahead of Barbie, G.I. Joe, and the Easy Bake Oven.

The enthusiasm and buying power of Adult Fans of Lego — or AFOLs, as they’re known in the industry — played a major role in the company’s rise to the top.     3    

Lego founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen always knew he wanted to market his products exclusively to kids. As the company grew over its first six decades, few imagined that its products could appeal as much to adults as to children.     4     Two decades ago, when Lego began making licensed sets inspired by hit movies like Star Wars and Harry Potter, it was adult fans who snatched up most of the merchandise.

Despite the benefits AFOLs brought to the brand, executives at the company’s corporate offices in Billund, Denmark had little interest in catering to adult customers. As fan mail and product ideas poured in from AFOLs around the world, the company posted its off-putting position: “We don’t accept unsolicited ideas.”

“Adult fans were often seen as a source of irritation,” says Jake McKee, a Lego executive from 2000 to 2006 who oversaw the company’s Global Community Development team.

A．But insiders say the road from “kids only” to “adults welcome” was a long, uphill climb.

B．AFOLs are also organizing unofficial Lego fan conventions and networking in online user groups.

C．Gone are the days when labels on Lego boxes stated that the contents were appropriate only for boys ages 7 to 12.

D．Attitudes began to shift in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the once-invulnerable toymaker started to struggle.

E．AFOLs were having a dramatic impact on Lego’s bottom line years before the company recognized their value.

F．“Before the late 1990s, the company didn’t think their adult fans had value,” says Smith-Meyer, who held a variety of senior posts at Lego from 2000 to 2014.

2 . Robots really are replacing us flesh-and-bone types. They’re making lunch, writing novels… the list goes on and on. What human can compete — especially given that robots don’t complain, ask for raises, or get drunk at the Christmas party? To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the coining of the word robot by Karel Capek, we thought it would be fun to take a look at another side of robotkind.

You Call That Service?

A few years back, a Japanese hotel hired 243 robots to cover positions ranging from doorman to bellboy. Unfortunately, the check-in robots had trouble answering guests’ questions and photo-copying passports, while bellboy robots kept banging into walls and tripping over curbs. One in-room assistant robot sprang to attention every time the guest snored (打鼾), saying, “Sorry, I couldn’t catch that. Could you repeat your request?”

You Look Familiar

Facial recognition software has one problem — it can’t always recognize faces. The American Civil Liberties Union proved that point when it used the Amazon Rekognition software to match photos of criminals to 28 members of Congress. But what about soccer ball recognition? During a match last year, a Scottish soccer team unveiled AI-programmed video cameras designed to automatically follow the ball. Alas, the cameras constantly mistook the referee’s bald head for the soccer ball.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Anger Sophia

“Sophia” is a social humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics. She/It has an attractive face, with high cheekbones, and impressive eyebrows. And she can hold a conversation to rival the mere chat of Apple’s Siri. This is surely the robot of the future. When CEO David Hanson and Sophia appeared on a TV program, Hanson asked the robot the question humans have been asking themselves for years: “Sophia, do you want to destroy humans?” Without hesitation, Sophia — smiling a bit too broadly for our taste — responded, “OK, I will destroy humans.” Humans, you have been warned.

1. “Another side” of robotkind in the first paragraph can be described as ________.

A．advanced

B．aggressive

C．amazing

D．awkward

2. Which of the following reflects the reality according to the three stories?

A．The robots are functioning properly as human labor.

B．The robot Sophia interpreted Hanson’s question as a request.

C．The facial recognition software makes accurate searches for the target.

D．The hotel in-room robot paid close attention to the guest’s health condition.

3. Which might be the best title for this passage?

A．Robots Gone Wild	B．Robots On the Rise
C．Robots Taking Over	D．Robots Under Debate

3 . Science may never know what memories play on the mind of the California sea hare, a foot-long marine snail, when it eats algae — a sea plant — in the tide pools of the Pacific coast.

But in a new study, researchers claim to have made headway in understanding the simplest kind of memory a creature might form.

David Glanzman, a neurobiologist at the University of California, believes the kinds of memories that trigger a defensive reaction in the snail are encoded not in the connections between brain cells, as many scientists would argue, but in RNA molecules (分子) that form part of an organism’s genetic machinery.

In an experiment to test the idea, Glanzman implanted wire into the tails of California sea hares, and gave them a series of electrical shocks. The procedure sensitized the animals so that when they were prodded (戳) in a fleshy spout called a siphon, they contracted their gills (鳃状呼吸器官) in a strong defensive action.

After sensitizing the sea snails, Glanzman extracted RNA from the animals and injected it into other sea snails to see what happened. He found the recipient sea snails became sensitized, suggesting the “memory” of the electrical shocks had been transplanted. When Glanzman repeated the experiment with RNA from sea snails that had been hooked up to wires but not shocked, the reaction behavior did not transfer.

Despite the result, the work has not found widespread acceptance. “Obviously further work needs to be carried out to determine whether these changes can happen without failure in a wide range of conditions,” said Prof Sherilynn Vann, who studies memory at Cardiff University. “While the sea hare is a fantastic model for studying basic neuroscience, we must be very cautious in drawing comparisons to human memory processes.”

Tomas Ryan, who studies memory at Trinity College Dublin, is firmly unconvinced. “It’s interesting, but I don’t think they’ve transferred a memory,” he said. “This work tells me that maybe the most basic behavioral responses involve some kind of switch in the animal and there is something in the liquid that Glanzman extracts that is hitting that switch.”

But Ryan added that different thinking about memory was badly needed: “In a field like this which is so full of accepted beliefs, we need as many new ideas as possible. This work takes us down an interesting road, but I have a huge amount of skepticism about it.”

1. Why were the sea hares given electrical shocks?

A．To rob them of their memory.

B．To see how they defend themselves.

C．To break the connection between nerves.

D．To make them sensitive to external stimulations.

2. What conclusion may Glanzman draw from the experiment?

A．Memory can be encoded and changed by people.

B．Only with strong stimulation can sea snails form reaction.

C．The memory giving rise to sea snail’s sensitization is held in RNA.

D．The sea snail’s defense is probably enabled by connectivity of brain cells.

3. According to the passage, the limitations of Glanzman’s experiment involve the following EXCEPT ________.

A．The recipient sea snail’s response may require further confirmation.

B．Variables (变量) in the experiments may not have remained the same.

C．Something else other than RNA in the extract may lead to the recipient’s reaction.

D．The sea snail “memory transplant” may not apply to more complex memory process.

4. The underlined word “skepticism” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.

A．criticism

B．doubt

C．relief

D．optimism

4 . I’ve been in an 18-year love-hate relationship with a black walnut tree.

It’s a unique tree. In late September or early October, falling fruits as hard as baseballs threaten the skulls (头骨) of you, your children, your neighbors and those that reside next door to them. Umbrellas in the yard are a must while dining in early August, and as for me, I wear my bike helmet while working in the garden.

The black walnut also releases a chemical substance through its roots as a competitive strategy. It’s poisonous to several common plants. There have been many new plant varieties that I brought home with hopes that maybe the black walnut would accept them, but they failed to flourish.

What does work are native plants that naturally grow in the area. Native plants are important to have around since they provide beneficial pollinators (传粉者) like birds, bees and butterflies with seeds and contribute to a healthy and biodiverse environment. Native plants for this area are generally easy to grow, so they experience less stress.

Have I thought of getting rid of this giant pain in my tiny backyard? Yes, however, getting rid of this tree standing at 50 feet with an 87-inch trunk is next to impossible. It’s also protected under the law. Rightfully so. Trees are important to the urban forest and for all of those that inhabit it.

Sometimes I think about my life without the black walnut. I can’t imagine a spring without the birds who arrive every year and loudly sing their songs before dawn. I’d miss falling asleep on lazy weekend afternoons as I look up into its leaves.

Every spring, I wonder what the season holds: What are the chances of being knocked unconscious while barbecuing? Like any good relationship, I’ll never be pleased. I’m stuck with this tree, so I’ll listen to its needs and give it the space it requires. In return, my walnut offers a habitat for wildlife and a reminder.

1. Why does the author wear a bike helmet while working in the garden?

A．To protect the injured skull.	B．To prevent herself from sunburn.
C．To avoid being hit by the nuts.	D．To reduce the chance of getting bitten by bees.

2. What is the tree’s survival strategy?

A．It attracts beneficial pollinators.

B．It lets out poison to drive away pests.

C．It produces a chemical fatal to some plants.

D．It competes for nutrition with similar species.

3. Which of the following DOESN’T account for the author’s love-hate relationship with the tree?

A．The volume of its fruits may bring inconvenience.

B．The tree outcompetes the native plants in the garden.

C．The tree is home to numerous birds and other creatures.

D．The presence of the tree takes up much space of the garden.

4. The author most probably got a reminder from the tree that ________.

A．it’s better to give than to take

B．trees and plants have their own ways to flourish

C．even a good relationship is not always trouble-free

D．acceptance, instead of resistance, is the better way to be

5 . Last year Miranda Lim found that taking care of three young children homebound by the pandemic meant she often had to work late into the evening to stay on top of her job. Concerned that the _________ hours were having a bad effect on her sleep, Lim started tracking her sleep time with an app on her mobile phone. She wasn’t quite _________ the results. “I saw my bedtime was _________ anywhere between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.,” she says. “I was just horrified.” As a result, she immediately set up a daily alarm — not for waking up, but for _________ to bed at a reasonable hour.

It’s _________ why Lim would be a bit of an alarmist when threatened with a lack of a constant night’s sleep. As a sleep disorders physician at the VA Portland Health Care System, Lim is at the forefront of a global team of medical researchers who have in recent years been _________ the ways in which even moderate sleep shortage in middle age strongly link to Alzheimer’s disease later in life. She says, “Our big discovery was that the lack of sleep involves brain processes that may _________ into the disease.”

The finding that getting more and better sleep could offer the best, and _________ only, way to significantly reduce the risks of neuro-degeneration (神经退化) in older age is likely to further _________ an already hot sleep industry. Market research firm Infinium Global Research puts the current worldwide market for sleep __________ — including drugs, special bedding, and health care services — at an estimated $80 billion–plus, and predicts it will __________ to $114 billion over the next five years. Research firm BCC has been projecting a similar growth rate. Now Tim O’Brien, who heads life sciences content at BCC, says he’s watching for “a sudden leap”.

That leap would be driven not only by consumer’s __________ pursuit of better sleep-related health, but also by a stream of new __________ and technologies that are emerging to help achieve it, from sleep drugs to implantable medical devices to smart pillows. Fitbit’s companion app offers a range of insights and exercises aimed at __________ sleep, including sleep “scores” that break down different aspects of sleep, recommendations for when to get to bed and when to wake up, deep breathing and mindfulness exercises, and more. In addition, a big push into the market is being made by __________ a number of sleep-tracking and sleep-promoting features into the latest version of its “Nest Hub” smart speaker-and-screen device.

Nevertheless, some experts think the tech can help with slight pushes, but people still have to develop the healthy habits.

1.

A．uncertain

B．flexible

C．extended

D．fixed

2.

A．interested in

B．amazed at

C．replaced with

D．prepared for

3.

A．flying

B．bouncing

C．flashing

D．ringing

4.

A．heading off

B．paying off

C．putting off

D．giving off

5.

A．sensible

B．natural

C．understandable

D．surprising

6.

A．cutting down

B．comparing with

C．thinking about

D．figuring out

7.

A．transform

B．develop

C．explore

D．innovate

8.

A．ultimately

B．seemingly

C．possibly

D．slightly

9.

A．fuel

B．urge

C．peak

D．sue

10.

A．layers

B．trends

C．aids

D．tribes

11.

A．appeal

B．climb

C．resort

D．flow

12.

A．demanding

B．intensifying

C．foreseeing

D．existing

13.

A．therapies

B．options

C．experiments

D．schedules

14.

A．monitoring

B．affecting

C．hanging

D．boosting

15.

A．packing

B．removing

C．contrasting

D．mixing

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

A. inclusion     B. significant     C. exclude   D. implement   E. saving   F. house G. confirmed   H. interconnected     I. desirability       J. ambitious   K. concentrating

Plans revealed for high-tech “10-minute city” in Seoul

The idea of a “15-minute city”, in which residents can all reach work and leisure facilities within a quarter-hour walk — or cycle — of their homes, has gained     1     attention among urban planners during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, a group of architects is planning an even more     2     neighborhood in South Korea’s capital, Seoul: a 10-minute city.

Named “Project H1”, the development is set to transform an old industrial site into a(n)     3     “smart” city. Combining eight residential buildings with co-working offices and study spaces, the 125-acre district is also set to     4     entertainment sites, fitness centers, swimming pools and even urban farms.

Designed by Dutch architecture firm UNStudio and backed by a real estate firm, the neighborhood will also be completely car-free. A press release for the project claimed that “all the conveniences of the city” will be within a 10-minute walk of people’s homes.

In a statement, UNStudio co-founder Ben van Berkel said that residents’ “daily life experience” is the project’s “top priority”.

“We do this through the     5     of a rich density of uplifting, on-site experiences that provide an extensive range of options for how they can spend their living, working and leisure time, thereby also     6     them the time needed to travel elsewhere in the city,” he is quoted as saying.

A spokesperson for UNStudio     7     that project has been green-lit but did not reveal when it is likely to break ground.

The architects also said that clean energy will be produced on site, while systems to capture and store rain are being designed to reduce water use.

Critics have suggested that the concept could cause urban renewal by further     8     wealth in the most accessible and convenient districts. The     9     of “15-minute” neighborhoods may, in turn, result in home prices that     10     low-income and marginalized communities. But the Covid-19 pandemic has seen growing interest in the concept.

7 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage 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.

Lost at sea

Two men from the Solomon Islands have been rescued after spending 29 days lost at sea.

The men     1     (travel) to another island when heavy rain and wind took them out to sea. The two men survived on oranges they had packed, coconuts they found in the sea and by gathering rainwater.

“I look forward to going back home     2     I guess it was a nice break from everything,” one of the men, Livae Nanjikana, told The Guardian.

Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni took off from Mono Island on Sept. 3 in a motorboat to travel 200 km to Noro on New Georgia Island. However, soon after they set out, their boat was hit by heavy winds and rain, which made unclear the coastline they were following     3     a guide. 

“When the bad weather came, it was bad, but it was     4     (bad) and became scary when the GPS died,” he said. “We couldn’t see where we were going and so we just decided to stop the engine and wait,     5     (save) fuel.”

When the rain had finally passed, Nanjikana and Qoloni had already drifted far out to sea. They spent the next 29 days     6     (live) off of limited supplies and by gathering rainwater with     7     they could make use of to keep themselves alive.

A fisherman found and rescued the two men on Oct. 2 off the coast of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, about 400 km from     8     they had started.

Nanjikana and Qoloni     9     (bring) to a local health clinic for treatment and are staying temporarily with a local man, Joe Kolealo, until they     10     return home.

8 . Is there a need to rebuild the Old Summer Palace? In reply to such a proposal from a national lawmaker, the National Cultural Heritage Administration said there was no such need.

The Summer palace on the outskirts of China’s capital is a tranquil park with canals, bridges, pagodas, ginkgo tone ruins, and a few traditional buildings. Despite still covering a large area, the site today represents only a shadow of what stood before.The ruins have long been a potent symbol of China's"humiliation"at the hands of foreign powers.

In 1860, British and French troops looted and burned the Summer Palace in response to the killings of 20 European emissaries during the Second Opium War: Forty years later, it was further damaged by a coalition of foreign nations. Historian Bernard Brizay described these acts of cultural destruction as equivalent to invaders blowing up the Palace of Versaille (凡尔赛宫), looting thousands' of priceless artworks from the Louvre((卢浮宫), and burning France's national library to the ground。

Since rebuilding the Old Summer Palace was first proposed in 1980, there has been an ongoing public debate about whether its ruins should be left to stand as a permanent reminder of China's dark history. The state-run newspaper Guangming Daily called the remains of the Summer Palace "the most realistic teaching materials" for instilling a patriotic education. "Though humiliating, they cause people to think, "an author wrote. “They use a cruei reality to tell all Chinese people: Those who fall behind are struck down, while the strong rise and prosper.”

Those in the rebuild camp want to recapture old glory, but they don't understand the importance of cultural relics. A ruin like Yuan Ming Yuan is a historical record. In this case the history includes its destruction by fire. If you rebuild, you erase the record.

1. What does the underlined word"shadow"mean in paragraph 2?

A．The dark shape that the palace made on the ground

B．The strong and bad influence of the palace

C．The shame that the palace suffered from its history

D．The inseparable follower of the palace

2. Why are the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre mentioned in paragraph 3?

A．To imply that they are also cultural heritage

B．To contrast Chinese palace with French palace

C．To report these palaces were destroyed severely

D．To indicate the damage to the Summer Palace was unbearable

3. Which of the following statements is FALSE according to the passage?

A．The authorities have made specific comments on the lawmaker's proposal.

B．The European troops destroyed the palace in revenge for their loss of emissaries.

C．The palace is a living textbook as a negative example.

D．The disgrace of what the palace experienced shakes people' love for the country.

4. What is the author most likely to agree with?

A．Rebuilding palace won't hide scars.

B．Reproducing the palace history is humiliating.

C．Bringing back the palace's glory can be expected.

D．Whether the palace should be rebuilt remains to be seen.

9 . 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.fascination   B.luxury   C.adventurers     D. snow-capped   E.significantly   F.accessible G. hopefully   H. vast   I.draw   J.tempted     K.accommodate

Few countries have such a diverse and appealing“ Outdoors” as the USA. The landscape is     1     varied and spectacular. In the west there are Rocky Mountains with their     2     peaks, and in the east the forest-covered Appalachians, whose highest

summit is nearly 7000 feet. There is also an abundance of waterfalls, rivers, lakes that are small and intimate or     3     like the Great Lakes. In winter and spring, tourists are     4     by the clear skies and breathtaking multi-colored rocks of Arizona,Colorado and New Mexico.

Everything worth seeing in the USA is     5     to picnickers and vacationers by highways and unpaved secondary roads, which     6     people to places from where where they can push off onto the wilderness. Once in the wilderness,the chief worry will be, not how to avoid other hikers, but how not to get lost!

Many Americans, young and old, prefer camping in vehicles called"campers”. There exist many different kinds from the extremely extravagant to the cheap convertible pick-up truck. There are monster campers with every imaginable     7    , from deep freezers and microwave ovens, to plush carpets and color television sets.They can     8     four people comfortably.

Horseback riding also holds a     9     for many but it's a more expensive sport.There are ranches in Texas and other border states where you can stay and live the life of a cowboy or cowgirl. Other great outdoor pastimes for     10     can be skiing in the Rockies and hunting in Alaska, surfing, waterskiing in Florida.

10 . It is understandable that the plan to raise the retirement age has sparked debates, because the move involves individuals’ interests and delayed retirement has been on countries’ ________ for a long time.

The wider the debate is, the clearer the issues will be. The first misunderstanding is that the government is thinking over raising the retirement age to ________ the so-called shortfall in pension funds. The fact is, there is no such thing as a nationwide shortfall in the pension funds, because the situation varies from region to region. So we need a ________ pension system to ensure all regions have adequate pension funds.

Many countries with extra pension insurance are drawing up plans for raising the retirement age. Nowadays, people start working at a later age. So the retirement age should be extended ________ the structural changes of individuals’ life-cycle. For example, many born in the 1980s and 1990s started working at 25 or 30 due to their ________ of higher education. If such people retire at 60, they would have worked for only 35 or 30 years. And given their longer life expectancy, they’ll receive pensions for a longer period of time, putting extra ________ on the pension system.

But since delayed retirement ________ people’s interests, it must be planned carefully. First, the retirement age should be raised, once the leadership decides to do so, ________ across the country. Although rolling out pilot programs before ________ economic and social reforms made them more effective, the retirement age cannot be raised in different regions in a targeted manner, because that’ll not be helpful to ________ development in different regions.

Second, some people are against raising the retirement age because they feel they may be forced to work for a few “extra years”. As has been learned from other countries’ ________, some policies can be adopted to help accept the delayed retirement plan. ________, it should be made clear to employees that the longer they contribute to the pension funds, the higher pension they’ll draw after retirement—and early retirement will result in ________ pension.

Third, it is important to balance the interests of different groups. China’s current retirement system distinguishes between men and women, and the employees of State-owned enterprises and privately-owned companies have different opinions on delayed retirement. The new retirement policy needs to be ________ to all groups.

The debate on delayed retirement shows that reforms of social policies will face more challenges and the challenges need political wisdom and practical strategies to________.

1.

A．agenda

B．conflict

C．decision

D．problem

2.

A．result from

B．make up

C．bring about

D．break out

3.

A．unique

B．targeted

C．united

D．different

4.

A．in addition to

B．as a result of

C．ever since

D．in line with

5.

A．aim

B．access

C．admission

D．pursuit

6.

A．effect

B．debt

C．pressure

D．dependence

7.

A．arouses

B．concerns

C．satisfies

D．improves

8.

A．uniformly

B．widely

C．extensively

D．intensively

9.

A．implementing

B．introducing

C．improving

D．promoting

10.

A．rapid

B．balanced

C．effective

D．constant

11.

A．strengths

B．experiences

C．practices

D．attitudes

12.

A．In addition

B．In fact

C．Instead

D．For instance

13.

A．enhanced

B．considerable

C．reduced

D．worthwhile

14.

A．related

B．considerate

C．fair

D．different

15.

A．make

B．resolve

C．introduce

D．practice