1 . Art and science may seem like opposite things. One means the creative flow of ideas, and the other means cold, hard data-some people believe. In fact, the two have much in common. Now, a study finds art can help students remember better what they have learned in the science class.
Mariale Hardiman, an education specialist at Johns Hopkins University, noticed that students who used art in the classroom listened more carefully. They might ask more questions. They might volunteer more ideas. What’s more, students seemed to remember more of what they had been taught when their science lessons had involved(涉及) art. To prove that, Hardiman teamed up with some researchers and six local schools.
In the experiment, the researchers worked with teachers in 16 fifth-grade classrooms. They provided traditional science lessons and art-focused ones. In a traditional science class, for example, students might read aloud from a book. In the art-focused one, they might sing the information instead.
The team randomly assigned(随机分配) each of the 350 students to either a traditional science classroom or an art-focused one. Students then learned science using that way for the whole unit-about three weeks. When they changed to a new topic, they also changed to the other type of class. This way, each student had both an art-focused class and a traditional one. Every unit was taught in both ways, to different groups of students. This enabled the researchers to see how students did in both types of classes.
The team found that students who started off in a traditional class performed better after they moved into an art-focused class. But those who started off in an art-focused class did well even when they went back to a traditional science class. These students appeared to use some of the art techniques(技巧) after going back to a traditional class. Classroom teachers reported that many students continued to sing the songs that they learned after finishing the unit. “The more we hear something, the more we retain it,” Hardiman says. “It suggests that the arts may help students apply creative ways of learning on their own.”
1. Why did Mariale Hardiman do the study?| A．To prove the importance of art at school. |
| B．To see if art might improve science learning |
| C．To find a way to help her students learn better. |
| D．To know how to encourage students to ask questions. |
| A．Take two types of classes. | B．Learn three units in total. |
| C．Learn two topics for three weeks. | D．Choose what they’d like to learn. |
| A．Finish. | B．Express. | C．Improve. | D．Memorize. |
| A．Art helps students develop creativity. |
| B．Art-focused classes interest students a lot. |
| C．Art can make science easier to remember. |
| D．Art has something in common with science. |
2 . A major emergency can create hundreds of thousands of refugees (难民) overnight. The most immediate way in which organizations like UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) can help these refugees is by setting up refugee camps. Refugee camps are designed to be temporary, but they often remain in place for decades. In some parts of the world, children have grown up and had children of their own without ever leaving their camp.
Critics argue that they force refugees to be entirely dependent on donations. One journalist who visited the Nyadeou camp in the south of the Republic of Guinea A (Africa) in 2001, described how normally peaceful people were reduced to fighting with each other when the food truck arrived.
Refugees camps can easily become dirty, overcrowded and are overrun with disease or crime. In many camps, drug dealers hide themselves among the majority of innocent refugees.
One alternative for refugees is to settle in a town or village, making them become part of the local population. This is known as the “self-settlement”. Several aid agencies argue that the self-settlement is a better option in many cases than refugee camps. They say that self-settled refugees can start to rebuild their lives straight away, and are freer and safer than refugees in camps. Oxfam, the ICRC and many other international aid agencies support programs in which refugees are helped to self-settle.
Representatives of UNHCR argue that refugee camps are the best way of saving the greatest possible numbers of lives. They point out that it is much easier to help people if they are all gathered in one place. This is certainly true of emergency relief, for example the distribution of food, water, shelters and medical supplies. It is also true that long-term aid programs, such as family tracing, orphan support and, perhaps most importantly, education, can all be carried out much more easily when refugees are all living together in one place.
1. Who are responsible for the refugees’ dependence on donations?| A．Critics. | B．Children. | C．Refugee camps. | D．UNHCR and the ICRC. |
| A．More personal aid. | B．More living space. |
| C．Better training programs. | D．A better sense of security. |
| A．It can help save much land. | B．It’s easier for them to get schooling. |
| C．It can reduce the number of orphans. | D．It allows families to better help each other. |
| A．The advantages of refugee camps. | B．The disadvantages of refugee camps. |
| C．The advantages of the self-settlement. | D．The disadvantages of the self-settlement. |
3 . People from East Asia tend to have more difficulties than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly (均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said. “Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and overlook the mouth.”
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did. “The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said. “Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion. Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less.”
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.
1. What does the discovery show about Westerners?| A．They pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth. |
| B．They consider facial expressions universally reliable. |
| C．They observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways. |
| D．They have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions. |
| A．To get their faces impressive. | B．To make a face at each other. |
| C．To classify some face pictures. | D．To observe the researchers’ faces. |
| A．They do translation more successfully. | B．They study the mouth more frequently. |
| C．They examine the eyes more attentively. | D．They read facial expressions more correctly. |
| A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul | B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions |
| C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills | D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding |
4 . I’ve been farming sheep on a hillside for 54 years. I use a small tractor to get about. My dog Don always sits beside me in the passenger seat.
One morning I
Lamb and mother
My heart froze in my chest as I
Heart in mouth, I
The police
| A．dropped | B．saw | C．carried | D．returned |
| A．kids | B．friends | C．owner | D．mother |
| A．ask about | B．play with | C．take care of | D．run into |
| A．freed | B．exchanged | C．reunited | D．examined |
| A．unexpected | B．dangerous | C．embarrassing | D．difficult |
| A．Fortunately | B．Generally | C．Immediately | D．Obviously |
| A．lamb | B．vehicle | C．seat | D．fence |
| A．saw | B．stopped | C．remembered | D．drove |
| A．crowd | B．motorway | C．field | D．hill |
| A．take off | B．catch up | C．hold back | D．get out |
| A．real | B．best | C．basic | D．last |
| A．fixed | B．noticed | C．reached | D．closed |
| A．resting | B．running | C．parking | D．turning |
| A．steep | B．long | C．rough | D．busy |
| A．abandoned | B．approached | C．recognized | D．repaired |
| A．unclean | B．uncertain | C．unhurt | D．unhappy |
| A．arrived | B．replied | C．survived | D．waited |
| A．ability | B．dream | C．luck | D．idea |
| A．common | B．confusing | C．desirable | D．awful |
| A．meal | B．test | C．job | D．lesson |
5 . It’s 3 o’clock and you’ve been hard at work. As you sit at your desk, a strong desire for chocolate overcomes you. You try to busy yourself to make it go away. But it doesn’t. Here is another situation. Perhaps you are not feeling well. The only thing you want to eat is a big bowl of chicken soup, like your mom used to make when you were sick as a child. Food cravings area strong desire for a specific type of food. And they are normal.
Scientists at the website How Stuff Works compare hunger and cravings this way. Hunger is a fairly simple connection between the stomach and the brain. They even call it simply “stomach hunger.” When our stomachs bur x up all of the food we have eaten, a hormone (荷尔蒙) sends a message to one part of the brain for more food, which regulates our most basic body functions such as thirst, hunger and sleep. The brain then produces a chemical to start the appetite and you eat. Hunger is a function of survival.
A craving is more complex. It activates (使活跃) brain areas related to emotion, memory and reward. These are the same areas of the brain activated during drug-craving studies. So, some scientists call food cravings “mind hunger.” People often crave foods that are high in fat and sugar. Foods that are high in fat or high in sugar produce chemicals in the brain. These chemicals give us feelings of pleasure.
In a 2017 study, researchers at Cambridge University found that “dieting or restricted eating generally increases the possibility of food craving”. So, the more you deny yourself a food that you want, the more you may crave it. However, fasting is a bit different. They found that eating no food at all for a short period of time lessened food cravings.
So, the next time you crave something very specific, know that your brain maybe more to blame than your stomach.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To remind readers of their own special food. |
| B．To deepen the understanding of hunger. |
| C．To report the discovery of craving study. |
| D．To lead to the topic of the whole passage. |
| A．It shows food is linked to feelings. |
| B．It ensures a person survives hunger. |
| C．It means the stomach functions well. |
| D．It proves the brain decides your appetite. |
| A．The decrease of chemicals. | B．The increase of food desire. |
| C．The refusal of fat and sugar. | D．The disappearance of appetite. |
| A．The functions of brain areas. | B．What hunger is all about. |
| C．The findings of food craving. | D．What dieting may bring us. |
For beach vacations that get you out of town and invite you and your family to dive into culture, consider a trip to Panama City. Here, you will enjoy beaches and city exploring. Book your stay at the Westin Playa Bonita, where you can book a room starting at $222 a night. There are various programs, including beach Olympics, star observation and Spanish lessons.
Jupiter, Florida
This place offers you quality time you can spend with your loved ones. Book your stay at Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, with rates for a family of four starting at $207 a night. Here, you can shoot baskets at the basketball courts, take a dip in the pool or teach your children beach yoga.
San Diego, California
The West Coast is a great spot for cheap beach vacations, so tell your family to pack their bags for a visit to San Diego. A cheap $10 Uber ride from the airport will have you pull up at the Kona Kai Resort & Spa. Here, a family of four can stay in a Deluxe Guest Room starting at $159 per night. Your kids can practice cannonballs at the pool after a visit to the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
Kihei, Hawaii
For west coasters who are growing bored with their background, fly to the islands of Hawaii. Stay at the Aston at the Maui Banyan, with a charge of $179 a night for a family of four. Here, you’ll see some of the best sunsets of your life while your kids play in the Pacific. And if you set about cooking a fancy meal, you’ll enjoy suites that come with a full kitchen.
1. Which of the following charges you least a night?| A．The Westin Playa Bonita. |
| B．The Kona Kai Resort & Spa. |
| C．Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa. |
| D．The Aston at the Maui Banyan. |
| A．Observe fantastic stars. |
| B．Visit a world-famous zoo. |
| C．Admire beautiful sunsets. |
| D．Play some beach sports. |
| A．They are all intended for family trips. |
| B．They all offer rooms with a full kitchen. |
| C．They all pick up visitors from the airport. |
| D．They all provide basketball courts on the beach. |
1. 这种单车的使用方法（如：APP查看车辆、扫码开锁等）；
2. 这种单车的优势；
3. 你对这种单车的看法。
注意：
1. 词数大约100左右；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
提示词：智能手机 smartphone, 二维码 the QR code
Dear Jim,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
8 . Once upon a time, there was a man . There was something wrong with his eyes. Whenever he
One day, the man visited a famous eye expert. The expert examined him
He bought cans of green paint and let several workers paint everything he could
Several weeks later, a friend, who was
The friend was very surprised and
| A．checked | B．touched | C．covered | D．opened |
| A．pains | B．dangers | C．lights | D．tears |
| A．and | B．because | C．but | D．so |
| A．quickly | B．calmly | C．carefully | D．rudely |
| A．green | B．blue | C．black | D．white |
| A．afraid | B．free | C．guilty | D．willing |
| A．buy | B．see | C．make | D．feel |
| A．sadness | B．surprise | C．anger | D．doubt |
| A．interested | B．dressed | C．lost | D．absorbed |
| A．car | B．house | C．garden | D．office |
| A．excited | B．disappointed | C．anxious | D．angry |
| A．why | B．how | C．what | D．where |
| A．pleasure | B．patience | C．strength | D．trouble |
| A．cleaner | B．luckier | C．easier | D．cooler |
| A．shoes | B．gloves | C．glasses | D．brushes |
9 . It was a hot summer day a few years ago. I had just pulled into the local gas station. After pumping the gas I started to walk inside to pay. That was when I noticed them. Two elderly women were standing back from their car. There was a mixture of shock and fear on their faces. I looked and saw what they saw. Five yellow jackets had started to build a nest around their gas cap. My eyes widened. I shared the ladies’ fear.
Yellow jackets had never been friends of mine. Several times these wasps (黄蜂) had attacked me while I was gardening. They gave me multiple stings (蜇) each time I ran over their ground nests. They are the reason I never do gardening in shorts anymore. The worst time, however, happened when I was a young boy. A friend of mine and I were running and playing in my backyard. I must have stepped on one of their hidden nests again because before I knew it both of us were being chased and stung over and over by the yellow jackets while we ran away screaming. I ran to my mom with tears in my eyes. She immediately ran a cold bath and put us both in it to ease (缓解) the pain before giving us medicine.
Still, I knew I couldn’t let fear stop me now. I reached into my back pocket for a paper towel I had there, tore out the nest and stepped on it while the angry wasps buzzed around me. Both of the ladies thanked me and I said, “You’re welcome!” with a smile and a happy heart.
1. What does “yellow jackets” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Wasps. | B．Nests. | C．Caps. | D．Cars. |
| A．A dangerous bear | B．Five yellow jackets. |
| C．An unexpected fire. | D．An out-of-control car. |
| A．Paragraph 1. | B．Paragraph 1 and 2. |
| C．Paragraph 2 | D．Paragraph 2 and 3. |
| A．Generous. | B．Energetic. | C．Brave. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Growth eases childhood pain. | B．Accept the world around us. |
| C．Life doesn’t believe in tears. | D．Don’t let fear hold us back. |
10 . When you set a foot outside of your door to drop trash, go to a social event or go for a walk, thoughts like “I hope I don’t see anyone I know” or “please don’t talk to me” may run through your mind. I’ve also said such things to myself. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to talk with someone, especially someone new.
Why do we go out of our ways to avoid people? Do we think meeting new people is a waste of time? Or are we just lazy, thinking that meeting someone new really is a trouble?
Communication is the key to life. We have been told that many times. Take the past generations, like our parents, for example. They seem to take full advantage of that whole “communication” idea because they grew up talking face to face while Generation-Y grew up staring at screens. We spend hours of our days sitting on Facebook. We send messages to our friends and think about all of the things we want to say to certain people that we don’t have the courage to do in reality.
Nowadays, we are so caught up in our little circle of friends—our comfort zone. We love it that they laugh at our jokes, understand our feelings and can read our minds. Most importantly, they know when we want to be alone. They just get us.
Holding a conversation with someone new means agreeing with things that you don’t really believe and being someone you think they want you to be—it is, as I said before, a trouble. It takes up so much energy, and at some point or another, it is too tiring.
But meeting new people is important. Life is too short, so meet all the people you can meet, make the effort to go out and laugh. Remember, every “hello” leads to a smile—and a smile is worth a lot.
1. What do we learn about the author?| A．He likes to meet someone new. | B．He feels stressed out lately. |
| C．He’s active in attending social events. | D．He used to be afraid of talking to others. |
| A．They rely on the Internet to socialize. | B．They are less confident in themselves. |
| C．They have difficulty in communicating. | D．They are unwilling to make new friends. |
| A．They think it troublesome. | B．They are busy with their study. |
| C．They fear to disappoint their friends. | D．They want to do meaningful work. |
| A．To stress the importance of friends. |
| B．To give tips on how to meet new people. |
| C．To encourage people to meet new people. |
| D．To display the disadvantages of Generation-Y. |
