1 . Boyce is a farmer’s son and he can’t see the world. But today, compared with him, even a large number of normal people have fallen behind.
Boyce was born
However, Boyce was again faced with
After graduation, Boyce received many job offers, but he
Boyce is a great
| A．deaf | B．blind | C．healthy | D．lame |
| A．accepted | B．received | C．refused | D．forgave |
| A．courage | B．work | C．luck | D．education |
| A．complete | B．excellent | C．usual | D．terrible |
| A．support | B．protection | C．difficulty | D．competition |
| A．cared about | B．turned down | C．called on | D．handed in |
| A．likely | B．commonly | C．hardly | D．successfully |
| A．chose | B．afforded | C．forgot | D．refused |
| A．traditional | B．positive | C．limited | D．natural |
| A．researcher | B．partner | C．example | D．talent |
Reading is a unique human experience. Just by skimming our eyes over some words, we can
But reading can also be hard, especially when we’re faced with a difficult text.
The world will observe International Museum Dayon May 18th. Since 1977, this day
1．介绍活动；
2．发出邀请。
注意：1．词数100左右，开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
提示词：国家博物馆 National Museum of China
非物质文化遗产展览 intangible cultural heritage exhibition
Dear Jim,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for long periods even if you also exercise regularly could be bad for your health. And it doesn’t matter where the sitting takes place at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV — just the overall number of hours it occurs. Several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.
In an editorial published this week in the British Joumal of Sports Medicine, Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.
While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity, they haven’t suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position. “After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals,” said Ekblom-Bak. She explained that sitting too long slows the metabolism-which affects our ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and metabolise fat-and may cause weaker muscles and bones.
Even for people who exercise, spending long periods of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day-but still spend much time sitting-might get more benefits if that exercise was spread across the day, rather than in a single bout (一回).
Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous, and what might be possible to offset (抵消) those effects.
“People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits,” Ekblom-Bak said. “But when they are in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible,” she said.
1. What are the possible bad effects of sitting for a long time?2. What is the next step for the current research on sitting long hours?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Sitting for long periods is bad for your health. However, doing exercise once a day is enough to get rid of the impact of sitting too much.
4. What habits do you think are good for your health? Why?
6 . Whether it is in a family board game, or during competitive sports, it can be easy to spot sore losers. During those times when we are faced with loss, sore losers struggle more than others.
When sore losers notice that they are lowering in the rankings, they may try to win at all costs.
Perhaps the biggest revealing of sore losers is their attitude.
What can we do to avoid becoming sore losers? One way in the first place is to play and explore what you’re good at without any success criteria. Then when it does come to losing, identify what was within your control and whether it was down to luck, talent, or practice.
| A．These thought processes can help you to gain insight. |
| B．The strategy may involve the participant becoming angry beforehand. |
| C．Giving up before the results are finalized is another sign of sore losers. |
| D．This is because the loss will bring about some unwanted negative feelings. |
| E．For many people, controlling anger is impossible as their loss is announced. |
| F．Most of us can accept the negative consequences of losing a fierce competition. |
| G．Another way is to consider the consequences of winning or losing in your future. |
7 . You may have heard of the Tasmanian tiger — but you most certainly have never seen one. Along with many other species over the past hundred years, this creature became extinct because of humans. Now, scientists in Australia and the US are trying to bring it back to life.
Bringing species back from the dead is known as de extinction. Though it sounds like something from a science fiction movie, new technologies have made de-extinction a very real possibility. To “bring back” an extinct species, scientists take stem cells from a closely related living animal and edit the genes. Then, the cells grow into a new animal. This new animal is not an exact copy of the extinct one, but it’s very close. In theory, scientists could create entire populations of animals and set them free in the wild.
If successful, the de-extinction project in Australia could have a favorable impact on the environment. Tasmanian tigers could help bring balance to Australia’s remaining forests by hunting and killing animals that are harming the trees. Indeed, something similar happened when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in 1995, with deer and plant populations rebalanced as a result.
De-extinction is not a perfect solution, however. For one thing, it won’t change the human behaviors that cause animals to become extinct in the first place. If we continue polluting and destroying the environment, animals will continue to die out. The only way we can truly protect them is by changing our habits. Bringing extinct species back to life won’t magically make us respect nature more.
Also, the money that we spend on de-extinction would probably be better spent on other conservation projects. Or, as those against de-extinction would put it, it’s better to spend money on the living rather than the dead. The reason for this is that, compared to other efforts, de-extinction is extremely expensive. In fact, for the cost of bringing one extinct species back to life, traditional conservation efforts could save up to eight threatened ones.
The power of science is amazing, but it might be time for us to stop and decide whether de-extinction is something we really want to achieve. With the technology we currently have, the question is no longer “can we?” but “should we?”
1. Why does the writer mention “wolves introduced to Yellowstone Park”?| A．To test the effect of de-extinction. | B．To discuss the importance of de extinction. |
| C．To illustrate the possible effect of de-extinction. | D．To present a successful example of de-extinction. |
| A．It demands large expenses. | B．It helps adjust human behaviours. |
| C．It threatens the current ecosystem. | D．It restores the balance between humans and nature. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Opposed. | C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
8 . Remember your first day of school? How did your mum pick out your clothes the day before and how nervous did you feel when entering the classroom? Or what about the first time you rode a bike, with all of the excitement coursing through your veins(静脉)?Some memories stick with us and we can recall them like scenes in a movie. These are known as episodic memories.
A new study published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has shown that certain cells, called time cells, make this type of memory possible. These cells help us form clear memories in chronological (时间顺序的) order. As memories are being formed, these time cells put a stamp on the memories. Later, this stamp helps us recount the exact sequence of events and experiences.
The 27 participants in the study had electrodes placed in their brains. This allowed scientists to measure cell activity in the hippocampus (海马体) and another area involved in the perception of time. The participants were shown sequences of 12 to 15 words on a computer screen in a period of about 30 seconds. Then they were asked to recall the words. During this time, the scientists looked at the activity of different brain cells. They found that specific cells fired signals during each sequence of words. “The time cells that we found are marking out discreet (不显眼的) segments (片段) of time within···this approximately 30-second window,”said Brad Lega, a neurosurgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, US. This proves the possible existence of time cells in the human brain.
Gyorgy Buzsaki, a professor at New York University, said the study is important as it can explain memory problems found in people who suffered damage to their hippocampus. In one experiment, scientists compared the memories of people who had just taken a tour of a college campus. Those without damage to their hippocampus had similar stories. However, those who had suffered damage to this area of the brain were unable to recall the proper sequence of events.
The number of people suffering from memory disorders is increasing significantly. As of Sepetmber 2019, around 50 million people worldwide were suffering from dementia (痴呆), and the number will triple by 2050, according to the World Health Organization. Such studies will help scientists develop better medical interventions for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, the cause of 60 to 70 percent of dementia cases.
1. What does the underlined word “recount” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Decide. |
| B．Tell. |
| C．Create. |
| D．Predict. |
| A．Most of the participants could not recall the word sequence. |
| B．Participants were required to speak out the words within 30 seconds. |
| C．People with damaged hippocampus could also recall the sequence of events. |
| D．While the participants were recalling the words, certain brain cells released signals. |
| A．How humans’ feeling of time changes over time. |
| B．How often brain cells send signals during an event. |
| C．How brain cells work to remember sequences of events. |
| D．How the brain memorizes events that people have experienced. |
| A．Finding the true cause of dementia. |
| B．Discovering time cells in creatures. |
| C．Finding ways to cure memory disorders. |
| D．Deciding the reason for Alzheimer’s disease. |
9 . I still remember how a pet mouse was popular among my classmates in Broadbeach State School. One day, my friends and I decided to buy a pet mouse. The pet shopkeeper wouldn’t sell us one until he got our parents’ letter that could show their permission for us to get a pet. So, having the neatest handwriting, I faked one. The store owner quickly saw through my handwriting and asked me to contact my mother to confirm the situation. My trick quickly failed, and it was all messed up.
My mum got very angry and felt that the punishment should fit the crime. Knowing that my writing was poor and always in need of improvement, she made me write letters to a few randomly selected relatives. One of them was my uncle whom I’d only met a few times when I was a kindergartner. I wrote a long letter detailing my life and listing my interests.
My punishment was complete. I forgot about this until I suddenly got a reply from my uncle. “How lovely to hear from you,” he said, and went on to tell me all about his life. He’d love to hear about what subjects at school I enjoyed. And so started a correspondence(信件往来)that went on for several years. He turned out to be the most fascinating man.
Then out of the blue, he died. My mum took the phone call and she was shocked. She deeply regretted it as they had not really spoken for years because of their busy life and workload. I went upstairs and produced a box of letters, the last one being from just a few days before he had passed away. My mum began to read them and knew that although she hadn’t been in touch, I had grown close to him by writing to him, which relieved and calmed her. In fact, I then became close to his wife, whom I also wrote to for many years.
I often think about how that one naughty childhood crime led to such an enriching correspondence that stretched on for many years. It encouraged me to write to lots of other people in fact, and it’s something I keep up with to this day. Besides, receiving a letter is such a lovely surprise. Be bold and write to someone you maybe don’t know that well. Who knows where it will lead?
1. Why did the author’s mum ask him to write a letter to his uncle?| A．Because he did something wrong. |
| B．Because they hadn’t spoken for years. |
| C．Because his uncle wanted to hear from them. |
| D．Because he wanted to share his joy of owning a pet. |
| A．He ended the correspondence after his uncle passed away. |
| B．He found his uncle extremely interesting and attractive. |
| C．He was not interested in keeping in contact with his uncle. |
| D．His mum kept close contact with his uncle through letters. |
| A．Comforted. |
| B．Regretful. |
| C．Astonished. |
| D．Pleased. |
| A．We should appreciate something before it’s gone. |
| B．Writing letters can be a way to make up for past mistakes. |
| C．It’s important to tell the truth and be honest in your writing. |
| D．Writing letters has the power of strengthening bonds with others. |
10 . Through interacting with people and the outdoors, a cycling holiday can boost both your physical and mental well-being. We have researched the best routes for the perfect cycling holiday here in the UK. With locations across the UK, you’ll be sure to find your next cycling destination here.
Camel Trail
The best cycling route here in the UK is the Camel Trail in North Cornwall. Stretching 27.8 km from Padstow to Wenfordbridge, this cycling route is not only a fairly flat cycle, but is also home to some breathtaking views of the coast and family-friendly camping spots. Perfect for families, the Camel Trail follows alongside sandy beaches and villages along the way, meaning there’s more to discover.
Tissington Trail
The Tissington Trail takes you from Ashbourne in the Derbyshire Dales, all the way up to Parsley Hay. Taking you through the south of the beautiful Peak District, the Tissington Trail follows an old railway line which still has the former station platforms. Filled with lots of history and nature, and only a 25-minute drive to Alton Towers for a bit of added fun, this holiday is jam-packed with plenty to do for the whole family.
Derby Canal Path and Cloud Trail
The Derby Canal Path and Cloud Trail stretches 21.4 km from Derby to the market town of Loughborough. Taking you along the picturesque countryside, and waterside sections, this cycling route has it all. Local attractions on the route include Melboume Hall and Gardens, and Melboume Animal Farm.
Marriott’s Way
The Marriott’s Way is another long distance cycle and footpath that starts in Norwich and finishes in Reepham. Perfect for cycling through Norfolk’s picturesque woodlands, the Marriott’s Way also passes through picturesque small towns and villages including Attlebridge, Whitwell, and Theme Thorpe. The Marriott’s Way cycling trail has the steepest ascent out of the four best cycling holidays, so may be the best for those who are keen riders.
If you choose to venture out on a cycling holiday this year, you’ll feel the benefit of spending time with family and friends while exploring some of the UK’s most scenic and enjoyable cycling routes. Take your pick from our best cycling holidays in the UK for your next staycation, whether you’re a novice rider or looking for a challenge.
1. What can people gain from a cycling holiday?| A．Improved cycling skills. |
| B．Better mood and stronger body. |
| C．Increased knowledge of the ocean. |
| D．Deepened understanding of green travelling. |
| A．Camel Trail |
| B．Tissington Trail |
| C．Derby Canal Path and Cloud Trail |
| D．Marriott’s Way |
| A．To discuss the benefits of cycling. |
| B．To encourage people to go cycling. |
| C．To introduce some cycling holiday tracks. |
| D．To analyze the differences among the four routes. |
