1 . For people who are interested in sound, the field of sound technology is definitely making noise. In the past, sound engineers worked in the back rooms of recording studios, but many of today’s sound professionals are sharing their knowledge and experience with professionals in other fields to create new products based on the phenomenon we call sound.
Sound can be used as a weapon. Imagine that a police officer is chasing a thief. The thief tries to escape. And the officer can’t let him get away. he pulls out a special device points it at the suspect, and switches it on. The thief drops to the ground. This new weapon is called a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD, 远程定向声波发射器). It produces a deafening sound so painful that it temporarily disables a person. The noise from the LRAD is directed like a ray of light and travels only into the ears of that person, but it is not deadly.
For those who hunger for some peace and quiet, sound can now create silence. Let’s say you are at the airport, and the little boy on the seat next to you is humming（哼唱）a short commercial song. He hums it over and over again, and you are about to go crazy. Thanks to the Silence Machine a British invention, you can get rid of the sound without upsetting the boy or his parents. One may wonder how the Silence Machine works. Well, it functions by analyzing the waves of the incoming sound and creating a second set of outgoing waves. The two sets of waves cancel each other out. Simply turn the machine on, point it at the target, and your peace and quiet comes back.
Directed sound is a new technology that allows companies to use sound in much the same way spotlights（聚光灯） are used in the theater. A spotlight lights up only one section of a stage; similarly, a “spotsound” creates a circle of sound in one targeted area. This can be useful for businesses such as restaurants and stores because it offers a new way to attract customers. Restaurants can offer a choice of music along with the various food choices on the menu, allowing customers more control over the atmosphere in which they are dining. Directed sound is also beginning to appear in shopping centers and even at homes.
1. What could be inferred from Paragraph 2 about the effect of the LRAD?| A．It causes temporary hearing loss | B．It slows down a running man |
| C．It makes it easy to identify a suspect | D．It keeps the suspect from hurting others |
| A．silence the people around you | B．remove the sound of commercials |
| C．block the incoming sound waves | D．stop unwanted sound from affecting you |
| A．They travel in circles | B．They clear the atmosphere. |
| C．They can be transformed into energy | D．They can be directed onto a specific area |
| A．creative designs of restaurant menus | B．ideal sound effects on the theater stage |
| C．different choices of music for businesses | D．strict control over any suspicious customer |
2 . My first year living in Los Angeles, I was a birthday-party clown. I struggled a lot with my identity because, though I viewed myself as a filmmaker, everyone in my life viewed me as this ridiculous day job.
Once I was told, “Tomorrow you’re going to be Batman.” Now, keep in mind that at the time I had a giant mustache. I know a clown with a mustache is a huge red flag for parents. But I hadn’t wanted to alter my physical appearance for that job, because that would have been me subconsciously admitting I was more of a clown than an artist.
The next day, I went to the party in a huge public park, and I left my car parked far enough away so that the kids couldn’t see Batman pulling up in a PT Cruiser. Walking to the party, I started to regret my choice not to shave. “Gosh, this party is not going to go well.” Sure enough, once I got close enough for them to actually start making out the features of my face, the entire party broke out in laughter. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to turn around and run back to my Batmobile. But then the laughter kind of changed into cheering and applause. Feeling kind of warm and fuzzy inside, I wondered, “Is this what encouragement and support feel like? It’s so new.”
Then I decided to make an entrance for these kids. I was still about 20 yards away from the party when I started running. My cape was billowing in the wind, and mustache or not, in that moment, I was Batman. I ran into the party, and the kids were all high-fiving me. The dad was saying, “I told you, son. I told you Batman has a mustache.” Then he took me over to this huge birthday cake with a frosting Batman drawn on it, and the Batman has a mustache. I just stared at it in disbelief and learnt that instead of just admitting that the cake was messed up, the parents said, “Batman has a mustache. He just shaves it for his movies.”
That year, I struggled a lot with my identity; was I a filmmaker, or was I a clown? But that day, at least, there was no doubt in my mind what I was. I may not have been the hero that they ordered, and I certainly was not the hero they expected. But that day, I was the hero that they needed.
1. Why did “I” keep my mustache?| A．I struggled a lot for being a filmmaker. |
| B．I wanted to be a Batman in a birthday party. |
| C．I knew that a clown should wear a mustache. |
| D．I hadn’t wanted to change my appearance for the job. |
| A．I ran fast. | B．I high-fived. |
| C．I drove the car. | D．I walked slowly. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Astonished. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Ashamed. |
3 . How to Improve Your English
Learning English is a continuous process. For tips on how to improve your English, read on.
Read English newspapers, books, and magazines. Reading is an active process that requires your brain to work. When learning a language, much is achieved by speaking, listening and writing.
Read the book version of a movie that you have already seen.
Teach English to children or friends.
Use English every day. Whatever you are doing, from washing the dishes or taking out the garbage to going to work or to the gym, use English. Take out those new words that you learned and use them. Bring out those new idioms you came across and use them.
As you try to improve your English day by day, you will surely see improvements that are going to “make your day”.
| A．Open your mouth. |
| B．Keep a news diary. |
| C．But reading is also a great help. |
| D．Listening to songs can help you improve your English. |
| E．The best way to improve something is by teaching it to others. |
| F．If the new knowledge stays inside your head and in your notebooks, it won’t come to life. |
| G．If you are not a serious book reader, reading a story that you are already familiar with will help you move along page by page. |
4 . In the West, people are taught to wear masks only when they get sick. Masks are seen as a tool to protect sick people and prevent the disease from spreading, so healthy people don’t need to wear them. Therefore, during the novel coronavirus outbreak, overseas Chinese students said that they would be “stared at like a virus spreader” if they go out with a mask. According to a survey done by Global Times among some European and American people, wearing a mask in public can make them feel “worried”, “shy”, and “afraid of being looked at differently.”
But as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow around the world, many people in the West are changing their attitudes. In the US, for example, the need for masks is very high now. The US surgeon general (卫生局局长) has been asking people to avoid hoarding too many masks, as they are more needed in hospitals than by the general public.
However, in Asian countries like China and Japan, there has been a long tradition of mask-wearing. In China, for example, when doctor Wu Liande invented the modern medical mask during the pneumonic plague (肺鼠疫) in 1910, the mask became a symbol of China’s position as a modern, scientific nation, according to Scottish medical anthropologist (人类学家) Christos Lynteris. The 2003 SARS epidemic led to the wide use of masks as a form of anti-viral (抗病毒的) protection in China and elsewhere in East Asia.
In Japan, wearing masks has long been seen as a manner to reassure (使安心) others when one catches a cold or flu. Some Japanese also turn masks into fashion accessories (配饰), with different colors and patterns to match their clothes. Wearing masks is also a way to “hide” for young women when they don’t have their makeup (化妆) on.
In more collectivist (集体主义的) cultures in Asia, wearing masks might also be a symbol of solidarity (团结) during the outbreak, according to Lynteris. People wear masks “to show that they want to stick together” in the face of danger, Lynteris wrote.
1. Why don’t healthy people in the West wear masks?| A．They don’t think masks can prevent disease. |
| B．Only medical workers need to wear masks. |
| C．They think masks are for sick people to wear. |
| D．Wearing a mask looks funny. |
| A．wearing | B．making | C．throwing | D．keeping |
| A．the outbreak of SARS in 2003 |
| B．the pneumonic plague in 1910 |
| C．Christos Lynteris wore one publicly |
| D．the invention of the modern medical mask |
| A．proving the importance of wearing masks during an epidemic |
| B．showing opinions about masks between different countries |
| C．explaining why Westerners don’t wear masks |
| D．introducing the history of wearing masks |
1. 电影的基本信息
2. 电影情节简介
3. 你的推荐理由
注意：
1. 词数不少于50；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
6 . Communicating effectively means more than knowing what to say and when to say it. Communication involves the subtle signals your body language sends to those who are watching. Here are some common body actions and the impressions they create:
● Fiddling (好动) — Playing with your watch or a pen looks like you’re bored or impatient.
● Clock watching — It looks like you’re to move on to something else.
● Tapping — Tapping your feet or fingers suggests you are impatient or nervous.
● Staring — An unblinking (不眨眼的) stare conveys threatening or violent behaviour.
● Legs crossed or body hunched (弓背，耸肩) — Closing up your body profile — becoming smaller — looks like you lack confidence.
● Arms crossed — If you keep your arms folded during communication, you appear to be defending yourself against the others.
● Touching your face — When you have your hand in front of your mouth, you appear very shy.
● Rubbing your nose, looking away — People who are lying often rub their nose or look away when speaking.
● No eye contact — If you won’t look the other speaker in the eye, you seem to have low interest or a lack of confidence. (Don’t forget staring above.)
How you communicate with your body language is just as important as what you say. Watch your body language and control the unconscious messages you might be sending.
1. According to the passage, effective communication includes all of the following EXCEPT _____.| A．knowing what to say |
| B．sending unconscious messages to other people |
| C．saying the right thing at the right time |
| D．getting information from the other speaker’s body language |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．cross your legs or hunch your body |
| B．avoid direct eye contact |
| C．look the other speaker in the eye |
| D．keep touching your face |
| A．How to make a good impression on others |
| B．Can you read body language? |
| C．Control your body language for effective communication |
| D．How to send effective information through body language |
7 . I remember clearly the last time I cried. I was twelve years old, in the seventh grade, and I had tried out for the junior high school basketball team. I walked into the gym. There was a piece of paper on the wall.
It was a cut list. The boys whose names were on the list were welcome to keep on practicing. The boys whose names were not on the list had been cut. Their presence was no longer desired.
I had not known the cut was coming that day. I stood and stared at the list. The list had not been made with a great deal of consideration. The names of the best players were at the top, and the other members of the team were listed in what appeared to be a descending (下降的) order of basketball skills. I kept looking at the bottom of the list, hoping that my name would appear if I looked hard enough.
I held myself together as I walked out, bat when I got home I began to cry. For the first time in my life, I had been told officially that I wasn't good enough. Sports meant everything to boys of that age. If you were on the team, it put you in the desirable group. If you were not, you might as well not be alive.
All these years later, I remember it as if 1 were still standing right there in the gym. I don't know how the mind works in matters like this. I don't know what went on in my head following that day of cut. But I know that my determination has been so strong ever since then. I have known that for all my life since that day. I have done more work than I had to be doing and pat in more hours than I had to be spending, I don't know if all of that came from a determination never to allow myself to be cut again—never to allow someone to tell me that I'm not good enough again—but I know it is there. And clearly it's there in a lot of other successful men too.
1. From the text we learn that the cut list had names of pupils __________.| A．who were cut out | B．who were still on the team |
| C．who were the old players | D．who were not good enough |
| A．It hurt his pride deeply. | B．It was open to the public. |
| C．It listed his name at the bottom. | D．It forced him to change the team. |
| A．has made friends with many other men |
| B．has never learned the truth of the cut |
| C．has become quite successful in life |
| D．has learned to play basketball very well |
1. 养成健康的生活习惯（外出戴口罩，勤洗手）
2. 经常锻炼身体
3. 保持积极乐观的态度
注意：1.词数不少于50；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
提示词：卫生hygiene
Dear Jim,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
9 . Curiosity is what drives us to keep learning, keep trying, keep pushing forward. But how does one generate (产生) curiosity, in oneself or others? George Loewenstein, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, offered an answer in the classic1994 paper, “The Psychology of Curiosity.”
Curiosity arises, Loewenstein wrote, “when attention becomes focused on a gap in one's knowledge. Such information gaps produce the feeling of deprivation (匮乏) labeled curiosity. The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce the feeling of deprivation.” Loewenstein's theory helps explain why curiosity is such a force: it's not only a mental state but also an emotion, a powerful feeling that drives us forward.
Scientist Daniel Willingham notes that teachers are often “so eager to get to the answer that we do not devote enough time to developing the question.” Yet it's the question that stimulates (刺激) curiosity; being told an answer stops curiosity before it can even get going.
In his 1994 paper, George Loewenstein noted that curiosity requires some basic knowledge. We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about. But as soon as we know even a little bit, our curiosity is aroused and we want to learn more. In fact, research shows that curiosity increases with knowledge: the more we know, the more we want to know. To get this process started, Loewenstein suggests, take steps with some interesting but incomplete information.
Language teachers have long used communication in exercises that open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it. For example, one student might be given a series of pictures for the beginning of the story, while the student's partner is given a series of pictures showing how that same story ends. Only by speaking with each other (in the foreign language they are learning, of course) can the students fill in each others' information gaps.
1. When one notices a gap in his knowledge, he .| A．desires to fill it |
| B．tends to be afraid |
| C．might get tired and sad |
| D．will become focused on his learning |
| A．Answers are more important than questions. |
| B．Teachers should be eager to get to the answer. |
| C．Teachers know how to stimulate students’ curiosity. |
| D．Teachers are partly to blame for students’ hating school. |
| A．have read a lot of books | B．know little about something |
| C．have some related information | D．are given incomplete information |
| A．Why students hate school. |
| B．Why curiosity is important. |
| C．How to stimulate curiosity. |
| D．What makes people hungry for knowledge. |
10 . Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there, lost and lonely in a strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can(垃圾桶) that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.
1. What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?| A．Go shopping | B．Find a house |
| C．Join his family | D．Take a vacation |
| A．a friend of his family | B．a Sydney policeman |
| C．a letter in his papers | D．a stranger in Sydney |
| A．Showed | B．Sent out |
| C．Delivered | D．Gave back |
| A．From India to Australia. | B．Living in a New Country |
| C．Turning Trash to Treasure. | D．In Search of New Friends. |
