1 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.

Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.

While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.

In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.

Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.

These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.

1. What is the primary focus of the new research?

A．The presence of plastic particles.	B．The use of plastic in everyday products.
C．The detection methods for microplastics.	D．The potential risks of nanoplastics to human.

2. What is the advantage of Raman microscopy?

A．Finding the source of plastic particles.	B．Helping to cure the deadly flu virus.
C．Detecting the smaller plastic particles.	D．Improving the quality of bottled water.

3. Why will the team expand their research into tap water?

A．To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution.

B．To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life.

C．To further measure the types of particles in tap water.

D．To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas.

4. What is Qian’s attitude towards his research?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Conservative.

D．Positive.

2 . Here’s an idyllic scene: a small village where the sun always shines crops always grow and your friends drop by to sweep your yard to the sound of guitar music. Animals do what they are told there is no disease and lending folks a helping hand makes you richer and wiser. Welcome to Farm Ville --- current population 69m and rising fast.

“It reminds me of my childhood,” says one player, Lia Curran, 37, a chemist from London. “Right now I’m growing wheat and poinsettia, I’ve got a small orchard and I’m keeping some chickens and some cows. I like having the animals. It’s comfortable.”

Curran’s young animals, however, are nothing more than a collection of computer-controlled cartoons. Farm Ville is an online computer game built into the social networking site Facebook and is described by its players as “addictive”. Launched last June by Zynga Game Network, Farm Ville now has more players than Twiter’s entire user base --- or more than the population of the UK. The players are largely women over the age of 35.

Jenny Glyn, 33, a London housewife, started playing in September. “I had a look at a friend’s farm and was hooked” she says. “My first motivation was to overtake her, but I did that pretty quickly. Now there’s something satisfying about growing crops.”

Farm Ville intellectually unites the worlds of social networking and gaming. Players are given a patch of ground with six fields, “cash”, a few seeds and a plough and have to build up wealth, skills and neighbors to create bigger, better, richer farms.

Inviting your online friends to play means you earn more and get free gifts; you rise rapidly through the first levels but once hooked have to work harder and harder with no final level or goal in sight. “It’s very moreish,” says Curran. She hasn’t yet paid real-world money to advance in the game, but her friends do. One buys extra virtual currency at the exchange rate of $240 (￡145) in Farm Ville for $40 (￡24) in the real world.

“I’d expanded on Farm Ville as much as I could, but I just wanted a pond and some bushes and trees around it,” says the woman, who is too embarrassed to be named. “I didn’t tell my husband I’d paid real money because he’d think I’m mad. But then he did keep me waiting in the car outside our house while he harvested his raspberries.”

Brian Dudley, chief executive at Broadway Lodge, an addiction treatment centre, warns that this sort of obsessive play can lead to an addiction as severe as gambling.

1. What does Curran do in the passage?

A．She is a player.	B．She is a farmer who grows wheat and poinsettia.
C．She is a chemist.	D．She is a housewife who raises chickens and cows.

2. By Farm Ville the writer means ________.

A．an addictive farm on which live 69 million farmers

B．a London housewife’s farm

C．an online computer game built into the social networking site

D．a farm on which people grow real crops and play as well

3. In the last but one paragraph the husband kept the woman waiting outside ________.

A．because he was angry at his wife’s being mad about the farm

B．because he himself was busy with his farm

C．in order to punish his wife for her having paid real money

D．so that his wife would wake up from her addiction to the farm

4. According to the passage which of the following is NOT true?

A．The population of the UK is less than 69 million.

B．This sort of obsessive play can cause very severe addiction.

C．Once hooked one has to make greater efforts to reach a higher level.

D．Up till now nobody has yet paid real-world money to advance in the play.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

On Sept 18,2020, the world lost one of     1     (great) pioneers of women’s rights in modern history. On that day, US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87.   

In 1960, when Ginsburg applied to be a clerk at the Supreme Court,she was turned     2     just because she was a woman. This experience inspired her later efforts     3     (fight) for women’s rights. She helped many women while working as a lawyer,     4     (win) their cases and earning them greater rights

But it was her work in the Supreme Court     5     really allowed Ginsburg to make a difference. In 1996, three years after joining the court, she wrote an opinion that ended a military school’s male-only admissions policy.   

She     6     (write) that any policy that doesn’t give women the equal chance to participate in society — simply     7     they are women — is illegal.   After this case ended, the court stared to pay greater attention to women’s rights in future    8     (decide).   

Ginsburg became a pop culture icon during her time on the court. Her image can still     9     (find) on coffee mugs and T-shirts. Her life is the subject of books, documentaries and even     10     opera. Ginsburg’s fight for equal rights for women was never-ending.   This strong belief injustice for women is one of the things that has made her so well-known and beloved.

4 . I was shocked when my socially awkward sister, who had suffered from Asperger Syndrome (阿斯伯格综合症), decided to sing in front of the school. I knew she would ________ me in some way, so I protested. However, my parents insisted that she ________ and I would have to be part of the audience. I silently hoped that something would happen to ________ me from watching her losing face.

As I waited in the hall, sweat ________ my forehead. I comforted myself that no one knew she was my sister and tried to persuade myself that it would be ________. The lights darkened and the ________ opened to reveal (使露面) my sister standing alone on stage. She seemed ________, taking a minute to stammer (结结巴巴地说) her name and class. ________ began to be heard in the audience.

I shifted nervously in my seat, afraid what was about to happen. But as my sister started to sing, I was ________. Her voice flowed effortlessly and melodiously, filling the hall with its ________. I watched in wonder, realizing I had never known she could sing so ________. I listened carefully to the lyric (歌词) she had written herself, feeling ashamed for doubting her ________. My heart gave way as I heard the heartfelt words.

     In that moment, guilt and shame flooded my heart. ________ my unwillingness to support her, she had never taken anything that I had done to her to heart. It was then that I determined to love her ________. It was as if a veil (面纱) had been ________ from my eyes, and my heart was full.1.

A．embarrass

B．impress

C．surprise

D．support

2.

A．hide

B．quit

C．escape

D．perform

3.

A．protect

B．save

C．recover

D．rescue

4.

A．picked up

B．climbed upon

C．took off

D．went up

5.

A．impressive

B．exciting

C．fine

D．challenging

6.

A．characters

B．lectures

C．curtains

D．signals

7.

A．confident

B．nervous

C．prepared

D．relaxed

8.

A．Cries

B．Crashes

C．Whispers

D．Screams

9.

A．entertained

B．disappointed

C．relieved

D．shocked

10.

A．power

B．weakness

C．silence

D．darkness

11.

A．softly

B．loudly

C．quietly

D．beautifully

12.

A．abilities

B．failures

C．talents

D．weaknesses

13.

A．Without

B．Despite

C．Beyond

D．Within

14.

A．extremely

B．equally

C．unconditionally

D．finally

15.

A．lifted

B．dropped

C．covered

D．hidden

5 . The factor that d____________ (to be a characteristic that makes something or someone different or special) this company from the competition is customer service. （根据首字母单词拼写）

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

We all know that forgiving yourself and others can bring you peace of mind. Recently, a new study published in the journal Psychology and Health    1     (find) that forgiveness may help you sleep well, too. Researchers led by Luther College psychology professor Loren Toussaint     2     (survey) nearly 1,500 American adults to rate (评估) how likely they were to forgive both themselves for their own mistakes and others for hurting them. Then, Toussaint and his team asked the participants quite a few     3     (question) over their sleep quality, life     4     (satisfy), and overall physical health. Their findings show that people who were forgiving slept much     5     (well) at night, and, in turn, were happier and healthier than     6     who went to bed in anger.       

The results led the researchers     7     (conclude) that forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness may help create a restful mental state that supports sound sleep,     8     is connected with better health. Of course, forgiving yourself or someone else isn’t always easy. According to Karen Swartz, a doctor of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, it is about more than just saying the words.

“It is an active process in which you make a decision to let go of negative feelings     9     the person deserves it or not,” Swartz explains.

So, next time you can’t sleep at night, why not give forgiveness    10     try? It’s certain that it can make you feel better the next day.

7 . Ben Francis didn’t become wealthy through a family inheritance (遗产). Instead, the CEO and co-founder of Gymshark used his earnings as a Pizza Hut delivery guy to buy a sewing machine and start his fitness apparel (服饰) company at 19.

Eleven years later, his effort paid off. Francis, 30, who has a reported net worth of $1.3 billion, joined Forbes’ billionaires list. He’s in rare company: the list’s average age is 65 years old.

Originally, Francis and co-founder Lewis Morgan launched Gymshark as a website selling fitness products. But after getting bored with his ill-fitting clothes, Francis suggested pivoting the company.

Francis and Morgan bought a sewing machine. The pair brought Gymshark to a bodybuilding exhibition in 2013, but didn’t have any money to spend on advertising. On a whim (一时兴起), they decided to give popular fitness YouTubers free products. “My heroes were on YouTube,” Francis said. “So it would be so cool if my heroes could come to be with Gymshark at this event. I didn’t really think that much about it.” Some of those influencers went on to wear the clothes on their channels, bringing Gymshark’s sales to $45,000 per day, up from just $450.

Francis quit the CEO role in 2017. “CEO was not the right role for me when I was in my early 20s,” Francis said. “That I’d started a business which had grown very quickly didn’t mean I have the full ability to be a good leader.” He spent the next four years supporting leadership roles within Gymshark---including chief product officer and chief marketing officer – to learn more about the ins and outs of the business, before returning as CEO in 2021.

That year, the company was valued at $1.45 billion. Still, the company’s billion-dollar valuation is a small percentage of the market value of competitors like Nike and Lululemon. “I really think Gymshark can be the UK’s answer to those brands,” Francis said. “But that’s not saying that the UK is where it starts and ends for us. We also want to be a truly global brand.”

1. What makes Ben Francis special on Forbes’ billionaires list?

A．His age.

B．His wealth.

C．His talent.

D．His company.

2. What does the underlined word in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Taking control of.	B．Making the best of.
C．Making changes to.	D．Attaching importance to.

3. Why did Francis and Morgan offer popular fitness YouTubers free products?

A．To win the support of popular YouTubers.

B．To advertise their products in a cheap way.

C．To build a good relationship with YouTube.

D．To get the chance to meet their heroes on YouTube.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．Gymshark: From a website to a big company

B．Gymshark: Taking the lead in fitness clothing

C．Francis: Starting the UK’s fastest-growing company

D．Francis: From a Pizza Hut delivery guy to a billionaire

8 . Some work is glamorous (光鲜的) ; some is _______ _______ _______ (在幕后), but all of them is equally valuable. (根据汉语提示完成句子)

9 . Guilt, by promoting us to think more deeply about our goodness, can urge humans to feel like _______ _______ _______ (弥补) mistakes. （根据汉语提示完成句子）

10 . On Sept 7, famous Chinese archaeologist (考古学家) Fan Jinshi, 85, was awarded by UNESCO for her contribution (贡献) to the protection of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang.

Called the “daughter of Dunhuang”, her story with the caves started 60 years ago. In 1963, Fan, then a 25-year-old Peking University graduate, had the chance to work at the Mogao Caves, a place she had wanted to explore for a long time.

“Seeing Dunhuang for the first time was breathtaking. But only when truly staying here did I realize that inside the caves is a world of divine (神圣的) beauty while outside is a land of blowing sand and yellow earth,” Fan told Gansu Daily.

Back in those days, the Mogao Caves were almost completely cut off from the world. Fan and her coworkers had to live in mud houses and drink salty water. They stayed inside the caves to do research, copy murals (壁画), and do whatever they could to protect and restore them.

In 2011, after 40 years of hard work, a report on 10 Mogao Caves compiled (编写) by Fan’s team was finally published. It was known as China’s first professional report on cave archaeology, reported Gansu Daily.

As time passed, Fan found a serious problem. The increasing number of tourists visiting Dunhuang might harm the caves, causing the murals inside to fade. A solution needed to be found to preserve (保护) Dunhuang’s heritage.

In the late 1980s, Fan stumbled upon computer technology by chance. She realized that this might preserve the Mogao Caves forever. After over 30 years of exploration, the Dunhuang Academy built a digital database to protect cultural relics (文物) there, allowing Dunhuang’s art to live forever and to step out of the caves to meet the world.

“In my whole life, I’ve only done one thing: protect and promote the world cultural heritage of the Mogao Caves,” she told People’s Daily. “My heart belongs to Dunhuang.”

1. What can we learn about Fan from the article?

A．She began her work at the Mogao Caves at 23.

B．She is a woman of great determination.

C．Her health was affected by her hard work.

D．She studied archaeology at Nanjing University.

2. What was Fan’s first impression of Dunhuang?

A．The environment was terrible.

B．It was an amazing place.

C．The working conditions were better than expected.

D．She felt a deep connection to the caves.

3. What pushed Fan to establish a digital database for the Mogao Caves?

A．Her desire to promote Chinese culture.

B．Her interest in computer technology.

C．The need to document the restoration work.

D．The increasing threat to the physical caves.

4. What does Fan think of her work in Dunhuang?

A．It has been her lifelong calling.	B．It has won her recognition.
C．It has inspired many young people.	D．It has promoted cultural exchange.