1 . In late June, the US government agreed to allow two companies Upside Foods and Good Mo. to sell chicken meat that has been grown in a lab. That makes the US the second country to approve (批准) lab-grown chicken.
Unlike normal chicken meat, lab-grown meat isn’t created by raising and killing chickens. Instead, it’s a meat product developed from animal cells (细胞) that are grown in a lab.
The first cells come from live animals. Scientists have known for a long time how to keep living cells alive and grow them in a lab. In this case, they choose cells that can grow quickly and will have good taste. The cells are grown inside a “cultivation (培植) room”, where they’re fed with everything they need to grow. In a few weeks, the cells grow into sheets of meat. The companies then form this meat into more familiar shapes that can be cooked and sold
The lab-grown meat is better for the environment than meat from animals. Raising animals for food uses plenty of land and water. It also creates a lot of pollution. Lab-grown meat can also help out in other ways. For one thing, raising animals for food is very hard on animals. They are often kept in small spaces, and are treated badly.
Since lab-grown meat is made from animal cells, it is very hard to tell it apart from actual meat. It looks, smells, and tastes like chicken. However, many people aren’t too interested in lab-grown meat. Lots of people believe that it just sounds strange.
Right now, the lab-grown meat is far more expensive than meat from animals. Now that the companies have been approved, they have the huge challenge of figuring out how to make much more meat far more cheaply. The two companies say the lab-grown meat will mainly be served in high-end restaurants. It will probably be a long time before you’ll be able to buy lab-grown chicken in stores
1. What makes the development of lab-grown meat possible?| A．Scientists can grow and feed living cells in a lab. | B．Customers prefer meat grown from animal cells. |
| C．Researchers provide better food for animals. | D．Animals are much easier to be raised indoors. |
| A．It’s helpful to cut costs. | B．It creates lots of pollution. |
| C．It causes animals to suffer. | D．It’s environment-friendly. |
| A．They fail to collect enough animal cells. | B．It’s difficult to produce delicious meat. |
| C．Customers dislike the lab-grown meat. | D．It takes a long time to get final approval. |
| A．Actual Meat Still Remains People’s First Choice | B．Scientists Manage to Turn Cells into Tasty Meat |
| C．The US Approved Meat Grown from Animal Cells | D． Lab-grown Chicken Will be on the Market Soon |
2 . In January, Rio Verde Foothills, an Arizona desert community, found itself in a bad situation: The water supply was cut off.
The community is made up of about 2,000 homes. For years, many in the community have depended on water trucked in from the nearby city of Scottsdale. which gets its water from the Colorado River. But the river is drying up Scottsdale says it has to save water for its own. Now people in Rio Verde Foothills must find a solution.
Some experts say the solution is to bring water from outside of the state. One idea is to build a desalination (海水淡化) plant on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. The plant would take away salt from the water and supply that water to Arizona through a 200-mile pipeline (管道). Supporters say this could provide fresh water for about ten years.
Environmentalists say the desalination project would harm the planet in several ways. Some of the salt taken out of the Sea of Cortez might end up back in the ocean, harming wildlife. The pipeline would be harmful to land where people and animals live. And the desalination process uses lots of power. This would create greenhouse gases, which are causing the conditions that have led to Arizona’s water problems.
Margaret Wilder, a professor at the. University of Arizona, says the government should focus on cutting water demand (需求) rather than increasing supply. That would mean taking water-saving measures and controlling how many homes are built in the desert. “We need to start asking questions when people present us with unproblematic and carefree solutions to the water problem,’ says Wilder.
People in Tucson, Arizona, have found a solution to the city’s water shortage: rainwater Thousands of households are collecting it and using it for cooking, for drinking, and in their gardens.
1. Why did Scottsdale cut off the water supply to Rio Verde Foothills?| A．The locals wasted plenty of fresh water | B．Mexico’s, Sea of Cortez has been, polluted |
| C．The water level in Colorado River has fallen. | D．More and more people move to the community. |
| A．It could improve people’s well-being. | B．It won’t solve the water shortage. |
| C．It can’t meet the community’s needs. | D．It might be bad for the environment |
| A．Increasing the water supply. | B．Taking action to save water. |
| C．Making the most of rainwater. | D．Planting trees, on the river bank |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A guidebook. | C．A diary. | D．A novel. |
3 . Ehrman Crest Primary School in Pittsburgh celebrated its opening in August. Three months later, the school, was put on the annual list of best inventions by a local newspaper.
The honor focused on Ehrman Orest’s creative design. There are large maps on the walls. Some classrooms connect to the outdoors. There’s also a rooftop garden. “We didn’t set out to be a best invention,” said Tracy Vitale, a teacher in the school. “We set out simply to replace an 84-year-old building.”
Kids played a key role in creating Ehrman Crest. After adults made decisions about basics, the builders met with students. “We really push hard on, ‘What do you expect a new school to be?’ and ‘What kind of environment would you love to learn in?’” explained Michael Corb, who is with the builder CannonDesign. “We want students’ ideas on how the school should look and feel.”
CannonDesign worked with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh on the project Anne Fullenkamp, a director at the museum, said the design process started with kids expressing their views. “We try to pool the students’ ideas,” she said. “The kids were given plenty of materials, such as photos and different colored cards. They picked these things and created their own storyboards. Wood was important to them, because it felt natural and was comforting. And they preferred calming colors, such as blues and greens.”
The result is a school with all the excitement of a children’s museum. There are traditional classrooms, but there are also places for exploration. “It’s such a proud feeling to walk into our school,” teacher Ryan Bonicky said. “The kids are just excited about learning.”
Ehrman Crest hopes that the physical space will have a positive influence on student achievement. “We built our dream school,” said Tracy Vitale. “I think the lessons learned here are ‘Be creative as adults’ and ‘Listen to children’”
1. Why was the school reported by the local newspaper| A．It saw a fast change recently. | B．It was built by the parents. |
| C．It had trained best students. | D．It was designed creatively. |
| A．Influence. | B．Collect. | C．Review. | D．Correct. |
| A．Satisfying. | B．Outdated. | C．Costly. | D．Lifeless. |
| A．Students should be praised at times. | B．Children can play a very creative role. |
| C．Teachers’ work is to develop students’ mind. | D．A classroom is where we realize our dreams |
When my daughter. Rachel was 6 years old, we went to the local shelter, looking for a perfect cat. We liked all the cats we saw there, but we especially loved one that was black with a small white tip to her tail, like a bright star in the night sky. We brought her home and called her Starry.
Starry was lovely. At night when we watched TV, she would come into Rachel’s lap and comfortably stay there. Starry always got her face close to Rachel’s, ending her love with a gentle touch on Rachel’s nose. Sometimes I felt so jealous (忌妒的) of their love. Although I was the one who tank care of the cat, feeding and cleaning it, Starry was clearly Rachel’s cat. Finally, I came to love watching their close relationship
My little girl grew up and went to senior high school. Starry and Rachel were still close, though Rachel spent less and less time at home. starry spent most of her day sitting on the sideboard in the dining room, looking out of the window into the backyard. I loved seeing her as I passed by her, for her shiny black coat almost sparkled (闪烁) in the sunlight and the white tip of her tail looked bright against the shining black of her body.
One Sunday morning, early in November, Starry got out of, the room before we could stop her. When Rachel came home from school, she went into the room with a worried expression. “Where’s Starry?” she asked. When we told her we didn’t know, she led us outside with her. There was a black cat lying on the street.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
It was Starry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Days without Starry went by, but one Christmas recalled us of Starry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a hot day. The sun scorched (炙烤) down and everywhere you looked, you could see the heat waves blowing above the sand. John rolled over, realizing that half of his body was well and truly burnt. He had not meant to sleep in the sun but the heat and late nights studying for his examinations made him miserable. Stretching, he got to his feet, picked up his surfboard and looked around. The beach, which had earlier been crowded in the sun, was now comparatively empty. Seagulls flew down to clean up the food of people’s picnic lunches.
The ice-cream van had gone, and so were the lifeguards who were doing first aid on the beach. John looked up to where the sun was and estimated it was about five o’clock. Time to head home. It was “Mum’s Kitchen Rule” that had him moving homewards. If he did not get home in time for dinner, he would go hungry. Wandering along the water’s edge, he happened to glance out to sea. What made him look up at that particular moment, he never knew, but it was the right time for the swimmer he spotted. His hand was up, signaling distress (险情) and he was calling out something.
Quickly John glanced around the beach — no one else was close enough to help the man, and crucially, no one had noticed. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he shouted “Help” to get the attention of other people on the beach. Someone waved back to him and John pointed to the swimmer. “Get help,” he shouted. Then without hesitation, he jumped into the sea with his surfboard. John was a strong swimmer and had a good skill for distance swimming. His coach had tried hard to persuade him to go into competitions but he was not interested.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Now he was swimming for more than enjoyment or medals.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Fortunately, the sea was not rough and there was no wave.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.说明写信事由；
2.介绍文化馆特色。
注意：1.写作词数应为80个左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Mr. Smith,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
7 . Learning Chinese could be one of the most important decisions you ever make. Chinese is becoming the language to learn in the 21st century. With the world’s largest population and a rapidly growing middle class, China stands to become the engine of the world’s economy in the coming years. This will make learning Chinese very important for people in many industries, or for those of us who wish to visit China or learn from its culture and history.
There is an ongoing effort to modernize the writing system and standardize the language. An increasing number of people learning Chinese are learning the Mandarin, so unless you absolutely need to learn another dialect (such as Cantonese), be sure you are studying Mandarin.
For native English speakers Chinese is one of the most difficult and most different languages to learn. The vocabulary is wholly unfamiliar and unlike anything we know. In addition, in the Chinese tone system, words are spoken in rising or falling tones, which help to distinguish between them. Furthermore, there is the Chinese writing system — a collection of thousands of individual ideograms (表意文字), or symbols, which represent a word or an idea. These ideograms have no phonetic value — that is to say, we can’t tell how the word is pronounced by how it is written. There is a method to present written Chinese in a phonetic script called pinyin. If you are learning Chinese, you’ll be working with this pinyin system, but the beauty of the traditional writing system shouldn’t be passed up. All these factors make learning Chinese difficult for us. Yet, for a determined learner, there’s always a way to overcome it.
1. Learning Chinese is becoming more and more important, because ________ .| A．Chinese engines are very welcome |
| B．China has the world’s largest population |
| C．there are more and more rich people in China |
| D．China has become important to the world economy |
| A．the author thinks Chinese is as difficult as English |
| B．the author is interested in the Chinese language and its culture |
| C．foreign languages can play a great role in industrial development |
| D．as long as the pinyin system is learned well, one can learn Chinese well |
| A．the difficulties of learning Chinese | B．the advantages of learning Chinese |
| C．the Chinese tone system | D．the Chinese writing system |
| A．The sources of Chinese characters. | B．The importance of learning Chinese. |
| C．The advice on how to learn Chinese. | D．The difficulties of learning other languages. |
8 . Walking might seem simple. “But it’s not,” explains Peggy Cawthon, a professor at Harvard Medical School. “It’s an amazingly complex behavior when we try to understand how to improve our lives as we age.”
Don’t stop exercising
Cawthon agrees that the worst thing a person can do is to stop exercising. “You’ll feel the effects almost immediately,” says Cawthon. Sitting for hours leaves her uncomfortable, and it’s the days when she types that her arthritis (关节炎) doesn’t cause much pain.
Train yourself to walk with skill
To truly improve your walking, you need to think like an athlete. Imagine you want to play tennis, but you have a bad backhand. Playing lots of tennis won’t fix the problem, Cawthon says.
Give your brain a boost (激励)
So when should we face the music about our mobility? There is no final answer for when walking problems begin to come up. “You should be as active as you can at any age,” Cawthon says, noting that people who are healthy in their 20s and 30s are best equipped to deal with future age-related challenges. “The best time to start is now. Next best is tomorrow,” she says.
| A．Start planning now |
| B．Be in pretty good shape |
| C．You need to improve your skill |
| D．So what steps should we take to do it right |
| E．How can you sweat your way to good health |
| F．It is a helpful reminder that our bodies need action |
| G．Basically, the body part controlling everything is your brain |
9 . 2 Days Xi’an-Luoyang Tour by Bullet Train
Tour Overview
Xi’an and Luoyang are two of the four most famous ancient capital cities in China. Taking a bullet train from Xi’an, one will arrive in Luoyang in about 2.5 hours.
Day 1: Xi’an-Luoyang by Bullet Train
AM: At around 7:00, a local driver will pick you up from the hotel. Then you’ll transfer to North Xi’an Railway Station for the bullet train to Luoyang. Upon your arrival in Luoyang, you’ll meet a local guide holding a name board.
The guide will lead you to visit the Longmen Grottoes, which is a treasure house of ancient stone-carving artworks. There are over 100 thousand stone statues along the two banks of the Yi River.
PM: After lunch. you will pay a visit to the Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty is the last slavery dynasty in Chinese history. The last stop is Luoyang Museum which is a historical museum of China and houses over 1,700 cultural and historical relics in 5 showrooms.
Accommodation: Hotel booked by your own
Day 2: Luoyang-Xi’an by Bullet Train
AM: After breakfast on your own, please meet your driver and guide in the hotel at 9:00 and then drive for about 1 hour 20 minutes to Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Martial Arts. Here you will see the Kungfu show performed by Shaolin monks.
PM: Finish the sightseeing, you will take the bullet train back to Xi’ an. Your 2 days Xi’ an-Luoyang tour ends here.
Tour Price Per Person
Travelers | 1 Person | 2 Person | 3 Person | 4 Person | 5 Person |
Tour Price | $512 | $317 | $255 | $223 | $220 |
Travelers | 6 Person | 7 Person | 8 Person | 9 Person | 10+ Person |
Tour Price | $205 | $192 | $185 | $178 | Contact us |
| A．Xi’an. | B．Luoyang. | C．Beijing. | D．Shanghai. |
| A．Shaolin Temple. | B．Luoyang Museum. | C．Longmen Grottoes. | D．Yi River. |
| A．$317. | B．$510. | C．$512. | D．$634. |
