1. What is the woman going to do in a foreign country?
| A．Visit places of interest. | B．Receive education. | C．Stay and work. |
| A．The Student Union. | B．The government. | C．The tour agency. |
| A．Yesterday. | B．Today. | C．The day before yesterday. |
1. Why does the man want to talk with the woman?
| A．She has a problem at home. |
| B．She has had a quarrel with her classmate. |
| C．She doesn’t get on well with her schoolwork. |
| A．He’s the girl’s pet. | B．He’s the girl’s boyfriend. | C．He’s the girl’s neighbour. |
| A．To handle her feelings. | B．To help her to raise a cat. | C．To make up for her lost lessons. |
4 . Besides healthy soil, all plants also need water. This makes it hard to grow plants where it’s dry. But researchers in Texas may have found a way to keep plants in dry areas from dying of thirst. They have developed a soil additive. When mixed into the ground, it will take water from the air to share with plants.
Their invention is a super-moisture-absorbed gel (凝胶), or SMAG. It absorbs water from the air during the night. When the sun warms it the next day, that gel releases the water it holds into the root area of the plants.
The gel-based material “can be used as a soil enhancer (强化剂), as well as a replacement for soil in greenhouses for crop planting,” said Mr. Brown. He’s an engineer at the University of Texas-Austin. He led the team that developed the gel. Depending on the plants being grown, he said, this material could be “directly mixed with soil in certain amounts”.
The research decided to use this process to aid plants. The gel they mix with soil absorbs morning dew (露水) and holds it. The next day, the ge l will slowly release that water into the soil.
The engineers tested the soil additive to grow plants on the roof of a building at the school. During an experiment, they compared plants grown only in sandy soil with plants grown in sandy soil that had been mixed with the gel. The gel-treated soil lost about 60 percent of the water that it had started with about a month earlier. By comparison, the untreated soil lost 80 percent of its water in just one week.
Scientists believe future studies will help them understand if the gel could be used for larger, outdoor fields. If it can, the water collected by the gel-treated soil could allow crops to be grown in drier climates, where irrigation is not practical.
1. Why did the researchers develop SMAG?| A．To make soil much softer. | B．To help soil get extra water. |
| C．To protect water resources. | D．To increase agricultural output. |
| A．It can be mixed with soil. | B．It needs to be used after rain. |
| C．It should be used in the morning. | D．It can only be suitable for greenhouse crops. |
| A．By comparing plants in different types of gel-treated soil. |
| B．By comparing the gel-treated soil on roofs with that in greenhouses. |
| C．By comparing different plants with the same kind of gel-treated soil. |
| D．By comparing the water content of the gel-treated soil with that of the normal soil. |
| A．Whether SMAG can help with farming in dry areas is uncertain. |
| B．Scientists will study the side effects of SMAG. |
| C．SMAG should be tested in cold areas. |
| D．SMAG is a practical way of irrigation. |
5 . Many people think that being healthy is a difficult task that involves lots of dieting and time at the gym.
Drink more water. Adults should drink 2 — 3 liters of water per day, while children should drink 1 — 2 liters.
Think positively. A simple positive change on a situation can turn an challenge into an opportunity. Not only will you have more interest for life, but your immune (免疫的) system can also fight off colds and heart disease better!
Get a good night's rest. Getting too little sleep or poor-quality sleep not only makes you easier to get sick, but also increases the time you need to recover from illness. When you sleep well, you can wake up ready to go and be more active all day.
| A．Exercise wisely. |
| B．But that’s actually not true! |
| C．To start this difficult step, focus on gratitude. |
| D．That is in addition to other drinks like tea or coffee. |
| E．So sleeping properly is very important for your health! |
| F．Soon, you'll start to see your healthy life taking shape! |
| G．So instead of walking quickly on Wednesday, go to hit the pool. |
| A．Lemon juice. | B．Grape juice. | C．Orange juice. |
| A．On a ship. | B．On a plane. | C．In a car. |
8 . There is widespread agreement that climate change threatens our existence. But in our rush to address this challenge, our efforts mustn’t heighten another, more immediate one: the global decline of biodiversity. We are losing species at 1,000 times the natural rate. If we stay on this track, we risk losing up to half of them by the middle of the century.
Sadly, the singular focus on solving climate change has led to people ignoring biodiversity. The alarming result is that many climate efforts unintentionally quicken nature’s destruction. Take the huge need for solar farms for an example. If not located properly, they’ll impact ecosystems and habitats. In Virginia, for example, more than half of solar facilities are being built on forested land rather than areas such as rooftops or parking lots. The state’s push for solar development could lead to the deforestation of nearly 30,000 acres annually.
There is a real risk that badly planned renewable infrastructure (基础设施) will have a greater impact on biodiversity than existing fossil fuel infrastructure. Thus, we need to chart a path that doesn’t address one environmental challenge by creating others.
Indeed, with practical choices, we can do the opposite, using nature to address climate change. Consider carbon removal. Research shows between 2001 and 2019, forests around the world seized more than twice the amount of carbon dioxide that they emitted (排放) — absorbing more than the combined annual emissions of the US and UK. Nature is also critical in setting the adaptation necessary to prepare for increasingly severe weather shocks, such as the role of mangroves (a kind of tree) in absorbing floods.
Governments must think differently, employing better infrastructure planning at all levels. A report from The Nature Conservancy shows careful siting can reduce the effects of the clean energy infrastructure by 70%compared with siting as usual practices. For instance, solar farms can be put on already degraded land.
It would be a tragic irony if, in our efforts to tackle climate change, we end upbringing a big and immediate crisis in the natural world.
1. What is the effect of building solar farms on forested land in Virginia?| A．It damages the forest. | B．It boosts local economy. |
| C．It reduces human’s living space. | D．It protects the environment. |
| A．Increasing funds for clean energy. | B．Using technology to remove carbon. |
| C．Locating clean energy projects carefully. | D．Prioritizing renewable energy totally. |
| A．climate change will contribute to more severe issues |
| B．focus on climate change makes people ignore land use |
| C．efforts to solve climate change speed up biodiversity loss |
| D．the development of clean energy quickens climate change |
| A．Pessimistic and critical. | B．Factual and concerned. |
| C．Subjective and dismissive. | D．Humorous and optimistic. |
9 . I once had a strange relationship with money. I always made more money than most people of my age did. But it still stressed me out, and I felt like I never had enough. After coming across The School of Betty, a platform that enables women to create relationships with their money, I found myself inspired to do a no-spend month challenge. The result? I saved more than $1,000. It was like finding money in my winter coat pocket after a long summer.
The most eye-opening thing a no-spend challenge can do for you is shedding light on the emotions and the behaviors you have around your money that have become a habit. Most individuals don’t realize they are spending out of habit and based on their emotions. Figuring out the causes and knowing I was able to save a good sum of money in only 30 days, I set out to do a longer challenge — three months.
As for the first challenge, I was only allowed to buy essentials, which meant my normal bills — lighting, phone, car insurance, gas, oil and groceries. But in my 90-day challenge, I further removed all of the extras — no new clothes, no new shoes, and no lunches at restaurants. I allowed myself one night out with friends per month — to avoid going crazy — but I stuck to a budget. This also allowed me to see what type of experience was worth my money and what type was wasting my money.
90 days later, my jaw hit the floor when I totaled my savings: I was almost $4,000 richer. The rewards were more than financial: I was able to distinguish between my needs and my wants. The process enabled me to spot purchases driven by emotions. Even better, I shifted the way I valued money: The money I spent socializing with friends felt far more valuable than the pleasure of purchasing, say, two new sweaters.
1. How did the author feel after the first no-spend challenge?| A．Stressed and regretful. | B．Surprised and wonderful. |
| C．Tired but content. | D．Awful but encouraged. |
| A．Because of their unintentional habits. | B．Because of their social communication. |
| C．Because of their heavy pressure of work. | D．Because of their basic needs. |
| A．She hung around with friends weekly. | B．She saw essentials as a waste of money. |
| C．She enjoyed her friends’ company. | D．She bought nothing in ninety days. |
| A．To share personal experiences. | B．To advertise a platform. |
| C．To support an argument. | D．To advocate healthy lifestyles. |
10 . Going through social media can quickly convince you that everyone’s life is more interesting than yours. During a particularly adventurous week on Instagram some months ago, I saw waterskiing in Maui, and swimming with wild pigs in the Bahamas. Wild pigs! I started googling flights to new places, imagining adventures. Then I ordered food from the place I eat at every week and … felt bad about not trying somewhere new.
Recent research about repeat and novel experiences suggests that we ought to reconsider those negative feelings associated with repetition. Ed O’Brien, a professor at the University of Chicago, launched a series of studies on this topic, “There’s a general belief that if you want to seem like an interesting, cultured person, the best thing you can do is to showcase that you’re open to new experiences,” he says. “That may be true, but I think we take for granted the value of really digging deep into one field.”
To test this hypothesis (假设), O’Brien and his team exposed all participants to the same stimulus (刺激), including museum visits, movies, and video games. Next, some people were asked to imagine repeating the experience, while others actually did repeat what they had done. The researchers found that on the whole, participants said that repeating experiences was often far more enjoyable than they had predicted.
There is joy in repetition partly because every human mind wanders. Consequently, we miss a good part of every experience. Repeating things can really be seen as another opportunity to actually experience something fully. O’Brien’s studies show that people are too quick to assume that they’ve seen all the layers even in those cases where they haven’t. It’s safe to assume there are more explorable layers in any experience. When we’re noticing new things in any experience, our brain becomes engaged. All we need to do is approach whatever task is at hand by searching for the things that we didn’t see in it the first time around.
1. Why does the author mention his experiences in Paragraph. 1?| A．To introduce the bad feelings linked to repetition. |
| B．To show novel experiences are more interesting. |
| C．To tell us a common belief about social media. |
| D．To present to us his new imagined adventures. |
| A．People were open to new experiences. |
| B．Imagination was exciting on the whole. |
| C．Repeating experiences made one bored. |
| D．Digging deep into one field was enjoyable. |
| A．By searching for the ignored elements. |
| B．By assuming we didn’t see all at first. |
| C．By approaching whatever task is at hand. |
| D．By keeping focused on every experience. |
| A．The joy of social media adventures. | B．The value of repetition in experiences. |
| C．The importance of trying new things. | D．The benefits of travel and exploration. |
