2 . You may have wondered why there are fish tanks (鱼缸) at many doctor’s and dentist’s offices. Actually these medical professionals are trying to keep their working areas less stressful (有压力的) with the help of fish tanks. Because of the soft bubbling (冒泡声) from the fish tanks, their patients are expected to feel less nervous or worried when staying there.
The sound of running water can make people feel relaxed. For this reason, places where water keeps running are often considered good choices for people to have deep thoughts and stay relaxed in mind. Even a small tabletop fountain (喷泉) can make a workspace more relaxing. Unlike loud noises, repeated natural sounds remind that everything is OK. “These slow but soft sounds are just the ones that bring us no harm,” said Orfeu Buxton, a professor at Pennsylvania State University. “It seems like they are saying, ‘Don’t worry; don’t worry; don’t worry.’”
Besides bringing a sense of peace to your indoor space, a fountain can also prevent noises from coming inside. I recently had a small indoor fountain for my workspace. I enjoy the fountain even when I’m not working at home.
If you want to have an indoor fountain too, there are plenty of wonderful ones on sale, which may cost you a lot. You can try making one yourself, using some inexpensive materials, like I did. And you will always keep it around — 1,000 doctor’s offices can’t be wrong about the relaxing effects of running water.
1. From the first paragraph, we can learn that ________.| A．bubbling from fish tanks is a little bit noise |
| B．bubbling from fish tanks makes patients less worried |
| C．doctors like to collect the fish tanks in their offices |
| D．patients feel relaxed when they see a doctor |
| A．a public library | B．a science museum |
| C．a shopping center | D．a forest river |
| A．fountains | B．noises |
| C．running water | D．repeated natural sounds |
| A．It cost the writer a lot of money. | B．It was made by the writer himself. |
| C．The writer bought it from a store | D．The writer doesn’t like it anymore. |
3 . Here is some good advice on how to be good at a language.
Pen pals. This way of learning a language is a great way to use your new language. You have to use the language a lot; at the same time, you don’t have to give your pen pals an answer at once.
Internet radio.
Language clubs. When you are ready to practice your new language, try to find a language club in your area.
Find suitable places. Put yourself in situations where you have to speak the language that you are learning.
| A．Speaking with other people can be very helpful. |
| B．Another great and easy way is to listen to your new language in real life. |
| C．So you will be more comfortable this way. |
| D．They will also give you lots of useful advice on learning a new language. |
| E．How about going to a restaurant? |
| F．Doing more exercise can be very interesting. |
| G．Learning a new language can give you much knowledge. |
4 . This summer, daytime temperatures topped 100 degrees for a full month in northwest China. Southern Europe experienced waves of 100-plus degree days. Heat waves show a serious reality: human-driven climate change is making extreme heat worse worldwide. But health-threatening heat isn’t the only result of record-breaking weather: air pollution happens when the temperatures rise according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization.
The new report, which focuses on 2022, shows the growing risk of air pollution connected to wildfires. Hotter temperatures increase the risk of large the risk of large, hot-burning fires, which can pump enormous plumes of smoke into the air. That smoke causes health problems near the fire but also for people thousands of miles downwind.
Extreme heat, also drives up the likelihood of drought, which in turn makes big dust storms more likely. Great clouds of fine dust blew off major deserts last year, particularly affecting the Arabian Peninsula region. Southern Europe also got hit by a major dust storm after a heat wave baked the deserts of northern Africa in the summer.
“That’s a very bad combination of conditions,” says Julie Nicely, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Maryland, who worked on the report. That mix is particularly dangerous for elderly people, or people with breathing sensitivities. “That is very bad for the lungs and the cardiovascular (心血管),” she says.
Air pollution levels have dropped in the past few decades in response to environmental regulations like the Clean Air Act in the United States. Ozone pollution (臭氧污染), however, remains a problem. The report authors point out that the extra heat in the atmosphere driven by climate change overpowers even the gains made by strict environmental protections. The authors suggested focusing on the importance of slowing or changing human-caused climate change as quickly as possible.
“Climate change and air quality cannot be treated separately. They go hand in hand and must be solved together to break this cycle,” WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas said in a press release.
1. Why is the extreme weather in northwest China and southern Europe mentioned in Para l?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To show the serious situation. |
| C．To warn people of the bad weather. |
| D．To compare two countries’ weather. |
| A．Air pollution is likely to be solved in the future. |
| B．Climate change and air quality are closely connected. |
| C．It’s no use slowing or changing human-caused climate change. |
| D．People’s efforts to protect the environment make no difference. |
| A．It deals with the air pollution completely. |
| B．It makes a big difference to the air problem. |
| C．It has made the problem of air pollution worse. |
| D．It is partly effective in dealing with air pollution. |
| A．A science magazine. |
| B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A research paper. |
| D．An encyclopedia. |
South African English has a long history, but there are actually eleven
6 . To nap or not to nap? Whether napping will work for you depends on a range of factors, such as lifestyle, sleep cycle length, culture, and, most importantly, the length of your snooze. If you like to nap, you are not alone. Napping is part of the culture in many countries: around 51 percent of people worldwide habitually enjoy 40 winks in the daytime.
When it comes to napping. one size definitely doesn’t fit all. If you are sleep deprived, a nap can be helpful or even essential for making it through the day. However, for those with other sleep issues, a nap may make it harder to fall asleep at night. For most of us, the timing and length of our nap will largely determine how beneficial it is to our sleep routine.
Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., most people experience an increase in sleepiness, triggered by a slight drop in core body temperature. A nap of 30 minutes or less around this time allows you to benefit from a burst of Stage I and 2 sleep, which is good for mental and physical alertness.
Napping for 30 minutes or less can reduce stress and lower the risk of cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and strokes. One study showed that napping three times a week for 30 minutes led to a 37 percent decreased risk of dying from heart disease.
A brief nap can be beneficial for those with excessive daytime sleepiness, including people suffering from sleep apnea(呼吸暂停) or narcolepsy, shift workers, and people with jet lag. Studies show that short naps can help improve or reset a disrupted circadian rhythm (昼夜节律).
Naps can interfere with insomnia(失眠) treatment, which involves restricting daytime sleep to increase the likelihood of sleeping solidly at night.
Be cautious about naps of more than 30 minutes. Waking from the deep-sleep stages results in sleep inertia, a super-dizzy state where brainwaves are slow and it takes longer to adjust to the awake state.
A recent study has found that napping for more than 60 minutes a day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 50 percent.
1. Whether a nap is needed is determined mainly by .| A．your living habit | B．your sleep-wake circle |
| C．the society you’re in | D．period of time in sleeping |
| A．A nap benefits all the people. |
| B．Not all the people fit napping. |
| C．A nap works on one with sleep problems. |
| D．A nap works for you if you’re lacking sleep. |
| A．Improper length of napping leads to sleep disorder. |
| B．A 30-minute napping results in longer time to keep awake. |
| C．Napping 60 minutes a day tends to trigger certain disease. |
| D．Napping less than 30 minutes ensures you refreshed after wake. |
| A．Napping: Harmful or Helpful? | B．A Boost for Sleeping |
| C．The Timing of a Nap | D．A New Trend of Napping |
7 . Travel is an important part of your life, and it will make a comeback soon. Here are the most powerful benefits of traveling, including health, happiness, and more!
Travel can contribute to your happiness.
Travel relieves stress and anxiety. According to a trial conducted by Austrian researchers and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, one of the great travel benefits is that it can reduce stress level and anxiety. Even just one short vacation has positive effects on your emotions.
Travel enables you to experience new things. When you travel, you are stepping outside your comfort zone, for one thing.
Travel can improve your creativity. Are you a student, artist, writer, photographer, advertising manager, or video game designer struggling with coming up with your next great idea?
| A．Travel makes you healthy. |
| B．Travel can improve brain activity. |
| C．An outing enables you to get away from daily things. |
| D．You are still experiencing new things, for another thing. |
| E．And the good effects last quite a while after you get home. |
| F．Don’t come up with new ideas on the journey to foreign countries. |
| G．No matter who you are, travel can help you become more creative. |
As I began to wade through thirteen pages of the credit-card company’s new policy, I wasn’t sure how it was going to affect me personally. As I waited to be connected to a customer service rep, I considered whether I should even write the fifth novel in my Old Cape House series. Did my readers really enjoy the mysterious historical stories I told? Should I take on more debt to buy my paperback books? I thought about all the author events, book signings, and book fairs that might be canceled because of the virus. When would normal life return?
“Hello, Ms. Struna, this is Thomas. May I have your account information?”
After repeating the information he needed, I explained my dilemma in trying to understand the new policy and asked how it would affect my future purchases.
“Please, do not worry. You will have no change.”
“Are you sure? I am an author and travel frequently. I need to have access to my card at all times for big or small purchases.” I laughed to myself, thinking I wasn’t going anywhere for a while, at least until there was a vaccine.
“Let me reassure you. There will be no change to your card, but Ms. Struna, may I ask you one more question? Are you the author of The Old Cape House?”
My jaw dropped. He was talking about my first novel of suspenseful historical fiction, The Old Cape House, published in 2013. I was stunned and I stammered, “Why, yes I am.” I was still skeptical about what he wanted from me.
Thomas kept talking. “I thought it was you. I recognized your name, and when you told me you were an author, I knew it was you.”
“Oh, my goodness.” My heart started to beat faster with delight at the connection I was making with an unknown foreign reader.
“Ms. Struna, your book changed me. It changed how I look at the world. It showed me ways to be more adventuresome and to be open to new things. Thank you so very much.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
I was stunned at the idea that I had made a difference in someone’s life.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
I hung up, ending this coincidental connection to a fan reader in a faraway place.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 . Kim Hyung-ho arrived in China from the Republic of Korea on Aug 24,1992, which happened to be the same day that the two countries officially established diplomatic relations. Kim, just 19 at the time, came to China to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a medical system with thousands of years of history and which enjoys popularity in many countries.
Kim’s passion for TCM took root in his teenage years after he had a twisted ankle treated with acupuncture. “It’s incredible that a little needle can have such magical powers. That experience inspired me to learn authentic TCM in the place from which it originated,” recalls Kim.
In 2013, he was hired as a TCM specialist by the international clinic of Qingdao Municipal Hospital. “Doctor Kim is a professional, hardworking and nice,” says Sun Jie, director of the clinic. “He also helps bridge the communication gap between our staff and Korean patients.” For those who have difficulty moving around, Kim will go to the patient’s home to offer treatment.
Apart from his daily work, Kim has also volunteered to provide free medical consultations in the countryside. He found that many rural people have been suffering from long time diseases such as high blood pressure, but are not aware of their conditions, let alone attend regular checkups. As a result, Kim led fellow volunteers to collect lists of people from different villages. The lists were handed to local authorities to keep track of the patients’ treatment. Kim also provided guidance for village doctors, which helped improve the standard of treatment in the area.
Three decades have passed since Kim set foot in China, and he’s very grateful for what he has gained in the country. “Medicine does not have boundaries. As a TCM doctor, I will continue to communicate with doctors in Korea and other countries to help it spread and flourish even further, so that more people can understand its excellence,” says Kim.
1. When did Kim become interested in TCM?| A．He learned the long history of TCM. |
| B．China and Korea had a close relationship. |
| C．He was treated with TCM when he was young. |
| D．Chinese medicine enjoyed great popularity in Korea. |
| A．Korean patients are specially treated. |
| B．Some rural patients will be tracked by volunteers. |
| C．A blind patient may get a home treatment by Kim. |
| D．High blood pressure patients will be completely cured. |
| A．Crash. | B．Develop. | C．Remain. | D．Increase. |
| A．To express patients’ demand. | B．To recommend TCM treatment. |
| C．To explain a medical phenomenon. | D．To introduce an international doctor. |
10 . Chinese space scientists have announced new discoveries made by Yutu-2, the first robot rover ever to explore the far side of the Moon, which permanently faces away from the Earth.
Commanding a rover on the Moon’s far side presents big challenges: the Earth is always out of sight, so radio commands and data have to be bounced back and forth using a special relay satellite orbiting in space beyond the Moon. The rover relies on solar power, so it has to shut down most of its operations for two weeks of every month during a long period of lunar night. Since rolling onto the Moon from its Change’s-4 lander in January 2019, Yutu-2 has been operating on the Moon for more than three years, making it the longest ever mission to explore the lunar surface.
One of the rover’s main findings is that the soil on the far side of the Moon is a lot stickier than on the near side — so it’s more likely to stick in Yutu-2’s wheels. That’s because on the far side rocks have had more continuous attacks from tiny bits of space dust that heat the rocks in the soil and make them stick together in pointed shapes.
Yutu-2’s journey through the lunar landscape is very slow — so far it has covered just over 1, 000 metres in three years. Along the way to either side of its path, it has spotted 88 small bowl-shaped craters (坑). Scientists think these are secondary impact craters, formed when bits of rocks were thrown out by a much bigger impact. A far larger one, called Zhinyu, was created when a big space rock hit the Moon.
As Yutu-2 continues to explore its surroundings, researchers are excited about what else it might discover. Sara Russell from London’s Natural History Museum told New Scientist magazine, “It’s like this whole new world to explore. We really have a lot to find out about the far side of the Moon; it’s really exciting.”
1. What can we learn about Yutu-2?| A．It is a robot rover to explore the near side of the Moon. |
| B．It is completely shut down for two weeks of every month. |
| C．It has been on the longest ever mission to explore the lunar surface. |
| D．It’s easy to control on the Moon as the Earth is always out of sight. |
| A．Materials of the wheel. | B．Rocks in pointed shapes. |
| C．Attacks from space dust. | D．Hits from big space rocks. |
| A．Rock. | B．Crater. | C．Hill | D．Path. |
| A．Chang’e-4, a Moon Lander |
| B．Chang’e-4’s Findings on the Moon |
| C．Yutu-2, the First Robot Rover on the Moon |
| D．Yutu-2’s Exploration of the Moon’s Far Side |
