My mother had never used a mobile phone until she
6 . “This world is so unfair!” my daughter shouted as soon as she entered the door. It turned out that she was caught talking with others while having a math class. And finally she was punished by the teacher. “There were other students talking in class, but the teacher only punished me,” she said angrily.
I asked her, “Should you be punished for speaking when your teacher is in class?” She nodded but also defended, “It is unfair for me because the teacher didn’t punish the other students who spoke!” “Let’s just talk about you. Was the teacher wrong to punish you?” I asked again. She lowered her head and said, “No.”
“That’s fair!” I said. “You know what the price of speaking in class is. You did it and got the punishment you deserved (应得). The teacher didn’t punish others because she could choose to forgive (原谅). From your point of view, it seems unfair, but for those students she has forgiven, there’s no unfairness. It depends on from which angle (角度) you look at the thing.”
People are often like this. When they look at themselves, they are very clear about what they are doing, knowing what their prizes and punishments should be, but they think differently after looking at others. Because comparison with others makes people confused and even becomes a stumbling block (绊脚石) in their life. The most important thing is to understand fairness in a deeper way, not from your point of view only!
1. Whom was the girl punished by that day?| A．Her mother. | B．Her father. |
| C．Her classmates. | D．Her math teacher. |
| A．Because she argued with her teacher. |
| B．Because her mother disagreed with her. |
| C．Because she had a fight with a classmate. |
| D．Because she was the only one to be punished. |
| A．建议 | B．辩解 | C．盼望 | D．承诺 |
| A．Fair. | B．Wise. | C．Unfair. | D．Common. |
| A．We should pay less attention to unfairness. |
| B．It’s good to compare ourselves with others. |
| C．We should understand fairness in a deeper way. |
| D．We should always be clear about what we are doing. |
| |||||
| 69% of the travelers try to put down their smartphones on vacation. | 1/3 of Americans always spend their time on the phone on holiday. | 16% of UK travelers always check their phones on vacation. | Most important objects USA: Mobile phone AUS: Camera UK: Sunscreen | ||
Holidays booking (预订) | |||||
| 3/4 of the travelers prefer to book trips online. | 84% of Americans say they are most likely to book online. | 3% of Australians book travel by phone. | |||
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. What do one third of Americans always do during trips?
| A．They always try to put down their phones. |
| B．They always use a lot of sunscreens. |
| C．They always take cameras with them. |
| D．They always spend time on the phone. |
| A．two | B．three | C．four | D．five |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
①From social media users.
②From other travelers’ reviews.
③From family and friends.
④From travel companies.
⑤From travel guides.
| A．①④ | B．②⑤ | C．②③ | D．④⑤ |
| A．The text is written to change travelers’ habits. |
| B．UK travelers use mobile apps the least during trips. |
| C．Sunscreen is the most important object for a US traveler. |
| D．Most travelers like to communicate with their friends on vacation. |
8 . New research from the University of Portsmouth has shown a marked increase in shipping in the North East Atlantic. Scientists now warn that more monitoring is required to help protect sea life.
Researchers at the University of Ponsmouth have discovered that rates (率) of shipping in the North East Atlantic area rose by 34 per cent in a five-year period. The research is the first detailed survey of shipping activity in the North East Atlantic. Researchers used data from over 530 million vessel (船) positions recorded by Automatic Identification System(AIS). They looked at the change in shipping between 2013 and 2017 across ten different vessel types. In total the study area covered 1.1 million km², including waters off Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal. Spain, and the UK.
Lead author, James Robbins said: “This change is likely to put more pressure on the marine (海洋的) environment, and may influence the protection of at-risk species. Renewed monitoring effort is needed to make sure that protective measures are enough to save species under threat in a changing environment.”
Some of the greatest shipping increases were found in areas close to the Spanish coast. The Espacio Marino de la Costa da Morte saw a rise of 413 percent in vessel activity. It is an area used to protect seabirds.
Dr. Sarah Marley, Visiting Researcher at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Shipping is the most widespread human activity in our oceans, carrying a set of threats-from unnoticeable effects like underwater noise pollution to serious results when ships hit whales.”
Professor Alex Ford. from the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences, said: “Given the well-documented effects that shipping can have on the marine environment, it is necessary that this situation continues to be monitored-particularly in areas used to protect vulnerable (脆弱的) species which may already be under pressure.”
1. What can we say about the new research?| A．It started in 2013. | B．It is the first of its kind. |
| C．It was carried out by AIS. | D．It covers the whole Atlantic. |
| A．Rapid population growth. |
| B．Rising global temperatures. |
| C．The huge increase in shipping. |
| D．The disappearance of marine life. |
| A．Shipping plays an important role in the local economy. |
| B．Shipping can be a danger to the marine environment. |
| C．Noise pollution is closely related to human activity. |
| D．Marine areas should be monitored more carefully. |
| A．New waterways across the Atlantic |
| B．The shipping industry in the North East Atlantic |
| C．New research opens windows into life under the water |
| D．Sea life needs better protection from an increase in shipping |
9 . Bred to be more sweeter, today’s cherries, bananas and apples taste different than they used — to but not necessarily better. Among fruit farmers, the word “quality” is now routinely used as a standard for “high in sugar”, though firmness, color and size are also considerations. In a recent study about ways to enhance the sweetness of fruit using “molecular (分子的) approaches”, a group of plant scientists wrote that, in general, the sugar content of many fruits are now higher than before owing to continuous selection and breeding. Modern apple varieties, the scientists stressed, were on average sweeter than older ones.
The sweetness of fruit depends not just on how it is bred but also on growing conditions, yield and harvest. The lead researcher, Sugiura, said, “If you could taste an apple harvested 30 years ago, you would feel the difference.” He believed that modern apples are picked so early that even if they are bred for sweetness, they often don’t develop their full character. The fragrance (香味) never develops in fruit that is harvested too early.
Jim Cooper, an apple farmer in England, is regretful to admit the fact that many people will never taste the “strawberry hint” in a really ripe Pearmain, a type of heritage apple. In a way, the rise of consistently sweeter fruit in our lifetimes has been a victory of plant breeding. After all, it’s a rare person who would seek out bitter grapes if they could have sweet ones instead.
But the sweetness of modern fruit is not without its problems, especially for people with diabetes (糖尿病), who have to reduce their intake of higher-sugar fruits. Fruit that is bred sweeter also tends to be lower in the chemicals that make it healthy. Considering health, maybe the real problem with modern fruit is that it has become yet another sweet thing in a world with sugar. Even grapefruits, which used to be quite bitter, are sometimes now as sweet as oranges. If you’ve never tasted a sour cherry, how can you fully appreciate a sweet one?
1. In what aspect is many fruits different from before?| A．Sugar content. | B．Soft skin. | C．Bright color. | D．High yield. |
| A．They are bred too early. | B．They taste so sweet. |
| C．They are losing a good flavor. | D．They need a higher yield. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．It’s a wise choice to breed fruits for sweetness. |
| B．Breeding sweet fruits improves the quality of fruits. |
| C．Some fruits like grapes and cherries taste the same. |
| D．The sweetness of fruits will cause health issues. |
10 . In the time before air-conditioning, southern China’s sky wells played a key role in keeping people’s homes cool. Could they do it again today?
A skywell, or “tian jing”, is atypical characteristic of traditional homes in southern and eastern China. Different from a northern Chinese courtyard, or “yuan zi”, a skywell is smaller and less open to the outdoor environment. Its size and design differ from place to place.
Skywells were designed to cool buildings at a time well before air-conditioning existed. When wind blows above a skywell house, it can enter the indoor space through the opening. Because outdoor air is often cooler than indoor air, the incoming wind travels down the walls to the lower stories and create airflows by replacing warmer indoor air, which rises and leaves through the opening.
Although skywell buildings have existed in China for hundreds of years, in recent times they have often been forgotten by people who prefer modern buildings. Over the past two decades, however, skywell buildings have been making a comeback.
Yu Youhong, 55, has spent more than 30 years restoring (修复) skywell homes in Wuyuan county of Jiangxi province, apart of the old Huizhou. One of the skywell homes restored by Yu is in the village of Yan, in Wuyuan county. The deserted 300-year-old house was bought by Edward Gawne, a former marketing director from the UK, and his Chinese wife, Liao Minx in, in 2015. The couple turned the three-storey house into a 14-room hotel with the help of Yu. They kept the spaces surrounding the sky wells in their original state: open and with natural airflow. Gawne says that even without air conditioning the skywell areas are very comfortable in summer.
Yu says he expects sky wells to be more and more popular among younger generations especially as sustainability (可持续性) becomes an important element for new buildings.
1. What do we know about the sky wells?| A．They had the same size and design. |
| B．They were commonly seen throughout China. |
| C．They acted as air-conditioners in the summer. |
| D．They were fully open to the outdoors like courtyard. |
| A．When sky wells appeared. |
| B．What sky wells look like. |
| C．Why sky wells are no longer popular. |
| D．How sky wells cool buildings. |
| A．They enlarged its rooms. |
| B．They moved the skywell. |
| C．They pulled it down and rebuilt it. |
| D．They kept part of its architectural characteristic. |
| A．The comeback of sky wells. |
| B．An introduction to an expert in sky wells. |
| C．The preservation of traditional Chinese architecture. |
| D．The influence of modernization on ancient buildings. |
