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2 . The number of fin-less porpoise, a protected species living in the Yangtze River, has seen growth compared with the 1,012 that were seen in 2017. A previous survey carried out on Oct. 25 said more mother-child pairs were seen and some were seen in places that had never reported them earlier.
Fin-less porpoise, also called Smiling Angels, have become a natural indicator of the health of the Yangtze River ecosystem, especially after the Lipotes vexillifer, a species of the freshwater dolphin commonly known as Baiji, became extinct in 2007. Despite efforts to protect the fin-less porpoise for over 40 years, its numbers continued to fall. Finally, there is some good news.
The turnaround would not have been possible without the three earlier scientific surveys and the ongoing one. Add to that a 10-yearfishing ban on the Yangtze River carried out on Jan. 1 last year, followed by the fin-less porpoise being upgraded to a level protected species on the national list on Feb. 5,2021,and the Yangtze River Protection Law coming into effect on March 1,2021.
Because of these measures, the provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River relocated their chemical plants, closed down illegal docklands, mended wetlands and adjusted sailing lanes. All these efforts ultimately improved the river’s ecological environment, helping breathe life into the fin-less porpoise species. The results show that China has chosen the right path in protecting not only the fin-less porpoise, but also the river’s ecosystem.
The story of the revival of the fin-less porpoise is only part of the bigger story of the Yangtze River’s protection as a whole. And protecting the river is part of the larger picture of the country’s ecological civilization. Fixing the Yangtze River’s ecology can benefit hundreds of generations, and a good ecology is a fortune of the Chinese nation as a whole.
1. What do we know about the Lipotes vexillifer?| A．It was extinct about 15 years ago. | B．Its favourite habitat is ocean. |
| C．Its population is falling rapidly. | D．It has been a protected species. |
| A．Ban on fishing industry forever. | B．The earlier and ongoing scientific surveys. |
| C．Relocation of the wetlands. | D．Improvement of the chemical plants. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Worried. | C．Conservative. | D．Positive. |
| A．Fin-less Porpoise—a Protected Species | B．Making the “Smiling Angels” Smile Again |
| C．The Yangtze River—Origin of Chinese People | D．Fixing the Yangtze River’s Ecology Is Urgent |
1. Where probably is the man from?
| A．The US. | B．Britain. | C．Japan. |
| A．St. Paul’s. | B．British Museum. | C．Westminster Abbey. |
| A．At 5:30. | B．At 8:30. | C．At 9:50. |
| A．Westminster Abbey. | B．The British Museum. | C．London Tower. |
4 . Attitude actually is mental energy and from the moment you awake in the morning until you fall asleep at night, you are continuously producing this mental energy, or attitude. There is never a time when you can have a neutral attitude. Your attitude right now is either positive or negative.
Your attitude determines your altitude. For example, as a plane is in the air, it has an altitude indicator. The indicator tells the pilot in which direction the plane is going, up or down. Just like the plane, you too have an altitude indicator and you’re the pilot of your plane. The feeling that you gain when something is wrong or what you are doing is not right serves as your altitude indicator. We all have an attitude to our thinking which determines our destiny.
In fact, attitude is a matter of choice. It determines the size of our dreams and influences our determination when we face new challenges and the thing is, no one can control your attitude but you. No one can make us angry. We make ourselves angry when we give in to that control of our attitude and when people do things to anger us. All it does is put our attitude to the tests. We have that choice every morning of what kind of attitude we are going to have for the rest of the day.
Attitude is everything. To begin with every problem is an adventure. To fall, rise and try again is what we call adventure and that’s the real fun of life. Failure is not a bad thing but another chance for success. Dreaming of becoming successful is not enough. There’ ll be a lot of things you hate doing, but you have to do them all and that’s a success.
With a positive attitude, you’ll have the ability to be happier every day, make others around you happier, and live a good life.
1. What does the author want to stress with the example in Paragraph 2?| A．Attitude’s role in people’s future development. |
| B．The importance of pilots ‘ feelings in flight. |
| C．People’s correct judgement of their life direction. |
| D．The application of altitude indicators in various fields. |
| A．They’re trying to control our feeling. | B．They’re testing our attitude. |
| C．They’ re challenging our bottom line. | D．They’ re reminding us of possible failure. |
| A．Dangerous and tiring. | B．Annoying and understandable. |
| C．Difficult but meaningful. | D．Exciting and necessary. |
| A．How to achieve a positive attitude? | B．How is attitude formed? |
| C．What is attitude? | D．What’s the power of a positive attitude? |
5 . While video games used to be considered harmful to young people, various studies have also proved the positive effects of computer games, especially action video games.
Angela Pasqualotto from the University of Trento and her team have now tested whether such video games can help primary school children learn to read. They’ve developed such a computer game called Skies of Manawak.
“Reading involves many important skills, including knowing how to move our eyes on the page or how to use our working memory to connect words into a meaningful sentence,” explains Pasqualotto. “It’s known that action video games improve these still, such as vision, general attention, working memory and cognitive (认知的) flexibility.”
For their study, the researchers tested 150 school children between the ages of eight and twelve. Half of them played the game Skies of Manawak two hours a week for six weeks. The other half, the control group, received the educational game Scratch, which is intended to teach children the basics of programming. Both games are basically to train the executive (执行的) functions of the brain.
“We started by examining the children’s ability to read words, non-words and paragraphs and their attention control,” explains Pasqualotto. “After six weeks, these skills were tested again.”
“We found a seven-fold improvement in attention control in the children who played our action video game compared to the control group,” said Pasqualotto. The team also saw significant improvements in reading speed and accuracy among Skies of Manawak players—there were no improvements in the kids who played Scratch. It’s also worth mentioning that the children’s reading skills have improved, although the game itself doesn’t contain any reading exercises.
“For the study, we also carried out three further evaluation tests six, twelve and eighteen months after the training. Each time, the trained children performed better than the control group,” adds Pasqualotto.
Of course, while the study suggests some benefit in action video games, it does not mean that one must do nothing else.
1. What did the 150 school children do in the study?| A．They received training on programming. | B．They finished some reading ability tests. |
| C．They created video games on their own. | D．They played games with reading exercises. |
| A．Its influence on reading skills is not temporary. | B．The study results about it seem to be untrustworthy. |
| C．Reading ability can’t be improved with its assistance. | D．Kids need consistent reading training after playing it. |
| A．They have nothing to do with reading. | B．People shouldn’t get addicted to them. |
| C．School kids are supposed to avoid them. | D．They should be replaced with Scratch. |
| A．Video Games Prove Harmless to Young People at School |
| B．Time for Children to Play Video Games Should Be Limited |
| C．Children Easily Fall in Love With Reading in a Video Game |
| D．Playing Action Video Games Improves Kids’ Reading Skills |
6 . Lake City Skating Programs
Skating is a fantastic activity for people of any age. Patience, participation and perseverance are a few of the many values that the sport can teach its students. Our programs are thoughtfully prepared to embrace the natural progression of learning on ice for people dependent on their original abilities and age. Read on to learn more about our programs.
Learn to Skate Program
Come to Learn to Skate at the Frontier Ice Arena. Classes include skate rentals, 30-minute instruction from Lake City Figure Skating coaches, plus U. S. Figure Skating membership, record books and sports accident insurance.
Super Skaters Program
We are excited to bring back our 16-week Super Skaters Program. This program is open to any potential skater aged 3~8. Super Skaters is a 16-week set of lessons offered on Tuesdays from 5 to 5:30 PM. Your $99 fee includes skate rentals, lessons fees and access to the 5:45 PM public session.
Rising Stars Bridge Program
The Rising Stars Bridge Program is the perfect progression for skaters who have passed Basic 3 and are looking to step into the big kid skater world. Bridge skaters will have access to the 8~9 AM freestyle session and they will now enjoy a 30-minute group lesson from 9 to 9:30 AM. Private lessons may be taken during freestyle time for an additional cost
Theater on Ice Program
Theater on Ice is a form of competitive figure skating that combines the grace of figure skating with the excitement of theater and dance. Teams consist of between 8 and 30 skaters. In addition, solo skating is discouraged, but is permitted in limited amounts if it enhances the overall telling of the program’s story.
1. What should skaters consider when choosing a suitable program?| A．Original abilities and age. | B．Experience in other sports. |
| C．Skating equipment and cost. | D．Values learned from textbooks. |
| A．Learn to Skate Program. | B．Super Skaters Program. |
| C．Rising Stars Bridge Program. | D．Theater on Ice Program. |
| A．Solo skating. | B．Private lessons. | C．Accident insurance. | D．Performance art. |
9 . Lonely? You’re hardly alone. That’s the finding of a new study. And that appears throughout industrial nations across the globe. The study linked rising loneliness to a greater use of smartphones and the internet over the same years.
Jean Twenge, a psychologist, took part in the study. Her team has found that since 2012, US teens have been spending less time together face-to-face.
“Smartphones can help keep us connected with friends,” says Twenge. “But they can also make people feel excluded (隔离).” Girls, especially, may feel this way. One reason may be that they like to post more photos and selfies (自拍) than boys. Studies have shown that if those images don’t get a lot of “likes”, it can affect a teen’s mental health.
And there’s “phubbing” a mixture of “phone” and “snubbing (冷落)”. It’s that moment in which a friend or family member takes out a phone and keeps looking at it, paying no attention to everybody else, including you. Phubbing is one way technology can affect you, even when you’re not the one using it.
The new study pulled its data from a survey. Some 1 million 15- and 16-year-old students from 37 countries took this survey in 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015 and 2018. Its questions mostly dealt with education. But they also included six statements about loneliness, such as “I feel awkward and out of place in my school”. Students could strongly disagree, disagree, agree or strongly agree with each statement.
If technology causes loneliness, should we stop using it? “No, not at all,” argues Twenge. “Everybody of all ages is trying to figure out how we can best use these technologies and stay mentally healthy.” Her advice is to “use your smartphone for what it’s good for. Then put it away.” That includes putting it away overnight—ideally in another room.
1. How do girls differ from boys in smartphone use in the study?| A．They need it to stay in style. |
| B．They depend on it to keep in touch. |
| C．They use it as a learning tool. |
| D．They like to post more pictures with it. |
| A．To show the harm of the smartphone. |
| B．To give an example of communication. |
| C．To introduce an embarrassing situation. |
| D．To present a scene with the smartphone. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Uninterested | D．Worried |
| A．The Smartphone—the Focus of a Study |
| B．The Smartphone—a Communication Tool |
| C．The Smartphone—a Friend of Teenagers |
| D．The Smartphone—a Source of Loneliness |
10 . From the moment you wake up each day, you're faced up with a variety of choices. With so many options, we tend to feel stressed. This is decision fatigue（决策疲劳）, a mental state that can discourage us making best decisions.
Make some choices automatic and easy. There are some ways to do this:
Pace yourself. When you make one decision after another, it's easy to end up with mental fatigue. So it's important to give yourself time to rest and recover throughout the day.
| A．It may also help to review the pros and cons together |
| B．Give their expectations a reality check by themselves |
| C．Know how you're feeling when you are making a decision |
| D．If things that wouldn't normally upset you start bothering you |
| E．When you shop, use a list and buy the same items on it each time |
| F．Always break up activities so you're not mentally tired all the time |
| G．It can cause you to make wrong decisions that disagree with your goals |
