1 . There are many potential sources of clean energy out there: solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen-based energy, and more. One of the less-known sources of clean energy is wave energy. Now the energy is being put to use in an almost funny way, turning seawater into drinking water by Oneka, a Canadian startup.

In general, there are two traditional kinds of desalination (脱盐) technology. In the first technology, seawater is heated till the water changes into steam, leaving the salt behind, and then the steam is cooled, turning into water, and made available for use. In the second one, seawater is pushed through a see-through thin material, separating the salt and the water, which consumes relatively less fuel compared with the first technology. Whichever technology is used, however, most desalination plants run on non-renewable energy.

Desalination equipment is traditionally powered by fossil fuels, but the world has certainly reached a vital point where it’s necessary to move away from fossil fuel-powered desalination. This is where Oneka’s unique desalination technology comes in. Oneka uses floating desalination machines, attached to a kind of floating device which then absorbs energy from the ocean waves, and changes it into mechanical forces, to pump the water through the see-through thin material system. The fresh water is then pumped to land, through the power of the waves.

The waste from conventional desalination plants contains high concentrations of salt which is discharged into the sea, creating a zone where sea life dies off. Oneka’s technology steers clear of this, because the water that streams back into the ocean only has a 30 percent increase in the salt concentration, and is quickly spread by the waves.

This innovative technology shows us that sometimes the solutions to complicated problems don’t have to be complicated at all. Sometimes all you need are the ocean waves.

1. Which can best describe the first technology in paragraph 2?

A．It is labor-intensive.	B．It is energy-hungry.
C．It separates salt via cooling.	D．It outperforms the second one.

2. What can we learn about Oneka’s technology?

A．It’s slightly complicated.	B．It leaves little salt behind.
C．It reshapes fresh water storage.	D．It’s mechanically driven.

3. What does the underlined phrase “steers clear of” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Relieves.

B．Facilitates.

C．Envelops.

D．Achieves.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Eco-driven Desalination Machines	B．Ocean Waves: The New Energy Solution
C．Wave-powered Green Desalination	D．Desalination: The Future of Fresh Water

2 . Cathy Winston is a sports nutritionist. Among her regulars are athletes. Cathy thrives on the variety, with each new sport providing new challenges and a renewed appreciation of her chosen field of expertise. In her view, dealing with athletes from various sport backgrounds helps her become seasoned, which is a key part of being a successful nutritionist. “You have to understand nutrition and people, and then you can begin to work in this field,” she says. “Besides, in tennis you must learn to be reactive, because you don’t know how long the match lasts. However, it’s 90 minutes in football so you know what you’re fueling for.”

Regardless of the sport, Cathy’s attitude remains the same: Any athlete failing to respect nutrition is one who is failing to fulfill their potential. It’s a key part of the training process. It’s not just something that you take casually. She advises her athletes to hold nutrition in the same regard as they do their most crucial bit of equipment. “Just as you wouldn’t forget to put your shin pads (护腿板) or your boots in your kit bag, don’t forget to put in your drinks and your snacks. That informs how well you train, because you can’t get out if you haven’t put in.”

Nutritionists are sometimes unfairly represented as militant (斗志昂扬的) types telling what athletes can and can’t eat. But Cathy insists that when to eat is more important than what. “It’s about when’s the right time to have it in,” she says. It’s a message that Cathy says can take a while to sink in. “A lot of boxers say, ‘but bananas make you fat, right?’, and there’s this inherent belief that we mustn’t eat those kinds of things. But it’s not about what to cut out. It’s about making sure that you’ve got the foundation right for health and performance. It’s that one size fits one. It’s what works for you. To be an excellent athlete, you really need to be an exceptional eater.”

1. What does Cathy think about her job?

A．It hardly faces new challenges in every competition.

B．It mainly focuses on the duration of matches.

C．It merely needs to understand nutrition and people.

D．It highly values experience and flexibility.

2. How does Cathy emphasize the importance of nutrition to athletes?

A．By making a comparison.	B．By analyzing a phenomenon.
C．By telling a story.	D．By providing data.

3. According to Cathy, what is a fundamental principle behind successful sports nutrition?

A．Focusing on the timing of the diet.

B．Cutting out specific foods from the diet.

C．Following a strict and militant diet plan.

D．Increasing the variety of foods.

4. What does the author intend to tell us?

A．Food has a say in the sports field.

B．Nutritionists act as unsung heroes behind athletes.

C．Nutrition determines the results in the competition.

D．A good eater is a great athlete.

3 . Spring breakers don’t need to spend a fortune to enjoy life in the sunshine for a week. U. S. News carefully considered everything to bring you the best inexpensive spring break destinations.

Key West

This small island in the Florida Keys is known for its odd residents and best snorkeling (浮潜) opportunities. While you’ll find plenty of spots for partying along rowdy Duval Street, you can also soak up some culture at the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum. Plus, Key West offers several budget-friendly vacation rentals, so you can save your cash for bars and boat tours.

Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach is a tried-and-true Florida spring break location that is sure to please the masses. Scope out a spot across the town’s 27 miles of white sand beaches to sunbathe, play volleyball or scan the horizon for bottlenose dolphins. Hotel prices are reasonable if you book your accommodations in advance. Just note: This town bans alcohol consumption on the beach during March, so you’ll have to enjoy your adult beverages elsewhere.

South Pad re Island

With hotels offering nightly rates around $200 or less and DJs and celebrities holding court at nightclubs, South Padre Island, Texas, is a hot spring break destination for college students. This South Texas local e is only about 30 miles north of the U. S.-Mexico border, meaning you’ll get to enjoy warm weather without having to leave the country. As an added bonus, the island offers a free public shuttle system, so budget-conscious travelers won’t have to worry about spending money on a rental car.

1. What can tourists do in Key West?

A．Have a good surfing.

B．Bath e in the sun on the beach.

C．Throw a party anywhere on the island.

D．Visit the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum.

2. What is special about Panama City Beach?

A．The hotel prices are low whenever you go.

B．It is a perfect destination for spring vacation.

C．You can drink some wine on the beach in March.

D．You can see the bottlenose dolphins in person.

3. What do the three travel destinations have in common?

A．They are budget-friendly.	B．They are alive with wildlife.
C．They offer a taste of culture.	D．They offer free public shuttle system.

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where did George park his car?

A．At a square.

B．At a parking lot.

C．On a narrow street.

2. What was the time when he got out of his car?

A．At 4:20 pm.

B．At 4:40 pm.

C．At 5:00 pm.

3. Where did George put his keys?

A．In his pocket.

B．In his car.

C．On the bench.

4. Why was George unable to see his car at first?

A．Someone stole it.

B．It was behind another car.

C．He went to a wrong place.

5 . Why does Helen want to ask for leave?

A．She needs to care for a relative.

B．She fell down the stairs.

C．She plans to visit her parents.

6 . Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova is a physics professor at Texas A&M who aims to show her students, especially the young women, that there are no limits.

Only 25% of physics undergraduate students are female. Perhaps it is because boys grow up playing with machines and making drawings of fast cars and rocket explosions. But girls are just as curious about the way the world works — they just haven’t jumped into the culture of chemical reactions, energy and magnetic force with as much enthusiasm. That is, until they see one of Tatiana’s videos showing the science behind real life’s magic. Tatiana is really one of the few living female examples they could follow.

Her videos get millions of views. She is a ball of energy with a short haircut, a Russian accent and a lively personality that makes physics accessible to the younger audience. Young girls are attracted to Tatiana’s attractive demonstrations the way they flock to pop concerts. This is real. This is science they can participate in. This is an open door to endless possibilities.

“These short clips are the spark that inspires,” Tatiana says with so much excitement that it lights up the room. Everything she does involves students. She believes the magic in learning is when your peers are part of the demonstration, when you are part of the teaching process.

“She wants everything to be a celebration of science,” says one of Tatiana’s former students. And indeed, the classroom is in a party atmosphere, with students cheering when amazed by Newton’s law of motion, demonstrated by a spinning bicycle wheel held upright by the professor. It’s hard to tell who is more delighted, Tatiana or her students. She is an attraction for female students who are graduating college and working in the sciences in higher numbers than ever before.

Dr. Tatiana’s story began in Russia and her parents were both physicists. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Tatiana moved to Texas with her husband, also a physicist. They both teach at Texas A&M, and when Tatiana isn’t in the classroom, she is doing outreach with schoolchildren, amazing them with spinning lights that soon form words, liquid oxygen that shrinks objects and chemical reactions that expand matter to 10 times its size. But most importantly, she is expanding the audience of female physicists.

1. According to the passage, why do girls sometimes hesitate to jump into the culture of physics?

A．Lack of interest in chemical reactions.

B．Cultural differences in curiosity.

C．Absence of female role models.

D．Fear of liquid oxygen demonstrations.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about the videos mentioned in the passage?

A．They were made by a female physician.

B．They feature engaging demonstrations.

C．They are meant for Tatiana’s homeland.

D．They have received millions of likes online.

3. What is the primary focus of Dr. Tatiana’s outreach activities with schoolchildren?

A．Appealing to students with fascinating demonstrations.

B．Teaching students some difficult physics concepts.

C．Explaining the history of Newton’s law of motion.

D．Encouraging girls to attend parties and pop concerts.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Female Professor Rejecting Gender Barrier

B．Russian Physicist and Female Scientists

C．Physics Professor Stimulating Girls’ Passion

D．The Significance of Online Short Videos

7 . When I was a small child, my grandparents would take me to blackberry_________. It was usually late August when the blackberries were fully _________. Grandpa would _________ us in his old truck. Being seven or eight at the time, I always enjoyed the trip as we bounced along to our _________.

My grandparents always chose the same _________. Wild blackberry _________ stretched along the roadside as far as the eye could see in both directions. Several hours of picking berries followed.

Nana _________ me not to eat any until they had all been washed but turned a knowing blind eye while _________ some anyway. I also helped myself to the occasional unripe red berry as I had a particular _________ for anything bitter. The fully immature green berries were too much even for my taste and were just __________.

When at last we were finished, the bright scenery had __________ long shadows and the afternoon had become evening. Grandad __________ a bag half full of berries back to the truck. Juice __________ slowly onto the ground. Nana would later make blackberry pies and fill several jars with jam. When I reached the truck, my __________ hurt from too much fruit and my hands were __________ dark purple. I always enjoyed those days.

1.

A．processing

B．canning

C．picking

D．preserving

2.

A．developed

B．ripe

C．fresh

D．prepared

3.

A．drive

B．fetch

C．move

D．transform

4.

A．journey

B．adventure

C．destination

D．purpose

5.

A．path

B．direction

C．route

D．spot

6.

A．bushes

B．branches

C．forests

D．leaves

7.

A．instructed

B．warned

C．encouraged

D．begged

8.

A．collected

B．gathered

C．picked

D．ate

9.

A．talent

B．taste

C．admiration

D．hunger

10.

A．tasteless

B．unbeatable

C．unpleasant

D．delicious

11.

A．took on

B．burst on

C．made up

D．turned to

12.

A．carried

B．filled

C．delivered

D．passed

13.

A．poured

B．bled

C．pressed

D．tipped

14.

A．throat

B．head

C．stomach

D．bones

15.

A．colored

B．washed

C．dried

D．coated

8 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填人1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确彤式。

Walking more than 2,200 steps a day could reduce our risk of heart disease and early death, even if we spend the rest of the day     1     (sit) down. That’s according to a study     2     (publish) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Researchers looked at data from more than 72,000 people in the UK, with     3     average age of 61. Previous studies have linked time spent sitting with early death and heart disease, and walking is known     4     (decrease) these risks. So the research team wanted to find out     5     walking could offset(抵消) the health risks of spending a lot of time sitting.

The study participants     6     (wear) a device on their wrist, which was able to record the     7     (step) they took and the amount of time they spent sitting or lying down. Then they     8     (track) for around seven years afterward. During this time, 1,633 participants died, and almost 6,200 had heart problems like heart attacks and strokes.

The study found that taking between 9,000 and 10,500 steps per day reduced the risk of early death     9     39%, and reduced the risk of heart disease by 21%. That’s even if people were spending a lot of time sitting.

One of the researchers, Matthew Ahmadi said the results show that “all     10     (move) matters” and anyone who has to spend a lot of time sitting should increase the number of steps they take.

9 . Dorothea Dix was born in 1802 in Massachusetts. When she was 12 years old, she left her unhappy home to live with her grandmother in Boston. There Dorothea went to school and was so quick at her lessons that two years later she went back to Worcester, Massachusetts and taught in a school for little children. She was only fourteen and rather small for her age. Anyway, she proved herself a good teacher, and the children loved her and respected her. In 1821, she opened a school for girls in Boston.

Gradually, her health broke down, and she began to think that she could never work any more, but after a long rest in England, she came back to America and did something far greater than teaching. She went through the whole country where she first observed the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill. During Dorothea’s traveling for nearly two years throughout the state, and meeting similar conditions, she always spoke kindly to the ill-treated, but she spoke wrathfully to the men who ill-treated them. In January 1843, she submitted to the Massachusetts legislature (立法机关) a detailed report of her fully documented findings.

In the next 40 years Dorothea inspired legislators in 15 US states and in Canada to establish state hospitals for the mentally ill. Her continuous efforts directly affected the building of 32 institutions in the United States. When the Civil War broke out, she went straight to Washington and offered to nurse the soldiers without pay. She hired houses to keep supplies in and bought an ambulance. She gave her time, strength and money to her country.

Dorothea Dix has been called the most useful woman of America. She is an, American educator, social reformer and humanitarian whose devotion to the welfare of the mentally ill led to widespread reforms in the United States and abroad.

1. What do we know about Dorothea Dix when she was 19?

A．She set up a school.	B．She lived with her parents.
C．She went to school in Massachusetts.	D．She failed to become a good teacher.

2. What does the underlined word “wrathfully” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Patiently.

B．Fluently.

C．Angrily.

D．Quickly.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The awards Dorothea Dix received in her life.

B．The contributions Dorothea Dix made to her country.

C．The support Dorothea Dix got from her family.

D．The difficulties Dorothea Dix met during the Civil War.

4. Which of the following can best describe Dorothea Dix?

A．Humorous and well-educated.	B．Generous and warm-hearted.
C．Proud and hard-working.	D．Romantic and open-minded.

10 . BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

Susie Dent is Britain’s most-loved word expert. She has two new books: Interesting Stories About Curious Words (John Murray) and Roots of Happiness (Puffin), both available now.

Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain Fournier

This was the first book that really stopped me in my tracks. I lapped up its romantic but melancholy (忧郁的) story of the dreamy world between childhood and adolescence. I’ve never found as acute a description of longing as I did here, and for many things: for the mysterious castle, for love, and for freedom. It is an mysterious and dreamy book. What adds to the magic is that this was the only story that Fournier wrote—he died on the front line in the early months of the First World War.

The Oxford English Dictionary

If I could take just one book to a desert island it would (of course) be the complete Oxford English Dictionary —all 20 volumes. It may sound predictable, but the OED is anything but. In its pages you’ll find comedy, passion, tragedy, and thousands of hidden stories. Even the simplest of words have had quite a journey— “nice”, for example, has gone from meaning “stupid” to “pleasant”. Add to that a host of words that have unaccountably disappeared when—to my mind—we could really do with them, and you have entertainment forever. And which of us hasn’t met an “ultracrepidarian”: one who loves to talk about something they know nothing about?

Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman

The graphic novels Maus and Maus Ⅱ by the American cartoonist Art Spiegelman are not easy reads, but they’re important ones. They’re really a tale within a tale, in which the narrator (叙述者) interviews his father about his experiences of the Holocaust and his liberation from a concentration camp. Here the Nazis are drawn as cats, and Jews are mice. Overarching it all is an unforgettable tale of a son’s relationship with his broken father. Given that German has always been my first love, it felt necessary to read these books. Spiegelman takes the unspeakable and gives it an immediacy I’ll never forget.

1. What is the probable purpose of this text?

A．To recommend and classify.	B．To encourage and enrich.
C．To introduce and inform.	D．To memorize and alarm.

2. How does The Oxford English Dictionary change Susie’s life?

A．It inspires her to write stories.	B．It helps her describe something particular.
C．It fuels her passion for referring to a dictionary.	D．It entertains her with the development of language.

3. What is Maus and Maus Ⅱmost probably about?

A．German geography.	B．Unexplained tales.
C．Adapted life story.	D．Parent-child relationship.