1 . In January when wildfires came within a kilometer of her home, Jessica Miles found herself reflecting on the bravery of firefighters in the Port Macquarie area.

Jessica said the tires had been frightening. “There were helicopters (直升机) flying around our house and smoke everywhere,” she said. Over a family dinner, the 12-year-old girl raised the idea of building a sculpture to honor the men and women on the wildfire front line and was greeted with support.

With artwork from the Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail on their doorstep, Jessica’s mother suggested she contact the organizers of the trail with her idea. In a message to Hello Koalas through a Facebook post. Jessica wrote: “I’ve recently thought of an idea as Australia has been facing disaster lately... The firefighters have risked their life and time to protect us. In recognition of their bravery, I wanted so share an idea I had about making a koala (考拉) in honor of the firefighters and to spread hope to Australia.”

Hello Koalas director Margret Meagher said while she had thought about creating a sculpture to honor Australia’s selfless and heroic firefighters in the past, Jessica’s message made her more determined than ever to make it happen. Having been involved in the Rural Fire Service (RFS), Ms. Meacher was also personally touched by summer’s wildfires: “So I really wanted to celebrate the local men and women who fought bravely to protect our community and to recognize all firefighters in Australia.” Ms. Meagher said.

Jessica, who is passionate about the environment and animals said she had been excited to receive such a positive response to her idea including her suggestion “it could have the RFS badge (章) painted on the koala or it could have a fireman’s jacket.” The new sculpture, Frankie Firefighter, created by artist Kim Staples, was unveiled (揭幕) this week and features both Jessica’s ideas.

1. What did Jessica’s mother advise her to do?

A．Send greetings to firefighters.	B．Put her artwork on their doorstep.
C．Build a sculpture to honor firefighters.	D．Seek help from Hello Koalas to apply her idea.

2. What finally drove Ms. Meagher to create a firefighter sculpture?

A．Firefighters heroic stories.	B．Her involvement in RFS.
C．Jessica’s Facebook post.	D．Her own past thoughts.

3. What do we know about the sculpture Frankie Firefighter?

A．It wears a badge donated by a fireman.	B．It draws inspiration from Kim Staples.
C．It is contrary to Jessica’s expectations.	D．It is a koala in a fireman’s jacket.

3 . More than 30 year and S10 billion later, the James Webb Space Telescope finally left Earth. The observatory was lifted skyward by an Ariane rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Is flight to orbit lasted just under half an hour, with a signal confirming a successful outcome picked p by a ground antenna(天线)at Malindi in Kenya.

Webb, named after one of the architects of the Apollo Moon landings, is the successor to the Hubble telescope. Engineers working with the US, European and Canadian space agencies have built the new observatory to be 100 times more powerful.

Webb’s launch is only the start of what will be a complex series of initial activities over the next six months. The telescope is being put on a path to an observing station some 1.5 million km beyond the Earth. In the course of travelling to this location, webb will have to unpack itself from the folded shape it adopted at launch.

This won’t be easy, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson: “We have to realize there are still countless things that have to work and they have to work perfectly. But we know that in great reward, there is great risk. And that’s what this business is all about. And that’s why we dare to explore.”

At the core of the new facility’s capabilities is its 6.5 m-wide golden mirror. This is almost three times wider than the primary reflector on Hubble. The enlarged optics(光学器件), combined with   four super-sensitive instruments, should enable astronomers to look deeper into space—and thus further back in time—than ever before.

A key target of Webb will be the pioneer stars that ended the darkness theorized to have dominated the whole universe shortly after the Big Bang more than 13.5 billion years ago. It was the nuclear reactions in these objects that would have created the first heavy atoms(原子)essential for life. Another goal for Webb will be to explore the atmospheres of distant planets. This will help researchers work out whether these worlds are in any way habitable.

1. What can we learn about the new space telescope?

A．An antenna helped it go into orbit.

B．It was named after a landscape architect.

C．It is a project of international cooperation.

D．It has reached its observing station.

2. What is Bill’s attitude towards the project?

A．Disapproving.	B．Supportive
C．Fearful.	D．Uncertain.

3. Why can Webb look further back in time than Hubble?

A．It is fitted with a more powerful engine.

B．It is capable of changing shapes.

C．It has a primary reflector.

D．It has a much bigger mirror

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Suggestions for astronomers.	B．Origins of the universe.
C．Webb’s limitations	D．Webb’s functions.

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出 提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

A new study shows rapid decline in insect populations. A growing number of the Earth’s insect population now can     1     (see) only in collections on exhibitions. Nobody’s seen those for 400 years. A new review of over 70 studies of insect populations     2       (suggest) that human pressures are causing insect populations to decrease by as much as a quarter every decade. The loss of species is inevitable (不可避免的) because often we don’t know     3     those species are doing or how other species are depending on them.

7 . Imagine that on a Friday afternoon, before leaving work to start your weekend, you are asked to solve two problems that require creative thinking. Do you: 1). Spend the first half of your time attempting the first problem and the second half of your time attempting the second; 2). Alternate between the two problems at a regular, predetermined interval (e.g., switching every five minutes); 3). Switch between the problems at your own discretion (自行决定).

If you are like the hundreds of people to whom we posed this question, you would choose to switch between the two problems at your own discretion. After all, this approach offers maximum autonomy and flexibility, enabling you to change tracks from one problem to the other when you feel stuck.

But if coming up with creative answers is your goal, this approach may not be ideal. Instead, switching between the problems at a regular, predetermined interval will likely yield the best results, according to research we published in the March issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

In an experiment, we randomly assigned participants to one of the three approaches. Participants who were instructed to continually switch back and forth between two problems at a fixed interval were significantly more likely to find the correct answer to both problems than participants who switched at their own discretion or halfway through the allotted time. The issue with both other approaches seemed to be that people failed to recognize when rigid thinking crept in. Participants who didn’t step away from a task at regular intervals were more likely to write “new” ideas that were very similar to the last one they had written. While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that, without the breaks afforded by continual task switching, their actual progress was limited.

The findings suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and reset your thinking.

So when you’re working on tasks that would benefit from creative thinking, consciously insert breaks at regular intervals—use a timer if you have to. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. If you’re hesitant to break away because you feel that you’re on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. We tend to generate redundant ideas when we don’t take regular breaks; ask yourself whether your latest ideas are qualitatively different. Finally, don’t skip your lunch breaks, and don’t feel guilty about taking breaks, especially when you are feeling stuck. Doing so may actually be the best use of your time.

1. The third approach in Paragraph 1 is favored because people believe _______.

A．it allows much freedom

B．it improves concentration

C．it facilitates autonomous learning

D．it encourages independent thinking

2. What does the underlined word “rigid” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．critical

B．innovative

C．inflexible

D．serious

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Doing daily chores is key to generating new ideas.

B．Regularly scheduled breaks can refresh people’s thinking.

C．People will automatically take breaks when they feel stuck.

D．People will make great progress when they work continually.

4. The main purpose of the passage is to _______.

A．explain why people fail to produce creative ideas

B．compare three methods of creative thinking

C．introduce a new study on work efficiency

D．present a way to boost creative thinking

10 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

It’s 5 p.m., and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off is due tomorrow. It’s time to buckle down and open your computer. Actually, you should probably make dinner first. You usually like cooking, though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head, and oh—it’s actually pretty late! Maybe you should just try again in the morning. This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there.

Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences. Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you. But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.

We’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings, such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity. Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings, some individuals are more susceptible (易受影响的) to it than others. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions and those who struggle with low self-esteem are much more likely to procrastinate. However, it’s a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing than distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, putting things off because they’re afraid their work won’t live up to their high standards.

Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, ongoing feelings of shame and physical ailments (轻病) associated with high stress.

So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?

Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite. Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task. What we really need to do is to address and reduce these negative emotions.

1. What is procrastination?
_____________________________________________
2. What kinds of people are more likely to procrastinate?
_____________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Ø Procrastinators are affected by negative emotions, are all lazy and are likely to suffer from physical ailments associated with high stress.
_____________________________________________
4. What strategies can you use to break the cycle of procrastination in your daily life? (In about 40 words)
_____________________________________________