1 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource. org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.
But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, meal-worms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that meal-worms can digest plastic. One meal-worm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠) . The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.
“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space-is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
1. What do we know about Styrofoam?| A．It can be used to cool drinks. | B．It is a weightless material. |
| C．It is harmful when recycled. | D．It is usually used on ships. |
| A．Meal-worms have amazing digesting power. | B．Meal-worms are not bad in their nature. |
| C．Meal-worms can rescue people’s lives. | D．People misunderstood meal-worms in the past. |
| A．by raising amounts of meal-worms | B．by environmental engineering instructors |
| C．using a method inspired by eating meal-worms | D．without sending out dangerous pollution |
| A．Styrofoam is widely used in daily life. | B．Meal-worms are genius at eating plastic |
| C．Plastic recycling may be no more a problem. | D．Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide |
2 . While socializing comes naturally for some, it can be a struggle for others. Shyness is a normal, common personality trait (特征).
Get Excited About A New Adventure
You may have been shy most of your life.
Pay Attention To Your Words
Practice Mindfulness (正念)
Mindfulness involves drawing your attention to the present and being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings.
Take Small Steps
Getting started can be the hardest part of learning how to be more social for those who are shy.
| A．If so, that’s a part of you that you’re used to |
| B．Sometimes the best path toward addressing a fear is exposure |
| C．Mindfulness can help reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder |
| D．Taking time to tend to your appearance can make a big difference |
| E．How we communicate and characterize ourselves can be powerful |
| F．However, shyness can make it hard for people to connect with others and achieve their goals |
| G．But engaging with people doesn’t have to be practiced as an important work presentation |
1. What did Rachel Carson focus on at first?
| A．Oceans. | B．Chemistry. | C．Food. |
| A．The effects of birds’ unusual behavior. |
| B．The improvements in farming practices. |
| C．The connection between humans and nature. |
| A．Printing books by Carson. |
| B．Stopping using chemicals. |
| C．Reflecting on Carson’s message. |
4 . Imagine a team of humans and robots working together to process online orders. Real-life workers strategically positioned among their automated coworkers who are moving intelligently back and forth in a warehouse (仓库)space, picking items for shipping to the customer.
This could become a reality sooner or later thanks to researchers at the University of Missouri, who are working to speed up the online delivery process by developing a software model designed to make transport robots smarter.
“The robotic technology already exists,” said Sharan Srinivas, who specializes in data analytics and operations research. “Our goal is to best apply this technology through efficient planning. To do this, we’re asking questions like ‘given a list of items to pick, how do you optimize (优化)the route plan for the human pickers and robots?’ or ‘how many items should a robot pick in a given tour?’ Likewise, we have a similar set of questions for the human worker. The most challenging part is optimizing the collaboration plan between the human pickers and robots.”:
Currently, a lot of human effort and labor costs are involved with fulfilling online orders. To help optimize this process, robotic companies have already developed cooperative robots, also known as cobots or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), to work in a warehouse or distribution center. AMRs are equipped with sensors and cameras to help them navigate(确定方向)around a controlled space like a warehouse.
Srinivas said, “The robot is intelligent, so if it’s instructed to go to a particular location, it can navigate the warehouse and not hit any workers or other obstacles along the way. AMRs are not designed to replace human workers, but instead can work cooperatively alongside them to help increase the efficiency of the order fulfillment process.”
“The one drawback is that these robots do not have good grasping abilities,” said Srinivas. “But humans are good at grasping items, so we are trying to balance the strength of both resources.”
1. What does the underlined word “collaboration” in paragraph 3 mean?| A．Technology. | B．Similarity. | C．Exploration. | D．Cooperation. |
| A．To look cool. | B．To sense warnings. |
| C．To direct AMRs’ way. | D．To find human workers. |
| A．Jumping. | B．Climbing. | C．Walking. | D．Holding. |
| A．The Simple Use of Robots |
| B．Warehouse Workers and Robots |
| C．Making Transport Robots Smarter |
| D．Transport Robots Invented by Sharan |
1. How many lab sessions will the students have every week?
| A．One. |
| B．Two. |
| C．Three. |
| A．Long scarves. |
| B．Tennis shoes. |
| C．Loose clothes. |
| A．It may generate much waste. |
| B．It may dirty the lab. |
| C．It may cause a fire. |
| A．Rules the students should follow. |
| B．Grades the students will receive. |
| C．Experiments the students will do. |
6 . Suppose you are out shopping and come across an acquaintance who starts telling you a story that seems to be dragging on and on. You want to seem interested, so you offer the occasional “Oh” or “I see”. To your surprise, though, this person angrily stops in their tracks and says, “Sorry if I’m boring you!”
Where did this come from? Clearly, your body language must have betrayed you. The idea that verbal (口头的) and nonverbal messages can conflict was the inspiration for a recently published study from Yale University’s Lueylle Armentano. As part of her study of communication in relationships, Armentano’s research also examined communication channels in people meeting for the first time.
To test the role of verbal-nonverbal mismatch on emotional communication, Armentano and her partner created experimental conditions to see what happens when someone asks for help from strangers. The research team created videotapes of a fellow Yale student expressing nervousness in his words, bodily gestures, or both. The bodily gestures included running his hands through his hair, grabbing his arm, and facially expressing uneasiness. The key question was whether the other participants, another 82 Yale students, would believe the student and provide the help he was requesting. They needed to give their responses.
Turning to the findings, those nonverbal cues (提示) of nervousness had a greater impact on helping behavior than the verbal cues. Surprisingly, helping behavior was the highest when verbal expressions of nervousness were low but nonverbal cues were high.
Recognizing that your body language can outweigh your words means that you need to be mindful of what your body is doing when you’re interacting with others. Generally, when someone is speaking to you, you want to look like you’re interested. Not only should you maintain eye contact, but you should keep your body still and face toward the other person. If you’re not trying to look interested, it may be more polite to say you have to be somewhere else.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The obvious advantages of body language. |
| B．A situation where body language is a must. |
| C．An example of verbal-nonverbal mismatch. |
| D．The proper way to interact with old friends. |
| A．Express nervousness in their words. | B．Identify the types of body language. |
| C．Try to win the nervous student’s trust. | D．Respond to the nervous student’s request. |
| A．His sincere verbal expressions. | B．His bodily gestures of nervousness. |
| C．His positive attitude to nervousness. | D．His good manners in front of others. |
| A．Make a prediction. | B．Offer suggestions. |
| C．Present some facts. | D．Give some warnings. |
1. What does Tatyana do?
| A．A businesswoman. | B．A teacher. | C．A tutor. |
| A．The language. | B．Her children. | C．Local citizens. |
| A．To have fun. | B．To improve her English. | C．To make more friends. |
| A．Her way to learn English. |
| B．Her love for her hometown. |
| C．Her impression of Canadians. |
Jack couldn’t believe it when he saw them. The trainers (运动鞋) were on top of a cardboard box, next to a pile of rubbish bins. And they look really good and brand new. He peered inside the trainers and found they were just his size. Jack cried out, “Why would anyone throw them away?” Anna shrugged. Anna was his best friend, but Jack didn’t expect her to understand. She knew that he liked running and she even helped by timing him when he ran around the park. But Jack didn’t just like running---he was crazy about it.
He unzipped his school bag and put the trainers into his bag. “It’s the Area Cross-Country Championships in two weeks,” he said. “I’ll never do well in my worm old trainers. These will give me a chance.”
Anna nodded. She knew how important the Championships were to Jack. Five runners were selected from each school in the area. Jack hadn’t been chosen, but then one of the runners had gone to hospital. So they picked Jack to be his replacement in the race. Jack knew he had no chance of beating Beadle, the best runner in the school. However, he would be happy if he just did okay in the race---he didn’t want to let himself down.
Much to their surprise, something unusual happened when Jack put on the trainers. Usually Jack set out at a light jog at first when he practised running. But this time he reached top speed straight away. He didn’t plan it---it just happened. It felt as if he was running on air. He zoomed round the park and kept picking up sped. In fact he just had to relax and the trainers did the running. However, Anna felt really upset. She knew no pair of normal trainers could make such a difference. Anna shook her head, “You shouldn’t wear them in the race. It won’t be YOU who wins, will it? Anyone could win if they wore those trainers.” But Jack wouldn’t listen. “I won’t give them up. These trainers are my only chance to win that Championship. I don’t need your help!” he shouted. With that he turned and ran off like a speeding train.
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。
He was even faster with each practice, but he didn’t feel happy.
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I was time for the big race and the organizer called the runners to the starting line.
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9 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
10 . “Good Night Lights” began as a game，with the effort of Steve Brosnihan, a cartoonist volunteering at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. He
As he left, Brosnihan told the
Brosnihan made it a(an)
Good Night Lights has been such a simple,
“It would be very hard not to do this
Brosnihan hopes it
| A．rushes | B．moves | C．checks | D．marches |
| A．put | B．turn | C．cheer | D．bring |
| A．visit | B．show | C．experience | D．journey |
| A．strange | B．exciting | C．similar | D．different |
| A．colleague | B．teenager | C．doctor | D．friend |
| A．biked | B．ran | C．fled | D．walked |
| A．park | B．hospital | C．road | D．bike |
| A．in return | B．in order | C．in response | D．in place |
| A．ceremony | B．activity | C．habit | D．routine |
| A．logical | B．unique | C．fun | D．important |
| A．local | B．generous | C．native | D．distant |
| A．fires | B．forks | C．plates | D．lights |
| A．hit | B．wonder | C．start | D．tradition |
| A．and | B．yet | C．or | D．so |
| A．given | B．crowded | C．involved | D．participated |
| A．once | B．whether | C．while | D．as |
| A．waste | B．enjoy | C．spend | D．suffer |
| A．grows | B．spreads | C．discovers | D．deepens |
| A．give up | B．set up | C．pick up | D．build up |
| A．design | B．invite | C．open | D．create |
