3 . We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.

To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.

As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.

So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.

1. What does the author think of new devices?

A．They are environment-friendly.	B．They are no better than the old.
C．They cost more to use at home.	D．They go out of style quickly.

2. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?

A．To reduce the cost of minerals.

B．To test the life cycle of a product.

C．To update consumers on new technology.

D．To find out electricity consumption of the devices.

3. Which of the following uses the least energy?

A．The box-set TV.	B．The tablet.
C．The LCD TV.	D．The desktop computer.

4. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?

A．Stop using them.	B．Take them apart.
C．Upgrade them.	D．Recycle them.

4 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.

1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?

A．Addiction to smartphones.

B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C．Absence of communication between strangers.

D．Impatience with slow service.

2. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?

A．Showing good manners.	B．Relating to other people.
C．Focusing on a topic.	D．Making business deals.

3. What does the coffee-shop study suggest about small talk?

A．It improves family relationships.	B．It raises people’s confidence.
C．It matters as much as a formal talk.	D．It makes people feel good.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Conversation Counts	B．Ways of Making Small Talk
C．Benefits of Small Talk	D．Uncomfortable Silence

5 . The history of microbiology begins with Dutch cloth maker named Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, a man of no formal scientific education. In the late 1600s. Leeuwenhoek, inspired by the magnifying lenses（放大镜）he used to examine cloth, built some of the first-microscopes. He developed technique to improve the quality of tiny, rounded lenses, some of which could magnify an object up to 270 times. After removing some plaque from between his teeth and examining it under a lens, Leeuwenhoek found tiny twisting creatures, which he called “animalcules”.

His observations, which he reported to the Royal Society of London, are among the first descriptions of microbes（微生物）. Leeuwenhoek discovered an entire universe invisible to the human eye. He found different microbes in samples of pond water, rain water, and human blood. He gave the first description of red blood cells, observed plant tissue, examined muscle, and investigated the life cycle of insects.

Nearly two hundred years later, Leeuwenhock’s discovery of microbes helped French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur to develop his “theory of disease”. This concept suggested that disease originates from tiny organisms attacking and weakening the body. Pasteur’s theory later helped doctors to fight infectious diseases including anthrax, diphtheria, polio, smallpox, tetanus, and typhoid. All these breakthroughs were the result of Leeuwenhoek’s original work. Leeuwenhoek did not foresee this legacy.

In a 1716 letter, he described his contribution to science this way: “My work, which I’ve done for a long time, was not pursued in order to gain the praise I now enjoy, but chiefly from a strong desire for knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men. And therefore; whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that the scientific community might be informed thereof.”

1. Which of the following best describes Leeuwenhoek?

A．trained researcher with an interest in microbiology

B．A curious amateur who made pioneer studies of microbes

C．A talented scientist interested in finding a cure for disease

D．A bored cloth maker who accidentally made a major discovery

2. The underlined phrase “this legacy” in paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A．the discovery of microbes

B．Pasteur’s theory of disease

C．Leeuwenhoek’s contribution

D．the origin of the tiny organism

3. What does the quote from Leeuwenhock’s letter suggest?

A．He admitted that many of his discoveries happened by chance.

B．He considered his work to be central to later medical breakthroughs.

C．He was greatly concerned with improving people’s living conditions.

D．He believed the sharing of knowledge was a key to scientific progress

4. What is the correct order for the following events?
a. Magnifying lenses were built.
b. The “theory of disease” was put forward
c. Microbes were discovered in samples of waters.
d. Leeuwenhoek’s first microscopes were successfully developed.
e. Leeuwenhoek explained his thoughts upon his own contribution.

A．a-d-c-e-b

B．d-a-c-e-b

C．a-c-d-b-e

D．d-a-e-b-c

7 . For a long time Gabriel didn’t want to be involved in music at all. In his first years of high school, Gabriel would look pityingly at music students, _______across the campus with their heavy instrument cases, _______at school for practice hours _______ anyone else had to be there. He swore to himself to_______music, as he hated getting to school extra early.

_______, one day, in the music class that was _______of his school’s standard curriculum, he was playing idly (随意地)on the piano and found it _________to pick out tunes. With a sinking feeling, he realized that he actually _______doing it. He tried to hide his _______pleasure from the music teacher, who had ________over to listen. He might not have done this particularly well, ________the teacher told Gabriel that he had a good________and suggested that Gabriel go into the music store-room to see if any of the instruments there ________him. There he decided to give the cello(大提琴) a ________. When he began practicing, he took it very ________. But he quickly found that he loved playing this instrument, and was ________to practicing it so that within a couple of months he was playing reasonably well.

This ________, of course, that he arrived at school early in the morning, ________his heavy instrument case across the campus to the ________looks of the non-musicians he had left________.

1.

A．travelling

B．marching

C．pacing

D．struggling

2.

A．rising up

B．coming up

C．driving up

D．turning up

3.

A．before

B．after

C．until

D．since

4.

A．betray

B．accept

C．avoid

D．appreciate

5.

A．Therefore

B．However

C．Thus

D．Moreover

6.

A．part

B．nature

C．basis

D．spirit

7.

A．complicated

B．safe

C．confusing

D．easy

8.

A．missed

B．disliked

C．enjoyed

D．denied

9.

A．transparent

B．obvious

C．false

D．similar

10.

A．run

B．jogged

C．jumped

D．wandered

11.

A．because

B．but

C．though

D．so

12.

A．ear

B．taste

C．heart

D．voice

13.

A．occurred to

B．took to

C．appealed to

D．held to

14.

A．change

B．chance

C．mission

D．function

15.

A．seriously

B．proudly

C．casually

D．naturally

16.

A．committed

B．used

C．limited

D．admitted

17.

A．proved

B．showed

C．stressed

D．meant

18.

A．pushing

B．dragging

C．lifting

D．rushing

19.

A．admiring

B．pitying

C．annoying

D．teasing

20.

A．over

B．aside

C．behind

D．out

8 . 阅读下面文章，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一个完整短文，续写词数应为150左右。

One Saturday morning, I got a call from my aunt. She told me that she had to go with my uncle on a business trip for the day, and she wondered if I could look after my little 6-year-old cousin, Max. I knew that for them, leaving their dearest son for a day was the last thing in the whole world they would do, because they were what is known as “helicopter parents”, who keep watching everything their kids do.   As a high school student, I knew exactly that children who were brought up by helicopter parents could end up having many problems and I hoped I could do something to improve the situation, so I accepted her request. Actually, I was honored to be trusted by such parents.

When I arrived there, my aunt and uncle were just ready to go out. The last thing my aunt said to me before they left was “Don’t let him hurt himself while we are away.” She repeated it several times until she thought I took it seriously. After they left, I tried to teach Max to play some games that might be against my aunt’s will, but failed. Max seemed not to be interested, and even frightened. I didn’t want to push him, so I decided to slow it down.

Around lunch time, Max asked me what was for lunch. I said, “I don’t know, what do you want?” He said, “Can you cook scrambled eggs?” I replied, “Of course I can!” “Well,” said Max, “I want some.” I asked him if he could cook. He looked at me in amazement, and said, “Of course not. Mom won’t allow me to approach the kitchen. She thinks I’ll be burnt if I try to do that, but I think it would be amazing to cook what I like on my own.”

Paragraph 1:

Suddenly, I had an idea.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

When my aunt and uncle returned, they saw Max cooking a dinner in the kitchen.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . 第二节   读后续写

阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

On a bright, warm July afternoon, Mac Hollan, a primary school teacher, was cycling from his home to Alaska with his friends. One of his friends had stopped to make a bicycle repair, but they had encouraged Mac to carry on, and they would catch up with him soon. As Mac pedaled (骑行) along alone, he thought fondly of his wife and two young daughters at home. He hoped to show them this beautiful place someday.

Then Mac heard quick and loud breathing behind him. “Man, that's a big dog!” he thought. But when he looked to the side, he saw instantly that it wasn’t a dog at all, but a wolf, quickly catching up with him.

Mac’s heart jumped. He found out his can of hear spray. With one hand on the bars, he fired the spray at the wolf. A bright red cloud enveloped the animal, and to Mac's relief, it fell back, shaking its head. But a minute later, it was by his side again. Then it attacked the back of Mac's bike, tearing open his tent bag. He fired at the wolf a second time, and again, it fell back only to quickly restart the chase（追赶）。

Mac was pedaling hard now. He waved and yelled at passing cars but was careful not to show down. He saw a steep uphill climb before him. He knew that   once he hit the hill, he’d be easy caught up and the wolf’s teeth would be tearing into his flesh.

At this moment, Paul and Beeky were driving their car on their way to Alaska. They didn’t think much of it when they saw two cyclists repairing their bike on the side of the road. A bit later, they spotted what they, too, assumed was a dog running alongside a man on a bike. As they got closer, they realized that the dog was a wolf. Mac heard a large vehicle behind him. He pulled in front of it as the wolf was catching up fast, just a dozen yards away now.

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Modern medicine’s ability to keep us alive makes it tempting to think human evolution may have stopped. But if we look at the rate of our DNA’s evolution, we can see that human evolution hasn’t stopped – it may even be happening faster than before.

Evolution is a gradual change to the DNA of a species over many generations. It can occur by natural selection, when certain traits created by genetic changes help an organism survive or reproduce. Such genes are thus more likely to be passed on to the next generation, so they increase in frequency in a population. Gradually, these changes and their associated traits become more common among the whole group.

By looking at global studies of our DNA, we can see evidence that natural selection has recently made changes and continues to do so. Though modern healthcare disrupts a key driving force of evolution by keeping some people alive longer, in countries without access to good healthcare, populations are continuing to evolve. Survivors of infectious disease outbreaks drive natural selection by giving their genetic resistance to offspring. Our DNA shows evidence for recent selection for resistance of killer diseases like Lassa fever and malaria. Selection in response to malaria remains in regions where the disease remains common.

Humans are also adapting to their environment. Gene change allowing humans to live at high altitudes have become more common in populations in Tibet, Ethiopia, and the Andes. The spread of genetic changes in Tibet is possibly the fastest evolutionary change in humans, occurring over the past 3,000 years. This rapid increase in frequency of a mutated gene that increases blood oxygen content gives locals a survival advantage in higher altitudes, resulting in more surviving children.

Diet is another source for adaptations. Studies show that natural selection favoring a change allowing adults to produce lactase – the enzyme (酶) that breaks down milk sugars – is why some groups of people can digest milk. Over 80 per cent of northwest Europeans can, but in parts of East Asia, where milk is much less commonly drunk, an inability to digest lactose is the norm. Like high altitude adaptation, selection to digest milk has evolved more than once in humans and may be the strongest kind of recent selection.

Yet, despite these changes, natural selection only affects about 8 per cent of our genome. But scientists can’t explain why some genes are evolving much faster than others. We measure the speed of gene evolution by comparing human DNA with that of other species. One fast-evolving gene is human accelerated region 1 (HAR1), which is needed during brain development. A random section of human DNA is on average more than 98 per cent identical to the chimp comparator, but HAR1 is so fast evolving that it’s only around 85 per cent similar. Though scientists can see these changes are happening – and how quickly – we still don’t fully understand why fast evolution happens to some genes but not others.

1. Which of the following statements may the author agree with?

A．Evolution occurs among several people overnight.

B．Genes may change and some are beneficial to people’s lives.

C．Evolution is done when the whole population possesses a certain gene.

D．The changed genes leading to higher survival rates are chosen deliberately.

2. The underlined word “disrupts” in paragraph 3 can be best replaced by________.

A．explains

B．causes

C．upsets

D．heals

3. The author illustrates humans’ ongoing evolution with the following examples EXCEPT that__________.

A．some people can resist infectious diseases like malaria

B．children in Tibet tolerate living environments with thin air

C．northwestern Europeans digest lactose better than East Asians

D．the human gene HAR1 resembles that of a chimp to a lesser extent

4. Which of the following may serve as the title?

A．What Is Natural Selection?

B．Are Humans Still Evolving?

C．Why Will Certain Genes Evolve?

D．How Do Mutated Genes Function?