1 . Even though they are lifeless objects, sand dunes (沙丘) can “communicate” with each other, researchers have found. A team from the University of Cambridge has found that as they move, sand dunes interact with their downstream neighbours and force them away.
It’s well-known that active sand dunes move around. Generally speaking, smaller dunes move faster and larger dunes move slower. And what hasn’t been understood is whether and how dunes within a field interact with each other.
“There are different views on dune interaction: one is that dunes of different sizes will hit each other until they form one giant dune.” said Karol Bacik, the study’s author. Now, Bacik and his workmates have shown results that query these explanations.
Water-filled flumes (水槽) are common tools for studying the movement of sand dunes in a lab setting, but the dunes can only be observed until they reach the end of the flume. Instead, Dr Nathalie Vriend, who led the research, and the members of her lab designed a circular flume, so that the dunes could be observed for hours, while high-speed cameras allowed them to record the movement of the dunes.
The two dunes in the study started with the same amount of sand. As the flow began to move across the two dunes, they started moving. At first, the front dune moved faster than the back dune, but as the experiment continued, the front dune began to slow down, until the two dunes were moving at almost the same speed. Besides, the type of flow across the two dunes was observed to be different: the front dune changed the flow’s direction, generated swirls (旋涡) on the back dune and pushed it away. As the experiment continued, the dunes got further and further apart.
“The next step for the research is to find evidence of large-scale and complex dune migration in deserts. By tracking clusters of dunes over long periods, we can observe whether measures to change the migration of dunes are effective or not, which will be a way to cope with the desertification (沙漠化),” Vriend said.
1. What is people’s previous view on sand dunes?| A．They can hardly keep active all the time. |
| B．Dunes have negative effects on each other. |
| C．Their speed has nothing to do with their size. |
| D．Dunes of different sizes will eventually mix together. |
| A．Follow. | B．Advance. | C．Question. | D．Understand. |
| A．The front dune is attracted by the back dune. |
| B．The back dune can change the front dune’s direction. |
| C．The front dune tries to keep its distance from the back dune. |
| D．The front and the back dunes will form one giant dune at last. |
| A．It is worthless. |
| B．It is meaningful. |
| C．It is challenging. |
| D．It is disappointing. |
2 . Confucius in Foreigners’ Eyes
I first met Confucius in a friend’s living room, nearly10 years ago. OK,
It was a collection of his most famous lines, printed and bound and resting on a coffee table. As I scanned the pages, a vision of the man began to form in my mind.
It wasn’t until last Saturday, though, that I finally had a chance to put a name to the face-that of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, who plays the sage in the new biopic Confucius.
In the movie, we see a man who is all at once humble and wise and humorous and intelligent and disciplined and firm and clever.
Even when Zhou’s character all but throws herself on Confucius,
If this is, indeed, the real man, meeting him would be, all at once, an incredibly exhilarating experience and also a very depressing one.
For example, I cannot imagine walking away from the temptress without the assistance of a supernatural power-no matter how many of the sage’s proverbs I had internalize.
In this sense, I am more in awe of Confucius than ever before. A person’s words take on far more significance when he or she actually lives them out.
If Confucius really was the man that Chow portrays,
| A．In the movie, Confucius talks of changing oneself from within. |
| B．he was indeed one for the ages. |
| C．he must be a person beyond imagination. |
| D．so it wasn’t really the bearded Chinese philosopher. |
| E．thus, it wasn’t the philosopher I had pictured in my mind. |
| F．the philosopher walks away with barely a trace of desire on his face. |
| G．I went to see the film knowing very little of Confucius’ personal story. |
3 . The aim of students who came to school is to study. But to study requires a right way, or you waste either the time or the money. The following are the ways of studying.
The best time for reading is morning, because in the morning, the air is fresh and the mind is clear. For that reason, we can get good results.
In studying we must have patience. If we have not known a text well, we must read it again. We should not read the next one till we have learned the first one.
When we are studying, we must put our hearts into the book, or we can get nothing from the book while we are reading.
We must always ask “whys”. If it is not well understood, write it down and ask our teachers or our parents, or friends. In any possible way, we must know it completely and what we’ve learned can be used well and made better.
Though there are many ways for studying, yet the above mentioned will be quite enough if we can keep them in heart and do so.
1. The passage tells us ________.| A．the importance of reading |
| B．to pay attention to the ways of studying |
| C．to read in the morning |
| D．to have patience in studying |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．easy to understand it well | B．better to get something from it |
| C．impossible for us to get something from it | D．possible to learn something from it |
| A．understand the book well | B．write down the questions |
| C．do with the new words | D．get some questions to ask our teachers |
| A．are not prepared | B．had prepared |
| C．had been prepared | D．are prepared |
5 . Elvis Cortés Hernández grabs his lunch and sits down with his friends. We’re at the General Lázaro Cárdenas school in Ajalpan, deep in the heart of Mexico’s Puebla province. And the ten-year-old is chatting about the school’s vegetable garden, one element of its progressive food policy. “I like to eat in the school dining room,” he says.
The pupils’ involvement in the initiative goes much further than just sitting down to eat lunch together each day: all 96 students, with occasional help from their parents, also have a hand in growing the food themselves in the school’s very own garden. Raised plant beds were put in place after a study by local NGO, SURCOS, discovered high levels of malnutrition in the Náhuatl community in the town of Ajalpan. Eighty-seven percent of youth were found to be suffering from health issues caused by poor diet, itself a product of the economic hardships suffered by the families of the school kids.
The garden, which is currently producing 13 different types of vegetables and is also home to a henhouse, has been responsible for more than just an improvement in the students health. Since the school decided to take an active role in what its children ate, their grades have also gone up. “We are discovering that students’ poor marks are definitely caused by unhealthy eating,” says the School’s Director, José Cirilo Cruz Peralta. “It was a good moment to try and link these two things and make something positive out of it.”
Two members of the school staff, Juan Arturo Córdoba and Matilde Cruz, explain that they also use the garden to aid lessons in multiplication and division as the pupils use rulers to measure out perimeters (周长)and areas for the seed beds. Basic biology lessons are supplied by the hens, who also provide between 15 and 18 eggs each day for the dining room.
The school gives breakfast and lunch to its students every weekday, and the children’s enthusiasm (热情)within their educational place has spread to their home life. Some parents are following the school’s example and creating their own garden plots at home.
1. Why were raised plant beds put in school？| A．To improve students’ health. |
| B．To support basic biology lessons. |
| C．To develop students’ planting skills. |
| D．To beautify the campus environment. |
| A．The weak points of growing gardens. |
| B．The process of growing gardens. |
| C．The skills needed to grow gardens. |
| D．The significance of growing gardens. |
| A．Dissatisfied. | B．Uncared. |
| C．Favorable | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Parents should set a good example to their children. |
| B．The school will give dinner to its students in the future. |
| C．Creating home vegetable gardens may become popular. |
| D．The children’s enthusiasm is hugely inspired by their parents. |
| A．raining cats and dogs | B．killing two birds with one stone |
| C．braving the elements | D．throwing the baby out with the bathwater |
7 .
| Name: Claude Anseri Country: France Native language: French Time in U.S.: 8 months Family: I live with my wife and two-year-old daughter. Work: I was an art school student in France. But now I’m working as a cook. Interests: I love to cook (and eat). I also like to go mountain climbing. |
| Name: Suchen Wang Country: China Native language: Chinese Time in U.S.: 10 months Family: I have 3 boys and 2 girls. They’re all attending school here. My husband is a businessman and lives in Taiwan. Work: I was a math teacher but now I’m a housewife. Interests: I like reading, listening to music and drawing. |
| Name: Norma Ruiz Country: Russia Native language: Russian Time in U.S.: 2 years Family: My mother and 4 brothers live in Russian. I’m here by myself. Work: I worked as a nurse in my country. Here I’m a driver. Interests: I like to see films and buy videos. I love to study. |
| A．Two | B．three | C．four | D．five |
| A．Claude Anseri | B．Norma’s mother | C．Norma Ruiz | D．Suchen Wang |
| A．Claude Anseri | B．Suchen Wang | C．Norma Ruiz | D．Suchen Wang’s husband |
| A．France | B．the U.S. | C．Taiwan | D．Russian |
| A．with her two-year-old daughter | B．with her husband | C．with her mother | D．alone |
8 . Before COVID-19, self-care — caring for ourselves — may have not been a priority for many people.
For some people, self-care may be simply slowing down. It can also mean controlling parts of your life that you can control. This is important when the world around you feels out of control.
Learn something new
For some people, self-care might include doing things they have always wanted to do but never made time for.
Mental health self-care
Another form of self-care is making time to meet with a mental health specialist, if needed. The Associated Press reports that online mental health services have increased during the pandemic. However, meeting with a mental health professional may not be possible for some people.
Be kind to yourself — the best type of self-care
Experts remind us that self-care during the pandemic could feel like riding a rollercoaster — up some days, down on others.
It can help to have a routine — a usual way of doing things. But experts say keep the routine simple.
| A．Never feel out of control |
| B．Slow down and feel in control |
| C．But now it is even more important than usual |
| D．So doctors have suggestions for other ways to reduce stress during the pandemic |
| E．Self-care includes both individual wellness and the wellness of the greater community |
| F．It is also important not to be hard on yourself if you do not keep to your routine every day |
| G．These things include baking, gardening, and learning a new language or some other new skills |
9 . Four Reasons Why Quiet People Are Successful
They listen more than they talk, so they learn a lot
Quiet people don’t fill every conversation with their own thoughts and opinions, and they certainly don’t feel the need to pretend that they know everything.
They can gain trust easily
Quiet people have an advantage when it comes to gaining trust because they don’t overreact to things or wear their feelings on their sleeves.
They are great planners
Quiet people are often successful because they have great planning skills.
Quiet people tend to be more selective about what they focus on, which means they are less likely to be distracted (分心) by other people or things around them. They can focus on a task with single-minded determination and finish it faster than those who talk too much or get distracted easily by their surroundings.
| A．They seldom show off |
| B．They are more concentrated |
| C．They often have a lot of fresh ideas |
| D．Instead, they are more likely to take in what others say |
| E．For this reason, people who talk less are often seen as more honest |
| F．They know how to map out their goals and accomplish them efficiently |
| G．Additionally, quiet individuals also have the ability to concentrate for a long time |
10 . In 1980, Dad was diagnosed(诊断) with a serious disease. The disease
“Oh, you know, dear, the same. They treat me like a mushroom around here. They keep me in the dark.” He laughed, proud of his
As I walked through the kitchen, I stopped to hug Mom. She
Care-giving comes at a
| A．affected | B．connected | C．gathered | D．improved |
| A．used | B．hated | C．agreed | D．had |
| A．happy | B．crazy | C．curious | D．normal |
| A．beat | B．scare | C．refuse | D．hug |
| A．information | B．joy | C．humour | D．protest |
| A．held | B．washed | C．nodded | D．shook |
| A．help | B．enjoy | C．challenge | D．remind |
| A．leaving | B．continuing | C．chatting | D．complaining |
| A．short | B．bad | C．deep | D．last |
| A．heard from | B．trapped in | C．figured out | D．checked on |
| A．Gradually | B．Typically | C．Thankfully | D．Regularly |
| A．awarded | B．identified | C．fancied | D．appreciated |
| A．price | B．ceremony | C．time | D．distance |
| A．care | B．independence | C．laughter | D．energy |
| A．permission | B．love | C．response | D．honesty |
