2 . While the human world is suffering from the novel coronavirus outbreak, our planet is actually showing certain signs of “recovery” from the damage caused by human activity. According to the BBC, new satellite images released by the European Space Agency showed that levels of air pollutants and greenhouse gases have “fallen sharply” in major cities in Europe and the United States ever since the lockdown started.

This is a great example of how the world can change overnight as soon as people change their behavior—especially after recent discoveries in Antarctica.

An international team of 89 scientists found that the ice in Greenland and Antarctica is melting six times faster in the 2010s than it was in the 1990s. And in February, Argentina’s Marambio research station in Antarctica recorded a record high temperature of 20.75 ℃ on the continent.

So what exactly will happen if the temperature keeps rising and the ice keeps melting? A third study might give you an idea. A team of scientists drilled a hole into the seafloor in west Antarctica and extracted material from underground, in which they found traces of roots, spores and pollen—typical products of a rainforest—that dated back 90 million years ago. In other words, Antarctica was very likely a rainforest back when the dinosaurs walked on Earth.

But given the fact that the South Pole has four months of darkness winter—even millions of years ago—scientists believe that the rainforest could only exist if the greenhouse gas concentrations were extremely high back then to keep the continent warm when there was little or no sunlight. “We didn’t know that this Cretaceous（白垩纪的）greenhouse climate was that extreme,” Johann Klages of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany and a co-author of the research told the Guardian. “It shows us what carbon dioxide is able to do.”

Ice or no ice, Antarctica will be—and has always been—fine with extreme changes. The human world, however, may not be.

Now, during the coronavirus lockdown, we’ve seen the changes resulting from less human activity. Hopefully, we’ll hold on to those changes—not for Antarctica or the planet, but for ourselves.

1. What message does the author mainly want to convey in the first paragraph?

A．The air pollution issue in major cities urgently needs to be dealt with.

B．The novel coronavirus outbreak has resulted in a damage to nature.

C．Reduced human activity is beneficial to the healing process of the earth.

D．The novel coronavirus outbreak has changed the patterns of human activity.

2. What can we learn from the recent discoveries in Antarctica?

A．The climate in Antarctica can change overnight.

B．The greenhouse effect in Antarctica is extremely severe.

C．The high temperature in Antarctica is caused by climate change.

D．The glacier in Antarctica is melting in a faster speed in this century.

3. Why was Antarctica likely to be a rainforest 90 million years ago?

A．Traces of typical elements in a rainforest were found underground.

B．The greenhouse gas concentrations were extremely high back then.

C．The density of carbon dioxide has changed the climate in Antarctica.

D．The temperature in Antarctica have been increasing since the Cretaceous time.

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is True?

A．Human activities do little harm to Antarctica.

B．We should limit carbon dioxide emissions to save ourselves.

C．There is little we can do to recover the environment in Antarctica.

D．Limiting human activities can be used to slow down global warming.

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another and that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often live-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society.

Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse ,“I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.

Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.

1. Why are some people against competition?
2. What is not usually admitted by the people who desire to fail?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
We can discover a new meaning in competition when we believe that one’s self- respect depends on how well one perform in competition.
4. What is your understanding of the meaning of competition? ( about 40 words)

6 . A handshake seems to be a normal gesture. In fact, in the 9th century BC, an ancient site during the ruling of Shalmaneser III clearly shows two figures holding hands. The Iliad, usually dated to the 8th century BC, mentions that two characters “taking each other's hands and expressing their loyalty.” Centuries later, Shakespeare once wrote of two characters-who shook hands and swore to be brothers in the book As You Like It. Shaking hands seems to be an ancient custom whose roots have disappeared in the sands of time.

Historians who have studied ancient etiquette books note that the modern handshake did not appear until the middle of the 19th century, when it was considered a slightly inappropriate gesture that could only be used between friends. But what if Shakespeare had written about handshaking hundreds of years earlier?

According to author Torbjorn Lundmark in his Tales of Hi and Bye: Greeting and Parting Rituals Around the World, the problem comes in differing definitions of the handshake. The early handshakes mentioned above were part of making deals or peace; King Shalmaneser III referred to a rebellion in which he signed a treaty with the King of Babylon. In the Iliad, Diomedes and Glaucus shook hands when they realized they were guest-friends, and Diomedes declared: “Let's not try to kill each other." Shakespeare was similarly referencing settlement of a conflict.

The modern handshake as a form of greeting is harder to trace. As a Dutch sociologist Herman Roodenburg—the chief authority for the history of handshaking—wrote in a chapter of an anthology called A Cultural History of Gesture, “More than in any other field, that of the study of gesture is one in which the historian has to make the most of only a few clues”.

One of the earliest clues he cites is a 16th-century German translation of the French writer Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel. When one character meets Gargantua, Rabelais writes, “He was greeted by countless hugs and countless good days. "But according to Roodenburg, the 16th-century German translation added references to shaking hands.

A popular saying suggests that Cleland's statements against bowing were actually a wish to go back to a potentially traditional method of greeting in Europe. As the centuries progressed ,handshaking was replaced by more hierarchical ways of greeting—like bowing. According to Roodenburg, handshaking survived in a few remote places, like in Dutch towns where some would use the gesture to make peace after disagreements. Around the same time, those who valued equality also made us of handshaking. Then, as the Continent's hierarchy was weakened, handshaking became a common practice among people of the same rank, as it is today.

1. Why does the author mention Shakespeare in the first two paragraphs?

A．To prove that the history of handshaking is hard to find.

B．To illustrate that handshaking is a very old custom.

C．To show readers that handshaking is common in fiction.

D．To explain the value of handshaking in communication.

2. What can we learn about handshaking from the passage?

A．The origin of handshaking as a form of greeting is easy to trace.

B．Citizens usually shake hands to show friendliness in Holland.

C．It was used only between friends and to reach an agreement.

D．It is a common practice between people of different social positions.

3. What is the writing purpose of the passage?

A．To explain why handshaking is not as normal as it seems.

B．To compare the differences between handshaking and other gestures.

C．To trace the history of the practice of handshaking.

D．To illustrate various uses of handshaking in difference areas.

10 . I was the fool at school, regarded as a special needs student. I was termed as such.

Over time, I started to believe in my stupidity. I accepted the fact that I was in special needs classes and poured it out as anger and depression. But one activity ________ this view of myself: chess.

I started to play chess with my father after school simply because I wanted to ________ him at something. My father was a smart man. So, winning in chess against my father would be a ________ that I had intellectual power. On the small chessboard, I had a chance to overcome my so-called inability. Game after game, one weekend, I finally checkmated my father on a ferry ride, which made me feel ________.

Two years later, I joined my school chess team. There came a chance to play against the best players in other states.

My most________ game came in the final round. It was actually a match between a special needs student and a smart soul. My opponent was playing well and kept ________ while I kept defending to keep my king safe. With little ________ left, he started to make rapid moves. ________ he could make the final decision, he ran out of time. Honestly, as his clock flag fell, I jumped up out of my seat and kissed the floor out of excitement. Of course it was not the most sportsmen-like ________, but I could not control my emotions.

While holding my winner’s cup, I knew I was not ________. The inferiority complex had melted away, and I realized that underneath our thoughts, each person is a genius.

1.

A．changed

B．supported

C．questioned

D．showed

2.

A．please

B．comfort

C．beat

D．disturb

3.

A．dream

B．lesson

C．theory

D．sign

4.

A．overjoyed

B．disappointed

C．puzzled

D．interested

5.

A．terrible

B．memorable

C．dangerous

D．popular

6.

A．attacking

B．smiling

C．pausing

D．escaping

7.

A．patience

B．time

C．energy

D．wisdom

8.

A．Once

B．Until

C．Before

D．Unless

9.

A．spirit

B．thought

C．comment

D．behavior

10.

A．proud

B．stupid

C．bright

D．lazy