1 . Food waste is a growing problem both in America and across the globe. In North America alone about 30-40% of food ends up as rubbish each year. While much ends up as rubbish, over 48 million Americans live in households that do not have enough food! Now, concerned citizens are trying to raise awareness of the issue with some creative ideas.
In New York’s Westchester County, students at 18 schools join in a program called We Future Cycle. Started by Anna and Ashley in 2014, it teaches kids to recycle, compost (堆肥), and most importantly control food waste in an easy and efficient manner.
Lunch areas at those schools are equipped with three clearly marked bins— compost, recycle and share. While the first two are common in schools, the third is rare. This is the bin where kids can put their unwanted drinks, fruits, and even untouched sandwiches. Food there is available for any student that wants them. Whatever remains at the end of the day is given to the local soup kitchen or food bank. Anna says the three bins have helped reduce the number of trash bags produced at the mid-day meal from an average of 22 to just 2!
To ensure kids form similar habits at home, the non-profit has created plans to educate families about the importance of sorting waste into the proper streams of recycling, composting, and food to donate. They also urge parents to have open conversations with their kids about food choices.
Kids are not the only ones that waste food. Adults are equally bad, if not worse! To fight that, Brooklyn-based Josh founded Salvage Super Club in 2014. The randomly organized dinners promise customers a multi-course meal for merely 50 dollars per person. The delicious food is made from perfectly safe ingredients (成分) that are past their prime and, therefore, headed for the compost or trash bin.
1. The underlined word “awareness” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________?| A．understanding | B．hope |
| C．doubt | D．value |
| A．Use dustbins instead of plastic bags for left-over food. |
| B．Put their unwanted food in the bins and learn to share. |
| C．Get the children to educate their parents at home. |
| D．Only get single-course food for 50 dollars when eating out. |
| A．Parents are to blame for the children’s bad habits. |
| B．Parents do not encourage children to save food. |
| C．Parents are as wasteful as children about food. |
| D．Parents have set an example for the children. |
| A．More information about food bank. | B．How to improve food production. |
| C．The importance of saving food. | D．Other creative ways to save food. |
We’ve all been there: It’s been a long week at work, so Friday night, you reward yourself by going to bed early and sleeping in. But when you wake up the next morning (or afternoon), your limbs feel like they’re filled with sand. Your brain is still lying down and you even have faint headache. If too little sleep is a problem, then why is extra sleep a terrible solution?
Actually, oversleep makes you throw off your biological clock. You might be crawling out of bed at 11 am, but your cells started using their energy cycle at seven. Oversleep isn’t just going to ruin your Saturday hike. If you’re oversleeping on the regular, you could be putting yourself at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Harvard’s massive Nurses Health Study found that people who slept 9 to 11 hours a night developed memory problems and were more likely to develop heart disease than people who slept a solid eight. It is estimated that chronic oversleep affects about 4 percent of the population. These are generally people who work odd hours, have an uncomfortable sleep situation, or a sleeping disorder.
Doctors recommend using dark curtains and artificial lights to straighten things out rather than medication or supplements for people who wake up before the suns rise or go to sleep when it’s light out. Plus, if your bed or bedroom is uncomfortable—too hot or cold, messy, or lumpy—your body will spend more time in light sleep. Wanting rest, you’ll sleep longer. So try to avoid it. If everything’s just fine with your sleep zone but you still can’t get under the eight hour mark, you might need to go see a doctor. It could be a symptom of narcolepsy, which makes you sleep in more.
No matter what the causes are, too much sleep is not good for your long term health. Rather than kick the can down the road, try getting some equilibrium(平衡) between your weekend and weekday sleep.
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3 . I’m not the kind of mother who normally brushes and styles her daughter’s hair, and my daughter has
But today, I’ve
I drive Sally to a nearby camp. Once there, we are introduced to Sally’s fellow campers.
I
On the way, I feel a piece of my soul has been taken away. The tears
When I arrive home, I calm down and remind myself
After 12 years of
| A．always | B．never | C．sometimes | D．usually |
| A．silently | B．quietly | C．calmly | D．still |
| A．it | B．one | C．her | D．them |
| A．drew | B．grabbed | C．dragged | D．lifted |
| A．sat | B．laid | C．put | D．set |
| A．although | B．while | C．since | D．so |
| A．first | B．last | C．best | D．most |
| A．visitors | B．friends | C．families | D．neighbors |
| A．better | B．richer | C．quieter | D．safer |
| A．appearance | B．presence | C．performance | D．preference |
| A．Horror | B．Pleasure | C．Indifference | D．Embarrassment |
| A．years | B．hours | C．days | D．minutes |
| A．pull away | B．take away | C．give away | D．put away |
| A．across | B．through | C．over | D．along |
| A．until | B．after | C．before | D．when |
| A．burst | B．stream | C．get | D．turn |
| A．that | B．how | C．what | D．why |
| A．shade | B．shape | C．shadow | D．sample |
| A．personality | B．style | C．quality | D．ability |
| A．gradually | B．regularly | C．occasionally | D．constantly |
4 . Jeff was diagnosed in 2010 with multiple myeloma(多发性骨髓瘤). It is a disease that is usually noticed when grandpa falls and breaks his hip. The average patient is in his early 70s. But Jeff was only 50 when diagnosed.
“I wondered why me, as a young guy?” Jeff says. But his relative youth and good health has put him in a position to fight the disease in his way.
In January Jeff and his wife Ramona will join a team climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and funds for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. It’s an adventure he’s dreamed about since the 4th grade.
Jeff will be one of four in the group who are myeloma patients not willing to be threatened by cancer. He and Ramona have raised nearly $18,000 toward their combined goal of $20,000.
Still, he’s confident that his earlier marathon training has prepared him to climb the highest free-standing mountain in the world. “I just have to deal with it and understand my limitations.” he says.
What Jeff sees is a clear future. “Having cancer narrows the focus about what we want to do and who we want to do it with.” he says. He and Ramona now ask themselves, “How do we go out and live the most fulfilling lives? Who are the most important people in our lives? What brings us joy?”
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is their next adventure, but Jeff knows it won’t be just a personal accomplishment. “I do these things for all the people who can’t.” he says.
Jeff is certain that his passion for hiking and adventure will take him to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and that his story will inspire those with multiple myeloma to keep sight of who they are beyond their diagnosis.
“It’s obvious to me,” he says, “that this is part of my fate.”
1. What can we know about multiple myeloma according to the text?| A．It’s a deadly disease that can’t be cured. |
| B．It’s a disease that usually occurs around the age of 50. |
| C．It’s a disease that only affects men. |
| D．It’s a disease that Jeff has fought against on his terms. |
| A．To get enough physical training to be stronger. |
| B．To show love for climbing high mountains. |
| C．To express determination to overcome the disease. |
| D．To raise awareness and money for the organization. |
| A．Worried | B．Optimistic | C．Favorable | D．Indifferent |
| A．Part of fate. | B．Power of willingness. |
| C．Love for adventure. | D．An unusual disease. |
5 . Emotional Debt
Many people today live under the weight of debt from loans or credit cards. As harmful as financial debt is, there is another form of debt that is even more damaging－emotional debt.
Take specific steps to solve your emotional debt now instead of dealing with the consequences later.
| A．People with destructive patterns should check their lives for signs of unsolved pain. |
| B．Throughout the years, we have chances for happiness, love and success. |
| C．Your emotional debt can come from various forms of past abuse of overlook. |
| D．If the pain is not dealt with, it will affect us our entire lives. |
| E．When we have a tendency to respond inappropriately, we often hurt those around us. |
| F．Recognize your feelings, but don’t focus on them all the time. |
| G．This puts you in charge and limits the power your emotions have over you. |
6 . Slow Food is a global food network, founded in 1989 in Italy by food activist Carlo Petrini, which has grown to over 100,000 members across 153 countries, including 31 local branches within Australia. Slow food is good, clean and fair food. People who eat slow food believe that the food they eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment or our health; and that food producers should receive fair reward for their work.
Slow food movement has happened to fight against fast food and fast life, by encouraging us to revalue the time we spend in preparing, sharing, and consuming food. It aims to enhance the personal connection between food producers and consumers, and reduce our reliance on mass-produced foods purchased from supermarkets.
It also advocates for environmental agricultural techniques and encourages the reduction of food additives. Perhaps most importantly, it attempts to show how we can revalue the time we spend on food so as to spend quality food time for our personal (mental and physical) and collective (social, cultural, and environmental) benefits.
Slow Food guides us to take the time to enjoy one of life’s daily pleasures. There’s no doubt that cooking and eating in general is a lot more enjoyable for life when we’re not slaves of time. “Time” serves as a key factor for people’s interest in Slow Food as a form of reasonable consumption, but also a key challenge in terms of adopting a Slow Food lifestyle. And that’s why everybody is always in a hurry, because they don’t actually value that that’s an important thing to stop. Slowing down requires one to spend more time in educating oneself about food and then obtaining ethically produced food (放心食物).
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．Slow Food leads us to spend time enjoying both cooking and eating. |
| B．Slow Food was started to fight against fast food and fast life. |
| C．Slow Food has improved the quality of food and agriculture. |
| D．Slow Food is a global network founded in Australia. |
| A．a lack of healthy life style | B．a preference for fast food |
| C．a lack of free time | D．a lack of cooking experience |
| A．negative | B．supportive | C．critical | D．enthusiastic |
It was the end of the summer holiday, and school would open in two weeks, which means we kids only had a very short period of time to enjoy. However, the holiday was so boring that it was impossible for me to find something fun to do. When I had successfully contacted all of my friends, one of them suggested that we all should go down to the sea and just relax.
It wasn’t fun at first, just relaxing on the beach, seeing an old man repair an ancient-looking boat, but it was clearly on our minds to jump into the sea and just take a swim in the clear cold water because it was getting so hot. So we stripped off our clothes and dived into the water. The salt water was so truly cool and refreshing that we splashed cold water in each other’s faces.
“You shouldn’t swim that day,’’ The old man advised. “There is a storm coming up.” Enjoying the soft sea wind, I didn’t take it seriously. “If you go further there you’ll be sorry,” the old man called after me. “Thanks for your reminding, we know very well in our heart.” I replied and walked into the gentle waves. We were having so much fun that I didn’t notice how far I had reached into the sea as the water had almost reached my chest.
Suddenly, a gust of wind lifted a huge wave over me and threw me further away. My friends failed to reach me so they swam ashore and screamed for help. Then white caps began rolling in and it became harder to swim against the currents. Before I knew it, before I could do anything to maintain my balance in the deep water, I was bringing my whole entire body into the sea.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Frightened, I tried to resurface from the water.
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Then, just as it seemed as if I would sink into the sea, I heard a loud voice.
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8 . Practice doesn’t always make perfect when it comes to becoming the next Mozart, a new study suggests. Researchers compared pairs of identical twins, and found that no matter how hard one twin had practised, the other twin who had practiced much less still had an equal level of ability in certain musical skills. This may be because some aspects of musical talent are built into the genes (基因), the researchers said.
Miriam Mosey, a scientist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and her team looked at the DNA of 1, 211 pairs of adult identical twins, who share almost 100 percent of their genes. Identical twins are born from the same single egg and often look very similar in appearance. They also examined the DNA of 1,358 pairs of fraternal twins (异卵双胞胎), who share an average of 50 percent of their genes. Those who played a musical instrument or sang reported how many years they practiced, and for how many hours a week.
Mosey then tested their musical abilities to see if practice had an effect on ability. She looked at how well people could tell differences in pitch (音调).
Like most people, Mosey used to think that those who put in more practice time would earn higher scores on their ability than those who practiced less. But when she compared lifetime practice scores with musical abilities between identical twins, Mosey found no relationship between the amount of practice time and her level of musical ability. Two twins could have an equal level of musical ability, no matter how much more one twin practiced compared with the other.
The researchers concluded that genetics play a larger role than practice in certain aspects of musical talent.
Mosey and her colleagues made another interesting finding: Genes may determine a person’s motivation (动机) to practice. The majority of participants who reported practicing a lot also shared a high percentage of the same genes.
1. What do you know about identical twins?| A．They often look different. | B．They are usually very alike. |
| C．They share same interests. | D．They share 100 percent of their genes. |
| A．Those who practice more will have higher musical ability. |
| B．Fraternal twins have more musical talent than identical twins. |
| C．Those who practice more are likely to have similar genes. |
| D．Twins may obtain similar musical ability if they practice enough. |
| A．education magazine | B．scientific magazine | C．social report | D．medical report |
The magic necklace
Josie went to her grandmother’s house for summer holiday. One day, when Grandma was making lunch, Josie felt bored and wanted to do something interesting. She saw an old and dusty box in her room. She was digging through her grandmother’s things in the box when she found a necklace with a big purple stone in it. The stone, shining with inner light, was so beautiful that she loved it so much. She sat down on the floor, stared at the stone and became lost in the necklace, trying to see what was within the stone.
However, she did not notice the world around her became foggy and began to fade. The lines between worlds began to be unclear, and when she finally shook her head and tried to wake up, she found that she was in another world! She was surprised and excited, because things had become so different in this world.
The sky looked strange, because it was purple. The grass was blue, and the trees around her were tall. Bugs of bright colours and different shapes flew around her, and the light came from a pair of suns in the sky. Nearby, pink water flowed at a black sand beach. Everything was so different and interesting.
She walked around for a time, amazed by what she saw. She walked along the beach, feeling the black sand between her toes. She drank some pink water, which was sweet, like sugar water, and then she ran through the forest, where trees smiled at her when she passed. It was all so strange and beautiful.
After several hours travelling in this magic land, Josie began to feel hungry and tired. Suddenly she realized that she didn’t know how to get home. She was frightened and worried about what to do. After thinking for a few moments, she realized that the necklace must be the key to the world she belonged.
Paragraph 1:
She grabbed (抓) the necklace around her neck and looked into it.
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Paragraph 2:
Filled with many questions, she rushed downstairs to tell her grandmother what she’d seen.
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People around the globe have been mourning the death of Chinese scientist Yuan Longping,
Born in Beijing in 1930, Yuan devoted his entire life
Having spent over five decades in hybrid rice research, Yuan has helped China work a great wonder—
