1 . A 29-year-old woman Chelsea Haley of Marietta, Georgia, who adopted (收养) a former student and his brother, is now celebrating being completely debt-free. She has paid off a total of $ 48,683.41 — the amount she owed in credit cards and student loans with interest. “It doesn’t feel real yet,” Haley, mom of Jerome, 17, and Jace, 6, told the press.

Haley was teaching in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2015, on a two-year commitment to Teach for America, which is an organization that finds recent college graduates to work in low-income schools. Her son, Jerome, was in her 4th-grade class at the time.

When Haley saw Jerome having difficulty in progressing academically, she started spending time with him — going to his football games, buying him school supplies and more. Soon, Haley adopted Jerome together with his brother. “Being their mom is the greatest blessing of my life,” Haley said.

Haley went to all the expense of adopting the two boys. She also borrowed money to afford taking care of them, which increased the difficulty for her to pay their student loans. Determined to rid herself of debt, Haley took on part-time jobs. On top of being a teacher, she was teaching an individual student or a small group in her spare time a couple of days a week. On Fridays, she was paid extra to stay late at the school and work as the building manager. Haley also delivered (送) groceries. She sold her home and moved back to live with her parents on Nov. 6. Her goal is to save money for a new house and prepare Jerome for college. Both boys are doing well in school.

“It allows me to focus on the boys’ future,’’ Haley said. “Earning and saving money for them, and not spending money saved in the past.”

Her advice for making a determined effort to free us of debt is never to ignore your spending and stick to a plan.

1. How did Chelsea Haley feel when she had just paid off the debt?

A．Unforgettable.	B．Unbelievable.
C．Unpredictable.	D．Unacceptable.

2. When did Haley start to help Jerome?

A．As soon as Jerome first became her student at school.

B．Immediately she came to the school Jerome studied in.

C．When she found Jerome had difficulty studying further.

D．After she had decided to adopt Jerome and his brother.

3. What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Why Haley returned to live with her parents.

B．Why Haley kept herself busy making a living.

C．What part-time jobs Haley did to earn money.

D．How Haley managed to pay off her debt finally.

4. According to Haley, what is the most important for her success?

A．Making a practical plan.	B．Relying on your savings.
C．Getting help from parents.	D．Borrowing friends’ money.

2 . On a September night almost anywhere in southern Europe, you might see beech trees rustle (发出沙沙声) with activity. If you shine a light into the branches，you may see animals with large eyes and bushy tails.

They are called fat dormice. Despite their name, all types of dormice are more closely related to squirrels than mice. That explains their bushy tails and why they hang out in trees and bushes. But most squirrels are active during the day. Like other dormice, fat dormice come out at night.

Once the sun sets, fat dormice go to work filling themselves with beech seeds until they grow fat. These animals add at least half their body weight in just a few weeks. They’re preparing for a winter sleep. Lots of animals hibernate (冬眠),but fat dormice do so for seven or eight months. After putting on plenty of eight, a fat dormouse makes a nest. There it will spend the winter. Its body uses the stored fat for energy while it hibernates. But seven months is a long time,so the dormouse needs to use its energy slowly.

Everything in a fat dormouse’s body slows down when it hibernates. That’s true of all hibernating animals. They breathe more slowly and their hearts beat less often. Those changes help the animals survive several months without eating. But in fat dormice, the bodies slow down even more than the bodies of other hibernating animals that live in similar environments. At temperatures well above freezing (15℃), hibernating fat dormice may breathe only once every 10 minutes. During a midwinter freeze, they breathe only once an hour. Hibernators such as little brown bats and squirrels breathe more often. Their hearts beat more often, too. But those animals hibernate for only five or six months. Fat dormice have to stretch their energy supply for two or three months longer.

Over seven or eight months, the fat dormouse slowly uses up the fat it stored in the fall. In May, it finally wakes up. It is much thinner, very hungry, and ready to make the most of its short summer before it is time to hibernate again.

1. What is a characteristic of fat dormice?

A．They feed on insects.	B．They look the same as mice.
C．They enjoy staying underground.	D．They are active during the night.

2. Why do fat dormice add half their body weight quickly?

A．To fight against enemies.	B．To protect their families.
C．To survive during the winter.	D．To feed baby fat dormice.

3. What can we infer from the figures in Paragraph 4?

A．Fat dormice are super energy savers.

B．Fat dormice are good food searchers.

C．Fat dormice store more energy than other hibernators.

D．Fat dormice breathe more quickly in midwinter than in summer.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To compare several kinds of animals.

B．To introduce a champion of hibernation.

C．To explain how fat dormice earned their name.

D．To show how hibernating animals spend the winter.

3 . The Bad of Online Communication

Today, online services and products are where most development in communication is happening.     1    However, giving online also has a dark side. Some people spend so much time on the Internet that they become totally dependent on it. Psychologists and social scientists worry that if people spend more time with computers than with other people,     2     What happens if Internet addicts forget the rules for normal social behaviour simply from lack of practice? Studies have not shown any definite results yet, but if young people are becoming more nervous when it comes to face-to-face meetings, there are good reasons to be concerned.

Apart from dependency, there are other objections and worries about the Internet.     3     Being open and honest with complete strangers, then arranging to meet them is very dangerous behaviour. It is especially dangerous for young children. And it is increasingly important that parents take note of their children's activities on the Internet.

    4    . As you reveal (透漏) your heart and soul, and name and number，to some trusted chat room friend, there could easily be a hacker taking your information. Some hackers could even be using your identity and password.       5     . Many people say that going online, whether for chatting or surfing the web , has improved their lives. Either way, for better or for worse, website chat rooms are here to stay in one form or another, putting in touch friends, family, and strangers alike.

A．Actually, going online has good points.

B．Why do many think going online is worth trying?

C．Then there is the problem of information being stolen.

D．they will forget how to get on with people face to face.

E．there are rules of polite behavior in face-to-face meetings.

F．Not all people seeking relationships online have innocent intentions.

G．With all these dangers, is going online to communicate really worthwhile?

4 . In the wild, monkeys need to watch out for all sorts of dangers，like leopards (豹），eagles and snakes. But the green monkeys studied by Julia Fischer of the German Primate Center have an additional challenge: they also have to scan the skies for drones (无人机). "Why do we fly a drone over green monkeys?" one may ask. The answer is that Fischer and her colleagues are interested in how monkeys communicate.

In a classic study back in the 1980s, scientists showed that African vervet monkeys (长尾黑频猴) produce alarm calls that are specific to the hunters they meet. For example，vervet monkeys hearing a leopard alarm might climb up a tree hurriedly, whereas the eagle call sends them running for cover under the closest bush.

Now，the green monkeys that live in Senegal share a similar system to warn of leopards and snakes. But they aren’t known to raise much noise in response to bird hunters. Therefore，the researchers decided to fly a drone over them. They treated 80 green monkeys to a show of drones. How did the animals react to these unfamiliar drones?   “These monkeys did respond. And they responded with alarm calls，and they responded by running away,” Fischer said.

Here’s where things get really interesting: the calls the green monkeys made after spotting the drones were different from the ones they used to signal leopards or snakes. But what's even more interesting is that when the researchers did an analysis of the sound，they found that these alarm calls were almost strangely similar to the ones of the African vervets. And the findings are described in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The fact that the two monkey species seem to speak similar language, even though they separated from their last common ancestor some 3 million years ago，suggests that this kind of warning system is unchanged. So if you hear a monkey make alarm calls like that, watch out for a hungry bird, or check to see if your drone has delivered your package.

1. What did the study in the 1980s find about vervet monkeys?

A．They could meet a variety of hunters in Africa.

B．They separated from their very close cousins early.

C．They could hide themselves very well from the hunters.

D．They made particular alarm calls according to the hunters.

2. How did the green monkeys respond to unfamiliar drones?

A．By shouting and climbing up trees.	B．By making noises and playing dead
C．By sending alarms and running away.	D．By hiding themselves under shelters.

3. What does the underlined part “the sound” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A．The alarm calls green monkeys made after spotting the drones.

B．The alarm calls the African vervets made after spotting the drones.

C．The alarm calls green monkeys used to signal leopards or snakes.

D．The alarm calls the African vervets used to signal leopards or snakes.

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Survival of the Fittest— the Choice of Nature

B．The Application of Drones in Scientific Studies

C．Green Monkeys and Their Habits Are Back to Nature Finally

D．Green Monkeys and Their Cousins May Share Similar Language

5 . Tomatoes were first planted in 700 AD by Aztecs and Incas. Explorers returning from Mexico introduced the tomato into Europe, where it was first mentioned in 1556. The French called it “the apple of love”，the Germans “the apple of paradise(乐园）”.

Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and fiber，and are cholesterol(胆固醇）free. An average size tomato (148 grams or so) has only 35 calories. Furthermore, new medical research suggests that the consumption of lycopene(番茄红素) ，the stuff that makes tomatoes red，may prevent cancer. Besides, the fruit now appears to have two more health giving benefits. Protection against sunburn and helping keep the skin looking youthful are the latest pluses, a study has found.

Professor Mark Birch-Machin said tomatoes could provide a cheap and easy way of improving health. Researchers at Manchester and Newcastle universities recommend two tomato-based meals a day for health. Possible menus include a glass of tomato juice with breakfast and a salad later or tomato soup for lunch and pasta(意大利面）with a tomato sauce for dinner.

To test the fruit’s ability to protect the skin，ten volunteers were asked to eat five tablespoons of tomato paste mixed with olive oil every day for three months. Another ten had a daily dose of olive oil - minus the tomato paste. The tests showed the tomato-eaters were a third better protected against sunburn at the end of the study than at the start, the British Society for Investigative Dermatology’s annual conference heard.

The researchers stressed, however, that their findings were not an excuse to throw away the sun cream. Professor Lesley Rhodes, a Manchester University dermatologist, said: “People should not think tomatoes in any way can replace sun creams but they may be a good additive.”

1. Why does the writer talk about the history of tomatoes in Paragraph 1?

A．To lead in the topic.	B．To raise a concern.
C．To introduce a question.	D．To make a statement.

2. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 2?

A．The components of tomatoes.	B．The benefits of tomatoes.
C．The latest findings of tomatoes.	D．The functions of tomatoes on patients.

3. What is the best way to keep the skin looking youthful?

A．Eating more tomatoes.	B．Using more sun cream.
C．Staying inside as often as possible.	D．Using sun cream and eating tomatoes.

4. How do the researchers test tomatoes’ ability to protect the skin against sunburn?

A．By giving an example.	B．By setting up a database.
C．By making a comparison.	D．By analyzing possible reasons.

6 . Just Scream! a hotline which was created by elementary school teacher whose name is Chris Gollmar aimed to reduce tension for those who need an outlet. All you had to do was call the hotline and scream as loud as you wanted.

Chris Gollmar spends his free time working on art projects that invite people to call a phone number and leave a voicemail for other people to hear. He thought that it would be funny and unique to create a phone line just for screaming，and thus he came up with the creative project in September, 2020.

After people dialed in, their calls would be recorded and then put on the website that Chris Gollmar created. “Why should 1 call you?” the website asked “To scream! You might be unhappy, terrified or frustrated. All of these are perfectly good reasons to call the hotline and scream.”

Personal phone numbers were not stored, and all calls went to an answering machine — interacting with a real person wasn’t required.

Chris Gollmar got a large number of recordings after he launched the hotline. “Never in my life would I have expected so many people to actually pick up the phone, dial a number and record themselves for the world to hear,” he said. ‘‘But we’re all screaming on the inside right now. The hotline stopped accepting calls in January, 2021. After that, Chris Gollmar said he would pick a new project to work on."

1. Chris Gollmar invented the hotline with the purpose of________.

A．responding to people’s demands	B．relieving people from pressure
C．creating a way of communication	D．helping deal with conflicts

2. From the passage, we can infer that Chris Gollmar’s hotline was________       .

A．banned

B．popular

C．negative

D．common

3. Compared to other common hotlines, how was Just Scream! special?

A．How the incoming calls were answered.	B．Where the incoming calls were stored.
C．The time when people could get through.	D．The way of dealing with the records.

4. What’s the author’s intention in writing this passage?

A．To share his or her opinion on Chris Gollmar.

B．To arouse readers’ interest in new technology.

C．To give some information on Just Scream.

D．To show how Just Scream! came into being.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Citizen scientists don't     1     （usual）need special training or equipment. It may not even matter where they live. Often, projects are open to people of all     2     （age）. Many participants（参与者）are kids.

“This is an important, real way for young people to take part in science     3     is useful and important,” Darlene Cavalier says. She founded a website     4     （call）SeiStarter. It helps people find projects they might like to take part in.

For NASA's GLOBE Observer program, volunteers use     5     app on a mobile device（设备）to submit（提交）cloud observations. While satellites photograph clouds     6     above, volunteers study them from below. “By     7     （combine）the two, we get a more complete picture," says Jessica Taylor, of NASA. Researchers use the information       8     （learn）about weather and climate change.

There are thousands of citizen science projects to choose from. You can measure light     9     （pollute）, study the diet of ants, or locate bees. Sometimes, volunteers gather information from their own backyard. Other projects happen online. One     10     （provide）underwater images of beluga whales（白鲸）. Volunteers then tell things like each whale's age and gender.

8 . Facial recognition software has found an unlikely new application: scanning the faces of thousands of British children in school canteens.

Nine schools in North Ayrshire will today start taking lunch payments by scanning the faces of pupils, claiming that the new system speeds up queues and is more secure than the card payments and fingerprint scanners they used previously. “It’s the fastest way of recognising someone at the till,” said David Swanston, the managing director of CRB Cunninghams, the company that installed the systems. “In a secondary school you have around a 25-minute period to serve potentially 1,000 pupils. So we need fast productivity at the point of sale.” He said the average transaction time was cut to five seconds per pupil.

However, privacy campaigners say there is little need to spread out facial recognition technology, which has been criticized for often operating without gaining approvals from the owners. Swanston argued that CRB Cunningham’s system, which uses cameras to check against coded face-print modes stored on servers at the schools, was different from live facial recognition systems that scan through crowds to identify faces. Live facial recognition has previously caused debate after being used by schools for security or to monitor attendance.

North Ayrshire committee said that 97 percent of children or their parents had given agreement for the new system. “Pupils often forget their PINs and unfortunately some have also been the victim of PIN cheating, so they are supportive of the planned developments and appreciate the benefits to them,” the council said.

But some parents said they were unsure whether their children had been given enough information to make their decision, and suggested that peer pressure had also played a role.

1. What can we infer from Swanston’s word?

A．He speaks highly of the system.

B．The software is intended to promote the sales.

C．The technology has previously caused debate.

D．The system will be helpful when the students forget their PINs.

2. What is not the advantage of the facial recognition software?

A．It speeds up the queues.

B．It is safer than the previous payments.

C．It operates without being approved of.

D．It benefits the pupils who often forget their PINs.

3. What’s the author’s attitude to the application of facial recognition technology?

A．Supportive	B．Disapproved
C．Objective	D．Critical

4. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．Facial recognition has been the best way adopted so far.

B．Parents disagree with the application of facial recognition system.

C．The facial recognition system can benefit the pupils who are forgetful.

D．Schools speed up canteen queues with facial recognition technology.

9 . If you’re putting together a team for a project, you might tend to pick people with cheerful, optimistic characters and flexible thinking. But a new management study indicates your team might also benefit from people who have the opposite emotions (情感), according to experts from some universities.

The study, co-authored by Jing Zhou, investigates (研究) the effects of "team affective (情感的) diversity" on team creativity. The paper is among the first research to show how, why and under what condition teams "affective diversity" promotes team creativity

Team members with what researchers call "negative affect" exhibit critical and continuous thinking that allows them to find problems needing solutions, as well as to search out and critically evaluate relevant information. On the other hand, team members with "positive affect" engage in broad and flexible thinking that expands their range of information and helps them see unusual and creative connections, the researchers say.

"At any given point of time, some team members may experience positive affect such as joy and inspiration, while others may experience negative affect such as frustration and worry," Zhou said. "Instead of trying to homogenize (使类同) team members' affect, teams should enthusiastically accept affective diversity.”

When a team experiences a high level of this "affective diversity", what Zhou describes as "dual-tuning (双调谐)" leads to greater creativity.

"Our study suggests that teams may be aided in using their affective diversity via involvements that focus on building the team's memory system, which can be accelerated when team members spend time together, share goals, receive information about member specializations and train on the task together," Zhou said.

1. What is the new management study about?

A．Teams benefit more from negative people.

B．People with cheerful characters make good teams

C．Teams only benefit from people with flexible thinking

D．People with negative feelings might also benefit teams.

2. How do team members with "negative affect" influence their teams

A．By addressing problems more efficiently	B．By assessing related materials seriously.
C．By encouraging broad and complicated thinking.	D．By investigating unusual and creative connections

3. How can teams urge the team members' greater creativity?

A．By balancing team members' different emotions	B．By inspiring a high level of the affective diversity.
C．By praising positive affect like joy and inspiration.	D．By avoiding negative affect like sadness and worry.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Use Your Team's Emotions to Promote Creativity	B．Win Great Creativity by Searching for Its Reasons
C．Create an Excellent Team with Optimistic People	D．Homogenize Team Members' Affect Enthusiastically

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式

What would you do if the Internet suddenly disappeared? A recent survey has shown that     1     number of people in the United Kingdom who do not want to use the Internet has risen. These people, who     2     (know) as “net refuseniks”,make up 44% of UK households, or 11.2 million people in number.

The research also showed that more than 70 percent of these people said that they were not     3     (interest) in getting connected to the Internet. This number has risen     4     just over 50% in 2005 to the present 70% , with most lacking in many computer     5     (skill) as a reason for not using the Internet, though some also said it was because of the cost.

More and more people are getting broadband(宽带) and high speed net     6     (be) almost everywhere in the UK, but there are still a lot of people who refuse     7     (take) the first step.

With the cost of getting online going down and internet speeds increasing, many net refuseniks begin to reconsider the     8     (connect) of the Internet. This would encourage them to get connected before they are left too far behind. If the gap(落差) between those     9     use the Internet and those don’t continues to widen, those without broadband will get left behind and miss many chances,     10     (especial) in their work.