1 . When John Todd was a child, he loved to explore the woods around his house, observing how nature solved problems. A dirty stream, for example, often became clear after flowing through plants and along rocks where tiny creatures lived. When he got older, John started to wonder if this process could be used to clean up the messes people were making.

After studying agriculture, medicine, and fisheries in college, John went back to observing nature and asking questions. Why can certain plants trap harmful bacteria (细菌)? Which kinds of fish can eat cancer-causing chemicals? With the right combination of animals and plants, he figured, maybe he could clean up waste the way nature did. He decided to build what he would later call an eco-machine.

The task John set for himself was to remove harmful substances from some sludge (污泥). First, he constructed a series of clear fiberglass tanks connected to each other. Then he went around to local ponds and streams and brought back some plants and animals. He placed them in the tanks and waited. Little by little, these different kinds of life got used to one another and formed their own ecosystem. After a few weeks, John added the sludge.

He was amazed at the results. The plants and animals in the eco-machine took the sludge as food and began to eat it! Within weeks, it had all been digested, and all that was left was pure water.

Over the years, John has taken on many big jobs. He developed a greenhouse — like facility that treated sewage (污水) from 1,600 homes in South Burlington. He also designed an eco-machine to clean canal water in Fuzhou, a city in southeast China.

“Ecological design” is the name John gives to what he does. “Life on Earth is kind of a box of spare parts for the inventor,” he says. “You put organisms in new relationships and observe what’s happening. Then you let these new systems develop their own ways to self-repair.”

1. What can we learn about John from the first two paragraphs?

A．He was fond of traveling.	B．He enjoyed being alone.
C．He had an inquiring mind.	D．He longed to be a doctor.

2. Why did John put the sludge into the tanks?

A．To feed the animals.	B．To build an ecosystem.
C．To protect the plants.	D．To test the eco-machine.

3. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning Fuzhou?

A．To review John’s research plans.	B．To show an application of John’s idea.
C．To compare John’s different jobs.	D．To erase doubts about John’s invention.

4. What is the basis for John’s work?

A．Nature can repair itself.	B．Organisms need water to survive.
C．Life on Earth is diverse.	D．Most tiny creatures live in groups.

2 . On Oct. 11, hundreds of runners competed in a cross-country race in Minnesota. Melanie Bailey should have _________ the course earlier than she did. Her _________ came because she was carrying a _________ across the finish line.

As reported by a local newspaper, Bailey was more than two-thirds of the way through her _________ when a runner in front of her began crying in pain. She _________ to help her fellow runner, Danielle Lenoue. Bailey took her arm to see if she could walk forward with _________. She couldn’t. Bailey then _________ to let Lenoue climb onto her back and carried her all the way to the finish line, then another 300 feet to where Lenoue could get _________ attention.

Once there, Lenoue was _________ and later taken to a hospital, where she learned that she had serious injuries in one of her knees. She would have struggled with extreme __________ to make it to that aid checkpoint without Bailey’s help.

As for Bailey, she is more __________ about why her act is considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her,” Bailey told the reporter. “I feel like I was just doing the right thing.”

Although the two young women were strangers before the __________, they’ve since become friends. Neither won the race, but the __________ of human kindness won the day.

1.

A．designed

B．followed

C．changed

D．finished

2.

A．delay

B．chance

C．trouble

D．excuse

3.

A．judge

B．volunteer

C．classmate

D．competitor

4.

A．race

B．school

C．town

D．training

5.

A．agreed

B．returned

C．stopped

D．promised

6.

A．courage

B．aid

C．patience

D．advice

7.

A．went away

B．stood up

C．stepped aside

D．bent down

8.

A．medical

B．public

C．constant

D．equal

9.

A．interrupted

B．assessed

C．identified

D．appreciated

10.

A．hunger

B．pain

C．cold

D．tiredness

11.

A．worried

B．ashamed

C．confused

D．discouraged

12.

A．game

B．problem

C．lesson

D．deal

13.

A．leave

B．cure

C．bother

D．understand

14.

A．ride

B．test

C．meet

D．show

15.

A．secret

B．display

C．benefit

D．exchange

3 . Personal Forgiveness

Taking responsibility for mistakes is a positive step, but don’t beat yourself up about them. To err (犯错) is human.     1     You can use the following writing exercise to help you do this.

In a journal or on a piece of paper, put the heading “Personal strengths.”     2     Are you caring? Creative? Generous? A good listener? Fun to be around? They don’t have to be world-changing, just aspects of your personality that you’re proud of.

At the top of a second page, put the heading “Acts of kindness.” On this one, list all the positive things you’ve done for others. It might be the time when you helped a friend with their homework, when you did the ironing without being asked, or when you baked cookies after the family had had a tiring day.     3    

You could ask a friend or family member to help add to your list.     4     That way, you could exchange thoughts on what makes each of you special and the aspects of your personality that shine through. In fact, don’t wait until you’ve made a mistake to try this — it’s a great way to boost self-confidence at any time.

It’s something of a cliché (陈词滥调) that most people learn not from their successes but their mistakes. The thing is, it’s true.     5     We’ re all changing and learning all the time and mistakes are a positive way to develop and grow.

A．A little self-forgiveness also goes a long way.

B．Now list all the characteristics you like about yourself.

C．They might even like to have a go at doing the exercise.

D．It’s just as important to show yourself some forgiveness.

E．It doesn’t mean you have to ignore what’s happened or forget it.

F．Whatever it is, no matter how small it might seem, write it down.

G．Whatever the mistake, remember it isn’t a fixed aspect of your personality.

4 . Bike Rental & Guided Tours

Welcome to Amsterdam, welcome to MacBike. You see much more from the seat of a bike! Cycling is the most economical, sustainable and fun way to explore the city, with its beautiful canals, parks, squares and countless lights. You can also bike along lovely landscapes outside of Amsterdam.

Why MacBike

MacBike has been around for almost 30 years and is the biggest bicycle rental company in Amsterdam. With over 2,500 bikes stored in our five rental shops at strategic locations, we make sure there is always a bike available for you. We offer the newest bicycles in a wide variety, including basic bikes with foot brake (刹车), bikes with hand brake and gears (排挡), bikes with child seats, and children’s bikes.

Prices

	Hand Brake, Three Gears	Foot Brake, No Gears
1 hour	€7.50	€5.00
3 hours	€11.00	€7.50
1 day (24 hours)	€14.75	€9.75
Each additional day	€8.00	€6.00

Guided City Tours

The 2.5-hour tour covers the Gooyer Windmill, the Skinny Bridge, the Rijksmuseum, Heineken Brewery and much more. The tour departs from Dam Square every hour on the hour, starting at 1:00 pm every day. You can buy your ticket in a MacBike shop or book online.

1. What is an advantage of MacBike?

A．It gives children a discount.	B．It offers many types of bikes.
C．It organizes free cycle tours.	D．It has over 2,500 rental shops.

2. How much do you pay for renting a bike with hand brake and three gears for two days?

A．€15.75.

B．€19.50.

C．€22.75.

D．€29.50.

3. Where does the guided city tour start?

A．The Gooyer, Windmill.	B．The Skinny Bridge.
C．Heineken Brewery.	D．Dam Square.

5 . The goal of this book is to make the case for digital minimalism, including a detailed exploration of what it asks and why it works, and then to teach you how to adopt this philosophy if you decide it’s right for you.

To do so, I divided the book into two parts. In part one, I describe the philosophical foundations of digital minimalism, starting with an examination of the forces that are making so many people’s digital lives increasingly intolerable, before moving on to a detailed discussion of the digital minimalism philosophy.

Part one concludes by introducing my suggested method for adopting this philosophy: the digital declutter. This process requires you to step away from optional online activities for thirty days. At the end of the thirty days, you will then add back a small number of carefully chosen online activities that you believe will provide massive benefits to the things you value.

In the final chapter of part one, I’ll guide you through carrying out your own digital declutter. In doing so, I’ll draw on an experiment I ran in 2018 in which over 1,600 people agreed to perform a digital declutter. You’ll hear these participants’ stories and learn what strategies worked well for them, and what traps they encountered that you should avoid.

The second part of this book takes a closer look at some ideas that will help you cultivate (培养) a sustainable digital minimalism lifestyle. In these chapters, I examine issues such as the importance of solitude (独处) and the necessity of cultivating high-quality leisure to replace the time most now spent on mindless device use. Each chapter concludes with a collection of practices, which are designed to help you act on the big ideas of the chapter. You can view these practices as a toolbox meant to aid your efforts to build a minimalist lifestyle that works for your particular circumstances.

1. What is the book aimed at?

A．Teaching critical thinking skills.	B．Advocating a simple digital lifestyle.
C．Solving philosophical problems.	D．Promoting the use of a digital device.

2. What does the underlined word “declutter” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Clear-up.

B．Add-on.

C．Check-in.

D．Take-over.

3. What is presented in the final chapter of part one?

A．Theoretical models.	B．Statistical methods.
C．Practical examples.	D．Historical analyses.

4. What does the author suggest readers do with the practices offered in part two?

A．Use them as needed.	B．Recommend them to friends.
C．Evaluate their effects.	D．Identify the ideas behind them.

6 . As cities balloon with growth, access to nature for people living in urban areas is becoming harder to find. If you’re lucky, there might be a pocket park near where you live, but it’s unusual to find places in a city that are relatively wild.

Past research has found health and wellness benefits of nature for humans, but a new study shows that wildness in urban areas is extremely important for human well-being.

The research team focused on a large urban park. They surveyed several hundred park-goers, asking them to submit a written summary online of a meaningful interaction they had with nature in the park. The researchers then examined these submissions, coding (编码) experiences into different categories. For example, one participant’s experience of “We sat and listened to the waves at the beach for a while” was assigned the categories “sitting at beach” and “listening to waves.”

Across the 320 submissions, a pattern of categories the researchers call a “nature language” began to emerge. After the coding of all submissions, half a dozen categories were noted most often as important to visitors. These include encountering wildlife, walking along the edge of water, and following an established trail.

Naming each nature experience creates a usable language, which helps people recognize and take part in the activities that are most satisfying and meaningful to them. For example, the experience of walking along the edge of water might be satisfying for a young professional on a weekend hike in the park. Back downtown during a workday, they can enjoy a more domestic form of this interaction by walking along a fountain on their lunch break.

“We’re trying to generate a language that helps bring the human-nature interactions back into our daily lives. And for that to happen, we also need to protect nature so that we can interact with it,” said Peter Kahn, a senior author of the study.

1. What phenomenon does the author describe at the beginning of the text?

A．Pocket parks are now popular.	B．Wild nature is hard to find in cities.
C．Many cities are overpopulated.	D．People enjoy living close to nature.

2. Why did the researchers code participant submissions into categories?

A．To compare different types of park-goers.	B．To explain why the park attracts tourists.
C．To analyze the main features of the park.	D．To find patterns in the visitors’ summaries.

3. What can we learn from the example given in paragraph 5?

A．Walking is the best way to gain access to nature.

B．Young people are too busy to interact with nature.

C．The same nature experience takes different forms.

D．The nature language enhances work performance.

4. What should be done before we can interact with nature according to Kahn?

A．Language study.	B．Environmental conservation.
C．Public education.	D．Intercultural communication.

7 . As an artist who shares her journey on social media, I’m often asked by curious followers how to begin an art journey. Unfortunately, there is no magic list I can offer. I do remember, though, what it was like to be a complete beginner. So I’ve put together some good tips for starting an art journey.

·Start small. I suggest using a sketchbook (素描本) for small studies. These small studies provide inspiration and may be a springboard for more complex works in the future.     1     You’ll want to look back on your journey to see how far you’ve come.

·Paint often and paint from life. There’s no better way to improve than to put in those brush miles. Whether you paint still lifes, portraits, or landscapes, paint from life as much as possible.     2    

·Continually challenge yourself to try something new.     3     Artistic growth can be a bit painful. Welcome to the club；we’ve all been there. I love taking on challenges. I once took up a challenge to create a painting every day for a month and post the works online.

·    4     Seeking and accepting constructive feedback (反馈) is crucial to growth. I post my work on social media and, in turn, have met some of the kindest people. They make me feel valued and respected, no matter my level of artistic ability.

The journey you’re on won’t follow a straight path.     5     Push through, give it time and put in the effort. You will harvest the rewards of an artistic life.

A．Get out of your comfort zone.

B．Make career plans and set goals.

C．Don’t throw away your beginner art.

D．Share your work if you feel comfortable doing so.

E．You’ll hit roadblocks, and you’ll feel discouraged at times.

F．Evaluate your performance and, if needed, redefine your role.

G．You’ll develop that painting muscle memory that only comes with repetition.

8 . Reading Art: Art for Book Lovers is a celebration of an everyday object — the book, represented here in almost three hundred artworks from museums around the world. The image of the reader appears throughout history, in art made long before books as we now know them came into being. In artists’ representations of books and reading, we see moments of shared humanity that go beyond culture and time.

In this “book of books,” artworks are selected and arranged in a way that emphasizes these connections between different eras and cultures. We see scenes of children learning to read at home or at school, with the book as a focus for relations between the generations. Adults are portrayed (描绘) alone in many settings and poses —absorbed in a volume, deep in thought or lost in a moment of leisure. These scenes may have been painted hundreds of years ago, but they record moments we can all relate to.

Books themselves may be used symbolically in paintings to demonstrate the intellect (才智), wealth or faith of the subject. Before the wide use of the printing press, books were treasured objects and could be works of art in their own right. More recently, as books have become inexpensive or even throwaway, artists have used them as the raw material for artworks — transforming covers, pages or even complete volumes into paintings and sculptures.

Continued developments in communication technologies were once believed to make the printed page outdated. From a 21st-century point of view, the printed book is certainly ancient, but it remains as interactive as any battery-powered e-reader. To serve its function, a book must be activated by a user: the cover opened, the pages parted, the contents reviewed, perhaps notes written down or words underlined. And in contrast to our increasingly networked lives where the information we consume is monitored and tracked, a printed book still offers the chance of a wholly private, “off-line” activity.

1. Where is the text most probably taken from?

A．An introduction to a book.	B．An essay on the art of writing.
C．A guidebook to a museum.	D．A review of modern paintings.

2. What are the selected artworks about?

A．Wealth and intellect.	B．Home and school.
C．Books and reading.	D．Work and leisure.

3. What do the underlined words “relate to” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Understand.	B．Paint.
C．Seize.	D．Transform.

4. What does the author want to say by mentioning the e-reader?

A．The printed book is not totally out of date.

B．Technology has changed the way we read.

C．Our lives in the 21st century are networked.

D．People now rarely have the patience to read.

9 . According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.

Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.

“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).

Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.

Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.

1. What do solar developers often ignore?

A．The decline in the demand for solar energy.

B．The negative impact of installing solar panels.

C．The rising labor cost of building solar farms.

D．The most recent advances in solar technology.

2. What does InSPIRE aim to do?

A．Improve the productivity of local farms.

B．Invent new methods for controlling weeds.

C．Make solar projects environmentally friendly.

D．Promote the use of solar energy in rural areas.

3. What is the purpose of the laws mentioned in paragraph 4?

A．To conserve pollinators.	B．To restrict solar development.
C．To diversify the economy.	D．To ensure the supply of energy.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Pollinators: To Leave or to Stay	B．Solar Energy: Hope for the Future
C．InSPIRE: A Leader in Agriculture	D．Solar Farms: A New Development

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。

Beijing is a city bridging the ancient and the modern. From Buddhist temples to museums, narrow hutong     1     royal palaces, it is home to more than 3,000 years of glorious history even down to its layout, with the city keeping its carefully     2     (build) system of ring roads.

But for all its ancient buildings, Beijing is also a place     3     welcomes the fast-paced development of modern life, with 21st-century architectural     4     (wonder) standing side by side with historical buildings of the past.

It is a distinct visual contrast (反差) that shouldn’t work,     5     somehow these two very different worlds make a good combination.     6     (visit) several times over the last 10 years, I     7     (amaze) by the co-existence of old and new, and how a city was able to keep such a rich heritage (遗产) while constantly growing. As a photographer, I have spent the last two years     8       (record) everything I discovered.

The     9     (remark) development of this city, which is consciously designed to protect the past while stepping into the modern world,     10     (mean) there is always something new to discover here, and I could be photographing Beijing for the next 50 years.