2 . World-famous Botanical Gardens

From botanical history to scientific discovery, here are the top picks for people to explore.

Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, England (1840)

Located in London, Royal-Botanic Gardens at Kew are home to the world’s biggest collection of living plants. As a global resource for plant and fungal knowledge, it has more than 50,000 species of native and exotic plants, trees, and flowers on site. It is a setting rich in history that spans from royal decorations to wartime bombing, and its mission is to protect plants for the future of all life on Earth.

The Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou, China (1513)

The Humble Administrators Garden in Suzhou is a great masterpiece with its attractive design and careful arrangement of natural elements. It’s centered around water features, with beautiful fountains, complex rockwork, and historic buildings surrounded by thick vegetation. The combination of these elements creates a picturesque landscape. Because of its exceptional cultural and historical significance, the garden has become a world heritage.

Parque de Monserrate, Sintra, Portugal (1789)

Monserrate is a combination of wild landscape with old ruins, formal lawned areas and lovely gardens. The garden sits on the lower slopes of the Sintra Mountains, which have one of the mildest climates in Europe, so the garden is frost-free. At its very centre is a grand palace, which has a distinctive mixture of different architectural styles. It has been the site of various buildings and gardens for hundreds of years.

Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, USA (1859)

Established in 1859, Missouri Botanical Garden is the oldest botanical garden in continuous use in North America. It is recognized internationally for its scientific research. With almost 50 themed gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden has been involved in the conservation of plants from native American regions and also from Madagascar, China and Central America.

1. Why are the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew established?

A．To collect tropical plants.	B．To conserve various plants.
C．To record the history of British plants.	D．To provide a shelter for people in wartime.

2. What is special about the Humble Administrator’s Garden?

A．It highlights the waterscape.	B．It is surrounded by formal lawns.
C．It includes many themed gardens.	D．It shows different architectural ruins.

3. Where are science lovers most likely to go?

A．London.

B．Suzhou.

C．Sintra.

D．St Louis.

3 . Self-driving cars may sound like something from a futuristic sci-fi novel. However, with advanced trials expected from 2021, they are a lot closer to reality than you may think, and they could really help you.

Connected and automated vehicles (also known as CAVs), are vehicles that could perform many of the functions of today’s human drivers in the future. Aware of the potential benefits of the technology from improving road safety and reducing traffic congestion (拥塞), to enabling greater travel independence-the U. K. government has been encouraging the technology.

“However, we won’t get there unless those designing the technology engage properly with a wide range of transport users,” said lain Forbes, head of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

FLOURISH, one initiative that received government backing, has helped to advance the successful implementation of CAVs in the U. K. by developing services and capabilities which maxi-mise the benefits of driverless vehicles for users and transport authorities.

The project was a collaboration between small and medium companies and large businesses across multiple industries, universities, local authorities and the not-for-profit sector, to investigate how these vehicles might benefit older adults and those with mobility-related conditions.

Mervyn Kohler, an Age U. K. spokesman, believes FLOURISH’s approach will be key to the positive impact self-driving cars have on older adults. “The project’s connectivity findings will also help the users of the future to make real-time journey decisions, responding to live information,” Tracey Poole, FLOURISH’s project manager and transport planning specialist says: “Not only will these vehicles be more inclusive; they will also be safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.”

Although safety is one of the big prizes associated with the introduction of self-driving cars, with the vast majority of collisions caused by human error, concerns about their safety are common.

The government is keen to understand the public’s view on CAVs and continues to survey public attitudes. It is also taking big steps towards establishing how our laws and regulations might need to change to support the safe use of self-driving cars.

1. What is the advantage of self-driving cars?

A．They guarantee road safety.

B．They remove traffic jams.

C．They provide more freedom of traveling.

D．They get over the elder’s dependence on drivers.

2. What does the underlined word “prizes” in paragraph 7 refer to?

A．Awards.	B．Achievements.
C．Realization.	D．Characteristics.

3. What can we infer about self-driving cars?

A．Collisions between self-driving cars can’t be avoided.

B．Self-driving cars are more eco-friendly than today's cars.

C．There is still a way to go before self-driving cars hit the road.

D．People are not worried about the safety problems of self-driving cars.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．CAVs: a substitute for today’s human driver

B．How do CAVs help people less able to travel?

C．FLOURISH: a new project on self-driving cars.

D．Could self-driving cars soon be a reality?

4 . I grew up on a dairy farm. The particular life location to which I got assigned—“stuck” is a better word if you’ve ever been there — was a small family-owned-and-operated outfit.

I remember the Christmas when our main hired hand dropped out of the work rotation. Sixteen and the oldest of the kids left at home, I was called on to fill in. Halfway through the first day, I realized I had never noticed exactly how much that worker did. For five days I either milked or slept, fed calves (牛犊) or slept. I have to admit this gave me a deep appreciation of how hard my parents worked day in and day out for 30 years, and that understanding solidified my determination to do whatever it took to not stay on that dairy farm my whole life.

Eventually, my determination paid off. I got into college. Now, I no longer have to worry about my father’s voice yelling, “Stace, come out here! We need help!” To be honest, I’m grateful. But at the same time, I also don’t have a compelling reason to be up in time to see the beauty of a sunrise. Nor do I have the opportunity to dance with my sister in the dairy barn, work side-by-side with my dad and hear the old stories.

Now, there are whole stretches of days when I don’t feel any pressing need to even go outside. And I can go months without petting an animal or watching in amazement at their keen sense of the environment around them. Instead, I have neighbors within shouting distance but who feel like they live a planet away.

Eighteen years I lived my life on that dairy, not really knowing there were people who didn’t get up and go out and work together to get the same overwhelming tasks done day after day. Sometimes I wish I had never found out there were.

1. What did the author come to understand on her first day working on the farm?

A．She couldn’t manage so much work.

B．Her parents sacrificed a lot for her family.

C．The tasks were dull and challenging.

D．The work was more demanding than expected.

2. What motivated the author to pursue further education?

A．Lack of opportunities on the farm.

B．A passion for academic study.

C．Her dissatisfaction with farm life.

D．Encouragement from her parents.

3. How does the author feel about her life now?

A．Mixed.	B．Regretful.
C．Content.	D．Relieved.

4. What can we infer about the author from the last paragraph?

A．She has become tired of her daily routine.

B．She misses the connections she had before.

C．She regrets leaving her family behind.

D．She has lost interest in the beauty of nature.

5 . Overcoming barriers to exercising

If you’re having trouble beginning an exercise plan or following through, you’re not alone. Detailed exercise instructions and workout plans are just a click awav. But knowing how and why to exercise was far from enough. Making exercise a habit takes more.     1    

While practical concerns like a busy schedule or poor health can make exercise more challenging, for most of us, the biggest barriers are mental. Maybe it’s a lack of self-confidence that keeps you from taking positive steps.     2     . We’ve all been there at some point. There are steps you can take to make exercise-more fun and active.

You don’t have to spend hours in a gym or force yourself into dull or painful activities to experience the physical and mental benefits of exercise.     3     In fact, adding just modest amounts of physical activity to your weekly routine can have a profound effect on your mental and emotional health.

Research shows that self-sympathy increases the likelihood that you’ll succeed in any attempt. So, don’t blame yourself too much for your current fitness level.     4     Instead, look at your past mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow.

    5     Try not to be discouraged by what you can’t accomplish or how far you have to go to reach your fitness goals. Instead, focus on consistency. While the improvements in mood and energy levels may happen quickly, the physical payoff will come in time.

A．Maybe your passion dies down.

B．A little exercise is better than nothing.

C．Expecting too much only leads to frustration.

D．You know there are great reasons to exercise.

E．All that will do is cause you to lose motivation.

F．You need the right mindset and a smart approach.

G．Many of us are struggling to get into the motionless state.

10 . Vegetarians would rather not be forced to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based “planetary diet.” Nowhere is this more visible than in India.

Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.

The EAT report assumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.

In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.

Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.

None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.

But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index, the country ranks 102^nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed, which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.

A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as death.

EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous (明显的) omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.

1. What is more visible in India than anywhere else according to the passage?

A．People’s positive views on the proposals for a “planetary diet”.

B．People’s reluctance to be compelled to eat plant-based food.

C．People’s preferences for the kind of food they consume.

D．People’s unwillingness to give up their eating habits.

2. What would the EAT-Lancet Commission’s report do to many people in countries like India?

A．Radically change their dietary habits.	B．Keep them further away from politics.
C．Make them even more undernourished.	D．Substantially reduce their food choices.

3. What do we learn from the passage about food consumption in India?

A．People’s diet will not change due to the EAT-Lancet report.

B．Many people simply do not have access to foods they prefer.

C．There is a growing popularity of a cereal-heavy vegetarian diet.

D．Policymakers help remove the barriers to people’s choice of food.

4. What does the passage say about a plant-based diet modeled on India?

A．It may benefit populations whose traditional diet is meat-based.

B．It may be another blow to the economy in developing countries.

C．It may worsen the nourishment problem in low-income countries.

D．It may help narrow the gap between the rich and poor countries.