1 . At its best, a family picnic is a mini-vacation: a chance to leave the day-to-day routine behind and spend some time together out under the open sky. These best picnic spots offer a range of experiences.
Poo Poo Point, Issaquah
For kids and adults who have the energy to take on a 2-mile hike uphill, this amusingly named destination in the Issaquah Alps offers huge rewards. After reaching the Chirico Trail, you come to a broad, clear area, with a sweeping view of Lake Sammamish, Issaquah and Bellevue. As for where to set up a picnic camp, there are two picnic tables.
Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Seattle
Located on the northwest corner of Beacon Hill, this park has a sweeping view overlooking Elliott Bay and downtown Seattle. It’s named after Jose Rizal, a brilliant writer, a scientist and a hero in the Philippines struggle for independence. The fantastic Seattle picnic spot also has an area for dogs and walking trails.
Mount Baker Park, Seattle
This lakefront park is one of Seattle Parks’ swimming beaches. It’s open this summer, with lifeguards on duty. The most popular place to picnic is probably near the swimming area, but there are many lovely shady spots in the inland part of the park. The updated playground will attract kids. For biking families, pack your wheels and enjoy a ride along Lake Washington Boulevard.
Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, Seattle
Cross a narrow bridge over the railroad tracks at Saltwater Park in Shoreline and you’re in a world of sun, sea and sand dunes. This is one of Puget Sound’s windy places, so you’ll often spot kiteboarders (风筝冲浪者) playing in the waves nearby. Even on a hot day, you’re likely to find a breeze to keep you cool at this picnic spot in Seattle.
1. Where should you go if you want to go hiking?| A．Poo Poo Point, Issaquah. | B．Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Seattle. |
| C．Mount Baker Park, Seattle. | D．Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, Seattle. |
| A．Enjoy kiteboarding. | B．Have a city walk. |
| C．Ride bicycles. | D．Visit Jose Rizal Museum. |
| A．They provide a learning experience. | B．They are suitable for family picnics. |
| C．They have large amusement equipment. | D．They are related to scientists and writers. |
2 . In 1937, the aggression of the Japanese army brought disaster to China’s three great universities: Peking University and Tsinghua University were occupied by Japanese troops, while Nankai University was completely destroyed by bombing. To save their educational and intellectual heritage, the three universities joined together in Kunming as National Southwest Associated University, otherwise known as Lianda.
Professors and students alike in the three universities made an epic journey over a distance of more than 2,000 kilometres, most of them on foot. Their bed was the dusty road and their roof was the open sky, often lit up by exploding Japanese bombs. Conditions were little better once they reached the remote and mountainous south-west part of China.
However, despite the immense hardships and the daunting challenges, it was right in this place, over period of eight long years, that the nation’s intellectual heritage was not only guarded but fortified by the passion and belief of the worthy academic s of Lianda.
With the country at war, students at Lianda were not going to shirk their duty. Driven by a sense of commitment, a great many joined the army to resist the Japanese invaders and defend the honour of the nation. In fact, Lianda provided the largest number of student-soldiers from any campus in China. Of the thousands of college students from all over China who served as interpreters, one tenth were from Lianda, including the well-known translators Zha Liangzheng and Xu Yuanchong.
A product of the war, Lianda is now physically gone. But it has become the crowning glory of China’s modern universities, not only because of its prominent professors and talented students, but also because of the school’s strong spirit of perseverance and dedication.
More than eighty years on, the priceless contribution of Lianda still needs to be reaffirmed. It has become part of the collective memory of the Chinese nation, with its spirit as the blueprint for all universities in China in the modern era.
1. What caused Lianda to be formed in Kunming?| A．Thinkers’ academic struggles. | B．Immense challenges. |
| C．Japanese aggression. | D．Educational heritage. |
| A．On foot. | B．By air. | C．By bus. | D．By bike. |
| A．A sense of personal loss. | B．A sense of trust. |
| C．A sense of achievement. | D．A sense of commitment. |
| A．Its campus remains a historical site. |
| B．This wartime system should now be re-established. |
| C．It becomes less and less important as time goes on. |
| D．Its spirit and contributions are key to China’s educational history. |
3 . How to improve your memory?
It’s generally accepted that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered this old saying simply isn’t true.
Don’t skip the physical exercise. While mental exercise is important for brain health, that doesn’t mean you never need to break a sweat. Physical exercise helps your brain stay sharp.
Get enough sleep. There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get and the amount you need to function at your best. The truth is that over 95% of adults need 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep every night.
Make time for friends. When you think of ways to improve memory, do you think of “serious” activities such as mastering chess strategies, or is it more relaxing pastimes—hanging out with friends or enjoying a funny movie?
| A．Keep stress in check. |
| B．Give your brain a workout. |
| C．If you’re like most of us, it’s probably the former. |
| D．Even losing a few hours of sleep makes a difference! |
| E．In fact, interacting with others may provide the best kind of brain exercise. |
| F．The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change, even into old age. |
| G．It increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss. |
4 . With the beautiful snow-coated landscapes, winter reveals a different world of national parks with significantly fewer crowds. Here are some of the best national parks in the US for a winter getaway.
Acadia National Park, MaineBetween October and March, Acadia National Park’s Cadillac Mountain, the tallest mountain on the east coast, offers hikers epic views of the first sunrise in the country. Because the roads are closed to motor vehicles during the winter, those who undertake the 3.5-mile hike from Park Loop Road are rewarded with a stunning view all to themselves. Snowmobiling in the park is another special experience for visitors.
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington StateMount Rainier National Park in Washington State is one of the oldest national parks in the US and a playground for outdoor enthusiasts in winter. Unlike other snow-crowded resorts, this park allows visitors to heartily enjoy snowmobiling, sledding and snowshoeing. Its hotel offers comfortable rooms with views of Mount Rainier, and tasty local dishes.
Denali National Park, AlaskaWith its remote location and minimal light pollution, Denali National Park is an ideal place for photographers to capture the northern lights during the aurora (极光) season, between September and April. Visitors in this crowd-free park can spot wildlife such as wolves and black bears, which remain active in the winter.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New MexicoIn northern New Mexico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park holds stone great houses, which were the largest buildings in North America until the mid-18th century. Accessible for most of the winter, the park can see fewer than 10 visitors a day in colder months. Photographers can capture landscapes amid the constellations (星群) by night.
1. What experience can visitors only have in Acadia National Park?| A．The longest hiking route. |
| B．The earliest sunrise in USA. |
| C．Snowshoeing and snowmobiling. |
| D．Comfortable accommodation. |
| A．Acadia National Park. |
| B．Mount Rainier National Park. |
| C．Denali National Park. |
| D．Chaco Culture National Historical Park. |
| A．Snow and ice activities. |
| B．A chance to meet wildlife. |
| C．Cultural heritage sites. |
| D．An escape from the crowds. |
5 . Scientists looking to uncover the mysteries of the underwater world have more valuable information thanks to an international team that has produced a list of species confirmed or expected to produce sound underwater.
Led by Audrey Looby from the University of Florida, the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds working group collaborated with the World Register of Marine Species to document 729 mammals (哺乳动物), fishes, and invertebrates (无脊椎动物) that produce active or passive sounds. In addition, the list includes another 21,911 species that are considered to likely produce sounds.
“With more than 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water, most of the planet’s habitats are aquatic, and there is a misconception that most aquatic organisms are silent. The newly published comprehensive digital database on what animals are known to make sounds is the first of its kind and can revolutionize marine and aquatic science,” the researchers said.
“Listening to underwater sounds can reveal a lot of information about the species that produce them and is useful for a variety of applications, ranging from fisheries management, invasive species detection to assessing human environmental impacts,” said Looby, who also co-created FishSounds, which offers a collection of fish sound production research records.
The team’s research was published in Scientific Data and involved 19 authors from six countries. “Understanding how marine species interact with their environments is of global importance, and this data being freely available is a major step toward that goal,” said Kieran Cox, a member of the research team.
“Most people are familiar with whale or dolphin sounds but are often surprised to learn that many fishes and invertebrates use sounds to communicate, too,” Looby said. “Our database helps demonstrate how widespread underwater sound production really is across a variety of animals, but we still have a lot to learn.”
1. What does the underlined word “aquatic” in paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Outdoor. | B．Over-crowded. |
| C．Well-protected. | D．Underwater. |
| A．Most fishes can’t make sounds. |
| B．Different species can communicate. |
| C．Mammals can live in water. |
| D．Ocean animals can’t get onto the land. |
| A．To document ocean animals’ sounds. |
| B．To set up a free database for scientists. |
| C．To learn how ocean animals communicate. |
| D．To publish the research in Scientific Data. |
| A．To call on people to protect ocean animals. |
| B．To introduce the finding of a research team. |
| C．To list the animals that can produce sounds. |
| D．To uncover the mysterious underwater world. |
6 . The holidays can be a divisive season. Because the holidays are full of merriness, some love them. Others can feel troubled by them, affected by the financial pressure and family gatherings often accompanying the holidays.
Begin tracking how you’re feeling on the day-to-day life. You can keep a journal or take a brief walk where you can reflect at the end of your day. Doing this lets you see a pattern of what may be activating your negative feelings.
After getting your triggers written down, let’s make a plan. If it is money fueling the discomfort, let’s strategize how you can cut down the financial expectations. You can select a thoughtful low-cost decoration or a bunch of flowers.
Rethink how to love yourself rather than care for others too much. If you have to be with someone, are you at risk of yourself because of arguments or conflicts?
| A．Keep track of your daily actions. |
| B．It will help you get through the tense situation. |
| C．Hosting a gathering can be another costly issue. |
| D．Feeling joyless during the holidays can be really awful. |
| E．You can also offer meaningful time spent with loved ones. |
| F．The truth is that it is hard to engage with people who hurt you. |
| G．Let’s begin by identifying what is causing you the intense anxiety. |
7 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.
The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.
When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.
The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.
“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.
1. What’s the principle behind the humanoid robot?| A．It conveys sensations to the wearer and acts accordingly. |
| B．It receives commands from an operator through the Internet. |
| C．The cameras take pictures and then interact with the sensors. |
| D．The computer in the robot processes the data and gives orders. |
| A．Medical consultation. | B．Sports events. |
| C．Outdoor workouts. | D．Virtual tourism. |
| A．It fails to appeal to potential investors. |
| B．Its performance hasn’t been evaluated clearly. |
| C．Its present version still requires to be updated. |
| D．Its transmission of data came across technical problems. |
| A．Humanoid robots with sense of touch catch on |
| B．iCub 3 robot combines with VR to benefit more people |
| C．Humanoid robots let people see and feel things remotely |
| D．New advances in technology enable people to travel at work |
8 . Tokyo restaurant Sushiya no Nohachi reportedly serves great sushi, but it is most famous for its gimmick—making the world’s smallest sushi with a single grain of rice.
Located in Asakusa, a slightly quieter part of Tokyo, Sushiya no Nohachi is the place to go if you want to enjoy the tiniest, most adorable sushi in the world. Each piece is made with only a grain of rice and a tiny slice of topping wrapped in the thinnest piece of nori(海苔). Every served piece is actually perfect, which hints at the amount of work and patience that Bes into making them. They are the work of Hironori Ikeno, the chef of Sushiya no Nohachi, who came up with the idea in 2002 when a client asked him how small he could make his sushi. He answered, “as small as a grain of rice”, and proceeded to demonstrate that he wasn’t kidding. Over the years, the restaurant has become internationally famous for making the world’s smallest sushi.
Despite its size, miniature sushi actually takes a bit longer to make than regular-sized me, because of the precision and concentration required to put the tiny ingredients together. That is part of the reason why the restaurant only prepares tiny sushi for customers a few times a week and no more than five times a day, although they do sometimes make exceptions for foreign visitors who travel to the restaurant just to experience the world’s smallest sushi.
“I had a client from Sweden who came just to see my tiny sushi and the moment she saw it, she literally cried with joy.” Hironori Ikeno said.
Interestingly, one cannot simply order the tiny sushi at the restaurant. It is served for f re upon request with a regular-sized sushi course. Considering the sushi served at this place is reportedly delicious, you should probably be more excited about that. Plus, it also justifies the gimmick that the restaurant is so famous for.
1. What does the underlined word “gimmick” in paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．A class to teach cooking skills. |
| B．A trick to attract customers. |
| C．A plan to promote the sushi. |
| D．A dish to win over opponents. |
| A．His pursuit for perfection. |
| B．The curiosity of a customer. |
| C．The requirement from his boss. |
| D．A bet he made with others. |
| A．Take more time to make one |
| B．Unpopular among customers |
| C．costs more money to buy one |
| D．needs more expensive materials |
| A．Diversity of the customers. |
| B．His lack of experience. |
| C．Special treatment to foreigners. |
| D．His sense of achievement. |
9 . How to Go Green
The idea of “going green” means that you’ll try to reduce your impact on the environment. It’s a great way to improve the planet.
Walk or bike to places if you live close enough.
Communicate digitally whenever possible, and only print out items when you absolutely must. When you do use paper, recycle it or save it to reuse the other side of it.
Buy second-hand products or borrow items instead of buying something new.
Buying things produces more waste and pollution, so try not to buy things you don’t need. When you do need something, shop at local second-hand market or use online resale shops.
Skip products that have a lot of packaging.
Products that come with a lot of packaging are bad for the environment because the packaging is waste. Even if you recycle the package, it’s still an unnecessary waste of resources.
| A．Cars use up a lot of gas |
| B．Limit your use of paper |
| C．Use reusable bags while you’re shopping |
| D．If you’re ready to go green, start from the following good habits |
| E．Do your best to pick products that have as little packaging as possible |
| F．In order to save money, cut down on the cost of paper you’re using |
| G．If you can, borrow items that you don’t use often, like tools, from a friend |
10 . Polly Arrowsmith is a clever bargain shopper, and knows exactly when her three local supermarkets make their daily price down. She estimates that hunting out food with yellow discounted labels saves her hundreds of pounds a year. But all this could soon be coming to an end. That’s because supermarkets are adopting dynamic pricing, controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) software.
It involves digital price tags that are displayed either on the shelf below the food items, or on high-tech labels attached the product itself. These prices are automatically, and wirelessly, updated by the AI when a particular item approaches its sell-by date. The AI also examines how much stock (库存) the store is holding of that item and makes the decision as to whether a markdown is requiredor not. Besides, it can help supermarkets better understand how to manage stock supply and avoid over-ordering. So we’re actually turning the current food waste problem into an opportunity and can help cut supermarkets’ food waste by more than a third.
Matt Wills, the co-founder of a firm called Acumen, warns that there are potential disadvantages to dynamic pricing. “Not knowing what the reference price is, consumers might not realise they are getting a deal at all,” he says. “This could also cause added complications for people who retired, if items are seen to be continually changing in price.”
The key, Mr. Wills believes, will be for supermarkets to have strict guidelines to ensure they can offer the benefits that dynamic pricing can bring, while ensuring AI doesn’t create unintended negative consequences for shoppers. Whether shoppers will welcome the change is another question, but Mr. Wills believes they’ll be won over by the price reductions they receive.
Ms. Arrowsmith admits she will miss the yellow discount stickers that have become part of her shopping routine. However, she also says she wants to see less food going to waste. “I’m happy to forgo really cheap pricing,” she says.
1. Why are yellow discount labels disappearing?| A．They are easy to hunt out. |
| B．They expose some safety issues. |
| C．They cause great damage to shoppers. |
| D．They are replaced with digital pricing. |
| A．The advantages of using the AI. |
| B．The display of digital price tags. |
| C．The management of stock supply. |
| D．The problem of current food waste. |
| A．It offers the cheapest price. | B．It greatly reduces food stock. |
| C．It has side effect on retirees. | D．It gives rise to legal problems. |
| A．Pay off. | B．Give up. | C．Agree on. | D．Cut down. |
