1 . Hartley got to Central Station nearly an hour before his train was due to leave. A lifetime in the theatre had given him a healthy sense of punctuality (守时); a lifetime of unwanted cups of coffee, constant checking of the time, yet another turn around the block before that all too often pointless, tiresome audition (试镜).

Hartley was 75— pretty fit for his age, legs holding up, memory still ticking over nicely — though the occasions for punctuality were now rather fewer. But he was a creature of habit and couldn’t change now.

He went to the restaurant, and then bought a coffee and a blueberry muffin, tired and failed to find a litter-free table. The coffee was awful, the muffin was stale — but the coffee was always awful, the muffin always stale. Hartley refused to let himself be annoyed. His visit to the city had not been without its pleasures. Lunch with an old friend, then a film—regrettably not using his own talents —had rounded out a pleasant day.

Hartley was a good actor, although the calls on his talents were now infrequent. But really, he thought draining (饮尽) his awful coffee, he’d had a reasonably good career. Something to be proud of. But he’d never had that break-through part.

He headed for his platform. Just as the train was about to pull out a man ran down the platform, jumped aboard as the door slammed shut and sank into the seat next to Hartley.

“Cutting it a bit fine”, he said.

“Indeed”, Hartley replied. “A close run thing”.

The man —fortyish, amiable looking — gave him an amused glance.

This brief exchange served as an ice-breaker and they chatted their way through the outer suburbs and into the countryside. His neighbour asked Hartley what he did — or had done — for a living.

Hartley hated telling people he was an actor. He was not ashamed of his job. Not at all, but he had long tired of reactions ranging from “what have I seen you in” to “how do you learn all those lines”.

So in situations like this he simply picked a job from a former role. Bit risky, of course. You say you’re a doctor and find yourself meeting the quizzical (疑问的) gaze of a heart surgeon. But he’d never been caught out and it was harmless enough game, Hartley felt. It amused him, and he’d given some damn good performances too.

“I’m a lawyer”, he replied. “Retired several years ago. Property law. Bit of criminal stuff”.

The train was slowing down. The man glanced out of the window.

“My station. I had you quite wrong then”.

He stood and took down his briefcase from the overhead rack.

“Yes, I’d have said you were an actor. The voice especially. Still, lawyers are actors in a way, don’t you think? Plenty of drama in a courtroom.”

The train drew into the station.

“I’m a film director. Choosing a leading actor at the moment. You study faces. On the train. Everywhere. Always on the lookout. Anyway, enjoyed our chat. Bye.”

1. What can we learn about Hartley?

A．He is quite forgetful.	B．He lacks a sense of time.
C．He has less job opportunities now.	D．He’s achieved great success in his acting career.

2. What did Hartley think of not telling his job?

A．Amusing despite the risk.	B．Upsetting when caught out.
C．Harmful to his acting career.	D．Helpful to protect his identity.

3. What can we learn about Harley’s travel companion from the underlined sentence?

A．He thought Hartley did a different job.

B．He mistook Hartley for another person.

C．He understood Hartley’s profession was acting.

D．He assumed Hartley had given another answer.

4. The use of the word “Bye” at the end of the story, ______.

A．describes Hartley’s shock to find the man is a director

B．shows the readers how unexpectedly Harley’s career ends

C．confirms Hartley’s lack of luck in spite of his acting skills

D．proves the man will reconsider giving Hartley a chance to act

2 . Everyone complains. Even if you argue that you are the happiest person in the world, you still complain sometimes. Sometimes you complain without even realizing it, but rarely is it ever helpful.     1     Here are some tips to stop complaining and give up the negative thoughts.

    2    

When you find yourself thinking or saying a negative comment about something or someone, stop and force yourself to say something positive instead. Seek the help of a cheerful friend to change you when you complain and help you to see the positive in the situation.

Make a list of things you are grateful for.

You often complain about the things you don’t have without noticing those things you already have. Be grateful for what you have in your life because you are lucky simply for being yourselves.     3    

Learn to adapt to the changes.

There are many things you can’t change.     4     Always find the positive side of each situation, regardless of however difficult the situation is. With parents’ and friends’ support, you can survive any life changes.

Allow yourself to vent (发泄) your feelings every once in a while.

Constantly ignoring negative thoughts could add up. If you are really going through a rough time, don’t be afraid to share your feelings with a close friend or family member or see a therapist.

Find what makes you happy.

    5     Maybe it is time to make the hard decision to move on to another job or career. Uncover what your biggest complaints are about and see if you can change the situation to make you happy. Choose happiness, focus on the positive, and be kind always!

A．Sometimes this list can be easy, full of hobbies you enjoy.

B．The best and only thing you can do is to accept them.

C．Change the way you think.

D．Are you constantly complaining about your present job?

E．Set down things you are thankful for and you’ll see that you don’t have any reason to complain.

F．Make friends with positive people.

G．So how can you manage to force yourselves to end complaining?

5 . It’s normal to wake briefly during the night.     1     But if you’re waking up during the night and having trouble falling back asleep, the following tips may help.

Stay out of your head. The key to getting back to sleep is continuing to prepare your body for sleep, so remain in bed in a relaxed position. Hard as it may be, try not to stress over the fact that you’re awake, because that very stress and anxiety encourage your body to stay awake.     2    

    3     If you are finding it hard to fall back asleep, try a relaxation technique such as visualization (想象), or deep breathing, which can be done without even getting out of bed. Remind yourself that although they’re not a replacement for sleep, rest and relaxation still help refresh your body.

Do a quiet, non-stimulating activity. If you’ve been awake for more than 15minutes, try getting out of bed and doing a quiet, non-stimulating activity, such as reading a book. Keep the lights dim so as not to think that it’s time to wake up.     4     What’s more, a light snack might relax you, but be careful not to eat so much that your body begins to expect a meal at that time of the day.

    5     If you wake during the night feeling anxious about something, make a brief note of it on paper and delay worrying about it until the next day when you are fresh and it will be easier to resolve.

A．Put off worries and troubles.

B．Make relaxation your goal, not sleep.

C．In fact, a good sleeper won’t even remember it.

D．Use a flashlight to go to the bathroom at night.

E．You should also be much more productive and creative after a good night’s rest.

F．Also avoid screens of any kind-computers, TVs, cell phones, iPads.

G．A good way to stay out of your head is to focus on the feeling in your body.

6 . Louis Braille was born in France in 1809. Sadly when he was a little boy, he had an accident. By the time he was four years old, he was completely blind. However, at the age of ten, Louis was lucky enough to go to one of the first schools for blind children in Paris. At this particular school they had special books. They were written in ordinary French but the letters raised up off the page, so that the students could feel the shape of the words and read them. But there were two problems with this system. First, the letters were huge and difficult to read. Second, the books were very expensive so the school library only had fourteen altogether. Louis, who was very clever and creative, thought of a better way to improve books for blind people to read.

In 1821, when Louis was twelve years old, a soldier came to his school. This man had invented a system for soldiers to send and receive messages in the dark. Although this idea had not worked very well, Louis became very excited and began experiments with it. By the time he was fifteen, he had invented a system which used only six dots. And by 1827 the first book using his system was published.

It still took a long time before people realized what a wonderful invention Braille’s system was. In fact, Louis died in 1852 and did not live to see the success of his system, which has been adapted to almost every language in the world. Thanks to him, blind or weak-sighted people are able to read or write as well as any sighted person.

1. What did books for the blind look like when Louis was a boy?

A．No books designed for the blind.

B．They had raised dots on each page.

C．They had letters raised up off each page.

D．They were the same books as those for the sighted people.

2. What led Louis to invent a reading system for the blind?

A．The huge size of letters in the special books.

B．The limited resources of books for the blind.

C．The high price of books designed for the blind.

D．A messaging system for soldiers to use in the dark.

3. When did Louis eventually perfect the reading system?

A．In 1821.

B．In 1824.

C．In 1827.

D．In 1852.

4. According to the last paragraph, what significance does Louis Braille’s reading system have?

A．It helps the blind to learn independently.

B．It contributes to improve people’s eyesight.

C．It has been used in every language in the world.

D．It makes it easy and convenient for the blind to live.

8 . Most Chinese know the story of the mythological Chang’e, the Chinese goddess of the moon. It’s a story about a woman who takes an immortality pill and flies to the moon. It is told every year during China’s Mid-Autumn Moo Festival, so people can’t hear the word “Chang’e” without thinking of romantic images of a moon goddess.

For this reason, China’s mission to the moon was calling out for a strong female figure. Therefore, picture s of a 24-year-old female space commander have gone viral on Chinese social media for her work on the Chang’e-5 Moon exploration programmme with comments about how she is a “frontline soldier in the field of aerospace” that young Chinese can look up to.

Ms. Zhou, a 24-year-old lady of Tujia ethnic group, is China’s youngest ever space commander. She was involved in the successful launch of the Chang’e-5 lunar probe on 24 November, in charge of the rocket connector system, described as a key role.

In Wenchang space launch site, though she is only 1.58 meters and looks “mini”, she is called “big sister” for her powerful “core and energy”. Since senior high, she has dreamed of being a member of a space research team. With her great efforts, she was admitted to an aircraft system and engineering major of a domestic university in 2014, making her aerospace dream come true. To grow into a commander, in two and a half years, she changed five positions to be familiar with multiple posts and types of work, each of which takes great courage and is full of challenges. In a working space with no air conditioning and narrow space to accommodate only three people, she worked for 60 days until the completion of “the Lang March 5 rocket goes around” battle.

Her story has received attention from Chinese state-run media as well as overseas media outlets. However, it has not appeared to have had much of an effect on her. According to the media, she declined repeated requests for interviews because she does not wish to let fame get in the way of her work.

1. Why does the writer mention the myth of Chang’e at the beginning of the passage?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To give an example.
C．To tell a romantic story.	D．To spread Chinese culture.

2. What makes people think of Ms. Zhou as a pioneer for the youth in aerospace?

A．Her youth and beauty.	B．Her pictures on the media.
C．Her identity of Tujia Ethnic group.	D．Her performance in the moon-landing program.

3. Why did Ms. Zhou reject the media’s invitation to interviews?

A．She was too shy.

B．She was not available.

C．She considered fame nothing but a burden

D．She feared her fame might get in the way of her work.

4. Which of the following can best describe Ms. Zhou’s story?

A．Many hands make light work.	B．The early bird catches the worms.
C．Where there is a will, there is a way.	D．Hard work makes up for inability.

9 . If you can potty-train (如厕训练) a child, so can you train a cow. At least, that was the theory a group of researchers in Germany decided to test, aiming to find a solution to the environmental damage caused by animal waste.

Farmed cattle produce about 66-88 pounds of waste and 8 gallons of urin (尿液) each day and are free to relieve themselves where they please. However, the spread of their waste into the soil can have negative effects on the environment.

The main question for Langbein, an animal psychologist at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Germany, and his team was: “Why shouldn’t cattle be able to learn how to use a toilet? Animals are quite clever, and they can learn a lot.” Langbein said in a statement.

The team of scientists from FBN and FLI in Germany and the University of Auckland in New Zealand began to train the calves to use toilets, in a process they called “MooLoo training”. In the first stage of training, the cattle were put in a closed toilet. And whenever they urinated, they were given a reward of barley (大麦). “Once they were allowed outside, the calves would go in the toilet to get their reward, but they soon learned that there’s only a reward if they urinate.” FBN’s Neele Dirksen, first author of the study, told CNN.

To encourage calves to use the toilets, researchers also came up with a punishment. “We first used in-ear headphones and we played a very noisy sound whenever they urinated outside,” said Langbein. “We thought this would punish the animals, but they didn’t care. Eventually, a splash of water worked well as a gentle punishment.”

The calves were trained for 45 minutes every other day. And after 10 training days, the team had managed to train 11 out of the 16 calves involved in the experiment. The study shows that it is possible to train calves to use toilets, and Langbein said he hoped that “in a few years all cows will go to a toilet.”

1. What is the main purpose of “MooLoo training”?

A．Reducing the amount of cattle’s waste.

B．Teaching cattle to use toilets where they please.

C．Preventing the cattle’s waste spreading into the soil.

D．Protecting the environment from being polluted by animal waste.

2. Which proves to be an effective punishment to train the calves?

A．Offering barley.	B．Giving water splash.
C．Playing noisy sound.	D．Wearing in-ear headphones.

3. What does Langbein think of training the calves to use toilets?

A．Useless.

B．Doubtful.

C．Effective.

D．Cruel.

4. Which is a suitable title for the text?

A．Cattle are clever enough to use toilets	B．Cattle’s waste harms the environment
C．Scientists adopt new methods to raise cattle	D．MooLoo training helps improve the environment