1 . I turned 8 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: Both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived on weekdays, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!

And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza (狂欢)?

Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was trilled and transported by a book — it was Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises — and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn’t bear the thought of siting in a classroom taking another exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatriates (异乡客).

I spent that day lost in words. Time fell away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role — as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student — in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.

Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway’s language was quietly braiding itself into my imagination. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.

1. Why did the author skip school on that day?

A．Because she’s fascinated by a novel.	B．Because it’s a biting cold winter morning.
C．Because her parents left home early.	D．Because she’s anxious to take the exam.

2. What did the author think is the source of true joy?

A．Reading a fiction by the fire.	B．Travelling with a bunch of expatriates.
C．Being occupied by one’s passion.	D．Breaking the rules and regulations.

3. Which can best replace the underlined phrase “braiding itself into” in the last paragraph?

A．Mending.

B．Destroying.

C．Entering.

D．Blocking.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The author was tired of his roles in the real-life.

B．Becoming a writer is the author’s childhood dream.

C．The author skipped school when he was 8 years old.

D．Writing has a horrible effect on the author’s life now.

2 . Many have had the same thought as Shannon St. Onge when looking at the approach of snow on a weather forecast—that they have time to finish their jobs. As the director of finance at the First Nations University of Canada, she had to drive 25 kilometers from her home to the city of Regina to attend an important meeting.

As she was leaving, the winter snow began to fall. Taking a dirt road for better traction (牵引) on her tires, she quickly became lost, with no ability to see the edge of the road from a rolled-down window. After a while she stopped and called 911.

“The operator took my information and told me to wait out the storm as my tank was full and I was warm. I waited almost 14 hours and nobody has called me yet to check in,” she wrote in a Face-book post.

“Would the gas tank last until morning? What if I was hit by another vehicle? What if I didn’t make it home at all?” St. Onge wondered.

Determined to ensure the safest end, she went out in the storm and discovered her location on a road sign, and then found a neighborhood Facebook group for the area she was passing through—warning others of her plight through a Google Maps pin.

That was when 80-year-old Andre Bouvier Sr., a retired rescuer, got a call about St. Onge’s situation. He went out to find her, on foot, since he couldn’t manage to start his tractor.

On the way he found three other stranded (被困) vehicles. He walked the quarter mile there and back, and led the helpless cars one by one to his home. Bouvier let the survivors sleep at his house, where they ate and laughed, and departed the next morning after he had cleaned the driveway.

1. Why did St. Onge take a dirt road?

A．She was familiar with it.	B．She could refuel on the road.
C．She took the dirt road to save time.	D．She thought dirt road could increase traction.

2. What does the underlined word “plight” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Wrong turn.	B．Poor sense of direction.
C．Difficult situation.	D．Bad weather.

3. Which of the following can best describe Bouvier?

A．Patient and gifted.	B．Brave and selfless.
C．Proud and determined.	D．Adventurous and ambitious.

3 . Sewing can be fun and creative. But have you ever thought that a sewing machine can also mean the world to many people around the globe that use it as their main source of income?

When Margaret Jankowski discovered this, she decided to found The Sewing Machine Project, an organization that collects donated used machines and redistributes them in remote places like Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Guam, and Kosovo. It also aims to help those in Detroit and New Orleans.

In 2004,when a tsunami (海啸) hit Sri Lanka, Margaret was deeply touched by the story of a particular woman. After the village she lived in was destroyed by the natural disaster, she lost everything, including her sewing machine, her approach to future earnings. This story made Margaret decide to collect used sewing machines and send them to Sri Lanka. After attending a local news program where she presented her idea, she started receiving scores of sewing machines.

The Sewing Machine Project covers a basic yet necessary need of many impoverished people around the world. For them, sewing can be a tool for survival. Whether in a factory or at home, a sewing machine can be the door to brighter financial opportunities. A sewing machine can also enable many to preserve their cultural identity. After Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005, a community of New Orleans that wears skillfully-made suits for their own traditional festival lost many of their sewing machines. Since then, the non-profit organization has distributed hundreds of machines among the creators of the costumes, helping them maintain their tradition as well as their income.

1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Destruction of the 2004 tsunami.	B．The experience of Margaret in 2004.
C．The story of a woman in Sri Lanka.	D．Inspiration for the project.

2. What does the underlined word “impoverished” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Disabled.

B．Exhausted.

C．Poor.

D．Pessimistic.

3. Why is the community in New Orleans mentioned in the end?

A．To highlight its cultural identity.

B．To prove the importance of keeping traditions.

C．To explain the project’s achievement.

D．To show the project’s contribution to traditions.

4 . Many animals depend upon sound to find food, detect enemies and communicate with one another. These species understandably suffer when loud motorways cut through their habitats. Some deal with by singing more loudly, some change the timing of their calls to occur when fewer people are driving, others just move to quieter places.

All of these actions come with significant costs attached and scientists have long documented the ecological damage caused by noise pollution. It has always been assumed, however, that noise is a problem unique to animals. But a new study by Ali Akbar Ghotbi-Ravandi, a botanist at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, has showed that plants suffer too.

That plants can be hampered indirectly by noise pollution has never been in doubt. Since most flowering species depend upon pollinators (传粉者) and most fruit-bearing species need animals to spread their seeds, it is obvious that if these animal partners are harmed by noise then their botanical counterparts will do badly, too. What has remained unknown is whether or not plants themselves suffer directly from noise pollution.

Sounds are pressure waves transmitted through gases, liquids and solids, Scientists have previously assumed that plants may be able to sense these waves as they are struck by them. A number of experiments have confirmed this in recent years—plants bombed with ultrasound (超声波) in the lab have shown a range of bad responses including the expression of stress-related genes, slow growth and reduced production of seeds.

Yet bombing plants with ultrasound is not the same as growing them in the presence of actual traffic noise. To this end, Dr Ghotbi-Ravandi decided to set up an experiment to study precisely this question.

1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To draw readers’ interest.
C．To stress the damage of noise.	D．To state sound’s effect on animals.

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

A．Killed.

B．Harmed.

C．Attracted.

D．Frightened.

3. What will probably be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．Ways to solve the problems of traffic noise.

B．Differences between ultrasound and traffic noise.

C．Dr Ghotbi-Ravandi’s achievements on plants study.

D．The experiment about the influence of traffic noise on plants.

5 . From a young age, many of us learn the benefits of being an extrovert —those individuals who always seem to be the life and soul of the party, often outspoken and able to express their opinions fluently. However, not all of us are wired that way —so is being an extrovert really better?

While thinking of an extrovert, we imagine a character who is determined, approachable, cheerful and charming. We are taught to admire these personalities early on. Kids are often encouraged to interact, play and communicate with other children. It seems at times as though children are made to have a more outgoing lifestyle, with some people becoming false extroverts introverts who copy extrovert behavior. While externally they may seem to enjoy the company of others, or being in the center of public attention, they can still become over—extended in intense social situations.

So, while the positive aspects of being an extrovert are plain to see, what are the benefits of introversion? Although extroverts depend on social interaction, introverts are more comfortable with levels of isolation. According to Dr Berit, a college professor, extreme isolation such as times like the lockdown, does not affect introverts as much as extroverts. Lack of social contact, something extroverts rely on, can lead to depression, loneliness, and even death.

But it’s not just in an extreme situation that an introvert shines through. These people seem to have more time for deep thought and thus can become more balanced. They also tend to be good listeners and think before they speak, meaning they could become great friends. Finally, introverts are often fantastic observers, as sitting out of the focus can give them more time to watch the behavior of others.

So, whatever your personality, either introvert or extrovert, there are clear advantages to being either, and if you meet an introvert, you might just end up with an amazing friend.

1. Which statement is true according to Dr Berit?

A．Introverts should learn from extroverts.	B．Extroverts tend to become better friends.
C．Introverts prefer staying cut off from others.	D．Extroverts find it tougher to handle isolation.

2. What does paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A．The influence of introverts.	B．The strengths of being introverts.
C．The causes of introverts’ behavior.	D．The personalities of false introverts.

3. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To state a viewpoint.	B．To advocate a lifestyle.
C．To introduce a technique.	D．To describe a phenomenon.

6 . Jeff was diagnosed in 2010 with multiple myeloma (多发性骨髓瘤). It is a disease that is usually noticed when grandpa falls and breaks his hip. The average patient is in his early 70s. But Jeff was only 50 when diagnosed.

“I wondered why me, as a young guy?” Jeff says. But his relative youth and good health has put him in a position to fight the disease in his way.

In January Jeff and his wife Ramona will join a team climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and funds for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. It’s an adventure he’s dreamed about since the 4th grade.

Jeff will be one of four in the group who are myeloma patients not willing to be threatened by cancer. He and Ramona have raised nearly $18,000 toward their combined goal of $20,000.

Still, he’s confident that his earlier marathon training has prepared him to climb the highest free-standing mountain in the world. “I just have to deal with it and understand my limitations.” he says.

What Jeff sees is a clear future. “Having cancer narrows the focus about what we want to do and who we want to do it with.” he says. He and Ramona now ask themselves, “How do we go out and live the most fulfilling lives? Who are the most important people in our lives? What brings us joy?”

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is their next adventure, but Jeff knows it won’t be just a personal accomplishment. “I do these things for all the people who can’t.” he says.

Jeff is certain that his passion for hiking and adventure will take him to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and that his story will inspire those with multiple myeloma to keep sight of who they are beyond their diagnosis.

“It’s obvious to me,” he says, “that this is part of my fate.”
1. What’s the main purpose for Jeff and his wife to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro?

A．To get enough physical training to be stronger.

B．To show love for climbing high mountains.

C．To express determination to overcome the disease.

D．To raise awareness and money for the organization.

2. What’s Jeff’s attitude towards his disease?

A．Worried

B．Optimistic

C．Favorable

D．Indifferent

3. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Part of fate.	B．Power of willingness.
C．Love for adventure.	D．An unusual disease.

7 . Loneliness is significant mental health concern and can raise risk of death by 45% and contact with nature in cities significantly reduces feelings of loneliness, according to a team of scientists.

The study is the first to assess how the environment can affect loneliness. It used real-time data, collected via a smartphone app, rather than relying on people’s memory of how they were feeling.

The research found that feelings of overcrowding increased loneliness by an average of 30%. But when people were able to see trees or hear birds, feelings of loneliness fell by 28%. Feelings of social inclusion also cut loneliness by 21％ and when these feelings coincided(巧合) with contact with nature, the beneficial effect was boosted by a further 18％.

The findings pointed to interventions to reduce loneliness. The researchers said, “Specific measures that increase social inclusion-and contact with nature should be taken, especially in thickly populated cities.” Time spent in nature is known to boost well-being, with woodland walks estimated to save the UK at least ￡185m a year in mental health costs, for example.

The research collected data from urban citizens across the world using the Urban Mind search app. More than 750 people provided 16,600 of these assessments. The participants were self-selecting and so it did not provide a representative sample of the wider populations. But when the researchers took age, education, and occupation into account, the benefits of nature contact and feelings of social inclusion on loneliness remained strongly statistically significant. Johanna Gibbons, part of the research team, said, “Cities are probably the only habitat that is increasing at a high rate. So we should be creating urban habitats where people can thrive(兴旺).”

1. How was the research conducted?

A．By relying on people’s memory.

B．By surveying 750 paricipants.

C．By collecting data through a smartphidoapp.

D．By checking a worldwide representative ample.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

A．Many big cities take the lead in the research.

B．Time spent indoors improves people’s well-being.

C．Woodland walks greatly reduce social contact with people.

D．Interventions to reduce loneliness benefit the UK financially.

3. What ean be inferred about the research?

A．The findings are statistically markable.

B．It offers a wide range of samples globally.

C．The carefully selected participants are Defiable.

D．Many factors are considered except eduction.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．The mental problems of living in big cities.

B．Reducing loncliness in cities via contact with nature.

C．Developing urban habitats at a high speod.

D．Research on how to get rid of loneliness in nature.

8 . In 2019, the world generated 54.6 million tons of e-waste. However, just 17.4 percent of it was formally collected and recycled. Since 2014, the amount of e-waste recycled has grown by 1.8 million tons—a relatively small amount, considering that the amount of e-waste generated increased by 9.2 million tons in the same period.

Global reserves of some elements, such as platinum, are supposed to be fully used up within 15 years if the proportion of recycled stocks entering production doesn’t increase. E-waste and EV batteries are currently recycled through processes called pyrometallurgy (火法冶金术) and hydrometallurgy (湿法冶金术). However, they involve burning temperatures with a high energy demand and deep carbon footprint, and poisonous chemicals which are harmful to the environment. Alternatives are therefore being sought.

A team of scientists from the University of Coventry are extending one such alternative. They have been using non-poisonous bacteria to oxidize and recover the precious metals—a process known as “bioleaching”. They have shown that copper is widely recoverable from e-waste, and that all metals present in EV batteries can be recovered by using microbes (微生物). If extended, bioleaching facilities would mean that manufacturers of EV batteries and other electronic goods would be able to recover metals locally, relying less on costly exports to recycling centers abroad.

“At present, a key limitation for e-waste recycling is the lack of certification detailing the types and amounts of metals contained in electronic goods. But with an efficient recycling process appearing, manufacturers have the motivation to use more recycled material in their products, which will change the very design of electronics goods. It’s about closing the loop of a product’s life cycle,” said the leader of the Bioleaching Research Group, Sebastien Farnaud.

Ultimately, bioleaching technology is born out of the idea of creating a truly circular process for the things that we consume. We need to shift from a mindset and economy where we see waste as an end product, to one where there isn’t even a start or an end at all.

1. What do the statistics in Paragraph 1 indicate？

A．People pay no attention to e-waste recycling.

B．The recycling rate of e-waste is comparatively low.

C．E-waste has caused serious environmental problems.

D．The amount of e-waste is sharply increasing every year.

2. What is the disadvantage of current ways of recycling e-waste？

A．They are not environmentally friendly.

B．They only apply to certain e-waste.

C．They generate metals with a complex process.

D．They cause a sharp rise in local temperatures.

3. What do we know about the bioleaching technology？

A．It has been applied abroad.	B．It releases no poisonous gas.
C．It recovers metals by microbes.	D．It promotes the local export trade.

4. The text is most probably a part of ______.

A．a travel guide	B．a fiction novel
C．a health magazine	D．a scientific journal