1 . Inventor James West was born in 1931 in Virginia. As a child, he spent lots of time studying how things worked and enjoyed taking apart small machines. “If I had some tools, any small machines that could be opened were in danger,” West said. “I had a strong desire to know what was inside.”
After an accident with a radio, West paid special attention to electricity. But his parents were concerned about the future job for an African-American scientist. They preferred him to become a doctor. However, West headed to Temple University in 1953 to study physics. Because of his school performance in physics, he managed to get training during the summer at Nokia Bell Labs, a world-known American industrial research and scientific development company. He received a college degree in physics in 1957, and upon graduation, he became a worker at Nokia Bell Labs.
In 1960, while at Bell, West teamed up with scientist Sessler to develop a less expensive, more powerful and smaller microphone (麦克风), In 1962, they finished the development on the product. Their invention became the industry standard. And even today, 90 percent of microphones -- for example, found in telephones, tape recorders, baby monitors and hearing aids -- are based on their technology.
West was chosen as Inventor of the Year by the state of New Jersey and president of the Acoustical Society of America. And both West and Sessler were chosen into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
West left Bell in 2001. After some interviews with several universities, he chose the Johns Hopkins University and became a research professor at its Whiting School of Engineering. “I discovered that Johns Hopkins was a lot like Bell Labs, where the doors were always open and we were free to work with researchers in other areas,” he said. “I like the fact that I won’t be locked into one small closed room here.”
1. Being a child, James West often liked ___________.| A．collecting various tools |
| B．working hard at schoolwork |
| C．helping repair household machines |
| D．studying the operation and structures of machines |
| A．His university was famous for its physics teaching. |
| B．His good performance made him get a promising job. |
| C．He gave up the chance to turn his interest into his major. |
| D．He hardly got his parents’ support for his further education. |
| A．went through plenty of difficulties |
| B．was unpopular in the market at first |
| C．was inspired by some electronic products |
| D．prepared useful technology for many modern machines |
| A．It held lots of outdoor activities. |
| B．It had a close connection with Bell Labs. |
| C．It had good working atmosphere for teamwork. |
| D．It was rich in teaching resources and advanced technology. |
2 . A donation letter is what you write to a person you expect, who will give away some of his money to support your good cause. Good as the cause may be, it is hard to make a person part with his hard-earned money. It takes some really great writing skills to write such a letter.
The donation letter for charity isn’t exactly a formal letter for business communication. You need to take a casual tone. Make sure that you know the name of the recipient (收信人) to sound more like a friendly gesture. The language too should not be extremely serious and should be slightly informal, which can make your recipient willing to believe you.
Make sure that you include all the details regarding your program, your funds required, and your plan in the letter. The most important thing is to mention how someone stands to benefit because of the recipient’s contribution. Talk about how many lives your charity fund has been able to change and how many more you wish to change further. This may touch the reader and talk him into making a donation towards your cause. Include the amount which you expect the recipient to donate, within your letter.
A typical donation letter is often divided into four paragraphs. The first paragraph will be an introduction to your organization, like what you do, how long you have been running, and your achievements. The second paragraph will give more details regarding your current goals that you’re trying to reach. In the third paragraph you use a more direct method here, asking politely for any help. Keep it short and clear. The final paragraph is your conclusion, where you tell exactly how the help received would be put into good use. Add a “thank you” for any and all help received.
1. How should the language used in a donation letter be?| A．Relaxing and persuasive. |
| B．Happy and friendly. |
| C．Official and honest. |
| D．Short and clear. |
| A．Asking about the recipient’s plan. |
| B．Including all the details of people in need. |
| C．Telling directly the amount of money you expect. |
| D．Showing the value and importance of one’s donation. |
| A．The skills used for writing business letters. |
| B．The general content of a donation letter. |
| C．The common problems in a donation. |
| D．The tips on making a donation. |
3 . The Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA)
The 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA)found that high school students from the Chinese mainland ranked No. 1 in all three core subjects.
PISA tests are conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD).
PISA 2018 tested around 600,000 15-year-old students in 79 countries and regions in reading, science and mathematics.
The first PISA was carried out in 2000. China has participated in the study every time since 2009, when students from Shanghai were selected as representatives and came out as champions in all three categories.
China’s overall ranking dropped to No. 10 in 2015 when it was represented by Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong that year. The country placed 27th in reading, sixth in mathematics and tenth in science then.
Responding to disputes that a few eastern regions cannot show the whole educational picture of the world’s most populous country, the OECD said that each of them is comparable in size to many Western countries, and have a combined population of over 180 million. It added that even 10% of the most disadvantaged students in these four provinces showed better reading skills than the most advantaged students in some countries, and better performance than the average student in OECD countries.
| A．The main focus this time was on reading, with most students doing the test on computers. |
| B．In 2012, students from Shanghai took the tests again and finished top in all areas as well. |
| C．Besides academic assessments, PISA also asked performers about their well-being. |
| D．In the latest survey, students from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang managed to regain first place in all three categories. |
| E．The study examines what 15-year-olds know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. |
| F．However, the survey also indicated that Chinese students spend the longest time—about 57 hours per week—on study. The average figure among OECD countries is 44. |
4 . Most people who live in Seattle, Washington, love their city. There is a never-ending flow of fun things to do. But, people who live there do not always enjoy the day-after-day absence of sunshine during the winter months.
It is a documented fact that sunshine(or lack of it)plays a major role in how each of us greets the day. It also affects how we perform at school or work. When people are deprived of sunlight, they can develop seasonal affective disorder, which makes it difficult for them to feel happy or get things accomplished. No major city in the United States is more affected by the “sunshine factor” than Seattle.
To fight drizzle and fog during the winter months, Steve Murphy created a business that is very popular among the locals. The Indoor Sun Shoppe is more than a little ray of sunshine during the grey days of Seattle’s winter. His shop offers a huge source of plants and artificial lighting for people who are trying to overcome seasonal affective disorder.
Located in Fremont, Washington, The Indoor Sun Shoppe has an amazing collection of exotic(奇异的)plants and “good bugs” in a humid and well-lit environment. At The Indoor Sun Shoppe, you can spend up to $400 for artificial lighting that will chase away the winter blues. It will also keep your plants healthy. You can buy a dawn simulator(模拟器)that will gradually fill your room with a warming wake-up glow. What better way to greet a Seattle morning when real sunshine is nothing more than a happy thought!
Murphy’s in-home waterfalls are also popular with customers. But his plants and lights remain the “main course”. On a cloudy winter day, The Indoor Sun Shoppe is a bright spot in Seattle!
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?| A．Seattle is located in the state of Washington. |
| B．Citizens love Seattle for their colourful city lives. |
| C．Sunshine in Seattle is rare during the winter months. |
| D．People who live in Seattle are used to the sunshine absence. |
| A．Mild temperature and a general feeling of illness caused by grey winter. |
| B．Exhaustion, depression and lack of energy caused by lack of sunlight. |
| C．Winter-related illness caused by the low temperature and little sunlight. |
| D．Post-holiday depression that comes when relatives leave after Christmas. |
| A．attracts people from different parts of the whole country |
| B．aims to create a humid and well-lit environment during the winter months |
| C．brings only a little ray of sunshine during the grey days of Seattle’s winter |
| D．offers a variety of goods helping people overcome seasonal affective disorder |
| A．An alarm clock activated by the light rays of early morning. |
| B．A bringer of indoor artificial sunshine when there is none outside. |
| C．An automatic waterfall system helping make indoor plants healthy. |
| D．A better way to greet a Seattle morning with real warming sunshine. |
5 . New efforts are being made to prevent American college campuses from cigarette smoking. Twenty colleges in the United States recently received money to help protect their campuses from the harm of cigarettes.
Supporters say that every child deserves to grow up in a safe and healthy environment free from harmful second-hand cigarettes. And in November, smoking at college campuses may become illegal.
Before banning smoking at college campuses, the US has passed laws banning smoking at most workplaces. 27 American states ban smoking in all indoor workplaces.
Those supporting smoke-free at workplaces and college campuses give one major reason: the bad influence of smoking on health.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says smoking has a great influence on health. They think cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. Smoking is responsible for 480,000 deaths every year.
Supporters say the bad influence of second-hand smoke makes it a public health problem. Some also say that college campuses are a good place to ban smoking.
Gary Reedy, the CEO of the American Cancer Society, said it was important to stop college students from smoking, and he expected to successfully create a cigarette-free generation (世代).
The CDC found that 13 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 smoke cigarettes. Reedy says that reducing the number of college students who smoke can help reduce the number of older adult smokers. He also says once a person starts smoking, it is hard to stop.
1. Who are the new efforts good for?| A．College students. | B．The CDC. |
| C．Young smokers. | D．People in public places. |
| A．The bad influence of smoking. | B．Money wasted on cigarettes. |
| C．Laws passed by the US. | D．Public attention to health. |
| A．Smoking spreads easily among college students. |
| B．Smoke-free campuses have a long-term influence. |
| C．It is easier for college students to stop smoking. |
| D．There’re more older adult smokers in the world. |
| A．Second-hand smoke is affecting college students too |
| B．Groups take steps to protect college students |
| C．Cigarettes should be totally banned in college |
| D．Banning smoking is being tried at US colleges |
6 . Many questions can be expected in advance and it’s wise to have some well-constructed answers that you can tailor more closely on the day. It’s sensible to have a number of key phrases to use. Remember to always try and make your answers positive.
Q1: Tell me about yourself. (The interviewer is really saying “I want to hear you talk.”)
A1: This is just to get things started, but it is a very common question. Write a script, and practice it so that it sounds natural. Spend a maximum of four minutes describing your qualifications, career history and your range of skills. Emphasize those skills that are relevant to the job on offer.
Q2: What have been your achievements to date? (The interviewer is saying “Are you an achiever?”)
A2: Again, this is a common question, so be prepared. Select an achievement that is experience-related and fairly recent. Identify skills you used in this achievement and say what the results were.
Q3: What do you like about your present job? (The interviewer is really trying to find out whether you will enjoy the things the new job has to offer.)
A3: This is a straightforward question. All you have to make sure is that your ‘likes’ correspond to the skills etc. required for the job on offer. Be positive, describe your job as interesting and diverse, but do not overdo it. After all, you are leaving?
Q4: What are your strengths? (The interviewer simply wants a straightforward answer as to what you are good at.)
A4: This is the one question that you are definitely going to get, so there is no excuse for being unprepared. Concentrate on discussing your main strengths. List three or four explanations of how they could benefit the employer. Strengths to consider include technical proficiency; ability to learn quickly; determination to succeed; positive attitude; your ability to relate to people and achieve a common goal. You may be asked to give examples of the above, so be prepared.
Q5: Tell me about the most difficult situation you’ve had to face and how you handled it.
(The interview is really trying to find out your definition of “difficult” and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving using your initiative.)
A5: This can be a trap! To avoid it, select a difficult work situation that was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.
1. The passage is mainly intended to ________.| A．highlight the importance of looking positive in an interview |
| B．give suggestions on how to answer interview questions |
| C．provide some sample answers to interview questions |
| D．illustrate how to look confident in an interview |
| A．talk about what you dislike about it |
| B．comment positively on your colleagues |
| C．relates it to the job you are applying for |
| D．describe how interesting it is as far as possible |
| A．Tell me about yourself? |
| B．Tell me about your strengths? |
| C．What have been your achievements to date? |
| D．How did you handle the most difficult situation? |
7 . The Underwater Photographer of the Year, which originated from 1965, is a yearly contest based in the United Kingdom. As you might expect, the focus is on photos taken underwater, whether in the ocean, in lakes or rivers, or even swimming pools.
The pictures are judged in several different categories. The contest in 2020 had over 5,500 entries from 70 different countries.
The grand prize winner was “Frozen Mobile Home” by French photographer Greg Lecoeur. The photo shows seals swimming around a small iceberg. To get the picture, Mr Lecoeur traveled to Antarctica in a small boat and spent time tracking the life around floating icebergs.
The photo “Last Dawn, Last Gasp” by Pasquale Vassallo of Italy won the award for Ocean Protection Photographer of the Year. Mr Vassallo said that he went diving early in the morning to take this picture of a tuna (金枪鱼) trapped as fishermen pulled their nets in.
Mr Vassallo also took “Octopus Training”, a picture that won in the category of “Behavior”. He says that when he came up after a dive, he noticed a soccer ball floating on the surface. When he went to check it out, he saw that there was an octopus hanging from the ball. Mr Vassallo says he doesn’t understand what the octopus was doing, but wonders if it was training for the World Cup.
Though Rooman Luc of Belgium didn’t win the “Portrait” category, his photo, titled “Angry Seahorse”, is quite striking. The closeup shot of a seahorse staring strictly into the camera was named runnerup (second place). He said he spent nearly an hour standing in kneehigh water being bitten by mosquitos in order to get the picture.
The contest has many more amazing photos that can be viewed on the site, along with the stories behind them. There is even a book with all of the contents that can be downloaded for free.
1. Which isn’t suitable to enter the Underwater Photographer of the Year contest?| A．The crying dolphin. |
| B．Saving the elephant. |
| C．The dancing lemon shark. |
| D．Kissing the whale. |
| A．A tuna is hard to shoot. |
| B．We should protect ocean animals. |
| C．Diving early in the morning is painful. |
| D．There are too many fishing nets in the sea. |
| A．The octopus is endangered. |
| B．Photography should be serious. |
| C．The photographer has a sense of humour. |
| D．The photographer concerns himself about the octopus. |
| A．Arts. | B．Literature. |
| C．Documentary. | D．Education. |
8 . By the time the British adventurer Ash Dykes reached Chongqing 178 days after starting to trek (长途跋涉) along the Yangtze River from its source to the sea, the most difficult part of the journey was over. Dykes had completed about 2,430 miles, and all he needed to do was cover the next 1,550 miles in 187 days or less to complete the whole journey.
On August 26 last year, a three-man team, including two guides and a horse, hit the road at the starting point, the source of the Yangtze River in the south of Qinghai Province. Then at different times for the next two months, different people had come to join them.
In order to cross the plateau (高原) and mountains in good weather, the journey was planned to start in summer. However, because of the problems in preparations, Dykes arrived in Qinghai in late August as the days were becoming shorter and colder. Not wanting to wait for another year, he decided to continue.
Within a few days three of the adventurers experienced serious high altitude sickness (高原反应). In the mountains, the team had to light fire to scare off bears, and once they had been followed by a group of wolves for two days. They were forced to quit the journey. In fact, Dykes has been walking alone since late October.
“The rest of the trip would be much easier,” Dykes said. He started from Chongqing on the second half of the journey on March 11. At the same time,he called on more people to join him in some parts of the trek as a way to encourage environmental protection.
“Travelling along the Yangtze River is not only a great act, it’s also a chance to enjoy the true beauty and wonders of China, and attract people’s attention to the environment and good work to protect it,” he wrote on his Weibo. “However, the kindness and warmth of the local people have struck me so much that it is they that make the journey unforgettable.”
1. What do we know about Dykes’ journey along the Yangtze River?| A．It will cover about 3,980 miles. |
| B．It will be joined by more and more people. |
| C．It began in Qinghai and will end in Chongqing. |
| D．It’ll take him over a year to finish the whole journey. |
| A．Bad weather conditions. |
| B．Not enough preparations. |
| C．No partners. |
| D．High altitude sickness. |
| A．The importance of protecting the Yangtze River. |
| B．The best way to travel along the Yangtze River. |
| C．People’s effort to protect the Yangtze River. |
| D．Dykes’ journey along the Yangtze River. |
9 . “Dad, I need your help. Come here!” My 5-year-old girl pulled me towards the computer. “Dad, please buy everything I have in the Amazon shopping cart (购物车). Here, take this cash from my savings!” The shopping cart showed ten items for a total of about 130 dollars. “Wait!” I replied.“That’s too much money! Why do you need all these things?”“Please, Dad! These items will get here before Christmas. I have a surprise for everyone. No peeking(偷看)!” she explained, and I bought everything.
A couple of days later, she got everything. I saw her then wrapping (包装) all her gifts. “Can I help you?” I asked.“No, Dad. I told you these are special surprises. No peeking!” she replied. Her excitement was obvious.
The day came. She was all around her gifts, planning, protecting, arranging. Everything had to be perfect. As soon as dinner was over, she jumped from her chair and took her gifts. She went around giving each one of us her piece of love. These were small items, but it was the meaning of giving her heart that we were really feeling. As she gave the gift to each person, she watched the expression on our faces. Our smiles were her greatest reward. Her last gift was for my 2-year-old boy—a toy car. It was hard to describe my little boy’s delight at getting this gift! For several minutes, everyone’s attention was focused on watching him go all around the house happily.
Seeing these acts of my 5-year-old helped me understand the power of giving—giving from the heart. Later that day, my girl received some gifts, but she didn’t need them. She focused on others, not on herself. It was clear that she was the one feeling true joy.
1. Why did the girl ask her father for help?| A．She didn’t have enough money. |
| B．She needed him to keep the secret. |
| C．She wanted to get his opinions on gifts. |
| D．She couldn’t make the online payment. |
| A．She felt proud. |
| B．She felt delighted. |
| C．She felt cautious. |
| D．She felt satisfied. |
| A．Pleasant. | B．Creative. |
| C．Reasonable. | D．Surprising. |
| A．To praise his daughter for her generosity. |
| B．To share his experience of raising his kids. |
| C．To discuss how to find happiness in daily life. |
| D．To share the lesson learned from his daughter. |
10 . What are pillows really stuffed with? Not physically, but symbolically? The question occurred to me with the photos in the news and social media from the 50 cities around the world that staged public celebrations for International Pillow Fight Day. Armed with nothing more than bring-our-own sacrificial cushions, strangers struck heavily each other in playful feather from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Warsaw to Washington DC. But why? Is there anything more to this delightful celebration?
As a cultural sign, the pillow is deceptively soft. Since at least the 16th Century, the humble pillow has been given unexpected meanings. The Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu tells a famous story about a wise man who meets a depressed young scholar at an inn and offers him a magic pillow filled with the most vivid dreams of a seemingly more fulfilling life. When the young man awakens to discover that his happy 50-year dream has in fact come and gone in the short space of an afternoon’s nap, our impression of the pillow’s power shifts from wonder to terror.
Subsequent writers have likewise seized upon the pillow. When the 19th-Century English novelist Charlotte Bronte poetically observed “a ruffled (不平的) mind makes a restless pillow”, she didn’t just change the expected order of the adjectives and nouns, but instead she made unclear the boundaries between mind and matter — the thing resting and the thing rested upon.
It’s a trick perhaps Bronte learned from the Renaissance philosopher Montaigne, who once insisted that “ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head”. On Montaigne’s thinking, intelligence and happiness confront each other forever in a pillow fight that only one can win.
With the words of Tang. Bronte, and Montaigne, we can perhaps more easily measure the attraction of the global pillow fight. Like a ritual of release, the annual international pillow fight amounts to a kind of cleansing, a brushing off of daily worries: an emptying of the world’s collective mind. Rather than a launch-pad for weightless rest, the pillow is a symbol of heavy thought: an anchor that drags the world’s soul down — one that must be lightened.
1. The example of Tang Xianzu is used to illustrate that ________.| A．pillows give people satisfactory dreams |
| B．dreams are always wonderful while the real world is cruel |
| C．people’s impression of pillows changes from wonder to terror |
| D．pillows symbolically convey the meaning in contrast to their soft appearance |
| A．wrote poems about pillows |
| B．regarded pillows as reflections of our minds |
| C．shared the same viewpoint as Tang Xianzu on pillows |
| D．was likely to have been influenced by the thoughts of the Renaissance |
| A．pillows give us comfort |
| B．pillows make people more intelligent |
| C．people with too many thoughts have less inner peace |
| D．people can easily fall asleep when they know nothing |
| A．Because it is a ritual release. |
| B．Because it makes life delightful. |
| C．Because it comforts restless minds. |
| D．Because it contains a profound meaning of life. |
