1 . At the top of a hill called Mount Lee in Los Angeles on the west coast of the USA is a very famous sign, recognizable to people around the world. My job is to look after this sign.     1     The first film was made there in 1907 and by 1912, at least 15 independent studios could be found making films around town.

In the 1940s, TV started to become popular and some Hollywood film studios closed, but then TV companies moved in and took them over. Modern Hollywood was born.     2     If one of them ever fell down I would have to put it back up at exactly the same angle. They follow the shape of Mount Lee and this is part of their fame.

I am responsible for maintaining and protecting the sign.     3     When I first arrived in 1989, security was pretty low-tech-we put up a fence around the sign to stop people messing with it. But people just jumped over the fence. The back of the sign was black with graffiti(涂鸦)there was wire across it, but they still got through. So I decided to improve the effectiveness of the security.

Now we have motion-detectors and cameras. Everything goes via the internet to a dedicated surveillance(监控)team watching various structures around the city. Even so, people still try to climb over the barrier, mostly innocent tourists surprised that you can’t walk right up to the sign. But they can get a closer look on one of my regular tours.

    4     They want to light the sign, paint it pink, or cover it in something to promote their product. You’ll get a really enthusiastic marketing executive call up, terribly excited because they think they’re the first person to think of this or that idea. They mostly get turned down. That’s because we don’t like to change the image and we hope it will have the same significance for generations to come.

A．The letters in the sign weren’t straight and still aren’t.

B．I have been working there for nearly 30 years.

C．People call up with the most ridiculous ideas.

D．It says Hollywood and that’s of course the place where films have been made for over a hundred years.

E．We used to have real problems.

F．Payment must be made for those ideas for commercial purposes.

2 . How to save planet earth

Have you ever held a product in your hands and considered the existential weight of your purchase? Beyond each price tag hides a ripple effect. It expands from soil to water ways, grocery aisle to kitchen plates, factories to fulfillment centers and mail slots to landfills. This global impact has become less hidden in the past decade, and ignoring the people downstream from us has grown increasingly difficult.

We’re more aware than ever of the mark our consumption leaves on planet Earth, which now sustains nearly 8 billion people. Somehow, humans are still pumping more than 30 gig a tons of carbon dioxide(CO₂)per year into the atmosphere, despite the mountain of evidence that CO₂ is the top contributor to greenhouse gases causing global warming.     1    We know we need to do better, but we feel helpless and overwhelmed. Let’s call this the eco-essential crisis; it applies on a deeply personal level for most environmentally aware humans, and on a global scale.

Climate journalist and author Tatiana Schlossberg says even a simple trip to the supermarket can feel paralyzing in 2021. “I want to buy the local thing, but it’s not organic. Or, maybe it’s in a plastic box,” she says. In her 2019 book Inconspicuous Consumption, she ventures way beyond the store aisle and into the web of less apparent ways that humans are damaging Earth. For example, your internet use is tied to extensive carbon emissions and energy consumption.     2     The world is more complicated than that.

In fact, being a good citizen on planet Earth with climate concerns, you’ve likely asked or agonized over this question: What should I do?     3     So, we took this question to five people who have immersed their careers, research and writing in the realities of climate science.

One of their most consistent insights may surprise you: Consumer responsibility misses the mark. “One of the major failings of the environmental movement is having everyone focus on these small things that everyone can do.” says Ayana Elizabeth Johnson-a marine biologist and co-host of the podcast How to Save a Planet.     4     There are just more meaningful and long-lasting ways to expend your energy in the climate fight. Most of them involve organization and collective action.

“Individuals join together to collectively have far more power changing the system than they can as individuals,” says Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

A．That doesn’t mean it’s none of your business.

B．these experts propose other key steps that every human can take toward a better future.

C．Similar challenge apply to use of plastics and consumption of meat and other goods.

D．Part of the challenge with the environmental movement is the astonishing list of things we need to change.

E．The solution to this problem, however, is not for you to stop using the internet, according to Schlossberg.

F．It’s easy to get lost in the storm of supposed answers around social media, the latest data sets and “ego-friendly” marketing campaigns.

3 . Forks trace their origins back to the ancient Greeks. Forks at that time were fairly large with two tines that aided in the carving of meat in the kitchen. The tines prevented meat from twisting or moving during carving and allowed food to slide off more easily than it would with a knife.

By the 7th century A.D., royal courts of the Middle East began to use forks at the table for dining. From the 10th through the 13th centuries, forks were fairly common among the wealthy in Byzantium. In the 11th century, a Byzantine wife brought forks to Italy; however, they were not widely adopted there until the 16th century. Then in 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France. The French were also slow to accept forks, for using them was thought to be awkward.

In 1608, forks were brought to England by Thomas Coryate, who saw them during his travels in Italy. The English first ridiculed forks as being unnecessary. “Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?” they asked. Slowly, however, forks came to be adopted by the wealthy as a symbol of their social status. They were prized possessions made of expensive materials intended to impress guests. By the mid-1600s, eating with forks was considered fashionable among the wealthy British.

Early table forks were modeled after kitchen forks, but small pieces of food often fell through the two tines or slipped off easily. In late 17th century France, larger forks with four curved tines were developed. The additional tines made diners less likely to drop food, and the curved tines served as a scoop so people did not have to constantly switch to a spoon while eating. By the early 19th century, four-tined forks had also been developed in Germany and England and slowly began to spread to America.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The different designs of forks.

B．The spread of fork-aided cooking.

C．The history of using forks for dining.

D．The development of fork-related table manners.

2. By which route did the use of forks spread?

A．Middle EastGreeceEnglandItalyFrance

B．GreeceMiddle EastItalyFranceEngland

C．GreeceMiddle EastFranceItalyGermany

D．Middle EastFranceEnglandItalyGermany

3. How did forks become popular in England?

A．Wealthy British were impressed by the design of forks.

B．Wealthy British thought it awkward to use their hands to eat.

C．Wealthy British gave special forks to the nobles as luxurious gifts.

D．Wealthy British considered dining with forks a sign of social status.

4. Why were forks made into a curved shape?

A．They could be used to scoop food as well.

B．They looked more fashionable in this way.

C．They were designed in this way for export to the US.

D．They ensured the meat would not twist while being cut.

4 . Is It Smarter Than a Seven-month-old?

By the age of seven months, most children have learned that objects still exist even when they are out of sight. Put a toy under a blanket and a child that old will know it is still there, and that he can reach underneath the blanket to get it back.     1    

It is also something that self-driving cars do not have. And that is a problem. Autonomous vehicles are getting better, but they still don't understand the world in the way that a human being does. For a self-driving car, a bicycle that is momentarily hidden by a passing van is a bicycle that has ceased to exist.

This failing is basic to the now-widespread computing discipline that has claimed to be the slightly misleading name of artificial intelligence（AI）. Current Al works by building up complex statistical models of the world, but it lacks a deeper understanding of reality.     2    

Modern AI is based on the idea of machine learning. If an engineer wants a computer to recognize a stop sign, he does not try to write thousands of lines of code that describe every pattern of pixels（像素）which could possibly indicate such a sign.     3     Over many repetitions, the program gradually works out what features all of these pictures have in common.

    4     Cars thus learn how to obey lane markings, avoid other vehicles, hit the brakes at a red light and so on. But they do not understand many things a human driver takes for granted—that other cars on the road have engines and four wheels, or that they obey traffic regulations（usually）and the laws of physics（always）. And they do not understand object permanence.

A．Instead, he writes a program that can learn for itself, and then shows that program thousands of pictures of stop signs.

B．The high-tech vision system has the potential to be more successful than humans in detecting dangerous situations

C．How to give AI at least some appearance of that understanding—the reasoning ability of a seven-month-old child, perhaps—is now a matter of active research

D．Programmers have developed procedures that behave like the neurons（神经元） in a brain. They can "learn" from the actions taken in previous situations and infer what to do in a new, similar situation.

E．This understanding of "object permanence", is a normal developmental milestone, as well as a basic principle of reality.

F．Similar techniques are used to train self-driving cars to operate in traffic.

5 . Shortages of flu vaccine are nothing new in America, but this year’s is a whopper. Until last week, it appeared that 100 million Americans would have access to flu shots this fall. Then British authorities, concerned about quality-control problems at a production plant in Liverpool, bailed all further shipments by the Chiron Corp. Overnight, the U.S. vaccine supply dwindled by nearly half and federal health officials found themselves making an unusual appeal. Instead of pleading with us all to get vaccinated, they’re now urging most healthy people between the ages of 2 and 64 not to. “This re-emphasizes the fragility of our vaccine supply,” says Dr. Martin Myers of the National Network for Immunization Information, “and the lack of redundancy in our system.”

Why is such a basic health service so easily knocked out? Mainly because private companies have had little incentive to pursue it. To create a single dose of flu vaccine, a manufacture has to grow live virus in a 2-week-old fertilized chicken egg, then crack the egg, harvest the virus and extract the proteins used to provoke an immune response. Profit margins are narrow, demand is changeable and, because each year’s flu virus is different, any leftover vaccine goes to waste. As a result the United States now has only two major suppliers (Chiron and Aventis Pasteur) and when one of them runs into trouble, there isn’t much the other can do about it. “A vaccine maker can’t just call up and order 40 million more fertilized eggs,” says Manon Cox, of Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. “There’s a whole industry that’s scheduled to produce a certain number of eggs at a certain time.”

Sleeker technologies are now in the works, and experts are hoping that this year’s complete failure will speed the pace of innovation. The main challenge is to shift production from eggs into cell cultures—a medium already used to make most other vaccines. Flu vaccines are harder than most to produce this way, but several biotech companies are now pursuing this strategy, and one culture-based product (Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ Invivac) has been cleared for marketing in Europe.

For America, the immediate challenge is to make the most of a limited supply. The government estimates that 95 million people still qualify for shots under the voluntary restrictions announced last week. That’s nearly twice the number of doses that clinics will have on hand, but only 60 million Americans seek out shots in a normal year. In fact, many experts are hoping the shortage will serve as an awareness campaign — encouraging the people who really need a flu shot to get one.

1. Shortage of flu vaccine show that ________.

A．America relies too much on foreign suppliers

B．the demand of flu vaccines is high this year

C．quality problem is a serious problem in flu vaccine production

D．the supply of flu vaccines is rather weak and America has no back-up measures to make it up

2. Private companies have little interest in producing flu vaccines because of ________.

A．complicated process, high cost, low profit and high risk

B．shortages of fertilized chicken eggs

C．difficulty in growing live virus

D．fast changing of flu virus

3. From the last paragraph we can infer that ________.

A．the government hopes to solve the problem by way of volunteer restrictions

B．more than 47 million Americans who are qualified to get flu vaccine shots cannot get hem this year

C．America has to deal with a limited supply of flu vaccines this year

D．normally only a small percentage of American population gets flu vaccine shots each year

4. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．All Americans are persuaded not to get vaccinated this year.

B．The big problem in innovating flu vaccine producing technique is how to grow virus in a new way.

C．More flu vaccines cannot be produced in a short time because private companies refuse to produce more.

D．Flu vaccines are easier than most vaccines to produce through cell cultures.

6 .    

About Old Faithful —The Most Famous Geyser (间歇性喷泉) in the World Discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition, Old Faithful geyser was named for its frequent eruptions (喷发) — which number more than a million since Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872. When does Old Faithful erupt? Basic prediction of Old Faithful is dependent upon the duration of the previous eruption. During visitor center hours, geyser statistics and predictions are maintained by the naturalist staff. People speak of the average time between eruptions. This is misleading. The mathematical average between eruptions of Old Faithful is currently 74 minutes, but it doesn’t like to act average! Intervals can range from 60-110 minutes. Visitors can check for posted prediction times in most buildings in the Old Faithful area. How high does Old Faithful erupt and how long will it last? Old Faithful can vary in height from 100–180 feet with an average near 130–140 feet. This has been the historical range of its recorded height. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes. I heard Old Faithful isn’t as faithful as it used to be. Is it slowing down? It depends on what you call faithful. The famous geyser currently erupts around 20 times a day and can be predicted with a 90 percent confidence rate within a 10 minute variation. Prior to the 1959 earthquake, Old Faithful erupted 21 times per day. That’s a significant decrease in activity for geologists tracking each eruption, but to visitors seeing one or two eruptions…it looks just fine. How many gallons of water are expelled during an eruption? It depends on the duration of the eruption. Scientists estimate that the amount ranges from 3,700 gallons (for a short duration of 1.5 minutes) to 8,400 gallons (for a longer duration of 4.5 minutes). How hot is the water in Old Faithful? During an eruption, the water temperature at the vent has been measured at 204°F (95.6°C). The steam temperature has been measured above 350°F!

1. You and your friend just watched the eruption of Old Faithful at 12:26 p.m., at what time is it possible for you to enjoy the next one?

A．13:06

B．14:06

C．15:06

D．16:06

2. Which one of the following statement about Old Faithful is true?

A．The geyser’s name indicates that it always erupts regularly, 20 times a day, once every 74 minutes.

B．When it is erupting, people should keep a safe distance due to its freezing coldness.

C．Old Faithful is a well-known geyser which can expel at least 3700 gallons water each time.

D．To check the eruption time, visitors may refer to predictions on the posted timetables.

3. Where does the article most probably appear?

A．The Yellowstone official website.

B．Local travel pamphlets introducing Yellowstone.

C．A recently-issued guide book on Yellowstone.

D．A travel magazine column about Yellowstone.

7 . In his 1975 novel Changing Places, British novelist David Lodge described the lifestyle of two literature professors who cross the planet repeatedly, trading a rainy English campus for a sunny California university, and vice versa. Along the way, many other things are exchanged as well, including affairs of the heart.

While scholars working today don't enjoy the same benefits—luxury hotels and business-class flights in particular—they might recognize that they still live in Lodge's small world. Since the mid-l970s, transportation and communication advances have made the planet steadily smaller and the number of international students has risen sharply in turn. In Lodge's novels, universities seemed changeless, white four decades later they are fully engaged in internationalization.

In the post Cold War era, academic relationships are becoming richer and more complex. Students in the Global South, eager to participate in the knowledge economy and receive some of its benefits, are driving much of the increased demand for education at all levels.That future profits and solutions to pressing global problems are to be found in advanced research makes international cooperation essential.

As a recent report shows, internationalization is a strategic priority for many universities and they're working to put themselves on the world map.When competing for new lands, however, familiar rules no longer apply and new guidelines must be established to increase the chance of profits, or at least minimize potential losses.

The internationalization of universities raises an old problem: the ability to connect to global development without losing diversity. Some aspects of global science, such as Nobel prizes, tend to promote a “winner-takes-all' system. Higher education institutions should take a critical distance from this tendency and embrace their diversity— there is more than one Treasure Island for science. Internationalization is not about going to places similar to our own country or institution. Instead, students and scholars can find stimulating environments and academic conditions that can challenge what they take for granted.

We generally assume that higher education and innovation go hand in hand, but we do not know how innovation comes about. The only reasonable assumption is that it happens in difficult conditions, when we have to overcome a problem. That's why it's important to put students and scholars in challenging diverse situations and help them learn different ways of thinking. From my point of view, enhancing access and promoting diversity should be the compass of all internationalization strategies. So, the ship has started, and let's sail.

1. The purpose of mentioning the novel by David Lodge is to ________ .

A．show how things are changed internationally

B．criticize the lifestyle of two literature professors

C．convince the readers that universities are changeless

D．introduce the topic of internationalization of universities

2. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Universities have to set up new rules to cope with the competition.

B．All the universities are working hard to attract more international students.

C．International students make academic relationship of universities more complex.

D．The reasons for international cooperation of universities are profits and competition.

3. What does the underlined sentence "there is more than one Treasure Island for science" in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Globalized Higher education should develop more treasures with science.

B．Internationalized Higher education is expected of winning more Nobel Prizes.

C．Globalized Higher education should be diverse.

D．Internationalization of universities should challenge scholars more.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Innovation—the best solution to globalization

B．Innovation and cooperation come to us hand in hand

C．International cooperation of universities becomes more essential

D．Globalized higher education—there's more than one way to excellence

8 . Immersive Art Draws People In

With bold, swirling brushstrokes and vivid colors, Vincent van Gogh's stirring Starry Night brings to life a turbulent sky. It's one of the most recognizable paintings in the world. And gazing at the scenic canvas can make museum visitors feel starstruck.

    1     In fact, some exhibits give people a chance to be enveloped by van Gogh's celebrated painting. They find themselves surrounded by shimmering colors that dance before their eyes and ripple at their feet. These exhibitions digitally project moving images onto walls, floors, and sometimes onto viewers themselves. They are examples of immersive art.

Immersive art doesn't sit in a glass case or fit in a frame.     2     These exhibitions have been wildly popular, selling out tickets in cities worldwide.

Van Gogh gained fame only after his death. In fact, the 19th-century painter sold just one painting during his lifetime. But now he is immersive art's biggest superstar. His work has been showcased in various exhibitions featuring immense images.     3     One show, Van Gogh Alive, has appeared in 65 countries since 2011. It even features a signature scent for visitors to sniff.Shows of other artists — including Monet, Renoir, and Chagall — have lit up venues, too.

The popularity of immersive art has been powered partly by social media. As visitors post selfies featuring van Gogh's art or videos of friends stepping into a fantastical fridge, these experiences draw bigger and bigger crowds.     4     That's because many curators and creators share a common goal — to help more people get into art!

A．Meanwhile, traditional museums are following the trend and applying immersive technologies.

B．Not all immersive art is based on paintings.

C．But seeing this masterpiece on a gallery wall isn't the only way art fans can experience its impact.

D．The interactive indoor downpour looked like magic, but it all came down to science.

E．It is generally an interactive event that lets viewers feel they are in the artwork.

F．The artwork is animated and accompanied by music, voices, and background sound.

9 . Raising Confident Kids

Self-esteem is a collection of beliefs or feelings we have about ourselves. Having a healthy self-esteem can protect us through difficult times and help us remain focused on what is important to us. Research shows that children with high self-esteem grow up to be more confident adults. Self-esteem building should start young.     1    

Praise actions

Young children need feedback. It's how they measure their actions and it plays a role in learning from experience. Provide specific praise about actual actions performed and efforts made in the process.     2    

Identify strengths

Preschoolers are always watching each other. On the bright side, they learn new things from each other. On the other side, they can become self-critical when they see a peer accomplishing something they still struggle to do.     3     Tell your children to focus on their strengths when they start to draw comparisons.

Foster a sense of belonging

Young children may not understand how peer pressure works, but they feel it when they're being excluded. Show your children that they are important by listening to and responding to their needs and ideas. As much as possible, save grown-up conversations for later so that you can have family conversations.     4    

Encourage independence

As much as they need us, they also need to work on taking small steps towards independence. When they know they can do things, they feel more confident. Teach problem-solving skills. Step back and let them work on challenges before jumping in to help. Help by asking "How can we do this in a different way? Let's come up with some ideas together." Getting kids involved in problem solving teaches them how to deal with challenges in the future. Building an d maintaining healthy self-esteem can be a lifelong process, but the sooner you start, the more confident your children will become.

A．Spend quality time with children.

B．Try to address their concerns as they arise, no matter how minor.

C．If praise is only attached to success, kids will focus on "winning".

D．Be sure to point out your kids' strengths regularly and be specific.

E．Below are some tips to help you promote your children's self-esteem.

F．Each parent has the responsibility to help children to become confident.

10 . The benefits of exercise have been fully noted and your resolutions have been made. Yes, you want to be fit and live a long and healthy life.     1    .

According to standard advice issued by the World Health Organization, adults should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical workout or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week to extend their lives, get fit, have stronger muscles and be a healthy weight. If that didn’t already sound a lot, the WHO says to double that if you want to get further benefits.

The good news for those who dislike sports is that it’s possible to stick to these guidelines without entering a gym or breaking into a jog.     2    .

This idea is in line with evidence from a study last year of more than 130,000 people in 17 countries, which found that walking to work and housework such as vacuuming or mopping the floor are activities enough to reduce the risk of early death by 28 per cent, as long as you do 150 minutes a week. If you aren’t one for housework, you will be pleased to hear that your weekly amount of exercise can be put into the weekend with no ill effects, says Gray Donovan of Loughbirough University, UK.     3     But his team analyzed data from more than 63,000 adults in the UK covering 18 years and found that people who favored a “weekend fighter” plan had pretty much the same reduced risk of early death from all causes as those who spread out exercise. “One weekly exercise is usually sufficient to reduce mortality and morbidity (死亡率和发病率),” Donovan says. Even weekend fighters who did less than the recommended amount for the week fared better than inactive people.

    4     “No level of exercise is too much,” says Donovan. “There’s no increase in mortality or morbidity if you keep increasing the amount.” Just don’t go too hard each time.

A．However, take care not to do too much exercise.

B．Most governments urge people to do a little every day, or at least spread their exercise over the week.

C．Having a busy weekend with three or four hours spent taking exercise does more good than thought.

D．Could you ever get too much of a good thing?

E．But what do you actually have to do to get the desired results?

F．The WHO’s definition of moderate exercise includes housework and gardening.