1 . Mary Shelley bends over her latest creation. Although the carving is only half complete, the image of a waitress holding a plate of eggs comes out from the board. Of Shelley’s nearly seven hundred carvings, many show scenes with cows on farms and people in restaurants.
From memories to carvings
“My work is a visual diary, ” Shelley says. “The carvings describe things I have experienced and felt at different times in my life.”
Every one of her carvings tells a story. Many of the stories in Shelley’s woodcarvings come from memories of her childhood in a rural (乡村的) area outside of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Shelley’s family managed a small farm. Mary was a serious girl who spent a lot of time raising animals, exploring outdoors, and reading. Although Shelley never felt especially artistic as a child, there was always an art project in the works in the Shelley household. Her grandmother painted. Her father was a commercial artist, who drew and wrote to make a living.
______
Shelley attended Cornell University and hoped to become a writer, but an unusual present took her in another direction. At age 23, she received a gift her father had made-a woodcarving of her as a girl on the farm. The gift caught her interest. After gathering boards from a building site where she worked as a carpenter, Shelley bought some tools and taught herself to carve.
Shelley soon realized that she loved the slow, thoughtful process of working with wood and painting. “A carving is like a jigsaw puzzle (拼图游戏),” she explains. “I didn’t know how it would all fit together, but the process of solving the puzzle kept me going.”
The Shelley style
Early in her career, people hired Shelley to carve special pieces that took four or five weeks to complete. The money she received motivated her to try more complicated scenes created by carving deeper in the wood. Over time, Shelley’s art began to have its own style. In a typical Shelley woodcarving, some objects seem to reach out of the frame while others drop back, creating a feeling of depth.
1. What can we infer from the “From memories to carvings” part?| A．Art is from but beyond life. | B．Life is short and art is long. |
| C．It is great art to laugh at your own misfortune. | D．Knowledge without practice makes but half an artist |
| A．Life in School | B．A Dream Come True |
| C．A Life-Changing Gift | D．Jigsaw Puzzles and Carving |
| A．The dream to be an artist in her childhood. | B．Her father’s low-relief carving for her. |
| C．The rugs hooked by her grandmother. | D．Her school life in Cornell University. |
| A．is very popular | B．is very expensive |
| C．has simple scenes | D．creates a feeling of depth |
2 . Wild beavers (河狸) are back! Experts say that the wild beaver families are doing well. The beavers are even boosting wildlife and the environment!
Over ten years ago, a family of beavers turned up in a part of the river Otter, in Devon. No one knew exactly where they came from. It was a big surprise wild beavers hadn’t lived in England for around 400 years!
In 2015, the government allowed the beavers to stay there as part of a test. They wanted to see if these animals could be reintroduced to the wild. The test ends in February. Some scientists from the University of Exeter already say the beavers help the wildlife in the area. One scientist called it “an amazing story”.
A lot of this is because of dams (水坝). Beavers build dams along the river. This creates deep pools in the riverbed and slows the water down. Scientists say this is perfect for many different types of plants and animals! Many plants are growing near the beavers. Different types of animals are also becoming more and more in the river. Beavers also help make flooding less, scientists say. The beavers’ dams slow down the speed of the river, especially after heavy rain.
Beavers aren’t the only animals that are being reintroduced to the wild! In 2019, red squirrels were brought back to an area of the Scottish Highlands. Further away, the world's rarest (罕见的) duck, the Madagascar pochard, is making a comeback. It was set free into the wild on the African island in 2019 and is doing well.
Who knows what other animals might be making a comeback?
1. The underlined word “boosting”in Paragraph 1 probably means “______”| A．building | B．spreading | C．helping | D．creating |
| A．To reintroduce animals to the wild. |
| B．To introduce the beavers to the wild. |
| C．To build dams for the beavers in the river. |
| D．To grow more different plants along the river. |
| A．They help plants grow. | B．They eat up the plants. |
| C．They do harm to animals. | D．They bring heavy floods. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Worried. | B．Disappointed. | C．Tired. | D．Pleased. |
3 . Four Wonderful Places To Watch The Stars
When searching for tourist destinations, are you always spending a lot of time making decisions? These four wonderful places across the US have the darkest night skies for you to view stars.
Homer Glen, Illinois
Homer Glen is a designated (指定的) Dark Sky Community and now another opportunity for people in Chicago and other Midwesterners to see the Milky Way (银河). While the city is larger than other similar sites, with around 25,000 people, it manages to reduce light pollution to provide a good environment for better night sky viewing.
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Minnesota, the land with over 14,000 lakes, is home to this water-based national park. A daytime visit can be spent hiking the roads and doing activities on the water like boating and fishing, but a nighttime stay is a must to view the bright starry skies.
Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, Idaho
Idaho is America’s first International Dark Sky Reserve. The designation, built in 2017, is a result of nearly twenty years of local efforts to reduce light pollution in the area. In the summer, the reserve offers hiking, biking, fishing, and camping. And in the winter, visitors can ski and go to the mountains.
Great Sand Dunes (沙丘) National Park and Preserve, Colorado
This Colorado national park is home to the tallest sand dunes in North America with some rising over 700 feet tall and offers daytime activities like sand boarding, and horse riding. At night, the dunes become an important place to see a clear view of the Milky Way.
1. What makes Homer Glen a good place to watch the stars?| A．Its rising dunes. | B．Its large population. | C．Its colorful activities. | D．Its good environment. |
| A．In Homer Glen, Illinois. |
| B．At Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. |
| C．At Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, Idaho. |
| D．At Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado. |
| A．In a travel guide. | B．In an art magazine. |
| C．In an environmental report. | D．In a historical novel. |
4 . Jessica Nabongo longs to set foot in every nation. She started traveling at age four, along with her parents on family trips from Detroit, Michigan and completed her mission when she landed in the Seychelles, having visited 195 countries.
Here she talks to us about her experience and tips for traveling better.
What inspires your adventures?
Did you ever experience any obstacles?
I don’t believe in failure.
My mother has always said “ humble(使谦逊) yourself.” I appreciate it because when you travel, depending on your passport, depending on your social class, depending on so many different things, you can go to places with a lot of ego（自我）, or you can humble yourself and know that everyone is equal.
What are some things people can do to travel more sustainably(可持续地)?
Single－use plastic is one of the biggest things harming Earth right now, so a lot of my focus is on that.
| A．But it’s not just about the country count. |
| B．I believe failure is the mother of success. |
| C．Curiosity－that’s what’s always inspired me. |
| D．What did you depend on during your travel? |
| E．And I don’t have the ability to be embarrassed. |
| F．What’s the best piece of advice you’ ve received? |
| G．But I also think it’s important to watch how much you waste. |
5 . Not sleeping enough or getting a bad night’s sleep over and over makes it hard to control your appetite. And that sets you up for all sorts of health problems, including obesity (肥胖) , heart disease and high blood pressure.
The link between poor sleep and a greater body mass index(BMI) has been shown in study after study, but researchers typically relied on the memories of the participants to record how well they slept.
Sleep apps on fitness trackers, smartphones and watches have changed all that. In a new study researchers tracked sleep quality for 120,000 people for up to two years.
The results showed sleep durations (持续时间) and patterns are highly variable between people. Despite that, the study found people with BMIs of 30 or above — which is considered obese by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention－had slightly shorter sleep durations and more variable sleep patterns.
It didn’t take much less sleep to see the effect. People with BMIs over 30 only slept about 15 minutes less than those less weighty people.
There were some limitations to the study, naps(午睡) were not included, other health conditions could not be factored in, and people who use wearable tracking devices are typically younger, healthier and from a higher economic status than those who do not wear trackers.
“These are quite pricey devices, and they are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The results would need to be validated (确认) by the appropriate FDA-approved devices, and because the study is likely on younger people who are more economically well off, it needs further study whether that really applies to older folks with poor sleep.” said Dasgupta, the associate program director.
However, Dasgupta added, a major plus for the study is that it did monitor people for over two years, and the results corroborated previous research and were “not surprising.”
While we cannot determine the direction of association from our study result, these findings provide further support to the idea that sleep patterns are associated with weight management and overall health.
1. How does the new study differ from previous studies?| A．It lasts the longest time in history. | B．It uses apps to record participants’ sleep. |
| C．It specially improves participants’ sleep quality. | D．It relied on participants’ memory to record data. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Shocked | C．Cautious | D．Dissatisfied |
| A．limit | B．correct | C．confirm | D．combine |
| A．Sleep Quality Varies from Person to Person |
| B．Sleep Apps Are Widely Used to Monitor Sleep |
| C．Young People Are Paying More Attention to Obesity |
| D．Lack of Sleep May Be Possibly Connected with Obesity |
Introduce Yourself
It’s not necessary to be clever when you introduce yourself. Simply focus on being genuine and sincere. When you approach the other person to start the conversation, give him a warm smile and clearly state your name.
Begin the Conversation
Continue the Conversation
If you are building a rapport(关系), feel free to move on to a bit more personal topics to continue the conversation.
When you have run out of things to say or need to move on to do something else, prepare your exit strategy. You may say that you need to use the bathroom or catch up with someone else. Let the other person know how much you enjoyed talking to her.
| A．End the Conversation. |
| B．Bring up a general topic to begin the conversation. |
| C．This will help keep the conversation flowing freely. |
| D．If appropriate, make plans to talk again at a later date. |
| E．Your conversational partner will feel valued and appreciated. |
| F．Explain who you are and why you want to have the conversation. |
| G．You may want to ask about his favourite hobby, his career, his classes or upcoming events. |
7 . Most brands’ marketing strategies target our vision-think about logos, ads and other symbols. Some try to stimulate us with upbeat music or relaxing sounds. But targeting our noses can be an even more powerful tool for brands, say marketing experts.
An industry, known as scent marketing, is dedicated to developing custom fragrances(香味). ScentAir, for example, is one of the largest sellers of fragrance diffusers(扩散器)to leading brands. The company designs 9 “fragrance experiences” ranging from “luxurious and sophisticated” to “passionate and sensual”. On the flip side, it also tries to mask and neutralize(中和)awful smells from bathrooms or kitchens.
According to Laurence Minsky, a professor from Columbia College Chicago who studies branding, our sense of smell runs straight to our limbic system, and thus deploying a pleasant fragrance in a store can influence customers’ feelings about it and help it stand out in a crowded market. It can also cue up past memories, Minsky said.
The presence of a pleasant scent in stores resulted in a 3% sales increase compared to stores without one, found a study published in The Journal of Marketing. And beyond just being pleasant, the specifics of scent matter. Another study published in The Journal. Of. Retailing found that consumers spent more and purchased more items in stores with a simple orange or lemon scent than in stores with complex scents.
The opportunity to create an ambiance(格调)while increasing sales has led retailers and other businesses to experiment with different scents and create their own fragrance experiences. Brands such as Play-Doh and Johnson & Johnson were some of the first to use scent as a marketing tool. Play-Doh even successfully trademarked its own fragrance in 2018.
Since the 1990s, Singapore Airlines has also been using its own fragrance. Flight attendants wear it as perfume; it is mixed into hot towels served before takeoff and wafts through the cabin during the flight. Hotels such as Hyatt and Westin pump smells into their lobbies, while many supermarkets move their bakeries from the back of the store to the front.
But stores should keep a delicate balance when they engineer their smells. The USA’s subway, for example, has been criticized by some customers for an unpleasant bread smell. When Starbucks introduced breakfast sandwiches in 2008, it found the smell of sandwiches cooking in the oven was overpowering its coffee fragrance.
1. What may be the function of the limbic system?| A．Improving our fashion sense. |
| B．Getting rid of some bad memories. |
| C．Changing our perspectives on things. |
| D．Regulating our emotions and memories. |
| A．The history of scent marketing. |
| B．The significance of scent marketing. |
| C．The wide application of scent marketing. |
| D．The influence of various scent experiments. |
| A．To try out an idea. |
| B．To issue a warning. |
| C．To draw a conclusion. |
| D．To give a piece of advice. |
| A．Pay attention to your brand image |
| B．Use smell to get you to spend more |
| C．Increase sales of fragrance diffusers |
| D．Attract customers with excellent service |
8 . There was a boy named Drake. He was just 12 years old. His parents had no money to educate him. They had no choice other than to tell their children to leave school and start helping them with their shop’s work.
Drakeassimilatedthis and started waking up before sunrise and going to their shop and cleaning it. He was really a hardworking guy. He always wanted something big to happen in his life, but he knew that a change does not happen in a day. So he started caching himself and completed all senior high school courses at the age of 18. When he turned 20, he got a job offer from an electrical company.
He started working in that company, and every day after coming from his job, he would learn more and more about bulbs (灯泡) because he saw a lot of bulb production there. After some years he made a new improved bulb of his own. He was really excited to show it to his boss, but when the boss saw it, he wasn’t interested in it and said it was of little use. But still, he believed in himself and didn’t give up.
After a few months, he thought of setting up his own factory where he and his wife would put the improved bulb into production. When they made the bulbs, they started selling them. No one was interested in those bulbs, but still, he kept believing in himself.
One day when the sun was rising, he got an order of l,000 pieces of the bulbs. This totally changed his life. After that, he started getting more and more orders.
1. Why did Drake’s parents ask him to work in their shop when he was 12?| A．They wanted him to catch himself. |
| B．They expected him to be successful. |
| C．They wished him to be hardworking. |
| D．They were unable to pay for his schooling. |
| A．Remembered. | B．Understood. | C．Expressed. | D．Hated. |
| A．Surprising. | B．Attractive. | C．Popular. | D．Valueless. |
| A．All things are difficult before they are easy. |
| B．Confidence is the first secret of success. |
| C．Learn to say before you sing. |
| D．Practice makes perfect. |
9 . Lillian, 17, had just started working as a lifesaver at a beach in Australia on New Year’s Eve when beach-goers started to point and shout at the water. The workers quickly examined the situation and saw that a kangaroo had jumped out of the bushes (灌木丛) — straight into the sea.
The animal seemed confused by the fishermen standing on the rocks. So instead of turning back and heading back into the bushes, it jumped right into the water! The poor thing bobbed(摆动)around in the waves and went underwater several times before Lillian decided to take action.
As with any other animal rescue, it’s important to approach the situation with prudence. Wild animals that are stressed can become dangerous to their rescuers, and Lillian was aware of the risks as she took her rescue board and hit the water at a run. “It just didn’t want to come on to the beach because it was kind of scared,” she said. “I was trying to figure out how to get it on the board. But considering that it’s a wild animal, even though I was helping, I wouldn’t want to be hurt by it or make it more stressed out.”
As beach-goers recorded the rescue on their phones,Lillian paddled (用浆划船) behind the animal carefully and guided the kangaroo onto the beach. As soon as Lillian’s feet touched the sand, the beach erupted in cheers for her!“It was quite special. As people there were cheering and clapping, the kangaroo was just sitting there up in the bushes staring at me, as if it was conveying something with its shining eyes,” Lillian said. “I didn’t think that was going to ever be my first rescue, I may have more rescues in the future, but none would be as memorable as this one.”
1. What happened to the kangaroo?| A．It jumped off the rocks by mistake, |
| B．It jumped into the sea by accident, |
| C．It was forced to leave the bushes. |
| D．It was washed away into the sea. |
| A．Inspiration. | B．Hope. | C．Care. | D．Shock. |
| A．It couldn’t wait to leave her. |
| B．It was worried about her safety. |
| C．It was confused about her action. |
| D．It seemed grateful for her help. |
| A．Far-sighted and independent. | B．Talented and positive. |
| C．Brave and cautious. | D．Determined and ambitious. |
10 . Modern research on body language — often called nonverbal behavior — began in the 1960s and 1970s with studies that aimed to demonstrate the universality (普遍性) of facial expressions of emotion. That work was inspired in part by Charles Darwin’s study The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). But it had received little attention for around a century, according to nonverbal communication expert David Matsumoto.
Then modern researchers examined how the brain reacts to facial expressions and how babies copy facial and hand gestures. And scientists have also realized the complexity (复杂性) of body language.
Much research has suggested that body language is often hard to interpret or understand. But for years some advisers and experts have been using their knowledge in many practical areas.
“I help people influence and persuade others around, how trustworthy and credible their message is by helping them with their specific nonverbal communication.” said Mark Bowden. He is the author of “Winning Body Language”. a guide for readers including business people and famous people. He focuses on where a person faces their body and how much space they take up, as well as those gestures.
Some experts also say they can use those signals to interpret hidden emotions. Joe Navarro is the author of What Every Body Is Saying. It is a book about reading a person’s mind from their nonverbal behavior. “It’s easy to spar a speaker’s lip movements when he faces a question he doesn’t like.” Joe said.
While the work of these experts attracts large audiences many scientists are unsure whether their methods are reliable. “Our facial expressions show certain types of emotional states.” David Matsumoto said. So do some body movements. “But people do all kinds of things with their bodies.” he said. Your raised eyebrow (眉毛) could express doubt — but in might also signal discomfort or surprise. “The same hand gesture could mean different things in different cultures,” he said.
1. What role did Charles Darwin’s study play according to paragraph 1?| A．It unlocked the secret of the human mind. |
| B．It promoted the development of human language. |
| C．It helped start modern research on body language. |
| D．It encouraged people to care more about animals. |
| A．He gives advice on business language. | B．He focuses mainly on facial expressions. |
| C．He pays more attention to spoken language. | D．He teaches people about body language. |
| A．They were instructional. | B．They were doubtful |
| C．They were experimental. | D．They were necessary. |
| A．Can body language tell important truths? | B．Is nonverbal behavior that complex? |
| C．Should you know more about body language? | D．Do experts know how to interpret emotions? |
