1 . How to deal with your homework
Write it down.
Create a homework station. Find somewhere comfortable and quiet to do your homework.
Do homework as early as possible. Don’t leave homework to the last minute.
Treat yourself. You can easily get tired by sitting through an hour or two of homework without stopping. Once you finish homework for a subject, take a small break (no more than 15 minutes). Either taking a walk or finding something to eat will do. But do not turn on the TV, or you’ll never go back to your study.
| A．Use your time wisely. |
| B．Start as soon as you get home. |
| C．Start with your hardest homework. |
| D．Do not burn the midnight oil, either. |
| E．Never do your homework in front of the TV. |
| F．After short breaks, return to finish the rest of your homework. |
| G．Keep a homework notebook where you record all your homework. |
2 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.| A．show his magical power | B．pay for the delivery |
| C．satisfy his curiosity | D．please his mother |
| A．He wanted to have tea there. | B．He was a respectable person. |
| C．He was treated as a family member. | D．He was fully trusted by the family. |
| A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B．It has been driven out of the market. |
| C．Its service is getting poor. | D．It is not allowed by law. |
| A．He missed the good old days. | B．He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
| C．He needed it for his milk bottles. | D．He planted flowers in it. |
3 . Technology use seems to be the new wave of addiction hitting people of all ages. Its extreme use can be compared to the use of drugs, which is called Plugin Heroin.
The next time you’re in a crowded public place, look at the people around you. It’s hard to find someone who isn’t glued to the tiny screen, fingers moving at lightning speeds, texting their friends, emailing co-workers or listening to music. It may seem ridiculous that someone is that addicted to such a small object. I’ve seen people who seem to be at their wits’ end (不知所措) if their phone or iPad has been taken away, lost or left at home.
Some people may ask, “What’s wrong with technology use? It’s a way for people to communicate.” While this is true, the overuse of technology isn’t always appropriate in certain settings. Schools are becoming stricter about the use of cell phones, iPads and other electronics in classrooms. Various workplaces have signs hanging on their walls warning employees that “Cell phone use is not permitted” or “Cell phones are forbidden.”
Electronics may be a way for people to communicate and stay in touch with each other, but the disadvantages may outweigh the benefits. People are losing the ability to hold face-to-face conversations with others. However, it’s hard to avoid electronics in this day and age because almost everything is turning into an electronic format. Books, originally meant for paper design, are now being transferred (转存) to electronic forms. Photo albums, and even yearbooks, can now be viewed via the internet. With this growing trend, future generations are bound to become even more addicted to technology.
Is there a cure for electronic addiction? Simply turning electronics off for an hour or two a day may help to an extent, but it will not completely rid electronic addiction. There only seems to be one cure left, and it may be the hardest: self-control.
1. What is Plug-in Heroin?| A．The growing popularity of electronics. |
| B．The serious consequences of technology use |
| C．The unreasonable dependence on electronics. |
| D．The future possibility of technology development. |
| A．tell people it is ridiculous to use electronics | B．persuade people to quit electronics |
| C．prove electronics are harmful to people | D．show people’s addiction to electronics |
| A．Too many things are available in electronic forms |
| B．The design of paper books is less interesting. |
| C．It is a must to use electronics to keep in touch. |
| D．Fewer choices are left for communication. |
| A．Turn off the electronics for an hour or two. |
| B．Be stricter about the use of cell phones, iPads and other electronics in classrooms |
| C．Learn to control yourself. |
| D．Cell phones are forbidden in the workplaces. |
4 . Born in New York in 1918, scientist Gertrude B. Elion had an impressive career, during which she developed medicines to cure many major diseases. Elion spent her early youth in Manhattan. She attended senior high school and had, in her words, an unbelievable thirst for knowledge.
Influenced by the death of her grandfather, who died of cancer, Elion entered Hunter College at the age of 15 and graduated in chemistry at the age of 19. She had difficulty finding employment after graduation because many laboratories refused to hire women chemists. She found a part-time job as a lab assistant and went back to school at New York University. Elion worked as a high school teacher for a few years after finishing work on her master’s degree.
The start of World War II created more opportunities for women. At the age of 26, Elion was able to get a job at Burroughs Welcome, where she began a 40-year partnership with Dr. George H. Hitchings. Her thirst for knowledge impressed Dr. Hitchings, and he permitted her to take on more responsibility.
Elion and Hitchings set out on a course of creating medicines by studying the chemical composition of diseased cells. Rather than relying on old trial-and-error methods, they used the differences in biochemistry between normal human cells and pathogens(病原体)to design medicines. In all, Elion obtained 45 patents on medicine and was awarded 23 honorary degrees.
In 1988, Elion received the Nobel Prize for Medicine, together with George H. Hlitchings and Sir James Black. She received other awards for her work, including the National Medal of Science in 1991, and that same year, she became the first woman to be absorbed into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1997, she was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award.
1. What can we say about Elion as a high school student?| A．She had a satisfying part-time job. |
| B．She had a strong desire for learning. |
| C．She had a gift for chemistry at high school. |
| D．She made great achievements in chemistry. |
| A．To meet her grandfather’s wish. |
| B．To find a good job after graduation. |
| C．To create medicines to cure diseases. |
| D．To be a chemistry teacher in the future. |
| A．In 1944. | B．In 1937. | C．In 1933. | D．In 1984. |
| A．Her later life. | B．Her contributions. |
| C．Her interest in chemistry. | D．Her honors. |
5 . Habitat loss, pesticides (农药) and climate change are threatening insect populations worldwide. In 2019, Biological Conservation reported that 40% of all insects species are declining (减少) globally and that a third of them are endangered.
And while it may sound nice to live in a world with fewer bad insects, environmental writer Oliver Milman says that human beings would be in big trouble without insects. That’s because insects play important roles in pollinating (给……授粉) plants we eat, breaking down waste in forest soil and forming the base of a food chain that other larger animals—including humans—rely upon.
“It would be an extremely terrible place to live in—and certainly not something we should ever aim for,” Milman says of an insect-free existence. “You would certainly have mass starvation and social unrest... It’d be a place where there would be smelly waste and dead bodies everywhere because insects that break down those materials would be gone.”
Milman charts the troubling decline of insects in his new book, The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World. He says that while it’s impossible to know exactly what’s happening with every insect species in the world, the overall trends are not good: The butterfly population in North America has declined quickly in the past 40 years, for example, and a U. N. assessment done in 2019 found that half a million insect species are under threat of extinction, some in the coming decades.
“The world, our surroundings, would be far quieter, far duller without insects,” he says. “When you start kind of digging down into these figures looking at the research, it’s clear that there’s something seriously wrong... There is a straight decline in most insect populations, and that spells major trouble for them but also for us.”
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about insects?| A．Their importance. | B．Their classification. |
| C．Their food chain. | D．Their population. |
| A．It tells what’s happening with all insect species. |
| B．It describes the worrying decline of insects. |
| C．It shows half a million butterfly species will be in danger of extinction. |
| D．It explains why the number of butterflies in South America has increased. |
| A．Positive. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．The introduction of the endangered insects. |
| B．The ways of increasing insects’ population. |
| C．The effects of the declining insects’ population. |
| D．The reasons of threatening insects’ population. |
6 . When she was 2 years old, Blosberg’s dad was diagnosed (诊断) with a serious illness that disrupts the central nervous system — MS (多发性硬化症). But 13 years later, her eyes started moving around rapidly and uncontrollably and her skin became extremely sensitive. The symptoms she was experiencing felt “familiar” because they really looked a lot like the things that her dad was experiencing.
After Blosberg was officially diagnosed with MS in 2011, she realized she needed to connect with other teenagers who had MS and truly understood what she was going through. “I knew there had to be other kids out there, and I wanted to connect with them,” she says. Blosberg then decided to create a Facebook page for young people with MS and obtained the help of the National MS Society. “If you find anyone else young, let me know,” Blosberg recalls saying to the organization. “I want to talk to them. I want them to know that they’re not alone.”
MS is often considered “an adult illness”. Blosberg’s Facebook page was her way of bringing young people with MS together. But she decided to take things one step further by founding a nonprofit, the MS Monkey, that supports children and teenagers who have been diagnosed with the illness. Through it all, Blosberg says her entire family has been proud of her — especially her father. “He knows what it’s like to live with MS,” she shares. “He’s my role model, though. I grew up watching him live with MS and not let MS get in the way.”
1. What can we know about Blosberg?| A．She had difficulty in her study. | B．She was diagnosed with an illness. |
| C．She helped her dad out of trouble. | D．She followed his father’s dream. |
| A．To advertise the National MS Society. |
| B．To record her experience to fight against MS. |
| C．To call for more volunteers like her father. |
| D．To connect more young people with MS. |
| A．Outgoing and humorous. | B．Open-minded and generous. |
| C．Warm-hearted and strong-willed. | D．Determined and energetic. |
| A．No one has to fight alone | B．A common illness |
| C．My dad and I | D．A charity for treating MS |
7 . Humor is important for both kids and adults. The ability to see the humor in an upsetting situation is a valuable skill. So, what should parents do to develop their kids’ sense of humor?
Start the laughter early.
The big smiles that come after parents play jokes with babies are helping the children grow and learn. Teach kids the importance of connections. That’s because being able to understand the funny parts of jokes actually requires children to make connections.
Help them see the funny in a difficult situation.
Keep their screen time to a minimum (最低限度).
Watching social media videos may feel like an easy way to share a funny moment, but it isn’t the best way for children.
If kids cross a line when trying out a joke, remind them that a joke isn’t funny if it causes pain to others. When the impact of humor is hurtful, the humor is not suitable. With parents’ help, children can learn to tell the difference between harmful humor and truly funny stuff.
| A．These tips can help. |
| B．Teach them when to tell jokes. |
| C．Parents can help kids figure those out. |
| D．Show them where the dividing lines are. |
| E．Families should do something funny together. |
| F．Outdoor activities are good choices for families. |
| G．When hard times happen, finding a reason to laugh can be hard. |
8 . The Giza Pyramids (金字塔), built to last forever, have done just that. The tombs could date back to Egypt’s Old Kingdom and were constructed some 4,500 years ago. Egypt’s pharaohs (法老)expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they built temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves, which were filled with all the things each ruler would need to guide and support himself in the next world.
The ancient wonders at Giza were so impressive that even today scientists can’t be sure how the pyramids were built. Yet they have learned much about the people who built them. The builders were skilled, well-fed Egyptian workers who lived in a nearby city. Archaeological (考古的)digs on the attractive site have shown a highly organized community, rich with resources.
If the Pyramids helped to build ancient Egypt, they also preserved it. Giza allows us to explore an ancient world. “Many people think of the site as just a tomb in the modern sense, but it’s a lot more than that,” says Peter Der Manuelian with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “In these decorated tombs you have wonderful scenes of every aspect of life in ancient Egypt—so it’s not just about how Egyptians died but how they lived.”
Tomb art displays ancient farmers working on their fields and fishing. Words and texts also allow research into Egyptian grammar and language. “Almost any subject you want to study about the culture is available on the tomb walls at Giza,” Der Manuelian says.
To help make these precious resources accessible to all, Der Manuelian heads the Giza Project, an enormous collection of Giza photographs, plans, drawings, object records, and diaries that enables online visits to the site.
1. Why did Egypt’s pharaohs build the pyramids?| A．To satisfy personal needs. |
| B．To pay respects to gods. |
| C．To protect the culture. |
| D．To benefit local poor people. |
| A．Who built them. |
| B．How they were built. |
| C．Where they were. |
| D．When they were built. |
| A．Raising money for the farmers. |
| B．Collecting drawings and photos worldwide. |
| C．Helping people develop fishing. |
| D．Providing online access to the pyramids. |
| A．Pyramids at Giza. |
| B．Modern painting art. |
| C．An ancient king. |
| D．A museum in Egypt. |
9 . Last week I took a journey deep into space, to the end of the solar system, and was pulled into a black hole. Then I took a trip to Brazil and experienced surviving an airplane crash in the jungle. After that, I joined some divers and went to the bottom of the ocean to see strange blind creatures that have never seen sunlight. For a break, I took part in some car racing and then skied down some of the most difficult mountains in the world. I ended my travels by meeting face to face with a dinosaur, the terrible T-Rex, and survived the experience!
I did all this in one great day at Futuroscope. Opened in 1987, Futuroscope is one of the largest space-age parks in the world. This science and technology-based theme park in France uses the most advanced technology. Its 3-D cinemas and giant movie screens provide brand new experiences of the earth and beyond. Visitors can get close to parts of the world they have never experienced, going to the bottom of the ocean, flying through the jungle or visiting the edges of the solar system. The amazing, up-to-date information together with many opportunities for hands-on learning makes the world come to life in a completely new way for visitors. Learning centers throughout the park let visitors try their own scientific experiments, as well as learn more about space travel, the undersea world and much more.
I bought tickets for myself and my friends at the park’s entrance, but tickets are also available online. Futuroscope is not only for individuals, but is also the perfect mix of fun and learning for class outings. Classes or other large groups that let Futuroscope know their plans in advance can get the group admission rate. For anyone coming from out of town, Futuroscope has many excellent hotels nearby, most of which provide a shuttle service to the park. If driving, Futuroscope is within easy reach of the freeway. Plan your trip well before starting, since Futuroscope has so many shows, activities and great souvenir shops that it is difficult to see them all. Come ready to walk a lot—be sure to wear some comfortable sneakers or other walking shoes!
1. At Futuroscope, the author ________.| A．got caught by a dangerous dinosaur |
| B．got severely hurt in an airplane crash |
| C．skied down some difficult mountains |
| D．saw strange blind creatures in a jungle |
| A．A school built in 1987 in France. |
| B．A stadium for people to do exercise. |
| C．A science and technology-based theme park. |
| D．A museum with 3-D cinemas and giant movie screens. |
| A．Blind creatures. | B．Visitors. | C．Scientists. | D．Dinosaurs. |
| A．By buying tickets online. |
| B．By paying extra money. |
| C．By getting familiar with the ticket seller. |
| D．By letting Futuroscope know their plans ahead of time. |
10 . A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Northern California coast on Monday, bringing significant shaking but likely slight damage to the less-populated area.
The earthquake occurred just after noon and was centered off the coast about 337 kilometers northwest of San Francisco, just off a tiny town called Petrolia that’s home to fewer than 1,000 people. The nearest population center, Eureka, is about 72 kilometers north. That left only about 25,000 people in the range of strong or very strong shaking, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), though residents as far away as Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area reported feeling trembling.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office of emergency services closed a few roads. The USGs said the earthquake caused losses about less than $ 10 million and no deaths had been reported. The area last suffered an earthquake of a similar magnitude in 1993, when one person died.
“The shaking lasted for about 20 seconds. Glass bottles fell off the shelves at the store, breaking into pieces on the floor, but no one was hurt,” Petrolia General Store manager Jane Dexter said. “It was bigger than anything I’ve felt in my life, ” she added.
California’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) said 2,500 people were told about the earthquake before shaking began through the state’s early warning system called My Shake. “It is a very useful tool to announce warning tips. It saved us indeed. Yet, we still have to remain very careful...as large aftershocks (余震) will occur along the North Coast over the next few days, ” OES Director Mark Ghilarducci said in a statement.
1. What can we learn about the earthquake on Monday?| A．It occurred on the Northern California coast. |
| B．It brought significant damage to the area. |
| C．It caused strong shaking in the whole nation. |
| D．It destroyed a small town completely. |
| A．The store had to be rebuilt. |
| B．She never felt such a big earthquake. |
| C．Some workers got badly injured. |
| D．No one would go shopping at the store. |
| A．Unloading the warning system. |
| B．Keeping staying in shelters. |
| C．Working from home over the next few days. |
| D．Watching out for the aftershocks. |
| A．A weather forecast. | B．A lab report. |
| C．A news report. | D．A travel guide. |
