1 . Last June, my sister, Katy, graduated from high school. I didn’t think much about it then because I was
At the end of August, my
As we were pulling out of the parking lot, we
Even now, I miss her and have to keep
So, to all those little brothers and sisters, treasure the time you have with your siblings (兄弟姐妹). They may be a pain sometimes but once they’re gone, you’ll almost wish you had that pain back.
1.A.expecting | B.wasting | C.describing | D.measuring |
A.semester | B.holiday | C.meeting | D.process |
A.mention | B.regret | C.insist | D.realize |
A.team | B.friends | C.family | D.teachers |
A.college | B.workshop | C.house | D.company |
A.flew | B.drove | C.cycled | D.walked |
A.in sight | B.in control | C.in trouble | D.in place |
A.beating | B.asking | C.hugging | D.praising |
A.loved | B.ignored | C.forgave | D.harmed |
A.crossed | B.waved | C.shook | D.exposed |
A.argued | B.admitted | C.forgotten | D.guessed |
A.ashamed | B.glad | C.unwilling | D.serious |
A.nervous | B.certain | C.proud | D.curious |
A.truly | B.hardly | C.roughly | D.nearly |
A.agreeing | B.reminding | C.promising | D.confirming |
2 . On Saturday, Jacob Kohut finally had breaktime during his 12⁃hour standing guard outside the U.S. Capitol. He could have spent his break resting. Instead, he sat in the back of a Humvee, teaching students via his laptop how to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, which meant he was on double duty, as an active member of the National Guard and as a devoted school band teacher.
“I’m a soldier for the National Guard, but I’m as much a solider for music education,” he says.
When on duty, Kohut’s days began in the morning with teaching his elementary class remotely from the drill floor of DC Armory, finishing the lesson minutes before his Guard shift started at 10 a.m. Later in the day, during his break, he would go online to teach his middle school students from the back of a Humvee.
Music has always been a driving force in Kohut’s life. He was a saxophone player throughout high school, and finally earned his Doctor degree in music composition at George Mason University.
“What I really wanted was to teach,” says Kohut, who is married and has a three⁃year⁃old son. “My mom, who is a single mother, was a music teacher. That’s why I do what I do. She is such a good role model.”
Kohut’s double duty has caught the attention of parents at Canterbury Woods Elementary School.
“I just wanted to share how impressed I am with Dr. Kohut this week,” Susi Britain said. “This morning he taught the band online from DC Armory, in his tiredness — which just seems so beyond the expectations of a teacher in these circumstances.”
But during the long and sometimes stressful hours of standing guard, Kohut said his teaching time offered comfort. As the 11 instruments were played by his virtual students, the familiar melody of “Ode to Joy” rang through the Humvee. In that moment, Kohut realized there wasn’t a timelier tune to teach his students
“It’s a symbol of unity and peace,” he says. “And that’s what the world needs right now.”
1. Where did the students study music from Kohut?A.In the back of a Humvee. |
B.At the drill floor of DC Armory. |
C.In online courses. |
D.Outside the U.S. Capitol. |
A.Peace⁃loving and mild. |
B.Enthusiastic and devoted. |
C.Hopeful and positive. |
D.Faithful and helpful. |
A.He should teach the tune to his students earlier. |
B.No tune was taught to students before. |
C.It’s the time that he should teach the tune face to face. |
D.The tune is the most suitable for students at that moment. |
A.Jacob Kohut fights for the country and music. |
B.Jacob Kohut wants to change his job. |
C.Jacob Kohut has double duty at Canterbury Woods Elementary School. |
D.Jacob Kohut is a virtual music teacher. |
“Multiple measures have been taken to stop the illegal use of farmland,” an official of the Ministry of Natural Resources
Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the ministry released two notices in July. One banned the illegal use of farmland
Since the release of the two notices, several regions
Inspections and law enforcement (执行) have also been strengthened in recent months,with satellite remote sensing being introduced.
“The central government has attached great
China established
4 . Close to the North Pole, the remote and rocky plateau mountain in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems an unlikely spot for any global effort to safeguard agriculture. In this cold and deserted environment, there are no grains, no gardens and no trees. But at the end of a 130⁃meter⁃long tunnel is a room filled with humanity’s most precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection — more than a half⁃billion seeds.
A quiet rescue mission is underway. With growing evidence that unchecked climate change will seriously affect food production and threaten the diversity of crops around the world, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault represents a major step towards ensuring the preservation of hundreds of thousands of crop varieties. This is a seed collection, but more importantly, it is a collection of the traits (特点) found within the seeds: the genes that give one variety resistance to a particular pest and another variety tolerance for hot, dry weather.
Few people will ever see or come into contact with the contents of this vault. In sealed (密封的) boxes, behind many locked doors, monitored by electronic security systems, enveloped in below⁃zero temperatures, and surrounded by tons of rocks, hundreds of millions of seeds are protected in their mountain fortress (堡垒). Frozen in such conditions inside the mountain, seeds of most major crops will remain viable for hundreds of years, or longer. Seeds of some are capable of keeping their ability to grow for thousands of years.
Everyone can look back now and say that the Seed Vault has been a good and obvious idea, and that of course the Norwegian government should have approved and funded it. But back in 2004, when the Seed Vault was first proposed, it was viewed as a crazy, impractical, and expensive idea.
We knew that nothing would provide a definite guarantee. But we were tired and frankly scared of the steady, greater losses of crop diversity. The Seed Vault was built by optimists who wanted to do something to preserve options so that humanity and the crops might be better prepared for change.
The Seed Vault is about hope and commitment — about what can be done if countries come together and work cooperatively to accomplish something significant, long⁃lasting, and worthy of who we are and wish to be.
1. According to the passage, what’s the Seed Vault?A.It’s a tunnel where the collected seeds are displayed. |
B.It’s a stone room that contains the seeds of endangered crops. |
C.It’s a seed gene bank that stores diverse seeds for future agriculture. |
D.It’s a lab where researchers study how to keep the diversity of crops. |
A.Mature. | B.Clean. |
C.Alive. | D.Valuable. |
A.How the seeds are preserved. |
B.Where people keep the seeds. |
C.Why the seeds are protected. |
D.What people do to study the seeds. |
A.the Seed Vault offers a solution to climate change |
B.the Seed Vault was built by many countries |
C.the Seed Vault is sure to prevent the loss of crop diversity |
D.many people considered building the Seed Vault unwise and crazy at first |
5 . Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center mapped brain changes after a year of aerobic workouts and uncovered a potentially significant process: Aerobic exercise increases blood flow into two key areas of the brain associated with memory.
The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, showed this blood flow can help even older people with memory problems improve cognition, a finding that could guide future Alzheimer’s disease research, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center.
In the study, researchers followed 30 participants who were 60 or older and had memory problems. Half experienced a year of aerobic exercise while the other half did stretches. “We’ve shown that even when your memory starts to fade, you can still do something about it by adding aerobic exercise to your lifestyle,” said Binu Thomas, a senior research scientist of UT Southwestern Medical Center who led the study. “The aerobic exercise group showed a 47% improvement in some memory scores after a year; the other group showed slight change. Brain imaging of the aerobic exercise group, taken while at rest at the beginning and end of the study, showed increased blood flows into the specific brain areas that play important roles in memory function.”
Many teams across the world are trying to determine if aerobic exercise might fight memory loss. Evidence is growing that it could at least play a small role in delaying or reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. For example, a 2018 study showed that people with lower fitness levels experience faster retrogression of vital nerve fibers in the brain called white matter related to memory.
“Blood flow in the brain connected with memory improvement is still a part of the puzzle, and we need to continue piecing it together,” Thomas says. “But we’ve seen enough data to know that starting a fitness program can have lifelong benefits for our brains as well as our hearts.”
1. What is the study mainly about?A.Old people have memory problems. | B.Aerobic exercise improves memory. |
C.Aerobic workouts benefit physical health. | D.Alzheimer’s disease can be cured. |
A.Earlier memories were refreshed. | B.Memory scores showed very small changes. |
C.Brain imaging remained the same. | D.More blood flew into memory⁃related areas. |
A.The memory problem. | B.One’s lifestyle. |
C.Aerobic exercise. | D.Something useful. |
A.Further research work requires doing. | B.More people experience memory loss. |
C.The mystery of brain blood flow has been solved. | D.Signs of memory loss can be discovered earlier. |
He has been waiting in line
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