1 . Nunavut is a faraway polar area in Canada. Here_______ is so expensive that people regularly post photos in a Facebook group called Feeding My Family to _______ the prices at their local stores. Leesee Papatsie, founder of the Facebook group, says she has to _______ at least $500 a week to feed her family of five and that’s just for _______.

Because it costs a lot to fly food into the _______ area, there’s not much that can be done to reduce _______. That’s why “country foods”, such as polar bears, seals and whales, are _______.

Such _______ foods, which are often consumed raw, frozen or dried, are rich in the vitamins and nutrients people need to stay _______ in the hard conditions. The parts of the ________ that can’t be eaten, like the fur and skins, are used to create clothes and other products that hunters can sell to make a(n) ________.

People in Nunavut also hold community feasts to make sure no one goes ________. Hunters will share their ________and everyone enjoys the meal in each other’s company. This is especially ________ for families who may not have the equipment or skills to hunt.

Food sharing occurs on a smaller scale too, and is a(n) ________ part of life in Nunavut. Papatsie ________ how her parents would prepare large breakfasts every day and invite neighbors or community members over to ________.

“Eating together is one of the ________ that have kept us alive for thousands of years,” she says. “But the best way to ________ is to invest in programs that keep the traditions alive by teaching our ________ about hunting, harvesting and other arts and crafts and pass them on.”

1.

A．medicine

B．food

C．clothing

D．entertainment

2.

A．show

B．cut

C．set

D．learn

3.

A．donate

B．hide

C．spend

D．lend

4.

A．ingredients

B．salt

C．oil

D．basics

5.

A．remote

B．rich

C．wet

D．developed

6.

A．fat

B．wastes

C．prices

D．happiness

7.

A．ignored

B．preferred

C．banned

D．imported

8.

A．poisonous

B．expensive

C．processed

D．native

9.

A．healthy

B．excited

C．quiet

D．asleep

10.

A．vegetables

B．animals

C．plants

D．fruits

11.

A．announcement

B．hat

C．living

D．excuse

12.

A．satisfied

B．annoyed

C．cold

D．hungry

13.

A．house

B．money

C．catch

D．story

14.

A．significant

B．convenient

C．unfortunate

D．unkind

15.

A．sad

B．abnormal

C．ugly

D．regular

16.

A．wonders

B．remembers

C．knows

D．lies

17.

A．play

B．dance

C．share

D．chat

18.

A．dreams

B．memories

C．missions

D．customs

19.

A．settle down

B．move forward

C．break up

D．die out

20.

A．children

B．ancestors

C．teachers

D．parents

2 . Over the last 60 years, the size of farm machinery has been increasing. For example, from 1958 to 2020, the typical weight of a fully loaded combine harvester for corn or wheat increased nearly ten times.

In a way, it’s fantastic if you see how much we can harvest in a certain amount of time today and how long it would have taken us 60 years ago. Some wheat harvesters, for example, can clear 30 acres in an hour. That incredible efficiency enables about 5 percent of the world’s population to feed the other 95 percent.

But it is at the soil’s expense. One recent study reported that soil compaction (土壤板结) from heavy machines has reduced yields in some fields by as much as 50 percent. If current trends continue, it may eventually reduce global crop production by as much as 20 percent.

“Healthy soil is alive. A teaspoon of garden soil might hold a billion bacteria and networks of air pockets. Heavy farm machinery squeezes the life out of that rich soil by compacting it at depths of a foot or more, lowering oxygen levels and destroying the life that creates the basis for healthy soil. Once damaged, heavily compacted soil can take decades to recover, if it recovers at all.” says Paul Hallett, a soil physicist at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland.

Farm machinery makers have tried to limit the impact on the soil by equipping heavy vehicles with fatter tires, which distribute the load more widely and keep the vehicles from sinking too deeply into the soil surface. “But if you have a heavier load, the stress decreases less quickly with depth.” says Paul Hallett. “It is a bit like the way tall chimneys on a power plant spread air pollution far downwind.”

1. What does the author think of the heavy farm vehicles?

A．They are environment-friendly.	B．They will go out of style very quickly.
C．They do much harm to the soil.	D．They can help increase crop production.

2. Which of the following is most unlikely caused by soil compaction?

A．Decreased crop production.	B．Soil with abundant air pockets.
C．Lack of bacteria in the fields.	D．Lower oxygen levels in the soil.

3. What does Paul Hallett want to show with the tall-chimney example?

A．It is a very good idea to spread air pollution downwind.

B．Vehicles with fatter tires will be less harmful to the soil.

C．Heavy farm machines with fatter tires just spread the stress.

D．More effective measures have to be adopted to cut pollution.

4. What message does the author seem to convey in the text?

A．We have to strike a balance between efficiency and damage.

B．It’s fantastic to use more and more advanced farm machinery.

C．It is high time that we let the damaged soil recover slowly.

D．We can’t produce enough food to feed the world’s population.

3 . Huge crowds are forming on Monday at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. Usually, it’s a place to see flowers that look pretty, smell fantastic and bloom (开花) annually. But today, the so-called “corpse plants” on show are the opposite in all aspects.

Native to the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse plants don’t bloom on a regular cycle -- the length of time between blooms ranges from a few years to a few decades and they are ugly and smelly.

“Last night it started out like a good French cheese, stinky but delightful. Then it moved on to a lazy boy’s socks. At last, it was junior high school gym followed by full-on rotten fish. Finally, it moved all the way to a rotting meat smell that was so thick and heavy that I experienced a sore throat, burning eyes and had a bitter taste in my mouth.” said John Clements, one of the garden employees,

“It smells bad to us, but it smells great to flies. It makes them think there’s rotten meat somewhere to lay their eggs, and that helps the corpse plant to get pollinated (授粉),” says Rob Raguso, a professor at Cornell University. “Since it takes a lot of energy for the plant to produce the smell, it puts it on reserve during the day, and will put it out in full strength from 9 pm to 3 am when the air is still and the smell can travel more easily.”

The smell comes from a number of chemicals that smell differently on their own, and that together draw flies to the plant’s cup-like flower. One of these, timethylamine, smells like rotting fish. Another, isovaleric acid, is responsible for the terrible smell of sweaty gym socks.

“It also heats up. The flower actually reaches human body temperature, making it all the more convincing to flesh-loving insects,”adds Rob Raguso.

1. What does John Clements mainly talk about?

A．Lazy boys’ socks.	B．Delightful French cheese.
C．The smell of a flower.	D．The taste of corpse plants.

2. When should visitors go to the US Botanic Garden to experience the strongest smell?

A．At noon

B．At dusk.

C．In the afternoon.

D．After midnight.

3. Why does the temperature of corpse plants’ flowers go up?

A．To reserve energy.	B．To attract pollinators.
C．To heat the environment	D．To send the smell further.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．What Makes Corpse Plants Smell So Bad?

B．How Do Corpse Plants Appeal to Insects?

C．When Do Corpse Plants Bloom in Full Strength?

D．Why Can Flies Find Corpse Plants in the Darkness?

4 . Zhou Youguang was the inventor of Pinyin, a spelling system that converts (转化) Chinese characters into words with the Roman alphabet. The system, adopted by China in 1958, gives readers an important tool to pronounce the Chinese characters that they are unfamiliar with.

While it is not the first system to Romanize Chinese, Pinyin has become the most widely accepted tool to teach a language that has disparate dialects in different parts of China.

Beyond China’s borders. Pinyin allows the standardization of Chinese names. For instance, it’s a big reason why the name Westerners commonly use for the Chinese capital has shifted from “Peking” to “Beijing”. And it’s why many other such names have changed dramatically along with it.

And yet Zhou, the man behind one of the most important innovations in the 20th century, said he was unwilling to take on the task in the mid-1950s. At the time, he was an economist and only recently returned to China.

“I said I was an amateur and that I couldn’t do the job,” he told the BBC in 2012, laughing. “But they said, ‘It’s a new job. Everybody is an amateur.’ Everybody urged me to change professions. So I did. In 1955, I abandoned economics and started studying writing systems.”

The committee led by Zhou spent three years working on its alphabetic system. “Some people made fun of us, joking that it had taken us a long time to deal with just 26 letters,” he said in the interview.

Others took the committee’s invention very seriously, however. The Chinese government immediately introduced Pinyin in schools. The international community eventually adopted it as the standard Romanization for Chinese writing, as well, with the United Nations doing so in 1986.

Before the invention of Pinyin, 85% of Chinese people could not read. Now, about 95% can read. Pinyin has also played a vital role in determining the ways mobile phones and computers recognize Chinese characters.

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “disparate” in paragraph 2?

A．Different.

B．Ugly.

C．Standard.

D．Understandable.

2. What did Mr. Zhou probably study in university?

A．English.

B．Chinese.

C．Computer.

D．Economics.

3. What can be learned about Pinyin?

A．It has twenty-six spelling rules.	B．It was introduced in schools in 1955.
C．The United Nations adopted it in 1986.	D．It is the first attempt to Romanize Chinese.

4. Which paragraph mainly focuses on the significance of Pinyin?

A．Paragraph 5.

B．Paragraph 6.

C．Paragraph 7.

D．Paragraph 8.

5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What do we know about the “ikumen” course?

A．It’s for new mothers.

B．All the participants are men.

C．It’s organized by the government.

2. What is taught in the course?

A．Cooking for kids.

B．Designing clothes.

C．Getting a baby dressed.

3. What is the main purpose of the course?

A．To help participants find a partner.

B．To prepare kids for future challenges.

C．To introduce a scientific parenting way.

4. What’s Mr. Masaya Kurita’s problem?

A．He doesn’t have an aim in life.

B．He is too shy to talk with others.

C．He tends to cover up his weaknesses.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Where is AmLion College?

A．In New York.

B．In Leon.

C．In Chicago.

2. What is the woman concerned about most?

A．The tuition fee.

B．The employment rate.

C．The accommodation.

3. How much does the dormitory cost per month?

A．$300.

B．$500.

C．$600.

4. What will the woman do?

A．Pay the fees.

B．Think twice.

C．Look for a better college.

7 . Why does the man stay outside the house?

A．He’s leaving for the lab.

B．He didn’t bring the key.

C．He wants some fresh air.

8 . It’s two o’ clock in the afternoon. Sophie Hanson is running a marathon. She’s wearing T-shirt that ____“Go the Extra Mile”, but she feels ____. She can hear her schoolmates ____and she knows she has to finish. She grabs a bottle of water,takes a long drink and ____. By the time she ____, she will have raised £200.

Halfway around the world, in Sierra Leone, Africa, Mohammed Koroma is ___, so he picks up a cup of water and takes a long drink. The water is from a new ____ in his village, so it isn’t ____. It’s cool and clear and Mohammed has not been ill for weeks.

Sophie and Mohammed are two teenagers with very ____ lives, but magically they are ____ by charity. Sophie is ____ a huge national event that raises money for people in the UK and abroad — a sponsored ____ for Sport Relief. Mohammed’s village has a new well that was ____ with money from the same event. Every year, Sport Relief and its sister charity, Comic Relief, raise money for good ____. By the end of this year, people will have completed more than 350 events and will have ____ over £50 million. That’s enough money to ____ the lives of thousands of people.

Teenagers play a big role in this culture of ____ . Although they may not have much money to give, they often ____ in other ways. They ____ their free time and volunteer, making a ____ to the world.

1.

A．means

B．says

C．lists

D．replies

2.

A．tired

B．ashamed

C．disappointed

D．abandoned

3.

A．complaining

B．chatting

C．laughing

D．cheering

4.

A．hangs out

B．carries on

C．breaks down

D．shows up

5.

A．fails

B．leaves

C．finishes

D．changes

6.

A．sick

B．lonely

C．hungry

D．thirsty

7.

A．pipe

B．well

C．pool

D．channel

8.

A．stored

B．pumped

C．polluted

D．absorbed

9.

A．distinct

B．comfortable

C．simple

D．busy

10.

A．rescued

B．welcomed

C．trained

D．connected

11.

A．preparing for

B．going over

C．taking part in

D．taking charge of

12.

A．run

B．walk

C．ride

D．climb

13.

A．located

B．dug

C．buried

D．found

14.

A．examples

B．results

C．causes

D．plans

15.

A．raised

B．invested

C．deposited

D．borrowed

16.

A．control

B．threaten

C．devote

D．transform

17.

A．winning

B．giving

C．fighting

D．learning

18.

A．demand

B．volunteer

C．help

D．relax

19.

A．sacrifice

B．delay

C．waste

D．enjoy

20.

A．statement

B．correction

C．comparison

D．difference

9 . The brain function of very late risers and “morning larks(早睡早起的人)” during the hours of the working day is different, according to a study.

Researchers scanned the brains of night owls(夜猫子)with a bedtime of 02: 30 and awake time of 10: 15, along with early risers. The tests performed between 08 : 00 and 20 : 00 found night owls had less connectivity in brain areas linked to keeping consciousness. They were more likely to be scatterbrained and they also had slower reactions and increased sleepiness.

Scientists took 38 people who were either night owls or morning larks (people who went to bed just before 23 : 00 and woke at 06 : 30) and studied their brain function at rest. The volunteers then carried out a series of tasks at various times, from 08 : 00 to 20 : 00, and were asked to report on their levels of sleepiness.

Morning larks were least sleepy and had their fastest reaction time in the early morning tests. They were also found to perform significantly better at this time than night owls. In contrast, night owls were least sleepy and had their fastest reaction time at 20 : 00, although they did not do significantly better than the larks at this time.

The brain connectivity in the areas that predicted better performance and lower sleepiness was significantly higher in larks at all time points, suggesting connectivity in late risers is impaired(减弱的) throughout the whole working day, researchers said.

The lead researcher, Dr Elise Facer-Childs, of the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health, said the findings “could be partly driven by the fact that night owls tend to compromise throughout their lives.” He added, “Night owls during school have to get up earlier, then they go into work and they have to get up earlier, so they’re constantly in conflict.”

Therefore, Dr Facer Childs called for more researches to understand the effects of night owls performing on a work or school schedule to which they are not naturally suited.

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “scatterbrained” in Paragraph 2?

A．Unfocused.

B．Satisfied.

C．Recognized.

D．Discovered.

2. What conclusion did the researchers draw from the tests?

A．Morning larks were more tired in the morning.

B．Night owls were more active in the morning.

C．Morning larks perform better all day.

D．Night owls perform better all day.

3. According to Dr Facer-Childs, what should later research concerning night owls focus on?

A．The workings of their brain.

B．The effects of their compromises.

C．Whether they can turn into morning larks.

D．How to help them adapt to the normal schedule.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To solve a problem.

B．To give practical advice.

C．To tell an interesting story.

D．To present a research result.

10 . Using your phone to diagnose (诊断)disease or track your medical condition is the goal for remote health monitoring. So far it’s been impractical to combine the two in a single device. But the University of Cincinnati (UC) engineers have come up with the next best thing.

UC professor Chong Ahn designed a tiny portable lab device that plugs into a phone, connecting it automatically to a doctor’s office through a custom app. With a single drop of blood or saliva on a custom plastic lab chip, the device smaller than a credit card can diagnose infectious diseases such as coronavirus, malaria, HIV, Lyme disease, or countless other health conditions like depression and anxiety.

Ahn’s research team developed the device by creating a novel lab chip that uses natural capillary (毛细血管) action, the tendency for a liquid to adhere to (依附) a surface, to draw a sample down two channels called a “microchannel capillary flow assay”. One channel mixes the sample with freezedried detection antibodies. The other contains a freezedried material to read the results when the split samples combine again on three sensors.

“The performance is comparable to lab tests. The cost is cheaper. And it’s simple to use,” Ahn said. “We wanted to make it simple so anyone could use it without training or support. ”

While the device has applications for diagnosing or monitoring viruses or other diseases, Ahn said he sees potential in the field of mental health. Mental health providers already use smartphones to track the wellness of patients through regular surveys. But psychosocial data can be subjective(主观的). By routinely testing the biomarkers associated with depression or anxiety, Ahn said he could help doctors connect how patients feel with actual changes in their biochemistry. This could improve treatment for countless patients.

Ahn is pursuing a patent to commercialize his device. The biggest barrier could be making people feel confident and comfortable enough to use the unfamiliar device at home. “My dream for the rest of my career is to improve public and mental bealth by providing a new mobile health tool,” he said.

1. What can we infer about Ahn’s device?

A．It is really user-friendly.	B．It has been widely used by doctors.
C．It relies heavily on blood tests.	D．It is designed to diagnose common illnesses.

2. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Why Ahn’s device uses different channels.	B．What makes Ahn’s device accurate.
C．What natural capillary action means.	D．How Ahn’s device functions.

3. How can Ahn’s device benefit patients with mental illness?

A．It connects them with doctors by smartphones for timely diagnosis.

B．It monitors their psychological status through regular surveys.

C．It enables doctors to give them evidence-based treatment,

D．It tests viruses to predict other potential diseases.

4. What does Ahn expect of his device?

A．It’ll make a big profit for him.	B．It’ll be fully accepted by people.
C．It’ll help diagnose infectious illnesses.	D．It’ll cut the cost of improving public health.