1 . Earth is far more alive than we previously thought, according to “deep life” studies that reveal a rich underground ecosystem beneath our feet that is almost twice the size of all the world’s oceans. Despite extreme heat, no light and intense pressure, scientists estimate it has between 15 billion and 23 billion tonnes of microorganisms. “It’s like finding a whole new reservoir (储藏) of life on Earth,” said Karen Lloyd an associate professor at the University of Tennessee.
Results suggest 70 percent of Earth’s bacteria and archaea exist in the subsurface. One organism found 2.5 kilometers below the surface has been buried for millions of years and may not rely at all on energy from the sun. Also, the methanogen (产甲烷菌) has found a way to create methane in this environment, which the methanogen may not use to reproduce or divide, but use to replace or repair broken parts. Lengths of their lives were completely different. Some microorganisms have been alive for thousands of years, barely moving except with shifts in earthquakes or eruptions. They’re just active inside, with less energy than people thought possible to support life.
The team consists of 1,200 scientists from 52 countries in disciplines ranging from geology and microbiology to chemistry and physics. A year before the conclusion of their study, they will present the findings before the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting opens this week, which they say are made possible by technical advances on drills and microscopes.
The scientists have been wondering about the point beyond which life cannot exist, but the deeper they dig, the more life they find. There is a temperature maximum—currently 122℃—but they believe this record will be broken if they keep exploring and developing more advanced instruments.
Questions remain, including how the microbes interact with chemical processes, and what this might reveal about how life and Earth coevolved.
1. What do the scientists find about the underground organisms?| A．They can’t reproduce and divide. | B．They’re the oldest living things. |
| C．Some of them consume no energy. | D．Some of them almost always keep still. |
| A．It last for around one year. | B．It involves efforts from many fields. |
| C．It promotes technical development. | D．It is conducted in 52 countries. |
| A．To break their previous record. |
| B．To find the depth limit of life. |
| C．To discover more ancient microorganisms. |
| D．To measure the highest subsurface temperature. |
| A．Earth Depths Are Full of Life. |
| B．Organisms Live Better Underground. |
| C．Earth Is Fat Beyond Human Exploration. |
| D．Subsurface Life Differs from That on Land. |
2 . When cultural heritage sites disappear, they’re gone forever. However, they are being endangered at an alarming rate by rising seas (Venice), pollution (the Taj Mahal) and overtourism (Angkor Wat). Just to name a few.
But when we try to protect these heritage sites, we also have to face such thorny questions as “What part of the past is worth preserving and passing on to the next generations? What duty do we owe to the creations of our ancestors? What strength do we draw from their presence — and when, on the contrary, do they become a lead weight, preventing us from projecting ourselves into the future?”
Humankind has answered these difficult questions differently in different places. In Dresden, Germany, the Frauenkirche was an 18th-century church whose bell-shaped top was a landmark. In February, 1945, one of the most destructive bombing attacks of World War II killed more than 25,000 people and reduced the city to ruins. With Dresden slowly rebuilt after the war, the Frauenkirche was left in ruins. But after German reunification, the church was reconstructed using many of its original materials, as a statement of peace and harmony.
Like the Frauenkirche, Notre Dame, a landmark in Paris, which was destroyed by fire in 2019, is being rebuilt as close as possible to how it was before, including using the original and poisonous metal-lead-for the roof. That choice was controversial, as future choices are bound to be in the debate about how to restore and preserve historic buildings.
Perhaps, no one can claim to have the right answers on preservation. There may not even be right answers. What we will do is to continue to take care of important cultural heritage sites, as a matter of significance to humanity’s past, present and future.
1. Which heritage site is overcrowded?| A．Venice. | B．Dresden. | C．The Taj Mahal. | D．Angkor Wat. |
| A．Tough. | B．Smart. | C．Interesting. | D．Important. |
| A．The high rebuilding costs. | B．The timing of reconstruction. |
| C．The choice of certain material. | D．The significance of preservation |
| A．We should protect as many heritage sites as possible. |
| B．It is better to leave the damaged historic buildings alone. |
| C．Historic buildings should be rebuilt with the same materials. |
| D．Heritage sites serve as an important link among human beings. |
3 . If you’re looking for a way to achieve naturally glowing skin, you needn’t look further than face yoga. That’s what Akiko Grabin, a face yoga teacher believes.
The main reason people give it a shot is because of its effect on skin, with Grabin claiming that it can prevent wrinkles, or at least smooth their appearance. And there’s some evidence to back these claims. Research from 2018 found that 30 minutes a day of facial exercises over a 20-week period might improve the appearance of skin in middle-aged women.
Takatsu is credited as the creator of the Face Yoga Method. She wrote about how she started it on her website, saying she came up with the concept following a car crash in which her body was injured and her face was left looking asymmetrical(不对称的). Standing in front of the mirror one day, Takatsu had a realization; “If I exercise my body muscles, I should be able to do the same for my face.” After Takatsu started practicing this method, people began praising her appearance and were eager to know how she achieved such results. The Face Yoga Metjod was born.
But Dr Imaan Joshi, a cosmetician working in a beauty agency, remains skeptical of the practice. She believes face yoga can have “some beneficial effects” in terms of relaxing muscles, but says there’s no evidence it can reduce or prevent wrinkles. Joshi explains that wrinkles form from repetitive, life--long movement of facial muscles, accompanies by loss of collagen(胶原)and fat as we age. “So, there’s no realistic way of getting rid of wrinkles apart from reducing or freezing the movement of these muscles.”
1. Why do people try to do face yoga?| A．Doing face yoga can do good to people’s health. |
| B．Face yoga is the best way to achieve smooth skin. |
| C．Doing face yoga is beneficial to people’s skin. |
| D．Face yoga is highly recommended by experts. |
| A．The wish to heal her injured face. | B．The praise for her appearance. |
| C．The lecture she attended. | D．The comments on her website. |
| A．A professor who studies physical exercise and health. |
| B．A teacher who teaches biology. |
| C．A physician who improves people’s looks. |
| D．An adviser who provides the old with nutritious diets. |
| A．Face yoga is an effective way to get rid of wrinkles. |
| B．The claim that face yoga can relax muscles lacks evidence. |
| C．Repetitive movement of facial muscles causes loss of collagen. |
| D．More movements of facial muscles can result in the formation of wrinkles. |
Yesterday, when I complained with my mom about too little entertainment, she share the story of her youth with me. In the 1980s, neither iPads nor smartphones were invented. Each time when evenings approached, the children around would crowd into the only house where had a television. We stared at the small screen until the program ended. Parent would make every effort to drag their children to bed when it was getting lately. But now, iPads and smartphones have taken place of televisions. No wonder my mom always says we are the generation growing up in a honey jar. After listen to my mom’s story I felt lucky to live so a happy and comfortable life.
Luosifen(螺蛳粉) became the most popular Chinese New Year’s snack this year on Tmall and Taobao, as Chinese people prepare for
On the traditional Laba Festival, which
Self-heating hot pots were only second to Luosifen on the most popular goods list by Tmall and Taobao. On Wednesday, nearly 200,000 buyers placed orders
People celebrate the Spring Festival by buying New Year’s goods, getting together and sending greetings,
6 . It was the first night of a tiring seven-day 250km race across the Gobi Desert a year ago. Mr. Leonard
“Cute, but I’m not giving you any,” Leonard thought. Like all
The next day, at the starting line, the dog
The pair went on to finish the seven-day race, with Gobi
As Leonard was preparing to get Gobi home, she was
| A．recognized | B．adopted | C．spotted | D．treated |
| A．accommodate | B．feed | C．water | D．entertain |
| A．competitors | B．climbers | C．explorers | D．hikers |
| A．plan | B．camp | C．day | D．course |
| A．chance | B．desire | C．right | D．tendency |
| A．bothered | B．stopped | C．welcomed | D．approached |
| A．confused | B．worried | C．ashamed | D．astonished |
| A．Therefore | B．Meanwhile | C．However | D．Otherwise |
| A．wound up | B．got down | C．kicked off | D．came along |
| A．expected | B．afforded | C．managed | D．begged |
| A．give | B．name | C．award | D．show |
| A．covering | B．setting | C．keeping | D．extending |
| A．difference | B．choice | C．comment | D．decision |
| A．advocated | B．changed | C．challenged | D．acknowledged |
| A．rather than | B．but for | C．regardless of | D．ahead of |
| A．impressive | B．meaningful | C．enjoyable | D．extraordinary |
| A．dead | B．sick | C．injured | D．missing |
| A．rescue | B．assistance | C．mind | D．defense |
| A．sight | B．way | C．hand | D．reach |
| A．gradually | B．eventually | C．routinely | D．occasionally |
7 . Why Are Tigers Orange?
The colors of an animal serve lots of different purposes — for instance, to help them hide into surroundings and escape from being noticed by preys (猎物). For tigers, their ability to be invisible will just decide whether they catch dinner or go hungry.
As for humans, orange is a color used for items that need to stand out, like traffic lights and safety vests. That’s because we have what’s called trichromatic color vision, which differentiate three types of color: blue, green and red.
Mammals like deer are the tiger’s main prey, and their dichromatic vision means they don’t see tigers as orange — they see them as green. That makes the tiger much harder to spot as it’s prowling behind a bush or crouching in the grass. Although green tigers would probably be even harder to spot, evolution (进化) just doesn’t work with the ingredients necessary to make green fur.
| A．We share this style of vision with some mammals like apes and certain monkeys. |
| B．Then, why don’t deer evolve the ability to see orange? |
| C．So of all the colors they could be, why are tigers orange? |
| D．Orange fur makes tigers relatively easy to spot. |
| E．The same is likely true for dichromatic animals. |
| F．Colors of humans’ eyes are quite similar to many other mammals’. |
| G．Actually, there are no green furry animals. |
8 . A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
If you answered 10 cents, you’re not alone – most people give the same answer (the correct answer is 5 cents). It’s an example of how we often rely on intuitive (直觉的) responses – answers we feel are true. People give answers that “pop into their mind,” says Steven Sloman. We don’t spend much time “reflecting and checking whether the answer is right or wrong.”
The bat and ball question helps explain why we often believe in fake news. It is part of human nature to believe, says Sloman. But “the trick with fake news is to know to verify” – in other words, to stop and question what you know. In one experiment, Sloman and a colleague invented a discovery called helium rain. They told a group of volunteers about it, but admitted they could not fully explain what it was. They then asked the volunteers to rate their own understanding of helium rain. Most volunteers rated themselves 1 out of 7, meaning they did not understand the concept.
The researchers then told another group of volunteers about the discovery. This time, they said that scientists could fully explain how it works. When asked to rate their understanding, the volunteers gave an average answer of 2. The scientists’ confidence gave the volunteers an increased sense of their own understanding, Sloman says.
According to Sloman, studies show that knowledge spreads like a contagion(传染病). This idea can be seen in many fields, including politics. “If everyone around you is saying they understand why a politician is dishonest,” Sloman says, “then you’re going to start thinking that you understand, too.”
Another explanation for the spread of fake news is “motivated reasoning,” writes Adam Wyatz, an American management professor, “we are naturally more likely to believe things that confirm our existing opinions.”
So in a world where misleading information is common, training people to care about fact-checking is important, especially in online communities. “We should check things and not just take them at face value,” Sloman says. “Verify before you believe.”
1. Why does the author use the example of the bat and ball question?| A．To warn that people often ignore skills that they learned. |
| B．To show that there are various answers to a question. |
| C．To arouse people’s interest in playing guessing games. |
| D．To illustrate that people tend to rush to a conclusion. |
| A．To express an opinion about something. |
| B．To make sure something is true. |
| C．To think about something for a long time. |
| D．To follow your intuitive response. |
| A．When Sloman and his colleagues showed them how it works. |
| B．When they have more confidence in themselves. |
| C．When they believed that scientists understood it. |
| D．When some of the volunteers explained it to them. |
| A．You post a message online that gives your personal opinion about a news story. |
| B．You think a university professor dishonest when everybody around you say so. |
| C．You search online for more information about a doubtful story on social media. |
| D．You trust a damaging story about someone who you always judge negatively. |
9 . Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the old objects launched into space, such as rockets and satellites? It’s called space junk, and much of it is still out there now. According to NASA, the definition of space junk is “any man-made object in orbit (轨道) around Earth that no longer serves a useful function”.
One large piece of space junk, a disused rocket, hit the dark side of the moon on March 4. The rocket’s origin is not clear, but scientists know that it was massive – weighing about 3 tons. It must have left a large crater (坑), estimated 10 to 20 meters wide, on the moon’s surface. It won’t be visible right away, but scientists are trying to locate it. “We will find the crater, eventually,” Mark Robinson, lead investigator for NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, told USA TODAY. “Depending on its location, it could take as long as 28 days.”
What’s significant about this space junk crash is that it draws attention to some of the potential dangers of space junk. First, the accumulation of space junk in Earth’s orbit means that satellites and the International Space Station (ISS) are at risk. In 2016, tiny space debris (残骸), smaller than a millimeter, caused a tiny chip in the ISS’ window. Imagine the damage that a larger piece of debris could cause. The European Space Agency website states that objects “up to 1 cm in size could disable an instrument or a critical flight system on a satellite” while objects over 10 cm “could shatter a satellite or spacecraft into pieces”. If this sounds terrifying, that’s because it is. Any collision with larger pieces of debris could be especially dangerous for manned spacecraft.
In addition to potential damage to spacecraft and satellites, space junk also poses a threat to the Earth itself. Crashes can send debris into the atmosphere where it can remain for many decades. Some powerful collisions can even send large debris hurtling (猛冲) toward Earth’s surface where it can affect the local environment. Leftover rocket debris can contain toxic materials that are harmful to plant and animal life. Some people in Siberia have even reported serious health problems after rocket debris landed in their regions in 2012, a local doctor told the BBC.
1. Which of the following can be regarded as space junk?| A．An abandoned space station. |
| B．A spacecraft orbiting the moon. |
| C．A crater on the moon’s surface. |
| D．A satellite working in low Earth orbit. |
| A．Tracking the rocket. | B．Locating the crater. |
| C．Cleaning up the space junk. | D．Finding out the rocket’s origin. |
| A．To compare the effects of debris of different sizes. |
| B．To prove the space debris problem is getting worse. |
| C．To illustrate the potential dangers of space junk. |
| D．To explain the necessity of removing space junk. |
| A．It’s likely to cause a global environmental crisis. |
| B．It can pose a lasting threat if it remains in the atmosphere. |
| C．It’s impossible to stop it from entering the atmosphere. |
| D．The toxic materials contained in space junk are the biggest threat it poses. |
10 . As children, we dream of growing older; when we are older, we dream of being children. We let our lives pass us by because we have yet to learn that the harder you yearn for time, the faster it passes. This is how my story begins.
In October of my freshman year, I took an accidental trip down memory lane. One day after school, I decided to take the long way home. I needed time to think. So off I went, walking through the grass. That was how I came to find a gap in the fence lining the school property. I passed through this gap and followed the treeline until I found myself in the far fields behind the neighborhood.
Suddenly, I remembered it was here through the fence between the school and the fields that I watched older kids having their high school graduation ceremony. In cap and gown (长袍), they stood in the middle of the field. They looked like they were having the most fun I had ever seen anyone have; they looked free.
Years later, I walked through that field on my way home from that same high school. I’ve since given this place a name, Tempus Illud, a place between places. I try to take the long way home at least once a month now. Sometimes, when I cross that bridge, I see that younger version of myself. She is so young and so desperate to speed up time. I see her peering through the fence at those graduates in the cap and gown, and she’s wishing she could be just like them. She, too, could feel so free that she might just grow wings and fly away. Now I’m preparing to wear the cap and gown in a few short months. But this time, I wish to leave time to its own devices.
The harder you yearn for time, the faster it passes you by. So I no longer yearn. The passage of time is inevitable, and you can’t avoid it, but you can appreciate it. James Taylor sings, “ The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill, but since we’re on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.”
1. How did the author feel when she saw the older kids’ graduation ceremony?| A．Admiring. | B．Curious. | C．Jealous. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．It honors her best childhood memory. |
| B．It shows the miracle of frozen time. |
| C．It bridges her past, present and future. |
| D．It symbolizes high school graduation. |
| A．She is addicted to the past. |
| B．She yearns for time to pass quicker. |
| C．She wants to run after time. |
| D．She decides to enjoy the moment. |
| A．To suggest that time brings the truth to light. |
| B．To share her changing attitude toward time. |
| C．To explain how time changes everything. |
| D．To show that tough times never last. |
