1 . A sugar replacement called erythritol (赤藓糖醇) has been linked to blood clotting (血液凝固), stroke, heart attack and death, according to a new study.

“The degree of risk was not modest,” said lead study author Dr. Stanley Hazen. People with existing risk factors for heart disease will be twice as likely to experience the risk if they have the highest levels of erythritol in their blood. Erythritol appears to be causing blood platelets (血小板) to clot more readily. Clots can break off and travel to the heart or the brain, causing a heart attack or a stroke.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a carb found naturally in many fruits and vegetables. However, artificially manufactured in massive quantities, erythritol has become an extremely popular additive to low-carb products.

The discovery of the connection between erythritol and cardiovascular issues was purely accidental. Hazen’s research had a simple goal: find unknown chemicals or compounds in a person’s blood. To do so, the team analyzed 1,157 blood samples. “We found this substance that seemed to play a big role, but we didn’t know it was erythritol, a sweetener until later,” said Hazen. To confirm the findings, the team tested another two batches of blood samples and found that higher levels of erythritol were connected to a greater risk of heart attack, stroke or death within three years.

“This certainly sounds an alarm,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of a hospital inDenver. “Science needs to take a deeper div e into erythritol and in a hurry, because this substance is widely available right now. If it’s harmful, we should know about it.”

Hazen agreed,“I normally don’t get up on a pedestal (崇高地位) and sound the alarm, but this is something that I think we need to be looking at carefully.”

1. About the risk, what does Hazen’s word in paragraph 2 mean?

A．It is not worth considering.	B．It is removed by erythritol.
C．It should not be underestimated.	D．It is just present in people with disease.

2. What do we know about erythritol?

A．Its quality is uncertain.	B．It has been used widely in food.
C．It is manufactured by artists.	D．It mainly exists in fruits.

3. What can be concluded from the last two paragraphs?

A．Erythritol is not available to people.

B．Hazen likes warning people about potential dangers.

C．People have realized that erythritol is dangerous.

D．Further research should be done on erythritol.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．The Accidental Discovery of a New Sweetener

B．The Potential Health Risks of Erythritol Uncovered

C．The Rise of Erythritol as a Popular Sugar Substitute

D．The Surprising Benefits of Erythritol in Diet Products

2 . Climate change is causing more areas to turn into deserts. This issue is affecting the lives of 250 million people as land that used to be good for farming becomes dry and unproductive. Around one-third of the world’s land is impacted, including regions in Africa, southern Europe, Asia and America.

Sand to Green is a Moroccan company that can transform a patch of desert into a sustainable (可持续的) and profitable plantation in five years, according to Wissal Ben Moussa, its co-founder and chief agricultural officer. The solution is using agroforestry (农林业)to create a new kind of agriculture that is sustainable and that can be resilient (有适应力的) in front of climate change.

The system can be set up close to any source of salty water, which Sand to Green cleans using energy from the sun. It then grows different types of fruit trees and plants together in the same area—a method called mixed planting—and waters the plants’ roots directly with the cleaned water, to reduce water loss to the air. The soil is regenerated using what Sand to Green calls “green manure”, a mixture that includes compost, biochar(生物炭)and microorganisms that help the soil “wake up”. Biochar is a form of charcoal that can help dry soil hold on to water.

In a five-hectare trial in southern Morocco that’s been running since 2017, Sand to Green has tried out a variety of plants in search of the best performers. Among the intercropping herbs (草本植物) that have been successfully trialed are rosemary, geranium, vetiver and citronella, which Ben Moussa describes as “very low-maintenance and very high-profit”.

Sand to Green is now working to scale up to a 20-hectare commercial site, also in southern Morocco. It says a site of that size would cost around $475,000 to set up and would start bringing financial returns in about five years.

According to Ben Moussa, with this system they create biodiversity, which means better soil, healthier crops and a bigger yield. The plantation can generate 1.5 times more yield, thus making more money than a farm that grows only one type of crop in the same space.

1. What phenomenon does the author describe in paragraph 1?

A．Deforestation.	B．Desertification.
C．Global warming.	D．Urbanization.

2. Why did Sand to Green use agroforestry?

A．To preserve the crop’s survival rate.

B．To protect water from pollution.

C．To make a new type of soil.

D．To help people adapt to climate change.

3. What can we learn about Sand to Green?

A．It aims to plant more trees.

B．It earns a good reputation.

C．It develops new plants.

D．It produces good results.

4. What does the underlined phrase “scale up” mean in paragraph 5?

A．Expand.

B．Object.

C．Refer.

D．Prefer.

3 . My family visited the coastal town of St. Pete Beach. Florida. With its pretty sandy beaches, deep blue waters and year-round sunshine, it’s clear to see why St. Pete is a popular tourist destination among travelers from around the world.

Just a few feet from our apartment, we found ourselves walking on white sand towards the bright blue ocean. We were soon greeted by a man offering us the use of one of his luxury beach cabanas (小屋) for the day at a very reasonable price and settled into a full day of relaxation. The peaceful atmosphere was a true escape from the hustle and bustle (喧嚣) of the city. It was so easy to while away the days from morning until dusk, enjoying the warmth of the sun’s rays and getting lost in a good book, before taking a quick swim in the calm waters to cool off.

Once the sun set, there was a various range of bars and restaurants to choose from just a few steps away. The warm evening atmosphere was peppered with the mouthwatering smell of sizzling freshly-caught fish. The only hardship was trying to decide where to dine each evening with so many tasty options!

After a while, we began to desire a bit more adventure on our trip which, to our delight, we discovered was easy to come by. On one of our outings, we took a boat trip to the undisturbed island of Egmont Key State Park. There we explored the ruins of a military outpost built in 1898 and a 150-year-old working lighthouse. The island is also a protected wildlife reserve. On our return journey, we were excited to discover we were being followed by over a dozen dolphins, who were taking turns to leap out of the water playfully in the wake of our boat.

1. What made the author’s family select St. Pete Beach as the destination?

A．Water sports.	B．The city’s busy nightlife.
C．Some historical buildings.	D．The beautiful beach and weather.

2. Why did the family decide to spend a day in a beach cabana?

A．Because of some fun activities.

B．Because of a cost-effective offer.

C．Because of near historical landmarks.

D．Because of the distance of it from their apartment.

3. What troubled the author’s family when they chose a place to eat?

A．Friendly atmosphere in each restaurant.

B．High prices in most restaurants.

C．Diverse choices available.

D．Family members’ preferences for food.

4. What added excitement to the family’s return boat trip?

A．The presence of a wildlife expert in the boat.

B．Dolphins following and playing around the boat.

C．The discovery of hidden treasures on the boat.

D．A surprising visit from some local residents.

4 . When people respect you, they see you in a very positive light. They admire you for your qualities that can be quite inspirational for people. Respectful people are patient and very calm.     1     — they take their time to form opinions and come to a decision that is good for all. Respectful people also have an air of authority and can command a room full of people only with their voice. Here are some of the behaviors of respectful people.

Active listening

Respectful people listen actively to others.    2    . They don’t interrupt the person by asking questions to show that they are focused and interested in what the other person is saying.

Empathy

They are highly empathetic. They put themselves in other people’s shoes. They are considerate of people’s situations. They show kindness and are understanding towards others.    3    .

Reliability

    4    . They are very reliable. They keep their promises and follow through on their commitments. They can be counted on to do what they say they will do. They are ever ready to help people.

    5    

These people communicate in a respectful manner. They are polite even when they disagree with someone. They avoid using critical language and focus on finding common ground with others. They try to find a solution to problems in a very analytical manner.

A．Inner confidence

B．Respectful communication

C．They don’t judge people quickly

D．This alone will not change the views others have of you

E．This is the second feature that makes them well respected among others

F．They are fully present at the moment and give their full attention to the speaker

G．People can depend on these kinds of people without fearing they will leave them

5 . 假定你是李华，随着科技的发展，机器人将成为人们生活中的一部分，为了让同学们更好地了解机器人，你校决定举行主题为“The Development and Application of Robots”的演讲比赛。你有意向参加，请你用英语写一篇演讲稿，内容包括：
1. 机器人的发展；
2. 机器人的应用。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . Playing sports at school makes people “grittier” and harder working, boosts the chances of achieving long-term goals, and having successful careers, say scientists. The Ohio State University team analyzed National Sports and Society Survey data on almost 4, 000 men and women across the US and asked study participants to rate themselves on a scale of 1-5 on eight statements. They included “I am diligent. I never give up.” And “I am a hard worker”. None of the statements was directly related to sports. 34% of those who did sports as a youngster scored high on the grit scale, compared to 23% of peers who gave up. One in four of those who never played sports ranked low, compared to just 17% of those who did. Lead author Dr. Emily Nothnagle said practicing drills on the field can improve pupils’ lives for decades, adding “The grit they develop from playing sports can help them for the rest of their lives”.

The findings, published in the journal Leisure Sciences, were supported by more sophisticated (复杂的) statistical analyses that accounted for respondents’ demographic (人口的) characteristics. But it appears only children who keep at it-and play continually—get the benefit, say the researchers. Some may just be born with the grit to help them succeed at sports as a young person and then continue to benefit from that trait as an adult. “Quitting could reflect a lack of perseverance, which is a crucial component of grit,” said a researcher. “It could also make quitting an activity, and not persevering, easier the next time.”

Adults who played sports as kids generally perceived the experience helped improve their work ethic, and that perception was linked to their grit scores as adults even though the researchers said people can gain or lose grit throughout life.

1. What does the underlined word “grittier” mean in the 1st paragraph?

A．More hopeful.	B．More pessimistic.
C．More aggressive.	D．More determined.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．The survey included a total of 15 statements.

B．The survey centered on sports and lifestyle.

C．People who did sports at a young age tended to score high on the grit scale.

D．The survey was conducted and analyzed by Dr. Emily alone.

3. How were the findings presented in the journal Leisure Sciences?

A．By providing experiments.

B．By offering some examples.

C．By showing differences.

D．By analyzing characteristics.

4. Where is the passage most likely to be taken from?

A．A biological textbook.	B．A science magazine.
C．A travel brochure.	D．An economic paper.

7 . Some of the classrooms at Taft Elementary in Santa Clara, California, have one flaw in common. They don’t have ________. Former school psychologist Ernesto Rodriguez thought the lack of windows does ________ kids, because research shows being in and around nature ________ anxiety and has benefits for students.

Rodriguez, who is now a park ranger (护林员) on Southern California’s Catalina Island ________ knows the impact nature has on mental health, and began ________ on his passion — landscape photography. It was during his training to become a park ranger that he learned a fact that ________ with him. “Kids who have views out windows to trees do ________ academically, emotionally and creatively. And more kids ________ and go to college,” he said. “I thought, why isn’t this being used?”

Rodriguez uses his photography skills to take 360 degree ________ of tree canopies (树冠), then he prints them and ________ them onto ceiling tiles. “So when you ________ it feels like you’re sitting under a tree. And it has all those ________ of the science that helps calm you down, focus and communicate,” he said.

A student named Octavio thinks trees bring him ________. “It is surprising to see because any time you’re inside of a school, you mostly don’t see ________ or trees. But now it’s ________ to see that there are trees here,” Octavio said. “I would say that it’s pretty great and ________.”

Rodriguez says if you still don’t believe in the science behind the art, you can ________ it yourself by going outside and looking up at the trees. “This is a(n) ________ of both my careers as a school psychologist and a photographer,” Rodriguez said. “And to be ________ to create imagery — and spend time out in nature creating imagery that I know is going to help people — is really a ________”.

1.

A．desks

B．windows

C．curtains

D．blackboards

2.

A．spoil

B．attract

C．affect

D．frighten

3.

A．shares

B．kills

C．arouses

D．eases

4.

A．deeply

B．rarely

C．simply

D．curiously

5.

A．depending

B．calling

C．focusing

D．counting

6.

A．stuck

B．fought

C．filled

D．concerned

7.

A．quicker

B．better

C．earlier

D．worse

8.

A．register

B．revise

C．skip

D．graduate

9.

A．ways

B．views

C．shots

D．angles

10.

A．takes

B．moves

C．throws

D．fits

11.

A．look up

B．get in

C．come out

D．sit down

12.

A．contents

B．elements

C．types

D．powers

13.

A．credit

B．trouble

C．peace

D．fun

14.

A．changes

B．signs

C．books

D．plants

15.

A．amazing

B．normal

C．common

D．scarce

16.

A．convenient

B．sacred

C．practical

D．beautiful

17.

A．draw

B．try

C．take

D．study

18.

A．design

B．marriage

C．honor

D．image

19.

A．confident

B．likely

C．able

D．happy

20.

A．motivator

B．privacy

C．matter

D．question

8 . Several years ago, a worldwide heavy rain was predicted, but no one got prepared for what was to come. Then, some areas received over 100 mm of rain. Cars and trucks floated down the streets. Whole buildings were swept away. At least 225 people lost their lives, and millions became homeless.

The weather is always changing. Over the past few years, heavy rains have led to floods in many parts of the world. Droughts have taken place in Brazil and Australia. There have been heat waves in Europe which killed thousands. There have been more powerful hurricanes and tornadoes than ever before. In 2017 alone, the financial cost from global weather events was up to 340 billion dollars.

With more wild weather events happening, people couldn’t help asking questions: What is happening with the weather? And why? Is this natural, or our fault? The answer seems to be: a little of both. Wild weather is natural. But most scientists hold the same view that human activity has made the Earth warmer. It is this global warming that makes heat waves more likely. The higher temperatures also result in more water to go into the air, which causes heavier and more frequent rain. Many scientists also believe global warming makes hurricanes and other storms stronger.

This means we’re likely to see more wild weather. “But we don’t have to just stand there and accept it,” says scientist Michael. He and other experts say we need to stop the Earth from getting warmer. We also need to be prepared, to do things that will help save lives.

1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．A past weather event happened in some areas in the world.

B．Some facts are listed about the global warming.

C．A number of recent weather events happened over the world.

D．Wild weather is partly the result of human activity.

2. How does paragraph two develop?

A．By giving a lot of examples of recent wild weather events.

B．By describing a serious flood that once happened.

C．By predicting how the weather will change in a few years.

D．By comparing the former wild weather with what happened now

3. What does scientist Michael’s words mean?

A．People can not do anything to prevent wild weather.

B．If people stop global warming, the weather will be better.

C．It is too late to stop global warming.

D．People have to stand by and accept what will happen to us.

4. Where can you probably find the text?

A．In a tourist brochure	B．In a research paper
C．In a science fiction	D．In a nature magazine

9 . For Caribbean box jellyfish (水母), learning is literally a no-brainer.

In a new experiment, these animals learned to spot and avoid obstacles (障碍物) despite having no central brain, researchers report in Current Biology. This is the first evidence that jellyfish can make mental connections between events and change their behavior accordingly. “Maybe learning doesn’t need a very complex nervous system, but rather, learning is an essential part of nerve cells,” says Jan Bielecki, a neuroethologist at Kiel University in Germany. If so, the new finding could help trace how learning evolved in animals.

Bielecki and his colleagues wondered if Caribbean box jellyfish could learn that low-contrast objects, which might at first seem distant, were actually close by. The team put 12 jellyfish into a round tank surrounded by low-contrast, gray and white stripes. A camera filmed the animals’ behavior for about seven minutes.

At first, the jellyfish seemed to interpret the gray stripes as distant roots and swam into the tank wall. But those collisions (碰撞) seemed to lead the jellyfish to treat the gray stripes more like close roots in dirty water, and the animals started avoiding them. The jellies’ average distance from the tank wall increased from about 2.5 centimeters in the first couple of minutes to about 3.6 centimeters in the final couple of minutes. Their average collisions into the wall dropped from 1.8 per minute to 0.78 per minute.

“I found that really amazing,” says Nagayasu Nakanishi, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, who has studied jellyfish nervous systems but was not involved in the new work. “I never thought jellyfish could really learn.”

Neurobiologist Björn Brembs views the results more cautiously, noting the small number of jellyfish tested and the variability in their performance. “I want this to be true, as it would be very cool,” says Brembs. Experiments with more jellyfish could convince him that the animals really do learn.

1. What can we know about the jellyfish in paragraph 2?

A．They can avoid obstacles with a central brain.

B．They can change their behaviour after evolution.

C．They may have learning abilities with nerve cells.

D．They may develop a very complex nervous system.

2. What change in behavior did the jellyfish show in the experiment?

A．They completely ignored the gray stripes.

B．They gradually started avoiding the gray stripes.

C．They could avoid collisions if given enough time.

D．They increased their collisions with the tank wall.

3. What conclusion can be drawn from the experiment?

A．Jellyfish preferred the gray stripes over other things.

B．Jellyfish were unable to learn from their environment.

C．Jellyfish relied on the distant objects to change their behavior.

D．Jellyfish showed a learning process and adjusted their behavior.

4. What does Brembs imply in the last paragraph?

A．He believes more testing is needed to confirm the results.

B．He is excited by the potential implications of the findings.

C．He dismisses the findings as irrelevant to jellyfish behavior.

D．He is doubtful due to the consistent performance of the jellyfish.

10 . Finding the words to explain how you feel isn’t always easy. This is why young people’s mental health charity has made “My Voice Matters” the theme of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week.

    1    

Do you have trouble sharing your thoughts or worry no one will listen if you do? Making your voice heard means understanding that your words matter and your opinions count. Dr Julia Clements, a psychologist, says that it means expressing your views, thoughts and feelings, not bottling them all up, and being open to hearing the thoughts, feelings and views of others too.     2     In fact you don’t have to use your voice at all. “You can express what you like and don’t like or what you want for the future by writing or drawing instead,” says Clements. “It’s about finding ways to share what matters to you,” she explains.

Why is it important?

    3     Scientists have discovered that sharing your feelings produces a feel-good chemical in your brain that makes you feel relaxed and calm. Your voice can make a big difference to other people too, including friends and families. Clements says, “You can spread kindness and happiness simply by speaking. With a few kind words, you could help someone feel good about themselves or let them know they are supported.”     4    

How can you find your voice?

Clements suggests practising conversations with friends, parents or carers on the way home from school and seeing if you have different opinions about something. If you’re struggling to explain your feelings, find a way that feels right for you, whether it’s talking face-to-face or writing it down.     5     When you’re ready, “Take a deep breath and believe in yourself,” says Clements. “Know that your opinion matters.”

A．What does speaking up mean?

B．What are the benefits of speaking up?

C．Making yourself heard isn’t about shouting the loudest.

D．Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you are confused about something.

E．Everyone has their own unique way of processing and sharing their feelings.

F．Sharing your feelings with a person you trust will help you make sense of them.

G．Words have the power to uplift someone’s spirits and make a positive impact on their day.