1 . Total solar eclipses (日食) have scared people since time out of mind. The first record of one, preserved on a clay tablet found at Ugarit, once a trade city but destroyed later in Syria, is believed from its age and location to describe either an eclipse that happened in 1375 BC or one in 1223 BC. Legendary explanations for eclipses include the Sun being eaten by dogs, frogs or dragons. The reality is not romantic. Why are total ones, like the one coming on April 8, so rare?

Solar eclipses are a special case of phenomena called transits and occultations, in which an intervening (介于中间的) heavenly body stops light from a star reaching an observer. If the blocking body appears smaller in the sky than the star, the result is called a transit and looks like a dark spot crossing the star’s surface. If the blocking object appears larger than the star, the star disappears completely—an occultation. A total eclipse is an occultation.

Solar eclipses may be either of these things, since the apparent sizes in the sky of the Sun and the Moon, viewed from Earth, are almost identical. If the Moon orbited Earth in the same plane as Earth orbits the Sun, eclipses would happen every month, but would be total only in the tropics (热带地区). In reality, the average interval between total eclipses is 18 months, and they may be seen from time to time all over the world. The path of totality across Earth’s surface is narrow and the period short (a maximum of just over seven and a half minutes). Outside these boundaries, the Sun will appear partially eclipsed, looking like a pie that something has taken a bite from.

The Great North American Eclipse, as it has been called, will be a sight to be hold on April 8. But it should also be cherished, because total eclipses of the Sun will not happen for ever. Tidal friction (潮汐摩擦) causes the Moon to move away from Earth at 3.8 cm a year, making it appear smaller and smaller in the sky. In 600 million years or so the last, short totality will occur.

1. What does the clay tablet of Ugarit represent?

A．Some figures of ancient animals.

B．The Sun being eaten by some animals.

C．Ancient people who were hunting for animals.

D．The earliest total solar eclipse recorded.

2. How does the author develop paragraph 2?

A．By listing statistics.	B．By giving definitions.
C．By giving examples.	D．By analyzing cause and effect.

3. What can we learn about total solar eclipses from paragraph 3?

A．Their duration is relatively longer.	B．They take place every month actually.
C．They are visible only from a narrow path.	D．They look like a bite taken out of the Sun.

4. What makes total solar eclipses so rare?

A．The moving-away Moon.

B．The stronger tide on Earth.

C．The smaller attraction of the Moon for Earth.

D．The changing distance between the Sun and Earth.

2 . Since Cynthia Florio was a lifeguard at Tobay Beach in the 1990s, she has watched the ocean approach the shore and draw closer to the dunes (沙丘). It’s what forced Florio, 53, of Massapequa, to take part in the Town of Oyster Bay’s annual dune grass planting event on March 30 — an effort to help stabilize the beach dunes against shoreline erosion (侵蚀).

Along with other volunteers, Florio had spent hours with her daughter, Kyra Florio-Marinello, 15, and her daughter’s friend Tatum Brennan, 15, planting the native plants that were intended to absorb water and prepare the sand against heavy wind. But four days later, a storm on Wednesday hit Long Island and washed the new plants away. “The latest dune planting event drew more than 150 volunteers who planted a lot across 2.7 acres of Atlantic Ocean sand dunes,” said Marta Kane, an Oyster Bay spokeswoman. “The dune grass cost the town $32,000.”

The event, centered on volunteerism, drew some families whose elders were looking to share a message with a younger generation about the importance of protecting the environment. While the outcome resulted in a wave of disappointment, for some volunteers that was coupled with a sense of renewed motivation. Maria Rizzi, 70, of Massapequa, participated in the planting session with her grandson, Andrew Lepsis, 10. She said she would go back for another event with even more family members. “I’d be willing to do it again,” she said. “I’d even talk the older grand kids into coming.”

While the storm swept the new plants away, Florio said Tobay Beach’s appearance aftermath serves as a powerful reminder of the need for more volunteer work on that stretch of sand. “Maybe it will inspire more people to volunteer and understand the need for us to protect our beaches,” Florio said.

1. What is the aim of the dune grass planting event?

A．To protect the ocean from being polluted.	B．To keep the shoreline in good shape.
C．To reduce extreme weather conditions.	D．To prevent people playing on the beach.

2. Which can best describe the dune grass planting event?

A．Popular but costly.	B．Traditional but complex.
C．Creative and economical.	D．Successful and rewarding.

3. How did Maria Rizzi feel about grass planting?

A．Interesting.

B．Disappointed.

C．Hopeless.

D．Motivated.

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

A．Great Grass Planting	B．The Best of the Storm
C．Spirit Never Washed Away	D．Volunteers Making History Together

3 . Small changes and gradual habit-building are great strategies for progressing towards large goals. They can include losing weight and increasing physical activity with the ultimate goal of keeping healthy.     1    

Why Step and Not Jump?

If those large goals are so important, why not jump towards them instead of taking baby steps?     2     For example, running a 10k if you rarely even walk for exercise. It can be easier to start with walking for 10 minutes three days a week.

Small steps can lead to a good cycle of success bringing success as you establish habits, hit mini-goals, and note your progress. This increases confidence and motivation, making it easier to stay in it for a long time.

How to Take Small Steps?

Break it down. That larger goal may seem far-off and unattainable, but breaking it down into smaller goals establishes a defined path that you can travel. Instead of worrying about what you might do next year(e. g. going on a foreign trip), you can check off the list things you can do today or this week(e. g. going to the gym).     3    

Track your progress. Track your progress to see how well you are doing and where you might improve. Your parents can help with tracking healthy eating, weight, and physical activity.     4     It also keeps you focused on the long-term benefits.

Adjust as needed. Assess your progress regularly, such as weekly or a couple of times a month.     5     Consider it a re-routing process, and not a failure. This change can keep you motivated and on track as you make progress towards those big goals.

A．This is how you can use small steps.

B．Keeping a record of progress can increase motivation.

C．Things you can do today are good small steps to consider.

D．And then you can re vise your goal and path to it as needed.

E．Taking small steps can be the best way to hold onto the gains.

F．A large goal can be so challenging that it is hard to work towards it.

G．Here are some tips on why and how to take small steps to reach big goals.

4 . Against huge odds, Shikuku Ooko is fighting to save the last remaining ancient forest. When he was in his early 20s, Shikuku Ooko was deeply taken with the Afro-Alpine forests of central Kenya. So much so that he decided to buy 15 acres of woods next to Mount Kenya National Park & Reserve. More than 30 years later Mr. Ooko’s home is one of the few plots still filled with native trees and plants. In contrast, much of the national park has been heavily logged.

The Mount Kenya region is remote and delicate, which makes it difficult to safeguard. Though the Kenya Forest Service has made sustainably managing all public forest plantations its second priority, the burden of conservation has fallen on the shoulders of local individuals such as Mr. Ooko.

In recent years, herders (牧民) have even built animal pens within legally protected areas. “It’s a bit of an annoying sight,” Mr. Ooko says, “when foreign visitors have to pay a high fee to enter the park but then come across huge herds of sheep and cattle in the delicate environment. The laws protecting that environment are in place, but they are insufficiently enforced because rangers (护林员) at each gate are limited.”.

When he’s at home in Naro Moru, Mr. Ooko advocates for tree planting, particularly among kids. “It’s something I grew up doing,” he explains. “When I was young, my dad would give all of us 10young trees to plant and take care of. Somehow, he knew the connections between trees and climate changes.”

It’s a practice Mr. Ooko has kept alive despite continuous challenges with climate and cattle; it is not uncommon for sheep and cattle to destroy the young trees that he and his young friends have planted. “We just keep going,” he says. “It’s something I value, and I think we should plant more.”

1. What can we know about Mr. Ooko’s woods?

A．They were purchased 20 years ago.	B．They suffer from heavy logging.
C．They have conserved much wildlife.	D．They have been well protected.

2. Why are the laws insufficiently enforced according to Mr. Ooko?

A．Because herders need to save cattle.	B．Because herders need wood for fire.
C．Because there are too many visitors.	D．Because there aren’t enough rangers.

3. What can we infer about Mr. Ooko according to the passage?

A．He never raises sheep and cattle.	B．He was influenced by his father.
C．He donated his woods to the park.	D．He has made a fortune by planting.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．The Challenges from Climate Changes	B．The Introduction to Mount Kenya Park
C．The Fight to Save Mount Kenya’s Forests	D．The Connection between People and Nature

5 . Does forgiveness go against our human nature? To address this, we need to ask a further question: What makes us human? Simply put, people hold two contrasting views on humanity. The first centers on control and power. In an early paper on forgiveness, Droll (1984) wrote that human nature leans more towards aggression (攻击性) than forgiving allows. Those who forgive are against what they’re built for, much to their harm. He believes that forgivers are risking their own well-being as they show forgiveness to others, who might then take advantage of them.   

For the second view, we see respect and love, in the sense of serving others, in the work of Lewis, Amini, and Lannon (2001). They present the scientific argument that we need both to receive love from and offer love to others. From this second viewpoint, forgiveness plays a key role in the overall health of both individuals and communities, both physically and mentally, because one of the outcomes of forgiveness, shown through scientific studies, is the reduction of hatred and the reestablishment of harmony.

Given that control and disrespect can affect a person’s psychological (心理的) and relational well-being, the first approach does not seem workable as a way to live. Given that forgiveness has been shown in numerous studies to increase well-being, it follows that the second approach seems more effective, both from the reasoning of philosophy and the supported theories from social science. Even common sense strongly suggests that the will to power over others does not make for harmonious interactions. Consider, how well has slavery (奴隶制) worked as a way of social harmony?

As an important warning, when we take a Classical Realist philosophical viewpoint, that of Aristotle, we see the difference between possibility and actuality. We are not necessarily born with the ability to forgive, but we have the chance to learn and get better at it. The actuality of forgiving, its actual application in conflict (冲突) situations, grows with certain training.

1. What is Droll’s idea about forgiveness?

A．It is a sign of weakness.

B．It is a part of human nature.

C．It is a threat to one’s well-being.

D．It is a natural response to aggression.

2. Why does the author mention “slavery” in paragraph 3?

A．To blame the unfairness of the system.

B．To illustrate the harm from over control.

C．To stress the importance of management.

D．To promote the idea of harmonious interactions.

3. What is the author’s attitude toward forgiveness?

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Uncertain.

4. How is forgiveness developed according to Aristotle?

A．Born nature.	B．Social upbringing.
C．Learned practice.	D．Outside pressure.

6 . Some of our planet’s power pollinators (传粉昆虫) may have originated tens of millions of years earlier than scientists once believed. In a study published July 27 in the journal Current Biology, a team of researchers traced bee family back over 120 million years to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana (冈瓦纳大陆). While looking deeper into bee history, the team found evidence that bees originated earlier, diversified faster, and spread wider than previously suspected, putting together pieces of a puzzle on the origin of these pollinators.

In the study, an international team of scientists would be in sequence and compared genes from over 200 bee species. They then compared these bees with the traits from 185 different bee fossils and extinct fossils to develop an evolutionary history and genealogical model for how bees have historically been spread around the world. The team was able to analyze hundreds of thousands of genes at a time to make sure that the relationships they inferred were correct.

“This is the first time we have broad genome-scale data for all seven bee families,” study co-author and Washington State University entomologist Elizabeth Murray confidently said in a statement. Earlier studies established that the first bees potentially evolved from wasps (黄蜂), transitioning from predators up to collectors of pollen and nectar (花蜜). According to this study, bees arose in the dry regions of western Gondwana during the early Cretaceous period, between 145 million years ago to 100.5 million years ago.

“There’s been a long-time puzzle about the origin of bees,” study co-author and Washington State University entomologist Silas Bossert said in a statement. “For the first time, we have statistical evidence that bees originated on Gondwana. We now know that bees are originally southern hemisphere insects.” The team found evidence that as new continents formed, the bees moved northward. They continued to diversify and spread in parallel partnership with flowering plants called angiosperms. The bees later moved into India and Australia and all major bee families appear to have split off from one another before the beginning of the Tertiary period (65million years ago).

1. What’s the purpose of bee history researchers do research on?

A．To discover the origin of these pollinators.

B．To find out some reasonable proofs.

C．To know much about our planet.

D．To study the life of bee species.

2. Which can replace the underlined phrase “in sequence” in Paragraph 2?

A．in danger.

B．in need.

C．in order

D．in favor.

3. What’s the viewpoint of Elizabeth Murray to the bee family?

A．Unbelievable.

B．Reliable.

C．Positive.

D．Negative.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A．The earliest home of bees may be in Gondwana.

B．The world’s earliest bees were found in India and Australia.

C．The researchers are going on doing research on bee families.

D．The researchers get a lot evidence to prove their research.

7 . Picking up after your dog is interesting, but it must be done. Most dog owners understand the importance of picking up their dogs’ waste, so it can be especially frustrating to see dog owners that obviously refuse to perform this duty.     1    , but by asking them the right way, informing them of the risks and consequences of not picking up after their dogs, and providing them with the right collection tools, you may be able to get them to change their ways.

Ask them directly. Talking to another dog owner about picking up their dogs’ waste can be uncomfortable. However, asking the owner directly to pick up after their dog will often work to fix the problem.     2    . Maybe they think no one notices or that their actions don’t directly affect those around them. Asking the person directly lets them know you, and others, have noticed their actions and are being affected negatively by them.

Use a friendly tone. Although you are probably fed up and mad at a dog owner that isn’t cleaning up after their dog, approach them in a friendly manner. Yelling at them may make them defensive and angry.     3    .

Give them a reason. It’s possible this person doesn’t realize how their neglect in picking up after their dog is negatively affecting those around them.     4    , give them a reason why you want them to do so.

    5    . When facing someone on this issue, don’t exaggerate (夸大) the truth or make up reasons they should comply with your request. Be honest with them about why you want them to pick up after their dog and what could happen if they don’t.

A．Be honest

B．Raise some dogs

C．If you want to help them to sweep their waste

D．And they will likely do more harm than good, too

E．When you ask them to pick up their dogs’ waste

F．There are many reasons people don’t pick up after their dogs

G．Figuring out how to convince these owners to change their ways can be difficult

8 . Chris Kyle is an entrepreneur(企业家), so he’s always looking for ways to support his fellow small business owners. Chris says he feels fortunate that his work allows him to spend a lot of time at home, so he can be fully present for each stage of his daughter Ava’s life. He was skeptical when his wife purchased Ava a toy kitchen set, but his daughter adores it and has now become a “small business owner” in her very own living room!

“When my wife made the purchase, I was hesitant about spending a few hundred dollars on it,” Chris explained. “It has been worth every penny. Ava is the star of her own little world when she is ready to play.” Chris paid a visit to his daughter’s at-home restaurant and shared his frank but funny “review” on his Instagram page. “So I tried to support another Black Owned Business for lunch today,” he wrote. “It’s called Ava’s Kitchen, just opened the end of April. It’s a very clean kitchenware, but let me tell you about this owner.”

“First of all, I asked why there are balloons on my chair, and it’s not my birthday?” Chris continued. “She said those are Mommy’s.” But Chris didn’t stop there. In addition to the questionable choice of balloons as a decoration, he said the service at Ava’s Kitchen was not exactly putting the establishment anywhere near the Zagat scale. “I have been waiting on my order to get done for 45minutes, and I’m the only customer here,” wrote Chris. “She was making good progress at first, then she stopped for 20 minutes to go to watch Paw Patrol. Overall the customer service could be better, but the cook is lovely. So I’ll give her another chance.”

Chris and Ava are thrilled that their post went viral. I’m glad to see our post shine bright in the lives or people around the world, said the proud dad.

1. Why does Chris mainly think he is lucky?

A．Because he has enough time to work at home.

B．Because he has been looking for some ways.

C．Because he can accompany his daughter.

D．Because he suspects Ava’s mother.

2. What does Chris doubt about?

A．Buying a toy kitchen set.	B．Living in a small room.
C．Supporting another business.	D．Spending too much money.

3. Where is the third paragraph written?

A．On the Internet.	B．In the newspaper.
C．On a travel magazine.	D．In a notice.

4. What’s the best title of the text?

A．Dad Leaves His Review After Visiting Ava’s Kitchen

B．Dad Is Honest And Funny After Talking With His Daughter

C．Dad Helps Ava Get a Good Chance to Surf the Internet

D．Dad Builds a Kitchen For His Own Daughter Happily

9 . Sometimes science advances at a snail’s pace, but in this case that’s a good thing: researchers have created a soft material that combines polymers with liquid metal, demonstrated in a snail-like robot. Developers say this electrically conductive gel(凝胶) could be used to make self-healing electronic circuits and biological monitors for measuring heart and muscle activity-and maybe even lead to robot nervous systems.

The complex substance can stretch and is soft like living tissue. If it breaks or tears, the edges can be touched together, and the material’s molecular bonds quickly re-form without any additional heat or chemical treatment. And crucially its developers say, it is the first such material that also conducts electricity.

These abilities could lead to wire-free medical monitors as well as fully soft robots. “For my research, one thing that’s really big is, ‘How do you put multiple functions into a single material?’” says Lillian Chin, who develops soft robotic components as part of her own research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Existing soft-bodied robots, she says, often require at least some rigid metals and silicon(硅)components. But soft, flexible living tissues can perform multiple tasks; muscles, Chin notes, both move our bodies and provide electrical feedback about that movement to our brains.

For a recent study in Nature Electronics, the researchers used their new material to connect motors to power sources in two basic machines: a snail-like soft robot and a toy car. The material’s self-healing ability helped these simple circuits(电路) be easily reequipped. For example, the team cut the car’s power-carrying gel “wires” and shifted their connections to power both movement and a small light fixed in the bottom.

1. What’s the function of the conductive gel?

A．To make a soft material.

B．To connect material and metal.

C．To restore robot nervous systems.

D．To produce electronic and biological monitors.

2. What’s the complex substance used for?

A．Being connected.	B．Providing heat.
C．Conducting electricity.	D．Handling chemical.

3. What does Lillian Chin emphasize in the third paragraph?

A．The good benefits of the single material in her study.

B．Multiple functions of the single material.

C．The movement from human bodies in her study.

D．The massive tasks done in her study.

4. What makes the new material able to help simple circuits?

A．Its soft ability.	B．Its helpful ability
C．Its wireless ability.	D．Its self-healing ability.

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Emotional eating is eating as a way     1    (ease) negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Major life events or, more     2    (common), the troubles of daily life can arouse negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disturb your weight-loss     3    (effort).

Although some people eat less in the face     4     strong emotions, if you’re in emotional distress you might turn to impulsive or binge (暴饮暴食) eating, quickly consuming whatever is convenient without     5    (enjoy).

In fact, your emotions can become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a treat whenever you’re angry or     6    (stress) without thinking about what you’re doing.

Food also     7    (serve) as a distraction. If you’re worried about an upcoming event or     8     conflict, for instance, you may focus on eating comfort food instead of dealing with the painful situation.

Whatever emotions drive you to eat more, the end result is often the same. The effect is temporary, the emotions return     9     you likely then bear the additional burden of guilt about     10     (set) back your weight-loss goal. This can also lead to an unhealthy cycle.