1 . We know it can be hard to put your phone to bed before you sleep. However, if you’re trying to improve your sleep, you really should ditch your phone at least an hour before bedtime. Luckily, our experts can help.

Scientific evidence suggests that the blue light emitted from your phone, tablet, computer, and TV suppresses (抑制) your body’s production of melatonin, a hormone (荷尔蒙) that plays an important role in your sleep cycle. Melatonin release in the evening helps you relax before bedtime. A 2013 study that analyzed technology use and sleep patterns with data from a National Sleep Foundation poll found that using devices like phones was tied to more sleep disruption than electronics that aren’t interactive.

Many of us use the excuse that our mobile devices serve as our wake-up calls, or keep them nearby to use meditation apps. If you want to use your phone as an alarm, consider setting it a couple of hours before you turn in for the night, and then setting the phone itself to bedtime mode for the rest of the evening.

Here’s another groundbreaking idea: You could get a real alarm clock. After reviewing them at Reviewed, we recommend the Sharp Dream Caster. Not only is it easy to set a wake-up time, the clock includes white noises and rain noises to help you sleep, plus a number of volume settings to pick what works best for you.

But an alarm clock won’t help you avoid doom-scrolling through social media. Take things a step further by avoiding using electronic devices. You can try reading a book (one made of paper), taking a bath or drinking a cup of chamomile tea.

Finally, if you want to keep up your meditation practice screen-free, consider the Morphée. It looks like a little music box and comes with a variety of breathing exercises and soundscapes to help you get to sleep.

1. What does the underlined word “ditch” in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Set aside.

B．Pick up.

C．Show off.

D．Turn to.

2. What may be caused by the suppression of melatonin?

A．Relaxing yourself before bedtime.

B．Sleeping less than you normally would.

C．Adapting to your sleep cycle more easily.

D．Reducing the pressure from screen use.

3. Why is the Sharp Dream Caster recommended?

A．It is sold at a lower price.	B．It can predict a heavy rain.
C．It is controlled by cellphone.	D．It helps put your eyes together.

4. What is suggested for better sleep according to paragraph 5?

A．Making the best of the eco-friendly products.

B．Making a change according to circumstances.

C．Establishing a bedtime routine without electronics.

D．Keeping a consistent bedtime and wake-up time.

2 . In America, we have a thing called stand-up comedy. This popular form of entertainment consists of a comedian standing up at the front of a club, holding a microphone, and telling jokes. Of course, comedy is popular in Chinese culture as well, but the performances are quite different from the style in the US. In China, it’s called cross-talk, which usually involves two guys engaging in an entertaining dialogue.

It’s believed that cross-talk came into being in the Qing Dynasty as a bit of a by-product of the imitation shows that were a popular form of entertainment in the Song Dynasty. After the PRC was established in 1949, this comedic art became more and more popular. Today, it’s still heavily featured in the CCTV New Year’s Gala programmes in China. The 1990s was the golden age of cross-talk; even foreigners studied the art of cross-talk. Mark Roswell, a Canadian named Da Shan in Chinese was relatively unknown in his native land but was a superstar in China. At the turn of the century, cross-talk began to decline, and many well-known actors left the stage.

There are four skills that are essential in cross-talk: speaking, imitating, teasing, and singing. Most of the time, it is performed with two actors—one serves as the lead actor while the other plays a support role. However, sometimes it is performed simply as a one-man show, and at other times there are several actors. In order to criticize something, the humor involved in cross-talk is satirical.

1. What’s the difference between American stand-up comedy and Chinese cross-talk?

A．Chinese cross-talk actors don’t use a microphone.

B．American stand-up comedy actors are all men.

C．Chinese cross-talk is more liked by Canadians.

D．American stand-up comedy is only a one-man show.

2. Which word can best summarize Paragraph 2?

A．History.

B．Future.

C．Features.

D．Difference.

3. What can we know about Mark Roswell?

A．He was an American stand-up comedian.

B．He was very popular with Canadians.

C．He was a famous cross-talker in China.

D．He left the stage in the early 1990s.

4. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “satirical” in Paragraph 3?

A．Acid-tongued.	B．Good-tempered.
C．Warm-hearted.	D．Smooth-tongued.

4 . More people than ever are interested in learning to speak Chinese. The challenge that many face is finding the best resources to learn this new language. Fortunately, there are 4 amazing tools that can make learning Chinese much easier.

HelloTalk

This is an app that connects anyone interested in learning a foreign language to a native speaker who is willing to engage in conversation with learners, and help them practice and master their new language. It includes a voice-to-text feature that is perfect if you cannot understand your conversation partner. The text- to-voice feature that is included helps you to learn the proper pronunciations.

iTalki

No tool is going to take the place of one-on-one interaction(互动) with a real person. This is why iTalki is one of the most popular online language learning systems. If you join the iTalki community, you will be connected with an instructor who is a native speaker. They will work with you one on one to improve your vocabulary and conversational language skills.

FluentU

FluentU has made a wide variety of videos for your viewing pleasure. Each one is in Chinese and is a real-world movie or video. With FluentU, you can interact with the videos, pause and get pronunciation and definition information. In addition to this, there are quizzes(小测验) added to the videos to help you evaluate your own progress.

Pleco

This mobile app was designed specifically to help users learn Chinese. It includes an OCR reader that can be used to scan(扫描) Chinese language characters for translation, the ability to translate Chinese words from other apps and web pages, a document reader and an audio translator. It also comes with several dictionaries and the ability to create flashcards.

1. What’s the advantage of iTalki over other tools?

A．Providing one-on-one instruction.	B．Providing various learning videos.
C．Providing the text-to-voice feature.	D．Providing interesting playing games.

2. What do HelloTalk and FluentU have in common?

A．They offer the most famous learning tools.	B．They record your learning process directly.
C．They help you improve your pronunciation.	D．They provide you with various funny videos.

3. Which tool can translate Chinese words from web pages?

A．HelloTalk.

B．iTalki.

C．FluentU.

D．Pleco.

5 . Where does food waste go? In most countries around the world, it goes into landfills (垃圾填埋场). But not in South Korea. The country banned food waste in landfills nearly 20 years ago and today, it is turned into animal feed, fertilizers and fuel.

Around the globe, 1.4 billion tons of food is thrown away every year. The waste goes into landfills where it can pollute the land and water as well as releasing methane — a greenhouse gas — into the air. In fact, food waste is the third-largest source of methane in the US.

The system that is in place in South Korea keeps almost 100 percent of unused food out of landfills. While other cities and local governments have put similar plans in place, it is not done anywhere else on a country-wide basis.

There are two reasons why South Korea passed laws to carry out mandatory (强制性的) recycling of food waste. First, the country’s cooking tradition of numerous small dishes resulted in large amounts of uneaten food. This food waste went into landfills. But the country’s mountainous geography didn’t allow for enough landfills to be built. That’s why the government forced recycling of paper and plastic in 1995 but food waste continued to be buried in landfills. But it was the neighbors of these landfills that demanded that another solution be found due to the very unpleasant smell from rotting food. The government banned organic waste from landfills in 2005. Another law that was passed in 2013 banned dumping liquid food waste in the ocean.

The system is not free but most of the cost is absorbed by the country. People can buy yellow recycling bags that are picked up on the roadside and some local governments have placed autonomous food waste collectors that require residents to pay a weight-based fee by using cards.

The food waste is collected from the bins every day except Sunday. Some of it is used to make animal feed or fertilizers and some is used to make fuel.

1. What phenomenon does the author describe in paragraph 2?

A．The US is worried about landfills.	B．Landfills are the most common.
C．Greenhouse gas is hard to avoid.	D．Food waste can cause much harm.

2. What does the author want to say in paragraph 3?

A．Other governments don’t plan to recycle food waste.

B．100 percent of food waste goes into landfills worldwide.

C．South Korea is successful in dealing with the unused food.

D．South Korea should follow others’ way of building the system.

3. What probably led to the ban in 2005?

A．Some people’s appeal.	B．Insufficient landfill sites.
C．Unhealthy traditional diets.	D．Large amounts of food waste.

4. How can people respond to the ban on waste from landfills?

A．By avoiding using cards.	B．By purchasing recycling bags.
C．By paying the cost of collectors.	D．By picking up waste on the roadside.