1 . The Giving Voice Chorus (合唱团) was created in 2014 by Mary Lenard, a former director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Minnesota-North Dakota. With co-worker Marge Ostroushko, who has taken care of a parent with Alzheimer’s disease(AD), a brain disorder that gets worse over time, Lenard set out to create an environment where people with AD and their caregivers felt supported and comfortable.

“People with AD sometimes withdraw and often are not included in the community,” she says. “Marge and I recognized that music and singing are ways for people with AD to still be included and join in life.”

In the beginning, the chorus was made up of 30 people, including volunteers from the community who helped with small tasks during chorus practice, such as helping singers find the printed music in their binders (活页夹) if they lost their place. Since then, the Giving Voice Chorus has grown to two additional choruses, with more than 180 members overall.

“We don’t do auditions, and we don’t care what AD cases you have or the stage of your disease,” says Lenard. “As long as you enjoy the experience, anyone can be part of the group. It’s a place where everyone belongs.”

Lenard says, “When we first started out, Marge and I didn’t know if people with AD were going to move away from the place where they ought to be or get upset.” But the opposite has happened. “There’s a positive change we see in people when they’re singing songs they love. They’re smiling, and there’s joy and laughter. It’s really special.”

“People with AD might have difficulty learning a new song or coming up with words on their own,” says Dr. Caselli, AD specialist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. “But if they hear a song they’ve known all their lives, they tend to remember the words and are able to sing along. And because speech and long-term memory aren’t usually affected until late in the disease, members of the Giving Voice Chorus are likely to stay active until the last few months of life.”

1. What’s the purpose of the Giving Voice Chorus?

A．To enrich the young men’s life.	B．To raise money for the poor.
C．To ask people to tend to the old.	D．To help people with AD.

2. What does the underlined word “withdraw” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Stop social activities.	B．Be looked down upon.
C．Be cheated.	D．Get lost.

3. How does Lenard feel when setting up the Giving Voice Chorus at first?

A．Confident.

B．Worried.

C．Curious.

D．Unwilling.

4. What does Dr. Caselli say about AD members of the Giving Voice Chorus?

A．They can express themselves freely.

B．They can learn a song quickly.

C．They fail to sing a familiar song.

D．They can be active near the end of life.

3 . Keeping animals safe on the road

Roadkill is not a rare sight when driving down most highways and sometimes also on roadways in cities.     1    . A recent study has measured, for the first time, the damage that can be caused to animals in urban areas on China’s fast-developing road network.

    2    . Li Zhongqiu and his team from Nanjing University’s School of Life looked at the problem in cities, where roadkill could have an even larger impact.

They chose Nanjing as the study subject, where there are more than 9,700 kilometers of paved roads. A total of nine roads were chosen for the research, including three national highways.     3    . The researchers then monitored the roads every two weeks over a year. The team recorded a total of 293 individual roadkill cases. Birds made up nearly half the total, making them the most susceptible (易受影响的) group to roadkill.     4    . “This may be owing to the large number of stray (流浪的) cats and dogs in urban areas,” Li said. “Abandoned pets are more likely to wander into traffic.” Also, there are a large number of black birds in East China, and they can be attracted by flies or other insects, leading to further accidents.     5    . This may be owing to the fact that some warm-blooded animals have to go out and search for food during these times when food is hard to find. “Roadkill has resulted in the decline (下降) of urban animal populations and must be taken seriously,” Li said. The researchers also call on policymakers to put forward related traffic rules and animal protection rules, such as speed limits and traffic controls.

A．You may not feel good about seeing roadkill

B．The object is to educate people about road safety

C．The length of the roads combined was over 224.27 kilometers

D．It refers to animals being hit by cars or other vehicles by accident.

E．Cats, dogs and blackbirds were the three commonly killed animals

F．In the past, research in China focused on roadkill in nature reserves

G．Roadkill incidents are more likely to happen in November and January

4 . The cotton harvest is about to get underway in the Texas High Plains, the windswept region that grows most of the crop in the nation’s top cotton-producing state. But Barry Evans, a third-generation cotton grower, has already walked away from more than 2,000 acres (英亩) of his bone-dry fields. “It just didn’t come up. We hardly had anything,” said Evans.

Extreme heat and a lack of rainfall have severely damaged much of this year’s cotton harvest in the U.S., which produces about 35% of the world’s crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast that more than 40% of what U.S. farmers planted in the spring would be abandoned because of drought. Nowhere is this more apparent than the flat, dry stretch of Texas. The USDA says Texas cotton farmers are likely to abandon nearly 70% of their spring planting. That has been the worst harvest since 2009.

The region normally receives around 18 to 20 inches of rain per year, but saw less than three inches of rain from August through the summer, as nearly all of Texas baked under drought. Much of the cotton grown in the region needs rain. Even those with irrigated (灌溉的) fields are expecting low yields (产量) this year.

The losses in cotton could cost the Texas High Plains $1.2 billion after farmers receive federal (联邦的) crop insurance payments, estimates Darren Hudson, director of the International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech University. That leaves out others who depend on the crop, such as cotton gins (轧棉机) and storehouses. “Any time you have a bad year in cotton, it has a role to play in the overall economy,” Hudson said.

Fortunately, most cotton farmers in this part of Texas plan to use cotton seed varieties that can resist drought. Varieties are continuously developed and will be adjusted to generate high yields if dry conditions continue. “Even though it’s drought resistant,” Hudson added, “we still have to have a little bit of help from Mother Nature.”

1. What are the statistics in paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The impact of extreme weather on U.S. farmers.

B．The world’s cotton distribution.

C．USDA’s measures to address drought.

D．The amount of U.S. cotton harvest in 2009.

2. What does Hudson stress in paragraph 4?

A．Texas is unfriendly to cotton farmers.	B．Cotton is vital to the American economy.
C．Farmers depend much on Mother Nature.	D．Cotton gins are unaffected by cotton losses.

3. What will cotton farmers most likely do next?

A．Build effective irrigation systems.	B．Apply for federal crop insurance.
C．Switch to growing a different crop.	D．Use further improved cotton seeds.

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

A．Drought pushes cotton prices to a new high.	B．The world’s cotton supply keeps falling.
C．Texas cotton takes a hit during drought.	D．Drought impacts the quality of cotton.

7 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well underway. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.

Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles reveals a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries, containing almost 300 pounds of lead in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leak into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable but deadly business.

Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an extraordinary scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world — and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare — causes one of the biggest environmental crises in the world yet receives little attention.

The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5. 5 million people per year, which would make it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is extraordinary, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.

But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that is fixable with some attention and a relatively modest financial investment. Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the dreadful effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.

1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?

A．By making a comparison.	B．By analyzing hidden causes.
C．By listing convincing numbers.	D．By explaining its working principle.

2. What can we learn from the text?

A．Lead enters rich countries in various ways.

B．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer.

C．Exposure to lead doesn’t necessarily harm someone.

D．Lead leaking has caused great panic in both countries.

3. What can be done to solve lead poisoning in developing countries?

A．Fixing these used batteries.	B．Putting certain effort and money.
C．Prohibiting the illegal use of lead.	D．Reducing the cost of recycling lead.

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

A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Human Health

B．The Outcomes of Using Electric Vehicles

C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem

D．The Global Lead Poisoning Crisis

8 . Why Do Millennials (千禧一代) Keep Changing Jobs?

Millennials have been labelled as the “job-hopping generation”. In fact, a recent survey showed that 49% of millennials would leave their job within the next two years! Observers from older generations may think it is caused by the youth’s laziness. However, if we search deeper, there is more than meets the eye.

Instead of the traditional and practical reasons of changing jobs, such as to get better salaries or greater job stability (稳定), many millennials are inspired by value-driven goals. For example, more have to seek new opportunities whenever they lack a sense of belonging in their present jobs. Additionally, some also leave their positions for companies which better suit their value system. Therefore, it is clear that many millennials do not only consider their jobs as a source of income, but in fact, seek meaning and professional achievement in their daily jobs.

Clearly, the fearlessness of millennials in seeking job opportunities has been inspired by new business models. With the rise of online platforms, millennials who prefer work-life balance and flexibility have been attracted towards such jobs. Moreover, the increase of social media has also created more career paths. From food and travel bloggers to YouTube content creators, more millennials are leaving boring desk-bound jobs to look for more untraditional, but certainly attractive, careers.

However, people have different opinions on job-hopping. While some employers value rich experience and skills that job-hopping brings about, many of them still look down upon job-hopping. Some even argue in disappointment that the youths of today are lazy, unable to bear hardships and too self-centered.

The former American President Jimmy Carter once said, “Human identity is no longer defined (定义) by what one does but by what one owns.” Indeed, his comment still rings true today. Rather than allow traditional models of success in society to define our youths, the millennial generation should be encouraged to define new horizons of success by making the right career choices guided by the right values.

1. Why are Millennials more likely to move to new jobs?

A．Because they are unwilling to work very hard.

B．Because they want to realize their self-worth.

C．Because they hate pressure from present jobs.

D．Because they need higher income and position.

2. What does the author want to show in Paragraph 3?

A．The rapid development of social media promotes new career paths.

B．There are fewer professions available to Millennials on the Internet.

C．There are factors contributing to Millennials’ flexible job-changing.

D．The tiring and boring jobs prevent Millennials staying in one position.

3. What may those against job-changing think of Millennials?

A．Courageous and noble.	B．Lazy and self-centered.
C．Anxious and unconfident.	D．Creative and hard-working.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards Millennials’ career choice?

A．Negative.

B．Doubtful.

C．Positive.

D．Concerned.