1 . We all know that unpleasant feeling when we’re talking about something interesting and halfway through our sentence we’re interrupted. But was that really an interruption? The answer depends on whom you ask, according to new research led by Katherine Hilton from Stanford University.

Using a set of controlled audio clips (录音片段), Hilton surveyed 5, 000 American English speakers to better understand what affects people’s perceptions of interruptions. She had participants listen to audio clips and then answer questions about whether the speakers seemed to be friendly and engaged, listening to one another, or trying to interrupt.

Hilton found that American English speakers have different conversational styles. She identified two distinct groups: high and low intensity speakers. High intensity speakers are generally uncomfortable with moments of silence in conversation and consider talking at the same time a sign of engagement. Low intensity speakers find it rude to talk at the same time and prefer people speak one after another in conversation.

The differences in conversational styles became evident when participants listened to audio clips in which two people spoke at the same time but were agreeing with each other and stayed on topic, Hilton said. The high intensity group reported that conversations where people spoke at the same time when expressing agreement were not interruptive but engaged and friendlier than the conversations with moments of silence in between speaking turns. In contrast, the low intensity group perceived any amount of simultaneous (同时) chat as a rude interruption, regardless of what the speakers were saying.

“People care about being interrupted, and those small interruptions can have a massive effect on the overall communication,” Hilton said. “Breaking apart what an interruption means is essential if we want to understand how humans interact with each other.”

1. What does Hilton’s research focus on?

A．What interruptions mean to people.

B．Whether interruption is good or not.

C．How to avoid getting interrupted.

D．Why speakers interrupt each other.

2. What do participants of the study need to do?

A．Record an audio clip.	B．Answer some questions.
C．Listen to one another.	D．Have a chat with a friend.

3. What do low intensity speakers think of simultaneous chat?

A．It’s important.	B．It’s interesting.
C．It’s inefficient.	D．It’s impolite.

4. What can we learn from Hilton’s research?

A．Human interaction is complex.

B．Communication is the basis of life.

C．Interruptions promote thinking.

D．Language barriers will always exist.

2 . Marks &Spencer(M&S) is planning to remove “best before” labels from 300 varieties of fruit and vegetables in its stores to cut food waste. The change will rely on customers using their judgment to determine whether goods are still fine to eat.

The measure, to be rolled out this week, will affect 85% of the supermarket’s fresh pro-duce offering. “Best before” labels differ from “use by” dates, with the former often merely a measure of aesthetics(美学), while the latter tending to indicate a safety risk if ignored. “Best before” labels were meant to help consumers, but instead were blamed for creating mountains of waste from perfectly eatable food.

Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, had already announced the end of best before dates on its own-brand fruit and vegetables as far back as 2018, while the German supermarket Lidl also says it does not include best before information to reduce food waste. Now M&S is doing the same, with the aim to halve(减半) food waste from its products by 2030 com-pared with 2018. Achieving those targets would put it in line with the UK’s commitment to meet the United Nations’ goal of halving food waste by 2030 compared with 2007.

Reducing food waste is a vital part of tackling carbon emissions associated with farming and food distribution(分配). WRAP, a food waste charity, estimates that as much 45%of global greenhouse gas emissions can only be tackled by changing the way we make and consume products and food. It said that removing dates on fresh fruit and vegetables can save the equal of 7 million shopping baskets of food a year.

Catherine David, a director at WRAP, said, “We’re thrilled to see this move from M&S, which will reduce food waste and help tackle the climate crisis. We urge more supermarkets to get ahead on food waste by cutting date labels from fresh produce, allowing people to use their own judgment.”

1. What does Marks &Spencer intend to do?

A．Maintain the safety of their products.

B．Ask customers to pick out eatable produce.

C．Sell its own-brand fruit and vegetables.

D．Remove “use by” labels from its fresh produce.

2. What does the underlined phrase “rolled out” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Denied.

B．Canceled.

C．Introduced.

D．Examined.

3. What does Catherine David call on more supermarkets to do?

A．Meet government regulations.

B．Improve food safety standards.

C．Increase sales of fresh produce.

D．Get rid of dates labels on fresh produce.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．M&S’s new move to reduce food waste.

B．Tesco follows M&S’s lead on food labels.

C．M&S calls for a fight against climate crisis.

D．Effective methods to protect the environment.

3 . Taking online classes from far away

Faiqa, a 15-year-old freshman at a public high school, logs in to her all-remote classes each night from Pakistan in a time zone nine hours ahead. Max, who also attends school in the same state, has joined his Advanced Placement history class for about two months from Guayaquil, Ecuador.     1    . During the pandemic, almost nothing about school has been normal, so administrators and teachers have come up with a solution:     2    . Some students in immigrant communities are logging in to school from thousands of miles away.

It is unclear how widespread the practice is. But out-of-country logins have become increasingly common since late fall according to educators in the country.     3    , and others temporarily left their homeland to care for sick relatives. However, because of the pandemic, they all can’t come back home. Remote education is really useful for them.     4    . “We recognize that the challenges of the pandemic may have temporarily changed circumstances for our families, and our schools are delivering strong virtual instruction to those who have chosen to learn remotely,” Ms. Filson, the district’s spokeswoman, says in a statement.

Max says he is grateful that he is still able to log in to classes during the special period of time. “    5    ,” he says.

A．Missing school for a long time is really bad

B．Some families paid a visit to other countries

C．I’m desperate to get back to the online world

D．students take virtual classes from outside the state

E．over two-thirds of young students find it easier to learn lessons online

F．Max’s schoolmate, Naobe, participates in classes from northern Honduras

G．The officials say it is possible for students to log in from anywhere in the world

4 . Who is in charge of the Europe department?

A．Mr Brown.

B．The man.

C．The woman.

5 . Leah Brown aged 36 fell several hundred feet from Oregon’s highest mountain right before the eyes of a group of volunteer rescue workers who rushed to her aid and helped save her life.

The woman was coming down a popular path (小路) on Mt. Hood, about 70 miles east of Portland, on Saturday morning, according to the local police. Mt. Hood is the highest in Oregon, standing at around11.240 feet.

The fall was seen by members of Portland Mountain Rescue (PMR), a volunteer organization focused on helping people in mountainous areas. The group called 911 and rushed to the woman, providing medical care. They helped keep the woman warm for seven hours as the police worked to get her off the mountain safely. Finally, the woman was evacuated (转移) to a parking lot at 9:30 pm and taken to a hospital.

The climber, Leah Brown, said she didn’t know what caused her fall. “I can only guess it was either an ice tool or a crampon (冰爪) that didn’t land and stick like it should have, so I became detached from the mountain,” Brown said. “The thing I’d like to most stress is my appreciation for the members of PMR who evacuated me and took good care of me the whole time,” Brown added. “They saved my life. ”

In a statement after the rescue, PMR warned of the dangerous winter conditions at the mountain. “The short days and lower temperatures mean that the snow tends to be very hard and icy, and the conditions tend to be much steeper. Climbing the mountain in icy conditions is much more difficult,” the group said.

1. What happened to Brown on Saturday morning?

A．She lost her way in a forest.	B．She hurt her eye unexpectedly.
C．She failed to call her family.	D．She fell down on a downhill path.

2. What does the underlined word “detached” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Different.

B．Hidden.

C．Separated.

D．Tired.

3. How did Brown feel about the members of PMR?

A．Thankful.

B．Regretful.

C．Surprised.

D．Concerned.

4. What did PMR intend to tell us?

A．Climbing requires teamwork.	B．Climbing in winter is too risky.
C．We must remain positive in hard times.	D．We can admire the view on sunny days.

6 . Before you worry about bacon and how much it may cost when new animal welfare laws go into effect next year, let’s talk about the pigs that gave their lives for it.

California has been on the forefront of protecting animals who live short lives on factory farms either to produce food for us or to be slaughtered and sold as food. The latest advance came in November 2018, when 62.7% of the state’s voters supported Proposition 12, the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act. The law began going into effect last year, requiring hens and veal calves to be given more space to live in. Starting on Jan. 1st, the law will require that all eggs sold in California come from cage-free hens and that pork sold in the state come from breeding pigs that are not held in cages. These are humane steps designed to lift these animals out of structures that barely allow them to move.

Pork producers have had the longest time to comply (遵守). Some big companies like Hormel Foods have pledged to do so fully, but others have spent the last few years fighting the law rather than figuring out how to put it into practice. They say that the law will significantly raise the price of pork and that it violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which gives Congress sole power over interstate business activity. So far, that fight has been a waste of time that pork producers could have better spent figuring out how to retrofit (翻新)their farms.

They also complain that the regulations on the law are not set. But the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which has yet to finalize the regulations, says that the delay should not have prevented producers from retrofitting their housing for breeding pigs. The agency has publicly posted draft regulations, which mostly concern record-keeping, certification and definitions of terms.

For fans of bacon and other pork, any rise in cost is the price of not having a pig suffer before it’s killed for food. It’s a price the animals shouldn’t have to pay.

1. What do we know about Proposition 12?

A．The law will come into force next year.

B．More space is required for raising hens and pigs.

C．Raising hens and pigs in limited space is humane.

D．Half of the state’s voters subscribed to Proposition 12.

2. What does the underlined word “pledged” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Suspect.

B．Refuse.

C．Promise.

D．Hesitate.

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to paragraph 3?

A．Some pork producers have raised the price of pork.

B．All the pork producers don’t comply with the law.

C．Pork producers have wasted a lot of time retrofitting their farms.

D．Pork producers resist the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

4. Which word can best describe the author's attitude to the new animal welfare laws?

A．Skeptical.

B．Conservative

C．Tolerant.

D．Favorable.

7 . 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。

Digitalization,     1     is a main characteristic of the twenty first century, represents a transformation of society to a widespread use of digital technologies in various     2     (area) of life.

However, experts noted that too much social media use is known to have a negative influence     3     mental health. So they started a study to investigate how to improve mental health in this time of rapid digitalization.

The results of the study     4     (lead) by Dr. Julia Brailovskaia of the Mental Health Research and Treatment Center clearly showed that individuals who cut their social media use by 30 minutes a day     5     used this time for physical activity could     6     (significant) improve their mental health.

Participants who replaced 30 minutes of social media with exercise every day for two weeks     7     (have) powerful results. They reported feeling happier, more satisfied, less stressed and less depressed. The positive effects lasted for at least six months after the study had ended.

“This shows us how vital it is     8     (reduce) our availability online from time to time and to go back to our human roots,” said Dr. Brailovskaia. “These measures can be easily applied to people’s     9     (day) lives and they’re completely free and, at     10     same time, they help us to stay happy and healthy in the digital age.”

8 . “双减”，即有效减轻义务教育阶段学生过重作业负担和校外培训负担。自从国家正式出台相关文件后引来了各方的关注和讨论。一时间，学生和家长对即将到来轻松的学业反而无所适从。请你根据下面提示，就实施“双减”政策后学生如何规划自己的学习和课余生活写一篇短文。
要求：（1）词数100左右；
（2）可以适当发挥，开头已给出，不计入总词数。

It's really a wonderful news that the policy of double-lightening the burden has been carried out. However, students have to deal with the new challenge of making the best of their time after school.

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9 . E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that allow users to breathe in nicotine (尼古丁) without lighting a cigarette. They come in many shapes and sizes like regular cigarettes, pens, USB sticks and other everyday items.

Though e-cigarettes may be less harmful than regular cigarettes, their effect on health can still be serious. Using e-cigarettes, or vaping, has been associated with a higher risk of lung injury. E-cigarette exposure may be particularly harmful to young adults — it can harm their brain development and cause a lifelong addiction to nicotine. According to Food and Drug Administration(FDA), an increasing number of students are using e-cigarettes every year and FDA is trying to work out how to regulate using e-cigarettes.

One way to cut e-cigarette consumption is to impose a tax. A study by the Centre for Health Economics &Policy Studies at San Diego State University found that a $1 increase in e-cigarette taxes is associated with a 14% — 26% decrease in vaping among high-school students. Young people tend to be strapped, so even a small tax increase could discourage their vaping. Unexpectedly, the tax increase seems also to decrease teenage alcohol consumption. According to the study, a $1 increase in e-cigarette taxes is associated with a 10%-11%reduction in teenage excessive alcohol use. Smoking and drinking tend to go together.

Teenagers who drink are twice as likely as others to light up. In turn, raising taxes on cigarettes has been found to reduce teenage drinking.

So should lawmakers surely rush to carry out an e-cigarette tax? The answer is not so simple. Catherine Maclean, one of the study's authors, warned, “Despite the potential of a tax increase on e-cigarettes to restrict young adults' using cigarettes, it may lead to some others switching to regular cigarettes or illegal vaping products.”

Many other ways are put forward. Some believe requiring a prescription (处方) for e-cigarettes could help as well. Another tighter regulation is also a possible answer — Britain and the Euro-pean Union regulate the amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes.

1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?

A．By giving an example.	B．By making a comparison.
C．By giving a definition.	D．By making an assumption.

2. What can we know about e-cigarettes?

A．It is hardly addictive to new smokers.	B．It can help develop teenagers' thinking.
C．It is increasingly accepted by teenagers.	D．It can deepen regular smokers 'addiction.

3. What does the underlined word “strapped” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Feeling grateful.	B．Lacking confidence.
C．Showing strong passion.	D．Having little money.

4. What is Maclean's attitude to the e-cigarette tax?

A．Objective.

B．Doubtful.

C．Favorable.

D．Critical.

10 . Sommaroy is a small island in northern Norway. Because of its _________ days and nights, Sommaroy is already known as the land that time forgot, and the bridge _________ the island from the mainland is decorated with watches instead of the locks we see on other bridges around the world.

_________ the residents of Sommaroy stand the long night when the _________ doesn’t rise from November to January, they try to make the most o£ summer when the sun stays up in the sky from May 18 to July 26. That means the sun doesn’t _________ for a full 69 days during the _________. Traditional timekeeping is actually _________. And it’s not _________ to see people doing all kinds of things at late hours o£ the “night”—say 3 am-like swimming or playing balls in their _________. Since it’s always daylight, everyone sleeps whenever they feel like it.

It’s been like this for __________ , but now the people of Sommaroy want to __________ declare their island a time-free zone(地区). To many of us, it may seem like a promotional stunt(噱头) to attract more __________ -and it’s true that Sommaroy has __________ tourism after the plan was announced. But locals are __________ it seriously. They’ve already handed over their petition(请愿书) signatures to the government. If they are successful, the 300-plus residents of Sommaroy plan to make school and working hours more __________ by ignoring traditional opening hours.

1.

A．same

B．long

C．usual

D．changeable

2.

A．leading to

B．making up

C．bringing about

D．focusing on

3.

A．Until

B．After

C．Unless

D．If

4.

A．moon

B．star

C．sun

D．sea

5.

A．burn

B．appear

C．shine

D．set

6.

A．spring

B．summer

C．autumn

D．winter

7.

A．ignored

B．repeated

C．developed

D．performed

8.

A．possible

B．easy

C．important

D．uncommon

9.

A．yards

B．kitchens

C．pools

D．garages

10.

A．days

B．months

C．generations

D．weeks

11.

A．potentially

B．officially

C．extremely

D．constantly

12.

A．children

B．journalists

C．tourists

D．experts

13.

A．started

B．stopped

C．limited

D．promoted

14.

A．leaving

B．announcing

C．taking

D．advertising

15.

A．flexible

B．formal

C．confusing

D．competitive