1 . Schools in US are huge consumers of energy. According to ENERGY STAR, K- 12 schools spend more than $6 billion every year on energy, far more than the amount spent on other resources, and at least 30 percent of this energy is used inefficiently or needlessly.
Realizing that, some schools are seeking measures to save energy in several ways, from low-cost adjustments, such as turning off lights in unused rooms, to large-scale projects, such as turning to green equipment.
As solar energy is becoming a more financial choice for powering buildings, more schools are making the move toward the renewable energy and using solar panels(太阳能电池板)on their rooftops. According to an online solar marketplace EnergySage, schools have their strong points to use solar energy. They often have the kind of enough space, suitable locations that are perfect for setting up solar panels.
In September 2020, a nonprofit Generation180 released its third edition of a study on solar use in US schools. The findings showed that more than 7, 300, or 55 percent, of K- 12 public and private schools used solar energy, the number has increased by 81 percent since 2014.
They also described how solar schools were saving millions in energy bills, and provided several cases to show the increased savings achieved by solar-powered school districts. For ex- ample, an Arkansas school district used its every year's energy savings of nearly $100, 000 to increase its teachers' salaries.
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council, which tracks the number of K- 12 schools with solar equipment and helps schools go solar, says on its website that schools with solar setups have an opportunity to educate students about clean energy, and show them that they are de- voted to do something for students' and the planet's health and future.
Third-party ownership also makes funding for 79 percent of schools to use solar energy possible, meaning a majority of schools don't have to spend large amounts of money but can get the rewards of solar energy.
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text in the first paragraph?| A．By raising a problem. |
| B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making a comparison. |
| D．By offering an evidence. |
| A．Free access to using solar energy. |
| B．Enough space to fix solar equipment. |
| C．Financial support from solar marketplace. |
| D．Being the largest consumers of the energy. |
| A．Increasing their operating expense |
| B．Threatening their teachers' income. |
| C．Raising the students' environmental awareness. |
| D．Reducing their total amount of energy consuming. |
| A．Achievable | B．Doubtful. | C．Challenging. | D．Worrying. |
1. What did the woman do to what the man said?
| A．She wrote it down. | B．She repeated it. | C．She typed it out |
| A．Riding a bike. | B．Listening to music. | C．Getting on a car. |
| A．At 7:20 a. m. yesterday. |
| B．At 7:20 a. m. today. |
| C．At 7:20 p. m. today. |
| A．Record their conversation |
| B．Copy his ID card. |
| C．Sign his name |
3 . Lonely? You’re hardly alone. That’s the finding of a new study. And that appears throughout industrial nations across the globe. The study linked rising loneliness to a greater use of smartphones and the internet over the same years.
Jean Twenge, a psychologist, took part in the study. Her team has found that since 2012, US teens have been spending less time together face-to-face.
“Smartphones can help keep us connected with friends,” says Twenge. “But they can also make people feel excluded (隔离).” Girls, especially, may feel this way. One reason may be that they like to post more photos and selfies (自拍) than boys. Studies have shown that if those images don’t get a lot of “likes”, it can affect a teen’s mental health.
And there’s “phubbing” a mixture of “phone” and “snubbing (冷落)”. It’s that moment in which a friend or family member takes out a phone and keeps looking at it, paying no attention to everybody else, including you. Phubbing is one way technology can affect you, even when you’re not the one using it.
The new study pulled its data from a survey. Some 1 million 15- and 16-year-old students from 37 countries took this survey in 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015 and 2018. Its questions mostly dealt with education. But they also included six statements about loneliness, such as “I feel awkward and out of place in my school”. Students could strongly disagree, disagree, agree or strongly agree with each statement.
If technology causes loneliness, should we stop using it? “No, not at all,” argues Twenge. “Everybody of all ages is trying to figure out how we can best use these technologies and stay mentally healthy.” Her advice is to “use your smartphone for what it’s good for. Then put it away.” That includes putting it away overnight—ideally in another room.
1. How do girls differ from boys in smartphone use in the study?| A．They need it to stay in style. |
| B．They depend on it to keep in touch. |
| C．They use it as a learning tool. |
| D．They like to post more pictures with it. |
| A．To show the harm of the smartphone. |
| B．To give an example of communication. |
| C．To introduce an embarrassing situation. |
| D．To present a scene with the smartphone. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Uninterested | D．Worried |
| A．The Smartphone—the Focus of a Study |
| B．The Smartphone—a Communication Tool |
| C．The Smartphone—a Friend of Teenagers |
| D．The Smartphone—a Source of Loneliness |
4 . With smart phones and e-readers becoming more common, some worry that the days of paper books are numbered. But as a recent survey showed, traditional books are still popular among readers.
Industry research company Nielsen found that 7 percent more paper books were sold in the UK in 2020 compared to the previous year, while sales of their digital rivals declined(下降)by 4 percent. It was the sixth year in a row that e-book sales had fallen.
Nielsen’s survey, surprisingly, found that it is young people who preferred physical books to e-reader versions.
In another study conducted in 2016 by the youth research agency Voxburner in the UK, more than 60 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds said they preferred print books to e-books. The most popular reason given was: “I like to hold the product.”
Steve Bohme, research director at Nielsen Book Research UK, explained that young people were using books as a break from their daily connections to electronic devices(设备)and social media. “We are seeing that books are a respite(缓解), particularly for young people who are so busy digitally,” he said.
And it is not just young people in the UK who prefer print books. The story is the same in other countries.
According to a study, 92 percent of college students prefer paper books to e-books, of more than 420 university students from the United States, Slovakia, Japan and Germany.
The main reasons were that when reading e-books, students are easily distracted. Some also ended up with headaches or painful eyes.
In addition, print books can bring a very different reading experience-a sense of accomplishment when finishing reading.
1. What is the meaning of the underlined word “numbered” in Paragraph 1?| A．Added | B．Analyzed. | C．Completed. | D．Limited. |
| A．The life of young people is full of digital devices. |
| B．It’s better to read books when having a rest. |
| C．Young people are too busy to have time for a rest. |
| D．Young people prefer print books due to their lower costs. |
| A．E-books make reading experience uncomfortable. |
| B．E-books provide young people with fewer books. |
| C．E-books are far more expensive. |
| D．E-books give people a sense of failure. |
BW Kafe is an unusual-looking cafe in Moscow and Sankt Petersburg which looks like the setting of A-ha’s famous “Take on Me” video.
BW Kafe first made international headlines last year,
This whole coloring book concept is
While it may look like a copy of Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20, it’s a pretty well organized one, and for
6 . Bacteria are an annoying problem for astronauts. The microorganisms(微生物) from our bodies grow uncontrollably on surfaces of the International Space Station, so astronauts spend hours cleaning them up each week. How is NASA overcoming this very tiny big problem? It’s turning to a bunch of high school kids. But not just any kids. It is depending on NASA HUNCH high school classrooms, like the one science teachers Gene Gordon and Donna Himmelberg lead at Fairport High School in Fairport, New York.
HUNCH is designed to connect high school classrooms with NASA engineers. For the past two years, Gordon’s students have been studying ways to kill bacteria in zero gravity, and they think they’re close to a solution(解决方案). “We don’t give the students any breaks. They have to do it just like NASA engineers,” says Florence Gold, a project manager.
“There are no tests,” Gordon says. “There is no graded homework. There almost are no grades, other than ‘Are you working towards your goal?’ Basically, it’s ‘I’ve got to produce this product and then, at the end of year, present it to NASA.’ Engineers come and really do an in-person review, and...it’s not a very nice thing at times. It’s a hard business review of your product.”
Gordon says the HUNCH program has an impact(影响) on college admissions and practical life skills. “These kids are so absorbed in their studies that I just sit back. I don’t teach.” And that annoying bacteria? Gordon says his students are emailing daily with NASA engineers about the problem, readying a workable solution to test in space.
1. What do we know about the bacteria in the International Space Station?| A．They are hard to get rid of. | B．They lead to air pollution. |
| C．They appear in different forms. | D．They damage the instruments. |
| A．To strengthen teacher-student relationships. |
| B．To sharpen students’ communication skills. |
| C．To allow students to experience zero gravity. |
| D．To link space technology with school education. |
| A．Check their product. | B．Guide project designs. |
| C．Adjust work schedules. | D．Grade their homework. |
| A．NASA: The Home of Astronauts |
| B．Space: The Final Homework Frontier |
| C．Nature: An Outdoor Classroom |
| D．HUNCH: A College Admission Reform |
