1 . Every month we get an opportunity to discuss issues facing our vendors (小贩) in a work shop setting. Difficulties discussed include various issues they face as individuals, families and in the communities that they live in.     1     Examples of these are alcoholism, anger and stress management, parenting skills and many others. The first topic of the year was personal development.

    2     It’s a lifelong process, in which an individual must assess their qualities and skills, identify areas where they want to grow, and plan ways in which they can grow themselves. Ideally, everyone should be creating personal development plans for themselves and the different areas of their life.     3     For the vendors, their goals are selling the magazine and putting food on the table for their families. It’s very unlikely that they ever take a step back to reflect on their lives and plans.

It’s therefore essential to provide them with such a space. In the recent personal development workshop, we asked them to list plans for the different areas of their lives.     4     Each year our vendors are supposed to, ideally, visit me, their social worker, to complete this PDP.

Every festive season, the vendors travel to the Eastern Cape to spend time with their families and to rest. Travelling costs and expenses are high. When they return, they are mostly out of money to buy food. It’s also a stressful time for some because their children are going back to school and need writing materials. As a result, this year we bought and distributed R100 Pick Pay vouchers (票券) to the vendors.     5     They really appreciated these.

A．Most of them are quite challenging for us.

B．However, life gets busy and we often drown or lose ourselves in daily to-do lists.

C．The experience gives them a good opportunity to complete their personal development plans (PDP).

D．We handle different topics on a number of levels.

E．What is personal development?

F．Therefore, it is necessary for us to give guidance to them.

G．We also bought stationery for some of their children.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What do we know about Ken?

A．He complained to data workers.

B．He deleted his LinkedIn account.

C．He hated advertisements aimed at him.

2. Why did Ken pull himself off most social media?

A．He was an anti-technology pioneer.

B．He was concerned about his privacy.

C．He was annoyed by subscription fees.

3. What is the scariest thing happening to your digital self?

A．Your account being closed.

B．Your location being tracked.

C．Your passwords being stolen.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Online crimes on the increase.

B．Bigger digital footprint than expected.

C．Ken's special experience on social media.

3 . A new speciality is available in Wyoming. It is fresh and cheap—but probably a little smelly. Last month it became legal for Wyomingites to collect roadkill that they accidentally hit themselves. Not all animals are fair game. Grizzly bears, some grey wolves and endangered species are forbidden.

Although some may feel embarrassed at the idea of pulling a deer off the road and onto the dinner table, the law has several benefits. First, roadkill is a source of fresh meat for poor rural communities who may not otherwise be able to afford it. PETA, a radical animal-rights group, argues that eating roadkill is healthier and more moral than buying meat raised for slaughter (屠宰). Second, allowing residents to harvest roadkill themselves may cut down on the time the creatures spend on the road.

Not everyone is licking their lips. Some opponents fret that people will end up eating rotten meat. “It’s really the burden of the person who chooses to collect roadkill if they eat it or not,” says Sara DiRienzo, of Wyoming Game and Fish. Others show the concern that the laws will encourage hunters to use the roadkill programme as cover for killing animals they should not.

After almost a decade of failing to pass the bill, Dan Zwonitzer, its frequent sponsor, credits his success to recent support from his colleagues in the legislature (立法机关). State lawmakers from rural Wyoming managed to turn the roadkill-harvest programme into a libertarian cause célèbre. “There were some complaints from people who had hit animals or had seen other people hit animals, says Mr Zwonitzer, “and they were like, ‘Well, heck, it’s dead...I don’t want the government telling me I can’t take something I accidentally hit if the meat is good’.” He adds that he is not about to collect roadkill himself. But for those so willing, there are cookbooks offering ways to serve up moose or mule deer.

1. What can we learn about the new speciality?

A．It is fresh and delicious.	B．It exists for long in Wyoming.
C．It can be a goat shot by a hunter.	D．It doesn’t cover all the roadkill.

2. What does the underlined word “fret” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Predict.

B．Agree.

C．Worry.

D．Confirm.

3. What is the author’s attitude toward the new idea?

A．Supportive.

B．Negative.

C．Indifferent.

D．Objective.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Mr Zwonitzer will not bring roadkill home.

B．It has taken great efforts to pass the bill.

C．The government should forbid roadkill-harvest.

D．People are eager for cookbooks for mule deer.

4 . More than a decade ago, the UK’s Royal Society offered f1million to the first person in the world to create a chemical-free product. No one has yet claimed the money because it is impossible. Water is a chemical. So is your tea. Yet there is still so much confusion about everyday products, from cleaning sprays to cosmetics. While some are labeled as chemical free, others declare they are non-poisonous, natural and eco-friendly.

To work out whether products contain harmful chemicals, which are harmful or dangerous to us or the planet, we need to look at the bigger picture of how something is produced and where it ends up after we have used it. Our homes are just a snapshot of a complex global supply chain. Your handbag may not be dangerous, but direct exposure to the chromium salts used in commercial leather factories can cause uncomfortable conditions in people involved in its production. And the chlorine bleach that gets washed down the toilet? That is poisonous to animals relying on water.

Labels are so full of jargon, however, that identifying what is good and what isn’t can feel impossible. A starting point is to not be tricked by marketing words. Even the term “sustainable” has no official definition, so for green credentials look for proof of claims in the form of certificates, such as Cradle to Cradle, which ensures the chemicals used are safe for people and the environment, and that they get reused in the production process.

Also be skeptical about labels focusing on what a product doesn’t contain, such as “paraben-free” or “no harmful substances”. Real transparency is about making clear the things that are used to make products, not taking our attention away from them.

Therefore, until long-term effects on people and the planet are investigated, we should choose brands that are fully transparent and call for clearer labeling from the rest.

1. Why does the author mention the UK’s Royal Society?

A．To explain a concept.	B．To lead to a topic.
C．To provide a solution.	D．To make a prediction.

2. What message does the author convey by mentioning “handbag” in Paragraph 2?

A．Production process may be harmful to producers.

B．Daily items at home are dangerous to the planet.

C．Commercial leather factories reflect a complex global supply chain.

D．Health conditions of consumers are supposed to be attached importance to.

3. How can people make right judgments on labels?

A．By relying on marketing words.	B．By identifying product brands.
C．By focusing on product packaging.	D．By checking on authorized certifications.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards the labels of products?

A．Favorable.

B．Intolerant.

C．Cautious.

D．Unclear.

8 . Trees are symbols of hope, life and transformation. They are also increasingly labeled as a straightforward, relatively inexpensive, and best solution to climate change. Lately, society has been putting a lot of pressure on trees to get the whole world out of the climate change emergency. Accordingly, enthusiasm is worldwide popular among governments, businesses and individuals for ambitious projects to plant billions, even a trillion more, so as to help cut current emission (排放).

“Trees are having a bit of a moment right now,” says Joe Fargione, an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy based in Minneapolis. “There’s no anti-tree lobby. Trees have lots of benefits for people. Not only do they store carbon, they help provide clean air, prevent soil erosion, shade and shelter homes to reduce energy costs and give people a sense of well-being.”

Yet, as global eagerness for adding more trees grows, some scientists are urging caution. Before moving forward, they say, such massive tree projects must address a range of scientific, social and economic concerns. Poorly designed projects that don’t address these issues could do more harm than good, the researchers say, wasting money as well as public goodwill. “There’s a real feeling that forests and trees are just the idea we can use to get some unspeakable support for many, perhaps more complicated, types of landscape restoration initiatives”, says ecologist Joseph Veldmanan.

The concerns are myriad: There’s too much focus on numbers of seedlings planted, and too little time spent on how to keep the trees alive in the long term, or in working with local communities. And there’s not enough emphasis on how different types of forests store very different amounts of carbon. There’s too much talk about trees, and not enough about other carbon-storing ecosystems. And over the last decade, a diverse garden of tree-centric proposal has spread across the globe. That can lead to all kinds of problems, Joseph adds. “For me, the devil is in the details.”

1. According to Paragraph 1, what is the global fever?

A．Getting rid of the air pressure of the earth.

B．Launching environment-based movements.

C．Spending more time on global tree projects.

D．Planting more trees to handle climate change.

2. What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A．Tree-planting projects might be wrongly used.

B．There’s no scientific basis for planting programs.

C．Growing mere trees is just a waste of money.

D．Public goodwill is surely abused to a certain degree.

3. What does the underlined word “myriad" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Unique.

B．Precise.

C．Many.

D．Reliable.

4. How does the author like the tree-based idea to solve climate change?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Neutral.

D．Unclear.

9 . There are few places on Earth that humans haven’t messed up. Now even Antarctica, the only continent with no permanent human inhabitants, is being altered by us. A study found that the increasing human presence in Antarctica is causing more snow melt-bad news for a frozen world already battling the effects of human-caused global warming.

Black carbon, the dark, dusty pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels has settled in locations where tourists and researchers spend a lot of time, scientists found. Even the smallest amount of the dark pollutant can have a significant impact on melting because of its very low reflectiveness: things that are light in color, like snow, reflect the sun's energy and stay cool; things that are dark, like black carbon, absorb the sun's energy and warm up.

“The snow albedo (反射率) effect is one of the largest uncertainties in regional and global climate modeling right now,” Alia Khan, a snow and ice scientist at Western Washington University, told CNN. “That’s one of the motivations for the study, to quantify the impact of black carbon on regional snowmelt, which is important for quantifying the role of black carbon in the global loss of snow and ice.”

“Antarctica is sitting there pretty much silently all year. But, if it weren’t there, in the state that it is meant to be, the balance that we have in the climate system will no longer be,” Marilyn Raphael, a geography professor said. “Antarctica’s sea ice is also important to maintain a balance in atmospheric circulation,” he added. As waters get warmer, some Antarctic creatures are finding their homes more and more unlivable.

“Everything we do has consequences,” Raphael said. “We need to educate ourselves about those consequences, especially in systems that we know relatively little about. We have to be careful that we don’t upset the climate balance.”

1. Why can the smallest amount of black carbon have huge impact on melting?

A．It is highly reflective.	B．Its dark colour absorbs heat.
C．It produces vast energy.	D．It causes much pollution.

2. According to Alia, which of the following is one reason for conducting the study?

A．To measure the impact of black carbon on melting.

B．To quantify the cost of battling against climate change.

C．To remove the uncertainties of global warming effects.

D．To urge people to pay more attention to melting problem.

3. What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．The change caused by Antarctic melting.	B．The methods to stop Antarctic ice melting.
C．The significance of Antarctic being in its state.	D．The sufferings Antarctic creatures are experiencing.

4. What does Raphael advise people to do?

A．Reduce tourist numbers.	B．Face the consequences.
C．Acquire professional education.	D．Stop disturbing the climate.

10 . They say procrastination (拖延) is the thief of time — actually deadlines are. New research has found that if you want someone to help you out with something, it is best not to set a deadline at all. But if you do set a deadline, make it short.

Professor Stephen Knowles tested the effect of deadline length on task completion for their research. Participants were invited to complete an online survey concerning a charity donation. They were given either one week, one month, or no deadline to respond. Professor Knowles says although the topic of the survey was about charity, the results are true of any situation where someone asks another person for help.

The study found responses to the survey were lowest for the one-month deadline and highest when no deadline was specified (明确规定). No deadline and the one-week deadline led to many early responses, while a long deadline appeared to give people permission to procrastinate, and then forget. Professor Knowles wasn’t surprised to find that specifying a shorter deadline increased the chances of receiving a response compared to a longer deadline. However, he did find it interesting that they received the most responses when no deadline was specified.

“We interpret this as evidence that specifying a longer deadline, as opposed to a short deadline or no deadline at all, removes the urgency to act,” he says. “People therefore put off undertaking the task, and since they are inattentive or forget, postponing it results in lower response rates.”

He says of the research that it is possible that not specifying a deadline might still have led participants to assume that there is an unspoken deadline. Professor Knowles hopes his research can help reduce the amount of procrastinating people do. “Many people procrastinate. They have the best intentions of helping someone out, but just do not get around to doing it.”

1. Why did Professor Knowles do the research?

A．To study the role a deadline plays in procrastination.

B．To find out whether people are interested in charity.

C．To attract public attention to the effects of procrastination.

D．To test the effect of procrastination on task completion.

2. What most likely leads to procrastination?

A．No deadlines.	B．Short deadlines.
C．Specific deadlines.	D．Long deadlines.

3. Why do people procrastinate when given a long deadline?

A．They oppose the deadline.	B．They are unwilling to act.
C．They lack a sense of urgency.	D．They are too busy to remember.

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

A．Procrastination — the Thief of Time

B．Procrastination — an Urgent Problem to Solve

C．Deadline — a Result of Procrastination

D．Deadline — the Key to Reducing Procrastination