1 . A group of farmers in Nigeria is using a technology-based method to grow crops from small drops of water in the air. The method, known as aeroponics, does not involve soil. Instead, plant roots hang in the air.
Aeroponics is not well-known in Nigeria, but farmers there are working to make the technique more popular. The technique could make a big difference in places like the city of Abeokuta. Violent conflicts and desertification--the process by which rich land becomes deserts--have made huge amounts of land unsuitable for farming.
Biochemist Samson Ogbole is popularly known as Nigeria's smart farmer. He and his team are growing crops without soil at the technology-based farm they started three years ago in Abeokuta. “We are putting an end to seasonal food shortage in Nigeria,” said Ogbole. “Because we are the ones controlling everything that the plant requires--we are not depending on seasons. So it's no longer seasonal farming. It is just farming any time of the year, meaning you can plant any time of the year. We can harvest any time of the year,” said Ogbole.
But setting up the aeroponic farm was not easy. “It required more than $180,000,” Ogbole said. And, some people in Abeokuta were very much against this non-traditional method of farming. “It took a lot of effort to change people's minds about aeroponics,” said Ogbole.
In Nigeria, about 30 million hectares（公顷）of farmland is being used, instead of the 78.5 million hectares required for food security. Violent conflicts and desertification are the top reasons why the farmland is being lost. And only 49 percent of the land is rich. Besides, most farmers do not have the technical knowledge to increase productivity. They are also in need of high-quality seeds to guarantee better harvests.
For now, technologically skilled farmers like Samson Ogbole are offering a new way forward.
1. What is special about aeroponics? .| A．Crops are not grown in soil. | B．Crops can grow all by themselves |
| C．Crops without roots can grow well. | D．Crops can grow well without water. |
| A．Because there are not many farmers there. |
| B．Because there isn't plenty of rich land there. |
| C．Because many farmers there are terribly violent. |
| D．Because farmers there are thirsty for farming techniques. |
| A．Reduce the cost of farming. | B．Produce crops of higher quality. |
| C．Grow crops whenever they like. | D．Keep crops fresh for a longer period. |
| A．A new method of growing crops |
| B．Ways to turn deserts into rich land |
| C．Techniques for developing high-quality seeds |
| D．The importance of fighting against worldwide hunger |
1. 养宠物的现象；
2. 养宠物的优缺点；
3. 其他……
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear editor,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
3 . As 17-year-old Norwood drove through St. Petersburg, Florida, last February, the laughter and chatter from the four teenage girls inside her car quickly gave way to sharp cries. A car behind heavily hit them, sending their black car into a tree five meters away. As smoke rose from the other car, a bystander (旁观者) shouted, “It’s about to blow up! Get out!”
Terrified but not hurt, she got out through the window. Along with two of her friends, who’d also managed to free themselves, she ran for her life. But halfway down the street, she realized that her best friend, Simmons, wasn’t with them. Norwood ran back and found Simmons stuck in the back seat. “She wasn’t moving,” Norwood told Inside Edition. She threw open the back door and pulled her friend out, trying to avoid the broken glass.
She dragged Simmons to safety and placed her on the ground. “I put my head against her chest. No sign of life. That’s when I started CPR (心肺复苏术).” Norwood, who longed to have a career in medicine, had passed the national CPR test just the day before.
Looking down at her dying friend, Norwood knew she had only a little time to practice what she’d learned. She started pumping Simmons’s chest and breathing into her friend’s mouth. No response. She tried again and again. Slowly, Simmons began coughing and opening her mouth for air. The CPR worked! Soon, doctors arrived and rushed Simmons to the hospital. And then she heard how her best friend had saved her life. “I wasn’t shocked,” Simmons told CNN. “She will always help any way she can.”
1. What is the best title for the text?| A．Breath of Life | B．A career in medicine |
| C．A Car Accident | D．Practice what one learns |
| A．Their car broke down. |
| B．They sat by a smoking flat. |
| C．Their lives were in danger. |
| D．They blocked the traffic. |
| A．She fell out of the car and struck her head. |
| B．She became unaware of the surroundings. |
| C．She was unable to move in the front seat. |
| D．She got seriously hurt but wide awake. |
| A．Unskilled but practical. | B．Typical but useless. |
| C．Strange but successful. | D．Repeated but effective. |
4 . The Internet plays a big part in human life. We use it for work and pleasure. We use it to learn a new language. We find advice on it. We use it to connect with family and friends. We use it to stay in touch with events we care about.The list goes on and on.
As far as the Internet being a part of our lives, well, that train has left the station. There is no going back to an Internet-free life. But can using the Internet too much be bad for our health? It might be, say researchers. A new study finds that heavy Internet use may be connected to high blood pressure in a young group: teenagers.
The study results show that teens who spend at least 14 hours a week only online may cause high blood pressure, which makes their hearts and blood vessels(血管) work too hard. Over time, this extra pressure increases the risk of a heart attack. High blood pressure can also cause heart and other diseases.
The Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan did the study. 335 young people, from 14 to 17 years old, took part in it. 134 of the teens were described as “heavy Internet users”. And researchers found that out of these 134 teens, 26 had high blood pressure. The researchers said the study was the first to connect heavy Web use with high blood pressure.
The lead researcher is Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow. She says, “Using the Internet is part of our daily life, but it shouldn’t ruin(毁坏) us.” Ms. Cassidy-Bushrow adds that it is important for teens to stop to have a rest regular from their computers or smartphones and do some kind of physical activity. She also suggests that parents shouldn’t let their children use the Internet for more than two hours a day, five days a week.
1. What does the underlined part “that train has left the station”mean in Paragraph 2?| A．The train has changed its course. |
| B．Life without the Internet is nowhere to be found. |
| C．The Internet brings great changes to people’s life. |
| D．The Internet has improved people’s life. |
| A．There was no similar study like it before. |
| B．Most of the young people had high blood pressure. |
| C．Adult people aged above 17 took part in the study. |
| D．Over half of the teens in the study were heavy Internet users. |
| A．That teenagers shouldn’t use the Internet. |
| B．That the Internet will ruin human life in the future. |
| C．That smartphones are more harmful than computers. |
| D．That regular breaks are necessary when using the Internet. |
| A．Heavy Internet users are mostly teenagers. |
| B．Every coin has two sides—so does the Internet. |
| C．Too much Internet use may be bad for teenagers. |
| D．How to prevent teenagers from using the Internet. |
5 . Being a teenager can be hard, for you have to face a lot of difficult problems, but a new program called Nfusion is working hard to help teens with mental(精神的)health needs. Nfusion gives teenagers classes where they study or discuss some troubling subjects. Drugs and bullying(欺凌)are just a few of the topics discussed during the class on Saturday.
"I had a bad attitude, " said 17-year-old Titeana Davis. Davis went through the Nfusion Program last year. The teen, who once had trouble with her attitude towards others, says the program has changed her life. "They taught me a bad attitude is not going to get you anywhere, "said Davis.
Nfusion is a new program that meets teens mental health needs and provides help for their families. The program is designed to help teens aged 14—21 live through a difficult period.
"They're still growing, still developing and still there are a lot of things they don't know how to address. So this is a good program for them to be a part of, " said Lakicha Jemigan, who worked for the Nfusion Program.
Teens like Davis are just a few who have come through the program successfully. Now thanks to Nfusion, Davis says she's looking forward to a bright future. "After I graduate from college, I want to work at a primary school and I want to be a second grade teacher, " added Davis.
1. Why is it necessary to help teens?| A．Teens are in need of money. |
| B．They have to face a lot of problems. |
| C．Teens may face lots of problems in their study. |
| D．Teens are too weak to deal with lots of difficulties. |
| A．To provide teens with some programs. |
| B．To help teens fight for a better future. |
| C．To help teens receive a good education. |
| D．To meet the mental health needs of teens. |
| A．look for | B．deal with | C．talk about | D．learn from |
| A．She became a teacher. | B．She worked for Nfusion. |
| C．She went back to school. | D．She got along well with others. |
6 . The COVID-19 has changed every aspect of our lives, including our eating habits. Comfort food was made for times like these, and it seems the healthy-food trend that took root in recent years is reversing (彻底转变), at least for the time being. Shopping habits have changed. To be in favor of old processed foods like frozen pizza, hot cakes and canned spaghetti, convenience foods with long shelf life are designed.
No judgment here. Money is tight in many families, and busy parents are putting breakfast, lunch and dinner on the table in between video conference meetings. Besides, convenience foods are engineered to taste good and make us feel good (at least in the short term).
But you might want to save room for something green on your plate, if you can find it at the store. That’s because a growing body of research is showing that our food choices don’t just affect our shapes. What we eat also may affect our mood and behavior—and not in the “I can’t believe I ate a dozen cookies in one sitting” sort of way. Indeed, there may be something in the food we’re eating (or not eating) that's influencing our state of mind.
The emerging(新兴的) field of nutritional psychology states that modern Western diets have contributed to increased rates of mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety. Diets that follow a Mediterranean pattern of eating—with a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish and olive oil—have been connected with lower rates of depression. A diet change of just a few weeks has been found to change moods.
As a third of all Americans are reporting that the coronavirus pandemic has done harm to their mental health, we might need nutritious food more than ever.
1. Why are convenience foods with long shelf life designed?| A．To change shopping habits. |
| B．To change the taste of food. |
| C．To show the healthy food. |
| D．To meet customers’ shopping habits. |
| A．Cookies is a kind of food you like while sitting. |
| B．Food choices may influence our mood. |
| C．A growing body needs proper sports. |
| D．Busy work can make you feel depressed. |
| A．It’s beneficial to health. |
| B．It includes too much fat. |
| C．It may cause mental illness. |
| D．It’s connected with higher rates of depression. |
| A．Can healthy food provide relief? |
| B．Do food choices affect our shapes? |
| C．What can contribute to mental illness? |
| D．How can we beat the COVID-19? |
Nowadays, more and more Chinese are aware of food waste issues. Even young people tend to take home their leftovers when dining out, most of
Young people also gave their opinions on how
China started a movement against food waste in 2013 and
8 . What's black and white and read all over? Not newspapers, at least not anymore. In fact, if you're like most young people, you probably don't read the newspaper at all.
In one recent survey, just 19 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds said they read a newspaper every day, while 37 percent watch local TV news and 44 percent visit Internet news sites daily. As people turn more and more to new technologies, they turn the pages of newspapers less and less. "There's a revolution (革命) in the way young people get news." says media consultant Merrill Brown. Just a generation (一代人) or two ago，the newspaper was the main way that many people got their news. Now, nearly every home has at least one TV set. There's high-speed, wireless Internet both at home and in many public places.
You no longer have to wait for a bundle of newsprint to arrive on your doorstep every morning. Thanks to new technology, if you want to know what's going on in the world, you can get breaking news immediately in more ways than one. So newspapers face a very big challenge. Raised on MTV and video games, today's kids and young adults want flashy displays, special effects, quick information, and the chance to interact (互动) in real time, even when they're reading about serious problems.
If newspapers can't find creative ways to be more than just ink on paper, some experts suggest, they might disappear completely. Traditional newspaper articles are supposed to be read from beginning to end, lack of interaction. With Web pages, on the other hand, there's more freedom. You can look through the things you're interested in, then follow links to other sources. You can join discussion groups, read other peopled opinions on a topic, or start a blog to express your own views.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．The new technologies. | B．Different news sources. |
| C．The future of the Internet. | D．The disappearing newspaper. |
| A．TV has become the major source of news. |
| B．New technologies have replaced the traditional one. |
| C．Newspapers are no longer the major source of news. |
| D．More than half of the 18-to-34-year-olds visit news sites daily. |
| A．Newspapers are full of changes. |
| B．Newspapers provide interactions. |
| C．New technologies attract all the people. |
| D．Getting news from other ways is quicker. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Promising. | C．Bright. | D．Surprising. |
9 . For centuries, elephants have caught our admiration and imaginations, and it's easy to see why. The planet's largest land animals can stand up to 10 feet tall and weigh up to 13, 200 pounds. But they're not just about brawn.
With their complex brains, elephants are incredibly clever and sensitive: caring for their families and capable of remembering faraway places and old friends. Ln fact, when elephants spot friends, they often show love by wrapping their trunks together or resting them on each other's foreheads. Trunks come in handy for more than just greeting. For instance, elephant babies suck （吮吸）their trunks for comfort, just as human babies suck their thumbs. Trunks are also handy for reaching high hanging food.
Elephants have back teeth the size of small bricks and tusks （长牙）.They use tusks to carry things, pull bark off trees, clear paths, dig for roots and water, fight enemies and impress other elephants. Unfortunately, it's those amazing tusks that put elephants5 lives at risk. The desire for tusk ivory is the reason why so many elephants have been killed.
From the days of ancient Egypt and Rome, elephant tusk ivory is valuable. Today, in many parts of the world ivory or “white gold" remains a symbol of wealth and status, especially in Asia. More recently, it's been used to make piano keys, and decorations. In order to get the ivory, elephants are killed. In 1979, there were an estimated 1.3 million elephants in Africa. By 2007 that number had dropped to between 472,000 and 690,000.
Did you know these surprising facts about ivory? Seven out of ten people in China don't know it comes from a dead elephant. With the spending power of a growing middle class in countries such as China, the demand for illegal ivory is increasing. Forty percent of people in the United Kingdom don't think elephants need to be harmed to take their tusks. And the United States is still the second largest market in the world for elephant ivory. If more people knew that every piece of ivory comes from a dead elephant, fewer people might want to buy ivory products. And less demand for ivory means more elephants will survive.
1. What does the underlined word "brawn" in the first paragraph mean?| A．lovable character. | B．human imagination. |
| C．brilliant mind. | D．physical strength. |
| A．They have good memories. | B．Their trunks are used to fight enemies |
| C．Their back teeth put their lives at risk | D．They touch their foreheads for comfort. |
| A．Most people in China know tusks come from dead elephants. |
| B．Most people in the UK think it's legal to get tusks. |
| C．Most people in Asia think ivory represents wealth and status. |
| D．Most people in the US today refuse to purchase ivory products. |
| A．To explain the importance of the elephant. |
| B．To call on people to protect the elephant. |
| C．To show the living habits of the elephant. |
| D．To persuade people to raise money for the elephant. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
It was 7:15 on a Monday morning in the January. I was walking along the Park Road where an old man came out of the park on the other side of the street. Then I see a small red car make a right turn into the Park Road. The next moment the cars just hit the old man. She fell with a cry. Instead stopping, the car just drove off. I noticed the driver were a young woman and remembered the plate number careful. A moment late, I stopped a passing car but took the old man to the nearest hospital.
