1 . We have a real crisis in this country in the basic understanding of science. It affects our global competitiveness as a country, our national security, and the effectiveness of our social system. The misunderstanding about science is blinding our eyes.

We know that an awful lot of teachers who are teaching science today have not been properly empowered to do so. School frequently isn’t testing whether you understand something but whether you’re familiar with it. What’s Newton’s second law? You say F=ma, and you get an A. That does not reflect a deep understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Science education is not just a body of facts; it’s a process. To present it with appeal and excitement you need to picture it as a detective story—asking questions, making observations, and collecting evidence. You test and you fail but, you know, failure can lead to discovery.

Another challenge we face is that science is often viewed as too hard, for experts only. But I don’t actually think it’s that difficult. People see science every day. They look outside and see weather and nature. They push a button in their house and the lights go on. Everybody’s dealing with science every day. They just don’t call it that. And it’s important they do. In fact, science is determining the quality and outcomes of their life.

Science needs creativity. And one of the best ways to be creative is to think “out of the box”. However, we need more courage when we come to practice. Take me for example. Very early in my teens I decided to educate myself. I realized I would never be a very good student because I didn’t like teachers judging me by what I thought were arbitrary (主观臆断的) standards. I decided I’d let the world judge me by whether I could do something of value—solve a problem or build something. That’s why I quit school early and risked everything to start a company. I risked everything I had because I had nothing to lose. I’d rather fail at trying to do something really big than succeed at being medium.

“When’s the right age to think creatively?” you may ask. I’d say in the womb (母腹)! Kids don’t have anxieties about trying to avoid failure. They are full of imagination and much more willing to fail. Just watch a 3-year-old. They touch everything, and if it hurts they don’t touch it again. They learn everything at a breathtaking rate. Start to think out of the box as early as you can, because it’s more likely to take you to places that you can’t predict, schedule and budget for. Do all that when you can bear the insecurity.

1. According to the passage, science teachers should ________.

A．train students’ memory for right facts	B．focus more on the learning process
C．present interesting detective stories	D．abandon frequent science examinations

2. Paragraph 3 indicates that _______.

A．science is intended for experts only	B．it’s important to see weather and nature
C．people can determine the quality of life	D．we should realize science is around us

3. The author takes his own example to say ________.

A．school education may do little good to students

B．teachers sometimes judge their students unfairly

C．people need to take an unusual path to be creative

D．failure at a big thing is better than a small success

4. What’s the tone of the passage?

A．Questioning.	B．Encouraging.
C．Praising.	D．Complaining.

2 . 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。

Nowadays, millions of lonely singles are now going online, which is a sharp contrast     1     the past. With that situation     2     (go) on, the World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker.

Singles are flocking (涌向) to the Internet     3     (main) because there is little time     4     (leave) for their busy lifestyles to do that. Apart     5     its quick speed, using dating sites (交友网站) is convenient. Many singles say they are tired       6     the bad dating experiences and are ready to try something else. Dating sites also make     7     easy to avoid the persons that you are not     8     (interest) in. In the real world, ignoring someone you don’t like can be difficult.

Despite all the advantages, online dating also     9     (present) own set of problems. People aren’t always those who they declare to be in their online description. Safety is another concern. You are just     10     (like) to find a criminal online as your Mr. or Miss Right.

3 . 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。

More than twenty American states ban smoking in public.     1     study has proved that smoke-free laws can reduce a major effect of tobacco—heart disease.The study     2     (take) place in Pueblo, Colorado several years ago. In some states, there were 396 heart attack     3     (patient) in the year before the ban in hospitals.

However,18 months     4     the ban, the number was 237. Smoking in enclosed (封闭的) places is very     5     (harm) to non-smoke. Adults may think they are     6     (actual) protecting their children from second-hand smoke when they smoke outside their homes, or when the children are not there. However, researchers     7     (warn) of what they call “third-hand smoke” so far. When you smoke they say, dangerous matter from tobacco smoke gets into     8     (you) hair and clothing. Then, when you touch a baby, the baby comes into contact with that poisonous matter. The researchers also found that people,     9     agreed that smoke was bad for children’s health, were more likely to have restriction on     10     (smoke) in their homes than others.

4 . Earth's forests are emptying.

Half of their inhabitants(栖息动物) have disappeared in the last 40 years, according to a latest report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The report tracked populations of 268 species of forest-dwelling birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles worldwide between 1970 and 2014(the most recent year for which data is available). The results show that forest animal populations have declined by 53% worldwide, and humans are to blame.

More than 80%of all land animal, plant, and insect species call forests home. However, a combination of habitat destruction, hunting, the spread of invasive species, climate change, and diseases are killing off forest animals, the researchers said.

Without those animals, forests can't perform the functions we rely on, since animals pollinate(授粉) forest plants, spread seeds, and nourish the soil with their waste.

“Forests depend on a complete animal world to perform. functions essential to life,” Susanne Winter, a program director at the WWF, told Eco Watch.

One of the most critical roles forests play is in easing climate change. Trees suck enormous amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air and embed (吸纳) the carbon in their wood and the soil. A recent study found that planting new trees over an area the size of the US could suck away two-thirds of all the carbon dioxide emissions that humans have pumped into the atmosphere.

“Without animals, it is harder for forests to absorb carbon, as tree species important for protecting the climate could be lost without animals,” Winter said. Without them, those trees would have difficulty reproducing and forests would lose their best carbon-storing trees.

“Forests are our greatest natural ally in the fight against global warming,” Winter said. “If we want to reverse the worldwide decline in biodiversity and prevent the climate crisis, we need to protect the forests and the species living there.”

1. What do we know from the passage?

A．Half of earth's forests have emptied.

B．268 forest-living species have died out.

C．The number of forest animals has decreased.

D．80% of forest animals have lost their homes.

2. How many reasons are mentioned for the extinction of forest animals?

A．Five.

B．Four.

C．Three.

D．Two.

3. What is the key function of forests mentioned in this passage?

A．Nourishing the soil.	B．Producing carbon dioxide.
C．Pollinating forest plants.	D．Easing climate change.

4. Which of the opinions may Susanne Winter agree with?

A．Forests will disappear eventually.

B．We can't reverse the decline in biodiversity.

C．Forests can suck away all the carbon dioxide emissions.

D．Animals are vital to forests when it comes to reproducing.

5 . How cold is too cold to keep schools open? The question is being raised, at least in the Northeast, where the temperature is way below zero.

Keith Marty, superintendent(主管)of the Parkway School District in Missouri, published a letter to parents saying: “it is always challenging to balance my desire to have children in school and also my desire to keep them safe.” Location can affect closure decisions: children in Minnesota are accustomed to cold winter temperatures, but kids in the South aren’t. Also at play are concerns about state student attendance requirement and traffic issues, such as how long students have to wait outdoors for a bus, as well as health dangers caused by the cold and the condition of many old or poorly equipped school buildings.

And many districts worry about students who receive most or all of their meals at school and who have working parents who can’t stay home with them. Matt Guilfoyle, spokesman for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia, said in an email that his school system “strongly believes students are better served by being in school. FCPS also considers the nearly 56,000 students who receive free and reduced-price meals each day at school. If schools are open and a parent does not believe it is safe for his or her child, the parent should keep the child at home for an excused absence.”

A few years ago, Chicago public schools closed when the National Weather Service said temperatures would feel, with wind chill(风寒), like 30 degrees below zero. But they opened the next day even though the temperature didn’t rise much. A Chicago lawyer named William Choslovsky wrote an opinion piece in Chicago Tribune mocking the schools for closing when Milwaukee schools stayed open with cold temperatures. “Consider this the continued wussification(娘娘腔)of society,” he wrote. “Our kids can go to school. Considering that so few even walk anymore, what difference does the temperature make?”

Still, sometimes, the temperatures demand school closure, at least in the eyes of school district officials. Buffalo officials decided to close schools for Friday, with the forecast calling for temperatures at around zero degrees, with wind chill making it feel more like 20 degrees below zero.

1. What can be learned from Paragraph 2?

A．Waiting for a school bus can be dangerous.

B．Many school buildings are too old to function.

C．Parents and schools differ on school closure.

D．School closure decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

2. What was Matt Guilfoyle trying to express in his email?

A．Opening school is good for students.

B．FCPS offers excellent food for students.

C．Some parents are irresponsible caregivers.

D．Some parents prevent schools from opening.

3. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Are students strong enough?

B．When is it too cold for school?

C．Is the weather getting colder and colder?

D．What are the schools doing to face cold weather?

6 . 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。

In the past few years, quite a number of men and women     1     (choose) to do something less competitive. They are afraid that the stress of work robs them     2     joy and happiness and bring them harm both physically and mentally.

In fact, however, stress isn’t such a bad thing     3     it is often supposed to be. Above all,     4     it gets out of control, a certain amount of stress is important as it provides motivation and challenge, and purpose to     5     otherwise meaningless, idle life. In addition, people under stress tend to express their full range of potential     6    realize their own personal worth — the very aim of a human life. Last but not least, research has showed that,     7     (actual), modest amounts of stress can     8    (strong) the immune system and be good for health.

Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way     9     (escape). Developing our adaptive ability to deal with stress can prevent us from     10     (defeat) by the competitive society.

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正确形式。

The total wealth of the world’s 26 richest people is equal to the total wealth of the 3.8 billion poorest. This     1     (shock) gap is in a report from the charity Oxfam. It says that since 2008, the number of billionaires       2     (double). They are also getting $2.5 billion richer every day. This is in contrast to the poorest half of the planet. Their wealth is       3     (gradual) shrinking as prices and rents rise and wages fall. Oxfam’s report shows the growing gap       4     the world’s rich and poor and the increasing gap in wealth       5     (equal).

The report says that most of the world’s wealthy people made       6     (they) money from technology companies. The world’s richest person, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos,       7     (be) worth $100 billion. This is 100 times more       8     Ethiopia’s annual health budget. Oxfam says it is time       9     (fix) this imbalance in wealth. It wants fairer levels of income tax, and more tax on personal earnings and company profits. It also wants an end to tax avoidance plans       10     big companies and the super-rich often use. It says that in many countries, only the rich could afford quality education and healthcare.

8 . These years, we can see more and more people like dancing in public. We call this kind of dance “Guangchangwu”.     1    . Later in 2005，it became popular with the elderly（年长者） in China.

    2    . Some people think it is a kind of entertainment （娱乐）and physical exercise. It gives the elderly a good way to relax，keep fit and make their lives interesting. It is better for them to go out to dance with their friends than to play cards or watch TV at home，because they need to keep healthy and active.

    3    . You may have the following experience（经历）：you want to sleep late into noon on a weekend morning but find it impossible because the elderly are dancing，making a lot of noise. Sometimes you are having a rest or chat for a while with your friends in a park. But the music from the dancing is so loud（大声的） that you have to stop. So quite a few people are worried about the dancing places.    4    .

    5    . But when they choose a kind of entertainment，they should think about other people’ s life

A．At times, they choose to go to and enjoy those places.

B．At times, they choose to stay away from those places.

C．Nowadays, about the dancing, people have different ideas.

D．It seemed to come into being in the 1990s.

E．It seemed to come into being in 2010.

F．It is all right for the elderly to get exercise and have fun.

G．But，not all people have the same idea.

9 . There is a very long list of rules for the New York City subway. Don’t put your feet on a seat, don’t carry open cups of coffee or soda, don’t take more than one seat... Those are just a few of the rules. There are hundreds more.

With so many rules, why is it still unpleasant to ride the subway?

Some people think that the problem is that no one enforces the rules. Other passengers sometimes try to enforce rules. But you can’t rely on them because New Yorkers have unwritten rules against talking to strangers and making eye contact with strangers. How can you tell someone to take her shopping bags off the seat and throw away her Coke without talking to her or looking at her? It is difficult.

There are other New Yorkers who think that the subway is unpleasant because there are not enough rules. One rider wrote a letter to The New York Times a couple of weeks ago suggesting a few more subway rules. Here are some of the rules that she would like to see:

—Don’t lean on the poles. You prevent other people from holding on. They can fall down.

—Talk quietly. The trains are already too noisy.

—Give your seat to elderly passengers or to parents with small children.

If those unwritten rules of etiquette are written down, will the rude people be more likely to follow them? It doesn’t make sense to make more rules that no one will enforce.

The real problem is that we are forgetting how to be nice to each other. It is embarrassing that we need a rule to tell us to give our seat to elderly passengers. Nobody should need to be reminded to do that.

I say we stop talking about the rules and try to remember our manners. Let’s be nice to each other not because a police officer might tell us to get off the train, but because it is the right thing to do. Then New York City would be more civilized —both above ground and below.

1. Don’t make eye contact and don’t talk to strangers are examples of     .

A．New York subway rules	B．personal preferences on the subway
C．behavioral habits in New York City	D．unpleasant experiences on the subway

2. The underlined word “etiquette” is closest in meaning to     .

A．manners

B．phenomena

C．festivals

D．moods

3. In the writer’s opinion, what measures should be taken?

A．The authority should set stricter rules.

B．The government should employ more police.

C．The citizens should ride the subway less.

D．Everyone should take better care of their behavior.

10 . 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。

The long goodbye

Why was it so difficult to agree on a Brexit (英国脱欧) deal?-The border and "backstop".

When does     1     (certain) become the worst condition at all? This fall, more than three years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, no one was sure what form Brexit would take, what kind of relationship they would have with the nearest neighbors,     2     whether the whole thing could still     3     (call) off.

Theresa May, the first Conservative Prime Minister with the job of taking the United Kingdom out of the EU, had been forced     4     (step)down at the end of July, 2019. May had spent two years negotiating     5     exit deal with the other twenty-seven members of the EU, only to fail to get it     6     (approve) by Parliament. May’s attempts to contain the opposing forces in the country-the frightening     7     (economy) consequences of doing so-did not work. She ended up     8     (lose) her majority in Parliament and crafting a compromise with the EU,     9     satisfied nobody. The second, Boris Johnson, did not seem trustworthy. He wanted to rid May’s agreement, but there didn’t seem to be time to start over. He insisted that Britain would leave anyhow. “No ifs or     10     (but)”, Johnson said, outside No.10 Downing Street in his inaugural (就职的) speech.

The shape of the future is now visible. The uncertainty has moved away. The worst is most likely yet to come.