1 . Online eating shows, or Mukbang, were originated in South Korea and have gained popularity globally. Many hosts of such shows become popular for their ability to eat large amounts of food. However, these shows have also received criticism for their waste of food. While some hosts actually do consume the amount of food shown, others may be faking it. On Aug 12, CCTV exposed several Chinese hosts who were eating large amounts of food while on camera, but actually later threw it away.
To discourage this practice, many video and live streaming platforms, including Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili, have removed videos that show food waste, and have promoted messages to “avoid food waste and eat reasonably”.
In June 2020, the United Nations warned that the world is on the verge of the worst food crisis in 50 years. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about a third of the world’s food—1.3 billion tons—is wasted every year. In China alone, 50 million tons of food ends up in landfills every year, according to Beijing News.
Recently, campaigns against food waste have been further promoted. In August, President Xi Jinping stressed the need for safeguarding food security and avoiding food waste.
According to China Daily, restaurants and catering associations in more than 18 provinces and all 4 municipal cities have issued guidelines to control food waste.
In Shaanxi province, local restaurants have been asked to serve half portions to avoid waste. The Wuhan Catering Association proposed that restaurants adopt the “N-1 mode”. For example, a group of 10 diners should only order enough for nine people at first. More food is only brought to the table if required.
In addition, a nationwide “Clear Your Plate” campaign has been launched online. Users of Sina Weibo are encouraged to share photos or videos of empty plates after finishing their meals.
1. Which of the following best explains the word “faking” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Criticizing. | B．Pretending. |
| C．Hating. | D．Copying. |
| A．Because hosts of these shows become too popular. |
| B．Because CCTV asks them to get rid of the shows of wasting food. |
| C．Because they don’t want to inspire the practice of wasting food. |
| D．Because the world is on the verge of the worst food crisis in 50 years. |
| A．Guidelines to control food waste have been issued all over the country. |
| B．It’s been required that restaurants in Shaanxi give a smaller portion of food. |
| C．In Wuhan, all the restaurants have adopted the “N-1 mode”. |
| D．A nationwide “Clear Your Plate” campaign has been launched by the government. |
| A．Online eating shows. | B．Campaigns against waste. |
| C．Stopping food waste. | D．Clear your plate. |
1. Which country’s experts suggest bowing when meeting during the outbreak?
| A．China. | B．America. | C．Qatar. |
| A．Shaking hands. | B．Kissing on the cheek. | C．Waving hands. |
| A．People are encouraged to shake hands when they meet. |
| B．People are encouraged to choose to kiss anyone they like. |
| C．People should give each other a pat on the back when meeting. |
| A．The change of table manners in different countries. |
| B．The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on greeting manners. |
| C．The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on national economies. |
3 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860-1935)Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness(意识) of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court (最高法院). O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks(1913-2005)On December 1,1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott (抵制). It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.
1. What is Jane Addams famous for in history?| A．Her social work. | B．Her teaching skills. |
| C．Her efforts to win a prize. | D．Her community background. |
| A．Not having training in law. | B．Her little work experience in court. |
| C．Her identity as a woman. | D．Her poor financial conditions. |
| A．Jane Addams. | B．Rachel Carson. |
| C．Sandra Day O’Connor. | D．Rosa Parks. |
| A．They are highly educated. | B．They are truly creative. |
| C．They are pioneers. | D．They are peace-lovers. |
4 . Heaven is where the police are English, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians."
Obviously the national stereotypes in this old joke are generalizations(普遍化), but such stereotypes are often said to "exist for a reason". Is there actually a sliver of truth in them? Not likely, an international research team now says.
"National and cultural stereotypes do play an important role in how people see themselves and others, and being aware that these are not dependable is a useful thing," said study author Robert McCrae of the National Institute on Aging. "These are in fact unfounded stereotypes. They don't come from looking around you," McCrae said.
If national stereotypes aren't rooted in real experiences, then where do they come from? One possibility is that they reflect national values, which may become known from historical events. For example, many historians have argued that the spirit of American individualism has its origins in the experiences of the pioneers on the Old West.
Social scientists such as psychologist Richard Robins have given several other possible explanations for stereotypes and why they may be incorrect. Robins notes that some stereotypes may have been correct at one point in history and then remained unchanged while the culture changed.
We may be "hard-wired", to some degree, to keep incorrect stereotypes, since we are less likely to notice and remember information that is different from our stereotypes. Generally, according to Robins, when we meet people who are different from our stereotypes, we see them as unique individuals rather than typical national or cultural groups.
1. The stereotype about Italians is________.| A．strict but thoughtful | B．friendly and good-tempered |
| C．dreamy and impractical | D．romantic but disorganized |
| A．they are formed by individual historians |
| B．what was true in the past may not be true at the present |
| C．generalizations are made through personal experience |
| D．people tend to have false idea about other cultures |
| A．interesting | B．harmful | C．humorous | D．unreliable |
| A．forgetful | B．changeable | C．fixed | D．helpless |
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词。
Dear editor,
I’m sorry to occupy your precious time, and I really want to tell you anything about the problem of some people keeping too many pets nowadays. I take the problem more and more seriously for the following reason. First of all, as it is known to people, pets make loud noise that trouble residents a lot. What’s more, it is wide accepted that animal waste pollutes the environment, where makes people quite uncomfortable. Many owners like taking their pets to public places where they may frighten children or even bite people. The mostly important is that pets can spread some diseases and this has attracted much attention. Take all these factors into consideration, I sincerely hope that I can get help from you and expect the media do something for this.
6 . Student loan (贷款) debt has become a worldwide problem. In America, the country's overall student debt reached a record of $1.6 trillion in 2019. The average person with student loan debt owed between $20,000 and $25,000. A recent Japanese government report says it has been lending over $9 billion yearly to students since 2010. Similar conditions exist in Africa and South America.
Several factors account for high student loan debt. One is that employers everywhere have increased their demands for skilled workers, making higher education a requirement for many jobs. The students, however, after graduation, often find that their country's economy is not strong enough to support their financial needs, so their ability to pay back the loan becomes a problem.
To solve the problem, many countries are seeking their ways. Australia has developed a system where students do not have to pay anything back until they are earning at least $40,000 a year. In America, several candidates running for president in the 2020 election have offered more extreme solutions that all or at least some of these loans will be forgiven.
Some professors in several universities recently studied what the effects of debt forgiveness might be. They found that, overall, sudden debt relief greatly improved the borrowers' lives. Not only did they have more money, but they were more likely to move to a new area and seek better paying work.
Yet the professors' research doesn't include what might happen to financial institutions or the overall economy if debt were totally forgiven. It only looks at how debt forgiveness would help the borrowers. They warn of some other possible negative effects. If a borrower knew that if he ran into any trouble he would be saved because he could get the debt relief, then he might actually become more reckless (轻率的) with his borrowing in the future.
No matter what, the professors agree that if countries do decide to approve some student debt relief the neediest students should be helped first.
1. How does the author introduce the problem of student loan?| A．By making a comparison. | B．By making classifications. |
| C．By presenting some statistics. | D．By setting down general rules. |
| A．It will surely provide some benefits to borrowers. |
| B．It has already been carried out in the United States. |
| C．It aims to encourage more students to borrow money. |
| D．It will prevent a person from landing a well-paying job. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Positive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Student loan debt is the most serious problem worldwide. |
| B．Growing global student debt fuels search for solutions. |
| C．Student loan debt tends to pull the needy out of trouble. |
| D．People hold different opinions on debt forgiveness. |
7 . NOT all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive these experiences in nightmares.
Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce ,or possibly erase(抹去),the effect of painful memories.
In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.
The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.
Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers' troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.
"Some memories can ruin people's lives. They come back to you when you don't want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions," said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "This could relieve a lot of that suffering."
But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity (特质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.
"All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I'm not sure we want to wipe those memories out, "said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.
1. The passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．a new medical invention |
| B．a new research on the pill |
| C．a way of erasing painful memories |
| D．an argument about the research on the pill |
| A．cause the brain to fix memories |
| B．stop people remembering bad experiences |
| C．prevent body producing certain chemicals |
| D．Wipe out the emotional effects of memories |
| A．people doubt the effects of the pills |
| B．the pill will stop people's bad experiences |
| C．taking the pill will do harm to people's health |
| D．the pill has probably been produced in America |
| A．Some memories can ruin people's lives. |
| B．People want to get rid of bad memories. |
| C．Experiencing bad events makes us different from others. |
| D．The pill will reduce people's sufferings from bad memories. |
