1 . The term “boomerang kids” refers to adult children who move back into their parents’ house after a period of living on their own.

Traditionally, Americans expect to finish their schooling, get a job, and then move out of their parents’ home as soon as they become financially independent. Unlike in other countries where it is common for adult children to live with their parents until they marry, or even after they are married, in the U.S., adults living with their parents after graduating and getting a job is not the typical pattern.

However, things may be changing. The current generation of young adults are being called the “boomerang generation” because the lack of jobs has driven many of them to move back in with their parents, after having lived on their own while in college or after getting a full-time job. Fewer parents are experiencing what we sometimes call an “empty nest”, a home where the adult children leave and only the parents remain.

In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2011, about 30% of people aged 25 to 34 reported that they had moved back with their parents at one time or another. While many of these adult children say that this is a satisfactory situation, with over 75% of these young adults saying they like their living arrangement, sometimes it’s not easy for the parents. 65% parents say that it is difficult to adjust to the return of their children, especially when deciding how much help to give them.

How does this living arrangement affect the relationships between parents and adult children? About a quarter of the young adults say that their relationship with their parents has improved, a quarter say it has worsened, and about 50% say it hasn’t had any effect either way.

1. What does the underlined phrase “boomerang kids” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．People who are adults but mentally childish.

B．People who can save little money every month.

C．People who live on their parents when they’ve grown up.

D．People who take care of their parents by living with them.

2. What’s the traditional pattern in America?

A．Young adults live with their parents after graduation.

B．Young adults find a full-time job with their parents’ help.

C．Young adults go to college to get a degree.

D．Young adults live on their own and support themselves.

3. What may lead to the “boomerang generation” phenomenon?

A．Parents’ overprotection.	B．The tight employment market.
C．Lack of life experience.	D．Parents’ fear for the “empty nest”.

4. Which statement about the study is TRUE according to Paragraph 4?

A．About two thirds of the parents found it hard to live with their adult kids.

B．All the kids in the study wanted to live with their parents.

C．Roughly 30% of people moved back with their parents.

D．65% of the parents gave financial aid to their kids.

2 . Robots aid in coronavirus fight

Robots have certain advantages compared to humans: They are efficient, tireless, can be repaired when damaged and they never get sick. This last trait has made them the star during our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. While hundreds of thousands of medical workers have fallen ill dealing with this highly infectious virus and a lot more are forced to stay at home for fear of getting the disease, this isn’t a problem for robots.

This is why the COVID-19 outbreak is seen as the “tipping point” —noted The Independent science reporter Anthony Cuthbertson – for robots to start to replace humans in certain jobs.

In areas like hospitals and healthcare facilities, robots are used to perform high-risk tasks. In China, for example, a hotel in Hangzhou employed a robot named “Little Peanut”to deliver food to people under quarantine. In Spain, robots are about to be used to test people for the coronavirus. Ultraviolet-light-disinfection(紫外线消毒) robots are also being widely used to clean hospital corridors and wards(病房).

“Hospitals around the world are waking up to autonomous disinfection.” Per Juul Nielsen, CEO of Denmark’s UVD Robots, a leading company manufacturing(制造) disinfection robots, told Forbes. “We can’t build these robots fast enough.”

In non-medical companies, robots are also replacing human employees since they don’t have the problem of social distancing and will never take sick leave. Walmart and Amazon, for example, where robots are already used in sorting, packing and shipping, are planning to increase the number of robots in their facilities. Fast-food chains like McDonald’s are not only delivering food with robots in some areas, but also looking to use them as cooks and servers.

According to futurist Martin Ford, using more robots than human employees can prove to be rewarding for companies – even when the pandemic is over. “People will prefer to go to a place that has fewer workers and more machines because they feel they can lower overall risk, ” Ford told the BBC.

But this sudden surge(激增) in robot demand doesn’t mean that they triumph over humans in every aspect. According to Bill Smart, a roboticist at Oregon State University, the human contact between doctors and patients is still important. Doctors comfort the patients and guide them through hard decisions while robots are only doing routine tasks, like cleaning and giving tests, just to free up doctors and nurses.

It might be true that robots have certain advantages over humans. But they are still secondary to human interaction.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．The advantages of robots compared to humans.

B．Different views toward applying robots to fight COVID-19

C．Why the COVID-19 outbreak has fueled robot demand.

D．Whether robots will replace humans in certain areas one day.

2. What has made robots desirable during the pandemic according to the text?

A．They can be repaired when damaged.

B．They test people for coronavirus more precisely.

C．They never get tired and can replace doctors and nurses.

D．They are not vulnerable to the coronavirus.

3. What does Martion Ford think of the application of robots?

A．Its benefits are appealing and lasting.

B．Machines are less disturbing than humans.

C．It poses a threat to human employment.

D．There are some risks with the use of robots.

4. What can be concluded from the last two paragraphs?

A．The demand for robots is too great to meet.

B．Doctors can make more accurate judgments than robots.

C．Humans interactions are essential in some areas.

D．Robots need updating to improve contact with humans.

3 . Thousands of people living in the Chinese capital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year by heading for the ski resorts. Never mind that Beijing’s dry weather seldom produces snow. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to the capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this new popularity.

Since Beijing’s first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed astonishing increase. There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr. Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe. In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and can’t really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts in Europe.

Beijing’s skiing popularity is partly a result of the recent increase in private cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital’s suburbs (郊区), which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people. According to Mr. Wei, about 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices.

The problem is making money. Starting ski resorts requires quite a lot of money: hiring land from the local government, preparing the hills, buying snow machines, making sure there are enough water and electricity to run them, and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers. The ski resort where Mr. Wei works cost nearly $4 million to set up. And, as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea, many others rush in and price wars break out. Beijing now offers some of the cheapest ski training classes in the world, though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job.

1. What does this text mainly talk about?

A．Convenience for skiers brought about by private cars.

B．A sudden increase of ski training classes in Beijing.

C．Things to be considered when starting a ski resort.

D．Skiing as a new way of enjoying one’s spare time.

2. Why are some Chinese likely to go skiing in Europe?

A．To visit more ski areas.	B．For better services and equipment.
C．For a large collection of ski suits.	D．To ski on natural snow.

3. The underlined words “leisure industry” in Paragraph 3 refer to ______.

A．transport to ski resorts

B．production of family cars

C．business of providing spare time enjoyments

D．part-time work for people living in the suburbs

4. What is the main problem in running a ski resort?

A．The price of the ski training classes.

B．Lack of business experience.

C．Shortage of water and electricity.

D．Difficulty in making money.

4 . A campaign in the United Kingdom that seeks to pressure publishers to stop labeling children’s books according to gender(性别) is being given a push, with leading writers and at least one newspaper expressing support.

“We’re asking children’s publishers to take the ‘Boys’ and ‘Girls’ labels off books and allow children to choose freely what kinds interest them.” says the statement by the Let Books Be Books campaign. The organizers of the campaign say, “Such labels send out very limiting massages to children about what kinds of things are appropriate for girls or for boys.”

On Sunday, the movement got an important advance when the newspaper The Independent announced it would no longer comment on such books, or even blog about them. “Happily, as the literary editor of The Independent, there is something that I can do about this. So I promise now that the newspaper and this website will not be reviewing any book which is aimed at just girls, or just boys. Nor will The independent’s books section.” wrote editor Katy Guest.

The Guardian reports that one of Britain’s biggest bookstore chains, Waterstones, as well as U.K. Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman, and U.K. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy have also announced their support. “The campaign is attacking titles such as Usborne’s Illustrated Classics for Boys, described by the publisher as ‘a collection of action, adventure and daring-do stories suitable for boys,’ while its Illustrated Stories for Girls contains ‘brand new stories about princesses and dolls,’ ” The Guardian wrote.

But such a movement would also affect many popular and beloved books, such as the best selling The Dangerous Book for Boys. It’s clear not everyone thinks removing “for boys” and “for girls” from book titles is such a good idea. Many of The Independent’s readers are criticizing the newspaper’s announcement that it is banning reviews of such books.

“This is just stupidity,” wrote one reader on The Independent’s website. “The Independent has been an intelligent publication in my mind since I was a very young boy. So sad to see that change.”

1. What is The Let Books Be Books campaign?

A．It teaches kids about appropriateness.

B．It opposes gendered children’s books.

C．It aims to offer help to writers and newspapers.

D．It advises publishers to help children choose books.

2. How will The Independent react to the campaign?

A．Stop reviewing books labeled with “Boys” or “girl”.

B．Publish more children’s books on its website.

C．Provide more book reviews every Sundays.

D．Encourage children to review books.

3. What does Blackman think about the books mentioned in Paragraph4?

A．They aren’t suitable for children.

B．They shouldn’t have similar titles.

C．They include too many adventure stories.

D．They should be open to kids of either gender.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To comment on some popular children’s books.

B．To report the recent progress of a cultural campaign.

C．To discuss some big changes in the world’s book market.

D．To explain the differences between books for boys and girls.

5 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s)of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

If you’re like most of the world, you make time for following friends on social media. That is not a bad thing at all. Positive posting and communication can help improve your confidence and sense of connection to others. It can be surprisingly easy, though, to unconsciously slip into less healthful behavior on social media, and that can lead to anxiety and depression. New research has identified which habits can lead to troubles.

Do you feel jealous every time you read on social media about your cousin’s beautiful new home or you boss’ exciting European vacation？ “Surveillance” of those you know in order to get an inside look of their material success is a potentially destructive behavior, according to researchers at the University of Missouri. Measuring material or lifestyle achievements of someone you know can lead to negative feelings, and can easily lead you to create tension in a relationship where there was none.

A second study by the University of Missouri found that people who post often- about anything and everything they are doing- experience more troubles in their marriages and romantic relationships than those who don’t post about their lives in detail. Another study by researchers at Boston University also found that heavy social media users are 32% more likely to think about leaving their husbands or wives.

This is most likely because over-sharing your life with others by direct messaging and posting images can create relationship conflict. Not only are you potentially developing bonds with new people, but also that bonding may deepen and affect your own relationship, according to the study of a doctoral student, Russell Clayton.

6 . Directions: Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Entrepreneurs in New Zealand are working with American designers to develop robotic dolphins that look almost exactly the same as real dolphins.    1    A robotic dolphin that can nod an answer to a child. It might not sound attractive or may even sound worrying, but as marine parks around the world are under pressure to stop using real whales and dolphins, the creatures are an attractive alternative. their creators say.

“Marine parks have been making less money for more than ten years because many people think the parks are cruel and because of the cost of live animals, but people still really want to learn about and experience these animals,” said Roger Holzberg, a Californian designer of the life-size robot bottlenose dolphins.    2    

“We have to persuade marine park owners that these dolphins can make them money, even more money than live animals,” Holzberg said.     3    On average, bottlenose dolphins live for less than 20 years in captivity but 30 to 50 years in the wild.

Melanie Langlotz, one of the entrepreneurs behind the project, has a background in reality games. “It became clear that any large aquarium, in order to compete with any other aquarium, would need to have all the big animals on display, such as dolphins and sharks,” she said. “The bigger, the better.”    4    Finally, the group decided to use robotic animals instead of live ones. The sample robotic dolphin, Langlotz said, weighs more than 270Kg. A test audience was unable to guess the dolphin was not real, she added. Animal rights supporters also welcomed the change, hoping robotic dolphins would replace real ones in marine parks worldwide.

A．The arguments among her New Zealand-based suppliers about the use of live animals became heated.

B．They can respond to questions, swim happily in tanks and are not harmed by close contact with visitors.

C．He added that the robots did not cost anything to keep and didn’t need temperature-controlled water.

D．A robotic bottlenose dolphin cost four times more than normal dolphins but would last much longer.

E．In nature, dolphins live in close family groups, but in captivity, they’re forced to interact with strangers.

F．He believed it’s time to change marine parks to be more humane and to make more money at the same time.

7 . The Trades Union Congress(TUC) has urged the government to use high productivity from the greater use of robots and artificial intelligence to reverse(推翻) planned changes to the state retirement age.

Before its annual congress in Brighton, the TUC said higher productivity thanks to technological innovation(革新) ought to bring greater benefits for working people. It said recent progress had mainly benefited business owners, rather than being shared across the workforce through better wages and working conditions. Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: "Robots and Al could let us produce more for less, promoting national prosperity. But we need a debate about who benefits from this wealth, and how workers get a fair share."

There have been previous waves of technological advances since the first Industrial Revolution, when inefficient jobs have been replaced by machines or the number of people required to do work has been reduced. Such advances have not led to a total loss of jobs, but have disturbed the type of work people do.

There are concerns that the current stage of innovation could be more damaging, while the rewards from higher productivity have not necessarily led to higher wages. The latest available figures show low unemployment unseen since the mid-1970s, but growth in real wages remains negative.

In 1950, almost one in three workers worked in manufacturing, while one in twelve worked in professional and technical services. By 2016 the proportions(比例) had changed completely, but in the communities which were affected, the jobs lost in manufacturing were not replaced by jobs of similar or better quality. Wages in former industrial areas were still 10% below the national average.

The increase in the state retirement age by seven years, which was controversially(有争议的) brought forward by the Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke, is expected to affect about 7 million people in their late 30s and early 40s. As well as reversing the proposal on the retirement age, the TUC said workers should be given the right to a midlife career review, while firms should invest more in workplace training. At present, the UK invests just half of the EU average, it said. O'Grady said: "Robots are not just terminators. Some of today's jobs will not survive, but new jobs will be created. We must make sure that tomorrow's jobs are no worse than today's."

1. According to the TUC, the use of robots and artificial intelligence should result in ______.

A．technological advances

B．higher levels of productivity

C．benefits for working people

D．more wealth of business owners

2. It can be inferred that the waves of technological advances ______.

A．had a great influence on the labor structure

B．tended to be more damaging than constructive

C．were the outcome of the Industrial Revolution

D．slowly raised the real income of working people

3. What can we learn about the proposal of David Gauke?

A．It is strongly opposed by the TUC.

B．It will help to create new types of jobs.

C．It has produced a widespread influence.

D．It reflects the real needs of economic growth.

4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Technological innovation has contributed to people's wage increases.

B．The government plans to delay retirement age, from which 7 million people will suffer.

C．The use of robots and artificial intelligence is only beneficial to the national prosperity.

D．O'Grady holds an idea that new jobs in the future must be ensured to be at least as good as today's.

8 . The two-hour show on March 25, 2019 put on by Tim Cook may be remembered as a milestone for the company – and the entertainment industry. Mr. Cook did not announce his company’s latest device. Instead, he unveiled a set of products and services, including video streaming, news games and even a credit card.

Apple’s 900 million iPhones worldwide grant it access to a massive potential audience. Analysts speculate that Apple will eventually offer them something similar to Amazon Prime, where customers pay a fixed monthly fee for some combination of news, games, cloud storage, music and video, and which could possibly connect with the company’s iPhone subscriptions.

Apple TV+, which got prioritized by Mr. Cook, will offer original programming in more than 100 countries. The money Apple plans to spend on original shows – perhaps $1 billion to $2 billion thus far – is dwarfed by that of Netflix, which will spend as much as $15 billion this year on original and licensed content, or Disney, whose own video-streaming is expected shortly. But Apple’s high-profile shows are for now meant chiefly to draw customers to its universe of apps and services. That includes subscription services for games, a long list of big American magazines and a few newspapers. You can pay for it all using your new Apple Card, developed with bankers at Goldman Sachs. The credit card puts Apple in direct competition with banks: it has no fees and will give users 2% cash back on purchases made via Apple Pay, the company’s payments system – or 3% on purchases of Apple kit and service.

Although Apple continues to earn most of its money from devices, its business in services is growing quickly, accounting for nearly $40 billion of revenues of $266 billion in 2018. The new subscription offering, which is easier to click and buy than their predecessors, should accelerate that trend. Its new partners hope to be along for the ride. Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimated that Apple may turn 10% of the 85 million monthly users of its free News app into paying subscribers, wining a cut of newspaper and TV subscriptions sold through its services.

Some content providers are cautious. The New York Times and The Washington Post have rejected Apple’s advances on behalf of its news service. Netflix and Disney will not take part in Apple TV+, which they view as more a threat than an opportunity.

1. The underlined word dwarfed in paragraph 3 most probably means ________.

A．made to appear insignificant	B．reduced to a great extent
C．limited to a fixed scale	D．grown to its full potential

2. We can infer from the article that ________.

A．Apple invested heavily in its entertainment services along with its latest devices

B．Apple Card may be favoured because it offers discounts on purchases of Apple products

C．The popularity of Apple devices may bring forth huge profit potentials in its new service

D．Apple’s new move is seen as an opportunity as well as a threat by its competitors

3. What is most likely to be further discussed if the article continues?

A．What action Apple might take to attract potential subscribers.

B．Who might gain huge benefits from Apple’s new service.

C．How Goldman Sachs won the support from Mr. Tim Cook.

D．Why some companies are alert to Apple’s strategy changes.

4. What is the best title for this article?

A．Tech Giant Apple Stages New Moves	B．A Great Challenge to the Entertainment Industry
C．The Entertainment Industry Calls for Cooperation	D．A New Bottleneck for Tech Giant Apple

9 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word. For the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Children moving from primary to secondary school are ill-equipped to deal with the booming of social media, as it is playing an increasingly important role in their lives, and is exposing them to significant emotional risks, according to a recent report by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.

The report shows that many children in year 7 – the first year of secondary school,     1     almost everyone in the class will have a phone and be active on social media – feel under pressure to be constantly connected.

They kind of     2     (worry) about their online image, particularly when they start to follow celebrities on Instagram and other platforms. They are also upset about “sharenting” – when parents post pictures of them on social media without     3     (permit) – and show the concern     4     their parents won’t listen if they ask them to take pictures down.

The report, based on group interviews with 8- to 12-year-olds , shows that     5     most social media sites have an official age limit of 13, an     6     (estimate) 75% of 10- to 12-year-olds will have a social media account.

Some children are almost addicted to “likes”, the report says. Aaron, an 11-year-old in year 7, told researchers, “If I got 150 likes, I’d be like, that’s pretty cool, it means they like you.” Some children described feeling     7     (confident) than those they follow on social media. Aimee, also 11, said, “    8     (compare) yourself with them, you might feel devalued because you’re not very pretty.”

Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield is calling on parents and teachers to do more to prepare children for the emotional impact of social media as they get older. “What a child has learnt at primary school does not guarantee he can protect     9     from the risks that social media will present.”

“It means a bigger role for schools in making sure children     10     (prepare) for the emotional demands of social media. And it means social media companies are supposed to assume more responsibilities.” Longfield said.

10 . Racial Discrimination in Science

You might expect that science, particularly American science, would be colour-blind. Once Someone from the country's ethnic minorities has got bench space in a laboratory, he might reasonably_______ to be treated on merit （功绩）and nothing else.

_______ a study published in Science by Donna Ginther of the University of     Kansas suggest? That is not true. Dr. Ginther, who was working _______ America's National Institutes of Health （NIH）, looked at the pattern of research grants awarded by the NIH and found that _______mattered a   lot .Moreover, it is not just a question of white supremacy. Asian and Hispanic scientists do just as well as white ones. Black scientists, _______ , do badly.

One possible explanation is that review panels are inferring applicants ethnic_________ from their names, or the institutions they attended as students. Consciously or not, the reviewers may then be awarding less merit to those from people with "black-sounding names, or who were educated at universities whose students are predominantly black. Indeed, a(n) _______ bias has been found in those recruiting for jobs in the commercial world. One well-known study, published by researchers at MIT and the University of Chicago, found that fictitious C以(简历) with stereotypically white names got 50% more _______of interviews than did CVs with black names, even when the applicants' stated_________were identical.

Another possible explanation is social __________: It is in the nature of groups of experts (such as review panels) to know both each other and each other's most promising assistants and followers. Applicants outside this charmed circle might have less chance of __________ consideration. If the charmed circle itself were racially unrepresentative, those____________from the network because their racial group was under-represented in the first place would find it harder to break in.

Though Dr. Ginther's results are______________, it is to the NIH's credit that it has published her findings. The agency is also starting a programme intended to alter the____________of the review panels to see whether removing potential racial cues from applications changes outcomes. Other agencies, and not just in America, should pay strict attention to all this, and ask themselves if they, too, are____________people of particular races. Such discrimination is a sheer waste of talent!

1.

A．expect

B．cooperate

C．decide

D．challenge

2.

A．Similarly.

B．Evidently

C．Unfortunately

D．Undoubtedly

3.

A．in favour of

B．on behalf of

C．in honor of

D．in the name of

4.

A．health

B．nationality

C．gender

D．race

5.

A．however

B．otherwise

C．therefore

D．meanwhile

6.

A．divisions

B．customs

C．origins

D．designs

7.

A．unknown

B．similar

C．obvious

D．strong

8.

A．feedback

B．types

C．elements

D．offers

9.

A．qualifications

B．interviews

C．names

D．researches

10.

A．security

B．status

C．networking

D．order

11.

A．moral

B．favorable

C．casual

D．minor

12.

A．excluded

B．installed

C．downloaded

D．restored

13.

A．positive

B．conclusive

C．troubling

D．encouraging

14.

A．position

B．subject

C．prospect

D．composition

15.

A．reminding

B．employing

C．informing

D．failing