Directions: After reading the passage below, 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.
Science fiction often presents us with planets that speak a single language. However,1. humans can express themselves in several thousand languages is a delight. Few would welcome the loss of this variety, and, along with it, a multiplicity of nations and cultures.
Unfortunately, the days 2. English shares the planet with thousands of other languages are numbered. A traveler to the future is likely to notice two things about the language landscape of Earth. One, there will be vastly fewer languages. Two, languages will be 3. (complicated) than they are today.
By 2115, it’s possible that only about 600 languages will be left on the planet as opposed to today’s 6,000. Too often, colonization has led to the disappearance of languages: Native speakers are punished 4. using their own languages. Urbanization has only furthered the destruction by bringing people away from their homelands to cities where a single language dominates.
In addition, it is easy for speakers to associate larger languages with opportunities and smaller ones with backwardness. Consequently, people stop passing on smaller languages to their children.
There are diligent efforts 5. (keep) endangered languages from dying. Sadly, few are likely to lead to communities’ 6. (raise) children in the languages, which is the only way the languages exist as their full selves.
Instead, many communities create new versions of the languages, with smaller vocabularies and simpler grammar. The Irish Gaelic (盖尔语) proudly spoken by today’s English-Gaelic bilinguals is an example, something that one might call a “New Gaelic.”
Linguists have no single term yet for these new speech varieties, 7. from Germany’s “Kiezdeutsch” to Singapore’s “Singlish,” the world is witnessing the birth of more optimized versions of old languages. This simplification should not be taken as a sign of decline. All of the “optimized” languages remain full languages in every sense of the term.
We 8. regret the eclipse of a world where 6,000 different languages 9. (speak), but fortunately, it seems a decent amount of linguistic diversity will be preserved. Besides, 10. languages become easier to pick up, the future may promise even more mutual comprehension.
Directions: Write an English composition in 120–150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
假如你们学校近期将开设“学生理财入门”(Money Management ABC) 选修课，你会参加吗？请做出选择并简要说说你的理由。
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Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.
1.在通往成功的路上，勤奋是不可替代的。 (substitute n.)
2.所有投诉都来自同一群人，我想这就不是巧合了。(coincidence)
3.纵观人类历史，一个民族如果无法顺应时代的变化，就难以在全球激烈的竞争中存活下来。(survive)
4.直到他失业了，他才开始反思自己的过去，并且意识到比起社团活动，学业表现在大学生活中起着更为重要的作用。(It)
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.
The Benefits of Being Bilingual
At one time being bilingual was thought to slow down brain development, although it is now known to have many benefits. Aside from professional and social benefits, studies show that the process of learning a second language actually strengthens some areas of the brain.
To start off with, a study done at the University of British Columbia shows that babies exposed to two languages before birth don’t confuse the languages. Moreover, it showed that the effort it takes to keep the languages separate improves perception.
The benefits aren’t only for people who grow up bilingual, however. Anyone who learns a second language during their lifetime will have certain advantages. For one, Swedish scientists found that the brain grows during language learning, particularly the area where memories are created.
Not only does the brain grow, but language learners also improve in many areas. They are good at multitasking while paying detailed attention to each task. Additionally they strengthen their math skills, listening skills, ability to focus, problem-solving skills, reading and vocabulary in their native language, and their memory increases. In the area of math, a study done at the University of Washington shows that bilinguals solve new math problems half a second faster than monolinguals.
Language learning also has huge benefits for old age. Brian Gold of the University of Kentucky did a study comparing the ability of bilingual seniors and monolingual seniors to do an attention-switching task. Usually this skill fails with age. However the bilingual seniors performed better than the monolinguals, and their brains worked less hard and more efficiently.
Neuroscientists (神经系统科学家) think that having more brainpower at an older age helps protect us from Alzheimer’s. Current medication for Alzheimer’s only delays it for 6-12 months, while learning a new language delays it for 4-5 years. Again, this is not only for people who learn a second language from birth. Even if you don’t learn another language until after middle age it helps. Language learning keeps your brain active and “fit”.
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.
Each of us has a time of the day when we’re at our best. For some, it’s the morning, and for others, the afternoon or evening. These times relate to what scientists call our circadian clock (生物钟). 1.
The research is the work of two authors, Aaron Schirmer and Benjamin Smarr. The pair used data from a university computer system to study the rhythms and activities of 15,000 students at Northeastern Illinois University between 2014 and 2016. They studied the data to see if there was a connection between the students’ schedules, their natural circadian clocks and their school performance.
2. But if students’ clock doesn’t agree with the rest of their lives, their performance was likely to suffer.
According to the study, those students who suffered from a mismatch underwent a kind of “social jet lag（时差）”. For example, some students performed best at night and therefore chose to study in the evening. But if those students had an early morning class, they often felt tired from late night studying and didn’t get the most out of the class. They might then go on to get a lower grade for exams and coursework. 3.
The authors say mismatches between a student’s schedule and circadian clock can have a harmful effect, and not just in terms of academic performance. Social jet lag can also be bad for students’ health.
The authors don’t claim their study proves anything, but they do say that it provides food for thought for school administrators, who might like to think about special ways to help students who suffer on account of their schedules. 4.
A.In addition, the findings alerted parents to their children’s sleeping patterns.
B.The study found that the closer a student’s schedule and their circadian clock, the better their grades were.
C.All students in the study suffered some degree of social jet lag, but late-night studiers suffered the most.
D.The clock genes create circadian rhythms in the body, which help control the timing of a variety of biological changes.
E.The findings could also help everyone to be aware, and hopefully take advantage, of their own biological rhythms to lead a healthy life.
F.Now, a new study suggests that the relationship between students’ circadian clocks and their study schedules can have a big effect on their grades.
It’s never easy to admit the mistakes you make, but doing so is an important step toward moving forward.
National Geographic magazine recently published an article with the title “For decades, our coverage was racist. To rise above our past, we must acknowledge it.” It was written by the magazine’s editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg, the first woman and first Jewish person to hold the position. National Geographic has acknowledged that its coverage of the black and racial minorities in America and the wider world has been historically racist, frequently promoting caricatures of the “noble savage” and barely featuring the US’s minority population.
According to Goldberg, the 130-year-old publication’s April issue “explores how race defines, separates, and unites us”. In honor of 50 years since the killing of Martin Luther King, who is known for fighting racial inequality in the US, the issue is devoted to race.
The publication republished a number of examples of historical racism in its coverage. One 1916 article about Australia included a photo of two Indigenous Australians with the wording: “South Australian Blackfellows: These savages rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings.”
To review its previous coverage of race, Goldberg asked University of Virginia historian John Edwin Mason to look back at the magazine’s text, choice of subjects, and photography of people of color from the US and abroad. “Until the 1970s, National Geographic all but ignored people of color who lived in the United States, rarely acknowledging them beyond laborer or domestic workers,” Goldberg wrote about Mason’s findings. “Meanwhile, it pictured ‘natives’ elsewhere as exotics, famously and frequently unclothed happy hunters, noble savages.”
Mason also found that the magazine often ran photos of “uncivilized” natives amazed by “civilized” Western technology.
In recent years, however, the magazine has improved. For example, in a 2015 project, National Geographic gave cameras to young people in the Caribbean country of Haiti and asked them to shoot pictures of their everyday lives.
“The coverage wasn’t right before, because it was told from a white American point of view, and I think it speaks to exactly why we needed a variety of storytellers,” Goldberg told the Associated Press.
National Geographic’s look at its past also inspired other media organizations to revisit their own historical coverage of race. The New York Times admitted that most of its obituaries(讣告) were about the lives of white men, and has started publishing obituaries of famous women in a special section titled “Overlooked”. After all, recognizing overlooked mistakes is what makes us grow.
1.The April issue of National Geographic magazine is special because ______.
A.readers can see Mason’s investigation report in this issue
B.it is released to mark National Geographic’s 130th anniversary
C.it focuses on the issue of race in memory of Martin Luther King
D.it is the first issue since Susan Goldberg became the editor-in-chief
2.Which of the following may prove National Geographic’s coverage was racist?
A.It often pictured coloured people with decent jobs.
B.Natives were often presented as undressed happy hunters.
C.It asked ordinary people to shoot pictures of their daily lives.
D.It only featured minority groups in America but overlooked others.
3.What can we learn about the National Geographic?
A.It used to tell stories from the perspective of a white Jewish woman.
B.The overall image of natives in it was brave, intelligent but uncivilized.
C.Its texts and choice of subjects were diverse and had no racial prejudice.
D.It inspired other media organizations to reflect on their coverage of race.
4.According to the writer, acknowledging the mistakes may .
A.spoil the image of the world famous magazine
B.remove racial discrimination around the world
C.help the magazine to move forward and grow better
D.discourage the editors from reporting bravely and honestly
