On Wednesday afternoon, a handsome, wealthy attorney renowned for handling affluent clients came into the restaurant. At least that’s how Lawrence described himself to me in his intro. He was dressed in a sharp navy suit, white shirt and silk tie. He asked, “How long have you been waiting tables?”

Jokingly, I replied, “I’m new, so forgive me if your meal lands on your lap.”

He replied, quite sternly, “Don’t make excuses for your mistakes.” I thought he was joking, but his face lacked even the hint of a smile. In the same tone, he said, “Come to dinner with me Saturday night.”

I ignored his invitation, which seemed more like a demand, and asked, “How long have you been an attorney?”

“As long as I’ve wanted.”

Confused and curious, I prodded: “What kind of answer is that?”

“The only one you’re going to get.” Lawrence placed his order: filet mignon, green beans instead of broccoli. Staring at me straight-faced, he added, “I’ll have bottled water. Tap is for the waitstaff.”

As soon as I brought his food to the table, he took his fork and inspected the filet. “Saturday night I’ll take you to a restaurant that makes this one look like fast food.”

“I enjoy fast food; it’s unpretentious,” I responded. “Besides, I haven’t agreed to any date.”

After he asked for the bill, I carefully removed his glass, plate and utensils, trying not to drop anything on him or the floor. As I cleared the table, he asked, “So, are we on for this weekend?”

Something about him was intriguing. So as not to appear too eager, I replied with a tentative, “I guess so.”

Phone in hand, he asked, “What’s your name and number? I’ll call for your address.”

I took out my phone and said, “First, you tell me yours.”

He paid with cash, and instead of a tip, left a note stating he would make it up to me on Saturday night.

He waited until Saturday morning before calling to ask for my address. I told him to park in the upper tier of the parking garage next to my apartment building.

“Why can’t I just pick you up at your apartment?” he asked.

“I don’t know you well enough for that. Is that a problem?”

“No, but it’s weird.”

“Not to me.”

“OK, I’ll meet you there. Do you have any nice clothes to wear?”

“Lawrence, you better shape up before tonight, or this date isn’t going to take off. I look good in anything.”

“OK, OK, calm down.”

I arrived early, and the adrenaline was rushing through my veins as I waited for Lawrence in the parking garage. The minutes passed slowly until I heard the sound of a car engine approaching from below.

Lawrence had arrived in a black stretch limousine.

Waiting for Lawrence were three FBI agents-colleagues of mine-with cameras. Lawrence wasn’t an attorney; he was an unemployed jewelry store employee who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise. His ex-fiancée went to the police after he broke off their engagement. But her story hadn’t been enough; we needed evidence.

I ran the prints from Lawrence’s glass and utensils- they matched perfectly with the ones found in the store’s safe. In the trunk of the limo, Lawrence had suitcases packed for a getaway. Hidden inside one was a small sack of jewels: rubies, diamonds, pearls, sapphires and emeralds.

As I walked towards the limo, I heard Lawrence pleading, “Please, I needed the money to pay bills!”

I yelled back, “Don’t make excuses for your mistakes!”

1.What did the author think of Lawrence’s introduction?

A.Convincing. B.Unbelieving.

C.Ambiguous. D.Joking.

2.What does the underlined word “sternly” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A.Stubbornly. B.Seriously.

C.Friendly. D.Lively.

3.The author ignored Lawrence’s invitation because _______?

A.she didn’t want to be connected with him.

B.she thought him to be distant.

C.he wasn’t the man she had affection for.

D.she wanted to trick him into giving himself away.

4.Why did the author “carefully removed his glass, plate and utensils”?

A.To avoid embarrassment. B.Not to land anything on his lap.

C.To get the evidence for his crime. D.Not to break them.

5.Which of the following words can be used to describe “I” in the passage?

A.Kind and friendly. B.Easygoing and clever.

C.Distant and cautious. D.Brave and wise.

6.What is the best title for the passage?

A.Familiar words. B.A thief.

C.A mistake. D.A story of a famous attorney.

    Pinocchio may be just a children's fairy tale, but Spanish scientists at the University of Granada recently investigated the so-called ''Pinocchio effect'' and found that our noses don't grow when we tell a lie, but actually shrink a bit.

Dr. Emilio Gómez Milán and his team developed a lie detector test that used thermography to tell if people were lying, and found that whenever participants in their research were being untruthful, the temperature of the tips of their noses dropped up to 1.2℃, while the temperature of their forehead increased up to 1.5℃. Scientists also found that drop in temperature at nose level actually caused it to slightly shrink, although the difference is undetected by the human eye.

''One has to think in order to lie, which rises the temperature of the forehead, '' Dr. Gomez Milan explained the findings. ''At the same time we feel anxious, which lowers the temperature of the nose. ''

For this study, researchers asked a number of 60 students to perform various tasks while being scanned by thermal imaging technology. One of these tasks involved calling a 3 to 4 minutes call to their parents, partner or a friend and telling a significant lie. Participants had to devise the lie by themselves during the call, and the thermal cameras picked up this ''reverse Pinocchio effect'' caused by the fluctuation (起伏) in temperature in the nose and forehead.

Interestingly, the thermal lie doctor picked up the temperature difference in 80 percent of test subjects, which is a better rate of success than that of any modern lie doctor.

''With this method we have achieved to increase accuracy and reduce the occurrence of 'false positives', something that is frequently with other methods such as the polygraph (测谎仪) , '' said Dr. Emilio Gómez Milán, who added that law enforcement interviewers could one day combine other lie detection technology with thermal imaging to achieve better results.

The thermal lie doctor has been the most reliable in the world, 10% more than the popular polygraph.

1.Why does the author mention ''Pinocchio'' at the beginning?

A.To tell a fairy story B.To warn us not to lie.

C.To introduce a research. D.To inspire us to doubt old beliefs.

2.According to the research, what might happen if you tell a lie?

A.Your nose gets longer.

B.Your nose becomes smaller.

C.Your temperature gets higher.

D.Your temperature remains stable.

3.What can we learn about the research?

A.Researchers conduct the study by interviewing.

B.Researchers design difference lies for participants.

C.The thermal lie detector will prove a popular one.

D.The thermal lie doctor may assist law enforcement.

4.Which might be the best title for the passage?

A.Will lie detectors tell the truth?

B.Will lying make your nose longer?

C.Will lying make your temperature rise?

D.Will thermal imaging technology be reliable?

    If plastic had been invented when the Pilgrims (清教徒移民) sailed from Plymouth, England, to North America and the Mayflower had been stocked with bottled water and plastic-wrapped snacks, their plastic waste would likely still be around, four centuries later. If the Pilgrims had been like many people today and had simply thrown their empty bottles and wrappers over the side, Atlantic waves and sunlight would have worn all that plastic into tiny bits. And those bits might still be floating around the world’s oceans today, waiting to be eaten by unfortunate fish, and eventually perhaps by one of us.

Because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a shocking 6.3 billion tons never made it to recycling facilities.

No one knows how much unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth’s last sink. In 2015, Jenna Jambeck, a university of Georgia engineering professor, caught everyone’s attention with a rough estimate: between 5.3 million and 14 million tons each year just from coastal regions. Most of it isn’t thrown off ships, she and her colleagues say, but is dumped carelessly on land or in rivers, mostly in Asia. It’s then blown or washed into the sea. It’s unclear how long it will take for that plastic to completely biodegrade (降解). Estimates range from 450 years to never.

Meanwhile, ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly-strangled (勒死) by abandoned fishing nets. Many more are probably harmed invisibly. Marine species of all sizes, from fish to whale, now eat microplastics, the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across. On Hawaii’s Big Island, on a beach to which no paved road, I walked ankle-deep through mocroplastics. After that, I could understand why some people see ocean plastic as an approaching disaster, worth mentioning in the same breath as climate change.

And yet there’s a key difference: Ocean plastic is not as complicated as climate change. There are no mean waste deniers (否认者), at least so far. To do something about it, we have to remake our planet’s entire energy system.

“This isn’t a problem where we don’t know what the solution is,” says Jambeck. “We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle.” It’s a matter of building the necessary institutions and systems, she says--ideally before the ocean tums, for centuries to come, into a thin soup of plastic.

1.In the first paragraph the author emphasizes the fact that ______.

A.British people migrated to America four centuries ago

B.people have kept doing research in plastic for four centuries

C.there was no plastic pollution four centuries ago

D.plastic waste would remain in the ocean for four centuries

2.How are marine animals harmed invisibly by ocean plastic?

A.They eat microplastics.

B.They drown in microplastics.

C.They are coated with waste plastic bags.

D.They are struggling in abandoned plastic nets.

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.People all agree reducing plastic production is the solution.

B.People tend to agree plastic waste has caused ocean plastic.

C.It has been scheduled to reverse the trend of climate change.

D.It has been scheduled to reverse the trend of ocean plastic.

Twin Cities Campus · Office of Admissions

240 Williamson Hall · 231 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Dear Blair Connie,

Congratulations! You have been admitted to the University of Minnesota (U of M) Twin Cities. Your college of admission is the College of Science and Engineering.

We believe your accomplishments have prepared you well to thrive here. When you step on campus as a Golden Gopher, you will be involved in our world-class academic programs and will shape your future in cutting-edge facilities.

Choose a community bursting with Gopher pride. By choosing the U of M, you choose to work with classmates and professors who are “Driven to Discover.” When you choose the U of M, you will...

■Discover exceptional academics. With thousands of courses to pick from each semester, you can engage with professors who are leaders in their fields and make meaningful connections with your fellow students in our technology-packed active learning classrooms.

■Discover unique opportunities. At the U of M, your college experience goes beyond the classroom. Your knowledge and talents can shine in one of our 900+ student organizations.

■Discover an ideal location. Campus is in the center of Minneapolis and St. Paul, where you can work as trainees at one of the 18 Fortune 500 companies or thousands of startups and nonprofits in the Twin Cities.

■Discover great value. The U of M is committed to four-year graduation, which lowers your costs and gets you an internationally recognized degree sooner. The University has been named “best value” by Forbes, Princeton Review, and Kiplinger’s.

On behalf of the U of M, we are honored to have you join our academic community. In the coming weeks you will receive additional information about your next steps to becoming a U of M student. Welcome to the Class of 2024!

Executive Director of Admissions

Sincerely

Heidi Meyer

1.What does the underlined phrase “a Golden Gopher” refer to?

A.A freshman. B.A professor. C.An amateur. D.An inspector.

2.Which of the following is the benefit of choosing the U of M?

A.The university invites leaders in different fields to teach on campus.

B.There are numerous clubs which offer students various activities.

C.It is so ideally located that you have easy access to famous top brands.

D.Many magazines rank it among the top universities with high tuition.

    Nowak has been running her own lawn care business since she was 12 years old. The income from that job put her through two years at a_______ college in her hometown of Cheyenne.

But in the fall, when she _______  to the University of Wyoming for a bachelor’s in business and marketing, she discovered her seasonal_______ wouldn’t go as far. In Cheyenne, tuition (学费) was low and Nowak lived with her parents. In Laramie, tuition went up and there was _______ to pay. She had to take a second_______, helping other students write resumes.

Nowak’s parents _______  her decision to go to college but couldn’t support her _________, so she’s been paying for it on her own. She’s _______  of her ability to take care of herself, but she knows she’s _______. She sees how easy it is for friends who don’t work to get ________with student clubs and networking opportunities-things she ________ to find the time for. If she didn’t have to work, she would have a college________ like other students.

A state-funded scholarship would have ________ her out. High schoolers have to meet certain    ACT requirements to ________  for it. She heard about it in eighth grade, but it didn’t __________  again  until she was applying to community college. And that was too __________  to bring her ACT score up by the two points to get the most out of it.

Despite all the________, Nowak is right where she needs to be. She still received the scholarship, but a lesser __________. With her struggle through and determination, she’s __________  to graduate next year. Eventually, she’d like to use her degree to________ her lawn care business.

1.A.royal B.senior C.private D.community

2.A.adjusted B.travelled C.objected D.transferred

3.A.earnings B.factors C.changes D.harvests

4.A.tax B.rent C.loan D.debt

5.A.job B.look C.place D.chance

6.A.judged B.backed C.doubted D.abolished

7.A.academically B.mentally C.financially D.socially

8.A.careful B.worthy C.afraid D.proud

9.A.missing out B.working on C.standing by D.running off

10.A.confused B.informed C.involved D.pleased

11.A.happens B.struggles C.promises D.demands

12.A.admission B.degree C.background D.experience

13.A.sought B.wore C.allowed D.helped

14.A.qualify B.account C.enquire D.provide

15.A.give up B.go up C.come up D.clear up

16.A.late B.rare C.serious D.popular

17.A.challenges B.experiments C.discoveries D.priorities

18.A.capital B.amount C.avenue D.charge

19.A.on trial B.on edge C.on board D.on track

20.A.launch B.defend C.expand D.contact

Some teenagers have independent tastes, but most tend to _______.

A.lose their heads B.spill the beans C.swim with the tide D.mend their ways

—Gosh, I feel I have messed up my whole life.

—Cheer up. Things will _______.

A.hold out B.work out C.stand out D.set out

The president must have received the result of medical research by the time the disease spread widely, _______?

A.hasn’t he B.mustn’t he C.hadn’t he D.didn’t he

The entire country was _______ with grief for the eighteen firefighters and one guide who were killed in Liangshan mountain fire.

A.accumulated B.distributed C.spoiled D.overcome

_______ to building a community with a shared future for mankind is China, which has provided generous support and assistance.

A.Dedicating B.Dedicated C.Being dedicated D.Having dedicated