When there’s a heat wave, ocean temperatures rise. That heat causes coral reefs (珊瑚礁) to lose their color, which shows the corals are dying. Fish then leave, and without the fish activity, reefs fall silent. A new study finds playing the sounds of a healthy reef can attract fish back to dead or dying areas. Indeed, those sounds could help bring a reef back to life.

Tim Gordon, a biologist at the University of Exeter in England, studies the effect of sound on sea animals. He and his research group “felt surprised at so many different sounds you can hear on a healthy reef”. They were shocked by how quiet the reefs became as they died. That got them wondering: Could sound help renew dying reefs by attracting fish?

So Gordon used pieces of dead coral to create small patches (小块) of reefs along the Great Barrier Reef. He placed them at least 25 meters from each other and from other reefs. Gordon left eleven patches alone. These served as his controls. He set up a loudspeaker around another eleven patches. The speakers played healthy reef sounds. The last eleven patches served as a different type of control. They got a set-up that looked like the loudspeaker but played no sound.

Fish arrived at all three types of patches. But they showed up more quickly at the ones that had sound. Besides, those small reefs ended up with twice as many fish by the end of the experiment. Reefs with sound also had more species overall. Gordon found no difference between the two types of controls. It was sound, not the speaker set-up , that had attracted the extra fish. Playing healthy reef sounds adds another powerful tool to restore our reefs, Gordon says.

1.What has led to the death of coral reefs?

A.Too many fish. B.Noise pollution.

C.Loss of their color. D.High ocean temperatures.

2.What is the purpose of the second paragraph?

A.To introduce sounds of a healthy reef. B.To raise doubts about dying coral reefs.

C.To explain the reason for the new study. D.To show the positive effect of fish on corals.

3.What did Gordon and his team do in their study?

A.They played healthy reef sounds for two groups of patches.

B.They created 33 patches with the collected pieces of dead coral.

C.They set up a loudspeaker around all the patches of dead coral.

D.They played sounds to attract fish to approach all the patches.

4.What is the main idea of the text?

A.Healthy coral reef sounds attract fish back to dead reefs.

B.Dead coral reefs are especially dependent on healthy sounds.

C.The speaker set-ups of coral reefs are attractive to most fish.

D.Underwater speakers may remind coral reefs of possible threats.

    My mom was a beauty who seldom spent time and money on her physical appearance—especially in terms of fancy clothes or hairstyles. She just kept beautiful in her way： rest, water, exercise, vegetables and laughter.

My mom would tell me her father had her run his little corner store from the age of ten. She saw poor people come in, looking for food and making hard choices, like meat or cheese. She took their coins with an eye on the bottom line. It was up to her to ensure the register balanced at the end of the day. So from a young age, my mom had her mind conditioned about money.

However, my mom had one weakness： diamonds. In 1958, my teenage dad gave her a diamond chip as an engagement（订婚）ring, which she proudly wore until she saved enough for an “upgrade". By then, she was in her thirties. Over the years, my mom also acquired other diamond pieces like earrings. Mom wore them proudly and she simply loved the way her diamonds sparkled（闪耀）.

On my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, I treated them to dinner at a restaurant. It made her happy, but Mom had her eye on a big diamond to mark the occasion. My dad found her a six-carat（克拉）one. Mom said each carat represented a decade that she loved my dad, plus one to grow on. For the next six years, she never took it off her finger.

Knowing how my mom loved that diamond made it more special when she left it to me. After wearing it on my hand for a year, I decided to set it into a necklace where it'd be closer to my heart. It reminds me of my mom every day, no matter what I'm doing, and it speaks to me in unique ways.

1.What can we know about Mom?

A.She spent much on her makeup. B.She was a vain beautiful woman.

C.She kept beautiful in a natural way. D.She was proud of her appearance.

2.What made Mom careful about spending money?

A.The words of neighbors.

B.Her life in a poor family.

C.The choice of the poor people.

D.Her experience in her father's store.

3.Mom most probably thinks of the diamonds as a sign of_____ .

A.luck B.love C.status D.wealth

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Mother's Love for Diamonds B.Love Between Mother and Daughter

C.Memories of Beautiful Diamonds D.Strong Love for a Determined Mother

Online Event：What Happened at the Big Bang（爆炸）？

Over the past few decades, we've made unbelievable discoveries about how our universe developed over the past 13. 8 billion years. But we still know very little about what happened in the first seconds after the big bang.

In the latest New Scientist online event, the speaker Dan Hooper will examine how physicists are using experiments to re-create the conditions of the big bang, and to deal with mysteries like how our universe came to contain so much matter and so little antimatter.

•Early bird ticket offer £ 12, and your ticket includes:

—Live lecture lasting 40 minutes

—Question & Answer with Dan Hooper

—On-demand access to a recording of the lecture and Q & A, available（可得到的）to watch for 12 months —An additional 40-minute physics lecture

● About the speaker:

Dan Hooper is a senior scientist and the head of the theoretical astrophysics group at the Fermi National Accelerator Lab, as well as a professor of the University of Chicago. He is especially interested in questions about dark matter and the early universe.

●Event information:

This online event will start at 6 pm on Thursday, July 9 and will last for about one hour. Access to a recording of the event will be available from July 10 to ticket buyers for the 12 months following the live event.

●Booking information:

Tickets are only refundable（可退还的）if New Scientist stops this event. New Scientist Ltd has the right to change the event and its arrangement, or stop the event. Tickets are only available in advance through New Scientist website.

1.What benefit can the ticket buyers enjoy?

A.Interviewing the speaker face to face.

B.Taking someone else to attend the lecture.

C.Getting a video tape of a 40-minute physics lecture.

D.Watching a recording of the event within one year.

2.What can we know about Dan Hooper?

A.He works at a university.

B.He is a world-famous writer.

C.He is the head of New Scientist Ltd.

D.His study focuses on questions about online events.

3.What do you have to do if you want to attend the event?

A.Get in touch with Hooper. B.Buy a ticket ahead of time.

C.Arrive before 6 pm on the day. D.Get permission from the organizer.

阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

续写的词数应为150左右。

I woke at 5:30 A.M. after a restless night’s sleep. I slowly unzipped the tent door to inspect the new day. Just like yesterday, the wind had dropped. It was another beautiful Arctic day. I crawled out of my sleeping bag unwillingly. I am normally a morning person but the intense cold outside made that morning most unappealing. Anyhow, it was time to greet Charlie and start the day.

My dog Charlie was up and it was bouncing up and down at the end of his chain looking well rested. I poured what looked like a pound of dog food into his bowl.

Stepping out of the tent, I looked around for bears or tracks and saw none. It would never be a good thing to meet a polar bear. An Inuit (因纽特人) once told me that I should watch out for polar bears. He said that if I met a polar bear, I should keep the following rules in mind. First, keep eye contact, move sideways or slightly forward, never backward, stay calm. Do not show fear and stand beside a large object to make myself appear as large as possible. Weapons like flare gun(信号枪) are necessary, but do not shoot unless forced to. Don’t wound a bear, or you'll make it even more dangerous, and never run.

It was only six o’clock, so I decided to have a leisurely breakfast of a bowl of milk powder, coconut flakes, and butter mixed with warm water. I sat on my sled（雪橇） to enjoy my first breakfast of the expedition only to find that after the third spoonful it was frozen. So much for leisurely breakfasts! I added more warm water and ate the rest as fast as possible.

Suddenly I heard a deep, long growl coming from Charlie’s throat. In a flash I looked at him and then in the direction in which he was staring. It was a female polar bear followed by two cubs（幼崽） slowly, purposefully, toward me. They were two hundred yards away.

Paragraph 1:

With my heart quickening, I grabbed my loaded flare gun and carefully walked sideways a few steps to Charlie.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2:

The whole event lasted fifteen minutes but seemed years long.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

假定你是李华，你的英国朋友James对中国敦煌艺术展很感兴趣，来信向你咨询。请你给他提供一些建议，内容包括：

1.参观前的准备；

2.邀请他来体验。

注意：1.词数80左右；

2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3.信的开头和结尾已为你写好。

Dear James,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

    As our Earth’s temperature warms up because of climate change, it is having unexpected effects on our world’s forests. When temperatures rise, trees close their skins to ___________ the loss of water, and this, in turn, slows down the ___________ of photosynthesis(光合作用). As a result, these trees are shorter and grow slowly, as well as have a ___________ death rate.

Climate change also increases the ___________ of droughts and wildfires. After wildfires, it takes a while for the forest systems to ___________ , and in some cases, the forests are ___________ permanently. Trees that are stressed are also ___________ to attacks by bacteria(细菌). In tropical forests, vines that use the trees as ___________ can often choke the trees and rob them of nutrients. Finally, humans have ___________ the forest landscape through logging. When trees are replanted on the soil, they will never grow as large as the ____________ trees that were cut down.

As these forests disappear, species that once called them “home” are forced to change, ____________ the variety of those systems. ____________ , some endangered species are unable to ____________ and die. Old-growth forests are disappearing in all regions of our world. When forests die, younger forests that are reestablished in the same area grow back weaker and smaller ____________ poor vegetation. With trees dying increasingly and continuously, will future generations ____________ out on the wonders of forests?

1.A.protect B.prevent C.save D.free

2.A.movement B.situation C.process D.operation

3.A.higher B.firmer C.lighter D.smaller

4.A.choice B.measure C.qualification D.chance

5.A.grow B.rescue C.recover D.decline

6.A.ignored B.lost C.hurt D.left

7.A.accessible B.enjoyable C.acceptable D.favorable

8.A.attention B.command C.trust D.support

9.A.frightened B.paid C.ruined D.wasted

10.A.common B.original C.distant D.strong

11.A.affecting B.improving C.forgetting D.reflecting

12.A.Besides B.Surprisingly C.Otherwise D.Unfortunately

13.A.devote B.keep C.adapt D.lead

14.A.due to B.in addition to C.instead of D.in spite of

15.A.pass B.miss C.break D.bring

    Being able to communicate effectively with others is an essential skill for people of all ages. 1. People who want to develop those skills can learn how to do this from self-help books, workshops, and from the advice of other people.

2. Active listening involves a person listening carefully and attentively to the person speaking, restating what the other person has said — or what comes across — in a brief and nonjudgmental manner. 3. Becoming effective at active listening is one way to increase trust and understanding in a relationship, whether it is a personal or professional one.

Another tip to developing and improving interpersonal communication skills is to use feedback for different types of communication. Before giving speeches and presentations, it is always well advised to practice them before an audience and to ask for feedback before giving the real speech or presentation. 4.

It also is essential in developing communication skills to use appropriate body language and eye contact. 5. For example, using direct eye contact and body language that indicates openness, such as uncrossed arms, can help to get across that a person is ready and willing to listen and to speak openly.

A.It is essential to learn how to communicate politely.

B.These nonverbal signals can convey the true feelings.

C.Most people can benefit from improving their communication skills.

D.Being active listening doesn’t mean people have to employ it continuously.

E.This kind of listening focuses more on understanding than on giving advice.

F.By doing so, we can ensure the messages are easily understood and come across as intended.

G.One of the best tips for developing communication skills is to learn and practice effective listening.

    Tell a child they need to experience another painful medical procedure, and you’ll probably have a kid filled with fear and anxiety. Tell that same child they’ll have a chance to strike flying cheeseburgers in outer space while their doctor works on them, and they might feel a little different.

That night-and-day difference in how kids respond to the treatment of their doctors is the reason for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford’s innovative use of virtual reality technology. Packard Children’s lets kids participate in experiences that can significantly reduce their anxiety — and even their pain.

This isn’t the first time Packard Children’s has introduced those innovative methods. In 2015, Thomas Caruso, M.D., the founder of Packard Children’s Childhood Anxiety Reduction through Innovation and Technology (CHARIOT) program, introduced the Bedside Entertainment and Relaxation Theater (BERT). The system projects videos on a large screen attached to patients’ gurneys(装有轮子的床) so they can watch movies and music videos all the way to the operating room. And in early 2017, CHARIOT launched an interactive video game called Sevo the Dragon, which projects on the BERT screen, so the tiniest patients have something fun to do while breathing medicine through a mask.

“Children shouldn’t grow up being afraid to go to the doctor to have a shot, but certain experiences can cause strong unreasonable fear that last into adulthood. Needle phobia(晕针) is a common example of that, and it is the primary reason adults avoid important immunizations(免疫) like flu shots.” Caruso told Stanford Medicine News Center.

VR distraction therapy is being used for kids at Packard Children’s as young as age 6 in specific areas like the emergency department, and the tool will be widely used in all of the Children’s Health’s surgery clinics by the end of 2020.

1.What is paragraph 1 mainly about?

A.Doctors’ favor of eating cheeseburgers.

B.Kids’ fear and anxiety towards doctors.

C.Doctors’ working on saving the children.

D.Kids’ different reactions to medical treatment.

2.What is the purpose of the CHARIOT program?

A.To ease the patients’ worries.

B.To introduce a new technology.

C.To help children to breathe medicine.

D.To show advertisements to the patients.

3.What does the underlined word “it” refer to in paragraph 4?

A.A kind of flu. B.The fear of needle for no reason.

C.The immune system. D.A kind of medicine for children.

4.The VR therapy offers __________ experiences to the patients.

A.disappointing B.conventional

C.relaxing D.unreasonable

    The British people have just discovered a new country. It’s called the UK! More and more people are choosing to take their holidays in their own country rather than travel abroad.

In the late 1970s, air travel became affordable for the average family in the UK, and more and more British people started travelling abroad for their summer holidays (July-August). After all, the British weather isn’t very good, even in summer, so a lot of Britons leave the UK for a vacation. Particularly popular with families on a budget is the “package holiday”, where the cost of flights and accommodation are offered as one discounted price by travel agents.

In the 1980s and 1990s, young people in the UK became more wealthy. As a result, the Club 18-30 holiday became popular. Young people started to go abroad in groups, to places such as Spain and Greece. Once at their destination, they socialised with other groups of young people and had one long party.

British holidaying habits have begun to change, however. Climate change means that the UK now has a warmer climate than before, so people don’t always feel they need to go overseas to find good weather. Also, the world seems a less certain place as interconnected economies rise and fall, which means that the cost of foreign holidays is less predictable than it used to be. As a result, more and more Britons are choosing to spend their summer holidays in the UK.

In recent years, British hotels in areas such as the English Lake District have seen a large increase in bookings. That rise is mainly owing to the British staying in their own country for their holidays. In addition, for some foreign tourists, the UK is a cheaper place to visit than previously because of changes in the value of the British pound.

The UK has always been famous for its international explorers, but now it is starting to discover itself.

1.What is the feature of the Club 18-30 holiday?

A.Young people went abroad with their family.

B.Young people got lots of money from their family.

C.Young people took part in social activities abroad.

D.Travel agents offered a better discount to young people.

2.Why do British people prefer domestic holidays now?

A.They are wealthier and more social.

B.The global weather is becoming predictable.

C.The UK is famous for its beautiful scenery.

D.The expense on foreign holidays is unsteady.

3.How is the text mainly organized?

A.In order of frequency. B.In order of time.

C.In order of space. D.In order of importance.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Holidays and Habits B.Weather and Scenery

C.Travels and Economies D.Package Holiday and Culture

    Every week, two converted blue buses packed with children’s books carefully drive along the streets of Kabul, avoiding areas where deadly explosions are common. These travelling libraries stop off at schools in different parts of the city, delivering a wealth of reading material directly to youngsters who have limited access to books.

“A lot of schools in our city don’t have access to something as basic as a library,” says Freshta Karim, a 27-year-old Oxford University graduate who was inspired to start Charmaghz, a non-profit organization, in her home city having grown up without many books herself. “We were trying to understand what we could do to promote critical thinking in our country.”

While for many people a bus or train journey presents a rare opportunity to get stuck into a book, in some cities public transport is being used as means of getting books to communities that need them most. Afghanistan, for example, has one of the world’s lowest literacy rates, with only three in 10 adults able to read, according to UNESCO. The majority of public schools in Kabul do not have libraries and the city’s libraries do not offer many children’s books. For Karim, buses were a cost-effective, efficient way to get books to children.

Charmarghz rents them from a state-owned bus company. “We go to nearby schools,” she says. “We try to stop inside communities rather than on the main streets where explosions often happen.”

The organization is funded by donations from local business and communities, and also rents a third bus that acts as a mobile cinema. Over 600 children visit the buses each day to read, socialise and play games. “They are often very excited,” she says. “Our biggest challenge is that so many children want to come inside the bus, but we can’t have all of them in one day.”

1.Why does Freshta Karim set up the organization?

A.To raise money for the poor. B.To recycle abandoned buses.

C.To build libraries for the local schools. D.To offer the children more reading opportunities.

2.What is special about Charmarghz?

A.It’s funded by UNESCO. B.It’s a state-owned organization.

C.It buys buses from a company. D.It aims to inspire critical thinking.

3.What is the most pressing problem for Charmarghz?

A.Deadly explosions. B.Poor public transport system.

C.Shortage of travelling libraries. D.Lack of support from the government.

4.Which of the following best describes Freshta Karim?

A.Caring and courageous. B.Humorous and ambitious.

C.Demanding and enthusiastic. D.Honest and hardworking.