Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.

1.不可否认的是他用这个靠谱的方法扭转了局势。(apply)  3’

2.大家都想当然认为英雄都是流血不流泪的，其实不然。(granted)  4’

3.他的父母达成共识，要提醒他适度使用电子产品，不要沉迷于网络游戏。(obsess) 4’

4.我们不仅在被他人质疑时要坚持自己的原则，在遭受他人歧视时也不要觉得低人一等。(Not only) 4’

5.虽然专家建议保持社交距离，美国政府却始终把重点放在复苏经济和刺激就业上，因此未能有效防止病毒的传播。(despite, failure) 5’

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

Imagine living on the edge of a vast desert, which is moving quietly closer to your village every day and covering your fields. The desert is on the move. This is called desertification.

Desertification occurs in regions close to an already existing desert. It generally arises from two related causes. The first is over-use of water in the area. There is not enough water in any case, and if it is not carefully used, disaster can follow. As time goes on, water shortages make farming more and more difficult. In some places, locals can remember local lakes and marshes which were once the homes for all kinds of fish and birds. They have been completely buried by the sand now. Farmers leave the land, and fields are replaced by deserts.

The second cause is misuse or over-use of the land. This means that the wrong crops are planted and need more water than is available. Ploughing large fields and removing bushes and trees means that the wind will blow away the soil. Once the soil is lost, it is hard to replace, and if there is rain, it has nowhere to go, and brings no benefit.

It is not only the farmers and villagers who suffer. Every spring, the skies over some of eastern cities, thousands of kilometers away from the deserts, can be darkened by sandstorms. Dust from deserts can have a great effect on weather systems. While desertification is perhaps being partly caused by global warming, these sandstorms can make global warming worse by adding to what is known as the greenhouse effect.

What can be done to slow down or stop the process of desertification? A great deal of work is already under way. Obviously first steps are to find new water sources. Tree planting can help, by providing barriers between desert and rich field. Some types of grass also hold the soil together, and stop the wind taking it. Without these efforts, it will be harder and harder to stop the world’s deserts in their tracks, and more and more farmers will give up and head for cities. The lesson to be learnt lies beneath the sand.

Directions: Read the following 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.

Almost 90% of people are biased against women, according to a new index that highlights the ‘shocking’ extent of the global backlash towards gender equality.

Despite progress in closing the equality gap, 91% of men and 86% of women hold at least one bias against women in relation to politics, economics, education, violence or reproductive rights.

The first gender social norm index analyzed data from 75 countries that, collectively, are home to more than 80% of the global population. It found that almost half of the people surveyed felt men were superior political leaders and that more than 40% believed men made better business executives. 1..

The U.N. Development Program (U.N.D.P.), which published its findings on March 5, is calling on governments to introduce laws and policies that address deep-rooted prejudice.

‘We all know we live in a male-dominated world, but with this report, we are able to put some numbers behind these biases,’ said Pedro Conceição, director of the U.N.D.P.’s human development report office. ‘And I consider these numbers shocking. What our report shows is a pattern that repeats itself again and again. 2., but when we go deeper, we seem to be hitting a wall.’

3.. While in many countries, these biases were shrinking, in many others, the biases were actually increasing, he pointed out.

The figures are based on two sets of data collected from almost 100 countries through the World Values Survey, which examines changing attitudes in almost 100 countries and how they impact on social and political life. The figures cover periods from 2005-09 and 2010-14, the latest year for which data is available.

4.. But while more than 50% of people in Andorra, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden were free from gender prejudice, even in those places the pattern was not one of complete progress.

Sweden, for example, was one of several countries in which the percentage of people who held at least one bias increased over the nine years the data covered. More than half of the people in the U.K. and the U.S. held at least one bias.

A.Of the 75 countries studied, there were only six in which the majority of the people surveyed held no bias towards women.

B.Conceição said the data shows that opinions and expectations in society about the role of women were prejudiced against them.

C.Conceição pointed out that gender discrimination is increasingly destroy the social welfare in many aspects.

D.Perhaps more alarmingly, almost a third of men and women think it’s acceptable for a man to beat his wife.

E.The figures serve as a warning towards the social mechanism of developed countries.

F.Big progress has been made in more basic areas of participation and empowerment.

    “I have slept on the Embankment (河堤),” wrote George Orwell in 1933, adding that, despite the noise and the wet and the cold, it was “much better than not sleeping at all.” Under the nearby Charing Cross bridge, Orwell reported that “50 men were waiting, mirrored in the shivering puddles.” Nine decades on and Charing Cross and the Embankment are once again full of rough sleepers, even during the coldest days of December. Across London their numbers have more than tripled since 2010.

It is a pattern found in much of the rich world. Almost every European country is seeing a rise in the number of homeless people. Homelessness across America is in decline, but it is soaring in its most prosperous cities. And roughly 5,000 people live on the streets of San Francisco, a 19% rise in just two years.

However, some rich, successful cities, including Tokyo and Munich, have few people living on the streets. These places offer lessons on how to reduce homelessness. One is that tough love can sometimes work. Conservatives argue that softer policing methods in the 1970s, including not being strict to public drunkenness, were in part responsible for the rise in homelessness. The world could learn something from Greece, where strong family networks ensure that those down on their luck find someone to take them in. Many experts argue that it is counterproductive to give money to someone begging on the street.

Yet stricter methods will ultimately do little if housing costs remain high, which is the underlying reason for rising homelessness. Few Americans lived on the streets in the early post-war period because housing was cheaper. Back then only one in four tenants spent more than 30% of their income on rent, compared with one in two today. The best evidence suggests that a 10% rise in housing costs in a pricy city causes an 8% jump in homelessness.

The state can do something to help. Cuts to rent subsidies for Britain’s poor are probably the biggest reason why Charing Cross has so many people sleeping on the streets once again. Making such subsidies more generous might actually save governments money in the medium term — after all, demands on health-care services and the police would decline. People would also be more likely to land a job.

Another option is for the state to build more housing itself. In Singapore, 80% of residents live in government-built flats which they buy at knock-down prices. While many countries have been privatizing their stock of public housing, Finland has been building more of it, giving the government the necessities to put homeless people in their own apartments rather than warehousing them in shelters. In Finland the homeless numbers are moving in the right direction.

The most effective reform, however, would be to make building more homes easier. In many countries NIMBYist (邻避主义者) planning rules vastly inflate the market price of shelter. Such rules should be abolished. Japan loosened planning rules, prompting residential construction to jump. Since then, the number of rough sleepers has fallen by 80% in 20 years in Tokyo. Until cities elsewhere let the buildings go up, more people will find themselves down and out.

1.The writer quotes the words of George Orwell in Paragraph 1 to __________.

A.describe the poor situation of the homeless in 1933.

B.emphasize the large number of the rough sleepers.

C.unveil the difficulty of solving the problem of the homeless.

D.introduce the current problem of homelessness in the rich world.

2.Which of the following is the main reason for rising number of the homeless?

A.prosperity of the rich world. B.generosity towards the homeless.

C.outrageous housing cost. D.privatization of the public housing.

3.Which of the following is Not True, according to this passage?

A.In Finland and Singapore, the number of the homeless was reduced by building more public housing and apartments.

B.Greece prioritized offering tough love over giving money directly to the beggars to comfort them.

C.NIMBYist supported the government to abolish the inappropriate housing rules and make building more houses easier.

D.British government’s cutting the rent subsidies for the poor contributes to the increasing number of the rough sleepers.

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A.Reasons for the rising homeless in the rich world.

B.Ways to cut homelessness in the world’s priciest cities.

C.Different reaction of different countries towards the homeless.

D.Comparison of the housing cost in impoverished and rich countries.

    Mental illness and disability were family problems for English people living between 1660 and 1800. Most women and men who suffered from mental illness were not institutionalized as this was the period before the extensive building of mental hospitals. Instead, they were housed at home, and cared for by other family members.

Now a new study by Cambridge historian Dr. Elizabeth Foyster will reveal the impact on families of caring for mentally ill and disabled relatives.

Much has been written about the insane themselves but few studies have considered mental illness from the perspective of the carers. The lifetime burden of caring for those individuals whose mental development did not progress beyond childhood, and who contemporaries labeled as ‘idiots’ or ‘fools’, has been little explored by historians. Foyster’s research, which has been funded by the Leverhulme Trust, will carefully examine the emotional and economic consequences for families at a time when the Poor Law bound them to look after their mentally ill and disabled family members.

By asking key questions about the impact of ‘care in the community’ in the 18th century, Foyster hopes that her research will bridge social and medical history. Specifically, she aims to provide an historical perspective for contemporary debates such as how resources can be stretched to provide for children with learning difficulties and an aging population.

“The stresses and strains of family were worsened by high infant mortality and low life expectancy, and many individuals were pushed towards mental breakdown,” she explained. “Moreover, inherited conditions, senility(高龄) and what today would be described as ‘special needs’ could put great emotional demands on family members who had primary responsibility for their sick or disabled relatives.”

The research will shed light upon how caring for the mentally ill and disabled raised difficult issues for families about the limits of intergenerational responsibility, and whether family ties were weakened or strengthened by the experience. The questions of how far shame was attached to having insanity or idiocy within a family, and at what point families began to seek outside help, will also be addressed.

“The family must have seemed an inescapable feature of daily life between 1660 and 1800,” said Foyster. “Although there were those who were abandoned and rejected, for the majority, mental disability was accommodated within the family unit. I aim to get to the heart of what this really meant for people’s lives.”

1.Which is NOT the reason why those mentally ill and disabled were not institutionalized from 1660 to 1800?

A.Mental illness and disability were family problems then.

B.The extensive building of mental hospitals didn’t start yet.

C.They were abandoned by the government and the family.

D.The family would be found guilty if they didn’t care for them.

2.Why does Foyster want to carry out this study?

A.Because it can provide some food for thought for some current social issues.

B.Because the stresses and strains of family life have driven many people crazy.

C.Because she’s looking for ways to communicate with the sick or disabled people.

D.Because the limits of intergenerational responsibility in such families, interest her.

3.Which question will NOT be studied in the research?

A.How should resources today be stretched to provide for an aging population?

B.How did caring for the sick and disabled affect the family’s earning power?

C.How shameful did a family feel when their insane or disabled relatives were found out?

D.At what point did those families have to begin to look for outside help?

4.The passage is written in order to ________.

A.reveal the impact on families of caring for mentally ill and disabled relatives

B.provide an historical perspective to contemporary debates

C.shed light upon whether family ties were weakened or strengthened

D.introduce a new historical study carried out by a Cambridge historian

    Kobe Bryant was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash on 26, Jan. 2019. He was 41. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also killed in the crash. Bryant was one of the greatest NBA players of all-time and an icon in the sports world. In addition to his success on the basketball court, Bryant was known for a ceaseless work ethic and incredible drive.

In honor of Bryant’s legacy, here are some inspiring quotes from Bryant on hard work, success, and life.

On achieving success:

“When you make a choice and say, ‘Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,’ then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that ... when that moment comes, of course it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time.”

On failure:

“I don’t mean to sound cavalier when I say that, but never. It’s basketball. I’ve practiced and practiced and played so many times. There’s nothing truly to be afraid of, when you think about it ... Because I’ve failed before, and I woke up the next morning, and I’m OK. People say bad things about you in the paper on Monday, and then on Wednesday, you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve seen that cycle, so why would I be nervous about it happening?”

On life:

“There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something there is a choice you have to make. We can all be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that — family time, hanging out with your friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with that.”

On retiring and facing the end of his basketball career:

“There is beauty in that. I mean, it's going through the cycle. I mean, it's the cycle that is the natural progression of growth, of maturation. I mean, there's no sadness in that ... I see the beauty in not being able to blow past defenders anymore, you know what I mean? I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I know all the hard work that it took to get to this point. So, I’m not, I'm not sad about it. I'm very appreciative of what I've had.”

1.What is the attitude of Kobe Bryant towards achieving success by saying “Come hell or high water, I am going to be this”?

A.Confident B.Determined

C.Optimistic D.Frightened

2.The word “cavalier” in the 3rd paragraph probably means __________.

A.not serious or caring B.anxious and eager

C.worried and pessimistic D.not proud or arrogant

3.When it comes to failure, Kobe Bryant tended to __________.

A.fight against those who said bad things about him.

B.worry about others’ comments on his performance.

C.cheer for himself by regarding himself as the greatest figure.

D.show no fear facing ups and downs.

4.What can be inferred from the passage?

A.People paid tribute to Kobe Bryant for his success on the basketball court.

B.Kobe Bryant devoted more of his life to basketball instead of accompanying his family.

C.Kobe Bryant regarded his retirement as the beginning of another career.

D.Kobe Bryant felt emotionless when facing the end of his basketball career.

    The African elephant will disappear within two decades if urgent action is not taken to save one of the world's most iconic animal species, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has warned in a new campaign fundraiser.

The population of these elephants—the largest animal currently walking the earth—has declined by 70 percent in the last 40 years, in large part because of the illegal ivory trade, which is the biggest driver of elephant poaching, according to the non-profit.

In fact, 20,000 elephants are killed every year to feed this trade—which is equivalent to one death every 26 minutes.

Once an elephant is killed, poachers harvest the ivory to meet a growing demand for products made from this material. Ivory can be turned into ornaments and decorations, as well as being used in traditional Asian medicine for its intended therapeutic value. Elephants are also sometimes killed to provide a source of meat.

This poaching takes place despite a global ban on ivory sales under the CITES multilateral treaty (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which was introduced in 1990. Above the poachers are powerful organized criminal networks which commonly engage in corruption, money laundering and assassinations.

Part of the issue in policing the problem is that the governments of nations where Africans elephants live often lack sufficient resources to protect and monitor elephant herds, which often reside in remote and inaccessible habitats. When the animals are killed, they often suffer a brutal death.

African elephants are found in 37 countries across the continent and are categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a remaining population of around 415,000 in the wild, according to WWF.

These animals play a crucial role in the ecosystem, helping to maintain healthy habitats for many other species.  This is because African elephants help to disperse seeds.

The population of African elephants—which are split into two subspecies—once numbered between three and five million during the last century. However, this figure has fallen dramatically as a result of poaching and other factors, such as habitat fragmentation or loss.

1.The word “poaching” (paragraph 2) probably means ________.

A.desperate desire B.severe damage

C.illegal hunting D.cruel killing

2.What is the main reason for the sharp decline in the number of African elephants？

A.They were hunted by other animals.

B.They failed to survive the natural disasters.

C.There is no suitable living environment.

D.They were illegally traded for ivory.

3.Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A.Absence of bans or regulations on ivory sales is the biggest driver of elephant poaching.

B.Elephants living in remote habitats are less vulnerable than those living in nations with adequate resources.

C.If the African elephant disappear, the ecosystem there is likely to be ruined.

D.African elephant herbs usually migrated in large population.

4.What’s the best title for this passage?

A.African Elephants Will Be Gone in The Future

B.African Elephants, Leading Role in Ecosystem

C.The Population of African Elephants

D.Different Types of African Elephants

    Chinese experts, based on the result of clinical trials, have __________ that Chloroquine Phosphate(磷酸氯喹), an antimalarial drug, has a certain _________ effect on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a Chinese official said here Monday.

The experts have "unanimously" suggested the drug be included in the next version of the treatment guidelines and __________ in wider clinical trials as soon as possible, Sun Yanrong, deputy head of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), said at a press conference.

Chloroquine Phosphate, which has been used for more than 70 years, was selected from tens of thousands of existing drugs after _________ rounds of screening, Sun said. According to her, the drug has been under clinical trials in over 10 hospitals in Beijing, ___________ in south Guangdong Province and central China's Hunan Province, and has shown _______ good efficacy.

In the trials, the groups of patients who had taken the drug have shown better indicators than their parallel groups, in abatement(减轻) of fever, improvement of CT images of lungs, the percentage of patients who became _________ in viral nucleic acid tests and the time they need to do so, she said. Patients taking the drug also take a shorter time to recover, she added.

Sun gave an example of a 54-year-old patient in Beijing, who was _________ to hospital four days after showing symptoms. After taking the drug for a week, he saw all indicators  __________ and the nucleic acid turn negative.

_________, no obvious serious adverse reactions related to the drug have been found among the over 100 patients enrolled in the clinical trials, she said.

On February 15, several departments including the MOST, the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration called a video conference to _________ drug research and clinical experts’ opinions on the drug’s efficacy on COVID-19.

The expert team, led by Zhong Nanshan, a __________ respiratory specialist and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, agreed that Chloroquine Phosphate can be used to treat more COVID-19 patients, Sun said.

Previous in vitro (体外的) experiments showed that it can block virus _________ by changing the acidity and basicity value inside the cell and interfering receptors of SARS coronavirus. It also shows immune-modulating (调节) activity, which may __________ its antiviral effect in vivo (体内的) and is widely _________ in the whole body, including the lungs, after oral administration.

1.A.advocated B.assumed C.confirmed D.conserved

2.A.limited B.curative C.side D.potential

3.A.applied B.diagnosed C.recognized D.adapted

4.A.feasible B.reasonable C.authentic D.multiple

5.A.for instance B.as well as C.that is to say D.such as

6.A.unintentionally B.considerately C.scarcely D.fairly

7.A.negative B.neutral C.obvious D.positive

8.A.overlooked B.admitted C.accessed D.refused

9.A.promote B.flaw C.fail D.improve

10.A.In the meantime B.By contrast C.So far D.In consequence

11.A.turn down B.listen to C.engage in D.argue about

12.A.respectful B.conventional C.spiritual D.distinguished

13.A.invasion B.investigations C.infections D.cultivation

14.A.undermine B.enhance C.impose D.withhold

15.A.distributed B.reflected C.extinguished D.substituted

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages 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.

A new era of computing may be upon us as Google claims its Sycamore computer has achieved quantum supremacy (量子霸权). But what is quantum supremacy, and what does it mean for the future?

Quantum supremacy is a scientific term. It means that a quantum computer has solved a problem that a classical computer would take too much time and energy to do.

1. (publish) in the journal Nature on Oct 23, Google tasked a computer with finding mathematical probabilities of different “events”. The events were specific values from a random number generator. Sycamore successfully picked out strings (系列) of numbers that were 2. (likely) to occur than others, running the test 1 million times in 200 seconds.

In their research, Google claims that the world’s best supercomputer would have taken 10,000 years 3.(solve) the same problem. However, Google’s claims were questioned by rival company IBM, who argued the same test 4. have been completed in 2.5 days by its Summit supercomputer.

What is quantum computing? The major difference between quantum and classic computers is in how they record and transmit information. Classic computers, from your laptop to your phone to a NASA supercomputer, use bits. Each bit has a state of either zero or one (on or off) and completes each operation one-at-a-time.

However, quantum computers, like Google’s Sycamore, use quantum bits – called qubits (量子位). These can be both zero and one at the same time, allowing them to hold more data and work together to solve problems simultaneously.

Google’s experiment has been applauded 5. a major breakthrough. It is a stepping-stone toward a big dream.

Currently, quantum computers are within the next decade. Tech reporter Jacob Ward told NBC News, “This could revolutionize our every little real-world value, but that can all change whole lives. We’re talking about the development of new medicines, materials, artificial intelligence, all of which, right now, 6. (depend) on a very limited language of computing.?”

While quantum may not be close to 7. (change) our everyday lives right now, it has been compared to the first rocket to reach space. It may be a generation 8. quantum computers become mainstream, so who can say what humans might achieve with the new technology?

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages 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.

The 2020 Championships Wimbledon have been canceled 1. public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic. The Championships 2.(schedule) to be held from Monday, June 29 through Sunday, July 12. The134thtournament will be held (hold) between June 28 and July 11, 2021. “This is a decision we have not taken lightly and we have done so with the highest regard for public health and the well-being of all those3. come together to make Wimbledon happen,” AELTC chairman Ian Hewitt said. “It 4. (weigh) heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars but, 5.(follow) thorough and extensive consideration of all scenarios, we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis and 6. it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year’s Championships, and instead concentrate on 7. we can use the breadth of Wimbledon’s  resources to help those in our local communities and beyond.

请根据下图写一篇100-120词的短文。

要点：

1. 简要描写图画内容。

2. 说明图画的含义。

3. 谈谈你的看法。

注意：短文的开头已给出（不计字数）

In the picture, we can see that

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

In the United States, engineering is a profession that has been dominated historically by men. Even today, it’s still true that few women become civil or chemical or mechanical engineers, but that’s something www.EngineerGirl.org aims to change. Young women who visit the web site can find out about a great career choice they might not have considered.

“Women are very much underrepresented in engineering and in engineering education programs and then of course, down the road, in the engineering workforce. So only about 20 percent of engineering undergraduate degrees go to women, and then only about nine percent of working engineers are women.”

Mary Mattis in the National Academy of Engineering says the EngineerGirl website aims to reach young women around ages 11 through 14, when they are just getting old enough to start thinking about their futures.

“We know from the research that middle-school girls are at a critical point in their lives, and that it’s a time when we need to reach them, both with an understanding, increasing their awareness of interesting fields in engineering, what a wonderful productive and exciting career you can have as an engineer. But we also need to reach them at that time because you have to take certain courses, and you can’t start thinking about taking those courses when you’re a junior in high school.”

Engineering is a demanding course of study — there is a lot of science and mathematics, for many girls and even boys, that can be challenging. But Ms. Mattis says that the EngineerGirl website stresses that engineering can also be fun and exciting.

“It’s about designing things. It’s about changing the world for people. It’s about making a difference. And, in addition, you can make a good living; you can be independent economically by becoming an engineer. All of those things are messages that girls need to get.”

While most engineers go into traditional fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering, the EngineerGirl site also highlights unusual engineering careers in fields such as sports engineering and — believe it or not — chocolate engineering.

“There’s a section called ‘why be an engineer,’ and that talks about the many opportunities and increasingly different opportunities like with bio-engineering and environmental engineering, some fields that might appeal to girls who want to make a difference or have a meaning for their careers beyond earning an income.”Even if you are not a girl in the target age group, there’s a lot of interesting information on the site, including biographies of some notable women engineers.

    Partway through Wonder, Fifth-grader Auggie Pullman finds himself seated across from a new friend in the school cafeteria. “Have you ever thought about having plastic surgery?” the friend asks.

“Dude, this is after plastic surgery. It takes a lot of work to look this good,” Auggie says, running a hand through his hair. In other words, what could be painfully depressing turns out to hold lurking(潜藏的) reserves of humour, which is pretty much the story of Wonder.

Auggie, played by Jacob Tremblay, was born with a facial difference, and even after multiple operations, his looks shock his classmates. As he adapts from homeschooling to a new school community, he encounters far worse than that lunchtime scene－one nasty bully(横行霸道者) says he’d kill himself if he looked like Auggie－but he never fully loses heart.

The movie is an adaptation of the 2012 novel by R.J.Palacio, which has sold 6 million copies in North America and launched an antibullying campaign, Choose Kind. Palacio has said she got the idea for the story when her young son began crying at the sight of a girl with a facial difference in an ice cream shop. She took her kids out of the shop, but later regretted her reaction. “What I should have done is simply turned to the little girl and started up a conversation and shown my kids that there was nothing to be afraid of,” she said.

Tremblay, 11, who broke out opposite Brie Larson in the 2015 drama Room, has more than a few things in common with Auggie. “We both love Star Wars, we have awesome families, and we love our dogs.” But Tremblay thinks we all can find something in common with the boy. “Everyone’s like Auggie in one very important way: we want to be accepted and treated equally and with kindness.”

Julia Roberts, who plays Auggie’s mother, became interested in the part because of her own children, “I read it with my kids and fell so in love with it,” she says of the novel. “This book is such a beautiful and gentle introduction into all kinds of topics, including bullying and intolerance and fear, and what fear makes young people do sometimes.”

Both actors have some familiarity with the subject. “I was picked on quite a bit as a young person,” Roberts says, though she won’t say what for. “Even as a 50-year-old mother of three, it’s not a path I like to go up and down.” Tremblay reveals a bit more. “I have been picked on,” he says, “because I’m kind of short for me age. I told my parents, and that’s one of the best things you can do, because my mom said would never want me to carry negative thoughts on my shoulders alone.”

The most challenging parts of filming, says Tremblay, were moments in which he had to cry. Tenderhearted audience members will likely shed tears of their own－especially during scenes between Auggie and his mom, who repeatedly reassures her son that he is worthy of love. But the movie also has its fair share of hijinks(喧闹): for every tear-filled moment, there is a lightsaber battle or silly science project to lighten the mood. This mixture of pity and humor, says Roberts, “was intrinsic(固有的) in the writing in the novel.” But she credits writer-director Stephen Chbosky with translating that balance into visual terms.

As much as the movie impresses the viewer with compassion for the underdogs, it also finds a way to sympathize with the bullies. “I would say to try to take a moment to be conscious of why a person that is bullying somebody is behaving that way,” says Roberts, “After all”, she adds, “There’s no child that’s born bully.”

1.How did Auggie respond to his friend’s question?

A. He felt so embarrassed that he kept reserved.

B. He flew off the handle the moment he heard it.

C. He answered in a calm but humourous way.

D. He spent quite a while finding the right words.

2.What inspired the story of Wonder?

A. A campaign against bullying in North America.

B. Palacio’s kids being picked on by their classmates.

C. Palacio’s conversation with a girl in an ice cream shop.

D. The way Palacio treated a girl with a facial difference.

3.According to the passage, the theme of the movie Wonder is ________.

A. similar to that of the drama Room

B. focused on the safety of plastic surgery

C. diverse and closely relevant to personal growth

D. a reflection of minority groups’ fate in America

4.What does paragraph 7 mainly talk about?

A. How Julia Roberts got to know Jacob Tremblay.

B. Leading actors’ recalling similar experiences to those in Wonder.

C. Jacob Tremblay’s breakthrough in his acting career.

D. What influence Jacob Tremblay’s mother has on his growth.

5.According to Julia Roberts, Stephen Chbosky _______.

A. is a great lover of Star Wars and wild animals

B. was moved to tears by Jacob Tremblay’s acting

C. is qualified to adapt science fiction into movies

D. succeeded in mixing visual elements with emotion

6.What’s Julia Roberts’ attitude towards the bullies?

A. Uncaring. B. Negative.

C. Sympathetic. D. Cautious.

Scientists have exactly discovered the set of brain cells involved in making risky decisions, and have been able to control them in rats using targeted light. By changing the activity of the cells they were able to change the behaviour of risk-taking rats to avoid risk, hinting the approach could in future be used to treat people with impulse (冲动) control problems.

Risk-taking is a key part of survival, knowing when to take a chance could pay off—such as moving to a new area to look for food when pickings are slim.

While all animals need an element of risk, the preference towards it varies between individuals. Researchers found this variation, which determines how risk-averse an individual is, is regulated by brain cells in a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This cluster of neurons releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which regulates the brain’s reward and pleasure centres.

Previous studies have shown that in patients with Parkinson’s disease, taking medication which blocks specific dopamine receptors (DR2) (受体) leads to increased gambling (赌博) behaviour and risk taking behaviour. In studies with rats, researchers were able to use a technique called optogenetics (光遗传学)—which uses light sensitive proteins to change the activity of cells—to modify cells with DR2 in the nucleus accumbens.

Rats were trained to choose one of two levers, offering them a choice between a “safe” or “risky” choice. The safe option resulted in a small, but consistent amount of a sugar water treat. But the risky choice consistently delivered smaller amounts of sugar water, with the occasional large pay off—essentially encouraging the animals to gamble for a bigger prize. Around two-thirds of the animals weren’t keen on risk, opting for the safe option, but the remaining third were risk-seekers. Brain scans of the animals showed that those with low levels of DR2 consistently went for the gamble.

But using pulses of light to stimulate (刺激) the DR2 cells and improve their activity could cause the risk-takers to play it safe and opt for the guaranteed but less rewarding option. Once the light-pulses stopped, the risk-takers returned to their gambling strategy.

In the risk-averse animals, stimulating the same cells had little to no effect.

Professor Karl Deisseroth, of Stanford University in California, said: “Humans and rats have similar brain structures involved.”And we found a drug known to increase risk preference in people had the same effect on the rats. So every indication is that these findings are relevant to humans. “Risky behavior has its moments where it’ s valuable. As a species, we wouldn’t have come as far as we have without it.”

1.The variation in people’s preference towards risks is directly regulated by ________.

A. nucleus accumbens     B. light sensitive proteins

C. neurons               D. dopamine

2.From the experiment with rats, we can conclude that ________.

A. the lack of DR2 cells results in a safe option

B. the levels of DR2 have little to do with their choices

C. the high levels of DR2 can make animals avoid risks

D. the risky choice is a less rewarding option

3.The underlined words in Paragraph 7 most likely mean the animals that are ________.

A. willing to take big risks

B. reluctant to take risks

C. fond of gambling strategy

D. afraid of receiving stimulation

4.What can be inferred from what Professor Karl Deisseroth said?

A. Humans and rats differ in their preference for risk-taking.

B. Too much risk-taking can do more harm than good.

C. Risk-taking can be used to treat people with impulse control problems.

D. Risk-taking is a means of survival and brings higher returns to humans.

    Shop with Your Doc is part of a broader and still growing movement in US medicine to shift the focus away from simply treating disease toward caring for the whole person. It is meant to help people make educated, healthy choices one grocery cart at a time. Across the country, hospitals are setting up food banks and medical schools are putting cooking classes on the curriculum. Nonprofits are connecting medical centers with community resources to ensure that low-income Americans have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

For centuries, Western medicine’s mission was to cure disease. But over the past generation, two generation, two significant trends are of concern to the medical community, says Timothy Harlan, executive director of Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans. Healthcare costs began to soar (激增), and relatively inexpensive, poor-quality food became more common. “There’s a very straightforward link between people improving their diets and improving the condition that they have,” Dr. Harlan says.

The connection drove the medical and nonprofit communities to rethink their approach to health. What emerged was the concept of the “social determinants of health”— the notion of taking into account the biological, physical, and socioeconomic circumstances surrounding a patient. A healthy person isn’t just someone who is free from disease, the theory goes; he or she also enjoys “a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being.”

The question the medical community now faces is how to get patients — especially low-income families — to recognize these determinants and make it possible for them to eat and live healthier. In Boston, medical experts responded by creating an on-site pantry (食品室) at Boston Medical Center. Since its founding in 2002, the pantry has evolved into a kind of nutrition center where primary care providers at BMC send patients for food. Today the pantry, which gets 95 percent of its stock from the Greater Boston Food bank, hosts free cooking classes and serves about 7,000 people a month. The Greater Boston Food Bank has also launched its own initiatives, striking partnerships with four community health centers across the state to offer free mobile produce markets. The organization also helped develop toolkits (软件包) that map local pantries. markets that accept government food vouchers, and other resources.

At Tulane in New Orleans, Harlan is leading the development of a curriculum that combines medicine with the art of food preparation. His philosophy: Doctors who know their way around a kitchen are better at helping their patients. And empowering patients to take charge of their own diets is one way to help them deal with the incredible costs of health care, Harlan says. The curriculum has since been adopted at 35 medical schools around the United States. Chipping away at bad habits is a good place to start getting patients to think about the choices they make for themselves and their families, say Dr Maureen Villasenor, the Orange County pediatrician (儿科医生).

1.The aim of Shop with Your Doc is to________.

A.help patients relax before an operation

B.assist patients in finding food fit for them

C.control people’s food consumption in supermarkets

D.persuade low-income families to take more fruits and vegetables

2.Paragraphs 2 and 3 mainly talk about_________.

A.the role Western medicine has been playing

B.how a new concept of health came into being

C.medical communities’ worries about food safety

D.why low-income families are less reliable on healthcare

3.What do we know about the Greater Boston Food Bank?

A.Its cooking classes are free of charge.

B.It was founded at the beginning of the 21st century.

C.It helps people locate pantries and markets.

D.It treats many a patient from BMC.

    Brecon Beacons YAC has an amazing opportunity for budding(崭露头角的) archaeologists of all ages, in Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, professional archaeologists from Wardell Armstrong will be investigating an archaeological mystery and they need your help.

Romans?

“The site is a bit of a mystery”, Frank Giecco from Wardell Armstrong said. “There is a very nice cropmark recorded on the site that has got lots of people very excited. Geophysicists failed to find anything relating to the cropmark. There is anecdotal evidence of Roman material being found, but nothing is officially recorded. We hope to finally answer the question of what is in this field, during the two weeks on site. Is there evidence of any Roman occupation on the site? Can you help us find out?”

Get involved

This is an opportunity for both adults and children to take part in field walking and trial trenching (small hand-dug test pits for children). No experience is necessary, training will be provided by the professional archaeologists from Wardell Armstrong, and all equipment will be provided. Volunteers can attend for as few or as many days as they wish, but they do need to book a place.

For more information, and to book your place, please contact Norman Kirtlan at sunderlandforgottenstones@gmail.com.

1.If you intend to take part in the activity, you ________.

A. will be charged for using equipment

B. will be coached by experts in the field

C. should have worked with archaeologists before

D. should spare two weeks to stay at the site

2.What’s the main purpose of the passage?

A. To seek funding for archaeological research.

B. To appeal for help in proving findings based on anecdotal evidence.

C. To find volunteers to help solve an archaeological mystery.

D. To organize volunteers to help sort our data on the Roman occupation.

请认真阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题纸上将该项涂黑。

How many licks (舔) does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop (棒棒糖)?

The first time I heard this in the Tootsie Pop commercial, I was five years old. I immediately started_____and counting. After about two hundred licks or so, I stopped. The_____of the chewy center had proven to be too great, and I______my way through the hard shell (外壳) to the very center. Besides, I_____knew how many licks it took to get to the center—three. That’s how many licks it took the owl (猫头鹰) in the commercial to get to the center, so that, to me, was the_____answer.

In high school, I held to the Tootsie Pop_____To me, the answer was still always three licks.

In my freshman year, I joined the Model United Nations_____in my school. The Chair position had______the center of the Tootsie Pop and my_____had become various other students. The first so-called “owl” was Eric who had luckily_____the prestigious (声望高的) Chair position. So, I decided,_____Eric reached the center in only one lick, that’s how many licks it should take me. I went to the tryouts with a view to obtaining the position but______

At the end of my sophomore (高二) year, a new owl named Iris had_____achieved the chair position after trying twice. I began working hard again. But then again, I did not make a_____of it.

Now, slightly frustrated after_____two owls, I found a new owl, Evan. It had taken him three licks to get to the “center”. Three was all I could_____It was widely known that senior year was the_____year to become Chair. I thought about_____the program, but on second thoughts, I decided to continue.

Eleven years later, I visited the official Tootsie Pop website to find the real answer to the question that had_____me my entire high school life. I finally understood. However many licks it takes to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop depends on however many licks I_____to take—not how many the other owls take.

1.A.dreaming B.admiring C.licking D.chewing

2.A.temptation B.appearance C.power D.discovery

3.A.fought B.followed C.made D.bit

4.A.seldom B.never C.already D.nearly

5.A.brief B.right C.random D.temporary

6.A.commercial B.plan C.philosophy D.custom

7.A.program B.conference C.title D.activity

8.A.become B.changed C.determined D.explored

9.A.shell B.hope C.owl D.companion

10.A.noticed B.shifted C.improved D.landed

11.A.unless B.if C.before D.until

12.A.failed B.quitted C.survived D.struggled

13.A.yet B.even C.still D.also

14.A.promise B.success C.point D.joke

15.A.interacting with B.frightening away C.going through D.dealing with

16.A.afford B.hold C.admit D.expect

17.A.middle B.gap C.last D.initial

18.A.winning B.criticizing C.quitting D.arranging

19.A.motivated B.troubled C.attracted D.instructed

20.A.learn B.agree C.refuse D.choose

—How come Tom picked a quarrel with his wife?

—________? We also have the occasional argument.

A. What’s on B. How’s that

C. Who doesn’t D. Why not

Learning from ________ mistakes can help us keep conscious and avoid repeating them in the days to come.

A. previous B. curious C. obvious D. ridiculous

Mr Simmons always tries to make me keep in mind that how much easier my life ________ if I were better organized.

A. will be B. would have been

C. would be D. will have been

—How can I live my dreams in a short time?

—Be practical. Between you and your dreams ________ a lot of hard work.

A.stand B.stands

C.is standing D.are standing

I remember when I was a child ________ with how many toys my cousin had.

A.impressing B.to impress

C.being impressed D.impressed

In September of 2016, the G20 summit will be held in Hangzhou, ________ theme is to stress innovation, reform and development.

A. where B. which C. when D. whose

AlphaGo’s beating Go grandmaster Lee Sedol 4-1 has ________ an international debate about whether robots will completely take the place of humans.

A.give off B.work out

C.set off D.put out

We should protect our environment from being polluted ________ our next generation will enjoy a blue sky and live a healthy life.

A.as if B.so that C.even if D.in case

A recent research shows smoking and drinking ________ with your body’s ability to process oxygen, thus greatly affecting your health.

A.identify B.correspond C.combine D.interfere

We must be in a place of peace and faith, so internal conflict and disbelief do not hold back ________ it is possible for us to achieve.

A.how B.what C.why D.where

In time of anger, do yourself a favor by ________ it in a quiet place so that you won’t be hurt by its flames.

A. releasing B. recovering

C. refreshing D. recycling

—What do you think of his newly-published book?

—It’s the best one he ________, but that’s not saying much.

A.wrote B.is writing

C.has written D.will write

The manager has not made up his mind yet ________ who will be in charge of the project.

A. as to B. next to C. owing to D. according to