阅读理解Society tells us we should socialize to the fullest, and that those who are surrounded by people are the most successful and the happiest. These days, we’re almost always connected, whether in person or through our phone screens and online social networks. But there’s something to be said for solitude (独处) Being alone “ doesn’t necessarily mean ” being lonely”. In fact, spending time by yourself is an essential element of self-care.Around the globe, different cultures have wide-ranging perspectives on what it means to spend time alone. If you live or have spent time in the United States, you’re probably aware that Americans tend to reject solitude. For many younger people, weekends are packed with social activities, ranging from brunch with friends to dinner parties to game nights to drinking at bars and everything in between.The United States isn’t the only place where you’ll find a heavy emphasis on social time. Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is known for being an extremely extroverted (外向型的) country. A survey of Brits found that more than half had never done and would be unwilling to do activities like going to theme parks or seeing live music alone. Most Brits spend almost twice as much of their leisure time socializing with others a as they do being alone.The home can be a place of rest, relaxation and recharge-that is, if you live by yourself or have the space to be alone in your home. The country in which people are least likely to live alone is India, at about 4 percent of the population. China is also quite fond of multiple-person households, with only about 10 percent of people living by themselves. In more collectivist cultures like these, many aspects of life revolve(围绕) around community. Thus, spending time alone isn’t as ingrained (根深蒂固的) as a social convention in places like these, and the good of the group takes priority over the needs of one person.1．What can we learn from the first paragraph?A．People can benefit more from solitude.B．People tend to socialize more nowadays. C．Bring alone generally equals being lonely.D．Being alone enables people to be carefree. 2．Which of the following best describes young Americans?A．Imaginative and wild.B．Sensitive and energeticC．Outgoing and sociable.D．Optimistic and dutiful.3．How does the author prove his point?A．By making a summary.B．By drawing comparisons.C．By explaining a concept.D．By providing examples.4．Why are most Chinese people more likely to live together?A．Because they share a specific culture.B．Because they lack some local customs. C．Because they possess enough home Space.D．Because they give priority to their own needs.Heat, cold and touch are crucial for experiencing the world around us and for our own survival. But how our bodies actually do it had been one of the great mysteries (神秘) of biology. Scientists who discovered how our bodies feel the warmth of the sun or the hug of a loved one have won the Nobel Prize.David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, from the US, share the 2021 prize in Medicine or Physiology for their work on sensing touch and temperature. They explored how our bodies convert physical sensations into electrical messages in the nervous system. Their findings could lead to new ways of treating pain.Thomas Perlman, from the Nobel Prize Committee, said: “It was a very important and profound discovery.” Prof David Julius’s breakthrough, at the University of Calfornia, San Francisco, came from investigating the burning pain we feel from eating a hot chilli pepper (辣椒) . He experimented with the source of a chilli’s heat and discovered the specific type of receptor (感觉器官) that responded to it. Further tests showed the receptor was responding to heat and kicked in at “painful“ temperatures. This is what happens, for example，if you you’re your hand on a cup of coffee.This led to a senses of other temperature sensors being discovered. Prof Julius and Prof Ardem Palapoutian found one that could detect cold. Meanwhile, Prof Patapoutian, working at the Scrips Research institute, was also analyzing cells in a dish. Those experiments led to the discovery of a different type of receptor that a was activated (激活)in response to mechanical force or touch. When you walk along a beach and feel the sand under your feet-it is these receptors that are sending signals to the brain.The first heat sensor is also involved’ in lasting pain and how our body regulates its core temperature. The touch receptor has multiple roles, from urinating to blood pressure. The Prize Committee said their work had “allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical forcecan initiate the nerve impulses (刺激) that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us. 5．What made David and Ardem win the Nobel Prize?A．Mysterious experiences B．Biological discoveries.C．Exploration of sun heat.D．Survival in high temperature.6．What does the underlined word “convert” in Paragraph 2 mean?A．Translate.B．Persuade.C．Change.D．Lead.7．Which contributed to the discovery of different temperature sensors?A．Burning hands on a coffee cup.B．The chilli pepper experiment.C．Raising painful temperatures.D．The analysis of cells in a dish.8．What could the discovery be applied to?A．Testing blood pressure.B．Promoting beach tourism.C．Perceiving coffee color.D．Treating some diseases.When my father, who grew up on Tyneside, moved to the country in the 70s, he rapidly began accepting invitations to blood sports. He enjoyed the company, the sport and the hours spent out in the wild.From about the age of eight, I was invited to accompany him on these weekend excursions, much like a child being taken to their first football matches. I was fed up with the early starts and standing around in freezing conditions, waiting for birds to be driven into the sky, to their deaths, over a line of booming guns. But I wanted to please my dad.So years later-aged 27, I accepted an invitation to go deer hunting in Scotland with my father.The hunting party assembled one Friday in September. The driver was also our ghillie, a tough figure whose job it was to identify elderly or weak deer that were selected for hunting and guide us to them through wind, fog and rain.“Why are you doing this?” I kept asking myself. “What would have been wrong with a walk? Or a guided wildlife tour?”And then, suddenly, the ghillie almost pushed me to the ground. He pointed at a cloud of fog about a hundred yards ahead. I was baffled, until the cloud lifted like a curtain to reveal-directly in front of us one of the most magnificent living creatures I have ever seen.“Now!” the ghillie hissed in my ear. “Now’s your chance. The deer! Remember. You want tokill it, not wound it.”I adjusted my position, focused down the scope once more and placed my finger on the trigger (扳机). And, of course, I didn’t fire. Another curtain of mist came; when it lifted, seconds later, the stag had disappeared.But I wasn’t disappointed. I was elated. I had come — via a telescopic sight — face to face with an old but most beautiful, iconic and noble beasts of Britain, roaming free in an empty and deserted land of his kingdom.It was moment of truth and lasting inspiration. I could never have killed that deer-not in any context, for any reason But I would, a decade Inter, write a story about him Not just one book, but four, about little boy and the stag that persuades him to help save the world’s last remaining animals The encounter with that magnificent stag changed my life And guess what-those stories did please my dad.9．What is the writer’s inner feeling of blood sports?A．They involve various risks.B．They will lose popularity.C．They are simple but pleasing.D．They are unpleasant to deal with. 10．What does the underlined word “baffled” in paragraph 5 mean?A．Disappointed.B．Confused.C．Amazed.D．Reliable. 11．Why didn’t the writer take the shot?A．He was struck by the elderly deer.B．His sight was blocked by the mist.C．The guide found the old deer was injured.D．The deer ran away before he positioned himself.12．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?A．A miracle adventure B．An unforgettable momentC．Wildlife tours: a way of protection D．Blood sports: an inspiration for stories Scholars have found music and language seem closely linked But how? Some similarities are obvious. Both can express emotion. And both are highly social. AI a structural level the parallel are striking too. With a limited set of notes or words, and a limited set of rules, a limitless variety of novel melodies or sentences can be created Animal communication, by contrast, is only able to convey a limited number of thoughts.Aniruddh Patel of Tufts University has argued that music and language, rather than being essentially the same, rely on the same bit of the brain. In an experiment he presented his subjects with a sentence that contained a grammatical trick ("The scientist confirmed the hypothesis was being studied in his lab"), revealing one word at a time. The subjects were to press a button for each word at their own pace. Many pushed at the unexpected “was. "The scientist confirmed the hypothesis" seemed a complete sentence.They also heard music as they performed this exercise. Some were treated to a new chord (和弦) in a pleasing progression with every word that was revealed. Others herd an annoying chord at the moment they reached the trick word "was". Both groups slowed down but those given the discordant(不和谐的) notes did so much more.Another striking contrast lies in the range of human talent for each ability. Nearly all children produce complex sentences by the age of three and become fluent speakers just a few years after that. By contrast, only a minority of adults are talented musicians; even fewer are skilled composers of new works.Victor Wooten, a music teacher, points out, children learn to talk by being constantly surrounded by fluent older speakers who are practicing with them almost from birth. Their awkward efforts are encouraged. On the other. hand, students of music often keep company with other beginners, and are stopped when having a mistake.It is not that simple, thinks Jay Keyser, a professor of linguistics. For him, music is not like spoken prose, which almost everyone can learn without any difficulties, but instead resembles a specific form of language: poetry, whose rhythm is hard to find.13．What is the similarity between music and language at the structural level?A．Both have complicated structures.B．Both have strict grammatical rules.C．Both can form unlimited structures.D．Both can express limited meanings.14．What can we learn about Aniruddh Patel's experiment?A．Different music varies greatly in the impact on people's life.B．Appreciation of music helped them understand the sentence.C．Understanding of the structure was not affected by the music.D．The discordant music made the sentence structure more difficult.15．What leads to the difference according to Victor Wooten?A．The influence cast by those around them.B．The age when they start to acquire the abilities.C．The way their mistakes in learning are handled.D．The expectations they get from those around them.16．What does Jay Keyser want to say in the last paragraph?A．It is difficult to compose music.B．Language can hardly make life fun.C．Music is not as easy to learn.D．Music comes from spoken prose.Modern zoos aim to promote animal conservation, educate people, and support further wildlife research. Staff are devoted to providing species specific housing and appropriate diets to ensure that the animals’ lives are as natural as possible within captivity (圈养).In fact, most zoo animals have been born and bred in captivity. They have never experienced “the wild”, which many people assume is a wonderful and safe place, despite destruction of natural habits for palm oil threats from climate change or the increase in poaching.There are two ways capturing animals helps conserve them. Zoo conservation work can be in-situ (在原处)where money: expertise and sometimes staff are provided to protect animals and their habitats in the wild. Large, charming animals such as pandas, tigers or elephants draw the crowds. These flagship species help to raise the image and funds for in-situ conservation efforts for the not so well known species“Ex-situ” conservation, meanwhile, takes place outside of the animals’ natural habitats, usually back at the zoo and often involving international captive breeding programs. These studbooks(良种登记册) can outline suitable genetic matches for breeding, to keep a sustainable captive population of a certain species and ensure genetic variation.In the UK a least, zoos must have a written education strategy and an active education programme.If you have been to an accredited (官方认可的) zoo recently you will have noticed they use games and technology to go way beyond these basic requirements.Research within zoos often looks at animal behaviour or welfare helping to ensure theanimals are well housed and fed. Other research investigates the impact humans have on the zoo animals from the visitor effect to the relationships which can be formed between the animals and their keepers. Research also focuses on biological functioning of animals. Much of this is work that cannot be conducted in the wild if the animals live in remote or inhospitable areas.Overall, zoos provide opportunities to observe and engage with exotic (外国的) animals, many of which may be threatened with extinction in the wild. Seeing them up close can cause a passion for biology, conservation and the environment.17．What do people think of “the wild”?A．It poses a danger to humans.B．It is perfect for large animalsC．It is an ideal habitat for animals.D．It guarantees the safety of animals.18．What highlights “ex-situ” conservation?A．Saving the conservation cost.B．Attracting more visitors to zoos.C．Keeping a species’ population stable.D．Changing the genes of a certain species.19．What is Paragraph 6 mainly about?A．How zoo keepers get along with animals.B．How zoos can contribute to research work.C．What researchers are expected to do in zoos.D．Why it is difficult to carry out research in the wild.20．What is the author’s purpose in wring the text?A．To show zoos ways to raise animals.B．To stress modern zoos research value.C．To defend zoos role in protecting animals.D．To advise zoos to release animals into the wild.My name is Destiny, working at a Psychological Counselling Center. In my teens, there was nothing special about me. My older sister, Antia, is beautiful. My younger brother, Tye, is a talent at the age 13. He completely skipped the sixth grade. How do I compete with that?My mom and I were home alone one day. I went into the room where she was watching television and I blurted out (脱口而出), “Mom, is there anything special about me?”She thought about it for a moment and then turned down TV. She took a deep breath, took my hand and exhaled (呼气).“You have the ability to say just the right thing at just the right time.”“Really? Is that it, words?” I tried to keep my voice steady (稳定的) but I could hear the anger even as I fought to control it.“It’s more than words, Destiny,” my mom said. I know my mother meant well but I felt worse than ever. I burst into tears.The next day is when my whole life changed. I went to school earlier than before and noticed Darwin sitting across the room which was strange because no one ever noticed Darwin. Suddenly, Darwin stood up and threw away all his books, shouting loudly. I could hear screaming and crying but the sounds seemed distant as I focused my full attention on Darwin six feet in front of me. I felt the words swell up in me. “Darwin,” I heard myself say with a calm, steady voice. “I have family and friends with so much talent and potential and I have none. There is nothing special about me.” From the corner of my eye, I could see others staring at me in silence. I continued talking. “You are so smart. You can answer questions that the teacher hasn’t even asked yet. Do you know that everyone in this class is envious (嫉妒的) of you?” Hearing my words, he calmed down and gave me a big hug.Then the teacher came. Learning about what happened, the teacher smiled, “That was a great job you did, young lady. Superman could not have done a better job than you did here today.” I couldn’t believe that she compared me to Super man. I work at Psychological Counselling Center now. There is a cork board over my desk filed with thank-you cards and letters from people who say they owe their lives, careers, or their families to my words. But tome, they are more than words. They are my super power!21．Why does the author mention her sister and brother?A．She is envious of them.B．She feels really proud of them.C．She wants to show family love.D．She considers competing with them. 22．What is the author’s reaction to her mother’s words in Paragraph 6?A．She said more words to her mother.B．She could hardly believe her mother.C．She understood her mother’s white lie.D．She had doubt about her mother’s love.23．What do we know about Darwin from the text?A．He quarreled with his classmates.B．He lacked great talent and potential.C．He failed again in the examination.D．He suddenly lost control for some reason. 24．Which is a suitable title for the text?A．A Brave Superman B．The Power of WordsC．A Strange Classmate D．The Future of a CareerWhen we moved into our home in Maui, Hawaii, 16 years ago, one good thing about this house was the huge avocado tree growing in the backyard.This tree gave the most delicious avocados I have ever tasted. I lived on these avocados when nursing my first child. Fresh avocado was the very first food for my kids. This tree was so huge that it cast a massive shadow over our backyard. It was truly our magical tree.Until one day, someone from the Health Department came to tell us that our avocado tree was too large and needed trimming. In New York, you get in trouble if you don’t clear the snow off your sidewalk. Here, it’s when your trees are too high. So along came the trimmer, leaving just the trunk and a few branches. I was sad. The kids were all sad. Some friends who knew it would say, “It’s going to grow back. Your next avocados will be crazy!” Yeah, whatever. The tree is gone, so stop doing that. It just didn’t work.But a few days later, I noticed some unusual butterflies flying around the yard. And then, the sun came in the kitchen, creating this pleasant warmth once blocked by the huge tree. After about a month, I started to notice some tiny green shoots coming out of the cut branches, which eventually turned into full-on bright green leaves.I started to feel like all was going to be fine, kind of like life. Little do we know what seems really difficult is actually life’s way of making us stronger. It’s life’s way of bringing in the butterflies, the sunshine, and the delightful flowers. We all know that saying, “It will be OK in the end. If it’s not, it’s not the end.”25．What is mainly conveyed in paragraph 2 about the avocado tree?A．Her kids’ love for it.B．Its fruit’s good taste.C．Her expectation of it.D．Its benefits for her family.26．Why did the author’s friends say the words in paragraph 3?A．To laugh at her.B．To cheer her up.C．To show their regret.D．To express their excitement.27．What happened to the avocado tree in the end?A．It had no branches.B．It blocked the sunshine.C．It was full of life again.D．It bore more avocados.28．What message does the author seem to convey in the text?A．You harvest what you sow.B．Luck and Misfortune comes in turn. C．Success won’t come unless you go to it.D．The important thing in life is to have a dream.Sara Braden doesn’t have time to lose things. She’s a working mom with a lot more hobbies than her friends, and when she misplaces her keys or leaves her purse at a restaurant, she becomes annoyed and impatient. “It impacts me greatly,” says Braden, 35, a Washington officer.According to a recent study led by Daniel Arely, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, Braden has ADHD, a type of attention disorder, which, she says, makes her “likely to put things in certain places and not remember where I put them.”Her anxiety is familiar to anyone whose phone is missing a dozen times a day. Such kind of mistakes might result in a constant fear: Is something wrong with me? Probably not. “It’s common and certainly annoying,” says Professor Arely. “Most of the time, losing things is a breakdown of attention and memory. We’re thinking about something else. We have other concerns occupying our attention, and then we never really add the information to memory about where we’ve put the object.”The study shows that, sometimes, people with ADHD report that losing things affects their work productivity or relationships. For example, if they can’t find their keys all the time and are late for a dinner party, they could anger their friends. In that case, it’s worth being evaluated by a doctor. Nevertheless, not all cases deserve special attention. Actually, people who have had ADHD since they were teens have nothing much to worry about. For those with ADHD, what really matters is changes from past performance.When we’re operating on autopilot and not truly focused on our surroundings, we may still lose things even with the strongest intention not to do so, Professor Arely says. But for the mostpart, he thinks people can overcome the tendency to lose things. Sara Braden has learned to adapt, in part by writing down where she has stored items. She also coaches herself not to panic when an item gets lost.29．How does the author introduce the topic?A．By offering an example.B．By quoting a remark.C．By making a comparison.D．By giving an explanation.30．What is the possible reason for people’s losing things?A．Their constant fear.B．Their common weakness.C．Their absent-mindedness.D．Their emotional breakdown.31．What should people with ADHD pay special attention to?A．Improved efficiency at work.B．Occasional delay in meeting friends. C．Losing things repeatedly since teens.D．Behavioural changes from the past. 32．What is Professor Arely’s attitude to overcoming forgetfulness?A．Positive.B．Sceptical.C．Tolerant.D．Conservative.A satellite is about to demonstrate a new way of capturing space junk with magnets for the first time. With the frequency of space launches dramatically increasing in recent years, the potential for a disastrous collision above Earth is continually growing. Now, Japanese orbital clean-up company Astroscale is testing a potential solution.The firm’s End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration mission is scheduled to lift off on 20 March aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. It consists of two spacecraft: a smaller “client” satellite and a larger “servicer” satellite, or “chaser”. The smaller satellite is equipped with a magnetic (磁力的) plate which allows the chaser to dock with it.The two stacked spacecraft will perform three tests once in orbit, each of which will involve the servicer satellite releasing and then recapturing the client satellite. The first test will be the simplest, with the client satellite drifting a short distance away and then being recaptured. In the second test, the servicer satellite will set the client satellite tumbling before catching up with it and matching its motion to grab it.Finally, if those two tests go well, the chaser will live up to its name by letting the client satellite float a few hundred metres away before finding it and attaching to it. All of these tests will be performed autonomously, with little to no human input once they are set in motion.“These kinds of demonstrations have never been done before in space - they are very different to, say, an astronaut controlling a robotic arm on the International Space Station,” says Jason Forshaw at Astroscale UK. “This is more of an autonomous mission.” At the end of the tests, both spacecraft will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.If companies wanted to use this capability, they would have to attach a magnetic plate to their satellites so they could be captured later. Because of the growing space garbage problem, many countries now require firms to have a way to bring back their satellites once they run out of fuel or fail, so this could be a fairly simple likely plan, Forshaw says. Right now, each chaser can only nab one satellite, but Astroscale is working on a version that could drag three or four out of orbit at once.33．Which of the following can replace the underlined word “dock with” in Paragraph 2? A．deal with B．keep up with C．join together D．crash34．Why many countries now require firms to have a way to bring back their satellites? A．Because of the growing space waste problem.B．Because the frequency of space launches are dramatically increasing.C．Because they can earn large profits from it.D．Because Astroscale has found a new method of capturing the space garbage.35．What will Astroscale do to solve the space junk problem?A．An astronaut controls a robotic arm on the International Space to capture the “client” satellite B．Through a magnetic plate remotely controlled by humans on the ground to catch the “client” satelliteC．Finding the “client” satellite and attaching to it with a magnetic plate automatically D．Tumbling to match the motion of “client” satellite the drag three or four satellites out of its orbit into atmosphere.36．What can we infer from the passage?A．people will burn the space junk up in Earth’s atmosphere in the futureB．Japan and Russia will conduct space debris cleanup experiment togetherC．These kinds of demonstrations have never been done before.D．the demonstration mission will be divided into three phasesA blood test that accurately predicts a patient’s likelihood of dying from heart disease or astroke (中风) has been developed.Researchers took samples of blood from 22,949 people and analyzed the levels of about5,000 proteins within it. They then used machine learning to detect whether there was a link between the proteins that circulate in a person’s bloodstream and their risk of heart disease. The study identified a particular “protein signature” that accurately predicts the chance of suffering a heart attack, stroke or heart failure over a four-year period.Currently, doctors assess the likelihood of patients suffering heart problems by looking at factors including weight, blood pressure, age and cholesterol (胆固醇) levels. However, blood protein analysis can provide more accurate clues to the state of a person’s health. The technology was found to be twice as accurate as existing tools at measuring a patient’s heart risk. The blood test could also provide a faster way of detecting whether patients’ existing medication (药物治疗) is working and helping to reduce their risk. Existing risk assessments struggle to do this.The blood test was developed by SomaLogic, based in Boulder, Colorado. The company is also working with scientists at Imperial College London to help develop a blood test to detect cancer. Professor Elio Riboli said this could lead to widespread screening for many different types of cancers, which is not possible using existing techniques. His team will work with SomaLogic to analyze 15,000 blood samples from people who had developed cancer, comparing them with 10,000 samples from people who did not. The results will be used to establish whether there are protein markers that could indicate if someone is at risk from the disease.In 2019, a trial began in Leeds to use SomaLogic’s technology to assess people’s risk of diabetes, and also the effectiveness of lifestyle changes in preventing the condition. Dr Michael Messenger, head of the Leeds Centre for Personalized Medicine and Health, said that it could help tailor treatments to individual patients. “Personalized medicine lets us take a deeper look at each person’s individual biology, so we can better understand what the right advice or treatment, at the right time, might be.”37．What can be learned from the second paragraph?A．About 5,000 proteins exist in people’s blood.B．Different methods were adopted in the research.C．Altogether 22,949 people volunteered for the study.D．The “protein signature” in the blood causes heart diseases.。