The variant, which is found in approximately one in every 200 people, is also associated with a three times risk of developing bipolar disorder.

“We could be looking at the next big drug target for treating mental illness,” Professor David Curtis from UCL, co-author of the paper, said.

“The work opens up new ways to prevent and treat mental illnesses by revealing the mechanisms involved in their development.

”

66．What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．Researchers are disappointed at curing biological causes.

B．Researchers are worried about the complex biological causes.

C．Researchers have found the method of curing biological causes.

D．Researchers are confident for figuring out the complex biological causes.

67．According to Paragraph 4, the researchers found      .

A．there are 37,000 patients with mental illnesses in the world

B．most of the sites have never before been linked to mental illnesses

C．there is little difference between the patients and the healthy people

D．the cause of mental illnesses has nothing to do with the genetic changes

68．We can learn from Paragraph 5      .

A．the variant of the GRM3 gene is important

B．the number of people with the variant of the GRM3 gene is large

C．the number of people with the variant of the GRM3 gene is small

D．people with the variant of the GRM3 gene aren’t likely to suffer schizophrenia

69．What’s the main topic discussed in the text?

A．The importance of gene variants.

B．The research of gene variants.

C．The cause of mental illnesses.

D．Gene variants linked to mental illnesses.

    Imagine a town with crosswalks but no pedestrians, cars and trucks but no drivers.

Welcome to Mcity, a fake “city” built by researchers who are testing out the driverless cars of the future.

The controlled test environment, which opened today (July 20, 2015) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, covers 32 acres (the size of about 24 football fields) and contains all the trappings of a real suburb or small city.

There is an entire network of roads lined with sidewalks, streetlights, stop signs and traffic signals.

There’s even a “downtown” area complete with fake buildings and outdoor dining areas.

The idea behind Mcity is simple: test out new driverless car innovations in a human-free environment before these technologies are unleashed in the real world.

"Mcity is a safe, controlled, and realistic environment where we are going to figure out how the incredible potential of connected and automated vehicles can be realized quickly, efficiently and safely," Peter Sweatman, director of the Mobility Transformation Center at U-M, said in a statement.

The roads of Mcity are built to stand up to “rigorous, repeatable” testing, according to MTC officials.

While Mcity drivers don't have to compete with real pedestrians, there will be one mechanical foot-traveler (a robot-like machine named Sebastian) that steps out into traffic to see whether the automated cars can hit the brakes in time.

The fake city also features a traffic circle, a bridge, a tunnel, some unpaved roads, and even a four-lane highway with entrance and exit ramps, according to a report by Bloomberg Business.

In addition to evaluating fully automated, or driverless cars, the researchers also hope to test out so-called connected vehicles within Mcity’s limits.

Connected cars can either communicate with one another (vehicle-to-vehicle control, or V2V) or with pieces of equipment, such as traffic lights, that are located near roadways (vehicle-to-infrastructure control, or V2I).

Even the smallest details of Mcity have been planned out in advance to copy the conditions that connected and automated vehicles could face in the real world.

For example, there are street signs covered up with graffiti, and faded yellow and white lane markings line the streets.

Mcity is just one part of a much larger project that MTC and its partner organizations are establishing in an effort to get a whole fleet of connected and driverless cars on the road in Ann Arbor by 2021.

In addition to the fake city, MTC is also continuing to launch connected and semi-autonomous(半自动) cars on real roadways.

Eventually, the University of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Transportation said they hope to put 20,000 connected cars on the roads of southern Michigan.

70．According to the passage, Mcity ________.

A．is a real town used to evaluate the function of future cars

B．is a fake city with transportation system but no pedestrians

C．covers an area of 32 acres with as many as 24 football fields

D．owns a downtown area with a bridge and some unpaved roads

71．Why did researchers build Mcity?

A．To test new driverless cars.

B．To make a real suburb or small city.

C．To control road environment.

D．To build an entire network of roads.

72．It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．some connected and semi-autonomous cars have been put into use

B．the researchers plans to create a robot-like machine to direct the traffic

C．the widespread use of driverless cars will soon come into reality in America

D．MTC is attempting to make connected and driverless cars available on real roads

73．How does the passage mainly develop?

A．By presenting descriptions of the design.

B．By describing a cause and its effects.

C．By providing the time order.

D．By comparing the opinions.

    Many years ago, people relied on the sun, the moon and stars to find their way around.

Later, the compass was introduced.

And now, we have satnav（卫星导航）systems to guide us.

A satnav system uses groups of satellites to show the user’s location.

They send information to a receiver, such as a smartphone, to show us where we are.

The earliest built satnav system is the Global Positioning Satellite System, which belongs to the US.

Then there is Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite system，the European Union’s Galileo and China’s own satellite navigation system, Beidou.

On October 18, 2017, an ARJ21-700 plane, which was the first domestically（国内地） produced jet equipped with the Beidou navigation system, successfully completed a test flight.

The results showed the performance of the system developed by China matches that of similar systems produced abroad, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China.

Since its introduction in 2000, the Beidou navigation system has been increasing numbers of applications linked to everyday life, from shared bikes to farming.

When it comes to shared bikes, smart locks that support Beidou chips offer more accurate positioning than others, making it easier to find a bike.

Farmers can use Beidou-enabled tractors to plow（犁）the soil and use unmanned aircraft with Beidou to sow seeds, which can improve efficiency and make better use of resources.

Beidou’s farming applications have spread from Heilongjiang Province to Beijing, Liaoning, Shanxi, Hubei and other regions across China.

With its many uses, the Beidou navigation system is even playing a big role in the Belt and Road Initiative（一带一路）.

“To date, the Beidou system has covered most parts of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” said Yang Changfeng, chief designer of the Beidou system.

Today, there are more than 20 Beidou satellites above our heads, and China plans to launch even more this year to expand the Beidou network to better serve the Belt and Road Initiative.

“As Beidou expands its overseas reach, it will be increasingly popular in the logistics（物流） industry,” said Miao Qianjun, Secretary General of the navigation services association.

“Ships, for example, can use it to position themselves while sailing across oceans to European countries, no longer limited to Southeast Asian regions in the near future.

74．What is the purpose of the first two paragraphs?

A．To compare some modern satnav systems.

B．To describe the benefits of satnav systems.

C．To tell us how satnav systems were created.

D．To introduce some satnav systems and their functions.

75．What can we know about the Beidou navigation system according to the article?

A．It was used successfully in a new jet plane.

B．It is more powerful than other satnav systems.

C．It was introduced to China on October, 2017.

D．It wasn’t used in our everyday life until recently.

76．According to the article, the Beidou navigation system is already widely used for _______.

A．plowing the soil and sowing seeds

B．improving the efficiency of network

C．producing more smart locks for shared bikes

D．navigating ships across oceans to European countries

77．What is Miao Qianjun’s attitude toward the future of the Beidou system?

A．Worried.

B．Casual.

C．Positive.

D．Doubtful.

    Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease.

But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately：the air you breathe.

Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露) to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problems，but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风) within as little as a few hours after exposure.

In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物) were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure.

A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U.

S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)considers to be of “moderate” (良好) quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.

The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure.

However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices.

So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.

78．The text mainly discusses the relationship between ________.

A．heart problems and air quality

B．heart problems and exercising

C．heart problems and smoking

D．heart problems and fatty food

79．The underlined word “modest” in Paragraph 3 most probably means ________.

A．relatively high B．extremely low

C．relatively low D．extremely high

80．What can we learn from the text?

A．Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart.

B．The EPA conducted many studies on air quality.

C．Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking.

D．Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made.

81．The author's purpose of writing the text is most likely to ________.

A．inform B．persuade

C．describe D．entertain

    Do you jump out of bed early, wide awake and ready to start your day？If so, you would be called an “early bird”.

Perhaps, you hate the sound of your alarm clock each morning and have little energy until afternoon.

If so, you're probably a “night owl”．

Most people can be divided into such two groups, but what makes us this way？And is one better than the other？There are different opinions.

Usually, early risers have been praised as hard-working while those who prefer to get up late are considered lazy.

Most people believe the early bird catches the worm.

Yet some scientists now believe “night owls” can really focus(集中) longer and produce more than early risers.

Research has found that the early bird does not always get the worm.

In a Belgian study, both “morning people” and “evening people” were watched during their normal asleep and awake routines(常规)．After 10 hours of being awake, the “evening people” became more alert(思维敏捷的).

However, the “morning people” became sleepy and less focused.

Researchers believe the reason for this difference is that night owls receive a last-minute increase from their brains.

This added energy allows them to stay alert for longer periods of time.

Environment, lifestyle, activities and childhood routines all may have an effect on sleeping habits, yet genetics(遗传学)may play the biggest role.

It is possible to change your sleeping habits through regular bedtimes, early exercise and by avoiding midnight snacks.

But if you're happy rising early or staying up late, you're probably doing what works best for your own personal body clock.

82．The author introduces the subject by ________.

A．telling an interesting story

B．giving different opinions

C．showing research results

D．asking a question

83．What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 really mean?

A．Those who get up early achieve their goals.

B．Early to bed, early to rise is good for health.

C．“Night owls” can focus longer than “early birds”.

D．“Early birds” are as hard-working as “night owls”.

84．What did the researchers find in a Belgian study?

A．Late risers become sleepier than early risers.

B．Early risers become as focused as later risers.

C．Late risers can think quickly after being awaken for 10 hours.

D．Early risers can think clearly after being awake for 10 hours.

85．What opinion does the author finally agree to?

A．People should get up early.

B．Whatever time suits you, it’s OK.

C．Staying up late is good for health.

D．It’s impossible to change one’s sleeping habit.

    There is no doubt that many parents want to mold (塑造)their child to be better, faster, smarter and more skilled.

Even though human parents can’t do that, a robot that builds its own children can.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge in England have created a mother robot that not only creates its own children, but tests out their performance.

The mother robot analyzes(分析)the performance of each of the “children” it creates, and passes down good characters to the next generation

For example, as the mother creates them and puts them to work, she measures how they’re behaving, and she uses data from this behavior to create the next generation of robots.

The mother robot can actually build hundreds of child robots and see the performance of these child robots.

And if their performance is good, keep their design for the next generation.

And if bad, just let it go.

“We program the robots based on some functions that define(规定)the reward the robots are going to get, depending on the construction that they make.

They cannot change their own reward.

For the child robot, the longer the distance the robot walks, the better the reward it receives,” said Fumiya Iida, the lead researcher.

After several generations, the “children” were running twice as fast.

“The mother robot produced 500 robots to see which one is good and which one is bad,” said Iida.

The researchers believe that the machines can be used in a car factory, for example, where robot cameras examine each ear in production line, find out any mistakes, and then design a better car.

86．What is special about the mother robot?

A．It can analyze data

B．It can create child robots

C．It’s smarter than human mothers

D．It can build and improve its own children.

87．How does the mother robot mold her own children to be better?

A．It teachers them how to behave better.

B．It reprograms the bad ones after analyzing their performance

C．It copies hundreds of child robots and then chooses the best ones.

D．It keeps the good characters for the next generation to create a better robot.

88．What is the key point in influencing the child robot to receive a reward?

A．Size B．Distance.

C．Behavior D．Speed.

    You’re sitting on the sofa, and there’s your dog, right at your feet.

You stand up? He stands up.

But then you head to the bathroom, and guess who comes with? Why, your dog, of course.

But why? Why does your dog follow you like a shadow, no matter where you go?

Ever get the feeling you're being followed? As for why your companion follows you everywhere you go, read on !

“When dogs follow their owners, there can be several scientific explanations, depending on the dog and the individual situation,”according to Mary Burch, Ph.

D．, an animal behaviorist(行为学家).

These explanations include:

Positive reinforcement(正面强化): When your dog follows you, good things happen.

Think dog food, a hot bath and taking a walk around the neighborhood.

Your dog’s no dummy.

And one of his many talents is learning from experience, that is “reinforcement.

”

Natural instinct(本能) to be part of a pack: In fact, a study out of Princeton University that was published in the journal, Science Advances, shows that your dog’s drive (驱动力)to follow you around (as well as watch you attentively and seek physical contact (身体接触) from you) lies in his genes(基因).

Feel good chemicals(化学物质): Your presence causes your dog’s brain to release “feel good” chemicals, Dr.

Primm explains, citing this study.

Considering how much we as humans enjoy those feel-good chemicals, it’s no surprise your dog likes them too—and will follow you around to get some!

Sense of responsibility : As you move about your home, your dog might feel that you are patrolling your territory (巡视领地) and take on the duty to assist you.

89．What is the passage mainly about?

A．Explanations for some dog behaviors.

B．Some natural instincts of the dogs.

C．The reasons why dogs follow you.

D．Dogs are good friends of human.

90．How does the author introduce the topic?

A．By listing numbers.

B．By giving examples.

C．By telling a story.

D．By making a survey.

91．What does the underlined word “dummy” mean in Para 5?

A．cute.

B．considerate.

C．stupid.

D．lovely.

92．Why does the dog like to be part of a pack?

A．This kind of behaviour is reinforced.

B．Dog’s brain releases chemicals.

C．Dogs have sense of responsibility.

D．It is passed from elder generations.

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is mostly a desert.

However, this has not stopped the country from creating great building projects.

On September 26, UAE officials announced another ambitious project — Mars Science City.

Expansive deserts and miles of coastline provide plenty of options for safe rocket launches (发射).

And its position on the Earth makes it especially appealing as the spin of the Earth provides an extra push, meaning less fuel is needed to get payloads into orbit.

All these seem to make it possible.

The Mars City Project, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG, will provide a realistic model to simulate (模仿) living on the surface of Mars, the red planet.

It is part of the UAE’s Mars 2117 Project to lead the global race to land humans on Mars and be the first to build a settlement there.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, says, “The UAE seeks international support to develop technologies that benefit humans, and lay the foundation of a better future for more generations to come.

”

Built outside Dubai, the 1.

9 million square feet city is expected to cost $135 million.

It will consist of several dome-shaped laboratories, similar to the ones imagined for the first Mars settlers.

Scientists from around the word will be invited to conduct research to come up with methods to create food, water and energy, using techniques which can be copied onto the red planet.

The living spaces, where the researchers can live for up to a year, will simulate the planet’s conditions as much as possible.

The research city will also include a museum featuring famous space achievements to help educate and inspire children to undertake space exploration and discovery.

To discover whether the construction method works on Mars, the museum’s walls will be 3D printed using the sand from the nearby desert.

Now, if they would only add some living quarters for the general public to experience life on Mars without leaving Earth, life would be perfect.

93．What can we conclude about the United Arab Emirates?

A．It is short of fine weather.

B．It is a nice place for launching.

C．It can provide adequate fuel supply.

D．It has the greatest architects in the world.

94．What will scientists do in the laboratories?

A．Educate visitors on trips to Mars.

B．Develop the Mars settlers’ imagination.

C．Find ways to produce food, water and energy on Mars.

D．Create a climate-controlled environment for future use.

95．Why will the museum’s walls be 3D printed?

A．To show famous space techniques.

B．To make full use of the nearby desert.

C．To inspire children to love exploration.

D．To test building skills used by Mars settlers.

96．What’s the best title for the text?

A．UAE to Build Mars Science City

B．UAE’s Great Exploration of Mars

C．UAE to Build First Mars Settlement

D．UAE’s Scientistific Contribution to Humans

    Closeness and independence are both important in our life.

Though all humans need both of them, women tend to focus on the first and men on the second.

It is as if their lifeblood ran in different directions.

These differences can give women and men differing views of the same situation, as they did in the case of couple I will call Tracy and Brian.

When Brian’s old high school friend called him at work and announced he’d be in town on business the following month, Brian invited him to stay for the weekend.

That evening he informed Tracy that they were going to have a houseguest, and that he and his friend would go out together the first night to chat like old times.

Tracy was upset.

She was going to be away on business the week before, and the Friday night when Brian would be out with his friend would be her first night home.

But what upset her the most was that Brian had made these plans on his own and informed her of them, rather than discussing them with her before extending the invitation.

Tracy would never make plans, for a weekend or an evening, without first checking with Brian.

She can’t understand why he doesn’t show her the same courtesy and consideration that she shows him.

But when she protests, Brian says, “I can’t say to my friend, ‘I have to ask my wife for permission’!”

To Brian, checking with his wife means seeking permission, which implies that he is not independent, not free to act on his own.

To Tracy, checking with her husband makes her feel good to know and show that she is involved with someone, that her life is bound up with someone else’s.

Tracy and Brian both felt upset by this incident because it cut to the core of their primary concerns.

Tracy was hurt because she sensed a failure of closeness in their relationship: He didn’t care about her as much as she cared about him.

And he was hurt because he felt she was trying to control him and limit his freedom.

97．What is the primary purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A．To educate the reader on how to maintain good family relationships.

B．To tell the reader how to make close connections with other people.

C．To suggest the best way of coping with family conflicts.

D．To explain the difference in communication styles between men and women.

98．Tracy was upset because ________.

A．she didn’t know Brian’s friend

B．she was too busy to meet Brian’s friend

C．Brian didn’t care about her and hurt her deeply

D．Brian didn’t consult her before inviting his friends home

99．What would Tracy most probably do if she plans to buy something expensive?

A．She would discuss with Brian.

B．She would simply decide on her own.

C．She would ask her friends for advice.

D．She would buy Brian something expensive first.

100．According to the passage, compared with men, women tend to ________.

A．be more emotional

B．be easier to get hurt

C．emphasize more on sharing

D．emphasize more on independence

    You often can choose a private setting when you browse(浏览) the internet.

But be forewarned: It may not afford nearly as much privacy as you expect.

That’s the finding of a new study.

Major web browsers, such as Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari, often a private-browsing option.

It’s sometimes referred to as “incognito.

” This option lets you surf the Internet browser and saves a record into its history of each page that you visited.

And what sites you visit won’t affect the suggestions your browser makes the next time you’re filling out an online form.

Many people believe----incorrectly--- that the incognito setting protects them more broadly.

Most believe it even after reading a web browser’s explanation of the incognito mode.

For instance, a new study had 460 people read web browsers’ descriptions of private browsing.

Each person read one of 13 descriptions.

Then the participants answered questions about how private they thought their browsing would be while using this tool.

The volunteers didn’t understand the incognito mode.

This was true no matter which browser explanation they had read.

The researchers reported their findings on April 26 at the 2018 World Wide Web Conference in Lyon, France.

More than half of the volunteers thought that if they logged into a Google account through a private window, Google wouldn’t keep a record of their search history.

Not true.

And about one in every four participants thought private browsing hid their device’s IP address.

That’s wrong, too.

Blase Ur was one of the study’s authors.

He’s an expert in computer security and privacy in Illinois at the University of Chicago.

Companies could clear up this confusion by giving better explanations of the incognito mode, his team says.

For example, the browsers should avoid vague（模糊).

The web browser Opera, for instance, promises users that “your secrets are safe.

” Nope Firefox encourages users to “browse like no one’s watching.

” In fact, someone might be.

(If you’d like to know more about the research information, please click here .

)

101．The researchers did the study with the aim of ______.

A．checking the safety of browsers of leading companies

B．finding users’ knowledge about private browsing policy

C．tracking young web users’ browsing habits

D．testing a new tool to judge the Internet

102．The “incognito” mode is believed to be able to ______.

A．record one’s passwords

B．give a warning of insecure links

C．help hide one’s past browsing history

D．access one’s favorite websites quickly

103．Where is the article probably from ______.

A．a text book B．a newspaper

C．a magazine D．the Internet

104．The last paragraph is written to ______.

A．report a new finding B．put forward a suggestion

C．introduce a web browser D．correct a misunderstanding

    Plastics remain one of the most - used materials for making many things.

Things made of plastics can be very strong and last a long time.

Plastics are also much lighter than metal and can easily be formed into different shapes.

Plastics can take hundreds of years to break down on their own.

And very few kinds are highly recyclable.

A team of researchers working at the US Department of Energy says it has created a kind of plastic that could lead to products that are 100 percent recyclable.

It recently reported the discovery in a study in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The researchers say the new material is a plastic polymer (聚合体)called polydiketoenamine, or PDK.

The team reports the material can be broken down in parts at the molecular (分子的)level.

It can then be built up again to form plastics of different shapes, textures and colors.

The researchers say this process can be repeated over and over again—without the plastic material losing any performance or quality.

"Most plastics were never made to be recycled, ” lead researcher Peter Christensen said in a statement.

" But we have discovered a new way to assemble plastics that takes recycling into consideration from a molecular perspective.

”

Many plastics have different chemicals added to them to make them more useful and powerful.

The problem is that these chemicals attach to the monomers (单体),which remain in plastics even after the material gets processed at a recycling plant.

The research team reported that, with the newly discovered PDK material, the monomers could be recovered and separated from any chemical additives.

Next, the researchers plan to develop PDK plastics "with a wide range of thermal and mechanical properties.

These plastics could be used for many kinds of cloth, as well as things such as 3D printed materials and foams.

In addition, the team is trying to include plant - based materials in the process.

105．What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．Plastics are never highly recyclable.

B．Plastics are widely used in our lives.

C．Plastics have both advantages and disadvantages.

D．Plastics take hundreds of years to be broken down.

106．What does the underlined word “It” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The new material.

B．The research team.

C．The molecular level.

D．The producing process.

107．Why do many plastics have different chemicals added to them?

A．To make them easy to break down.

B．To make them easy to get processed.

C．To make it possible for them to be recycled.

D．To make them stronger and more widely used.

108．What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．PDK plastics will be soon put to good use.

B．PDK plastics may have a promising prospect.

C．The researchers are busy developing PDK plastics.

D．Plant - based materials have been used in the new plastics.

    Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring and researching something with so few apparent benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth? These are questions that, understandably, are very often asked.

Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup (基因构成) as human beings.

What drove our ancestors to move from the trees into the plains, and on into all possible areas and environments? The wider the spread of a species, the better its chance of survival.

Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is this genetic tendency to expand wherever possible.

Nearly every successful civilization has explored, because by doing so, any dangers in surrounding areas can be identified and prepared for.

Without knowledge, we may be completely destroyed by the danger.

With knowledge, we can lessen its effects.

Exploration also allows minerals and other potential (潜在的) resources to be found.

Even if we have no immediate need of them, they will perhaps be useful later.

Resources may be more than physical possessions.

Knowledge or techniques have been acquired through exploration.

The techniques may have medical applications which can improve the length or quality of our lives.

We have already benefited from other spin-offs including improvements in earthquake prediction, in satellites for weather forecasting and in communications systems.

Even non-stick pans and mirrored sunglasses are by-products (副产品) of technological developments in space.

While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows creative, brave and intelligent members of our species to focus on what may serve to save us.

While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers.

The danger exists, but knowledge can help human beings to survive.

Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.

While Earth is the only planet known to support life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow us to live on other planets.

It is true that the lifestyle would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future.

109．Why does the author mention the questions in Paragraph1?

A．To express his doubts.

B．To compare different ideas.

C．To describe the conditions on Earth.

D．To introduce points for discussion.

110．The underlined word “spin-offs” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to______.

A．survival chances B．potential resources

C．unexpected benefits D．physical possessions

111．What makes it possible for humans to live on other planets?

A．Our genetic makeup.

B．Resources on the earth.

C．The adaptive ability of humans.

D．By-products in space exploration.

112．Which of the statements can best sum up the passage?

A．Space exploration has created many wonders.

B．Space exploration provided the best value for money.

C．Space exploration may help us avoid potential problems on Earth.

D．Space exploration can benefit science and technology.

    Since his students began using Quizlet, English teacher Tristan Thorne has noticed an improvement in their ability to learn and use new words.

Quizlet is a learning App, a computer program you use on your mobile phone.

It can help users build and test their knowledge of English words.

Quizlet has word sets for millions of subjects.

And, it is quickly becoming a useful mobile tool for language learners.

Thorne teachers at Columbia University in New York City.

Thanks to learning Apps, Jeff Strack, another English teacher, has also notice improvement in his students’ ability to remember information.

He teaches at Hostos Community College, also in New York.

He and Thorne are part of a growing number of language educators adding mobile Apps to their classes.

Strack and Thorne seem to agree that the days when teachers would not permit the use of mobile phones are gone.

When they use Apps, language learners communicate more differently than in a traditional classroom.

Users act on or respond to something, instead of just listening to new information.

Thorne believes that Apps can help learners become more active in learning.

For example, each week, his students are required to add vocabulary words into Quizlet for others to use.

He says some Apps also make it easy for students to know their language strengths and weaknesses.

The biggest improvement Strack has seen in his students is that they are much more active in whole-class or small-group discussions.

“Apps let all students take part in the activity, whether it’s a game, quiz or practice activity.

” he says.

Many existing learning Apps are designed for students of all ages and levels.

Some are designed for group activities.

some support independent learning.

Still some are good for homework.

Thorne says he especially likes Quizlet and three other Apps: QR Codes, Socrative and Evernote.

113．What do Strack and Thorne do to improve their teaching?

A．They design learning Apps for their students.

B．They don’t allow their students to use Apps after class

C．They allow their students to use mobile Apps to study

D．They order their students not to use mobile phones in class

114．According to the text, Apps can help language learners __________.

A．take an active part in learning

B．save much time and money

C．remember their weaknesses

D．improve personal designing skills

115．What can we learn about the existing learning Apps?

A．They have three types in total

B．They are too few to choose from

C．They are only designed for homework

D．They are designed for different uses

116．What can be the best title for the text?

A．Great changes in science and technology

B．The use of mobile phones will be gone

C．Ways to choose from different mobile Apps

D．Better language learning with mobile Apps

    Some bats sing just as birds and humans do.

But how they learn their calls and melodies is a mystery—one that scientists will try to solve by researching the genes of more than 1,000 bat species.

The project, called Bat 1K, was announced on 14 November at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, California.

Its organizers also hope to learn more about the flying mammals’ echolocation ability—the ability to find directions in the dark; their strong immune systems that can defend against Ebola, a deadly virus; and their relatively long lifespans.

“The genomes of all these other species, like birds and mice, are well-understood,” says an expert at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

“But we don’t know anything about bat genes yet.

”

Some bats show babbling behavior, including barks, chatter, screeches, whistles and trills, says Mirjam Knörnschild, a behavioral ecologist at the Free University of Berlin.

Young bats learn the songs and other sounds from older male tutors.

They use these sounds during courtship and mating, when they seek food and as they defend their territory against rivals.

Scientists have studied the vocal sounds of only about 50 bat species so far, Knörnschild says, and they know much less about bats’ communication than birds’.

Four species of bat have so far been found to learn vocal sounds from each other, their fathers and other adult males, just as a child gradually learns how to speak from its parents.

Genetic studies have discovered at least one gene in bats that is linked to speech and language, called FOXP2.

The gene is also known to have a role in how people learn language, and in vocal learning in song-birds.

Researchers working on the Bat 1K project expect to find that other genes are also involved in communication, and that many more bat species have the ability to learn songs, calls and other sounds.

“It’s not a rare trait,” Knörnschild says.

“I’m becoming convinced that all bats are more or less the same in vocal learning.

”

Bats’ echolocation ability has been studied for many years, partly because of its applications to sonar and radar.

But scientists know very little about the vocal communication and social behaviour that drive how bats learn their songs and sounds, says Michael Yartsev, a neurobiologist at University of California, Berkeley.

The study of vocal learning in bats is “nearly completely untapped”, he says—comparing it to the state of research into birdsong 60 years ago.

117．The project, Bat 1K is carried out mainly to ________.

A．do research on the genes of more bat species

B．research bats’ ability to find directions in the dark

C．study the way bats learn their calls and songs

D．learn more secrets about bats’ longer lifespans

118．From Para 5 and 6, we can safely infer that ________.

A．scientists have studied only approximately 50 bat species so far

B．of all bats, only four species learn vocal sounds from each other

C．more than one gene linked to speech and language has been discovered

D．the gene FOXP2 has something to do with human language learning

119．Which of the following is the word “trait” in Paragraph 6 closest to in meaning?

A．quality B．behavior C．habit D．gene

120．What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Scientists try to know more about bat genes.

B．Scientists seek keys to bats’ vocal sounds.

C．All bats are almost the same in vocal learning.

D．Bats sing just as birds and human beings do.

    Automated cars—once a far-off dream—have in recent years left the field of science fiction and come closer to the American garage.

Leading U.

S.

automakers say that real self-driving cars are coming within two decades and they’re fighting to stay competitive.

These advances promise relief to people sick of two-hour driving and heavy traffic, but they leave open questions for a society shaped around the automobile for the past century.

Perhaps no area is more uncertain than the environmental impact of automated vehicles.

One report from the Department of Energy found that automated vehicles could reduce fuel consumption(油耗) for passenger cars by as much as 90%, or increase it by more than 200%.

That’s a huge difference considering that more than a quarter of U.

S.

greenhouse-gas emissions(排放) come from transportation, according to an expert.

And scientists say reducing that figure will be the key to dealing with man-made climate change.

“There’s a great energy influence possible,” says Jeff Gonder, a transportation researcher.

“But there remains great uncertainty in the degree and even direction.

”

Depending on various factors, it remains to be seen how a future with automated cars will take shape.

Most importantly, researchers expect that automated cars will lead to a sharp increase in the average miles traveled by a given vehicle.

Key problems with driving a car, such as tiredness, age or drunkenness(醉酒), will disappear, and car owners will be free to travel further and more frequently.

Workers may choose to live even further away from the office, deciding to sleep in the car or use that time to work out in it.

And, once in the city, car owners might guide their vehicle to drive around in circles rather than pay for parking.

“A lot of the uncertainty comes from not knowing how the value of people’s time is going to change,” says Don MacKenzie, a researcher at the University of Washington.

“There will be some kind of cost connected with the travel, but it’s much less than it is today.

”

Researchers have tried to create a model of how humans might respond to automated driving using surveys, driving data and lab experiments, but eventually the great number of choices and assumptions involved in transportation has made reaching exact conclusions about driving behavior difficult.

Engineers say that the largely accident-free vehicles can remove safety equipment, such as antilock brakes and airbags, which has increased the weight—and fuel consumption—of vehicles.

Automated cars can also travel closer together, allowing them to take advantage of aerodynamics(气体力学).

Trucking fleets(车队) are already trying to take advantage of this fuel-saving measure.

121．What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

A．Some automated cars have better qualities than others.

B．One automated vehicle may consume much less fuel than another.

C．We are not sure about the environmental impact of automated cars.

D．We cannot make sure of the quality of automated cars.

122．Which is not the reason for a sharp increase in the miles run by a certain self-driving car?

A．More convenient roads and fewer traffic jams.

B．Workers’ living further away from the office.

C．Choosing not to pay for parking but to drive around.

D．The disappearance of various limits on drivers.

123．The missing sentence “Besides changed driving behaviors, simple technology advances will reduce the environmental damage of automated cars” should be put at the beginning of_______.

A．Para.

5 B．Para.

6 C．Para.

7 D．Para.

8

124．After reading the passage, one may safely conclude that________.

A．self-driving cars need less safety equipment because of receiving little damage in accidents

B．those who have to drive a long distance to work are less likely to choose a self-driving car

C．with more safety equipment, automated cars are much heavier than traditional ones

D．traveling the same distance, a self-driving car consumes less fuel than a traditional one

125．The author writes this passage in order to ________.

A．remind us of a bright future about the future of automated cars

B．explain to us why self-driving cars might not need less fuel

C．argue that self-driving cars are beneficial to the environment

D．advise the readers not to be in a rush to buy an automated car

    Apple announced its new iPhones last week, but competitors’ mobile phones can do many of the same things for less money.

The new iPhone 8 and X have wireless charging, edge-to-edge glass screen and double cameras.

But all of these features are already available in smart phones from China’s Huawei and Oppo, and Korea’s Samsung.

While Apple asks buyers to pay $1,000 for its high-end model, some Asian phone makers can offer similar features for less.

At one time, Chinese manufacturers copied features and designs from others to produce low-cost phones.

But they have now added high-end features to their phones and they control nearly half the global mobile phone market.

Media MarktSaturn is Europe’s biggest electronics seller.

A spokesperson for the store told Reuters that,“Huawei is seen as a relevant competitor to Apple and Samsung by covering all major price points and placing big investments in marketing and sales.

’’ She also said that the Chinese companies Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and TCL were among the top-10 best-selling smart phones in its stores.

Chinese manufacturers’ fast growth has been fueled by strong sales in China.

But they now export 40 percent of their smart phones.

That is almost double the number from just three years ago, according to the Hong Kong investment company CLSA．

Huawei is currently the world’s third largest phone maker behind Samsung and Apple.

According to research company Canalys, the Chinese company is getting closer to second-place Apple and might overtake it later this year.

Huawei plans to show its top-of-the-line Mate 10 phone on Oct.

16.

The phone will have artificial intelligence features such as instant translation and image recognition and will cost less than $1,000.

Other Chinese companies are looking to enter the high-end smart phone market.

126．What is the text mainly about?

A．Smart phone’s manufacturers.

B．Apple smart phone’s features.

C．Asian phone makers’ fast growth.

D．Competition among Asian phone makers.

127．Which is NOT among the top 3 phone makers in the world?

A．TCL.

B．Samsung.

C．Apple.

D．Huawei.

128．What do we know from the text?

A．Huewei will have overtaken Apple by later 2017.

B．Chinese makers’ phones with high-end features cost less.

C．The top-10 smart phones are to enter the high-end competition.

D．40 percent of Asian smart phones are exported now.

129．What is the writer’s attitude towards Asian phone makers?

A．Doubtful.

B．Concerned.

C．Optimistic.

D．Uncertain.