1、By the time I reached junior high，I was sure I wanted to be a nurse. If you didnt study Latin，you couldnt be a nurse，so I enrolled. Many Latin words were familiar to me. The hard part turned out to be the usage and creating sentences with the words that seemed so easy to pronounce. Several weeks int
2、o the course my teacher came to me，saying，“I think you should withdraw from this course. It seems to be too hard for you. ”That was the day I learned I wasnt smart enough to become a nurse. With shame, I handed in my Latin textbook. After high school，the years raced by. I married and had children. T
3、hen one day my husband John came home. “Carol, Max died this afternoon.” I looked at my husband with disbelief. John was touched by this tragedy. Finally one evening he said，“Carol，Jackie has never worked and now shes alone with four children. Ive been thinking if anything happens to me. I want you
4、to be able to take care of yourself and the children. Why dont you think about what youd like to do and get the training youll need to do it?”I signed up for the entrance exam for nursing programs. One day I received a letter from the schoo1. I wanted so badly to open it，but with my lack of confiden
5、ce，I laid it on the kitchen counter saying, “Im not in the mood for a rejection letter today.”Finally I forced myself to open it. “Dear Carol，”I read. ”We are pleased to inform you that you successfully passed the entrance exam.”An insensitive teacher once stole my dream. If you have a dream, exhaus
6、t every effort to reach it. Ive worked thirty years now as a nurse and Ive never been more certain that this is what I was meant to be.21. Why did John advise Carol to find a job?A. To support the family B. To provide more money for her kidsC. To live a more colorful life D. To be able to live indep
7、endently 22. From the text, we know what the teacher said_. A. destroyed Carols dream to be a nurse. B. helped Carol find her true interestC. saved Carol from wasting her time D. encouraged Carol to be careful in learning23. After receiving the letter from the schoo1, Caro1_. A. was uncertain about
8、the result B. had no mood to read it thenC. didnt take it seriously at all D. couldnt wait to open it24. What may be the best title for the text？A. A dream too high to achieve. B. Too stupid to be a nurse?C. Never too late to 1earn. D. A chance too important to missBElectronic heroesAs an internet i
9、nfluencer, there seems to be nothing special about Miquela Sousa. The 19-year-old lives in Los Angeles, US, posts pictures of herself sporting fashionable looks, and has just made her way into the March edition of Vogue magazine. But Miquela isnt real she is a computer-generated character.Her fans d
10、ont seem to mind she has 855,000 followers on US social networking platform Instagram. And her first single Not Mine yes, she “sings” too also reached No. 8 on music streaming （流媒体） platform Spotify last August.Its kind of curious that in a time when authenticity （真实性） and “being real” are valued mo
11、re than ever, “fake” celebrities like Miquela are appreciated and seen as icons （偶像）.Perhaps the reason for Miquelas popularity lies behind the fame of a similar star, Hatsune Miku. This 16-year-old animated singer from Japan has held singing concerts not only in her home country but also in the US
12、and China.Even though Hatsunes no more than a 3-D figure projected （投射） onto the stage, her fans are more than willing to pay to actually see her “in person”, because to them, shes better than human singers. “Shes rather more like a goddess: She has human parts, but she transcends （超越） human limitat
13、ions. Shes the great post-human pop star,” wrote reporter James Verini on Wired magazine.Critics may say that 3-D stars could never replace the authenticity of humans, but when it comes to being authentic, are humans really the best example of how to do it? Most of us edit our photos before posting
14、them online, and we tend to create a fantasy that were living a perfect life by letting people only see the brighter side of it.“Miquela is no less real to me than any other internet stranger with whom Ive interacted （互动）,” wrote reporter Leora Yashari on the website Nylon. “Her existence in itself
15、represents a new breed （种类） of influencer someone who is breaking the boundaries （界限） of what is real and what is fake.”25. Who is Miquela Sousa?A. Shes a life-like character with musical talents.B. Shes a new sports star with fashionable looks.C. Shes an experienced singer with thousands of fans.D.
16、 Shes an animated figure created by a Japanese company.26. Why did the author mention Hatsune Miku?A. To show the similarities 3-D stars share.B. To make a comparison with Miquela Sousa.C. To explain why 3-D stars are well received.D. To stress how 3-D stars go beyond human limitations.27. What can
17、be concluded from the last two paragraphs?A. 3-D stars could match the authenticity of humans one day.B. Animated celebrities are not as real as human celebrities.C. Human celebrities have greater influence than animated ones.D. 3-D stars public personalities may be just as authentic as humans.CAn a
18、rticle published in the prestigious （有威望的） scientific journal Nature sheds new light on an important, but up-to-now little appreciated, aspect of human evolution. In this article Professors Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman suggest that being able to run was the necessary condition for the develop
19、ment of our species which enabled us to come down from the trees. This challenges traditional scientific thinking, which claims that the distinctive, upright body form of modern humans has come about as a result of the ability to walk, and that running is simply a by-product of walking. Furthermore,
20、 humans have usually been regarded as poor runners compared to such animals as dogs, horses or deer. However, this is only true if we consider running at high speed, especially over short distances. But when it comes to long-distance running, humans do astonishingly well. They can keep a steady pace
21、 for many kilometres, and their overall speed is at least the same as that of horses or dogs. Bramble and Lieberman examined 26 physical features found in humans. One of the most interesting of these is the nuchal ligament（项韧带）. When we run, this ligament prevents our head from moving back and forth
22、 or from side to side. Therefore, we are able to run with steady heads held high. The nuchal ligament is not found in any other surviving primates, such as apes and monkeys. Then there are our Achilles tendons （跟腱） at the backs of our legs, which connect our calf （小腿肚） muscles to our heel bones and
23、which have nothing to do with walking. When we run, these tendons behave like springs, helping to push us forward. Furthermore, we have low, wide shoulders virtually disconnected from our skulls（颅骨）, a physical development which allows us to run more efficiently. But what evolutionary advantage is g
24、ained from being good long-distance runners? Perhaps it permitted early humans to obtain food more effectively. What these features and facts appear to be telling us is that running evolved in order for our direct ancestors to compete with other meat-eating animals for access to the protein needed t
25、o grow the big brains that we enjoy today, says Lieberman. Some scientists put forward the theory that early humans chased animals for great distances in order to exhaust them before killing them. Research on the history of humans ability to move has traditionally been controversial, says Lieberman.
26、 At the very least, I believe this theory will motivate many researchers to reevaluate and further investigate how humans learned to run and walk and why we are built the way we are. 28. In paragraph 1, what do the two professors suggest about humans ability to run?A. It is an evolutionary by-produc
27、t of walking.B. It helps to form peoples ability to climb trees.C. It has played an important role in human evolution.D. It has not been adequately studied by scientists before.29. What is true about the physical characteristics examined by the professors?A. Achilles tendons assist people to walk lo
28、ng distances.B. The human skull helps people to run more efficiently.C. peoples shoulders allow them to look from side to side.D. The nuchal ligament enables people to hold their head steady.30. According to paragraph 3, scientists believe that early humans_.A. always came across dangerous situation
29、s in lifeB. ran after animals for long distances when huntingC. often failed to find food because they couldnt run fastD. developed their hunting skills by running long distances31. Professor Lieberman thinks the new theory will _.A. completely explain how running developedB. revolutionize the theor
30、y of human evolutionC. encourage more in-depth studies on the topicD. be widely supported within the scientific communityDWhether youre eating at a fancy restaurant or dining in someones home, proper table manners are likely to help you make a good impression. According to a US expert, Emily Post, “
31、All rules of table manners are made to avoid ugliness.”While Henry Hitchings of the Los Angeles Times admits that good manners can reduce social conflict, he points out that mostly their purpose is protective they turn our natural warrior-like selves into more elegant ones.So where did table manners
32、 come from?In medieval England, a writer named Petrus Alfonsi took the lead to urge people not to speak with their mouths full. And King David I of Scotland also proposed that any of his people who learned to eat more neatly be given a tax deduction （减除）.Disappointingly, that idea never caught on. It
