三、说明文

Task 1

Jeremiah Thoronka was born in the fighting of the Sierra Leone civil war and grew upin the gutter （贫民窟） in the suburbs of the capital Freetown， having to burn wood forlighting and heating. Jeremiah saw with his own eyes how like himself， in addition to thesmog making breathing problems common， his young contemporaries fell behind in theirschoolwork because of a lack of decent lighting.

Energy poverty is a major issue in Sierra Leone—with just 26% of the populationhaving access to electricity. In rural parts of the country， only 6% of people have electricityaccess， most of whom turn to solar lanterns and dry⁃cell batteries. As a result， it's led to thedestruction of forests as people cut down trees for firewood， which leaves Sierra Leonehighly sensitive to extreme events like floods and landslides. Families' reliance on firewoodalso leads to frequent house fires.

These life⁃threatening disadvantages and hardships fuelled Jeremiah's passion forrenewable energy and climate change advocacy. At 17， when studying at the African Leader⁃ship University in Rwanda， he launched a start⁃up called Optim Energy that transforms vi⁃brations （震动） from vehicles and footfall on roads into an electric current. It is differentfrom established renewable energy sources including wind or solar because it generatespower without relying on changeable weather.

Optim Energy ran a successful pilot program in Jeremiah's neighbourhoods， Makawoin the northern part of Sierra Leone and Kuntoluh east of Freetown. With just two devices，the start⁃up provided free electricity for 150 households comprising around 1，500 citizens，as well as 15 schools where more than 9，000 students attend.

Jeremiah is currently developing plans to expand into the healthcare field， whichneeds power to cool medicines and create enough light for treating patients after dark.

1. What affected Jeremiah's academic performance？

A. The war. B. The smog.

C. The poor lighting. D. The breathing problem.

2. What can we learn about energy poverty from paragraph 2？

A. It is caused by solar lanterns and dry⁃cell batteries.

B. It has a worse impact on the city area.

C. It brings about the destruction of forests.

D. It increases the risk of forest fires.

3. What is special about Optim Energy？

A. It draws on vibrations to make electricity.

B. It upgrades the use of solar energy.

C. It runs a pilot program throughout the city.

D. It helps 9，000 students return to school.

4. What message does the text want to convey？

A. Electricity is the lifeblood of the city.

B. Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

C. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

D. Even if we are all in the gutter， some are making it better.

Task 2

Anyone can be late a handful of times， but to be the person who is always late—that'san art， a frustrating art， or a side effect of your personality traits， scientists have found.

So what is it that causes some people to constantly miss trains， make it to the weddingjust after the bride's shown up and regularly annoy their friends？ And why is it so hard forus to fix it？“ There are all sorts of punishments for being late， and the paradox is that weare late even when those punishments and consequences exist，” said Justin Kruger， asocial psychologist at New York University.

One of the commonest reasons why people are frequently late is that they fail to accu⁃rately judge how long a task will take—something known as the planning fallacy （谬误）.Research has shown that people on average underestimate the time to complete a task by asignificant 40 percent.

Another trait is that forever⁃late⁃comers are more likely to be multitaskers. In a 2003study run by Jeff Conte from San Diego State University found that out of 181 subway opera⁃tors in New York City， those who preferred multitasking were more often late for their job.This is because multitasking makes it harder to have the awareness of what youre doing.Conte also discovered there is a personality type that's more likely to be late. While highlystrung （紧张不安的）， achievement⁃oriented Type A individuals are more possible to bepunctual. Type B individuals， however， who are more laid⁃back （松弛的）， have a higherchance to be late.

Admittedly， knowing all of this doesn't necessarily help fix the problem. But scientistsare starting to work on strategies that can slowly improve our punctuality. For people whoconstantly underestimate tasks， breaking down an activity into detailed steps can helppeople estimate how long something will take more accurately. As for your personality type，unfortunately， there isnt much you can do to change that. But accepting that you need tostruggle for it may just help. Acceptance， after all， is the first step to change.

1. What does the underlined word“ paradox” mean in paragraph 2？

A. Strategy. B. Argument. C. Solution. D. Puzzle.