Nearly a third of households in the United States have struggled to pay their energy bills, the Energy Information Administration said in a report released Wednesday. The differences were minor in terms of geography, but Hispanics and racial minorities were hit hardest. About one in five households had to reduce or forgo food, medicine and other necessities to pay an energy bill, according to the report. “Households can spend more than 20% of their total income on their electricity needs,” George Koutitas, CEO and co-founder of Gridmates says. Gridmates sends donations to utility companies for struggling customers’ energy bills. Low-income heat assistance programs, he says, only go so far. Weatherization programs that insulate a home “take a lot of time and they are not very responsive.” Bill assistance alternatives, he says, are underfunded and have been canceled. “Please, I beg you to bring back this assistance with electricity,” a woman in northern Texas wrote, after a state assistance program called Lite Up Texas ran out of money, “I am going to freeze during this cold season.” Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard. 5. How many households had to reduce or give up necessities to pay an energy bill? 6. What does George Koutitas say about bill assistance alternatives? 7. What did the woman in northern Texas do after Lite Up Texas ran out of money? Nearly a third. About one in five. More than 20% . Nearly a quarter.

America’s obesity problem isn’t exactly a secret. It’s a well-established reality that has widespread public health consequences, including the prevalence of chronic health problems such as diabetes and certain cancers. But a new report from Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation breaks down the most recently available obesity statistics, based on Centres for Disease Control (CDC) data, on a state-wide, and sobering, basis, finding that seven US states have adult obesity rates that exceed 35%. The CDC says that this public health crisis isn’t just widespread-it’s expensive. “The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008; the medical cost for people who have obesity was $1,429 higher than those of normal weight,” according to the agency. But obesity is also a particularly difficult problem to solve given its disproportionate effect on racial minorities and poorer Americans. What’s clear is that the problem is rampant, pricey, and a tough issue to fix. Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard. 3. What does the new report find about America’s obesity problem? 4. What does the CDC say about America’s obesity problem? Adult obesity rates exceed 35% in seven US states. Obesity has caused public health consequences. The medical cost of obesity was $1,429 higher than last year. The problem is widely seen among poorer Americans.

In the Malian capital of Bamako, donkey carts driven by young men like 19-year-old Arouna Diabate play a vital role battling the fast-growing city’s waste problem. Every morning before dawn, Diabate hitches his donkey to a cart and sets off on his rounds, going door-to-door to collect household garbage which he delivers to a local waste transfer station for a monthly salary of around $35. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and the authorities struggle to provide adequate public services in the capital. Bamako’s population more than quadrupled from the mid-1970s to 1.8 million as of 2009. The population boom has made the issue of waste disposal in Bamako more acute, requiring Diabate’s boss, Moustapha Diarra, to deploy eight donkey carts in his district instead of the two he managed a decade ago. The system is overburdened due to a proliferation of informal dumps and the authorities’ failure to remove waste from the local transfer stations, Diarra said. Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard. 1. What is the news report mainly about? 2. What did Moustapha Diarra do to solve the acute issue of waste disposal? The waste problem in Bamako. The disappearance of donkey carts. The population boom in Bamako. The poor workers in Bamako.

W: So tell me about your new house. How is it different from your old one? M: Well, first of all, it’s much bigger. It has the same number of rooms, but each room is larger. We also have a larger garden, which our dog loves, of course! W: So, it’s a three-bedroom detached house? M: Yes. One bedroom is for my wife and me, one for our daughter. My wife wants to use the third one as a guest room, but I’d like to make it into a study. Our daughter is also keen on making it a study, so that’s probably what will happen. W: What’s the kitchen like? I know both you and your wife like to cook. M: That’s one of the main reasons we chose that particular house. The kitchen and dining room are together. It’s really large. W: Are the rooms nice and bright? M: Yes, they are. That’s very important to us. We like to live in a home with plenty of natural light. Each room has large windows. W: Do you have a balcony? M: No, we don’t. We wish we had one. That’s the only thing we wanted, but don’t have. The area is very nice and the neighbours seem friendly. W: You’re right on the edge of the city, aren’t you? There can’t be much noise or traffic there. Is it easy to get into city centre? M: It’s a very quiet neighbourhood. There’s some traffic, but not much. It’s not very difficult to get to the city centre, but you must remember to turn left and right at the right places or you’ll get lost. So when are you going to drop by? Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 8. What does the man say about his new house? 9. What will probably happen to the third bedroom? 10. Why did the man choose that house? 11. What is the only thing that the man is dissatisfied with his new house? It has more rooms. It is a four-bedroom house. It has a larger garden. It is located in the city centre.

A bear was shot dead after it escaped from an enclosure at a zoo in western Germany on Friday, authorities have said. Earlier authorities said two lions, two tigers and a jaguar had escaped from the zoo, but officials later clarified that the big cats had never left their enclosures. Police had advised residents to remain indoors. While the warning was still active on the police website Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the police clarified that the bear was the only animal at the park to break free. Marc Potzsch, a spokesperson of the district’s disaster management organization— which is made up of police and fire brigades— said the bear had managed to leave its cage after a heavy downpour early Friday morning. The high rainfall had caused zoo cages to flood and authorities had initially been unable to verify the whereabouts of cats, sparking fears of a mass breakout. In reality, the animals had climbed to higher spots that were not visible from outside the cages, Potzsch said. The cages were being checked by structural engineers to determine whether the animals can stay remain inside their enclosures or have to be placed in more secure places, he added. There hasn’t been a flood like this here for at least 70 years, Yannick Becker, who lives just over a mile from the zoo, told CNN. He said he had heard from the fire department that two storms had collided to cause unusually high levels of rainfall. “As far as I know, a dam broke in the zoo, which caused the area to be flooded,” he added. Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. How many dangerous animals have escaped from their enclosures? 17. What does Yannick Becker say about the flood? 18. What can we learn from the end of the talk? Only one bear. A bear and two lions. A bear, two lions and two tigers. A bear, two lions, two tigers and a jaguar.

Even the dirt on the ground is likely making climate change worse, a new study finds. Scientists studied device readings, soil measurements, plant growth details and satellite observations from around the world. Their work is the most complete study yet on the subject. They found a sharp increase in carbon released into the atmosphere by bacteria and fungi in soil from 1990 through 2014. Researchers explain that the carbon comes from the dead plants and leaves the microbes eat. As temperatures rise, the microbes eat more. And the more they eat, the more carbon they make into carbon dioxide and release into the atmosphere. This uncontrolled cycle speeds up and intensifies climate change, says Jerry Melillo of Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. Melilo was not part of the study. Overall, soil releases about nine times more carbon than human-caused activities. But that is part of a natural cycle: The amount of carbon released into the air is about equal to the carbon oceans and plants take in. However, carbon released from fossil fuel causes an imbalance. Burning coal, oil and natural gas puts more carbon into the atmosphere than nature can take out. The additional carbon heats the air and soil. And as the air and soil get hotter, the earth will release yet more carbon that it has been holding. If something isn’t done, “we are really in trouble,” said Rattan Lal of Ohio State University, who wasn’t part of the study. He added that proper soil conservation can help keep more carbon in soil. Conservation methods include avoiding turning the soil, covering off-season crops and leaving crop deposits on the ground. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard. 19. What does the speaker say about the new study? 20. What can we learn about carbon release? 21. What does Rattan Lal say at the end of the talk? It is the first study on the subject. It is a longitudinal study on the subject. It is an incomplete study on the subject. It is the most complete study yet on the subject.

The New York University School of Medicine will provide free tuition for all present and future students, the university announced. Citing the risk of “overwhelming” debt, it says every student will qualify regardless of merit or financial need. The scholarship covers annual tuition costs of up to $55,000. A study produced by the Association of American Medical Colleges estimated that in 2017 75% of medical students graduated in debt. The average debt level was $190,000. The university has reportedly been working for more than a decade to acquire the necessary funds to pay for tuition, and hopes to raise a total of $600 million to make the scholarships available permanently. Students must still, however, cover the cost of living expenses and accommodation. NYU School of Medicine made the surprise announcement at its annual White Coat Ceremony on Thursday, when new students receive a white lab coat as they begin their studies. In their statement, the university said debt is fundamentally reshaping the medical profession in ways that are adversely affecting healthcare. Rising tuition and six-figure loans have been pushing new doctors into higher-paying fields and contributing to a shortage of researchers and primary care physicians. Dr. Robert Grossman said that aspiring physicians and surgeons should not be prevented from pursuing a career in medicine because of the prospect of overwhelming financial debt. NYU thanked more than 2,500 supporters who helped bring the scheme to fruition. It says it is now the only top 10 US medical school to offer such help. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 22. What will the New York University School of Medicine do? 23. What can we learn from the estimation of the Association of American Medical Colleges? 24. What can we learn about the New York University School of Medicine’s decision? 25. When did New York University School of Medicine announce the decision? Reduce part of the tuition fee for all students. Reduce the tuition fee for part of the students. Provide free tuition for all present and future students. Provide free tuition for part of the present students.

W: There is a national movement in schools to teach media literacy skills to teenagers who are growing up with access to more information than any previous generation. In an era marked by calls of fake news and declining trust in media, we turned to Student Reporting Labs to learn more about how young people experience news and how they think about journalism. Tonight, we have John from Harvard University with us. M: You don’t really know what you can believe, because there are so many sources saying so many different things. It’s weakening trust between the media and the audience. W: I’m pretty sure that I have shared fake news, but I didn’t realize it until someone corrected me. M: No one seems to know what to trust and what not to trust anymore. W: Yes. We’re having a problem of people actually believing it, and then going forward with that news to have riots and things like that. M: I believe that it’s a new epidemic, because people don’t understand how fast fake news spreads. W: But do you think fake news is a serious social problem? M: I don’t necessarily think fake news is a problem so much as misinformation. People often are keen to take whatever information they’re given right off the bat, sometimes without kind of thinking about where it’s coming from or what it implies. W: I bet it is a person’s first instinct to believe that what they see is true. People need to double-check that, and make sure that they’re getting the information from reliable sources. M: Journalism definitely does matter. It is the purest form of communication between people, the politics and global issues. So, public media should take more responsibilities for spreading true stories. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12. Why does the man say that you don’t really know what you can believe? 13. What does the new epidemic refer to? 14. What should people do to avoid being fooled by fake news? 15. Who should be more responsible for spreading true stories according to the man? Because there are too many comments on a single news post. Because there are many sources saying the same story. Because there are many sources saying many different things. Because there are too many news stories that are reported exaggeratedly.