We know that St. Patrick’s Day festivities may include a little bit of drinking. But there are plenty of kid-safe St. Patrick’s Day events around metro Phoenix, too. Here are the lucky St. Patrick’s Day celebrations for kids.
3/17: Lucky St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes
Kids can make their own treats at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix this St. Patrick’s Day. Children can make and decorate their cupcakes with rainbow candies and chocolate. To-go containers will also be provided.
Details: 1-3 p.m. Friday, March 1. Children’s Museum of Phoenix, 215 N.7th Street, Phoenix. $ 3 for members. $ 4 for non-members. 602-253-0501.
3/17-19: Fountain O’ Green Artisan Market
This community festival will include sculptures, paintings, handcrafted jewelry and clothes from selected local and regional artists, live music and dance performances throughout the weekend. There will also be a food court.
On Friday, emerald-colored water will shoot from the town’s fountain at noon. Take the kids to see the annual tradition and picnic in the park.
Details: 10 a.m.-5 p.m, Friday-Sunday, March 17-19.Avenue of the Fountains and Saguaro Boulevard, Fountain Hills. Free. 480-488-2014.
3-17: St. Patrick’s Day Party at AZ Air Time
Kids above 12 years old can collect their free, green glow necklaces and jump for three hours, scale the rock climbing wall or dive into the giant pit of foam（泡沫橡胶）. Jump socks required.
Details: 8-11p.m. Friday, March 17. AZ Air Time, 13802 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 145, Scottsdale. $15, which is a $14 savings. 480-427-2000.
1.Which telephone number can people call if they want to make and decorate cupcakes?
A. 602-253-0501. B. 602-427-2014.
C. 480-488-2014. D. 480-427-2000.
2.In which program can kids enjoy their weekends?
A. St. Patrick’s Day Party at AZ Air Time.
B. Fountain O’ Green Artisan Market.
C. St. Patrick’s Day at the Irish Cultural Center.
D. Lucky St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes.
3.For whom is the text intended for?
A. Parents of younger children. B. People addicted to alcohol.
C. Organisers of festivals. D. Educators and businessmen.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Katie Blomquist, a lst grade teacher at Pepperhill Elementary School in North Charleston, South Carolina, learned last year that one of her students wanted a bike for his birthday. But his parents could not afford it. So, like most other people that you will find here on InspireMyKids, she decided to do something about it!
First, she thought about how to get a bike for that child. Then, she decided to think bigger. How could she also give a bike to his brother? Or how about a bike to every child in her class? Finally, her vision got even bolder! How might she find bikes for the 650 poor kids that make up her entire school. Even though Ms. Blomquist could not afford to buy the bikes herself, she felt she now had to do something about it!
So, she decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to raise money. Her request caught on! In less than 6 months, over 1,000 donors from around her community, and even 10 countries around the world, provided over $80,000 in donations! This was enough to buy more than 600 bikes for Pepperhill students, along with locks!
After a big ceremony to surprise the kids, Ms. Blomquist’s effort is not done. Katie Blomquist is starting a charity called “Going Places”, with a mission to bring joy to deserving children from low income families by providing them with bikes, swim lessons, summer camp chances, and more. This will enrich their growth and fuel their imaginations, supporting the most basic childhood right---a right to joy. And she has started yet another campaign for her chairty to help more schools and kids!
1.What led Ms. Blomquist to start GoFundMe campaign originally?
A. Her dream for a bike. B. A kid’s birthday wish.
C. Her bad family conditions. D. A moving story on InspireMyKids.
2.What is Pepperhill Elementary School like?
A. Its education level is well below average.
B. It has no access to convenient transportation.
C. It’s a community school intended for the poor.
D. Its students all come from a poor background.
3.What do the figures in Paragraph 3 indicate?
A. The large number of kind donors.
B. The great advantage of GoFundMe.
C. The immediate success of GoFundMe.
D. The huge economic benefits of GoFundMe.
4.Which words can best describe Katie Blomquist?
A. Sympathetic and devoted. B. Aggressive and independent.
C. Generous and honest. D. Responsible and sociable.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
When the natural climate changes due to global warming, it can surely affect seals. The majority of them live in the Antarctic region so as the ice is melting, their natural habitat（栖息地）can be seriously affected. These changes don’t take place overnight. They can be the result of many years of additional temperatures in the area. The seals then have to find ways to adapt.
Seals depend on the cool air currents to bring plenty of food for them. When the temperatures get higher, there is less and less food and the seal population starts to get depleted. Mothers aren’t healthy enough to feed their babies. Many of them end up abandoned as the mothers have to leave to find their own source of food.
The fact that their desire to produce young can be changed by the warmer temperatures is frightening too. It is also believed that the warmer temperatures can allow different diseases and viruses to attack the seals. This is a huge concern as they can rapidly wipe out huge numbers of seals out there.
However, these changes in climate and temperature aren’t all bad for other species of seals. Scientists have found that those living in warmer climates are producing more young due to the changes. Research also shows that the females are moving further to find food and water. When they are out of the reach of the governing males, they are more willing to accept the moves of other males in the group.
This is good news too because it means that there will be more selection in the gene pool（基因库）for future generations. It can help the seals as a species adapt to changes in their natural environment more easily.
The climate change problem for seals is directly linked to humans. When we take action to change what we let out into the environment, we will make positive changes for the seals. However, it is going to take a very long time to reverse（彻底改变）the effects of what has already been done.
1.What does the author regard climate changes for seals as?
A. An unavoidable disaster for existence.
B. A double-edged sword.
C. A mirror of evolution
D. A requirement for more choice in the gene pool.
2.What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
A. Explode B. Disappear
C. Shrink D. Vary
3.What will happen to the seals in warmer climates?
A. Their number will be on the increase
B. The female seals will be in the lead.
C. Their genes will change a great deal.
D. The females will keep away from the males.
4.Which the following can be the best title for the text?
A. The Importance of Protecting Seals.
B. Seals’ adaptation to Climate Change.
C. How Climate Change Affects Seals.
D. Why Are Seals Becoming Less and Less.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Contrary to popular belief, people who sleep six to seven hours a night live longer, and those who sleep eight hours or more die younger, according to the latest study ever conducted on the subject. The study, which has tracked the sleeping habits of 1.1 million Americans for six years, weakens the advice of many sleep doctors who have long recommended that people get eight or nine hours of sleep every night.
“There’s an old idea that people should sleep eight hours a night, which has no more scientific basis than the gold at the end of the rainbow,” said Daniel Kripke, professor of psychiatry（精神病学）at the University of California at San Diego who led the study published in a recent copy of JAMA Psychiatry.
The study was not designed to answer why sleeping longer may be harmful or whether people could extend their lifespan by sleeping less.
But Kripke said it was possible that people who slept longer tended to suffer from short-term absence of sleeping, a condition where weak breathing puts stress on the heart and brain. He also stressed that the need for sleep was similar to that for food, where getting less than people want may be better for them.
The study quickly caused warnings and criticism（批评）, with some sleep experts saying that the main problem of America’s sleep habits was deprivation（剥夺）, not sleeping too much.
“None of this says sleep kills people,” said Daniel Buysse, a psychiatrist at the university of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
“You should sleep as much as you need to feel awake, alert and attentive the next day,” Buysse added. “I’m much more concerned about people short-changing themselves on sleep than people sleeping too long.”
“Sleeplessness produces a variety of health consequences that were not measured in the study,” critics said.
1.The traditional idea about sleeping is that ________.
A. people who sleep longer die younger
B. people who sleep less than six or seven hours live longer
C. people need to sleep less to keep healthy
D. people need to sleep eight or nine hours a night
2.Which of the following statements does NOT agree with the study made by the American scientists according to the passage?
A. People can extend their lifespan by sleeping less.
B. Sleeping longer may be harmful to people’s health.
C. People should sleep as much as they need to keep awake, alert and attentive.
D. It is possible that people who sleep longer tend to suffer from short-term absence of sleeping.
3.“The gold at the end of the rainbow” mentioned in the passage shows that ________.
A. sleeping is quite valuable in our lives
B. the traditional idea that people should sleep eight hours a night has no scientific basis at all.
C. sleeping longer is as valuable as the gold at the end of the rainbow.
D. the idea of long sleeping hours comes from the gold at he end of the rainbow.
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A. A new idea challenges the scientists
B. Sleep less, live longer
C. Sleep more, die younger
D. A new idea about sleeping causes criticism
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Generation Y is known as the generation that was born in the 1980s and 1990s, although experts do not agree on when this time started. The people who make up Generation Y are often the children of baby boomers（生育高峰中出生的人）.
The millennium（千禧年）generation, as it is often called, has grown up with new technology and can use it in their jobs much better than the older generation can. 1. They like to communicate via text messaging, Facebook and other online technology. They have high expectations and seek new challenges. 2.
Generation Y youths have a different attitude towards work, which is different from that of their parents or grandparents. 3. They do not live to work but they work to live.
4. They want jobs that are flexible, not always having work from 9 a.m.to 5 p.m.. They prefer working from their homes and taking a day or two off to spend with their family when the weather is fine.
While baby boomers worked hard, grew up with a company and stayed there for the rest of their lives, Generation Y workers do not want to do the same thing during their whole life. 5. That means if you don't like what you do then do something else.
A. They want to spend most of their time at home.
B. They expect to change jobs at least a few times.
C. The new generation can be described as energetic.
D. Besides, they often dare to raise questions when confused.
E. The Internet, cell phones, iPads are normal for this generation.
F. Young people expect a different type of workplace than their parents had.
G. They don’t want to work as hard as their parents but spend their life in a meaningful way.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
When you’re willing to ask for what you want but don’t insist on getting it, there are some potential hidden benefits as well. For example, you sometimes ________ the sympathy and generosity in others.
Several years ago, I arrived in Mumbai very late one evening. ________ having a confirmed reservation, the hotel was overbooked and was ________ people away. The man in front of me was angry and became very ________.
He insisted on getting his way---but there were no ________. he stormed out, defeated and angry. He was totally ________ to the fact that it wasn’t the receptionist’s ________. It wasn’t personal.
I walked up to the receptionist and said ________, “I really understand your ________ and don’t blame you a bit. I would ________ it so much if you would help me. I know you don’t have any rooms here, but could you help me find another ________, close by?” I thought it was wise to ask---as long as I didn’t ________.
Hearing my words, she was ________. Remarkably, she said she had some great news, She had completely ________ that fact that one of the guests had to leave in an ________ and wouldn’t be back. It turned out the most expensive room! Because I had been so ________, she gave it to me at lower rate.
The question is, why didn’t she ________ this empty room and give it to the angry man in front of me? I think the answer is pretty ________. His insistence pushed her away and may have even ________ to her “forgetfulness”. When I was talking to her, however, she relaxed and felt less ________. Her memory returned and I ended up getting a few hours of much-needed sleep.
So be sure to ask for what you want, but don’t insist on getting it.
1.A. give away B. bring out C. break up D. carry on
2.A. Upon B. For C. Within D. Despite
3.A. turning B. driving C. sending D. talking
4.A. bargaining B. disturbing C. threatening D. challenging
5.A. uses B. replies C. rooms D. surprise
6.A. opposed B. exposed C. insensitive D. unaware
7.A. fault B. loss C. concern D. goal
8.A. angrily B. sadly C. gently D. frankly
9.A. problem B. dilemma C. duty D. mind
10.A. find B. doubt C. admit D. appreciate
11.A. guide B. possibility C. route D. hotel
12.A. care B. pay C. insist D. leave
13.A. apologetic B. awkward C. casual D. modest
14.A. accepted B. overlooked C. refused D. analysed
15.A. instant B. accident C. apartment D. emergency
16.A. calm B. patient C. generous D. careful
17.A. remember B. clean C. enter D. check
18.A. ordinary B. obvious C. splendid D. humorous
19.A. applied B. adapted C. appealed D. contributed
20.A. pressure B. pain C. sorrow D. relief
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据上下文填写空白处所需的内容或所提供单词的正确形式，所填写词语不得多于3个单词。
Eating organic food will not make you healthier, according to researchers at Stanford University, although it could cut your 1.(expose) to pesticides（杀虫剂）. They looked at more than 200 studies of the content and 2.(associate) health gains of organic（有机的） and non-organic foods. Overall, there 3.(be) no difference in the nutritional content, although organic food was 30% less likely 4.(contain) pesticides.
The researchers looked at 17 studies comparing people who ate organic 5. those who did not and 223 studies 6. compared the levels of nutrients, bacteria, and pesticides in various foods. However, none of the human studies ran for longer than two years, 7.(make) conclusions about long-term 8.(outcome) impossible. And all of the available evidence was 9.(relative) weak and highly variable, which the researchers said was unsurprising because of all the different variables.
Dr Crystal Smith-Spangler, the lead researcher, said “Some believe that organic food is always healthier and more nutritious. But as 10. matter of fact there isn’t much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you’re an adult and make decisions based simply on your health.”
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Square dancing has been more and more popular with the elderly as their living conditions improve. Most people thought it can help people take regularly exercise and improve their fitness. Besides, it provides people more chances to take activities outdoor. However, some people argue that the music is very noisy, that disturbs the surrounding citizens’ normal life. Also, be exposed to such loud noise may do a harm to their health in the long run.
In my opinion, square dancing is a good form of exercise, so dancers should take our neighbors’ needs into consideration. If they choose a right time and turn down the music, it will cause less troubles for others.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，你市将主办第一届国际中国美食节（the First International Chinese Food Festival）。请你给外教Mr. Green发一封电子邮件邀请他一同前往。内容要点如下。
1. 美食节的时间、地点；
2. 活动的主要内容；
3. 交通方式。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mr. Green,
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 简单查看答案及解析