When Regina Spektor moved to the Bronx from Russia as a young child of 9, she could speak no English and her family was so poor that they could afford nothing. Yet she carried with her a love of the piano and music.
"For me, the thing that I loved the most was playing the piano, so when we left Russia I was so afraid I would forget how to play and I would just find a little table and play my pieces," she told "When you spend your life doing something like playing the piano and then you take that away, it's so surreal."(离奇的)
Her father, Ilya Spektor, said that, little by little, the family saved enough money to afford their first apartment.
"I was a photographer and, in six weeks, I found my first job in a big photo lab in Manhattan," he said. On the subway one day, Ilya Spektor spotted a man carrying a violin case. The man also seemed to have an Eastern European accent. A conversation led to a visit and, eventually, Regina Spektor was introduced to Sonia Vargas, a piano teacher. She was a well-known professor who taught piano, took Spektor under her wing and trained her for years, at no cost. "I remember talking to Sonia," Spektor said. "She said that when a student is ready, a teacher appears. So she said that I must have been ready to study piano, and so that's why she came into my life."
"Immediately, how she played," Vargas said. "You can tell the sound. The sound tell you whether the person loves the instrument, loves the music."
Much later, while playing her own music and selling a CD that she'd created, Regina Spektor caught the attention of a music producer. The rest is history, complete with concerts around the world and performance in front of the Obamas at the White House.
Regina Spektor greatly appreciated her parents, piano teachers and friends for helping her become the musician she is. “I love the idea that if you’re walking toward the world, the world will take some steps towards you,” she said.
1.When Regina Spektor was in Russia, she _________.
A. spoke English very fluently B. could afford a new piano
C. learned how to play the piano D. was directed by a famous teacher
2.Why could Ilya Spektor make the acquaintance of Sonia Vargas?
A. Sonia Vargas was very famous. B. They were all Russians.
C. They had a common friend. D. Ilya Spektor was a good talker.
3.What does the author mainly want to tell us?
A. The world welcomes any musician.
B. Life is filled with struggles more than love.
C. Regina Spektor deserves to perform at the White House.
D. The world doesn’t ignore those who fight for their dreams.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The answer to protecting and saving marine(海洋) wildlife can start with cutting back on something Americans use every day—plastic drinking straws. Actor Adrien Grenier, best known for playing Vincent Chase in 2015 movie Entourage, has launched a campaign to reduce the amount of single-use plastic usage in this country in order to protect and save marine wildlife and the environment. Plastic drinking straws are among many single-use plastic products contributing to the shocking loss of marine life, but they’re a great place to start because they’re something Americans are using by the hundreds of millions without any awareness that they’re so damaging.
According to Ecocycle, an international environmental organization, Americans use more than 500 million straws daily, which are enough to fill 127 school buses each day, and they can’t be recycled. They means plastic straws end up in landfills or oceans, where fish and other marine wildlife mistake the small bits for food and swallow them. After seeing a photo of a whale beached on the shore with a belly full of plastic, Grenier felt the inspiration to launch the Lonely Whale Foundation, hoping to inspire and educate others on the challenges facing marine life.
Along with stopping the use of straws, Grenier hopes to educate consumers on the dangers of other single-use plastic items such as grocery bags and water bottles. While many Americans use these plastic products in their daily life, there are more sustainable alternatives that can help protect the environment. Ecocycle recommends the use of straws made from stainless steel, glass, and even bamboo instead of plastic. You can buy a number of these environmentally friendly straws online and in stores.
1.What initially contributed to the start of Grenier’s campaign?
A. Plastic straws in landfills.
B. A picture of a dead whale.
C. The severe damage done to the sea.
D. The disappearance of some species under the sea.
2.What is the primary purpose of the Lonely Whale Foundation?
A. To advocate a green lifestyle.
B. To promote Grenier’s latest movie.
C. To save precious natural resources.
D. To encourage people to protect ocean life.
3.Ecocycle advises people to use straws that are ________.
A. easy to recycle
B. convenient to use
C. special to marine life
D. harmless to the environment
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
There is plenty of complaints about how social media-texting in particular—may be harming children’s social development. But a new study suggests that constant instant messaging(IM’ing) and texting among teens may also provide benefits, particularly for those who are introverted(内向的).
British researchers studied instant messages exchanged by 231 teens. The researchers analyzed 150 conversations in the study. In 100 of these chats, the study participant began IM’ing while in a negative emotional state such as sadness or anger. The rest were conversations begun when the participant was feeling good or neutral(中立的). After the chat, participants reported about a 20% reduction in their distress—not enough to completely eliminate it, but enough to leave them feeling better than they had before reaching out.
"Our findings suggest that IM’ing between distressed adolescents and their peers may provide emotional relief and consequently contribute to their well-being," the authors write, noting that previous research has shown that people assigned to talk to a stranger either in real life or online improved their mood in both settings, but even more with IM. And people who talk with their real-life friends online also report feeling closer to them than those who just communicate face-to-face, implying a strengthening of their bond.
Why would digital communication trump human contact? The reasons may have something to do with the fact that users can control expression of sadness and other emotions via IM without revealing emotional elements like tears that some may consider as embarrassing. Studies also show that the anonymity(匿名) of writing on a device blankets the users in a sense of safety. Previous research has shown that expressive writing itself can "vent" emotions and provide a sense of relief—and doing so, knowing that your words are reaching a sympathetic friend, may provide even more comfort and potentially be helpful. This is what the Internet offers: the change to connect—but in measured doses(剂量) and from behind a screen.
1.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Teens are more likely to send instant messages when feeling upset.
B. Instant messaging can help completely remove teens’ negative emotions.
C. Chat via instant messaging services makes participants feel happy.
D. Constant instant messaging can help teens value their negative emotions.
2.The underlined word “vent” in paragraph 4 most probably means ________.
A. develop B. maintain
C. release D. hide
3.What does the digital communication enable users to do?
A. Find more sympathetic friends.
B. Share and discuss more information.
C. Produce more expressive writings.
D. Avoid embarrassment and discomfort.
4.What can be concluded from the new study by British researchers?
A. American teens are extensive instant messaging users.
B. Instant messaging will prevent children’s social development.
C. Introverted teens may benefit from constant instant messaging.
D. Teens feeling bad often feel closer to real-life friends than to the net friends.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
1.. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?
2.. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. 3.Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paper books (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times. Additionally, 4.. No matter when you are on the subway or you are waiting at the airport, a book in hand is always a good choice.
Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. 5.. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbook, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.
A. Television has not killed reading, however
B. A printed book is a good time killer
C. Every home should have a good dictionary
D. More and more people spend less time doing sports
E. Choosing a good book is just like choosing a friend
F. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment
G. With the popularity of televisions, some think fewer people will buy books and newspapers
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Hungry for Home
If my life were a _______, I would fast-forward through senior high. My senior years were_________. Like every junior high kid, I was _______with who I was and how I would _______in life.
I tried and failed in a number of things I wanted to excel in sports but had not yet _______that would never happen. I remember being _______by most of my peers and being cut from the basketball team and _______to play football. To be loved and accepted seemed to me at the time something I could never, _________, achieve.
During that time I went through the cafeteria line and ate alone, feeling unloved and _______. One day I________that I had no one to eat with. Mom said to me, "If you want, you can come home for________." As soon as the bell ________at noon and I left the school and ran home that day my mom sat across the ________for about 15 minutes and looked at me and listened to me and three ________later I still remember those times with ________. She just paid attention to me.
I now know that I didn't need my ________filled as much as I needed my emotional fuel tank refilled. I just needed a ________place of warm acceptance for a few minutes a day. Now you know a little more about how I ________home.
Home is a place where you don't have to ________alone and eat. Home is a place where people don't ________you and avoid you.
1.A. book B. movie C. quiz D. choice
2.A. amazing B. unforgettable C. painful D. tasteless
3.A. struggling B. travelling C. discussing D. improving
4.A. make my mark B. draw my attention C. make a contribution D. draw a conclusion
5.A. broken up B. turned down C. got over D. figured out
6.A. admired B. impressed C. rejected D. mixed
7.A. desiring B. failing C. meaning D. hesitating
8.A. in all my life B. in this respect C. on a regular basis D. on the average
9.A. unemployed B. unnoticed C. unaffected D. uncovered
10.A. commented B. admitted C. complained D. answered
11.A. lunch B. fun C. sale D. luck
12.A. rang B. knocked C. kicked D. repeated
13.A. room B. phone C. table D. street
14.A. days B. decades C. weeks D. minutes
15.A. care B. caution C. excitement D. fondness
16.A. soul B. stomach C. heart D. eye
17.A. lonely B. heavy C. steady D. friendly
18.A. own B. see C. paint D. attract
19.A. dash B. laugh C. sit D. talk
20.A. ignore B. hate C. judge D. attend
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
On many campuses, it has become a trend for a host of students to participate in various 1.(activity). Involved in some positive ones, students find them quite 2.(benefit) and rewarding.
A case in point is the English club 3. the activity of learning benefits me most. In contemporary world, English learning has gained great popularity and it is 4.great importance for students to learn English well. However, I 5.(meet) a variety of difficulties in study so far. For instance, I have trouble 6.(memorize) words. Sometimes, it is also difficult for me to understand the rules of grammar. Although I can read and write, I cannot express myself freely in English.
Then, how to get a good command of his language for me? I 7.(convince) that practice makes perfect and that joining the English club is worthwhile. In the English club, daily practice enables me 8.(speak) and write fluently. It is also through constant practice 9. I can master the rules of grammar and remember words. I will bear in mind that 10. I try my best to practice every day, the future of my English learning will be promising.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，校学生会主席。即将高中毕业，你代表全体高三学生邀请外教Jeff来参加毕业典礼。
1．时间：6月6日 上午9：00； 地点：学校音乐厅；
2．介绍毕业典礼的活动；
3．希望Jeff能够发表简短的演讲。
注意：
1．词数80左右；
2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Jeff,
__________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Once, when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter.
This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of twelve. You could tell they didn’t have a lot of money.
Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly talking about the clowns, elephants, and other acts they would see that night with their brothers or sisters in a low voice.
One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be highlight of their young lives. The father and mother were at the head of the pack, standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You are my knight in shining armor.”
He was smiling and responding in pride, looking back at her as if to say, “You got that right.” The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, “Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.”
The ticket lady gave the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, and his lips began to shake. The father leaned a little closer and asked, “How much did you say?”
The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didn’t have enough money.
How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight children that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?
Actually we were not wealthy in any sense. So I understand how the kids would feel. I felt sorry for them.
注意：
所需写的短文词数应为150左右；
应使用5个以上短文标有下划线的关键词语；
续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已经为你写好；
续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词。
Paragraph 1
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
That day my father and I went back to our car and drove home without any tickets. ___________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
难度: 困难查看答案及解析