My challenge for you is this: to read a book for 15 minutes every single day for a month.
Let me explain a bit, by telling you where the challenge came from. I have many things in common with my dad, like music taste and sense of humor, but sadly reading isn’t one of them. I can happily spend a whole day with a book, but my dad can’t read a book for longer than about 5 minutes. He reads emails, websites and papers for work, but not books. He’s busy so I think sitting down to read for just 15 minutes a day is a good way to relax and to introduce him to reading.
My dad is by no means the only person who avoids books. I know lots of people would rather relax on their computers or in front of the TV. Everyone is different and has their own interests, but I think there’re lots of benefits to reading, which screen-based activities don’t have.
Firstly, it’s better for your eyes. Looking at screens can be very stressful for you eye muscles, and clearly you should avoid looking at screens for an hour before bed, to get a good night’s sleep.
One thing I personally love reading, is being transported to another world—I would often forget the time or things around me! Reading is a great way to switch off before you go to bed, because you think more about the world of the book, rather than the real world, so you can truly relax. I know you can be transported to a different world in a film or a TV show, but I think books do it better.
I also enjoy hearing what people are doing and finding out what they think. Reading gives me the chance to get to know hundreds of new people! It also teaches you to see things from other people’s point of view, and understand other people’s decisions or opinions. With a book, you can hear everything a character is thinking or feeling—you really can be inside someone else’s head!
So give it a go! Take 15 minutes when you’re waking up, going to bed, eating too much, or having a coffee. If you read a lot, why not try 15 minutes of an English book, or pass the challenge on to someone else? Good luck, and happy reading!
1.The author gives the example of his father in the text to show ___________.
A. his father is very busy
B. reading is very important to us
C. his father likes reading
D. many people have no habit of reading
2.The author writes the text mainly basing on ___________.
A. his personal experience
B. some scientific experiments
C. his father’s personal advice
D. knowledge from books
3.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Tips for Reading English Books
B. 15-Minute Reading Challenge
C. Having a Coffee While You Read
D. Ways to Improve Reading Skills
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Here is a true story about a famous man who worked in the White House and a criminal. They once faced the same thing: their mother gave them apples when they were young.
The criminal said: one day, my mother brought some apples and asked my brother and me: “Which do you want?” “The reddest and biggest one,” my little brother said. My mother stared at him and said to him angrily: “You should learn to give the good things to others; you shouldn’t always think of yourself.” Seeing this, I suddenly changed my idea and then said to my mother, “Mum, please give me the smaller one and give the bigger one to my little brother.” Hearing my words, my mother was very happy. She kissed me on my face and gave the reddest and biggest apple to me as a prize. From them on, I learned to tell lies, fight, steal and rob. In order to get what I wanted, I played hard. As a result, I was sent into prison.
The famous man from the white house said, One day, my mother brought some apples. She said to my brother and me: “You all want the reddest and biggest one, right? Well, let’s have a competition. Now I divided the grassland in front of the gate into two and I will give one to each of you and you must shear(修剪) it well. And I will give the reddest and biggest apple to him who does it the most quickly and best.”
After the competition, I won and I got the biggest apple. In our family, as long as you want to get the best things, you must take part in competition. I think it is fair. No matter what you want, you must pay lots of efforts.
1.The criminal got the reddest and biggest apple because______.
A. he knew how to make his mother happy from her answer
B. he told the truth that he wanted a smaller one
C. elder brother should of course have the bigger one
D. his mother loved him more than she loved the younger brother
2.We can conclude from the passage that _______.
A. it’s wrong to ask children to choose apples when they are not old enough.
B. it’s wrong to ask children not to always think of themselves.
C. it’s important to make children aware that no matter what they want, they must pay work
D. it’s always necessary to have a competition when we give children apple.
3.The writer tells the story by _______.
A. organizing it in the order of time.
B. describing it in the order of space
C. providing some scientific information
D. making a comparison between two men
4.It is implied in the passage that _______.
A. a mother’s educational method has a great influence on a child’s growing.
B. in order to get what we want, we should play hard.
C. we should always try to win competitions which can bring us a lot.
D. giving children apples will lead them to become criminals.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a short life span(寿命) as well as a very high death rate. Only a few, including Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Latin, have lasted more than 2,000 years.
What is new, however, is the speed at which they are dying out. Europe’s colonial ruling caused a sharp decrease in language kinds, reducing at least 15 percent of all languages spoken at the time. Over the last 300 years, Europe has lost a dozen, and Australia has only 20 left of the 250 spoken at the end of the 18th century.
The rise of nation-states has also been decisive in selecting national languages. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media, national governments have tried to reduce minority languages.
This process of language standardization(标准化) has been improved by industrialization and scientific progress, which have created new methods of communication that are fast, straightforward and practical. Language kinds came to be seen as an difficulty to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism(单种语言) became an perfect choice.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have led to the danger to “small” languages. A language not on the Internet is a language that “no longer exists” in the modern world. It is out of the game.
The serious effects of the death of languages are clear. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural functions for language inventiveness. We would never be able to figure out the origins of human language or resolve the mystery of “the first language”. As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Multilingualism(多语种) is the most right solution. The destruction of the first will lead to the loss of the second. Creating a language without any links to a people’s culture and way of life stifles the expression of their language gift. A language is not only used as the main instrument of human communication. It also expresses the world vision of those who speak it, their ways of using knowledge. To safeguard languages is an urgent matter.
1.Which of the following does not contribute to the death of languages?
A. Colonial conquests of Europe
B. The rise of nation-states
C. Advances in science and industrialization
D. The increase of human population
2.The underlined word “ stifles” in the last paragraph probably means “_____”.
A. kills B. cheer C. creates D. improve
3.The serious effects of the death of languages include all except that_______.
A. People would fail to understand how languages started
B. Monolingualism would lead to the loss of multiculturalism
C. Language kinds would become an difficulty to globalization
D. Human brains would become less creative in languages
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A. To call people’s attention to the importance of language preservation.
B. To warn people of the negative result of globalization.
C. To explain the reasons why languages are dying out.
D. To argue how important it is for people to speak more languages.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Now that newsrooms(新闻编辑室) are becoming less popular in the US，young people have begun to tell their own stories．
GlobalGirl Media，an organization that teaches teenage girls digital(数码的) storytelling skills for free，was started by award-winning filmmakers Amie Williams and Meena Nanji in Los Angeles in 2010．
“By giving girls a voice，you introduce a different story，and change the existing one,”said Danny Glover，a member of the GlobalGirl Media organization．
“When the camera’s in my hands，I feel like I can’t lose，”Said Cheyenne Grisez，14．“It makes me happy and I feel like I can do anything．”
On the final day of the summer academy in California,Williams worked with Grisez and Camila Prado,15, on a short film about Prado’s fight against an eating disorder(紊乱). In the film，Prado bravely interviewed her parents and sister about how she was able to beat her bad feelings and eating disorder. This film and others the girls had made were shown to parents and friends on the last day of the academy, celebrating their hard work．
“It’s their story，and nobody knows how to tell it better than they do.”Williams said．
“These girls are from really difficult backgrounds. They feel trapped sometimes. They feel alone．”Williams said．“The camera gives them a way to look at their world in a different way and get out of that feeling.’’
Girls in the program practice their skills and build confidence by going out in the community and interviewing people for the short films．Many of them had no experience, but found they had good storytelling skills．
“I work with these girls. Every day I leave gratefully，because I know that．due to the work we're doing with them，things will be better，”said GlobalGirl Media summer academy project director Heather Faison．
1.Why do many American girls like to tell stories using the camera?
A．Their parents hate to give them a hand．
B．They desire to improve their photo skills．
C．They can make profits from their documentaries．
D．The camera can help them out of their trouble．
2.What do we learn about GlobalGirl Media from the text?
A．It was founded by the government．
B．It gets much money from girl students．
C．It gives girls digital storytelling skills．
D．It has newsrooms in California．
3.What difficulty did Prado overcome by making her film?
A．Self-harm． B．Poor school scores．
C．An eating disorder. D．Teenage difficulty．
4.Who directed GlobalGirl Media summer academy project in California?
A．Heather Faison B．Amie Williams．
C．Danny Glover． D. Meena Nanji
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。
As we know, everyone can make mistakes, but don’t worry about it. The following is what we should do when we make mistakes.
• Just admit (承认）it. Don’t think that our mistakes are caused by others. 1.Don’t blame other people, and don’t cheat ourselves, either.
• 2. .In order to stop the problem from getting worse, we should act quickly to solve it. If we don’t act and deal with the problem quickly, it’ll only make us feel more stressed. Also it is necessary to make a plan of action and correct the mistake according to it. 3. .
• 4. .Those who have made the most mistakes can get an A, for they are the ones who have learned the most. The more we learn from our mistakes, the cleverer we are.
• 5. .What caused us to make the mistake? How can we avoid making the same mistake in the future? When we act with a method to get a good result, do it that way next time. If we don’t, we should stop, think about it, change it and try again.
A. Realize that making mistakes is the best way to learn.
B. Don’t be afraid of failure.
C. Be brave and face the fact that we have made the mistakes.
D. Solve it at once.
E. So be away from stress.
F. So decide quickly and act.
G. Think about what we can learn from our mistakes.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Sometimes, people are required to fill in personal information when they register online, which may lead to some _________ trouble. Recently, the BBC is reporting that a 17-year-old girl in Australia posted a(n) _________ of her grandmother at home counting a large sum of cash that she _________ hidden in the house. Just eight hours later, two armed men _________the girl’s house. They demanded to speak to her to find out where the grandmother’s house was, _________ they could get the money they had seen. _________ , the girl was not home at the time, so the robbers _________a small amount of cash from the mother and left.
Because the _________ is still under _________ , local police aren’t saying much else about it. It’s not known yet whether the girl had used privacy setting on the Facebook profile page, and even whether the robbers_________ the girl in the past.
Two other _________ were at home then, a 58-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, the girl’s father and brother. Luckily, no one was _________ . The robbers left peacefully after _________that the girl was not home and that no one else there knew anything about the _________ that had appeared in the photo.
Police in both Britain and Australia are using the case to _________citizens of the dangers of posting personal information on social networks and to suggest users of websites _________ doing so. The police say it is _________ that the girl posted a comment in the past that gave clues to the address, _________ that the robbers knew the girl in another way. _________ , they suggest, a posting by a friend on their site could have _________ such information. To find it, the robbers would only have had to search for those posting on other pages that contained the girl’s name.
1.A. clear B. known C. important D. unexpected
2.A. blog B. story C. picture D. video
3.A. got B. kept C. let D. made
4.A. knocked at B. looked at C. broke into D. ran into
5.A. even if B. in case C. as soon as D. so that
6.A. Usually B. Fortunately C. Suddenly D. Finally
7.A. left B. took C. spent D. asked
8.A. robber B. case C. family D. girl
9.A. discussion B. consideration C. control D. investigation
10.A. ignored B. remembered C. knew D. followed
11.A. neighbors B. members C. characters D. adults
12.A. killed B. escaped C. harmed D. buried
13.A. showing B. discovering C. looking D. recognizing
14.A. house B. website C. grandmother D. cash
15.A. excuse B. warn C. rob D. inform
16.A. stop B. consider C. keep D. enjoy
17.A. possible B. important C. necessary D. strange
18.A. so B. but C. and D. or
19.A. Therefore B. However C. Instead D. Besides
20.A. taken up B. given away C. put away D. set up
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In American schools there is something 1. (call) Homecoming Day. Many high schools and colleges with a football team have a homecoming game. This can be an 2. (importance) event of the year except graduation ceremony——students plan Homecoming Day for many weeks in advance. Several days before Homecoming，students start to 3. (beautiful)decorate the school. There are signs to wish luck to the team，and many other signs to welcome the graduates. Many people still come to Homecoming twenty or thirty years 4. their graduations.
The members of school clubs build booths（摊位）and sell apples and 5. (sandwich). Some clubs help to welcome visitors.
During the day people like to look for teachers 6. they remember from long ago. Often they see old friends and talk about their happy years in school.
Everyone watches the football game. When the game is half over，the band（乐队） 7. (come) onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the Homecoming Queen or King appears. All the students vote the most popular student Homecoming Queen or King. It is 8. honour to be chosen.
Homecoming is a happy day but it is not perfect 9. the football team wins the game. Even if the team loses，the students still enjoy Homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day worth 10. (remember).
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
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，每处错误仅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。
Dear Mr. Manager,
I’m writing to express my thank to you and your employee Miss Li Hong, who helped me found my handbag while I was shopping in your shop in March 24. That day I was greatly interesting and lost myself in enjoying a beautiful product. After I paid a pair of silk socks, I left my handbag on the counter. I have already walked out of the shop then Miss Li came up with my handbag. I thanked her and offered her a reward of 20 dollars and she refused to take even a cent. I deeply moved by her spirit. Miss Li’s good qualities are something I’ll always keep it in mind.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
目前，不少人在写作文或交流时喜欢使用网络语言。就此现象，你班最近举行了一场讨论。请根据下表的提示，客观地介绍讨论的情况及你的观点。
| 40%的同学认为 | 60%的同学认为 | 你的观点 |
| 1. 有点荒诞，有时让人无法理解 2. 违背了汉语的语法规则，对学习毫无帮助 | 1. 幽默，使语言更生动 2. 有助于表达思想 | 1.… 2. … |
荒诞ridiculous
注意：
1. 对所给提示，不要简单翻译，可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
2. 词数150左右。开头已给出，不计入总词数。
Nowadays, with the development of the Internet, there came a kind of language called Web Language.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析