Taj Mahal, Agra, India
As many as 28 different varieties of precious stones were used to decorate the outside of the Taj Mahal. Construction took around 20 years. The building, which was made from white marble from the quarries(采石场) of Rajasthan, appears pink in the morning, white in the day and golden in the moonlight.
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Akashi Strait, Japan
It took 10 years to construct the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It connects the city of Kobe, on Japan’s mainland, with Iwaya on Awaji Island. Before it opened, the only way to get between the two cities was by ferry. However, the waterway was at the mercy of severe storms and when two ferries overturned in 1955, killing 168 people, public anger convinced the government of the need for a bridge. It's the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a length of 1,991 meters.
Panama Canal, Panama
More than 4. 5 million cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction of this canal’s locks and dams. The Panama Canal is a 47-mile long waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The earth and rubble dug to make way for it was enough to bury Manhattan to a depth of four meters. A series of locks allows ships to pass through the water. Each lock door weighs 750 tons and each lock fills with 52 million gallons of water to accommodate the 15,000 ships that use the canal every year.
Grand Canyon Skywalk, Arizona
The Skywalk’s foundation is strong enough to support 71 million pounds , Located 1,219 meters above the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon's Sky Walk consists of one million pounds of steel and 83,000 pounds of glass. It was the creation of Las Vegas businessman David Jin, who approached the Hualapai Tribe with the idea of a glass walkway over the Grand Canyon in 1996. The Sky walk was assembled on site.
1.The Japanese government decided to build the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge ___________
A. in the year of 1955
B. following public opinion
C. to show its national power
D. to develop Japan’s economy
2.The Grand Canyon Skywalk is probably a real challenge for those who __________
A. are airsick
B. hate rock climbing
C. have a fear of height
D. feel ill traveling in boat
3.In which section of a book can the text probably be seen?
A. Science B. Agriculture
C. Technology D. Geography
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
I am an English dictionary. I can still remember the day my ex-owner bought me. He had stood in front of the shelf for around half an hour before finally picking me. Originally, he chose my neighbor. But because she had some ink on the cover, he put her down and chose me instead.
I may sound arrogant (傲慢的) . But please forgive me. I am so proud of my vocabulary. With 100,000 entries and 300,000 examples, I think no scholar can be more knowledgeable than me. My only weakness is that I can’t speak. But that is not my fault. I was not designed to speak in the first place. My ex-owner was supposed to read the phonetic symbols (音标) clearly printed beside each word, which were also my selling point. I should have been respected but have ended up lying next to a piece of used toilet paper inside the rubbish bin.
It is all because of the electronic dictionary. He is the bad guy because he takes advantage of my one weakness. And I just don’t understand why he can be so slim. He also has about 100,000entries but 450,000 examples! But I know this was not the reason why my ex-owner was attracted, for he was not a very diligent (勤奋的) student and seldom read the examples listed. The main reason was that the bad guy had so many games in him. My ex-owner always pretended to be working hard while actually he was playing games.
My ex-owner put me on his bookshelf because of my awesome English name “Advanced English Dictionary”. He wanted people to think that he was an advanced learner. I wanted to tell him that it would be better if he hid the comic books standing next to me. But, you know, I can’t speak. I stood there for years. I was so bored. So I talked to the comic book next to me. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have talked to him because I was educated and he was not. But who else could I choose? He told me that my ex-owner had read him once only and then put him there. I was upset because he had never read me from page one to page 1,000. Was I not a better book than the comic book? I wanted to challenge his honesty but before I did so, he was thrown away.
I give up. My pages are absorbing waste water. There is no way people will use me again. Suddenly, I want to talk to the comic book. Would he talk to me if we met?
1.Why does the dictionary think that the electronic dictionary is the “bad guy”?
A. I t contains more words and examples.
B. It can actually pronounce the words.
C. It has a smaller size.
D. It has many games.
2.The dictionary thinks that its ex-owner put it on the bookshelf because he ______.
A. thought that it could match the comic books
B. wanted his friends to study English
C. just wanted to show off
D. had to use it sometimes
3.What was the dictionary’s attitude toward the comic book standing next to it?
A. It wanted to make friends with him.
B. It respected him.
C. It envied him.
D. It hated him.
4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A. A Dictionary Is Replaced with an Electronic One
B. Students Seldom Use Dictionaries
C. A Dictionary and a Comic Book
D. The Experience of a Dictionary
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A new study finds that our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the music makes us feel. Mozart’s “Flute Concerto No.1 in G Major” is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his “Requiem in D Minor” is linked to bluish gray, the findings revealed.
US researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, enlisted nearly 100 subjects for a study on music and color. With 37 colors, the UC Berkeley study found that people tend to pair faster-paced music in a major key with lighter, more vivid, yellow colors, whereas slower-paced music in a minor key is more likely to be teamed up with darker, grayer, bluer colors.
“Surprisingly, we can predict with 95 percent accuracy how happy or sad the colors people pick will be based on how happy or sad the music is that they are listening to,” said lead author and UC Berkeley vision scientist Stephen Palmer.
In three experiments, the subjects listened to 18 classical music pieces that varied in pace (slow, medium, fast) and in major VS minor keys. In the first experiment, participants were asked to pick five of the 37 colors that best matched the music to which they were listening. Separately, they rated each piece of music on a scale of happy to sad, strong to weak, lively to dull, and calm to angry.
Next, the research team plans to study particiapants in Turkey where traditional music employs a wider range of scales than just major and minor. “We know that in Mexico and the US the responses are very similar,” Palmer said. “But we don’t yet know about China or Turkey.”
1.What can we know about Mozart’s “Flute Concerto No. 1 G Major”?
A. It is fast in pace.
B. It is slow in pace.
C. It makes us feel upset.
D. It makes us feel optimistic.
2.What did the US researchers find from the result of the new study?
A. There are colors that do not match any music.
B. People tend to connect happy colors to slow-paced music
C. There is a one-to-one connection between music and color.
D. People nearly do the same in picking colors for different music.
3. How did the researchers do the research?
A. By making predictions.
B. By researching journals.
C. By conducting experiments.
D. By studying famous musicians.
4.According to the text, the research mainly deals with __________
A. how colors or music influence our emotions
B. how emotions affect music-color connections
C. why we have different feelings towards music
D. why we have different feelings towards colors
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Witchcraft（巫术）was not made a capital offence in Britain until 1563 though it was disapproved by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. From 1484 until around 1750, some 200,000 witches（女巫）were burnt or hanged in Western Europe.
Most supposed witches were usually old women, and always poor. Any who were unfortunate enough to be an old woman with broken teeth, sunken cheeks and sockets and a hairy lip were assumed to possess the “Evil Eye”. It was more the case if they also had a cat. Many unfortunate women were taken away on this sort of evidence and hanged.
Witch fever held East Anglia for 14 terrible months between 1645—1646. A man called Matthew Hopkins, an unsuccessful lawyer, contributed a lot! He became known as the “Witchfinder General”. He had 68 people put to death in Bury St. Edmunds alone, and 19 hanged at Chelmsfor in a single day. After Chelmsford he set off for other countries. Much of Matthew Hopkins theories of telling a witch were based on Devil’s Marks. He took a small mark to be a Devil’s Mark and he used his “needle” to see if these marks were insensitive to pain. His “needle” was basically a trick so the unfortunate women never felt any pain.
There were other tests for witches. Mary Sutton of Bedford was put to the swimming test. With her thumbs tied to opposite big toes she was thrown into the river. If she floated she was guilty; if she sank, innocent. Poor Mary floated!
Though many of the acts againsts witchcraft were put to an end in 1736, witch hunting still went on. In 1863, a suspected male witch was drowned in a pond in Headingham, Essex and 1945 the body of an elderly farm laborer was found near the village of Meon Hill in Warwickshire. His throat had been cut and his body was pinned to the earth. The murder remains unsolved; however, the man was said, locally, to be a male witch. It seems that belief in witchcraft has not entirely died out.
1.A female witch was often found to be ________
A. a young lady B. a lucky woman
C. an ugly woman D. a blind girl
2.Matthew Hopkins can be best described as __________
A. kind and smart
B. tricky and merciless
C. successful and nice
D. famous and fortunate
3.Why did people throw Mary into the river?
A. To take her life.
B. To tell if she was a witch
C. To test her swimming skills.
D. To prove that she was guilty
4.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Witches are still badly treated all over the world.
B. Witches were terribly treated in the European history.
C. Some people still have been using magic in daily lives.
D. There have always been people believing in witchcraft
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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。
Wrong Reasons for Going to College
A college education can be priceless. ____1.___ If any of these following factors had a big influence on your decision, you’re probably right to second-guess yourself.
◆Because someone else expects it from you.
Perhaps you come from a family where everyone goes to college. Or maybe, you’re the kid that everyone is proud to believe will be the first to get there. ____2._____. It’s become so much a part of the air you breathe that you’ve never stopped to consider whether you want to go or whether you’re ready to go.
◆Because all your friends are going.
In only a few weeks’ time, the whole friend group will be scattered to a half dozen different colleges in a half dozen different places. ____3._____Friends would wonder what’s wrong with you. Some would take it as a betrayal of the dreams you’ve dreamed together and the plans you’ve made.
◆____4.___
It’s been tough to find even a summer job. You don’t have an alternative plan. Everyone else is doing it (see above). You think you might as well go to school. That is the lamest of reasons to spend $20,000 or more in the next year.
◆Because you are afraid you’ll regret it if you don’t go.
Your uncle tells you that his one regret in life is that he didn’t go to college. Others tell you that they could have gone so much farther in their career if only they had a college education. ____5.____ So this is not a persuasive reason for you to go to college.
A. That’s much too fine.
B. Not to go would be set yourself apart.
C. Because you don’t know what else to do.
D. Everyone seems more excited than you are.
E. It seems that for years everyone has just assumed that of course you’ll go.
F. Whatever the story is, there are always people who regret decisions they’ve made.
G. But maybe in your heart you know that you are going for the wrong reasons.
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。
Growing older is unavoidable while growing up is optional. These words have been passed on in the loving ____ of Rose.
On the first day of school our professor challenged us to get to know someone, so I ____ to find a little old lady looking at me with a smile. She said, "Hi,handsome! My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a ____? " I laughed and ____ responded, then followed a giant squeeze. “____ come that are you in college at such an innocent age?” I asked. "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids..." I was ____ what it was that motivated her to be taking on this ____ at her age. “ I always dreamed of having a college education and now I ____ it!” Later, we became friends.
Rose became a campus celebrity and she easily made friends ____ she went. On one ___ Rose was invited to speak at our football banquet. Her prepared cards dropped before she ____ the speech. A little ____ , she simply ____ her throat and began," We do not stop playing ____ we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are certain secrets to stay ____ , being happy and achieving success. You've got to have a dream. When you ____ your dreams, you die.”…
At the end of the year Rose finished her college education. One week after graduation Rose died ____ in her sleep. Over two thousand college students ____ her funeral in honor of the wonderful woman who taught by ____ that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
Anybody can grow older, which doesn't ____ any talent or ability. The key is to grow up by always finding opportunities in change.
1.A．care B． memory C． need D． want
2.A．turned up B． turned over C． turned around D． turned away
3.A．hug B． kiss C． hand D． gift
4.A．annoyingly B． impatiently C． absently D． Enthusiastically
5.A．Who B．How C．Why D． Whe
6.A．curious B． positive C． obvious D． convinced
7.A．risk B． opportunity C． challenge D． invitation
8.A．like B． take C. hold D. make
9.A．however B． whenever C． wherever D． whatever
10.A． stage B． occasion C． time D． event
11.A． remembered B． continued C． delivered D． wrote
12.A． delighted B． embarrassed C． fascinated D． frightened
13.A． cleared B． checked C. cleaned D. treated
14.A． until B． before C． when D． because
15.A. energetic B. young C. alive D. healthy
16.A． lose B． realize C． pursue D． obtain
17.A． secretly B． sadly C． peacefully D． bitterly
18.A．joined B． ignored C． cancelled D． attended
19.A．example B． directions C． speech D． personality
20.A． gain B． explore C． take D． Appeal
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。
Swedish businessman Nile Bergqvist is delighted with his new hotel, the world’s first igloo(冰屋) hotel.
1.______ (build) in an small town, it has been attracting lots of visitors but soon the fun will be over. In two weeks’ time Bergqvist’s ice creation2.______ (be) nothing more than a pool of water. “We don’t see it as a big problem, ”he says. “We just look forward to 3._______(replace)it. ”
Bergqvist built his first igloo in 1991 for an art exhibition. It was4._____ successful that he designed the present one, 5.______ measures roughly 200 square meters. Six workmen spent more than eight weeks 6._____ (pile)1,000 tons of snow onto a wooden base；when the snow froze, the base 7.______ (remove).
After their stay, all visitors receive a survival certificate recording their success. 8._____no windows, nowhere to hang clothes and temperatures below 0°C, it may seem more like a survival test 9._____ a relaxing hotel break. “It’s great fun,” Bergqvist explains, “As well as a good start in survival training.’’
The10._____ (popular)of the igloo is beyond doubt：it is now attracting tourists from all over the world. At least 800 people have stayed at the igloo this season even though there are only 10 rooms.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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。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(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，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。
I received your letter dated April 16 the day ago yesterday. Every of our family are greatly delighted to learn whether you are getting along very well with your lessons. Time passes quickly. In dozens of day, you'll finish middle school. What please us most is that you do very good to make up your mind to enter for the college entrance examination this summer. What wonderful it is! Dad, as well as Mom and I , are with you. We wish you to make better use your time .The fuller preparations if you make, the surer of success you'll certainly be.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
假定你是李华，对中国传统医药很感兴趣。你获悉中国药学家屠哟哟因发现了青篙素被授予2015年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖。请给你的美国朋友David发一封邮件分享此消息。信件须包括以下内容：
心情：骄傲和激动。
评价：她找到了治疗疟疾的方法，数千万人从中受益。
志向：立志考入屠哟坳的母校北大，造福人民。
注意：1．词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
参考词汇：
1．药学家：pharmacologist
2.青篙素：artemisinin
3. 2015年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖：The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
4.疟疾：malaria
难度: 中等查看答案及解析