A sure way to destroy your chances of learning how to write skillfully is to believe that writing is a “natural gift” rather than a learned skill. People with such an attitude think that they are the only ones for whom writing is unbearably difficult. They feel that everyone else finds writing easy or at least tolerable. Such people often say, “I’m not any good at writing” or “English was not one of my good subjects.” They imply that they simply do not have a talent for writing while others do. The result of this attitude is that these people try to avoid writing, and when they do write, they don’t try their best. Their writing fails chiefly because they believe that they don’t have the “natural talent” needed to write. Unless their attitude changes, they probably will not learn how to write effectively.
A realistic attitude about writing must build on the idea that writing is a skill. It is a skill like driving, typing, or cooking; and, like any skill, it can be learned. If you have the determination to learn, you will develop your writing skills by practicing extensively.
Many people find it difficult to do the active thinking that clear writing demands. It is frustrating to discover how much of a challenge it is to transfer thoughts and feelings from one’s head onto a sheet of paper. But writing is not an automatic process: We will not get something for nothing — and we should not expect to. For almost everyone, skillful writing comes from hard work — from determination and sweat. The good news is that the skill of writing can be mastered, and if you are ready to work, you will learn what you need to know.
1.Why do some people think writing is difficult?
A. They have no time to practice writing.
B. They believe few people can write well.
C. They have no good teachers to help them.
D. They don’t think writing can be learned.
2.It can be inferred from Para. 1 that ______.
A. “natural gift” is the determining factor in one’s success
B. diligence can result in success
C. a person without “natural gift” is sure to fail in writing
D. attitude determines what one will be
3.What is the topic of the passage?
A. Why writing is important.
B. Whether writing is a born gift.
C. Benefits of essay writing.
D. How to improve writing skills.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, ecofriendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.
A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more ecofriendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak(浸入)slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.
Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and ecofriendly “green” way to treat storm water.
What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.
Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the local climate, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once native plants establish the necessary root system, they will require little care.
Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professionally environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re ecoconscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.
1.Which of the following is NOT true for the function of rain gardens?
A. They are good for living conditions.
B. They increase pollution.
C. They can beautify the community.
D. They improve the environment.
2.Which of the following is the ecofriendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4 ?
A. They can help reduce the pollution problem.
B. They can keep the rain and storm water.
C. They can be healthy for the people around.
D. They can make the environment more beautiful.
3.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that .
A. they cost less and are much easier to get
B. they may attract local wildlife to come
C. they require little care from the local gardener
D. they are more used to the local growing conditions
4.What do we know about rain gardens?
A. They need little water after all the plants are planted.
B. They may attract local birds and change the local climate.
C. They usually need at least an inch of rainwater a week.
D. They may reduce the water pollution problem by 70%.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
It was reported last week that developers could take photos from Apple mobile and Google Android devices without the phone owners knowing that the images were being taken. In Apple’s case, developers can also obtain the location information for each photo.
Senator(参议员) Charles Schumer said in a telephone interview that his office had spoken with officials at both Apple and Google on Monday.
“We asked them if they could find a way on their own to prevent Apple from having access to private information,” Mr. Schumer said. “They were friendly and open to the idea that this ought to be changed.”
On Sunday, Mr. Schumer said that he planned to send a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to investigate Apple and Google after the privacy concerns came to light. Claudia Bourne Farrell, an F.T.C. spokeswoman, said the agency had received the letter but she could not comment further.
“It worries people to think that one’s personal photos, address book, and who knows what else can be obtained and even posted online without permission,” Mr. Schumer wrote in his letter to the F. T.C. “If the technology exists to open the door to this kind of privacy invasion, then surely technology exists to close it, and that’s exactly what must happen.”
Mr. Schumer said if Apple and Google could not come to an agreement to fix the problem, then he would be forced to take the issue further.
He said other companies had been willing to work with his office to fix issues. “I’m optimistic that we can get this changed without any regulation,” he said. “If it’s not changed, then we’ll turn to the F.T.C., and if that doesn’t work then we’ll consider legislative approach.”
The F.T.C. has warned companies to try to be more vigilant(警醒的) in their efforts to protect consumers when it comes to privacy.
1.The senators spoke with officials at both Apple and Google_______.
A. to urge them not to invade consumers’ privacy.
B. to discuss whether it is illegal to have access to private information.
C. to stop them from developing the technology of taking photos.
D. to keep them from obtaining the location information for each photo.
2.Which of the following statements is True?
A. Privacy invasion from Apple has existed for a long time.
B. Mr. Schumer takes the privacy concerns caused by Apple and Google seriously.
C. Privacy invasion from Google has existed for a long time.
D. Apple and Google have decided to make a change.
3.Mr. Schumer’s letter to the F.T.C. mainly shows that the technology to open the door to privacy invasion_______.
A. causes privacy invasion to happen frequently.
B. can be used if permitted.
C. causes people to worry about the safety of their personal information.
D. causes personal information to be posted online without permission.
4.Where can we read about the passage?
A. In a newspaper.
B. In a magazine.
C. In a science report.
D. In a textbook.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A sick little girl is being kept alive thanks to her best friend — a dog who carries her oxygen tank on his back. Alida’s faithful dog companion Mr Gibbs has been specially trained to shepherd the three-year-old, who breathes through a tube most of the time. He follows her closely as she plays in her family’s ten-acre land in Louisville, uses the slide or even rides her bike.
Alida was diagnosed with neuroendocrine hyperplasia of infancy（NEHI）when she was just eight months old. Her rare condition has just eight hundred documented sufferers throughout the world, and causes diseased pieces of the lungs to filter oxygen through extra layers of cells, making it hard or almost impossible to breathe. For Alida and her parents, it meant that even a walk in the park was very difficult because oxygen equipment was too heavy for the youngster to be able to carry herself. As parents, they wanted to do something to help their daughter survive despite having a tube following her all the time. The couple found out about “service dogs” from a TV program and realized an animal trained to help the blind could be trained to help Alida. They finally found help in the shape of golden doodle—a retriever crossed with a poodle-dog Mr Gibbs. Now thanks to trainer Ashleigh Kinsley—Alida and Mr Gibbs love nothing more than playing and running around together with the dog acting as Alida’s life saver.
1.What is Mr Gibbs?
A. A pet dog.
B. A policeman.
C. A doctor.
D. A firefighter.
2.When did the doctor know Alida caught the disease?
A. At her birth.
B. At the age of eight.
C. Before she was one year old.
D. When she was three years old.
3.The underlined part “the couple” in paragraph 3 refers to _______.
A. Alida’s classmates
B. Alida’s parents
C. Alida’s doctors
D. Alida’s pets
4.How did Alida keep alive?
A. By training her dog.
B. By staying with her parents.
C. By playing with her fellows.
D. By breathing through a tube.
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。
Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers.1.According to a recent research, the most common argument between parents and teenagers is that regarding untidiness and daily routine tasks.2.On the other hand, teenagers lose their patience continually when parents blame them for dropping the towel in the bathroom, not cleaning up their room.
The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different approaches to these problems.3.For example, those parents who yell at their children for their untidiness, but later clean the room for them, have fewer chances of changing their children’s behavior. On the contrary, those who let teenagers experience the thrills of their actions can do better.4. Parents should talk to their children but at the same time they should lend an ear to what they have to say.5.It is only by listening to and understanding each other that problems between parents and children can be settled.
A. On the one hand, parents go mad over messy rooms.
B. There are many reasons for this.
C. Then again, teenagers have similar feelings about their parents.
D. Communication is a two-way process.
E. However, some approaches are more successful than others.
F. Psychologists say that communication is the most important thing in parent-child relationships.
G. It is better for children and parents to understand each other.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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。
The morning had been a disaster. My tooth was , and I’d been in an argument with a friend. Her words still hurt: “The trouble with you is that you won’t yourself in my place. Can’t you see things from my point of view?” I shook my head —and felt the ache in my tooth. I’d thought I could out till my dentist came back from holiday, but the pain was really . I started calling the in the phone book, but no one could see me . Finally, at about lunchtime, I got lucky.
“If you come by right now,” the receptionist said, “the dentist will you in.”
I took my purse and keys and to my car. But suddenly I began to doubt about the dentist. What kind of dentist would be so to treat someone at such short notice? Why wasn’t he as busy as the others?
In the dentist’s office, I sat down and looked . I saw nothing the bare walls and I became even more worried. The assistant my nervousness and placed her warm hand over my ice-cold one.
When I told her my , she laughed and said, “Don’t worry. The dentist is very good.”
“How long do I have to wait for him?” I asked .
“Come on, he is coming. Just lie down and . And enjoy the artwork,” the assistant said.
“The artwork?” I was .
The chair went back, suddenly I smiled. There was a beautiful picture, right where I could enjoy it: on the ceiling. How the dentist was! At that moment, I began to understand what my friend by her words.
What a !
1.A. shaking B. weak C. aching D. flexible
2.A. take B. put C. have D. play
3.A. violently B. merely C. stubbornly D. consequently
4.A. hold B. break C. cut D. put
5.A. absolute B. unbearable C. unreliable D. formal
6.A. receptionistsB. managers C. nurses D. dentists
7.A. entirely B. slightly C. absolutely D. immediately
8.A. fit B. take C. pull D. come
9.A. closed B. rushed C. pushed D. guided
10.A. eager B. cautious C. brave D. loyal
11.A. up B. over C. around D. down
12.A. therefore B. while C. but D. however
13.A. translated B. resisted C. admitted D. noticed
14.A. fears B. intention C. consideration D. arrangement
15.A. terribly B. impatientlyC. Extremely D. respectively
16.A. relax B. sleep C. observe D. refer
17.A. affected B. frustrated C. disappointed D. puzzled
18.A. foolish B. terrible C. considerate D. considerable
19.A. attached B. meant C. intended D. pretended
20.A. relief B. regret C. success D. loss
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入一个适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Everyone has his own way of saying things and his own special expressions. Many everyday American expressions are based 1.colors. Red is a hot color. Americans often use 2.to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very 3.(anger) about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods 4. (call) red hots for their color and their spicy taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, 5.(especial) the kind called Dixieland jazz. Pink is a 6.(light) kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink 7.they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the 8.(twenty) century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color 9. shows that they are in good health. Blue is a cool. The traditional blues music in the United States is10. opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful(深情的). Someone who is blue is very sad.
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11处起）不计分。
Dear American guests,
On behalf for our school, I would like to express our warmly welcome to you. We are lucky to have us here in the middle of our English Week activities.
As scheduled, we had English Talent Show today. The purpose of this programme is develop our interest in English learning and practical abilities in listening and spoken. The programme consists of the following activities: recitation, singing, word spelling, story told and so on. The Show will begin at two o’clock this afternoon at the Student Center. Dear guests, you are welcome to take a part in our activities. I hope we students will benefit great from your presence.
I sincerely hope you a pleasant time with us.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Life is just like a mirror, you smile at it, and it smiles at you, too. 请你以“Learn to Smile”为题,写一篇100词左右的文章，要点包括：
1. 学会对自己微笑；
2. 学会对别人微笑；
3. 微笑的重要性。
注意：短文必须包括所有内容要点，不要逐字翻译，可适当发挥，使短文连贯通顺。
难度: 中等查看答案及解析