Looking at his beautiful green lawns, Ed Adams can’t help smiling – thanks to a bit of bravery and a lot of hard work, he’s now enjoying the life that is just a fantasy for most of us.
Five years ago, Ed and his wife Laura, along with their three children, moved from their narrow house in the city to the a much larger and more peaceful property in the country. Having grown up on a farm, Ed, a video producer, longed for a more rural lifestyle. Then, in 2016, a new job came up for Ed in the US. They were about to set off when the whole deal was canceled. Although disappointed, it inspired them to buy a new home in rural north Buckinghamshire.
Soon, the whole family moved to their new home, Church End Cottage. They also came up with a plan to turn some of their extra space into an attractive home hotel to increase their family income, which meant lots of building work to create two extra guest rooms.
Besides, with all the building work, the garden had become a mess. To get it back into shape, he had to reseed all the lawns. In time the lawns grew back, but Ed admits keeping them clean and tidy is a big job, especially on top of his daily commute to work in London and the responsibilities of running the home hotel.
Now, there comes a cutting-edge robotic mower. Rather than spending hours working up and down, he is delighted to find he can relax himself while the mower does all the hard work. For Ed, who also has a dog and keeps chickens, the biggest attraction is being able to get so much time back. He says: “Instead of spending boring hours pushing the mower, I can take time to plant the flowerbeds or help out with the hotel. It also means I can spend more time with the kids.”
1.What does the word “bravery” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A.The decision to move to a rural area. B.The decision to open a home hotel.
C.The chance to move to the US. D.The dream of living in a rural area.
2.Why did they decide to open a home hotel?
A.They wanted to serve guests.
B.They wanted to add to their income.
C.They wanted to make full use of their space.
D.They wanted to have more people in their house.
3.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
A.Ed finds it easy to keep the lawns tidy.
B.Ed is completely running the home hotel now.
C.The robotic mower can do the work by itself.
D.With the help of the robotic mower, Ed can do fewer other things.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
If you’ve ever taken a handwritten prescription(处方) from a doctor, it seems that you can never make sense of the letters. Bad handwriting almost seems like a requirement for graduating medical school.
However, it’s not like only people with bad handwriting are attracted to the medical field. Ruth Brocato, MD, primary care doctor with Mercy Medical Center says she went from winning a handwriting award in grade school to having totally unreadable handwriting now. So why?
For one thing, doctors have to write more than just about any other job. Long days plus tons of writing equals a very tired hand. Most doctors’ handwriting gets worse over the course of the day as those small hand muscles get overworked, says Asher Goldstein, MD, pain management doctor with Genesis Pain Centers. If doctors could spend an hour with every patient, they might be able to slow down and give their hands a rest. But the fact is, most physicians are rushing around to the next patient. With so many patients to see in a limited time, doctors are more concerned with getting the information down than perfecting their handwriting.
The jargon (术语) that doctors deal with also lends itself to bad handwriting. For instance, QD is shorthand for a Latin phrase meaning “one a day” and TID means “three times a day.” Your pharmacist would know exactly what your doctor meant, but you’d probably just write it off as chicken scratch.
Now, doctors are moving toward electronic medical records to cut down on errors. No studies have looked into whether the yearly death rate from wrong prescriptions has gone down, but doctors agree there’s less chance for errors.
Of course, typing everything isn’t perfect either. There’s still the possibility of entering, say, 30 instead of 300. While we’re all for electronic medical records, we’ll write by hand whenever we can. Now, learn about these secrets hospitals don’t want to tell you—but every patient should know.
1.How many reasons are mentioned in the passage to explain why doctors are likely to have bad handwriting?
A.One. B.Two.
C.Three. D.Four
2.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Only people with bad handwriting are attracted to the medical field.
B.Most doctors’ handwriting gets better over the course of the day.
C.QD is shorthand for a Latin phrase meaning “three times as day”.
D.There is less chance for errors by using electronic medical records.
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards handwritten prescriptions?
A.Supportive. B.Disapproving.
C.Indifferent. D.Concerned.
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.No time left for doctors to write well.
B.Secrets that hospitals don’t want to tell you.
C.Reasons why most doctors have bad handwriting.
D.Errors reduced by using electronic medical records.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
When early humans killed a mammoth, how did they keep the meat before they could eat it all? We don’t know; maybe they didn’t. But perhaps they preserved their mammoth steaks in salt. However, it is hard to know for sure. We do know for certain that by 3,000 years ago, the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese were all experts at salting. They used salt to preserve food.
For thousands of years, salting was a common way to preserve food. But for a long time, no one knew why salt worked. Then, in the 1800s, a Frenchman named Louis Pasteur discovered the secret: bacteria. What does salt have to do with bacteria? First, bacteria need moisture to grow and multiply. Salt pulls moisture out of food, so the bacteria no longer have enough moisture. Besides, salt is poisonous to many bacteria. If you cover food with salt, bacteria outside the food die before they get in, and bacteria already in the food are poisoned by the salt.
So how do you preserve food with salt? For meat or fish, you pour on a layer of salt, then rub it in well. Hams are often made this way. Another way is to alternate layers of food and salt in a big container. The salt will draw the moisture out of the food, creating a brine that the food sits in. You’ll need to make sure the brine completely covers the food; any food left exposed to the air will spoil. If you preserve cabbage this way, you’ll make sauerkraut.
How well salt preserves food depends on how much is used. The more salt, the longer the food is preserved. Unfortunately, using enough salt to preserve food for a very long time can cause problems. It can make food tough. It can destroy flavor. And, of course, it can make the food too salty to eat, which is harmful to our health.
Today, even though we no longer rely on salt to keep our food fresh, we haven’t lost our taste for salt. We don’t want to give up our bacon, salami, and watermelon pickles!
1.Why are examples of the ancient people mentioned in the first paragraph?
A.To make an introduction to the topic.
B.To explain our ancestors were very clever.
C.To tell us the ancient people had a lot of food to eat.
D.To show the ancient people were good at preserving food.
2.Which of the following will the author probably agree with?
A.If you want to make a ham, you should keep it in a brine.
B.If you want to make sauerkraut, you’d better pour on a layer of salt and rub it.
C.To keep our food longer, you should put as much salt on the food as possible.
D.People needn’t give up salty food completely as long as they control the amount.
3.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To explain how the ancient people preserve food.
B.To tell us how salt works in preserving food.
C.To persuade people to give up salty food.
D.To introduce the way of preserving food with salt.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Keys to a Good Family Life
In posters and ads we often see pictures of happy families, but family life is not all smiles and laughter. All families are different and have problems, but you can make your family life better with hard work and determination. 1.
Spend time together as a family. Some people are too busy for family time. You have to set aside time xue to plan and spend special times together. 2. Make the conversation around ke the table pleasant and caring; maybe ask each person how their day was or what is happening wang in their school or work life. Doing household chores together also helps.
3. Allow members of your family to express their own feelings and ideas. Maintain eye contact and don’t interrupt when someone is talking. Listen carefully to what they are saying, before you judge or disagree. Hearing someone else, and being heard by that person, is the foundation of a good relationship. 4. Try not to be angry at someone’s opinions. Even if you think that they are wrong, listen with an open mind to show that you care - and remember that no one is perfect.
Meet each other’s needs. Give time to each and every one of your family members. Know what is going on in their lives and what they need help with. 5. If they need help with something, set aside time to do so. To be aware of your family members’ emotional and physical needs, you need to communicate.
A.Listen to their problems.
B.Try applying the following steps.
C.Allow each person to be an individual.
D.So these steps will help you all get on well.
E.Respect your family members’ feelings and ideas.
F.Every day it should be eating at least one meal together.
G.Each family member has his or her own opinions or suggestions.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Catherine decided to rescue Khan after seeing him at the animal shelter. Khan was a (an) _______ dog with a broken leg from being beaten. _______ her family heard about dogs and babies not getting along, to their _______, Khan walked right over to their 17-month-old daughter Charlotte when they were _______. The two sat on the grass and played _______, forming a bond that the family hoped would continue for the rest of Khan’s life.
One day, _______, Khan seemed to be slightly aggressive towards Charlotte. He even _______to push her away from where she played. The family kept a close eye on Khan and that’s when _______ caught their attention. A _______ was hiding right near Charlotte. Khan tried numerous times to push her out of the way but it didn’t ________ and the snake was determined to ________. Wang The family screamed ________ as their daughter’s life was in danger.
In one last ________, Khan grabbed Charlotte by the back of her shirt and ________ her over his shoulder. She ________ more than 3 feet away and the family ran over to her. As it ________, Khan had been bitten as he tried to get in between Charlotte and the snake.
While Khan was at the ________, a local newspaper was covering the incident. They couldn’t ________ an abused rescue dog who had only been with this family for four days would be so heroic. ________ after a couple of days in the hospital, Khan was ________ to return home and he was doing much better.
1.A.experienced B.abused C.fierce D.trained
2.A.As B.Because C.Since D.Although
3.A.regret B.shame C.disappointment D.surprise
4.A.blamed B.warned C.introduced D.teased
5.A.cheerfully B.sadly C.separately D.skillfully
6.A.however B.instead C.therefore D.otherwise
7.A.remembered B.pretended C.managed D.attempted
8.A.nothing B.everything C.something D.anything
9.A.baby B.snake C.dog D.mouse
10.A.fit B.continue C.work D.matter
11.A.strike B.rush C.dive D.hide
12.A.in relief B.in amazement C.in horror D.in excitement
13.A.test B.try C.pull D.fight
14.A.passed B.held C.put D.threw
15.A.landed B.climbed C.jumped D.waited
16.A.got out B.worked out C.turned out D.came out
17.A.shelter B.hospital C.gate D.backyard
18.A.believe B.know C.notice D.accept
19.A.Surprisingly B.Interestingly C.Naturally D.Thankfully
20.A.forced B.allowed C.invited D.persuaded
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（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
We touch our faces all the time, and it had never seemed to be a big problem – until COVID-19 arrived. 1. (touch) our faces – the “T-zone” of our eyes, nose and mouth in particular – can mean giving ourselves the 2. (dead) virus. This is why 3. (organization) like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have suggested that we avoid touching our faces. “Just stop this simple behavior,” William Sawyer, founder of Henry the Hand, a nonprofit organization that promotes hand hygiene(卫生), 4.(tell) The Washington Post. “It’s the one behavior 5. would be better than any vaccine ever created.”
Yet, stopping this “simple” behavior might be harder than you think because it’s already hardwired(固有的) into our system. Some face touching is automatic – like when there is 6. itch on your nose, you’ll scratch it without thinking. Moreover, face-touching is subconscious, 7. means it’s very hard to change because you don’t even know you’re doing it. 8.you’re not alone. In a 2015 study, where a group of medical students 9. (film) in class, it was found that they touched their faces an average of 23 times an hour – with 44 percent of the touches being in the “T-zones”. That was particularly surprising since medical students were supposed 10.(know) better. Since it’s so hard to shake the habit, maybe the easiest way is to wash our hands more often. This way, we can be sure that our hands are free from the novel coronavirus.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，得知外教Mr. Smith喜欢中国传统文化，想邀请他到你家过端午节。请给他写一封信，内容包括：
1. 时间；
2. 一同过节的家人；
3. 活动。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
Not all education can and should happen within the classroom. Sometimes, traveling is the best form of education, as students can get a number of personal and educational benefits from travel. From learning about other cultures first-hand to seeing where historical events took place with their own eyes, educational travel gives students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of art, science, history, and culture in many ways.
Educational becomes a whole new experience when students can see lots of tools and equipment for themselves by traveling to different places. The tools and equipment could be used by scientists decades or even centuries ago to make discoveries that make our modern world possible. Educational travel brings the materials off the pages and into reality, allowing students to connect themselves with them in a more meaningful way.
No matter where students go, it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll find some kind of food that is unique to that place or done better than anywhere else. If someone gets Chicago-style pizza in Chicago, they’re going to have a different tasting experience than they would if they were getting the same type of thing in, say, Texas. At the same time, getting chili in Texas would be a whole different experience from getting chili in New York or Chicago. Students can learn a lot about a culture by what they eat on a daily basis and what they consider a special meal, so it’s good to take a taste of the local food and learn through all of the senses.
Being away from family, home, and familiar ground is a courageous and independent adventure in its own right. Educational travel provides that opportunity to allow students to open their minds regarding how they choose to live life, which can be extraordinarily helpful in preparing students for college and adulthood. Traveling – with the combined social skills and perspectives(视角) it teaches – really allows students to better understand how they can operate on their own.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析