Wandering around the airport terminal(航站楼), after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement, “If anyone near Gale A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” I went there and saw an old woman in full traditional Palestinian dress crying on the floor. A young man from the airport staff asked me to talk to her to find out what was her problem. He said she started to cry when hearing the announcement about the flight.
I knelt down, put my arms around her and asked her what was wrong. My Arabic wasn’t good enough but I managed to get my meaning across. She soon stopped crying and told me she had thought the flight had been canceled. She needed to be in El Paso for an important medical treatment the next day. I said, “You’ll be fine. You’ll get there but only a few hours late. Who is going to pick you up? Let’s call him.” We called her son. I spoke to him in English. I told him I would stay with his mother till we boarded the plane. Later, I called my dad whose Arabic was better and asked him to talk to her. She looked much more relaxed while talking on the phone.
Later she took out a sack of homemade cookies stuffed with dates and nuts and offered them to all the women at the gate: the traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo. Everybody smiled and accepted her cookies to eat. And my new best friend and I were holding hands, while the others around us were talking with each other with different accents. I almost wanted to hug all those other women too. I looked around that gate and thought to myself, “This is surely the world want to live in.”
1.Why did the old lady cry at the airport terminal gate?
A. The plane was canceled. B. Her medical treatment was canceled.
C. She didn’t know which flight to take. D. She misunderstood the announcement.
2.It can be inferred that ________.
A. the author was Palestinian B. most passengers were from America
C. the author’s first language was English D. the old lady had never travelled abroad
3.According to the passage, we learn that the author was ________.
A. talkative and active B. warm-hearted and helpful
C. creative and intelligent D. enthusiastic but aggressive
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Off-Peak fares are cheaper tickets for traveling on trains that are less busy, offering good value for money. The tickets may require you to travel at specific times of day, days of the week or on a specific route. Where there is more than one Off-Peak fare for a journey, the cheaper fare is called Super Off-Peak.
You can buy Off-Peak tickets any time before you travel, either online or at a local station. The travel restrictions for your Off-Peak ticket will depend on the journey you are making. The tickets must be used on the date shown on the ticket. For Off-Peak return tickets, related journeys must be made on the date shown on your ticket as well.
Children aged five to fifteen get a 50% discount for all Off-Peak fares. Up to 2 children under 5 years can travel free with each fare paying adult. Railcard holders get l/3 off all Standard Class Off-Peak fares. Senior, and disabled Railcard holders also get l/3 off all First Class Off Peak fares. Please note that minimum fares and time restrictions may apply to tickets bought with a Railcard.
If you plan on a train trip with friends or your family, you may get group travel discounts. Three or four can travel for the price of just two adults-leaving everyone more money to spend on the day out! If you are traveling in a group of ten or more at Off-Peak times, you may be able to obtain a further discount through the train company you are traveling with. Contact the train company directly and be aware that you may need to book tickets in advance.
For more information, please visit www.nationalrail.co.uk.
1.An Off-Peak ticket differs from other tickets in .
A. its good value for money B. its convenience
C. the specific trains D. travel schedules
2.Sarah, a Railcard holder, is traveling with her 12-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. How much should they pay for the 6-pound Off-Peak fares?
A. ￡6. B. ￡18.
C. ￡7. D. ￡12.
3.Apart from the Off-Peak fairs, you may also save money by .
A. becoming a VIP B. traveling at rush time
C. buying tickets online D. getting group travel discounts
4.What type of writing is this text?
A. An announcement. B. A ticket booking guide.
C. A business report. D. A travel review.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Dear daughters,
Most parents tell their children, “You can be anything you want when you grow up.” I feel the same and I say this often. But I also want you to understand that a dream itself comes from hard work, some good luck and good timing. Girls, here are some words of wisdom as you make your way in the world.
Firstly, be open-minded to changing your path along the way. In high school, I wanted to be a politician. I left my hometown and went off to college in Washington, D.C. There, I discovered that I loved to support women. It taught me that I’m creative, a strong leader and great at marketing. As a result, I moved on to be the head of a national healthcare nonprofit（非营利机构）.Becoming a mother while in that job opened my mind to launching a breast pump bag business. Now I run a highly successful company that I started up on my own. In my opinion, you need to figure out what you are good at and what you are passionate about. Keep an open mind: the initial path you choose may lead you into other areas. Don’t waste your money or time, but you can change what you are doing based on what you are learning about yourself.
Secondly and more importantly, remember that failure is vital to your success. I won’t tell you to feel good about failure. Failure can be heartbreaking. But I will tell you that every failure I’ve had along the way absolutely made me better. Failing the math exam in high school and going to summer school was embarrassing but I've never failed an exam again.
Being deprived(剥夺) of the job for a significant job opportunity that I was more than qualified for because of unfair assumptions hurt me but I went out and got a big job at a national organization at age 27. It’s okay to get angry! Take that and turn it into positive action.
I’m proud to be a role model to you as a mom and an entrepreneur(企业家). I hope I inspire you to believe that you can be anything you want and you can have anything on your list. It will be my pleasure to watch your lives unfold before my eyes.
Love,
Your Mom
1.The author has achieved her final goal as ________.
A. a politician B. a social worker C. an entrepreneur D. the head of an organization
2.What does the author think of failure along the way in life?
A. Failure is important to success. B. Failure is never positive.
C. Failure is always heartbreaking. D. Failure makes people embarrassed.
3.The author was once deprived of a significant job opportunity because ________.
A. she lacked work experience B. she was wrongly judged as unfit for it
C. She was too young D. she was not as qualified as others
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. A mom’s advice B. A mom’s life stories
C. Be wise in choosing your career D. How to be successful in life
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
The days of having to carry a phone charger everywhere could soon be over. Michigan researchers have revealed a major breakthrough in harvesting energy from human motion. They say it could lead to smartphones powered for a week by the motion of a swipe(重击).
Michigan State University’s low-cost device, known as a nanogenerator, has already been tested. Scientists successfully operated an LCD touch screen, a bank of 20 LED lights and a flexible keyboard, all with a simple touching or pressing motion and without the aid of a battery. The groundbreaking findings, published in the journal Nano Energy, suggest “We’re on the path toward wearable devices powered by human motion,” said Nelson Sepulveda, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and lead researcher of the project.
“What I foresee, relatively soon, is the capability of not having to charge your cell phone for an entire week, for example, because that energy will be produced by your movement,” said Sepulveda, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Electrical energy is created when the device is compressed by human motion. The completed device is as thin as a sheet of paper. The device used to power the LED lights was palm-sized, while the device used to power the touch screen was as small as a finger. Advantages such as being lightweight, flexible and low-cost could make it a promising and alternative method in the field of Mechanical-energy harvesting.
The device also becomes more powerful when folded. Sepulveda said, “You can start with a large device, but when you fold it once, and again, and again, it’s much smaller and has more energy. Now it may be small enough to put in a specially made heel of your shoe so it creates power each time your heel strikes the ground.”
Sepulveda and his team are also developing technology that would transmit the power generated by the heel strike to, say, a wireless headset.
1.Who is Nelson Sepulveda?
A. The major researcher in the project. B. A professor of engineering.
C. The fund supplier of the research. D. A journalist writing for Nano Energy.
2.The underlined word device in the 2nd paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
A. keyboard B. smartphone C. screen D. machine
3.From the passage we know that the nanogenerator ________.
A. becomes more powerful when kept flat
B. has already come into market in the USA
C. is lightweight and flexible though expensive
D. makes it possible to produce power by walking
4.The purpose of the passage is to ________.
A. persuade people to buy the device B. bring in a new way to save energy
C. introduce a breakthrough in science D. honor Nelson Sepulveda for his contributions
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
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。
A new article in The Wall Street Journal has given us a deeper understanding of the relationship between what we earn and how we feel.1.Well, not true. People with higher incomes are happier than those who struggle to get by. To put a smile on your face with your money, you need to spend it strategically. Here are some ways to better spend your bank notes.
Buy experiences, not material things.
2.People think that experiences are only going to provide temporary happiness, but they actually provide both more happiness and more lasting value that help you better manage your life.
3.
Anything you buy, including a product you think is special will become just another object. Buying small things can give us frequent small pleasures that are different each time they occur, as they forestall（抢先）adaptation.
4.
It’s also important to consider how what you’re buying will affect how you spend your time. For example, you may have to spend a very long time on the road if you get a big house in the suburb, which will totally lower overall life satisfaction.
Try giving it away.
Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada, found that in countries as diverse as Canada, South Africa and Uganda, giving away money consistently made people happier.5.
A. Buy what you like.
B. Be sure to buy time, too.
C. More money, more smiles?
D. Money can’t buy happiness, right?
E. Buy lots of little things, rather than one big thing.
F. With no much money to spare, people tend to stick to material goods.
G. This was even true for people who were relatively poor themselves.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Today there is more to read than ever before. The websites try their best to_________with each other by offering reading updates. The social news sites are always filled with the_________news and stories one can read everywhere online. _______, there is no lasting value amid the whole competition. As far as their value is_________, I assume it makes no much_______whether you find one to read or_______it. If you are someone who tends to_________meaning in life, I am sure you’ve felt this way as well.
Whenever this happens, I choose to turn back to the_________, the old enduring meaningful books that have_____________the test of time. Most people believe, with our modern________we have invented new life. But this is not the__________. When they think they are leading a life completely__________what their ancestors had decades ago, they are__________still surrounded by minor details and their life remains__________.
Everything has its particular place. Old books teach you how to live and what it__________to be human, with moral standards. This is__________they still play an important part in our life. I’m glad that I am not__________in this opinion. Many people agree that the wisdom of the greatest human minds__________through centuries is the most valuable__________of mankind.
To make classic books__________to youngsters, schools should make it possible for their students to find the books recommended by their teachers on the book-shelves in the library.
1.A. struggle B. communicate C. cooperate D. compete
2.A. temporary B. final C. latest D. present
3.A. However B. Therefore C. Instead D. Besides
4.A. regarded B. suggested C. considered D. concerned
5.A. difference B. sense C. comment D. progress
6.A. prevent B. lose C. miss D. avoid
7.A. give up B. search for C. set aside D. joke about
8.A. articles B. fictions C. experts D. classics
9.A. made B. stood C. created D. experimented
10.A. service B. edition C. technology D. construction
11.A. case B. base C. life D. matter
12.A. equal to B. consistent with C. different from D. similar to
13.A. probably B. actually C. usually D. potentially
14.A. unchanged B. stable C. safe D. peaceful
15.A. shows B. proves C. offers D. means
16.A. whether B. why C. when D. where
17.A. alone B. lonely C. discouraged D. optimistic
18.A. given up B. carried away C. passed down D. brought up
19.A. revolution B. performances C. process D. possessions
20.A. attractive B. accessible C. suitable D. beneficial
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。
Young people1.(bear)in 1995 or later have another name in English—Generation Z.
Now entering adulthood and soon to join the workforce, Generation Z grew up in a special period of time when technology developed fast and the Internet became2.(universe).
It3.(believe)that Generation Z is the generation that is going to shape our future,4.is why policy makers are trying5.(they)best to understand these young people. Most people agree that the biggest difference between Generation Z and other generations is how connected they are. This is a group of people who have been familiar6.social media as soon as they came to the world. It may be true that Generation Z-ers have a shorter attention span(持续时间) 7.a goldfish does, but since they grew up among social changes, they are more active in8.(political).
Generation Z-ers are also culture creators.9.(grow) up with the Internet has freed this generation from traditional cultural expression. These young people never10.(willing)let their creativity be limited by their parents or traditional rules.
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1l处起）不计分。
Dear Sir, I am a student from the near school. Here I want to report the environmental situation for you. There used to many green trees and all kind of flowers in our school all the year round. The school looks like a beautiful garden and we had a clean studying environment. And everything has changed since your chemical factory was built a year before. Every day it produces lots of waste water and harm gases. The terrible pollution has been done great harm to our health. We all expect you factory can take measures to stop the pollution soon.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
假设你是李华，你的英国朋友Tom在邮件中告诉你，他通过观看BBC记录片《中国春节》，初步了解了中国文化和习俗。Tom希望了解更多有关中国人庆祝其他传统节日及接受西方节日的情况。请给Tom回信，内容包括：
1.中国人庆祝其他重大传统节日的情况，如，清明节、端午节或中秋节等；
2.年轻人接受西方节日的情况；
3.你自己的感想。
参考词汇：Tomb-sweeping Day清明节
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯：
3.开头语已为你写好。
Dear Tom,
Glad to know that you've learned something about Chinese culture and customs.Now I'd like to tell you more that might interest you.
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析