Looking for somewhere to go during the months of December, January and February? From snow-capped ski resorts to sunny islands, these are the hottest travel destinations to visit this winter.
St. Lucia
Longing for a tropical （热带的）getaway? Set your sights on St. Lucia. With Kayak reporting a 197 percent surge （激增）in interest, this Eastern Caribbean island nation is on the verge of blowing up. Which shouldn't be a shock given that it delivers a mix of volcanic coastline, lush rainforests, dramatic mountains, coral reefs, and high-end resorts. Simply put： whether you're seeking romance or adventure, you'll find it in St. Lucia.
Mexico City, Mexico
With mouth-watering food, fashionable hotels, superb shopping, and tons of historic sites, Mexico City is definitely one to add to your list for the upcoming winter season. Since it's a major international airport, you can usually score flight deals.
New York City
While there's no bad month to experience the Big Apple, the frosty season is particularly magical. Guess that's why New York City ranks among the most searched winter travel destinations, according to Expedia. The most cherished attractions? The ice skating rink（溜冰场）at Rockefeller Center and sledding in Central Park.
Paris
“Many people frequent Paris in spring and summer,” reveals Hudson. “The trade-off for picture-perfect weather? Long lines at museums, plus a Metro chock-full of map-toting tourists. ” Based on Expedia data, the cheapest month to go to Paris is February. Our advice? Pack your most fashionable raincoat and let the winter sadness fade away in the City of Light.
1.Where will you go if you long for a risky trip?
A.St. Lucia. B.Mexico City, Mexico.
C.New York City. D.Paris.
2.What is special about Mexico City?
A.Its weather is always great.
B.It often offers discounted air tickets.
C.It provides magical experience in winter.
D.It is the most searched winter travel destination.
3.What can we learn about Paris?
A.It is a fashionable city.
B.Its climate is quite perfect.
C.Its winter sports are attractive.
D.It is a popular tourist destination in spring.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
I remember the day when I first learned to ride a bike. It was a frightening, yet fun experience. My granddad was the one who taught me and he helped me when I got hurt. The first time I got on a bike, I had no idea what I was doing, and just about everything went wrong. My granddad told me to just put my feet on the pedals and start pedaling (骑自行车). He also told me he would hold onto the back of the bike the whole time, yet he didn’t.
As soon as I started trying to balance myself, he let go. I happened to look back just then. I was scared, to death that I was going to fall and hurt myself. When I was scared, my mind went blank from pedaling, and I just wanted off. I forgot how to use the brakes (车闸) and fell right off the bike. My granddad kept encouraging me to get up and try again, and after about 15 minutes, 1 finally stopped crying, got up and tried again.
As soon as I started pedaling again, my pants got caught in the chain, and I fell flat on my face and hit my nose. Since that happened t my granddad decided to call it a day and try again the next morning. The next morning I woke up bright and early, and was very eager to try to ride my bike. My nose felt better, so I wasn’t that afraid of falling anymore.
Though I knew there were a lot of difficulties on the way to mastering the skills in riding a bike, I believed I could do well with my granddad’s help. After all, riding a bike was what I wanted to do eagerly.
1.How was the author when he was on the bike first?
A.He didn’t know where he would be going.
B.He thought balancing himself was easy.
C.He was nervous and didn’t know what to do next.
D.He put his feet on the pedals and started pedaling.
2.What does the underlined part in the passage mean?
A.Remember what happened this day.
B.Make the author feel happy.
C.Stop practicing bicycling.
D.Go on to ride a bike.
3.What is the author’s attitude towards his granddad?
A.Supportive. B.Grateful.
C.Indifferent. D.Negative.
4.Which of the following could be the title for the passage?
A.The Experience of My First Riding a Bike
B.The Difficulty I Met with My Granddad
C.The First Time I Got My Own Bike
D.The Great Moment When I Stayed with My Granddad
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
What were you like as a teenager? I was a _______. I was rude to my parents, always stayed out late, never did my homework, hung out with the wrong people and made many _______ decisions. Apparently, this is the age when teenagers are out of control and _______ badly. If you're a teenager now, you think this is _______ criticism or it's not your fault. Well, you might be _______!
Experts have found that it's a teenager's brain that is to _______. Between the ages of _______ 13 to 19 the brain is still developing in areas that _______ behaviour. This has an/a _______ on learning and multitasking, stress and memory, sleep, addiction, and decision-making. This is quite a new ________, according to Professor Sarah, ''when I was at university, the dogma (教条) in the text books was that the vast brain ________ goes on in the first few years of life and nothing much ________ after mid-childhood. That dogma is completely ________.''
So our brains are still developing much later than was originally thought. Is this the perfect excuse for teenagers to ________ and not get their homework done on time? It's something to do with our prefrontal cortex (前额皮层). It's involved in many high-level cognitive (认知的) ________ such as decision making and planning. This region is undergoing large amounts of development during the adolescent years. For an/a________, this hasn't developed yet. So getting organized to do their homework, for example, can be a bit ________.
I wish I'd known about this because instead of telling my ________ I'd left my homework on the bus or that the dog had ________ it. Now I could say, ''Sorry sir, my ________ isn't developed enough for the cognitive task of planning my homework''.
1.A.prince B.nightmare C.fool D.joke
2.A.real B.wise C.bad D.good
3.A.dress B.talk C.react D.behave
4.A.unfair B.practical C.fun D.reasonable
5.A.dull B.right C.wrong D.precise
6.A.praise B.blame C.wake D.call
7.A.appropriately B.alternatively C.frequently D.approximately
8.A.control B.use C.express D.play
9.A.touch B.impact C.role D.advantage
10.A.way B.invention C.discovery D.job
11.A.exploration B.experiment C.progress D.development
12.A.changes B.stays C.remains D.leaves
13.A.true B.unknown C.false D.satisfying
14.A.get over B.hang around C.look around D.take off
15.A.interests B.results C.drawbacks D.tasks
16.A.adult B.scientist C.teenager D.baby
17.A.exhausting B.simple C.challenging D.late
18.A.boss B.teacher C.trainer D.colleague
19.A.eaten B.seen C.passed D.recognized
20.A.knowledge B.body C.identity D.brain
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
With self-driving vehicle technology rapidly advancing, many companies are turning to autonomous robots for the final leg of the delivery process, from the store or local distribution center to the customer. The latest to join the trend is e-commerce giant Amazon. Following a successful eight-month test run in Snohomish County, Washington, the company’s Scout robots have been making the rounds of Irvine, California, since August 6, 2019.
The six-wheeled Scout is about the size of a large cooler with the capacity to carry small or medium-sized packages. The battery-powered vehicle, which moves at a regular walking pace, has been programmed to avoid pedestrians, animals, and unexpected obstacles, such as garbage cans. Its powerful sensors can also detect the movement of a car backing out of a driveway.
To accelerate Scout’s development and bring it nationwide sooner, the company has created several detailed virtual maps of American suburbs and conducted trial deliveries to homes there.
Though Amazon has not shown how Scout ensures the delivery is picked up by the right person, it most likely requires the customers to apply a unique code, texted to them prior to the delivery, to unlock the store box. Also unclear is the number of deliveries Scout can complete before its battery needs to be recharged. Though the initial tests are being conducted with a human for company, the robot will be autonomous in the future. Its location, however, will be tracked at all times—if someone attempts to steal Scout, Amazon employees will be instantly sensed.
However, the eco-friendly robots are unable to climb stairs or open gates, which means that they can only reach consumers who live on the ground level. Additionally, the robots are unable to leave packages at the front door if the customers are not home. Whether these problems get resolved remains to be seen. For now, it appears that humans will still be needed to achieve the ever-growing demand for home and office deliveries.
1.Which of the following descriptions about Scout is right?
A.They can be powered themselves. B.They are strong enough to carry big things.
C.They can run with their six wheels. D.They can avoid obstacles ahead.
2.What about Scout is still confusing to common people?
A.How many deliveries it can do on a full charge. B.Whether it can climb stairs or open gates.
C.How it recognizes the right owner of the things. D.How long it will take to get it fully charged.
3.What does the underlined phrase “prior to” in paragraph 4 mean?
A.due to B.after C.in front of D.before
4.What is the author’s opinion about delivery robots according to the last paragraph?
A.They are not easily available. B.They have some limitations.
C.They will replace humans soon. D.They won’t be well accepted.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Just how much does the Constitution(宪法) protect your digital data? The Supreme Court will now consider whether police can search the contents of a mobile phone without a warrant (授权令) if the phone is on or around a person during an arrest.
California has asked the justices to restore the practice that the police may search through the contents of suspects’ smartphones at the time of their arrest. It is hard, the state says, for judges to assess the implications of new and rapidly changing technologies .
The justices would be careless if they followed California's advice. They should start by rejecting California’s weak argument that exploring the contents of a smart phone is similar to say, going through a suspect's wallet. The court has ruled that police don't offend against the Fourth Amendment(修正案) when they go through the wallet of an arrestee without a warrant. In fact, exploring one's smartphone is more like entering his or her home. A smartphone may contain an arrestee's reading history, financial history, medical history and comprehensive records of recent correspondence.
Americans should take steps to protect their own digital privacy and should avoid putting important information in smartphones. But keeping sensitive information on these devices is increasingly a requirement of normal life. Citizens still have a right to expect private documents to remain private and protected by the Constitution's prohibition on unreasonable searches.
In many cases, it would not be very difficult for authorities to obtain a warrant to search through phone contents. They could still trump(打出王牌) the Fourth Amendment protections when facing severe and dangerous circumstances, such as the threat of immediate harm, and they could take reasonable measures to ensure that phone data are not deleted or altered while a warrant is on the way. The justices, though, may want to allow room for police to cite situations where they are entitled to more flexibility.
But the justices should not swallow California's argument whole. New technology sometimes demands fresh applications of the Constitution's protections. Orin Kerr, a law professor, compares the explosion and accessibility of digital information in the 21st century with the establishment of automobile use as a digital necessity of life in the 20th. At that time, the justices had to explain new rules for the new personal domain(领域) of cars. Similarly, the justices must sort out how the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution applies to digital information now.
1.The author’s attitude toward California’s argument is _____________.
A.skeptical B.tolerant
C.indifferent D.disapproving
2.The author believes that exploring one's phone content is comparable to_____________.
A.getting into one's residence B.handing one's historical records
C.scanning one's correspondences D.going through one's wallet
3.In paragraph 4 and 5, the author shows his concern that_____________.
A.principles are hard to be clearly expressed
B.citizens' privacy is not effectively protected
C.phones are used to store sensitive information
D.the court is giving police less room for action
4.Orin Kerr's comparison is quoted to indicate that_____________.
A.the Constitution should be implemented flexibly
B.Principles of the Constitution should never be changed
C.New technology requires reinterpretation of the Constitution
D.California's argument violates principles of the Constitution
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Will there be an outbreak of bird flu that threatens humans? Many experts disagree on when or whether a human pandemic (大流行病) will occur, but do say there is a chance that the virus could mutate(变异), leading to widespread infection.1.Here’s what you need to know to help keep yourself healthy.
Stock up on food, water and household supplies. If there is a bird flu pandemic, you'll want to minimize your chance of catching it by staying indoors; you might even be required to stay home if the government asks that people remain in quarantine (隔离期). You’d better stock up today on at least 2-week worth of essentials such as water, food, emergency and medical supplies. 2.
Have an outbreak plan. It may feel odd or uncomfortable to talk to family members and loved ones about the worst-case pandemic scenario. But if that scenario strikes, you’ll all be much better off if you have a plan decided on and ready. 3. Figure out how you would care for them and what your first response and responsibilities would be; this is an especially important conversation to have with those with special care needs.
4. Things like keeping a balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting sufficient rest can help keep you healthy in an outbreak and also keep you from catching the common cold. Particularly in a flu outbreak situation, it will be important to wash our hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Be diligent about covering coughs and sneezes with tissues.
Moreover, know your essential health information such as blood type, allergies, and past or current medical conditions. Make a list of that essential information for all the members of your family. 5. And do make sure everyone in your household knows where to find it.
A.Work out regularly to stay slim.
B.Pick up the habits of healthy behavior.
C.It is wise to keep it somewhere safe and visible.
D.It’s important to ask yourself these questions before a pandemic occurs.
E.Talk with your friends and family about how you’d respond to an epidemic.
F.In that case, the best thing you can do right now is to prepare for that possibility.
G.That will help you get through an extended time at home if an outbreak happens.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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11处起）不计分。
I am grateful to my English teacher Susan, at whose help I couldn't have won first prize in the English Talent Competition for high school student last week.
I used to be poorly in spoken English. I was too shy to speak in class. Since she teaches us last term, she has been encouraging him to overcome fear and speak out in class. Thanks to her, I have made great progresses. Besides, I practiced several times in the front of her. It was her advice which made me a better speaker and full of confidence. But I owe my success to her.
Susan set a good example to me. I am determined to become an English teacher when I grow up.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假设你是李华，近期你校举办了主题为“美丽中国”的现场国画（traditional Chinese painting）比赛。请为校报英文专栏写一篇活动报道。内容包括：
1.活动时间、地点；
2.活动概况；
3.活动意义。
注意：1.词数120左右；
2.可行当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析