Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.
And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin’s chicken house in exchange for manure. The smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right. For example, just one of his cantaloupes filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.
As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew. Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour, the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.
Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!
Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around it didn't look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn't offend the nose so much, edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup!
1.What can we infer about Dad’s stew?
A．It is popular among the neighbors.
B．It contains honey and vegetables.
C．It looks very wonderful.
D．It tastes quite delicious.
2.What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean?
A．To attract. B．To upset.
C．To air. D．To shut.
3.What can we learn about Dad from the text?
A．He is an experienced cook.
B．He is a troublesome father.
C．He has a positive attitude to life.
D．He suffers a lot from his disability.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine whether people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons for example, economic reasons—why they should be preserved. So, let us assume that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building is needed?
In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own home town of Tours where modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings. As long as the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.
It is true that there are examples of new buildings which have spoilt the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative and do not like change.
Although we have to respect people's feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner to move things forward. If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue against copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different, even though that might be the more risky choice.
1.What does the author say about historical buildings in the first paragraph?
A．Some of them are not attractive.
B．Most of them ate too expensive to preserve.
C．They are more pleasing than modern buildings.
D．They have nothing to do with the historic feel of an area.
2.Which of the following is true according to the author?
A．We should reproduce the same old buildings.
B．Buildings should not dominate their surroundings.
C．Some old buildings have spoilt the area they are in.
D．No one understands why people speak against new buildings.
3.By “move things forward” in the last paragraph, the author probably means“ ”．
A．destroy old buildings
B．put things in a different place
C．choose new architectural styles
D．respect people's feelings for historical buildings
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A．To explain why people dislike change.
B．To warn that we could end up living in caves.
C．To admit how new buildings have ruined their surroundings.
D．To argue that modern buildings can be built in historic areas.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Suppose you become a leader in an organization. It's very likely that you'll want to have volunteers to help with the organization's activities. To do so, it should help to understand why people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the work.
Let’s begin with the question of why people volunteer. Researchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involved. For example, people volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishness, to expand their range of experiences, and to strengthen social relationships. If volunteer positions do not meet these needs, people may not wish to participate. To select volunteers, you may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attract.
People also volunteer because they are required to do so. To increase levels of community service, some schools have launched compulsory volunteer programs. Unfortunately, these programs can shift people's wish of participation from an internal factor (e. g. , “I volunteer because it's important to me”) to an external factor ( e. g. ,“I volunteer because I'm required to do so”). When that happens, people become less likely to volunteer in the future. People must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a must.
Once people begin to volunteer, what leads them to remain in their positions over time? To answer this question, researchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over time. For instance, one study followed 238 volunteers in Florida over a year. One of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positions. Although this result may not surprise you, it leads to important practical advice. The researchers note that attention should be given to “training methods that would prepare volunteers for troublesome situations or provide them with strategies for coping with the problem they do experience”.
Another study of 302 volunteers at hospitals in Chicago focused on individual differences in the degree to which people view “volunteer” as an important social role. It was assumed that those people for whom the role of volunteer was most part of their personal identity would also be most likely to continue volunteer work. Participants indicated the degree to which the social role mattered by responding to statements such as “Volunteering in Hospital is an important part of who I am. ” Consistent with the researchers’ expectations, they found a positive correlation (正相关) between the strength of role identity and the length of time people continued to volunteer. These results, once again, lead to concrete advice: “Once an individual begins volunteering, continued efforts might focus on developing a volunteer role identity... Items like T-shirts that allow volunteers to be recognized publicly for their contributions can help strengthen role identity”.
1.People volunteer mainly out of ________.
A．academic requirements B．social expectations
C．financial rewards D．internal needs
2.What can we learn from the Florida study?
A．Follow-up studies should last for one year.
B．Volunteers should get mentally prepared.
C．Strategy training is a must in research.
D．Volunteers are provided with concrete advice.
3.What is most likely to motivate volunteers to continue their work?
A．Individual differences in role identity.
B．Publicly identifiable volunteer T-shirts.
C．Role identity as a volunteer.
D．Practical advice from researchers.
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A．How to Get People to Volunteer.
B．How to Study Volunteer Behaviors.
C．How to Keep Volunteers’ Interest.
D．How to Organize Volunteer Activities.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
People aren’t walking any more—if they can figure out a way to avoid it.
I felt superior about this matter until the other day I took my car to mail a small parcel. The journey is a matter of 281 steps. But I used the car. And I wasn’t in any hurry, either. I had merely become one more victim of a national sickness: motorosis.
It is an illness to which I had thought myself immune, for I was born in the tradition of going to places on my own two legs. At that time, we regarded 25 miles as good day's walk and the ability to cover such a distance in ten hours as sign of strength and skill. It did not occur to us that walking was a hardship. And the effect was lasting. When I was 45 years old I raced ——and beat——a teenage football player the 168 steps up the Stature of Liberty.
Such enterprises today are regarded by many middle-aged persons as bad for the heart. But a well-known British physician, Sir Adolphe Abrahams, pointed out recently that hearts and bodies need proper exercise. A person who avoids exercise is more likely to have illnesses than one who exercises regularly. And walking is an ideal form of exercise—the most familiar and natural of all.
It was Henry Thoreau who showed mankind the richness of going on foot. The man walking can learn the trees, flower, insects, birds and animals, the significance of seasons, the very feel of himself as a living creature in a living world. He cannot learn in a car.
The car is a convenient means of transport, but we have made it our way of life. Many people don’t dare to approach Nature any more; to them the world they were born to enjoy is all threat. To them security is a steel-river thundering on a concrete road. And much of their thinking takes place while waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
I say that the green of forests is the mind's best light. And none but the man on foot can evaluate what is basic and everlasting.
1.What is the national sickness?
A．Walking too much.
B．Traveling too much.
C．Driving cars too much.
D．Climbing stairs too much.
2.What was life like when the author was young?
A．People usually went around on foot.
B．People often walked 25 miles a day.
C．People used to climb the Statue of Liberty.
D．People considered a ten-hour walk as a hardship.
3.The author mentions Henry Thoreau to prove that ________.
A．middle-aged people like getting back to nature
B．walking in nature helps enrich one’s mind
C．people need regular exercise to keep fit
D．going on foot prevents heart disease
4.What is compared to “a steel river” in Paragraph 6?
A．A queue of cars.
B．A ray of traffic light.
C．A flash of lightning.
D．A stream of people.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出正确的填入空白处。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Urbanization
Until relatively recently, the vast majority of human beings lived and died without ever seeing a city. The first city was probably founded no more than 5,500 years ago. 1. In fact, nearly everyone lived on farms or in tiny rural villages. It was not until the 20th century that Great Britain became the first urban society in history—a society in which the majority of people live in cities and do not farm for a living.
Britain was only the beginning. 2. The process of urbanization—the migration of people from the countryside to the city—was the result of modernization, which has rapidly transformed how people live and where they live.
In 1990, fewer than 40% of Americans lived in urban areas. Today, over 82% of Americans live in cities.
Only about 2% live on farms. 3.
Large cities were impossible until agriculture became industrialized. Even in advanced agricultural societies, it took about ninety-five people on farms to feed five people in cities. 4. Until modern times, those living in cities were mainly the ruling elite(精英) and the servants, laborers and professionals who served them. Cities survived by taxing farmers and were limited in size by the amount of surplus food that the rural population produced and by the ability to move this surplus from farm to city.
Over the past two centuries, the Industrial Revolution has broken this balance between the city and the country. 5. Today, instead of needing ninety-five farmers to feed five city people, one American farmer is able to feed more than a hundred non-farmers.
A. That kept cities very small.
B. The rest live in small towns.
C. The effects of urban living on people should be considered.
D. Soon many other industrial nations become urban societies.
E. But even 200 years ago, only a few people could live in cities.
F. Modernization drew people to the cities and made farmers more productive.
G. Modern cities have destroyed social relations and the health of human beings.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面的短文，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。
That holiday morning I didn't have to attend school. Usually, on holiday, mother ________ me to sleep in. And I would certainly take full advantage of it. On this particular morning, ________, I felt like getting up early.
I stood by my window overlooking the ________, having nothing better to do. But as it turned out, I was soon to learn about something ________ in life.
As I watched several people go by, get into their cars and drive off, I________ an old man on a bicycle with a bucket on its ________ and a basket of rags and bottles on its back-carrige. He ________ from one car to another, washing and cleaning them. From the water on the ground, it seemed that he had already ________ washing and cleaning about a dozen or more cars. He must have begun to work quite early in the morning.
Several thoughts ________ my mind as I watched him work. He wasn't well-dressed. He had on a pair of shorts and a(an) ________ T-shirt. The bicycle he rode was not by any means the kind modern ________ would want to be seen riding on. But he seemed ________ with life. There he was, working hard at his small business, ________ at passers-by and stopping to chat now and then ________ elderly men and women on their way to the market nearby.
There was a noticeable touch of ________ in the way he seemed to be doing things ________ the windscreen(挡风玻璃),then standing back to admire it, scrubbing(擦净) the wheel and ________, standing back to see what they looked like after the scrub.
It was a ________ to learn, I felt. At no age need one have to beg for a ________ if one has good health and is willing to work hard. For a while I felt ________ of myself. Young as I am—just sixteen, and there was this old man who must have been usefully engaged perhaps before the sun appeared above the horizon.
1.A．forces B．allows C．causes D．forbids
2.A．otherwise B．therefore C．however D．besides
3.A．parking lot B．bus stop C．school D．market
4.A．interesting B．surprising C．awful D．useful
5.A．noticed B．recognized C．called D．assisted
6.A．back B．handle C．wheel D．seat
7.A．searched B．left C．moved D．wandered
8.A．stopped B．started C．intended D．finished
9.A．crossed B．slipped C．disturbed D．inspired
10.A．attractive B．shiny C．simple D．expensive
11.A．repairmen B．businessmen C．drivers D．cyclists
12.A．busy B．content C．careful D．bored
13.A．waving B．looking C．laughing D．pointing
14.A．about B．for C．with D．like
15.A．worry B．respect C．sympathy D．pride
16.A．cleaning B．fixing C．replacing D．covering
17.A．still B．yet C．again D．soon
18.A．lesson B．subject C．skill D．fact
19.A．business B．living C．success D．right
20.A．tired B．doubtful C．fearful D．ashamed
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空格处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或使用括号中单词的正确形式。
Mr. Johnson lived in the woods with his wife and children. He owned 1. farm, which looked almost abandoned. 2. (lucky),he also had a cow which produced milk every day. He sold or exchanged some of the milk in the towns nearby 3. other food and made cheese and butter for the family with what 4. (leave). The cow was their only means of support, in fact. One day, the cow was eating grass 5. it began to rain heavily. While making great efforts to run away, she 6. (fall) over the hill and died. Then the Johnson tried to make a living 7. the cow. In order to support his family, Mr. Johnson began to plant herbs and vegetables. Since the plants took a while to grow, he started cutting down trees 8. (sell) the wood. Thinking about his children’s clothes, he started growing cotton too. When harvest came around, he was already selling herbs, vegetables and cotton in the market 9. people from the town met regularly. Now it occurred to 10. (he) that his farm had much potential and that the death of the cow was a bit of luck.
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。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。
My old classroom was interesting because three side of the classroom were made from glass. I enjoyed sit close to the windows and looking at the view. On the left-hand side of the class, I could easy see the football field. In the mornings, it was full of students exercising. The view from the back of the classroom is also splendid. Close to the school there was a beautiful park with many trees around them. Farther in the distance, I could not enjoy the view of snowy mountains. On the right side of the class was the road. I was always interested to see the drivers in hurry in the morning. The position of the classroom with its view made me felt like I was dreaming. If I was only a child when I studied in that classroom, I will never forget it.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假如你是李夏。你看到美国留学生Sharon在网上发贴，希望有人能帮助她提高普通话(Mandarin)水平，她可以教英语作为回报。请根据以下提示用英语给她写一封电子邮件。
1．表达给她提供帮助的意愿；
2．说明你能胜任辅导的理由；
3．给出讲好普通话的两点建议；
4．提出你学习英语的具体需求。
注意：
1．词数100左右，开头语已为你写好；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Hi Sharon,
This is Li Xia. I learned from your post that you want to improve your Mandarin.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析