Duolingo
Over 70 million people have registered with Duolingo, a free and incredibly well-designed language learning app. Though not a replacement for proper language tuition, the app is a fun way to get the basics, or to keep yourself fresh on grammar and vocabulary, before a trip abroad. Just like a computer game, the app guides you through levels that you need to complete before advancing, and you gain experience points along the way.
* Free, iOS and Android, duolingo.com
XE Currency（货币）
XE is the go-to site for currency conversions on the web, so it’s no surprise that its app is so popular: with over 20 million downloads since launch. It has lots of business-oriented features, such as rates for previous metals and historic charts, but for the traveler it is most useful for the simple fact that it’s able to convert every world currency. It also functions offline by saving the latest updated rates.
* Free, iOS and Android, xe.com
App in the Air
App in the Air is a smart, straightforward, flight tracking app that has the best coverage of airlines and airports. It will keep you updated about flight status even if you don’t have internet coverage and help you manage your time at the airport, breaking down each flight into four stages: check in, boarding, takeoff and landing time.
* Free, iOS and Android, appintheair.mobi
Wolfram Sun Exposure
There are a few apps out there that help you manage your time in the sun safely, but this one offers the most detailed information to keep you informed. You enter your skin type and it calculates how long you can spend sunning yourself before getting burned, based on the time of day, where you are and the strength of sun cream you’re wearing. It also provides UV forecasts for your location.
* £0.79, iOS
1.If you want to know the information about the change rate of money, you can turn to for help.
A.Wolfram. B.App in the Air.
C.XE Currency. D.Duolingo.
2.About these apps, which of the following is TRUE?
A.All of these four can be used in the same system.
B.Duolingo is an unbelievable gaming app where you gain experience points along the way.
C.You can learn the latest news about the flights with limited connectivity in App in the Air.
D.Your time in the sun safely is influenced by the brand of sun cream you’re applying.
3.The passage is intended for .
A.teenagers. B.travelers.
C.businessmen. D.guides.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
At the age of eight, Glenn Cunningham was severely injured in a fire. He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.
From his bed, the semi-conscious（半昏迷的）little boy heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die—which was for the best, really—for the terrible fire had destroyed the lower half of his body.
But somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. The mother was told that her son was bound to spend a lifetime in a wheelchair.
But this brave little boy was determined that he would walk and even run. But unfortunately, from the waist down, Glenn had no motor ability. His thin, scarred legs just hung there, all but lifeless. Yet his courage that he would walk was as strong as ever.
One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. Glenn worked his way to the fence, dragging his legs behind him. Then, step by step, he began dragging himself along the fence, determined that he would walk. He started to do this every day until eventually Glenn did develop the ability first to stand up , then to walk with help, then to walk by himself—and then amazingly—to run. Glenn began to run to school. He ran everywhere as fast as he could. Later in college, Glenn joined the track team where he received the nickname（绰号）the “Kansas Flyer”.
1938 witnessed this young man’s another amazing achievement. This young man, who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run, ran the mile in 4 minutes and 4.4 seconds, the world’s fastest indoor mile! His persistence paid off.
1.What did the doctor think of Glenn’s injury?
A.It would take a long time for him to fully recover.
B.It would cost lots of money to cure him.
C.He would be semi-conscious.
D.He had little chance of surviving.
2.Why did Glenn receive the nickname the “ Kansas Flyer”?
A.Because he looked like the “ Kansas Flyer”.
B.Because he once acted as the “ Kansas Flyer”.
C.Because he could run very fast.
D.Because he joined the track team.
3.What achievement did Glenn make in 1938?
A.He survived. B.He developed the ability to walk.
C.He began to run to school. D.He set a world record.
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A.The power of determination. B.The dream for championship.
C.The key to high performance. D.The mistake of a doctor.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Gases, like black carbon, methane（甲烷）and the ozone in city smog, are called “short-lived climate pollutants（污染物）”, which exist both outdoors and indoors and decrease agricultural crops.
WHO says emissions（排放物）from these climate pollutants cause many serious illnesses, including lung cancer. And these pollutants are responsible for many of the more than 7 million premature deaths each year that are connected to air pollution.
Maria Neira in WHO says the pollutants have a strong impact on climate change. But the good news is that they only stay in the atmosphere for a few days to 10 years. That is much shorter than carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that can remain for hundreds, or even thousands of years.
According to Maria Neira, when you address the short-lived pollutants, you can reduce emissions very rapidly, and then improve air quality. You will have an immediate reduction in the ill-health and diseases caused by the reduction of air pollution.
WHO has many available and affordable ways to reduce these short-lived climate pollutants. At the top of their list: cutting vehicle emissions by requiring higher emissions and efficiency standards. More emissions are released when engines are running.
Indoor air pollution also contributes to bad health and premature death. WHO reports that nearly 3 billion low-income households rely on “dirty fuels”. Coal, wood and kerosene used for cooking and heating are examples. Cleaner and more efficient stoves and fuel alternatives could cut down on the health risks.
Another way to cut back on these pollutants is to have more investments and policies for rapid transport. These include buses, trains, bicycles and pedestrians or walking routes. These investments could have many benefits, including safer travel, reduced health risks from noise and air pollution and more physical activity.
The WHO report also calls for encouraging high and middle-income populations to include more plant-based foods in their diets. It says this could reduce heart disease and some cancers. It could also slow the methane gas production that comes with some animal-sourced foods.
1.The “short-lived climate pollutants” are so called because .
A.they cause many to die young.
B.they exist shorter than the greenhouse gas.
C.they live indoors for a short time.
D.they have a short effect on people’s health.
2.The underlined word “address” in Paragraph 4 means “ ”.
A.live on. B.talk about.
C.deal with. D.turn to.
3.What can be inferred from the whole passage?
A.Rich people hardly ever eat plant-based foods in daily life.
B.No emissions are released from stopped engines.
C.Governments should take measures to fight pollution.
D.Heart disease and some cancers are caused by the pollutants.
4.Which of the following may be the best title for the text?
A.The ways to fight air pollution.
B.Reducing short-lived climate pollutants to save lives.
C.Some sources of serious air pollution.
D.A report about pollution from WHO.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
For a generation now, school reform has meant what students must be taught and carried out by standardized（标准化的）tests.
Here’s a thought experiment. Suppose that next year almost every student passed the tests. What would the reaction be from people? Would they shake their heads in respect and say, “Damn, those teachers must be good!”?
Of course not. Such remarkable success would be used as evidence that the tests were too easy and it needs to raise standards. “High standards” really means “standards that all students will never be able to meet”. My little thought experiment uncovers a truth that we have been taught to respond with doubt whenever all members of any group are successful. In America, success doesn’t count unless it is got by only a few.
Consider widespread complaints about “grade inflation（膨胀）” in higher education. Many people don’t even bother to stress that grades have risen over time. They simply point to how many students get A’s right now. The goal, in other words, isn’t to do well but to defeat other people who are also trying to do well. Grades in testing should be used to announce who’s beating whom. A school’s final task, apparently, is not to help everyone learn but to prepare the game so that there will always be losers.
This makes no sense in any situation. Perhaps, for example, we can defend rating states or nations based on the quality of their air, health care or schools, but ranking them is foolish. School testing ranking doesn’t lead to improvements in performance but tends to hold us back from doing our best. It makes productive teamwork less likely and leads all concerned to focus not on meaningful improvements but on trying to beat everyone else.
Most of all, it encourages the false belief that excellence is a zero-sum game. It would be more reasonable to rescue the spirit of the concept: Everyone may not succeed, but at least in theory all of us could.
1.What did the writer’s thought experiment prove?
A.Good teachers represent higher test scores.
B.Excellence is regarded as a rare thing.
C.American tests are usually too easy.
D.Students don’t meet the test standards.
2.What does the writer think American schools seem to do?
A.Promote teachers to teach better. B.Remove the belief of beating others.
C.Help all students do well at school. D.Ensure the existence of failures.
3.What is the writer’s attitude towards schools testing ranking?
A.Disapproving. B.Optimistic.
C.Sympathetic. D.Unconcerned.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.How Can Students Succeed? B.Why Can’t Everyone Get A’s?
C.What Standards Do Schools Set? D.Who Get Best Grades at School?
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The human body is made up of over 75%water, and we cannot live without water. Keep in mind that water is healthy and necessary for leading yourself towards better health.
Your own personal need for water can vary greatly due to exercise, weight and temperature.1. .By drinking water on a regular basis you can replenish (补充)the water in your body.
By the time you are thirsty you have already lost two or more cups of the body’s water supply.2.. Whenever you exercise, you need more water. Due to exercise, your body loses quite a bit of water. For each pound lost, you need to drink two cups of water.
3.. By drinking a glass of water before you go to sleep, you can wake up with your body functioning as it should be. When you are sick, you need more water than at any other time.4.. Therefore, you feel more thirsty than usual when you have a cold. You can try to prevent this by drinking more water at times when you become sick.5.. You should keep a bottle of water with you at all times and drink it throughout the day. You should also teach yourself to drink water instead of other drinks that don’t include the things that your body needs.
A. Always make it a habit to drink water on a daily basis
B. You should decide which the best type of water is
C. Therefore, drinking water regularly is much better than simply waiting until you are thirsty
D. Even when you lie down to sleep, your body loses water
E. When you get a cold, your body loses water quite quickly
F. There are several different opinions as to whether drinking water is actually beneficial
G. Research has proven that over two thirds of adults don’t get the water they need on a daily basis
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Dale Schroeder was a simple, modest man from Iowa, the USA. He ended up ______the lives of 33 people forever. Schroeder worked as a carpenter（木匠）at the same________for 67 years. He grew up poor and had never______in his life.
When he died in 2005, no one could have guessed how_____Schroeder really was. “This is because he lived a________life and worked really hard,” his friend Steve Nielsen said.
Schroeder had______a fortune over the years. He had no wife or children, so before he died, he went to his lawyer with a_____for his money. “ He said, ‘I never got the_______to go to college. So I’d like to______kids go to college,’” Nielsen said, “When I found out that he had US$3 million, I nearly______out of my chair.”
Schroeder’s friend was____ by his secret fortune. So were the strangers who_______pieces of it.
Kira Conard was one of them. In high school, she had the______to attend college, but not the money. “It made me feel______. Like, I want to do this. I have this goal,_______ I can’t get there just because we can’t pay for school.”
That’s when her phone rang. “ I ____ in tears immediately,” Conard said. The man on the other end of the phone told her about Schroeder.
Schroeder left special _____for his money: send small town kids in Iowa to college.
“ He wanted to help kids that were like him, that _____would not have an opportunity to go to college without his______,” Nielsen explained.
Schroeder ended up paying 33 strangers’ college tuition fees（学费）. They got together earlier this month to______the man who changed their lives. They’re now doctors, teachers—and friends.
1.A.saving B.destroying C.changing D.protecting
2.A.restaurant B.bank C.school D.company
3.A.married B.failed C.succeeded D.missed
4.A.special B.rich C.poor D.smart
5.A.regular B.simple C.happy D.comfortable
6.A.set up B.made up C.saved up D.cut up
7.A.skill B.rule C.plan D.method
8.A.effort B.opportunity C.idea D.attempt
9.A.take B.welcome C.help D.ask
10.A.jumped B.kept C.ran D.fell
11.A.shocked B.pleased C.excited D.interested
12.A.refused B.returned C.received D.borrowed
13.A.grades B.habits C.experiences D.manners
14.A.helpless B.lucky C.nervous D.thankful
15.A.because B.but C.so D.until
16.A.thought about B.gave up C.worked out D.broke down
17.A.reasons B.opinions C.choices D.instructions
18.A.luckily B.eventually C.rarely D.probably
19.A.lesson B.gift C.exercise D.advice
20.A.honor B.encourage C.serve D.respect
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。
Tiktok(known as Douyin in its homeland) is the 1.(hot) social media app of 2019.The short-form video app quickly became the place for people who want to show off 2.(them )creativity.
One reason3. Tiktok’s success is the platform’s integration（集成）of music. Users are discovering popular new music through Tiktok4.they normally wouldn’t find through other platforms.
“ When5.(use) Tiktok , I find a lot of artists and different types of music. It’s more interesting than other apps!” Nicole Fiala,17,told CNBC.
The CEO and founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming,6.(create) the company in 2012. “For a very long time, I was merely watching Tiktok without making any of them myself, because it’s a product mainly for young people,” Zhang told the website Tech Node in 2017. “But later we asked all management team members to make their own Tiktok7.(video), and they must win 8.certain number of ‘likes.’ Otherwise, they have to do push-ups（俯卧撑）. It was a big step for me.” However, young users9. (expose) to Tiktok, especially under 13, are advised10.(watch) it under the supervision of parents.
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：在缺词处加一个漏子符号（^），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限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last weekend, I, along with some friend, went to climb Mount Tai. Because it was summer, we choose to climb it at night. At the foot of the mountain, we each bought a walk stick. There were many people along the way and we could see the route even without a flashlight. At first, we were exciting and talked to each other. When we had covered half of journey, we felt very tired and sleepless. But seeing the sky becoming brighter and brighter, we told us that we should carry on and hurry up; otherwise we wouldn’t be able to appreciate at the sunrise. We were very tired that we got to the top of the mountain, and the beautiful sunrise made it all worthwhile.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假设你是李华，你的好友Jack 想要在学校组织一场音乐会，为无家可归的孩子筹款。他特意写来邮件向你咨询相关事宜。请你根据以下要点给他回一封邮件。
具体要点如下：
1.确定举办场地；
2.确定演出者及赞助商（sponsor）；
3. ……
注意：1.词数：100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