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Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet, when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England. ”
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”
“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you, ” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “People will come to see him. He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would! ” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed (出卖). He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept (蹑手蹑脚地移动) downstairs, took down his father’s rifle (步枪) and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come.
“Be wild now”, he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you. I promise I will. ” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie climbed down the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.
1.Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she _____.
A.had been seriously ill recently
B.had decided to send Bertie to school
C.knew Bertie would hate to go to England
D.knew selling the lion would upset Bertie
2.The underlined word “they” in Para. 4 probably refers to _____.
A.other animals B.some audience C.Bertie’s parents D.circus owners
3.In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle to _____.
A.threaten the lion back to the wild B.kill the lion out of fear
C.protect himself from the lion D.show his anger towards his father
4.The passage intends to show that _____.
A.animal-hunting is popular in Africa
B.parents are sometimes cruel to their children
C.people and animals can be faithful to each other
D.animals usually lead a miserable life in circuses
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Is Your Diet Destroying the Environment?
A vegetarian diet is often praised for its health benefits. Studies have shown that vegetarians usually have lower levels of heart disease and a lower risk of diabetes than people who eat meat. What most people are less aware of, however, are the effects that a vegetarian diet can have on the environment.
Researchers from the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US recently studied how consumer behavior affects the environment. The study showed that meat consumption is one of the main ways that humans can damage the environment, second only to the use of motor vehicle.
Then, how can eating meat have a negative effect on the environment? For a start, all farm animals such as cows, pigs, and sheep give off methane (沼气) gas by expelling (排出) wind from their bodies. One cow can produce up to 60 liters of methane each day. Methane gas is the second most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Many environmental experts now believe that it is more responsible for global warming than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 25% of all methane released into the atmosphere comes from farm animals.
Another way that meat production affects the environment is through the use of water and land. 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef, whereas 20 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of wheat. One acre of farmland used for crop production can produce 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots, or 50,000 pounds of tomatoes.
Many people now see the benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet, not just for health reasons, but also because it plays a vital role in protecting the environment. However, some nutritionists advise against switching to a totally strict vegetarian, or vegan diet. They believe a vegan diet, which excludes all products from animal sources, such as cheese, eggs, and milk, can be short of many necessary vitamins and minerals our bodies need.
Today, many people know it’s important to take better care of their bodies and to use the earth’s resources more efficiently. As this understanding spreads, more people may realize that to help the environment and for the human race to survive, more of us will need to become vegetarians.
1.The underlined word “it” in Para.3 refers to ___________.
A.methane gas B.carbon dioxide
C.expelling wind D.greenhouse gas
2.Many figures are used in Para.4 to show ___________.
A.growing tomatoes has the highest production
B.crop production is better than meat production
C.meat production consumes too much water and land
D.farm animals are the main producer of the methane gas
3.What message does the passage want to convey?
A.Our diet is destroying the surroundings.
B.Raising farm animals affects the environment.
C.A vegetarian diet helps to protect the environment.
D.More and more people are becoming strict vegetarians.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
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Every year billions of pounds are spent on hair loss treatment. If we succeed in curing hair loss with 3D printed hair follicles (毛囊), it will be a huge revolution.
L’Oreal (欧莱雅), the cosmetics firm is partnering with a French bio-printing company called Poietis, which has developed a form of laser printing for cell-based objects. Poietis’ technique begins with the creation of a digital map that determines where living cells and other tissue components should be placed to create the desired biological structure. This involves how the cells are expected to grow over time. The file based on the digital map is then turned into instructions for the printing equipment, so that it can lay down tiny droplets (小滴) made out of the cell-based "bio ink" one layer at a time. The printing process involves bouncing (使反弹) a pulsing laser (脉冲激光器) off a mirror and through a lens, so that when it hits a ribbon (色带) containing the bio ink, a droplet of the matter falls into place. About 10,000 of these micro-droplets are created every second.
It typically takes about 10 minutes to print a piece of skin 1cm wide by 0.5mm thick. However, since hair follicles are complex and consist of 15 different cells in a structure, they may take longer.
Poietis is not the only company working on bio-printing, but most others use another way, which involves pushing a bio-ink through a nozzle (喷嘴), rather than lasers to build their tissue. Poietis suggests its technique puts less stress on the biological matter, meaning there is less risk of causing it damage.
Alopecia UK — a charity that provides support and advice about hair loss — has mixed feelings about the development. “It is encouraging to know that companies such as L’Oreal are investing in technology that may help those with hair loss in the future,” said spokeswoman Amy Johnson.
“However, we would suggest it’s still very early to be getting excited about what this potentially could mean for those with medical hair loss. At this point it is unclear as to whether this technology could benefit those with all types of hair loss.”
“Also, if this new technology does lead to a treatment option, given the high costs of existing hair transplant procedures, how many people will be able to realistically afford any new technological advances that may become available? As with any other research and development into processes that may be able to help those with hair loss, we watch with great interest.”
1.What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us?
A.How the printing process is carried out.
B.Where the living cells should be placed.
C.How long the cells are expected to grow.
D.What the printing equipment is made up of.
2.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A.hair follicle B.biological matter
C.nozzle D.bio-ink
3.The passage implies that the new technology may ______.
A.meet some practical challenges
B.help people with hair loss at present
C.offer solutions to all problems of hair loss
D.cost a large sum of money to transplant hair
4.What is Amy Johnson’s attitude towards the new technology?
A.Disapproving. B.Optimistic.
C.Cautious. D.Negative.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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There is no doubt eCommerce is growing, and it will continue to grow. However, physical stores would not die as a result of the rise of eCommerce, at least not in the near future. The idea that eCommerce is taking over physical stores has already misguided many people. Physical stores are far from vanishing, and there are some solid reasons for it.
The projections for online spending is optimistic with $150 billion expected to be spent in the coming three years, yet we are also expecting $300 billion in spending at physical stores in the same duration. Do you still think that physical-store shopping is too small to sustain the eCommerce blow?
Even though consumers are staying away from physical stores that follow older concepts, yet we are seeing the rise of fresh concept stores all around the US. We are seeing innovative and attractive success stories of physical stores, ranging from clothes stores to restaurants to health spas. It would be easy to assume that this trend will continue.
Indeed, many shopping malls are dying, yet there are still those shopping centers that are performing well. You can see this for yourself by visiting shopping malls near you. What I want to emphasize here is that not all shopping centers are made equal, just like not all eCommerce retailers are made equal. Both shopping malls and eCommerce sites can lose business if they fail to maintain productivity through improvements and innovations. When you visit shopping centers that are serious about their business, you would see their shops and parking lots packed.
On the other hand, even e-tailers like Amazon have experimented with pop-up shopping concepts. It is important to bear in mind that consumers prefer face-to-face interactions instead of online interactions during shopping, meaning that physical stores are going to stay there.
Still, eCommerce retailers are seeing all of their excitement disappear as they settle the sales tax problem associated with e-tailing. As of now, five states of America have already imposed sales tax on purchases through eCommerce sites, and e-tailers in those states have already witnessed 6 to 12 percent decrease in sales.
This reinforces the fact that physical stores are here to stay, and if you are still undervaluing their growth, you are omitting a huge chunk of the retail representation.
1.The underlined word "projections" in Paragraph 2 probably means____.
A.intentions B.assessments
C.performances D.predictions
2.What can we infer from the passage?
A.E-tailers are more creative businesses.
B.Fresh concepts help build good business.
C.Fewer consumers will visit physical stores.
D.Physical stores can’t stand the blow of eCommerce.
3.What is the best title for this passage?
A.Is Offline Spending Greater Than Online Spending?
B.Online Stores V.S. Physical Stores — What’s the Difference?
C.Will Physical Stores replace eCommerce in the Near Future？
D.Does eCommerce Success Mean Physical Stores Will Disappear?
4.Which of the following shows the development of the passage?
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion
A.
B.
C.
D.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析