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“Whatever normal meant”
A pioneering dance group is proving that you can chase your dreams—even in a wheelchair.
Since the age of three, Chelsie Hill had dreamed of becoming a dancer. “The only thing that I loved was dance," she told CBS News. That ambition nearly ended one night in 2010. Hill, then a 17-year-old high school senior in Pacific Grove, California, was in a car accident that put her in the hospital for 51 days and left her paralyzed(瘫痪的) from the waist down. For most people, that would have ruined all the hope of dancing career. For Hill, it was the beginning. “I wanted to prove to my community—and to myself—that I was still ‘normal’,” she told Teen Vogue. “Whatever normal meant, it definitely took a lot of learning and patience.”
After graduation, Hill wanted to expand her dance network to include women like her. She met people online who had suffered various spinal cord injuries but shared her determination, and she invited them to dance with her. Hoping to reach more people in a larger city, Hill moved to Los Angeles in 2014 and formed a team of dancers with disabilities she calls the “Rollettes”. “I want to break down the stereotype of wheelchair users and show that dance is dance, whether you're walking or you're rolling,” she told CBS News. So far, Hill has achieved her childhood dream. But the Rollettes have helped her find more. Every year she holds a dance camp for wheelchair users. She calls it the Rollettes Experience, and in 2019,173 participants from ten countries attended.
For many, it was the first time they'd felt they belonged. Edna Serrano, a member of the Rollettes, says “being part of the Rollettes team has given me the courage and confidence. It's so powerful to have my teammates in my life, because they're my teachers.” The dancers aren't the only ones who feel inspired. One woman saw a YouTube video of the team competing and commented, “You guys are so awesome! I'm in tears because you rock! To be in a wheelchair and still be so beautiful makes me know I can be beautiful too! Thank you! Feel free to find me.”
1.What happened to Hill when she was 17 years old?
A.She got injured while dancing.
B.She just graduated from college.
C.She survived in a traffic accident.
D.She received treatment for a month.
2.What can we know from the passage?
A.Rollettes invite some teachers to train the members.
B.Rollettes aim to help the competitors all over the world.
C.Hill finally realized her childhood dream as a dance teacher.
D.More people become inspired by Rollettes’ performance online.
3.Which of the following words can best describe Hill?
A.Talented and humorous. B.Honest and ambitious.
C.Considerate and generous. D.Optimistic and determined.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Did you know that almost 100% of the materials in your mobile phone can be recovered and recycled to generate energy or make new products, such as plastic products, electronics or even jewelry? Every mobile phone contains significant amounts of copper, aluminum, gold, plastic and other non-metals that can be recycled and reused.
The Singtel x SingPost E-waste Recycling Programme, launched on World Environment Day, 5 June 2017, is a cooperation between the two leading ICT and postal companies as part of their environmental sustainability efforts.
Called ReCYCLE, the programme provides the means for people to do their part for the environment by recycling their mobile and internet related electronic waste such as mobile phones and chargers, laptops and tablets, modems and routers, and other related accessories(配件).
These unwanted devices can be dropped off into the ReCYCLE bins at selected Singtel Shop and Singtel Exclusive Retailer outlets and Post Offices. You can also ask for a ReCYCLE envelope from any Singtel Shop and Singtel Exclusive Retailer outlets, and Post Offices, and mail your mobile device and accessories at no charge.
This programme reduces waste as it ensures that the valuable metals and components the devices contain get recovered. However, e-waste that is often thrown away, including all the precious metals that it contains, will be burnt and landfilled at Semakau Landfill.
Is the data in my e-waste safe when sent for recycling?
We assured that all storage media devices like SIM cards, memory cards, USB flash drives and hard drives are safe for recycling. Cimelia, our e-waste recycling partner is a reliable and NEA-licensed company, which are only interested in extracting(提取) the precious metals from the devices, NOT the data in them. The devices will go through a crushing process for secure destruction after the whole extraction process.
1.Why was the programme ReCYCLE established?
A.To call on people to sort out waste.
B.To advertise for a trustworthy company.
C.To promote a new kind of electronic product.
D.To collect materials for co-friendly purpose.
2.It can be learned from the passage that people may .
A.mail the devices for free
B.leave the devices at any Post Office
C.find your personal information exposed to others
D.deliver the hard drives to Cimelia's reliable partner
3.The programme attaches more importance to .
A.recycling metal B.saving electricity
C.reducing plastic D.collecting data
4.Where is this passage most likely to have been taken from?
A.A fashion magazine. B.A science weekly.
C.A chemistry textbook. D.A shopping website.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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It may seem as if Mother's Day was invented by a company named Hallmark, but people have been taking time on the calendar to give a shout-out to Mom for a long time. The Greeks and Romans had mother goddess festivals — although their celebrations didn't involve the menfolk taking their underappreciated mothers out to dinner. A more recent tradition wasMothering Sunday, which developed in the British Isles during the 16th century. On the fourth Sunday in April, young men and women who were living and working apart from their families were advised to return to their mothers’ houses.
Mother's Day as it is observed in the United States started in the 1850s with Ann Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who held “Mothers' Work Days” to promote health and hygiene(卫生) at home and in the workplace. During the Civil War, Jarvis organized women to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides, and after the war she became a peacemaker, furthering the cause by bringing together mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers and promoting a Mother's Day holiday.
Jarvis's work inspired another 19th-century woman, Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe published her “Mother's Day Proclamation”, which envisioned the day not as appreciation of mothers by their children but as an opportunity for women to exercise their collective power for peace. Howe started holding annual Mother's Day celebrations in Boston, her hometown, but after about a decade she stopped footing the bill and the tradition faded away.
It was Jarvis's daughter Anna who succeeded in getting Mother’s Day recognized as a national holiday. After her mother died, in May 1905, Anna started holding yearly ceremony on the anniversary and conducting a tireless PR campaign to have the day made a holiday. In 1908 she succeeded in enlisting the support of John W anamaker, the Philadelphia department store magnate and advertising pioneer, and by 1912 West Virginia and a few other states had adopted Mother's Day. Two years later, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution declaring the second Sunday in May a national holiday.
It wasn't long, though, before whatever ideals the day was supposed to celebrate were buried under an amount of greeting cards and candy. By the 1920s Anna Jarvis was campaigning against the holiday she had been instrumental in creating. “I wanted it to be a day of emotionalism, not profit,” she said.
1.The first paragraph suggests that .
A.mothers didn't get enough appreciation
B.Mother's Day was invented by Hallmark
C.young people returned to their mothers' houses
D.Greeks and Romans were the first to celebrate Mother's Day
2.Who plays the most important role in creating Mother's Day?
A.Ann Jarvis. B.Julia Ward Howe.
C.Woodrow Wilson. D.Anna Jarvis.
3.Why did Anna Jarvis object to Mother's Day at last?
A.Because it was an emotional day.
B.Because the festival was not profitable.
C.Because the celebrations went against the original spirit.
D.Because the day was buried under greeting cards and candy.
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.The Objection to Mother’s Day
B.The Argument on Celebrating Mother's Day
C.The Story Behind the Creation of Mother's Day
D.Different Form of Celebrations on Mother's Day
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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The argument that human-caused carbon emissions(排放) are merely a drop in the bucket compared to greenhouse gases generated by volcanoes has been making its way around the rumor mill for years. And while it seems to be reasonable, the science just doesn't back it up.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the world's volcanoes, both on land and undersea, generate about 200 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, while our automotive and industrial activities cause some 24 billion tons of CO2 emissions every year worldwide. Despite the arguments to the contrary, the facts speak for themselves: Greenhouse gas emissions from volcanoes compose less than one percent of those generated by today's human activities.
Another indication that human emissions surpass those of volcanoes is the fact that atmospheric CO2 levels, as measured by sampling stations around the world, have gone up consistently year after year regardless of whether or not there have been major volcanic eruptions in specific years. “If it were true that individual volcanic eruptions dominated human emissions and were causing the rise in carbon dioxide concentrations, then these carbon dioxide records would be full of spikes —one for each eruption,” says Coby Beck, a journalist writing for online environmental news. “Instead, such records show a smooth and regular trend.”
Furthermore, some scientists believe that volcanic eruptions, like that of Mt.St. Helens in 1980 and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, actually lead to short-term global cooling, not warming, as sulfur dioxide (SO2), ash and other particles in the air and stratosphere(平流层) reflect some solar energy instead of letting it into Earth's atmosphere. SO2, which converts to sulfuric acid aerosol, when it hits the stratosphere, can linger there for as long as seven years and can exercise a cooling effect long after a volcanic eruption has taken place.
Scientists tracking the effects of the major 1991 eruption of the Philippines’ Mt. Pinatubo found that the overall effect of the blast was to cool the surface of the Earth globally by some 0.5 degrees Celsius a year later, even though rising human greenhouse gas emissions and an El Nino event caused some surface warming during the 1991-1993 study period.
In an interesting twist on the issue, British researchers last year published an article in the peer reviewed scientific journal Nature showing how volcanic activity may be contributing to the melting of ice caps in Antarctica but not because of any emissions, natural or man-made. Instead, scientists Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey believe that volcanoes underneath Antarctica may be melting the continents ice sheets from below, just as warming air temperatures from human-induced emissions erode them from above.
1.According to Paragraph 1, some people argue that .
A.their opinion is supported by science.
B.volcanoes generate most of the greenhouse gases.
C.human activities are to blame for greenhouse gases.
D.carbon emissions produced by volcanoes are increasing.
2.What does the underlined word “spikes" in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Sudden increases. B.Smooth trends.
C.Stable regularities. D.Sharp declines.
3.What do the scientists mentioned in this passage believe about volcanic eruptions?
A.They brought about global warming.
B.They actually partly cooled the surface of the Earth.
C.They melted the ice sheets in Antarctic from above.
D.They dominated human emissions in greenhouse effect.
4.The purpose of the passage is to .
A.compare the results of the studies.
B.contradict a view held by some people.
C.present new findings for greenhouse phenomenon.
D.report the effects of CO2, in greenhouse phenomenon.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
