For the last month, a married couple has been interacting with a robot — called an Avatar — （hat’s con trolled by their daughter hundreds of miles away. Made by ANA Holdings Inc, it looks like a vacuum cleaner with an iPad attached. But the screen displays the daughter’s face as they chat, and its wheels let her walk slowly about the house as though she’s really there.
“Virtual travel” is nothing new, of course. Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been stimulating the senses of armchair tourists for centuries. It’s only in recent decades that frequent, safe travel has become available to the non-wealthy.
Yet even as the world’s middle classes climb out of the armchair and into economy-class seats, there are signs of a post-travel society appearing. Concerns about the environment make people lose interest in carbon-intensive (碳排放量很高的) airlines. And the aging of societies is both slowing down the growth of physical travel and creating demand for alternative ways to experience the world. For the travel industry, virtual reality offers a tantalizing (诱人的) response to these trends.
Of course, far-out (前卫的) technologies encourage profits. ANA doesn’t plan to start selling Avatars until next year. By one estimate, the global market for this kind of technology will be worth only about S300 million by 2023. By contrast, ANA’s traditional travel business brought in more than $19 billion last year.
But although the business case for virtual vacations is still weak, the market for technologies that bridge physical distances between families and coworkers seems likely to only expand. ANA’s robots may not replace its airplanes any time soon, but they’ll almost certainly be a part of travel’s high-tech future.
1.What purpose does the first paragraph serve in the passage?
A.To show a picture of our future life.
B.To describe the daily life of a couple.
C.To attract readers’ attention to the topic.
D.To add background in formation of the topic.
2.What is the third paragraph mainly about?
A.Humans tend to live much longer than before.
B.People are becoming more worried about the environment.
C.Virtual travel might cater for people’s desire to see the world.
D.The profits of carbon-intensive airlines are possibly declining.
3.ANA is not planning to start selling Avatars soon probably because ________.
A.it is still skeptical about their potential
B.they still need to be further tested out
C.traditional travel business is taking off
D.their commercial profits may not be satisfying
4.The author believes the global market for virtual travel is ________.
A.promising B.ambiguous
C.depressing D.challenging
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Geek Squad Protection
Keep your cell phone working like new with the help of over 20,000 Geek Squad Agents who will get you up and running again if the unexpected happens. You’ll be protected in case of drops, spills, cracks, normal wear and tear, or mechanical failure.
Geek Squad Protection: S8 per month
Geek Squad Protection Plan must be purchased with the product online or in store, or within 15 days by visiting a store. A one-time payment option for two years is also available, which offers a 20% discount.
| Drops, spills and cracks | We’ll replace your device if you accidentally damage it by dropping or spilling on it in the course of normal use. |
| Battery replacement | We’ll replace the battery if it fails to hold a charge. （There is a one-time limit.） |
| Normal wear and tear | We fix failures from dust, internal heat and humidity. |
| Mechanical failure | We’ll offer continual coverage on faults after the manufacturer’s warranty (质保期) ends. |
| Accessories (配件) | Well cover any of the accessories that came with your original phone purchase. |
| Transferable | Anyone you give the covered product to will be able to obtain service under the Protection Plan. No additional charges or restrictions apply. |
Geek Squad Complete Protection: $11 per month
The Geek Squad Complete Protection Plan includes all the above benefits from the standard Geek Squad Protection Plan, plus Loss and Theft coverage. Geek Squad Complete Protection Plan must be purchased with the product in store （not available online）, or within 15 days by visiting a store. A one-time payment option for two years is also available, which offers a 20% discount.
Notice: There is a limit of three claims within 24 months for drops, spills, cracks, mechanical failure, wear, tear or one-time battery replacement. If the claim is for loss or theft, there is a limit of two claims within a rolling 12 months.
1.A 2-year Geek Squad Complete Protection service costs at least ________.
A.$153.6 B.$192
C.$211.2 D.$264
2.What can we learn from the text?
A.Both the protection plans can be purchased on line.
B.At most 3 claims for loss can be made within 24 months.
C.A phone under the plan will be replaced if its battery fails.
D.The plan continues when a covered phone gets a new owner.
3.Which of the following website might this text be taken from?
A.http://www.bestbuy.com B.http://www.newsweek.com
C.http://www.science.com D.http://travelusa.com
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
My daughter was being thrown out of the sixth grade. The teacher said to me, “She may not be up to what we’re trying to accomplish.” He was really saying she didn’t have the intelligence. I got mad because I knew she was smart, just as my father had known I was smart when I was failing in school. We had her tested and found that the troubles my daughter was having were the same as those I had had. I decided to get tested as well. She was dyslexic, and so was I. By then I was a successful television writer and producer. I’d won an Emmy for “The Rockford Files.”
Had I known earlier, though, that there was a reason beyond my control to explain why I was a low achiever, I may not have worked so hard in my late 20s and early 30s. I was writing and writing. I was working for no other reason than to hear people praise me.
I needed that praise because I was carrying around the failure in studies. I did badly in all my courses.
I once asked a friend who had always gotten an A, “How long did you study for this?” He said, “I didn’t. I just glanced at it.” So what do I take from that? He must be smarter than I am. I began to ask, “What will happen to me when I’m not good at anything?” Despite my doubts, I did become successful, and people now say to me, “So you’ve overcome dyslexia.”
No. You don’t overcome it, you learn to compensate for it. Some easy things are very hard for me. Most people who go through college read at least twice as fast as I do. I avoid dialing a phone if I can, because I sometimes have to try three times to get the number right. I get that recording “The number you have reached is not in service” more than any man on earth.
Despite my weaknesses I view dyslexia as a gift, not a curse (诅咒). Many dyslexics are good at right- brain, abstract thought, and that’s what my kind of creative writing is. And I can write quickly— I go like wind — and can get up to 15 pages a day. Writing is not the problem. That’s my strength.
The real fear I have for dyslexic is not that they have to struggle with regular school studies, but that they will quit on themselves before they get out of school. Parents have to create victories whenever they can, whether it’s music, sports or art. You can make your dyslexic child able to say, “Yeah, reading’s hard. But I have these other things I can do.”
1.The writer decided to get himself tested probably because ________.
A.he wanted to know if they had the same problem
B.he accepted that his daughter was not smart
C.he didn’t （realize the problem with his daughter
D.his father had the same troubles as they did
2.What can you infer from the second paragraph?
A.The writer struggled hard and finally ended with good grades.
B.The writer was thankful not knowing of his dyslexia before.
C.Dyslexia made the writer a low achiever all through his life.
D.People praised the writer because they knew he had dyslexia.
3.The word “dyslexia” can be interpreted as ________.
A.hearing disability B.low in intelligence
C.mental illness D.disorder of reading
4.Which of the following proverbs can best summarize the main idea?
A.Never judge a person by his appearance.
B.God never shuts one door but he opens another.
C.If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
D.No one can make a good coat with bad cloth.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Today, widespread social pressure to immediately go to college together with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year. After all, if everyone you know is going to college in the fall, it seems silly to stay back a year, doesn’t it? And after going to school for 12 years, it doesn’t feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn’t academic.
But while this may be true, it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years. There’s always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated (长期存在的) “race to the finish line”, whether that be toward graduate school, medical school or successful career. But despite common misconceptions, a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits. In fact, it probably improves it.
Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not. Rather than pulling students back, a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence, new responsibilities and environmental changes — all things that first-year students often struggle with the 「most. Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environmental, making it easier to focus on academics and activities.
If you’re not convinced of the value in taking a year off to explore interests, then consider its financial impact on future academic choices. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once. This isn’t surprising, considering the basic compulsory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications, but switching to another after taking college classes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the school, it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game. At Bost on College, for example, you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department. Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.
1.High-school graduates don’t take a gap year probably because ________.
A.they think it academically misleading
B.they have a lot of fun to expect in college
C.it seems silly to take courses off the campus
D.it feels strange to be different from others
2.The underlined word “hinder” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.
A.achieve B.prevent
C.develop D.compensate
3.What can we learn from the text?
A.Switching to another major won’t cost freshmen a lot.
B.All freshmen find it difficult to adapt to the new environment.
C.Taking a gap year helps freshmen concentrate more on studies.
D.High school students know nothing about how to choose a major.
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.The Benefits of the Gap Year B.The ABCs of the Gap Year
C.The Gap Year Comes Back D.The Gap Year: A Dilemma
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Recent data shows that people in the U.S. can expect to live an average life expectancy (寿命) of 78.7 years. That puts Americans well behind that of 80.3 years in developed countries like Canada, Germany and Japan. Luckily, a 2018 study from Harvard University found that keeping these five habits could add up to 10 years or more to a person’s life:
1. Maintain a healthy diet
This isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when you’re dealing with your work, family and social commitments. may be tempting, for example, to grab a quick bite at a fast food chain on your lunch break or order takeout during late nights at the office. But a recent study published in the British journal found that poor diets lead to one in five deaths.1. A good diet, according to the researchers, contains minimally processed, whole foods and grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts and any natural source of protein (i.e. fish and beans).
2. Exercise daily
2. Even the world’s most successful business leaders, like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates, make physical activity a daily priority. Just small amounts of daily exercise can help maintain a healthy body weight, maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints, promote psychological well-being and reduce the risk of certain diseases, including some cancers.
3. Keep a healthy weight
A “healthy” weight varies from person to person, but usually a body mass index (BMl) between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that those who monitored their weight less frequently were more likely to gain weight. 3.
4. Limit your alcohol intake
Alcohol shows up at happy hour, conferences, social outings and so much more. Therefore, it’s hard to escape drinking it. To get through long days, some may even rely on alcohol as a stimulant (兴 奋剂) in social settings. 4. To begin with, it can add to your waistline and increase the risk of several cancers. While it can be difficult to moderate your alcohol intake, avoiding alcohol altogether benefits you a lot.
5. Don’t smoke
As the health risks of smoking have become increasingly apparent, there’s been more effort in warning people about the dangerous side effects.5. However, your body will thank you in the long run if you do so.
A. But there are many downsides.
B. That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to kick the habit.
C. Start viewing the scale as tool to stay within the healthy range.
D. However, drinking heavily increases the risk of diabetes （糖尿病）.
E. After you exercise, you continue to burn calories throughout the day.
F. It’s absolutely essential to set aside time to exercise.
G It can also lead to problems like high blood pressure and diabetes.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The owner of the gas station near my house posts daily quotes on a board, such as: “When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you ________.
Most of the quotes are ________, but one quote was, for me, an ________ new thought: “Be who you needed when you were young.” Is the quote ________ we should be the kind of person we needed when we were young—for ourselves? Or that we should do it for our children and grandchildren and other young people we meet? Maybe we should do it for all, young and old ________? Why would I give so much ________ to a quote from a gas station board? Sometimes when my train of thought leaves the station, I just have to ________ on board and see where it takes me. I’ve been ________ this train for days, thinking about a person I needed when I was young.
My mother worked at a mill (面粉厂). One day when I was 12, I came home from school and found her drinking tea with the prettiest lady I had ever seen. “Hello, child!” said the woman, ________ my face in her hands. Her name was May. She was my mother’s friend, but she became ________ role model. I watched how she listened and encouraged and never ________ any one, even if they ________ it, and how she was always ________ to everyone. She was a woman of faith,________, and wisdom. I wanted to be like her.
After I left home for college, May moved away and I never ________ her again. The best reminders come from ____________ places sometimes.________ a quote from a gas station board, I thought of my friend May, someone I ________ when I was young and still hope to be like. We don’t always ________ people we admire. But remembering them ________ us to keep trying.
1.A.fail B.fall C.grow D.roll
2.A.confusing B.inspirational C.special D.unbelievable
3.A.exactly B.entirely C.academically D.abnormally
4.A.suggesting B.requesting C.admitting D.con firming
5.A.above B.aside C.alone D.alike
6.A.thought B.idea C.discussion D.approval
7.A.run B.dive C.climb D.jump
8.A.driving B.riding C.operating D.pushing
9.A.cupping B.seizing C.lifting D.taking
10.A.her B.your C.my D.their
11.A.took notice of B.took charge of C.spoke highly of D.spoke ill of
12.A.deserved B.observed C.required D.enquired
13.A.similar B.sensitive C.kind D.familiar
14.A.wealth B.health C.energy D.grace
15.A.relied on B.appealed to C.waited for D.heard from
16.A.rare B.remote C.unlikely D.secure
17.A.Thanks to B.Regardless of C.As to D.Except for
18.A.knew B.needed C.imagined D.expected
19.A.judge B.instruct C.assist D.mirror
20.A.warns B.strikes C.reminds D.forces
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据句意和汉语提示填空（每空一词）
1.A politician should be equipped with a deep sense of ________ (正义).
2.In America you can still see evidence of ________ (种族的) discrimination in some areas.
3.When the ice is heated above ________ (冰冻的) point, it begins to change into a liquid state.
4.Mary found it wiser to ________ (妥协) with her parents.
5.Stop ________ (打断) me—just be patient and hear me out!
6.She got quickly into her Mini Cooper and ________ (系牢) the seat-belt.
7.The company will ________ (补偿) you for the losses you have suffered.
8.My parents thought it was ________ (不正常) for a boy to be interested in ballet.
9.Although it sounds ________ (矛盾), a pause helps you to work more effectively.
10.We are not allowed to ________ (违反) rules and regulations at will.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
“Chinese Bookshelf^’ a project which aims to provide local readers with access 1. Chinese books and culture, was launched Tuesday here.
2. (locate) inside Foyles Bookstore at Charing Cross Road, near the British Museum and Chinatown, the “China Bookshelf “3. (introduce) more than 100 kinds of books such as literature, folktale, economic publications and political works.
Carmelo Puglisi, head of foreign language books at Foyles Bookstore, told Xinhua that the bookshop has always attached great 4. (important) to Chinese books as it started selling them years ago.
Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to Britain, said in a congratulatory letter to the launching ceremony 5. the carefully-selected books in the “Chinese Bookshelf “ will serve as a bridge for 6. (culture) exchanges and a window for Western readers 7. (understand) China.
“Chinese publishing has transformed itself in the last 10 to 20 years, 8.it is now among the leading publishing 9. (nation) of the world ... I think the more the Chinese and Western publishers can develop global Chinese books, journals, databases, the more understanding there will be between 10. East and West,” he said.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
Dear Sir or Madam,
I’m Li Hua, a teenager from China. Yesterday 1 happened to read an advertisement on the Internet, saying that you will hold a summer camp in Singapore intends for students all over the world. I am interested in participating it.
As middle school student, I’m good at English and would like to make friend with teenagers around the world. Your camp provided a good chance for me, which I can know more about other countries, and in turn to tell them something about China. Beside, I can get my English great improved by communicating with people.
I do hope that I can be admitted to their camp. Looking forward to your reply.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是学生会主席李华。你校将举办第四届英语文化节（English and Beyond），届时会有精选话剧表演《错误的喜剧》，《傲慢与偏见》等。请写封邮件，邀请外教Kevin参加活动，内容包括：
1. 时间和地点：
2. 活动安排；
3. 欢迎他点评。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：《错误的喜剧》The Comedy of Errors 《傲慢与偏见》Pride and Prejudice
Dear Kevin,
I’m Li Hua, I would appreciate it if you could give me an early reply.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析