In 2010 I left the United States for the first time to fly over 9,000 miles to Uganda, a country in recovery from civil war. I was going there to help the local kids learn soccer.
As I played soccer with some kids, the sun burned my skin. I took many breaks to drink from my water bottle before realizing I was the only one who did that. All the energetic children running around never stopped to get water. After looking around, I realized there was NOWHERE for them to get water, and there was no well or water pump in sight.
I asked a man who was traveling with us why the kids didn’t ever stop to drink water. He told me that they would have to walk all the way to the pump in the next village and they didn’t want to miss out on playing soccer with a real ball. The kids seemed happy but it was not fair that to get a drink of water meant they would miss out on such a rare occurrence of playing with an actual soccer ball.
When I got home, I spoke with other people about kids in Uganda. They told me to do something to help them. That sounded like a great idea, but how? I spoke with my friends about helping kids in Uganda. We decided that we could try to solve their most urgent problem—water. And we decided to organize soccer camps to collect money.
It has been three years since our first camp and we have successfully run two more and funded two water filtration (净化) systems as well as 60 water pumps for farmers. We have been able to improve the health of thousands of Ugandans.
1.The kids didn’t drink water while playing soccer, because ______.
A. they didn’t feel thirsty at all
B. they couldn’t get any nearby
C. they were too poor to afford bottled water
D. they were not allowed to drink water during the play
2.How did the author most probably respond after hearing that man’s explanation?
A. She was unwilling to stay there anymore.
B. She decided to buy water for the kids at once.
C. She felt very proud of her own life.
D. She felt very sad for the kids.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. We should fully enjoy what we have.
B. We can make a difference to others’ life.
C. We should be grateful for what we receive.
D. We can change our lives through hard work.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Music is not just a set of sounds and rhythms. Its influence on the brain is much deeper than any other human experience. Keep on reading to know all those amazing powers of music.
A recent study suggests that preterm (早产的) babies appear to experience less pain and feed more when listening to music. Experts led by Dr. Manoj Kumar of the University of Alberta, Canada, found that music had a beneficial effect on reducing pain for preterm babies experiencing painful medical tests. It also appeared to benefit full-term babies during operations.
Many people experiencing brain damage have speech and movement-related problems. Music can help recover from brain injuries. As a different and effective treatment, doctors often advise such patients to listen to good music to improve the parts of the brain responsible for these two functions. When people with neurological (神经的) disorders hear a musical beat, it helps them to regain a balanced walk.
Though music cannot make deafness disappear, it really can stave off the loss of hearing. There was an experiment involving 163 people where 74 were musicians. Participants were asked to pass some listening tests. Musicians heard the sounds better than non-musicians, and this difference gets clearer with age. This means that a 70-year-old musician hears better than a 50-year-old non-musician, even in a noisy environment.
Besides, music mends a broken heart. It is not about a thrown-away love, but about a heart attack. The matter is that music can help people recover from a heart attack or heart operation by reducing blood pressure, slowing down the heartbeat rate, and reducing anxiety. Listening to the quality music produces positive emotions, improves the movement of blood, and expands blood vessels, thus, promoting quick recovery of the whole cardiovascular (心血管的) system.
1.How does music affect preterm babies?
A. It helps reduce their pain.
B. It helps develop their potential in music.
C. It helps improve their hearing systems.
D. It helps repair their neurological systems.
2.What does the underlined phrase “stave off” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Lead to
B. Increase
C. Prevent
D. Break into
3.Why can music mend a broken heart?
A. It has a positive effect on human body systems’ work.
B. It can help people prevent diseases caused by anxiety.
C. It helps make a person feel optimistic about life.
D. It can help patients recover in a slow way.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A. Who can benefit from music
B. The best time to listen to music
C. The way to choose quality music
D. How music affects our mind and body
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The government says spending £4.2 million on planting trees in towns and cities will improve the quality of people’s lives. But do trees really make people happy?
Some British and US surveys suggest a thick green lawn, or well-landscaped yard can increase the government property prices by as much as 15%. But the government’s Big Tree Plant campaign, which aims to plant one million trees in English urban areas over the next four years, says trees are not only good for our bank balance, but they do wonders for our happiness. And it says getting people to plant makes communities even happier. So do people really care about trees and do they improve lives? Margaret Lipscombe, director of urban programs at the Tree Council, says, “Not only are trees beautiful but they are practical. Trees also encourage healthier lifestyles and studies have shown people are calmer when trees are in their community,” A US study suggests that patients who have a view of nature through hospital windows recover better after operations.
Ms. Lipscombe says that the trees have also been known to slow down the traffic because drivers will go more slowly when there is something in their sights. She admits some people have negative feelings about trees because they worry about slipping on berries, bird droppings on cars or blocked light.
Ms. Lipscombe also says when she first moved into the area, there were no trees on her street. “I t was an area where there were lots of factories with high walls. It looked like an abandoned place that you didn’t want, especially as a woman on your own. Now everything is different. With lots of trees around, the street looks more attractive. People are not as frightened and no longer run down the road to get home. The trees also bring people out onto the street and make a stronger community feel.”
1.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
A. The use of trees in medical treatment
B. The benefits of trees to people’s lives
C. The role of trees in cutting down government expense
D. How to make the best of trees
2.What can be inferred from Ms. Lipscombe’s words in the last paragraph?
A. Trees may offer people a sense of safety.
B. Trees may help people forget sad memories.
C. Factories should be built where people live.
D. Women shouldn’t go out alone at night.
3.Where does this passage most probably come from?
A. A news report
B. A scientific report
C. A health magazine
D. A textbook
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Do you want to create more successful writings? Perhaps you can benefit from the following suggestions on excellent writing.
You need time. A lot of smart people lie to themselves like, “I finish my task best at the last minute.” In fact, it’s not true. 1. Sure, you are smart, but you still need to have some pressure. For example, if you are working on an important topic, why do you think that you can write well at midnight just before the conference? Writing can be a miracle if you are given enough time.
Writing requires practice. 2. Would you do nothing before running a marathon? No, you would practice running gradually to make your body stronger. In order to become a writer, you need to write.
Write at the best time. I happen to be a morning person, so I write early in the day. Then I spend the rest of my day teaching or having meetings. 3.
4. Or, at least, they are not correct to some extent. Nearly all of the best scholars are changed by their experiences in doing research and writing about it. They learn by doing, and sometimes what they learn is that they were wrong.
Revise your writing again and again. Have other people look at it. You need to overcome a fear of refusal. 5. The difference between a successful scholar and a failed one is about who is better at writing and revising.
A. Not all of your thoughts are influential.
B. No one works better with time running out.
C. You get better and faster through exercise.
D. Exchange papers with peers or an instructor.
E. Your first thoughts are often wrong.
F. Make sure you save your most productive time for writing.
G. Nobody’s first drafts (草稿) are good.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Hello, everyone. It’s my honor to recommend (推荐) Educator of the year. I’m sure everyone has a(an) ______ teacher that they will be able to ______ for years to come. There is one famous teacher that everyone wants to have in our middle school—Ms. Sullivan, whose _______you must often hear at school. Ms. Sullivan does a lot of things to make herself ______.
First of all, she has great enthusiasm for her ______. She teaches many different classes—Language Arts Enrichment, Writing for Publication and Reader’s Theater, though most teachers in middle school only teach one ______, such as Math, Social Studies, Science, etc. Ms. Sullivan is also responsible for ______ the school play. Every year she devotes her time into ______ an amazing school play. Luckily I have been a part of it and ______ it so much!
In addition, Ms. Sullivan always shows her students that she ______ us, whether in our study or in life. Some teachers teach us the lessons in a strict way, ______ Ms. Sullivan shows us that she is always ______ like a friend. In writing classes, she makes us have a group discussion first, which I think is a good way to ______ our creative ideas. Then she lets us ______ write our stories at our own speed. She ______ everything we write and gives us a(an) ______ opinion about it. We are getting more ______ writing a composition, and no longer consider it hard work. Most importantly, she also makes each of her classes ______.
____, I think Ms. Sullivan should be Educator of the Year. Even if she doesn’t get the ______, she still deserves our respect and love!
1.A. energetic B. favorite C. enthusiastic D. responsible
2.A. follow B. visit C. remember D. understand
3.A. name B. lecture C. essay D. behavior
4.A. humorous B. amusing C. intelligent D. amazing
5.A. work B. life C. hobbies D. performance
6.A. student B. term C. object D. subject
7.A. delivering B. deciding C. directing D. describing
8.A. calling on B. putting on C. depending on D. turning on
9.A. enjoyed B. expected C. achieved D. appeared
10.A. cares B. controls C. considers D. requires
11.A. unless B. while C. because D. if
12.A. acceptable B. affordable C. accessible D. absent
13.A. change B. believe C. affect D. develop
14.A. quietly B. quickly C. freely D. easily
15.A. studies B. checks C. designs D. tests
16.A. honest B. embarrassing C. common D. regular
17.A. proud of B. addictive to C. connected with D. confident in
18.A. living B. lively C. lovely D. live
19.A. In particular B. In time C. In conclusion D. In return
20.A. aim B. progress C. permission D. honor
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The ratio of overweight people 1. participated in a survey increased from 29% in 2012 to 31.5% in 2016, and 2. number of highly overweight people 3. (rise) to 550,000, creating a serious headache for 4. (medicine) services. The increase of highly overweight people was 5. (particular) sharp among those in their 20s. The numbers came from a study of physical examinations 6. (publish) by the Health Insurance Service.
According to the survey, the highly obesity (肥胖) rate among young people can be a result of their 7. (addict) to salt intake and soft drinks from childhood. Eating too much salty food is considered 8. a main factor leading to health problems. Besides, drinking soft drinks is also to blame because it makes people more likely 9. (gain) weight.
The result may affect the new lifestyle of those people. Cutting down on salt can be hard, 10. repeated training to prefer less salty food is necessary. Start by adding half as much salt to your dinner as you normally do.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假设你是李华，下周有一场古典音乐会，请给你班交换生同学Mike写信邀请他一同欣赏，具体内容如下：
1. 演奏内容：莫扎特的作品
2. 音乐会时间：下周五18:00-20:00
3. 音乐会地点：市大剧院
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 参考词汇：莫扎特Mozart；市大剧院the City Grand Theatre
Dear Mike,
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Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
My father asked me to chat with him for a while. Actually, I was unwilling to listen to his talking endlessly as he always did. My father was a lawyer, but I never wanted to go to law school or follow his path through life.
As was expected, he cleared his throat and started to say, “Er... What... What do you really want to do in the gorgeous future?”
I was silent for a moment playing with the cell phone. I kept thinking, “Should I tell him my true thoughts? What if he gets angry? What if I let him down?” later I replied, “Well, I want to be a writer.”
I guessed this may be not the answer he would expect. But surprisingly, “Interesting idea!” he answered. I was shocked, speaking in a low voice with hesitation.
“Are you serious, dad?”
“Well, you need confidence and good preparations, and you still have plenty of time. You need to find out what you really enjoy now. Look, it’s late. Let’s take the boat out tomorrow morning, just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs (螃蟹) for dinner, and we can talk more.”
Early next morning we packed up the equipment and set off along the coast. We didn’t talk much, but enjoyed the sound of the seabirds and the sight of the coastline.
There were no big waves and blinding sunlight at that time. “Let’s see if we get lucky,” he said, picked up a web basket with a rope tied and threw it into the sea. We waited a while, then my father stood up and said, “Give me a hand with this,” and we pulled up the crab cage onto the deck.
To our joy, the cage was filled with dozens of soft shell crabs. Squatting (蹲) down, we watched them for a moment. At first they fought against each other to climb out hard, trying to escape. Many were pulled back into the cage. Later, some gave up, but there are still some crabs trying to escape again and again.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键语。
Paragraph 1:
At that moment, my father pointed to the cage, “Look at that crab, there!” ____________________________
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Paragraph 2:
From that day on, I was determined to make my dream come true. ___________________________________
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析