People are compassionate. With effort, we can translate compassion into action. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register (收款机) with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash, had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
1.The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits _______.
A. promised to obey the store rules
B. forgot to take any money with him
C. hoped to have the food first and pay later
D. could not afford anything more expensive
2.Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A. kind and lucky B. friendly and helpful
C. poor and lonely D. hurt and disappointed
3.The writer acted upon the store rules because _______.
A. he expected someone else to pay for the old man
B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman
C. he considered the old man dishonest
D. he wanted to keep his present job
4.What does the writer learn from his experience?
A. Wealth is more important than anything else.
B. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.
C. Experience is better gained through practice.
D. Helping others is easier said than done.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The English writer Samuel Johnson famously said, “You find no man who is willing to leave London. No, sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.” More than two centuries have passed since Johnson’s age, but his words still ring true. Here, you’ll find the historic Tower of London and the Tate Modern both considered must-sees. Shakespeare’s sonnets（十四行诗） are still being uttered by actors. Londoners most certainly still look up to the royals, but they also rock out to Coldplay and Lily Allen. And while they still sip tea, they now drink Starbucks, too.
How to Save Money in London
Find the free attractions. Many of London’s top things to do, including the National Gallery, Hyde Park and the Portobello Road Market, are absolutely free to enjoy.
Ride the Tube. Taking taxis will add up quickly, so buy a pay-as-you-go Oyster Card and travel on London’s underground system, nicknamed the “Tube”.
Dine smart. Corridors like Brick Lane offer fantastic cultural food for bargain prices; fish and chip shops are a cheap standby and takeaway food costs less than dine-in.
London Culture & Customs
London is one of the fashion capitals of the world, and its residents tend to reflect that. Practically, pack an umbrella for the rainy days and a scarf for the cold ones. As for tipping, restaurants and cafes will usually add a 10-to-15-percent service charge to the bill. If a service charge is not allotted（指定）, it’s customary to tip the same (between 10 and 15 percent). If you’re drinking at a pub or wine bar, tipping is flexible. And in a taxicab, tip the driver to the nearest pound or about 10 percent of the cost.
London Dining
London used to be highly criticized for its heavy and common menu items. Now, London is considered as one of the most gourmet cities in the world. And with its melting pot of cultures, it’s not difficult to see why. London offers everything from modern British to Malaysian. For Indian food, we suggest visiting the curry houses on Brick Lane. If you want a real high tea experience, book reservations at the Ritz, at Fortnum & Mason, or at the Dorchester — but be sure to dress the part. Pub culture is still alive and well, so if you have a hankering for fried fish and salty chips (or French fries), you’ll still find them here. And for a quick bite, exchange a few pounds for a kebab, a quick sandwich or some to go sushi, which can be found in restaurants throughout the city.
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A. Life in London is exciting but tiring.
B. Londoners are traditional and fashion conscious.
C. Many well-known writers like to live in London.
D. Coffee is more popular with Londoners than tea.
2. The underlined word “hankering” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “________”.
A. desire B. respect C. preparation D. talent
3.In which column of a newspaper can we find the passage?
A. Culture. B. Travel. C. Education. D. Entertainment.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
We are surrounded by mixed messages about mistakes: we're told we earn by making them,
but we work hard to avoid them. So the result is that most of us know that we are going to make
mistakes, but deep down, we feel we shouldn't.
Experiments with schoolchildren who did well on a given test show that those who were
praised for being smart and then offered a more challenging or less challenging task afterward
usually chose the easier one. On the other hand, children praised for trying hard-rather than
being smart-far more often selected the more difficult task.
If we try hard to avoid mistakes, we aren't open to getting the information we need in
order to do better. In a writing study, experiments showed that those who are so scared to
make mistakes perform worse in writing tasks than those who aren't as worried about being
perfect. They fear receiving any kind of negative feedback, so they don't learn where they went
wrong and how to get better.
We don't just learn more when we're open to mistakes, we learn deeper. Research tells us
that if we're only concerned about getting the right answer, we don't always learn the
underlying concepts that help us truly understand whatever we're trying to figure out. Mistakes
need to be seen not as a failure to learn, but as a guide to what still needs to be learned. As
Thomas Edison said, “I am not discouraged, because every abandoned wrong attempt is
another step forward. "
Furthermore, we often make mistakes because we try new things-we wander away from
accepted paths. Teflon, penicillin-these are examples of great discoveries made by mistake.
Take a page from Albert Einstein, who said, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never
tried anything new. "
1.What will happen to students praised for being smart in face of choosing tasks compared to students praised for working hard?
A. He will choose a less challenging task.
B. He will hide his mistakes from his teachers.
C. He will work harder to avoid mistakes.
D. He will ask his teachers for advice.
2.Which of the following statements is NOT acceptable according to the passage?
A. The more mistakes we make, the more we learn.
B. Mistakes can be used as a positive factor for success.
C. Being open to mistakes help you understand the truth.
D. A step forward may come from mistakes you've made.
3.What does the last paragraph want to tell us?
A. One must follow a correct path to avoid mistakes.
B. To become an Einstein, you should make mistakes.
C. You can't make mistakes unless you try new things.
D. Making mistakes is not a disadvantage in a way.
4. What's the main idea of the passage?
A. We can never avoid making mistakes when we work.
B. Success can't be achieved without making mistakes.
C. Mistakes should be treated with a correct attitude.
D. Try every means to avoid mistakes in our daily life.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Expensive perfumes (香水) come in tiny bottles, but many hide a whale-sized secret.
To perfect a particular smell, perfume-makers often use an ingredient that comes from sperm whales, called ambergris (龙涎香). But using ambergris, which helps a perfume last longer, is strongly opposed by many people who think it is wrong to kill whales just so we can smell sweet. Joerg Bohlmann is neither a perfumer nor a whale expert. He's a plant biologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada. But his discovery of a new plant gene (基因) might push whales out of the perfume business.
The gene comes from fir trees, found throughout North America and commonly used as Christmas trees. The trees produce a chemical that can be used in perfume in place of ambergris-but with a catch. "There's a problem that many people wouldn't consider. In the tree, the chemical is mixed with many others. That makes separation a challenge," Bohlmann says. "lt's like trying to isolate sugar from a biscuit. "
This is where science becomes useful. When Bohlmann learned that fir trees produce the ambergris-like chemical, he decided to use his gene know-how to find the instructions for how to make the ambergris-substitute.
Bohlmann found that gene and took it out of the tree cells. Then he did something that might sound strange to someone who doesn't work in genetics: Bohlmann put the gene from the tree into yeast (酵母) cells.
Yeast may sound familiar because it's used to make things like bread, wine and beer. Biologists like to work with yeast because it easily adopts new genes and changes its features and behaviour. When Bohlmann put the fir tree gene into the yeast, the yeast started making the same chemical that had been produced by the tree.
Perfumers pay big money for ambergris because it is a fixative, which means it holds a smell in place on a person's body.
"Cheap perfumes smell good in the first hour or so and then everything is gone," explains Bohlmann. "But expensive perfumes are much more stable. Their smell lasts much longer, for hours or even a day after you apply them. "
The new chemical, made from the tree genes, can be used as a fixative, too. And using yeast to make it is far cheaper than acquiring ambergris.
Bohlmann admits he never thought he'd get into the perfume business. But now, he says, producers have been calling to find out how to use his technology in new perfumes.
1. It can be inferred from the passage that if a perfume contains ambergris, .
A. its user probably supports whale hunting
B. it is probably very expensive
C. its smell will last for about an hour
D. there will be a whale symbol on the bottle
2.The underlined expression "with a catch" in Paragraph 3 means____.
A. being difficult to hold
B. being too similar
C. having a hidden problem
D. needing further testing
3. According to the passage, why are yeast cells often used in genetic research?
A. They're much cheaper to use than ambergris.
B. They can reproduce much faster than other cells.
C. They share some of the qualities of plant genes.
D. They can take on the characteristics of other genes.
4.What can we learn about Joerg Bohlmann from the passage?
A. He is opposed to whale hunting.
B. He made his discovery during Christmas.
C. He has worked in the perfume industry for many years.
D. He has previously done genetic research.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Any car accident is frightening, but an accident in which your vehicle is thrown into the water, with you trapped inside, is absolutely terrifying. 1. However, most deaths result from panic, without a plan or understanding what is happening to the car in the water. By adopting a brace (支撑) position, acting decisively and getting out fast, you can save yourself from a sinking vehicle.
Brace yourself for impact (撞击力). As soon as you're aware that you're going off the road and into a body of water, adopt a brace position. The impact could set off the airbag system in your vehicle, so you should place both hands on the steering wheel in the "ten and two" position.
Undo your seatbelt. 2. Untie the children, starting with the oldest first. Forget the cell phone call. Your car isn't going to wait for you to make the call.
3. Leave the door alone at this stage and concentrate on the window. A car's electrical system should work for up to three minutes in water, so try the method of opening it electronically first. Many people don't think about the window as an escape option either because of panic or misinformation about doors and sinking.
Break the window. If you aren't able to open the window, or it only opens halfway, you'll need to break it with an object or your foot. It may feel counter-intuitive (有悖常理的) to let water into the car. 4.
Escape when the car has equalized. If it has reached the dramatic stage where the car cabin has been filled with water and it has become balanced, you must move quickly and effectively to ensure your survival. 5. While there is still air in the car, take slow, deep breaths and focus on what you're doing.
A. Open the window as soon as you hit the water.
B. Surviving a sinking car is not as difficult as you think.
C. It takes 60 to 120 seconds for a car to fill up with water usually.
D. Such accidents are particularly dangerous to the risk of drowning.
E. In conclusion, if you know what to do in the water, you will be safe.
F. This is the first thing to attend to, yet it often gets forgotten in the panic.
G. But the sooner the window is open, the sooner you can escape directly through it.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面的短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Being shy, to speak in public caused me great pain when I was little. I remember my first time standing in front of people speaking. It was ______; my knees were knocking ; my palms were sweating and I thought I was going to _____. But I got through it at last and kind of enjoyed it. Later I regarded it as a good chance to practice my _____talent. Now, after many years, the act of speaking in front of people brings me great _____.
Part of life philosophy which allows us to _____ healthily and creates happiness is how we look at ____. They are in our life to create growth. Like the ______goes “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” We get rid of our weakness then we become ______. Challenges are given to us so that we can grow ______. The question is how we look at them. Looking at the challenges is to see their ____ as positive. But many times when we are faced with a problem, we ______ it as negative. If we are______ in ourselves and see growth opportunities as creating ______ changes in our life, they can help us to become stronger, just as how I ______ the speech later.
We need to recognize challenges have their good functions that can _____ us. Once you learn to look upon challenges as opportunities to use a ______ perspective and test you, they’ll help you gain strength . They______ you good chances to grow healthily. Once you___38__ those challenges, they no longer stay in your life and they’ll disappear. Of course that doesn’t mean you make them disappear without _____,but the strength and ______ you gain are worth the effort.
1. A. uncomfortable B. common C. unusual D. normal
2.A. pass out B. move on C. run away D. turn away
3.A. story B. work C. article D. speech
4.A. joy B. value C. purpose D. dream
5.A. talk B. listen C. play D. grow
6.A. challenges B. fates C. success D. failure
7.A. word B. sentence C. saying D. example
8.A. stronger B. happier C. younger D. lovelier
9.A. busier B. better C. freer D. easier
10.A. reason B. movement C. outcome D. action
11. A. map B. find C. picture D. compare
12. A. disappointed B. honest C. interested D. confident
13.A. positive B. unique C. common D. slow
14.A. notice B. suggest C. regard D. confirm
15.A. force B. push C. benefit D. attract
16.A. strange B. new C. true D. good
17.A. throw B. direct C. accord D. introduce
18.A. overtake B. overlie C. overlook D. overcome
19. A. emotion B. time C. effort D. result
20.A. wisdom B. spirit C. knowledge D. virtue
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（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
World Read Aloud Day is celebrated each year on the first Wednesday of March. It __1.___ (start) by the LitWorld. Org website in 2010 and has now reached 65 countries, ___2._ aim is to encourage people worldwide who cannot read to enjoy the benefits of a book. The website asks everyone __3._ (celebrate) the day by taking a book, finding an audience, and reading out aloud. It is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write ___4._ (belong) to all people.
The website asks visitors to join in the movement to reduce the number of illiterate (不识字的) people in the world. It is ____5.__ (absolute) necessary to help those who cannot read. The website says, “It’s time to start by reading aloud to ___6.____ might like it. Share a book with a child who might need it, share a story with someone who would treasure it, listen patiently __7._ someone else’s story as they share with you.” The United Nations says, “Literacy involves a variety of learning in ___8.__ (able) individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge, _9.__ to participate fully in society.” In that way, World Read Aloud Day _10._ help make a difference.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
单句语法填空
1. Another new year is coming. It's up to all of us to fill it with things__________ promise progress and happiness.
2.Can Starbucks find a place in China, ________ tea has been the preferred drink for hundreds of years?
3.The World Wide Fund for wildlife is an organization ________ aim is to protect wildlife.
4.The treatment will continue until the patient reaches the point ___________ he can walk correctly and safely.
5. _______________(suffer) such a heavy loss, the boss didn’t have the courage to go on with his business.
6.____________(ignore) the difference between the two research findings will be one of the worst mistakes you make.
7.Hot _______the night air was, we slept deeply because we were so tired after the long journey.
8.They promised to develop a software package by the end of this year, ____________ difficulty they might have.
9.What ______________ (require) in our team is that everyone should obey the rules to the letter.
10.When her mother came in, she ____________ (pretend) to have fallen asleep.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
填入所给单词的适当形式
1.At times this balance of nature ___________ (disturb), which results in a number of possibly unforeseen effects.
2. With his mind _____________ (focus) on the things not related to his studies, his marks have fallen rapidly.
3.When _____________(compare) with the size of the whole earth, the highest mountain doesn’t seem high at all.
4. Students should be encouraged_____________(present) their own opinions, whether right or wrong.
5. Walking along the river bank one day, I found a child ___________ (struggle) in the water.
6.The plan__________ (design) to encourage the employees to improve their work turned out to be a success.
7.The mobile phone _____________(guarantee) for at least five years, but it went wrong only one year later.
8. It’s high time someone ______________(protest) against human rights violations.
9.A sheep ___________ (feed) on this kind of special grass usually grows much faster than one on ordinary.
10.Some students have no idea of why they are studying, so they are _________ (aim) most of the time.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
写出下列单词的适当形式
1.I play the piano for ______________.(放松)
2.He ___________ (惊恐) and ran as fast as he could to safety.
3.Mike___________ (与……相似) his mother in appearance while his personality follows his father’s.
4.She devoted herself entirely to her research and it earned her a good _____________ (名誉) in her field.
5.Everyone should keep discipline and you are no_____________(例外)．
6.Some parents are too protective. They want to___________ (庇护) their kids from every kind of danger, real or imagined.
7.Now, even cars can _________________ (购买) on the Internet with just a few clicks of a mouse.
8.I’d prefer to ____________ (保留) my judgment until I find all the evidence.
9.The Great Wall is listed as one of the _____________(奇迹) of the world.
10.The audience was impressed by his amazing _______________(表演).
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：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，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仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Dear Jim,
I am so exciting that you will come to China. I will free from December 18 and will have a plenty of time to be together with you. I’ll meet you at the airport and then you can take No. 8 Bus to my home. You worry about the weather here in your email. In fact, the weather here is quite different from it in your city. It isn’t very cold, but you needn’t bring many clothes with you. During your stay here, I’ll take you to some places of interests and you can taste some local snacks. I am sure we will have greatly fun together.
I’m look forward to meeting you soon.
Yours,
John
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，你校英文报“外国文化”栏目拟刊登美国节日风俗和中学生生活的短文。请给美国朋友彼得写信约稿，要点如下：
1. 栏目介绍。
2. 稿件内容；
3. 稿件长度：约400词汇
4. 交稿日期：6月28日前天
注意：1.词数100左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯的；3.开头语已为你写好。
Dear Peter,
I'd like to ask you to write an article for our school’s English newspaper.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析