Taylore is a kid who passes by to ride sometimes and help us with chores. Barely 15, she's never short of advice, and one of her favorite pastimes is teasing me about being afraid to go too fast on a horse.
Last summer four of us rode down the trail behind our woods: my wife Karen, Taylore, Taylore's friend Kendall and me. I was riding with my 13-year-old, Tawny.
We were two miles from home when, for some unexplainable reason, I pushed Tawny into a gallop. The other horses were anxious to catch up, and just like that, the race was on.
Taylore brushed past my left leg and, seconds later, Kendall went by on my right. I realized Tawny was covering ground faster than I'd ever seen her. She strained every muscle in her body to catch up with the girls. It was like a truck winding over a mountain road without brakes. Part of me felt perfectly in control, while another part screamed that I wasn't.
In half a mile I knew we'd be crossing the highway, so I prayed that the girls would be fine. I gave up calculating how long it might take before my horse would be tired enough to want to slow down.
I was just about out of answers when I saw the girls slowing in front of me. Their horses were relaxed and comfortable, not even breathing hard. Taylore's face glowed. She gave me a high five. “Wow, you did well,” she said, “I knew you'd go fast when you were ready.”
No one in the group had even broken a sweat, except me. I was still nervous from the crazy pace. My heart pounded too, but not from exercise. Karen claims I was showing off for the girls that day, and maybe she's right. But I think I had something to prove because despite my wrinkles(皱纹), glasses and gray hair, I was feeling young at heart. And, like a horse on a warm summer day, I'm always ready to kick up my heels.
1.How did the race between the girls and the author begin?
A.His horse's gallop made the other horses want to catch up.
B.He wanted to show off his riding skills for the girls.
C.They wanted to know whose horse could run fastest.
D.They teased him about being afraid to go too fast on a horse.
2.During the race, _______________.
A.the author's horse outran the girl's horses
B.the author was confident that Tawny was in control
C.the girls were so anxious to win that they sweated a lot
D.the author's good performance took Taylore by surprise
3.When the race ended, the author's heart pounded because______________.
A.it was really tough exercise for him
B.he was feeling thrilled and young
C.he was worried that the girls might be in danger
D.he felt quite embarrassed that he had lost the race
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Do you want to make a difference in your community? The Verizon App Challenge can get you started. The first step is to think of a problem in your community. The next step is to create an app that can solve the problem.
Groups of five to seven students in middle school or high school, led by a teacher, can enter the contest. First,teams will compete on a local level. Teams that make it to the next round receive $5,000 for their schools. Finalists present their app ideas to judges in a live web conference. Next, the judges pick national winners. The top eight teams receive an additional $15,000 for their schools, and each team member receives a Samsung tablet. Plus, the winning teams get the chance to bring their app to life.
A group of six girls from Los Frenos, Texas won the second annual Verizon App Challenge. They came up with the Hello Navi app concept, short for “hello navigation”. The app was designed to help visually impaired (受损的) students navigate (导航) their school.
Do you have an app idea that could help solve a local issue? The deadline to register is November 24. Find more information and register your team at verizonfoundation.org/appchallenge.
Here are some tips from the Verizon Foundation to get you started：
• Get your team together for a brainstorm meeting. Write out all the ideas that come to mind.
• Don't ignore challenges. Accept the idea that you can solve a problem that exists in your community.
• Ask family, friends and people in your community to share their thoughts about problems that they want to see solved.
1.If you want to take part in the Verizon App Challenge, you must ___________.
A.design a problem-solving app
B.bring the app you created to life
C.work together with seven classmates
D.present convincing views on a local issue
2.What can we learn about the “hello navigation”？
A.It was first made public in Texas.
B.It won the second prize in the last Verizon App Challenge.
C.It mainly benefited those with poor sense of direction.
D.It aimed to help those with poor eyesight.
3.What is the author's purpose of writing this passage？
A.To promote a problem-solving app.
B.To call on more students to enter the contest.
C.To share some efficient ways of solving problems.
D.To introduce how to contribute to your community.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Why do we laugh and get amusement from so many different things, from puns(双关语) to pratfalls(出洋相)? Why are things funny to some people and not to other? How is it that while a successful joke can cause pleasure, a sick one can cause serious harm?
Over the centuries, various scholars have tried to produce a universally agreed-upon theory of humor. Plato and Aristotle introduced the superiority theory, the idea that people laugh at the misfortune of others. Their theory seems to explain teasing, but it doesn't work well for knock-knock jokes. Sigmund Freud argued for his relief theory, the concept that humor is a way for people to release psychological tension and reveal their inner fears and desires. His theory works well for dirty jokes, less well for most puns.
The majority of humor experts today agree with the incongruity(不和谐) theory, the idea that humor arises when there's a gap between what people expect to happen and what actually happens. Incongruity has a lot going for it-jokes with unexpected funny lines, for example, fit well. But scientists have found that in comedy, unexpectedness is overvalued.
With the goal of developing a new, more satisfactory explanation, I produced “the gentle violation(侵犯) theory”, the idea that humor arises when something seems wrong or threatening, but is actually OK or safe. A dirty joke, for example, trades on moral or social violations, but it's only going to get a laugh if the person listening is open enough to consider the subject OK to talk about. Similarly, puns can be seen as linguistic violations that still make grammatical sense.
And while most humor theories have struggled to explain tickling (挠痒痒),or just avoided the phenomenon altogether, my theory accounts for even this kind of laughter. Tickling involves violating someone's physical space in a gentle way. People can't tickle themselves - because it isn't a violation.
1.What is the author's attitude towards Plato and Aristotle's theory?
A.Approving. B.Critical.
C.Unconcerned. D.Uncertain.
2.According to Sigmund Freud's theory, we can infer that ___________.
A.people will laugh when they see others suffer
B.tickling doesn't involve psychological tension
C.unexpectedness can explain how humor works
D.telling dirty jokes is a relief of one's nervous feelings
3.According to the author, why are some things funny to some people but not to others?
A.Because the sense of humor varies greatly from person to person.
B.Because people have different expectations for the same thing.
C.Because some people lack the sense of safety deep in their heart.
D.Because people's understanding of violation is different.
4.What is the author's main purpose of writing this passage?
A.To draw people's attention to the research of humor.
B.To criticize people's misunderstandings about humor.
C.To explain what exactly causes people to laugh.
D.To prove the sense of humor can be developed.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In many countries the best, and sometimes only, path to acceptance to a university is having high test scores or good grades. In the US, admissions officials almost always ask students to list the activities they are involved in outside of the classroom in their applications. 1. This method of considering both academic success and non-academic skills is known as holistic (全面的) admissions.
The more a school knows about a student’s interests, the more they understand the student. 2. The best American universities receive thousands of applications from both inside and outside the country. For example, Washington University had over 30,000 applicants for the 2017 school year. But it only had room to accept about 16 percent of them.
3. What would schools value more: playing basketball or singing in a musical group? Is it more important to spend weekends serving free food to homeless people or cleaning up a public park? Thinking about holistic admissions in this way is not helpful. Instead of trying to figure out which activities are better than others, you should think about which activities serve you best as an individual. 4.
A student could explain their interest in reading many books or even exploring their home city. 5. Students, for example, can bring attention to their special qualities in the writing samples they provide, or the letters they ask teachers to write in support of them.
Students should trust that admissions officials will consider their personal history and what might have been available to them. The holistic method lets them pay more attention to the qualities they are looking for, not only academics.
A.Many universities only value test scores.
B.You can do almost anything, as long as it’s legal.
C.It’s difficult to choose an activity that suits you best.
D.Some students might wonder how to choose activities.
E.This is especially important for the top universities in the US.
F.These activities can show that a student possesses the qualities they are looking for.
G.Also, there are other places where a student can describe their non-academic interests.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
On October 13, a small plane flying to Chile accidentally crashed into a mountain in the Andes. How some of the passengers ______ to live is one of the greatest survival stories ever told.
The survivors ____ inside the remains of the plane, using seat covers for blankets, and waited for a ______ that never came. Days turned into weeks. It was urgent to find a way to ______. Three of the passengers - Canessa, Parrado, and Vizintin volunteered to ______ through the mountains to search for help. When they left, each man wore similar clothes: three pairs of socks, a plastic bag ______ each foot to keep the water out, boots, four pairs of trousers, and four sweaters. Many of the clothes came from those who died in the crash. The three men ______ that they would survive and bring back help.
For part of the first day, they were glad to make some ______. But as the land and weather changed, climbing became ______. After several days, they reached what they thought was the top. They had ______ this moment for days. On the other side of the top, they hoped, would be a ______ leading down and out of the mountains. However, they saw the same snow-covered tops. All hope wasn’t ______. Although they were still in the middle of the mountains, Parrado ______ two low tops far away that didn’t have snow. If they get there, they would be out of the Andes.
Within the following days, they walked toward the two low tops. Little by little, the landscape began to change. Snow ______ completely, and flowers were everywhere. “This is the valley,” Canessa said. “This is the way ______.” Then things of humanity started to appear-a few cans on the ground, some farm animals in a field. By December 21, the extremely ______ men made it to the town of Los Maitenes, and a rescue team was sent immediately to ______ for the survivors who were still high in the Andes.
Finally all of the remaining survivors were ______. The memories of the crash in the Andes would be with the friends forever, but for now, their terrible ______ was over. They had made it out ______.
1.A.learned B.expected C.decided D.managed
2.A.stayed B.looked C.turned D.reached
3.A.present B.rescue C.message D.danger
4.A.prepare B.continue C.escape D.develop
5.A.journey B.compare C.measure D.expand
6.A.against B.under C.beside D.around
7.A.admitted B.demanded C.informed D.promised
8.A.plan B.effort C.progress D.suggestion
9.A.tougher B.heavier C.sharper D.narrower
10.A.appreciated B.arranged C.witnessed D.imagined
11.A.court B.valley C.border D.channel
12.A.lost B.left C.sent D.kept
13.A.rejected B.counted C.spotted D.mentioned
14.A.declined B.froze C.spread D.disappeared
15.A.behind B.out C.apart D.off
16.A.frightened B.disappointed C.tired D.puzzled
17.A.fight B.call C.search D.ask
18.A.listed B.saved C.picked D.treated
19.A.performance B.experience C.challenge D.exploration
20.A.alive B.cool C.free D.crazy
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，在标有序号的空白处填入一个适当的词，或填入括号中单词的正确形式。
Do You Sleep Well At Full Moon?
In Chinese tradition, the full moon means family reunion. But surprisingly, some people say they are 1.(able) to fall asleep when there is a full moon. It sounds like nonsense! However, those 2. have done related researches believe that the full moon 3. (affect) human behavior to some degree.
A study conducted in Florida years ago indicated that the murder and serious injury cases 4. (obvious) increased during those days approaching the full moon. Seemingly, women should stay at home for 5. (safe) at that time. Another study 6. (lead) by Dr. Cajo Chen showed that the full moon did affect the human sleep condition even though the volunteers taking part in the research couldn't see 7.. The result also showed that the volunteers' sleeping time was 20 minutes less around the nights of the full moon 8. average.
The moon can influence not only human sleeping situation but also other 9.(aspect). So next time, you can make the moon as the excuse when you are in a bad mood. The full moon also influences other species. Therefore, there will be lots of 10. (science) researches awaiting scientists. Maybe, you can join them if you have any interest!
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
请在空白处填入恰当的单词，使句意完整。（首字母已给出）
1.His theory remains c_____________ with quite a few supporters and many opponents as well.
2.Is this your p_____________ address, or are you only staying there for a short time?
3.F_____________ as his plan is, it might not satisfy the requirements of all applicants.
4.Keep on trying and you will achieve your dream e_____________.
5.From this moment all his concern and s_____________ was at an end, and the father lived in happiness with his children till his death.
6.Although there are answers to these exercises, you should at least a_____________ each one beforehand.
7.For the first two months, he earned nothing at all but his credit and r_____________ were looking better with his honesty.
8.Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings are scheduled to be on e_____________ in Shanghai Gallery.
9.It’s not a_____________ to wear jeans for such a formal occasion.
10.The company plans to s_____________ some popular TV programmes as part of its marketing strategy（策略）.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
You may know that vitamin C is important to your body，but do you know that vitamin D is important to your body as well? Vitamin D has a significant role in calcium homeostasis(钙稳态) and metabolism(新陈代谢). It is sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because it’s produced in your skin in response to sunlight.
Vitamin D can help bones and muscles grow strong and healthy. If a person is short of vitamin D，he or she may have problems like rickets(佝偻病) and osteoporosis．Rickets is mainly found in children. Osteoporosis，the thinning of bone，is a common problem as people get older. Studies in these years have found that vitamin D may also have other uses. If someone is short of vitamin D, he may have heart problems or die from some cancers.
The easiest way to get vitamin D is from sunlight. But many people worry about getting skin cancer and skin damage from the sun. Also, even skin color has an influence. Darker skinned people get less vitamin D than lighter skinned people. Older people get less vitamin D than younger people. You can also get it from foods. Some food such as cheese and egg yolks (蛋黄) have some vitamin D．But most of vitamin D in the American diet comes from food like milk with the vitamin added.
Now more doctors are testing for vitamin D in their patients. However, some doctors worry that if people take too much vitamin D, it might be bad for their body. At the same time, skin doctors tell people to be careful with strong sunlight.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析