Short Story Competition
●The competition begins at June 30 and ends at December 15.
●It is open to all local citizens of Ontario who are at 16 or over, except the employees and judges. and anyone living with any employee of the sponsors or judges.
●The author's name. address, phone number and a 25-50-word self-introduction must be included with each entry on a separate sheet of paper. The name of the author should not appear in the story itself.
●Stories must be original and unpublished up to the time the winners are declared on December 25.
●Stories must be written on a computer, be double-spaced and no more than 2,500 words. Total word count should be printed on the front page of the story,
●No changes to a story are allowed once the Star receives your entry. Typescripts （文稿）will not be returned.
●A $ 5 entry fee must accompany each entry. Cheques or money orders should be made out to the Star Short Story Competition. Please do not send coins,
●Winners will be informed by telephone between 9 am and 5 pm on December 25.
●Professors from the Writing Centre at Ryerson University will complete the first round of judging. Another group of professional writers will select the final three.
More Information：
Send your story to：the Star Short Story Competition, the Star Street, Ontario M5E1E6. Full contest rules are available at www. the star, com/contests
Tel： 416-367-2000
1.Who can join in the competition?
A.A daughter of the judge.
B.A salesman living in The Star Street.
C.A visitor coming from another city.
D.A student in the local primary school.
2.Which of the following stories may be accepted by the competition?
A.A true story written on a piece of paper.
B.A famous story copied from the Internet.
C.A newly created story printed by its author.
D.An original story with its author's name in it.
3.What can you do if you want to join in the competition?
A.Change the story at any time.
B.Take the typescripts back.
C.Pay the fee by credit card.
D.Surf the website for information.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Smart thermostats (温控器)have become the face of smart home technology for most, but depending on what your home is like, it's possible to say the Ecobee3 is superior.
Most of the smart thermostats carry the same benefits, including the Ecobee3. They can learn your preferences and schedules, and then adjust the temperature accordingly. They're better-looking and more enjoyable to use than the basic pieces of plastic that occupy most households. And once you're able to heat up or cool down your house from your phone, without having to get out of bed, you won't want to go back to the past.
If you live in a larger house, the Ecobee3 can be much more convenient—offering you a couple of more remote sensors (传感器). Yes it gets pretty expensive at that point. But having those gives you effective control over the temperature in different rooms around your house. In comparison, other thermostats' measurements are largely limited to the area in which they're installed (安装).
If you live in a smaller place, that's no big deal；the Ecobee3 still has distinct advantages. It is touch-enabled, making it less annoying when you want to enter a Wi-Fi passwords see weather information, and so on.
Still, all the smart thermostats are pretty great. Which one is best just depends on whether you need a whole-home solution or a simpler one. For now, if it's the former, go with the Ecobee3. Their presence will probably make you more conscious about saving energy. Ecobee3 Smarter Wi-Fi Thermostat with Remote Sensor is available at all shopping websites.
1.How can you control Ecobee3?
A.By installing Wi-Fi. B.By replacing its sensors.
C.By using the relative phone. D.By closing power supply.
2.What advantage does Ecobee3 have compared with other thermostats?
A.Its size is different B.Its price is lower.
C.Its password is simpler. D.Its coverage area is larger.
3.What change will Ecobee3 bring to us?
A.It makes us enjoy travelling and work better.
B.It leads us to hope to open a shop online.
C.It leads us to build our own smart houses.
D.It helps us pay attention to environmental protection.
4.What's the author's purpose in writing the text?
A.To show the future of Ecobee3.
B.To attract people to buy Ecobee3.
C.To introduce how to use Ecobee3.
D.To explain why Ecobee3 was invented.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Since the very year I was born, South Jersey has been a part of me. Since both of my grandparents have lived in the area for many decades, my family has visited South Jersey yearly since 2014. Its warm and lively feel is very appealing to many families that are looking for an easy and fun getaway.
Every summer we pile into the car and drive four hours away to the Seaview Hotel and Club, a wonderful place which is located in Galloway, 20 minutes from the beach and boardwalk (木板人行道). The Seaview is enticing and quite inexpensive as well, which is perfect for any family. The rooms are neat, and the breakfasts are a real attraction, even to adults. I have always loved going down to their lovely outdoor swimming pool in the mornings and then ordering a lunch from The Coastal Grille, the hotel’s main restaurant. The Seaview is really great，and somewhere else is even more exciting.
At the end of every day in South Jersey, my family always makes it an important goal to drive to the local beach and boardwalk, Ocean City. Ocean City is wonderful with great swimming, lots of pizza places, ice cream stands, and excellent rides and games.
After dinner, we always check out “Gillian’s Pier,” the impressive and exciting, yet small amusement area located on the boardwalk. It is lots of fun to ride on bumper car (碰碰车) and rollercoaster and to taste soft serve ice creams and cotton candy. Next door, there is even a video arcade (游戏厅), so overall South Jersey is your classic family summer vacation. I would definitely recommend visiting, even just for a weekend, someday.
1.Why has the author visited South Jersey every year since 2014?
A.Because it is by the sea.
B.Because he was born there.
C.Because it has beautiful scenery.
D.Because it is his grandparents’ hometown.
2.What does the underlined word “enticing” in paragraph 2 mean?
A.Crowded.
B.Attractive.
C.Remote.
D.Developed.
3.What is the author’s aim to describe his yearly tour to South Jersey?
A.To show the attraction of South Jersey.
B.To show his living conditions.
C.To show it’s convenient to go to South Jersey.
D.To show his preference for tourism.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A.Fun in South Jersey
B.My traveling life
C.A famous tourism spot
D.My hometown, South Jersey
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
It’s a good thing that sloths (树懒) don’t have to go to school. They’d never make it on time. These sleepy tree-inhabitants sleep up to 20 hours a day! And even when they are awake, they barely move at all. In fact, they re very slow, and algae (海藻) actually grows on their fur.
Sloths live in the tropical forests of Central and South America, With their long arms and hairy fur. they look like monkeys, but they are actually related to anteaters (食蚁兽). They can be 2 to 2.5 feet long and weigh from 8 to 17 pounds, depending on species.
There are two main species of sloth, identified by whether they have two or three claws. (爪子) on their front feet. The two species are quite similar in appearance, with roundish heads, sad-looking eyes, tiny ears, and short tails. Two toed sloths are slightly bigger and tend to spend more time hanging upside down than their three toed cousins, who will often sit upright in the fork of a tree branch. Three toed sloths have facial coloring that makes them look like they’ re always smiling. They also have two extra neck vertebrae that allow them to turn their heads almost all the way around!
Some scientists think sloths developed their slow-motion lifestyle so they would be less noticeable to hunters such as hawks and cats, which rely heavily on their eyesight when hunting. The algae that grows on sloths’ fur also helps them avoid hunters by letting them mix in with green leaves. They rarely come down from the trees. About once every week, they go down to go to the bathroom, slowly moving about by digging their front claws into the dirt and dragging their bodies. If they are caught by a hunter, sloths will become aggressive, biting fiercely, striking with their claws, and screaming.
1.Who belongs to the same race as the sloth?
A.The monkey.
B.The anteater.
C.The hawk.
D.The cat.
2.Sloths are classified mainly by________.
A.their arms
B.their heads
C.their claws on their front feet
D.their fur on their bodies
3.According to the text, sloths go down from trees once every week in order to________.
A.clean their bodies.
B.hunt food
C.avoid being hunted
D.search for habitats
4.What can we learn from the text?
A.Sloths always like smiling.
B.Cats dislike hunting sloths.
C.Sloths can sleep for a long time.
D.Sloths keep clam when facing danger.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The world is full of great books, just waiting to be read. How can you pick one you'll really like? Here are some tips：
Depend on your hobby. If you have a favorite hobby, look for books about that activity. 1. You're more likely to enjoy reading a book if you're already interested in its subject.
Choose fiction or nonfiction. 2. Those are called fiction books. These books can transport you to another world or help you imagine something beyond your own experience. Nonfiction books tell stories using facts, but that doesn't mean they're boring. Nonfiction books can bring to life everything from the first trip to the moon to what it's like to explore the deepest oceans.
3. Your local library is a great place to find books that you love. Tell a librarian about your interests, and the librarian can help you find other books that you're sure to love. Your teacher is another good person to ask.
Find a family favorite. What was your mother’s favorite book when she was your age? What's about your father's? Ask them and give it a read. Then you can talk about what they like about it and share your thoughts. 4.
Launch a book exchange. 5. It's always fun to see what your friends arc reading. Even if they're not exactly bookworms, you can all encourage each other to read and share books and authors you like. You also can look for book exchanges in your area. It's a great way to build your personal library for free!
A. Ask someone for help.
B. Learn to be a professional.
C. You should read as many books as possible.
D. Some books are entirely made up and imagined.
E. You can find books about almost anything you like.
F. It’s a fun way to get to know your family a little better.
G. Why not get some friends together and exchange favorite books?
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。
A college student who shows great courage in fighting severe kidney (肾脏) disease while following his dreams in scientific1.(invent) has inspired many people.
Zou Yongsong, 27, is a student at Changsha University of Science &Technology in Changsha, Hunan Province. At 2.age of four, Zou caught a high fever, and poor medical treatment in the village left his kidneys3.(serious) damaged. Since then he has suffered kidney problems and has had to take medicine daily4. (fight) the disease.
Though he suffered the pain5.(bring) by the disease, he didn't give up attending school. After years of hard work, Zou6.(admit) to Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology. In 2017 his condition became7.(bad) and he had to receive dialysis (透析) treatment. However, the physical suffering did not stop him8.(dream) of a career in science. Even during his stay in hospital, he insisted9.working on patent (专利权) applications. Over the last two years, six of his patents and copyrights have been approved.
10.he shows courage and optimism when facing difficulty and misfortune, Zou was awarded the Touching Hunan award in November.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Nineteen-year-old Beau Jessup is studying Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics. She started her own business ______ she was just 15. She is paying her way through college by helping Chinese ______ find names for their children through her ______ Special Name.
In a TED Talk in 2016, Jessup ______ that during a trip to China about two years ago, one of her father’s colleagues asked her to ______ an English name for her daughter. Based on the ______ from her father of the young girl’s personality, Jessup picked a name that ______ the colleague. This experience ______ her to build the Chinese-language website specialname. cn to ______ Chinese parents pick English names for their kids.
Jessup ______ a database of 4,000 names for the website with five characteristics. Each name ______ what that name means. After parents enter the gender（性别） and characteristics of the child, the website will recommend three ______ and provide examples of famous people ______ to each name.
“The parents involve their family and friends in the final ______, making their chosen name both appropriate and special,” Jessup explained.
Jessup at first provided the service for free, but after naming 162,000 babies, she ______ customers for a fee.
“Most of my customers are parents who ______ that their children will study abroad... The English names used by our Chinese friends are ______ names which is used primarily to help them fit in ______ stand out when they study abroad.”
“The first time a parent sent me a photograph of their baby, a beautiful little girl ‘Ellen’, the mother ______ me for giving her an English name and she said that she hoped this name would help her ______ friends in the future.”
1.A.until B.when C.so D.that
2.A.parents B.friends C.relatives D.colleagues
3.A.website B.phone C.college D.magazine
4.A.learned B.whispered C.explained D.added
5.A.announce B.present C.call D.pick
6.A.imagination B.description C.direction D.income
7.A.annoyed B.defeated C.delighted D.worried
8.A.inspired B.discouraged C.commanded D.advised
9.A.hear B.see C.help D.feel
10.A.sold B.collected C.proved D.built
11.A.likes B.requires C.hopes D.represents
12.A.companies B.names C.destinations D.patterns
13.A.related B.invited C.returned D.compared
14.A.hobby B.point C.decision D.practise
15.A.paid B.charged C.cost D.provided
16.A.hope B.find C.confirm D.complain
17.A.family B.professional C.additional D.exact
18.A.other than B.rather than C.but also D.even if
19.A.thanked B.influenced C.greeted D.changed
20.A.answer B.show C.take D.make
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，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last Friday I took the subway home as usually. Since our physics teacher had just teach us in class that the escalator（自动扶梯） worked, I decided to see how fast the escalator went. To my surprise, it went a speed of about 40 m/min. The next day, I went to a department store with her cousin Emily. I times the escalator here too. I found that it was much slower, going about 30 meter every minute. Why? I check on the Internet and found the reason. Stores slow down escalators on a purpose, allowing customers more time to looking at their products.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，你的英国笔友Betty最近在学习汉语，她给你发来一封邮件，询问如何提高汉语口语水平。请给她回一封邮件，内容包括：
1. 提出建议（至少两点）；
2. 表达祝愿。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
难度: 中等查看答案及解析