In August 2017, Southeast Texas was underwater. Hurricane Harvey dumped five feet of rain in some areas, and nearly six feet of storm surge(风暴潮) made sure that the water had nowhere to go but into the houses, businesses, and lives of thousands of residents. More than 100 people died and $125 billion in damage was recorded before the waters went down weeks later.
About 30 miles due west of Houston, Katy, Texas, a former farm town of 18,000 residents, took a hard hit. Nearly 700 of its homes and 80 businesses were damaged or destroyed. But locals didn't wait for the rain to stop before opening their doors, refrigerators, and wallets to first responders, neighbors, strangers, and even pets.
Beaver Aplin, owner of the popular Buc-ee's chain of convenience stores, was preparing for the grand opening of his newest location just outside Katy. The 50,000-square-foot store was fully stocked with everything from food, water, and toiletries to batteries and Band-Aids. When the storm hit, Aplin opened the store early without thinking twice. He put the word out to first responders, telling them to take what they needed, free of charge.
Meanwhile, locals ran, drove, and paddled to rescue their neighbors stuck in the water. When the water was too deep, rescue came by boat. Pat Lester drove his air-boat into town from his home on the outskirts(郊外). He had seven life jackets, so he scooped up seven people at a time, starting with pregnant women, the elderly, and anyone who was ill.
These are just a small part of the stories of heroism that came out of Katy and all over Texas during one of the worst natural disasters the country has ever seen.
Even first responders coming from outside Katy could instantly feel the town's selfless spirit. ''We helped people in lots of other areas too, but Katy was amazing. Neighbors were going from house to house checking on people and helping everyone they could, '' David Scherff told Katy Magazine.
1.What was the result of Hurricane Harvey?
A.It killed almost 700 people. B.It cost $125 billion in damage.
C.It totally destroyed Katy. D.It forced all businesses to close.
2.What can best describe the people in Katy after reading the story?
A.Brave and selfless B.Driven and focused
C.Optimistic and open-minded D.Calm and intelligent
3.Why did Katy Magazine quote David Scheff’s words in the last paragraph?
A.To show respect to the first responders in Katy.
B.To point out the importance of natural disaster relief.
C.To praise Katy people for their heroic behavior in the floods.
D.To emphasize the need to help each other through hard times.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, two plants were brought to England, for the first time, by Sir Walter Raleigh, both of which are now very much used—the tobacco-plant and the potato. Sir Walter had sailed across the seas to America, in search of new lands; and he brought back both these plants with him.
When he was in America, he had seen the Indians smoke, and before long he acquired the habit himself. He became extremely fond of smoking, and frequently indulged in the practice.
When he returned to England, he was sitting by the fire one day, and began to smoke. In the middle of his smoking, the door opened, and in came his man-servant. Now this man had never in his life seen any one smoke, and did not know that where was such a plant as tobacco. So, when he saw the smoke coming from his master’s mouth, he thought that he was on fire!
But very soon the old servant got used to seeing people with smoke coming out of their mouths; and all the young nobles of the court began to smoke because Sir Walter did so.
At first, people did not like the potato at all: nobody would eat it. Yet Sir Walter told them how useful it would be. The potato, he said, could be made to grow in England. He told them that, when the corn-harvest failed—which it often used to do—people need not starve if they had plenty of potatoes.
Queen Elizabeth, who was a very clever woman, listened to what Sir Walter said, and had potatoes served up at her own table. There the grand people who dined with her majesty were obliged to eat them. But they spread a report that the potato was poisonous, because it belongs to the same order as the deadly nightshade(龙葵属植物) and many other poisonous plants. So, in spite of all that the Queen could do, no one would eat potatoes, and they were left for the pigs.
The people did not find out their mistake till many years afterwards when the French king Louis XVI asked his people to eat them. And people began to find out how good and wholesome they were. The potato was more and more liked; and now there is hardly any vegetable that is more highly esteemed.
1.What do we know about Sir Walter?
A.He introduced the tobacco-plant and the potato to England.
B.He went to America in order to do research on plants and animals.
C.He was forced to smoke by the Indians in America during his stay there.
D.He taught Queen Elizabeth how to smoke in court with the young nobles.
2.People were afraid of the potatoes at first because ___________.
A.the Queen refused to eat them herself
B.they were used as poison by the Indians
C.they were long used as food for the pigs
D.they belong to the poisonous nightshade
3.What can we learn from the text?
A.Both the tobacco plant and the potato were native to France.
B.Young nobles in England refused to smoke for the terrible smell.
C.It was not easy to grow corn back in the age of Queen Elizabeth.
D.The English people were the first to accept potatoes as tasty food.
4.What conclusion can we draw from the two stories?
A.Only those who are willing to take risks can succeed in the end.
B.They are lots of new plants on the earth that can be used as food.
C.All people are afraid to try things that are new and strange to them.
D.The upper class had huge influence on the way people lived in the past.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
To help self-driving cars drive safely, scientists are looking to an unlikely place: the sea. A new type of camera inspired by the eyes of mantis shrimps(螳螂虾) could help autonomous vehicles better assess their surroundings, researchers report October 11 in Optica. The camera has roughly half a million sensors that each capture a wide range of light and dark spots within a single frame, somewhat similar to how mantis shrimps see the world.
The researchers wanted to ''imitate the animals' ability to detect a wide range of light intensities(强度), ''says co-author Viktor Gruev, a bio-engineer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The shrimps’ visual system allows them to see both light and dark areas while moving in and out of dark cracks in shallow waters, he says.
The newly devised camera can take in a wider range of light intensities, measured in decibels (分贝), than other digital or polarization cameras. Previously, the best polarization cameras operated with a dynamic range of about 60 decibels; the new one works within a 140 decibel range, resulting in a clearer mapping of objects in the same frame.
Depending on the maker, autonomous vehicles currently use a mixture of methods to map the world around them, including lidar (light detection and ranging equipment), cameras and GPS. But the cameras currently guiding autonomous vehicles aren't good at handling sharp lighting transitions and have trouble detecting features in foggy weather. Because the new cameras are small and use many of the same parts as common digital cameras, Gruev says they could cost as little as $10, which means they are car-makers' best choice for their autonomous vehicles.
1.What do we know about the new cameras after reading the article?
A.They enable cars to go through cracks without trouble.
B.They use totally different parts from common cameras.
C.They have already been widely used on self-driving cars.
D.They see the surroundings by detecting the light intensities.
2.How does Viktor Gruev feel about the cameras' practical use on self-driving cars?
A.Hopeful. B.Uncertain.
C.Worried. D.Modest.
3.What is the best title for the article?
A.Self-driving cars are already on their way.
B.Bioengineering paves the way for our future.
C.Mantis shrimps bring inspiration for new cameras.
D.The popularity of self-driving cars depends on cameras.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Why Dogs Chase Their Tails
It might look like a strange activity to humans, but tail-chasing is a way for dogs to burn off some energy. In most cases, they're doing this for one of two reasons: 1..
If a dog doesn’t have anything (or anyone) to play with, it might need to entertain itself—in this case, by playing with its tail. On the other hand, the behavior could be a warning sign that your dog is becoming anxious or stressed. ''We call these displacement(替代) behaviors, similar to a human playing with their hair or tapping their foot, '' says Hartstein. ''2..''
One reason tail-chasing can be a must-do for dogs is that they start playing with their tails as playful puppies learning about their bodies.3.. ''The dog then learns it can get attention from its owners when it does that, '' says Hartstein.
4.. But if your pet is doing it every day or it seems to become an obsession(强迫), you'd better watch out. A constantly bored or stressed dog might be feeling neglected. Make sure its basic needs are being met, including exercise and socialization.
5.. If the tail-chasing started suddenly, your dog might be reacting to a medical issue, like cognitive disorder, or tapeworm(绦虫), says Hartstein. The sooner you get a medical checkup, the better. ''A lot of times, owners think, 'If I just wait, it will get better on its own, '' Hartstein says. ''But (behaviors) get more intense; they get more difficult.'' With some treatment and extra training, you and your dog will both be happier.
A. They are happy and content
B. They're bored or they're stressed
C. A visit to the vet is also a good idea
D. They gradually get into the habit of chasing tails
E. Owners often laugh at the activity and talk about it
F. They seek to do things that can comfort themselves
G. It’s normal for dogs to chase their own tails every now and then
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
There was a very wealthy man who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted many physicians and was being ________ by several of them. He did not stop consulting a large number of_________ experts; he consumed heavy loads of_________ and underwent hundreds of injections(注射). But the _________ was more unbearable than before.
At last, a monk who was _________ to be an expert in treating such patients was _________ by the suffering man. The monk _________ his problem and said that he should concentrate _________ on green colors and not let his eyes _________ any other colors for some time. It was a(n)_________ prescription(处方),but he was desperate and made up his mind to try it.
The wealthy man gathered a group of _________ and purchased barrels of green paint and directed that every object his eyes were _________ to see should be painted green just as the monk had directed. When the monk came to visit him after a few days, the wealthy man's _________ ran with buckets of green paint and poured it on him since he was in red, _________ their master saw any other color and his ache would _________.
Hearing this, the monk _________ and said, "If only you had bought a pair of green glasses, which are worth just a few dollars, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all the other articles and also could have saved a large share of his _________. You cannot paint the_________ green. "
Let us change our_________ and the world will change too. It is _________ to shape the world. Let us shape ourselves first.
1.A.cheated B.robbed C.treated D.hurt
2.A.medical B.chemical C.technical D.physical
3.A.money B.food C.drugs D.paints
4.A.result B.ache C.stress D.anxiety
5.A.supposed B.required C.invited D.forced
6.A.taken care of B.thought highly of C.called for D.asked for
7.A.examined B.solved C.shared D.covered
8.A.mainly B.only C.simply D.mostly
9.A.land on B.drop on C.turn to D.fall on
10.A.difficult B.strange C.ordinary D.final
11.A.physicians B.experts C.painters D.artists
12.A.impossible B.unusual C.willing D.likely
13.A.friends B.children C.family D.servants
14.A.in case that B.so that C.in order that D.now that
15.A.break out B.come back C.get worse D.go up
16.A.nodded B.screamed C.laughed D.stared
17.A.fortune B.trouble C.time D.energy
18.A.room B.house C.garden D.world
19.A.mind B.vision C.plan D.way
20.A.unnecessary B.brave C.illegal D.foolish
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（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Once the capital of four dynasties in history and the capital of P.R.China today, Beijing is one of the world's truly grand cities with a 3,000 years history and 11 million people. 1.(Cover) 16,808 square kilometers in area, it is the political, 2.(culture) and economic center of the People's Republic of China.
Situated in northeast China, Beijing adjoins(邻近) the Inner Mongolian Highland and the Great Northern Plain. Five rivers run 3. the city, connecting it to the eastern Bohai Sea.
Beijing 4.(become) one of the most significant cities of the world not only because of its splendid historical heritages(遗产) such as The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven, but also for its extravagant(华丽的) building5.(project) of Olympic Games 2008, such as the "Nest", the world eye-catcher stadium and "Water Cube", the 6.(large) national aquatics center of the world so far, 7. has made Beijing as the world focus of 21 Century by 8.(it) colorful culture.
The energetic city where the old and new meet remains 9. attraction for visitors from inside and outside China. Beijing reasons enough to be a must and worthy destination 10.(go)!
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，对源自爱尔兰的St. Patrick's Day很感兴趣，想了解并向同学们介绍这个节日。请你给爱尔兰的朋友Peter写一封信，询问关于St. Patrick's Day的一些信息。
内容包括：
1. 写信原因；
2. 需要的帮助；
3. 你的感激之情。
注意:1. 词数80左右
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面的短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize (强调) the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries -like the UK or France -people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment (多元文化环境)will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析