When I was a boy, my parents and I traveled from New York City to the Pennsylvania countryside for a week-long taste of rural life. We stayed in a guesthouse on a farm, joining in the daily routines and eating meals with the farmer and his family. We got up early to see the cows as they were milked. I even tried my hand at milking one, then joined the farmer as he released the cows into the field afterward.
Decades later I still have vivid memories of that trip, which made me realize the value of a vacation, of seeing new things, meeting new people and sharing memorable experiences with family members. To this day, I still consider that family trip when I plan my approach to planning and taking time off with my wife and kids. Vacations are a time for resting and connecting. As a bank manager, I spend much of my workday encouraging my customers to save their money. One of the reasons I give is that we should all have enough money for a family vacation every year. In our busy lives, family is what we should be saving our money and time for.
For my family, our vacation starts when we begin planning the trip. We talk about destinations and our budgets ahead of time. Involving the kids in planning the vacation makes sure that they have a great vacation too. While I prefer to visit historical sites and museums, they love to fish and swim. So I build in some relaxation time for us all so that the vacation works for everyone.
Each year, setting aside vacation time to spend together is especially important to us. A relaxing environment opens the doors to all kinds of conversations - deep, silly or meaningful. There’s no pressure from the usual everyday tasks.
What matters is that everyone is having a great time.
1.Why did the author go to the countryside when he was a boy?
A.To milk the cow. B.To meet his parents.
C.To experience country life. D.To enjoy the scenery.
2.Which of the following is NOT true according to Paragraph 2?
A.The author learned to milk and fish.
B.The author understood the value of vacations.
C.The author met new people and learned things during the trip.
D.The trip helped the author understand the significance of vacations better.
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A.The author had a good time in the countryside.
B.The author tried to let family members enjoy the holidays.
C.The author advised others to spend vacations with their families.
D.The author realized the value of family vacations and put it into practice.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
I know many people who spend time thinking about all the might-have-beens, what-ifs and opportunities they’ve missed. They spend their lives constantly feeling like they’ve missed out on something big. Their boats have sailed. They’ve missed their one and only opportunity to be rich, famous and do something really amazing.
I know someone who used to enter the same numbers in the lottery every week. One week, she was too busy to get the ticket before the agency closed. And her numbers came up. There were no winners that week and the jackpot money rolled over to the following week: 10 million pounds. She’s never forgiven herself. Since then, she’s lived her life feeling like she’s missed her boat, the only opportunity she’ll ever have to be happy.
I suspect most of us would be pretty upset if that happened to us. Now, the question is, would we allow it to rule the rest of our lives? Or should we consider the possibility that it happened for a reason?
Now, I’ll admit that I’d have a very hard time saying anything along those lines for quite a while if something like that happened to me. But, if I knew that I was putting every effort into being wealthy or happy, then I would also know that just because something didn’t happen the way it ought to happen, everything would still be alright. I will be able to relax and let it go.
Nothing ever happens to me, but everything always happens for me. So long as I’m keeping my eye on my goals, everything that happens is the Universe moving me towards my goals. It’s definitely easier said than done, particularly at first. But it is doable. It’s simply a choice.
You haven’t missed your boat. Your boat is still there. Don’t waste your life crying over someone else’s boat. Step onto your own.
1.When her lottery numbers came up, she wasn’t the winner because _____________.
A.she couldn’t forgive herself B.she was too busy to buy the ticket
C.she forgot the correct numbers D.she has missed her boat
2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 suggest?
A.The world can’t change me.
B.I can change the world by working hard.
C.I have never missed any good opportunity.
D.Whatever happens to me is beneficial to me.
3.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.You Can’t Miss Your Boat.
B.You Shouldn’t Often Change Your Goals.
C.You Forgive Yourself as soon as Possible.
D.You Can’t Step onto the Boat that Has Sailed.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
US poet Allen Ginsberg once said, “Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind.”
To recognize the unique ability of poetry to capture the human spirit, World Poetry Day is held by the United Nations on March 21 each year.
The magic of poetry lies in the connection built up through words between the author and the reader. When we read a poem, we often imagine what the poet was thinking when he wrote it, or what he was doing at the time. These thoughts let us connect with the words better, as if we’d written the poem ourselves.
But in the age of artificial intelligence, would a poem still mean as much if it weren’t written by a human at all? Today computers can create all kinds of texts, including research papers, books, news stories and even poems by using algorithms (算法).
In 2013, Australian researcher Oscar Schwartz and his friend Benjamin Laird created a website called “bot or not”, where readers can read poems and guess whether they were written by a human or a computer. During a recent speech at TedX Sydney, Schwartz said that throughout the years, some of the website’s poems were able to fool 65 percent of human readers into thinking they were written by a human.
By launching the website, Schwartz and Laird hoped that people would question the difference between humans and machines - and be able to identify what makes us human.
Unstableness is part of the answer. “The human mind is not a cold, hard fact,” Schwartz said during his TedX Sydney speech. “Rather, it is something that’s constructed with our opinions and something that changes over time.”
A computer may be able to create poems that are correct in both grammar and style, but it wouldn’t be able to get the same meanings and emotions across as a human poet could. In fact, current AI software creates poems based on ones that have already been written by humans. As Schwartz noted, “The computer works like a mirror that reflects any idea of a human that developers teach it.”
So a new challenge arises: What kind of human mind do we want the computer to reflect back at us?
1.What’s the purpose of the first three paragraphs?
A.To show the popularity of poetry around the world.
B.To introduce the origin of World Poetry Day.
C.To show the function of poetry in general.
D.To give some tips on appreciating poetry.
2.From Paragraph 5, we can learn that_______________.
A.Computers can also produce poems of high quality
B.65% of the poems on the website “bot or not” were written by computers
C.Readers don’t really care whether the poems were written by humans or not
D.Few readers can tell poems written by computers from those by humans
3.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A.Unstableness. B.Identification.
C.The human mind. D.The Website.
4.Why can’t computers match humans in creating poems according to the article?
A.They can’t create poems that make sense.
B.They can’t express emotions as well as humans.
C.They fail to use the correct grammar and style.
D.They only know how to copy existing poems.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
How to Deal With Rumors
Rumors (谣言) are the worst. But due to life's reality of people loving gossip, rumors are bound to happen.1.So it's best to practice things when the rumor mill comes knocking at your door.
Don't Be frightened. Sure, easier said than done, right? 2.The truth is that people are waiting to see your reaction. They are waiting to see you sweat. But for real, don’t sweat it! You know very well this is just rumor, so carry yourself confidently as you brush past the petty.
Remaining calm, cool and collected is the key to not stirring the pot even more. Trust us.3.If you know who started the rumor, don't be afraid to defend it forcefully foryourself. You may feel personally victimized by Regina George, so naturally your emotions are running high, but the key to positive communication and to fixing the chaos is a calm yet assertive conversation. Tell the person how you feel. Stay true to who you are, and feel good about standing your ground.
Know you're in good company. Famous persons deal with rumors all of the time. They either set the record straight via social media or an interview, or most often, they stay under the radar until it blows over. The important thing to remember, in all of this, is it will all become last week's news. 4. It will blow over and it will get better. Hang in there.
Talk to people you love. Dealing with a rumor is hard to go through alone, especially because you already feel like the world is against you. 5.They would never believe an untrue rumor about you anyway, so why pay any attention to the ones who do? Open up and talk to your family and friends. They will help you get through.
A. Go straight to the source of the rumor.
B. But, it's important not to panic when the gossip circles back to you.
C. Avoiding rumors altogether is hard to attain.
D. Never show your frustration.
E. Do you respond to the rumor quickly?
F. You just have to get through the storm until people no longer care.
G. Find comfort in your family and friends and the people who love you.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Last November, I created the Gustine Traveling Library. I ________ an old ice cream cart into a portable library. I hoped to get kids outside, reading books again ________ staying inside all day playing on _______ equipment.
When I first started the ________, I had about 100 books. Now, after ten months, I have received over 2,000 ________ books, and I travel to neighboring cities in California.
One day I was in a park in Gustine, and a little girl saw my cart. She ran up, ________ it was an ice cream cart, and was ________ when I told her it held books. She began to read the books. Then her parents called her, and the little girl started to ________ to me the book that had a cartoon character — Elmo on the cover ________. When I told her she was allowed to keep it, she cried out with ________, “Mom, I got Elmo!” That experience inspires me to keep ______the Traveling Library so more kids can enjoy reading great books. I am now helping other towns in California ________ their own traveling libraries.
The Traveling Library has been acknowledged by famous ________. Former President George Bush sent ________ letters and photos of him to the Library for its ________ to helping others. President Trump ________ an award to my hometown in honor of my ________ with the Traveling Library this fall.
I use the Traveling Library as an ________ set to youth- if I can create something out of a run-down ice cream cart, then so can you! You can make a ________ by donating books, helping youth love reading or doing other ________ jobs.
1.A.translated B.transported C.transplanted D.transformed
2.A.rather than B.because of C.other than D.regardless of
3.A.artistic B.realistic C.electronic D.dynamic
4.A.project B.event C.item D.course
5.A.rejected B.used C.donated D.written
6.A.hoping B.pretending C.thinking D.finding
7.A.disappointed B.surprised C.embarrassed D.bored
8.A.hand back B.pay back C.hold back D.call back
9.A.doubtfully B.deliberately C.unexpectedly D.unwillingly
10.A.regret B.shock C.joy D.fear
11.A.expanding B.updating C.changing D.strengthening
12.A.settle down B.put out C.take over D.set up
13.A.politicians B.millionaires C.librarians D.scholars
14.A.posted B.copied C.signed D.attached
15.A.attention B.devotion C.purpose D.relation
16.A.received B.made C.shared D.presented
17.A.service B.connection C.communication D.agreement
18.A.excuse B.exercise C.experience D.example
19.A.difference B.promise C.decision D.choice
20.A.funny B.voluntary C.academic D.complex
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。
Most students 1. (study) abroad choose to live with a host family because it is relatively cheaper and they can freely communicate with local people. 2. (fortunate), it can be difficult to figure out what kind of person a host is. Some are very friendly. They offer good food 3. overseas students and teach them something about their customs and people. Sometimes, they may even drive students to school. 4. some students may end up with a mean and unfriendly host, 5. will ask them to pay extra charges if they eat too much, or complain because they use the shower too often. So, as a student, one of the 6.(luck) things is to find a pleasant home to live in.
Generally, rent varies according to your living 7. (require). If you’d like a big house with a garden and want to be the only guest, the rent will obviously be higher. And don’t forget the fact 8. you’ll generally 9. (expect) to pay the rent on a weekly or monthly basis.
Also, the location of the living area is very important. Most students choose to live not far away from their school or college. If you live a little far from where you study, it’s a good idea to live in 10. area with a good transportation.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假如你是李华，你和在浙大留学的笔友Lynn约好下周末去旅游，但你临时因故不能赴约。请根据以下要点用英语给他写一封信，要点如下：
1.表示歉意；
2.说明原因；
3.弥补措施。
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
阅读下面短文,根据所给情节进行续写,使之构成一个完整的故事。
Last October, I took an early morning hike in the MadisonValley in southwest Montana. Knowing that bears are common throughout the area and not wanting to surprise one, I cried out, “Hey, bear!” every 30 seconds.
About three miles in, I stepped out into a grassland and shouted again. A few more steps and I spotted a grizzly bear with her cubs(幼崽) on the track at the upper end of the grassland. The bear saw me right away, and they all ran up the track. But then she stopped, turned, and charged straight for me. I yelled so she would know I was human and hopefully turned back. No such luck. I gave her a full charge of bear spray at about 25 feet. Her rush carried her right through the orange mist and onto me.
I dived face-first into the dirt and wrapped my arms around the back of my neck for protection. She was on top of me, biting my arms, shoulders and backpack. The force of each bite was like a sledgehammer(大锤) with teeth. Over and over she bit me. After what felt like hours but was merely minutes, she disappeared.
Shocked, I carefully picked myself up. I was able to walk, so I half hiked and half jogged back down the track toward my truck, three miles below. I had numerous bleeding wounds on my arms and shoulders, but I knew I would survive.
About five or ten minutes down the track, I heard a sound and turned. It was the grizzly bear down at 30 feet. I was lucky after the first attack, but could I survive a second?
Again I protected the back of my neck with my arms and kept tight against the ground to protect my face and eyes. She struck violently down on top of me and bit my shoulders and arms. My hands instantly went numb, and the wrists and fingers were limp and unusable. The sudden pain made me draw back and breathe noisily.
注意：
1. 所续写的短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
I had to find the ways to defeat the bear.
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Paragraph 2:
I raised my head and looked around.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析