With Christmas just around the corner, cities across the United States are transforming into enchanting winter wonderlands in preparation for season. If you are looking to add some holiday spirit to your next vacation, these destinations are a great option!
Branson, MO
Known as one of the most family-friendly vacation destinations in the country, Branson, MO also comes to life around the holidays. Boasting some of the most fun and memorable holiday celebrations, this Ozarks hub is filled with Christmas activities the whole family can enjoy. Most of the popular shows have Christmas-themed evenings beginning in November, so don’t miss out on Dolly Parton’s Stampede Branson, the Haygoods, Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza, or the Christmas on the Trail Chuckwagon Dinner Show!
Nashville, TN
Music City is also a fantastic destination for a Christmas celebration. Nashville, TN is home to so many different ways to celebrate the holidays. If you are looking for a way to see the city on your vacation, embark upon the Nashville Christmas Lights Tour where you can see the city in its holiday splendor. As well as sightseeing tours, guests can visit classic Nashville attractions for a unique holiday adventure. See all of the memorabilia at the Country Music Hall of Fame. You can create unforgettable memories while experiencing the cheer of the holidays in this southern city.
Orlando, FL
For snowbirds, the cold winter months mean travel to warmer destinations. Christmas time is no different, and Orlando, FL is filled with things to entertain and help you celebrate even during the holiday season. Those who want to take in the best theme park experiences will not be disappointed as Disney World, Universal, and SeaWorld, are all open during the holidays. There are also plenty of outdoor activities still available.
1.What does the author intend to do by writing this passage?
A.Tell the readers the way people in USA celebrate Christmas.
B.Introduce some cheerful cities to celebrate Christmas holiday.
C.Organize activities to celebrate Christmas.
D.Show how the people in US cities value the Christmas holiday.
2.Which is a better place for a family to spend Christmas holiday？
A.Branson, MO B.Nashville, TN
C.Orlando, FL D.Disney World
3.What special may you do if you go to Orlando, FL?
A.Have a city sightseeing on vacation. B.Watch Christmas-themed evenings.
C.Visit interesting theme parks. D.Know more about country music.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Soon, students will be receiving their latest report cards, even though many already know their grades. Thousands of schools nationwide have adopted what’s called “open grade books’’, online portals that allow both parents and kids to get up-to-the-minute progress reports.
Recently, I’ve noticed this whole system stresses out my 11-year-old daughter, Audrey. “It seems that if my grades do decrease, I’m worried on what my parents are going to say,’’ Audrey said. Hearing her say this breaks my heart. I wonder: Do other parents and kids feel this way? I put a call out to my network and found Carrie Du Bois.
“I thought it was a mistake,’’ says Du Bois.
About three years ago, Du Bois called the leader of the Sequoia Union High School District in San Mateo County to find out why she was receiving a daily email of her son’s grades. The leader told her the portal was working as it should.
Du Bois called every mental health professional she knew and they all told her the same thing: The supply of constant data on academic progress can overemphasize the importance of grades. Her district has since changed systems and no longer sends out daily grade updates. However, hundreds of other schools in the Bay Area still do.
A spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Unified School District said the feedback they’ve received from parents is overwhelmingly positive. Other parents have also told me the portals give them insights into their kids’ lives and open up conversations beyond “how was your day.”
Most of the portals offer parents the option of turning off daily notifications. Mental health care professionals advise that a healthier and more accurate measure of progress is checking grades once a week or even once a month. It’s what I have decided to do.
1.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.The Education System Has Gone Wrong
B.Parents Are Worrying about Their Kids
C.A Good Way to Motivate the Kids to Work Hard
D.Open Grade Books Are Stressing Kids Out
2.What do we know about the “open grade books”?
A.They allow parents to get their kids’ daily grades reports.
B.Neither parents nor kids like them because they create anxiety.
C.Most kids make progress in school due to them.
D.All parents have to receive daily grade updates online.
3.Why does Du Bois’ district no longer use the system of sending out daily grades?
A.Because Du Bois doesn’t like it.
B.Because of Du Bois’ effort against it.
C.Because Du Bois knew many mental health care professionals.
D.Because the supply of constant data on academic progress hurt kids.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.Most parents will turn off daily notifications.
B.No parents agree with the mental health care professionals.
C.The author will pay less attention to Audrey’s daily grades.
D.The author doesn’t care about her daughter’s accomplishments.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Educators across the US are calling for major changes to the admission process in higher education. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that U.S. colleges and universities received more than 9 million applications between 2013 and 2014. The schools admitted more than 5 million students in that time.
But a new report says that the problem is not about the number of students that are being admitted, but rather how students are selected. The Harvard School of Graduate Education, along with 80 other schools and organizations, released the report in January 2016, called “Turing the Tide---Making Caring Common”. The report argues that the process schools use to choose students causes major problems.
David Hawkins, the Executive Director for Educational Policy, says that most colleges and universities require many things from students when they apply. Schools usually ask for an essay describing a student’s interests or why they want to study at that school. The schools also ask for letters from teachers or other responsible adults describing why a student is a good candidate. But, Hawkins says, the area that schools are most concerned with a student’s high school grades and standardized test results.
The report suggests that paying attention to academic success over other qualities works well for some students but hurts others. In addition, academic success is not the most important quality a student should have. More attention should be paid to showing whether or not a student wants to do good in the world. The report also suggests that schools should ask for evidence that students care about other people. Moving attention away from academic ability will make process less about competition, the report says. Students will feel less stress about meeting higher and higher expectation.
But the report does have its critics. Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director, said that every few years, someone makes the same argument for change. He said that no real change has happened yet and that even many of the schools that agree with the report still make no changes. “Many of the institutions that have supported the findings in the report are the very institutions that have the most competitive admission processes in the country," Schaeffer said.
1.What is the problem of the admission process according to the report?
A.The schools ask social responsibilities from the applying students
B.The schools attach importance to students’ academic records
C.The number of students getting admitted is too small
D.Admission officers only consider personal qualities
2.Which of the following do colleges ask of applicants except ?
A.Their reasons to attend the school.
B.A description of their interests.
C.Recommendation letters from adults
D.Evidence that students care about others
3.What does the author’s attitude to the report of the admission process?.
A.Supportive. B.Doubtful C.Neutral D.Negative
4.The critic, Bob Schaeffer, thinks that .
A.some schools don't do what they believe is right
B.the largest schools are expected to make changes first
C.not enough schools currently agree with the report
D.history has proved that all changes are good
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A research was carried out by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It comes after a Chinese scientist claimed in November to have created the world’s first gene-edited human babies. More than 1,000 people were questioned in the study. The researchers said Americans value the medical promise of technology that could change the genetic qualities human parents pass on to their children. But they worry whether it will be used in a moral way.
Gene editing takes out a part of DNA to remove, replace or repair a gene. Changes to adult cells only affect the person being treated. But editing genes in eggs, sperm or embryos (胚胎) can change the resulting child in ways that can be passed to future generations. Because of its important effects, international science guidelines say gene-editing should not yet be tested in human pregnancies. Scientists say more laboratory research is needed to prove whether or not it is safe.
The AP-NORC study suggests that 71 percent of Americans approve of using gene editing to prevent deadly diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease. The study found that 65 percent of Americans would approve of using gene editing to prevent conditions such as blindness. There also was support for using the technology to reduce the risk of diseases that might develop later in life, such as cancer.
However, 66 percent of Americans oppose using gene editing to change qualities such as intelligence or athletic ability. They also oppose changing physical qualities such as eye color or height, the study found.
Dr. Robert Klitzman studies biological research rules. He noted that, if fertility clinics start to edit the genes of embryos, there will be hard choices to make about what conditions can be changed.
What if scientists could identify genes involved with depression or autism or high body weight? Would they be acceptable to edit? “It’s one thing to look at the extremes of fatal diseases versus cosmetic things, but in the middle are going to be these very different issues,” Klitzman said.
1.What can be learned about editing genes in embryos?
A.It can only affect the embryos being treated.
B.It will be completely safe to the embryos.
C.The effect can be passed to future generations.
D.It can be done without any laboratory research.
2.What did Klitzman worry about?
A.It’s difficult to decide what to change when editing genes.
B.It’ s hard for scientist to identify genes.
C.Gene editing will be used to prevent fatal diseases.
D.Gene editing is not supported by the government.
3.What can we conclude about the result of the research?
A.71% of Americans agree to use gene editing to prevent blindness.
B.Gene editing is a promising technology that should be widely used.
C.Americans approve of gene editing only for health purposes.
D.Most Americans are indifferent to the new technology.
4.What does the underlined word “autism” in the last paragraph refer to?
A.A kind of disease. B.An unhealthy baby.
C.A disabled person. D.A mood of happiness.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
At one time it was the dream of many little girls to become a nurse. 1. Recently about 2,000,000 nurses are needed and 60 percent of all hospitals in the US have shortages, large enough to threaten the quality of care provided.
What has become of these women in white? 2. One possibility is the fact that women have greater career options. In the past, women who chose to work outside the home had two basic choices: nursing or teaching. Today, more women than ever are in the workforce, but their options have greatly increased. 3.In fact, women today are found in nearly every field of work. Nursing has been left behind, as women move on to jobs with higher pay and greater status. A woman or man in the nursing field is often looked down upon as “merely a nurse”. Teachers may be also at fault. 4.
Americans are living longer than ever and requiring more medical attention. 5. Obviously a larger population requires more nurses. AIDS and other diseases have caused more and more people to need nursing care. Usually fatal（致命的）diseases mean long hospital stay, that is to say, more nurses are needed to care for these patients. It is estimated that the demand for nurses will be doubled the supply in the coming ten years.
A.The answer lies in not one but several causes.
B.Many students are actually away from nursing, told by teachers that they are “too bright to be a nurse”.
C.Today, however, many nurses have lost their jobs and led a poor life.
D.There are women doctors, lawyers, firefighters and police officers.
E.Today, however, America is facing its worst nurse shortage since World War I.
F.Women are treated unfairly when applying for jobs for quite a long time.
G.In fact, the number of elderly patients has almost doubled in the past twenty years.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
He has vowed (发誓) that he will not stop building his business until it is worth £100 million. But ______ Owens can stop for at least a moment’s celebration after ______ his first £1 million at the age of 16. Owens began teaching ______ basic web design at the age of ten. He used his pocket money to fund his first business project, website Mac Box Bundle at just 14.
He then ______ an advertising company Branchr and worked on the business ______ school and at weekends. Branchr made a ______ £500,000 in its first year. Branchr works as a ________ for website owners to sell advertising. The young man lives with his parents. His mother said he was ______ to go into business after observing the huge ______ achieved by Apple’s chief executive officers Steve Jobs.
Owens said, “I think everyone has ______ sense in them, and they just need to ______ experience and be determined to make it. There is no magical formula（法则）for business. It takes hard work, ______ and the drive to do something ______. My aim is to become a ______ name in the world of Internet and mobile advertising and push myself right to the ______ of the game”.
The teenager insists his professional success has not ______ his personal life, and says his ________ include photography and playing the guitar. “My friends and I don’t really talk about my ______. To them I’m just a ______ teenager and it doesn’t ______ anything between us.”
1.A.stubborn B.hard-working C.optimistic D.relaxed
2.A.spending B.wasting C.paying D.making
3.A.himself B.classmates C.partners D.others
4.A.looked up B.set up C.thought up D.put up
5.A.outside B.beside C.after D.beyond
6.A.pitiful B.horrible C.surprising D.general
7.A.platform B.computer C.concept D.bridge
8.A.praised B.discouraged C.instructed D.inspired
9.A.success B.company C.influence D.power
10.A.society B.the sixth C.business D.perfect
11.A.lack B.lose C.enjoy D.gain
12.A.determination B.time C.money D.energy
13.A.dull B.great C.difficult D.hopeful
14.A.pretty B.leading C.good D.legal
15.A.side B.way C.height D.top
16.A.improved B.measured C.affected D.preserved
17.A.performances B.interests C.periods D.sections
18.A.success B.fortune C.appearance D.disadvantage
19.A.naughty B.poor C.mature D.normal
20.A.manage B.prove C.change D.offer
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。
Ten foreigners received China Reform Friendship Medals 1. December18, 2018 for their outstanding contributions to the country’s reform and opening-up over the past 40 years. They were given the medals at a grand gathering in Beijing 2. (celebrate) the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up.
Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, 3. (praise) the medal winners as “old friends of the Chinese people” while 4. (read) a statement from the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.
Wang said the 10 foreigners significantly helped promote exchanges and cooperation between China and 5. rest of the world and were 6. (deep) involved in China’s reform and opening-up process.
Among the medal winners, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister and one of the most influential Asian 7. (politician), made contributions by sharing Singapore’s 8.(success) governance experience with China. Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee, 9. (remember) by many Chinese for his great contributions to China’s return to the IOC.
The 10 medal winners are only a representative sampling of millions of foreigners 10. have made contributions to the country’s reform and opening-up.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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（Λ），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。
It was sunny and warm so Jane and I decide to go for a swim. When we got the beach, Tim, Paul and Mary were already here. We joined them and spent the afternoon swimming. The sea was as smooth as the mirror. I was pleased and Tim and Paul were a little disappointing as they like swimming in huge waves. When we got hungry, we bought hotdogs from a shop closely to the beach. After that, we had enough energies to play football on the sands. Paul and I won the game, in which surprised the others because we had three in their team. We really enjoyed the afternoon.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
春节来临，你们学校要组织迎新年师生联欢会，现在要从你校留学生中选一名主持人。假定你是学生会干事，请你根据以下选聘要求，给国际部的留学生下个书面通知。
1.懂中国，汉语好；
2.本周末到学生会办公室面试；
3.面试内容：3分钟演讲---我眼里的中国。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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难度: 简单查看答案及解析