It is generally believed that we are getting cleaned when we step under a shower. We are, but we’re also giving a home to lots of tiny little creatures we didn’t even know about. A shower head carries thousands of bacteria called Mycobacterium. These can cause problems like coughs and tiredness, and a general feeling of being sick. When you turn on the water, the bacteria go from the shower head onto and into your body.
This is a finding of Norman R. Pace and his team at the University of Colorado, in the US. Pace's team looked at 45 shower heads in nine American cities. They discovered that 30 percent of them had large amounts of flying Mycobacterium.
But Pace said that they pose few threats to the health. Only those with a weak immune system might need to worry．He told the New York Times that the bacteria are not as unpleasant as might be thought. He said that having a shower is no more dangerous than anything else we do in the morning.
But for those who feel sick about the idea of all those microorganisms (微生物), he had some advice. Let the water run for 30 seconds before getting into the shower. Why? The number of bacteria is smaller than that when the water is just turned on. If that seems like a waste of water, he added that you could also change your shower head every few months.
However, Pace had good news too. He has also been testing the air in US subways. Apart from iron particles (粒子), which are ground off the track by the wheels of trains, subway air is fresh. The reason is that a train’s movement pumps fresh outdoor air into the tunnels.
1.From the finding of Norman R. Pace, after taking a shower, we might cough or feel tired because ________.
A. it’s easy to get a cold when taking a bath
B. the shower head carries many bacteria causing illness
C. we don’t get cleaned while showering
D. we don’t get a weak immune system
2.We can learn from the third paragraph that ________.
A. the bacteria always threat people’s health
B. there is no need to fear microorganisms for people with strong immune system.
C. the bacteria always threat people’s health when people have a shower
D. it is better to do some exercise in the morning than have a shower.
3.What contributes to fresh air in US subways?
A. The train’s movement. B. Iron particles.
C. Train wheels. D. Air conditioners on the trains.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Around four years ago, I received a call from the principal of our school as to the “Parents View” talk the next morning. He asked me to speak to the group. After the call, my whole body became feverish and panicky. The time from his call to the next morning seemed like years. The whole night, I could not sleep with many ominous apprehensions in mind. One of them was to call the principal with regret and tell him that I could not come. Finally, I gathered some courage. I thought, “If I miss this opportunity, surely the school will never invite me again to any of their programs.”
I reached the school in time. Before my turn came, my whole body was trembling. When my turn came and I started speaking, my heartbeat increased and my mouth went dry. I wasn’t even able to read the written speech properly. I was not aware of where I was standing and what I was reading. That was the day when I realized my biggest weakness, Public Speaking.
After my speech, I met with the principal and explained what happened to me. He told me that this happens to everyone. Even great speaker, faced the same things when they started. He suggested that I come again next time.
Around one month later, I was invited to refer to a topic on Motivation. This time I was feeling comfortable. My speech was not only appreciated by the principal as well as the teachers, because I was able to get my idea across to them. They encouraged and praised my efforts.
After delivering is successfully, I became more confident .l said to myself, “If I can speak in front of such a learned audience, like the principal who educates others, I can now speak in front of others too.”
I started delivering lectures in my plant, on various topics like Self Motivation, Personality Development, Personal Excellence, Spoken English and Presentation Skills. This has become a passion for me. I learned that everything is possible if we have the courage to take the first step.
1.Which of the following is the best title for the passage？
A. Practice Makes a Man a Better Speechmaker
B. Public Speaking Makes a Man Embarrassed.
C. Principal Provides the Best Chances.
D. Spoken English Develops in Malting Speeches.
2.The author had bad feelings before the speech because______.
A. he disliked the idea of giving a lecture
B. he had got a high fever before that
C. he regretted accepting the invitation
D. he feared he couldn't perform it properly
3.What does the underlined part “ominous apprehensions” in the first paragraph mean？
A. Unlucky opportunities. B. Negative ideas.
C. Curious views. D. Happy comments.
4.What can we conclude from the passage？
A. Nothing is to be got without pains but poverty.
B. Knowledge makes humble, ignorance makes proud.
C. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
D. Necessity is the mother of invention.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Chinese writer Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize for Literature might ignite an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.
“Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”
Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo’s win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary writer. “We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available,” Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.
As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, “It’s mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture .”
University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, “The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts — in particular,China knows incomparably more about Europe and America than the other way round— and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap.”
1.The underlined word “ignite” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”.
A. start out B. burn up
C. set off D. appeal to
2.Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention mainly because ________.
A. Chinese writers have been writing more and more books in English
B. the Chinese language has become the most wide used language in the world
C. the Chinese government attaches great importance to literature
D. the cultural communication between China and western countries has developed
3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Chinese literature has spread with the development of China.
B. The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years.
C. In the past, no Chinese writers were accepted outside China.
D. Foreigners know about China mainly by reading Mo Yan’s works.
4.How do you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
A. China knows more about Europe and America than before.
B. China knows more about Europe and America than they know about China.
C. China, Europe and America know one another more than before.
D. Compared with America, China knows more about Europe.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666．In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together．Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker in Pudding Lane．The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof．A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery into a small hotel next door．Then it spread quickly into Thames Street．That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire．On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames．Tuesday was the worst day．The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall were among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire, “People threw their things into the river．Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment．Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.”
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire．With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them was the new St Paul’s Cathedral.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
1.The fire began in ________.
A. a hotel B. the palace
C. Pudding Lane D. Thames Street
2.The underlined word ‘family’ in the second paragraph means ________.
A. home B. children
C. wife and husband D. wife and children
3.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ________.
A. some people lost their lives
B. the birds in the sky were killed by the fire
C. many famous buildings were destroyed
D. the King’s bakery was burned down
4.Why did the writer cite(引用) Samuel Pepys?
A. Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.
B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.
C. To show that poor people suffered most.
D. To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Make the right choices
What is life’s greatest gift?1.Choice is the ability to select one course of action from a set of alternatives to achieve a goal. What is so great about choice? It transforms us from dumb animals into artists. Each of us becomes another Michelangelo. Choice becomes nothing other than the tool we use to sculpt (雕刻)our life. The tool doesn’t come free, however, for the price of choice is responsibility.2.The reward is happiness.
Life is not still. It is a flow.3.We constantly need to monitor where we are on our journey. We need to ask questions: Am I moving closer to my goals? If not, what corrective measures can I take? What action will I take now to readjust myself to my goals? Choice is power. Choice is at the heart of life. It is the creative power of life.
4.And your life becomes more convenient or comfortable because of them. For example, you decide which stores to shop at and which gas station to go to. But the decisions that we make to sculpt our lives are far more important than deciding where to shop. The more we appreciate the difference between minor and major decisions, the greater the probability that we will experience happiness and fulfillment.
All chess lovers realize that it isn’t necessary to win to enjoy the game. The pleasure is in the playing. Life is like a chess game.5.
A. It is free will or choice
B. You have to make choices every day
C. Make the best moves you can under the circumstances
D. But when we accept and carry it out, we get a great return
E. Every choice we make leads us closer to or farther from our goals
F. Life is full of hard choices, and the bigger they are, the harder they get
G. Choose to carry out responsibilities not because you have to, but because you want to
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Reading and learning new words is about finding their meaning and use within a passage. The meaning of unknown words which you _______ in your reading sometimes can be known by their_______, that is, their contexts. The context of the sentence can tell us the part of speech(词性) of the _______word. Using the context of the paragraph to define unknown words can also be_______.
Readers often have trouble because they understand the sentence word by word but _______ meaning of a word, when they should identify the way it has been used in the passage.
One consideration in using the context is to determine the unknown word's part, of speech. The words around the unknown word can give you _______. Once you know if the word is a noun or an adjective, it is often enough for you to _______ reading without having to stop to look up the meaning of the word. After coming across the word a few more times, you will know its meaning more _______than if you had just looked it up.
Comparison clues indicate that two or more things are _______. A comparison is possible because the known and unknown words have ________. Words likewise show you that comparisons can be made.
________ clues tell you that an example of an unknown word follows. Example clues are usually ________ by the following words and phrases: such as, such, other, for example, and like.
To find meanings from text-based clues, you should look for clues in the sentence. A second kind of clue does not ________ on specific words to indicate meaning. This kind of context clue is called framework-based clue. Your knowledge of the meanings of surrounding words ________ you discover the meaning of a word or sentence. Common ________and your knowledge of the parts of speech also help in defining unknown words. For example: The angry driver shouted vehemently during his fight with the other driver. What does “vehemently” ________? You know what ________ means, and you know how people ________ when they argue. From this, you can ________ out that vehemently has something to do with strong ________ or intense feeling.
1.A. take down B. look up C. come across D. pick out
2.A. sentences B. words C. topics D. surroundings
3.A. unknown B. abnormal C. familiar D. negative
4.A. unique B. natural C. helpful D. common
5.A. incorrect B. inconvenient C. different D. satisfactory
6.A. cases B. reasons C. effects D. clues
7.A. translate B. interview C. continue D. examine
8.A. strangely B. uncertainly C. potentially D. firmly
9.A. alike B. meaningful C. proper D. great
10.A. properties B. similarities C. possibilities D. personalities
11.A. Popularity B. Consideration C. Example D. Comparison
12.A. affected B. adjusted C. changed D. introduced
13.A. focus B. spend C. carry D. rely
14.A. prevents B. helps C. tells D. displays
15.A. point B. taste C. awareness D. sense
16.A. mean B. use C. contain D. complete
17.A. angry B. grateful C. happy D. anxious
18.A. act B. say C. take D. think
19.A. come B. figure C. feel D. set
20.A. demand B. ambition C. attitude D. emotion
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The day that you enjoy all the 1.(satisfy) of having all the housework done by a robot might still be a few decades off. But increasingly, engineers are saying 2.robots are going to make the leap from the factory floor to your family room.
Bill Gates once 3.(predict) the “Dawn of the Age of Robots”. What is behind this new era? It is partly 4. matter of technology. Devices 5.can recognize and respond to a human voice have been developed. There are now a few different ways for robots 6. (move) around. They can walk, crawl or ride on wheels. They 7. (make) smaller and smaller these days.
From the 1950s 8.the television remote control was invented, people around the world have tirelessly searched for ways to get lazier. Also 9.(consider) the increasing wealth of people, engineers believe the time appears ripe to introduce robots to ease our daily lives. Robots will do basic housework such 10. cleaning or gardening.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Yesterday my friend Yvonne and I have dinner at the pizzeria behind our school. I know Yvonne is not crazy for pizzas, she came along just because me. At the table next to me, there were two guys from our school. One of them was real funny. He tried to imitate all the people in the pizzeria. We couldn’t stop laugh. But there were some customer who did not like the fact which two boy were imitating them. They complained to the owner of the restaurant and he came over and tell them to stop. It was a pity because Yvonne and I was really having a fun.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
科学技术的发展给我们的日常生活带来了很大的变化。请你以“Science and technology is changing our life greatly”为话题，谈谈你家三代人购物生活的变化，并畅想未来的购物方式。
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难度: 困难查看答案及解析