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For years I wanted a flower garden．But then we had Matthew．And Marvin．And the twins, Alisa and Alan．And then Helen．Five children．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．
Money was tight, as well as time．Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I' d have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you now．”
Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own．
One spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen．Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by．I looked out the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches．Then I put my glasses on－and I couldn't believe what I saw．
There was a money tree in my yard!
I went outside to look．It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree．Think of' all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached: ‘‘IOU eight hours of digging time．Love, Marvin．"
Marvin kept his promise, too．He dug up a nice ten－by－fifteen foot bed for me And my other children bought me tools, ornaments , a trellis（格架）, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books．
That was three years ago．My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did．I feel like they're right there with me．
I'm still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!
1.Why did the mother say "Money doesn't grow on trees"?________.
A．She wanted them not to spend extra money
B．She was too sad to say anything else
C．She told them a truth on money
D．she just played a joke with them
2.What do we know about the mother according to the text?________．
A．She is a bad-tempered woman
B．She believes money can grow on a tree now
C．She is a writer
D．She is hard-working in housekeeping
3.What can be inferred from the text?________．
A．The author raised five children
B．The money tree was a Mother Day's gift
C．It cost Marvin eight hours to dug up the bed
D．Children planted a weeping willow in the yard
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text? ___________．
A．My Money Tree B．The Garden of My Children
C．Mother's Love D．Marvin's Promise
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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BRITAIN is a popular tourist place．But tours of the country have advantages and disadvantages.
GOOD NEWS
Free museums．No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities（文物）.
Pop music．Britain is the only country to compare with the US on this score.
Black cabs．London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never
enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food．Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants.
Fashion．Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.
BAD NEWS
Poor service．“It’s part of the image of the place．People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton, of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport．Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the overcrowded London tube is inexplicably (难以理解的) popular.
Rain．Still in the number one complaint.
No air-conditioning．So that even splendidly hot summers become as unbearable as the downpours.
Overpriced hotels．The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours．Alcohol (酒) is in short supply after 11 p.m. even in “24-hour cities”.
1.What do tourists complain most?
A．Poor service． B．Poor public transport.
C．Rain. D．Overpriced hotels.
2.What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?
A．Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US.
B．Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US.
C．Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US.
D．Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US.
3.When are people not able to get alcohol?
A．At 12: 00 p.m. B．At 10: 00 p.m.
C．At 11: 00 p.m. D．At 9: 00 p.m.
4.Which of the following is True according to the passage?
A．You have to pay to visit the museums
B．It’s very cheap to travel by taxi there.
C．You cannot find Chinese food there
D．The public transport is poor there.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Do you sleep well? Some people get off to sleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, but many others are not so lucky. In fact, the lack of quality sleep has become a public health issue around the world. According to me World Association of Sleep Medicine, 45 percent of the world's population suffer from sleep problems. One in eight people don't sleep well and are easily woken. 7.6 percent sleep less than 3 hours each night. Some even cannot fall asleep for several days in a row.
As a basic bodily and mental need, sleep is essential for our survival, it helps us to fight diseases, strengthen our memory, perform better in work and school and improve our quality of life. Lack of sleep is known to have a significant negative influence on health, both in the short and long term. Poor sleep has been associated with obesity, diabetes, weakened immune systems and even some cancers, as well as depression and anxiety.
The World Sleep Day, held on the third Friday of March, is an annual celebration of sleep to lighten the burden of sleep problems through better prevention and management of sleep disorders.
To achieve this goal, we must figure out what causes sleepiness and sleeplessness.
Unhealthy lifestyle may be the first to blame. More and more people use cell phones and computers in bed, with many staying up until midnight. Modern technology does make our life convenient, but abuse of it ruins our health. Environmental conditions, such as temperature, noise, light, bed comfort also play an important Pole in one's ability to get proper sleep. Besides, improper evening diet, like a full or an empty stomach, coffee and alcohol all contribute to sleep problems. Of course, when it comes to causing poor sleep, stress from finances, family or work should never be ignored．
However, those who suffer from sleep disorders don't necessarily have to continue to do so -most sleep problems can be managed．
1.What can be inferred from Paragraph 1?
A．Nobody can stay awake for several days
B．Most people are going through sleep problems
C．Sleep problems have become a worldwide concern．
D．The majority of the world's population can't sleep well．
2.Which of the following is not a direct cause of sleep problems?
A．Unhealthy lifestyle． B．Modern technology．
C．Environmental conditions． D．Work stress．
3.What will be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
A．The harm of sleep problems．
B．Activities on the World Sleep Day．
C．Interviews of poor sleep sufferers．
D．Measures against sleep problems．
4.Which best describes the author's attitude to sleep problem in the text?
A．Doubtful． B．Disapproving． C．Concerned． D．Enthusiastic
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Humankind has tried to improve its standard of living since the very beginning of civilization. Back then, as well as today, providing food and security was the basic task for a person. However, nowadays the range of required goods has expanded significantly. People feel the need for not only some primary things, such as a piece of bread and a roof over their heads, but also for various facilities and luxuries. Providing humanity with these things is connected to the use of natural resources, which requires energy. In turn, the common sources of energy we use today cause pollution, so economic growth is almost unavoidably associated with environmental damage.
Economic growth is the increase in numbers of goods and services produced over time by an economy, and it is calculated in terms of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Before growth is calculated, inflation (通货膨胀)is adjusted in order to take into account its misleading effect on the price of goods and services. Economic growth can also be explained as the increase in expected output, which results from an increase in actual output, or total demand.
There are certain aspects of economic growth which affect the environment. The first of these is the fact that in order to produce more goods and products, at a faster rate, the construction of large industrial plants is required. These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, which may cause negative long term health effects to nearby populations of animals, or people. They also lead to global warming.
Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption. The traditional energy sources, which are commonly used nowadays, are considered to be the greatest polluters to the environment. There also exist so-called eco-friendly sources of energy. They are sometimes preferred but replacing the traditional sources with them also requires time, during which people have to make some sacrifices to support these undertakings.
In order to produce economically practical energy, a sometimes significant transformation of the natural site is often inevitable. This is expensive and, has harmful effects on the environment. Application of wind energy would block airflows’ natural speed which is the reason for their decrease in strength, after crossing the windmill. Consequently, the pressure balance that is brought about by this current will be affected, and it is important to remember that the environment and weather conditions are directly affected by atmospheric pressure.
For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without any resulting environmental damage, whatsoever, is impossible.
1.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A． Pollution caused by plant construction.
B． Effects of windmills on the environment.
C． Economic growth and human civilization.
D． Economic growth and environmental damage.
2.What does the underlined word “They” in the third paragraph refer to?
A．Goods and products B．The industrial plants
C．Water and atmosphere D．Negative health effects
3.According to the passage, the author holds the opinion that ______.
A． economic growth should be calculated in terms of GDP
B． use of natural resources causes no damage to the environment
C． industrial manufacturing may cause damage to the environment
D． a windmill is a perfect way to produce economically practical energy
4.Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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It’s 2035. You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 old. Welcome to your future life.
Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror, “Turn red,” you say. Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red. Tiny preprogrammed electronics are rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe that you are 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old. You’re not even middle-aged.
As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal into a bowl, you hear: “To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that,” from your shoes. They read the tiny electronic code on the cereal box to find out the nutrition details. You decide to listen to your shoes. “Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?” A list of possible foods appear on the counter as kitchen checks its food supplies.
“Ready for your trip to space. You ask your son and daughter.” In 2005 only specially trained astronauts went into space — and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for day trips or longer vacation. Your best friend even works in space. Handing your children three strawberries each, your add, “The doctor said you need these for space travel.” Thanks to medical advices, vaccination shots are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods contain specific vaccines. With the berries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.
It’s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. “My office. Autopilot,” you command. Your car drives itself down the road and moves smoothly into traffic on the highway. You sit back and unroll your e-newspaper. The latest news downloads and fills the viewer. Looking through the pages, you watch the news as video films rather than read it.
1.What changes the color of your shirt?
A．The mirror. B．The counter. C．The shirt itself. D．The medicine.
2.How do the shoes know that your shouldn’t eat the breakfast cereal?
A．By pouring the breakfast into a bowl.
B．By listening to the doctor’s advice.
C．By testing the food supplies in the kitchen.
D．By checking the nutrition details of the food.
3.The strawberries the children eat serve as ________.
A．lunch B．vaccines C．breakfast D．nutrition
4.How is the text organized?
A．In order of time. B．In order of frequency.
C．In order of preference. D．In order of importance.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析