With their long histories, the United Kingdom...

With their long histories, the United Kingdom’s universities have earned reputation and become favored destinations for many international students. However, while many people dream of attending these institutions, a growing number of the schools have fallen victim to cheating scandals (丑闻) in recent years.

The Telegraph reported that investigations for cheating have risen at Leeds University, from 127 in 2014/15 to 516 last year. Over the same period, cases at Queen Mary University of London increased from 104 to 248, and Nottingham University tripled to 514.

The increase has been linked to the rise of essay mills (论文作坊). These are companies that, for a fee, provide original essays, written by real people, for specific university assignments. Widely advertised on social media, these essay mills target those who struggle with their university workloads.

Even though many students have the ability to complete work on their own, it is believed that the pressure of too many deadlines and a lack of discipline encourage them to use essay mills.

In response, many universities have introduced new measures, such as oral exams to test students’ knowledge of assignments and subject areas. New software is also helping catch cheaters. Currently, most UK universities use Turnitin to check assignments for plagiarism (剽窃). Now it is being used to analyze students’ natural writing styles. This way, it may detect abnormal changes in their written assignments.

Despite the risks, essay mills seem like an easy ticket to a degree. However, a majority do not deliver the A+ essays they promise, and students are vulnerable to being cheated and blackmail (敲诈). According to the BBC, multiple Coventry University students were blackmailed up to $5,000 (35,190 yuan) after using an essay-writing service last year.

A Nottingham University spokesman told the Guardian, “The best way to deal with essay mills is for the government to legislate (立法) against them and block their webpages at a national level.”

Currently, these sites are legal in the UK, but other countries, including New Zealand and Australia, have banned them altogether. Students in Australia could even face two years in jail and a $210,000 fine if found guilty of cheating.

1.Why do many students turn to essay mills, according to the writer?

A.Because they want to pay for top marks.

B.Because essay mills are popular on social media.

C.Because they find college work is too difficult.

D.Because they have heavy workloads and they are undisciplined.

2.The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to “_______”.

A.knowing little about something

B.paying close attention to something

C.well prepared for something

D.likely to suffer from something

3.What is the best way to deal with essay mills, according to the Nottingham University spokesman?

A.The government should make laws to ban them.

B.Students found guilty of cheating should be put into jail.

C.Teachers should change the way of testing their students.

D.Universities should better manage their campus websites.

4.What is the main idea of the article?

A.The increase of cheating at UK universities.

B.The rise of essay mills in the UK.

C.Pressures faced by students in the UK.

D.Attitudes toward plagiarism in different countries.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Two graduates from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found themselves about to graduate, yet with loans to pay off. The pair decided to begin a strange, year-long project to battle their debt.

The men, Ross Harper and Edward Moyse, set up the website BuyMyFace.com last October as a way to get rid of the £50,000 they shared as student loans. The idea behind the project was to earn money by selling their faces as advertising space every day for a year. Each day, they advertise a different business by painting the brand’s name or logo onto their faces and upload the pictures to the homepage of BuyMyFace.com, adding a link to the advertiser’s website and including a short piece of text about it. After they paint their faces and publish them on the website, Harper and Moyse go out to highly populated areas such as music festivals and theme parks to maximize their faces’ exposure. They hope more people will pay attention to the advertisements on their faces.

At this time, Harper and Moyse have advertised their faces for over four months without skipping a day and they’re more than halfway to their goal. Though they first started charging a minimum of about £1.60 per company, the prices have risen as their popularity increases. For advertising space during the rest of April, they range between £250 and £750. Terri L. Rittenburg, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming, said that she had heard of people tattooing (纹身) logos on themselves before, but this idea is much better. According to her, at first the idea would be new and unusual and attract attention. People are interested in this particular style of advertisement and would like to try what they advertise. But she is unsure how long it would last.

At least for now, companies that have bought Harper and Moyse’s faces have written positive comments on the pair’s website. “We had a three percent increase in website traffic on the very day and for two days more afterwards,” said one of the companies.

1.At BuyMyFace.com,you can ______.

A. enjoy a good chat with your friends　　 B. buy everything you want to have

C. share experiences in doing business　　 D. get information on certain goods

2.Harper and Moyse go to highly populated areas to ______.

A. offer their help　　 B. make more friends　　 C. show their faces　　 D. raise more money

3.We can infer from the passage that the two young men ______.

A. get on well with their project　　 B. work hard except on holidays

C. plan to open their own company　　 D. may close their website in future

4.Why does the men’s idea of advertising prove to work?

A. Because an expert has highly praised them.

B. Because people find it unique and appealing.

C. Because the products they advertise are reliable.

D. Because they receive great help from businesses.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Two graduates from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found themselves about to graduate, yet with loans to pay off. The pair decided to begin a strange, year-long project to battle their debt.

The men, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, set up the site BuyMyFace.co.uk. last October as a way to get rid of the $80,000 they shared as student loans. The idea behind the project was to earn money by selling their faces as advertising space every day for a year. Each day, they advertise a different business on their site by painting the brand's logo or name on their faces and including a link to the company’s site. After they paint their faces and publish them on the site, Harper and Moyse go out to highly populated areas such as music festivals and theme parks to maximize their faces’ exposure.

At this time, Harper and Moyse have advertised their faces for over four months without skipping a day and they're more than halfway to their goal. Though they first started charging a minimum of about USD $1.60 per company, the prices have risen as their popularity increased. For advertising space during the remainder of April, they range between USD $250 and $750.

Terri L. Rittenburg, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming, said she had heard of people tattooing (纹身) logos on themselves before, but this idea is much better. According to her, at first the idea would be new and novel and attract attention, but she is unsure how long it would last.

At least for now, companies that have bought Harper and Moyse’s faces have written positive comments on the pair’s website. “We had a three percent increase in website traffic on the very day and for two days more afterwards,” said an alcoholic beverage company.

1.Which of the following was most possibly taken from the website BuyMyFace.co.uk.?

A.               B.                 C.                  D.

2. Harper and Moyse go to highly populated areas to _____.

A. have fun B. make friends C. show their faces  D. find new customers

3.We can infer from the article that the two men _____.

A. must have earned more than $40,000

B. aren’t getting on well with their project

C. may close their site next month

D. always work hard except on holidays

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

It’s not every day that United States history mixes with microbes (微生物) in the soil. But when the grassland on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. was replaced, it offered scientists the opportunity to study changes in the soil beneath.

The work focused on the bacteria present in the soil. To the researchers’ surprise, the communities of microbes did not change a lot before and after the replacement. These communities in the soil are known as the soil microbiome (微生物群).

“My lab is interested in how microbes can move around in the environment , and how they change and adapt as a result of this movement,” explains Jo Anne Crouch, the lead author of the study. “We thought that the new ‘imported ’turf (草皮) from New Jersey would introduce different communities of bacteria to the National Mall. However, we found that they weren’t significantly different.”

Crouch’s work focused on turf grass ，defined as a large area of green grass. It is made up of the grass, its roots, and the soil and microbes found with them.

Think of the soil microbiome as similar to the collection of microbes found in the human body. When the microbes are out of balance , it can make someone sick. Crouch says it’s the same for the soil microbiome. Many of the worst diseases in crops or other environments are linked with changes in the soil microbiome.

Additionally, Crouch says that even though the changes between the soils were small, scientists are also starting to appreciate that sometimes a really important microbe is a rare one. This means it would be hard to observe but could greatly affect how the groups function as a whole. “Agricultural areas and other natural spaces are highly and easily hurt by negative changes,” she says. “Microbiomes offer an almost entirely new opportunity to influence interactions among plants and microbes to improve plant productivity and health. ”

1.Why did the researchers feel surprised when they focused on the bacteria in the soil?

A. More bacteria appeared in the soil.

B. Microbes were replaced obviously.

C. Soil microbiome almost remained stable.

D. The soil microbiomes damaged the environment.

2.By studying the turf grass , what did Crouch and her team find?

A. Microbes grew faster in their own community.

B. Soil microbiomes were different in different places.

C. Turf grass adapted to the environment nearby very soon.

D. Similar communities of bacteria were brought by turf grass.

3.Why did the author mention the microbes in the human body?

A. To indicate the two play a similar role.

B. To prove they are both the causes of diseases.

C. To examine the environments people live in.

D. To analyze the changes of human microbes.

4.What does Crouch mean in the last paragraph?

A. Microbes are still as hard to observe as before.

B. Studies on microbiomes can be beneficial to agriculture.

C. Scientists are still puzzled about the effect of microbiomes.

D. Too many microbiomes in the soil mean no harm to plants.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Chengdu is a famous city with long history. Locating in the southwest of China, it is the capital city of Sichuan Province, it is called “the Land of Abundance”. It is said that Chengdu got its name over 2000 years ago and it had never changed since then. There is a large number of famous cultural sites and delicious snacks there, which have always been attraction to tourists from around the world. Tourists go not only to see the historical sites and to taste the snacks, but also because that it has beautiful scenery. A walk at the sides of the beautiful Jinjiang River will offer a feast for anyone’s eyes. In a word, Chengdu, as a famous saying goes, is a city where you don’t want to leave once you have come.

高三英语短文改错中等难度题查看答案及解析

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. 1.The expression, to lead a dog’s life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world.2.They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. 3.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse.4.

However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.

5.The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

A.She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes.

B.Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather.

C.They firmly belief that dogs are the best friends of human beings.

D.She will drop a line to remind him of it or ring him back at once.

E.However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life.

F.That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs.

G.They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog’s life, describes a person who has an unhappy life.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. But mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Dogs in our daily lives

B. Expressions with dogs

C. The role dogs take in America

D. Attitude of the American citizens to dogs

2.What does “dog-tired” describe in the passage?

A. Describe a very successful person.

B. Describe the dogs are very tired after a long walk.

C. Describe a rainy and cloudy weather.

D. Describe the heavy degree of exhaustion of people after long time work.

3.How are people compared to dogs in bad ways?

A. By mean dogs and junkyard dogs.

B. By lazy dogs and bad dogs.

C. By sick dogs and tired dogs.

D. None of them is right.

4.What can we learn from the text?

A．Everyone can be successful if he learns from the old.

B．It might be difficult for the young to learn new skills.

C．Junkyard dogs are careful in money arrangement.

D．Fierce persons aren’t so awful as their appearance sometimes.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy life.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. But mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

1.A person who lives an unhappy life can be described as “_______”.

A. becoming sick as a dog          B. leading a dog’s life

C. living in a dog-eat-dog world     D. Working like a dog

2.The underlined word “mean” in Paragraph 4 most probably means “_______”.

A. violent         B. selfish          C. wild          D. Poor

3.What can we learn from the text?

A. Everyone can be successful if he learns from the old.

B. It might be difficult for the young to learn new skills.

C. Junkyard dogs are careful in money arrangement.

D. Fierce persons aren’t so awful as their appearance sometimes.

4.To support his idea, the author develops the text mainly by _______.

A. listing reasons                 B. using idioms

C. giving examples               D. Making comparisons

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

People in the United States honor their parents with 2 special days: Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May and Father’s Day on the 3rd Sunday in June. These days are to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days offer an opportunity to think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home and more fathers must help with childcare.

These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On mother’s Day, people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It’s also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(grave). On these days families get together at home as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecue for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are more valued than those bought in stores. It’s not the value of the gift that is important, but “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakers, phone companies and other stores do lots of business during these holidays.

1.Which is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?

2.What do you know from the passage?

3.Which do you know about “carnation”?

4.On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day ___________.

5.What do you think “florists” do ?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June.

Mother’s Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation.

In 1909, Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910, the first Father’s Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to establish Father’s Day as a national commemorative day in 1972.

These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.

These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead．Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

1.According to the passage, which of the following about the second Sunday in May is

NOT true?

2.Choose the right time order of the following events.

a. The first Father’s Day was observed.

b. Mother’s Day was proclaimed a day for national observance

c. Father’s Day became a day for national observance.

d. The idea of honoring fathers was brought up

3.Who plays the most important role in Father’s Day becoming a national commemorative day?

4.From the passage, we know in the U.S. ________________.

5.The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to __________

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析