Coffee experts are willing to pay large sums ...

Coffee experts are willing to pay large sums of money for high-quality coffee beans. The high-end beans, such as Kona or Blue Mountain, are known to cost extraordinary sums of money. Then there is Kopi Lowak (translated as “Civet Coffee”), the world’s most expensive coffee, which sells for as much as US $50 per quarter-pound.

This isn’t particularly surprising, because approximately 500 pounds a year of Kopi Lowak make up the entire world supply. What is surprising is why this particular coffee is so rare. In fact, it’s not the plants that are rare. It’s the civet droppings. That’s right, the civet droppings—the body waste of the palm civet. Coffee beans aren’t Kopi Lowak until they’ve been digested(消化) and come out in the body waste of the palm civet.

Palm civets are tree-dwelling, raccoon-like little animals, native to Southeast Asia and the Indonesian islands. They also have a love for coffee cherries. According to Kopi Lowak suppliers, palm civets eat the fruit whole, but only digest the outer fruit, leaving the beans intact(完好无损). While the beans are not destroyed, they undergo a transformation in the animal’s body. A chemical substance in the digestive system of the palm civet causes some changes to the beans to give them a unique flavor(味道). However, this is not the only explanation why coffee beans retrieved from civet droppings have a special flavor all their own. Another possible reason is that palm civets have an unfailing instinct for picking the coffee cherries at the peak of their ripeness.

Kopi Lowak is reported to have a character in taste unlike any other coffee, complex with caramel undertones and an earthy flavor. Currently, most of the world’s supply of Kopi Lowak is sold in Japan, though a few US markets are also starting to stock up on Kopi Lowak.

1.What does “This” in the second paragraph refer to?

A. Civet Coffee.                            B. Blue Mountain coffee.

C. The high price of Kopi Lowak.            D. The unique taste of Kona.

2.Why is Kopi Lowak expensive?

A. There is a very limited supply of the beans.

B. The coffee trees that grow the beans are scarce.

C. It takes a long time for the coffee beans to ripen.

D. Only a few experts know how to produce the beans.

3.What is the main point discussed in the third paragraph?

A. Why palm civets like the coffee beans.

B. Where Kopi Lowak is mainly harvested.

C. What chemicals are found in the civet’s digestive system.

D. How palm civets change coffee fruit to Kopi Lowak beans.

4.Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?

A. Little palm civets eat only the outer layer of the coffee cherries.

B. Palm civets somehow know the right time when the coffee fruit ripens.

C. Kopi Lowak is most popular in Southeast Asia and the Indonesian islands.

D. Kona and Blue Mountain are the most expensive coffees but only of average quality.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A large sum of money has been raised for the ____ of the poorly educated children in the mountainous districts.

A. profit      B. favor       C. advantage     D. benefit

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

A large sum of money has been raised for the _______ of the homeless children after the earthquake inYushu.

A. profit            B. favor            C. advantage        D. benefit

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Nowadays more and more Chinese parents invest large sums of money to send their children to study abroad. With countless difficulties to face and solve while studying abroad, overseas students should pay attention to the following things.

● Adjust mental attitudes. Experts consider psychological preparation as the most important thing for students studying abroad to consider.1.

● Adapt to new learning methods. Chinese students have got accustomed to the domestic exam-oriented education style. They will face changes in the educational system while studying abroad. 2.

● Be willing to communicate. With no relatives or friends by their sides, the first feeling of Chinese students is loneliness, which makes it especially important to learn to develop relationships with people around them. 3.Foreigners really like children of this kind and are willing to help them.

● 4.Students should ask related teachers to help make plans consistent with their practical condition. Learning plans require students to hold on to the primary direction of their overseas studies and arrange learning content for each course and semester. After the plan is made, they should strictly keep to it.

● Develop self-motivation for learning. Foreign children are used to learning by themselves in or after class. 5.So studying abroad requires that they should adapt to overseas studies as soon as possible and try their best to learn actively and independently.

A. Students must know they are going abroad to study and not for leisure.

B. Try to find more solutions to adjusting to the open education.

C. Make and stick to learning plans.

D. However, Chinese children are used to teacher-centered education.

E. They should go out of their way to be friendly and strike up conversations.

F. Help children with financial planning.

G. Students should prepare themselves for the attitudes.

高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

The program will double the amount of money ________ to help pay for child care.

A．valuable    B．convenient  C．comfortable    D．available

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It is the farm to which we are going to pay a visit ______ provides large quantities of green vegetables for the nearby town every year.

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

How should one invest a sum of money in inflation (通货膨胀)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.

I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."

Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.

However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.

Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in an antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?

1.According to the passage, collecting antique clocks ________.

2.By quoting (引用) the remark of a being from another planet, the author intends to ________.

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time?

4.The purpose of the passage is ________.

高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks around the world．1.Experts think that there are more flavors of Coffee than there are of wine．Coffee contains caffeine，something that raises our awareness，keeps us from falling asleep or simply gives US a kick in the morning or after lunch．

2.For a long time doctors have told people not to drink too much coffee, because it may lead to heart problems，high blood pressure，and headaches．

Scientists have now found out that it is the quality of coffee and the way it is made that hold the key to our health．3.Among other things，this is linked to the consumption of a strong coffee．Experts also point out that different roasts and types of coffee beans have different effects on our health．Milk and sugar change the different levels of caffeine in a cup of coffee．

A new study by a Harvard research group says that there is no link between coffee and health problems．Drinking several cups of strong coffee a day is not connected with early death or other heart diseases．Coffee has many advantages，as the new study suggests．While alcohol makes people sleepy and slow moving，coffee gives them energy．4.

Although a lot still needs to be uncovered about coffee，it seems to reduce the risk of cancer and diabetes(糖尿病)．5. But reports show that people who drink coffee may develop Parkinson’s disease later in life，or maybe not at all．

A．There are many different types of coffee．

B．Scientists ask people not to drink coffee at night．

C．Elderly people in Greece live longer than normal．

D．Doctors think that coffee may have a positive effect on our brain．

E．Sugar can change the different levels of caffeine in a cup of coffee．

F．However, food experts are still undecided on how healthy coffee is．

G．Getting together for a cup of coffee also has a positive effect on relationships．

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

__________ is human nature that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers.

A.Such B.That C.So D.What

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

In the competition to be held, a gold medal, together with a certain sum of money, _____ the champion.

A.   will be given to who will win               B.  will be given to whoever will become

C.   has been given to whoever wins             D.  was given to anyone who became

高二英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析