The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Ci War, is now the setting for a different contest, one that is making rice farmers fight against two enemies: the rice - eating giant apple snail, and rising sea levels. What happens here will have a bearing on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.
Located on the Mediterranean, just two hours south of Barcelona, the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year, making it one of the continent most important rice - growing areas. As the sea creeps into these fresh-watch marshes, however, rising salinity（盐度）is hurting rice production. At the same time, this sea - water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail, an introduced pet species that fees on young rice plants. The most promising strategy has become the play one enemy off against the other.
The battle is currently being waged on land, in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona. Scientists working under the banner “Project Neurice” are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency that makes European rice ideal for traditional Spanish and Italian dishes.
“ The project has two sides,” says Xavier Serrat, Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona. “The short -term fight against the snail, and a mid-to long term fight against climate change. But the snail has given the project greater emergency.”
Originally from South America, the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta by Global Aquatic Technologies, a company that raised the snails for fresh-water aquariums（水族馆）but failed to prevent their escape. For now, the giant apple snail’s presence in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta. But the snail continues its march to new territory, says Serrat.
“The question is not whether it will reach other rice - growing areas of Europe, but when.”
Over the next year and a half investigators will test the various strains of salt - tolerant rice they’ve bred. In 2018, farmers will plant the varieties with the most promise in the Ebro Delta and Europe’s other two main rice- growing regions along the Po in Italy, and France’s Rhone. A season in the field will help determine which, if any of the varieties are ready for commercialization.
As an EU - funded effort, the search for salt - tolerant varieties of rice is taking place in all three countries. Each team is crossbreeding a local European short - grain rice with a long - grain Asian variety that carries the salt resistant gene. The scientists are breeding successive generations to arrive at varieties that in corporate salt tolerance but retain about 97 percent of the European rice genome（基因组）.
1.Why does the author mention the Spanish Civil War at the beginning of the passage?
A.Because it significantly influences the lives of Spanish rice farmers.
B.Because it is extremely important in the records of Spanish history.
C.Because rice farmers there are engaged in another kind of battle of similar importance.
D.Because rice farmers there are experiencing the hardships of wartime.
2.What may be the most effective strategy for rice farmers to employ in fighting their enemies?
A.Striking the weaker enemy first.
B.Killing two birds with one stone.
C.Eliminating the enemy one by one.
D.Using one enemy to fight against the other.
3.What does the Neurice project manager say about the giant apple snail?
A.It can survive only on southern European wetlands.
B.It will invade other rice - growing regions of Europe.
C.It multiplies at a speed beyond human imagination.
D.It was introduced into the rice fields on purpose.
4.What is the ultimate goal of the EU - funded program?
A.Cultivating ideal salt resistant rice varieties.
B.Increasing the absorbency of the Spanish rice.
C.Introducing Spanish rice to the rest of Europe.
D.Popularizing the rice crossbreeding technology.
Dressed in a flowing long robe decorated with beaded floral embroidery from a bygone era, stylist Xiao Hang looks like she surfaced from a time machine as she strides across the bustling Beijing metro, attracting curious glances and inquisitive questions.
China was ______ Western fashion and futuristic technology as its economy boomed in recent decades, but a growing number of young people like Xiao are looking to the ______ for their sartorial choices and wearing traditional “hanfu”, or “Han clothing.”
These historic costumes of the Han ethnic majority are ______ a renaissance（复兴）in part because the government is promoting traditional culture in a bid to boost patriotism and national ______.
Period dramas have also contributed to the ______ in interest for traditional Chinese clothing -- The Story of Minglan, a TV series set in the song Dynasty ______ more than 400 million views in three days when it debuted earlier this year.
There is no ______ definition of what counts as hanfu since each Han-dominated dynasty had its own style, but the outfits are ______ by loose, flowing robes that drape around the body, with sleeves that hang down to the knees.
“When we were little, we would also drape sheets and duvets around ourselves to ______ we were wearing beautiful clothes,” Xiao told AFP.
Xiao, who used to work at a state - owned machine manufacturing company, now runs her own hanfu business, where she dresses customers for photo shoots and even plans hanfu - style weddings.
Yang Jiaming, a high school student in Beijing, wears his outfit under his school uniform.
“Two-thirds of my wardrobe is hanfu,” he said, decked out in a Tang-style beige gown and black boots at a hanfu gathering, ______ that his classmates and teachers have been supportive of his style.
A government supported ______ in Chinese culture has given the hanfu community a boost: Since he entered office in 2012. President Xi has supported the idea of promoting a Han - centric version of heritage.
In April, the Communist Youth League of China ______ a two - day conference for traditional Chinese garb, including hanfu.
A live broadcast of the event drew some 20 million viewers, alongside a heartfelt outpouring of emotions.
“Chinese people have ______ their own culture and chosen Western culture. The red marriage gown has now become a wedding dress,” wrote on user on Bilibili, a video - streaming platform popular among young anime, comic and gaming fans in China.
Clothes are the “______ of culture,” said Jiang Xue, a member of Beijing - based hanfu club Mowutianxia, which has received funding from the Communist Youth League.
“If we as a(n) ______ and as a country do not even understand our traditional clothing or don’t wear them, how can we talk about other essential parts of our culture?” she said.
1.A.witnessed B.pondered C.embraced D.greeted
2.A.future B.present C.past D.moment
3.A.enjoying B.undergoing C.experiencing D.recovering
4.A.approval B.acknowledgement C.confirmation D.identity
5.A.shift B.decline C.surge D.stability
6.A.inspired B.received C.welcomed D.accepted
7.A.uniform B.identical C.permanent D.consistent
8.A.specialized B.characterized C.impressed D.decorated
9.A.show B.prove C.pretend D.declare
10.A.remarking B.claiming C.saying D.adding
11.A.renewal B.renovation C.revival D.review
12.A.promoted B.initiated C.led D.launched
13.A.departed B.associated C.abandoned D.claimed
14.A.protection B.signal C.reproduction D.foundation
15.A.nation B.unity C.people D.integrity
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that bet fits each blank.
Procrastination - a Virtue When It Comes to Creativity?
Psychologist Adam Grant, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, argues that people who “put off” solving a task for a little while - thus engaging in moderate procrastination -- are often able to come up with 1. (original) ideas about how to solve that task than people who get started on their work right away.
Grant makes this argument in the book Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World and reiterates it in a popular TED talk 2. he says that “procrastination is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it can be a virtue when it comes to creativity.” This point of view seems 3. (find) some support in existing studies that indicate a correlation between creativity and “putting things off.”
Grant explains that the link between moderate procrastination and originality likely 4. (exist) because when we actively put off a task for a while, our preoccupation with the task itself does not disappear. Instead, the unfinished work “runs in the background” of our brains, 5. (buy) us time to find innovative solutions.
One study 6. (publish) in Personality and Individual Differences in 2017 also found a link between creative ideation (coming up with creative ideas) and active procrastination. It suggested that among 853 undergraduates at Chinese universities, “active procrastinators” may be more prone to creativity.
Boredom 7. have something to do with this boost in creative thinking. Older research from the University of Florida in Gainesville suggests that people who procrastinate may be more prone to boredom than their peers.
And while boredom itself is a concept that sometimes has negative connotations, studies 8. (show) that allowing ourselves to feel bored for a while can boost our creative abilities. The researchers explain that this may be because when we are bored, we allow our minds to wander, thus “training” our imaginations.
Finally, 9. putting off a task forever out of fear and self-doubt may be paralyzing and unhelpful, a little bit of “directed” procrastination will likely not be harmful and may allow us to assess the task at hand more imaginatively.
And for some of us, that pressure of looking a deadline straight in the eye can be just 10. we need to keep us on our toes. As Calvin, one of the main characters in the comic strips Calvin and Hobbes, once said : “You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood,” and that mood is “last - minute panic.”
假设你叫李华，寒假即将到来，你在网上看到一家国际旅行社招聘兼职助理的广告想去应聘。请你从以下几个方面，用英语给该旅行社写一封100词左右的求职信。
1. 应聘原因；
2. 个人资质；
3. 期待回复。
注意：1.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
2.信的开头已给出，但不计入总词数。
参考词汇: 助理 assistant
Dear Sir / Madam,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，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。
1.It was not until Amy told Nick off when Nick realized his mistake.
2.These villagers would live in countryside rather than move to the city.
3.Since I was a child, I considered different jobs I would like to do.
4.Winning a gold medal is too exciting a fact to believe it.
5.The more careful you are when doing your homework, the less mistakes you are likely to make.
6.Tom was so pleased of the result that he showed it off everywhere.
7.With information technology develops, it’s easier for people to contact each other.
8.I don’t think there’s a more livelier place than Xiamen.
9.It can’t be poor Ellen because she has to stay in hospital for two weeks after run over by a car.
10.I don’t think a loyal friend will make a fuss about us forget his birthday.
段落语法填空
I can’t remember the last time someone asked me to write back. We don’t write letters anymore. The strong feeling of 1. (excited) is gone; there’s never anything good in the mail. We know 2. is in the mail – advertisements and circulars (印刷信函).
When I was young, my family only moved 200 miles, but it seemed like we had been separated from friends and all things familiar by two continents and an ocean. Long distance phone calls were rare and expensive then, most often kept for emergencies 3. bad news. But people wrote. Both of my grandmothers, and two of my great-aunts wrote to 4. (I).
It was special that someone took an interest 5. a homesick kid. That someone would take the time to share their lives and inquire about mine really 6. (mean) a lot. My mother was a great letter writer. I looked forward to her letters when I left home, went to college and then traveled across the country 7. (work) newspaper jobs. When I married, had children and moved again, still far from home, she wrote 8. (faith). Letters were a way of closing the distance.
Back then, letter writers were storytellers because they were 9. (observe) of the world around them. As phone calls became 10. (afford), then cheap, the flow of letters slowed down and eventually stopped.
