Alibaba Group Holding is sparing no effort to turn its annual Singles’ Day shopping festival into a universal celebration. The challenge for billionaire Jack Ma’s (MaYun) online kingdom is to break another sales record after a decade of rapid developments. With rising strong competition from smaller platforms such as JD.com Inc. and Pinduoduo Inc., Alibaba is seeking to add new growth engines.
Now the retail (零售)celebration on Nov. 11 has become an important signal not just for the company, but also the world’s second largest economy, China. This year, shoppers in China have broken last year’s record by making the sum of $30.8 billion in sales, as the tradition marked its 10th year. “Singles’ Day has now become a stage for Alibaba to present its power across all its platforms.” Daniel Zhang (Zhang Yong), chief executive officer (CEO), said at an October news conference in Beijing. He’s taking over after Ma steps down as executive chairman next year.
It was Zhang who came up with the idea of turning Singles’ Day into a shopping festival a decade ago. Now that this year’s one-day fair will be Ma’s last as chairman, Zhang will need to prove he can carry on the wonder. “We think 1 billion packs will become a daily event in the future.” he said.
To fuel growth, Alibaba is speeding up its global exploration. Ele. me, the company it took control of this year, will provide services for selected Starbucks stores across 11 cities in China. Rural Taobao, aiming at the customers in the countryside will offer special discount (折扣) for goods across 800 counties.
Although it’s been three years since Ma said he wants to make Singles’ Day a global shopping event, that hasn’t happened yet. International expansion will be a key part of Zhang’s plan to keep breaking sales records.
1.According to paragraph 1, Alibaba is exploring more growth engines because ________.
A.it has developed swiftly in the last ten years
B.it has broken a new sales record
C.Jack Ma’s dream has come true
D.other companies are competing for the market
2.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A.Zhang has a long way to go before he sets another sales record
B.the Singles’ Day shopping festival started over ten years ago
C.the idea of the retail celebration on Nov. 11 was put forward by Jack Ma
D.shoppers in China doubted whether Zhang will be a successful CEO
3.The writer expresses the idea in paragraph 4 by ________.
A.giving an explanation B.listing examples
C.making a comparison D.offering data
4.From the author’s point of view, Alibaba’s future is ________.
A.challenging and hopeless B.worrying and doubtful
C.challenging but hopeful D.worrying but rewarding
Mohandas Gandhi, widely considered the father of his country, was the most important Indian political and spiritual leader of the 20th century.
Gandhi was born into a middle-class Hindu family. In 1888, he traveled to England for further education. After graduation, he became a lawyer. At the age of 23, Gandhi worked for an Indian company offering guidance on legal problems in South Africa, where like many other Indians, he was treated unfairly. So he devoted himself to the fight for equal rights. He founded a community against European rulers and developed a political movement based on the methods of non-violent civil disobedience (非暴力不合作),which he called “satyagraha”.
In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and helped settle many local arguments, thus winning lots of respect throughout the country. India’s most well-known writer, Rabindranath Tagore, gave Gandhi the title Mahatma (“Great Soul”). Gandhi himself, however, refused the honor even though within the Hindu culture, being called “Mahatma” is a symbol of great respect. From 1920-1922, he led a national “non-cooperation movement” calling upon Indians to stop cooperating with the British and become independent.
After World War Ⅱ,Gandhi was involved in the deliberations (审议)that led to India’s independence. The same deliberations, however, also led to the separation of India into two countries: modern-day India (primarily for Hindus) and Pakistan (for Muslims). On January 30,1948, Gandhi was murdered at the age of 78. The killer hated Gandhi for the separation of the country.
Gandhi believed in the unity of all mankind under one god. He viewed life as a very long series of small steps towards his goals. By the time he died, India had finally become an independent country, free of British rule. Gandhi is remembered as a political leader, whose methods were later followed by many political leaders around the world. Gandhi is also remembered for his belief and practice to seek the true kindness of mankind. As such, he changed the world.
1.Which of the following best describes the structure of the passage?
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.How did Gandhi lead the Indian people to win the independence?
A.By answering violence with violence.
B.By keeping a close relationship with the British.
C.By asking for more support from Britain.
D.By fighting against the British rule in a peaceful way.
3.What was Gandhi’s attitude towards the title Mahatma?
A.He himself thought highly of the title.
B.He considered the title a symbol of power.
C.He wasn’t willing to accept the honor.
D.He enjoyed the honor he deserved.
4.What might be the best title for the passage?
A.The Fight for Equal Rights B.The Road to Independence
C.A Man of Great Soul D.A Deadly Deliberation
This photograph taken and released on Sep 28, 2018 by Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Management shows a house destroyed by a 7.5 magnitude (级) earthquake in the small town Donggala on Sulawesi Island. The quake brought down many buildings while tsunami waves hit into its beachfront. “All the things in my house were shaking and it left a small crack on my wall. Anyway, I survived!” one of the local people Mohammad Fikri said by telephone.
But the biggest killer was probably soil liquefaction (地基液化), which happens when a powerful quake turns the dry ground into a liquid mire (泥沼) and this totally destroyed several neighborhoods.
The official death reports rose to 1,948, and most of them were in Palu, the center of the Sulawesi Island. Bodies are still being dug out and the numbers from less populated areas are increasing but they seem to have suffered fewer deaths than the city. No one knows how many people are missing, especially in the areas hit by liquefaction, but it could be as high as 5,000, the National Disaster Agency said.
At a Palu middle school, fewer than 50 of its 697 students came. School principal Abdul Rashid said at least four students were killed in the quake. “Classes haven’t started. We’re only collecting data to find out how many students are safe,” he said. One boy chatting in the school with friends said he was disappointed that so few of his classmates had shown up. “I’m still waiting for the Ministry of Education to give us instructions on when to begin classes. For now, I don’t think we’re ready. Many children are so frightened that they need time to calm down.”
The government has collected $37 million to help victims of the earthquake. With the efforts of rescue workers and volunteers, the supply of gas and electricity has been recovered. Ruins would be cleared and areas hit by liquefaction would be turned into parks, gymnasiums and other public spaces, a spokesman said.
1.It can be learned from paragraph 1 that ________.
A.the photo is released by Mohammad Fikri
B.no death was reported in the small town
C.the quake damaged many local buildings
D.Donggala is a town located off the Sulawesi island
2.What caused the most damage in the quake?
A.A power failure. B.The cutoff of gas supply.
C.Soil liquefaction. D.The cracks of houses.
3.Which of the following statements about the earthquake is TRUE?
A.Few people in Palu were killed in the quake.
B.People in the countryside suffered more from the hit.
C.Few students showed up because of their disappointment over the school.
D.The government is taking active measures against the disaster.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To make a brief introduction of the damage caused by the tsunami.
B.To give a detailed news report of the Donggala quake.
C.To stress the importance of the rescue work after the quake.
D.To describe the students’ concern for safety at school.
荆门正在创建全国文明城市，假如你叫李华，你校将组织一批志愿者于1月11日星期六下午5：00—6:30到荆门市中天街参加志愿者服务。请你以学生会的名义用英语写一则书面通知，内容包括：
1．活动的时间。
2．活动的内容和要求。
注意：1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3．开头已给出，不计入总词数。
全国文明城市 the National Civilized City
Notice
Volunteers wanted at Zhongtianjie，Jingmen City
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Student Union
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每次错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
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(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
The first person I met in my high school was my deskmate, with that I fell in love at first sight.
She was warm-hearted and always wore a honest smile on her face. I was homesick in the first few days, unable to adjust the new school. It was with her help which I got familiar with the school. However, what impressed me most was her diligence and determine. When faced with a challenge in study, she would try out her best to solve it. Whenever I was in trouble, she would encourage myself and help me out. But for her encouragement, I wouldn’t have progressed so fast and steady.
Have so nice a girl as my friend is great luck for me. May our friendship lasts forever.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Traditionally, robots have been hard, made of metal and other rigid material. But a team of scientists at Harvard University in the US has managed to build an 1. (entire) soft robot —the “Octobot”.
2. (describe) in science journal Nature, the “Octobot” could pave the way for 3. (effective) autonomous robots that could be used in search, rescue and exploration than the traditional ones. “The Octobot is a minimal system which may serve 4.a foundation for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous robots,” the study’s authors wrote.
Researchers 5. (work) on building soft robots for decades. They’ve taken6.(inspire) from nature, looking to animals from jellyfish to cockroaches, which are often made up of more flexible matter.
However, creating a completely soft robot 7. (remain) a challenge. Even if engineers build a silicone(硅酮) body, 8. is still a grand challenge to construct flexible versions of essential parts, such as a source of power.
“9. soft robotics is still in its early stage, it holds a great promise for several applications, such as search-rescue operations and explorations,” Barbara Mazzolai of Technology’ Center for Micro-BioRobotics, wrote in a comment. “Soft robots might also open up new approaches to 10.(improve) wellness and quality of life.”
