My daughter loved dance, until she didn’t. After an _________ first year, I noticed her interest fading week by week. Then, one day, she slowly walked to me before class and asked if she could just _________ it.
My first reaction was to _________ her to “finish what you start”. _________, sticking with something difficult can teach perseverance (毅力), discipline and confidence. But watching my first-grader _________ herself into each ballet position, I started to question how much _________ that “blanket advice” made. Is it really in my kid’s best _______, or even practical, to make her stick to every commitment through until she reaches a bitter _______? What if there are different but _________ valuable qualities, which can be gained by ________ the things that are not right for her?
With the winter show approaching, I realized she needed to either __________ her class or commit herself to it. After a few days’ consideration, she __________ dance wasn’t for her — a choice I __________. Quitting is never a black-and-white issue. Sometimes, it means ________ a barrier in your way to love something else. In my daughter’s case, ending dance made space for her new hobbies, such as horseback riding and Girl Scouts. She’s into them for now, but it is okay if that __________ changes.
As adults, we are accustomed to __________ the power of saying yes, but what about saying no? The ability to recognize when something isn’t an __________ investment of our time or energy is also important. As my daughter gets older, I want her to feel confident to __________ something that’s no longer meeting her needs. She shouldn’t be held back by the thought that she must __________ something at any cost __________ because she has started.
1.A.annoyed B.independent C.enthusiastic D.unbearable
2.A.make B.join C.skip D.try
3.A.advise B.invite C.allow D.order
4.A.In addition B.After all C.At most D.By contrast
5.A.cheer B.throw C.enjoy D.drag
6.A.time B.sense C.labor D.pity
7.A.honor B.idea C.behavior D.interest
8.A.end B.space C.side D.direction
9.A.partly B.hardly C.equally D.seemingly
10.A.letting go of B.giving way to C.making up for D.putting up with
11.A.teach B.take C.enter D.drop
12.A.decided B.wondered C.hesitated D.argued
13.A.doubted B.required C.supported D.regretted
14.A.keeping B.clearing C.studying D.crossing
15.A.even B.still C.once D.yet
16.A.warning B.doubting C.stressing D.ignoring
17.A.appropriate B.unfair C.extra D.informal
18.A.hold B.exit C.treasure D.fix
19.A.spare B.change C.admit D.finish
20.A.slightly B.roughly C.nearly D.simply
Imagine you are on a long car trip. It is night and you take a wrong turn onto a dark country road. With a sinking feeling, you realize that you have no idea where you are.
1., and the answer is written in light. A shining compass face, with north, south, east and west at the four points, and a big needle are pointing at north. What a relief! You turn your car around and head in the right direction guided by the sky.
For migrating birds, finding their way over long distances through the darkest nights is their second nature. 2. — directions written by light and magnetism (磁力). Some birds journey thousands of miles in their twice-yearly journeys. 3., like mountain ranges and rivers, to help decide the directions; but birds may also navigate using the stars, and by sensing — or even “seeing” — the Earth’s invisible magnetic field.
For many years, scientists have been studying what’s behind the strong ability of migrating birds to find their way to their winter and summer homes. Here is one thing that they agree on. 4.. This compass leads them to make their very first autumn flight in the direction that has been long-travelled by the rest of their species. 5..
A.Then you glance up at the sky
B.So birds are born knowing which way home is
C.They do it in part by reading directions in the sky
D.Magnetism is important for all animals, especially birds and fishes
E.When they’re on the way, they take the advantage of familiar landmarks
F.Migratory baby birds are already equipped with a kind of present inner compass
G.In birds, migration means two-way journeys — onward journey and backward journey
Rivers are the veins of the Earth, transporting the water and nutrients (营养物) needed to support the planet’s ecosystems, including human life. While many nutrients are essential to the survival of life, there is one element transported by water in rivers that holds the key to life and to the future of our planet — carbon.
Carbon is everywhere and understanding the way it moves and is either released or stored by the Earth system is a complex science in itself. Carbon starts its journey downstream when natural acid rain, which contains carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, melts minerals in rocks. This helps transform carbon dioxide to bicarbonate (碳酸氢盐) in the water that then flows in our rivers. This is a very long process, which is one of the main ways carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. Carbon is transported by rivers to oceans and once that carbon reaches the ocean, it is stored naturally in deep sea sediments (沉淀物) for millions of years.
As carbon travels down a river, different processes may impact whether it continues to flow downstream or whether it is released into the atmosphere. For example, human engineering, like extensive dam construction, will result in dramatic changes to how water and sediments travel down the river. Some carbon that fails to reach the sea may return to the atmosphere in some way, which causes more warming.
Earth’s climate is closely related to the carbon cycle. We all know about the essential role of plants in consuming carbon dioxide, but do we know enough about rivers? Changing the chemistry and the course of rivers may have significant impacts on how they transport carbon. Remember: wherever we live, we all live downstream.
1.Where is the carbon in rivers originally from?
A.The atmosphere. B.The rocks.
C.The acid rain. D.The upstream areas.
2.Why is human engineering mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A.To show how important to life carbon is.
B.To explain how necessary it is to build dams.
C.To show how a natural process is interrupted.
D.To explain how humans fight global warming.
3.What does the author want to convey in the last paragraph?
A.We’d better move upstream to live.
B.We should protect plants along rivers.
C.We’d better seek more help from plants.
D.We should be cautious about river management.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.What Humans Do with Rivers
B.How Rivers’ Transporting Carbon Counts
C.What the Carbon Cycle Means to Us
D.How Living Downstream Affects the Earth
In the winter of 1664-65, a bitter cold fell on London in the days before Christmas. Above the city, an unusually bright comet (彗星) shot across the sky, exciting much prediction of a snow storm. Outside the city wall, a woman was announced dead of a disease that was spreading in that area. Her house was locked up and the phrase “Lord Have Mercy On Us” was painted on the door in red.
By the following Christmas, the virus that had killed the woman would go on to kill nearly 100,000 people living in and around London — almost a third of those who did not flee.
In The Great Plague (瘟疫), historian A. Lloyd Moote and microbiologist Dorothy C. Moote provide a deeply informed account of this plague year. Reading the book, readers are taken from the palaces of the city’s wealthiest citizens to the poor areas where the vast majority of Londoners were living, and to the surrounding countryside with those who fled. The Mootes point out that, even at the height of the plague, the city did not fall into chaos. Doctors, nurses and the church staff remained in the city to care for the sick; city officials tried their best to fight the crisis with all the legal tools; and commerce continued even as businesses shut down.
To describe life and death in and around London, the authors focus on the experiences of nine individuals. Through their letters and diaries, the Mootes offer fresh descriptions of key issues in the history of the Great Plague: how different communities understood and experienced the disease; how medical, religious, and government bodies reacted; how well the social order held together; the economic and moral dilemmas people faced when debating whether to flee the city; and the nature of the material, social, and spiritual resources supporting those who remained. Based on humanity (人性), the authors offer a masterful portrait of a city and its inhabitants attacked by — and daringly resisting — unimaginable horror.
1.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
A.A comet always follows a storm.
B.London was under an approaching threat.
C.London was prepared for the disease.
D.The woman was the beginning of the disease.
2.What do the Mootes say about London during the Great Plague?
A.The city remained organized.
B.The plague spared the rich areas.
C.The people tried a lot in vain.
D.The majority fled and thus survived.
3.Why do the Mootes focus on the nine individuals?
A.They were famous people in history.
B.They all managed to survive the Plague.
C.They provided vivid stories of humanity.
D.They united by thinking and acting as one.
4.What’s the purpose of this text?
A.To introduce a new book.
B.To correct a misunderstanding.
C.To report a new research.
D.To show respect to the authors.
One day after more than a month of classes, I read aloud a paragraph from my book, recognizing all of the characters smoothly except for one. I sat back and started to register the achievement: I was actually reading Chinese. The language was starting to make sense. But before the sense of satisfaction was half formed, Teacher Liao said, “Budui!”
It meant, literally, “Not correct.” You could also translate it as no, wrong, nope, uh-uh. Flatly and clearly incorrect. There were many Chinese words that I didn’t know, but I knew that one well.
A voice in my head whined: All of the rest of them were right; isn’t that worth something? But for Teacher Liao it didn’t work like that. If one character was wrong it was simply budui.
“What’s this word?” I asked, pointing at the character I had missed.
“Zhe — the zhe in Zhejiang.”
“Third tone?”
“Fourth tone.”
I breathed deeply and read the section again, and this time I did it perfectly. That was a victory — I turned to Teacher Liao and my eyes said (or at least I imagined them saying): How do you like me now? There seemed to be some satisfaction in her eyes, but she simply said, “Read the next one.”
It was her way of teaching. Success was expected and failure criticized and immediately corrected. You were right or you were budui; there was no middle ground.
I grew to hate budui. The bu was a rising tone and the dui dropped abruptly, like building my confidence and then breaking down all at once. And it bothered me all the more because I knew that Teacher Liao was only telling the truth: everything I did with the language was budui. I was an adult, and as an adult I should be able to accept criticism where it was needed. But that wasn’t the American way; I wanted to be praised for my effort; I didn’t mind criticism as long as it was candy-coated. In China, the single B on the report card matters much more than all the As that surround it. Keep working; you haven’t achieved anything yet.
And so I studied. I was frustrated but I was also stubborn; I was determined to show Teacher Liao that I was dui.
1.Which of the following can best replace “whined” in Paragraph 3?
A.burst out. B.gave in.
C.returned. D.complained.
2.What did the writer expect from Teacher Liao after he tried again?
A.Immediate correction. B.A new challenge.
C.An encouraging response. D.A strict comment.
3.How did the writer feel about the Chinese way of teaching?
A.Candy-coated. B.Weakness-focused.
C.Interest-driven. D.Criticism-absent.
4.What can we infer from the text?
A.The writer was struggling with Liao’s teaching.
B.The American way of teaching is better for adults.
C.The writer was not gifted in language learning.
D.Teacher Liao was not friendly with her students.
An increasing number of students worldwide are considering studying abroad. The application process varies from country to country. If you’re looking for a university with a strong international outlook but feel swept over by all the application options, here is some guidance to get you started.
UK
International students must apply to universities in the UK through a system known as Ucas. This system allows students to apply to up to five universities with just one application. It costs £20 for a single choice or £25 for more than one choice.
The application consists of a series of questions to determine the student’s schooling and predicted grades. The biggest part of the application form is the personal statement, in which applicants should describe their personal interests and related experiences.
Switzerland
Switzerland has four official languages and is bordered by five countries so it is no surprise that its universities are among the most international in the world. International applicants may need to take an entrance exam if they have a foreign school certificate, and must also prove that they have a good grasp of the French language, usually through taking a language exam. The full application costs 50 Swiss Francs for a holder of a Swiss diploma and 150 Swiss Francs for holders of foreign diplomas.
Canada
International applicants have to write up a personal profile as part of their application, which is very similar to the personal statement required for a UK university application. Students will also have to prove their English-language competency—there are nine ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard, which are listed on many university websites.
Singapore
The process of applying to a Singaporean university is very much alike, but overseas students may be delighted to find that the domestic applicants have to cover the same procedures: filling out an online application form and submit identification documents, supporting documents and an application fee of S$20.
1.Which country requires international applicants know French well?
A.UK. B.Switzerland.
C.Canada. D.Singapore.
2.What part of the application is similar between the UK and Canada?
A.The application system. B.The number of universities.
C.The application cost. D.The personal statement.
3.What’s special about the application process in Singapore?
A.Applicants need to pay a lot. B.It is much simpler than elsewhere.
C.It’s no different for native students. D.The competition is even more fierce.
