I was often told that God loved me. I wanted to believe that so much.
For nearly a ______ I was shuttled between adoptive families and group homes—14 of them. Some families were nice. Others were ______, like evils in a dark fairy tale. At the age of 12, I was finally ______, by Gay and Phil Courter, a couple with two adult sons. Gay said, “We lived for a ______, and we believe that reason is you.”
I’d been lied to by adults so many times in the past years. I wasn’t sure they ______ loved me. “There will be no ______. All those parents were pretty much the same,” I said to myself. I ______ to call them Mom and Dad. I was particular about the home-cooked meals Gay ______ prepared. I hid in my room as much as possible. I wanted to make them ______ so they’d show their true colors.
One Friday night in the eighth grade, I really ______ things to the limit. A neighborhood girl had persuaded me to ______ out of the house with her to meet some boys. I put Advil(镇痛药) in my parents’ drinks after dinner, ______ it would make them sleepy. Wow! I’d never seen them so ______. “Now they would surely send me back”, I thought. Instead they said. “Ashley, we are family, we have nowhere to send you back to, we must ______ this like a family.”
I ran in ______ to my bedroom, where I spent the weekend. Seeing how much I’d disappointed them made me ______. No one had ever cared for me like that. I didn’t deserve this ______.
Sunday night, Gay came into my room. She ______ down and kissed my cheek. “Love you, sweetie,” she said. For the first time ever, I kissed her back. “Love you too,” I said. That word-love-sounded so ______, yet felt so true. I was discovering that love is what makes a(n) ______.
1.A.fortnight B.week C.month D.decade
2.A.cruel B.mad C.angry D.strange
3.A.moved B.discovered C.adopted D.persuaded
4.A.family B.kindness C.love D.reason
5.A.possibly B.finally C.truly D.certainly
6.A.point B.choice C.difference D.evidence
7.A.started B.refused C.wanted D.agreed
8.A.happily B.painstakingly C.willingly D.easily
9.A.mad B.relaxed C.content D.shocked
10.A.dragged B.proved C.pulled D.pushed
11.A.run B.jump C.slide D.break
12.A.discovering B.observing C.seeing D.thinking
13.A.nice B.angry C.different D.cruel
14.A.deal with B.put down C.look through D.write down
15.A.joy B.tears C.anger D.laughters
16.A.ashamed B.annoyed C.excited D.satisfied
17.A.service B.honor C.honesty D.kindness
18.A.bent B.took C.put D.broke
19.A.different B.popular C.strange D.familiar
20.A.group B.family C.adult D.union
Is there a best way to pack clothes? The following ideas are of great help to those who are always on the way.
Where to start?
1. Once you see how much you lay in front of you, be brave and reduce about a third. Because the truth is like your wardrobe, you never seem to use as much as you take.
How to deal with clothing?
Start with your shoes. Put underwear or socks inside them to hold the shape of your shoes. Thus, you can make use of every square inch of space. Once your shoes are firmly in place, fill small gaps with very soft items. 2. .
Lay out the first clothes with one end inside the suitcase and the other end dropping over the edge. Put the next clothes on top of this, but place them the other way around. 3. In this way, you’ll get another flat layer soon Finally, one by one, fold the clothes back in.
Where to put non-clothing?
4. These awkward shaped items are difficult to pack. You’d better put them towards the middle give maximum protection. Remember.to double bag your toiletries kit (洗漱袋) to avoid spotting your clothes.
Top tips:
If you take a belt, slip them along the inside of your case. 5. That will take more space. Next, use the hard shape of the case to offer protection. Leave your toiletries kit in your suitcase, when you return home. It’s ready for the next time you travel.
A. Don’t roll belts up.
B. Be sure to put away socks.
C. This idea will create a flat first layer.
D. And then continue laying other clothes.
E. That will make the job a whole lot easier.
F. Lay everything you want to take with you on the bed.
G. Non-clothing items are things like books, toothbrushes and cameras.
It sounds almost too good to be true，but a new study on sleeping brains suggests that listening to languages while you sleep can actually help you to learn them．
For the study，researchers played recordings of foreign words and their translations to subjects enjoying slow-wave sleep，a stage when a person has 1ittle consciousness of their environment．To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some contact with at some point in their waking lives，researchers made up totally nonexistent foreign words．
When the subjects woke up，they were presented with the made-up words again without their translations．The subjects were then asked to imagine whether this made-up word indicated an object that was either smaller or larger．This vague(模糊的)way of testing their understanding of the words is an approach that is supposed to tap into the unconscious memory．
Unbelievably，the subjects were able to correctly classify the words in this way at an accuracy rate that was 10 percent higher than random chance．That’s not a rate high enough to have them suddenly communicating in a foreign tongue，but it is enough to suggest that the brain is still absorbing information on some level，even during sleep．
Researchers have long known that sleep is important for memory，but previously its role in memory was thought to relate only to the preservation and organization of memories acquired during wakefulness．This is the first time that memory formation has been shown to be active during sleep．
In other words，our brains are listening to the world，and learning about it，even when our conscious selves are not present．
The next step for researchers will be to see if new information can be 1earned quicker during wakefulness if it was already presented during sleep．If so，it could forever change how we train our brains to learn new things．Sleep learning might become a widespread practice．
1.Why did researchers use some made-up words in the study?
A.To guarantee the accuracy of the test result．
B.To increase the difficulty of testing information．
C.To avoid the subjects cheating in the experiment．
D.To test if our brain are good at learning something new．
2.What were the subjects asked to do in the study?
A.Classify what they heard by size．
B.Make up a word to represent“large”or“small”．
C.Repeat the words they heard in the sleep．
D.Imagine the meanings of the made-up words．
3.What conclusion did researchers draw from this study?
A.Sleep is necessary for a good memory．
B.Memory formation goes on during sleep．
C.Listening during sleep is good for our brain．
D.Learning languages in sleep has better effects．
4.What will be the researchers’next plan?
A.To train people how to learn during sleep．
B.To prove the existence of unconscious memory．
C.To dig out the reason for unconscious learning．
D.To study the effect of sleep learning on conscious learning．
The world is a greener place than it was 20 years ago. Recent NASA satellites data(2000—2017) have shown that human activities in China and India dominate this greening of the planet, thanks to ambitious tree-planting programmes in China and intensive agriculture(集约农业) in both countries.
The researchers from Boston University found that global green leaf area has increased by 5 percent in the new century, an area equal to all of the Amazon rainforest. China alone accounts for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area with only 6.6% of global vegetated area. China's contribution comes in large part from its programmes to conserve and expand forests, taking up about 42 percent of the greening. The greening from farmlands in China is about 32%, but that in India is about 82%.
Rama Nemani, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Centre and a co-author of the study said, ''When the greening of the Earth was first observed, we thought it was due to a warmer, wetter climate and fertilisation from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But with data from NASA satellites, scientists realised that humans are also contributing, which was all against our expectations. ''
Nemani sees a positive message in the new findings. ''Once people realise there is a problem, they tend to fix it, '' he said. ''In the 1970s and 1980s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was not good. In the 1990s, people realised it, and today things have improved. Humans are incredibly resilient. That is what we see in the satellite data. ''
However, the researchers rang bells as well. They said that the gain in global greenness did not necessarily make up for the loss of natural vegetation in regions like Brazil and Indonesia.
1.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The decreasing size of the Amazon rainforest.
B.China's bigger contribution to global greening.
C.Total global green leaf area in the new century.
D.China's programmes to conserve and expand forests.
2.What surprised scientists regarding global greening?
A.Human activities. B.The level of fertilisation.
C.A warmer and wetter climate. D.Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
3.What does the underlined word ''resilient'' probably mean?
A.Good at making programmes. B.Suitable for analysing data.
C.Able to make corrections. D.Active in planting trees.
4.What does the last paragraph imply?
A.It is urgent to protect global natural resources.
B.Much remains to be done for global greenness.
C.Brazil and Indonesia lose most of their vegetation.
D.Global greenness needs all countries to work together.
After eight puppies（幼犬）were abandoned on the side of the road in Texas，an animal shelter came to the rescue and brought them all the way from Brownwood，Texas to Wintersville，Ohio. Their journey was，by no means，a simple one.
The puppies were first found fighting for their lives in a muddy channel. They were extremely weak and dehydrated（脱水）after being forced to protect themselves in the burning Texas sun. Once the puppies were discovered，their journey was far from over. They were immediately brought to what is known as a "high kill" shelter，and after only a few hours，were scheduled for euthanasia. Things weren't looking good for the pups. Luckily，they were rescued once more.
“There's a group that specifically goes around to these high kill shelters and rescues the animals that are scheduled for euthanasia，"said Brandi Damewood，the JCHS Community Outreach Manager. "These guys were rescued by the Corrine T. Smith Animal Center. "
The puppies would eventually end up under the care of the Jefferson County Humane Society. This is because no-kill shelters and rescue organizations often work together to aid in urgent cases. An incredible network of shelters helping other shelters enables these miracle workers to save so many pets in danger of being put down prematurely.
"We have had a lot of other rescue groups come in and they help us get some of our animals adopted out like when we' re too full or things of that nature, so we kind of help each other out, and so this was a favor to help this particular shelter, "said Damewood.
The JCHS has appropriately titled the puppies' journey "the freedom ride". The 20-leg trip required 16 different volunteers to drive a total of 1,300 miles. But it was all worth it to save these adorable pups!
"We have a board member, Michelle Zdybicki, who is very active and involved in these transport groups, "said Damewood. "They would meet at specified stops, then the puppies would be transferred to the next driver for the next leg of the journey. "
Since arriving in Ohio, the puppies have been vaccinated and are hoping to find forever homes in the near future.
1.From the passage we know a shelter ______.
A.is a place to kill abandoned animals
B.can never kill any abandoned animal
C.is a place for abandoned animals
D.can provide anything for abandoned animals
2.The underlined word "euthanasia" in Para. 2 most probably means______.
A.practice of killing without pain
B.medical examination for an animal
C.physical care of a baby animal
D.supplies of food and housing for animals
3.What may happen to the puppies after arriving in Ohio ?
A.They will stay in a shelter forever. B.They may be adopted soon.
C.They cannot escape being killed. D.They may continue their journey.
4.The passage mainly tells us that______.
A.volunteers worked together to find homes for abandoned puppies
B.abandoned puppies caused animal shelters too much trouble
C.eight rescued puppies journeyed 1,300 miles in "freedom ride"
D.shelters tried their best to cure eight abandoned animals in Texas
Great holidays in Europe!
Do you like the beach but want a bit more?
Then come on an Active Beach holiday atone of our centers in Greece, Turkey or Croatia.All the centers are near beautiful beaches and all offer sailing, wind surfing or water skiing with our excellent instructors. For achange from the water, you can also book a short trip to a nearby village and visit the colorful markets or eat in a local restaurant. Atthe end of the day, relax in your hotel room or dance the night away at one of our open-air clubs.
Who was King Arthur? Where did he live?
Join us on a five-day UK Road Trip holiday.Imagine life hundreds of years ago as we visit ancient Stonehenge, Roman Bath and TintagelCastle, the home of King Arthur. Learn the historyof these interesting places from your guide as you travel in one of our famous blue coaches. In the evenings we stop at some of the best youth hostels in the country. They have everything you need ,you don 't even need to pack a sleeping bag!
Are you bored with the usual holidays? Do you want to do something you really enjoy?
Then Fame Camp is for you! Spend a week at Hightree House in Yorkshire and learn how to play the piano, violin and guitar! Bring your tentand stay at a campsite near the house. At the end of the week try your new skills in a live performance .
How many countries can you see in 21days?
On our Explore Europe holiday, you can see ten! Learn about them from our best guides as you watch them go past from the window of an air-conditioned coach and stay at some of Europe's top campsites on the way. Of course,we’ll also have time to do the important things such as visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the. historic Sistine Chapel in Vatican and eating appleѕtrudеl іn Vіеnnа.
For more information about any of these holidays, call 0845 333 4523 or visit www. comewithusuk. com.
1.Tourists who go on an Active Beach holiday.
A.can do some water sports
B.can cook by themselves
C.will enjoy an open-air concert
D.should bring their own sleeping bags
2.If you want to know more about Tintagel Castle, which holiday should you take?
A.Fame Camp. B.Active Beach.
C.UK Road Trip. D.Explore Europe.
3.What can we learn about Explore Europe?
A.It lasts 10 days. B.It is a coach tour.
C.It is a self-guided tour. D.It goes past 21 countries.
