Over the past ten years, stand-up comedy(独角喜剧) clubs have become common on college campuses in America. The culture of stand-up has gotten a lot of media attention. These clubs allow students to explore their abilities and develop interests beyond their field of study.
They give funny speeches, tell jokes and make humorous body movements. Their humor entertains and helps ease the stress of crowds of busy, young people. However, club member Ariella Shua says comedy is serious work. She says she has become a better observer of what is going on around her ever since. She does not go anywhere without bringing something on which she can take notes. Students write all their own materials. Then, in weekly club meetings, they try out that material to see what works and what doesn’t. So, it starts as an individual project for themselves and becomes a group effort.
Last year, Harry Kuperstein joined the club and discovered it was a natural fit. Noticing the funny qualities of different situations improved his way of looking at the world. Becoming an active member also helped him work on the future skills he will need as a medical doctor. It helps him talk to patients as a doctor and make him a better public speaker.
Despite the group meetings, rewrites and rehearsals, some ideas just are not funny. Club member Benjamin Monteagudo said performing in front of a group of students does not mean comedians will not receive strong criticism. Last year, they came up with an idea to keep the audience involved and get their opinions.
They called it “Tomato Show”, where if they were performing very badly on stage, they just let the audience throw tomatoes at them to kind of roll with the joke. So, they spent their entire budget on a big box of 300 soft tomatoes. They gave them to the audience, and it was the best show ever.
1.Ariella Shua thinks comedy is serious work because it ________.
A.has to be approved by all of the members
B.takes much time and is boring sometimes
C.requires her to take a lot of notes
D.needs personal efforts and teamwork
2.What does the underlined phrase “a natural fit” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.convenient. B.suitable.
C.funny. D.attractive.
3.Why is Tomato Show a great success?
A.It allowed audience to participate and respond.
B.Comedians avoided receiving strong criticism.
C.Club members were very skilled in acting.
D.The performance itself was very humorous.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.The rise and fall of stand-up comedy clubs.
B.The influence of stand-up comedy clubs.
C.The popularity of stand-up comedy clubs.
D.The future of stand-up comedy clubs.
Guana was born from a family with 7 children. His parents had two jobs to make ends meet and struggled to pay for basic expenses. Guana was once a cleaner at a school but now he is a superintendent(教育学监), leading the Byron Union School District in rural northern California.
Guana always remembers when he wanted to give up, someone would encourage him. One was the cleaner at his school when he was a boy. He called her “Nike” because she wore Nike shoes. Guana wanted those kinds of shoes, too, but his parents could not afford them. Young Gauna liked how Nike made everything so clean. He told her he wanted to be a cleaner, too. Nike said, “it’s good if you want to be a cleaner, but make sure that you go to college and make this as one of your steps there.”
Guana also looked up to the principal(校长), the leader at his school. He was a tall, friendly and good-looking man. He told Guana about his job helping students and teachers. And he said, “Well if you don’t give up, you’ll get there.” Guana did get there, and two men remain friends. But before Guana became a school principal, he followed in Nike’s footsteps and become a cleaner. He worked for three schools in Lodi, California, which helped him earn the money needed for his first two years of college. He earned a high-level university education and gained a doctor’s degree. Then he worked as a campus safety officer, teacher, counselor, administrator, and now superintendent.
Even though Guana has had a successful career, he never forgets where he came from, or how he felt. He uses his life experiences to guide him as a leader.
For example, Guana’s younger sister needs a wheelchair to get around. To this day, her disability helps him as a school administrator to help and support special children. In Guana’s school system today, everyone is important and invited to parties and events.
1.What made Guana have the idea to become a cleaner?
A.He appreciated Nike’s excellent cleaning work.
B.He wanted to buy Nike shoes with his efforts.
C.He planned to work to support his poor family.
D.He was eager to earn money to go to college.
2.What is the third paragraph mainly about?
A.How Guana overcame the difficulties.
B.How Guana received the doctor’s degree.
C.How Guana became a leader from a cleaner.
D.How Guana got help from the previous principal.
3.Why did the author mention Guana’s sister in the last paragraph?
A.To tell us that Guana was a kind and considerate man.
B.To encourage us to help those in need like Guana.
C.To inform us that Guana’s sister had such a difficult life.
D.To show Guana’s experiences were beneficial to his success.
4.What can we learn from the text?
A.Strike while the iron is hot. B.Where there is a will, there is a way.
C.A friend in need is a friend indeed. D.Great minds think alike.
Museums are an important means for cultural exchange and enrichment as well as the development of mutual understanding and cooperation among people. Then how many of these places have you visited? It’s time to decide your next travel destination.
The Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.
It is the world’s largest art museum and a historical landmark of Paris. Housed in the Louvre Palace, the museum has been extended many times since its opening in 1793. Its glass pyramid in the main courtyard was designed by Chinese American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, and it later became a signature design of the museum. Visitors to Paris’s paragon(典范), which houses nearly 35, 000 works of art, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, can spend hours, days or even weeks exploring the beloved treasure.
National Museum of China, Beijing, China.
Near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, it’s one of the largest museums in the world and the second-most visited art museum in the world, just after the Louvre. Covering a time span from the Yuanmou Man of 1.7 million years ago to the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911), it is devoted to display of treasured collections in the form of various thematic exhibitions, such as the Arts of bronze, porcelain, Chinese calligraphy and paintings, furniture, coins, etc in ancient China.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US.
Commonly known as the Met, the museum is among the must-visit attractions in New York City. It stands on the eastern edge of Central Park at Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine and Islamic art. Every May, the museum holds the luxurious, blockbuster Met Gala, drawing global attention like the Oscars.
British Museum, London, UK.
Established in 1753, the British Museum is largely based on the collections of the Irish physician and scientist. At present, its comprehensive permanent collection has reached 8 million works. It was the first public national museum in the world. If you go, remember to take a picture under the Great Court.
1.What makes the Musée du Louvre different from other museums?
A.It has the longest history of all.
B.It is a public national museum.
C.It owns masterpiece like Mona Lisa.
D.It collects works of music throughout the world.
2.Which museum most probably displays the bed of Ming dynasty?
A.Metropolitan Museum of Art. B.National Museum of China.
C.The Musée du Louvre. D.British Museum.
3.What are visitors suggested doing if they go to British Museum?
A.Taking photos of museum’s exhibits. B.Keeping the voice down.
C.Exploring museum’s history. D.Having themselves photographed.
请阅读下面文子及图表，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
In a recent survey of 300 Chinese born after 1990, 54 percent of the respondents said they had hair loss, 51 percent had poorer eyesight, 45percent gained weight and 35 percent had weakened immunity. At the same time, about 65 percent said they always stayed up late. Meanwhile, 56.7 percent of interviewees said they didn’t know how to live a healthy life.
Wu Feng, who works at a private company in Beijing, was warned in this year’s physical examination report about hyperlipemia, a condition which he ascribed (归因于) to his diet and the fast pace of his life and work.
“At work, I usually sit in the office for hours without moving my body. And when I eat at the canteen, the food is quite oily. What’s more, I like to order fast food, such as fried chicken, at night when I work extra hours,” Wu said.
A post-90s programmer Wang Ke has been seeing abnormal parameters in his medical report in the past few years. He knew he had some bad habits, but it was not easy for him to change. “I know drinking too much milk tea is unhealthy, but I couldn’t stop myself,” he said.
（写作内容）
1. 用约30个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；
2. 结合上述信息，简要分析不健康的生活方式的危害；
3. 根据你的实际情况，谈谈如何拥有健康的生活方式。
（写作要求）
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3. 不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上
It’s taken a long time, but people have finally discovered how much information companies like Google and Facebook have on them. We cannot keep sacrificing privacy and dignity to continue using the Internet. However, at the same time, new digital innovations that millions love and enjoy require our data. So what are we to do?
The biggest issue with the software industry’s data collection is the span of time for which it stores information. The industry simply does not believe in a delete button. For instance, Google has records of all my locations for the last six years, and Facebook has my deleted messages from nearly 10 years ago. This kind of long-term data storage may seem harmless to some. To others, it may even be useful to know what exactly they were doing on a specific day many years ago, or recover messages from a loved one, or see how much their searching and browsing have changed over time.
However, as government surveillance (监视) is emerging as a growing concern — especially in surveillance states-the long-term data storage enacted (实施) by all of the top tech companies is a dream come true for any current or future arbitrary government. A 2013 study surveying US writers found that after they learned of the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, one in six avoided writing on a topic they thought that would subject them to any kind of surveillance, and a further one in six seriously considered avoiding controversial topics.
This is why we need online privacy: we have the right to be curious or conduct digit actions without constantly being tracked, or fearing future reprisals (报复). As Edwam Snowden has put it: “Ask yourself: at every point in history, who suffers the most from unjustified surveillance? It is not the privileged, but the vulnerable (弱势群体) surveillance is not about safety. It’s about control.”
The world is constantly changing. It may be too difficult or even impossible to some agencies from monitoring your internet activity, but we can at least take a first step and protect ourselves from any potential or future surveillance. They will not have access to life’s diary at the click of a button, or see everywhere you have been for 10 years, or use searching or browsing history from when you were a teenager to question your character.
This Digital Expiry Date offers companies the benefits of getting your data, personalizing results and still making profits, while putting some control in the user’s hands. You will not have to worry about governments or companies in the future mishandling years’ worth of information — which would limit the damage they could do. A Digital Expiry Date would maintain online innovation and profitability, while helping to prevent any future privacy disasters.
Passage outline | Supporting details |
Present situation | It’s difficult for us to 1. privacy and dignity while using the Internet. |
Possible effects | ◆The software industry can store our 2. information and even recover deleted messages 10 years ago. ◆Long-term date storage makes it possible to keep 3.of your privacy without your knowledge. |
Growing concerns | ◆All of the top tech companies have enacted the long-term data storage, which is an 4. to government surveillance. ◆To avoid being a5. for surveillance, some writers shrank from controversial topics. ◆Surveillance of the vulnerable who conduct digital actions is actually carried out for the sake of 6.instead of safety. |
7. to the problem | ◆We can create a 8.to any potential or future surveillance, so some agencies will be 9. easy access to our privacy. ◆A Digital Expiry Date can be adopted to help people to 10. less. |
Grab an ice cube from the freezer and place it on a table. Watch closely enough and you will see, well, not much at all. The ice cube is absorbing heat, but it is still an ice cube. Before it melts, it will draw heat from the environment to change from solid to liquid. Only then will it begin to slip and slide in a puddle of its own making.
And so to A World Without Ice by Henry Pollack, retired professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shared the 2007 Nobel peace prize with AI Gore.
The book gets off to a slow start. You may have to work a little before being rewarded. But given time. Pollack’s account warms up and really takes off. The story he has to tell is fascinating, frightening and important.
Despite the title, this is not a book about the world without ice. Much is given over to the impact of ice in Earth’s long history, as an important force that shaped our planet’s landscape, controlled migrations and influenced cultures. Pollack takes us through Antarctic and Arctic explorations, the natural cycles that bring us ice ages and milder periods without extremes of heat or cold and the rise of climate science which, among other achievements, can recreate a history of the temperature on Earth from kilometers of ice core drilled from the polar caps.
Pollack’s intellectual power and clarity of phrase are invaluable in describing the scientific evidence for global warming, the ways in which it will affect the world, and the all-too-probable consequences. Pollack is not one to brush awkward issues under the carpel. There is serious discussion about uncertainties in climate science, and in particular the computer models used to forecast future warming. For its forensic analysis (取证分析) and strong destruction of climate sceptic (怀疑论者) arguments alone, A World Without Ice is worth keeping on a nearby shelf.
Some readers may hind Pollack’s US-centric approach occasionally grating (刺耳的). He tells of intense irrigation in southwestern Kansas, IPCC reports as big as several New York City phone directories and school-day stories from Omaha. But this is forgivable. The US is uniquely placed to act on climate change but faces a significant barrier in the shape of the outdated. influential, oil-funded anti-climate change lobby (游说议员的团体).
Thoughtful throughout, Pollack occasionally delivers paragraphs that stay with you long after closing the book. On the subject of the book itself, he writes: “Nature’s best thermometer (温度计), perhaps its most sensitive and unambiguous indicator of climate change, is ice, When ice gets sufficiently warm, it melts. Ice asks no questions, presents no arguments, reads no newspapers, listens to no debates. It is not burdened by ideology and carries no political baggage as it crosses the threshold (门槛) from solid to liquid. It just melts.”
A World Without Ice is a call to arms. Debates about which mitigation (减缓) strategies might give us the best chances of reducing our emissions miss the point, Pollack says. If we want to avoid the worst that climate change may bring, we need “every horse in the stable pulling together, and as hard and as fast as possible”.
Pollack’s argument is attractive, persuasive and deeply upsetting, no matter the climate change tiredness that unavoidably sets in as a consequence of endless media coverage of global warming. The author’s final warning comes from Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher: “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
Pollack leaves us in no doubt as to where that is.
1.A World Without Ice mainly focuses on_______.
A.the adventures to the freezing Poles
B.the impact of ice on human and nature
C.the role of climate science in drilling ice
D.the process of ice cube turning into water
2.We can learn that A World Without Ice________.
A.brings us to the core of the issue at the very beginning
B.convinces sceptics of the truth about climate change
C.gives an in-depth analysis of global warming
D.gets funded by anti-climate change lobby
3.Why does Henry Pollack think ice is nature’s best thermometer?
A.Ice is a reminder of peaceful co-existence.
B.Ice is a common topic of the media coverage.
C.Ice is a controversial issue in political debates.
D.Ice is a clear indicator sensitive to climate change.
4.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 8 probably means the book＿____.
A.urges us to make joint efforts to fight climate change
B.advocates addressing climate change by armed forces
C.recommends debating on strategies to reduce emission
D.calls for separate and tough actions in a timely manner
5.What does the underlined word that in the last paragraph refer to?
A.Warning from Lao Tzu. B.Destination of a journey.
C.Effect of global warming. D.Argument on climate change.
6.What is the author’s attitude to A World Without Ice?
A.Ambiguous. B.Cautious. C.Positive. D.Skeptical.
