Dad and I loved baseball and hated sleep. One midsummer dawn when I was nine, we drove to the local park with our baseballs, gloves, and Yankees caps.
“If you thought night baseball was a thrill, just wait,” Dad told me. “Morning air carries the ball like you’ve never seen.”
He was right. Our fastballs charged faster and landed more lightly. The echoes of our catches popped as the sun rose over the dew-sprinkled fields.
The park was all ours for about two hours. Then a young mother pushed her stroller toward us. When she neared, dad politely leaned-over the stroller, waved, and gave the baby his best smile.
The mother stared at him for a second, and then rushed away.
Dad covered his mouth with his hand and walked to the car. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’m not feeling well.”
A month earlier, Bell’s palsy(贝尔氏神经麻痹）had struck Dad, paralyzing the right side of his face. His smile, which once eased the pain of playground cuts and burst forth was gone.
As I slumped in the car, I began suspecting that our sunrise, park visit wasn’t about watching daylight lift around us. This was his effort to avoid stares.
After that day, Dad spent more time indoors and no longer wanted to play catch.
For Bell’s palsy suffers, most recover in several weeks. Other cases take a few months to heal. But after nine weeks of therapy, the doctor admitted she couldn’t help Dad.
Dad coped through humor. He occasionally grabbed erasable markers and drew an even-sided wide smile across his face. Other times, he practiced his Elvis impersonation, joking that his curled lips allowed him to perfect his performance of “Hound Dog”.
By the time I entered fourth grade that September, dad could blink his right eye and speak clearly again.But his smile still hadn’t returned.So I made a secret vow I would abstain from smiles of any kind.
Nothing about fourth grade made this easy. Classmates were both old enough to laugh about pop culture and young enough to appreciate jokes. Kids called me Frowny the Dwarf.(I was three foot ten.) Teachers accompanied me into hallways, asking what was wrong. Breaking the promise I had made myself was tempting, but I couldn’t let Dad not smile alone.
When I asked my PE coach, “What’s so great about smiling?” He made me do push-ups while the rest of the class played ball game. Then he called Dad.
I never learned what they discussed. But when I got off the school bus that afternoon, I saw Dad waiting for me, holding our gloves and ball. For the first time in months, we got in the family car and went to the park for a catch.
“It’s been too long,” he said.
Roughly a half-dozen fathers and sons lined the field with gloved arms in the air.
Dad couldn’t smile, but he beamed, and so did I. Sundown came quickly. The field’s white lights glowed, and everyone else left. But dad and I threw everything from curve balls to folly floaters into the night. We had catching up to do.
1.Why did Dad choose to play baseballs one summer dawn?
A.They could perform better in the morning.
B.Morning air was more suitable for playing baseball.
C.He tried to escape others attention to his face.
D.The park was empty and they could enjoy themselves
2.The underlined phrase “abstain from” in Paragraph 12 means_______.
A.seek for B.give up
C.recover from D.break into
3.What can we infer from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 13?
A.The boy lost his ability to smile.
B.The boy couldn’t appreciate pop culture
C.The boy must have suffered many wrongs.
D.The boy tried his best to make Father smile.
4.Why did the father accompany his son to the park for a catch that night?
A.He had made a complete recovery.
B.He thought night baseball was a thrill.
C.He was instructed by the PE coach to do so."
D.He intended his son to return to normal
5.Which of the following can best describe the author’s father?
A.Selfless and lucky
B.Responsible, and humorous.
C.Sensitive and stubborn.
D.Generous and determined.
6.What is the best title for the passage?
A.Losing My Father’s Smile
B.Making a Hidden Secret
C.Playing Baseball in the Morning
D.Recovering from a Face Illness
Scientists say they’ve developed a system using machine learning to predict when and where lighting will strike.The research was led by engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.
European researchers have estimated that between 6,000 and 24,000 people are killed by lightning worldwide each year. The strikes can also cause power outages, destroy property, damage electrical equipment and start forest fires. For these reasons, climate scientists have long sought to develop methods to predict and control lightning. In the United States and other places, ground-based sensing devices are used to identify strikes as they happen. But, no system has been created to effectively predict lightning.
The system tested in the experiments used a combination of data from weather stations and machine learning methods. The researchers developed a prediction model that was trained to recognize weather conditions that were likely to cause lightning.
The model was created with data collected over a 12-year period from 12 Swiss weather stations in cities and mountain areas. The data related to four main surface conditions: air pressure, air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed.
The atmospheric, data was placed into a machine learning algorithm (算法), which compared it to records of lightning strikes. Researchers say the algorithm was then able to learn the conditions under which lightning happens.
Amirhossein Mostajabi is a PhD student at the institute who led the development of the method. He said, “current systems for gathering such data are slow and complex and require costly collection equipment like radar or satellites.”
“Our method uses data that can be obtained from any weather station,” Mostajabi said. “This will improve data collection in very remote areas not covered by radar and satellite or in places where communication systems have been cut,” he added.
The researchers plan to keep developing the technology in partnership with a European effort that aims to create a lightning protection system. The effort is called the European Laser Lightning Rod project.
1.Why have climate scientists tried to predict and control lighting?
A.To collect relative data.
B.To reduce the destruction lightning has been causing.
C.To create a scientific system.
D.To do research in relation to machine learning.
2.The four mentioned surface conditions include all the following EXCEPT________.
A.air pollution
B.wind speed
C.relative humidity
D.air temperature
3.What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 5 refer to?
A.Lighting.
B.The system being tested.
C.The atmospheric data.
D.The machine learning algorithm.
4.What can we learn about Mostajabi from the passage?
A.He developed the method and the system himself.
B.He thinks the current systems are too slow and simple.
C.He is a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
D.He believes their system does much better in data collection.
5.Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?
A.Lightning Causes Huge World Wide Damage.
B.Scientists Test Systems to Predict Lightning.
C.Machine Learning Has Made New Breakthrough.
D.A New Approach Has Improved Data Collection.
ATTENTION,ALL OUR NEW STUDENTS:
Welcome to West Lakes Institute of Technology.You are strongly advised to adhere to the following three basic rules on your first day of the second semester:
1.Wear your pre-admission student number on your lapel(衣服的翻领）at all times.
2.Do not enter any classroom where classes are already in progress.
3. When asked to provide,basic information about yourself,be ready to show your green enrollment acceptance advice slip.
Students who have pre-paid the enrollment fee
9:00 a.m.to 10:00 a.m.(no later)you should visit the foyer of the Old Chapel building to receive your new student information kit.Once you have your kit,you are not required until 10:30 a.m.,so you can relax in the Student Centre until you are called over the PA system.
Students who are yet to pay the enrollment
Go directly to the Admissions Centre and be prepared to pay your enrollment fee($150 cash only)to the New Admissions Officer.You will be asked for your address and your preadmission student number(the number on your green enrollment acceptance advice slip).Note that this is NOT the number which is later displayed on your student card.Once you have paid your enrollment fee, follow the instructions above for students who have pre-paid their fee.
Student Cards
Student cards will not be issued until Thursday.Photographs,however,will be taken on Monday afternoon.Make your way to the Library at the following times:
1:00 p.m.-Film and Photographic Arts
1:45 p.m.-Marketing
2:30 p.m.-Travel&-Tourism
3:15 p.m.-Hotel Hospitality
4:00 p.m.--Fashion&Design
4:45 p.m.-all other Art students
Photographs of students in all other courses will be taken Tuesday afternoon.
Welcome Address
The Director of the college will address all new students in the Main Hall at around 10:45 a.m.When you hear the announcement that directs you to assemble in the Main Hall,make your way swiftly past the canteen area,through the courtyard and into the Hall.No food or drinks are allowed in the Main Hall.
Lunch
The canteen is situated on the ground floor of the student building.Since the canteen is also used by members of the public,you will be asked to produce your enrollment acceptance advice slip.Failure to do this will result in all purchases being charged for at non-discount prices.Cooked lunches,are,served only between 12:15 p.m.and.1:30 p.m.
Student Information Kits
The latest student information kit contains a 52-page booklet which tells you where you should go in the afternoon.Look on page three to find the course you have enrolled in,and follow the instructions given.Areas designed for the various tutorial sessions for each course are listed on page 4 to 6.If you are required to have your photograph taken during a group tutorial session,quietly excuse
yourself,and return to the session as soon as possible.
1.According to the passage,students who have already paid the fee
A.should give their address and student number to the New Admissions Officer
B.can enter any classroom to have a rest
C.are required to receive their kit before 9 o'clock
D.can have a minimum of 30 minutes to relax after getting the kit
2.We can learn from the text that"students' enrollment acceptance advice slip_____”
A.displays the same number as that on the student card.
B.allows students to buy things in the canteen at a lower price
C.is only essential to students who haven't paid the fee in advance
D.is required when taking the pictures used for the student cards
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A.Marketing students can get their 'student cards at 1:45,Monday afternoon.
B.Students are allowed to have their lunch at 12:30 p.m.in the Hall.
C.The assembly call will be made before the welcome address begins.
D.Students can get their student cards from the Library.
4.We can learn from the last paragraph that during a group tutorial session,
A.you can take a picture
B.you can do anything you like
C.you can leave for the photograph requirement
D.you can read a 52-page book
When I was a child my father taught me five words that I've used all my life- in my acting career,as a mother,in my business activities.If I _______ that I was afraid of the dark,or if I seemed worried about meeting new people,Dad would say, ＂Stand porter to your_______."
A porter is a gatekeeper,who stands at a door _______ people in or out.Dad would get me to _______myself stopping destructive things--such as fear-at the door,_______ saying“Come in"to faith,love and self-assurance.
As an actress,before I went on camera,I'd make sure anxiety_______ and confidence in my ability came in.As a mother,when I was _______about my children, I would try not to let worry in but would _______my mind with trust in them.
Of course,there were always times I'd_______ those words.
In 1972 my husband,Fillmore Crank,and I opened the doors to our own ________in North Hollywood.This was a new business venture for us,and it was a lot more ________and complicated than we had ________.
We were on call 24 hours a day.Something was always going ________. Electricity went on the blink,food wasn't delivered,employees called in sick.Once, a flu epidemic ________ left us with no maids.Fillmore gave me a ________:scrub floors or do the laundry.For 10 days I folded enough king-size sheets to________ the whole state of California.
Then there was the________ crisis.The price of gasoline doubled,and tourism in California ________.How could we fill our beds?What if we kept losing money? What if we failed?Fear and worry were sneaking in.But I caught them just ________.I stood porter.
I stood in the door of my mind and sent fear packing.
These days at the hotel,whenever fear tries to________,I just smile and point to the sign that reads No Vacancy.
1.A.complained B.announced C.recalled D.decided
2.A.future B.find C.family D.studio
3.A.letting B.urging C.inviting D.observing
4.A.busy B.involve C.send D.picture
5.A.so B.for C.but D.or
6.A.showed up B.stayed out C.cut in D.broke down
7.A.serious B.curious C.anxious D.cautious
8.A.fill B.change C.read D.ease
9.A.eat B.twist C.exchange D.forget
10.A.clinic B.hotel C.laundry D.restaurant
11.A.promising B.demanding C.convincing D.boring
12.A.figured B.confirmed C.deduced D.suggested
13.A.sour B.missing C.wrong D.pale
14.A.hardly B.regularly C.specially D.suddenly
15.A.warning B.command C.choice D.solution
16.A.serve B.touch C.decorate D.blanket
17.A.credit B.energy C.identity D.family
18.A.ceased B.recovered C.dropped D.boomed
19.A.in time B.on purpose C.at random D.by chance
20.A.split B.shelter C.withdraw D.register
— Here you are.You can do it by six o'clock.
—By six o'clock?______！I'm not superman.
A.Beats me B.Allow me C.Lend me a hand D.Give me a break
____to the students at home, the textbooks enabled them to study more efficiently.
A.Distributing B.Having distributed
C.Being distributed D.Distributed
