My carpenter is a competent, even gifted craftsman. But my old house still makes him feel ________. It was ________ well over a century ago, probably by very poor people, and it ________. My carpenter’s ________ to me: “Move out.” What he doesn’t ________ is that I like it here. It’s my home’s imperfections that make it interesting.
This very thought ________ me just the other day while I was sitting at the counter in a bar. The bar opened in 1931, and little about its ________ has changed over the years. The long countertop has been bent and worn down to its bedrock so ________. Once a visitor asked the owner ________ why he hadn’t ________ it. Not missing a beat and being a man after my own heart, the ________ remarked, “Do you know how many elbows it took to get it this way?” That’s it, then. An imperfect product, like a perfect one, is also the________ of our labor, and as such it needs to be ________ for what it is, rather than what it isn’t.
I’m ________ that, at root, my carpenter________realizes this. Recently, while making a new skylight (天窗) in my home, he ________ wood and had to take a piece from my scrap (废料) pile. The “________” was that my son, when he was little, had burned his name into the board with a magnifying glass. “I’m sorry I had to use scrap,” said the carpenter as we looked up at the burnt ________, “but I didn’t think you’d ________. Does it look OK?”
“Oh yes,” I assured him as I admired his handwork. “It’s ________.”
1.A.delighted B.hopeless C.embarrassed D.confident
2.A.rented B.sold C.built D.purchased
3.A.shows B.stands C.shines D.improves
4.A.attitude B.response C.offer D.advice
5.A.predict B.understand C.guarantee D.prove
6.A.dawned on B.stood for C.depended on D.waited for
7.A.guests B.service C.drinks D.appearance
8.A.fast B.slightly C.much D.easily
9.A.abruptly B.curiously C.rudely D.seriously
10.A.replaced B.attended C.decorated D.withdrawn
11.A.carpenter B.visitor C.owner D.boy
12.A.purpose B.price C.result D.copy
13.A.transformed B.checked C.fixed D.admired
14.A.regretful B.certain C.fearful D.guilty
15.A.also B.even C.still D.never
16.A.cut up B.used up C.put away D.gave away
17.A.advantage B.meaning C.difficulty D.problem
18.A.letters B.pile C.walls D.glass
19.A.enjoy B.change C.mind D.compromise
20.A.reasonable B.worthwhile C.bearable D.perfect
When we use the term “disability,” many people think about those obvious disabilities like blindness. However, disabilities also include a number of other conditions that typically are invisible (无形) to others such as hearing problems and sleep disorders. 1. For example, someone with sclerosis (硬化症) looks “normal” but has to use a parking space for people with disabilities.
No one really knows for sure whether someone has an invisible disability unless it is disclosed (公开). The decision about whether to disclose an invisible disability can weigh heavily on an individual, making social and work situations especially challenging. The burden of hiding a disability creates stress in social and work situations that might affect health and well-being badly.
2. It also increases the possibility that the person will find and develop a social support network with others who might have similar conditions or experiences.
Despite the benefits of disclosing, research reports that individuals with invisible disabilities often do not disclose their conditions. 3. Reasons might be as follows. First, even if protected by law from discrimination, they still face potential prejudice from others. Second, when someone who “looks normal” says he has a disability and requests special services, people might question whether the disability really exists. 4. Sometimes, people might experience the symptoms without realizing.
5. They must carefully weigh the potential benefits of not disclosing against the cost to health and well-being. We should be aware of the unique challenges facing people with invisible disabilities and put ourselves in their shoes.
A.Invisible disabilities are more difficult to cure.
B.These conditions can make everyday activities difficult.
C.Individuals with invisible disabilities should make wise decisions.
D.On the contrary, disclosure relieves the stress of hiding the condition.
E.They might assume the person is only trying to gain special privileges.
F.Otherwise, people with invisible disabilities should disclose their conditions.
G.This is especially true if they are young and have recently acquired the disability.
Climate change leads to a threat to the world’s sandy beaches, and as many as half of them could disappear by 2100, a new study has found. Even by 2050 some coastlines could be unrecognizable from what we see today, with 10% to 12% facing severe erosion (侵蚀).
Using updated sea level rise predictions, the researchers analyzed how beaches around the world would be in a future with higher seas and more damaging storms. They also considered natural processes like wave erosion, as well as human factors-like coastal building developments, all of which can affect a beach’s health. The study found that sea level rise is expected to outweigh these other factors, and that the more heat-trapping gases humans put into the atmosphere, the worse the influences on the world’s beaches are likely to be.
It’s hard to overstate just how important the world’s beaches are. They cover more than one third of the world’s coastlines, and protect coastal areas from storms. Beaches are also important economic engines, supporting relaxation, tourism and other activities. And in some areas, the beach is more than a vacation destination. In places like Australia, life near the coast revolves around the beach for much of the year.
Some of the world’s most popular beaches are already taking action. Places like Miami Beach are trucking in thousands of tons of sand to patch up (修复) badly eroded shorelines, while others have built sea walls and breakwaters in an attempt to hold precious sand in place. But the financial and environmental costs of these projects are huge, and scientists say rising seas and more powerful storms, supercharged by a warmer climate, will make this a losing battle.
However, the researchers did find that humans have some control over what happens to the world’s beaches. If the world’s governments are able to stick to modest cuts to heat-trapping gas pollution, the researchers found that 22%of projected beach losses by 2050 could be prevented, a number that grows to 40%by 2100 if greenhouse gases are limited.
1.Which is the biggest contributor to severe beach erosion?
A.Damaging storms. B.Wave erosion.
C.Coastal building. D.Sea level rise.
2.What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
A.It is hard to protect coastal beaches.
B.One third of storms take place near beaches.
C.Beaches are of great significance to our lives.
D.Most Australians live on beach tourism.
3.What does the underlined word “this” refer to in Paragraph 4?
A.Popularizing the beaches.
B.Holding sand in place.
C.Reducing the project costs.
D.Stopping global warming.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Half beaches could disappear by 2100.
B.Climate change is doing harm to our lives.
C.The beach is more than a vacation destination.
D.Governments are taking action to fight wave erosion.
Ice hockey’s beginning is a little uncertain. It has been tracked back to an Irish game known as hurley by some experts. Others consider ice hockey as having come from lacrosse and field games that were played by Micmac Indians. Still others say that hockey evolved in Northern Europe. At any rate, it is quite likely that ice hockey came into being from different early games played with a stick and a ball.
In the 1850s, the first recorded games of ice hockey were played, and in the 1870s, the first set of ice hockey rules were written by a group of students at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. These rules set up the use of a puck (冰球) replacing a ball and decided the number of players to be nine per team. The year 1880 brought the organization of the first amateur hockey league. Over the next several years, ice hockey’s popularity spread across Canada. It was around 1893 that ice hockey was first played in the United States. There have been several ice hockey leagues. The best known is the National Hockey League, which came into being in 1917 in Canada.
Ice hockey has the oldest sports trophy(奖杯）in North America. It had become so widespread in Canada that a trophy was presented by the Governor General of Canada to be awarded to the top hockey team. Lord Stanley of Preston was the name of the Governor General, and the trophy became Known as the Stanley Cup.
Not many changes have been made to the initial rules set forth in the 1870s. The main ones have been the decrease from nine players to six and the progression of new and better equipment. In 1910-11, the game changed from two 30-minute periods to three 20-minute periods. In 1943-44, the red line at center ice was introduced to speed up the game. In 2005-06, goalkeeper equipment was downsized.
1.When was the first amateur hockey league formed?
A.In the 1850s. B.In the 1870s.
C.In 1880. D.In 1893.
2.Where did the name of the Stanley Cup come from?
A.The top hockey team captain.
B.The Governor General of Canada.
C.The oldest sports trophy maker.
D.The leader of the first hockey league.
3.How has the ice hockey sport changed?
A.Its initial rules have been given up.
B.It has fewer players on a team.
C.Its total match time has been reduced.
D.It needs much less equipment.
4.What’s the text mainly about?
A.The rules of the ice hockey sport.
B.The great changes of the ice hockey sport.
C.The history of the ice hockey sport.
D.The development of the National Hockey League.
In 2000, when I was seven years old, my family and I were coming back from a T-ball game. In our driveway, we spotted two adult geese and a baby goose. The adults were frightened by our return and flew away, but their baby was still too young to fly. We are no strangers to wildlife, so we avoided physical contact with the baby goose out of fear that it would keep us in its mind and be lost to its family forever.
Hours passed, and night fell. The baby goose needed protection, warmth and food. So we had to do something. We brought him onto our back porch (走廊). My sister called the little guy Peeper, because he would follow us making a peeping noise. We also decided that Peeper was a boy.
A year passed and we became best friends. Peeper slept on our back porch and used it as a restroom. My dad would spray off his droppings daily with a hose (软管). Part of this routine included Dad throwing Peeper up into the air, letting him fly around the house and come back once the porch was clean. One evening, my uncle came over, and my dad wanted to show him Peeper’s flight. He threw him up in the air, but Peeper just flew off. Everyone was sad. Twenty years passed, and Peeper became a fond memory.
Geese live to be around 25 years old and are very loyal, never forgetting their first home. Even so, it shocked me when, in 2019, an old adult goose appeared at my house. After two weeks of the goose coming back repeatedly, I believe this wasn’t a random goose. He did all of the same things Peeper used to and responded to the name Peeper. Much to my amazement, my old best friend had returned, 20 years later.
This experience has been as meaningful to me as anything in my life. I hope that my children, someday, have the opportunity to connect with nature and a wild being in this same way.
1.Why did the writer’s family avoid physical contact with the baby goose at first?
A.They were worried about its health.
B.They didn’t know what to do with it.
C.They feared being attacked by its parents.
D.They didn’t want it to take them as its family.
2.Why did the writer’s dad throw the goose into the sky every day?
A.To prepare it to fly off some day.
B.To clean it by spraying water.
C.To have it practise flying skills.
D.To show his tricks of training.
3.What made the writer recognize the goose?
A.Its voice. B.Its appearance.
C.Its age. D.Its behavior.
4.How does the writer find this experience?
A.Discouraging. B.Rewarding.
C.Pitiful. D.Entertaining.
Humans have been battling viruses since before we had even evolved into our modern form, but we’re a long way from winning the fight against them. Here are a few of the worst killers.
Marburg virus
Scientists identified Marburg virus in 1967, when small outbreaks occurred among lab workers in Germany who were exposed to infected monkeys. The infected people develop high fevers and bleeding throughout the body. Marburg can be passed on from human to human via direct contact. The death rate is 80%in the 1998-2000 outbreak in Congo and in the 2005 outbreak in Angola.
Ebola virus
The first known Ebola outbreaks in humans struck Africa in Sudan and Congo in 1976. The natural host of Ebola is bats. The virus is spread through contact with infected people or animals. Symptoms include fever, bleeding and organ failure. The death rate is 50%to 70%.
Hantavirus
Hantavirus was first recognized as an infectious disease in the 1950s in Korea. But it first gained wide attention in the U. S. in 1993, when a healthy young man and his fiancee died within days of developing shortness of breath. Hantavirus was isolated from a deer mouse. More than 600 people in the U. S. are now infected and 36%have died. The virus doesn’t spread from human to human.
Mers-CoV virus
Mers-CoV virus had an outbreak in Asia, Saudi Arabia in 2012 and South Korea in 2015. The virus likely originated in bats. The disease infected camels before passing into humans and causes fever and shortness of breath. It has a death rate between 30%and 40%, making it the most deadly of the known coronavirus (冠状病毒) family. Mers-CoV spreads from one person to another.
1.Which virus caused the highest death rate in a particular area?
A.Marburg virus. B.Ebola virus.
C.Hantavirus. D.Mers-CoV virus.
2.What can we know about Hantavirus?
A.It is a type of coronaviruses. B.It was identified in the 21st century.
C.It was first found in the United States. D.It only spreads from animals to humans.
3.In what sense are Ebola virus and Mers-CoV virus similar?
A.They may have the same host. B.They originate in the same continent.
C.They belong to the same virus family. D.They have exactly the same symptoms.
