Looking at his beautiful green lawns, Ed Adams can’t help smiling – thanks to a bit of bravery and a lot of hard work, he’s now enjoying the life that is just a fantasy for most of us.
Five years ago, Ed and his wife Laura, along with their three children, moved from their narrow house in the city to the a much larger and more peaceful property in the country. Having grown up on a farm, Ed, a video producer, longed for a more rural lifestyle. Then, in 2016, a new job came up for Ed in the US. They were about to set off when the whole deal was canceled. Although disappointed, it inspired them to buy a new home in rural north Buckinghamshire.
Soon, the whole family moved to their new home, Church End Cottage. They also came up with a plan to turn some of their extra space into an attractive home hotel to increase their family income, which meant lots of building work to create two extra guest rooms.
Besides, with all the building work, the garden had become a mess. To get it back into shape, he had to reseed all the lawns. In time the lawns grew back, but Ed admits keeping them clean and tidy is a big job, especially on top of his daily commute to work in London and the responsibilities of running the home hotel.
Now, there comes a cutting-edge robotic mower. Rather than spending hours working up and down, he is delighted to find he can relax himself while the mower does all the hard work. For Ed, who also has a dog and keeps chickens, the biggest attraction is being able to get so much time back. He says: “Instead of spending boring hours pushing the mower, I can take time to plant the flowerbeds or help out with the hotel. It also means I can spend more time with the kids.”
1.What does the word “bravery” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A.The decision to move to a rural area. B.The decision to open a home hotel.
C.The chance to move to the US. D.The dream of living in a rural area.
2.Why did they decide to open a home hotel?
A.They wanted to serve guests.
B.They wanted to add to their income.
C.They wanted to make full use of their space.
D.They wanted to have more people in their house.
3.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
A.Ed finds it easy to keep the lawns tidy.
B.Ed is completely running the home hotel now.
C.The robotic mower can do the work by itself.
D.With the help of the robotic mower, Ed can do fewer other things.
假定你是李华，你的英国朋友Robert看了BBC纪录片《杜甫》后，发来一封邮件，询问中国人对杜甫的看法。请你回复邮件，内容包括：
1. 最伟大的诗人；
2. 著述颇丰；
3. 心怀百姓。
注意:
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号 (∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线 (＼) 划掉。
修改:在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:
1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
I still remember that cold day when Chris and I go skating on a lake. While enjoying ourselves, I suddenly noticed something unusual. The ice broke and at the moment. I warned Chris to take care, he slipped into the lake. I was too frightening to know what to do. I cried for help anxious. Hearing my cries, a young man rushed over, jump into the lake to save Chris. At last, he was out of the water and we immediately sent him to the near hospital. After short while, Chris’ parents arrived. They expressed their thank to the young man. How a respectable man!
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Dear world, here is why you should care about astronomy. It’s true that its advances benefit millions of people across the world. It has developed technology now to track where your 1. (pack) goes, to determine where you are and so 2..
But all of these are mere second thoughts, 3. (benefit) that have occurred without the primary intention of the maker. And that is 4. makes astronomy beautiful. To study something - not because we’re looking to gain anything in particular, but purely 5. (enjoy) natural wonders - 6. (be) all that makes us human. Doing work for the work itself creates room for mindfulness and joy.
I 7. (firm) believe that astronomy has a spiritual dimension in the sense of how it connects us with something bigger than ourselves. Because 8. astronomy, we now know exactly when the Universe 9. (come) into existence. And we’ve spotted thousands of planets orbiting other stars. It has explained mysteries (神秘的事物) 10. (confuse) us for thousands of years, but even more significant, it has opened up more mysteries than any of us can study in our lifetime.
Never had I given back to the community. I gave generously to family since my father had drilled into my mind that ______ begins at home, but rarely to any cause outside.
One day, my ______ phoned me. “Aunt Lene,” she said in her sweet voice that never fails to ______ my heart, “the blood bank asked if I would ______ blood. Would you donate with me?” I couldn’t ______ her.
I didn’t know______, that I would be able to donate blood in the name of someone ______. On the wall were photos of people who were ______ severe illnesses. One photo was of a little girl, named Alexis, whose smiling face, although swollen from drugs, ______ me. Then I decided to donate blood in her name.
I braved the _____ and the procedure was relatively painless. ______, that gave me a lot of happiness, so I continued to ______ several other donations.
One morning I happened to ______ a report about Alexis on the radio. I was thrilled, but I wasn’t ______ to learn how she had tried to help others although she was struggling with cancer, because when I first saw her angelic face, her ______ was so full of joy and ______ that I began to like her ______. I was so happy I joined her trying to help.
I am grateful for this experience as it has ______ me to the fact that every little thing we do to help has its ____, not just to the one receiving, but to the one ______.
1.A.gratitude B.donation C.charity D.friendliness
2.A.nephew B.daughter C.son D.niece
3.A.freeze B.melt C.break D.fill
4.A.give B.check C.draw D.lose
5.A.refuse B.accept C.stand D.forgive
6.A.later B.before C.soon D.recently
7.A.injured B.familiar C.vague D.specific
8.A.treating B.preventing C.battling D.reporting
9.A.turned to B.submitted to C.appealed to D.applied to
10.A.needle B.knife C.medicine D.smell
11.A.Later still B.Worse still C.More effectively D.More importantly
12.A.receive B.make C.ask D.increase
13.A.read B.construct C.hear D.prepare
14.A.surprised B.pleased C.embarrassed D.encouraged
15.A.mind B.voice C.silence D.smile
16.A.tension B.courage C.relief D.sympathy
17.A.instantly B.occasionally C.gradually D.eventually
18.A.challenged B.blinded C.resigned D.awoken
19.A.price B.value C.ending D.purpose
20.A.holding B.accepting C.giving D.taking
It had long been troubling a little boy that his desk mate could rank 1st in the class every time while he failed to: he only ranked 21st.
At home, he asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more stupid than others? I feel I am as hardworking as him, but how come I always fall behind?” 1.
In another test, the son ranked 15th, and his desk mate remained 1st. Back home, he raised the same question. 2. However, was this answer in her son’s best interest? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.
There were times she wanted to tell him, “Your father and I used to be outstanding. Why aren’t you just as clever?” But she stopped because she felt it was cruel to blame him and that she needed a better answer.
3. To reduce the burden on her son who was suffering from the pains of unsatisfied grades and rankings, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give out an answer.
Now, the son no longer worries about his rankings, because, with the 1st ranking, he is admitted to a top university. 4. In the lecture, he mentioned a valuable experience, “…When my mother and I was lying on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the seabirds over there? When the waves come near, little birds can rise quickly while it would take longer for clumsy sea-gulls to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that finally fly across the endless ocean are none other than clumsy sea-gulls?’ 5.” The moving speech affected many mothers present into tears, including his mother.
A.Feeling sad for her son’s failure, mom scolded him.
B.Mom really wanted to tell her son that intelligence differs.
C.Hearing the words, she went wordless, not knowing how to explain.
D.You might be a bit slower, but you will be the one who will make it!
E.Mom was so proud of her son’s success as to often share her experience.
F.Back to his high school, he was invited to give a speech to the students and parents.
G.Time flying swiftly, despite great efforts, he was still unable to keep up with his desk mate.
