Each year, thousands of U.S. families open their homes and hearts to visitors from all over the world. In a homestay, students can observe, learn and experience a new lifestyle and culture, while practicing English skills in a home environment. Successful homestay experiences can help to ease homesickness for international students.1.
What makes homestays special is the daily experience of living with hosts who arc eager to share their way of life. Homestay hosts will reflect the diversity of the region in which they live. They may be single parents, retired couples or young families.2.What they will have in common is a desire to share their homes and their time with international students.
3.Most homestay hosts will give the student a list of simple house rules to help everyone live happily together. They may give guidelines about Internet usage, lawn勿(洗衣房), television viewing, meal times, keeping the bedroom and bathroom clean, and money matters.4.For example, at the University of Delaware, all homestay hosts living more than one mile from campus(校园)must provide transportation to and from campus every day of the week. Hosts must also provide each student with a private, furnished room which has a desk, a bed, a closet and enough lighting. Students will have access to a shared or private bathroom as well.
There is no better way to gain special insight into U.S. culture, while improving English language skills, than by participating in a homestay. It's not only important to get high scores in English testing, but to also learn how to get along with people from all over the world.5.
Occasionally, problems arise that cannot be solved. In these cases, the student can ask for another homestay or explore other housing options. The homestay coordinator(协调员)will work closely with the student to ensure that the next homestay will be a good match.
A.Unfortunately, not all homestay matches are perfect.
B.Living in a homestay will always require an adjustment period.
C.They will come from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.
D.Homestay hosts are expected to provide an English-only speaking environment.
E.Homestays provide students with a well-rounded education and great social skills.
F.Also, they can help students smoothly adapt to the life of an American university.
G.For universities offering homestays, it's important to set standards for licensed hosts.
The outbreak of locusts, an insect that mainly lives in Africa and Asia, is the worst experienced by Kenya in 70 years. The crowds are some three times the size of New York City, eating their way through thousands of acres of crops and animal grassland and destroying livelihoods in the process.
“These hungry things are alarming,” says Keith Cressman, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's senior locust forecasting officer. "A crowd the size of Manhattan can, in a single day, eat the same amount of food as everyone in New York and California combined."
Desert locusts are infamous for their ability to breed(繁育)rapidly in large numbers every three months. And with some help from the wind, they can travel as much as 80 miles a day. Most years, the insects stay in African deserts. However, under the right environmental conditions, they can multiply quickly, spread as much as 400 times every six months and cause extensive destruction if left unchecked.
“The insect has the ability to take advantage of good conditions.” Cressman says.
The "good conditions" the scientist is referring to began in mid-2018 when a rainstorm from the Indian Ocean struck a remote area of the Arabian Peninsula known as the "Empty Quarter". Normally, it would dry out within a short period, killing most of the locust population, which depends on green plants for food. However, in late 2018, a second rainstorm struck the same region. The huge sandy area got wet, which is exactly what desert locusts need to lay their eggs and breed. The extra food supply caused the population to explode for the second time in six months.
Luckily, the locusts, experts say, are easy to control with chemicals. Kenya badly needs equipment and a steady supply of chemicals to effectively wipe out the massive insects. Hopefully, leaders worldwide will recognize the tough situation and contribute generously to control the locust outbreak.
1.What can we infer from what Cressman says in paragraph 2?
A.Little can dull locusts' appetite.
B.Urgent action must be taken against locusts.
C.Overpopulation in big cities leads to food shortages.
D.New York and California should meet challenges together.
2.What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.Locusts' living conditions. B.Locusts' destructive effect.
C.Locusts' daily travel distance. D.Locusts' super reproductive power.
3.For what purpose does the author mention "good conditions"?
A.To explain immediate causes of the locust outbreak.
B.To remind locals to preserve the environment.
C.To analyze how to prevent locust outbreak.
D.To highlight the strength of two rainstorms.
An airline passenger ensured a 20-year-old man was reunited with his lost wallet-along with a little extra something to make up for their time apart.
Hunter Shamatt first lost his wallet while he was on a Frontier Airlines flight from Omaha to attend his sister's wedding in Las Vegas earlier this month. On realizing his wallet was lost, he contacted the airline to see if anyone had turned it in—but to no avail. Since the wallet contained his ID, a signed paycheck, his debit card and $60 in cash, he “feared the worst”.
Shortly after the flight, however, Hunter was shocked to receive a package in the mail from an unknown sender. Inside was his wallet-along with an additional $40 in cash.
“Found this on a Frontier flight from Omaha to Denver-row 12, seat F stuck between the seat and wall,” read a letter in the package. “Thought you might want it hack. All the best. PS: I rounded your cash up to an even $100 so you could celebrate getting your wallet hack. Have fun!”
Hunter's mother, Jeannie, posted a photo of the letter to social media in hopes that they would be able to track down the sender and thank them for their kindness. All they had to go on was that the letter was sent from Applied Underwriters in Omaha and the sender's initials were signed: "T.B".
The Good Man was later identified as Todd Brown, a father-of-five who was delighted at the chance to "have a little fun" with helping out a hard-working stranger. Brown says that he often tries to do good deeds without any recognition, thus why he didn't sign his full name on the letter, but Jeannie later insisted on praising the Nebraska native on social media.
“I try to teach my children to do the right things in life, help people when you can despite the outcome,” she wrote on Facebook. “This story is more about restoring faith in people than anything”.
1.What does the underlined word "to no avail" in paragraph 2 mean?
A.Under discussion. B.In vain. C.Beyond belief. D.At a loss.
2.Why did Jeannie upload a picture of the letter to social media?
A.To throw light on the truth.
B.To draw attention to Hunter's lost wallet.
C.To find out the sender to express gratefulness.
D.To sing high praise for the sender's generosity.
3.Which of the following best describes Brown?
A.Innocent. B.Warm-hearted. C.Romantic. D.Easy-going.
4.What's the best title for the text?
A.Hunter Shamatt-a Lucky Man B.Young Passenger Reunites with Sister
C.Helping Needy People Is a Great Virtue D.Stranger Returns Lost Wallet with More Cash Inside
Hot Technology Products at CES 2020
The consumer electronics show, or CES, presents new technology developments annually. Here are some latest products launched at CES 2020.
The Sero TV
Samsung introduced a TV that can be used to watch video designed for a smartphone. The Sero TV does this by turning itself from the normal TV position to an upright position that looks like the shape of a phone. The V can connect to mobile devices to play video directly from the phone.
Smart waste can
A company called TOWNEW presented; waste can designed for the home that does a lot of the dirty work on its own. When the can is full, the user touches a button to activate the machine's smart abilities. The device then completely closes off the waste bag inside, puts a new one in place, all by itself, and raises its top so the user can pick up and throw away the bag.
Invisible car hood(引擎盖)
Automobile industry company Continental showed off a new technology that seems to make the front end of a vehicle disappear. The technology, called "Transparent Hood," aims to make driving safer and easier. Cameras provide video of the area underneath the vehicle, permitting the driver to see objects and road conditions that might present danger.
Wearable air purifier
A company called Aō Air introduced a wearable air purifier. Designed to be a high-tech face covering to block pollution, the device pulls air through a filtration(过滤)system and then uses fans to create a small area of clean air at its front, allowing the air to be purified-without the need for a solid container.
1.Which company's product will appeal to video-loving mobile users?
A.Samsung. B.TOWNEW. C.Continental. D.Aō Air.
2.What's the main advantage of Smart waste can?
A.It saves users the bother of packing waste. B.It allows users to sort rubbish easily.
C.It breaks down waste automatically. D.It contains numerous waste bags.
3.What is special about the air purifier?
A.Complex. B.Costly. C.Waterproof. D.Convenient.
假定你是李华，你的美国网友John来信询问你一周当中最喜欢哪一天。请用英语写一封回信，内容包括：
1.你喜欢哪一天；2.喜欢这一天的原因；3.你在这一天的感受。
注意:
1.词数100左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear John,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
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：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写岀修改后的词。
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。
Every morning I have breakfast with my two-year-old sister in a nearby restaurant. One morning, I was taught her some table manner when an old lady came up to us. She said my sister was so lovely and will grow up to be a beautiful lady. I thanked her and she left for a hurry. I told my sister that she should also say "thank you" because the lady spoke high of her. Just then the lady returned it to get something which was left on her table. My sister thanked them aloud and said she was also beautiful. What the lady said about my sister made us very happier. I think it was same with the lady.
