As Keira climbed into bed, she thought about tomorrow’s field trip. Her class was going to a presentation by a West African traditional storyteller. Keira was excited because she was of West African descent. Her great-grandmother had come to the United States from Senegal, a country in West Africa. Until now, Keira hadn’t thought much about her roots(根源).
Early the next morning, Keira looked everywhere for something to show her West African roots. She dug through every drawer, but she couldn’t find anything that really stood out. Finally, she put on a white shirt and jeans. Although she wore ordinary clothes, she hoped that her interest in her West African roots would not go unnoticed.
At the community center, Keira was lucky enough to get a front-row seat. The first speaker talked about African writers and how they often use traditional stories with traditional characters, such as the Tortoise and the Spider. The speaker mentioned writers her mother and grandmother liked! Also, Tortoise was a favorite character in Keira’s bedtime stories. Finally, the speaker mentioned Doudou N’Diaye Rose. He was Keira’s favorite drummer. He was from Senegal. She began to realise just how much her West African roots influenced her American life.
Finally, the storyteller came up. He told a story that explained how the chameleon, a small lizard(蜥蜴), changed its colors. Then he introduced the Spider and Tortoise. It was known that they appeared to be generous but in fact they wanted to keep everything for themselves. Some of the stories made these characters seem poor as they fought for every last piece. However, they were simply naughty(调皮的). They certainly did learn their lessons!
Keira couldn’t keep her mind from thinking about all the different stories her mother had told. Her memory was pouring out again! She knew about everything the storyteller said.
After the presentation, the class talked to the storyteller. Keira told about how her great-grandmother had moved to the United States from Senegal. Her great-grandmother left her village because of a famine, a time of hunger. She had explained to Keira’s grandmother that the villagers spent days begging for food. Her great-grandmother finally came to the United States. Keira told the storyteller about those of her bedtime stories.
When Keira was finished, the storyteller pointed out that she had just done his job. She had described her family and the stories they told. Keira could hardly wait to tell her mother and grandmother the news!
1. Keria was ________ about the presentation on the evening of the day before.
A. nervous B. excited
C. surprised D. unhappy
2.Keria wore ordinary clothes that day because ________.
A. the clothes made her stand out
B. they were her favourite clothes
C. she didn’t find anything with West African roots
D. she didn’t want to show others her West African roots
3. ________ was a favourite character in Keria’s West African traditional stories.
A. Tortoise B. Spider C. Lizard D. Chamelon
4.The underlined word “famine” in Paragraph 5 most probably means a time short of ________.
A. money B. food C. water D. job
5. From the passage, we can learn ________.
A. culture can’t go without certain kinds of clothes
B. one can’t find his roots without going to his own country
C. culture not only appears in something material like clothes
D. culture will die soon after you live far away from your place
April will bring a new product – the Apple Watch – into the market. Last week, the watch was firstly introduced by Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. The price of the watch will differ from $349 to $1,099, depending on its size, strap and whether it is a sports or regular version.
Apple engineers and designers have put in a lot of thought and hard work into creating this "small screen" on your wrist(手腕). The "sensor" on the screen not only detects your finger, but knows the difference between when you are tapping, and when you are pressing harder.
The watch also has “haptic feedback(触觉反馈)”. You can send personal messages to your friend - such as drawing a star or a special sign with your fingers, or tapping the watch, say 3 times, and your friend will receive those taps on their wrist.
Besides telling the time, the watch will use 'bluetooth' to connect with your iPhone and show calls or text messages that come in.
According to Tim Cook, the watch may open up a whole new area of applications that we had never thought of. Some car factories like BMW have developed an app that allows its car owners to open their cars with the watch. A 'Hotels' app may allow you to open the door to your hotel room without worrying about losing the smart-card. And finally, even airlines are jumping in - passengers may be able to simply wave their wrist to check into their flight.
The biggest use of the watch, however, is as your personal fitness coach. The watch can measure your pulse (heartbeat) using a sensor at the bottom of the watch. It also has the same "accelerometer" as your iPhone, so it knows when you are moving, and also how much you are walking or running. It will remind you if you have been sitting for too long without much activity.
Many stores are planning to stop selling the Nike, Jawbone and Fitbit devices(设备) to welcome the Apple Watch. Will Apple Watch really replace these devices and make fitness much more fun?
1.We can learn from the passage that the Apple Watch ________.
A. is designed by Tim Cook
B. was brought into the market last week
C. sells at different prices for different colours
D. will come into the market this coming April
2. With apple watch, you can ________.
A. develop your own personal app
B. connect your iphone with your ipad
C. receive personal messages from your friends’ iphone
D. send personal messages to your friends’ apple watches
3. Many businesses help push for the uses of apple watch EXCEPT ________.
A. hospitals B. hotels
C. airlines D. car factories
4.Many stores are planning to stop selling FitBit devices because ________.
A. all of the devices are sold out
B. they cannot make fitness fun
C. they want to welcome the Apple Watch
D. Apple Watch can replace FitBit devices completely
The young turtle has been swimming for three months now in the same warm shallow bay, dreaming of calm water and plenty of food. But as the days begin to shorten and the night comes earlier and earlier, the water grows colder. It drops to fifty degrees Fahrenheit(华氏). Swimming is harder. Its heartbeat slows—and almost stops. The young turtle is in danger of losing its life.
Ten days before Thanksgiving, Max Nolan, a ten-year-old boy, and his mother begin their patrol. The Nolans are among volunteers who walk Cape Cod’s beaches during November and December to search for turtles who are often cold and trapped and seem dead—turtles whose lives they may be able to save.
Max and his mother and the other volunteers do an important job. All sea turtles are threatened or endangered. Among them Kemp’s ridleys are the most endangered. Right now on our planet there are fewer than eight thousand Kemp’s ridley turtles left.
Max is far in front of his mother when he sees a turtle washed up by the surf. He runs up to it and shouts to his mom, “Got one!” The turtle is cold. Its eyes are open, but the turtle is not moving at all. It might be dead or still alive.
Max remembers the instructions given to all the volunteers. He picks up the turtle, which weighs about five pounds, and moves it above the high-tide mark to keep it from washing out to sea. Then he runs to find seaweed to protect it from the wind. He finds a stick to mark where it is, and next, he and his mother go to the nearest telephone and call the sea-turtle hot line for help.
1.The young turtle is in danger of losing its life because ________.
A. it has been swimming for three months
B. it dreams of calm water and plenty of food
C. the water drops to fifty degrees Fahrenheit
D. the days get longer and the nights come earlier
2.The underlined word “Patrol” in Paragraph 2 probably means ________.
A. swimming in the sea
B. travelling to the seaside
C. enjoying Thanksgiving with others
D. walking along the beaches for turtles
3.In order to prevent the turtle from washing out to sea, Max ________.
A. runs to find seaweed
B. calls the sea-turtle hot line
C. finds a stick to mark where it is
D. moves it above the high-tide mark
1.My best buddy is ________.
A. a dog with long ears
B. a girl with long hair
C. a rabbit with long ears
D. a boy with a round pink body
2.I had a good time doing the following with my buddy EXCEPT________.
A. running through the green grass
B. playing hide-and-seek
C. swimming in the swimming pool
D. sharing my happiest days
3. I first met my buddy ________.
A. eight months ago
B. when I was seven years old
C. in the green grass
D. at a stranger’s house
Homesickness can be a terrible feeling for anyone who travels away from their home town, country or simply away from the house they live in for a period of time. It is a strong feeling of wanting to go back to your own places very much. Some people get homesick easily while never experience it at all.
Different people deal with homesickness in different ways. Some ring home and have a chat with the people who they think ‘home’ – often their mum or dad. This may be a good idea for you to feel that you are not . It reminds you that home and the people you love are still there and that you will see them soon. However, it can make the homesickness even . By talking to people from home, it can make you miss them more! It can make you want to be home even more and make you realise you miss your loved ones. For this very reason, some people find better not to contact home but to let the feeling pass by doing fun activities. This can not only work as a good way to lonely feelings that homesickness can cause, but can also work well towards helping you get used to the place which you are living or staying in. Reminding yourself that where you are can make you see the bigger picture; that home is great, but where I am right now is also great different reasons!
In German there is a(n) which is quite opposite to homesickness and that is ‘Fernweh’. This means the feeling of wanting to get away and see new places.
1.A. other B. others C. the other D. the others
2.A. respect B. remain C. represent D. realise
3.A. lonely B. satisfied C. alone D. single
4.A. in all B. in general C. in short D. in fact
5.A. better B. good C. bad D. worse
6.A. how much B. how often C. how many D. how long
7.A. it B. that C.these D. those
8.A. increase B. reduce C. cancel D. improve
9.A. to B. by C. for D. with
10.A. idea B. word C. reason D. sickness
—I’ve just heard that the speech to be given by Ma Yun, the Alibaba CEO, has been cancelled.
—Oh, no! ________.
A. It’s wonderful B. It doesn’t matter
C. I have no idea D. I was looking forward to that