Your brain controls everything you do. It makes it possible for you to think, learn, create and feel; to blink(眨眼) and breathe and for your heart to heat –this fantastic control center is your brain. It is so amazing that a famous scientist once called it “the most complex(复杂) thing we have yet discovered in our universe”.
Can this small grey organ(器官), which weighs less than one and a half kilos, really do so much? Amazingly, your brain contains about 100 billion neurons(神经元) -it would take you over 3 ,000 years to count them all. Believe it or not, the activity in your brain never stops. Your neurons create and send more messages than all the phones in the world. And although one neuron creates only a little electricity, all your neurons together can produce enough electricity to power a light bulb (灯泡).
So exactly how fast does your brain work? Well, imagine this: a bee lands on your foot. Neurons in your skin send this information to your brain at a speed of more than 240 kilometers per hour. Your brain then uses other neurons to send the message back to your foot to shake the bee off quickly. These neurons can send this information at more than 320 kilometers per hour. No computer has your brain's unbelievable ability to deal with the amount of information coming from your eyes, ears and other sensory organs.
But how does your brain allow you to learn things that you will use in the future? The structure (结构) of your brain changes every time you have a new thought, remember or learn something. For example, riding a bike seems impossible at first, but soon you are able to do it. How? As you practice, your brain sends "bike riding" messages again and again Soon, the actions are learnt and you are able to ride a bike easily from then on.
1.From the passage we know that neurons___________.
A. receive messages very slowly B. are only found in your skin
C. send messages to your brain D. need electricity to work
2.In Paragraph 3, the writer mentions computers to ___________ .
A. compare them with the human brain
B. show how fast they have become
C. say that computers have no abilities
D. ask people to use computers more
3.When you have a new thought, ___________ .
A. your brain will power a light bulb B. your heart beats faster
C. you remember something D. the structure of your brain changes
4.Which of the statements about the brain is TRUE?
A. The speed of the neurons in the brain can be up to 320 kilometers per minute.
B. The electricity produced by the neurons can hardly power a light bulb.
C. We learn a new skill by sending the messages again and again through the brain.
D. After receiving the information, the brain send the same neurons back to your foot.
5.The article is mainly about ___________.
A. all the steps when your brain learns things
B. what an unbelievable organ the human brain is
C. how the brain makes people smarter than computers
D. the things you can do to make your brain work faster
Would you like to live in a city where buildings turn the lights off for you, and self-driving cars will find the nearest parking space themselves? Although it might sound a little far from you, living in a “smart” city like this could happen sooner than you think.
Great changes have taken place in towns that we have lived in for centuries, while completely new cities are being built. One such place is the city of Songdo. Every home there will have a “telepresence”system(远程遥控系统)--- allowing users to control the heating and looks, take part in video meetings, and receive education, healthcare and government services. Around the city, escalators(自动扶梯) will only move when someone is on them, and offices and schools will all be connected to the system.
The great mind behind Songdo is from the company Cisco. In fact, technology companies round the world such as IBM, Siemens and Microsoft are already in the business.
About 75% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, so cities will need to be more modern to deal with the coming problems. “Making cities smarter is one way out, and I think this will in turn make cities greener.” Said Dan Hill, head of a research company.
1.According to the text, living in a “smart” city _______________.
A.is not a green way B.will be far from you
C.will soon become true D.is completely impossible
2.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
A.A meeting in Songdo. B.A city of the future
C.A plan to build a house, D.A report on public health
3.Which company offers the great mind to build Songdo?
A.Cisco B.IBM C.Siements D.Microsoft
4.Dan Hill thinks that making cities smarter is one way to __________________.
A.drive people out of cities B.control the world’s population
C.develop his own company D.solve the cities’ coming problems
5.Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
A.Future Education B.Smart Cities
C.Government Services D.Famous Companies
Mr. and Mrs. Black opened a small restaurant. In order to attract customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant that said “Meals on the House for Three Days.”
A foreign student who didn't know much English happened to pass by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunchtime and he felt very hungry. “ Well, here is a restaurant. I am going to have something to eat.” He walked towards the restaurant when he saw the notice. “ American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on their houses! But how can I get up to the top of the house?” he said to himself. He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He started climbing up. But as he reached the top, he heard someone shouting at him. “Hey, what are you doing up there?” Mr. Black shouted at him. Next to him was a policeman. “ Doesn’t your notice say ‘Meals on the House for Three Days’? Is it just a joke?” the foreign student answered.
On hearing this, both Mr. Black and the policeman laughed. “ Do you know what ON THE HOUSE means? Look it up in the dictionary,” the policeman said.
1.How did Mr. and Mrs. Black attract customers?
A.They played jokes on them.
B.They offered them meals 24 hours a day.
C.They let them enjoy meals on the top of their house.
D.They put up a notice in front of their restaurant.
2.How much English did the foreign student know?
A.A lot B.A little C.None D.An average（平均）amount
3.The foreign student decided to have __________at Mr. Black’s restaurant.
A.breakfast B.lunch C.dinner D.nothing
4.The phrase “ on the house” probably means “ _____________ ”.
A.美味的 B.屋顶上的 C.家常的 D.免费的
5.Mr. Black and the policeman laughed at the young man because _____________.
A.he climbed up trees B.he was very hungry
C.he misunderstood the notice D.he was a foreign student
Every year, there are many people going home by long-distance buses during the Spring Festival and the Tomb-sweeping Day . There are more walkers on their way home or to work on the roads. So there are more and more traffic accidents on the roads. Thanks to the efforts of the traffic police, it is said that this year the number of traffic accidents across China was 25.2 percent fewer than the year of 2018 during the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day.
Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival. It is an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors（祖先）. Most people go home in memory of（纪念）their ancestors on that day. About 9.78 million Chinese visited cemeteries to honor their ancestors or relatives during the holiday. A few people also spent the three-day holiday on leisure trains. So transportation safety is a big problem. On the other hand, it is said that Chinese have made 112 million trips during the holiday, up 10.9 percent from last year’s holiday. For the traffic accidents, some people lost their lives. This year, traffic accidents caused 10 deaths during the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day. The fewer traffic accidents are all from the efforts of the police and our government. With the development of society and the government’s efforts, I believe everything will change better.
1.Why are there more traffic accidents during the holidays?
A.Because people have to go home for the holidays.
B.Because people want to honor their ancestors.
C.Because people hurry to work after the holidays.
D.Because there are more people on the roads.
2.During the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day, the number of traffic accidents was about _______ fewer than 2018.
A.a half B.a quarter C.two thirds D.three fifths
3.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “cemeteries” ?
A.教堂 B.墓地 C.景点 D.溶洞
4.Which one is correct according to the passage?
A.Tomb-sweeping Day is different from Qingming Festival.
B.About half of Chinese honor their ancestors on Qingming Festival.
C.More and more people like traveling during their holidays.
D.Most traffic accidents happened on the Tomb-sweeping Day.
5.Where can you read the passage?
A.In a guide book. B.On a story website.
C.In a newspaper D.On a science website.
In June, 2013, I started my work at the animal shelter's Adoption (领养) Department. Over the years, more than 50000 animals have _______ the doors of the shelter (收容所). Sometimes there are _______ animals, who touch me so deeply that I could never forget them. Tabby was such an animal.
Tabby was an ancient Cooker Spaniel, probably 14 years old. What's more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby's chances of adoption seemed small. We all thought that Tabby would live out the rest of her life at the _______.
One day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, was interested in Tabby! What could a young child possibly see in a 14-year-old dog who was both blind and deaf? Most boys would want a dog who could grow with them and _______ through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would _______ be able to do that. But after meeting her, Loretta and Gary decided that she was the right dog for their family. They adopted Tabby!
If Tabby′s story simply ended with her ________ adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed. ________, it was what happened after her adoption that people might think to be "magic". Gary had seizures (癫痫).Since Gary and Tabby met, they have been friends. They became so "in tune" with one another that Tabby began to tell Gray's seizures ________ they appeared, giving his family a(n) _______ that one was about to strike (到达). What's more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby arrived.
How could it be? Nobody could explain ________ Tabby did it. But those of us who were lucky enough to know her family and witnessed the magic, know that it has its roots in love.
1.A.broken B.passed C.locked
2.A.strange B.special C.active
3.A.hospital B.farm C.shelter
4.A.run B.get C.break
5.A.often B.exactly C.never
6.A.successful B.normal C.sad
7.A.However B.Moreover C.Perhaps
8.A.unless B.before C.since
9.A.explanation B.warning C.suggestion
10.A.when B.why C.how
—I just came back from Shanghai Disneyland. Can you guess ________ ?
—I’ve no idea. But it can’t be cheap. I’ve heard everything is very expensive there.
A.how I came back home
B.how many days I stayed there
C.how much I paid for the Mickey Mouse toy
